Title: Appreciating Things of Beauty [Chapter Nine
Author: Endless-Kaoru
Pairing: None yet.
Rating: Overall: PG-13. This Chapter: G

Warnings: None.
Disclaimer: I don't own Wallflower characters. None. Not even a single one.
Summary: Another continuation of the beach vacation. In the early morning, Yuki learns exactly how complex life on the Shuiro Ranch can be.

Chapter Nine: Like a Mom!

Yuki had a rude awakening the next morning – No, the sun wasn't up yet. Night. What time was it anyway? -- when he rolled over and inhaled a mouthful of sand. Sitting up with a start, he coughed, looking about to find he'd been pushed off the blanket that him and Aya had been on – back-to-back, of course, with a respectable distance between them – and into the sandy space between it and the one Noi and Machiko still slept on.

Turning his head, he found a boy – he looked familiar, but in the dark, and with his brain still fuzzy with sleep, Yuki couldn't name him – cuddled up to Aya's side in Yuki's space. Looking past him, he found yet another boy sleeping against her back in Sunako's space beside Kyohei.

Yuki spent another few minutes staring until it finally clicked; they were Takashi and Shin'ichi!

Aya stirred, opened her eyes, and sleepily stroked Takashi's hair before detangling herself from the two boys. They made sleepy sounds of protest but didn't wake.

"Those two are pretty young." Yuki commented off-handedly, "Where are their parents?"

Aya stroked Shin'ichi's hair, looking thoughtful, "Shin'ichi-kun and Takashi-kun are orphans. They've lived here since I was thirteen."

"Mama…" Takashi murmured sleepily, clutching to Aya's hand.

Aya blushed, and Yuki rose an eyebrow.

"They were very young – nine years -- when they came here… and kinda adopted me as their mother." She laughed awkwardly.

He glanced down at the twin boys and noticed the resemblance for the first time; they obviously weren't identical twins. With a small smile, he said, "I'm sure you were a great mother."

Aya considered him suspiciously, and at his strange look said, "Is that some weird way of hitting on me?"

Yuki blushed, denying it quickly, "It was just a compliment!"

"Hey, where's Sunako-chan?"

"You're avoiding the issue!"

"What issue?"

"I wasn't hitting on you!"

"Oh, wow, major denial." Aya rose her eyebrows and looked away, rubbing her neck, "Well, I guess I'll be going now. Got horses to feed."

Yuki huffed and dropped it as she laughed, standing, "Wanna help?"

He looked over at the others who were still sleeping, "…What time is it? The sun isn't even up yet."

"Five." She stretched and ran her fingers through her hair.

"F-Five…?! Are you serious?!"

She dug her cell phone from her pocket and flipped it open, "Well… 4: 45. Almost five."

"And you gotta go do chores?!"

"I always do chores at five." She looked briefly perplexed, "Quiet down, or you'll wake them up. Are you coming or not?"

He paused again, "Okay. Since I'm up."

She nodded and waved over, "Great. How well can you see?"

"Uh… not very well. A few feet." He mumbled; he could make out her face, and she stood maybe two feet away. Her eyes were wide and glinted oddly when the moon was revealed for a moment.

He felt her grab his hand and pull him forward, "I'll lead you up the path."

"You mean you can see?"

"Perfectly. I get used to the dark quickly. Watch your step."

He stumbled behind her, being led around major obstacles and warned of minor ones until they reached the stable. Inside, it was completely lit up, and stable-hands were rushing about with buckets and rakes. Aya grabbed pair of buckets from a room filled with hay bales, handed one over to Yuki, and directed him to fill it from the metal container that sat against the wall.

The horse feed smelled sweet, and Yuki considered it; it didn't look that different from the rabbit food they sold in pet shops. When he turned to ask what was in it, Aya poured a few white cubes in the bucket and buried them, then offered one to him. He looked at her questioningly.

"They're sugar cubes. Have one."

He finally took it and popped it in his mouth, letting it melt, "You give these to horses?"

"They like sweets." She giggled and motioned for him to follow. The two of them headed for Rubi's stall and Aya emptied her bucket into the mare's bowl, talking to her and the foal for a moment before leading Yuki to another stall that contained a mare and her foal. The smaller horse lifted its nose and just barely reached the top of the half-open stall door, nickering excitedly. Aya stroked its nose and moved on to check the twin foals.

Koujo and Unjo were being bottle fed by a pair of blonde girls, and Aya leaned over the gate to talk to them, "Isn't the mare feeding them? Or is she still down?"

"No, their mom is up, but she won't have anything to do with them."

"She tried to kick Unjo-chan, so we put her in a different stall."

"Is it because she's a maiden mare, Aya-san?"

Aya looked serious, watching the foals, "It could be that, Momiji-chan, but it's more likely because of the circumstances. She had no chance to bond with them, so she doesn't even realize that they are hers."

"So what do we do? Hand rear them?" A man in his thirties approached, greeting Yuki with a nod.

Aya looked up, then turned around and leaned on the gate, "We could, but then they get over attached to their feeders. You remember what happened with Duo. He still follows me like a puppy."

"We don't have any other mares that lost their foals, and our only surrogate mare already has an orphan."

"… Why not let Rubi surrogate them? She took the last set of twins when Hito was a few weeks old and fared well." She tilted her head, thoughtful, "She does make a good surrogate. We just have to watch that all three are getting their fair share."

"It's stressful on a mare to have twins, let alone three." He protested.

"True, but she's managed it before." She paused, "Moon-chan is pretty strong now. We could put the two of them out with some other mares and foals, and put these two in with them. We have plenty of mares that play baby sitter already. These two can have free choice. Like cows and their calves. Then Rubi isn't stuck with three. How does that sound, Toshihiko-juui?" ((juui: veterinarian))

He sighed, "It's worth trying, I suppose. I'll have someone put out the least possessive mares in the open arena."

"Thanks. Come on, Yuki."

He glanced almost sorrowfully at the twin foals before following her, "I don't get it. Why won't their mom take care of them?"

"Basically, she doesn't even realize that she's had foals. Because we carved them out of her and she was too out of it to bond with them in the first few hours. As far as she's concerned, she just lost a bunch of weight, and those two are some other horse's problem." Aya looked apologetic, "That's horses for you, Yuki."

"But if she won't take care of them, then why will Rubi?"

"Rubi takes care of any foal that attaches itself to her teat. She's a great broodmare as far as horses go… but at the same time, we have to watch that she doesn't collect a pile of them and deplete her milk supply trying to feed all of them."

Yuki and Aya returned to the beach just as the others were beginning to wake. He watched her lightly shake Takashi and Shin'ichi awake before sending them up to the house to change and get breakfast, as well as scolding them for not staying in their beds.

"You're just like a mother." The blonde said in awe, then paused, "…Except you can't cook."

She frowned at him, then went around waking their friends and sending them up to the stables for a shower and to change, directing them to come back once they were done. Soon, Yuki and Aya – having already bathed and changed (separately, of course) – were left alone on the beach, and she leaned against her truck that she'd brought down, "I'm going up to order breakfast. What do you think they'd like?"

Yuki thought for awhile, trying to think of a meal that everyone might enjoy, and finally settled on pancakes and bacon. Aya laughed when he told her, "So simple… Ryoukori will have a fit!"

He looked perplexed, "What? Is that a problem?"

"No, no… Don't worry about it. Come on, get in." she waved him into the truck and got into the driver's side. Once they were both in the cab, she laughed, "Ryoukori doesn't like making simple meals… he's such a show off. Maybe I'll just talk to Mai…?"

"You have two cooks?"

"Well, no, not really. Mai isn't technically a cook… she volunteers here."

Yuki turned to stare out the window thoughtfully as they drove up to the house, passing a stable that Aya explained was where they kept the stallions and a house a little bigger then the mansion he lived in where some of the staff lived as well as where various offices were set up. They were nearly up to the house – Yuki could see it over the next hill – when Aya suddenly pulled over the truck, rolled down her window, and leaned out.

"What are you doing, sitting out here alone, Yoji-kun?"

Yuki sat up, trying to look around her, but was unable to see who she was talking to until the other boy stood and approached the truck. Yoji has scruffy black hair and different colored eyes – the left one was green, the other was brown – that looked no older than them.

Yoji glanced at Yuki, who smiled and waved. The dark-haired one looked away, "Who's that? Your boyfriend?"

"Yuki… Toyama Yuki. One of my friends." Aya allowed the two boys to look at each other a moment as she looked to Yuki, "Yuki, this is Yoji Katsunuma. He lives here."

"Hello!" Yuki greeted brightly.

Yoji just made a noise and turned to Aya again, who looked apologetically at her blonde friend.

"What do you want?" Yoji demanded.

"You're sulking about something. And you probably haven't eaten yet. Come on, get in. I've give you a ride up to the house."

The black-haired boy paused, glanced in the truck, then pulled a face at Yuki and jumped in the truck bed to Aya's scolding, "Stop being rude!"

Yoji only looked away and snorted. Aya rolled her eyes and started up the truck again.

When they reached the house, Yoji resolutely placed himself at Aya's side and his body language seemed to convey, 'Stay away from us!' The blonde timidly kept a fair distance until Aya sent Yoji away to go change.

"Did you two… date or something?" Yuki asked once he'd left.

Aya looked worn out, "No, he's just like that. He's possessive." She stretched her arms above her head, "It's kind of like… I'm nice to him, I talk to him and stuff, so he returns the favor by 'protecting' me."

"So are you two close? You seem to understand him."

"Yeah, kinda. We think in the same, messed up way."

"Messed up?" he rose an eyebrow, "I've never noticed you acting like you hated the guts of anyone who talks to us."

"No, not to the same extreme. But… okay, don't take this the wrong way, but I don't consider anyone a 'friend.' I may use the word, but it's just for lack of a better word. What you'd call a friend is more like a… a debtor to me. I owe a debt to people who decide I'm worth 'being friends with.' And to pay off that debt, I protect them." She looked at him helplessly, "Like… if someone were to injure you, I would feel the need to go beat up that person. I'm sorry if that sounds strange or twisted. I've had trust issues since… that incident. A psychiatrist once told me that I'm afraid of losing people, so I don't get close enough in the first place."

"That sounds… really lonely…" he murmured sadly.

"It's not as bad as you might think." she dropped a hand on his head and steered him into the kitchen, "Mai-san! Ryoukori!"