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

Warnings: Cussing, a fight.
Disclaimer: I don't own Wallflower characters. None. Not even a single one.
Summary: Final continuation of the beach vacation. The group leaves the beach on a bad note, and it only gets worse from there. Why is Aya so paranoid?

Chapter Ten: Phone Calls

The teens were packing up to leave when Yoji appeared, pausing in the aisle way to glance about. He spotted Yuki and approached him, "Hey, you!"

Startled, Yuki looked up – along with the other three boys, Machiko, and Noi.

"Huh? Oh, hey, Yoji-kun. Did you want something?"

"It's Yoji-san." He corrected snappishly, "Where's Aya-san?"

Yuki almost looked disappointed, "I'm not sure where Aya is. She said she'd be right back."

Yoji drew himself up and stared directly at the other boy, demanding, "Are you Aya-san's lover?"

"Wh-What? No!" Yuki denied, red-faced when Machiko glanced at him.

"Then you do not have the right to call her 'Aya.' Know your place, girl-brat!" Yoji crossed his arms, glaring down the stunned boy.

"Wh… 'girl-brat'…?" the blonde boy's eyes watered.

"You're the brat! Quit picking on Yuki!" Kyohei shouted, coming to his friend's rescue.

The black-haired one tilted his head, looking unimpressed, "… Who the hell are you?"

"What the hell difference does it make? What's your problem, kid?!"

"Kyohei-kun, don't start a fight. It'll only make matters worse!" Noi called to him.

Yoji's eyes shifted to her, then back to Kyohei, "Mind your own business, Kyo-chan." He shifted into a fighting stance, leveling a stare with the other.

"It is my business if someone's going to go around insulting my friends!"

Yoji flinched, then laughed, "Friends? Ha! A farce! You're funny, Kyo-chan!"

"What's so funny about that?!" Kyohei snarled, then made a move to punch the petulant kid's face. His fist came in contact with a shoulder instead, and there was a yelp.

He backed off, and found Aya with her back to him, holding Yoji. She looked up at him, eyes wide and confused.

"What… Kyohei…? What's going on?" she looked hurt, as if he'd kicked a puppy… as if he'd kicked her puppy.

"That brat came in here all high and mighty and started insulting Yuki!" Kyohei shouted, angrily, "Why are you protecting him?! He picked the fight!"

She glanced down at Yoji, who only stared back, then over to Yuki, who was still sniffling a bit. Finally, she stepped away, looking disappointed, "Yoji-kun… Yuki and Kyohei, and everyone else are my friends. Why did you hurt them?"

Yoji looked away, "…That girl-brat… is too friendly with you. I'm just making sure you don't get hurt when he traipses off to someone else."

She slapped him abruptly, small tears in her eyes, "Stop doing this! I'm not some possession that you can lock away! If Yuki leaves…He's not like that! You don't know anything about Yuki! It has nothing to do with you! Nothing at all!"

The boy held his cheek, looking shell-shocked, then contrite, "Aya-san… Aya-san don't cry. Please don't cry. I didn't mean to make you cry, I'm sorry!" he was almost whimpering now, "I won't be mean to Yuki anymore, so don't cry…!" He looked around, almost desperate, then darted over to Yuki, hugging him, "I'm really sorry, Toyama-san! I shouldn't have called you a girl-brat and yelled at you and fought with Kyohei-san, so you stop crying, too, okay?"

Kyohei came over, intending on prying the boy off Yuki, only for Yoji to spin around and hug him as well, begging, "I'm sorry for upsetting your friends, Kyohei-san!"

Aya came over, tugging on Yoji's shirt, "Yoji-kun… let Kyohei go, please." She sniffled, and Yoji did so in an instant, quieting but looking ready to start begging for forgiveness in an instant.

She hugged him, "Yoji-kun, just don't start insulting people like that. I appreciate you trying to protect me, but not smothering me. Okay?"

"O-okay…" he replied quietly, and she released him.

"Now, apologize to Yuki and Kyohei."

"I-I'm sorry, Toyama-san and Kyohei-san. Please accept my apology?" he bowed as low as he could manage without toppling over.

Yuki smiled a bit, "Yeah. Okay. Apology accepted. And just call me 'Yuki-kun.'"

"A-All right, Yuki-kun." Yoji went to stand upright, cautiously, glancing at Kyohei quietly.

The other boy glanced at the expectant stares everyone gave him, and finally sighed, "Yeah, whatever."

Aya smiled, "I'm very sorry for Yoji-kun's actions." She turned to the boy in question, "Now, Yoji-kun, don't you have somewhere to be?"

"Yeah, um…" he was blushing now, not meeting her gaze, "I, uh… I wanted to say good-bye before you left and… um… here!" he dug in his pocket and thrust out his hand toward her, holding a circular piece of wood the size of his palm with a design carved on both sides and words painstakingly carved in the curved edges.

Aya blinked, taking the carving. On one side, he'd carved likenesses of Hito, Dante, and Precious Moon; on the opposite site, he'd carved Rubi and Duo. The edges had each horse's name. A smile lit up her face, "Yoji, your carving has gotten really good! It looks exactly like them!"

She hugged him yet again, and his blush darkened. She didn't seem to notice, showing the carving to the others as if it were a treasure.

"I… I had better get back. Come home soon, okay, Aya-san?" the boy said, then left without waiting for an answer.

They ate lunch at some seafood diner that Aya had insisted served 'the best seafood on the coast!'

She ordered some sort of fish, and throughout the course of the meal, tore it into shreds.

Kyohei, sitting across from her, finally put an end to the food-torture, "Its dead now, Aya. I think it's safe to eat."

She glanced up with a sort of laugh, then nibbled on it. A few moments later, she was again destroying her food.

Kyohei – having finished his own fish and just polishing off the fries – huffed at her, "Is something wrong with it? Or do you just like cold fish?"

Her voice was soft, distant, "No, it's okay." She seemed to draw further into herself each moment.

"Then why aren't you eating?"

By now, they had attracted the other's attention, and she stiffened defensively, "I'm not all that hungry, that's all. You can have it, if you want." She nudged the plate toward him.

"Come on, Aya-chan, you have to eat sometime! You skipped breakfast, too!" Machiko prodded.

"Are you worried about your figure, Aya-chan? You look great; I know lot's of girls that would like a body like yours! And skipping meals is no way to lose weight anyway!" Noi tried.

Aya turned to stare at her lap, silent. They could hear a faint buzzing, and her hand touched her pocket.

"I think your cell phone is ringing, Aya." Ranmaru commented.

She shrugged, "So what?"

"It was ringing before, and you ignored it. Maybe it's important." Machiko looked confused.

"Aya… is something bothering you?" Yuki guessed, then paused, "…Who's calling you, Aya?"

She visibly stiffened, and abruptly shoved away her plate, "Nothing's bothering me. No one's calling me. Leave me alone." She stood suddenly and stalked from the building.

Those left at the table turned to the picture window. Outside, Aya paced fiercely along a sidewalk for a moment, then suddenly yanked her cell phone from her pocket, opened it, and yelled something into the receiver before hanging up. Her fingers clenched around the phone, and for a moment, it looked like she might throw it. Instead, she swung around and punted a rock off the walkway and into the ocean before collapsing to her knees.

"Yuki-kun, she talks to you… go find out what's wrong!" Machiko cried, obviously frightened by the other girl's behavior. Some of the others agreed with her.

Yuki hesitated, then shook his head, "I… I can't make her talk. She'll come around. Let's just… leave her alone awhile."

Aya had put on a pleasant façade for the rest of the ride home, and she seemed to try so hard to not worry them, it seemed a shame to call her on it. So none of them did.

When they reached their final stop, Noi and Machiko left for their homes, and the mansion-goers hailed cabs to their destination.

Aya headed straight for her room with her luggage, dropped it inside the door, and went outside again before anyone had a chance to speak to her. Curious, Yuki crept into her room after she'd left and found her cell phone on her bed, buzzing as another call came in.

Glancing about, he picked it up; the call was unregistered. Swallowing and again glancing about, he opened the phone and held it up to his ear.

There was crackling, like someone was playing a recording, and he heard noises. Small whimpers and cries, something whipping through the air.

A small boy's voice whimpered, "Sis…"

Another voice, a girl's… weak, and sobbing, "D-Don't look…"

"Let him watch!" a rough male's voice, and the crack of skin against skin. The girl cried out. "You take his punishment, you protect him… Let him watch, and make sure he's grateful, the little bastard!"

Yuki hung up, frightened, "Wh-What was…?"

A hand yanked the phone from his, and he looked up at Aya's wide, hurt eyes, "You… You heard…?"

"What was that?! Who's calling you?!" he demanded.

She flushed, clutching the phone to her. It was ringing again, "It's… a recording." She looked away.

"Of… oh…" he shivered. What kind of bastard would torture a pair of kids and record it? A thought occurred to him, "He… they never caught him?!"

Aya shook her head, "I couldn't ID him. I know… the color of his hair, the feel of his hands… But that doesn't help. The police… couldn't find anyone. Because of me… because I forgot his face."

"You should tell them about these calls!" Yuki demanded.

"I have." She looked down at the phone. It was still ringing. She looked worried, "I should… go away tonight. He's calling a lot lately."

"You think… he'll try to come after you again?"

"I know he will. It's just a matter of when." The phone stopped buzzing, and both paused to stare at it. The room fell silent.

"He can't find you though… He can't know you're here." He told her shakily.

The house phone rang, then, and both Yuki and Aya dashed from the room to answer.

They were too late. Kyohei picked up, "Hello, this is…"

"Hang up!" Aya shouted at him as soon as she reached him.

Kyohei was wide-eyed, staring at the wall. Over the phone, they could hear sudden screams, and then the line went dead.

Yuki took the phone away and slammed it down, visibly shaking, "Aya, he knows."

Kyohei looked shell shocked, and Aya quivered as her turned to her, "What was… Was that a crank call?"

"I... I wish it was." She cowered.

Yuki suddenly reached for the phone and dialed the police.

"It… sounded like you. The girl…"

Aya clenched her fists and bit her lip, not responding. There was tense silence between them until Yuki got off the phone.

"The police are going to watch the house tonight. No one will get in." the blonde boy told Aya, disregarding Kyohei for the moment.

"What… you mean… What's going on…?!" Kyohei looked wildly between them.

"I think that… the guy who killed my brother might be after me." She said softly, then turned to Yuki, "I should leave. I won't stay here… I won't let him hurt any of you."

"Stop protecting people and think of yourself, Aya! He already knows where we are, so you might as well stay!" Yuki looked frightened, but managed to scold her.

Small tears in her eyes, she shouted back, "I'm not gonna let anyone die anymore! If you're hanging around, he's gonna kill you, Yuki! So shut up and get away!" She shoved him away, before bolting down the hall and shutting herself in her room.

Yuki stumbled into Kyohei's chest, whimpering.

Aya was still closed up in her room, and the rest of the household was collected in the hallway outside her door. Outside was silent, but they knew that police were out there somewhere.

There was a shout outside, and suddenly, they could see police lights flashing through the windows. Kyohei crept up to a window and peered outside, then waved over the others.

"Hey, come look! They caught someone!"

Outside on the front lawn, four policemen were grappling with a man. A shot went off, and the man crumpled to the ground clutching his leg.

Aya appeared in her doorway, and Yuki went to her, "Aya, look, they caught someone!"

There was a knock at the front door, and the teens went to the answer it. A policeman stood there, and spoke with them.

Aya wasn't paying attention. She moved past him and out onto the lawn, trailed by Yuki. Slowly, she approached the captive.

The cop that held the man's cuffs looked up at her, "Is this your stalker, miss?"

The black-haired man turned a sneer on her, and Aya jerked back, eyes wide.

Yuki inspected the male. He didn't look like a cold-blooded killer, or a child torturer, or any sort of deranged psycho. He was big, maybe 30 years old, but nothing stuck out.

And yet, Aya had recognized something about him right away. She was visibly shaking, staring down at the man.

Her voice was soft, and made Yuki shiver at the sound of it, "Yeah. That's him." She knelt, grabbing him by the collar and yanking his head up, nearly choking him.

He only laughed, struggling to breathe, "You… You enjoyed it. Didn't you, you rich whore?"

She yanked on his collar again, shaking him, "You killed my brother. You killed Ryouko."

"The little brat wouldn't—"

"Shut up." Her voice cracked slightly, and she slapped him with her free hand, "Shut up. You killed him! You killed Ryouko, and you ruined my life, and now… you come back, and think you're gonna do it all over again! Who did you think you were gonna kill this time, huh?! What's wrong with you, that you think you have the right to take someone's life?! Speak up, bastard! I can't hear you!"

She was cutting off his air, her fingers digging into the skin at his neck until he bled. The policeman that held onto him shouted.

Yuki wanted to stop her, but the feeling that the man deserved this crept into his mind like a virus. Takenaga and Kyohei rushed past him, grapping the girl and pulling her away as paramedics strapped the criminal onto a stretcher.

Aya just stood limply, supported by the grip that Takenaga and Kyohei had on her. A detective came, spoke to her briefly, but received no response, even when Kyohei shook her a bit. The detective shook his head and handed Takenaga a card, before leaving.

The police were gone, the ambulance had left, and the curious neighbors had started to disperse. The two boys released Aya, and she fell bonelessly to the grass.

"Aya? Come on, let's go inside…" Yuki knelt beside her, "I'll find you something to drink and…" his voice drifted off. She didn't seem to be listening.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Takenaga asked no one in particular, and the boys looked down at her, at a loss for what to do.

"Go get her dog. Maybe it'll wake her up a little." Someone suggested, and Takenaga headed back into the house.

Inspiration struck, and Yuki tried another tactic. He leaned in to peer directly at her face, whispering, "Sis? Hey, sis, come on, get up…"

She blinked and turned toward him, but didn't seem to really see him, "Ryouko… Ryouko, I'm sorry… I'm really sorry, Ryouko. It's my fault…" she whimpered, wiping her eyes, and Yuki held her.

"It's okay, sis." He murmured, and helped her stand.

"I had a dream last night, Yuki." Aya was staring at the sky through the window. She hardly paid attention to the room's other occupants as she related the dream, "I dreamt… that I was back home. In the woods that I always explored as a kid. But it was really dark, and I got lost. I saw this tiger, and I followed it into this big clearing." She was silent a moment, smiling at some private joke, "It was snowing, Yuki. There was snow all over the place, and it was really cold. The tiger turned around, smiled, and disappeared, and then the snow came up and wrapped around me like a big warm blanket… and then I woke up." She blinked, thoughtful, "I wonder what would have happened then?"

Yuki propped his chin on his fist, "Oh? That sounds like a really weird dream. Maybe you ate something bad yesterday."

She only laughed, "You know… I think that tiger was Ryouko. I mean… his name means 'two tigers.' It's not written like that, but that's one of the meanings."

Takenaga interjected, laughing a bit, "And the snow… that could be Yuki, right? It warmed you up… and Yukinojo is written with the characters for 'snow' and 'help.'"

"It is? Really?" Aya turned wide eyes on the blonde boy, who nodded.

"You didn't know?"

"I always thought it was with the characters for 'snow' and 'woman.'"

Yuki flushed, embarrassed, "Why would you think that?" Takenaga laughed.

"Sorry, I didn't mean anything by it! It just didn't occur to me that 'Yukinojo' could be spelled any other way!" She paused, looking upward, "Huh… maybe that's why mama thought you were a girl…"

"What?!" Yuki nearly fell out of his chair in surprise.

"I wrote her an e-mail, and told her who all you were. She said that she was glad there were other girls in the house." She snickered, "Haha, my bad! I'm sorry!"

Yuki crossed his arms and settled back into his chair with a faint huff. Still snickering, she leaned over the back of his chair, peering down at him, "Aww, come on, it was a mistake. Don't pout!"

"I'm not pouting." He clarified.

She rolled her eyes good naturedly and shrugged, letting her hair slide over her shoulders and onto his head, "Okay, Yuki. Whatever you say."

He looked up, pushing her hair from his face, "…Why is your hair so long? Don't you ever cut it?"

"I trim it once in awhile." She laughed, shaking her head so that more hair fell in his face.

Yuki caught a few strands and inspected them, "I never see you do anything with it… except a ponytail. Doesn't all this hair get annoying?" he paused, fingering the strands he'd caught, "…Can I braid your hair?"

"I dunno. Can you?" she laughed.

He rolled his eyes, "Whatever. May I braid it?"

"If you want. I don't care." She shrugged, paced around to the front of the chair, and knelt on the floor, "Knock yourself out."

He reached out and gathered her auburn hair, smoothing it over. It was a little more brown than Ranmaru's hair, and felt like silk. With a mental laugh, Yuki decided that if his hair felt this nice, he'd grow it out, too.

"Hey, Takenaga, what're you reading?" she inquired.

The dark haired boy looked up, "The Aenid. By Virgil."

"Virgil is… he's the poet mentioned in Dante's Inferno?" she looked thoughtful, "And the Aenid is… it had to do with Troy, right? I'm sorry, I've never been able to get my hands on a copy."

He looked intrigued, "Have you read Dante's Inferno?"

"I have. Did you?" she smiled, and Yuki peered down at her, shaking his head.

"What are you two talking about?"

"Classic Latin Literature."

"You read that stuff too?" he cried.

She only grinned, then turned back to Takenaga, "Have you heard of Nietzsche?"

Yuki looked helplessly over at Kyohei. The other blonde shrugged.

"There. All done." Yuki finally proclaimed, tying off the end of the long braid.

Aya brought the braid over her shoulder and grinned, "Neat. Thanks."