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

Warnings: Ranmaru's mind (AKA more sexual innuendo)
Disclaimer: I don't own Wallflower characters. None. Not even a single one.
Summary: Aya and Yuki return home late to face mother – I mean, Ranmaru's – questioning.

Chapter Thirteen: Post-Date Denial

"Well! Look who's sneaking home at the dead of night." Ranmaru teased, opening the front door as the pair approached, "I take it your date went well? My driver says he dropped you off at an empty field."

"It was grandpa's property. We were watching the meteor shower." Aya offered, moving past him.

Once she'd entered the hallway lights, pausing to kick off her shoes, Ranmaru whistled low, "If you're going to pretend nothing happened, maybe you two should have cleaned up a little better. It's a good thing Noi-chan said you can have that dress."

She finally noticed the state of her clothing, blinking at the tattered edges and noticing a tear by her hip. She vaguely noted the wound above her ankle and the blood that had dripped down her calf and dried. Yuki's clothes were ruffled, but not tattered.

"We were climbing a tree."

Ranmaru's eyebrows rose, "My, how kinky."

She twitched, too tired to be embarrassed, "Nothing happened."

He only shrugged and wandered off.

She glanced at Yuki, a bit of pink on her cheeks, "…Right? It was… a fluke, right?"

He didn't meet her gaze, kicking off his shoes and walking a few steps into the house, "I... don't know."

She stared quietly at her feet, thoughtful, as he headed up to his room.

"Hey!" Kyohei looked in from the living room, "You're back!"

Aya shook from her daze and took off her shoes, "Yeah, I'm back. Do you want something?"

"Your dog is in your room. He was driving us crazy!"

"Toki is a 'she.'" She corrected, then looked upset, "You locked her in? I'm sure she just wanted to play. Haven't any of you had a dog?"

Kyohei shook his head, coming out of the room to stand before her, "I haven't. And she kept sitting at the door and crying. We let her out, and she wanted back in almost right away, then she wanted out again. Takenaga tried to feed her, but she wouldn't eat."

"She was bored. Getting you guys to let her in and out was entertaining, so that's what she did." Aya laughed a bit, heading for her room, "I'm surprised, though. I always took you to be one of those kids that had a puppy when he was little."

"My dad was allergic." He shrugged, "My brother had a lizard."

Toki came thundering down the hallway at her suddenly, and stopped at her feet, tail wagging so ferociously that the entire animals shook. Aya smiled down at the dog, spreading her arms, "Hello, love!"

The dog jumped up, paws on her owner's hips as if she were hugging her. Aya leaned down a little to hug the dog around the neck and cuddle her.

Kyohei laughed, reaching out to scratch the dog's ears, "Does she know any tricks?"

"Of course she does!" Aya held the dog's front paws in her hands, "Would you like to see?"

"Sure." He nodded.

Aya kissed the dog's nose, "Get your treats, love."

The animal turned and dashed back to Aya's room just as Takenaga appeared, looking amused, "Did your date go well, Aya? Noi-chan said you can keep that dress." He looked over the dress in question, "…I imagine that's a good thing."

Aya looked sheepish, "Yeah, uh… I woulda paid for it. It was either let Yuki-kun crack open his head or scuff up the dress."

"Oh?" both boys looked startled.

"We climbed up in a tree." She offered as an answer, and might have been asked to elaborate if Toki hadn't returned with her bag of treats in her mouth. Aya praised her, taking the treats.

"Does she know anything? Takenaga asked, spotting the dog biscuits.

Aya waved them into the living room, where there was more open space, and took out a treat, snapping it in half, "Sit."

The dog sat, but didn't receive a treat. Aya held up half in the air, and the dog jumped up on its hind legs. She twirled the treat in a small circle, and the dog spun around on her hind legs, then received her treat.

Once the treat was gone, Aya grinned at the dog, rubbing its head, "Are you ready, love? Do a good job!" She held up her left hand, "Gimme five!" the dog jumped up and gave her a high-five. Aya lifted her right hand, and the dog jumped up to high-five that hand with her right paw. Aya knelt, holding out her right hand again, "Low five!" the dog sat and batted at her hand, then repeated it for her left hand. Aya rubbed the animal's head and laughed, offering the remaining half of the treat.

Takenaga and Kyohei laughed, and the blonde came over, "Hey, will she do those tricks for me? Can I try?"

Aya looked up from where she was kneeling, "…I don't know, she might. Here. She only gets half at a time." She cracked another treat in half and handed it to him.

"Hey Toki! Look over here!" Kyohei waved the treat in front of the dog's nose to get its attention. It stared at him, as if you ask, 'What do you want?'

"Sit." He ordered. Toki just stared. He tried again, and this time the dog sat and reached forward to sniff his hand.

"She doesn't get treats for sitting. It's a basic command." Aya commented.

Kyo looked thoughtfully at the dog, then held the treat up above its head. The Toki jumped up, pressing her front paws into his chest and almost pushing him over.

"No cheating, pup!" Aya scolded, pressing the dog's chest back until it fell to the floor. She turned to Kyohei, "She does that to me, too. Because she likes to be lazy and doesn't want to balance herself."

Kyohei rubbed his chest where she'd jumped on him, idly wondering how much the dog weighed that it could throw him off balance like that. He lifted the treat again, and this time when the dog jumped up, he braced himself. But Toki remained on her own two legs, tottering unsteadily a little. He grinned and twirled the treat. Toki danced her little circle and caught the treat in her mouth when he dropped it.

Takenaga stole the remaining half of the treat from Kyohei, and caught Toki's attention. Grinning, he held up his hand, "Gimme five, Toki!"

Toki jumped up and slammed her paw into his hand. He laughed and completed the high-five trick before tossing the treat in the air. Toki caught it mid-flight.

Aya reached down to pet the dog, and a yawn cracked her jaw, "Well… I'm tired. I'm going to bed." She glanced up, "Why are you guys still up, anyway?"

"Waiting for Yuki and you to get home. When Ranmaru said you were late, we decided to stay up 'til you got back." Takenaga replied.

"…Why?" she asked cautiously, "Did you worry or something? You could have called my cell phone, you know."

"You never gave us your number." Ranmaru entered suddenly, carrying a damp washcloth and a roll of bandaging.

"Where's Yuki?" Kyohei asked of the other boy.

"Went to bed." Ranmaru shrugged, then smirked at Aya, "So, tell me… what happened that caused you two to come home from a big, empty field so late at night?"

Kyohei took the bandages and washcloth from the red-haired male, sniffing the cloth and asking, "Peroxide? I didn't even know we had peroxide."

"It's hers. She always uses it." Takenaga answered, leading the girl to a chair and telling her to sit.

Aya allowed Kyohei to prop her foot on his thigh as he washed the wound. She studiously ignored the original question, "Peroxide disinfects better than those salves you guys use. It gets all the dirt out."

"Well? If you don't answer, I'll just have to assume it was something naughty." Ranmaru taunted.

Aya looked bored, "I showed Yuki my lookout from when I was little, and we watched the meteor showers. That's all we did."

"And what about between the end of the meteor shower and when you two got home?"

"You'll make a great mom one day, Ranmaru. You have the paranoia and lack of respect for privacy down like nobody's business."

Kyohei snickered.

Ranmaru smirked, repeated, "If you don't tell us, we'll just assume."

"What do I care?" she scoffed, "Stop being annoying. Nothing happened."

"You two did it, didn't you?"

Her cheeks turned red in an instant, "What?! WHAT?!"

"I said—"

"I heard you! Shut up! Pervert!" she stood suddenly, the bandaging that Kyohei had been wrapping around her ankle unraveling. Toki jumped up and began to growl.

Aya looked rather disgusted, and made a move to say something, but thought better of it and stormed from the room, Toki at her heels.

"Woah, Ranmaru. You really pissed her off." Takenaga looked amazed.

"Yeah. You're dead, man." Kyohei agreed.

Ranmaru just ran his fingers through his hair, "I told her I'd have to assume something happened if she didn't tell me."

Aya faced the wall, face bright red. The nerve of him, even suggesting that she'd just… just… jumped in the sack with her best friend. That kiss had been… it had just been the moment. She was so overwhelmed by emotion, remembering Ryou at the time, it had seemed like something special. Yuki… she didn't know what he had been thinking at the time. But he had Machiko-chan. He wasn't a womanizer like Ranmaru; he didn't need anyone but Machiko.

The idea of Yuki being a womanizer made her giggle.

Toki nosed her and she petted her dog, realizing somewhat dimly that she hadn't changed yet. A blush touched her cheeks; Kyohei ha the perfect opportunity to peek up the tiny skirt when he was bandaging her ankle. She wondered if he had.

Dragging herself to her feet, she grabbed a pair of boxers and an oversized t-shirt before heading for the shower. She'd seen Sunako going down the hall naked once – from her room to the bathroom, which was only a little ways – but she'd made sure the boys were upstairs already. The four boys hardly ever went back by their rooms anyway, but still Aya refused to risk it. She didn't have much modesty, but she wasn't about to wander around naked.

Passing Sunako's room, she paused. She couldn't hear the sounds of a horror movie playing, and wondered if the girl was already in the shower. Or had she gone to bed? Rapping her knuckles on the door she called, "Sunako-chan?"

There was a shuffling noise and the clatter of something being set on a table. The door creaked open slightly, and a violet eye peered out at her, "…Yes?"

"Uh… sorry. Am I interrupting something?" Aya blinked, "I was just gonna ask if you were done with the shower…?"

Sunako nodded, and when she went to close the door, Aya frowned internally; it was really sad how little the two of them interacted, "Hey, you like horror movies, right? Have you seen 'Tokyo Psycho'?"

The dark-haired girl's attention was peaked, "No."

Aya grinned, "Let's go see it tomorrow! I only got to see part of it, 'cause Yuki got scared. It looked real good!"

Sunako, by now, had come from her room, her eyes almost glowing as she demanded, "Tell me about it!"

"Well… it's supposed to be based on the Otaku Murders of 1988 and 1989, and that murder in 2003, where that Hiroyuki kid killed his mom with a baseball bat because Neon Evangelion told him to. You've heard of those incidents, I assume?" Sunako only paused a moment to recall them before nodding. Aya continued, "Anyway, this girl is getting creepy love letters from her classmate, and all of a sudden her friends start disappearing! Anyway, much more than that would ruin the movie, but… let's see… it's a really violent movie, with all the usual demented psycho torture devices and such."

"Yes! I wanna see it!"

"Great!" Aya cheered excitedly.