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

Warnings:
Disclaimer: I don't own Wallflower characters. None. Not even a single one.
Summary:

Chapter Twenty: Fight (Round One)

"I wonder if they even used any of our pictures…?" Kyohei wondered aloud, boredly flipping through a magazine that Aya had been carrying. Some kind of catalog she'd picked up before school. He paused, scanning a section of various knives.

"What pictures?" Aya glanced to him, her chopsticks against her lips. "Oh, those pictures. I dunno, they took them a week or so ago, and I haven't heard anything from Kimura-san. Have you?" she looked to Yuki, who just shook his head.

"What pictures?" Noi asked.

"Some kind of clothing company." Yuki just shrugged.

"Oh! So cool! Look, look!" a girl squealed to her friend, waving a magazine, "It's Kitsuno-san! And some guy; he looks sooo sexy…!"

Aya perked up, grinned, and stood, dusting off her school uniform, smoothing her hair, and sauntering up to the girls.

"Oh, Kitsuno-san? She's pretty; may I see?" she nearly purred, smiling her best, eye-catching smile at the girls.

Their cheeks turned a faint hue of pink, "You like Kitsuno-san, too, Aya-kun?"

"I do!" Aya smiled, faked a blush, and leaned in, murmuring, "Don't tell anyone… but I once bought one of those girls' fashion magazines, just to see her picture…"

The girls giggled excitedly, offering up the magazine. Aya smiled gratefully, inspected the magazine, and covered her mouth, disguising her sudden embarrassment with a look of appreciation.

The apparent owner of the magazine watched, then stuttered, "I-If you want… y-you can keep that copy."

"Hm?"

"I-I could get another copy. You can have that one, if you like…"

"A gift?" Aya's eyes lit up, and she smiled brightly, "That's great! Thank you very much!" she bowed deeply, holding the magazine close to her chest as if it were a gem to be treasured.

The girls' faces turned bright red, they squeaked out a 'you're welcome, Aya-kun!' and ran off. Aya giggled, glanced at the magazine, and turned a bit red "Oh, man…"

"Hey, hey, come show it to us!" Ranmaru called.

Aya came over and dangled the ad in front of Yuki's face, moaning, "They used that one…!"

Yuki turned red, and when Kyohei tried to look, he snatched it from her fingers, hiding it.

"What? What one? You guys didn't get naked or something while I was gone, did you?" Kyohei prodded. He paused, looked thoughtful, and then slowly smirked, "Oooohhh…"

"Shut up! Shut up, or I'll shut you up!" Aya squeaked.

Noi peeked at the cover of the magazine, and her face lit up, "Fine, don't show us!" She whipped out a brand new copy, "I haven't been able to read this yet myself. Would you like to read it with me, Takenaga-kun?"

"W-Wait…"

Before either Yuki or Aya could fully protest, Noi had located the ad and opened it for all to see.

Ranmaru, Takenaga, and Noi stared in disbelief.

From the simple piece of paper, Yuki stared back heatedly from the corner of his eye, Aya pressed to his front with her fingers in his hair. Her lips parted ever so slightly, brushing his eyebrow.

"Oh… Oh, wow…" was all Noi could manage, her face a little red, "That's… that's…"

Ranmaru and Takenaga stared intensely at Yuki, who only turned redder and squirmed uncomfortably.

Kyohei, always the blunt one, glanced at the photo, "Yeah, you guys probably would've jumped each other right in front of those cameras, if that crowd hadn't been so loud."

"W-Would not!" the couple protested loudly.

Kyohei only hummed thoughtfully.

"And to think… this is a really popular magazine. It'll be all over town." Noi commented, a little in awe.

"Yeah, but they didn't use their real names. The ad only calls them 'Kitsuno' and 'Hideyuki.' And I guess, since the picture is in black and white, and since Yuki looks so grown up, it doesn't look that much like them." Takenaga compared the image to the pair.

"So…" Ranmaru started smoothly, brushing aside his bangs, "…How was it?"

Silence followed this statement, wherein the couple in question blushed fiercely and refused to meet anyone's gaze.

Aya came home early from work that day, informed Sunako directly but politely that she wouldn't be eating dinner, and then promptly disappeared into her room with some vague comment about not feeling well.

Ranmaru and Takenaga didn't really think much of it until Kyohei and Yuki came home, nearly a half-hour later.

"Hey, did Aya already get here?" Yuki asked; he looked confused.

"Yeah, she came home a half-hour ago. She said she doesn't feel well, then went to bed." Takenaga frowned, glancing over the smaller boy, "Is something wrong?"

"Ah, no, I guess not." Yuki frowned slightly and headed for the girl's room.

Takenaga wasn't sure what had transpired, but not long after Yuki had gone after the girl, he returned and went upstairs to his own room.

"Kyohei?" the dark-haired youth glanced over to his friend questioningly, "Did they get in a fight?"

Kyohei only shrugged.

Shortly before dinner, the landlady made a surprise visit. Except, the boys failed to notice her entrance. They also failed to see her heading for the girls' rooms. In fact, they failed to notice her existence until the moment when she marched into the dining room, looking furious, followed closely by a deathly silent Aya.

"L-Landlady?!" Takenaga started, then stopped.

Aya made a small noise, tugging the landlady's sleeve, "It's no big deal…"

"A-Aya…?" Takenaga stood and went to the girl, peering at her reddened face, "Hey… were you crying?"

The girl withdrew, silent once again.

"How could you just leave a girl to cry alone?!" the landlady raged.

"W-We didn't know!" Kyohei showed her his hands, hoping to look innocent.

Ranmaru nodded his agreement, "She came home and said she was going to sleep. She seemed fine."

"Aya, if something's wrong, you know you can tell us, right?" Takenaga coaxed. He looked perplexed; she wasn't one to cry much, usually.

Aya just shook her head.

The landlady turned to embrace the girl, "What's wrong? Were you hurt?"

Takenaga straightened and looked around, "Where's Yuki at?"

"He's probably still in his room." Ranmaru shrugged.

"I'll go get him, okay, Aya?" the dark-haired youth smiled comfortingly at the girl.

Aya stiffened and snapped, "I don't want to talk to him! I'm fine, so just leave me alone."

The landlady released her, looking confused, but before anyone could get a word in, the girl bolted.

The three boys glanced at each other, confusion and surprise written on their faces.

"So they did have a fight." Ranmaru commented softly.

"Just leave them alone; they'll get over it." Kyohei was already digging into his food again.

Takenaga looked concerned, glancing toward the stairs, "…I think I'll go talk to Yuki."

"What? What's going on?" the landlady demanded.

Ranmaru and Takenaga glanced at each other, and Ranmaru spoke up first, "Aya and Yuki have been dating for sometime now."

"…But this is the first time they've fought."

"…Is that so?" the landlady looked curious.

"But they've only gone on one date, in the very beginning." Kyohei interjected.

The landlady looked toward the stairs, then back towards Aya's room. After a moment of debate, she nodded to herself and left the room flipping open her cell phone.

"What's she doing?"

"I don't know; calling someone."

"Well, duh!"

After a moment, the woman turned on her heel and headed up the stairs. The boys cautiously followed, then remained in the hall as she disappeared into Yuki's room.

Once she'd emerged, she looked triumphant, "I'll send them out to spend time together, to settle this fight and strengthen their bond!"

"…This sounds familiar." Takenaga murmured, staring at Kyohei. The boy blanched and decided to leave right then.