/ The following week /
As another quiet day in Tulip flower shop drew to a close, Shadow was tying up loose ends on his own while his manager made the final delivery run. When the bell above the door had loudly rung out, he was still finishing his notes on the previous month's figures, so was unprepared when an all-too-familiar voice shattered the calmness of his little world. "Hello Hiromi, I find myself in immediate need of your assistance and expertise."
The red headed man looked up incredulously. He wasn't imagining it, then. Before him stood the striking figure of the famous Cherry Blossom. Easily recognisable, even out of costume, the man was politely standing there as he waited to be served. Mouth hanging open, Shadow had no idea that Cherry knew what he did, let alone the location where he worked. And since when had his first name been common knowledge amongst the top S skaters? Hiromi was confident he'd never explicitly told it to any of them. Unless Cherry hadn't recognised him without his gear and makeup, and this was purely coincidental? He supposed that was possible, he was currently wearing a name badge that stated he was 'happy to help'.
Looking every bit as calm and collected as his cool skate persona (when not ferociously bickering back and forth with Joe) Cherry Blossom was dressed in traditional maroon yukata tied with a golden obi. Hiromi tried to loosen his tongue and nodded, finally getting his words out. "Sure, that's no problem. What is it you need, mister-?"
A dark smirk passed over Cherry's features as his eyes sharpened behind his glasses. "Sakurayashiki, Kaoru. And, well, I find myself in need of funeral flowers. Lots of them. In fact, the bigger and gaudier the better. There's no accounting for taste it would seem… You see, it's imperative a certain mutual friend knows we're thinking of him."
A mutual friend? Now Hiromi was really confused. Did that mean Cherry knew his identity but had chosen to nonchalantly act as if all the S skaters regularly hung out at his workplace. How odd. What was the pink haired man playing at? They'd not lost anyone recently from their underground skate community, as far as he'd heard anyway… And surely, if they had, this weird and sinister energy wouldn't be filling the room had Cherry Blossom needed something for such a serious occasion.
Pulling out his order pad, Shadow wasn't going to turn away potential business, no matter how strange the request, and he put pen to paper expectedly. "Name of the deceased?"
"Adam."
Shadow's eyes widened in surprise. "Ah."
- - -.
The evening was dark when the unlikely pair made their delivery to the Shindo Mansion. Cherry had insisted Shadow needn't be further involved than he already was, but the man had been adamant that he could at least offer his van for the drop off. Then, if anything came of it, he could confirm he'd simply delivered the flowers in good faith and wasn't responsible for their set up (or for anything else that may happen afterwards).
Kaoru could see the logic, it wouldn't take the millionaire long to figure out which shop the flowers had come from, but still. He was reluctant for Shadow to take the risk, when this was his fight with Ainosuke. Although, the two of them were equally determined to take Adam down a peg or two. The politician showing up unexpectedly at Miya's school had been the last straw. Adam had been allowed to summon the boy out of class for a couple of hours, not only that, but they'd been left completely unsupervised for the duration. Cherry had been repeatedly assured by the teen (via text, on the phone, and then again in person - he'd needed to be sure dammit!) that nothing untoward had happened during said visit, but it was a clear shot across the bow meant to intimidate them and show how easily Adam could get to Miya. And, well, Cherry didn't take too kindly to that sort of thing, inviting Shadow here to help him defend their youngest. The attitude had rankled the both of them, knowing that Adam was a sneaky SOB who rarely challenged people his own size. He needed to leave the kids the hell alone.
Once the last box was unloaded and set down on the street, Kaoru turned his attention to Shadow and held out his hand cordially. "It's been a real pleasure working with you Hiromi, please don't be a stranger. I'm sure I can use a man of your talents to better decorate my studio, so expect a regular standing order from me. Oh, and Sia la Luce would be similarly grateful, I'm sure."
Hiromi nodded and took Kaoru's offered hand, shaking it firmly. Weird comment about the local Italian restaurant, but he thought it was probably still worth a look. Grinning broadly back at Cherry Blossom, who was uncharacteristically head to toe in black, he half wished he was going with him. As Shadow climbed back into the driver's seat, he rolled down the window and gave his accomplice a devil horn salute. "Give the bastard hell from me."
Once the vehicle was safely out of sight, and with several smoke bombs now in his back pocket, Kaoru pulled on his mask and prepared himself for the task ahead. Shimmying deftly up and over the mansion's side gate, Cherry dropped gracefully down onto the other side and released the latch. Having been snuck in and out of the mansion by Ainosuke and Takashi in their younger days, he had a basic idea of where the weakest security points were and planned to carry the flowers up to the house himself, providing there hadn't been too many changes since his last visit. He stopped to snap a quick picture of the entryway before continuing; the iron was wrought into the same twisted shape that had been permanently burned into his skin. He figured the supporting evidence may come in handy at a later date for Miya. Or, at least, it couldn't hurt their case to have a record.
Breaching the main building itself was a little tricker, although not impossible for the former troublemaker. Kaoru had already dispatched Carla to hack into the security system, navigating the best entry route to avoid the various cameras and motion sensors. Cherry ended up taking a winding stroll through the gardens and around the back of the house until he reached the perfect blind spot under the kitchen window.
The older section of the building, where the kitchens were, had a much simpler setup compared to the flashy keypads and face recognition of the front entrance. The Shindo family were arrogant enough to believe attackers would announce themselves and face them head on. Kaoru grinned; he'd always preferred a more subtle approach himself and had come suitably prepared. He drew from his toolkit a pin and hair clip and proceeded to pick the lock of the pantry door. Sweating with exertion, it took longer than he'd have liked to trigger the mechanism, displaying just how criminally out of practice he was. Despite that, he did eventually hear the reassuring click and removed the opened padlock with satisfaction, leaving it in the nearest plant pot. Smugly opening the door, he crept silently inside like some sort of seasoned cat burglar. This was fun, maybe he was in the wrong line of work…
Making it beyond the kitchen would have been difficult, had he not been able to obtain some recent blueprints of the interior layout (due to an expansion two years ago which required local approval). As he snuck through the deathly quiet house, Kaoru carried the decorations up to Adam's bedchamber and slowly pushed opened the door with his hip, thankfully having encountered no staff along the way.
Inside the grand and imposing room, he noted most of the space had been taken up by a gigantic bed where Adam, their villain in question, was currently sleeping. Biting his lip, Cherry started unpacking the boxes noiselessly and getting everything set up, having already removed the excess packaging beforehand.
Eventually standing back to admire his handiwork, Cherry could admit there was something eerily perverse about decorating a bedroom in such a way while the recipient was still alive and well within it. A set of floral tributes spelling out the name ADAM were laid on the dresser, a large funeral wreath stood respectfully in the corner by the wardrobe, and several garlands and arrangements were liberally set about the room in a more haphazard manner. He'd naturally forgone the traditional white chrysanthemums and lilies, which symbolised purity and innocence, opting instead for vibrant reds and yellows to mirror the flashy colours of Adam's costume. They all knew of Ainosuke's preference for romantic flowers so there wasn't a rose petal in sight. During the planning stage, Kaoru had been initially tempted to add candles to his stunt, increasing the overall visual effect, but he wasn't going to be held responsible for burning down the Shindo Mansion if anything went wrong. Plus, the light may have woken Adam prematurely, and he couldn't have that.
Speaking of Adam, Kaoru snuck closer to the mattress; noting with disappointment that the man's features were somewhat less monstrous when they weren't pulled into an overbearing sneer. The longer he lingered, the more his resolve wavered. To hell with it. Cherry Blossom shifted his stance next to the four-poster bed and, with all of his might, punched Ainosuke square in the face.
Adam sat bolt upright at the sudden attack, eyes opening wide as his brain tried to analyse where he was and what was happening.
Seizing his chance, Cherry turned on his head-torch, following the first hit with another tidy jab to the man's lower jaw. "Surprise, asshole."
Kaoru had very much enjoyed the dawning look of recognition on Adam's face at the precise moment his fist reached its target. Anonymity was seriously overrated. Once the larger man was nicely occupied cradling his bruised cheek, Kaoru made sure the beam of light remained pointed into Ainosuke's eyes. Not enough to blind him, but enough to be a nuisance. "Now that I have your attention, be a good little boy and listen up. You need to stay the fuck away from Langa, Reki, and Miya. Do not make me repeat myself, Shindo. This is your one and only warning… I won't be so generous with you next time."
Cherry gave him the middle finger and made his exit, mic drop style. Running through the corridors at breakneck speed, he moved swiftly around corners, jumping down endless stairs until he got to the far kitchen. At which point he forced his legs into an all-out charge through the pantry door and straight across the garden.
Letting a few smoke bombs drop behind him for good measure, courtesy of Shadow, Kaoru finally reached the exit and scrambled up and over the back wall to freedom. As he neared the perimeters edge, he'd expected to be apprehended or tackled by one of Ainosuke's numerous security guards. Takashi too posed a threat as, surely, he would have an opinion on his barging in here uninvited and socking his 'master' in the face. Thankfully though, nobody emerged from the gloom or tried to pursue him. Adam had apparently been content to let him go. Good, maybe the message was finally sinking in. Cherry could only hope.
Meanwhile, Ainosuke rubbed at his swollen face and smiled ruefully; this sort of passion and intensity was unexpected from his sweet little Cherry Blossom. The recent stunt at Chinen's school must have rattled the man to provoke so potent a reaction. How wonderful. Kaoru had always been fiery and quick to anger, although he was more likely to spit abuse than leap into a physical altercation. His precious Sakura flower preferred to keep his dainty hands clean. Although, he'd seen the man throw down with the best of them when called for, usually in defence of someone uninspiring like Kojiro. For him, however, Cherry had used his own bare hands to convey the strength of his feelings. How very intimate.
Turning on the lights, Adam laughed heartily at the artfully arranged display. To personally hand deliver so many flowers to his bedside, regardless of the negative circumstances or claimed intention, was obviously another blatant declaration of affection from the stubborn pink-haired skater. Clearly, his little Sakura Mochi couldn't get him out of his head, and that's just how Ainosuke liked it.
The question now was, would Ainosuke be a 'good boy', do as he was told, and 'stay away' from the teenagers? Well, Chinen was exceedingly promising but still had some growing up to do, including ironing out his questionable loyalty, so Ainosuke could afford to step back from that particular situation for the time being and let Cherry think he'd conceded. It would make drawing the boy back all the sweeter. He had little to no interest in Red, or whatever his name was. The boy was of little consequence, and it would be easy to ignore him. Langa though, was another matter entirely. Snow was a true skating prodigy and the potential 'Eve' he'd spent so much of his life searching for. Really, what was a man in love to do?
Smirking to himself, Adam knew he'd made Cherry no verbal promise (not to mention anything he'd said during the home invasion would have been deemed 'under duress' and inadmissible), but he resolved to save his aggression and skills for S. Their beefs were best played out on the skate track, after all.
On that note, Ainosuke had just devised a brilliant idea to bring their merry band all together: a skating tournament! He would need to fix it so that it was himself vs Snow in the final round, which was easy enough to arrange. Hell, he was feeling so generous, he'd even allow Cherry Blossom his own chance to finally "settle" things between them. The man was clearly gagging for it, and really, if he couldn't keep up and things took an unfortunate turn, it would hardly be Adam's fault if his former lover ended up publicly humiliated.