Mission I A Night at the Prom Page 02 Naore - Versenkbar She had just turned to comment further on the inappropriate placement of mice in coffee shops when she felt warmth on her fingers. As if she wasn't already on edge, this sent her over the top. A convulsive spasm went through the very length of her body as she leapt back, her hands flying up, and what could have been a scream caught in her throat. She would have assumed this reaction would leave her tote to crash to the ground, but no... Instead, there was Nicholas standing right in front of her, his hands having taken the place of hers under the box. He had planned this, she thought. This, so early in the morning, when she was already in a foul mood... this was too much. "Speaking of unwanted pests," she said, though her venomous words probably came off less like a lethal threat and more like a childish tantrum, "You'd better be here for a shift or to... to buy coffee or something, otherwise..." Otherwise what, she didn't say. At that point, she—still shaken from her initial thought that what turned out to be Nicholas' fingers were the paws of a very tall rodent—sighed aggravatedly and pushed the swinging door open, going back out into the cafe. "Nao-chan? Daijoubu?" Naore looked over at Kai, who was watching her quizzically. He looked serious.... She rubbed her temple, realizing just how stupid she must have looked. "I'm fine," she said as quietly, and as evenly as she could. Sure, she was fine... only now, she felt especially dumb. After all, she was perfectly cool and in control when she was out in the world... killing people and all... so why should she be so nervous around rodents? Even worse, she lost her cool in front of Kai and the others. 'It would have been no problem had I been facing forward,' she thought, 'I would have seen Nicholas long before he entered the back.' Deciding it was best to act as if nothing had ever happened, Naore walked over to the counter, indicating to Kai to set the box down there. "Thanks, Kai-kun. Since there aren't any new customers yet, it shouldn't take me long to stock the shelves." Ken and Yohji (joint post) - Weiß His sweeping finished, Youji soon strolled over to Ken, observing him fuss over the new shipment. He stood his broom up on the ground, and used it to steady himself as he leaned forward, bringing himself closer into his friend's face. "Ne...Ken-kun...lets open already. If you stand outside, you can distract all the highschool girls on their way to school.." "M not standin' outside," Ken said irritably, eyebrow twitching. He didn't look up from his meticulous arranging of mum pots on the display shelf. "But you can open the doors if y'want." In fact, they had better get the place open now. The morning was swiftly drifting by and Ran would kill them if he knew they'd opened the shop late. Youji sighed, standing up straight, and slowly making his way to the store's counter, resting his broom against the wall, and grabbing a set of key's that dangled nearby. "Why not...?" Youji whined softly, as he made his way to the front of the shop, " We could get coax plenty of girls in here, Ken- kun. It'd be a beautiful thing. They could take home all those mums you're fussing over." Ken paused, seeminly considering his options. "Well..." The thought of getting all these mums out of here sounded pretty good. It'd free up space for some of the other shipments--flowers he preferred, really--and even better, he'd be able to boast to Ran about getting all the mums sold before evening hit! "No," Ken said adamantly, apparently having just then realized how Yohji proposed to get all those girls into the shop, "No way, 'm not selling my body!" That's basically what it was, only, the girls would be getting a complimentary mum too. Youji just shook his head and finished up opening the shop front. "...that's a shame, really. The younger girls all like a pretty face like yours, best." he said, glancing over at Ken, looking him over with a sigh. Ken jerked his head up, eyeing Yohji suspiciously. Man, he was laying it on pretty thick this morning. Even worse, Ken was starting to buy it. His cheeks were turning red. "What're you talkin' about? Half of 'em come here to see _you_, 'n the other half comes to see Omi." A slow grin started to spread on Youji's face. Seeing Ken blush was probably about as good as glancing up just in time to see a woman's flustered face as she...well maybe not as good as THAT, but it certainly was high on Youji's list. "Well...a good deal of them do come to see me, that's certainly true" Youji said, nodding, "And a lot for Omi, too...but Ken- kun...just as many come for you. Haven't you heard all that giggling that goes on any time you bend over to fuss over some pots on the lower shelves? It's for you." The brunette turned an interesting shade of tomato as he came to the conclusion that he would never bend over in public ever again. "Enough, Yohji! Do something useful for once!" His temper was rising into the danger zone as fast as his face was reddening. With a growl, he turned back to what he was doing, concentrating very hard on positioning a terra cotta pot of yellow mums in between two other pots. "Fine fine...I still think you should put some of those mums outside though", he said, having resisted the urge to inform Ken he was doing something very useful, in reminding his friend just how attractive he really was. Youji strolled over to behind the counter, resting his arms on it, and began the very important task of staring at Ken. "You're not doin' anything, you put some outside." He had just perfectly arranged most of them on the display shelves. There were still a few sitting in the cart what wouldn't fit; the arrangement was full enough, as it was. He pulled the water cart from the corner and wheeled it over, then yanked the hose loose by the nozzle and began watering the new arrivals. Youji sighed loudly in protest, enough so that he blew a whisp of stray hair up from his forehead. He slowly sat up straight, and dragged his lanky form over to where Ken stood, placing his hands on the cart of the mums, but not making any move to bring them outside. Instead Youji loomed over Ken awhile, watching him water them. "You know Ken-kun," Youji began, his voice now more of a sultry purr, "What I said before. It was all true." Ken could feel the hairs on the back of his neck raise. He kept his head down, concentrating on watering the mums. Should he say anything? Ch'... what was there to say? Youji eyed Ken's silence for awhile, before slipping one hand from the cart, and moving it to Ken's jawline, gently pushing his face up. "If only you weren't so shy about showing this pretty face of yours..." he spoke again, his voice still more of a purr than anything else. That had done it. Yohji's sultry voice, the physical contact... it was too much for poor innocent, naive, modest Ken-kun. Without even looking up, he turned the hose right on Yohji, accidentally gripping the nozzle a little too hard. Youji stumbled back, letting out a high-pitched feminine squeal, and put his hands up, desperately trying to stop the cold flow of water. "Iiyaa~ Ken-kun! Stop-it!" he sputtered, finally ducking to safety behind a display of some of the stores larger and more expensive flowers. He tried to push back some of his drenched hair, before gaining the courage to peek over at Ken. Ken finally released the nozzle and dropped the hose back on the water cart. Yohji was doing a pitiful job of hiding; Ken could still see him from behind huge waxy plant leaves. Ken fixed him with an irate scowl before heading to the back room. "Dammit," he said in passing, "If you'd applied that persistence to other things than chasin' girls and pissin' me off, maybe you wouldn't be so useless." In later reflection, Ken would probably realize that what he said was way too harsh... even for Yohji. But for now, Ken was blinded by his temper. Right now, he meant every word of what he said. He banged the door open with a fist and disappeared into the back. "Don't bother me for a while," he said over his shoulder. Youji just blinked at Ken, staring up at him as he walked past. As much as he enjoyed testing Ken, trying to see how red his blushes could become, he never liked the scowls that followed. Well, that wasn't true...he liked all of it. A bit too much for his own good. Youji sighed quietly, and looked down at his shirt, which was now pasted to his body in places. He found himself laughing at it all, quietly to himself. Youji soon reluctantly stood up, walked back over to the cart of mums and rolled them outside, setting them up on some display shelves outside the shop. His shirt would be dry soon, just as Ken's anger would eventually dry up. Kai - Versenkbar "Hi Nicholas," Kai chirped after Naore's reaction to recognizing that the American was standing there. Removing a hand from the box he carried, he waved at him a bit, before placing the hand back on the box to stablize it. He didn't react to Naore's response for a while until he was finished placing the box he carried on top of the counter that she had gestured at. Then, he suddenly hugged the only slightly shorter girl from behind. ( Then again, when wasn't he impulsive? ) He looked like a neglected kitten, although Naore couldn't see his face with the position they were in. What an odd sight if someone who had no idea what was going on just walked in. "Nao-chan~!" Apparently, Kai wanted Naore to cheer up. Miki - Versenkbar "The next stop is Shibuya Station." Sitting in the seat directly below the speaker, Miki wondered for the umpteenth time if the woman the train company had paid to do the voiceover recording had been on something. Judging by the high pitched, flute-like voice, she’d either been hopped up, or twelve. "Transfer to the Shinjuku, Yokusuka and Saikyo Lines available. Please watch your step, and have a nice day." Sighing, Miki leaned his head back until it touched the window behind him, closing his eyes. On any normal day, he could skip the next station and go straight to Shinjuku -- and home. Before meeting with the Versenkbar heads, he’d only planned on stopping into the Fan to check the schedule, and he really didn’t even have to do that. He wasn’t working today, he could have gone the lazy route and called in once he’d gotten back to the apartment. Unfortunately, he was now under orders, as much as that thought grated on him, to go into work and be the bearer of extremely bad news. Dimly, he heard the announcement name his destination, Harajuku Station, as the train slowed to a stop. Worming his way through the crowd on the platform and the stairs, Miki made his way out into the sunlight and tried not to think too hard about what his bosses had told him. The meeting that he’d expected to take a half hour had stretched to two; he should have known something was up when they’d called on him to be inordinately detailed during his debriefing. The mission had been simple and straightforward, a quick kill of a minor official, and no one really cared about those missions. Unless they failed, of course. But Miki hadn’t failed and yet his superiors had him go over his every move from the time he’d left work up until when he’d arrived home. He’d answered the same questions four or five times before they were satisfied. No, no one had seen him. Yes, he was sure. The suspicious nature of their questions and their condescending attitude had tempted him to be difficult, but the oddness of the whole situation - and what they had told him later, had tempered that. Distracted by his thoughts and the familiarity of the route, Miki failed to pay attention to where he was going and nearly walked right into a pair of young girls who were leaving the coffee shop. They giggled and whispered over matching cups of something that smelled like cinnamon and was capped with whipped cream, ignoring him completely as he muttered an apology and ducked into the shop. After a quick survey assured him of a lack of patronage, he flipped the sign on the door to "Closed," and locked the door behind him. Ran - Weiß "Did you find everything you were looking for, sir?" The girl across the counter asked as she took the copy of "Ulysses" from him. "Yes, thank you." Waiting patiently as the clerk rang up his purchase, Ran checked his watch, then nodded in satisfaction. It wasn’t even noon yet; he had plenty of time to get back to the shop before his shift started, maybe he’d even get a chance to start on his new book before he joined his sister and Ken in fighting off the shop’s female patrons. As much as he frowned on Aya skipping class, her desire to help out (which undoubtedly had more to do with the fact that she could work with Ken than anything else) had won over his protests. She often won their arguments, since Ran capitulated so often that it was almost embarrassing. He was protective and nosy and pushy when it came to his little sister, even a year after having been reunited with her, but he still couldn’t deny her anything she really wanted. Stepping out of the bookstore, Ran shielded his eyes as he glanced up at the sky. The weather was shaping up to be perfect - they would be swarmed come mid-afternoon. With that chipper thought racing through his mind, Ran made his way back to the flower shop, arriving just in time to see Yohji wheel out a cart of garishly orange and yellow mums. Ran approached the storefront cautiously, doubly shocked to see him out of bed before noon and actually doing something productive. And on his day off, no less. Ran checked the sky for signs of pigs with wings. Upon coming closer, Ran noticed that Yohji was practically soaked, water dripped from his hair and plastered his shirt to his back. A thin red eyebrow arched as he tried to make sense of it all. "Freak accident with the hose, Kudoh?" Nicholas - Versenkbar "You'd better be here for a shift or to... to buy _coffee_ or something, otherwise..." "Otherwise…?" Nicholas’ words trailed off as Naore hustled past him. The 'unwanted' foreigner grinned mischievously as he followed the girl through the doors and into the shop. It was almost childish, (if it was not for his warped disposition) the way he took pleasure in his ability to frighten people. As the door swung shut his expression was back to an unenthused normal. Kai happily skipped by, balancing his box like it was an intentional circus act. Nicholas had already forgotten why he had came to the Fan... so he couldn’t really answer Naore if he wanted to. He plopped the box in hand down next to Kai’s on top of the counter. Glancing over at the two he watched as Kai glomped Naore from behind. He wasn’t at an angle to see either of their faces but he was sure it was an amusing site. ”Heh... how cute.... I suppose I’m here to baby sit you two.... and have a cup of… tea." his humor was masked by his subtle expression. Naore - Versenkbar Naore froze as she was hugged from behind. Honestly, she was too easily flustered. Kai was just trying to get her to smile, she knew. He was so silly and lighthearted and optimistic... didn't he ever feel troubled or upset? He was so hard to read, and that often served as a source of frustration for Naore. If anyone, she should have no trouble interpreting others, and Kai was someone she wanted to know better. At least, past this jovial and friendly facade. On some level, in her subconscious, she wanted to be able to tell herself that he treated her differently than everyone else... She tried to turn her head to see Kai's face, to perhaps say something, but Nicholas' latter comment distracted her. "That's a change. Usually it's us babysitting you and Sturm-san," she said in a sardonic monotone. Just as the bell on the door jingled. Two girls, who had been sitting in a corner chatting most of the morning, were on their way out. And Miki was on his way in. Naore was prepared to dismiss this as anything unusual, but she hadn't expected to see Miki at all this morning. Was he working? With her and Aya-chan already here--and she was pretty sure Sturm would be coming in--he couldn't possibly be... perhaps later this evening, but not the morning shift. And then, the tell-tale indicator that something was up... after a quick glance around, he'd flipped the shop sign to "closed" and locked the door. Naore's expression became a bit more serious... well, more serious than was normal. "Kanatachi-san?" Ken - Weiß Still stewing over Yohji's antics, Ken was now in the storage dock, straightening up the stock items. It was busy work until he was forced to go back into the shop again. The midday rush wasn't for another two hours... and boy, would that be hell. Dozens of people on lunch hour would swamp the place, and if they were lucky, they wouldn't just be a bunch of school girls hanging out and trying to get some action. Oh, how he hated them. Well, he didn't really. Right now, he was just mad. And he was taking his frustrations out on the merchandise, tossing boxes and packages around and kicking them across the floor where he needed them to be... rather than actually placing them in their rightful locations like a respectful employee. "Damn... Kudoh..." he growled as he attempted to pull a rather bulky box from a high shelf. However, he tugged a little too hard, and he--along with the box--were sent to the floor. Luckily, nothing too heavy or fragile was in the box. But now, packing peanuts were everywhere. With a sigh... and since he was already down there... he flopped on his back as if to make a packing peanut angel. However, instead of flailing his arms and legs like a good angel-maker, he just lay there in exasperation. Kai - Versenkbar Those big eyes of his were already on the door before the bells on the door even started to make any noise. He still clinged onto Naore from behind, even though he knew who was making an appearance. Miki shouldn't mind. It wasn't like this was unusual behavior for him. "Hi Miki-chan!" He piped up, although he felt Naore's expression go more serious than usual. Really, did this boy's attitude change at any time of day? And when would he learn not to call Miki by "chan"? ...Probably never. But he was safely hidden away behind Naore for now. "What brings you here so early?" Kai asked the smaller co-worker. To be continued.