In a Different Light

/I wonder what they're up to now./

It seemed somewhat odd, waking up to a thought like that. But, as I reached forward to shut the beeping alarm clock off, I could still hear the thought whispering through my head.

/What are they doing?/

I looked at the digital face, seeing the bright red numbers pulse in the dark. 6:00 a.m. Definitely time to get up, even though there wasn't anything yet on my schedule.

Let's see, when does the shop open today? Seven? Surely enough time to get there before the girls come in.

And that was that. Suddenly I found myself rushing to get dressed and eat; I ran a brush through my hair, threw on some clothes, shoved my feet into a pair of old sneakers -

But who would've thought that the girls would come even *this* early?

I watched, fascinated, as a large group collected around the front doors of the Koneko -

/We're all here to see them - /

There was Ken, unlocking the doors, waving at all of us in general. And Aya, behind him, a scowl on his face as he noted the regulars. As I walked closer to the shop, I felt myself straighten, chin lift. I checked myself suddenly, pausing in the middle of the sidewalk.

/Are they any different at this time?/

Oh, well, I needed to get flowers, anyway.

I joined the girls at the doorway, allowed myself to be spilled into the shop as one by one, each girl separated from the group to search for their choice.

"Where's Omi today, Ken-kun?"

"Ah - ah... he's - "

"He isn't *sick*, is he?!"

"Sick?! Is Omi-kun sick?!"

"N-No!" At the notable tone in Ken's voice I turned to see him sputtering over a potted plant, eyes drifting away. "He's, uh, uhm, he just stayed up too late last night, and probably just slept in."

"Omi slept in!" The chorus of giggles obviously was making Aya scowl even deeper, though why he was I wasn't able to figure out until he turned his gaze on the group surrounding Ken.

" If you're not going to buy anything..." He was fairly growling, violet eyes flashing even in this morning light. /Uhhuh.../ The redhead was moving ever closer to Ken...

"Youji's not here, either." Several of the slightly older girls were pouting, and I had to stifle a laugh; Youji? Up this early? Not likely.

It wasn't too different from what I've always seen before, if not a little more relaxed. Omi? Sleep in? As with Youji, not likely.

I wandered to a corner of the shop, glancing back to watch Aya. He had stepped back from the oblivious soccer player and was continuing his attempts to shoo all the girls out at once with a deathglare.

Really, did the man ever smile?

/Did Ken ever frown - wait - /

"Aya-kun! Do you know what kind of flower would work best with - "

"He's *mine*, Emiko! No fair!"

Ooh, the brunette's frowning, now. He wasn't looking up, though, so he assumed the stance of one who was concentrated on his current job. I had to cover my mouth, but it came out, a soft half-laugh, quickly stifled. He glanced up sharply, noticing me in the corner, and his face changed, a wide smile gracing his face.

Oh, shit, he's looking at me.

/And he was smiling./

"May I help you?"

"Erm, no," I said, as light-voiced as possible, stepping away to inspect another flower. /Please don't let him see I was laughing - /

"Just looking for something for a friend..."

"A friend?" Intrigued, Ken moved forward, always willing to help.

"Sick?"

"Oh, no, no... just something for... friendship..." The understatement of the year, but I managed it anyway. He smiled an understanding smile (or it was just a facade, I couldn't tell) and led me toward another section of the shop, talking all the way.

I swear I could feel Aya's eyes on me -

"Ohayo, minna-san! Irasshaimase~!" Omi yawned from the back of the shop, and the whole lot of them squealed, rushing over to glomp him, the poor boy.

" - Good morning, Omi! You're late!" Ken teased him, then turned back to me, several flowers in hand. "Here, these should do it - what do you think?"

"Nn." I inspected the flowers with an approving eye. "Ne, Ken-kun?" I asked, and he looked surprised for a moment. I smiled.

"It's not hard to figure out someone's name when it's being said over and over again in several voices." Behind him, Aya was now *really* staring, and it didn't look good -

"Ah, hai." Ken nodded somewhat vigorously, surprise gone from his face. "Eh - did you want to get that now?"

I nodded. "Okay. But can I ask you something first?"

In all the times I've been here, I haven't stayed long enough to actually see this. It was actually pretty funny, too, once I got over the fact that I had overlooked it when it was right *there*.

Ooh, I was getting the deathglare. Better hurry it up.

Ken was still oblivious. "Go ahead. What is it?"

"Do you like Aya-kun?"

He stopped, turned around. Stared. I gazed back evenly at him, noting vaguely that his hands had started shaking.

/Good thing I asked him for the flowers first, ne?/

He was still staring, and Aya was coming over here, now. "Nn? Do you?"

"I - I - "

"Are you ready to buy that, miss?"

I blinked, and Aya was practically in my face, towering over the shorter florist, eyes narrowed as he stared at me. Slightly dazed, Ken looked up, face reddening when he noticed who was hovering over him. *Kawaii~*

"Oh, sure. Can I get a tag for this?" I indicated the bundle I was holding, and the redhead nodded gracefully, taking the flowers away from me. "Thank you." He all but stalked off without another word, disappearing into the back storeroom. And Ken had wandered off, immediately earning himself three wide-eyed fangirls in the process. The opportunity was shot; it was better to walk away as if nothing had happened.

As I walked away, I now felt like Ken was staring at me, probably still in shock over what I asked him. /I wonder.../

"Is that all, miss?" Omi beamed at me from behind the counter, and I nodded, smiling. He smiled as Aya handed the prepared set over, told me the price, and promptly disappeared again in the back. Omi beamed again, eyes closing, a little too quickly, as he smiled. Vaguely, I wondered what kept Omi up late enough to warrant sleeping in.

/Wonder what they do whenever they have nothing else to do - /

There was a loud yawn from the back of the shop, and I could hear Youji's drawling voice sighing over missing breakfast. There was a faint echo, the cool tone of Aya's voice as he answered the older man snappishly. Youji was up?

The sharp-eared girls caught the new voice quickly, and gasped in delight.

"*~Youji!~*"

And now was the time to make my exit. While the girls rushed forward, streaming towards the back of the shop, I slipped out, pulling the flowers closer to avoid crushing them.

Outside, I checked my watch. Getting the flowers only took about ten minutes, but watching them -

It was around 7:30. Time for work. I gave the shop another glance.

/That was fun, ne? Try again?/

There was nothing special going on at work; only a few bouts of paper-shuffling. The boss was out for the day, so I took my time off to wander back to the flower shop, stopping at my place to change.

Omi and Ken were there this time, and some of the girls from the morning. They had calmed down in the summer heat, and were quietly buzzing about the flowers, chatting to each other and stealing glances at the boys in the back. As I approached the doors, the taller boy noticed me, and I could see a look of recognition cross his features.

So he remembered -

I beamed, pushed open the door. Several of the girls looked up, then away, at the appearance of yet another "real" customer.

What the hell, I need more flowers for missing lunch.

"Irrashaimase! Can I help you?" Omi approached me, smiling as widely as he had been in the morning, if not more.

/He was smiling. Something I don't see everyday ~ /

"Um... flowers...?" I peeked around him, spotting a number of small potted plants on the shelf. The boy twisted his head to look behind him, blonde hair swinging in front of his face.

"Ah! Which would you like?" He bounded over to the shelf - which was positioned a good few feet above his head - and reached as high as possible to touch the pot.

"Careful, Omi! You'll drop it!"

"I'm careful! I'm not a kid!"

"He looks like one to me!" A nearby girl giggled, and was rewarded with a stubborn glare, but continued on anyway. "He's so short!"

"Hey!"

"Kawaii!"

And that was what was different, I thought, as I realized what I wanted to see ever since this morning. It was there even that morning, but I hadn't realized it - Ken was openly laughing with the other girls, while a red-face Omi stomped and fumed for a little while before starting to grin himself.

/I wanted to see them like this ~/

/They looked happy. Not so serious after all~/

Omi finally managed to get the pot off of the shelf, and turned to hand them to me, face now beaming.

"Here you are. Is that all?"

"Hai. Doumo arigatou gozaimasu."

The boss was there by the time I came back, already waiting with my work in hand. He gave me a raised eyebrow, one side of his face twitching knowingly, but I only smiled back. It wasn't what he thought.

It was evening now, and I could see Youji moving around through the window, closing the shop. I walked up to the door, knocked, saw him look up. I wore my work clothes now, and I straightened as I passed through the all-too-familiar door.

They were waiting in the basement by the time I got there, four faces looking up at me as I stepped down the stairs. Four serious faces, the looks I have grown to know for so long.

Aya, calm and collect, violet eyes gazing at me from behind the shock of red hair; arms crossed as he stood by the wall. Ken, smiling face now composed into a slight frown as he noted my arrival. He was already sitting down, back toward Aya and Youji, and his hand rested on the remote control to the video cassette player. Youji, standing near Aya, cigarette hanging from his mouth as he looked me up and down languidly, grinning slightly, even though the eyes behind the sunglasses were narrowed in all seriousness. And Omi, eyes still wide, but now betraying a shadow behind those innocent orbs. He was across the room, waiting -

/Of course, now they all recognized me. They were waiting for me - /

Looking at them, I was glad I went to the shop this morning to see them. Watching them now, I could see some things that I probably never would have seen otherwise. I scanned them over again, remembering the morning -

/- Youji and Omi were sharing looks across the room - /

That was a new one.

- and seeing Ken and Omi smile so widely -

/I wonder if Aya will ever smile - /

And once again, I thought to myself:

/They shouldn't be doing this - /

But I guess that's how life is.

Aya cleared his throat, aiming his gaze at me.

Right. The mission. I graced him with a slow smile. He nodded, greeting me in his usual, curt way.

"Manx."

"Good evening, boys."

~Owari~