The lady sat at the bar, sipping at her drink. Dark hair tumbled down her back in sculpted waves. Black eyes calmly surveyed the room. She was waiting for someone.

Then he appeared and her lips curved up in a smile. "Shuki-san, a Jack Daniels' on the rocks, please," she requested to the bartender.

The middle-aged man behind the counter smiled and tumbled a few cubes of ice into a glass, then splashed the amber liquid over them. "Here you go, miss." He set the drink on the counter and she smiled, placed a few bills in his tip jar, reaching across the drink to do so.

The man reached the bar finally.

"Shinomori-san?" she asked, extending her hand. "I'm Shirayuki Akayuki. I'm pleased to meet you. Please," and she gestured at the seat next to herself, "have a seat. I believe you usually order this?"

"Thank you. Yes, I do." He took a sip of the drink while she studied him, studied the moderate cut of the expensive suit he wore, the lines of power on his face, and the head which was starting to bald. He had combed his hair over.

"My employers, you must understand, asked for this to be a discreet event," Akayuki said, waving a hand about at the quiet bar. "Given the nature of the commerce, they felt that privacy for this meeting would be desirable."

"Of course." Shinomori ran a hand over his brow. He was sweating a little.

"You understand, we do not usually deal in such merchandise... or at least, we have not so far. If the market proves profitable enough to satisfy our investors, however, we will certainly wish to expand our interests into the field...."

Shinomori smiled. "Of course. And let me assure you that it is a very profitable field indeed. There comes the problem of getting the correct distributors, of course, but that is present in every field, and can be taken care of with the right management techniques. The merchandise itself sells like wildfire."

"So I've heard and so I've seen." Akayuki smiled gently. "But if you'll please excuse me for just a moment... I find myself in need of the ladies' room."

"Of course." Shinomori watched her go, admired the sway of her hips in that black dress. Her Bloody Mary remained on the counter, half-sipped. "Does she come here often?" he asked the bartender.

"Not as much as I'd like," the man replied, grinning.

When she hadn't come back in ten minutes, Shinomori ordered another drink. He nursed it for another ten, waiting for her to return. Then he got up and walked to the ladies' room, knocked on the door and opened it a bit. "Shirayuki-san?" he called. There was no response. He opened the door all the way and looked in.

There was no one.

Sweating, he glanced around the bar. Had she come out without him noticing? No... he couldn't see her anywhere. He looked back in the ladies' room, empty to the closed window at the end. Confused, he felt the room start to reel around him. But he hadn't had that much to drink, had he? Only one and a half whiskies....

He stumbled out the door into the snow. It was hard to breathe here, and he could barely see the sky. Everything whirled around him and he sank down--or was it up? to his knees. Black spots ate up the purple edges to his vision; the snow was comforting as he fell....

 

Perhaps a minute later, three young men melted from the shadows which had concealed them. A fourth came from out of the bar.

"He's dead," Omi said, feeling for a pulse.

"What happened?" Ken asked Youji, who had come from inside.

"He was drinking with a lady. She left...." Youji shook his head. "I don't know."

"A heart attack?" Omi asked.

"Shouldn't be..." Ken said, trying to fit the pieces together.

"Poison," said Aya, drawing all eyes to him. Omi jerked his fingers away from the dead man.

 

Lady Killer 1
by K.Huntsman
released 24 December 1999

 

Ken pushed the shutters back from the door and began the morning task of bringing trays of plants out for displays. It was early and still cool; he didn't mind that Youji hadn't arrived yet. He even whistled a little, his tune flat, as he worked.

"Thank you very much!" a female voice called from the shop next to Kitten In The House. Ken looked over; the shop had been vacant for a month or more. Had someone finally rented it? A young woman stood in the open doorway, waving at a departing moving truck. He could see the shapes of boxes in the shop behind her.

Ken smiled. "Good morning!" he called over to her, catching her attention. The woman turned, revealing a reasonably pretty face, a pair of blue eyes framed by long, straight black hair. "Are you just setting up business?"

She nodded. "Good morning to you too. Yes, I am."

He grinned. "Don't suppose you could use some plants to liven up your shop?"

She closed the door behind her and walked over to him. "I probably will, later. Do you own this flower shop?"

Ken shook his head. "I only work here. What kind of business are you starting?"

A hand reached out to caress the stem of an iris. "Books and bears and teas. These are lovely."

"Thank you." Ken set down the last pot of miniature roses and extended a hand. "Hidaka Ken."

She took it. "Shirayuki Yukiko. I'm pleased to meet you, Hidaka-san." She looked over her shoulder at her store. "I'd probably better get started setting up. But I'll be back later... for some flowers." She smiled, and Ken thought that she was indeed very pretty. It was almost a pity that he wasn't Youji, he thought, watching her retreat. Sometimes he really wished he had the other man's charm.

"Morning, Ken," Youji said, as if Ken's thoughts had summoned him, just as the door closed behind Shirayuki-san. "What are you looking at?"

"We have a new neighbor," Ken said lightly. "And, since the rare miracle of you getting up in the morning has occurred, you can help me get some of the potted trees out here...."

 

Sometime later in the afternoon, about a half hour before the usual mob of girls were expected to arrive from the local schools, Ken was surprised to find Shirayuki-san back in the shop, browsing through the potted plants. "Hi again," Ken said, brushing his hands off and walking over to her. "Looking for anything in particular?"

Her eyes settled on him. "Actually, yes. I don't suppose you'd have any white African violets? The kind of white that looks like it's just frosted over...."

"I think we have some in the back. Just a sec and I'll go check. Hey, Youji, watch the front!"

 

"Yes, yes," Youji said, looking up from the book he was scanning as Ken went into the back. "Are you the new neighbor?" he asked the customer Ken had been helping.

She nodded, the end of her long tail of black hair dancing. "Yes. I'm Shirayuki Yukiko. You have lovely eyes."

Youji was momentarily taken aback by her forwardness. "Um... thank you. I'm Kudou Youji."

"A very pretty green... brushed with just a hint of gold...." Then she smiled and shook her head. "I'm sorry, I usually don't ramble like that. It's just very rare to meet someone with true green eyes."

--Green eyes--flashes of beatings and screams--"He's not my son!"--

He pushed the memories down.

"You write poetry, don't you?" Youji asked, smiling.

Yukiko smiled and looked down. "A little. It's that obvious?"

He turned on the charm. "You have a poet's soul."

"Found 'em!" Ken crowed, coming out with a pot in either hand. Youji looked at the green leaves and glimmering white flowers as Ken displayed them before Yukiko-san.

"They're lovely," she declared. "Perfect. How much?"

Youji watched as she chatted with Ken and paid for the two violets and a miniature white rose besides. She smiled and laughed and extracted a promise from Ken to come over to her shop later in the day after she'd finished setting up. Then she turned to Youji and said "You'll come too, won't you? Please say yes, you with the verdant eyes."

He smiled and bowed like a courtier. "I could never refuse a lady's request."

She smiled back. "Thank you, Kudou-san. I'll be looking forward to seeing the both of you later, then!" She collected her plants from the counter and he and Ken watched in disbelief as she balanced the rose pot atop her head and took an African violet in the crook of each arm.

She laughed at their expressions. "I've taken dance lessons since I was three," she said by way of explanation. She walked out of the shop, hips swaying gently from side to side as the roses stayed level on the top of her head.

They watched as she disappeared back into her own shop, ducking a little to avoid hitting the rose on the door frame.

"Now that is something you don't see every day!" Ken exclaimed, grinning.

"She does have a certain something," Youji conceded.

"Who does?"

"Our new neighbor," Youji replied as Omi pulled an apron over his head.

Aya arrived a few minutes later and tagging his heels was the crowd of schoolgirls. The four young men laughed and chattered with the damoiselles (or ignored them, in Aya's case) for about two hours, selling a few blossoms to the young hopefuls along the way.

Shortly after the last of the girls departed, they took all the plants back into the store and rolled down the shutters and closed the shop.

 

Ken hung his apron up on the peg. "Youji, you comin'?"

Youji looked up from where he was settling an orchid for the night. "Yeah. Just a minute."

"Where are you two going?" Omi inquired.

"Next door. Our new neighbor invited us to stop by," Ken replied.

"Can I come too?" Omi begged.

Ken shrugged. "Sure, why not?" He looked over to Aya, who was just taking his own apron off. "Aya, you want to come too?"

Aya silently shrugged.

"Well, then, let's go!" decided Ken, lifting up the shutter for all of them to walk out underneath it.

He shut it again and let Aya lock up the shop after all of them were out, the lights off behind them. It wasn't quite dark yet, and the second shutter to the new shop was still open, so he strolled over there just ahead of the others, wanting to be the first to get a peek at the revamped interior.

He stopped short, just outside of the entrance.

"What is it, Ken-kun?" Omi asked, then stopped as he too caught sight of the inside. "Wowww...."

All traces of the video store which had been Kitten In The House's neighbor before were eliminated. Instead the interior was decorated with teddy bears, shelves upon shelves of them, in every color, style, and size which could be imagined. There was a big one sitting in a chair in the corner. It was about as tall as Aya, and a heck of a lot more cuddly-looking. Tucked in here and there were shelves of books, of chocolates, of teas.

The plain ceiling bulbs had been covered by rose fabric shades, there were scarves draped over tabletops, and Ken smiled as he spotted the African violets flanking a discreet cash register. The rose had been put on a table, two small bears seeming to be in the act of grooming it.

The proprietress sat on a tall stool behind the counter, dealing a deck of cards. They flew between her fingers like magic. She looked up as she heard Omi's expression of awe. "Hello," she said simply, smiling at the four of them as she set down her deck and slid off the stool.

"You've really done something with this place," Ken blurted. "It's great!"

"Thank you, Hidaka-san." Her eyes flicked to Omi, and then Aya. "Who are your friends?"

"I'm Tsukiyono Omi!" Omi introduced himself promptly, extending a hand towards her. "Pleased to meet you!"

"Shirayuki Yukiko," she replied with a smile, shaking his hand. "I'm very pleased to meet you, Tsukiyono-san. She looked at Aya. "And you...?"

"Fujimiya Aya," he replied, voice quiet.

Shirayuki tipped her head to the side slightly. "You have a striking voice," she observed. "Have you ever trained it?"

"...No," Aya said.

She smiled. "A pity." Then she turned her attention back to all of them. "Please, won't you come in? If you'd care to join me, I have some wonderful jasmine tea and lemon and chocolate cookies to go with it... unless you're busy, that is."

"I'd love to!" Omi said.

Ken smiled at her. "I don't have anywhere to be for a few hours."

"As the lady wishes...." Youji added.

That left only Aya. He shrugged.

"Oh, thank you very much!" Shirayuki exclaimed. "It'll be like a shop-warming party, to have tea with my new neighbors! Please, come in, look around, choose a favorite bear if you like...." She turned around and vanished behind and below the counter as they drifted in. A minute later she re-appeared with a white china teapot and a set of matching cups in hand. Ken watched from the corner of his eye as she measured something into a tea strainer and snapped it shut, hooking it over the side of the teapot. An electric coffeepot also appeared from beneath the counter; the hot water inside was poured into the teapot in a steamy stream. She closed the lid of the latter and tucked away the former and vanished downwards again.

"Oh, this one's cute!" Omi said, picking out a teddy which was just the shade of his sun-bleached hair.

Aya touched wistful fingers to a small purple bear which had a white rose embroidered on its chest. "Aya...." Ken just barely heard him whisper.

Youji had picked up one of the books and was flipping through it. Ken looked around and realized to his distress that there was nothing to his taste here.

"Do you like poetry, Kudou-san?" Shirayuki asked as she cleared a few bears off the centermost display table and laid out plates and cups around it.

Youji looked up at her. "Yes. Why?"

She smiled as she worked. "I'd just noticed that you'd picked up that volume of Frost. He's one of my favorite poets, though I think that the translation into Japanese lacks something."

"You read English well enough to get poetry in it?" Ken asked, interested. He had a little bit of an ear for languages.

She nodded, going back to the counter to retrieve one of the plates of cookies she'd left there. "My mother... that is, my stepmother, was British. Thanks to her, my brother and sister and I all grew up bilingual." She stepped back from the table and surveyed it. "That'll do, I suppose. The tea won't be ready for a few more moments, though. My aunts and uncles and cousins used to send us all books and CDs. We did the same for them." She looked up at Ken. "Do you speak any foreign languages, Hidaka-san?"

He nodded. "A little. A few. I'm not very good, though."

Omi laughed. "Don't let him fool you, Shirayuki-san, he's the best of the four of us when it comes to languages!"

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow.

"He speaks... let's see...." Youji counted off on his fingers. "Japanese, of course. German. English. Cantonese... and was it Mandarin or French you were working at last, Ken?"

"Shaddup!" Ken growled at the two of them. "I'm really not that good," he apologized to Shirayuki. "They're just playing...."

"And Ken-kun is a bad liar," Omi replied. "Ne, Shirayuki-san, how much is this bear?" He held out the gold one he had been admiring.

"For you, Tsukiyono-san, it's gratis. Think of it as a 'getting to know you' present."

"Umm... thank you!" Omi was actually blushing, Ken noted.

"Oh, it's nothing," the black-haired proprietress said with a little wave of her hand. "The rest of you, please pick out something you like as well." Youji smiled in pleasure and closed the book he had been skimming. Aya silently took the purple bear which had caught his eye. Ken wondered how long it would be before that ended up in his sister's hospital room.

 

"Nothing for you, Hidaka-san?" Yuki inquired, stepping beside the one who hadn't chosen anything.

"N-no. I can't accept a gift like that. It doesn't seem right..." he stuttered, and she thought she saw the problem.

"Nothing to your taste?" she asked softly, looking into his brown eyes.

"Yeah, I guess not," he replied, sighing, his shoulders deflating.

"What do you like, then?" Yuki asked, determined not to start off her acquaintance with these four men unfairly.

He shrugged. "I like kids. I like soccer...."

Soccer?

She smiled. "I may have something, then. Wait here just a second." She disappeared into the back of the shop, where she'd stored the merchandise she hadn't yet set out for display. A moment's digging brought her to what she was looking for. She smiled and looked at it, smoothing the fur with a gentle hand. Then she stood from her half-kneeling position and on silent feet walked back into the main part of the shop.

"Hidaka-san, heads up!" she called and tossed the bear towards him. He whirled to face her and caught the bear in his hands with a little jump. He blinked as he lowered it to his eye level and saw that it was dressed in a soccer uniform and posed in the very act of kicking the fuzzy ball before it.

"Heh," he said, smiling. "It's cute. Thanks!"

Yuki shrugged self-deprecatingly. "It's small enough greetings." Then she went to pour the tea.

 

In My Heart

Blood burns, and time turns,
the world moving on.
I will not forget you,
how could I forget you,
I'll never forget you.
But time goes on,
and the wounds must either fester or heal.
You would want me to live.
This is not the path you would have chosen,
not the road you would have walked,
not the life you'd have lived,
but,
at least I go on.

 

For this story, I use the setting of the manga where they all live in apartments over Koneko no Sume Ie and get their assignments from both Manx -and- Birman. (The difference in the anime is that they all seem to live together in a larger home and that Manx is Persia's only secretary.) I keep their manga descriptions rather than their anime ones, so Youji has dark brown hair rather than blond, and Ken's eyes are brown, not blue. Though their weapons are the anime versions rather than the ones Tsuchiya-sensei depicted.

On to Chapter 2

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