{ON HOLD!}The Language of Flowers (ShuuNeki/TsukiKaneAU)

{2:Monkshood}

{2:Monkshood}

"Rize," the name leaves his mouth in the form of a hiss, and the woman who is the owner of the name giggles.

"I'm disappointed, Shuu. I thought you always gave your customers a proper greeting... Come on, say it! Say, 'good morning miss". Rize slowly adjusts her scarlet glasses as she awaits Shuu's response. Shuu rolls his eyes, and barely manages to restrain himself from cursing at her. Even if she is a former employee, even if she is a thief, she is currently a customer so he should treat her as one.

"Good morning, miss," Shuu says with a forced smile, "How may I help you?"

"I want my job back," Rize says, getting right to the point. "Please give it back to me." THE Rize using the word 'please'? Just what has the world come to? Now growing curious, Shuu decides to chat with her a bit.

"Why should I give it back to you? When you previously worked for me you stole $2,000 worth of flowers from me. YOU STOLE FROM ME. Why should I trust you?" Shuu attempts to remain calm, but he can't help but let a small amount of anger leak into his voice, resulting in him speaking louder.

Rize plays with a strand of her hair, which to Shuu's annoyance has been dyed to a purple similar to his, before responding, "I really need the money and I love flowers..." She says, her gaze focused on the strand of hair she is playing with. "Besides, I've changed. I won't steal from you or anyone ever again... It was wrong of me to take what isn't mine. From now on I'm going to earn whatever ends up being in my possession." Shuu narrows his eyes at the woman. She has said quite a bit, yet Shuu feels like she is leaving out something, something important...

"You love books more than flowers, why don't you work at a bookstore?" Shuu asks her, earning himself a loud sigh from her.

"It's not easy to get a job when you have a criminal record," she responds, her expression changing from indifferent to somber. "If I don't get a job soon I'll have to live on the street... I won't be able to buy myself food or anything... I'll have to go to the homeless shelter..." Even though there is a strong possibility that what she is saying is true, Shuu can't help but feel that she is lying. "Don't worry... You don't have to decide right away..." To his surprise she then exits, with tears in her eyes. Perhaps she truly has changed... The Rize he knew would never cry.

He finds himself surprised once again as he seriously reconsiders hiring Rize. She has experience, and his customers always said that she was kind and extremely helpful.

"W-W-Who was that?" A familiar voice asks, forcing Shuu abandon his thoughts for the moment. Before him is the mysterious young girl who is going to be working for him. Today she isn't wearing her favorite dress. Today she is wearing a light blue dress. Dress... Coming to think of it, Shuu has never seen her not wearing a dress. Does she own anything besides dresses?

"That was a former employee of mine. She was hoping to work here one again. I might..." Shuu begins, to find himself interrupted by the young girl.

"Don't hire her!" She says rather quickly, perhaps too quickly. Just what has caused her to become so upset? "Please, please don't hire her! I'll do anything! Please..." She begins to beg. She falls to her knees and begs from the floor, weakly tugging on one of Shuu's pant legs. Her words soon become incomprehensible as she begins to cry. Her tears stain his tan pants, and create small puddles upon the tile floor.

Slowly bringing himself down the girl's level, he pulls her into a tight hug. "Take a few deep breaths... Breathe in, and breathe out," Shuu has decided to help her calm down before pressing for more information. "Everything is going to be alright."

"I'M DEAD, I'M DEAD, I'M DEAD, I'M DEAD," the girl says, with wide eyes. "She found me... She killed my parents and I'm next. I'M DEAD, I'M DEAD, I'M DEAD, I'M DEAD I'M..." She pauses a minute to catch her breath. "I'm Hinami. My name is Hinami. Both my parents were murdered two years ago in a break in... SHE IS THEIR KILLER. I have no proof... But I saw her... I am a witness... Now she is going to kill me..."

"Hinami," Shuu whispers, afraid that if he speaks too loudly that she might completely fall apart, "There's no guarantee that Rize is the murderer. It happened two years ago... Perhaps you're mistaken..." assuming that what she says is true; Shuu can't help but hope that Hinami is mistaken. After all, murderers are almost always caught, right? Even if the murderer wasn't caught at first, surely the murderer would have been caught by now...

"I KNOW. Look what she gave me..." letting her voice trail off as she reaches into her pocket, Hinami gingerly places a flower in his left hand. Despite the fact that the flower is a bit warped from being in her pocket, Shuu can recognize the violet petals of a Monkshood.

"Beware; a deadly foe is near..." Shuu says, saying the flower's meaning aloud.

"I don't want to die..." Hinami whispers, burying her face in Shuu's chest. "Help me... My foster parents don't believe me. At this rate I'm going to..."

"Hinami," Shuu says in a powerful tone of voice, "I WILL NEVER let anyone hurt you. Remember the Yellow Rose I gave you? We're friends. Friends help friends." Patting the girl gently on the back, he soon adds, "Forget about the Monkshood, okay? After all, the only one that should receive a Monkshood is Rize." Hinami cries for a while, and allows Shuu to hug her.

As the sun begins to go down, signaling the arrival of night, Shuu insists on walking Hinami home. They two create uneven silhouettes as they walk hand in hand. From a distance one might assume that they are Father and Daughter...

Meanwhile, just a few blocks away, Rize has found herself a new target. Rize wasn't lying when she said she has changed. After all, she doesn't steal anymore... That is, she doesn't steal unless you count the lives she takes.