Jun carefully tweaked the rhododendron branch in the arrangement and couldn't help but lightly caress the indigo petals of the iris, before standing back and examining his work. He gave a curt nod and smiled. With this humble arrangement placed upon the centre of the table, coated in a crisp white cloth, his first commission under his own name was complete. It was a wedding that he had been commissioned for. Weddings were a huge deal for any florist, for the bride and groom could not only request the bouquet and button flowers from them, but also table displays, smaller bouquets for the bridesmaids, even thank you gifts for those who had helped with the big day. In this case, the bride, a young brunette, who had been swimming in indecision, had haplessly wandered into the florist and seen him playing with a random assortment of unsellable flowers, which he had arranged into a stunning yet simple display that could only be considered as art. Despite not knowing anything else that she wanted for her wedding, she knew she wanted him to create for her some table decorations. With Eiko's more experienced hand, they had worked out a price, colours and flowers for the main bouquet and a very ecstatic bride and mother-in-law to be had left feeling that they were in capable hands. Eiko had congratulated Jun on his first commission which had stunned him, as it hadn't occurred to him to see it that way. But as he glanced around the hall, he couldn't quite hold down the emotions stirring his heart. "Are we all done, here?" Shaheed asked him. The young coffee skinned youth was the epitome of a sullen teenager. Naturally the last thing he wanted to do was work in a shop dealing with girly things like flowers. It was just that his mum and dad had insisted he needed a part time job on the weekends, he thought that they were just trying to keep him apart from his friends. Part time jobs that he didn't need to get the bus nor train to were few and far between, but his older brother knew Eiko's cousin, who happened to know that the woman was hiring staff so she could comfortably go on maternity leave. His mates had ribbed him something terribly when they had found out. Still, when he had received his first pay check, he grudgingly admitted that it wasn't all bad. "Yes," Jun said with a satisfied nod, "we are." He pulled on his coat, grabbed the last of the plastic wrapping he had used to protect the containers and flowers and followed Shaheed out off the door. A blast of cold air hit them, the low temperature a sign of a long winter to come, but at least the weather remained fair and bright. The pair made their way to the florist's delivery van. Shaheed had a driver's licence, unlike Jun, having been fortunate enough to pass his test first time. He was quite a cautious driver as well, which Jun appreciated. He had little experience being driven about in vans and cars, his ex, Ryder, the person to drive him around to places in his university days, had been an appalling driver. Shaheed dropped him off outside of the florist front before manoeuvring the small van to the back streets where the garage was located. "How did it go?" Eiko asked him. She sat upon a stool, surrounded by her most favourite flowers. Her baby boy, Akahito, was now three months old and currently in the care of his doting dad. Jun felt guilty about dragging her away from her family, but the other part timer had commitments this weekend and could not make it in to cover them. "Miss Kimberly loved the bouquet and table arrangements," Jun replied, softly. The young woman had almost burst into tears of delight and she hadn't even walked down the aisle to her beloved as yet. "That's awesome," Eiko replied slumping down upon the desktop, clearly very tired. "When Shaheed gets back," he said as he glanced over her weary form. "Would you like a cup of tea?" "Yes, please!" Eiko answered, gratefully. After the young man returned, Eiko walked up the inner staircase towards the apartment, Jun not far behind. As they opened the door, they came to find Keiichi slumped fast asleep over a giant teddy bear that Jun had purchased him with his first wages. He was wrapped up in his duvet cover and the television was playing to itself. "Aw," Eiko whispered, guiltily. "This can't have been fun for the poor bun." It had been fairly busy in the shop, being the weekend, and she couldn't look in on Kei as often as she would have liked. Jun nodded, sadly. This had admittedly not been the first weekend he had worked, but ordinarily, he was just in the shop and Kei visited with frequency, reassuring himself that his mummy had not gone away. Akiyama had not been the mothering sort, but Kei still missed her. Jun kneeled down to carefully lift the child from the floor, he groaned inwardly over carrying a weight he was not used to, before carefully lying him on the sofa. "I'll make it up to you," he said softly to the sleeping boy. He then turned off the television. "Sit down," Jun advised Eiko. "I'll make a pot of tea." ***** "Welcome to our home Hoashi-san." "You have a beautiful home, Madam Fumiko. Thank you so much for welcoming us here." "We are just so pleased to be here, Hoashi-san." Kazuhiko sat stiffly, his knees folded as he rested lightly upon his heels, hands carefully placed upon his thighs as he tried not to curl them into angry fists. To say he was displeased could be considered something of an understatement. A few days ago, while he was enjoying a moment respite from work, watching Kou as he sat upon his play mat, grasping a rattle and attempting to place it inside his mouth, Kazuhiko's mother had approached him with her plans. Although he had protested vehemently, especially as it had been just ten weeks since the divorce, the woman claimed that all was arranged and it would be rude to turn them away now. And surely he should think of Kou, who really needed a mother to care for him. His cute, chubby cheeked son had gazed up at him with large, almond shaped eyes and he couldn't help but be persuaded by his mother's words. Thus, now he was attending this omiai, this marriage meeting and regretting every moment of it. Mrs Hoashi was actually the cousin of his mother, who had married into another family within their circles. The Hoashi's also practiced the art of playing musical instruments, but their focus was just the koto. They had several scores for the instrument that had been passed down through generations of their family, though the last had been created by an ancestor over a hundred years prior. They were still highly respected for being the descendants of the composers of said pieces. Mrs Hoashi was naturally not alone, this was an omiai after all. Beside her was her eldest daughter, Kurea Hoashi. Kurea Hoashi shuffled in, wearing a traditional style kimono, with peach blossoms decorating the pretty, pale pink silk. Her auburn hair was styled with a braid along the sides of her oval head and pinned into a neat bun. Cute hair pins with dangling crystal flowers heightened the effect. Blush had been applied to the girl's pale cheeks and liner darkened her eyes to brighten the blue of them. Kurea was fairly pretty, not the beauty that Esme had been at all, but pleasant to look at... were it not that she looked rather young.