It was all to plan— or rather, Migi was going to take credit for getting Hiei this drunk in such a short amount of time. Wasn’t his original goal to get his housemate drunk, but when in Altalusia you did what the Altalusians did and drink all your problems away. They were in Sonshan, but, same thing applied here, too.

“Hiei’s out after this one,” Migi said, and nudged the slighter man with his elbow. He took his own drink and then proceeded to order more before Kenta could even finish his own drink. “Unless you think you can handle this, big man?” The smirk was evident, and with the mischievous glint in Migi’s eyes, it was already game over.


Hanae had awoken early, earlier than normal. Her sleep had been fitful when she had finally fallen asleep, and even then she couldn’t dare to sleep deeply. At one point she had decided that it would be better to just be awake and get started on the care for her plants. She went through the motions, her heart not into her work, at least in the beginning. When it came to her tending the secret orchard garden hidden on the side of her house, her heavy heart was beginning to feel lighter.

Until it came to her setting up her cart. She had peeked at that paper, at the simple message that Hanae realized had been for Hiei and seemed to be a private matter. Hanae had stared at the handwriting, perfect and meticulous. It frightened her. Her mother had written like that and Hanae knew what that meant: it belonged to someone who had a steady hand.

Women’s hands shake too much, her mother had told her and her sister. But look at mine. Still as a statue. Train your hands to do the same.

Hanae glanced at her hands as she began bundling up the different florals neatly. Her lips tugged down slightly, and she got her cart settled. She only went back into her home to collect her coin purse and the message for Hiei. She had folded it exactly and hoped that by giving it to him she wasn’t making a mistake. She locked her home and off she went to the square she was at yesterday.

…

“He’s late,” Hanae mumbled and plucked nervously at her dress. She was hunched over, anxiety prickling all over. Not only did she have to deal with the happenings of her poor seduction last night, figuring out how to bring up the note to Hiei, but now she would also have to admit that she had barely made any coin and nearly a third of her stock for the day was gone.
 
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Hiei glared at Migi. "Gimmie at-" he said as he snagged up the last drink. He stared at it for a long moment. At the pool of clear water within the small porcelain cup. As if he saw his soul reflected there in. Heard Hanae chide him.

To drink and go from bar to bar.

He clicked his teeth and took up the drink. What does she know about me? And he drained it.

Come the crowing of the morning bird, and none would wake in the confines of tenant room 301. It was the sizzle of an egg, and the savory smell of its runny substance turn to fluffy solid.

Hiei rolled upon his sleeping mat with a groan. His head felt as if it were being split in two by a fine chisel and the steady knocks of a well aimed hammer. Right behind his eyes. He opened his eyes slowly, and saw the bright pre-noon sun filtering through the woven bamboo curtains that covered his window.

He blinked back the light, and popped up, straight backed. "Shit!" he cursed and grabbed up his things in a hurry, slipping on pants, and tying his robe in a hurried rush. He slid open the door to his room and his foot caught on something.

He fell face first onto the floor and grumbled as he got himself up.

"Yo, Hiei," Kenta said with a chopstick salute. "Want some eggs?"

Hiei looked to what had tripped him up and on the ground, sprawled about were a tangle of naked bodies. Migi's wide brimmed hat covering their heads as all three lazily snoozed in impossible comfort.

"I can't believe this," Hiei scowled.

"What, not feelin the eggs?"

"The place is a fucking mess!" he shouted.

"Woah man..." Kenta raised his hands as the eggs sizzled on in the wok. "We'll get it sorted, don't-"

Hiei was already out the door.

One of the nude young women wrapped around Migi raised her head from his shoulder, plopped an elbow on his broad chest and rubbed away the grogginess from her eye.

"What the hell is his problem?"

Kenta shrugged. "I dunno," he went back to tending his egg. "Want some eggs?"

Hiei had managed to wash himself up with a few splashes of water at a communal bath. His clothes were... well, the same as the day before but. He grumbled. "What the hell was I thinking," he muttered to himself as he hurriedly made his way back to the intersection where Hanae had parked her cart the day before. "Well, that's the problem, Hiei, you weren't thinking, you let Migi get the better of you," he rambled on.

A rickshaw nearly ran him over, and its puller hollered out to him.

Hiei raised his head up and blinked. Hanae was up ahead. "Damn it all," he said, and smoothed down his robe as best he could. Then his hair for good measure. He shook his head. He had given her his word. He was late, but... showing up, that mattered to right?

Even after all that... strangeness.

He cleared his throat, and closed in on Hanae.

"Good day," he said calmly enough, looking her over. He felt a sudden warmth flush his face, and he cleared his throat again, his eyes darting toward the cart and the array of flowers still there on display. Their proud little heads held high toward the sun. "How uh... how go your sales?" his eyes went back to her.
 
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When Hanae caught sight of Hiei, she had immediately turned her head to the side, not quite ready to look into his dark eyes. She nodded her head as he greeted her, but was silent as she debated how to greet him back. Happy? Or was that too obvious? Should she pretend like she was still upset at him for… well, that wasn’t fair, she had pressed herself to him rather than the other way around. Before she had a chance to consider other options, he asked the question she had least wanted to answer.

“Ah, my sales, yes, that’s right.” She mumbled, already going back to plucking at her dress as if there was a wrinkle. She stopped, fingertip barely grazing the fabric before she turned slowly. Taking plenty of time, she took hold of the coin purse and opened it. Counting the coins somehow took her longer than it had for her to grab the coin purse, and when she turned back to face Hiei, her face was beet red.

“Good news.” Hanae said, producing a shaky smile. “It’s not as bad as I had thought. Bad news— I’ve made no profit.” Her smile now looked more like a grimace, and she squinted up into the sun. Had the sun always been this bright? Why was she feeling so hot and sweaty all of a sudden?
 
Hiei watched as she squirmed. The cold, hard, iron part of him felt a pang. A resonance.

He knew this. Song and dance. And his eyes hardened as she counted the coin. His breath short in his chest. He grew colder, and colder. Forgot his nervousness and his own doubts. She was stalling.

Then she smiled.

His dagger pointed glare broke. His eyes wide as he watched her shake. He... was doing that, wasn't he? He turned away. Took in a deep breath, and sighed.

"Very well," he said in cool tone. "It is my fault for not being here earlier to help," he took in another long breath. Let it out. "There is still time in the day, and you have inventory left to sell, yes?" his eyes came open, and his sharp gaze shot to the young woman. "Well, Hanae?"
 
She looked down at her fingers as she ringed her hands together. Despite Hiei not saying anything rude, Hanae could hear his exasperated sighs and see within his eyes that he was annoyed. His clipped tone matched his mannerisms, so while he had yet to insult her like he did yesterday, Hanae was sure the insults would come soon enough.

“Well, of course,” Hanae said, her tone meek. She pulled a few bouquets out, each curated with specific hues and colors. “These have yet to be sold, and I have plenty of other flowers to make more bouquets. I call these my sunburst bouquets, and these are my sunset bouquets. Oh! And this one I like to call my…” Hanae trailed off. She was sure that Hiei didn’t care about her name for the bouquets.

“I’m sure someone will come by and buy something soon enough. Hopefully.”
 
He stared down, long past his nose.

Of course. His eyes grew thin as she went on. Squirming. Why was she squirming? He kept quiet. Watched her. Deftly point out her bouquets. The light shimmering across the fine fabric of her gown. The way her face seemed to light up upon seeing the colorful bundles of brightly colored petals, blushing with the kiss of gold flecks of pollen, let loose from proud pistols that welled up from the belly of the little flowers.

Hiei blushed. Cleared his throat as he looked away.

"Sunburst bouquets..." his eyes flit back to hers, and his tight lipped expression softened with the hints of a smile. "And sunset bouquets?" he, asked. Realized he sounded too doubtful. He didn't doubt her. Nor her flowers.

"Have you tried holding them?" he stretched out an arm and snagged up one of the sunburst bouquets, for the sun hung high and bright above them, and the warm colors of their assortment seemed to burn all the more brilliant. He turned toward the street, bouquet held cleanly in hand, his tall straight frame, angled to better present the small delicate product. "Like this,"

He moved the small bouquet like a dancer might their sash. The small delicate flicks of the wrist, the measured step. It was a subtle show. But eyes strayed. Attentions caught. And his smile, small and delicate, like the flowers, only seemed to bring them in all the more.

"How much for the flowers?" A curios man asked.

"Six silvers,"

There was a pause. "Six?"

"Tell me, are they for someone special?"

The man's face lit up. "Uh, yeah, they are for my ma!"

Hiei smiled brightly, gave a bow. "Ah, then four silvers would be more than enough,"

The man nodded, and dug into his purse, offered up four silver coins, and took the bouquet. "Thanks!"

Hiei bowed and nod. "Of course, good fortune to you and your mother,"

The man walked away, proud as proud can be.

Hiei turned back to Hanae, face cold again. "Like that,"
 
Holding them? Hanae hadn’t considered such a thing, mostly because flowers were delicate. Too long in the sunlight, and the petals would wilt beneath the heat. Too long in the shade also meant the flowers would wilt, not as outwardly as those left out in the sunlight, but the leaves would tilt limply towards the earth. If the leaves were wilted, then anyone worth their soil would know the flowers didn't have long.

Keeping them in her cart, where she could keep their cut stems in little vases of water, helped when they were in the sun. Plus! Because her cart had wheels, she could take her flowers into the shade during the hottest part of the afternoon, protecting them from the powerful heat of the midday sun.

Yet, Hiei took one of her sunburst bouquets and waved it gently, his wrist doing more work than his shoulder in displaying the flower. Hanae was quiet, watching Hiei at work. A pang of jealousy shot through her as someone practically ran over to him, wanting to buy the flowers without even trying to peruse the others.

She blanched, looking up at Hiei with wide eyes. Six silvers?! SIX SILVERS?! Hiei! The swindler! The — she blinked. Why did he lower it to four just because it was for someone’s mother? Oh! Maybe it was Mother’s Day! Wait, no, that couldn’t be right, that had happened a few months ago.

When Hiei turned back to face her— the smile and warmth from his interactions with the customer having drained immediately— Hanae bravely placed her small hands on her slender hips.

“Four silvers were too much for that bouquet; you overcharged.” She said, her dark eyebrows scrunching down low on her eyes. “And saying it was six silvers was… was… You sound like you sell snake oil for a living.”
 
Hiei let his eyes turn sharp. "Too much?" his voice was dry. "Do you value your precious flowers so little?" he asked, smirk curling the corner of his lips. "If people wish to purchase snake oil, who am I to keep them from it?" he smiled, his long fingers wrapping around the delicate stems of another bouquet. He handed them to her. "You try," he said.
 
She frowned, clearly her words didn’t do much to dissuade Hiei. In truth, he had managed to sell a bouquet, and for more than she thought it was worth. Three silvers were expensive for flowers, but the man seemed to think four silvers were a steal. He had looked so proud in himself as he walked away from Hiei.

“I like to be honest,” Hanae said as she looked down to the ground. Well, now that was a lie. She took the bouquet and looked down at it. “Hiei. I have something to tell you.” The woman said solemnly. With one hand holding onto the bouquet, her free hand dug into a sleeve to pull out a folded piece of paper. She held it up to Hiei. “You left this last night at my home. I didn’t know what it was, so I opened it and read it. I didn’t realize it was a message for you until afterwards.” She couldn’t look into his sharp eyes; he would know she was lying, wouldn’t he?

How could he not know of such a thing? He was a liar himself, wasn’t he? And a liar knew when there was another liar.
 
He did not doubt her. Despite the strangeness of the night prior... He felt that she was, truthful in her own way. Some things hidden in the shadows, but, that was just good business. He could not fault her for that.

He was honest too. In his own way. At least, that is what he told himself.

He did not look at her. His eyes only on the letter. Swiftly, he grabbed it. Pulled it back and opened it up.

Dearest Dissapointment,

Why do you pretend as if there is a better path for you n the world beyond? Artani Moru is an old, miserly hag. She pays you a pittance, yet, you generate so much coin for her. Guard her corners and floors well. You settle for copper, when you could be given gold.

Leave the Aronok Crew, and take your place beside the pride of the Jinghua Syndicate. Remember, our glory only shines brighter when those beside us are just as brilliant.

Your Mother,

Yinli, Matron of the Kino Kan crew.
Anaoin Herga


He closed the note with a snap of his hands.

"Well then," he said, tensely. "You know my business," he said flatly, and sheathed. "What purpose it serves," the letter in the folds of his coat. "So you understand how seriously I must take production, and meeting targets," he nod his head over to the side of the road. "Go on," he said, simply. Cold and distant. As if he cared nothing of what resulted next.
 
Hanae had hoped, at least somewhere in the back of her mind, that Hiei would have been so distracted and distraught over this letter — and that Hanae had read it without his knowing — that perhaps he would have forgotten his request. She wasn’t sure she could follow Hiei’s tight and pristine gestures. Hanae wasn’t sure she could even catch the eye of one of the busy people in the square. Everyone here had errands to do. Everyone here had decided on what they needed before they left the house.

If they didn’t want flowers, how could she persuade them to buy them?

Pouting and making no effort to hide the sourness in her face, Hanae shrugged at Hiei’s words. It seemed he hardly cared that she had read it. Would he be so stoic if she had confessed that her first plan was to poison him, but he had decided to run off, so she had to use her body like some… some…!

“Fine.” Hanae answered, turning away from Hiei. She was smaller than him, delicate and thin like the wisteria in her Sunset Bouquet. Like dusk, deep hues of reds, purple, and pinks that quickly follow after the setting sun. She tried to wave it around like Hiei, but the moment she shot out her arm, she had thrust the bouquet into someone’s face.

“WATCH IT!” they hissed in Hanae’s direction, shoving aside her hand as they hurried away.

“S-sorry.” Hanae squeaked, but with a glance in Hiei’s direction, and the words, “So you understand how seriously I must take production, and meeting targets,” echoing in her mind, she tried again. This time, she did look before she raised out her bouquet. She shook it like a tambourine, causing some of the fragile wisteria petals to fall in sleepy twists and turn to the ground. Then she tried to step around like he had, but her legs were short and stubby, nothing like Hiei's coltish pair.

No one noticed her, so Hanae tried harder to grab their attention.

Hanae hopped from one foot to the other, shaking the bouquet like a maraca until more petals fell. She waved it high, then waved it low, shaking it the entire time. Then, genius — or perhaps stupidity — struck her and she spun. Hiei looked like he was dancing; maybe she should have danced as well. So in her wide turn, it was only to be expected that she would get dizzy once she had twirled, not once, not twice, but three times.

Wobbly steps forward, then back to the left, or wait, was that right?

“Oof.” She felt a strong forearm against her chest, shoving her back.

“Watch where you’re going, shrimp!” Hanae frowned, taking two steps back. Her shoulders slumped and when she looked at the bouquet, it looked like she had thrown it to the ground to stomp all over it.

Her dark almond eyes glared at the withering greens, her fist tightening. Why could Hiei do it so effortlessly and not her? She was a woman and should be able to dance better than any man! She could name a dozen female dancers, maybe only one or two male dancers.

Hanae turned back to look at Hiei. She hardly looked defeated; instead, she seemed more determined than before she had begun.
 
Hiei looked on, cold eyed, at the younger woman. His face a stone mask.

"Well," he said flatly. "The spin wasn't a bad idea," he said with an exasperated breath. Her bouquet was near destroyed. Petals lost, stems bent. For someone so small and beautiful, he wondered how she could be so... lacking in grace.

He grumbled, and looked back at the cart. At what little stock they had left loaded there on. Looked enough to well, not go too far in the hole. How long did the flowers keep?

His warmthless gaze glanced back at Hanae. Fixed on her, sharp and pointed. "Need me to show you again?" he asked, voice harder than he had meant it to sound. But he had already said it, and his eyes only flickered their with worry. Went back to to their steely stare. "For someone so apt at stealing missives, you sure seem worried about bothering potential customers," he snapped.

What was he doing?

He shook his head. Took some steps back and grabbed up another bouquet with sudden snatch. The flowers shook, but no petals fell. He brought it up to his chest, and his eyes burned like frost.

Without a word, he slid one foot forward across the floor, lift his foot at the ankle, slid his backfoot forward. He kept his arms close to his body. His steps short. And he moved through a near practiced movement. A symmetry there in how he showed the flower, and hid his smile. Showed his smile, and hid the flowers.

People noticed. Even if he wasn't being so loud, or so big with his movement. One gesture flowing to the next. A woman stopped by this time.

Older. Well to do.

"How much?" she asked him, with a knowing look in her eye.

"Six silver," Hiei replied, as he came to a bow.

She laughed. "Good deal," she reached into her coin purse, then pulled out a ten piece. "What do I get for this?" she winked.

Hiei bowed his head more deeply. "Another bouquet, if you would like, Madame,"

She snort, and walked away. "Have it your way," she said, gave him six loose coin, and took the flowers. Got too close to him, bumped into him. Slipped a hand onto his chest. Let it slide between the folds of his robe.

Hiei looked away. Cleared his throat. "My wife is right there, Madame," he said with stiff voice.

She laughed. "Then she shouldn't let her man parade himself like a little crane at market," she slipped away with her flowers. Flicked a coin at the dirt.

The silver round chimed bright as it rattled against the packed dirt of the road.
 
Hanae’s mouth gaped open as he rightfully accused her of stealing his message. She wanted to object because that’s what she should have done to show she wasn’t guilty of such a thing. But no words came out of her mouth. She was certain that it would be a losing battle for her; verbal warfare had never been her forte. Not only was she quick to be silent when things got too heated, but late at night, she would be riddled with thoughts about what she should have said.

Simmering in her annoyance, Hanae’s dark eyes followed Hiei's form. How on Khurun did he have time to dance? Wasn’t he a busy man? Shouldn’t he be harassing others, demanding they pay him rent for parking their cart here or increasing others’ rent by two percent?

She hated that he danced beautifully. Like a somber spring morning, as the sun was rising to the chorus of birdsong, when dew rested on thin stems and the flowers were showing off their budding blooms. He somehow demanded attention, to get everyone to look at him and only him. Hanae was sure he was just trying to show off, to rub into her face how ungraceful she was.

Just like that, a woman was already taking the bouquet and discussing how to buy another—

Hanae gawked at the exchange between Hiei and the woman. She could see the woman’s fingers dipping into Hiei’s robe, most likely caressing his bare chest. Hanae said nothing, eyes wide, hardly registering the silver coin that rolled around on the ground before stopping. As the coin fell flat, she could finally piece together what was going on.

“NO.” Hanae threw her bouquet to the ground, moving past Hiei to pick up the silver coin. She didn’t even glance his way as she held the silver piece in her hand. She made a fist, hiding the coin in her clammy palm. Taking a deep breath, Hanae ran to the woman, her geta clacking wildly as she raced to the woman. Her clothing was completely pink, a statement of her wealth.

“Excuse me, excuse me!” Hanae shouted. For once, it seemed like a path had opened up for her, no one was in her way as she closed in on the woman. When the woman finally looked over her shoulder, recognition was in her eyes before a smug sneer overcame it. Hanae was panting, but she didn’t let that deter her as she strode to the woman.

“You can have this back,” Hanae said, holding up the coin.

“Oh?” The woman said, not even trying to be coy. “It’s fine. It seems you need it more than I do if you need your husband to….” The woman trailed off. Hanae knew very well what she was implying.

“No. You need it more than I,” Hanae said, quickly grabbing the woman’s hand. It was fast, like when a snake launched its jaws at an unsuspecting rodent. Her thumb firmly pressed on the soft spot of the wrist, forcing the woman to keep her palm open. “For when you pray for forgiveness, perhaps you should offer this coin. Cleanse it of your promiscuous thoughts.”

“Let go,” The woman hissed, squirming. Her face had contorted into one of rage. The bouquet in the woman’s hand fell to the floor. She raised a hand up, and Hanae let go. People were pausing, crowding around to look at the altercation between the two. The woman’s hand swung down through the air towards Hanae. Hanae took a step back, raising her forearm in response.

Hanae’s arm slammed into the woman’s wrist, and with a quick rotation of her shoulder and wrist, Hanae redirected the woman’s hand to be ineffective and lax. Typically, what would follow next would be Hanae closing in on the distance to deliver her strike, but she did not wish to do so. The woman was glaring.

“Don’t think I’ll pity you two again.” The woman said, pivoting on her heel and crushing the bouquet she had just bought beneath her heavy feet. “I’ll go to Akari’s when I want some really spectacular flowers.”

“I hope you do,” Hanae shot back. "You’re not welcome to shop with us.” With the woman walking away, the meager crowd quickly began dissipating, disappointment clear in their faces that nothing more happened. Hanae bent down, picking up the ruined bouquet. It could be used as fertilizer for the others back in her garden. She began her walk back to Hiei.

“You’re not dancing ever again.”
 
Hiei stared at Hanae wide eyed, his mouth ajar. What had he just witnessed?

The way she had moved. The force of her actions. He grabbed the hem of his robe, pulled loose by the entitled patron, and made it neat again against his chest. He felt cold inside. The trace of the woman's fingers still remembered by his skin.

Hanae returned. People all around them whispered and spread rumor. Hiei stood quiet a moment, near the flower cart. His eyes soft, as the way she had snapped up the coin and marched it back to that piggish patron with no fear in her step, lived again in his memory. He smiled to himself, felt a blush of warmth spread across his cheeks.

You're not dancing ever again.

His eyes snapped hard toward Hanae. "Excuse me?" he asked, ends of his teeth just peeking out. The ends of his mouth pulled down.

They eyes of the passers by seemed to swirl about them like flies about fresh dung. Hiei clicked his teeth, and ripped his eyes away from her, his fist tight against the hem of his robe, and heat in his chest. He cleared his throat. Her business could not suffer another spectacle.

Still, he was not in his right mind. The letter. The cart. That blasted woman thinking she could just... "You can't tell me what I do, with my body," he seethed beneath his breath, his eyes cold shards of ice aimed at the flower peddler. He growled, low between them. "I'll dance if I damn well please," he hissed.
 
Her face, for the first time, stood firm. Unwavering in her beliefs.

“You know what I meant,” Hanae said, not looking at Hiei as she tossed the two ruined bouquets into a little waste box situated on the backside of her wooden cart. When she turned to face him, she looked at Hiei straight in the eye. “You are free to do whatever you like with your body, but you will not sully my business’s reputation and turn it into some whor— exotic dancer call-service.” She had almost used that horrid term, one that she didn’t like to begin with, and she understood that using it would be derogatory towards Hiei.

“I sell flowers, not people,” Hanae added, pointing at her own chest before pointing at Hiei. “So if you want to dance, then do so, but do it out of your enjoyment and not because you want to make extra coin.” She sighed, feeling exasperated herself as she shook her head. “Taking shortcuts means you’ll have to take shortcuts the rest of your life.” Those were her mother’s words, and her father had often parroted them to Hanae and her sister whenever the two of them had gotten into mischief. But now it was time for Hanae to use them, and surprisingly it wasn’t on a child but a man who had seemed to have more sense than her, at least in the beginning.

Hanae didn’t know where to begin when it came to her opinion of Hiei.

“You were so different yesterday,” Hanae said finally. “But today… you come in disheveled like you had been out all night. Dancing, I suppose.” She shrugged as if she didn’t care, but the downward pull of her lips as she broke eye contact with Hiei as she said those three words told a different story. “You reek of sweat and alcohol, or maybe that’s some woman’s stale perfume, I don’t know and I don’t care, but how can you lecture me about business when all you know how to do is swindle people? Even your mother wrote that you…” Hanae trailed off, growing silent. That was going too far. She was angry and upset, but moreso at the woman than at Hiei. At least until he snapped at her.

She should apologize. Hanae turned towards her flowers. Family matters shouldn’t have been brought into this. She stayed silent, pretending to be busy with her flowers. It was the only thing to keep her from pushing her cart away from Hiei and perhaps spending the rest of the day moping in bed.
 
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