Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the plot lines shown here and in other fics. Thank you all for waiting patiently for an update and thanks again for reading my fic. Hope you enjoy and have a great day.
Bearing Gifts
It was pretty quiet in the Hocky Tonk that day thanks to the heat. It was so hot out not even Ban was willing to go out to try to drum up some business. Instead he and Ginji were busy melting into their seats since they didn't have enough money to get anything but water and Shido had only been willing to buy them one drink which they'd long since drunk. Since the heat had made the quiet Beast Master particularly irritable the GetBackers had thought it best to not try their luck. The only other person besides Natsumi and Paul was Jubei who patiently sat on his stool, waiting for Kazuki to arrive as planned. When the door opened to single a customer no one but Natsumi had the energy to pay attention as she turned to greet the person. But rather then her usual warm welcome she explained loudly. "Why, you look just like Mr. Jubbei!"
This catching everyone's attention eyes turned and widened as they looked at the young man standing there holding a bouquet of flowers. He did indeed look like Jubei at first glance though he was obviously younger and not as tall. With short, dark brown hair, an athletic build and a deceptively casual stride he could easily pass for someone at least related to Jubei at the very least. Most surprised of course by this was Jubei who turned his head in the right direction, even though he could of course see nothing. He didn't have any close relatives in the area and certainly none that could be mistaken for him. Who was this person and what did he want here?
"Well I guess Kazuki wasn't exaggerating the likeness then." The young man said with a friendly laugh as he lifted a hand to set his shades on top of his head, making his face easily visible. It was the face of a smiling, handsome young man with eyes that shone with humor and good will. The differences between him and Jubei physically, not to mention personality were obviously visible though there was as air about the man that suggested that he wasn't entirely what he seemed despite him easy smile.
"Well not so much without the shades but their is a certain resemblance..especially with those clothes." Shido said taking in the white shirt with purple stripes on it that was very similar to Jubei's usual clothing. This one smelled of the earth and flowers, not something you'd expect from someone who had the looks of a predator. This one was no stranger to the hunt, he'd bet his life on it. "Are you looking for Kazuki?" Shido added, wondering what business this man could have with his friend. A job perhaps? This man looked like the sort who would handle things himself and be up for it. A friend Kazuki had neglected to mention? The man didn't look like someone who'd lived in the Limitless Fortress.
"Yes, he mentioned that he often comes here. I was hoping that I might be able to catch him here but I guess he's not here today?" The man asked. having already quickly scanned the room for signs of the man he was looking for. Apparently Kazuki wasn't here, he thought in disappointment. Oh well, he'd took a chance catching the thread user here, he'd just have to try again another time.
"He'll be here shortly." Ginji piped up helpfully, smiling brightly at the new arrival who couldn't help but smile back. A charismatic guy, this blonde young man. He must be the Lightening Emperor Kazuki had spoke of though he didn't look to be in any way a dangerous fellow. But no one knew better then him how deceiving looks could be.
"Excuse me but...aren't you Ken Hidaka? The soccer player?" Natsumi asked hesitantly, drawing the man's attention back to her.
"I used to be." Ken said with a smile edged with sadness. Once upon a time he'd been easily recognizable, now he couldn't remember the last time someone else had even recognized his name, much less his face. Who would have ever thought he'd miss the constant interruption of fans wanting to get a piece of him. But apparently there was at least one person who remembered him from the old days and a cute girl at that. "I'm surprised you recognized me. I haven't played in years." Ken said, his smile losing the sadness for a moment. "I'm flattered."
"Of course I couldn't forget you, you were such an amazing player!" Natsumi said with a huge smile as she hurried out from behind the counter and taking the man's hand shook it with enthusiasm. "You were the best goalie that team ever had. The best in the whole league. I was so shocked when they accused you of throwing the game, I knew you'd been set up. I told everyone that there was no way you'd been a part of it and when that article came out exposing the real bad guy I was so happy. Are you planning to return to playing professional soccer soon?" Natsumi asked, looking up at him in adoration, amazed and thrilled to meet one of her teenage idols. He was even more gorgeous close up! "I played a little soccer myself but I could never be even half as good as you are, Mr. Hidaka. I can't tell you how thrilled I am to have met you!"
"Well I'm sorry but I've pretty much retired for good now." Ken said as he smiled down at her, surprised that he still had fans left over from his old soccer days. Everyone had believed him guilty, the idea that anyone had believed in him through it, even before the truth was exposed was nice to hear. She was obviously sincere. "I haven't played in..well in a long time."
"Oh, that's too bad but I guess after the way things went... well I likely wouldn't want to play with the people who hadn't believed in me either." Natsumi said looking disappointed before deliberately brightening up again. What was important was that he was here and she was actually getting to talk to him. "So what do you do now, Mr. Hidaka?"
"I'm a florist now and please, call me Ken, Miss..?"
"Oh, I'm Natsumi and it would be my pleasure to call you by your first name, Ken." Natsumi said then after a moment's pause asked the question she'd wanted to ask most of all since she'd recognized who'd walked in. "Uhm...could I maybe have your autograph? If you don't want to that's fine, I bet it gets really annoying, people asking you for yours all the time."
Blinking in surprise Ken opened his mouth then closed it before opening it again with a wink. "How could I say no to such a pretty lady? If you want it then just get me a scrape of paper and I'd be happy to."
"Hey, could I get one too?" Ban wanted to know, walking over with a piece of paper and a pen, smiling charmingly now that he realized that their was a way he could benefit from this new arrival into their midst. "To Takato please."
"But, Ban, why would you want him to sign something with someone else's name?" Ginji wanted to know as Ken signed his signature and handed it over to Ban. "I mean I didn't even know that you liked soccer."
"I don't, Ginji. I wanted it signed for Takato because that's the name of the sports memorabilia guy two blocks from here who we're going to sell this baby to. If he's as good as Natsumi says he is then we can sell this for enough money to erase our tab and get us some food around here finally." Ban announced in a psyched voice as he waved the paper in Ginji's face before flashing a smile in Ken's direction. "Hope you don't mind, pal. Nothing personal but we need the money."
"No, that's fine. I don't mind." Ken said with a chuckle, amused as he took the paper Natsumi had given him. After writing a quick, personal message to her he signed his name and gave it back to her before turning his attention to Ban, a wide grin on his face. 'If you want I can sign several pieces of paper, that way you can eat good tonight if you can find someone that will actually buy them from you. I should warn you though, I don't know if you'll get anywhere with them."
"Really? You'd really do that?" Ban said, brightening up like a Christmas tree. Jackpot! Barely able to keep himself from doing one of Ginji's happy dances Ban turned to Paul with barely concerned glee. "Get this guy more paper!"
"Coming right up." Paul said with a chuckle as he slid several sheets of paper in Ken's direction. "Anything to get these idiots to pay up some of their tab."
"So you said you were here to see Kazuki?" Jubei asked a few moments of silence while Ken went about writing messages on each of the papers as well as his signature. It was the first time he'd spoken and everyone blinked, suddenly remembering he was there and his close bond with Kazuki. And this guy here was looking for Kazuki and he looked like a younger Jubei. This could be bad. "He should be here any minute now." Jubei added, ignoring the looks he was getting from the others.
"Perfect." Ken said as he signed the last one with a flourish. "I didn't want his flowers to wilt before I could give them to him."
"Thank you so much, Mr. Ken." Ginji said with a beaming smile as Ban shuffled the pages together. "You're the best. Kazuki is lucky to have such a nice friend as you."
"Well I don't know if friend is the right word but I'm very glad that I met him." Ken said with a smile at Ginji's enthusiasm.
"So those flowers are for Kazuki?" Natsumi said as she looked over at them curiously. They were really pretty and sort of reminded her of daffodils. "What are they?"
"They're Narcissuses." Jubei said quietly, still as a statue. He'd know the scent of those flowers anyway, even before his senses had been heightened by the loss of his sight "They're Kazuki's favorite. I'm surprised you have any, they don't bloom until autumn."
"We have a greenhouse. When Kazuki mentioned how much he loved them I knew I had to bring him some. Needless to say it took a lot of convincing to get Aya to let me have them but in the end I triumphed which is rare. Aya isn't an easy person to talk into anything." Ken said with chuckle before moving over to get a better look. "So you must be Jubei, it's nice to meet you. If it weren't you I'd likely be in the hospital right now."
"What do you mean?" Ginji wanted to know. "Do you know him too, Jubei?"
"No, we've never met." Ken said with a shake of his head. "I was..in a bit of a tight situation a few weeks back and Kazuki was kind enough to help me out of it. From a distance he mistakened me for you, Jubei and so he of course rushed to my rescue just in the nick of time. Of course he realized I wasn't you right away and probably wouldn't have gotten involved otherwise so I was very thankful there was a slight resemblance." Ken said with a chuckle, studying the older man curiously. He could see the resemblance, enough to think that this might be what he would look like in a few years. He knew Jubei wasn't that much older then him but he looked older, like he'd been around for a very long time. Then again Kazuki had said that this man lived in the Limitless Fortress, it was only natural that he'd look older then he was.
"Funny, you strike me as a man who could handle himself in a fight." Ban said with a knowing look in his startlingblue eyes. So called florist or not this man moved without a sound, his eyes taking in everything around him in seconds. And those were the eyes of someone who had killed, there was no mistaking that either.
"Oh I can, it was just the number that I was having a bit of a problem with." Ken said as he met Ban's gaze squarely. "They were a bit too skilled to be easily flicked off."
"Did they try to mug you, Ken?" Natsumi asked with a horrified look on her face, too innocent to see through Ken the way Ban, Jubei and Shido could. They were no strangers to men with blood on their hands.
"No, I'm afraid my friends and I interrupted them while they were...causing problems for someone else. They didn't take kindly to us interfering." Ken said with a reassuring smile, turning when he heard the door open with a delighted smile on his face. "Kazuki!"
"Ken, what a surprise to see you here. Did you come to try the coffee I raved about? I'm afraid it isn't the right weather for it." Kazuki said with his usual serene smile as he walked over, blinking at the flowers that were laying on the counter. "Narcissuses? At this time of year?"
"For you." Ken announced as he picked them up and walking over presented them to a surprised Kazuki with a flourish. "I hope you like them."
"Oh, Ken." Kazuki breathed, face lighting up with delight as he took the flowers from Ken. "Thank you so much. You didn't need to do this."
"It was my pleasure." Ken said, obviously pleased that his gift was being so well received. "I'm just glad I caught you."
"Yeah, we definitely like him, Thread Head. Come around anytime, Ken. We'll buy you a coffee or something to say thanks for these." Ban announced with a smile as he latched onto Ginji's arm and began dragging him towards the door, papers in hand. He wanted to see how this played out but he wanted money more. "Now if you'll excuse us but we have a date with a sports store."
"Bye, Ken!" Ginji called out as he was dragged through the door and out they went with Ken calling out his own good bye after them.
"I hope you haven't been waiting long." Kazuki said, leaning close to smell the flowers. "They're absolutely stunning."
"Not at all, I had a lot of fun talking to your friends." Ken said cheerfully. "They're quite the interesting bunch."
"Yes, they certainly are." Kazuki agreed with a chuckle, well aware that most of the people closest to him were as far from normal as most people could get. "Well I must say I'm completely surprised. I certainly wasn't expecting this when I came in."
"If you want..I can take a taxi to the clinic, Kazuki. You don't need to come with me." Jubei said stiffly from his seat having been silently observing them since Kazuki had walked in. Apparently Kazuki had found himself an admirer. A strong, able young man who everyone else seemed to like already. Kazuki would surely want to spend time with this Ken rather then take his crippled friend to another useless appointment.
"There's no need for that, Jubei. I want to take you." Kazuki said in surprise, not sure what to think about the vibes Jubei was giving off. He'd known his best friend too long to not see the undercurrents of Jubei's words. What was wrong?
"Yeah, by all means. I have to get back to work anyway since it's almost time for the summer school rush to arrive at the shop. Aya and the others will kill me if I'm not there to help keep the girls in line." Ken said, looking back and forth between Jubei and Kazuki, picking up on the unspoken vibes going on. Well, well, good for Kazuki, Ken thought with a smile. "Thanks again for keeping me company, everyone. Tell Ban I hope he makes plenty off those papers."
"Come back anytime." Paul agreed with a smile, absently wiping the counter down. At least this guy had a regular job. Finally a potential customer that would have no problem paying his bills on time, Paul thought to himself with a grin. "Wait until the heat cools off and I'll give you a coffee on the house since at least some of that money is finally going to be going to me."
"Glad to have helped." Ken grinned before turning back to Kazuki. "And I'll definitely be back for that coffee. I hope you're here when I stop in, Kazuki."
"I hope so too." Kazuki agreed with a pleased smile, pushing aside Jubei's strange mood for a second. "And I'll stop by your flower shop sometime and say hi to you and the others."
"Yes, please come again, Ken." Natsumi called out from behind the counter as she carried over a vase for Kazuki to use for the flowers.
"I look forward to it." After nodding his good byes to the others Ken headed out, hands in his pockets and whistling faintly under his breath as he headed for his motorcycle. Looks like he'd be coming back here, if only to find out more about Kazuki's interesting friends and whether or not that Jubei fellow was aware of the fact that he was hopeless in love with Kazuki. Ah well, maybe he'd see about helping Kazuki in that area next time he was around. Putting his helmet on Ken pulled out his keys and was soon in the mid afternoon traffic.