“Are you sure that’s what you heard?” Sofia leaned her back against the metal holder of Rhia’s bed, ignoring the springs as they rubbed against the wall. Fairly uncomfortable, but too tired to do much about it, the brunette grabbed a pillow and jamming it behind her neck. Opposite her, two dark eyes watched as her recently washed, folded and pressed bed sheets were wrinkled and pulled to the side.

“I’m positive.” Rhiannon’s voice had calmed down significantly. Her throat was no longer tightening, no longer dry and strained at the thought of what just happened. Sofia’s presence had soothed away the bubbling acid of doubt and confusion within her stomach and mind. When once Rhia faced something devastating alone, now she rightfully shared her anxiety with her leader, her steadfast and loyal friend. Two sets of shoulders, she realized, were stronger, more easily prepared, to caring around the weight of their world.

“Rhia,” Sofia took a deep breath and tugged at the lace helm of her funeral gown. She hadn’t had a chance to change, and the scent of orchids, a smell of which from that moment on, she would no longer be able to stomach, hung around her like flies. “You do understand who you’re pointing your finger at, right?”

“I do.”

“I would never doubt you, but I need you to be completely sure about what you heard.”

“I wouldn’t lie?” She contemplated whether to smack her hand down against the table to get her point across, but quickly thought against it. “I was only a few feet away from him. That isn’t any possible way that I heard wrong.”

Sofia sat motionless, silent.

“I have more.” Rhia adjusted her legs below the table, folding them neatly beneath her body. A few inches was added to her seated height, and she used that to lean forward offensively. “Your uncle’s been lying to Estelle, as well.”

Say something. Rhia ground her teeth together, taking a deep breath when silence answered her statement.

“You don’t notice because you haven’t been home lately.” Rhia pressed her elbows into the wooden surface, clasping her fingers together at the side of her head. She preceded to speak cautiously, slowly, with justified means. “It’s been little things: where’s he’s going during the night, who he talks to on the phone. He forces smiles whenever Estelle walks into the room. Why would anyone do that unless they have something to hide?”

“How do you know all this?”

Rhia winced. A memory flashed back into her mind for a moment, hazed, then washed clear from the piercing amber gaze of her leader.

“I know this because of curiosity,” The blond visibly fidgeted, tilted her head to the left to think. “And loyalty.”

“How is this loyalty to Persia?”

“Not to him. To Estelle.” Rhia let her forearms fall. Her clenched hand unfurled and, silently at first, she started to drum her nails onto the cool surface. “She’s done too much for me, Sofia. I can’t allow something like this to happen without checking up on it.”

I haven’t had very many people in my life to trust. And I think of you and Sofia and Marie as my sanity. If you fuck this up, Rhiannon, if somehow we’re wrong and Sofia finds out about what we're doing, I’ll never forgive you.

“You do understand, right?” Somehow, Rhia had started to rationalize something else, something prior. She shook her head, subconsciously trying to rid her mind of her previous actions. “I eavesdropped and watched him only because of my loyalty for Estelle and Kritiker…”

Understood. I just want to know if Kritiker thinks Sofia has anything to do with the murder. That’s all. That’s it. Clean and clear.

“You would do the same, right?” The blond dipped her face to the side, following Sofia’s gaze as she glanced away. “Wouldn’t you?”

Maybe no one really understood her. Maybe, through these first few years of working with Kritiker, she had somehow perverted her own idea of devotion and allegiance. It was true, the resemblance between this very moment and what had happened before was eerily similar. There was a line, Rhia was now finding out, that one shouldn’t cross in order to respect the faithfulness of your friends, your co-workers, your acquaintances. Trust, in her profession, was an action too hard to achieve. Suspicion was perfectly normal to some, but to Rhia, it was a disease. To her, it was spreading.

“I would.”

On the other hand, maybe someone did understand her.

“When is Marie and Autumn coming home?”

“Autumn said ‘soon’.” Rhia answered. She watched Sofia brace herself by the side of the bed and, with one arm, lifted herself to standing. The veil she had been wearing was on the floor at her stocking-covered feet, and Rhia quickly reached for it to hand back.

“And you believe her?” Sofia asked doubtfully, her eyebrows raising. She cracked a smile, the first real one that day, and motioned to the door. “The word ‘soon’ to Autumn and Marie could mean sometime this week.”

“True…” Rhia also grinned before standing up. She stopped moving when she saw the expression on the brunette’s face. “Are you saying we should go get them?”

“The four of us need to sit down and go over this as soon as possible.” A hand touched the sliding, wooden door, but paused. “They went out to refill my prescription, ne? They shouldn’t be too hard to track down.”

“Um, yes, but that was two hours ago.” Rhia, right behind her, reached around her leader’s body and pulled the partition to the side. Before stepping out into the apartment’s living room, the blond took a quick look around her room. Spotless. Neat…except for the bed sheets. “They aren’t at the pharmacy right now.”

“Oh?” The meeting room was traversed quickly. Rhia broke rank and, after kicking a pair of dirty shorts and a magenta halter top out of the way, moved to the back closet to get their summer coats. “Did they say where they were?”

“Let’s see,” Gathering the coats in her hand, Rhia hastily made her way back to the main door. “The Kitty…Floral Shop. No, Kitty in the House Flower Store. Something like that.”

“Koneko no Sumi Ie?”

“You know of it?” Rhia asked as she opened the sliding panel for Sofia again. The two started down the corridor, turned, then made their way down a short flight of stairs to the first floor.

“Persia bought many of the flowers for Masafumi’s funeral there.” She stood at the end of the stairs, her free arm outstretched as Rhia helped slip on her jacket. Her wounded shoulder stayed unmoving against her chest. “He seemed to be very fond of the place.”

“Really?” Rhia shook her head. “I would have never known. I don’t think I’ve ever been in there.”

“I haven’t either. I was always left home when he went.” Sofia stepped down the ledge by the front door, rooting around the piles of shoes for her own. After a few seconds, she spotted a pair of black clogs and turned to Rhia. “Tell Estelle we’re going out to get something to eat. I’ll wait for you outside.”

“Hai.” Rhia made a quick turn and rushed down the side hallway. At the end, covered in a thick halo of darkness, was a single room washed in yellow light. She knocked briefly before looking inside. “Estelle-san, Sofia and I are--”

She looked straight into Persia’s eyes. There was no one else in the room but him.

“Anone, gomen nasai, Persia-san.” Rhiannon bowed deeply, her breath heaving against the edges of her throat. For a moment, crouched over like that, she thought she would vomit. “But Sofia and I would like to request your permission to go out and get something to eat.”

He didn’t answer immediately. Looking up, Rhia realized he had walked right by her. She saw his shadow shrink as he started towards the front hall.

“Persia-sa--”

“Do what you want.”

Rhiannon decided against staying much longer after that. A quick statement of thanks, and a second bow was all she accomplished before fleeing past him. She practically jumped down the genkan before skipping into her sandals, and bounding out the door.

Persia, now at the bottom of the stairwell, one foot resting on the first step, turned to watch a wave of golden hair disappear out into the evening sun. He listened to the door slam, lowered his eyes, and continued upwards.

The room was cramped, dark, smelling strongly of burnt menthol and nicotine. Makeshift shades, made out of bath towels, covered up the two open windows above the bed. The front entrance had been locked, then bolted, then braced with a wooden chair. A pair of car keys, a leather wallet and Kors sunglasses rested on a cardboard box beside it.

On the gray rug beside the box sat a crumpled white overcoat. A few inches away lay a belt, then a single black dress shoe, then its twin. A pile of papers fluttered beside the mattress; A pen kept them from slipping away.

A form, unmoving, lay atop the white bed sheets. One leg bent up, one arm resting behind a crown of black hair. A second hand loosely grasped a pair of prescription glasses by his side. His business suit had been untucked, the buttons opened down to his naval.

No movement. His lips remained firmly pursed, his eyes firmly shut.

Ring.

Silence. The line connected as the answering machine picked up.

“Crawford, it’s me…”

His eyes opened.

“Who would have thought it would be so crowded?” Sofia stepped aside as the taxi door slide shut with a click. She had no choice but to stand against the curb for a sea of young, barely legal school girls, and, strangely, a few incongruous boys, barred her access to the main door. Rhia, struggling to actually stay on the sidewalk, grabbed a hold of Sofia’s dress to keep balance.

“For all we know, this cesspool probably doubles as a brothel.” The brunette replied. She held up her hand, motioned towards a particularly young student with bleached pigtails and loose socks, and nodded. “There’s no way girls this age could be interested in flowers.”

The store front, like many of the businesses lining the street, was brick and glass faced. Two huge windows, one on each side of the spacious entryway, were decorated in hanging vines, sale signs, and yellow edged photos of various lilies and ferns. Large vases of Gerbera daisies and rose bouquets sat on the front ledge inside. Every few seconds, from the cool breeze that blew through the streets, the metal lock-down panel flashed in the evening sun. Sofia guessed it hadn’t been pushed far enough up to be locked in place. The movement of the heavy, chained door, and the fact that some girl had just elbowed her hip, added to Sofia’s abundant discontent.

“Have teenagers really gotten this bad?” Rhia asked as she fought, and finally won, a spot on the sidewalk next to Sofia. Letting go of her leader’s skirt, the blond caught sigh of Sofia putting a hand to her nose and shutting her eyes.

“You tell me, you’re still one.” The brunette answered, pushing her way forward despite the tangible danger of someone bumping her shoulder. She could feel the sinuses between her eyes stiffen and fill. She mentally joked that the pollen, and the fact that the closer she got to the main door, the hotter it became, would definitely be the death of her. Thankfully, with a small wave of nausea washing over her stomach, she felt the reassuring strength of Rhiannon holding her firm.

“Do you want to stay outside?” Rhia asked as she accidentally pushed an older student away. She thought of apologizing, but unfortunately lost sight of the girl. “I’ll go in and look around. It shouldn’t take that long.”

“Did you just hint that I slow you down?” They passed under the hanging door, the glimmer troublesome to Sofia’s eyes. She averted them, only to see the contrite look on Rhia’s face. “I was only kidding.”

“I just don’t want you to be pushed over. And it’ll probably take forever before we can even see the door let alone get in the building. I don’t see how we’re going to -- ” She tilted her head to the side as Sofia arched her nose towards the sky. In a swift, almost violent twitch, a sneeze escaped her superior’s lips. Quite humorously, a small clearing formed around them as the crowd jerked back in disgust. “I guess I was wrong.”

The two took the opportunity to scale the clearing before it closed. Now mere steps from the opened door, a weird site overtook them. Despite the suffocating crowd out front, the inside of the flower shop was relatively empty. Only a few woman walked around the various isles, and, to add, only one or two stood by the cash register at the far end. Rhia then realized, with a cringe, that she and Sofia, while making the journal from curb to store front, had cut in line.

“It’s larger inside then it looks, huh?” Rhia pushed her social faux pas to the side, scanning the front isles for Marie and Autumn. She saw a small assortment of shovels and spikes, potting soil and plant seeds, but no fiery red hair or piercing silver eyes. She did see gardening hoes, but no Autumn or Marie. “Let’s go to that side of the store first, and we’ll make our way to--”

“I’ll take one side,” Sofia cut in, pointing to the left. “You take the other.”

“Will you be ok by yourself?”

“Well, if you hear a loud smack, that’ll be my ass hitting the floor.” Sofia waved a hand over her shoulder as she moved to the side of the shop, “You may want to come running then.”

Though hesitant, the blond obediently stepped forward and disappeared among a shelf of ruby carnations. Alone now, Sofia took a deep breath, calmed herself with the heartening aroma of rose and mint, and started down a row of amber begonias. She scanned the petal-littered isle, but saw no one she recognized. She moved on, sticking her head down another section filled with deep, green ivy and evergreen.

No Marie. No Autumn.

Next isle: Potting plants and Mineral Supplements.

No Marie. No Autumn.

Next isle: Morning Glory, Lilly of the Valley, and Lilac.

No Marie. No Autu--

“Can I help you, miss?”

Sofia, who at that moment was trying to hold back a sneeze like no other, muffled it within her mouth from the surprise. Her eyes quickly shut, and a stifled hiccup burned down her chest. The force caused the blood in her head to thin, her face to whiten, and she quickly shot out her free hand to catch herself. When she finally opened her eyes, she found her hand tugging on the soiled apron of a young man. He didn’t appear offended by the touch. Instead, he held her wrist in his palm, supporting her as she cleared her head.

“Oh, sumimasen.” She dropped her hand quickly, slightly agitated that her tanned fingers were now dulled with soil. “Did I get any on you?”

The young man casually laughed and shook his head. Sofia soon found that his large, cobalt eyes were focused directly on her.

“Um, I’m looking for someone,” Feeling another sneeze tickle her throat, Sofia quickly wiggled her reddened nose to quell it as best she could. “Two other woman, actually.”

The boy, possibly no older then nineteen, looked around him, then motioned towards the door. Sofia turned her head quickly, but frowned when all she saw was the thick mass of high school girls pushing each other for their chance in line.

“You may have some trouble finding them.” The boy said, smiling. “What did they look like?”

“Well,” She sighed deeply. How the hell would she be able to describe Marie and Autumn to someone that had never seen them before? “One’s a redhead, short temper, kind of pale with freckles. The other is really tall, red-tipped hair and…you would probably notice her boobs first.”

The boy paused, pressed a dirty hand to his chin, and shook his head regrettably.

“Gomen.” He brushed a lock of brunette hair from his eyes, tucking it securely into the rim of his blue work cap. “But I don’t remember seeing any woman that fit those descriptions.”

“Oh, ok.” The heat within the shop had started to get to Sofia, and she struggled to squirm out of her spring coat. The boy, upon realizing what she was trying to accomplish, politely lent a hand. His eyes widened as he saw the bandages wrapped up her right arm. “Was there anyone else working the counter or floor a few minutes ago that I could talk to?”

“Yes, my manager.” The boy folded Sofia’s jacked in his hands, and handed it to her gently. “Would you like me to get him for you?”

“If you could.” Sofia replied, her eyes spinning as she felt another sneeze itch her sinuses. Even through the vertigo, she kept her composure. “I’ll just wait right here.”

Rhiannon hadn’t any luck on her side of the store either. She had met an old woman though, and wasted a few precious moments speaking to her about the calico cat she held sleeping in her arms. With one more aim before giving up, Rhia made her way to the front counter, hoping that somehow her two impressionable friends had, well, made a big enough impression on someone to be remembered.

You know, they could be home by now. Rhia dug in her pocket, bringing out her cell phone. Too bad this thing gets the worst receptio--

A blur of white suddenly flashed before her.

“Excuse me!” Rhia quickly reached out a hand to the employee, catching him by the edge of his smock. Not ready for the suddenly stop, the boy skid sideways, latching onto Rhia’s forearm and pulling her down with him. Rhiannon muffled a cry and quickly jerked her feet away from the boy’s falling body. The last thing she wanted to do was step on someone she didn’t know. Unfortunately, with one arm pinned, the other occupied with an opened cell phone, she hadn’t a place to brace herself. When the dust and scent of fertilizer finally settled, the two had poised themselves against a metal shelf. Rhia was hunched over with one knee pressed against the floor while the boy cradled her left foot against his stomach.

“I’m…” Rhia reached down quickly, her face burning red. She latched onto one of his arms and helped him stand. “I’m so sorry! I don’t know what I was thinking! Oh my goodness, I shouldn’t have-- ”

The grin on his face silenced her. She couldn’t help but furrow her brows when he started to laugh out loud.

“It’s ok.” He straightened the back of his hat, pushing his long bangs behind his ears. Looking down, he finally caught site of the footprint stamped into his white apron. “At least you aren’t hurt, right?”

“Yes, yes, I’m fine.” Rhia waved her hands in front of her chest, trying to psychically push away the worry in his eyes. “I just saw a employee and I had a question and I thought I would ask you and--”

“Well, you stopped the right person.” He wiped off the sandal imprint and nodded his head compassionately, “How can I help you?”

“What?” She couldn’t help but laugh along with him. “You’re still going to help me after I almost impaled you with my shoe?”

“On one condition.”

“That is?” Rhia clasped her hands before her lap, her neck tensed from the unknown request. She was sure she would be forced to clean up the store that night, or stock bags of soil, or wash all the windows, or…

“Tell me your name.”

…tell him her name.

“Rhiannon desu.” She bowed her head, only to see his shadow distort as he bowed his. When she straightened, she saw his blue eyes smirk at her.

“And I’m Omi.” There it was. “Hajimemashite.”

“Hajimemashite.”

The beginning of something wonderful.

“So, you said you needed help with something?”

“I did?” A questionable look spread over the blonde’s features. For a moment, she stood there in silence, glancing off to the side. A sneeze, somewhere deep in the shop, jogged her memory. “Oh yes, I’m looking for two girls.”

“Oh?”

“One has gorgeous scarlet curls, a bit grouchy, but with a nice personality, and a porcelain complexion with freckles. The other girl is really tall. Um, she has these vibrant red tips in her hair and…” What were the words she was looking for? “You would probably notice her boobs first.”

Rhia thought it strange that, at that moment, Omi raised an eyebrow.

If she sneezed once again, Sofia just knew her lungs would collapse. Her nose was already the same color as the cart of maroon rhododendrons she leaned on. Her throat, Lord knows, had struggled to expand with every breath. It was inflamed from the multitude of pollen polluting the air around her. At least she could still see, a bit. Things before her appeared contorted and oblong. She was looking at the world through a fish bowl and slowly drowning.

I bet he forgot. Sofia complained to herself. To make matters worse, her shoulder had started to pang with pain. Every labored breath made it swell and rub against the dressings. If he’s not back here within the minute, I’m leaving. Rhia or no Rhia.

That raised the problem about how she would be able to leave. The line out the door had thinned, yes, but only because more customers had been let into the store. The noise and heat had risen, along with the groggy feeling itching to invade her mind.

Thirty more seconds, little boy.

When she moved off the cart, the blood immediately rushed back to her head.

Her chest suddenly tightened. She grasped it and took a deep breath. That only infuriated her sinuses.

I’m going to get the hell out of here.

She took a step forward, shakily stepping out into the middle of the isle. After another inch forward, her strength left her. She grasped the nearest thing to her: a plastic flat of purple Monkshood.

I honestly…

Her head became heavy.

The edges of her vision darkened.

The blackness spread inwards.

“Excuse me. If you aren’t going to buy anything, get out.”

She turned towards the deep, uncouth voice and momentarily saw a halo of red play against her vision. Before she fainted, she reached out. For all she knew, it was Autumn.