Flowershop

Chapter Nine

They skidded to a stop right in front of the park, panting and out of breath. Kiku tore his hand out of Alfred's death grip, and turned to face him. He was still a little mad at him, still not knowing why Alfred stopped talking to him. "Al..Fred.. wait.." He panted, hands on his knees as he doubled over. He was so unfit at the moment. Alfred looked down at him, an actual serious look plastered on his face. "Kiku, we obviously need to talk, we need to know more about eachother, especially since you thought my dad was my boyfriend." He said. Kiku straightened up, looking Alfred in the eye. "And I would like to kn-" "-Why I haven't talked to you, I know, I know, I'll answer that first." The American finished for him. Kiku eyed Alfred hard, and the American sat down on a nearby bench, gesturing for Kiku to sit next to him. Kiku sat carefully on the bench, perched on the edge, am expectant look on his face. Alfred sighed a long sigh, and began to speak. "So, my Dad... He's sick. His name is Arthur, and he recently got sick, around the time you started working at that flowershop," Alfred started, face deep in thought. Kiku simply sat and listened, interested. "Before you were working there, there was this quiet Norwegian guy I think, but I forgot his name. But anyways, Forget-me-nots are my Dad's favourite flower, so I try to buy them everyday. But, he got worse about a week or two ago, so I try to stay with him as much as I can... That's sort of why I couldn't hang out with you for a while. And when you tried to call me a few days ago, I was at the hospital, with my Papa. We were trying to talk to my brother, but he can't come over here," he said sadly. "His name is Mattie, I mean Mathieu, and he lives in Canada with his husband, riighht over there," he said, gesturing to the space in front of him. Technically, he wasn't wrong, as New York and Canada were right next to eachother. "They're pretty busy at the moment, and they can't really buy a plane ticket and hurry over here right now," Alfred said, a distant look upon his face. "So... how is it your family is all together but your brother is not?" Kiku asked curiously. He was actually listening to what Alfred was saying, and he felt bad for getting so worked up and jealous over something so ridiculous. "Well, you see, Kiku," Alfred said, suddenly smiling. "Me and Mattie love to travel. we've been to so many places, and fantasized about living in every one of them. I've been to Germany, Italy, Finland, Ireland, England, France, and of course, Japan," He said smiling as Kiku looked surprised. "I can speak more than just English, and so can Mathieu. Out of all the places we've gone together, you know where he picks? Out of all the places to live, he picks Canada," America laughed. "Lord, he's my older brother, only by about, three and a half years, but he's so old," Alfred shouted. "Canada! Of all places! I can't believe him!" He started to laugh some more, until Kiku looked up at him, his face beet red. "Uh, Alfred, I'm sorry for getting so upset over this, for insulting your dad," he winced, "And-"
"Dude, it's cool! I'm not upset, honestly, you had no way of knowing! It was partially my fault, you know, for at least telling you why I couldn't talk," Alfred pointed out. "And by the way, I'm sorry if Papa, you know, flirted with you..." He said, looking at Kiku uncomfortably. Kiku laughed a little. "No no, he didn't," Kiku said, mainly to comfort Alfred.

"Yeah, I heard my Dads used to not get along with eachother, like at all! That's so weird! They're so compatible, at least to me they are," he said. "Your family seems like good people, and you all seem to love eachother, very much. Unlike my family," he said slightly smiling. Alfred gave him a questioning look. Kiku implied that no one in his family got along or liked eachother, but he looked really fond of talking about them. It confused the blond. "So, enough about my family, I want to hear about yours!"

Kiku gave Alfred a long hard, bewildered stare. Why would he want to know about his family?! Well, with this chil- I mean man, anything is possible, Kiku thought silently. Kiku exhaled for a long time before answering. "Well... My mother found me when I was very small... I have no idea who my biological parents are, and I honestly don't have any desire to meet them," he started, looking in a completely different direction then Alfred. He was already interested. "In fact, all my siblings are not biologically related to me or my mother in anyway. Well, exept my youngest brother, his name is Leon. But anyways, we all lived with my mother in China. My mother- his name is Wan- Yao Wang, just like a mother to me. He had multiple jobs to support us, and me, being the oldest, helped out usually. I have three brothers, Nirand, Leon, and," he paused with a disgusted look on his face. "..Yong Soo. I have two sisters, Lien and Mei, so yeah, there is a lot of people in my family," he said, pausing, considering what next to say. "But, it was alright, because my mother was strong and knew how to get around. And then, our financial troubles got better when my mother remarried. He got married to a heavy set, huge, Russian man. He was pretty good with my siblings, and kids in general," he said off handedly, an unreadable expression on his face. "But I never really liked, or trusted him when I was younger for some reason. His name is Ivan Braginsky.. he always used to make me and my brothers and sisters handmade toys, which they always liked," he said, a smile coating his lips. "An-"
"Well, you seem to me like you like him," Alfred exlaimed, somehow I'm his ultra-perceptive mode once again. Kiku was honestly shocked to hear that. "I mean, you talk about your family like they're so divided, but from what I hear, you couldn't have made everything work if you couldn't work together and love eachother," Alfred said, a knowing smile adorning his face. Kiku just stared at him, amazed at how much he got from this, by just hearing that. It sounded like hew knew the family more then they knew themselves, which was odd. Alfred really was perceptive, and it never ceased to amaze Kiku. "You..You really think so?" Kiku asked carefully. "Of course!" Alfred answered, flashing that blinding smile. Kiku looked away as not to go blind, and continued.