Flowershop

Chapter Twenty Two

They all got home again at night. They decided to go out for dinner, and that's right, you guessed it: a pizza place. Nobody really would've guessed that a man who proclaims to hate everything western held a love for pizza.

Just for tonight Leon would be sleeping over, as he'd just be staying with his friend for the remainder of the trip. Kiku didn't really approve of that for obvious reasons, one of them being that they traveled all this way for Leon. But at the same time, he couldn't blame him. Kiku was a teenager too once, had wanted to stay with other people, and he's never even met his best friend. His best friend that he had known since third grade. Kiku had always wanted a pen pal as well, but he never actually got one. He watched Leon with analytical eyes much like Yao's, and tried to pick at him to see his mind. It wasn't as easy as Yao made it seem. With tiredness in his eyes, he gave up.

Leon seemed tired, even though it was still relatively early. It was about ten and he was yawning nonstop. After a few minutes, his eyes began to well up with tears, caused from yawning so much. Blacked tears ran down his face, and he obliviously rubbed his eyes. Kiku instantly face palmed and tried his hardest not to laugh. Leon tiredly looked at his hand, and all grogginess quickly left his eyes. "Oh my god, no!" He rubbed around his face more, just smudging eyeliner around even more. He got out a compact mirror from his back pocket and frantically checked his face. "Oh my gosh, first my nail polish chips, then this..." He said miserably under his breath, trying to run the blackness from his eyes. Kiku composed himself, he pushed Leon's back softly.

"After you clean yourself, go to bed." He said, nodding towards the couch. Leon glanced at the couch, then back at Kiku. "...Is it a pullout couch?" He asked slowly. Kiku nodded, as if that weren't obvious enough. Leon didn't complain or make any sounds of distress, but Kiku could practically hear all the complaints boiling up in his mind. "Yeah, sorry you have to sleep out here, but there's only one other bedroom, and our parents are sleeping in there," He said awkwardly. He didn't really know if he should go about calling Ivan Dad or not, because he was only just trying it out, so he just went with "our parents." It still irked him to know that Ivan was completely fine with him taking his time, but he was slowly but surely getting over this feeling of old, unnecessary distrust. Yao hated Ivan at first, so of course, he had followed in example. He had never adjusted back properly, though.

Leon gave Kiku a look as he said "our parents." He didn't say anything about though, and simply nodded. "I know, I know. Where is the bathroom again?" Kiku pointed to the room right across from his, as if it weren't apparent. Leon had always had trouble adjusting to new places, be it a big mansion or a small apartment. But Kiku knew well he would have no trouble adjusting at Emil's house.

Yao and Ivan were sleeping in Kiku's room, and Kiku, Leon, and Alfred had to share the pullout couch. Alfred and Kiku didn't mind at all, but Leon didn't want to sleep with Alfred. He had just met him, and he didn't want to just start sleeping in the same bed as him. He decided sacrificing his sleep would probably be the best choice. Kiku and Alfred had already made the bed, and Leon had been in the shower, for nearly an hour. Kiku was prepared for this, he had always had to be careful to shower before him. Kiku sighed; Alfred had still not taken a shower, and it didn't seem that Leon was getting out anytime soon. Kiku laid on the pullout bed, and spread himself out. He was the only one out of the three who was actually wanting to sleep. He turned to his side, knowing he would never get to sleep. He wasn't anxious, but he just knew there would be no way he could get to sleep. He had more people to meet tomorrow as well; he had to meet with Emil and his family, whom he's talked to at times over the years.

He knew they were fine, trustable people, but he couldn't wrap his head around it all. He couldn't wrap his head around the fact that three members of his family were here, and that his big family was going to grow even bigger. Would it ever end? He had only ever known his family, and now, his family is extended to French and Germans, English and Scandinavians. Would it ever stop growing? The thought almost scared him. So many people to please and be around. How could he manage? How did Yao manage?