Ken looked up when a very official man in a suit and sunglasses entered the flower shop.

“Can I…help you?” He asked. Suits always made him feel a little uneasy. Partially because no good news ever cam from a man in a suit, and partially because most of their targets wore suits like the one before him.

“Are you Kudou Youji?” The man asked.

“No I’m not…” The brunette thought a moment before checking his watch. It was barely 9:00. “I think he’s still asleep…can I deliver a message for you?”

“I’m Katashi Ichiro from the Department of Children's Services.” The man explained, removing his sunglasses. “I hate to intrude, but I must speak with Kudou-san right away.”

Ken hesitated for a moment. “Follow me.” He said, flipping the sign on the door to read ‘closed’.

He led the man to the back of the shop and down the stairs into the mission room. He knew the others would be less then happy about this, but it looked enough like a living room when it wasn’t being used that it would do for now.

“Please, wait right here…I’ll go get Youji.”

Katashi nodded, and Ken made his way upstairs. He passed Omi and Aya both eating breakfast in the kitchen, but didn’t stop for his usual hello. Instead, he went straight to Youji’s room, and began to pound on the door, well aware of the fact that pounding was the only way to wake up Yotan on his day off. Omi and Aya soon joined him in the hallway.

“What’s going on?” Omi asked.

“Aren’t you supposed to be manning the shop?” Aya added.

“A man showed up looking for Youji…I think it’s really important…” Ken explained. He was about to resume pounding on the door when it swung open, revealing a very annoyed assassin.

“What, Hidaka?” The blonde growled.

Ken sighed. “Get dressed and head down to the mission room.” He said before turning and heading down himself. Omi and Aya exchanged glances before following. Youji shook his head and closed his door to get dressed.

* * * *

When Youji entered the mission room, he found his three teammates standing around nervously, and a man sitting stiffly in one of the chairs.

“Kudou Youji-san?” The man asked, standing. Youji nodded and the man extended his hand. “I’m Katashi Ichiro with DCS.”

“What can I do for you?” The blonde asked, sitting down on the couch.

Katashi followed suite, casting a quick glance to the three lurking men. Youji gave a small wave, signaling to ignore them, so the older man continued.

“Do you recall a Ms. Mizuho Natsumi?”

“Sure, I remember Natsumi-chan.” He sat up straight. “Is something wrong?”

“I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, Kudou-san…but Mizuho-san died about a month ago. Apparently she suffered from complications of the heart.”

Youji took a deep breath.

“There’s more, Kudou-san.” Katashi paused. “She left behind two children. Her final wish was that they be sent to their father.”

“If there’s anything I can do to help you find him, believe me, I will.” Youji cut in.

“You don’t understand, Kudou-san…according to the birth certificates, you are the father.”

Aya, Ken, and Omi nodded to each other before making a quiet exit. Youji needed to work this out on his own. He’d fill them in when the time came.

* * * *

It was another half an hour before Youji emerged from the mission room, followed closely by Katashi. Both men looked very somber, but Youji looked determined.

“The day after tomorrow, then?” Youji asked.

“If you are sure you can have things ready by then.” Katashi replied. “My partner and I will be here around lunch.”

Youji nodded. He walked Katashi to the door before bidding him goodbye. Upon closing the door, he noticed the sign still read ‘closed’. All four men where quite for a moment.

“They’re twins. A boy and a girl.” The blonde explained looking at his friends. “They’re a year and a half.”

“What are their names?” Omi asked, curiosity getting the best of him.

“Her name is Sayuri and his is Takara.” Youji smiled in spite of himself. “Kudou Sayuri and Kudou Takara.”

“So we’ve got forty-eight hours to make this place child safe?” Ken asked. His smirk told Youji they would all support him through this ordeal.

“Come on Youji-kun!” Omi said, grabbing his coat. “We’ve got to go buy some things for the babies.”

“I guess I’d better try to get a hold of Manx.” Aya said, turning and heading upstairs. He paused long enough to take out his wallet and hand over a credit card. Despite the fact that it read ‘Fujimiya Aya’ It was Weiss’s business expenses card. “You would have to throw a kink in the system, wouldn’t you Kudou?” He said, starting back up the stairs.

“We can’t let life get too simple here.” Youji called after him, but smiled gratefully. He slipped the card in his shirt pocket. “Then it gets boring.”

“Well, while you guys do that, I’m heading upstairs.” Ken smiled. “I think I know a room that would be perfect for a nursery.”

“Who’s going to run the shop?” Aya asked, glaring from the top of the stairs.

Ken shrugged and laughed. “We can close for a couple days and still have the same number of fangirls when we reopen.” He replied before heading for the stairs. He paused half way up, and looked back at Omi and Youji who were preparing to leave. “Hey, Omi…pick up a nice wall color. Something neutral, like yellow or green.”

“Sure thing, Ken-kun” Omi smiled before dragging Youji out the side door.

* * * *

It was dark by the time Youji and Omi returned. They honked twice, signaling that they needed help with the things they bought. Omi passed Aya and Ken on their way to Youji’s car. He carried a nice take-out dinner in one arm, and a few assorted bags of baby things in the other. There were boxes on the backseat as well as in the trunk, which was tied down with a rope because the boxes were too big. Ken and Aya exchanged glances before helping Youji unload everything.

The room Ken had deemed the ‘perfect nursery’ was in reality a storage room. Youji was surprised how large the room was when the junk was cleared away. He was also surprised to find it had both a nice sized window and carpeted floors.

“Where’d all the junk go?” He asked, looking around the empty space.

“Well, I went through it…and moved whatever looked important to the mission room…until we can rearrange better…” Ken began, leading the way to the kitchen and the take-out dinner.

“And the rest?”

“I sold it to the fangirls.”

Aya shrugged. “He made a good enough profit that I decided we can afford to close for a few days after all.”

“Eat up!” Omi ordered. “We’ll have to paint the room tonight if we want the fumes to clear out by the time Sayuri-chan and Takara-chan get here.”

* * * *

It was past dawn by the time the members of Weiss were able to go to bed. They’d had to put four coats of paint, a medium shade of purple, in order to cover the dark grey walls, but it was worth it.

They’d also managed to assemble the furniture for the room. There was an oak colored crib roughly the size of a twin and a half bed in width, but only a yard or so in length. It was just big enough for both children to sleep comfortably. Omi thought it was best to let them sleep together so they had something familiar to hold on to. There was also a daybed, a small dresser for clothing, a toy box and a rocking chair, all made of the same material as the crib. Both bed and crib had matching sheets in various shades of purple to fit the room. Omi and Youji were careful not to buy too many toys and clothes, simply because they weren’t sure what Katashi would bring with the children. Sitting unopened on the daybed were two car seats, which Youji had been too tired to install in his car that night, and a double stroller. He had been unsure of how well they could walk yet…assuming they could, but figured it was better to be safe then sorry.

They had agreed the next day to pick up necessary things like diapers, bottles, sippy cups, and baby food. They also decided that would be when they did all of their last minute touch ups.

One thing was certain, life at the Koneko was about to change for good.