Ayame Sohma breezed through his shop, humming to himself as he twitched ribbons into place and straightened collars on the display items in his inventory. He fairly danced around, the long navy blue mandarin gown he wore stylishly on his slender frame sweeping about his ankles. Without thinking he started softly singing a tune almost under his breath.

A good looking dark haired man in a grey yukata came through the front door reaching around to quiet the bells on the handle as he entered. He padded up behind the shopkeeper smiling to himself and said loudly,

"Aya, I thought you promised Ha-san you would never sing that song again."

A startled Ayame jumped spinning around amber eyes wide long silver hair floating about his shoulders. "Shigure, I didn't hear you come in." he said as he threw his arms around his friend in a brief embrace then backed off asking "I wasn't singing it out loud was I?"

"Still it is a catchy tune" Shigure got a devilishly sly look on his face as he began to sing:

Hatori San is the best…

His kisses are better than all the rest

Ayame San and Shigure San have put it to the test

And

Hatori San is the best…

"Keep it down someone might hear you," Hissed Ayame. "He would never forgive us if any of the younger cousins heard that." This was said with a nearly straight face, and a mischievous glint in his topaz eyes.

"He would never forgive you if he knew you were the one that made it up Aya. I don't care how jealous you were after he made the most money at the kissing booth in our senior year carnival, it really was inexcusable to do that to poor Ha-San."

"Who's idea was it to do a kissing booth at an all boys school anyway? None of the other students trusted their girlfriends, or their sisters with either of us" Ayame said sulking briefly. "That aside, you were the one singing it out loud in the showers after gym class 'Gure, would he forgive your part in it all? I don't think so. The entire student body was serenading poor Hatori with it the last few weeks of high school. You can't tell on me without telling on yourself. So, its better he doesn't find out right?"

Upstairs Ayame's assistant Mine was holding her ribs, silent laughter sending tears down her cheeks. She hoped the boss man never figured out how much she could hear through the floor vent in the small upstairs kitchen where she was fixing a pot of tea. The thought of the stolid Hatori Sohma having to deal with such teasing was just too much.