FIC: Daiki, Part 10 (of 22)

[geri_chan]

Title: Daiki, Part 10 (of 22)
Rating: R overall, but mostly PG-13
Pairing: Leon/D
Word count: ~10,010
Disclaimer: Characters belong to Matsuri Akino and Yumiko Kawahara. No money is being made off this story; consider it a little wish fulfillment on my part.
Sequel to: This can be considered a continuation of my earlier series of stories (Revenge, The Day After, Spirits, Blodeuedd), but it can stand on its own as my version of what happens after Book 10.

Thanks to: Spare from the Petshop discussion group on Yahoo, who planted the plot bunny in my head about the Dolls shopkeeper being Leon and D's child! ^_^

Summary: A crossover between Petshop of Horrors by Matsuri Akino and Dolls by Yumiko Kawahara. Daiki deals with some difficult customers, and Leon takes an interest in his son's work. This chapter deals mainly with the "Milk at Mealtimes" and "Snow White" stories from Book 1 of the Dolls manga.

Part 1a, Part 1b, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9

***

A few weeks after Chris's visit, the young man who had bought the blue-eyed Plant Doll returned. The doll lay limp in his arms, her cheeks flushed and a silly smile on her face. Leon, who happened to be visiting the shop during his lunch break, exclaimed, "Is that doll drunk?!" He had thought the dolls weren't supposed to drink anything other than milk, but he recognized intoxication when he saw it--he'd seen many drunks on the job, of course, and he'd gone on more than a few binges himself, at least during his single days.

Looking very distressed, the young man said, "I was only playing with her, teasing her a bit, showing her different types of food. She turned her nose up at smelly foods like pizza with onions and garlic, but she took a lick of cake and a sip of tea, and then she drank down a whole glass of brandy..."

"Sir," Daiki sighed, a hint of exasperation creeping into his voice, "I stressed repeatedly, nothing other than milk and sugar cookies!"

"Oh...is that right?" the customer asked sheepishly, with the guilty look of a child who knows he has done something wrong but doesn't want to admit it. "Can you fix her?"

Daiki gently took the doll from the customer and said in a cool voice, "Maintenance will take three days. It will be costly." Cradling the doll in one arm, he wrote out a bill with his free hand.

The young man blanched when he saw the amount, but nodded meekly and made no objections. He left the shop, looking very chastened.

"Will she really be all right?" Leon asked.

Daiki nodded. "This happens from time to time, Mr. Hua says, and he's taught me how to nurse the dolls back to health. So long as the customer does not repeat his mistake, she should be fine."

"Poor thing," Leon said, gently laying a hand on the doll's head. "What kind of idiot would give alcohol to a little girl? If she were human, I could report him for child abuse."

"Some of these customers are like overly indulgent pet owners who spoil their pets by feeding them sweets and table scraps even though they know it's not good for them," Daiki sighed.

"Well," Leon said with a grin, "at least she didn't give birth to a horde of carnivorous bunnies!"

"What?" Daiki asked, looking puzzled, then smiled. "Oh yes, the rabbit named Alice--Ten-chan told me about her. That was one of the cases you were investigating when you first met Papa, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, that was one of the cases from the early days," Leon agreed. "I knew that the Count was mixed up in all those mysterious deaths, but I could never prove it." He sounded almost nostalgic, and a bit disgruntled at the same time.

Daiki laughed. "That's just as well, don't you think? Otherwise I might not exist."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right, kid," Leon conceded, chuckling. "Well, I'd better get back to work before the Chief chews me out."

"And I will tend to this young lady," Daiki said, smiling down at the doll. "And hopefully her owner has learned his lesson."

***

Daiki delivered the doll to the customer's home three days later, and the young man shouted, "Welcome home!" as he gathered the doll into his arms and embraced her.

"It's a lifetime investment," Daiki said sternly, "so take very good care of her, please."

"Oh, don't I know it," the customer said fervently, tears of relief streaming down his face as he held the doll so tightly that she seemed to be having trouble catching her breath. "I've missed my little angel so! It doesn't matter how much money it takes or what I have to do--she's become indispensable to my life. I swear, from now on, I'll take good care of my angel."

"Very well, sir," Daiki said, his stern expression softening a little. "Just remember that the best nourishment for a Plant Doll is love."

"So do you think that your customer will keep his promise and follow the rules from now on?" Leon asked later over dinner.

"That sort rarely does, in my experience," D said.

"I hope that he keeps his promise," Daiki said, looking a little worried. "He missed Angel--that's what he's calling her now--very much even though she was only gone for three days. So hopefully this incident left enough of an impression on him that he will not repeat it. The doll chose him, after all, so I shall try to have faith in her choice."

"Hmm," was all D said in reply. However, after Daiki had left the table and Leon and D were alone, the Count said, "If the Plant Dolls are like my pets, they might not always make the best choice in owners. To paraphrase the Bard--that means Shakespeare, by the way..."

"I know that," Leon said irritably. "I know you think I'm just a dumb cop, but I'm not that stupid."

"Forgive me for overestimating your level of stupidity, my dear detective," D said smoothly.

Leon glared at him for a moment, then laughed and said, "Well, I walked right into that one!"

"Indeed," the Count said, smiling smugly. "In any case, as I was saying, to paraphrase the Bard, there are those who love not wisely but too well."

Leon just nodded, thinking of the original Alice's parents, who had loved their daughter so much that they could deny her nothing--not even the drugs that eventually killed her. And even with the knowledge of that first mistake, they still repeated it with the second "Alice," feeding her the forbidden junk food that eventually poisoned her murderous brood, but not before they had killed Alice's father.

"Well, maybe things will work out," Leon said, trying to sound more hopeful than he felt. He tried to reassure himself that Mr. Hua had promised that breaking a contract with the Plant Dolls shop would not result in bloodshed, only in the doll wilting or "growing up". Although he would hate to see that pretty little doll wilt. Then Leon wondered what happened to a Plant Doll that "grew up"; Mr. Hua had spoken of it distastefully, but how bad could it really be? It was normal for living things to grow up and get older, right?

***

For several months, things seemed to run smoothly at the shop. Angel's owner was filled with an increased sense of devotion to his Plant Doll, and stopped by the shop frequently to buy little luxuries for her--a porcelain tea cup, a very special and expensive type of milk, silk sheets for her to sleep on, and silk ribbons for her hair. He explained that he could now afford these gifts for her because he had become filled with a resolve to work hard in order to maintain his Angel's beauty, and had worked so diligently at his job that he had been rewarded with a pay raise.

The dolls that Daiki sold during this time bonded well with their owners. A happy-go-lucky young gambler bought a Plant Doll that he named "Otohime" after the legendary princess from Japanese fairy tales who lived in the Dragon King's palace under the sea. Otohime was so taken with the gambler that Daiki granted him a loan without even demanding a down payment, since the young man was currently broke. The gambler had a winning streak of good luck shortly after he purchased Otohime, but some trouble resulted from this sale, as the gambler's girlfriend marched into the shop and demanded that Daiki take the doll back. She was convinced that Daiki was a swindler who had sold the doll as a "lucky charm," since her boyfriend was rather gullible and had been cheated this way many times before.

"Luck can't last forever!" the angry young woman shouted. "Or are you claiming that the doll can grant wishes forever?!"

"Grant wishes?" Daiki asked in a tone of polite puzzlement.

"That's how you sold it, right? Saying it was a lucky doll!"

"No," Daiki replied gently. "It is because the doll trusted him. It would seem to me that you do not trust my customer. I, on the other hand, have no choice but to believe in the trust placed by the dolls."

"Wha...what do you mean?" the woman stammered.

"If good fortune has come along with that Plant Doll, then the rapport between customer and Plant Doll must be very good indeed," Daiki said serenely.

The practical young woman had difficulty believing in luck and dreams, and was secretly a little jealous of her lover's devotion to Otohime, while the young man was completely lacking in practicality and common sense, always trusting in his luck and believing that things would eventually work out, even when his winning streak changed into a losing streak. They quarreled and separated briefly, but the young woman found that she missed her impractical young gambler, and in the end, everything worked out.

"The world needs balance," the woman told Daiki several months after the initial sale of Otohime. "If we had nothing but luck, it'd be too one-sided. So it works out just right with me getting mad and worrying."

"So should I congratulate you on your happiness?" Daiki asked politely, since he could see that the young woman was very obviously pregnant. He picked up a placard and his calligraphy brush, and started to write a message wishing the couple joy and good fortune.

"Oh, stop!" the woman laughed, blushing, and slapped Daiki on the back good-naturedly. "I didn't mean to get all sappy! Sorry!" Aside from her stomach, the young woman was slightly built, but apparently she was much stronger than she looked, because she hit Daiki with enough force to knock him off balance and send brush, placard, and ink bottle flying.

Tet-chan, who had happened to stop by for a visit, growled hopefully from beneath the couch, "Want me to bite her, Dai?"

"No!" Daiki hissed.

The woman, who did not notice the exchange between the two, continued blithely, "But thanks to you, we're very happy." She laid her hands on her rounded belly. "I think that Otohime will be a good friend to this little one. And please come visit our parlor too, promise?"

"Ah...er...thank you," Daiki replied nervously as he cleaned up the spilt ink, keeping one eye on the woman in case she decided to give him another "friendly" slap on the back. From beneath the couch, Tet-chan snickered.

***

Another success story was the sale of Snow White. This was particularly gratifying because she was "used goods"--a doll that had been returned by its first owner--and most potential Plant Doll customers shied away from buying used. And perhaps that was understandable; a Plant Doll was a luxury item, and wealthy customers didn't usually want to pay exorbitant prices for dolls that had been cast off by someone else.

It all began when a wealthy customer showed up at an L.A. jewelry store looking for "Tears of Heaven," a legendary type of gemstone said to be formed from the tears of a Plant Doll. The manager had never heard of such a thing before, but his motto was to always satisfy his customers' desires, so he naturally headed to the Plant Dolls store in Chinatown...

"Getting right down to business, can you give me one?" the manager asked in a brisk, no-nonsense tone of voice as Daiki served him some tea. "How much would it cost?"

"Unfortunately..." Daiki murmured regretfully.

"So you don't have it?!" the manager demanded, sounding annoyed. "Is that it? Just as I thought, something like that couldn't--"

"I didn't say that it doesn't exist," Daiki interrupted. "But..."

"Then if you have it, sell it to me!" the manager exclaimed. "I take pride in the fact that I always fulfill my customers' requests!" As if echoing the intensity of the emotion in his voice, his fist clenched around his teacup so tightly that the delicate porcelain shattered into pieces, although the manager barely noticed.

"They very rarely come into our hands," Daiki told him.

"Money is no object!" the manager insisted.

Daiki chuckled softly, a smile of gentle amusement on his face. "Of course it is not a question of money. We're talking about a miracle."

"A mi...miracle?" the manager stammered.

"If I may explain," Daiki said, picking up his calligraphy brush and waving it with a sweeping, expansive gesture of his hand. "When the finest Plant Doll is raised in the best of all environments with the utmost love...then the tears it spills tumble down like the ripened seeds of heavenly pomegranates. Each one crystalizes and becomes a living jewel. That is indeed what is referred to as the 'Tears of Heaven'. Thus, if you would understand..." He inscribed a sentence on a placard with a few quick strokes of his brush and held it up. The words read: "Tears of Heaven impossible."

"Arggh!" the manager exclaimed in frustration. "I'm a realist, and I hate sentimental crap like this!" He looked as though he were about to storm out of the shop, but a look of stubborn determination filled his face, and he snapped, "So you're saying that I just have to buy a doll?!"

"Ah, that is correct," Daiki replied with a charming smile. "Would you like to view them?"

Daiki led the jewelry store manager around the shop, and pointed out a beautiful doll with long, platinum-blonde hair. "For this type of doll, the cost would run thus..." He inscribed a figure on another placard and held it up.

"Wha--?!" the manager exclaimed, his eyes bulging in shock.

"And this one here," Daiki continued, indicating a doll with copper-colored curls, "would cost approximately thus..."

The manager nearly keeled over when he saw the price, and had to clutch at the wall for support. "Nothing a bit more...affordable?" he asked weakly.

"Yes, but then it would become very difficult to obtain a 'Tear of Heaven,'" Daiki replied.

"Dammit," the manager cursed under his breath. "These businesses with aristocratic clientele deal in a whole different price range."

Daiki frowned, absent-mindedly touching the end of his calligraphy brush to his lips like a student gnawing on a pencil while working out a difficult math problem. After a few moments, he said, "Well, if that is the case, it would have to be this type..." And he led the manager to a corner of the store where a beautiful Plant Doll slumbered in an ornate, throne-like, velvet-lined chair. The doll had perfectly smooth, ivory-colored skin and shining raven-colored hair that tumbled across her shoulders like waves of black silk. Her mouth was like a perfect little rosebud.

"Are you kidding?" the manager asked, looking puzzled and suspicious. "This one looks super expensive."

"Ah, you can tell?" Daiki asked.

"Sure, after seeing a couple," the manager replied matter-of-factly. "I am a jeweler, you know."

"You have a very fine eye," Daiki complimented the manager. "This is 'Snow White,' a top of the line doll." He jotted down another price, much lower than the others.

"This is a joke, isn't it?" the manager asked, frowning at the placard. "Is this some kind of trick?"

"Nothing of the kind," Daiki assured him. "There were some circumstances, and this one came back to us. Because of the product quality, you would normally be looking at an exorbitant price."

"I see," the manager said, smiling triumphantly at the placard.

"However, this item is a bit temperamental," Daiki cautioned.

"I don't care if it's temperamental or blemished, as long as I get ahold of this 'Tear of Heaven,'" the manager said dismissively.

"With Snow White, most certainly," Daiki said.

"Okay, it's settled then!"

"However," Daiki continued, "only if the customer is fancied."

"I told you I don't care which one," the manager said impatiently.

"Ah, no," Daiki said politely. "It's not what the customer fancies. It's whether YOU are fancied..."

The sleeping doll's eyes opened and focused on the manager, who was unaccustomed to the concept of living dolls, and was quite startled, to say the least.

"WAAGH!" he shrieked, flinging himself into Daiki's arms. "The eyes opened!"

Daiki permitted himself a small, nearly imperceptible sigh; Mr. Hua had taught him that a good salesman never showed any sign of annoyance, even when his patience was being sorely tested by a customer such as this one. Then Daiki silently gave thanks that neither Tet-chan nor Dad were here at the moment. It would not be good for business to have his customers mauled or shot by overprotective family members. Meanwhile, Snow White stared at the manager for a moment, then shut her eyes and went back to sleep.

"She...fell back asleep?" the manager said, hastily releasing Daiki.

"Disappointing indeed, my customer," Daiki murmured, then gave him a regretful smile. "And it was such a good deal, too."

The manager stalked out of the shop, fuming to himself, "A mere doll! Snubbed by a mere doll!"

Leon gave the manager a puzzled look as he passed by him on the way in. "Hey, Dai," he called out cheerfully, holding up a grease-stained paper sack that gave off an aroma of bacon, hamburger, and french fries. "I brought us some lunch. Thought I'd spend some quality time with my favorite son."

Daiki smiled in amusement. "What you mean is that you wanted a bacon cheeseburger and you know that Papa won't let you bring 'that atrocious American artery-clogging junk food' into the petshop."

Leon flopped down on the couch and said defensively, "Hey, I'm entitled to a treat every now and then! All I eat at home is tofu and rabbit food. A man needs a little meat once in awhile, you know."

"I know that it's no burden to eat at home," Daiki laughed, sitting beside his father. "Tet-chan can create marvelous vegetarian dishes that taste just like beef and pork and chicken."

"I know, I know," Leon said. "But sometimes I get a craving for a burger. Don't squeal on me to Papa, okay?"

"Did you get one for me?" Daiki asked.

"Of course," Leon replied. "Along with an order of fries."

Daiki reached into the sack, plucked out a french fry, and nibbled on it daintily. "Well then, your secret is safe with me, Dad," he said lightly. "Wait," he said as Leon picked up a burger and started to bite into it. Daiki tucked a napkin into the collar of Leon's t-shirt and said, "If you want to keep this a secret from Papa, you'd better not go home with ketchup stains on your shirt."

"Glad I raised a smart kid," Leon said, grinning sheepishly, then bit into his burger with gusto. "That guy who just left didn't look too happy," Leon said with his mouth full. "Guess you lost a sale, huh?"

"Oh no," Daiki replied, smiling smugly. "He'll be back."

"Huh," Leon said, staring at his son warily. "You look just like D when you smile that way."

"Why thank you, Dad," Daiki said sweetly.

"It wasn't a compliment," Leon said dryly.

"I know," Daiki replied, the sweetness in his voice not wavering in the slightest, and Leon laughed.

***

Daiki was right; the jewelry store manager returned several times, trying to court Snow White with flowers and toys, but she slept through it all. Finally, he returned one day when Leon was having lunch at the Plant Dolls shop again, and this time he presented Snow White with a diamond pendant.

"Gah!" Leon exclaimed, choking on his food. "Look at the size of that rock! It's not cubic zirconia, is it?"

"Certainly not!" the manager snapped, glaring at Leon. "My shop sells only the finest quality merchandise!" Then he smiled at Snow White as she opened her eyes and gazed at the pendant. "What do you think?" he asked eagerly. "Isn't it pretty?" The doll closed her eyes and went back to sleep as the manger fumed and raged. "Don't sleep! This here's our store's top-selling, most recommended, highly prized--"

"I did tell you that Snow White is a bit difficult," Daiki sighed. "And pardon my saying so, but you cannot be serious in thinking that the Plant Doll would be satisfied with a trinket of that grade."

The manager stormed out of the shop, and Leon asked, "He'll be back?" Daiki smiled and nodded. "Hmm," Leon said, a look of interest sparking in his eyes. "Maybe I'll stop by on my lunch hour tomorrow to see how this plays out."

The manager did indeed return the very next day, and flung down a handful of rings, bracelets, and necklaces on the floor at the doll's feet. All together, they were probably worth more than Leon could make in a lifetime, and he stared at them a bit wistfully. If he'd really wanted to earn the big bucks, he wouldn't have become a cop, and besides, he already lived a very comfortable life with D at the petshop, but still...he couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy at seeing that manager casually tossing around a fortune in jewelry like they were dime-store trinkets. And while staring at the jewelry, Leon felt a sudden regret that he couldn't afford to buy D anything as nice as those. Not that D wore much jewelry, sometimes a pair of tiny pearl or ruby stud earrings, and occasionally he'd pin a fancy brooch to the throat of his high-necked cheongsam outfits. But hell, he'd never even bought D an engagement ring or wedding band... Leon supposed it was silly to worry about such things now, nearly twenty years after they'd started living together, but a man oughta buy his wife--or lover; D would kill him if he ever tried to call him a "wife"--at least one nice piece of jewelry, right? If not a fancy engagement ring, then an anniversary gift or something...

The manager was oblivious to what was going through Leon's mind, although Daiki gave him a curious look. "How's that!!" the manager declared triumphantly. "Nothing but the store's most expensive items!"

"Hmph," Snow White sniffed disdainfully, turning up her nose at the jewelry.

"Just the fact that the doll is responding is a step forward," Daiki told the manager, who was grinding his teeth together in frustration, his face flushed red with anger. "I'm a tad impressed, actually," Daiki continued, pouring tea for his father and the manager. "Please sir, some chamomile tea will soothe your nerves. Too much teeth-clenching will make your jaw line even stronger."

The manager sighed, the anger suddenly draining out of him, and he collapsed in a chair, a defeated look on his face. "That's one fussy doll," he said dejectedly. "Does it drink tea?"

"Milk, rather," Daiki corrected him. "A Plant Doll drinks milk three times a day, and eats a sugar cookie once a week." He picked up a second teapot, this one filled with warm milk, and poured the milk into a cup for Snow White, who held it with both hands and began sipping at it. Leon noticed that this time the doll had remained awake instead of immediately going back to sleep, so maybe the manager really was making some progress.

"Huh!" the manager exclaimed in surprise. "Seems pretty freaky, really! To survive on that!"

"Hm," Daiki said, a small, amused smile forming on his lips.

"I heard that!" the manager snapped, jumping to his feet. "What's with that condescending 'hm'?!"

"Take it easy, buddy," Leon growled, starting to rise to his feet himself, but Daiki placed a restraining hand on his shoulder.

"Pardon me," Daiki said in a tone of flawless politeness, but there was a superior little smirk on his face that reminded Leon of D, and for a moment, he could sympathize with the jeweler in spite of his desire to protect his son.

"I was thinking that if this continues," Daiki said, "not only will Snow White but all the Plant Dolls will be like sleeping beauties in your presence for your entire life."

"What--!" the outraged manager started to shout.

"Do you think the same way when you handle your merchandise?" Daiki asked, smiling tenderly down at Snow White, resting his arm across the back of her chair in a protective gesture. "Are they just 'mere rocks'?"

The manager left, looking very thoughtful, and the next day he returned to the shop again. Leon was there also, curious to see whether the jeweler would be able to win over Snow White. He approached her without his usual bluster and arrogance this time, looking humble and diffident.

"How about this one?" the manager asked, blushing like a schoolboy asking a girl out for the first time. He held up a teardrop-shaped ruby pendant strung on a delicate gold chain. "I picked it out myself. It's the first time in my life...something for a girl..." His blush grew even deeper as he stammered nervously. "I tried to imagine what would suit Snow White. I thought this might complement her skin most beautifully." His hands trembling slightly, it took him a few tries to fasten the clasp of the chain around Snow White's neck. The doll slowly lifted her hands to her throat and touched the ruby, and a smile spread across her face.

"A smile?!" the manager gasped, eyes widening in anticipation.

"It seems that she's taken a fancy to--" Daiki started to say, and then Snow White slumped down in her chair and fell asleep. "--the jewel," Daiki finished, and the manager groaned.

"At least you've made some progress," Leon said, patting him on the shoulder sympathetically.

As Daiki made some tea to console the manager, the man asked, "Do dolls sleep all the time like that?"

"Merchandise items are like sleeping beauties awaiting their princes while in the store. Even jewels. They awaken for the first time only when someone loves them."

"Hmm," Leon said thoughtfully. That was the sort of thing he would once have laughed off, but he thought of his gun, which he had owned since he'd joined the force. To D, it was an ugly piece of metal, built for the sole purpose of taking lives, but to Leon it was his trusty partner, and over the years he had cared for it like a baby, regularly cleaning and oiling it to keep it in good condition. It was almost like it had its own personality; a lot of cops would say the same thing. Although D would probably just sniff as disdainfully as Snow White, and say that men liked to name their cars, too. Leon smiled as he thought of the first car he'd owned; it had been a real clunker, but it had been his, and he had treated it with far more love and care than he'd ever shown any of his girlfriends. Maybe anything that was loved took on a kind of life of its own, even inanimate objects.

The manager took a sip of his tea and asked, "Hey, why was that doll returned? Was it a money issue?"

"No," Daiki replied, not elaborating further.

"Then why?" the manager persisted. "You'd better not tell me that it brings misfortune to its owner or something."

"Ah, that happens on occasion with jewels, does it not?" Daiki said. "In my opinion, that's largely determined by the owner."

"So what about Snow White?" Leon asked, curious himself now.

"Are you aware of the origin behind Snow White's name?" Daiki asked.

The manager shrugged. "It's from a fairy tale or something, right? I sort of vaguely recall the story, but I was never really interested in things like that."

"There was once a queen who wished for the birth of a girl with silken hair as black as night, ruby lips as red as blood, and skin as white as pure snow," Daiki said, reciting the fairy tale.

"Ah, right," the manager said. "That's why she's called Snow White. I've lived in this city all my life, and we never get snow this far south, so I've never seen the real thing." He smiled pensively. "Guess I know now...it's the color of that doll's skin. Gosh...it must be truly beautiful."

"However," Daiki continued, "being too beautiful can also bring misfortune. Her mother was jealous of that beauty, and Snow White narrowly escaped being killed three times."

"What?!" the manager cried indignantly. "By her mother?! But she's the one who wanted a daughter like that!"

"That is what is most dangerous about humans," Daiki said solemnly.

"Hey, wasn't it a stepmother who tried to kill Snow White, not the real mother?" Leon objected.

"Because it is so horrible, in the story the mother has been changed into a stepmother," Daiki replied.

"Really?" Leon asked suspiciously. "Who told you that version? D? Mr. Hua?"

Daiki just smiled enigmatically, and the manager protested, "But still! Hey, wait a sec--so you gave an ill-fated name like that to this doll?! What a heartless guy!"

"Well, it does end 'happily ever after,'" Daiki said soothingly.

"Oh...well, in that case, it's okay," the manager said, calming down. "Poor thing. Just because she was born beautiful. With the doll...was it also not loved because it was too beautiful? If it was returned, that must mean..."

Daiki rested his chin on his hand and stared off into the distance, a look of concern on his face. "I just hope its prince comes soon. Love is a Plant Doll's best nourishment. If it is made to wait too long, it will eventually wilt and..."

"It's okay, there's me!" the manager shouted, jumping up and banging his hands on the table for emphasis, knocking over the teapot in his enthusiasm. Then he realized what he had said, and he just stood there, mouth hanging open, his face alternately turning pale and then red and then pale again as he struggled to get hold of his emotions. Then he ran out of the shop crying, "Aaagh! What am I thinking?!"

Leon smiled at his son wryly. "You've reeled him in hook, line, and sinker."

Daiki smiled modestly back at him. "Well, I haven't landed the fish yet."

"Dai?" Leon asked in a more serious voice. "Truthfully, why was that doll returned?"

Daiki smiled sadly. "Actually, my esteemed customer guessed correctly. The doll was returned because of jealousy."

"I don't understand," Leon said, frowning. "I thought that the doll always chooses the customer..."

"That doesn't necessarily mean that they always choose wisely," Daiki said gravely. "In this case, the doll and its first owner, a young man, had good rapport. They lived in harmony for several months, but then the young man became engaged, and his fiancee was jealous of the doll's beauty and the affection that the young man lavished on the doll. Finally, she demanded that her lover choose between her and the doll, and well...I guess you can see which one he chose."

"That's sad," Leon said, but he felt more angry than sad. "Like the bastards who abandon a puppy when it gets to be too much work taking care of it. Sometimes I can understand why D would wanna sell those guys a killer pet."

"But you believe in second chances, don't you, Dad?" Daiki asked, smiling fondly at Leon. "Daisy's owner reformed, after all."

"So will Snow White get a second chance?"

"Why don't you stop by for tea tomorrow and find out?"

The manager turned up the next afternoon, right on schedule, carrying a bouquet of flowers. His face was flushed beet-red, and he looked more than ever like a schoolboy courting his first crush. Daiki gave him a thoughtful look as he walked through the door.

"What?" the manager asked nervously. "Is there something on my face?"

"Ah, no," Daiki replied. "It's just somewhat unexpected...please, come this way. Snow White seems to await you."

Snow White was sitting on her chair, an expectant look on her face. When the manager knelt before her, hesitantly taking her hand in his, she smiled at him, her face radiant with love and trust.

"Aaaahh!" the manager sighed happily, gently embracing Snow White as tears of joy ran down his face.

Daiki watched them smugly, and murmured to himself, "With the way things are going, perhaps I can raise the price by fifty percent."

"I heard that, you con artist," Leon said, giving his son a stern look. "A deal's a deal; give that guy the price you promised him."

"Or you'll arrest me?" Daiki asked, smiling impishly at his father.

"Don't push it, son."

Daiki heaved a sigh of mock-regret, and drew up a contract for the original discounted price. However, it took little effort to persuade the enraptured manager to buy an assortment of dresses, teacups, and special milk formula for the doll, so Daiki still made a nice profit on the sale.

"So all's well that end's well, and he'll get his 'Tears of Heaven' after all," Leon said after the manager left in an ecstatic daze with his Plant Doll.

"Oh, not necessarily," Daiki said casually as he filed away the completed contract.

"Huh?" Leon asked, a puzzled frown creasing his forehead. "What do you mean?"

"Come now, Father dear," Daiki teased, with a smile that would have been termed "condescending" had it not been tempered with humor and affection. "Surely a genius detective like you can figure out the inherent contradiction in needing to raise a Plant Doll with utmost love in order to obtain the 'Tears of Heaven'."

Leon stared at him in confusion for a moment, then comprehension dawned and he smiled. "Oh, you're a devious bastard, son," he said almost admiringly.

"Thank you, Dad," Daiki said sweetly.

Leon thought he understood what Daiki had been hinting at, but he wanted to confirm it, so he stopped by the jewelry store a couple days later. He found the manager talking to a very wealthy and spoiled-looking young woman who was wearing so many diamonds that she gave off an almost blinding glare.

"I am terribly sorry, ma'am," the manager was saying. "Due to a variety of circumstances, it will not be possible to obtain a 'Tear of Heaven'."

"Whaaat?!" the woman whined. "But I was so looking forward to it!"

"I am terribly sorry," the manager repeated, bowing his head in apology.

The woman flounced out of the store, pouting, and Leon headed towards the manager, then noticed that the security guard in the store was discreetly moving closer. Ah, the guard must have noticed the slight bulge of Leon's gun beneath his jacket and realized that he was armed. Security was good here, Leon noted approvingly, but then, it ought to be, with a fortune in gems resting in the glass cases.

"Oh, it's you, the gentleman from the Plant Dolls shop," the manager said, greeting Leon with a friendly smile. The guard relaxed, and the salesgirls raised their eyebrows at hearing their boss refer to the scruffy-looking blond as a "gentleman".

"You know this man, sir?" the guard asked.

"Yes, he's an acquaintance from the Plant Dolls shop," the manager replied. "What can I do for you, Mister...er...."

"Orcot," Leon said. "And actually, it's Detective Orcot." He quickly flashed his badge at the guard and smiled. "Don't worry, I'm off-duty. I just stopped by to ask how Snow White was doing."

The guard returned to his post, and the manager beamed at Leon. "Oh, she's just fine! Well, she is a little finicky about her milk. It has to be just right; she won't touch it if it's even one degree too hot or too cold for her liking." He chuckled, smiling fatuously like an indulgent parent.

"Not to pry, but did I just hear you tell that woman that you couldn't get her any 'Tears of Heaven'?" Leon asked. "Wasn't that why you bought Snow White in the first place?"

"Oh yes, but that was before I...well...got to know Snow White," the manager replied. "I thought that shopkeeper was talking nonsense when he kept talking about love being nourishment, but now I understand. I could never ever ever do anything to make my little princess cry!"

"He used to be such a hardhearted merchant," one of the salesgirls giggled. "But now that little Plant Doll has him wrapped around her finger!"

The manager just laughed good-naturedly. "And what about you, Detective Orcot? Are you an admirer of Plant Dolls? I've seen you at that shop nearly every day."

"No, I was just there to visit the shopkeeper," Leon replied. "He's my son."

"Oh!" the manager exclaimed, then smiled sheepishly. "You know, I was so obsessed about buying Snow White that I never bothered to ask his name. But I should have noticed the family resemblance. Please assure your son that Snow White is doing well and that I am taking good care of her."

"I will," Leon said, "but Daiki didn't send me to check on Snow White. I...er...actually had another reason for stopping by." He blushed a little, suddenly feeling awkward and out of place in this fancy shop. "You see, I wanted to get something nice for my...um...significant other. I think this place is a little out of my price range, but since my son gave you a discount on the doll, I thought, well, maybe..."

"Well, I think we can manage something for the father of the man who brought me together with my princess," the manager said genially, but his demeanor suddenly became more professional. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well, I've never really bought jewelry for anyone before," Leon said helplessly. "Nothing really nice, anyway. I don't really know what I should get..."

"Well, perhaps you could describe the lady's appearance for me, and I could find something that would complement her beauty."

Leon blushed and mumbled, "Uh, actually my significant other's not a 'lady'."

"Oh!" the manager said, looking taken aback, but he recovered quickly and said smoothly, "The gentleman, then."

"Oh hell," Leon sighed, and reached into his pocket to pull out his wallet, then took out a snapshot of D and Daiki that he kept in it. "Here. This is him."

"Oh my," the manager said, his eyes widening, and he started to open his mouth, then quickly closed it again. Leon suspected that he was tactfully refraining from blurting out that D looked like a woman.

The salesgirl shamelessly peered over the manager's shoulder at the photo and squealed, "Oh my God! That's Count D!" She stared at Leon with an awestruck look on her face. "You're the Count's detective!"

"You know D," Leon said in a resigned voice; this sort of thing happened more often than he would like. D seemed to know people all over the damned city.

"I bought a canary from him," the girl said cheerily, then giggled. "They say in Chinatown that half of L.A. went into mourning when he chose you as his lover, Detective!" She turned to the manager and said, "You've got to help him pick out something really special, Boss! The Count is...well, he's a legend in Chinatown."

"I see," the manager said, scrutinizing the snapshot carefully.

"D doesn't wear much jewelry," Leon said. "Just earrings mostly, and sometimes a brooch. I know that Chinese people seem to wear jade a lot, but I don't think I've ever seen D wear it, although he has some jade figurines at home."

"You know," the manager said thoughtfully, "the Count's coloring is much like Snow White's."

"I never really thought of it that way before, but yeah, I guess you're right," Leon agreed.

"With his coloring, I think that a darker and more vibrant color would suit him better than the cool greens of jade," the manager said. "Rubies, or perhaps sapphires. Please step this way, Detective."

Leon gulped, wondering what he was getting himself into. Rubies and sapphires! Well, he had managed to save up a tidy sum over the years, despite his meager civil-servant salary since he didn't have to pay for rent or groceries at the petshop, although he did still have to buy D expensive chocolates and pastries. He had intended to use the money for Daiki's college fund, but since Daiki had decided not to go to college, maybe he could blow it on D's present.

The manager directed him to a case filled with rubies set in gold. There was a nice pair of earrings, but D already had a set just like it. There was a pretty ruby tennis bracelet, but somehow it didn't seem to suit D.

"Maybe this?" the salesgirl suggested, indicating a ring set with a ruby the size of a pigeon's egg, encircled by tiny diamonds. Leon shook his head vigorously; much too gaudy for D, and besides, it was way out of his price range. Speaking in college fund terms, it could have financed an education at Harvard for Daiki.

"Hmm," the manager said. "I just got a new piece in that I think your gentleman might like. One moment, please, Detective." He went to the back room and returned with something wrapped in black velvet. The manager slowly unfolded the cloth to reveal a large pendant fashioned in the shape of a gold dragon, its serpentine body coiled around a ruby that was somewhat smaller than the pigeon-egg stone.

"This piece has an Asian flair, so I thought it might suit your Count," the manager said, smiling at Leon. "Well, Detective, what do you think?"

"It's perfect!" Leon gasped. The dragon reminded him of one of D's favorite cheongsams, one of black silk decorated with a gold dragon that looked much like this one. Then he belatedly wondered if he should have feigned disinterest, the better to haggle the price down. Well, it was too late to worry about that now. "How much?" Leon asked, bracing himself for the answer. The manager named a figure that made him pale, but was less than the cost of a college education. Leon sighed; he had been hoping to trade in his current clunker for a new car, or at least one that was less used, but he supposed that he could put it off for a couple more years.

"My son gave you a substantial discount on Snow White," Leon reminded the manager, and the bargaining began in earnest. After a brief but intense session of haggling, they settled on a price that included a generous discount, although not quite as generous as the one on Snow White.

"I'm barely making a profit on this sale," the manager told Leon, a pained look on his face. "It's hardly more than what I paid for it, but since you are the father of the man who brought me together with my precious Snow White..."

"You and my son are two of a kind," Leon said with a wry smile, shaking his head.

"By the way," the manager said, "you'll need a chain to go with that..."

Leon groaned, and the manager smiled. "Here, how about this?" he asked, holding up a short length of gold chain. "With this length, the pendant will fall right about here." He touched a spot just below his throat. "That would look best with this type of pendant." Leon glanced at the price tag, and the manager added, "I'll give you a twenty percent discount."

"Fine," Leon said, and took out his checkbook, too tired to haggle further. He left with a small jewelry box tucked into his jacket pocket, gift-wrapped at no extra charge, as it damn well ought to be for the price he had paid, discounted or not. But despite the fact that he had just drained his bank account, Leon found himself whistling as he headed home, feeling strangely lighthearted, almost giddy. It sort of felt like the time that he'd played Santa Claus for a six-year-old Chris, only this time he had something a lot nicer than Roller Blades for D.

When he got home, he found Daiki and Pon-chan setting the table for dinner. "Good, you have returned in time for supper," D said, nodding at Leon a bit coolly. He looked as though he wasn't quite mad yet, but would have worked up to it if Leon had been ten or fifteen minutes later.

"Sorry I'm late," Leon said, kissing D on the cheek. "I stopped by to get a little something for you."

"For me?" D asked, looked delighted but a little confused as Leon handed him the gift-wrapped box. "What is the occasion?"

"Happy Anniversary," Leon said, kissing him again. "Well, maybe not quite, but close enough. I'm sure it's the anniversary of something--the first time I investigated your shop, or the first time you served me tea, or the first time I had to deal with a killer bunny."

"How whimsical of you, Leon," D said, still looking a little confused. "It is rather unlike you."

"Go on, open it," Leon urged, suddenly feeling nervous. What if D didn't like it? Maybe he should have gone with jade, after all...

Lupin sniffed at the box curiously. "It's not chocolate," he observed.

Daiki's eyes narrowed in thought for a moment, and then he smiled at Leon knowingly. "No, I don't think it's chocolate," he agreed, laying a hand on Lupin's head; the wolf wagged his tail. "Go ahead, Papa, open the gift. I'd like to see what Dad bought you."

"Me too!" Pon-chan chimed in excitedly.

D carefully removed the ribbon and wrapping paper, then opened the jewelry box and gasped. "Oh, Leon," he whispered.

"Does that mean you like it?" Leon asked hopefully.

"It is beautiful, my dear detective," D said, kissing him tenderly. "But it must have been terribly expensive; it is of very high quality. You should not have spent so much."

"It's just, y'know...I never got you anything really special in all the years we've been together," Leon mumbled, sticking his hands in his jacket pockets and staring down at the floor, ducking his head to hide his blush. "No wedding ring or anything like that. So it seemed kinda overdue, know what I mean? It's not just one gift, but twenty years' worth of gifts, so it's not really that expensive when you look at it that way."

"Oh, how romantic!" Pon-chan sighed.

"It was a lovely thought, Dad," Daiki said, nodding in agreement.

"Awww, the detective's a softie, after all," Ten-chan chuckled.

"Oh, shut up," Leon muttered, his face turning even redder.

"Hmph!" Tet-chan snorted from beneath the couch.

D gently placed his hand beneath Leon's chin and tilted his face up so that their eyes met. "After all these years, Leon, you still have the ability to amaze me. Thank you very much for the gift; I will wear it with pride. But you were wrong when you said that you have never given me anything special, because you gave me the two things that I cherish most in all the world." He kissed Leon lightly on the mouth. "Yourself." Then he reached out and fondly stroked Daiki's face. "And our son."

"Awww," Ten-chan said again.

"Somebody stop those two before I barf," Tet-chan complained.

"Please help me put it on," D said, and Leon fastened the chain around his neck.

"Looks good on you," Leon said with satisfaction.

"Thank you, Leon, but you still should not have spent so much," D said, but he smiled and reached up to touch the pendant with one hand, his long, lacquered red nails resting on the dragon-encircled ruby.

"Nah, it's okay," Leon said, grinning. "The manager of the jewelry store is one of Dai's customers, so he gave me a little discount."

"I guess it's a good thing that I didn't raise the price on Snow White, then," Daiki laughed.

"I must think of a way to properly reward you for such a beautiful gift," D purred, giving Leon a sultry smile that made his face turn red again.

"Get a room, you two!" Tet-chan grumbled under his breath. However, D heard him and glanced in his direction, and the Tou-Tet gulped and retreated a little further beneath the couch.

D turned back to Leon and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Well, we can discuss the matter further after dinner," he said. "Think about what sort of reward you would like to claim, my dear detective." Leon nodded, still flushing. "Tet-chan, you may serve dinner now."

"Yes, Count," Tet-chan said meekly, and scurried off to the kitchen.

***

Almost a year after the initial sale, the owner of Angel called the Plant Dolls shop, sounding so distraught that Daiki could hardly make out what he was saying.

"Please, sir, calm down," Daiki urged. "Is Angel unwell?"

"Yes, she's...oh God, it's all my fault! Please, you have to fix her!"

Daiki could not get anything more coherent out of the young man, so he said, "Well, please bring her to the shop, and I will take a look at her."

"Er...I...that is...well...I think it might be better if you came here. Please?"

"Very well," Daiki said, fearing the worst. He packed up a kit of supplies, told Mr. Hua that he was leaving on a house call, and caught a cab to the customer's apartment. The young man, looking pale and guilty, led Daiki to Angel's bedroom, where the Plant Doll was reclining on a silk-covered mattress. Her beautiful crystalline blue eyes were still the same, winking mischievously at her owner, but she was now the size of an adult woman instead of a little girl, and she was immensely obese, a bloated parody of her former delicate beauty. She was sipping a glass of brandy, and there were half-empty candy boxes and potato chip bags strewn across the floor, along with a carton of melting ice cream.

"Please," the young man asked desperately, "can you fix her?"

"As I feared," Daiki sighed. "It happens often, so I have been told." Angel's owner gave him a questioning, pleading look. "It is too late," Daiki said firmly. "You made her into an adult, did you not?"

The young man hung his head and said morosely, "She kept staring at me with pleading eyes, silently begging me for a sip of brandy. So I gave her just a little drop in her milk. But she kept begging for more, and when I gave it to her, the way she smiled at me...it was so magnificent that I was utterly unable to deny her!"

"How unfortunate," Daiki said, feeling both sorrow and anger for the customer. "She was such a fine specimen. I did inform you that you must not give her anything besides milk and sugar cookies. I'm very sorry, but since this has transpired, a return is out of the question." He gave the young man a stern look. "You, sir, must take responsibility."

"Yes," the young man whispered in a defeated tone, his head still bowed and his shoulders slumping. "It's my own doing. I will take responsibility and support her for the rest of her life."

Daiki left the young man staring gloomily at his bloated Angel, and returned to the shop, feeling almost as depressed as his customer. To his surprise, he found Mr. Hua, D, and Leon waiting for him in the lobby.

"I failed," Daiki said miserably.

"He turned her into an adult," Hua said.

It was not really a question, but Daiki nodded anyway. "It's my fault. I should have seen his weakness, I should not have sold Angel to him..."

Hua shook his head and said gently, "It is not your fault, Daiki. The dolls choose their owners, and we must abide by their decisions, even when they choose wrongly. And I do not think you can say that Angel is unhappy, precisely...?"

Daiki shook his head and smiled wryly. "No, Angel seems quite happy, actually, although the same cannot be said for her owner."

"Then it is well enough," Hua said. "I do not care to see any Plant Doll turned into an adult, but Angel is content, and her owner must pay the price for his mistakes. I feel now that I can leave the shop in good hands." He handed Daiki a sheet of paper.

"This is a deed to the shop," Daiki said, staring at the paper in confusion.

"Yes," Hua agreed. "I have signed the shop over to you. Daiki Orcot, you are now officially the owner of the Plant Dolls shop." D and Leon smiled at their son proudly.

"B-but so soon?" Daiki stammered. "I'm not ready..."

"I disagree," Hua said calmly. "I have been watching you run the shop for the past year, and you have been handling things quite capably without my assistance."

"You can still say that even after what happened to Angel?" Daiki asked.

Hua nodded. "In fact, things were going a little too smoothly for you. Before I retired, I wanted to see how you would handle a failed sale. It happens, from time to time, that a customer will betray your trust in him despite your best efforts. You did your best for Angel, did you not? You healed her the first time that her owner brought her in for maintenance." Daiki nodded. "And this time?"

"I could not restore her," Daiki said sadly. "I informed the customer of that, and told him that he would not be able to return the doll since he had broken the contract. He admitted his fault, and agreed to take responsibility for his actions and continue to care for Angel."

"You made sure that the doll would still be cared for," Hua said gently. "That is all you can do at this point. You have learned what it means to be a guardian of the Plant Dolls, both the bitter and the sweet."

"It's sort of like being a parent," Leon said slowly, as if the idea had just occurred to him. "At some point, you have to let your kids make their own decisions, even if they mess up sometimes."

"Quite perceptive of you, Detective Orcot," Hua said, smiling at Leon. Turning back to Daiki, he said, "I chose you as my successor, Daiki; I have faith in my choice. Now I feel as though I can leave the shop in your hands without any worries."

"Your faith in me is gratifying, sir," Daiki said, bowing to him. "But I still don't understand...why give the shop to me now? Why not let me continue to run the shop while you tend to the new Plant Dolls, as we have been doing?"

"Ah, but remember when we first met, Daiki?" Hua asked. "I told your father that I was searching for my successor because I was very old and did not have many years left to me."

"Mr. Hua!" Daiki exclaimed in alarm. "Are you...?" He let his voice trail off, unable to bring himself to speak the words aloud, and tears filled his eyes.

"You are a very kindhearted child, Daiki," Hua said gently, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I am sorry; I did not mean to distress you. 'Not many years' is all relative; kami measure time differently from humans. We are all dying from the moment we are born, and I am very old, even for a kami, but I am not in any immediate danger of dying, at least in human terms."

Daiki breathed a sigh of relief, and so did Leon. When D smiled at Leon, he grinned sheepishly, as if embarrassed at being caught in a sentimental moment.

"However," Hua continued, "considering my advanced age, I would like to return home to China and spend my remaining years in the land of my birth."

"Oh," Daiki said, tearing up a little again, although without the fear that he'd felt earlier. "If that is what you want, then I wish you a safe and happy journey, Mr. Hua, but I will miss you very much."

"I will miss you, too, Daiki," Hua said, embracing him briefly. "But my mind shall be at ease, knowing that you are looking after the dolls." A Plant Doll ran up to him and clung to his side, her little fists clutching tightly at his robes. She was especially pretty, even for a Plant Doll, with long black hair braided and woven with purple ribbons, and she was clad in a satin gown that matched her eyes, which were a very unusual shade of deep purple.

"Except for little Iris, it seems," Hua added, smiling down at the doll and gently resting his hand on her head; she stared up at him imploringly. "I was going to leave her here, but it seems that she wants to come with me. Perhaps this is a sign that I truly am no longer the owner of this shop. The dolls are not supposed to bond with the shopkeeper." He lifted the doll up into his arms. "But since I am no longer the shopkeeper, I suppose it is all right." He grinned and winked at Daiki. "May I claim this little one as a retirement gift?"

Daiki blinked away his tears and smiled at them. "Of course," he replied. "The dolls choose their owners, after all. And I am glad to know that you will not be going to China alone." He leaned down and kissed Iris on the top of her head. "Look after the Master for me, all right, Iris?" She smiled happily and nodded her head.

"Well," Leon said heartily, "it seems to me that this calls for a going-away party!"

The retired shopkeeper was swept along with them back to the petshop, over his polite, halfhearted protests, where Tet-chan prepared a magnificent feast in honor of Daiki's promotion and Mr. Hua's retirement. The cat-girls poured sake for them, refilling their cups whenever they emptied, over D's protests. D and Daiki drank sparingly, but Leon grew increasingly loud and loquacious with each drink that he imbibed, slapping Hua on the back and urging him to drink up. The normally reserved kami did not become as intoxicated as Leon, but he grew a little tipsy, and laughed appreciatively at all of the detective's jokes, causing Daiki to smile and D to roll his eyes. Iris, of course, was not allowed to have anything but milk and a sugar cookie, but she seemed to have fun playing with Pon-chan, who thought that the little Plant Doll was just adorable.

By the end of the evening, Leon was passed out on the floor, snoring, and Iris had fallen asleep on the couch. Mr. Hua was a bit wobbly on his feet, and D insisted that he and Iris spend the night at the petshop, and prepared a guest room for them.

In the morning, when D went to tell them that breakfast was ready, the beds in the guest room were empty and neatly made. Daiki went to the Plant Dolls shop, and found that the apartment over the shop where Hua lived was now empty and vacated. Mr. Hua had left a note on the table thanking Daiki and his family for their hospitality, and promising to send them a postcard after he and Iris got settled.

Ready or not, Daiki was now officially the owner of the Plant Dolls shop.

Part 11