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Eijirou was nineteen years old when he fell in love with the wonders of flora.
It was all because of one botany class he took with his friend Tetsu. Eijirou didn’t know anything about flowers, or plants in general—not a single thing. But that class, taught by a thin woman with long, white hair and warm brown eyes and a gentle smile that sent crinkles to the corners of her eyes when she did, was Eijirou’s favorite class. The professor; Professor Yukino, had gone on and on about the wonders of flowers and their structure and how to care for plants.
Tetsu didn’t see the big deal, and that’s fine. Eijirou was just in love with flowers. “Flowers are manly,” he whispers to himself one day.
So, that’s why sighs with wonder as he wanders through the quaint flower shop near the crappy apartment he shared with his friend since childhood, Denki. The person behind the counter is short—Eijirou distantly remembers him from one of his classes. His nametag reads Midoriya Izuku in cute, swirly writing.
“Do you own this place?” Eijirou asks, leaning on the counter. Midoriya laughs, and his green eyes sparkle as he looks at the flowers.
“It’s my mother’s shop,” he hums. “She owns it, and she’s the best at making flower bouquets. I’m the manager. I make sure everything is going smoothly, that’s all.” Eijirou can’t help but notice Midoriya’s hand movements. They’re very… showy. His hands shake a little—from nerves?—but they still move bravely, emphasis in every stroke of motion.
Eijirou eyes the applications next to Midoriya’s left elbow. “Can I take two of these?”
The boy behind the counter tilts his head, before his eyes see where Eijirou’s finger is pointing. Midoriya’s eyes widen, and he’s suddenly waving his arms and frantically spewing out words and sentences like there’s no tomorrow. Eijirou can barely make it out, if he’s honest, but that’s okay. Yes, of course I’m sorry I’m a bit out of it are all Eijirou can hear from all the embarrassed mumbling, and he just laughs. “Don’t worry about it, little dude. My roommate and I—we just need jobs. Rent was just raised.”
Midoriya calms himself, wringing his hands together anxiously. Eijirou notes that they’re covered in scars.
“Yes, of course,” he says quietly. “Okay. Can you write down your number, then? I’ll contact you when my mother can properly interview you two. I’ll just get your roommate’s number through you later, if that’s fine.”
Eijirou’s smile is bright. “Thanks!”
—
to: mx. electric 凸
i got us job interviews
from: mx. electric 凸
YELL HEAH
bro i hope u know i’d die for you
to: mx. electric 凸
bro…
i hope you don’t mind flowers
—
Denki sighs a labored breath of suffering as the phone rings.
“Hello! Thank you for calling Inko’s Flora. What kind of flowers can I get for you today?” they say faux-cheerfully. Eijirou snickers from behind a hand, and moves to water the pots of pink carnations. They were bright, this time around. It makes Eijirou smile. He shakes his head, and tunes Denki back in. “—yellow roses and daisies? Alright! I’ll get back to you in a minute.” Denki says, covering the phone. “ KIRI!” they shout, making Eijirou jolt where he stands. “Do we have yellow roses and daisies?”
Eijirou’s heart is still racing from the sudden scream. “Y-Yeah!” he calls out weakly. Denki hums in response, and uncovers the phone and responds cheerily to the person on the other side of the conversation. Eijirou shakes his head, his red-dyed hair following his movements. He sighs and moves on to the alliums.
“I heard yelling! Is everything okay!?” Midoriya rushes to the front, where Denki just set the phone back down and Eijirou is watering purple flowers. The shorter boy visibly exhales in relief, and smiles anxiously at the other two. “Oh, hello, Kirishima-kun, Kaminari-kun. Uraraka-chan is coming soon. I’m going to leave for a delivery.”
Denki cocks their head. “Midori,” Denki says, clearly confused. Midoriya flushes at the nickname. “Why are you leaving for a delivery? Doesn’t the delivery… come here?”
Midoriya cracks a grin. “These flowers are special. They’re grown at the grove, where the forest touches the lake. Good soil, healthy flowers. Tons of bees there. The owner—the one who gives me the flowers—he says he doesn’t like to ‘waste his gas money for my shitty ass shop,’” Midoriya says, curling his fingers at the last part, clearly in a mocking voice. “Due to his… eccentric brand of stubbornness, I have to do deliveries. Uraraka-chan could explain much better than me. I have to go! Bye, Kirishima-kun, Kaminari-kun!”
“Bye, Midori!” Denki calls as Midoriya walks out the door.
“...At the grove, huh?” Eijirou echoes, a smile quirking its way onto his lips. Midoriya’s back trails into the shop’s car, green just like the owner’s hair.
“Kirishima-kun!” Uraraka shrieks, tripping with a vase of flowers in her hand. Eijirou acts fast, grabbing Uraraka by her shoulders with one hand and the other on the vase. They stand in silence for a few seconds, and then Uraraka sighs in relief.
“Thank goodness,” she murmurs. “Todoroki ordered these flowers for Deku-kun a while ago. I would’ve been so annoyed if the glass broke and squished them,” she says as she toys with a pink camellia flower and a gardenia. The meanings—I long for you, you’re lovely—echoes in his heart and he grins.
“Our little writer has it bad for Midori, doesn’t he?” Eijirou asks, taking the vase from Uraraka’s hands and placing it on the counter. Uraraka smiles fondly.
“It’s hard enough to dislike Deku-kun already,” she hums. She grabs some old, unfinished fruit, and begins to bury it in the soil of the flowers. “Todoroki wrote him a poem, you know. A little bit after they first met. It was magical, very cute,” she confirms. “Deku-kun didn’t know it was Todoroki that sent it. He was flushed to the tips of his ears when he read it.”
That makes Eijirou smile. Midoriya was always so nervous when Todoroki came inside the shop to buy the same purple hyacinths, despite them dating for a short amount of time now. The meaning was sad—I’m sorry—who was Todoroki giving these flowers to?
The story of the creation of hyacinths was sad enough already. Eijirou shook his head, and touched a pink gardenia, smiling. “Midoriya and Todoroki are a good match. Midori’s nervous and anxious but adorably determined, and Todoroki is stoic and looks tough but he’s actually just a cat. They’re perfect for each other. When did they start going out?” Eijirou asks. Uraraka lets out a laugh, and smiles at the vase.
“A few weeks ago. I’m happy for them. Deku-kun deserves the world. He’s been through so much,” she murmurs. Her eyes flicker the door, and she brightens when Todoroki walks inside the flower shop.
“‘Sup, man,” Eijirou says, moving behind the counter. Todoroki looks at the flowers, and lets out a tiny quirk of his lips. He lets out a noise of acknowledgement to Eijirou, and picks up the vase with strong hands yet delicate fingers.
“Uraraka,” Todoroki’s voice sounds strangled. “Thank you,” he murmurs, seemingly in awe of the vase. “I’ll give this to him… later. I have a meeting with my editor. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
With that, the writer takes the vase and walks out the door. Eijirou cocks his head at Uraraka. “Did he pay…?”
Uraraka lets out a laugh. “It was on the house,” she says softly. “Like I said, Deku-kun deserves the world.”
Inko’s Flora is the best place in the world, Eijirou decides. For one thing, there were flowers. For another thing, he had friends there. Denki usually worked there only in the mornings, since all of their classes at Yuuei were in the afternoon, but it was still fun to work with his roommate. Sometimes, when Uraraka was there, a girl with dark oil stains on her face and thick, pink hair and gold eyes would come and kiss her on the cheek and vibrantly explain the ethics of computer coding. On some days, Yaoyorozu and Jirou—the two girls who were in the same band with Denki and worked at a music shop—popped in together.
Midoriya and Todoroki were always together nowadays; Todoroki typing like how a thirsty man would run to water, with Midoriya at his side mumbling about his day. It was cute, he decided. It was weird, knowing he was friends—were he and Todoroki on that level? Probably not—with a bestselling author. Eijirou had read Todoroki’s book, and grinned when the alias was M. Shouto.
M, huh?
Regardless. Inko’s Flora was blessed. The calming tip taps of Todoroki’s laptop, the quiet mumbles of Midoriya’s voice, and the soft giggles from the corner where Uraraka and her girlfriend were canoodling all mixed into background noise that felt so much like home. Inko usually stayed in her office, worrying about online orders or her son, but more often than not she was out on the left counter, arranging flowers.
Eijirou had been working at Inko’s Flora for a few months now, and there was usually a system to how it all functioned. Usually, Eijirou and Denki both walked to the shop together. They would walk inside to Midoriya at the counter, frantically writing about something in a notebook. They would clock in, and start watering, pruning, and making pre-ordered bouquets. Then, at nine AM, the doors would open and the day would begin.
Today was a tad bit different, though.
If Eijirou recalls correctly, he hasn’t seen Midoriya behind the counter for about a week.
“Eijirou-kun!” Inko calls out from behind the door. She had a thin tray in her hands, a worried expression on her face. Eijirou moves to open the door, and Inko bustles in. She sets the tray down on the right counter: the one people go to pay for flowers, and beckons both Denki and Eijirou to see.
Denki’s mouth drops like a fish. “Cookies? Mama Midoriya, we’re nineteen—”
Eijirou elbows Denki harshly. “We’re nineteen and desperately hungry for some sugar. Mama Midoriya, I’d die for you,” he says, bowing slightly.
Inko waves her hands and flushes, similar to the way her son does it. “E-Eijirou-kun, there’s no need to say that! I know you all work hard, especially Denki-kun,” she sends her look pointedly towards his roommate. “I know you loathe answering the phone, dear. Don’t think I can’t see the way you look at Eijirou-kun when you pick it up.”
Denki flushes. “A worker’s gotta do what a worker’s gotta do,” they shrug. “I still like it here. I don’t always take the phone shift. Sometimes I force Kiri to do it. But, um, Mama Midoriya, where’s Midori?”
That makes Inko blink. “Midori—Oh! Izuku is running a little late. He’s with Shouto-kun right now. He, ah, stayed with Shouto overnight. They should be on their way…”
“Why’d he stay with Todoroki?” Eijirou asks, taking a cookie and biting into it. Inko was good at baking. Apparently, though, that was the wrong question to ask, because Inko’s big green eyes started to fill with tears, and she let out a squeak. “U-Uh, Mama Midoriya…?” Eijirou asks meekly. “Are you okay?”
Inko wails into her hands. “I’m fine, but the light of my life is not! He dislocated his left knee and fractured his right wrist!”
That took a few seconds to process.
“Midori dislocated his knee and fractured his wrist? How!?” Denki exclaims, dropping the cookie they were about to bite into. Inko wipes her eyes, and inhales shakily.
She toys with the apron she had on. “Well, he and Todoroki were walking God knows where, and my baby stopped to do something and Todoroki crossed the street and some lunatic driver didn’t stop—the light was red—and Todoroki was about to be hit until my baby pushed him out of the way and got hit instead,” she sniffles into her hands. “He’s fine. My baby has high pain tolerance and he’s tougher than nails, but I’m so scared for him!”
Eijirou gapes at Inko for a few seconds. “Wait—Midori— thin, scrawny looking nineteen year old—got hit by a car and only fractured his wrist and dislocated a knee? That’s so manly!”
Inko’s red-rimmed eyes brightened a little at that. “Eijirou-kun, can you prune the roses? Izuku usually does it but…” she trails off, and tears collect at her eyes again.
“Boss, Midori will be fine . He’s tenacious, he won’t let a few messed up bones stop him,” Denki encourages. Inko stares at the her two employees, and lets the tears stream down her face. Denki immediately moves to hug her, and she returns it. “He’ll be fine,” they soothe. Inko sobs into Denki’s neck, and Denki just pats her back. She works hard: she deserves this.
The door swings open as Inko removes herself from Denki’s hug.
“Inko-san,” Todoroki calls. He’s pushing a wheelchair, and there Midoriya is, in all his glory. He has a cast on his calf and one on his forearm, a bruise on his cheek, and a bandage across his forehead, but otherwise he looks fine. Inko rushes to Midoriya, and immediately starts fussing over him.
Eijirou whistles. “Damn, Midori! You got even more battle scars!”
Midoriya flushes. “I’ll be fine in about ten weeks! It’s what the doctor said…”
Inko sobs in relief. “Oh thank goodness!”
“The fractured wrist is going to take around eight weeks to heal, but the knee should only take about six...” Midoriya trails off. “For the first few weeks, I’m in this,” Midoriya sets his good arm on the wheelchair, and smiles fondly at his mother. “I’m one hundred percent okay, Mom. Really, I’m fine.”
Inko looks like she’s trembling. But she nods mutely, and gives him one last hug. “You worry me to my last gray hair,” she says wetly. “There are cookies on the counter. Ochako-chan’s coming in soon. I expect you to just sit and not work or else,” Inko threatens sternly. Her eyes turn to Todoroki. “You, sir, are going to make sure Izuku doesn’t try to water any plants, prune any flowers, or arrange any bouquets! He is stuck behind the left counter, and he will only answer questions to anyone who asks them.”
Todoroki bows. “Of course, Inko-san. He’s not leaving my sight unless it’s to go to the bathroom.”
She visibly relaxes. “Good. I’ll be in my office.”
Silence pokes all four of the college students for a few seconds, before Todoroki is pushing Midoriya behind the left counter and plugging in his laptop to the charger he leaves there. “I’m going to play Wizard101. You two can get back to… doing whatever you were doing.”
Eijirou blinks dumbly, before laughing. “Alright!”
Denki is quiet. “Yo, Midori? Why is your mom so stressed all of a sudden? Is it just because of your messed up leg and arm?”
That makes Midoriya blink. “Oh! Well, a couple months ago I got in a scuffle with some criminal that was using his daughter’s name to sell illegal weapons. He was also abusing her, you know… general bad parenting. I managed to get her out with some help from the police… and now my mom finally got the permission to adopt her! I’m getting a baby sister.”
“You—you got in a scuffle and that ended a dude’s black market career!? Dude, you literally do have battle scars!”
Midoriya flushes, and Todoroki smiles.
It was a Thursday. That meant Denki had a full shift, Uraraka had clocked out of work earlier than usual, and Yaoyorozu and Jirou were probably due inside any minute now. It was three weeks into Midoriya’s left-counter arrest, and he was on crutches. The phone started ringing its dull ring, and Denki pursed their lips.
“Hello! Thank you for calling Inko’s Flora. What kind of flowers can I get for you today?” Denki drawls into the phone. The occasional mhms and of courses fall from Denki’s lips as they take the caller’s order. “Great! I’ll get back to you in around three hours to confirm your order. Have a good rest of your day!” They chirp, setting the phone back down and immediately slamming their forehead against the receptionist desk.
Midoriya lets out a laugh. “What kind of flowers this time around, Kaminari-kun?”
Denki looks back at what they wrote on the pad. “Hm… a bouquet of lavender and red roses, and one of black eyed susan and some yellow tulips,” they hum. Midoriya visibly pales.
“Damnit,” he grumbles. “We don’t have lavenders or black eyed susans. We’ll need to go pick them up. I can’t drive like this. Mom will eviscerate me if I so much as step out of this shop, anyways,” he says, dimmed out. It was as if he blamed himself for not being able to pick up the flowers.
“Pick them up? What—angry grove guy?” Eijirou asks. Midoriya nods glumly.
“You see, I’m the only one he’ll take for deliveries. He doesn’t like Iida-kun, and Uraraka-chan ‘is too positive for him.’ He won’t give anyone else flowers except for me… and that’s only because of my mom. Kacchan doesn’t like me much. But I can’t drive or leave the shop without hurting myself or my mom attacking me. Unless,” Midoriya immediately brightens. “Kirishima-kun, do you have your license?”
Eijirou nods. Midoriya beams.
“Great! You can go pick up the flowers, then! If you just don’t speak to him too much and just ask for a few batches of lavender and black eyed susans, then we can get the flowers and have the bouquet done as soon as possible! Shoo, I’ll text you the address. I mean, it’s literally the only house over there, because the grove is owned by the Bakugou family anyway, so—”
“Okay, I’ll bring back the flowers!” Eijirou salutes to Midoriya, who claps his hands excitedly.
“Thank you, Kirishima-kun!”
Eijirou grabs the keys, delicately closing his hand around them. They feel worn—well used, loved. The Midoriya’s clearly loved their little shop. Midoriya: that kid could practically spew any meanings of flowers off the top of his tongue. And Inko, she had such a good eye for making bouquets, this just seemed to be what the two of them were destined to do.
The property is huge. There’s a wide, white fence that goes around the entire thing, and there is so much space. From where he parks the car, he can see some horses and cows, and something that looks like a sheep or a goat. Eijirou walks through the fence, walking slowly. He knows he’s here with permission—Midoriya texted the angry grove guy about someone coming to pick up flowers—but it doesn’t ease his nerves.
“Hey.”
Eijirou shrieks, jumping and turning around swiftly. A girl, with dyed pink hair, dark skin, and a headband with horns on it is grinning at him. She sticks her hand out. “Name’s Ashido Mina! I’m the, ah, flower girl around here. I think we’re in the same biology class at Yuuei.”
He blinks. “Kirishima Eijirou. Nice to properly meet you, Ashido. And—uh, where’s the angry grove guy? From what Midori told me, I thought who I was going to be talking to was… angrier. And meaner. And a guy.”
That makes Ashido laugh. “Ah, you’ll love Baku-chan. He’s also in our biology class. You should really pay more attention, dude.”
Eijirou mumbles something about only paying attention to the teacher and his roommate that sits right in front of him in the lecture hall. Ashido’s skipping around, as if she knows the place like the back of her hand.
“I do,” she says, smiling at Eijirou like a madwoman. “You just mumbled out loud. Midori-chan must be rubbing off on you. Ochako-chan knows Baku-chan from childhood. Not as far back as Midori-chan does, but pretty far. Baku-chan didn’t hate me so much, because he’s seen me at the gym, and she convinced him to let me live with him. I don’t have a place to live, not enough money for the Yuuei dorms and my parents cut me off. But Ochako told me it was really just to keep Baku-chan from being alone all the time.”
“Parents cut you off?” Eijirou echoes. Ashido nods absently.
“My mom saw me making out with my girlfriend. Ended up getting kicked outta the house, called me a… what did she call me? A “tainted woman”? A “degenerate”? I don’t even remember. Shit is funny now, but back then it stung. Same girlfriend and I are still together, though. So, fuck her.” Ashido kicks a pebble, before turning around and grinning. “But enough about my tragic backstory. Welcome to the Bee Farm!”
Eijirou’s jaw drops. He knew there were bees here, but he didn’t expect to see so many. The apiary was huge. There had to be around twenty hives, and Eijirou didn’t know much about much about being an apiarist, but it had to be in the higher side of things. Ashido catches his eye and throws a veiled hat at him.
“This is Baku-chan’s bee farm. He… really likes bees. He sells the honey, and gives Midori-chan the flowers they pollinate. Speaking of which, they’re over there. And that reminds me—why isn’t Midori-chan coming to class? He never misses, and I haven’t gotten around to asking anyone yet.” Ashido is adjusting her own veiled hat over her hair, removing her fake horns.
“Oh! Midori got into an accident. Kind of—more like some drunk bastard wasn’t paying attention when Midori’s boyfriend was crossing the street, and Midori pushed him out of the way and took the hit. His mom is practically bursting from anxiety, so Midori’s staying home to rest. Uraraka, Denki, Todoroki and I are switching out on writing notes for him.” Eijirou explains. Ashido’s face morphs from worry to horror to confusion.
“Todoroki? I didn’t know he was friends with Midori-chan,” Ashido comments. “What happened to Midori? Injury-wise?”
At that, Eijirou waves his hands. “Okay, dude gets hit by a damn car and doesn’t even break a damn bone. He just popped his knee out of place and fractured his wrist. Not even a real break. I’m still in awe of that. Dude’s metal as fuck.”
Ashido’s jaw drops. “Damn! Midori-chan is so… skinny and scrawny. He reminds me of a twig. Didn’t know he could take the brunt of a car accident. Anyways! Meet the hive! Or hives, I guess.”
On closer inspection, Eijirou notes all of the hives have names on them. Even if there bees all over the hives, he can still make out some of the names. One of them, hilariously, is named Sasuke.
“Alien!? Is Deku’s pickup shit gone!?”
Ashido’s face breaks into a smile. “Baku-chan! Come meet him! It’s the redhead in our biology class!”
Eijirou turns around to see a guy in a veiled hat, a tank top, and sagging cargo pants. Eijirou swallows sharply. He was not warned angry grove guy was going to be attractive.
“Don’t fucking call me Baku-chan, Alien! The only shithead that can call me those grossly cutesy nicknames are Deku himself, got it?” He snarls. Eijirou pops up at that, head clearing. He has to actively avoid looking at angry grove guy to keep it that way, though.
“Deku? You mean Midori? I thought only Uraraka called him Deku,” Eijirou asks, tilting his head at angry grove guy.
Angry grove guy snorts. “Angel Face took the nickname from me. I call Deku “Deku” ‘cause he’s useless. Angel Face calls him “Deku” because she thinks it’s inspirational or some other sappy shit. She was like, ‘ oh, yeah! Bakugou’s so mean to Deku-kun, so I’m going to take the insult and turn it into something good.’ So fucking annoying.”
Eijirou squints at angry grove guy—Bakugou. “Midori’s not useless. He saved his boyfriend’s life, you know.”
“Fuck that—wait—Deku has a boyfriend?!” Bakugou screeches, startling the bees surrounding him. Ashido’s laughing from the distance, and Bakugou hisses at her to shut up. Eijirou quirks a smile at that.
“Midori? Yeah—he and this dude are dating. He swings by the flower shop really often. They’ve been dating for a few weeks now? Midori pushed him out of the way of a moving car, and he felt way responsible for Midori getting hurt. Even though he was totally in the clear and it was his turn to walk anyway.”
Bakugou’s jaw is still dropped. “I can’t believe that fucking goody-two-shoes managed to score a boyfriend before I could! Dude must be just as big a nerd as he is if he’s dating Deku!” Eijirou doesn’t know if he should be worried that that’s what Bakugou decides to be worried about.
“Nah, he’s pretty chill. His mom is a botany professor, though, so he has nerdism in his blood. And he is a writer. He also tends to play Wizard101, but that’s besides the point.”
“A writer? That’s boring as shit,” Bakugou grumbles.
“I dunno, man. Being a writer means he can write Midori cheesy shit. It’s cute. Kind of like what you do here, I guess,” Eijirou says as an afterthought. The bees were pretty cute. Bakugou snaps up, and glares at him.
“Listen here, weird-hair,” Bakugou grumbles. “Beekeeping is sexy. Not cute. Now go get your damn flowers from the pink alien and leave my house alone.” Bakugou gestures to the bees around him. The sun was just starting to set, and Bakugou was facing away from it, leaving him enveloped in a warm, orange-pink glow that emphasized his muscles.
Eijirou blinks. Beekeeping was not sexy. But the bee keeper certainly was.
“I—okay,” he says dumbly. Bakugou’s still scowling, but he has a weird flush on his face. Ashido appears out of nowhere again, and drags Eijirou out of the Bee Farm by his right arm. Eijirou turns back one more time, catching the blond slowly pull out honeycomb from a hive, and almost immediately faces forward again. Once the two are out of hearing range, Ashido squeals.
She’s practically bouncing on her ankles. “That was so… Eek!” she squeaks out. “That’s the nicest I’ve ever seen him act. Did you see the way he’s flushed!?”
Eijirou swallows a lump he didn’t know was there. “He was. Attractive.”
Ashido giggles. She has her horns back on, and Eijirou may think it’s a bit weird, but it just adds to her character. “Good luck, dude. Here are the flowers, by the way,” she bends over to pick up the careful small pots of flowers. They’re all organized in a box, and there are two, one for each of the flowers. “You should come over more often, Kirishima. I think Baku-chan would like that.”
A strangled noise escapes Eijirou’s throat. “I’ll… see what I can do.”
Ashido laughs, and plugs her phone number into Eijirou’s phone.
A week passes since the Bee Farm Incident. Midoriya hasn’t needed flower deliveries, and since he’s accommodating a new baby sister, he’s not at the shop as often. He’s still on crutches, but now he can leave them behind sometimes and walk through the shop, talking animatedly to plants as he waters them, only when Inko can’t see him.
“Dude,” Denki says, flopping over their shared coffee table. “There’s this chick in our Biology class that went to the coffee shop where I go and fuck around with Jirou, and she was cute as hell, ” they groan. “Jirou left me for Yaomomo, and we sat and talked and I think I have a date this Friday.”
Eijirou whoops. “That’s fucking awesome, man!”
Denki frowns. “She was way nervous. She told me she was trans—as if that’d put me off—and I was like, no way, I’m non-binary! Now we definitely have to go on a date this Friday. She blushes a lot and she has nice hair. She works at a packaging company. She tapes the boxes closed, so her hands are almost always sticky. It’s kind of endearing,” Denki says softly, offhandedly. “I just hope she likes me and doesn’t think I’m an idiot.”
If there’s something Eijirou is, it’s unrelentingly supportive. He talks Denki up, and makes sure they know if all else fails and they’re both single by the age of thirty-four, they’ll get married for the tax benefits. That makes Denki laugh, and that enough is a success. Eijirou sleeps knowing he helped out a friend, and that’s enough for him.
However, on Friday morning, someone enters the shop one day with a red flower in hand and a flushed face.
Eijirou recognizes said someone. They—She? She’s also in my biology class, I think he says to himself. She has a plain face, terrifyingly straight teeth, and cropped black hair that ends at the tips of the shoulders.
“Hey, Kirishima, right?” the someone says. “We have biology together.” Eijirou painfully wishes he wasn’t so nervous around strangers in that moment. He really would like to speak to his biology classmates more, especially since a ton of them seemed to come to this particular flower shop where he worked. Or at least, were in cahoots with it, in Ashido and Bakugou’s case.
“Yeah,” Eijirou says. “And you’re—”
“Sero,” the someone says. “Just call me Sero. I’m, uh, looking for Kaminari.”
Eijirou’s eyes widen. “Wait—you’re—are you the girlfriend?”
Sero flushes even more. Eijirou quickly backtracks, waving his arms. “Denki told me about you. They said you were trans. That’s cool, bro.” Eijirou winces at that. “I mean, that’s cool, Sero. By the way, Denki thinks you’re way cute.”
That makes Sero smile tentatively. “I would hope so, considering they asked me out on a date after their shift here. I just… I picked this flower and it reminded me of them, I guess.”
“That’s adorable,” Eijirou comments. “Denki’s a sap and a flirt but the moment you show them any amount of non-platonic affection he straight up dies.”
Sero eyes Eijirou for a few seconds, before understanding dawns on her face. “Bakugou—he spoke about you once, I think. We’re partners for a project in English, and he said something about a ‘pretty red-headed florist.’ Did you meet Bakugou recently?”
Eijirou stares. “W-What? Pretty—excuse me, are you sure that’s Bakugou?” From what he saw, Bakugou was a pretty angry guy. A pretty, angry guy. Ah, the oxford comma. What a dream.
That gets a laugh from Sero. “Bakugou is… emotionally stunted. I think he likes you, though. He’s not great at expressing himself.”
“I see,” Eijirou takes a glance to his left—they’re running out of lavender. He has an idea, one that’s probably bad and would never work in a billion years… but nonetheless he swallows his pride and whips out his phone.
—
to: ashido ☆彡
hey can you do me a favor and order a bouquet of lavenders
i’ll pay for it
from: ashido ☆彡
WHY DO I FEEL LIKE I KNO WHERE THIS IS GOIN
are u lookin for an excuse to do deliveries?
to: ashido ☆彡
maybe.
from: ashido ☆彡
ok kirishima dw i got u
good luck on ur gay endeavors
to: ashido ☆彡
thanks ashido. here’s the shop’s #
—
Eijirou hits send tentatively, and shakes with laughter when the phone rings. Denki groans from where they’re hiding underneath the counter, and Sero walks over to talk to them, and Denki answers the call with reluctance dripping in their voice. “Welcome to Inko’s Flora, what can I get—” They’re interrupted, which makes Eijirou laugh even harder.
Sero’s smiling nervously at Denki, and Denki’s staring at Eijirou with low-concealed loathing. “Kiri, fuck you and your gay endeavors.”
“Love you, dude!” Eijirou calls as he grabs the keys and runs out of the shop.
The drive is smooth, probably because it’s on the outskirts of the town that anyone rarely travels. The scenery is vibrant, and both times now, Eijioru’s seen a fish jump out of the river the road so closely resides by. If it rained enough, the road would flood. The thought seems morbid, for some reason, but Eijirou can’t really place why the thought is so ugly to him. Maybe it’s because Bakugou would be trapped on at least one side—he either couldn’t get out of his house or he’d be stuck away from it.
Eijirou mentally berates himself for his thoughts automatically shooting him towards the direction of Bakugou Katsuki.
“Get into groups of five,” Professor Aizawa says, cracking his knuckles and looking at all of the college students with apathetic yet caring tiredness. “Do a project on whatever the hell you want. Presentations are due in three weeks. It doesn’t even have to be about biology. Just make sure you’re ready to play Devil’s Advocate. And remember—it’s a persuasive presentation. There’s got to be a point to what you’re presenting.”
Eijirou thrums his fingers against his desk, nerves hitting him instantly. Group project? Denki immediately turns to him, and Eijirou nods. That put him at ease—at least he had one person with him. Sero came over, and Ashido made eye contact with Eijirou, before grabbing Bakugou’s arm and dragging him with her.
Oh, dear Lord have mercy on my soul.
“Wanna do the project together?” Ashido asks. Bakugou’s arms are crossed and his lip is curled, but he doesn’t argue. Eijirou nods, and so do Sero and Denki. Perfect.
“We’re going to do the project on beekeeping,” Bakugou huffs. “Save the Bees, or whatever.”
That gets a snort out of Eijirou. “Beekeeping, huh?”
Denki and Sero look confused, but shrug. “I know electric currents and shit, but that’s really it. I need to pass this class, so if you have a topic you know like the back of your hand, then that’d be great,” Denki admits. Sero laughs at that.
“Well, I’ve been taking care of bees since I was like, born. Don’t worry about failing. I can’t fail.” Bakugou says proudly, glancing at Eijirou. “We can go to my place to come up with our presentation and do research and shit.” The way Bakugou phrased it made it sound that there was absolutely no room for argument. Eijirou found that he really, really likes it.
“Wow, I’m going to your place twice this week,” Eijirou teases. Bakugou’s face flushes for half a second, before he sends a scowl his way.
“Shut the hell up, Weird-Hair,” Bakugou mutters. “Ashido probably has all your numbers so she can send you my damn address.”
A laugh escapes Ashido’s lips. “Yeah, I do!” she exclaims, smiling at Bakugou and shooting a wink at Eijirou. “I’ll make us a group chat and everything!” The look Ashido gives Eijirou after that is purely one of scheming, and Eijirou is sure she only did this in an attempt to get him and Bakugou together.
Well.
It’s not as though he’s not grateful.
Eijirou sends a look to where Midoriya is. He’s also situated in a group, with delivery man Iida, overworked Uraraka, lifeguard Asui, and writer Shouto (he had expressed he no longer wanted to be called Todoroki. Family issues). Ever since Midoriya came back from his mother-enforced house arrest, he usually still needing help to stand up or walk, he’d been… happier. A quiet happy, but one bursting at the seams.
He was still nervous, Eijirou doubts that Midoriya’s ever not going to be anxious—but he’s a little bit harder. Maybe it’s the fact he pushed his boyfriend out of the way of a drunk bastard’s moving car. Maybe it’s the fact he’s a big brother now.
It isn’t until Bakugou’s angrily snapping in Eijirou’s face that he knows what to do.
—
beekeeping hoes
ashido ☆彡
WHO’S READY TO HEAD TO BAKU-CHAN’S PLACE FOR SOME BEEKEEPING BULLSHIT
unknown number
Wow i’m so excited i can’t contain myself
to: beekeeping hoes
sero?
unknown number
Yah
mx. electric 凸
sero <3
to: beekeeping hoes
mkay
other # is bakugou’s then
sero
I still have a shift of work so i’ll be a good forty minutes late
mx. electric 凸
i’ll be taking her to bakubro’s place!
sorry kiri i have the car
you’ll have to take midori’s from the shop
unknown number
i cnt go anywhre w/out seeing or hring that dmn nerd’s name can i
ashido ☆彡
midori-chan’s really sweet!
anyways~
i’m w/ tooru <3 so i, too, will be late :( soz baku-chan
to: beekeeping hoes
i, will not be late though
see you in like 10 minutes bakugou
bakubro
whtever weird hair
bring sme fuckin notecards
ashido ☆彡
d’awww
ok
see u @ home, baku-chan!
—
Eijirou nervously walks inside the property. It was his third time in the place, but he was acquainted with it enough. As much as he would be, in any case.
A rush of blond flashes in Eijirou’s face before he’s lying on the floor, face facing the sky, and the weight of a human was on his body. The air was knocked out of his lungs, and his eyes feel wide.
“Uh…” Eijirou tries to look down, and meets the red eyes of a Bakugou Katsuki. “Nice to see you too?”
Bakugou jumps off of him, grumbling under his breath. Eijirou sees something akin to a blush on Bakugou’s face. “I heard someone walking, so I ran to see if it was you… and it was,” he manages, covering his face. Eijirou smirks.
“Ran, huh?”
“Shut the fuck up,” Bakugou mutters. There’s no heart in it, though, so Eijirou doesn’t take it personally. Eijirou, in an attempt to placate him, stupidly blurts:
“Want to go out on a date?”
Bakugou’s head snaps towards him, and oh, yeah, the blush was definitely there. Eijirou coughs, realizing what he said. “Uh, you’re really... I dunno. Denki’s band is performing on Sunday, and… I have a spare ticket. If you wanted to go, I mean.”
Eijirou’s nervously twiddling his fingers, and freezes when he hears Bakugou sigh.
“Y-Yeah. Okay, I’ll go and see Drooly’s dumbass band,” he says. Eijirou has to strain his ears to hear, but he still hears it. In a moment of drunken happiness, he speeds forward and presses his lips to Bakugou’s cheek.
“Sweet! Can’t wait!” he cheers, walking towards the apiary, leaving Bakugou behind.
(Eijirou didn’t realize he kissed Bakugou until he got home. When he did, he screeched so loud that he managed to wake Denki up from his nap.)