Chapter Text
Yamato wasn’t entirely sure when it was that his life started to smell sweeter. That wasn’t a metaphor; he meant it quite literally. It would permeate his open windows every day, the old scents of the city long forgotten as the gentle smell of flowers snuck in through the gaps. The only time that it was really broken up was when it rained and even then, fresh earth would replace those floral notes.
Apartment living was usually a quiet existence. The neighbours communicated through banging on the floor or the walls. You greeted each other in passing and recognised a face or two but rarely was there a strong sense of camaraderie. Your whole life in a box, alongside dozens of others and yet you never knew a damn thing about them.
That was no different from Yamato. All he knew about his next door neighbour was that god damn smell. He never had any issues with them being too loud or partying at odd hours. Hell, he’d never even caught sight of who it was that lived there; it was a complete mystery.
The only way he even knew it was the same person who lived there was by their ever growing patio.
Picking up his mug of coffee, Yamato blew softly at the rising steam before taking a cautious sip. Hissing loudly, he licked his lips and cursed his impatience. Glancing over his shoulder, he grumbled at the early hour glaring at him from his microwave before he directed those hateful words toward his mug once more.
Stepping out of his kitchen, Yamato crossed the living room with a heavy yawn before he nudged the patio door open with his foot. The lock on it had broken ages ago so it would always slide open easily. He’d care more if he wasn’t on the 4th floor; he was pretty sure nobody was that desperate to break in. Setting his bare feet on the cool concrete of the patio helped to wake him as he took in the peace that came just as the sun had begun to rise.
Resting his elbows up on the handrail, Yamato chanced his coffee once more. Mm. Much better. Everything tasted better out here.
Blinking the sleep from his eyes, he finally let his gaze fall upon the source of that smell. An amused smile followed his quiet laugh. “Can barely see it anymore…” He mumbled.
The patio that was graced by his neighbour’s touch was a sharp contrast to the concrete jungle surrounding them. Where metal stood as a safety precaution, it was instead encircled by various vines and creeping green, leaves poking out and buds blooming at every possible edge. Window planters lined every inch of space the railing provided, heavy with colour and vibrance. Although he couldn’t see the base of them from here, thin trees stuck out from the corners, branches harbouring the odd wind chime and bird feeder among the small bits of shade it provided. As if the planters weren’t enough, there were a couple wooden shelves on the patio as well, holding individual pots of herbs and small vegetables that Yamato never would have guessed could grow in such an urban environment. Still, it was a vibrant little garden, visited every day by various butterflies and spiders that hoped to make the greenery their new home or rest stop.
Yamato could do without the bees, though; pesky little things liked to bother him when he read his morning paper out here.
Still, the pros outweighed the cons and even just seeing it under the soft light of dawn was enough to remind him how much he’d become used to the sight.
Bringing the mug to his lips, he took an absent sip as his attention was averted. A flutter of movement from the corner of his eye cast his gaze toward the skyline. Inadvertently, he looked a bit close to the rising sun and flinched at the influx of blinding light. The movement caught his eye once more before he watched a small bird fly in toward their apartment. It soared with ease until it perched itself upon the twist of vines along the handrail.
Yamato couldn’t help but smile. So he supposed it wasn’t just bugs that came to visit his neighbour. It hopped a couple times, edging along one of the window planters before it hopped out of sight and onto the patio itself. It vanished behind the wall of leaves and petals and even when Yamato tilted his head to try and see a gap between them, he came up empty handed.
“Hmm.” He hummed aloud, bringing his mug to his lips again as he began to look away.
However, he didn’t get so much as halfway through the motion before, suddenly, someone stood up almost exactly where the bird had just disappeared.
Yamato froze, only managing a blink in perplexity.
The man who stood before him was wearing a simple, white hoodie and currently had his eyes closed. As he began to tilt his head from one side to the other, stretching out his neck muscles, Yamato bore witness to the awkwardly cut orange hair that fell from one side to the next. ‘ Hm, cute face .’ He thought absently.
At first, he thought the man might be kneeling until he remembered the height of the safety rail and was instead clued in to his short stature. He linked his fingers before himself, pulling his arms up above his head and giving a loud, satisfied groan. As his fingers slipped from each other, arms falling to his side, his eyes finally opened with a sleepy smile.
He was now looking right at him with bright, amber eyes… that looked about as shocked as he currently felt.
“Uhh…” The stranger started, eyes darting around a moment before he forced a smile, looking particularly awkward. “Good morning.” He spoke, raising a hand in hesitation to give a half hearted wave across the way.
Yamato blinked once more, not realising for a moment that the stranger was greeting him before he raised his own free hand with an awkward wave of his own. “... Mornin’.”
The stranger cleared his throat, seeming to compose himself before his smile became more genuine. “Beautiful day, isn’t it?”
“... Still a bit early to tell.” Yamato replied slowly, tilting his head slightly. Why hadn’t the bird flown out when he stood up? Surely it had gotten spooked. “Getting some morning exercise in?”
“What?” The man questioned, looking out past his patio with slight alarm before looking back at him.
Yamato pointed to him, mug still in hand. “You were stretching.”
“... Oh!!” The man replied, giving an awkward laugh before he rubbed the back of his neck absently. “Right. Stretching. I was, uh, doing… some yoga. Yeah. It’s good for the body, you know?”
“Yoga.” Yamato replied, tone plain as if he were stating a simple fact.
The man smiled. “Yep. I know, I know. Not many men really talk about doing it but it actually takes a lot of strength.” He brings an arm up, flexing as if to indicate the truth behind his words but the nature of his hoodie hid any sort of proof.
Yamato stared at him another moment… before a smile finally came across his face. He huffed a laugh, his shoulders relaxing. “I’ll take your word for it; never cared to try it myself. Too much effort. I gotta say, you gave me a bit of a scare there. Didn’t realise anyone was even on the patio.”
The man chuckled softly, lowering his arm. “Yeah, sorry. You surprised me too, if it's any consolation. I didn’t think anyone else would even be up this early.”
Yamato raised his mug in a wordless statement before following it up with a simple, “Work.”
“Wow, really?” The man questioned, his bright smile turning to surprise in a seamless transition. “What do you do that you have to be up at the crack of dawn for?”
“I’m a programmer for Akiyama Corp.” Yamato replied, shrugging a shoulder. “It’s a whole lot of maintenance, organising and system security.”
“That’s impressive!” The man shouted. “They’re a huge company! I guess big companies never sleep, huh?”
“More like they don’t care if you do or not.” Yamato couldn’t help but throw some shade before he nods slightly. “... but it’s good pay. I work on a lot of oversea accounts, hence the early wake up call.”
“Wow…” He suddenly smiled and Yamato was pretty sure he woke up just a little bit more at the sight. “You must have a lot of people relying on you; that’s great!”
Yamato stared at him a moment, feeling a bit of warmth spread up his neck before he cleared his throat quietly and forced himself to look away. “Yeah, well, it’d make my life a lot less stressful if they didn’t.”
“Don’t talk like that.” The stranger scolded and even without looking, Yamato could hear the scorn in his voice. “If you have people who look up to you, you don’t have time to be lazy!”
There is a moment of silence… before Yamato couldn’t hold back a laugh. He doubled over a moment, laughing over his balcony before looking back over to his neighbour. “I don’t think I’ve ever been scolded by a stranger about being lazy before.”
Where he thought the man might apologise, instead he scowled across the way and shook a fist at him. “I was being serious; responsibility needs to be taken seriously!”
Yamato raised a hand, as if in surrender and got his laughter under control. “Sorry, sorry. The contrast was just too funny.”
“Contrast?” The man questioned, lowering his fist.
“All this time, I thought maybe it was a little old lady who lived next door to me or something. I finally meet you... and it’s such a weird conversation.” Yamato raised his mug in a half hearted attempt to cover the obvious smile on his face.
The man huffed, tilting his chin up slightly and setting his hands on his hips. “Yeah, well.”
Yamato took a quick sip of his coffee before setting the mug down on the handrail, being sure to not let go of it in case it slipped. “I don’t mean any offense; I just meant that your patio looks exactly like a front yard garden. Never seen anything quite like it for an apartment.”
Standing just the slightest bit taller, the man slid from his aggravation into a more relaxed state. “... You think?” He took a look over his small sanctuary, a softer smile appearing with each plant he took in. “I guess you could call it a pet project.”
Without having his eyes on him, Yamato let himself take in the gentle expression of his neighbour’s face. Even with his short stature, the features of his face were definitely mature and there was a subtle enough angle to his jaw that gave way to age that didn’t seem to entirely match his wide, youthful eyes. His attention was pulled down the bit of his neck he could see peeking out from the hoodie; curse these patios being further away so he couldn’t take it in in greater detail.
He was busy wondering if that ridiculous haircut was as soft as it looked when he saw the slight movement of him turning back and quickly tried to right himself to show he had very clearly not been eyeing him up.
It seemed to go unnoticed.
The stranger grinned widely. “I only intended to have something small at first but before I knew it, I was having trouble finding places to put new ones.”
“I gotta say, it’s been nice watching it grow.” Yamato returned the smile.
“Really? I'm so glad!” The man beamed. “There is nothing better than being surrounded by nature!”
Yamato chuckled. “You sound more suited for country life than a city.”
The man continued with his radiance. “I actually grew up in a small town so--" His voice suddenly cut off as he looked to his side and into his apartment. “Ahh, phone is ringing.” Turning back to face him, he gave a short wave. “Sorry, gotta get that. It was nice finally meeting you!”
Yamato blinked, feeling his stomach sink a little at having their time suddenly cut short. “Ah, yeah! You too!”
The man let his hand fall to his side before heading in, sliding open the glass door with ease. Yamato couldn't hear the sound of any phone from this distance but a slight panic filled him. If this was the chance meeting of finally seeing who his neighbour was, what would be the odds of ever seeing him again in the future?
Before the man could disappear from sight, Yamato called out a quick, “Wait! What's your name?!”
His hope sunk when he disappeared inside and for a second, he thought his words had gone unnoticed before a head poked back out with a smile. “Mitsuki. Izumi Mitsuki.”
Yamato felt his insides swell with sudden victory and couldn't help but reply back with a quick, “Nikaido Yamato.”
Mitsuki gave a hurried wave in response. “Good luck with work!” He called back before pulling back inside and with a final motion, closed the patio door behind him.
Yamato was left alone outside, staring off into the garden he had admired for so long but had only just met its caretaker.
Mitsuki.
Izumi Mitsuki.
He was going to have to remember that.
TBC...