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Karamatsu looked down at the single red rose lying innocently on his table with a small glare. He had been walking home from a long, tiring day at his desk job, and had stopped at a convenience store he often frequented for a hot meat bun and a soda, opting out of the canned coffee he usually gets since he wasn't as tired. The aforementioned rose had been placed in a small bucket with a several others near the register, each wrapped carefully with decorative plastic.
In truth, Kara hadn't even noticed them until he as next in line, and wasn't really tempted to buy one, especially with the obvious 1,400 yen price taped to the bucket. He could buy his meat bun and drink for cheaper than that. However, as he as getting out his wallet to pay, he saw one wrapped in light purple, almost lilac, plastic in the back. It seened to be the only one like that, and the color reminded him of a certain love-struck don that visited him frequently, almost daily. Karamatsu remembers hesitating before giving a small whine at the pain in his wallet as he placed the one rose up on the counter with his other items. He had mentally kicked himself for the rest of the way back to his appartment. The savory grease of the the meat bun did make him feel better though once he got home, but that and his soda were long gone now leaving only the rose left.
Really, he felt silly for staring at it so long. He had already bought it, and he wasn't going to walk all the way back and ask for a refund. It's just...
That was his meat bun and coffee allowance for tomorrow.
Plus, the don, the one he was thinking of when he bought it, was wealthy enought he could buy all the roses in Japan if he wanted. He wouldn't really be all that impressed with a single rose bought at a roadside convenience store. Karamatsu sighed as he opened the small card attached for the umpteenth time. Nothing was written inside. Well, he really didn't know what to write. 'Hey, I bought this on impulse because the packaging reminded me of you.' Despite that being the honest answer, Kara didn't think that was the kind of thing usually written on cards.
A knock on his door finally made him look up. The soft taps and the lack of 'Gattina!' told him it wasn't his italian. Speaking of, what was with that nickname? What if he started calling him 'Karamatsu Boy' or something silly like that? Kara shook his head before standing up and opening the door to reveal a small balding man.
"Oh! Hijirisawa-san, is there something you need?" Karamatsu asked his neighbor politely. The short man nodded,
"Yes, do you mind helping me with my heater again Matsuno-san?" Kara mentally sighed, already tired from his long day, but put on a smile as he agreed to help, knowing his neighbor would just persist until he helped him anyway. The rose was left, forgotten at the moment, on the table alone.
~~
Don Ichimatsu hummed happily as he exited his car, walking into the complex where his sweet gattina lived. His personal driver gave a secret sigh of exasperation before driving off again, already knowing the Don would be here all night. The mob boss didn't pay too much attention to the soft hum of the car getting further away, too excited to see his amore. Had it only been twelve hours since he last seen him? It had felt more like days to the impatient don. The steps leading up to the second floor of the building creaked with the strain of Ichi's added weight. He made a mental note to have new stairs put in. The idea of his ketten climbing them and falling because of their inadequacy lowered his mood a bit, but just a bit. He was already feeling better again as he approached Karamatsu's appartment door. After giving three quick knocks and calling out, "Gattina, I'm back~!", Ichi put the spare key he had make into the lock. He wasn't allowed to come in without knocking first anymore, or Karamatsu said he ould have to take the key.
"Huh?"
As Ichimatsu turned the key, the tumblers didn't click, meaning it wasn't locked. The don gave a look of confusion before his expression hardened. He opened the door, ignoring the squeaking hinges, and kept one hand close to the revolver on his side. A quick glance around the living area and conjoined kitchen showed no one around. Quietly, gun now in his grip, Ichi checked the wash room and bedroom as well. Once he was sure he couldn't hear any noise, or sense any other presence, he slowly placed his revolver back in its harness and gave a sigh. He could deduce that from the lack of bullet holes and torn furniture, wherever his gattina had went, it was willingly and of his own free choice. Ichi gave a small whine as he dragged himself back into the living area to wait. After making himself as comfortable as he could on the floor, he placed his elbows on the table and held his head in his hands, cloing his eyes and daydreaming about his cute gattina. He breathed out a sigh of happiness at the thought of how shy and flustered his kitten could be.
He opened his eyes, only for the loving twinkle in them to be replaced with confusion once again, but this time at the lone item in front of him. A rose wrapped in pastel purple plastic lied a few centimeters from him. Ichimatsu tilted his head, wondering why it was there. His love didn't care for such tokens of affection, saying they were 'a waste of money'. So why then was there-
A sudden gasp escaped from him as a horrific thought made itself known, what if the rose was from another admirer?! Could he, Ichimatsu, Don of the biggest and most feared mafia family in both Italy and Japan, have a rival for his love? No, no of course not! His gattina could be feisty, but he still loved him.
...Right?
Kara wasn't home not because he was...with the admirer right now...right? Ichi quickly swallowed down his worry with anger, and let out a growl as he grabbed the rose, searching for the name of his next target. The small card proved useless as it was completely blank. Tch, fucking coward. The dead man could at least face him if they thought they could actually steal his gattina from him. Whoever this fuck was, Ichi was sure he was a hundred times better a lover than them, and he was going to prove it! Throwing the rose back on the table, causing a couple of petals to fall, the don stood back up and pulled his phone out. After pressing on the desired contact's name with a bit more force than needed, Ichi held it up to his ear and paced as he waited for them to pick up.
"Don Ichimatsu, do you need a ride back now?"
"No, I need fifty of our biggest blooms in the garden brought here."
A moment of silence passed between them.
"I'm sorry sir, but did you say fifty?"
"Yes, immediately, or would a hundred be better?" Ichimatsu had said that last bit to himself, but recieved a quick reply from the person on the other end,
"No! Uh, *ahem* I mean no, fifty is enough I'm sure sir. I'll have them delivered to you within the next half hour."
"Make it fifteen minutes." Ichi ended the call before anything else could be said. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Ichimatsu gave the rose on the table one last death glare before heading out to wait on the bouquet.
~~
Karamatsu groaned as he finally made it out of his neighbor's appartment. The man really needed to just buy a new heater with the how often that one broke, but he could understand being on a budget and penny pinching. He opened his door, already feeling a little more at ease with the familiar atmosphere of home. It was one of the reasons he had yet to take Ichimatsu up on his offer to live with him. The don's estate was just too big, and too full of servants and mob family members for him to relax. After closing the door, Kara laid back against it and took a small breather before pushing off to head further in. The rose was the first thing he noticed once inside causing him to groan and rub his eyes. He had come to terms that his money was gone, but he still had no idea what to write in the damned card. After opening his eyes, he made a confused sound at the fallen petals. Hadn't he left the rose in one piece?
Just as he was bending down to observe the rose further, his door bursted open causing him to jump and let out a less than manly scream.
"Gattina!"
Karamatsu fought to get his heartbeat back into a normal rhythm again while wide petrified eyes were filled with crimson red.
"I'm sorry I haven't been around as much as I could be! Please don't leave me for someone else gattina, I-"
After he was able to breathe right again, he noticed the red wasn't blood, like he originally had feared, but soft roses being presented to him.
"-even stop calling you gattina! Just please give me another chance Karamatsu!"
Kara watched as Don Ichimatsu stood before him, biting his lip and fighting back the pools in his eyes as he waited for Karamatsu's answer.
To which said man answered, not so eloquently, "Huh? Wha- Why... I'm sorry, but what is this about?" Ichi lowered his arms and swallowed the anxious ball stuck in his throat, "I don't want to lose you ga- Karamatsu. I'm begging you mi amor, please just give me one more chance?"
Kara still looked very lost.
"I... still have no idea what you're talking about. Lose me? Why would I leave you?"
Ichimatsu gripped the roses in his hands a little tighter, quickly glancing at the rose on the table with something more akin to fear than hate now.
"The one who gave you the rose... Do you really like them ga- Karamatsu?" Ichi was afraid of the answer, but he had to know.
"The one who..." Kara's eyes followed to where the don's were looking, "Ohhh..." The confusion on Kara's face disappeared with recognition. So Ichi had thought the rose was from someone else. Well that would explain the large bouquet in the don's hands, and the fallen petals from his own. Honestly, he was just relieved Ichi hadn't destroyed the rose when he had found it. Kara gave a small chuckle at the misunderstanding, and cleared his throat at the confusion on Ichi's face.
"I'm sorry, just give me one second," Karamatsu turned towarrds the closest drawer around him and rummaged through it for a second. Ichimatsu watched as Kara came back with a pen. His brow furrowed as Kara opened the card and scribbled something down real quick. After he was done, Karamatsu put the pen down and picked the rose up carefully. Standing in front of Ichi now, he held it out towards the confused italian, "Here, this is for you," A small blush had started to form on his cheeks.
"Uh..." Ichi gave a confused sound before slowly extending one hand and grabbing the flower lightly. He felt as Kara grabbed the bouquet from him so he could read the tiny message better. He opened the card and widened his eyes at the words,
'To my one and only Karamatsu Boy, from his Gattina'.
Ichi looked back up to see Kara hiding his face in the roses, though the red on his ears showed just how much his blush had grown.
"The... the rose is for me?" Ichi pointed to himself. Kara dug his face further into the flowers before nodding slowly. The don stood speechless. Kara had never given him a gift, outside of hoidays, and yet... His gattina had hand picked a rose, just for him!
A rose he had thrown and scorned.
Ichimatsu felt his heart drop now that he knew the enchanting bud was for him. All the roses in the world couldn't make up for the harsh way he had treated his kitten's show of love.
Suddenly, Ichi felt himself being pulled forward by his tie, and his lips being captured by another pair.
The kiss was short and chaste, but had the desired effect Kara was going for. He could see Ichi starting to feel terrible about the rose and had to put a stop to that. The kiss stopped the don's train of thought and had him blinking at Kara blindly for a moment. Looking to the side, obviously embarrased, Kara held the bouquet closer,
"Be sure to take care of that rose okay? And in return, I'll take care of mine."
The knot that had been forming in Ichimatsu's chest lightened at Kara's words. Looking down at the single rose in his grip, he let a tender smile make itself known before a wide grin took its place. Without anymore warning, he jumped at Kara with a laugh, holding the shocked man close to him. More petals fell from the large bouquet, landing softly on the ground below them.
"Oh, mio gattina! Ti amo tanto!"
"Hey! Wai- Ichima- The roses! They're falling on the floor!" Kara tried to wrestle his way out, but his heart wasn't in it. Seeing his don this happy, he wasn't honestly ready to leave the embrace just yet. When he felt lips press against his again, he let out a huff, smiling as he pressed back.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"So... 'Karamatsu Boy' huh?"
"Please shut up."
"You're so cute when you blush gattina!"
"Ugh..."