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There were yellow flowers on the windowsill.
Akito sat on the floor, staring at them. They hadn’t been there last night, and that made sense. Everyone who knew Akito knew that she didn’t like frivolous little things like the yellow buds. Kurano would never have brought any in. So there was no questioning the culprit.
A light humming in the hallway signified her arrival. Tohru Honda, walking in with another little bundle of the flowers in her hands. She startled when she noticed Akito sitting up as though she hadn’t expected it, despite it being well into the morning.
“You brought flowers.” Akito said, deadpan.
“I did.” The beaming girl’s smile fell a little bit as she shuffled the blooms around in her grip. “Oh no, do you not like them? I know they’re a little different from your usual style, but I just thought they would be fun, maybe brighten the room a little bit.”
Akito held up a hand to stop her from rambling incessantly. Tohru did have rather a tendency to just go on and on. “What are they?”
“Oh these? These are buttercups!” Tohru walked closer, squatting down in front of Akito. “I picked them from outside the estate. I was going to put these with the others, but here.” Tohru held out a single flower, hesitating. At Akito’s slight nod, Tohru nestled one into her hair, plucking another for her brown hair as well. “There. Now we match!”
“They’re silly,” Akito mumbled, watching numbly as Tohru got up and bustled around the room, heavy-handedly arranging the other buttercups she’d gathered into the vase.
“They are a little silly. But I think a little silliness can be fun! I’m glad you like them.”
Akito furrowed her brow at that. Had she said that? That was the thing about Tohru, she was always making assumptions. “You can leave them,” Akito relented, “I suppose.”
She stared over at the blossoms. They were so tiny, and so fragile. Much like she’d expected Tohru to be, really. But then again, the girl had surprised her. She was much tougher than she looked-- she had to be, really, to put up with Akito. And who knows? Maybe the flowers would surprise her too.
The yellow flowers stayed on the window for a week, until they finally started to wilt. But the next day, Akito woke up to a new, bright bundle beaming at her. And strangely, she found that she was quite relieved.