Work Text:
The afternoon was still young, bustling crowds wandering the Underground Mall in Shibuya on a simple, sunny Saturday. Akira Kurusu spent most of his afternoons working in a small flower shop in an out of the way corner of the mall. The owner was nice enough to let him come in for work whenever he was free in order to keep up with his own studies. Sure, maybe he was a teenage transfer student with a record, but that didn't mean he had to be a bad student.
Akira hummed softly to himself while arranging a pile of flowers into their corresponding places. Busy work kept him from thinking too deeply about his own crappy situation but it could be terribly mind numbing. So when a loud blond boy stomped into the store, slamming money onto the counter with far more force than necessary, he was more than a little surprised.
The boy looked like he was fuming with rage, eyebrows slanted harshly and lips curled into a slight snarl. He looked to be wearing a Shujin Academy uniform and his dark brown eyes burned into Akira before speaking.
"How do I say 'Fuck you' in flower?"
Akira stared at the boy over the false lenses he wore. "What?"
The boy groaned, leaning his head back in frustration. "Ya know flower meanings? I need one that means 'Fuck you, you pervy, washed up asshat'."
"That's… pretty specific." Akira raised an eyebrow.
“Look, I don’t need ya to judge me, just give me a thing of flowers that means ‘I hate you’.” The boy huffed in frustration and crossed his arms.
Not wanting to upset a potential customer any further, he turned and began looking through the flowers available to him. Flowers with negative connotations were a bit more difficult to find due to the simple fact that it was not very often you gave flowers to someone you disliked. This made Akira even more curious as to who and what this bouquet was meant for.
He carefully selected an arrangement of yellow carnations, orange lilies, and petunias. He then arranged them a bit to balance the striking colors of the unusual selection. Wrapping the flowers in paper packaging, he turned and handed the finished bouquet to the blond student.
“Here you go. I would have added foxglove but we don’t have any. Not much of a demand for a flower that can mean insincerity.”
The boy took the flowers, looking them over for a moment before speaking again. “So, what are all of these?”
“Well, most flowers can have double meanings but the negative forms of these can mean hatred, contempt, disdain or deep resentment.”
“Sounds ‘bout right,'' He chuckled, his face relaxing a bit for the first time since walking in. “I got another question but it's goin’ sound kinda weird.”
“Weirder than your ‘Fuck you’ bouquet?” The transfer student felt his lips turn up into a small smile.
“Do ya have pretty handwriting?”
Yep. Defiantly weirder than the ‘Fuck you’ bouquet. Akira was silent for a moment before answering. “If I try, probably.”
“Good. Uh, can you write ‘From Ann’ on a card or somethin’?”
Akira squinted his eyes suspiciously but reached for a pen and one of the gift tags anyway. He carefully wrote out the requested words and tried to make the characters look as feminine as he could, mimicking his mother's handwriting and adding a heart for good measure.
“How’s that?” He presented the tag to the boy who smiled brightly, a devilish glint in his eyes.
“Perfect. Thanks for the help, man.”
The boy spun on his heels, disappearing around the corner and into the now thinning afternoon crowds. Akira was about to stop him so that he could pay but the total of the abandoned bills on the counter turned out to be just enough to cover the bouquet.
~~~
It was a few days before the boy showed up again, this time, much less infuriated. Akira had just brought out a few boxes of new flowers delivered earlier that morning when the loud blond practically skipped into the shop.
"Hey, dude! Glad you're workin' today. I wanted to thank you for helping me."
"Right, the 'fuck you' bouquet. No problem.” Akira set the boxes down on the counter, sifting through the flowers as the two of them spoke. “How'd that go, anyway?"
"I, uh-" The other teen paused before explaining. "It was kinda a prank? This asshat at my school needed a good slap in the face."
The black haired boy cocked his head with a raised eyebrow. "So, you bought them flowers?"
"He's allergic."
There is a short pause of silence in which Akira froze mid organizing before he snorted and went back to the flowers with an amused smirk. "Oh."
"He's been out the last couple days with a cold." The blond announced as if it was some well fought victory. "Maybe next time he'll think before putting his hands on those girls."
The last sentence came out more as a mumble but Akira found himself answering anyway.
"So, that bouquet that he believes he received from some girl made him sick and that is supposed to teach him to respect women?"
This time, the pause is much longer, as if he'd only just put together the fine details of his plan. His only response was a curt, "Yeah,".
"So, why worry about the flower meanings? I doubt he even noticed."
"'Guess I didn't want him getting the wrong idea? Giving him a bunch of roses with Ann's name on it is just asking for trouble."
Surprised by the blond's foresight - as small and insignificant as it may have been in the end - at least he tried not to cause trouble.
After a moment, Akira simply shrugged. “You’re a good guy.”
The compliment was followed by a series of confused sputtering that roughly translated to something like, ‘what are you talking about’. Akira looked over his shoulder and smiled warmly seeing just how red the boy’s face had turned due to a few words. The strikingly blond hair only made the blush across his cheeks and ears more notable. He found himself thinking simply, ‘cute’.
“I’m Akira.” He introduced himself finally, hoping to get the newly dubbed ‘cute’ blond’s name in return.
“Oh, right. Ryuji.” He offered, clearing his throat and rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
“I’m usually here in the afternoons. Come by next time you need to vent.” The glasses-wearing boy flashed another warm smile that had Ryuji muttering some sort of thank you under his breath before he almost stumbled out of the shop.
~~~
The next few weeks passed quietly and Akira was suddenly missing the loud chats he’d have with the new customer. They’d only spoken twice and once the other had been incredibly pissed off. Still, his thoughts wandered to memories of their talks as he organized a fresh shipment of sunflowers, wondering how long it would be before the cute little blond paid him another visit.
“Akira!”
The shouting of his name startled the raven haired boy but, as if some deity had heard his prayer, the aforementioned ‘cute blond’ had just strolled into the flower shop with a familiar look of distaste on his face.
Akira shiftend the stack of sunflowers to the side as he leaned against the counter and cocking his head to look as casual as possible. “Ryuji. Good to see you.”
“You won’t believe that bastard. He says he’s gonna expel me ‘cause he figured out it was me who left him the flowers!” He shouted, frustration clear on his face. “There’s no way he can do that!”
“How’d he figure it out?”
“I guess one of his volleyball lackeys saw me either with them or when I went into his office.” The blond huffed.
Akira hummed in response, returning to trimming and organizing the sunflowers as the other teen continued his rant. And, as promised, Akira listened. Ryuji was very passionate when he spoke, gesturing wildly with his hands, running them through his spiked hair with wide eyed expressions that had the other swooning before he knew it. The dark brown of his eyes would probably be described by anyone else as dull or hard and unfeeling but Akira could see that the emotion in him ran much deeper than many of those same people. He could see - he could feel - the passion and strength he held in those dark, all encompassing eyes. The vivid spikes of bleached blond only made them stand out more, like they were being framed by rays of sunlight.
“--I mean, he’s got no evidence that I meant anythin’ by it! I coulda just been leavin’ flowers from Ann for all he knows.” Ryuji rambled on, not caring much for Akira’s little participation.
Having reached the last flower in the stack, Akira trimmed the stem down and held it up so he could see it next to Ryuji’s face.
Ryuji raised a curious eyebrow. “Uh, what’re ya doin’?”
“Sunflower.” He paused, trimming the stem further so it was a bit smaller before slipping it behind one of Ryuji’s ears. “Reminds me of you.”
Akira relished in watching the boy turn bright red right before his very eyes, bringing a hand up to take the flower before stuttering out a response. “Wh-What? Why?”
“The middle matches your eyes and the yellow petals are like your hair; among other things.” He replied, never being one to lie.
“I- I- I-” The boy simply stammered, looking down at the flower in his hand. “Thanks.”
“Maybe you should tell them?”
“What?” Ryuji questioned, having lost any idea as to what they were talking about.
“The school? Just tell them you didn’t know he was allergic if you don’t want to pin it on that Ann girl.” Akira suggested, wiping his hands on his apron and collecting some of the discarded boxes.
“I guess I could.” The blond nodded slowly. “Thanks for the advice.”
The other boy smiled as he watched Ryuji turn to leave, a dark blush still evident on his face. “Anytime.”
~~~
Ryuji’s next visit to the flower shop was much sooner, having only been about a week. Akira caught himself smiling as the blond walked in, hand shoved in his uniform pockets and unsure look in his dark eyes.
“Back so soon? Don’t tell me they really expelled you.” The glasses-wearing teen teased, stepping off the small stool he’d used to get to some extremely high shelves.
“Huh? Oh, no. Not yet, at least.” He joked halfheartedly.
Akira raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong? You’re acting a little off today.”
“You can tell?”
“Of course I can. Were you trying to hide it?” He asked, getting a bit worried.
“Not really, I guess. Just nervous- I mean, I just wanted to buy some sunflowers?”
Akira’s head cocked to the side. “Really? Sure. How many?”
“Like five?” The other boy answered, still clearly unsure of himself.
Nevertheless, Akira went about collecting the few flowers and wrapped them in paper, handing them over. “Can I ask what this particular bouquet is for? Just so you know, sunflowers don’t really have a negative connotation.”
“Right, well, these- they’re for my mom. She saw the sunflower you gave me last time and wanted some more.”
Akira smiled. “How sweet. Was that all?”
“Uh, yeah- I mean- yeah. Thanks.” He muttered, darting out of the shop, leaving Akira a bit stunned.
~~~
Again, a little over a week after his last visit, Ryuji shyly appeared at the entrance. He seemed to be a bit more sure of himself but still nervous. In an effort to make him feel somewhat more at ease, Akira stood at the counter and gave the blond his typical warm smile.
“Hello, Ryuji. Did your mom like the flowers?”
There was a brief second where Ryuji didn’t seem to know what he was talking about before realization passed over his face and he nodded. “She loved ‘em. Actually, I was here for some more?”
Akira’s smile dropped a bit. “Sorry, we don’t have any sunflowers right now. Does your mom like any other flowers?”
“Oh, uh- I don’t know…” Ryuji trailed off. “What would ya recommend?”
Surprised, Akira took a moment to think, walking over to the wall of flowers to get a look at all of the different ones they had available. “Well, if she liked the color, maybe tulips? Jasmine is also a personal favorite of mine.”
“Whatever ya think. I’m not real good with this kinda stuff.”
Akira nodded, putting together an assortment of beautifully colored tulips, wrapping them up and handing them over. Ryuji took the flowers, giving them a quick once over before a half smile pulled at the corner of his lips.
“Thanks. So, what’s the story with tulips?”
“You mean, the meaning?” Akira asked, receiving a nod. “Depending on the colors, love, prosperity, and hope are the most common ones associated with them.”
The blond nodded again, looking down at the arrangement of flowers in his hand. “So, I know this might be kinda weird but- well- We should hang out.”
The other boy’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion before Ryuji began to wave his arms wildly in a panic. “I mean, like- go to the arcade or somethin’? I dunno, don’t you want to talk about something other than flowers?”
To that, Akira laughed, a bright grin on his face. This seemed to calm the blond, panicked expression replaced with a still nervous smile.
“I guess we do only ever meet up while I’m at work.” Akira dug his phone out of his pocket and handed it to the other boy who looked at it a bit bewildered. “Your phone number? I am usually free on weekends.”
Ryuji’s eyes went wide as he hurried to input the number into the opened contacts page. The black haired boy went about entering his own number and they parted ways with warm smiles and a promise to actually hangout.
~~~
> I’m thinkin’ arcade. Would Sunday be cool?
> Sounds good to me.
Akira smiled dumbly at the messages on his smartphone. The florist had texted his friend once he’d gotten off work and they’d been messaging back and forth the entire train ride home. He felt a little ridiculous being so excited to hang out with the blond. Maybe it was because it was outside of work that made this feel so different. ‘Or maybe because it’s like a date,’ His brain supplied rather unslessly.
That Sunday, the two of them met up at the train station - more by coincidence than anything else. Ryuji had appeared with surprise written clearly on his face as he approached in a yellow tank top and shorts. Akira caught his eyes focused on the blond’s toned shoulders and arms but had the decency to look away and not just stare at his new friend like a perv.
“Ya look good.” Ryuji complimented as they squeezed onto the packed train car.
Akira looked down at the jeans, plain black t-shirt and short sleeved button up he had thrown over it. “Thank you?”
Ryuji’s cheeks darkened in embarrassment. “Sorry- uh- I just- You're usually in that apron at the shop.”
“Right, you too. You’re usually in your uniform.” Akira offered, feeling bad that he’d made the other boy uncomfortable.
Luckily, the awkwardness of that first moment quickly dissipated and they were chatting just like they would in the shop all the way to the arcade in Shibuya. Reaching the door, it was strangely dark within, a notice posted on the inside of the glass.
“What? It’s closed? That’s BS.” Ryuji grumbled.
“I guess we can go somewhere else.” Akira offered with a shrug.
Ryuji sighed. “Yeah but I was totally lookin’ forward to crushing ya in some games.” Then his eyes lit up with an idea. “Hey, why don’t ya come over? I’ve got some games at my place and it’s not too far from here.”
“Well, with a challenge like that, I can’t back down.” Akira smirked, receiving an equally competitive glint in those dark eyes.
~~~
“Make ya’self at home.” Ryuji called as he made his way to the kitchen. “My mom ‘ill be out all day but my room’s the first door down the hall to the left. Ya want somethin’ to drink?”
“I’m alright.” He responded, glancing around the apartment and finding the door to Ryuji’s room.
The blond’s room was cluttered but cleaner than he’d imagined the disorganized boy would keep his room. As promised, there is counsel connected to an old revision in the corner with stacks of game cases surrounding it haphazardly. Perhaps the most surprising, however, among a few trophies atop a bookshelf, appeared to be a cup of water acting as a makeshift vase for a dying bouquet of tulips.
“Did ya pick a game?” Ryuji asked as he entered the room with a bottled sports drink in hand.
“I thought these were for your mom.” Akira had turned to the blond with the question before he’d even really registered it was out of his mouth.
Ryuji’s eyes were wide with emotion tha Akira could only guess at. Fear? Surprise? Shame?
“Oh- uh- I- Well, I- I mean- They’re- I was-” Came the blond’s nervously stuttered response.
Akira raised his hands to wave it off. “It’s fine. Forget I asked.”
“The sunflowers.” Ryuji said, finally, almost startling the other boy. “It was me. I really liked ‘em, so I went to get more but ya said ya didn’t have any and-”
The blond stopped as Akira put a hand on his shoulder. “Ryuji. You don’t have to explain yourself to me. If you liked the sunflowers, I'd be glad.”
LIke he’d been holding it this whole time, the other let out a shaky breath. “Ya know, I think I should have done this sooner.”
With furrowed brows, Akira watched Ryuji make his way to his desk and pick up a single white flower Akira recognized as a camellia.
Unable to him in the eye, the blond handed the flower over. “I don’t remember what the lady said it meant but I was tryin’ to find a flower that reminded me of you,” His cheeks tinged pink, still not meeting his eyes. “Ya know, like the sunflower.”
Akira held the stem of the delicate, white camellia between his fingers as he soun it gently. “Can I kiss you?” He blurted out again before his brain could seem to catch up.
The other boy turned bright red. “Wh-Wh-Wha-”
Akira quickly turned red himself, looking away. “I mean- Sorry, never-”
Before he had the chance to retract anything he had said, the blond before him squeezed his eyes shut and pulled the other into a rather rigid kiss. Simply the touching of lips and a nervous, breathless moment. Akira forced himself to respond, letting his eyes close and snaking a hand behind the other boy’s head in an effort to return the kiss. The action seemed to relax the blond, and they spent the moments that passed in silence, memorizing the feeling.
As they separated, Ryuji was finally looking him in the eye, dark chocolate fixed on him and studying the details that could only be seen this close. “Ya know how hard it is tryin’ to find flowers that match your eyes?”
This makes the glasses-wearing boy laugh as he imagined the blond wandering a flower shop, searching listlessly for a gray flower that simply didn’t exist.