Chapter Text
Sakura was a morning person. She woke up with the sun each day, just like the flowers in her name . She couldn’t help it; if the sun was up so was she. And she liked mornings, they were quiet and peaceful. She got to watch the world come to life and in her humble opinion sunsets had nothing on the beautiful array of colors in the sunrise.
Morning in the Blossoming Love flower shop were particularly nice. The flowers lay still in the morning light seeming to take stock of each petal, leaf and stem. The greenhouse in the back of the store would slowly begin to warm up as she walked up and down the rows of larger potted plants. Ever since Maeno, the owner, had started letting Sakura rent the tiny studio apartment above the shop she almost always had the opening shift and she had really come to love it.
She had finished watering the greenhouse plants and took a deep breath, smelling the water and dirt and all the flower’s delicate scents. It was so tranquil.
Tap, tap
Sakura nearly dropped her watering can. It was always so quiet in the shop in the mornings, what in the world had that---
Tap, taptap, tap.
Sakura put the watering can down and went, cautiously, to the front of the store to see Nozaki and Mikorin, standing outside with strange desperate looks on their faces.
The sight of the two young men knocking on the door so early in the morning might have frightened anyone who didn’t know them like Sakura did. First impressions weren’t either of their fortes. Mikorin with his dyed hair, pierced ears each with two studs and one with a cartilage, and punkish style screamed bad boy to most people. Nozaki didn’t scream anything, he was more silently intimidating, tall and broad shouldered and just generally big with a resting face that to most strangers said “violent thug”. It didn’t help matters that both of them were covered in tattoos.
Sakura had been a little scared by them herself when she had first seen them through the shop window. She had only been working at the shop a while and didn’t know much about the tattoo parlor, Let’s Ink, across the street, or any of it’s artists. When she’d first seen the tall, dark haired boy and his redhead friend walking to work she had stared at them for a moment and then retreated behind the safety of the checkout counter. But she was lucky. She had gotten to know the two boys through the window of the flower shop, gotten to see them early in the morning when they were tiredly sipping cups of coffee waiting for the shop to open; she’d gotten to see them smile and laugh, argue and bicker. She had gotten to know them while lingering in that shop window, taking longer than she should to adjust the displays.
When they had finally come past the window and into the shop it had been a little bit of a shock. Mikorin had come to the store with Nozaki in tow to ask if they could use some flowers for a tattoo reference. But not before he had leaned against the counter and spouted some line about her being, “as radiant and lovely as her flowers, my sweet little bluebell.” He had been saved from her throwing a handful of thorny roses in his face by the fact that a moment later he was a blushing mess with Nozaki saying,
“You’ll have to forgive him, he gets like this when he’s nervous.”
Soon, without Sakura even realizing it seeing them had become one of the things she looked forward to most at work. They would come over to sketch the different flowers and get ideas for clients. She soon learned that flowers were Mikorin’s specialty and his own body was covered in them. He had two full sleeves of them running up each arm and they continued across his chest and how far down Sakura didn’t know but she had seen the edge of one on either of his thighs when he wore shorts. It was a lush garden imprinted on his skin filled with beautifully drawn flowers of all kinds all twined together.
Nozaki’s tattoos were different. His style was bolder, brighter, a little more cartoonish and sometimes surprisingly cute. It looked like he was using his own body as his personal doodling surface. Aside from the two half sleeves that covered his forearms his tattoos were spread out across his body, hidden so they would peek out and surprise her at unexpected times. Like when he reached up to help her bring down a hanging fern and she spotted some kanji right along the crease between his hips and his stomach. Or when he had worn a tank top during the summer and the collar had been low enough that she could see the top of a slim slithering dragon curving along one of his shouder blades.
And so they had become her friends. And in other, subtler ways that had become something more. At least to her. Maybe it was something in Nozaki’s low, gentle voice that she would never have guessed he had while just watching him from the window; or maybe it was Mikorin letting down his defenses and budding open in front of her like the flowers that covered his body. Maybe it was the tattoos that kept, kept drawing her attention to their bodies, seriously it was distracting. It was hard to tell exactly what it was. That was kind of the problem.
But right now they were her two very frazzled looking friends, begging to come in for whatever reason.
Sakura pointed to the closed sign on the door and shook her head trying to tell them that she wasn’t allowed to let anyone else in the store before it opened.
With an angry huff that Sakura could see in the January air Mikorin whipped his phone out of his pocket and started typing furiously. Soon enough Sakura heard her own phone vibrate on the counter. Mikorin had texted her.
Pls let us in EMERGENCY
Sakura looked at them through the glass and texted back.
Ur not allowed. And why don’t u just call me?
No time 4 logic! JUST HELP PLS
Was his response. Thankfully at this point Nozaki pulled out his own phone and called her.
“Sakura,” he said, even his usually calm voice laced with concern, “It’serious. You see, today is Seo’s birthday. There’s going to be a party at work today and we forgot to get a present.”
Mikorin tugged the phone away from his ear to add,
“Please, Sakura. She’ll be all mean and snide and be like, ‘What, no present pretty boy?’ and then she’ll give me a noogie!!!”
“Yuzuki wouldn’t…..well she might.” Sakura admitted. She had struck up an unlikely friendship with Nozaki and Mikorin’s fellow tattoo artist. Yuzuki was so full of energy and confidence, Sakura envied her. But it was true she enjoyed teasing Mikorin a little too much sometimes. She wouldn’t pass up this chance.
Sakura checked the clock. It was only about ten minutes before they would open anyway. The till was already in the register and really Maeno was so flighty even if he did notice she had opened a little early he wouldn’t care.
She made sure all the lights were on and unlocked the door turning the sign to open as the boys breezed past her.
“Thank you Sakura!” Mikorin said, pausing to give her a little squeeze, “Ok, now what kind of flowers can we buy at the last minute for…” he and Nozaki counted out their money, “1170 yen?!?”
“That’s all you have?”
“Well, we didn’t exactly plan this out.” Nozaki replied, “Is there something?” His piercing eyes were practically pleading. Clearly Nozaki had a healthy fear of Seo’s heckling too.
“Umm, uh” Sakura said, glancing around the shop in search of something cheap. Daisies were the cheapest but those didn’t seem to fit Seo. Carnations maybe….?
“Oh, wait I know!”
Sakura ran back to the greenhouse and the boys followed hesitantly. She ran down to the end of one row and picked up a small pot.
“Maeno told me to discount this little cutie because no one was interested in it, but I think it’s perfect for Yuzuki!”
When she reached them she held out her prize: a squat little cactus with three flowers on the top.
For a moment they both seemed nonplussed. And then Nozaki nodded.
“You’re right.”
“You really think she’ll like it?” Mikorin asked, still unconvinced.
“I trust Sakura’s judgement.”
“Well—well so do I.” Mikorin said, trying to one up Nozaki. Sakura just shook her head. These boys.
She took the cactus to the counter and added a bow around the pot and a card. The boys paid and then rushed out. She could see Ken-san, the owner of the tattoo parlor across the street opening the shop.
“Thanks, Sakura.”
“Yeah, you’re the best!”
Sakura gave them a little wave as she watched them go out the door and across the street. Ken-san gave the cactus a weird look as they walked past them into the store.
The rest of the day was much less eventful but busy. During a lull Sakura went back to the greenhouse to check on the plants there , making sure each were getting enough sun and none of their soil seemed too dry. Once she though she heard the faint tinkling of the bell on the shop door, but when she leaned over she couldn’t see anyone inside. She finished up and when she went back there was a surprise waiting for her on the counter. A single white carnation and a small pile of change. It was the change Mikorin and Nozaki had had left over from buying Yuzuki’s cactus. They’d manage to tie a ribbon and a card to the flower that read:
For Our Saviour, Sakura!
Sakura put the single flower in a slim little vase with some water and set it on the counter. She couldn’t help looking at it for the rest of the day.