Work Text:
Yuuto stretched to reach the cord of the neon sign at the front of the Tattoo shop she’d been working at for nearly a full year now. There weren’t any appointments coming into the shop till later and since she was still an apprentice she was mostly just there to greet people and make flash tattoo sheets.
She did do piercings but only if their main piercer wasn’t in shop.
She stared out at the gloomy day only perking up when she spotted a familiar pink coat come around a corner.
It was the cute flower shop worker.
Yuuto didn’t know their name or anything since she never had the guts to say anything.
She had stopped at the shop a few times in the past but couldn’t bring herself to make any introductions.
Yuuto watched intently from her own shop across the street as the tall beauty shuffled towards her shop… Yuuto squinted a bit and pushed her bangs back out of her face when she thought maybe the person was crying.
…
They were definitely crying. Yuuto silently thought that about cutting the tires of anyone who could make someone like her cry.
The shop worker was unlocking the front door when she dropped her purse, scattering things onto the sidewalk. Yuuto quickly left the tattoo shop to help.
She ran across the street without a second thought and noticed that the shop-keeper was crying harder now. Yuuto gave a polite bow before ducking down to pick up the girls phone and some other random things shed dropped.
“Ah- let me help you.”
Ashikiba apologized in a weak voice and tried to hurry.
“I’m sorry- I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
Yuuto heart ached.
“It’s no big deal, just an accident.”
She tried to reassure the redhead as they wiped their eyes and tried to calm down.
“I just can’t do anything right today… Im Ashikiba Takuto. I wish I could say I’m not always like this…”
She sniffed while unlocking the door and rushed in to set down the few things she hadn’t already dropped. Yuuto followed her in with some notebooks in hand. An edge of paper stuck out and it was definitely music sheet paper with more than a few scribbles in the margin spaces.
Was the cutie at the flower shop attendant also a musician and a total hot mess? Yuuto would find out later the answer to that is an overwhelming yes.
“It’s no big deal I swear! My names Shinkai Yuuto. I-I wanted to come to your shop today anyways.”
It was a lie but also the truth. Yuuto wanted to come over every day she saw the red head looking lonely while tending the shop.
“R-really?”
Ashikiba smiled weakly and wiped their face again before her purple eyes seemed to brighten.
“I’ll make you a bouquet for free then- to thank you for helping an idiot like me.”
Ashikiba shrugged off her coat showing off a cute layered outfit. Yuuto felt a familiar need to hide creeping up her spine. Ashikiba was practically a model and Yuuto was… well, feral.
“Ah- seriously?”
Ashikiba nodded and flicked on the lights.
“Come by when you get out of work and I’ll make you something beautiful.”
Yuuto felt all too shy.
“You… know where I work?”
It might have been a silly question given the Yami Kawaii looks Yuuto wore almost daily. She was pretty hard to miss…
Ashikiba nodded and pointed across the street.
“I’ve noticed you there before but I’m a bit squeamish and I… I used to know your older brother Hayato.”
She admitted weakly while putting on a pastel apron.
Yuuto found herself awkwardly staring at the taller woman in silence before she remembered she was supposed to be working right now and not having gay panic over the fact that her crush had noticed her.
“I get that... Uhm… I’ll come back later but uh…I hope your day gets better.”
Ashikiba smiled sweetly at her and nodded
“It’s much better already thanks to you, Yuuto.”
Yuutos heart was racing so hard her hands were sweating as she nodded and left to get back to her shop where her older brother sat at her desk eating one of her packs of fruit gummies.
“Did you finally say hi?”
He asked with a mischievous smile.
Yuuto snatched her snack pack from her brother and kicked the chair he sat in.
“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME YOU KNEW HER.”
Hayato pouted and checked to see if the chair dented from his sister borderline platform shoes.
“I don’t know her!”
“What’s that supposed to mean! She said she knew you- You didn’t date her and ghost her after right!?”
Yuuto asked angrily while chewing on a fist full of gummies. Her brother sighed loudly and rolled his eyes as he looked over the scheduled appointments for the day.
“No- she’s not really my type.”
He snickered but shot a glare when he heard Yuuto mutter something about Fukutomi.
“Shut up. You got her number didn’t you? Ask her how she knows me! It could be from my biking!”
Yuuto crossed her arms and kicked her brothers chair again.
“Nobody cares about your stupid bike races.”
Hayato sighed loudly and got up, towering over his sister.
“Why did I give you a job here again?”
Yuuto pouted but her red eyes were focused out the front window at the flower shop across the street.
“Because you love me… Also no I didn’t give her my number yet you maniac- I just learned her name. She told me to stop by after work and she’d make me a bouquet.”
Hayato smiled and printed out some things before leaving Yuutos space.
“Sounds like you don’t need any advice from your dear older brother then.”
Yuuto nodded at first but then she grabbed her brothers sleeve.
“Wait do you… Do you think I should get her a gift?”
The older Shinkai laughed and shook his head.
“Play it cool this time. Maybe you should just focus on writing your number on a piece of paper to give her.” He suggested calmly and Yuuto nodded intently.
“Kay, leave me alone. I’ll send Arakita back when he shows up for his appointment.” She said and plopped into her rolly-chair to dig through her stacks of cute note pads.
Hayato looked a little concerned for his sister but nodded anyways and sighed.
“Thanks Yuu.”
Ashikiba was chattering with a customer when the door chimed to let her know someone else had arrived. She looked over her shoulder and smiled when she spotted Yuuto fussing with her black bob as she entered the shop.
“So could I pick them up tomorrow around noon?” The original customer Ashikiba was helping asked but the red head was daydreaming already.
“Excuse me- uhm Excuse me?”
Ashikiba jumped a bit when the older woman tapped her arm.
“Oh right! Sorry yes- I can have that ready tomorrow at noon. Will you be needing delivery or will it be a pick up?”
The woman followed Ashikiba to the main counter where Takuto wrote down all the important information she needed and took a down payment for the bulk floral order.
“No, I’ll be coming back in but I might need help loading them into the car.”
The woman thanked Ashikiba once everything was written down and the deposit was paid. Once the customer left the red head adjusted her apron and took a deep breath before heading over to where Yuuto was looking over potted plants. She was taking a picture of a glass case that had orchids kept inside.
The glass was foggy with humidity but didn’t hide the beautiful flowers inside.
“You came back.”
Ashikiba said happily and Yuuto quickly put her phone away.
“Yeah, of course.”
“Well, the offer for a bouquet still stands.”
Ashikiba offered and watched how Yuuto picked at her own fingers and avoided eye contact.
“That… Yeah that sounds good to me… My favorite color is Yellow. But my apartment has a lot of black.”
Yuuto said hoping her color preference would help.
Ashikibas purple eyes seemed to light up as she listened.
“I’ll do my best!”
She said eagerly and walked into the back room urgently. Yuuto smiled and went to the counter and set down a hello kitty sticky note that had:
Call me Yuuto! <3
xxx-xxx-xxxx
Written on it.
Yuuto instantly felt her anxiety dissolve now that the scary part was out of the way.
It was the social pressure of handing over a tiny piece of paper that had her hands literally shaking. She had even been rubbing her tongue piercing to the room of her mouth and picking her nails at one point, unable to stand still.
Now she felt like she could breath.
Ashikiba would find the note after she left and if Yuuto got any response she’d at least have a new friend. She steeled her nerves and waited while looking around at all the plants.
Ashikiba came out 10 minutes later with a bouquet of yellow mums, black foxglove, a few curly dried branches in a dark color, and at the center there was a large “chocolate” sunflower. All wrapped in a simple black sheet of paper tied with black string.
“What do you think?”
Yuuto held her breath as she stared at the flowers. Had anyone gotten her flowers aside from her mom at graduation?
Her eyes watered as she took the bundle to stare at it closer in amazement. It was beautiful.
“Ashikiba… Please let me pay you for this-“
“No! No no. You helped me this morning, please.”
Ashikiba backed away and held her arms behind her back so Yuuto couldn’t give them back.
Yuuto smiled and held the flowers to her chest as if to hug them.
“They’re beautiful- thank you!”
She stammered and took a deep breath.
Ashikiba almost said something but instead she just nodded and smiled.
“Well I have to catch a bus home, so I can’t stay much longer but I hope I get to see you again soon.”
Yuuto said while adjusting her Ita bag over her shoulder. It was literally covered with her pins of her current anime obsession.
“I would really like that.”
Ashikiba nodded and held the door for Yuuto, looking over her brightly blushed cheeks and her smile one last time.
Once out of the store Yuuto took a million photos of her flowers and posted them on her Twitter with a rant about being in love with the cute flower shop worker.
She even stopped at a thrift store on her way home to buy a simple vase to hold the flowers.
Yuuto had only a small studio apartment to herself. Her family had helped her move out on her own shortly after high-school and helped to assist her with money until they found out she was using her extra money to afford hormone therapy instead of going to college…
After that she was cut off financially and socially.
Thankfully her brother was there to catch her.
She went to her bathroom and picked off the bright yellow bandaid from her nose and little stickers from her cheeks before wiping off her makeup to expose her natural features again.
She tried not to look at herself too much and just stuck with getting ready to relax and binge watch some anime before bed.
Yuuto puttered around the apartment with her head in the clouds. She took her medications and made a simple dinner before settling down in front of the tv. She switched on Jujutsu Kaisen and checked her phone.
6 unread texts.
Two were from her friends, one from Hayato, and three from an unknown number…
Yuutos eyes widened and she frantically opened the messages- sitting up as she read out loud.
“I just closed up shop, I haven’t stopped thinking about how you saved me this morning…
I was so surprised that you left your number for me- I hope you made it home safely with your flowers!
Send me a picture of them if you get the chance, I’ll put it on my social media for the shop!”
Yuuto hugged the phone to her chest and melted back against the couch. Hayatos dumb idea had worked! Holy shit she owed him big time.
She quickly sent Ashikiba a picture she had taken of herself with the flowers as well as a picture of them on her kitchen table. Then rapid texted back:
“Asksjdjsj OKAY!!!”
She saved the number as ‘Shikiba’ with a few heart and flower emojis. Already she was day dreaming of their life together as domestic lesbians in the city with their dramatically different styles. Her heart was full and yet they had only just started talking to each other…