Chapter Text
It was a slow day at Tulip during Hiromi’s shift.
In the last 6 hours he had been there, only 5 customers had come in and only 2 of them needed him to make a bouquet for them. That was at least 2 hours ago. He was bored out of his mind, until he heard the bell jingle.
“Welcome to Tulip!” He said in a cheery tone, turning around to face whoever had walked in.
Hiromi was not expecting to see Kojiro, not in his usual Hawaiian shirt and shorts, smiling at him. Upon doing a double take, he realized Kojiro was in a black suit with a maroon tie.
“Oh- Hey, Kojiro!” He said, smiling and trying to conceal his surprise from the man.
“Hi, Hiromi. I was wondering if you could help me make a bouquet? It’s for an anniversary.” Kojiro responded, still smiling while making his way to the counter.
“Of course! What type of anniversary is it?” Hiromi said, quickly exiting the front counter to go over to him.
He still couldn’t believe that Kojiro was dressed this fancy, let alone getting a bouquet for an anniversary.
“A wedding anniversary, if that helps.” The green-haired man answered, leaning against the counter with one elbow on it.
"That helps me a lot! Just give me a minute!" He responded, smiling at the taller man in front of him.
He stood there for an extra second before nodding and quickly walking over to their display of flowers, picking out a few single ones. He spent his time making sure he grabbed the right ones before going back to the counter.
“Okay! So we could do a bouquet with red roses and calla lilies or a bouquet with pink roses and lilies,” Hiromi started, showing Kojiro the two sets of flowers before setting them in front of both of them. “Of course we don’t have to do either and we can make a bouquet of whatever flowers you chose.” He finished, smiling at the man.
“I’ll go with the pink roses and lilies. They’re Kaoru’s favorites.” Kojiro said with a wide smile on his face, pointing to the second set of flowers.
“I’ll make the bouquet right away!” He said, nodding quickly as he picked up the flowers.
He put the red roses and calla lilies away before going to the back to make Kojiro’s bouquet. He thought about how Kojiro said Kaoru and wondered if he was meaning Cherry.
Shaking his head, he started making the bouquet, finding himself falling into a natural rhythm.
Pretty soon, Hiromi had finished the bouquet and used a sheer pink ribbon to tie the flowers together. He walked back to the front, where Kojiro was waiting, checking the flowers as he did.
As he entered the front room of the store, he saw that Kojiro’s head quickly snapped over to him before smiling brightly.
“It looks perfect! Thank you, Hiromi.” He said, pulling out his wallet from his pocket.
“I hope whoever receives this bouquet loves it as much as you clearly do, Kojiro.” Hiromi said, chuckling slightly before setting the bouquet on the table.
He quickly entered the price in the register before looking back at Kojiro.
“Kaoru will love it, he loves any kind of bouquet you guys make here. That’s probably why he uses you guys to make the centerpieces for any event he hosts.” The adult male responded while laughing loudly.
“8000¥ is your total, Kojiro.” He said, opening the cash drawer.
After the man gave Hiromi the money, he handed him his bouquet. He hesitated for a second before asking the question on his mind.
“How many years are you and Kaoru celebrating?” He said, hoping that Kojiro won’t be upset with him for asking.
“Oh- Tonight is our 7 year anniversary!” Kojiro smiled, waving the bouquet around slightly.
Hiromi just stood there, shocked that Kojiro and Kaoru had been together for at least 7 years but also happy for the two of them.
“Congratulations!” He said after a minute of just staring at Kojiro.
“Thanks, man. I’m really excited for tonight, we’re eating at that new fancy restaurant that opened up in town. He’s been dying to go to it and I got us a reservation.” Kojiro explained, his smiling somehow getting wider as he spoke.
“I heard that place is really good! I hope you guys enjoy your dinner and everything!” He said, finding himself smiling as well.
“Thanks again. I should get going, I need to pick up Kaoru but I’ll see you tomorrow or something, Hiromi!” Kojiro said, waving as he quickly exited the shop.
Hiromi stared at the door as it closed, showing a running Kojiro headed towards his car.
“Wow.” He said, shaking his head slightly in disbelief before starting to clean up the store.
He didn’t expect to find out about Kaoru and Kojiro’s relationship like this. Especially because they had been married for 7 years but as long as they were happy, he was too.
He wondered if anyone else knew about them before shaking his head. He was probably the only one to find out and he decided that he wouldn’t tell anyone, it wasn’t his relationship nor his business to tell.
After an hour of cleaning up the shop, Hiromi closed it for the night. He shut all the lights off and left the shop, locking the door behind him.
As he was walking to his car, his phone went off. He opened it to find a message from Kojiro. It had a picture attached to it, as well.
‘He loved the bouquet, thank you so much again.’ It read and the picture showed a teary-eyed Kaoru holding the bouquet in his hands.
Hiromi texted a quick ‘You’re welcome!’ back to him before starting his car. He had a smile on his face the whole drive home, feeling happy that he was able to help his friend out.
If he put a discount on any bouquets Kaoru or Kojiro bought in the future, it was no one’s business but his own.