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Generally, Rina wasn’t one to comment on anyone’s hoarding habits. She knew it would be like the pot calling the kettle black, having been nicknamed the plant dragon by Ashido and Hagakure all the way back in first year, after the bedroom presentation contest. Most times, she would argue that her vast collection of dried herbs and oils had many different, very useful purposes (which they did) and that the plants she grew were also mostly medicinal, thus, again, useful, but deep down she had already admitted her bedroom was a little too crowded. Eiji had said it looked like more of a mix between a greenhouse and an apothecary than a bedroom, and he wasn’t wrong. However, no one could say Rina wasn’t organized with her hoarding. Her jars and vials were alphabetically categorized, and she always put them back in their designated spots after using them.
The same couldn’t be said about Eiji’s collecting habits, Rina had learned.
Kirishima had always been known by, among many things, his signature red crocs covered in fun charms, mostly representing things he liked, like Crimson Riot and action movies. But, since the war, he had slowly become obsessed with the polemic shoes, now sporting a full collection of pairs. Eiji once explained that he actually managed to totally mess his feet up during the war, so after that the Crocs were the only shoe he could use and be totally comfortable with for a while. And Rina got that, she really did. She had used up so many flowers during that last battle months passed before she was able to wear any shirt with proper sleeves without feeling like it would rip her skin off.
More often than not, most of Kiri and Rina’s time together was spent in her room, mostly because she didn’t have any neighbors, which allowed them more privacy, and also because Kiri’s room generally smelled of hair dye and Axe body spray, a stark contrast to her own tea shop/garden scented one. But Eijirou was retouching his hair with said hair dye, and wanted her company, so she decided to lay down on his floor (she should really buy him a rug) to see if she could stretch her sore back. That was when she looked under his bed for the first time.
It made sense. Even though he was wearing a different pair of crocs every time she saw him, she had never really thought about where he kept his collection. But there it was: piled under his bed, the many pairs of crocs, in all colors and patterns, simply scattered. No wonder he took so much time to get ready at times: Rina had always blamed it on the careful spiking of his hair, but now she realized he probably just spent ages trying to pair up his chosen crocs of the day.
God, the dust that must be accumulating! Did he even remember all the pairs he had when they were this disorganized? And Kiri wasn’t even a messy person in general: sometimes he misplaced training weights and hairbands, but he usually kept his numerous hair products in a coherent order and his bed made and clean, and had even began to understand the organization of the various vials and packets in her room, helping her put things away after preparing an ointment.
She was a bit sad now: she knew he cherished his collection. Did he just not find the time to organize it? Maybe it was a space problem. Her boyfriend’s feet were on the larger side, which obviously translated to his shoes. His shoe rack was already well occupied by his more “proper” shoes, so apparently he had resorted to keeping the crocs under his bed. Frustrated, Rina pulled out her phone from the pockets of her shorts, immediately ignoring Shiozaki’s daily “Jesus loves you!” message to open her internet browser.
After about 20 minutes of scrolling through “ways to organize your crocs”, a gooble search she honestly never expected making, Kiri stopped singing his corny 80s songs and appeared from inside the bathroom, head now covered in fresh red hair dye.
— Are you done? — She asked, looking up at him
— Yep! Gonna leave it on for at least an hour though. Been a while since I last retouched my color, so I want it to be really bright.
Rina pondered the information for a couple seconds, before rising to her feet — Great. Put on a cap, we’re going out.
***
It took a bit of time to convince Kirishima to leave the room with his pink shower cap covering his dye-soaked hair, but she really wanted to share this moment with him, even if she was also trying to make a surprise. Surely her sharp-toothed boyfriend had to get at least a little confused as to why she was buying a couple lengths of chain and a bunch of S hooks, but he didn’t question her.
After making sure that the only reason he kept his croc collection under his bed was for space, and not because he didn’t want them exposed, she sent him off to wash the paint from his hair while she worked on her little DIY project for his crocs.
It was simple enough: attach chains to his closet door, hang S hooks on them and then hang his crocs from it, properly paired up and organized by color. It didn’t hurt that Rina’s hands were already calloused enough from years of grinding up seeds and herbs by hands (and of combat, of course), and that she was actually pretty good at using tools from having to fix her table a little too many times (some of those seeds really took some force to grind, ok?). After about 40 minutes, time enough for Kiri to double wash and deep condition his freshly colored hair, Red Riot returned to the room.
With the sheer amount of crocs he owned, the closet door wasn’t enough to house them. Rina ended up having to dress his bathroom door and the inside of the bedroom door too. They were all now decorated with his colorful pairs of crocs, which seemed to even be organized by color!
Kiri was ecstatic, to say the least. It was one of the most thoughtful things someone had ever done for him. The rest of his classmates tended to tease him for his unharmful addiction to comfy shoes, and while Rina hadn’t ever commented on it, it made him most grateful that she wanted to help him cherish and expose it properly.
— Wow babe! This is so cool! Thank you so much! How did you do this so fast? — He pulled her into a tight hug, a big smile showing all his cute, pointy teeth.
Rina hugged him back with just as much force — Wanted to surprise you! It really wasn’t that hard. Besides, you gotta let the air flow under the bed, it’s better for everyone’s breathing.
Untying himself from her, he went to study his many, cherished pairs, before turning to his girlfriend again — So, now that I know where all my pairs are and I can choose them quickly, which one do you think I should use so we can go out and do something cool for you too?
Rina insisted they didn’t have to do anything special, and that she was just happy to see him happy too. But Eijirou wasn’t having it, so she settled on picking a pair she had only seen him wear a couple times before. It was a mismatched pair of light green and soft yellow, covered in flower charms.
Her colors.