Chapter Text
Senku tapped his pen on the table to the rhythm of the music playing in his headphones, lost in thought. He had committed himself to finish a college internship he had been putting off for a month, but no matter how much he told himself he could do it, his brain was wandering back and forth. His feet were propped up on the table, while the chair he was sitting in balanced on its two back legs. He closed his eyes for a few seconds. Maybe a break wouldn't hurt.
The sound of the door to his room slamming open brought him back to reality. The chair he was sitting in swayed from side to side due to the scare he had given himself and he had to grab onto the table to keep from hitting the floor face first.
“Senku!” his friend and roommate, Taiju, called to him from the doorway. "Remember that Yuzuriha is coming for dinner today.”
Senku looked at him with a frown. He didn't know how many times he had told his friend to knock on the door when he wanted to enter his room, but he never seemed to remember his words.
“I remember perfectly well, big oaf, and don't shout so much, the neighbors don't need to know," Senku scratched his neck in annoyance as he rose from his seat.
“Do you think Yuzuriha will like the instant noodles I bought?” Taiju asked, leaning against the door frame, looking like he was about to cry.
“If you're so unsure of your choice for dinner tonight, why don't you make the ramen yourself?”
Senku's suggestion was entirely in jest, trying to make his friend see how absurd his doubts were knowing that Yuzuriha was content to be able to spend time with them. However, he hadn't counted on how short Taiju could be at times.
“That's right!” he exclaimed, smiling.
Senku didn't have time to say anything else to him, standing in the middle of the room with the words in his mouth. With a quick step, he left the room and headed for the kitchen, from where he could hear banging of pots and pans being carried back and forth. He took a couple of deep breaths to psyche himself up before entering.
Taiju had filled a pot of water and set it to heat on one of the fires, a proud smile plastered on his face. He was wearing a kitten apron that, Senku remembered, had been given to him by his aunt on his last birthday.
“Do you even know the ingredients you need?” he asked, approaching him.
Taiju looked at him with an expression on his face that clearly said 'no'. Senku sighed, pulling out his cell phone and quickly searching for a recipe on the internet. He clicked on the first result and handed it to Taiju, who thanked him. Senku said goodbye to his friend to go back to his room and continue his studies, reminding him before leaving that if anything happened he would have to call the fire department.
A couple of hours later, Senku came out of his room to find that Yuzuriha was already sitting at the table next to Taiju, who was talking nonstop about any nonsense, both of them smiling. Three steaming bowls of ramen rested in front of him, so after greeting them both, he sat down with them.
“Wow," he let out as he popped the noodles into his mouth.
His expectations of Taiju's ramen were very low, below the ground even, but surprisingly you could tell it was edible. Senku continued to eat his ramen while Taiju and Yuzuriha led the conversation, listening to them silently.
“Have you decorated your room yet, Senku?” the girl suddenly asked him.
Senku couldn't help but roll his eyes as he looked away, wanting to avoid that topic. Ever since Yuzuriha had seen his room, she hadn't stopped insisting that it lacked color. And not only her, his friend Kohaku and his friend's sister Ruri had let him know (especially Kohaku) how “bland” it looked when they went to his house to have lunch a few weeks ago.
And maybe, just maybe, they were right. Senku's room consisted of the bed he slept in every night, a desk with his chair so he could work, and a closet where he kept what few clothes he had. No posters, no plants, no books, just the bare necessities. But for Senku that was enough, what else?
“You could at least try to buy a plant and put it on top of your desk,“ Yuzuriha continued to encourage him, ”you would have a nicer and cozier environment to study.”
Senku shrugged, not quite sure what to say. It really wasn't that they weren't right, according to an article he had read a few days ago, decorating your room in a modest way with things you like, improved the mental health of its tenant, and even his concentration.
“Yes, I guess a plant wouldn't look bad.”
Yuzuriha smiled at him, satisfied with his answer, “There's a flower shop I visit from time to time near here, I'll pass on the address later so you can go tomorrow.”
Senku could only nod without complaint, facing his fate as he sipped his ramen in search of comfort.
The next day, Senku left his house accompanied by a terrible desire to turn around and leave it for another time and a horrible migraine. He pulled his cell phone out of his pants pocket, looking for the address Yuzuriha had passed him the night before. As the girl had said, the flower shop was a couple of blocks from his house, so fortunately he wouldn't have to walk far.
With his headphones about to leave him with lifelong deafness, he walked following the directions on the phone until he reached the indicated location.
The facade was beautiful. It had a classic style, decorated with vines that reached up to the small awning that protected it in case of rain. Two windows showed a variety of flowers and plants of all kinds, separated by the main door. Senku sighed and, without much further ado, entered.
As soon as he entered, he was welcomed by a soft scent of flowers and the sound of a little bell indicating the arrival of a new customer. Despite the different types of flowers that decorated the entire store, the smell was pleasant and not at all overpowering. Senku looked around carefully: all he could see were plants: jasmines, sunflowers, hydrangeas, carnations, geraniums... He approached an empty counter, on it there was only a small pot of white daffodils and a 20's style cash register.
“I'm coming~” sang a voice from behind some curtains behind the counter that Senku supposed led to the store's warehouse.
Seconds later, a smiling boy in his early twenties stepped out to meet him. The first thing Senku noticed was the strange color of his hair: while one half of his hair was black, the rest was white. His eyes were a blue-grayish color, and they locked onto Senku as soon as he saw him.
“Good morning~, do you want something specific? Any lucky girl? Roses?“ The boy leaned his arms on the counter, tilting his head to the side as he rested his chin on one hand, "Or maybe it's a more casual gift?”
“A plant is enough for me," Senku shrugged uncomfortably.
“Ooh, do you have a preference in plants or flowers? I recently got these beautiful hyacinths, they're blue, but they also come in pink, orange, white..." He left the counter to walk around the store, showing Senku the millions of plants he had on display. “Hydrangeas might also be a good choice, they smell great and are also easy to care for. Both are in season now in spring.”
The boy was talking non-stop and Senku was starting to get tired. He just wanted a plant for his room because his friends kept bugging him about it being ‘bland', he didn't need a free botany class.
“The hyacinths are fine, I guess.”
“Blue, pink, red, white-”
“Blue, blue," he interrupted him, somewhat exasperated.
The young man nodded, without wiping the smile off his face, and disappeared behind the curtain again. A few minutes later he returned with a small potted plant in his hands, which he then placed on the counter.
“It looks like an onion..." Senku unknowingly remarked aloud
A chuckle escaped the boy's lips upon hearing him and Senku felt his cheeks redden with embarrassment.
“I assure you it's not, that's the bulb, the plant itself will come out in a few days," he told him as he made the gesture of wiping away a tear. “I guess you don't know how to take care of it, do you?”
Senku shook his head and the boy took out from under the counter a small piece of paper and a pen, “Water it every three days, it doesn't need much water, but above all try not to flood the soil or the pot dish, they are very sensitive to fungus,” he explained while he wrote down the instructions. “I assure you that you will like the flowers when you see them.”
Without another word, he carefully handed him the hyacinth in a paper bag, along with the note he had just written. With a smile, he waved goodbye to Senku, then disappeared back into the store’s warehouse.
Senku walked out of the store, satisfied, listening to the sound of the little bell behind him. He looked inside the bag, doubtful. He just hoped it wouldn't die on him too soon because otherwise it would be very humiliating, especially having to go back to the store to buy more plants.
He walked at a brisk pace until he reached the apartment he shared with Taiju. As soon as he reached his room, he carefully set the potted plant on top of his desk. Yuzuriha had given him a plate to put under it the day before, so he didn't have to go out and buy anything else.
He looked closely at the strange lump sticking out of the ground. He supposed that's where the stem would come from, eventually. Or so he hoped. He decided not to think too much about it and immediately went back to his chores, which were not few.
The next day, as soon as he got up, he went to check on the hyacinth. A small green stem was peeking out of what the boy at the flower shop had called a ‘bulb’. Senku smiled, proud of himself, though he didn't even know why since he had done absolutely nothing.
He just had to keep it alive and his friends would stop bothering him with their nonsense. He hoped it wouldn't be too difficult. He then remembered the note the boy had given him with the care of the plant. He rummaged through the bag he had left the day before next to his closet and held the note between his fingers.
“Water every three days, little water, plenty of light but not direct, if it dries out let stand until next year” Senku read aloud. His eyes went to the bottom of the note, where the boy seemed to have scrawled a small bat and Senku couldn't help but smile at the sight. The task of caring for the hyacinth was a child’s game, the instructions were too simple. He left the note on the table and went about his business, unconcerned.
Great was his surprise when, the next day, he went to check on his little plant, smiling, only to find that the stem had turned brown and the bulb had turned a very ugly color as well. Senku looked perplexed at the plant, wondering over and over in his head what on earth he had done wrong. He touched the stem with a finger and it fell apart at the slightest touch. Senku almost burst into tears right there.
With resignation, he returned to the flower shop that afternoon. The little bell rang over his head again and his feet carried him to the counter once more. This time, the store owner was arranging some plants that were displayed in the window. When he saw Senku, he smiled at him, waving. Senku returned the gesture with a nervous smile.
“What brings you here again? Has your hyacinth died already?” the boy joked, laughing softly as he leaned against the counter as he had done the day before.
Senku laughed too uncomfortably, wondering how ridiculous it would be if he told him he was right and the hyacinth had passed to another astral plane.
“No, no, of course not,” he replied, smiling back, ”I just thought I'd take another plant with me, that's all.”
The boy nodded, pleased:
“Another hyacinth or would you prefer another flower for a change?”
“You mentioned the hydrangea to me yesterday…”
“Oh yes, of course. There are also several colors,“ he informed him, smiling, ”There's blue, pink, purple, green or white too-“
”In pink," Senku interrupted him again.
A few minutes later, Senku came out of the flower shop with another paper bag in his hand. He hurried back to his house and laid the hydrangea on the table where the hyacinth had previously lain. He looked at it carefully. The stem was already out, yet the buds were still closed. In the note that the boy had written to him this time he had said more or less the same thing: light, but not direct light and lots of water, “lots and lots of water” the owner of the flower shop had remarked while gesturing. Senku was amused by his unique way of expressing himself.
Just in case, and for fear that the same thing would happen to the plant as with the hyacinth, he decided to pour some water on it before going to sleep.
Hours later, Senku looked at the hydrangea in bewilderment. The stem was completely limp, resting on the ground. Senku threw his hands to his head, trying to understand the situation. He couldn't be that jinxed, could he? This was getting to an absurd level. What face would he make at the boy when he returned to the flower shop later that afternoon?
“The flower boy!” exclaimed the young man as Senku walked through the door of the flower shop. "I'm beginning to think that you don't like my plants, but that what you really like is me~.”
Senku wanted to be swallowed up by the earth right there.
“Ha ha ha, no, but I'm getting fond of having flowers around my room and I have to admit it's quite nice, but this time I'd like to take something different, a cactus, maybe?”
“Mmm, good choice, I'll see what I have.”
As the boy searched the store for what Senku wanted, Senku took a closer look at what was on display in the store. He casually looked at the shelves full of pots, smelling the flowers that had come out of them from time to time. However, he inadvertently tripped over a small plant on the floor and then pushed one of the shelves, knocking several pots to the floor. Senku looked at the mess he had made in less than a second, not quite sure what to do.
“What happened?” A voice behind him startled him even more, and he turned around, meeting the owner of the store.
“I'm really sorry,“ Senku apologized endlessly as he tried to pick up the broken pots and put them back in place, ”I tripped and then I bumped and-”
“Hey, don't worry,“ the boy laughed as he put a hand on his shoulder, ”I have many more, it was an accident, it's no big deal.”
Senku looked at him as if he had an angel in front of him, surprised at the other's benevolence.
“Let me at least buy you a coffee.”
“Ha ha, okay!” the boy winked at him. “But there was no need to destroy part of my store if you just wanted to go on a date with me.”
Senku felt his cheeks redden from one moment to the next.
“I'm sorry, really…”
“I was joking~ What's your name, flower boy?”
Senku looked at him, puzzled:
“Senku.”
“I'm Gen, nice to meet you, it's a pity we have to introduce ourselves under conditions like these, but what can you do,“ ‘Gen’ shrugged, without wiping the smile off his face, ”Is it okay for you if we go and get the coffee now?”
Senku nodded, without giving it much thought. He had to look on the bright side of things, even if he had ridiculed himself 50 times that day in front of Gen, at least he had made a new friend.