Archive of Our Own

In a certain country, you could make people tremble by simply saying a family's name.

Aoyagi.

A name so powerful, to the point where most people could tremble the moment you said that.

The Aoyagi family is known for their business and wide connections. It's basically impossible to find anyone who has never heard of them! And thanks to this factor, the Aoyagi family managed to take control over the country.

But of course, if you attempt to fight against them or even disagree with them, you'll disappear from the face of the earth.
So even if they're doing very damaging practices towards the people, no one will be able to protest openly without creating a target on their back. They can only live their lives with anger towards the hierarchy in the country.

And Shinonome Akito is no different than those people, especially since the northern city he lives in is controlled by Aoyagi's third son.

As the third son, he’s quite far away from inheriting the family business. But you'll never know what happens, so he's in charge of Kazeyuki city.

He rarely shows his face around the streets, but his presence around the streets is definitely noticeable. In the city, almost all shops are controlled by the Aoyagi family’s third son, and the place where he lives, his luxury mansion, is in the center of the city.

Just because he rarely shows his face, doesn't mean that he doesn't go outside at all. Unfortunately, Akito never met him when he went outside, so he doesn't know what he looks like. All he ever heard about is how women would swoon over his good looks. Not that he cares about stuff like that though.

After all, when you're a florist living on whatever he manages to get from his sales, it's pretty useless to think about that stuff.

And the worst days for him are rainy days, like today. No one buys flowers during the rain. He also can’t just force people to buy his flowers if they want to take shelter from the rain in the shop. That’d be too mean.

But just then, the doorbell rang and pulled him out of his thoughts.

“Excuse me, but can I stay in the shop for a while? It's fine if I can't stay here.”
The man spoke with a low but calm voice.

“Yea it's fine. Let me get a towel for you real quick.”
“Is using your towel okay?”
“Hm? Well, it's better than getting the floor wet.”
“Right… I'm sorry for all the mess I'm causing.”
“Haha, it's fine.”
Akito quickly grabbed a nearby dry towel and handed it to the man.

“Thank you, sorry to burden you.”
“No probs dude, we gotta help each other out, even if I've never seen you before.”
Despite interacting often with the locals, Akito has never seen this man.

“Hey, you're not from here huh?”
“No? I lived here for a few years now.”
“Really? How come I've never seen you?”
“I… rarely go out.”
“Ah okay then. Well, it might be boring to just wait, so you can check out the flowers! I'm not forcing you to buy any though, don't worry.”
“I'll take that offer, thank you.”

While the man walks around, Akito looks more closely at this man's features.

He has a unique hair colour, with it being sky blue and dark blue being split across
in the middle. It's a really unusual look, but he looks incredible with it.

“Excuse me, but what's your name?”
The man suddenly asks him out of the blue.

“My name's Akito. What ‘bout yours?”
“...Toya.”
“Ah, okay. Nice to meet you.”
“Yes, nice to meet you too.”
Just as the conversation seemed to end awkwardly, the rain stopped. And that gave Akito a nice topic to jump to.

“Oh hey, the rain stopped. So where are you gonna head after this?”
“I was going to go back home, but now I'd like to buy your flowers first.”
“Hey, you don't really have to buy them if you don't want to, y'know?”
“No, it's fine. I needed something to freshen up my room anyway.”
“I guess that's fine… Well, which one do you want?”
“I'm not sure… what's your recommendation ?”
“Well, what about lavenders? They're pretty small and their aroma isn't too strong.”
“That sounds perfect. I'll like that please.”
“Yeah, comin’ right up. How many do you want? And do you have any specific colour you want to be the ribbon in the bouquet?”
“I'll just take three, and you can choose any colour you think fits best.”
“Got it.”

Akito arranges the lavenders skillfully and for the ribbon, he decides that blue is a perfect colour to represent him.

“Here you go. Hope you have a nice day!”
“Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow, Akito.”
“I’ll look forward to it then.”
“Of course. Please wait for me.”
Toya smiled and left the store, leaving a very confused Akito to ponder about what he just said a few minutes earlier.

Akito replied as a joke, but after thinking about it, would he really do it? After all, why would he come back to a flower shop the next day after buying flowers from the previous day?

The next day, Akito continued business like usual. He spent the day tending the flowers, talking to the locals, and completing a few orders like usual. It wasn't until the evening that Akito realized that something slipped off his mind.

“Sorry if I came in at a bad time…”
A familiar face called out to him.

“Toya? You actually came here?”
“Of course. I made a promise after all.”
He said with an awfully straight face.

“And I'm also here to buy more flowers.”
“Ah well, you didn't really have to.”
“No, it's fine. My house needs some flowers to brighten it up a bit.”
“Well, in that case, let me help you find one that'll suit it.”

Even though Akito is still quite skeptical with his reasoning, he'll just make a quick bouquet and send him off like yesterday.

“What do you want the bouquet to be like?”
“Well… the one you gave me yesterday is wonderful. So I'll take whatever you recommend.”
“Okay, I'll arrange it right away.”

Akito makes another bouquet and hands it over to Toya once he's done.
“It also looks beautiful today. Thank you Akito.”
“Well, of course! I put my heart and soul to all of my arrangements. Need anything else?”
“No, I need to go back now.”
“Okay then, stay safe!”

As days passed by, Toya kept meeting Akito in his shop. He’d ask for today’s flower recommendation and chat together for a while. Even if he couldn’t stop by for a day or two, Toya will immediately apologize the next day he comes over. And, not to lie… Akito himself has been getting excited to meet and talk to him everyday. And maybe, just maybe, he loves Toya… just maybe though!

But on a certain day…
“Hey Toya, how do you feel about the Aoyagi’s control over the city?”
“...I… don’t mind it…”
“Ah yea that’s fair.”
“...Do you have a problem with it?”
“Well, I kinda hate them, but hey, nothing I can do ‘bout that. …Oh right. What do you do for a living?”
“...”
“Toya?”
“I…work in a bank.”
“Ohh okay. No wonder I don’t really see you in the streets often.”

After that day, Toya didn’t come the next day. But it’s not a big deal if he doesn’t come for a day, so Akito waited. A day became two, two became three, three became four, and four eventually became five. Now this isn’t normal.

But, he really can’t worry about that now. Especially since this morning, Aoyagi’s third son sent him a letter.
[I’ll ask someone to pick you up at 6pm. You should get ready, Shinonome.]
“W-what did I do..!?”

Despite not understanding the situation, Akito had no power to fight against it. So, at 5pm, he closed up early to get ready. After deeming everything prepared, he went outside. When he got outside, he saw a luxury car (presumably) waiting for him.

“Shinonome Akito?”
“Ah! Uh, yea…”
“Please sit down, I’m tasked to drive you to Aoyagi’s residence.”
With bated breath, Akito sat inside and let himself be driven off to the Aoyagi’s luxury mansion. Hoping that nothing bad will happen to him. After all, he hasn’t even sorted out his feelings yet!

Well, after arriving, he was directed to go straight to Aoyagi’s office, and little did he know, his problems were about to get worse. But for now, he knocked on the door and immediately bowed down when he was allowed to enter.

“Excuse me, Aoyagi-san.”
“It's okay.”

Now doesn't that voice sound familiar?
Akito straightened himself and saw something he didn't expect.

“Wait… Toya..?”
“...”
“Hey… this has got to be a joke right now…”
“...”
“C’mon! Why won't you talk and just… explain!?”
Akito is confused. If Toya is Aoyagi, then he unknowingly had been spending time with a guy that he despises and told him that he hates him! Toya in front of him also isn't explaining everything which makes him even more so angry.

“You should sit first, Akito.”
Truthfully, Akito’s mind is telling him to run away. But his heart has gotten so accustomed to his sweet voice making him unable to move. Before eventually, sitting down at the seat in front of Toya.

“Thank you, Akito.”
“Explain.”
“R-right.”

｡⁠*ﾟ⁠+.⁠✧–♥–✧.+ﾟ*｡

It was a nice and sunny day, until it wasn't. The bright blue sky was suddenly covered by dark grey clouds, and rain eventually poured from those clouds.

Aoyagi Toya was on patrol when it suddenly rained. He usually stayed in dark, quiet areas to avoid being seen. Because it'll definitely be troublesome if someone spots him. Besides, this helped him learn more about the people living in the city. But now, with no umbrella, Toya needed to find a place to hide from the rain.

And that's when he came across a flower shop and got to know its owner, Shinonome Akito.

At first, he only intended to stay for a while, and then never come back. But, nobody has treated him the way Akito does. Well, Akito not knowing his real identity might’ve made him interact more casually with him, but it’s still a feeling Toya has never felt before. A warm feeling Toya has never felt before. Hence why he can’t help but keep going back.

But, he doesn’t know how to reply when Akito told him he dislikes the Aoyagi family. The fact that Akito asks him what he does for a living right after doesn’t help him at all. And that forced him to lie to Akito. And lying to Akito pained him so much. Of course, he could’ve told him the truth, but he doesn’t want Akito to hate him.

But, after lying, he really can’t look Akito in the eyes anymore. So he decided to not visit him to figure out the best way to have a deep conversation with him. And he eventually decides to show and talk to Akito as Aoyagi, but he truly wishes for Akito to still think of him as Toya, and not Aoyagi.

All of those decisions have led him to the situation currently happening, Toya can feel his heart beating so fast, to the point where it practically’s trying to jump out of his own body. After all, he doesn’t want to lose Akito. Not after everything they’ve done together, especially with his steadily growing feelings towards Akito.

“Akito, I want you to keep in mind that everything that I’m going to say is the absolute truth from the bottom of my heart.”
Akito doesn’t respond, he remains seated while crossing his arms.

"I’ll routinely walk around the city to see how the people are doing. I know things aren't going well now, but I'm not sure what to do. My family's been ruling the city for years, so it's hard to change things now."
“Mhm, go on…”
“I know keeping my identity hidden and lying about it is a horrible thing for me to do, but. I… didn't want to ruin our current relationship.”
“You…”
Toya takes a deep breath to prepare himself to finally tell Akito what he had been keeping in his mind.

“Akito, I… I love you! I know the Aoyagi family has a terrible reputation, and that's why I kept my identity hidden. But I want you to believe me, I really do love you.”
“N-no… don't do this please…”
“D-do you not reciprocate my feelings, Akito?”
“I… I like you too! But this is wrong! I-i can’t..!”
“I’m incredibly happy to hear that, but… What do you mean, Akito?”
“It’s… related to the reason why I dislike the Aoyagi family.”

｡⁠*ﾟ⁠+.⁠✧–♥–✧.+ﾟ*｡

Back then, the Shinonome family was well-known for their artisanal skills, with each generation creating and selling beautiful artworks. But as time went on, artworks became a niche market, and with the rising costs, many people lost interest in buying paintings whose sole purpose was decoration.

With these factors combined, the Shinonome family's finances declined and they became poor. Desperate for money, they begged people to buy their artworks, but nobody was interested. With the cost of taxes rising thanks to the greedy government, no one was willing to take a chance to save them. After all, their family's life is already at stake.

But, one day, a foreign agent stops by the Shinonome’s residence. He claims that he could sell their paintings to overseas buyers for a high price with a small commission price for each painting sold. With that deal, the head family accepted the offer and started painting again.

After sending off a batch to the foreign agent, the man left and promised the money in the next month. But, a month passed by without any info. The head of the family decides to storm off to find the foreign agent to claim their money. Unfortunately, the foreign agent reveals their true colours. They had kept all the money and there's nothing the Shinonome family can do about it. Especially since the foreign agent is a part of the Aoyagi family.

Feeling defeated, he came back home and told his family about the sad news. Naturally, everyone is sad and incredibly mad at the agent. But the kids especially hated this but for different reasons.

The eldest, a girl with short brown hair, hated the fact that the agent had absolutely no empathy and still used them for their own gain.
The youngest, a boy with orange hair, hated the fact that he didn't notice how it was too good to be true. He now completely distrust the government family after a member of it destroyed his own family.

Maybe it's time to forgive and forget about the incident. It wasn't like the whole family did it anyway. After all, the guy in front of you did nothing wrong, Akito.

｡⁠*ﾟ⁠+.⁠✧–♥–✧.+ﾟ*｡

“I…*hic* just…”
“It’s okay, just take it slow… If it's too much for you then-”
“No..! I-I’ll say it now.”
The room is now filled with silence as one musters up the courage to talk while the other awaits for their words.

“Back then, my family was struggling financially. But, a member from the Aoyagi family doomed my family. Well, that's to make it short.”
“I… I didn't know that…”
“Yeah, it's fine. That situation made me really despise the Aoyagi family, but… maybe it's time to… move on…”
“..! Akito…”
“To wrap things up, I… I love you too! Goddammit!”
“Akito!”
“And… will you help me move on?”
“Heh, of course.”
After their confessions, they embrace each other and welcome the new chapter in their lives.