Chapter Text
Saku found himself wandering the neighborhood around Chidori trying to clear his head. After the opening of the curtains, he had a full-on view of the girl's classroom. A quick look to his left usually left him with an easily visible silver haired girl on the other side of the window. Every glance that way left him heavy. He knew saying something directly was only going to make things worse. So, the choice in his head was silence and hurt or say something and be hurt. It felt like a no-win situation to him which only added more weight to his thoughts.
As he walked through the neighborhood, he was stopped by the smell of a store he didn’t recognize. It was seemingly hidden away despite being on a residential street. Saku was interested in what the smell was. He entered the store and found it to be full of flowers. The store was loaded with all kinds of different flowers. Behind the cash register was a gentle looking old man who looked as if he knew far more than he could ever tell.
“You look a little lost young man; how may I help you?” He asked Saku.
“I noticed some interesting smells as I was passing by, but I didn’t realize that this was a flower shop,” Saku replied
“It most certainly is. Flowers are wonderful things. The smells that they give off can stir emotions in us. Over time, humans have attributed meanings to each type of flower as well, as a way to convey messages to other,” The old man said, watching Saku carefully.
“What kind of meaning exactly?” Saku asked out of curiosity.
“It really depends on what message you want to convey. Your aura… it gives off heaviness, like you have a secret you can’t tell for some reason,” the old florist said, catching Saku off guard.
“How…how did you know?” Saku finally asked.
“It’s the way you carry yourself. Anyone with eyes to see can see it. Those who have lived it, well… they understand what it does to you. If I had to take a guess based on your uniform and age, it’s something like first love,” the florist said, surprising Saku once again.
“I… I can’t believe it’s that obvious,” Saku replied.
“It’s not necessarily obvious to everyone. It’s just far more apparent in those who held it close for a while and said nothing. I myself was once that way with my wife many years ago. I was terrified she’d run away from our friendship if I said something,” the florist said, reflecting on his life of many moons.
“She became your wife, so what changed?” Saku asked.
“I had some help from these wonderful things I’m surrounded by. She had spent ages learning about flower meanings, I was able to talk to her through them, whether it was giving a single flower, or an entire bouquet. They were able to speak the words my voice couldn’t. Perhaps this could be of use to you as well young man,” the florist said, making reference to flowers. He seemed very thankful to them.
Saku looked around again at the flowers. They all looked well taken care of. They were all in bloom. If he had to guess, he would have said the flowers were happy. He thought for a moment before answering the florist.
“…What flowers would mean something like a secret love?” Saku finally asked.
“You haven’t told her, or really anyone at all, have you?” the florist asked.
“No. It’d be hard for her. She’s had some trouble with men so I don’t know how she would respond to anyone having an interest in her,” Saku replied, the weight of his reasoning becoming evident.
“You need something gentle but telling. Not too forward, but something that sends a message. I think I’ve got just the flower for you,” the florist said, walking off to find the one he was talking about.
He returned a few minutes later with a batch of yellow flowers that Saku didn’t quite recognize.
“These are yellow Acacia’s. Each color of Acacia has a different meaning, but this one is suitable for what you’ve described. It symbolizes secret love. Would you like a bouquet of these and would you perhaps want a delivery?” the florist said to Saku.
“I… I’ll get a bouquet and yes, a delivery. Handing them over in person would sort of defeat the purpose of the meaning of these wouldn’t it? One moment though, I need to get an acceptable address,” Saku replied as he pulled out his phone.
He found Kaoruko’s number and sent her a message asking if he could get Subaru’s home address and made up an excuse that would hopefully work. Several minutes later, his phone pinged and he found an address there with a smile emoji. As much as Saku had wanted this to remain close to the vest, there was no way around this part. He told the florist the address and included an anonymous message to be added to the flowers. Saku thanked him for his help and set the delivery for Saturday. Somehow, Saku knew he would be back to learn more from this florist.
Several days later at the Hoshina residence, a delivery arrived with a ringing of the doorbell. Subaru’s mom answered the door, surprised that it had rung, and even more surprised to see a man with a bouquet of yellow acacias.
“I have a delivery for a miss Subaru Hoshina,” the driver said.
“I’m her mother, I can take that and make sure she gets it. Thank you for bringing these by,” she said as she took the bouquet of flowers and closed the door.
Her husband appeared from the kitchen to see his wife with the flowers and had a look of pure confusion on his face.
“Who are those for? I know I didn’t order any,” he asked.
“These are for Subaru. There’s a message with them as well. I figure we should let her know but… you know dear… these ones have an interesting meaning,” her mom said to her dad.
He looked stupefied for a moment. His youngest daughter was getting flowers now and something about old age setting in flashed through his mind. He then answered his wife.
“What do these mean, I know you have an interest in flowers, though you’ve never really shared it with the girls,” he asked his wife.
“These flowers… they mean secret love. I suspect if I tell her what they mean right now she might have a wild response. I would also guess that without reading the message, it is from someone anonymous,” she said to her husband.
The look on his face was as if he had a second thought about getting old. While Subaru was nearly an adult and fully grown, he had flashbacks to her as a little girl, reminiscing over her younger years and the woman she had become. There was a sense of pride that someone had fallen for the woman she had become, but also the fear of letting go of his youngest daughter to someone else’s care.
“Subaru, there’s a delivery here for you,” he shouted up the stairs, hopeful that she would hear his call.
The sound of footsteps on the floor above a moment later indicated to both parents that she had heard the call and was headed in their direction. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, a puzzled look was on her face.
“I wasn’t expecting a delivery at all mother,” Subaru said as she looked at her mom who was holding the flowers.
“None of us were, but these flowers are for you. There’s also a message with them. Here you go Subaru,” her mom said to her as she handed over the flowers and walked off to the kitchen with her husband while Subaru stood there looking at the bouquet of flowers absolutely awestruck.
She grabbed the small envelope from the flowers and opened it up to see a message signed by someone anonymous. The message read “I can’t say who I am yet but know that what these flowers represent is what is most important now. The who comes later.” Subaru read over it again and was still completely floored that someone had sent her flowers.
She walked into the kitchen to find something to put the flowers in. Her parents looked at her and shared a look that said they weren’t going to tell her what it meant right away. They wanted her to find out for herself. As much as her mom was getting ready to spill it, she knew that revelation might spook her daughter and so she kept it to herself, only saying how frequently they needed to be watered and that if she wanted to know the true meaning, to ask around.
Subaru took the flowers up to her room and sent Kaoruko a message about receiving a delivery of flowers from someone anonymous. Kaoruko simply smiled at her phone as she put a message from a few days ago into context. She had her own investigation to begin alongside Subaru.