Work Text:
Kyoko doesn't slam her palms down on the table, but she does place them there with a force that is perhaps a little unwarranted. “You are getting a tattoo.”
Kiyotaka lifts one of his permanently furrowed brows. It's still furrowed, just lifted, which makes his expression contort in an odd way. He sets down the newspaper he is reading, removing his readers as he does so. “Why?” He asks incredulously. Which is a better response than ‘no,’ which was a highly probable reaction, so she's thinking that this conversation may be going in her favor.
“There is a tattoo shop across the street…” She buries the lead.
“I am aware,” Kiyotaka says, distrusting of where this is going.
“...and Mondo Oowada owns it.”
Kiyotaka laughs. “No.”
Damn it!
Kyoko frowns in a way that only those who know her would consider a pout. “You haven't seen each other since—”
Kiyotaka rolls his eyes. “I know how long it's been since we've seen each other, Kyoko. And I do appreciate the… interest in my life. But I promise you I am perfectly content with not ripping open the scabs of the past. I'm sure Oowada feels the same.” He stands. “Now if you'll excuse me; the daffodils are not going to tend to themselves!” He walks away, into the adjoining greenhouse.
Hmph. Fine. New plan.
“No.” He doesn't even let her say why she is here.
“You don't know what I was going to say,” Kyoko scowls at him. She's been getting really into scowling lately.
“Yes, I do, and no, I don't think this place would look nice with some flowers on the tables,” Mondo scowls right back at her, and they have a scowling stand-off for a little while.
“That's not what I was going to say,” she lies. “I was going to say that it's very convenient that you opened a store right next to Kiyotaka's.”
Mondo chokes on his own spit. “That's— I mean, I dunno what you're— it’s a coincidence! This is a cheap-ass part of town. And how was I supposed to— I mean, it's not like I keep tabs on the guy these days or—”
She raises a brow. “His store is literally called Ishimaru's.”
Mondo goes bright pink. “I—”
“You still love him,” she ascertains.
“No!” Mondo yells hurriedly. “I just… I dunno… I wanted…” he sighs. “I just wanted to see him again.”
She nods, sitting next to him. “Because you love him.”
Mondo scowls at her. Then his face softens. “He's a different person than he was when we were... It's stupid. It already didn't work out once.”
Kyoko frowns. “Just get to know him again. The fact that things are different now means things could end differently. Am I wrong?”
“No,” he groans, and at first she thinks it's a rejection of her claim. Then, he complains, “You're never wrong.”
Kiyotaka runs away the first few times Mondo gets flowers for the shop. Kyoko knows this because she has been asked by Mondo to spy on them. She was, of course, going to do that anyway, but it's nice that he asked. Kiyotaka lets his father handle giving Mondo flowers he keeps stumbling through the names of. It doesn't help that if there is one person on Earth who has a more perfected glare than Kiyataka Ishimaru, it is Takaaki Ishimaru. Takaaki is not subtle about his distaste for the man who broke his boy's heart, but then again, he never loved Mondo.
Eventually, Kyoko tires of seeing Mondo suffer Takaaki's not-so-subtle displeasure, and she confronts Kiyotaka again in his greenhouse.
“He's trying,” she says as a way of announcing her entrance into the room.
Kiyotaka snips flower stems with a huff. “I don't know what you mean.”
Kyoko looks at him incredulously. ‘Incredulous’ is an expression she's been working on perfecting recently.
Kiyotaka frowns at the flower he's holding, and she knows she pushed too far, because he looks like he's about to cry. “I just don't understand why you want us back together.”
“I don't.” She walks over. “...If it makes you sad. I want you to be happy.”
“I'm perfectly happy,” Kiyotaka smiles in a way that indicates he is not, and starts chopping more stems.
“Tell that to your marigolds,” Kyoko grimaces at the poor plants. “Kiyotaka…” She gets serious. “I know things didn't work out the way you wanted them to. You left the love of your life so you could pursue school, and then you had to drop out. It's incredible that you found your way here, to something you love to do, even though it's not what you thought you wanted. I know that it feels fragile, but it won't break if you try something else and fail. Why give up on Mondo when he's right there, asking for another chance?”
“He's the one who gave up on me,” Kiyotaka snaps, letting loose the tears. “He never visited, he never cared about my studies, he…” Kiyotaka rubs his eyes. “He never even knew I was depressed.”
Kyoko looks at him defiantly. She wants to feel sad, to cry with him, but she knows she needs to kick his ass a little.“Did you tell him that?”
Kiyotaka looks to the ground in shame. “Only when I broke up with him.” He cries into his sleeve, dropping his armful of flowers on the floor. “Kyoko, I don't deserve another chance. I already messed it all up. Everything, I'm such a— I'm a screw up!”
“No,” she shakes her head. “It just didn't go the way you expected. That doesn't make you a screw up. It just means you've had to grow.” She leans down, picking the flowers up. “You've changed. He has too. That doesn't mean you're not still compatible. But you don't know if it's not right unless you seriously consider it. After you relearn what he's like.” She looks at him, handing him a flower. “Am I wrong?”
“No,” Kiyotaka sighs with a smile, taking the flower into his hands. “You're never wrong.”
The next time Mondo comes in to order flowers (she is impressed that he's still trying this method given how many times it hasn't worked), Kiyotaka doesn't run away. He starts talking to him, and not just about flowers.
Kyoko smiles to herself. Smiling is her favorite expression, she's pretty sure, even when it's just for her. She stops snooping, walking away from her hiding spot against the outside wall, and lets them figure out the rest on their own.