Work Text:
Week 1
He thought it would be an innocent high school summer job at his grandma's nursery/flower shop to earn a bit of spending cash, but the first summer Kyoutani started helping around the shop got him hooked. He had to go back to school in Miyagi after the summer was over, but it had sparked an interest that still hadn't died out.
Kyoutani had fallen in love with the ways flowers could send a message, tell a story, say things that someone might never say on their own. And he loved arranging those stories into living works of art. Most people who knew him would never expect this side of him, he was rather rough around the edges, but he couldn't help it. So he came back to work the next summer, and then the summer before college, and hadn't really stopped.
He was working at the shop around classes in his third year in college when it happened. A boy around his age came into the shop, glanced around, and then bustled over to the counter. Kyoutani was expecting the usual 'I need flowers to ask out/apologize to/surprise a girl,' and was completely bewildered by his request.
"I need flowers to say fuck you to this total asshole I'm really fucking done with." The boy said once he actually reached the counter. Kyoutani just stared at him for a second before he continued.
"Listen this bastard has been pissing me off like the whole fucking semester but today was the last damn straw. Like he fucking knows that I sit in that seat literally every day and yeah the professor says it's open seating but like Jesus Christ I've been sitting there every day for the entire semester. Who just does that? And like the whole goddamn time he didn't even pay attention to the lecture he was just making creepy remarks at my desk mate, and she looked so uncomfortable. And he's been making asshole homophobic remarks like the entire fucking semester so I thought if I gave him really passive aggressive flowers then that's a little extra burn on him. So can you help me?"
Kyoutani was pretty sure he fell a little bit in love with the boy during his rant. He completely understood the getting pissed at an asshole classmate, and it probably didn't help that he was gorgeous. "Uh, yeah, sure. Give me a sec." Kyoutani glanced around the shop to gauge his inventory. Damn, they were out of meadowsweet and geraniums.
"Alright, I can do it, but we don't have all the flowers in stock right now. So I'll tell you what. Come by in the mornings before your classes start, lets say at 7, and I'll give you one a day and tell you what they mean. Throw this guy off a little, leave 'em on his desk. And then on the last day, present him with a big ol' bouquet of all all of them with a card that says 'Fuck You.' This guy needs justice, and it would build the suspense. I'll even just charge you for the bouquet." Kyoutani gave the boy a wolfish grin.
"You would do that? For a total stranger?" The guy looks a little skeptical.
"I've been in similar situations before. Douchebag classmates aren't exactly a new phemomenon. Give this guy what's comin' to him. I'm Kyoutani Kentarou."
"Yahaba Shigeru. That's awesome of you though, thanks. I'll stop by Wednesday morning then for the first flower? Oh! When do you want me to pay?"
They discussed payment and which days he had the class versus when the flowers would come in, and by the time Yahaba walked out of the shop, Kyoutani's grandma had arrived to take over. Once Yahaba was safely out the shop, she gave Kyoutani a side glance and told him to stop blushing so hard. This only served to make him blush harder
"Kentarou if you don't ask that boy on a date by the time you're done setting up his little revenge scheme I'm taking the extra flowers out of your paycheck." Kyoutani was pretty sure his face was doing a great impression of a fire truck at this point, so he fled to the back.
Two days later, Kyoutani had just finished opening the shop when Yahaba swung by for his first flower. "It's Wednesday!" Yahaba greeted him, and Kyoutani smiled.
"This is a yellow carnation. It means 'you have disappointed me,' but its unlikely the guy will know that." Kyoutani gave him a small smile as he handed over the flower. "Tell me how it goes when you come by Friday okay?"
After his shift was over, Kyoutani headed to his own class, Macroeconomics. As he entered the lecture hall, he noticed a tall guy in sunglasses fiddling with a yellow carnation. He almost burst into laughter. As the class wore on, Kyoutani took note as the guy with the flower asked questions that they had covered in the last session, and grinned to himself. The yellow carnation was perfect.
On Friday, Yahaba came into the shop again, and they exchanged stories while Kyoutani wrapped the stem of the foxglove for him. "It's foxglove, and it means insincerity. I'll let you know how he reacted in the next class too on Monday."
Yahaba gave him a blinding smile as he pulled out his wallet for an installment. "Perfect! Thank you again for doing this, Kyoutani-kun." Kyoutani blushed.
During Macroeconomics, Kyoutani made sure to get a seat near the asshole, and may have eavesdropped slightly while he attempted to flirt with the girl next to him. Kyoutani rolled his eyes and tuned into the lecture instead, doodling arrangements of flowers to the sides of his notes.
He spent the weekend placing orders for flower shipments, running the shop, and thinking about Yahaba. They were getting along pretty well, although Kyoutani wasn't sure they would if they met under different circumstances. Yahaba seemed to relish in telling stories about how much of a jerk this guy was, and Kyoutani was having fun sharing stories. Kyoutani also had the weird feeling that he recognized Yahaba from somewhere, but he couldn't figure out where exactly.
Week 2
Monday came quickly though he couldn't figure out where he knew Yahaba from. They hadn't shared any classes in college, he would have remembered a face as pretty as his, but it had to be at least semi recent. When Yahaba walked into the shop, he remembered.
"Aw shit, third year Interhigh." He said aloud, as it rushed back to him. His team had played Yahaba's, and was utterly crushed by the powerhouse school. Kyoutani had been really surly after losing, and had glared murderously at Yahaba across the net as they shook hands.
Yahaba looked at him strangely for a second before recognition dawned on his face. "Oh my god you were that asshole on Inari East." Kyoutani grimaced, but Yahaba just burst into laughter. "I didn't even recognize you, your hair isn't all stripey anymore."
"Uh, yeah. I grew it out. I was kinda going through a jerk phase at that point. I know it's late, but sorry for almost not shaking your hand."
"Oh my god I complained about you for weeks! I probably would have given you the 'Fuck You Bouquet' if I had thought of it then." Yahaba was still giggling. That was a good sign right?
Kyoutani smiled awkwardly and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I mean I wouldn't blame you. I was kind of an ass to you."
"Naw, you're pretty cool now. Wow that brings me back. Which flower is it today?" Yahaba gave him a genuine smile, and Kyoutani was relieved to get back flowers, a safe subject.
He walked around the counter to get an orange lily, and brandished it towards Yahaba. "For you, good sir." He said, while handing it to Yahaba.
"Pretty, what am I telling him today?" Yahaba asked, smiling conspiratorially.
"The orange lily means hatred. It might be a little strong, but it goes so perfectly with the rest of the bouquet." They chatted for another minute or two before Yahaba took his leave.
Kyoutani's grandma came in from the back of the store as soon as Yahaba was out the door. "What I said on the first day still stands, Kentarou." She reminded him, and Kyoutani groaned as he felt his face heat up.
"I'll get to it, alright grandma?" She just smirked at him.
Macroeconomics wasn't all that interesting, the guy came in for a few minutes but had left early with a shit-eating grin when his phone lit up.
On Tuesday morning, they got in the shipment of geraniums and meadowsweet, along with various other flowers. Kyoutani and his grandmother usually kept live plants until the flowers were needed, but their geranium bush hadn't been producing as much lately, and they hadn't grown meadowsweet that year. He carted the shipment to the walk-in cooler, and mulled over which one to give to Yahaba in the morning. In the end, he decided to figure it out when he got there the next day, and went about doing the various other things that were part of his job.
Wednesday morning came around and he grabbed a bundle of geraniums from the cooler along with a few ribbons for wrapping. He waited for a while, checking his phone for the time. Yahaba was late, and Kyoutani tried to talk himself out of being worried. At a quarter to eight, Yahaba rushed into the store with a hasty explanation that he had slept in and had to get to class. Kyoutani handed him the flowers, and he flew back out the doors. Kyoutani watched the doors for a few minutes before shaking himself out of it and getting back to work. Yahaba was fine.
That afternoon, the flower asshole once again asked the professor about something irrelevant, and Kyoutani couldn't help his amused grin. Stupidity indeed.
Friday morning, he woke up with his nose dribbiling and what felt like a baseball in his throat. He shot a text to his grandma to let her know he couldn't come in, and fell back asleep in his bed. When he woke up a few hours later, he realized that it would have been his second-to-last chance to see Yahaba. He groaned, upset that he had missed it, the fell back into his mattress at the dull pang the gutteral noise caused in his throat. Eventually, he had enough energy to make himself a cup of tea and down some cold medicine.
By the time the sun was setting, he was feeling better. He called his grandma to let her know he could come in the next day, and she informed him "how sad Yahaba-kun had looked when I said you were out sick." He promised her that he would figure out a way to make it up to him, confirmed their brunch plans for Sunday, and made himself dinner.
Saturday was spent in the shop, formulating a plan to ask Yahaba out while filling orders and planning the Fuck You Bouquet. He hit a hitch in his creative process, and started playing around with some other flowers. By the time the shop closed, he had two bouquets sketched out for Monday. He would put them together the next day, there hadn't been many orders left to fulfil after that day's session.
After closing up shop Sunday, Kyoutani found that Monday couldn't come soon enough. He was excited for the next morning, and couldn't wait to see Yahaba again.
Week 3
When the door to the shop opened to reveal Yahaba in all his glory, Kyoutani was waiting with two bouquets. One was an elegant display of all the flowers to express Yahaba's disgust with the seat-stealer, and the other one was smaller, less ostentatious, but still beautiful.
He handed the first bouquet to Yahaba before attempting to explain the second one. "Um, I know this probably seems kinda weird, but I wanted to thank you and also wanted to know if you maybe wanted to get a cup of coffee sometime? With me? Like, on a date?" Kyoutani was definitely blushing, and Yahaba smiled back, dazzling him.
"Sure. But only if you tell me what all these mean."
Kyoutani had been expecting to explain the flowers, but flushed deeply anyway. He reached across the counter to point at them individually.
"This is a lavender rose, it means 'enchantment.' The calla lillies means 'beauty,' and the white heather means 'I hope your wishes will come true.' The crocus means 'cheerfulness,' cause I always feel more cheerful when you're in here. Um, the red carnations mean admiration. Oh, and the purple hyacinth mean I'm sorry, cause I was a jerk in high school. And, uh, the red tulips mean declaration of love. So yeah."
Yahaba was grinning. "Wow, you're really cheesy. I love it. Thank you Kyoutani."
"Oh, wait!" Kyoutani grabbed a card off the table. "I almost forgot to put this in there. It's my number. So you can text me. To set up the date. Or you could just come in here, whatever works."
Yahaba took the card with a grin. "You're really cute. Thank you. I'll text you after class ok? We can figure out when we both have time."
"Uh, okay. See you then. I mean, talk to you then." Yahaba giggled at him. Fuck, that was cute.
"I'll talk to you soon alright? But I gotta get to class before I'm late." Yahaba leaned across the counter and kissed him on the cheek before walking out. Kyoutani watched him go, one hand pressed to the spot where Yahaba had kissed him.