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There’s a new shop opening across the street. It’s decorated in colourful fluorescent lights, dark backgrounds, and punk-gothic-styled decorations. Satoru eyes the scary-looking skeleton that serves as the shop’s logo with hesitance - needless to say, he has an unresolved trauma about skeletons since high school when he’s stuck in the school lab’s warehouse with sparkling white skeletons staring back at him.
“Do you know what kind of stuff they sell in that new shop?”
Megumi, one of Satoru’s part-time workers, doesn’t even spare a glance toward the shop. “It’s a tattoo shop.”
“Oh? Don’t tattoo shops usually open in night-life areas?” This district is mostly restaurants and lifestyle stores - it’s the reason why this area is a popular date spot. “This is not exactly the best place to open a tattoo business, don’t you think?
“Who knows?” Megumi shrugs, moving a bundle of roses into the table. “I can’t really tell my dad’s train of thought.”
“That shop is your dad’s?”
Megumi frowns. “Yeah, unfortunately.”
“Don’t tell me you’re going to stop working here?” Satoru asks in a rush. Though a bit unmotivated, Megumi is one of the best workers he ever had, and Satoru likes his company. As a bonus, Megumi makes a lot of funny expressions when Satoru makes fun of him.
“No, ” Megumi says, putting emphasis on his answer. “I won’t. Never will.”
Satoru laughs at Megumi’s obvious distaste. “Why? Is your dad a slave driver?”
“I can’t stand him and this one guy that works with him,” Megumi answers, clicking his tongue. “You’ll see.”
Satoru doesn’t think of it until the shop officially opens a week later, and Megumi’s dad, Toji, comes by to Satoru’s shop.
“Hey, I’m the owner of the shop across you,” Toji says, skipping all the pleasantries. “Fushiguro Toji. Nice to meet ya.”
If it’s not for the tattoos, hair, and the scar running on Toji’s lips, Megumi would be an exact copy of this man. “Gojo Satoru.”
“Hm, yeah, I know you. You made yourself known well with all these-” Toji gestures around the colourful flowers decorating the shop. “-flowers. Still can’t believe my own boy chooses to work here instead of my parlour, though."
Satoru smiles tightly, still maintaining his customer service attitude despite his growing dislike for the man in front of him. Those demeaning looks and tone are common occurrences, but for some reason, this man irks him a lot. ”Megumi seems to have an interest in ikebana. He’s quite good at it too.”
“He’s also good at drawing and designing too. What a shame.” Toji shrugs as he clicks his tongue, pulling out some vouchers from his pocket, and places them in front of Satoru. “Here. Some welcoming gifts as neighbours. You or your workers can come into our shop whenever. Believe it or not, our place is one of the most popular parlours in this country.”
“Really? I’ve never heard of it before,” Satoru replies, purposely throwing a jab at this arrogant man. “I’ll try to do my homework for research, then.”
Toji laughs - Satoru doesn’t know if it’s meant to be condescending or if it's just his natural laugh - and turns to leave the shop.
“Well, see you around, Gojo.”
The vouchers offer a thirty percent discount for tattoos - Satoru is certainly not interested in having needles piercing his beautiful skin, but perhaps Nobara or Yuuji is interested in having one.
It’s not every day Megumi forgets about his things, especially not something as significant as a laptop. He’s being called to his university’s animal hospital to assist an emergency case because the hospital is crowded, and in a hurry, he left his belongings here, even though his shift has ended already. Satoru is closing up now, and he doesn’t really like the idea of leaving Megumi’s laptop overnight in the shop.
He dials Megumi’s number, and after several rings, comes Megumi’s raspy voice answering the call, “Hello?”
“Megumi, you left your bag here. Can you come here to take it before I close up?”
“Oh, I’m sorry for that Gojo-san, but my job here is not finished yet. Is it okay if you give it to my dad instead? ”
“Eh, do I really have to?” Satoru complains. Besides, Megumi knows that he’s not quite fond of Toji.
Megumi sighs. “Please? I need it for tonight. ”
“Since you asked so nicely,” Satoru grumbles, looking over to the red and green fluorescent lights glowing from across the street. “You owe me.”
“Fine. Thanks, Gojo-san, I need to go. ”
Megumi doesn’t give Satoru a chance to reply before he hangs up. With a heavy heart, Satoru takes Megumi’s bag with him, locks the door, crosses the street, and stops in front of the shop. ‘Sorcerer Killer’, the sign reads, with the skeleton logo glowing blindingly above the letters. The ‘open’ sign is turned on, which is not surprising because it is a tattoo shop, and it’s completely normal to still open until eleven.
Satoru pushes the door open, and the bell rings upon his entrance. Unexpectedly, the interior design is much better than the storefront, with pictures and graffitis in ink decorating the wall instead of an all-black aesthetic that Satoru was expecting. The reception desk has a glass display that shows some shirts and what Satoru thinks to be tattoo-making-related items, and behind the counter, a guy with a weird, stitch-like tattoo across his face greets him.
“Hello, welcome to Sorcerer Killer! How can I help you?”
“I’m only here to drop something off,” Satoru says, putting Megumi’s bag on the desk. “This is for Fushiguro-san. It belongs to his son.”
“Actually, he’s free right now,” the man hums, taking a breath, and shouts. “Toji-san! The flower guy is here to see you right now!”
“You don’t need to, really.” Satoru really doesn’t want to meet Toji. “I need to catch the last train-”
A gruff voice cuts Satoru off before he can leave. “What is it?”
Satoru sighs. “Fushiguro-san, Megumi forgot to bring his laptop with him. He asked me to drop it off to you.”
Toji unlocks his phone and scrolls on the screen. “Where did he run off to? He didn’t tell me he’s going home late.”
“He says he’s assisting an emergency case at the hospital.”
Another guy with familiar pink hair and tattoos on his face walks out from the back door and approaches Satoru. So this must be the infamous Sukuna, then. Yuuji has shared things about his older brother, although most of them are about how Sukuna annoys him a lot.
“Oh, so you’re the bastard who flirts with college students?” he asks, sneering. Yuuji wasn’t kidding when he said this guy is a jerk.
“What-”
Toji snorts. “Is that the reason why Megumi stays in your shop, huh, Gojo?”
What the fuck?
“Are you both the reason why they choose to be with me rather than you?” Satoru sneers back, feeling satisfied when their expression falters. “Mind you, visitors like it better if you greet them with a smile and a friendly welcome.”
What are these people accusing him of? He doesn’t even know who these people are until two days ago, and they’re calling him a bastard already. It only proves Satoru’s prejudice upon delinquents with tattoos even more.
Megumi is going to owe him big time for this.
“I’m really sorry for their behaviour,” a smooth voice says. “Toji-san, Sukuna, I believe we’ve come to an agreement on providing the best services for our visitors? You won’t stop scaring the customers away if you keep it up.”
Satoru turns to this gentleman with long hair tied up in a messy bun and weird bangs hanging on his left side. Damn, he does look good in that black turtleneck. What is it with this shop and sexy employees?
“Welcome to our shop. I’m Getou Suguru, and this is Sukuna. The one on the reception is Mahito, and I believe you know Toji-san already. Pleased to meet you,” he greets, smiling.
Getou has a nice smile, but it’s still not enough to wipe away his irritation. “Gojo Satoru. Thank god one of you has enough common sense to run this place.”
“People say that a lot,” Getou answers, chuckling.
Satoru snorts, turning to Toji, and shoves Megumi’s bag to his chest. “Here, take it. I’m leaving.”
Just as Satoru leaves from the door, Getou calls, “Be careful on your way back, Gojo-san!”
If only Getou is a regular salaryman who doesn’t work on tattoo parlours, Satoru will make a point to ask him out sometime.
Suguru has heard stories about people falling in love the moment their eyes meet. It sounds ridiculous - how can a person fall in love just by looking at someone else? In order to love, it’s essential to know each other’s interests and characters well. Falling in love is not something as simple as that. Love takes time and effort to bear fruit.
But well, the moment Suguru lays eyes on Gojo Satoru, a smile comes naturally to his face as his heart picks up its pace a little, and his stomach tingles with butterflies. In his eyes, everything about Gojo is just perfect - white hair that falls down to his eyebrows, sky blue eyes that shine from underneath his sunglasses, and god, that smooth, pale white skin that’s begging for Suguru’s attention. Even the way he talks, grumpy and all tight on the edges, sounds like a melodious harmony to Suguru’s ears.
This must be love at first sight. There are no other logical explanations, and Suguru is sure that he’s caught up in karma.
Suguru aches to see the man again in this shop. Gojo’s presence brings light and colour to this dark, eerie place where black dominates the whole vicinity, decorating the gothic area with the vibes of nature. It must be something that comes with him for being a kadouka. Unfortunately for him, Toji and Sukuna’s attitude is an effective repellant to Gojo’s presence, if not for other customers. For a tattoo parlour whose name is infamous within the community, they seriously need to improve their customer service, considering there are quite a few bad reviews regarding their attitudes.
If Gojo doesn’t come to this place, then Suguru will come to his place instead. And that’s how he finds himself standing like a moron in front of Six Eyes, peeking through the window in curiosity but unable to push the door open. His feet are glued to the ground, his body refusing to move correctly with his stupidly fluttering heart and cold sweat dampening his clothes.
Get a hold of yourself, Suguru, he chants under his breath, Act natural. This is so unlike you.
Before Suguru can calm down, the door opens, revealing Megumi’s apron-cladded figure in front of him.
“Getou-san? Are you looking for flowers?”
Fuck, he’s not prepared for this.
“I uh, no- I mean, yes- yes, I’m looking for a gift for my sisters.”
Suguru wants to slap himself. What the hell is he talking about? He feels like an absolute loser.
“Welcome in,” Megumi says, holding the door open for him. “Do you have any kind of flower you want in mind?”
“Not really,” Suguru mumbles, looking at his surroundings. There is a myriad of flowers in every colour tidily arranged in pots and bundles, and the whole shop feels like a page coming out of a fantasy storybook. “I’m not really well-versed in flowers.”
“We can certainly help you with that.” Megumi leads him to the main counter and pulls out a binder. There isn’t a sign of Gojo’s presence anywhere. “Here is a list of flowers that we have and the meaning that each flower represents. You are free to look at it first, or if you’re not interested, you can ask me for recommendations.”
Distracting himself with the binder sounds appealing. “I’ll try looking first.”
“Okay. Please call me if you need any help.”
“Megumi !”
That voice steals Suguru’s attention to the back door where Gojo appears with a phone in one hand and a bucket of flowers in another. Their eyes pass each other - sending a tiny jolt to Suguru’s spine - just before Gojo turns back to Megumi.
“Remember Hirawa-san? He asks for delivery right now for his ikebana . Think you can make it there?”
“It’s only a block away from here, right? I’ll go.”
Gojo nods and brings his phone back to his ear. “Hirawa-san? Yes, we can do a delivery right now. We’ll arrive there in fifteen minutes. Yes, yes, we’ll bring the receipt with us. Thank you very much for trusting us with your purchase.”
Megumi approaches Suguru, carrying a beautifully arranged pot of flowers in his hand. “Getou-san, I’m leaving first. Gojo-san will attend to you.”
“Right. Be careful.”
Suguru is left alone for a minute without anyone else on the front counter until Gojo appears a minute later.
“Welcome, Getou-san,” he greets with a singsong voice, a complete opposite to the tone that he used in the shop a few days ago. “Megumi told me that you’re looking for something to give to your sisters. Is there anything that you’d like to say through flowers? Like thank you, I love you, or congratulations?”
Gojo is standing so close to him with a million-watt smile on his face, and the atmosphere around him suddenly feels warmer, making his tongue lost of words.
“Ah, um, they’ve been studying hard lately.” Lies. Mimiko and Nanako don’t study unless exams are coming up. “I think something that says ‘good luck’ sounds nice.”
“Oh, I didn’t expect you to be the sweet type,” Gojo mentions, grinning. Suguru can only hope that he’s not blushing right now. Gojo wanders around the lines of flowers and pulls out a purple coloured flower. “Do you know what flower is this?”
“No.”
“This is a chrysanthemum. You know, the ones that you can drink as tea? Well, this purple one means ’wishes will come true’. An excellent choice for students who are hoping for good grades or being accepted to university, don’t you think?”
Suguru only nods dumbfoundedly, unsure what to do with the information. “Yeah.”
“Fun fact, do you know that this flower appears on the Imperial seal? The more you know.”
“Really?”
“Yes! It’s one of Japan’s unofficial national flowers.”
Suguru soaks up Gojo’s animated expression that glows up as he explains about the flower - up close, he looks like a kid excited for his birthday party. How endearing.
“You know a lot about flowers.”
Gojo snorts, rolling his eyes. “Well, duh, it’s my job. So what do you say about this? We can still search for other flowers if you want. There are tons of others that can convey a similar meaning.”
Suguru touches the petals gently, appreciating the beauty of it. Mimiko and Nanako will surely like it. “I think this is fine. I’ll have two.”
“Okay, I’ll wrap it up for you.”
Gojo wraps up each flower with coloured papers, arranging them in layers that accentuate the beauty and colour of the flower, and finally, binds the papers and flower together with a ribbon. He repeats the process swiftly, hands moving in expertise crafted through the years, fooling everyone who looks at his work to think that it’s nothing but a simple handiwork. It would only be a disaster if Suguru were to work with it.
“I’ll give you a discount for these,” Gojo says, smiling widely, and Suguru wonders if he could ever feel tired looking at Gojo's smiles. “Thank you for your purchase. Please come back soon!”
“Thank you, Gojo-san,” Suguru says, holding the bouquets carefully in his hands. There’s no way he’s destroying Gojo’s delicate handcraft. “I’ll visit again, sometime.”
Gojo beams, sending Suguru off with a wave, and Suguru believes there will be more to come.
Satoru has lots of regular, loyal customers who only buy their flowers and ikebana from his shop, but even so, none of them come as often as Suguru. It’s not every day or every week people have something to be celebrated, after all. Yet, Suguru never fails to show up on his doorstep every Friday to buy some flowers – whether it’s for his mother, his neighbour, his cousin, or heck, everyone that he knows.
Satoru suspects that this man is interested in flowers but is too ashamed to admit it, or perhaps he has found a liking to decorate his whole house with flowers. A man has an image and reputation to uphold, especially someone like Suguru, who has an all-black wardrobe, has tattoos all over his body, and works in a tattoo parlour.
Suguru is somewhat a gentleman, though he can also be an asshole at times - breaking the prejudice that Satoru has against people with tattoos. He’s not a bad company to be with, and as an added bonus, he’s quite a looker with his long hair, handsome face, broad shoulders, and those muscular arms decorated with dragons painted in ink.
“Hello, Suguru~” Satoru has been using his first name after his fourth visit - he’s more than just a customer by now. “Who is it for this time?”
“You caught me,” Suguru chuckles, leaning to Satoru’s counter. No matter how often Suguru drops by the shop, it’s still funny to see the sole black sticking out in the expanse of colours. Other customers would look at him whenever he’s around like he doesn’t belong - he's almost like a grim reaper who got lost in fairyland. “I don’t know. Give me anything.”
“You know, your secret is safe with me,” Satoru mentions, earning a raised eyebrow from Suguru. “You secretly like flowers, don’t you? Don’t worry, I won’t judge.”
Suguru only stares at him incredulously. “That’s not- oh well, whatever.”
“Surely you won’t like it if Toji and Sukuna make fun of you just because you decorate your house with sunflowers,” Satoru says, winking. “Aren’t I such an understanding person? You’re lucky that I’m the one who owns this flower shop across your parlour.”
“Says the person who recommended a giant sunflower for that man last week,” Suguru says, rolling his eyes.
“Hey! In my defense, I know he’s going out with two women at the same time! It’s not entirely my fault to give him the giant sunflower.” Sunflowers are quite popular for people who desire to confess their love, but giant sunflowers, in particular, are used to convey false love. A great way to transmit a message in an appealing way, isn’t it? “It would be pretty entertaining to watch if the woman understands hanakotoba. ”
Suguru jeers at him. “Is that your way of doing justice?”
“Who knows? I’m only a kadouka, Suguru, not a policeman.”
Satoru walks to an aisle where he puts the fresh batches of flowers that arrived this morning. Nobara is cleaning the stalks from dirt and leaves with her sleeves rolled up to avoid dirtying her clothes - and that’s when Satoru spots thorned roses plastered on her forearm.
“Nobara! I didn’t know you decided to have a tattoo!”
“Yeah, well, it’s not exactly your business to know.” The girl looks up from her work briefly, and when she spots Suguru, she waves. “Getou-san! Nice seeing you again. The tattoo is healing well.”
“Hello, Kugisaki-san. I’m glad to hear that,” Suguru greets back. “Kugisaki-san here came to the shop two weeks ago along with a friend. I drew her design.”
“It turns out even better than expected! Gojo-san, if you’d like to have one someday, you must let Getou-san do it for you.”
“Nah. No offense, Suguru, but I really don’t want to have all that ink on my smooth skin,” Satoru says, running his hand over the skin of his arms. “I don’t think my handsome face goes well with tattoos.”
Nobara cringes and proceeds to ignore Satoru in favour of the flowers she’s working on. Suguru has his eyes on Satoru, looking his figure up and down, and says, “On the contrary, I think black ink would look really good on you.”
“Heh, so you admit that I would look good in anything?” Satoru pretends to forget his own words about his body and tattoos. “Well, what can I say? The gods have blessed me with a natural talent of being good in everything.”
Nobara groans. “Unfortunately, the gods forgot to bless you with a nice personality.”
After a pause, Suguru laughs. “I agree with Kugisaki-san on this one.”
“How could you be this cruel to me, Suguru? You’re supposed to be on my side!” Satoru playfully protests, picking up a flower that looks exactly like Suguru’s first purchase - chrysanthemum - only this time, it’s yellow. “For today’s suggestion, I recommend this one. It means that I’m heartbroken.”
“This symbol of broken heart can treat my sore throat if I make it into tea, it seems.”
This sly man. The shop is truly never boring whenever he’s around. Nobara is snickering in the background, and Satoru glares at Suguru, passing him another flower. “Here. An apricot blossom to convey my distrust.”
“Depending on how you’re interpreting it, apricot blossoms can also mean timid love, Getou-san,” Nobara adds, and Satoru wants to kick her out at that moment. Is it bad if Satoru feels a bit called out? “He’s sneaky like that.”
“Fine, not this one, then,” Satoru grumbles. He moves away from Nobara’s desk, pretending to contemplate over his choice of flower, and takes a purple, bell-shaped one. “Foxglove. For insincerity.”
“Wow, you can really secretly spite people with flowers,” Suguru comments, “I’ll try that sometime.”
Satoru swings the flower in front of Suguru’s face. “So, are you taking this one?”
“Let’s see,” Suguru mutters, walking past Satoru as he takes a look at the flowers displayed, “Of all of these, certainly there’s one that you like better than the others. What’s your personal favourite, Satoru?”
Satoru doesn’t expect Suguru to ask him such a question. He blinks, digesting the weight of Suguru’s words, before walking towards an aisle near the entrance and pulls a pink flower with him.
“Camellias,” Satoru answers, tilting the flower so Suguru can see the layers clearly, “This is one of the most popular flowers for gifts. Beautiful, isn’t it? It also comes in lots of colours. My favourite is the pink one.”
“What does it mean?”
“Pink camellias symbolise longing or yearning,” Satoru explains, a bit quiet, dawdling in the realisation of a connection that finally clicks on his mind. His favourite flower is representing the feelings he has currently, doesn’t it? “But you need to be careful in giving camellias to people, though. Never give these to a sick person. When camellias die, the entire head snaps off, y’know? It can be misinterpreted as death.”
Suguru cackles, taking the flower away from Satoru’s hand. “Interesting. Is that why you like this flower?”
“Pardon you! Why do you associate every negative thing with me?”
“It suits you,” Suguru mocks him, “I’ll take this one, then.”
“Fine.” Satoru snatches the flower away from Suguru’s hold. “How many do you want? Are you going to have them in bouquets?”
“I’ll have three. Just leave it unpackaged. I have a vase at home.”
Satoru does what Suguru requests, gives him a member discount, and sees him off the door. When he turns back, the pink camellias resting in the bucket stare back at him.
Longing, huh?
Suguru should be ashamed of himself. He should lock himself up in a room and contemplate how shameful his mind is.
How could an image of Satoru on his knees, looking up to Suguru from his position between Suguru's legs, become the first thing that popped up in his mind when Satoru said ‘he’s good at everything?’
Thank god people can’t read minds. He would be a dead man if that were true.
Shaking his head from the second-hand embarrassment, Suguru finishes up a dotted ink art of an owl a client requested. He explains the tattoo aftercare, processes her payment, and exits the shop for a quick smoke break. He’s been sitting on that stool for a good two hours, and he desperately needs to move his muscles a bit before continuing his work. Pulling out a cigar and lighting it up, Suguru inhales the warm smoke, relishing in the bitter taste of nicotine, and leans on the shop front. From this distance, he can see Satoru and Sukuna’s brother moving around the shop, wrapping up flower arrangements and moving them into the truck, too busy to even spare a glance towards the window.
“When will you have the guts to ask him out, Getou?”
Toji’s voice breaks Suguru’s reverie, and he turns to look at his boss. “What?”
“The owner of Six Eyes.” Toji shrugs, leaning beside Suguru and lights up a cigar himself. “I still don’t understand why he named the shop Six Eyes when he sells flowers . ”
Come to think of it, Suguru has never asked Satoru about it either. “Yeah, what about him?”
“Ask him out,” Toji urges, pointing to the flower shop. “Don’t you think buying flowers every week as an excuse to talk to him is pathetic?”
Suguru grimaces. Toji is not wrong. "Look, I don’t even know if he’s interested in me or not.”
“For someone who acts like a smartass, you sure are stupid.” Shaking his head, Toji clicks his tongue. “I can even feel the spark between you two oozing from this distance - it’s disgusting. Do something.”
“I’m trying,” Suguru mutters.
Toji turns off his cigar, and as he leaves, he taunts, “Make sure to be quick enough before I steal your stupid pink flowers and ask him out instead.”
“Wait, hey-”
Suguru turns off his cigar and chases Toji into the shop because he better not touch Satoru’s camellias.
When the front bell rings at four, Satoru doesn’t expect to see Suguru entering his shop. Satoru has never seen the man visiting here before the sun sets.
“You’re early today, Suguru.”
“Well, today is a special day, I guess,” Suguru says, chuckling softly as he rubs his neck. “I want to order a custom bouquet.”
“Oh? Do you know what flowers that you’d like to have?”
“Yeah, I did my homework, actually.”
Satoru grins. “Really? Let’s see what you’ve got.”
“First of all, one sunflower.”
“Fell for you at first sight?” Satoru implores, impressed by Suguru’s research. “Are you seeing someone?”
Suguru shakes his head softly. “No.”
The fluttering feeling in Satoru’s chest when Suguru is around drops to the bottom of his stomach. Apparently, Suguru already has someone in mind. “Oh.”
Suguru stops to stare at him, and Satoru returns the stare back. Suguru didn’t notice the disappointment leaking out from his voice, right?
“Well, uh, next is a purple violet. Wait, aren’t all violets purple?”
You occupy my mind. Wow, whoever is on Suguru’s mind, they’re one lucky bastard. “Funny thing is, they don’t.”
“Man, flowers are weird,” Suguru chuckles, walking down the aisle, and Satoru follows behind him. “Oh, this. One pink camellia.”
Suguru does not- god, Satoru certainly hopes he hides the pout that’s creeping up to his lips well enough as he struggles to act natural and unbothered. Pink camellia? That’s Satoru’s favourite flower!
Okay, Satoru is certainly being overdramatic right now. Maybe Suguru only likes the meaning behind the flower.
“Last one… It’ll be roses. I think red should be fine. I want three of them.”
Confess my love. There goes Satoru’s chance to ask him out. “Ooh, how romantic. Whoever will receive this bouquet must be a damn lucky person.”
“I certainly hope so,” Suguru chuckles, smiling so beautifully in front of Satoru that it hurts. “I’m counting on you to make it as good as possible.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Satoru replies, smiling, pushing down the frown that's threatening to form on his lips. Whether he hates it or not, Satoru always makes sure to deliver his best into his handicrafts - he’s a professional, after all. He picks out the sparkling, glittery papers that people usually order for special occasions, complete with the netting mesh wrapper and leafy stalks to make it more alive, and finishes it with an elegant white ribbon. It looks damn good, and whoever is on the receiving end better accept Suguru’s confession.
“Here you go,” Satoru says, passing the finished bouquet to Suguru. “Good luck.”
The corner of Suguru’s eyes crinkles as he grins, radiating so much happiness that it’s impossible to look away. “Thanks. I need it.”
Suguru’s stupid order leaves Satoru in a sour mood throughout the day, and thankfully Yuuji is the one who’s doing the shifts today because the boy is so kind and understanding of Satoru’s condition, unlike Megumi and Nobara. Those two mean gremlins would probably laugh upon his misery and stomps down on his poor nerves. Yuuji has been a great help to listen to Satoru ranting about his miserable fate, and Satoru is generous enough to give him a bonus for his work today and lets him leave early. Satoru cleans up the shop and locks up for the day, planning to stop by a convenience store to buy some ice cream to sulk with, but Suguru’s figure in front of his shop stops him from doing so.
“Suguru? What are you doing here?” Satoru asks, glaring at the bouquet in Suguru’s hands. “Don’t tell me that asshole rejected you?”
“No- well, uh... this is going to sound awkward, but-” Suguru extends the bouquet to Satoru, “-I actually requested this one for you.”
Wait. “What?”
“This may sound weird, but when I see you for the first time, I just know there’s something between us,” Suguru confesses, cheeks tinting in pink as he turns to look sideways. “It… would be great if we can take it a step further, perhaps?”
In a daze, Satoru reaches for the bouquet and appreciates the colourful flowers that glow under the dim yellow street light. A sunflower, purple violet, three roses, and a pink camellia… everything starts to make sense now. A grin and a chuckle escape his lips, and Satoru holds the bouquet closer to his chest.
“Suguru, you sly bastard~” Satoru hums, pulling Suguru’s hand into his. His whole body feels as light as a feather, and the bubbles in his stomach are popping in excitement. “How thoughtful of you. I’m touched.”
“I thought it’s nice to give something that you’re so passionate about.” Suguru’s eyes slowly return to meet Satoru’s as he asks, “So, is that a yes?”
“Of course, you idiot. Although I feel like I’m receiving a gift from myself,” Satoru teases, cackling. “Make sure to give me something else next time. Anyways, are you free tonight?”
“Will do. And I am, in fact. Requested for a special early leave just for today.”
“Perfect. Shall we enjoy ourselves?”
“For tonight, your wish is my command, Satoru.”
Laughing softly upon each other, they walk through the night hand in hand as they open a new chapter of their story together.