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Koushi Sugawara had a way with flowers, plants, and animals. He considered these his greatest skills, the way he could nurture any flower to grow, charm any person to like him, or bribe any animal to make it's home in his small flower shop. Koushi saw many customers, from the occasional panicking stranger, to close friends, to family stopping in to chat. There was one customer in particular, Hajime Iwaizumi, that he was very fond of. He was usually grumpy and irritable from working with customers all day at his tattoo shop, but he would laugh at his jokes and contemplate the flowers with his beautiful deep brown gaze.
Hajime wasn't the type of person you'd expect to see in the flower shop every day, with his piercings, tattoos, and dark clothing contrasting against the pastel atmosphere Koushi had tried to create in the shop. Koushi's customers often found him leaning against the counter and chatting with Koushi about a wide variety of topics. Koushi had learned a lot about Hajime, but Hajime had learned even more about Koushi.
They both owned stores on the corners of Willow and Canal, and they often walked a few blocks away to an ice cream place on their lunch breaks. When it first occurred, Koushi was surprised that Hajime had a sweet tooth, but agreed enthusiastically. Koushi had began to expect a tall and incredibly handsome Japanese man waiting outside of his shop to escort him to the ice cream store.
It was one fateful day in the summer, July 26 to be exact, when Koushi's air conditioner sputtered and gave out. The heat in the shop was unbearable. Koushi had called the repairman thirty minutes ago, a sweaty, uncomfortably muggy thirty minutes ago, but the man had said in a gruff voice that he would have to wait for about two hours before he could get to him. Koushi knew he needed to get somewhere cool before he passed out from heat exhaustion.
When he walked into the parlor of Seijou, the cold air that hit him felt like a wave of water washing onto his skin. Of course, when he recovered from the pure bliss of cold air, he realized how out of place his pale blue t-shirt and pastel pink shorts were. All around him were dark colors, neon signs, and flashes of silver and gemstones found in cases around the room.
"Koushi, what a pleasure to see you stop by." Hajime's playful tone indicated he was not a harm, but Koushi still jumped in surprise at his voice.
"Ah, Hajime, your place looks pretty neat! I realized I've never entered here before, considering you usually show up at my shop."
Hajime chuckled. "Were you thinking about a tattoo, a piercing? I could make you a good deal since we both work around here."
Now it was Koushi's turn to chuckle.
"Now Hajime, do I look like the type to have tattoos and piercings?"
"Well, no, but you can get anything you want. It doesn't have to be demons and darkness."
Koushi hadn't contemplated getting a tattoo until now. He could get a flower! A nice honeysuckle for his birth month, or something less meaningful but still pretty, like a lily of the valley?
"I'll think about it, but for now, lets go on an early lunch." He started for the doors.
"Koushi?"
He turned around with a graceful spin. "Yeah?"
"I'm still working."
"Oh. I forgot." Koushi grinned sheepishly.
"What brings you here anyway? I mean, not to be rude, but, um." Hajime scratched the back of his neck, an indication to Koushi that he was feeling awkward for asking.
"My air conditioner broke." He spoke in an exasperated tone.
"Did you call the repairman?"
"Yeah, but he said it would be a few hours until he could get to me."
"Oh. Well let me finish out my last ten or so minutes for my shift and we can go to Scoop's. Have a seat if you want, or I could give you an unofficial tour."
Koushi contemplated the tour. It would be nice to know if Seijou was about the same size as Karasuno. "I'll take a tour if you're not busy."
Hajime gestured around to the empty parlor. "I think I can manage a tour. Follow me, Koushi." He exaggerated his frivolous tone, and jutted his elbow out to gesture him to take his arm for the tour.
Koushi noticed he had very soft skin for someone as rugged as he was.
Hajime gave him a general tour, pointing out the use of the rooms and how often they were used. Koushi found that Seijou was actually smaller than Karasuno, but it had a better separation of rooms, which was probably better for a tattoo place rather than a flower shop.
When the tour was over, Hajime closed up shop and escorted Koushi to Scoop's, talking about tattoo and piercing designs that would suit him. He suggested an Alexandrite lip ring and a larkspur flower tattoo, both a dark purple. He explained that he thought it would match his hair and facial features better than anything else might, with his pale skin, hazel eyes, and silver hair.
Koushi got his usual while Hajime got Koushi’s usual that day. They had some useless conversation about the owner of the store, Tooru Oikawa, who also happened to be one of Koushi’s best friends. Hajime couldn’t help but get slightly jealous when Koushi talked about him, for the pure fact that his eyes lit up like it was the Fourth of July. He mentally slapped himself for thinking of anything romantic towards this precious flower, who hadn’t showed any sign of loving him back.
Hajime tried to forget his thoughts on the walk home, which was surprisingly easy under the hot sun. Koushi wasn't talking for once, he was concentrating on expelling the heat and enjoying the comfortable silence that Hajime provided.
When they finally got back to Hajime's, they were soaked with sweat and panting from the walk.
"Water?"
"Please." Koushi knew cold, liquid, and amazingly pure relief was on its way.
Hajime walked back into the parlor, plopping himself into one of the leather chairs sat across from the leather couch Koushi was currently residing on, and tossed him a bottle of crisp and clean water. They chugged for a few minutes until their bottles were gone, both regaining their breath afterwards.
"Have you decided on the tattoo?" Hajime asked, voice raspy.
"I think if I see a good design I'll get a Larkspur. No piercing though."
He chuckled. "I could make you a custom design right now if you want."
Koushi's eyes went wide. "Really?! That would be amazing!"
Hajime smiled. "I think I could manage it for my favorite customer."
Koushi grinned back. "I haven't even bought anything yet and you call me your favorite customer? But thank you Hajime!"
Hajime helped the puddle of Koushi stand, then gestured for him to follow him to the drawing room, considering he had only just seen it once, and it had been thirty minutes ago. Koushi was "blessed" with bad memory, so it followed that he couldn't remember where he was in Seijou until they stepped into the room.
"Here we are," Hajime took a seat at the large glass desk, Koushi coming around to sit on the other side, "describe a little bit of your idea."
Koushi thought for a moment. "I'd like a Larkspur, with different areas more blue or purple than the others, and maybe Karasuno in fancy writing underneath it."
Hajime smiled softly. "I can do that."
He got to work straight away, drawing up a beautiful flower with indications of ink color. The writing underneath was taken straight from Koushi's cursive writing, which happened to be what he normally wrote with, to make it a more personal tattoo. When it was done, his breath was thoroughly taken away. The flower was beautiful, elegant but still full of color and spontaneous patterns. His writing was familiar, but at the same time, it matched the flower perfectly. Elegant, but still messy and undecided.
Hajime looked up, silently asking for his approval. He nodded his head and watched him grab the plan, and carry it to one of the working rooms. He made sure to stay close behind him, so he didn't get turned around in the building.
Hajime asked where he would like the tattoo, and he gestured to the right side of his torso, so when his arms hung by his side it was just barely peeking out. Hajime nodded, exchanged out his needle end, prepared Koushi’s skin, and mixed the ink colors. He dipped the paper in water, then draped it over his side. He used non-toxic markers whenever he drew on skin for the safety of his customer and the safety of his bank account. He drew the flower design and writing onto his skin with his marker, including small indications of color change.
Finally, his work began. The needle pressed into Koushi's skin, making him wince in pain. Throughout the tattoo, Koushi was silently cursing himself for agreeing to get it. After over an hour, Hajime announced he was done. Koushi breathed a sigh of relief. He brought over a mirror to help him see the new feature, and he grinned.
"It looks amazing Hajime!” He grinned.
“I’m glad you like it.” Hajime chuckled and grinned back.
Koushi was gazing fondly at his new flower in a full length body mirror on the back of the door, appreciating the subtle but present change of color throughout the tattoo, and watching Hajime clean his tools.
He went back to observing the elegant masterpiece on his torso. He was appreciating the impeccably perfect scripture underneath the flower when he felt a warm presence to his left.
He turned his head to the left and up, finding a moment to stare at Hajime’s beautifully sculpted jawline. His brain must not have been thinking clearly, because his actions didn’t accurately portray his thoughts.
Koushi leaned up on his tiptoes, and ever-so-delicately placed his lips upon Hajime's. He tasted like the peppermint gum he had popped in earlier that day, and his lips were surprisingly soft and smooth against his own. He felt the dull pain in his torso fade slowly, the throbbing momentarily pausing with the events happening at that moment.
He finally loosened his arms from the other’s neck and pulled away from his light grasp on Koushi’s hips, “Wait, when did that happen?” His mind echoed.
“Oh gosh, Hajime, I’m really sorry! I’ll pay then I’ll leave and you don’t have to be my friend anymore-“
“Koushi.” He cut off his nervous rambling.
“Yeah?”
“Can we do that again please?”
He looked into the same eyes that gazed at his flowers with love and compassion, the same eyes that followed his pencil when he was sketching the design, the same eyes that were smiling now. His heart did a small flip-flop inside his chest. Koushi leaned up and kissed him again, for a longer amount of time this round.
They pulled apart, Koushi’s torso pain resurfaced, and Hajime had the largest grin he thought possible plastered on his face.
Koushi felt slightly awkward, but he knew there was no going back now. “Hajime?”
“Yes?”
“Are we dating?”
Hajime looked thoughtful for a moment. “Would you like to?”
“Yeah, I think it would be a fun adventure as long as you're serious about it.”
“Koushi, does this look like the face of a man who’s joking?”
He giggled. “Definitely not.”
Koushi heard the annoying sound of his ringtone, so he let Hajime go and pulled it from his back pocket, sliding the green answer button over to accept the call.
“Hello, Koushi speaking.”
“Mister Sugawara, can you come and unlock your shop door? I can’t really fix your air conditioning without going inside.”
He gasped. “Oh! Sorry sir, I'll be right there. Sit tight for a second, please.” He hurriedly pressed the end call button.
“Sorry Hajime, the repairman is waiting for me. I’ll see you tomorrow, but can I have your number?”
He wrote the digits on a slip of paper back in the parlor and handed it to him, placing a small peck on his cheek as he was walking into the dreaded heat of the hot July day.
Koushi was grinning the whole way across the street into his store.