Chapter Text
Tsukishima stared at the bouquet of roses on his desk and silently questioned every life choice that had brought him to this point.
The glass vase it came in was shaped like a delicate hourglass, allowing the flowers inside to fan outwards. The petals were soft and velvety, dew still gathering on the curves. Or maybe they were just sprayed with water. But most importantly, they were bright red. No mistaking the intent there.
A small semicircle of onlookers had already gathered around his cubicle by the time he arrived. He heard some oohs and aahs from behind him. In front of him, Ogata was honest-to-God snapping a photo on his phone.
Inkarmat reached both hands out and turned the vase completely around. No name tag was attached anywhere. “I didn’t know you had a secret admirer, Tsukishima.”
“I don’t,” Tsukishima said.
“Pretty impressive, denying what’s right in front of your face,” Ogata said.
“Koito, come look at what Tsukishima got,” Inkarmat called towards the breakroom, where he was the only one still lingering, standing near the coffee machine that wasn’t even turned on.
Koito flounced over and gave the bouquet an apprehensive glance. Then he haughtily sniffed. “They’re alright, I guess.”
“Ignore him,” Mishima said once Koito had walked away, maybe to actually make coffee this time. “These are incredible. I think he’s stunned that someone else here would buy something this nice as a gift.” Everyone in the room was very much aware of Koito’s expensive taste. It was why he was banned from the office Secret Santa.
“What are you going to do with them, sir?” Tanigaki asked.
Tsukishima stared down at the roses. No matter where he placed them, they would leave a ring of condensation. “I think I’ll need a coaster.”
“I can get you some napkins,” Tanigaki offered, and the rest of the crowd slowly dispersed along with him, except for Ogata.
“Savor this moment for as long as you can,” Ogata said. “If this isn’t some bizarre accident, then you actually managed to trick someone into liking you. I can’t imagine how. I guess it’s true that everybody has a hidden side to them.”
“Says you,” Tsukishima said. “I never knew you were the type to actually be invested in other people’s romantic lives.”
“I’m not,” Ogata showed him the picture. He zoomed in on Tsukishima’s expression, which was equal parts despairing and dismayed. “Haha,” he said.
In the end, Tsukishima brought the roses back to his apartment. Besides his punching bag, they surely would be the most expensive thing he owned for the next week. Although that depended on how long the punching bag would last. They were a pain to carry on the subway, but he had to admit it gave him something nice to look at in the morning. And that was that, he assumed.
“Can I have some?” Nikaido asked.
“You shouldn’t ask to have a part of someone else’s gift,” Tanigaki scolded.
“But it’s chocolate.” Indeed it was. A box of chocolates, about the length and width of his forearms, found placed in the center of his desk at the same time next week. No note, again. Fortunately, neither box nor chocolate were heart shaped.
The one time occurrence was now a pattern. He’d heard rumors about a betting pool starting up, which begged the question of where the money would be going, because he certainly wasn't getting any. Hopefully they were rumors, because he really did not want to explain this to his boss.
“Tsukishima doesn’t eat chocolate,” Nikaido said, “or sweets at all,” Nikaido said. “He won’t even take any on Valentine’s Day,” Nikaido said.
“Has anybody ever mentioned how creepy it is that you finish each other’s sentences?” Tsukishima asked, and both Nikaidos turned their heads to him in unison.
“I don’t think this person knows Tsukishima that well, then,” Tanigaki said.
“Did the five dozen roses not clue you in on that,” Ogata said. Tsukishima looked up, but Ogata’s head had already dipped below their cubicle divider again.
“I guess I’ll give them away,” Tsukishima said. The Nikaidos perked up. “I didn’t say I would be giving them to you, though.”
The Nikaidos slunk away. They still respected him, kind of.
“Nice weather we’ve been having.”
“Mhm.”
“I heard it’s going to rain tonight though,” Kikuta checked his watch.
Tsukishima tried to adjust the enormous stuffed bear he was currently carrying in his arms.
Difficult to do, given he was holding his briefcase at the same time. Extra difficult because he could feel the weight of Kikuta’s stare on him as he was doing so.
“About the, ah, presents,” Kikuta said, “I think you’ve been selling yourself short.”
This elevator couldn’t go any slower. Tsukishima suspected it was from the control panel being kicked one too many times. There were plenty of people with anger issues on their floor alone.
The elevator doors opened with a chime, and they exited to the lobby.
“You’re not bad-looking and you’ve got some solid muscle,” Kikuta said. “Seriously, you should broaden your scope a little. Think a little harder. I wouldn’t be surprised if a passing secretary, or maybe some ladies from the floors above and below took a liking to you. Maybe you have some names on your mind?”
“If this is because you want to win the betting pool, I really can’t help you with that,” Tsukishima started to say until he looked up and saw Koito heading towards them.
Koito stalked right past them into the elevator, and repeatedly jammed the button. They both watched as the doors shut, and then another thud seemed to sound from inside.
“Is it just me, or did Koito look angrier than usual?” Kikuta said.
“I thought you of all people would be above the eyebrow jokes,” Tsukishima said.