A Liking to Flowers
Summary: Fuji had never liked flowers. To him, they were too delicate and fragile. Why he worked at a flowers shop, he did not know. Then someone came and changed it all.
Warnings: Shounen-ai
Pairings: Yukimura x Fuji
Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis is not mine.
Finally, a YukiFuji one-shot! This one is themed off of the first day of May! Which is why I submitted it today. May reminds me of flowers, which is why I used that theme for this fiction. Anyway, please read, review, and enjoy!
A Liking to Flowers:
Fuji sighed as he scooped up the fallen dirt. It had been the third little tray of flowers that he had dropped. At least the trays only had three little flowers planted in each one. Fuji never took a liking to flowers.
It had been one day that Saeki and he were walking down the street near his home. He had been complaining to his best friend about how expensive that new camera lens that he had wanted was. His friend merely snickered at him. He had suggested that Fuji get a job. Saeki had blindfolded Fuji and had him spin around in circles. Whichever store he was facing when he stopped would be the store that he would apply for. And it just had to be a flower shop.
Fuji had never liked flowers. To him, they were too delicate and fragile. Fuji always liked cacti better, since they were easy to take care of and never asked much out of you. Flowers were like little children, which Fuji never liked either, that always whined and demanded things.
Fuji was grateful, though, that the manager was not there that day. He was pretty much the only one, actually, and the whole shop was quiet. It was the first day of May, in the middle of the day. It was a Sunday, and most people would be relaxing at home. And what school kid would go to a flower shop in the middle of the day when they could be in their nice, air conditioned home?
As if on cue, the little bell that was hanging above the door rung for the first time that day. Fuji got up after he had finished sweeping up the remaining dirt and wiped off his gloved hands. He looked at the newcomer and was surprised to find someone that he knew.
"Yu-Yukimura-san?" he said, opening his eyes.
The captain of Rikkaidai smiled. "Fuji-kun of Seigaku. What a surprise. I never knew you liked flowers, Fuji."
"I don't," Fuji replied simply. With the hot air outside and the lack of air conditioning inside, Fuji was slightly on edge.
"Oh," was all Yukimura could say. He started to help Fuji arrange the little seeded trays. "Why not?"
Fuji watched the other tennis player. His hands were so graceful when working with flowers. Fuji envied him. "They remind me of little kids."
Yukimura laughed out loud. "I can see why you think that."
"You can?"
"Yes, of course. We have a huge garden at our house, and I have to take care of it most of the time. Flowers are very demanding, and they require a lot of attention and care. But they're beautiful, and I guess that makes up for all the effort." Yukimura stood back and admired his work. In a matter of minutes, he had finished color coding an entire rack, and Fuji was not even halfway done with his own.
"I've always liked cacti better."
"Ah, I see."
They stood like that in silence for a while. It wasn't really an awkward silence, but nor was it comfortable in the least. It would've been comfortable if they had been doing something else, but Fuji knew that Yukimura was working very quickly, and he wasn't himself. And that bothered him interminably.
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"Here, the rest of your flowers are done," Yukimura said. Fuji looked over at him. In the end, Fuji made himself work faster, and the other boy had only finished two more racks than him.
"Thank you for your help," Fuji said.
"Not a problem."
"So what brings you here, anyway, Yukimura-san?" Fuji asked.
The blue-haired boy chuckled. "You can drop the honorifics, Fuji. I actually came to get flowers for a special someone."
Fuji's ears nearly perked at that. If he was a cat, his ears would've jerked, or his whiskers would've twitched. He was attracted to gossip as much as a bee was to honey. He may not look it on the outside, but Fuji really liked to know about everything that was happening around him. That way, if someone told him something, he could say, 'I know,' and actually mean it. "Really?" has said calmly. "Who?"
He didn't expect Yukimura to tell him right away, but what came next wasn't expected either. "I honestly don't know."
"That's strange," Fuji replied.
"Isn't it?" Yukimura chuckled again. "Someone calm, caring, and pretty, of course."
"A boy or girl?" Fuji had to ask.
"No preference, really." Yukimura turned to him. "I helped you with flowers, and now you have to help me."
Fuji shrugged. "A fair trade." After all, he was pretty good in matchmaking. It was probably in his genes –cough- Yumiko –cough-.
"You want to get something to eat?" Yukimura offered, changing the subject.
Fuji checked the clock hanging on the wall. It was 12:15, a normal lunch time. "What about the shop? I'm the only one in today."
"Don't you get lunch breaks?" Yukimura asked. Fuji smiled and wrote it down on a paper. He taped it to the door, took off his gloves, and led the captain out of the shop.
When they both got outside, Fuji said, "Wow, it's warm."
"It's May."
"Where do you want to go?"
"Somewhere close."
"Like across the street?" Fuji pointed to the small café directly across the street from the shop.
"That will do."
Yukimura led this time across the street and held open the door for Fuji, who gladly walked into the air conditioned café. Despite the hour, it wasn't very crowded, with a couple other people, but not many.
"Are you hungry?" Fuji asked.
"Not really. Why don't we share a salad? I'll treat."
"Are you sure?"
The captain nodded.
They walked up to the counter and ordered a small salad. The person working there looked at Fuji. "What a pretty girl—" and then he looked at Yukimura. They both smiled almost identical smiles at him. "—Friend?"
Both of them laughed. "Thank you, sir," Fuji said when he received the order.
"No, thank you…um…" the person stammered. The two laughed again and walked off to get forks.
While they were eating, Yukimura began to talk again of his dream lover. "Hmmm…he or she has to be nice, of course, and not too talkative, but not shy, either. And their voice has to be soothing."
"Like yours?" Fuji pointed out. He didn't realize what he had just said. "I mean…"
Fortunately, Yukimura didn't seem to notice. "Yeah, like mine, I guess. They also have to be confident in themselves, but not exactly egotistical."
"Like Atobe," Fuji said firmly. In his best Atobe voice, he said, "Ore-sama no bigi ni yoi na!"
Yukimura laughed. "That was pretty good."
"Thanks." Without looking, Fuji picked up a fork and took a bite out of the salad. He just put it in his mouth when he realized that that wasn't his own fork. His eyes kind of widened and he just closed his mouth around the fork. After he had taken the bite, he put the fork back in the plastic bowl. "I'm sorry," he said.
"It's okay." Yukimura smiled. They threw their trash away and walked out of the store, still chatting casually.
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When they got back to the shop, which was not a long time later, Yukimura talked of the flowers that he wanted to get 'that special someone'. "Blue, probably, like a hydrangea."
Fuji was relieved that he knew which flower his friend was talking about. He didn't want to look like a fool working in a flower shop for the money, which was what he really was, in front of Yukimura.
"I really like that color," Yukimura continued. "It's dark, but not too dark, and also pale at the same time. The color is very calming."
"It's kind of like the color of your hair," Fuji said idly. He covered his mouth.
"Why, thank you," Yukimura said and smiled.
When Fuji clipped some of the beautiful flowers for Yukimura and wrapped them, he gave them to the captain. "Here," he said. "For your 'special someone'."
Yukimura took the flowers and thanked him. He then stared a long while down at Fuji (who is a little shorter), who wasn't expecting it. Fuji opened his eyes and looked back into Yukimura's blue ones. They matched his hair and the flowers nicely, but they were even more mesmerizing than his own.
Just as Fuji was beginning to feel uncomfortable, Yukimura backed off and smiled. "I guess I shouldn't be taking these."
"What do you mean?" Fuji asked, genuinely curious.
The glint in the captain's eyes changed a bit. He backed Fuji against the nearest wall, cupped his chin with his hand, and pressed his lips firmly against Fuji's. Fuji was shocked. His eyes snapped open. He was too surprised to respond. Yukimura pulled away and said, "I love you, Syusuke."
Fuji just stared at him. Yukimura's eyes began to dull a bit. His expression didn't change, but Fuji knew that he was disappointed. He had to do something himself quickly. Without thinking twice, he pulled the captain in for another kiss, melting into it almost instantly. Yukimura was a little surprised at first, but then he pulled Fuji in close. Fuji put his hands gently on the taller boy's shoulders. When he (Fuji) pulled away, he was panting this time, and his face was flushed.
Yukimura smiled. "How cute are you? Blushing like that."
The comment made Fuji blush even more. Yukimura then thrust the flowers into Fuji's hands, gave him one last chaste kiss, and walked out of the flower shop.
Fuji smiled. He noticed that there was a little note on the tag attached to the flowers. He opened it up and read it. Syusuke, if you are going to date me, you're going to take a liking to flowers very soon.
How Yukimura wrote that quickly, I have no clue. Or maybe e already knew...? Saa, use your imagination. And I have no idea if Yukimura is taller than Fuji or not, but I always thought so, because Fuji is very short, and since Yukimura is 'seme', he is taller in my version. Please review!