Title: Flower Language

Artist/Authors: KivaEmber

Character(s)/Pairing(s): Hichigo ShirosakixIchigo Kurosaki

Rating: K+

Warnings: SAPPINESS, a bad word or two, randomness, AU themes, homosexual themes, shonen ai, fluff. Lot's of it.

Summary: AU Oneshot. Shiro's house was very tranquil, oddly enough. HichiIchi.

A/N: Yay. I've missed doing AU oneshots for this fandom.

I'll be doing the prompt supa long oneshot soon, once everyone has finished voting on it, and I need to scrape off the rust on my lemon writing skills. Eventually. Yes. But for now, I cranked this up in celebration for finding Civilisation IV in my drawer. Man, I haven't played that game in ages…

(Also, I couldn't resist the image in this XP)

Enjoy!

X.x.X

"The first miracle was that you were born.
The second miracle was time we spent together.
The third miracle is a truly sincere heart from you in future.
The fourth miracle I don't need; the fourth I don't need.

Arigato.

Arigato."

--- Kokoro/Kiseki

X.x.X

FLOWER LANGUAGE

If there was one thing Ichigo loved about staying around Shiro's house, it was how tranquil it was.

It was odd to use the word 'tranquil' in relation to Shiro, really, but that's what it really was. The house was a glorified, old fashioned bungalow, adapted from an old dojo that the albino's guardian, a solemn man called simply 'Zangestu', had bought many years ago. Zangetsu had one day merely handed it over to Shiro, mortgage paid and everything, and disappeared. He dropped by every so often, sometimes when Ichigo was around, to either wander around the property, as if to assure himself it was still there, or give cryptic advice to Shiro that made no sense before vanishing again.

Shiro's house was situated on the outskirts of town, far out enough that Ichigo had to pay for a bus if he ever wanted to visit. But that was alright because Ichigo's dad always bought him a bus pass, sparkling and cooing over how his 'Big Boy was all grown up' until Ichigo punched him in the face. It had a dusty road leading up to it, through the thick leafy vegetation of the surrounding forest. There was always a bird chirping somewhere when Ichigo would walk up the path.

The albino was at his calmest there, and he would usually be sitting on the patio before the pond, chucking small pebbles and watching the surface ripple. Or, and this had shocked Ichigo to the core when he had first found out, he would be in the garden that swallowed up a good part of the property, looking after the myriad of bright flora with an expert hand.

Ajisai, zinnia, shiragiku, azalea, dahlia, edelweiss, and freesia were just some of the names of flowers that Ichigo had learned. Shiro would give him that crooked grin when he pointed out a new addition to his garden, telling him its meaning in both Japan and Western cultures in his drawling voice. Ichigo would shrug in reply, but store up the information in his head, because Shiro would always give him flowers and Ichigo would have to puzzle out its meaning so he could either punch or kiss the albino idiot in response.

(But even if Shiro gave him something like a bouquet of freesia, Ichigo would, deep down, still be flattered that the albino would give him flowers from his beloved garden…even if the moron was calling him childish and immature in the process.)

"Spacin' out again, Ichi?"

Ichigo blinked, bronze eyes cracking open to see golden eyes peering down at him with amusement. He scoffed, waving a hand lazily and remained sprawled on the soft grass. "No…I was going to sleep." He yawned then added as an afterthought, "Idiot."

"Tch. All ya do is sleep here." Shiro complained obnoxiously, turning away from the redhead and returned to carefully plucking out the weeds with skilful fingers and depositing them into a basket beside him. "I'm startin' t' think I'll hafta move inta th' city. Maybe all th' noise'll keep you awake."

"Then where would you keep all your precious flowers if you moved into the city?" Ichigo mumbled, sighing when a soft breeze picked up and he smelled the sweet scent of roses and honeysuckle.

"I never said I'll sell this place." Shiro snickered. "A second home. Drag ya there so ya won' sleep when I wanna smex ya up."

"You don't have enough money."

"True." Shiro rocked back on his heels, finished with the weeding, and closed the lid of the basket he had, patting it. "Bu' ya'll be amazed how much people pay fer flowers. Mine 'specially."

Ichigo snorted under his breath, peeking at the albino and rolling his eyes at the smug grin gracing the other's lips. "I didn't know you took so much pride being the town's local flowerboy."

"Aaah…" Shiro laughed again, leaning back until he was sprawled on the grass, resting his head on Ichigo's stomach. "Well, y'know…"

"No." Ichigo smirked. "I don't know."

"Tch. Bitch."

They both fell silent. Another breeze tugged some pastel pink petals free of the recently bloomed Sakura tree, and Ichigo watched their gentle progress drifting across the brilliant azure sky. The crickets were out, which was strange since it was still only a few hours pass afternoon, but Ichigo didn't mind. It was a nice accompaniment to the birds chirping in the surrounding trees somewhere.

He really did love this place.

"What would Ichi do…" Shiro mumbled quietly, sounding close to dozing off. "If I gave 'im some Forget-me-nots?"

"Hit you for being a sap." Ichigo mumbled back.

"Oh, Ichi, darlin', where's yer romantic soul?" Shiro snickered, and Ichigo felt the albino shift, then the weight lift off of his stomach. He blinked in confusion, seeing the albino grin down at him wryly, twirling a Forget-me-not between his fingers.

Ichigo wasn't surprised by the sudden appearance of the flower. Shiro could conjure them up at whim, once making his sister, Yuzu, ask if he was a magician.

Golden eyes half lidded, Shiro massaged a baby blue petal between his pale fingers before deftly plucking it off and letting the breeze carry it away with the Sakura petals still floating through the garden. "He loves me…"

"Do you know how childish that is?" Ichigo groaned, but he sat up anyway and gently grasped the Forget-me-not from the between the albino's fingers before another petal could be plucked. "Idiotic sap."

Shiro just grinned. "Bu' I'm your idiotic sap, Ichi. 'Sides, it would've landed on 'he loves me' anyway. I counted."

Ichigo laughed, startled. "You counted? Geeze, Shiro…" He rolled the stem, peering down at the four petal flower. "No need for that." He plucked a petal off, leaving the flower looking odd with only three petals clinging to it.

"Yeah. Prob'ly not." Shiro reached out, gently closing his fingers around Ichigo's grasping the Forget-me-not's stem and rubbed the calloused pad of his thumb along the redhead's knuckle. "I was gonna give ya a red rose…bu' that's too cliché."

"And too many petals to count."

"That too." Shiro shrugged. "Bu' I guess th' Forget-me-not pretty much says wha' I mean, even if it is more sappy than a rose. Eh, Ichi?" The albino giggled that quirky laugh of his, his other hand plucking off another petal.

"Mm." Ichigo watched the baby blue petal drift away then lazily slid his eyes back to Shiro. He had a Sakura petal in his white hair. He reached over and brushed it off, his fingers lingering on the soft ghostly strands. "I'm used to sappiness off of you. Beneath your shitty attitude you're a right softie."

"Softie?" Shiro pouted, plucking one of the last two petals and allowing it to flutter down onto Ichigo's thigh. "I'm no softie. I kick th' shit outta people I don' like, an' fuck authority figures, ne? Heh…" He frowned briefly, before shrugging to himself and plucked the final petal, rolling it between his forefinger and thumb. "He loves me."

Ichigo dropped the stem. "I've gotta go." He sighed, checking his watch. "Before Dad freaks out and kicks me for being late or whatever his retarded brain thinks up of."

"Righto." Shiro hauled himself up with a groan, making sure to pick up his weed basket, and held out a hand for Ichigo to take.

Ichigo took the offered hand, and allowed himself to be helped up, brushing stray petals from his clothes. "You gonna walk with me to the bus stop?" He asked, pushing his hands into his jeans pockets, tilting his head up to look up at the vivid pink flowers blooming on the trees.

"Nah. I've gotta dump these an' then do th' roses. Gotta find some ladybirds fer 'em." Shiro flashed him a crooked grin, patting the redhead on the shoulder. "So sorry, Ichi. Maybe I'll walk ya home some other time."

"Bastard." Ichigo huffed, punching the albino lightly in the arm and turned away when the albino just snickered. He was about to walk towards the small stone path that winded around the house to the dust path, but Shiro patting his shoulder again made him pause.

"Hey, hey, hold on."

Sighing, Ichigo turned around, and blinked when he saw an intense red rose held out to him. He gingerly took it, minding the sharp thorns, and frowned down at it. "…Sap." He mumbled, feeling suspicious warmth flood his cheeks. Goddammit, he was blushing.

"Well, it was either that or givin' ya a cactus." Shiro giggled, grin widening to shit eating proportions. He waved away the deadpan look Ichigo gave him, and winked. "Aren' ya gonna miss yer bus, Ichi?"

"Yeah, yeah…" Still holding the rose tenderly in one hand, Ichigo flicked his fingers in lieu of goodbye, turning around and walking away. He ignored the high pitched cackle with a roll of his eyes, stroking the velvety petal. The scent emitting from it was strong.

He looked up at the bright sky when he was halfway down the dust path, hearing the droning of the bus overlapping the sound of the birds and breeze. He could smell exhaust now.

Ichigo made a mental note to buy a vase for the rose on his way home.

OWARI