A/N: This is my second attempt at DGM fanfiction! THERE IS YAOI HERE. Haters please click the back button. There may be some OOC, but you can be the judge.
This is just a crappy little oneshot in honor of Valentine's Day/Singles Awareness Day. I wanted to get this out for today, so it may not exactly be my best work, but I have bigger and better things in the works for those of you who like Lucky and/or Yullen.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything here. The characters are all property of their manga-ka, Katsura Hoshino. Please don't sue, unless you really like pocket lint.
The Language of Flowers
Spin spin spin.
Click.
Spin spin.
Click.
Spin.
Click.
The locker popped open, sending forth a small avalanche of red, pink, and white. The redheaded owner of said locker sighed softly. Lavi stared at the small pile, already absently counting the various love letters his admirers had no doubt stuffed into the locker. The pile had grown since last year, which was a bit surprising, but not entirely unexpected.
He knelt, beginning to collect them in a pile so he could read and decide whether or not a response was necessary. Some love letters were simply declarations and requested no response, while some actually required one. He still remembered freshman year, when he had ignored this holiday entirely and recycled the Valentines that had been stuffed into his locker. The less that was said about that incident, the better.
He hummed quietly to himself as he gathered the oddly shaped cards into one neat pile, absently listening to the sounds of footsteps as the other teens in the hall moved around his kneeling form, the occasional foot knocking lightly against the soles of his boots.
He stood, Valentines in hand, and moved to shove them onto the small shelf at the top of his locker. Though not useful for much else, it made a very convenient holder for the notes until the end of the day, when he could take them home. He normally spent about an hour reading and replying to or recycling the Valentine's Day cards. Most of them had the same tired poetry, the same old phrases, and even the same over-used shape. He had yet to find one that was truly unique or special, one that piqued his interest. The way he saw it, anyone who really liked him would try their best to stand out, and sending him a red heart edged in lace and sprayed liberally with perfume, a love poem by Shakespeare or Dickinson copied by hand onto the center with their name and phone number below it wasn't exactly original.
Some did send him original poems, but only a few were actually worth reading. Lavi would never actually say it out loud, but he groaned mentally every time someone sent him a poem they wrote. The poem always focused on his 'emerald eye' or 'hair like fire', and he never wanted to read another one from someone who had been in his gym class during the swimming unit. That poem had made him swear off Speedos, unless there was a guarantee of no girls around to see him and stare.
He moved to shove the stack onto the shelf, but something caught his eye. He moved the Valentines in his hands away from the shelf a bit and then simply stared at the brown and white box innocently occupying the shelf, a red rose in full bloom and another red flower he didn't recognize lying on top. A small piece of white paper was held underneath the two flowers.
Intrigued, Lavi set the pile of cards he held down at the bottom of his locker, on top of the books he would now need to dig out for class. He gently grabbed the flowers, holding the thornless stem of the rose in one hand while he inspected the unknown flower. The petals were short but wide at the base, coming to short points at the top. Smaller petals clumped together in the middle, covering up whatever stamen the flower had. He sniffed it, not recognizing the scent.
He transferred the flower to his other hand and reached for the note. It probably had some sort of explanation for why there were two flowers of different types in his locker and a box of what had to be chocolate.
Even if the white sheet did turn out to be a handcopied poem with a name and phone number beneath it, he had to give the person points for being unique.
The note was short, the words in an elegant script that was actually pretty to look at and easy to read. That was rare in penmanship, since most handwriting was either one or the other, rarely both. The redhead turned his attention to the actual words, reading them silently to himself.
'Do you know the language of flowers, lovely? A thornless red rose in full bloom means that I fell in love with you at first sight. The gardenia stands for a secret love, though perhaps not so secret by the end of the day.'
There was no signature.
The bell suddenly rang, startling Lavi out of his trancelike state. He shoved the note in his pocket, placing the flowers carefully back on top of the box. He reached through the pile of cards at the bottom of his locker, groping for his textbooks as the other students in the hall began heading to their classrooms.
He would have to find out who this person was. For the first time, a Valentine had actually piqued his interest.
He smiled, grabbing his books and slamming the locker shut.
This Valentine's Day promised to be a bit more interesting than last year's.
Line Break
Lavi slid into history just before the late bell, making his way quickly to his seat and setting his near-empty bookbag next to his desk before sitting. His textbooks he dropped onto the desk's top. He'd shove them in his backpack at the end of the period.
He drew the note out of his pocket. The sender had to be someone that had connections with the school, since the box and the flowers had been inside his locker. The locker hadn't been forced open, so whoever had left the items knew his locker combination. He toyed with the idea that someone he knew well had left the flowers and candy (the box HAD to contain chocolate), but he didn't recognize the other person's handwriting. Allen's writing was much plainer and Yuu's was more like chicken scratch than letters or words. It couldn't be either of them, and Lavi hadn't given his combination out to anyone else.
He studied the neat script again, trying to glean clues to the sender's identity. He loved a good puzzle, but he didn't have enough clues to go on yet. Someone who would have been able to find out his locker combination from the school (either a very good student or a very bad one - for all he knew, the sender had broken into the counselor's office and looked through the documents there for his locker number and combo), someone with neat writing, someone who could be either male or female, could be a sophomore, junior, or senior, and may or may not be in one of his current classes. Someone who knew the language of flowers. The school wasn't exactly small, and with such broad categories Lavi wasn't sure how to begin eliminating people from the 'possible sender' list.
"Take out your notebooks. We have a lot to cover today-" The teacher began to drone. With a thoughtful expression on his face, Lavi folded up the note and stuck it back in his pocket before leaning down to open his bag and drag out his five-subject notebook, excellent for doodling during any class. He could hear the other students muttering quietly to each other, getting in that last little bit of gossip before note taking began. Papers rustled and pens hit the glossy finish of the faux-wood desktops.
He flipped his notebook open to a clean sheet, leaning back over to grab his pencil case and grabbing a sharpened pencil before dropping the case back into his backpack. He set his notebook on top of his pile of textbooks, thoughts still focused on the note.
His uncovered eye focused on the teacher, though the slight glaze to Lavi's expression indicated that his thoughts were far away.
The teacher cleared his throat.
"Today we'll be starting our new unit - World War -"
The sound of a knock interrupted the man and seemed to echo in the classroom. Whispers broke out among the students, all turning to look at the door - no one ever knocked on this particular door after the tardy bell rang. With this particular teacher, if you were late it was just better not to show up. Any messages could wait until passing period. No one interrupted, but someone just had.
The redhead turned his gaze to the door as well, only half-interested in the proceedings. He rested his cheek on his palm, supporting his head with his arm as he watched the door. The teacher made his way stiffly towards the door, every fiber of his being radiating shock and disapproval.
The sound of the doorknob was oddly loud - the students seemed to have stopped breathing in anticipation. The last time a messenger had come to the door, this teacher had sent the girl out five minutes later. The girl had been in tears.
The door opened.
"I'm looking for Lavi Bookman. Is he in this class?" The voice was female, tone mildly interested as if she didn't care whether or not the class she had just interrupted was the correct one. Lavi frowned, puzzled. No one should be looking for him, since he hadn't broken any school rules recently and so didn't need to be sent to the Dean's or Guidance. He hadn't broken any laws either, so the police weren't after him. What else would be so urgent that someone would come get him during class?
"Yes, he is." The teacher's tone dripped irritation and now it had an outlet. "Are you a friend of his?"
Lavi winced. No doubt the teacher was planning a lecture on how friends were not supposed to visit during class and likely a detention for Lavi if the girl said 'yes'.
"No. I don't know him, but someone I know asked me to make a delivery." The girl slipped past the teacher into the room, blue eyes scanning until her eyes landed on the only head of red hair in the room. The girl was short, built more like a twelve-year-old than a teenager, though her voice made her seem older. Her skirt was short, striped socks covering up to her thighs, and her black hair was cut short and spiked in all directions. The shirt she wore had ruffles on the front and a collar, a red ribbon acting as a tie.
She smiled, the expression more like a smirk, and began sauntering her way down the row of desks Lavi sat in. In her hands were another red rose, a red tulip, and a small sheet of white paper.
The teacher stared after her, flabbergasted. The students had a similarly stunned reaction - one was dripping his coffee into his lap, having lifted it to take a sip as the girl barged in. The coffee drinker didn't even seem to notice, though the liquid was still steaming.
"Young lady, if you think you can just-" The girl in question looked over her shoulder.
"I'm leaving in a minute. Until then, you can wait." She turned her gaze back to Lavi, who was even more surprised than the rest of the class. She finally reached his desk and perched on the edge of the flat top, studying him. He met her gaze squarely, though he knew shock wasn't quite cleared from his expression.
Her smirk softened to a smile.
"I guess I can see what he sees in you, though you're not my type." She handed him the flowers and note, which he took automatically, then hopped off the desk. She began walking back up the aisle of chairs, waving.
"See you later."
The class fell into dead silence as the girl walked past the teacher and into the hall, door shutting behind her with a click. Everyone seemed too shocked to speak, but Lavi ignored them.
He stared at the flowers in his hand and the note.
'So the sender is a guy.' he though to himself, not particularly bothered by the fact as he had never been very fond of girls. In fact, the new information just increased his desire to figure out who the sender was.
'A red tulip is a declaration of my feelings for you, and a request. Believe I'm sincere, lovely.'
Lavi sniffed the red rose, remembering how the flower supposedly meant the other man sending the gifts fell in love with him at first sight. He smiled, putting the two flowers to one side of his desk and sticking the second note in the same pocket that held the first.
Line Break
Lavi dragged his feet into the lunchroom three classes later, looking around for Allen and Yuu-chan. Six more flowers - for a grand total of ten flowers so far - were held carefully in his hands. Three more were red, thornless roses, and three were flowers Lavi hadn't recognized at first. Three more notes were folded and carried in his pocket. During second period biology, a mammoth of a man had come carrying a rose and a stem of small, cup-like flowers. The man hadn't spoken beyond asking if Lavi was in the class, then had dropped off the flowers and the note without another word. Lavi doubted the man was the sender. The group of small red blooms was apparently a snapdragon, which, according to the note, 'represents desire'.
Third period was an English elective he had taken more for the view than the subject. He sat in the second row, two seats over from a certain senior that he had taken notice of last year. The senior in question had been a transfer student of Portuguese heritage with the manners and looks of a true gentleman.
Tyki Mikk was supposedly descended from a noble and his family had been wealthy for generations. Tyki had gained instant popularity, and not only for his looks. The older teen was almost inhumanly intelligent and popular with the faculty as well as the students. Lavi was no exception, though he hadn't spoken to the black-haired teen more than once or twice. He had been lucky enough to be in some of Tyki's classes last year, though this year all they had was third hour English together. He had briefly entertained the thought that Tyki was the sender, since he fit the criteria (male, connection with teachers, had enough money to send all these flowers) but discarded it since he doubted the other male even knew who he was.
That period, his mysterious admirer had sent another red rose (delivered by an older woman in a business suit and sunglasses, despite the fact that it wasn't all that bright indoors) and a group of tiny purple flowers on a single stem. Lavi hadn't recognized the flower, but the scent he recognized as lavender. Lavender was the flower of 'devotion' according to the note.
Fourth period math had seen the reappearance of the small girl from first period, though this time she bore a red carnation (for 'admiration, fascination, and a heart that aches for you') and yet another red rose.
At least now it was lunch, so he'd have a break from getting flowers and have some time to think. He had five notes now, so maybe the giver had left some sort of clue.
Lavi finally spotted a head of white hair and began heading towards it. Allen and Yuu always sat together and Allen was probably one of the most visible people in school due to his unusual hair color. Lavi began making his way around the various round tables in the lunchroom, narrowly dodging a few girls who were walking with their trays and gossiping rather than watching where they were going.
Allen and Yuu had managed to snag the table by the window, in the far corner of the lunchroom. Kanda, per usual, was eating his noodle dish without hurry, blatantly ignoring the cheerful white haired boy who sat across from him. Allen had a lunch big enough to feed an army, but that was nothing unusual either. The kid ate like a horse. Allen spotted Lavi first, then stood and waved. Lavi smiled and nodded, waving back to show he saw them. Allen sat back down.
Lavi trotted the last few steps to the table, then set down his flowers carefully and sat down next to Allen, swinging his backpack off his back in one smooth motion. Math class had been a party in honor of the day, so he hadn't bothered packing a lunch.
"Where'd you get those from, Lavi?" Allen asked, somehow talking clearly around a mouthful of food. It was a skill the teen had perfected some time ago, though Lavi didn't know how.
"A secret admirer. I found two more in my locker, and every class since I've been getting a rose and a different type of flower. He sends me notes too, on the 'language of flowers'." Lavi dug in his pocket, producing the notes and shoving them at the slightly younger teen.
"'He'?" Allen's voice was curious as he reached for the small pieces of white paper with a gloved hand. He always wore long sleeves and a glove on his left arm to cover up some pretty terrible burn scars he's had since his first adopted father died. Lavi had done a bit of digging when he first met the younger boy, since he had always liked a good mystery, but he had never brought up the topic with Allen himself. He could tell the topic was sensitive, since Allen had flat-out refused to work with the Bunsen burner last year in chemistry. The normally amiable young man had gone distant any time they had to work with fire, like he was remembering something terrible. Lavi wasn't going to pry.
"One of the people who dropped these off let it slip that the giver was a 'he'." Lavi shrugged. "It's not like guys haven't sent me Valentines before." Lavi watched as Allen began looking through the notes, pausing to read them before sliding them one by one back to Lavi. The white-haired boy seemed to be deep in thought.
"So you get another two flowers every class period? Seems like this guy likes you a lot and has cash to burn." Allen turned back to his third sandwich, a turkey-ham-beef-Swiss combo on wheat with lettuce and tomato and some sort of dressing. He took a bite and chewed thoughtfully.
"So the stupid rabbit has a stalker." Kanda deadpanned, breaking in to the conversation. He took a slow sip of the broth that went with his soba noodles. "What's the big deal? Maybe the stalker is the crazy type who'll kill him and put him out of my misery."
"Ah, you know you'd miss me, Yuu-chan!" Lavi replied, smiling widely. A vein under
Kanda's eye twitched.
"Call me by my first name again and I'll decapitate you."
Lavi's smile only grew. Kanda Yuu was a Japanese immigrant and had traveled from Japan when he was six. While he was just as much American as Japanese, since he had lived here most of his life, he kept with traditional Japanese customs and forbade anyone from calling him 'Yuu' unless they were close friends. Of course, as Kanda didn't consider anyone a 'friend' no one got away with calling him by his first name. When angry enough, Kanda had been known to bring his family heirloom, Mugen, a real katana with an edge sharp enough to split a hair dropped on it, to school to threaten the offending party. Needless to say, Kanda had been expelled from more than one school and suspended more than once.
"Kanda has a point, Lavi." Allen said. "This guy knows your locker number, the combination, and what classes you take. Isn't that a bit weird?"
Lavi shrugged.
"Not really. The school's pretty big, but it's not hard to find out a class schedule or locker number, especially if you have friends on staff. The guy just seems to have a crush on me, and the notes aren't creepy either. It's not like they say 'wonderful black underwear you have on today, Lavi' or 'the way you brushed aside the lock of your hair in English today at five minutes to the bell made me fall even more in love with you'."
"That was more information than anyone needed to know about you, baka-usagi." Kanda growled. Allen sighed.
"Point made. So the notes aren't creepy, but are you sure it's not some sort of stalker?" the white-haired boy asked. Lavi shook his head.
"There doesn't seem to be anything sinister about the notes or the flowers. This is probably the most unique Valentine I've ever received, so I'm interested to see how this works out." Lavi smiled brightly. "Besides, and I never thought I'd use this word, since it never applied to all the Valentines I've gotten up 'til now, but don't you think this is kind of romantic?"
Allen dropped his sandwich. Kanda made a disgusted 'che' sound, continuing to eat his soba.
"You must really like getting these flowers." Allen said, a look of awe on his face. "Do you know who the sender is?"
Lavi shrugged.
"Not yet, but I think he's planning on telling me. The first note said the gardenia stood for a secret love, but one that may not be so secret after today. I'll just have to wait and-"
The sound of shouting interrupted Lavi. The redhead and the white-haired boy turned to see what the commotion was, while the Japanese teen with them ignored the goings-on.
Two dark-skinned boys - one with long blond hair and the other with short black locks - were standing in the middle of the lunchroom. The dark-haired one seemed frustrated while the blond chuckled, some sort of weird headgear bobbing on the blond's head. The dark-haired boy's coat hung off his shoulders, wrapped around his upper arms while bandages covered his neck. They certainly made an odd pair.
In their hands, they each carried a single red rose.
"Oi! Lavi Bookman, where are you?!" The dark-haired boy shouted over the normal lunch room din, looking around. He waved the rose in the air carelessly. "I have a delivery for Lavi Bookman!"
"Delivery! Delivery!" the blond laughed, waving his rose in the air as well.
The redhead could see his fellow classmates turning to stare at the pair standing in the center of the lunchroom and could almost hear the rumors begin to spread. With a sigh he stood, leaving his flowers and bag with Allen and Kanda. He could feel more than one set of eyes on his back as he made his way around various tables to the two.
The blond was the first to notice him, tugging on the other's sleeve. The dark-haired boy turned towards the redhead, scowling. As soon as Lavi was close enough, he thrust the rose towards him, dropping it before Lavi had the chance to take it. The redhead caught it before it hit the ground. The blond handed him the second rose a bit more calmly, though the string sewing his lips almost shut was unnerving, and the odd headpiece was just... odd.
"Here's the note." The bad-tempered one shoved a note at him as well, then turned. "Come on, Jasdero. We're leaving."
The blond nodded happily and turned, scampering alongside the black-haired boy as they made their way out of the lunchroom.
Lavi watched them go for a moment, surprised, then turned around. He could feel more stares leveled at him as he walked back to his table. The buzz of normal conversation returned as he sat down, putting the two roses down on the table and unfolding the small sheet of paper the odd pair had brought him.
'Half the day is already gone. I hope you're enjoying my lessons in the language of flowers, lovely.'
Again, as with all the other notes, no signature.
Lavi could see Allen trying to subtly read the note over his shoulder - chuckling, he passed it over. Allen scanned the note, then handed it back. Lavi raised his visible eyebrow, as if to ask if Allen still thought the mysterious gift-giver was indeed a stalker. The white-haired boy simply shrugged and turned back to his food.
"So he doesn't seem that dangerous. Just be careful."
The redhead nodded absently, collecting the notes and putting them back in his pocket, plus the short two-sentence note he had just gotten. He spent the rest of his lunch hour quizzing himself on the meanings of the flowers he had received so far, running his fingertips gently over the petals and leaves of the different blooms.
Line Break
Lavi made his way to his locker at the end of the day, six more flowers in his hand. Three more were, again, red roses, making a total of ten of the traditional Valentine's Day flower. Three were flowers he hadn't known existed, two white and one blue-purple. His language class had been interrupted by the woman in the business suit and shades. She had given him one of the white flowers along with the rose, one with numerous petals. It looked almost like a miniature hat, since the petals around the edge grew horizontally while the ones closer to the center grew into a dome shape. The flower was a camellia, apparently, which meant 'adoration, perfection, and loveliness'.
Theater class had seen the reappearance of the musclehead from Biology, this time with a cluster of white flowers and the rose. The white flowers were small (though not as small as the snapdragon or lavender), but less than palm-sized, with five petals each. They were actually quite pretty, and called 'arbutis' if the note accompanying them was to be believed. The arbutis was given to mean that Lavi was the sender's 'only love'.
He hadn't expected to receive anything during gym class, since playing basketball wasn't easy to do while holding a flower, but the same small girl from history and math had shown up, the blue-purple flower in her hand along with the customary rose. The flower was one with only five petals as well, though the fifth petal was larger than the others. When held upright, the largest petal was on the bottom and seemed to underline the four on top. It was a violet, the flower for 'faithfulness, to show that I will always be true to you'.
Lavi had sat out the basketball game, enduring some slight teasing from the other boys in class. He wasn't going to get the flowers smashed just to play a game. His interest wasn't so much in the flowers, but who was sending them. He hadn't noticed anyone acting any differently around him, nor had anyone been staring (the incident at lunch didn't count). The redhead had been paying careful attention to the people, but hadn't noticed anything. It was a bit frustrating, but Lavi could be patient and wait to find out who the sender was.
He spun the lock quickly, fingers working out of habit to open up the locker. Another (much smaller) avalanche of paper hearts and cards came out of his locker, having accumulated during the day, but those were ignored in favor of staring at the top shelf. He could hear other teenagers muttering in annoyance as they were forced to walk around the mess, but he didn't care.
Two more flowers had joined the rose and gardenia he had left there for safekeeping. One more red rose, and a lighter blue-purple flower he recognized as a forget-me-not. A note had been placed underneath the flowers, this one longer than the rest. The redhead quickly but carefully placed the bouquet he had been carrying around on top of the shelf, then reached for the note.
'A forget-me-not represents true love, lovely. A dozen roses is the ultimate confession of love, and your twelfth rose can be found with me.' Lavi read to himself. 'Your final lesson in flower language: to accept a flower with the right hand means 'yes', while to accept with the left means 'no'. Please consider carefully, then meet me at the school's back entrance.'
Lavi shoved the note into his pocket, made sure the stems of the flowers were clear, then shut his locker. Before the sound of the slamming metal had finished echoing, he was down the hall and heading for the back door of the school. Not a whole lot of kids used it, so it was the perfect place to have a hidden meeting.
Time to find out just who it was that had sent him so many flowers.
Line Break
Lavi reached the back door to the school in minutes, as the back door was only a few hallways down from his locker and a turn or two. The other students had already started leaving, anxious to leave and start their weekends. The crowd thinned the closer he got to the back entrance, so much so that, by the time he reached the doors, there was no one nearby.
For a moment, he questioned the wisdom of meeting someone he didn't know when there was no one else around. Allen's voice sounded in the back of his mind, the word 'stalker' reverberating, but then he pushed his doubts aside. If nothing else, he wanted to see who had sent him such a well-planned, expensive Valentine.
Taking a deep breath, he pushed open one of the double doors and stepped outside. The sudden brightness blinded him for a moment and he paused to let his eyes adjust. He glanced around the small room-like area underneath the overhang of the building as his vision cleared, spotting a figure leaning against the left-hand wall. The person didn't move.
The redhead couldn't quite see detail like facial features yet, but his slowly adjusting vision let him see the red rose the other held in his hand. This could be none other than the young man who had sent the flowers. From what Lavi could see, the other had olive skin and was well dressed in a white button-up shirt and dark slacks.
His vision cleared fully, revealing the identity of the mysterious admirer as none other than Tyki Mikk. Lavi could feel his mouth drop open in shock, which seemed to be the visual cue the other teen was waiting for. Tyki pushed himself off the wall and sauntered towards Lavi, pausing a few steps from the redhead and extending the rose.
"Will you be my Valentine, lovely?" Tyki asked, then waited for Lavi's response. The moment seemed to drag on, then slowly Lavi raised his right hand to gently accept the flower. He moved as if in a dream, not totally believing that the senior he'd liked for some time had been the sender. Things like that happened in movies, not real life, yet...
Tyki smirked.
"Well well well..." he purred, moving closer. Lavi didn't move, holding the rose's thornless stem lightly so he wouldn't crush it. One of the Portuguese teen's hands came up to cup Lavi's cheek while the other wrapped around the redhead's waist to pull his body close to the other's. Lavi lifted his arms up to embrace the dark-haired teen, tilting his head back in silent permission.
This was way better than he had expected. Maybe Valentine's Day wasn't as dull as he had originally thought.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Lavi." Tyki murmured against his lips, then closed the distance and kissed him. Lavi returned it eagerly, mouth opening at the insistence of Tyki's tongue.
Happy Valentine's Day indeed.
The End
A/N: Like I said, not my best work, but I had the urge to write some Lucky and I wanted to have it up for Valentine's Day. If there were any errors, please point them out and I'll try to correct them as soon as I can!