"Onii-chan, you know that when you love someone you're supposed to give them flowers right? Can you tell me why the hell you're just sitting there drinking my carrot juice as though today's not her anniversary?" Gakupo nearly spat out his-Gumi's drink out, her sudden appearance startling him out of his forgetful trance. He cleared his throat and handed back her drink.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"You know damn well what I'm talking about!" She scowled and punched his arm. "Today's your guys' anniversary, and you have to get Meiko some flowers!"
"The flowers can wait! And when did you start cursing like that? Have you been hanging around Piko lately? I mean, I know the kid looks and sounds innocent, but he's got a dirtier mouth than Rin."
"The term you're looking for is shota-"
"I wasn't looking for a term-"
"-and Rin doesn't curse as much as Miki does! You know it's always the cute ones you have to watch out for! And clearly, I am one of them!" She stuck her thumb out and jabbed it at her chest, as if to accentuate her cuteness. Gakupo sighed and hung his head.
"Okay yes, you're cute, I get that. Anything else you want to tell me?"
"You need. To get. Meiko. Flowers!"
"And I'll get her flowers! After I call Kaito and tell him I'm-"
"NO DON'T CALL HIM STOP MAKING UP EXCUSES YOU SAD EXCUSE OF A BOYFRIEND!" She kicked him out of his seat, toppling the so-called samurai head over heels onto floor. He groaned and sat up, rubbing his head and looking up pitifully at her.
"That hurt."
"Shut up!" She pointed at the door and glared at him. "Now stop stalling and get those flowers!"
"But Guuuuumiiiiiii-"
"Oh. My god. Really, who's the older sibling here? Is it me? Is it truly me? They must have gotten those birth certificates wrong because it seems like I'm the one acting like the mature older sibling! Call the presses! No wait, call Miku and then the press will come here! This is earth shattering news that everyone must hear! Lily's going to faint when she hears this, and poor Luka will have to catch her before she hits the ground! Miriam's going to have to sit down and drink a whole bottle of wine in order to digest this news properly! I can just see the headlines now!" Gumi's hands went up as she turned a bit on her heel, motioning with her hands the imagined headlines she could see clearly in her mind. Gakupo sat up and listened to his sister rant, tuning out most of her words and waiting for her to finish.
"Gakupo forfeits rights to be eldest! Gumi is now the head of the family!" She plopped down in her seat and sneered at her brother. "Clearly you suck as a person."
"Yeah okay." He stood up and stretched. "What time is it?" She looked at the clock before turning back towards him.
"About 12 pm."
"So I still got a lot of time then." He picked up his wallet and keys before heading towards the door. "I'll be back soon."
"Don't forget your phone!"
"Oh right. That. Yeah, that's important." She got up and handed him his phone.
"And don't come home too late!" He grinned and ruffled her hair.
"Sometimes it really does seem like you're the older sibling. Don't eat too many carrots while I'm gone, okay? I need to make dinner with those."
"Fine fine!" She opened the door for him and shoved him out. "Make sure to get pretty flowers! She likes-!"
"-red flowers. I know." He walked off, waving good-bye to her behind him. "I'll be back soon!"
"Bye Onii-chan!" She waved back to him, watching him leave their home. Closing the door, she turned to face the calendar they had hung up on the wall. The 14th of February was highlighted in purple with hearts surrounding the date. She silently picked up a blue pen and crossed the date off, striking out some of the hearts in the process. The crossed off date made her lip tremble. It was wasn't fair to her brother what had happened. But there was nothing she could do about it. She stared at the date a bit longer before putting the pen down. Biting her lip, she went over to their couch and sat in front of the TV, flipping it on and avoiding the usual rom-coms that were being shown that day. She stared at the screen before sighing softly.
"I hope he'll be okay by himself today…"
The ponytailed man walked with purpose towards the florist's little store on the corner of the street. A bland looking sign hung limply from the store's front as he entered, a bell chiming softly to announce his arrival. He turned to a familiar blonde sitting behind the counter, waving to her as she curled strands of her hair around her finger. A bored expression adorned her face as she looked up at him.
"How may I help you?" His smile grew a bit mischievous as he leaned on the counter. The blonde frowned and visibly bristled, sensing the horribleness that was about to spewed upon her. "Gakupo don't you dare-"
"Do you think I can have some red LILIES in a bouquet for today?" He winked at the poor florist as she sighed, clearly exasperated.
"Can you stop with the fucking flower puns already?!"
"It's not my fault you and V own a flower shop."
"First of all, the shop belongs to V and ONLY V. I work here part time! It's not my fault she decided to name the damn place, 'The Flower's Shop'! As if I don't get enough shit from you, imagine what V has to go through on a daily basis!"
"I manage to deal with the puns more easily than you can, Lily." The owner of the store appeared from the back, carrying with her some pre-made bouquets for the day. Placing them down in vases on the counter, she wiped her hands clean on her apron and looked up at Gakupo with a calm expression. "What can I get for you?" He looked thoughtful for a minute before grinning once more.
"Can I get a red themed bouquet? It would V very nice if you were extra gentle with the Lilies though, Meiko loved Lilies, and she certainly loved her red Flowers!" Lily looked ready to leap over the counter to strangle him while V simply took it all in stride.
"Right. Anything else with that order?"
"No, not really. Just make it pretty, please."
"Okay." She grabbed Lily's hand and tugged her along, ignoring the blonde's protests as the pair disappeared into back room. Gakupo went over to the back of the counter and reclined in the chair that Lily had previously occupied. Leaning on top of the counter, he let his thoughts wander a bit as he waited for his order to finish. He closed his eyes and relaxed as a certain brunette made her way into his mind.
"Hey Gakupo, let's go out tonight! It'll be fun!" He chuckled and shook his head, holding tightly to his girlfriend's hand. Meiko puffed her cheeks out and pouted. "You're such a bore! Let loose for once!"
"I can't Meiko. At least, not tonight. I promised Gumi that I'd be back home with some carrot cake."
"Give me your phone."
"Wha-"
"I said give me your phone!" Before he could even reach into his pocket, Meiko had reached down into his pocket and snatched up his phone.
"Ah- hey!"
"Bleh!" She stuck her tongue out playfully at him before typing in his password and scrolling through his contacts. He looked over her shoulder and recognized the name she picked out.
"…Gumi?"
"Yes dumbass, your sister." She called the goggle wearing girl and waited for her to pick up.
"Why are you calling her?"
"To ask for permission to take you out! Obviously!" She pressed a finger up to his lips and grinned as Gumi picked up. "Gumi, how ya doin'?! Yeah, I just wanted to ask if it'd be alright if I could borrow your brother for the night? He'll be back with you by tomorrow morning with two carrot cakes so don't worry!"
"Mmph-!" She covered his mouth with her whole hand and continued her conversation.
"Yup! It's exactly what you think! Mm-hmm! Yup, definitely involving flowers! Don't worry, I'll have him in one piece by the time you get him back! Okay, good-bye!" She hung up and removed her hand from his hand. He immediately sputtered and grabbed his phone back.
"What was that all about?! And what about flowers? What?"
"Oh stop making a fuss! You'll see soon enough!" She tugged him away from their current destination and started to shove her way through the crowd. "Hey watch it! Move your ass! Oh I'm sorry miss, I didn't see you there." Gakupo grumbled as he followed her through the crowd, stumbling past stores and making their way to her house. She unlocked the door and shoved him inside.
"Woah- hey!"
"Sorry sorry! Kaito's not home for once, so I'm a bit excited."
"He's not?" He blinked and looked around for the familiar blue-haired man. "Why not?"
"Something to do with his many siblings and what not. Didn't feel like spending the day with his roommate apparently. 'You'll just get drunk and make me clean up your mess again!' What a baby. He forgot that I have you for that now!"
"…you're not seriously planning on drinking your life away tonight, are you?" She gasped and held a hand up to her heart, feigning hurt and pouting dramatically.
"I'm wounded! How could you ever say such a thing?" She laughed and kicked her shoes off, closing the door and locking it before walking off towards her room. The pony-tailed man quickly (and clumsily) took off his shoes, running after her as she went through her movie collection and pulled out a movie. She waved it around in the air before tossing it like a Frisbee at him. "Catch!"
"Ack!" It bounced around in his hands before he could finally get a firm grip on it. He looked at the title and stared back at her with a questioning look. "…The Duke of Venomania's Madness? Isn't this like, rated R?"
"And aren't we like, over twenty years old? Get a grip lover boy and plug that movie in!" She bounced onto her bed and awaited him like a princess ready to devour her next prince charming. He sighed and walked over to her DVD player, placing the disk in and hitting play.
The movie began to play as he crawled onto her bed, laying down next to her as she rested her head on his chest. His fingers combed through her short hair idly as her arm curled around his stomach. The movie's theme was being hummed contently by the brunette as she snuggled closer to him. With a soft sigh, he planted a kiss on top of her head and watched the movie with mild interest. The duke was creating his harem of women at this point, and- oh.
It seemed as though the scenes were gradually getting more and more steamy.
Well then.
He shifted awkwardly underneath her, clearing his throat a few times as he blushed from the explicit scenes. Meiko looked up to examine his expression and grinned triumphantly. Yes. Everything was going according to plan. She wrapped a leg around his pelvis and switched her position, laying comfortably on top of him. Gakupo let out a shocked squeak as he stared at her with wide eyes.
"Mei-Meiko! Um, what are you-?" She planted a kiss on his lips to silence him.
"Hush Gakky, I take it you've never been very intimate in any of your relationships before right?" He shook his head before yelping as she kissed his jaw line. "Then, you wouldn't mind if I helped change that, right?"
"I- well- um- I-I'm alri- uh- y-yea-"
"I'll take that as a yes." She moved down to his neck and started to lightly pepper it with kisses, licking at his throat a few times before carefully biting down on the skin and sucking on it. He whimpered softly and gasped.
"Oh fuck!" She looked up at him and leaned back up to kiss him gently.
"Don't worry, the fucking will begin soon." She tugged at his shirt and grinned. "Very soon. You ready, Gakupo?"
"Gakupo?"
"AHHH!" He stood up quickly, knocking his chair back and startling Lily. The poor part-timer yelped and leapt backwards, slipping and crashing into some lilies. Her ungraceful fall resulted in the bucket of lilies falling over, covering her in damaged lilies and soaking her wet with water.
"Lily? Oh no, Lily you bruised the lilies." V Flower rushed out with the finished bouquet cradled carefully in her arms. She placed it gently on the counter and rushed to help Lily up. The blonde growled and threw the lilies down to the ground. V looked her over and sighed as she spotted a bruise forming on Lily's arm. "Oh, it looks like my Lily got bruised too."
"Yeah yeah, I bruised your lilies I get it!"
"You did." She gently patted the forming bruise and turned to Gakupo. "Are you alright? I heard you yell." He gulped and combed his fingers through his hair a bit nervously.
"Oh, it's, nothing."
"You sure?"
"Positive." She tilted her head to the side and stared at him.
"Were you daydreaming?" He gulped once more and looked down at his feet. Sometimes the stoic florist had an unnerving way of staring at people. It always seemed like she could read one's thoughts with those penetrating eyes of hers. It didn't help that her uneven bush of a ponytail seemed to add more height to her short stature.
"I… was in fact daydreaming, yes."
"Was it who I think it was?"
"Um… maybe."
"Did it involve first times?"
"You're seriously going into territories that you have no right going into."
"So she took your flower?"
"Would you STOP?"
"Is that what you were thinking about?" Both Lily and Gakupo were starting to look just a bit uncomfortable, Gakupo more so than Lily. Lily cleared her throat and tugged a bit at some of V's hair.
"I think you should stop." V looked at her curiously before shrugging.
"He was thinking about the time she took his flower."
"Who took his flower?" Lily looked incredibly confused while V just patted her head.
"There there, keep true to your name Lily."
"What?" V Flower ignored her confused part-timer's expression and turned back to Gakupo.
"Here's the bouquet. That will be twenty five dollars." She looked at him expectantly. He took the bouquet slowly and cradled it gently in one arm before slipping his free hand down to his pocket, taking out his wallet, and paying her the amount. "Thank you, come again." She pocketed the cash as he moved from behind the counter and headed towards the door.
As he opened it, V Flower spoke up once more from behind him, letting a bit of emotion slip into her voice.
"Give her my regards too, Gakupo." He paused slightly by the door, before turning to her with a slight smile.
"Don't worry, I will." She returned his smile briefly while Lily stood there in all her confused glory. He chuckled and left the shop, heading towards his destination.
It was but a short trek to where he was going. Since he was in no hurry to get there, he let himself amble along the path slowly, admiring the beauty of the trees that surrounded him. Soft cherry blossom petals drifted along in the air as a cool breeze pushed them along, ruffling his ponytail just a bit. Mmm… it's cherry blossom season. Meiko liked seeing the cherry blossoms around this time of year. A soft chime was heard from his pocket. He took out his phone and looked at the message he had received.
From: Kawaii Kawaii Imouto-chan!
He groaned at the name that she had given herself on his caller ID. Making a mental note to change her name into her actual name, he decided to read her message.
are you there yet?
His fingers tapped out the response without him really thinking, pressing send and then looking to make sure that it actually did send. Sometimes his phone had terrible connection, and the messages wouldn't send. The last time that happened, he was unable to tell someone that he was going to be late, and that they didn't need to wait for him.
She never got his message, and she ended up waiting there for a long while.
He never got to say sorry to her.
I'm still on the way.
He watched as the status of the message continued to say, "Sending…" before it actually displayed the time the message was sent. With a sigh, he put his phone away and looked up towards the sky. It was so bright out today. He contemplated sitting down at a bench when his phone chimed again.
okay. take your time onii-chan.
He replied to her quickly and stared at the message he had sent.
Don't worry. I will.
A breeze brushed past him again. The trees made soft ruffling noises as the leaves swayed in the air. He breathed softly and looked through his contacts, his finger hovering uncertainly over his girlfriend's number. Sighing, he opened up a text message and began to type.
Hey Meiko, how are you?
He backspaced on the message and shook his head. No, that wouldn't do. Biting his lip, he tried another message.
Eeeeeeeey, sexy laaadaaah.
He nearly threw his phone away. No, that was just way too embarrassing! Plus, other people could have read that text too. He just couldn't risk it.
Guess what today is?
I've got a present for you.
You should totally come out and greet me.
No, no, and no! Why was writing a single text so hard?
Oh.
That's right.
Meiko was always the one who would start the conversation, not him.
He was absolutely incompetent when it came to conversation starters.
I miss you.
His finger hovered over the Send button. Would he dare send it? Was it alright? Or would it just open up a healing scab? The pained throbbing in his chest seemed to answer the question for him.
No. He wouldn't. It was just... too much for him.
He promptly erased the message and typed out a newer one.
I'm coming over. I'll be at the usual place.
Yeah, that one seemed to work a lot better than the previous ones (and it was a whole lot less painful). He locked his screen and continued along his path. A soft chime alerted him of a message that needed to be read, but he didn't bother looking at it. He was almost there anyway, it didn't really matter if he looked at it after the visit.
He walked across the grass and made his way to a specific spot before sitting down. Gently, he placed the bouquet on the ground and hummed to himself, staring at the grass and waiting quietly. His eyes didn't feel like wandering around and examining the scenery. It was all the same to him anyway; there were trees and grass and occasionally decorations that littered the place. It was so green, and frankly, Gakupo thought that the green was just too much. It didn't really match the mood most people were in when they came here. But he supposed it did make the place look nicer.
Footsteps alerted him of someone coming over. He remained seated and waited for the person to come sit down next to him. There was a soft rustling of clothes next to him before a presence settled itself down next to him.
"...hey."
"Hey." He didn't look up. The voice was familiar, and he didn't need to try hard to figure out who it was. Her soft voice seemed to float past him as he focused his gaze on the flowers on the ground.
"It's been a while."
"It has." She hummed softly before speaking up again.
"How long has it been?"
"A month."
"Ah, okay."
Silence. They both sat there saying nothing, letting the moment wash over them. His fingers fiddled with the stems of the flowers, not letting his eyes glance over at the figure besides him. She spoke up once again, her voice lighter than air as she tried to make conversation.
"You know, you need to move on." His fingers moved over to the grass and started pulling at the strands absentmindedly. It really was too green here.
"Yeah, I know."
"I know, it's hard."
"It is."
"It's not healthy for you."
"I know."
"...Gakupo, look at me, please." He froze up on the spot.
"Oh, um…"
"I'm right here, all in one piece. It's okay." He gulped and started pulling at the grass more quickly, making the innocent patch of land his victim.
"I think, I think I'm okay."
"You're not." Her hand landed on his shoulder gently. He almost didn't even feel it. "Please, look at me?" The voice had gotten softer, and he had to strain his ears to hear her. With a sigh, he looked up with a defeated face. Purple eyes met with brown ones, and a smile graced her features.
"...Hi, Meiko."
"Hi Gakupo." He swallowed thickly and cleared his throat. His eyes flew from dimple to eyelash, memorizing everything he could about her.
"I… um." She giggled lightly and smiled brighter.
"Take your time. I know my sexiness always leaves you speechless."
"...well."
"Well?"
"Well."
"What does that mean?!" He let a smile find its way onto his face, before looking over at the object in front of him.
"You know very well what I mean." He could just sense the pout on her face.
"And what if I don't?"
"Then I'd just have to tell you all over again how cute you actually are. The cute overrides the sexy."
"R u d e."
"Not rude. Truth." She huffed angrily and punched his arm. He could barely feel it. Laughing, he leaned forward and sighed. "I missed you."
"I missed you too, doofus."
"Now that, that is rude. Name-calling is rude and also mean."
"I really don't care." He let out an over-exaggerated sigh and closed his eyes.
"People are going to think I'm weird."
"...maybe a little." He opened his eyes and examined the thing in front of him.
"I'm sorry, you know."
"For making me wait?"
"Yeah… I mean-"
"It wasn't your fault." His gaze fell to the ground.
"...still."
"It wasn't." Her voice grew gentler, and he felt her arms enveloping him in a hug. He swallowed once more and tried to hold back the tears.
"...it is."
"It isn't." His eyes looked back up.
The gravestone in front of him had his girlfriend's name engraved in it. On it was the day she was born, and the day she died. He bit back a bitter laugh. Of course she had to die on their two-year anniversary. Then again, life had a dark sense of humor known as death, and death was a prick who didn't know how to time his jokes right. His voice cracked when he spoke up.
"I'm still sorry. I miss you."
Silence greeted him instead of the airy voice of his beloved. His head hung low once he realized he was alone once more.
She never could stay long.
Then again, she could have been a figment of his imagination.
He sighed softly and gently stroked the petals of the lilies in the bouquet resting on the ground. V Flower once told him what lilies symbolized when he went to get Meiko some flowers for one of their dates.
"They're used for 'purity'," the young woman said, sticking some lilies into his bouquet as he had requested, "but they can also mean other things too."
"Like what?" He took out his wallet, ready to pay for the gift.
"Remembrance of loved ones."
"Oh?"
"Mm-hmm," she tied the bouquet up with a ribbon before placing it on the counter for him, "some people thought that those who died were made to be pure once more after death. Therefore, by following that train of thought, the purity that lilies bring with their petals seemed fitting enough that people began to use them for funerals."
"Well… that's depressing."
"It's true. Plus, they're very pretty. Careful though, they bruise easily."
"Oh?" He picked up the bouquet and examined the flowers she had used.
He had no idea what flowers she used. They just looked pretty, and that was as far as he could go.
"Yeah. Think of it like this; since purity can be easily lost to adulthood, the bitter truth of life, or corruption, lilies can be easily damaged and bruised. So be careful with those flowers. A simple bump and a ruffle is enough to break the petals."
"For a florist, you can be really deep."
"I have nothing better to do in my spare time."
"Aren't you part of a band?"
"Oh yeah."
Red was Meiko's favorite color, which was fitting enough. Just like the color, the woman had been just as passionate in real life, if not more.
Lilies for remembrance. For purity. He hoped that she would be pure again when she moved on. That was a nice thought, at least.
He continued to stare at her gravestone.
There wasn't much to do now.
With a grunt, he stood up and stretched, leaving the bouquet on the ground and walking away. Taking his phone out, he checked his messages and realized with a start that he had gotten a message from Meiko.
Maybe she wasn't just a hallucination.
He quickly checked the message and almost cried out with disappointment when he read what it said.
This number has been disconnected. Please contact...
He exited out of the messaging system with a sigh and began his trek home. The cherry blossoms brushed against his cheek gently.
This was the time of year Meiko enjoyed the most.
Gakupo was beginning to hate this time of year.
/-/
A/N: It's been a while since I've written a one-shot. This was a prompt about flowers. Boy did it spiral out of control.
Anyway, there's a whole bunch of symbolism and foreshadowing in here! To any AP Lit/Lang students who enjoy analyzing literature, NOW'S YOUR CHANCE! Analyze now and you can request a one-shot of your own with any pairing in any scenario (maybe)! Nah, just have fun reading it and catching all the subtle hints I snuck into here. I hope you enjoyed reading this! (If enough people like it, I may write a prequel and/or sequel to this. And maybe a lemon scene if people request it enough.)
(Pervs.)
Flowers and (a few of) Their Meanings:
Lilies: Innocence, purity; remembrance
Cherry Blossoms: Renewal, rebirth; life is fleeting