[[So, this story is based loosely off a post I saw on tumblr about a flower shop and a tattoo parlor being right next door to each other. The title is a play on Junichiro Tanazaki's Some Prefer Nettles. There'll be nine chapters total, and they're all predrafted so you don't have to worry about me losing interest in the story and it going onto hiatus or something. I'm way too tired to be writing an intro blub right now... x.x]]
Tsuzuki cursed himself as he scrambled for the keys in his pocket. Once again, he had overslept and was late to work. It didn't help that he was the one who was scheduled to open that day, which was the hardest shift for him to get to in time because of his passionate love affair with his bed. He approached the door to the shop and started going through the keys for the one that went to the shop door.
He was so distracted by this task and his own thoughts that he didn't even notice the silver-haired man leaning his back against the wall by the door until he spoke. "It's about time you showed up. I was worried that I would have to go to a different shop."
Tsuzuki jumped, nearly dropping the keys. As Tsuzuki floundered to catch the keys, the man chuckled in amusement. Tsuzuki caught the keys in one hand, attempted to straighten his hopelessly rumpled white button-down shirt, and turned to face the stranger. "Can I help you?" he asked, trying to keep his tone pleasant as he was laughed at.
"Yes," the man said, pushing off the wall and turning to face Tsuzuki. Tsuzuki gasped and his eyes widened as he spotted an intricate tattoo winding down the lower right arm left exposed by the man's white t-shirt. Only having registered that the image contained flowers of some kind, he quickly returned his gaze to the man's face. A smug smirk pulled at the corners of the man's mouth. "You like it?" he asked, pulling his shirt sleeve up and then holding out his arm and turning it so that Tsuzuki could see the image from every angle.
Tsuzuki hesitantly glanced back down at it.
The tattoo was larger that Tsuzuki first thought, spreading over every inch of skin between the man's wrist all the way up his arm to his shoulder. He had been right about the flowers, though. Huge, dewy, red-and-pink roses blossomed thickly at the top and bottom of the design with more scattered through the middle. However, the middle of the tattoo had something Tsuzuki had missed: two rabbits - the lower one cream white and the upper one reddish brown - sat partially hidden among the flowers.
"That's, um," Tsuzuki tried to come up with a positive word that seemed suitable. "It's, er, nice? I mean, it's beautiful." He tried not to stutter too much as he tried not to think too much about how likely this stranger was yakuza.
"Thanks. So, you going to open the door or what?"
"Ah, right," Tsuzuki said, fiddling with his keys again to try to find the one to the store. "So, uh, what exactly drew you to our place?" he asked as he found the one he was looking for and started to unlock the door.
"Oh, nothing in particular," came the reply. "I just work nearby."
Tsuzuki turned the key and then looked up. "Work?" He asked, surprised.
"Yeah, I work at the tattoo shop that's right next door," the stranger replied, jerking his thumb in the direction of the neighboring building. "It opened just this week. One of my friends runs it."
Keeping his grip on the key that was still in the lock, Tsuzuki leaned back so he could to see around the man in order to see where he was pointing. Indeed, one of the shops nearby that had once been empty now had lights on inside and had a new sign advertising itself as a tattoo parlor.
"Yellow Crane Tattoo Parlor," Tsuzuki read slowly.
"Yeah," the man said. "You can come by whenever you want. I'll give you a discount. No, I'll do it for free. Anything you want. You have such lovely skin. I'm sure your body would be the perfect canvas."
Tsuzuki shivered. "No thanks," he said, removing the key from the lock and opening the door wide. "I'm fine."
The man chuckled. "Well, I'm sure you'll change your mind eventually," he said. "And when you do, ask for me. My name is Muraki Kazutaka."
"I'll keep that in mind," Tsuzuki said dryly. Muraki smirked as he walked past Tsuzuki and into the shop. Tsuzuki sighed and then followed him. "So what exactly are you looking for?" he asked.
"Something that asks for forgiveness," Muraki replied as he slowly walked among the flowers.
"Ah, in that case, how about hyacinth?" Tsuzuki suggested, gesturing to a bouquet of the bell-shaped flowers. "They're very lovely and have a pleasant aroma. They also mean 'I'm sorry; please forgive me.'"
Muraki glanced up and then returned his attention to the flowers he was perusing, brushing one with his finger softly. "No, those don't seem right," he said.
"What doesn't?" Tsuzuki asked.
"The meaning," Muraki replied. "Also, their appearance doesn't seem very me."
"I see," Tsuzuki said, confused. Muraki had asked for a flower meaning forgiveness and that was exactly what he had offered. He wasn't sure how the meaning was off from what Muraki wanted. "Well then, can you tell me more about the situation so that I can offer something more appropriate?"
"My lover is upset with me," Muraki answered. "I was angry with him last night, and he hasn't spoken to me since, not making a single sound no matter what I do." Muraki looked up and stared right into Tsuzuki's eyes. "I want something that will make him forgive me."
Tsuzuki gulped, not quite comfortable with how that was phrased. He started to suggest a flower but then stopped. "Wait, 'he'?"
"Is there a problem with that?" Muraki asked, glancing up with a smile on his lips and a challenge in his eye.
"No, um, I was just surprised is all, uh..." Tsuzuki tried to recover as quickly as he could so he could turn the conversation toward flowers. "Er, anyway, there's tulips," he stuttered, pulling his eyes away from Muraki's intense gaze in order to look around for the specific flowers he was looking for. "A white tulip sincerely asks a loved one for forgiveness," he suggested, pointing out a few appropriate bouquets around the shop.
"That still doesn't seem quite right," Muraki said as he continued to look around the shop. He then stopped, gently cupped one hand under the silky blossoms of a gorgeous red camellia, and lowered his head to it to smell it. "These seem more like something he'd like," he murmured.
"Er, those are camellias," Tsuzuki said. "They, er, they usually are tied to death. People send them to funerals..."
"I know," Muraki said with a smile as he straightened. "It's because the head of the flower drops all at once when it dies, so it resembles a person being beheaded. It's not the sort of thing most people wish on others, is it?" He chuckled and went back to wandering among the flowers. "I was just saying that the color and shape were more what he would like. They also seem more like something I would give."
Tsuzuki shifted uncomfortably. "How about carnations, then?" He suggested.
"These also look lovely," Muraki purred, seeming to have ignored Tsuzuki's suggestion. Tsuzuki saw that Muraki had now stopped in front of a bouquet of spider lilies.
"Sir, those are also for the dead," Tsuzuki said, his mouth growing dry with panic. He couldn't help but wonder if this man had murdered his lover or was planning to kill him.
"They're for guiding the dead so that they can be reincarnated," Muraki said. "Very poetic, but I doubt I'd ever give anyone something like this." He stepped away from the lilies, but Tsuzuki still felt tense. "What about roses?"
"Huh?" Tsuzuki said, surprised.
"What roses mean forgiveness?" Muraki repeated.
"Um, well, I don't think there are any that mean forgiveness," Tsuzuki said quickly. "I think you might be able to get a close meaning if you mixed red and white roses together, though."
"What do they mean by themselves?" Muraki asked.
"Red means passion and love, and white means truth, purity, and silence. With a little imagination, I suppose you could get something similar to forgiveness from that."
"Then I'd like six white roses and five red," Muraki replied. Tsuzuki nodded and went to fetch them, glad that he had finally gotten this man what he wanted, when Muraki spoke once more. "Make sure they have thorns." He added.
Tsuzuki gulped and hoped he'd never have to deal with this man ever again.