So school and a bunch of other stuff have started again for me and as such my spare time has reduced drastically. I have no idea when the next upload will be...so! To fill the time - and I guess Valentine's day is a thing that can work too - I give you Blue Hydrangeas! Hopefully, this will bide you all over until I can slap my keyboard enough.

. . .

This Bitch Is Writing Her Own Book! Oh NO!

Oh! And shameless plug time I guess. I have started writing a book! Like an actual book! Kind of.
The first chapter is up on Tapastic as Chrysanthemum Mouth.
If you wanna you can look at it and give feedback? It's my first time doing my own thing so I'm just in a constant state of stress about it. But also elated! So, ye!

Hope to post more soon, but until then!


|Blue Hydrangeas|

Word Count: 2333


Takeshi sighed wearily and dropped down onto the couch in the living room, tired from school and then chasing Lambo around the house. He yawned wide before choking on the sound halfway as a warm body pressed itself up against his side, strong arms curling around his shoulders and waist.

"Baby's sleeping now?" Daiki asked, combing the Rain's hair back from his face. The girl was still wearing her glasses and there was a certain fatigue in her eyes that Takeshi associated with overuse; she had been working on her Yakuza's red tape since they had gotten back. "Are you going to bed?"

"No, I'll stay up with you for a while," he denied, cuddling into his wife who smiled and kissed the side of his face. "Do you still have much more to do?"

"Just a bit. Won't take more than an hour, I think."

"Do you want to do it here?" Takeshi asked, "So I can stay with you?"

"Yeah," she smiled, tracing along her darling's knuckles with her fingertips, barely a trace of damage left. "Yeah, I'll bring my stuff here and we can sit together."

"Thank you, love," he cooed, kissing her quickly before she left to gather her work.

The young couple sat together for the hour, one of Takeshi's feet in Daiki's lap as she idly played with the pant material with her fingers. The Rain was watching videos on his phone, one earbud in to not distract his wife, but the other empty to hear the sound of her turning pages and scribbling signatures.

Eventually, Takeshi heard his love give a long, and loud sigh before she put down her glasses and took his feet from her lap. He felt the couch's cushions shift as she crawled up his body, nudging his phone out of the way so she could lay herself on his chest, head resting over his heart.

Takeshi hummed and wrapped an arm around the girl, keeping her close as she grasped the loose earbud and popped it into her own ear, joining in watching the video. The Rain smiled as he saw her roll her eyes, knowing her not to be as much of a fan as he was of this specific type of film. With a quick swipe, he changed the video to something they'd both like, feeling her glance up at him before she settled down again.

"Hey honey," Takeshi began after a while of mindless consuming, "Do you want to go on a date tomorrow while Bo-kun's over at I-pin's? We haven't gone out together in a while."

"Hm," Daiki murmured, blinking slowly, "Anything, in particular, you've got in mind?"

"There's a market going on that we can walk around and look at..." the Rain shifted a bit before he continued, "And it's out of town so...you can wear one of your dresses, if you want?"

Daiki lifted her head suddenly and Takeshi spluttered as she knocked his phone out of his hand, the device falling onto the carpet, thankfully undamaged. The girl gazed at him for a moment before she smiled, a pure and happy excitement taking her expression before she pressed a kiss onto her beloved.

"You want to see me in a dress?" she asked, and he wrapped both arms around her, a hand touching her cheek sweetly.

"Of course," Takeshi encouraged, "I've seen them in the back of your wardrobe...I want to see you in one at least! You'll be so pretty."

The boy found himself rewarded with another round of loving kisses, before she nuzzled his throat, lips laying over his pulse.

"I'll pick out my best one for you, my love," she assured, "I'll do my hair and everything. Look forward to it!"

It wasn't often he saw Daiki this excited, so visceral in a restless joy. He smiled along with his wife and bathed in the moment, in the shine in her eyes as she gazed at him, his arms holding her tight.

"I already am," he laughed, cuddling the happy woman tightly as she continued to do some sort of elated wiggle which burrowed her further into his chest. "We should go to sleep. We'll be walking a lot tomorrow."

"True," Daiki agreed, before reluctantly sliding off of her husband's body and to her feet. "Bedtime for shujin-kun."

"Bedtime for shujin-chan," he echoed, before grabbing his phone from the ground and the two of them headed off to bed, curling up against one another with underlying anticipation staining their entwining Flames and too many kisses to count.


Takeshi sat outside the public bathrooms on the ledge of a garden, his knees drawn to his chest as he waited restlessly. He had let Haru choose his clothes today over a video call, not wanting to disappoint Daiki after she had agreed to put so much effort into her own appearance today.

Haru had instructed him to wear a dark blue button-up that he had rolled to his elbows, a pair of black jeans and some of his nicer sneakers. The girl had tried to 'accessorise' him, but Takeshi's extent of add on's only went as far as the armbands he hoarded.

Nonetheless, when Daiki had seen him, she had flushed and smiled, eyes barely leaving his form once as they entered the station together. She had touched him every chance she got, her gaze greedily taking him in and keeping him close with a hand on his wrist.

While they had sat together on the bullet train, Takeshi had been suffering the sweet scent of her perfume and holding himself in an internal battle. He had been so tempted to turn around and ask the girl if they could return home and just spend their date day in his room where he could bathe in her scent and cuddle up to her uninhabited. They could dress in their fine clothes and play together, watching shows and acting out scenes and fantasies - hopefully with a few ending with one of them against a wall or on their backs on the bed, being kissed breathless by the other.

But Takeshi sat and waited, trying to be patient as time stretched on. Daiki had been plainly dressed when they had left Namimori, but she had a bag in her hand that had made Takeshi so very giddy. It had looked like a little package of hope, as dramatic and exaggerated as it sounded. A little package that showed Daiki was moving on from her mother's influence and was getting comfortable in her own body again, trusting Takeshi at least to see her.

Trust. They were getting better at that.

Takeshi smiled a bit to himself and pulled his knees closer before the door to the bathroom opened with a high-pitched creak and a woman in a white and blue dress slipped out. Takeshi sat up sharply as Daiki walked over to him, the end of the light material swirling around her calves. The top of the dress narrowed to wrap around her neck with a thin strap, revealing her shoulders - Takeshi was slightly huffy to see them unmarked with his claim but decided that attaching himself to her side would be enough for this outing.

"Sorry it took so long," Daiki apologised, and Takeshi took a moment to find the details in how blue hydrangeas bloomed across her white sundress. "I had to get out of my binder in the stall."

"It's fine," the Rain breathed, head tilted back to gaze up at her, head slightly hazy with bliss.

Daiki tilted her head at his reaction before she laughed with a smile and Takeshi needed to stand in that instant to wrap his arms around her waist and pull her into a hug. She made a noise at the sudden handling, but she melted into the embrace and held him tight, combing his thoroughly brushed hair with her nails as he inhaled her perfumes.

"I love you so much, Daiki," Takeshi told her, lips moving against her bare shoulder. "You're so beautiful. The dress suits you so well."

"Really?" she asked, a sweet elation in her voice that made Takeshi so warm.

"Really. We should go out more often, so you can wear it."

Daiki smiled wide, and the Rain was quick to kiss it before they linked their fingers together and began to walk, intent on enjoying each other's company on a late spring day.

The two wandered together along the paths through the market, crochet animals, hand-carved sculptures, clothes and jewellery on display along with a menagerie of other goods. They stopped at a hatter's store and Takeshi insisted on Daiki trying on the large sunhats lined with ribbon, eventually finding one that suited the dress which they bought and proceeded to swap throughout the day, the Rain more than happy to match his wife.

"Are you sure it wasn't too much?" Daiki asked, holding the hat on her head as a breeze went through and made her dress billow even as she held it down at her waist.

"Not at all, darling," Takeshi denied, reaching up and cupping her cheek, her lips painted from a freshly opened tester at the cosmetic stall. "You need more clothes that make you happy, and if I can help you get that, then it would be the least I can do."

Daiki snorted, "charmer."

"Always for you," he smiled, and she bowed to kiss him lightly on the lips, transferring a touch of the shade onto him. "Time for lunch you think?"

"I'll pay for it since you got the hat," Daiki assured and waved aside whatever attempt her husband made to change her mind. "No, no, my love. Quid pro quo, we help each other."

Takeshi pouted but used the brim of the hat to keep her down to his height, deciding that even if he lost the 'argument' he still deserved kisses. He felt her laugh against his lips before she wrapped her arm around his waist and led them to one of the cafes which lined the edges of the park the market was hosted in.

They sat across from each other and made a quick order, a bowl of hot noodles and a plate of chicken and rice on their way to their table in the corner of a vine woven balcony.

"It's a good market, huh?" Daiki hummed, looking out at the colourful stalls and the people who walked them, families, couples, friends and individuals.

"Yeah," Takeshi agreed, "I'm glad we came. We need to go out more."

"We do."

Takeshi hummed and reached across the small table, idly playing with his wife's hands and his ring on her finger as they waited. He smiled as he listened to Daiki speak softly to him, filling him in on the plot of the book she had lost herself to recently in her sparse free time. She was in the middle of explaining the twisting and double-crossing branches of some interbred family tree as their orders came and they cleared their table of sunhats and bags for the waitress who scuttled away soon after.

"So, how's that new game of yours going?" Daiki asked before popping a slice of chicken into her mouth. "The one you bought last week."

"It's really fun, well worth the money!" he smiled and began to jabber on, his turn to rant and for his wife to listen as she drank a glass of cola.

They finished their meal and did another loop of the markets, making a stop at the crochet animals stall they had passed before and debated which ones to get I-pin and Lambo. The two eventually settled on a red monkey for I-pin and a yellow Akita dog for Lambo, the old women who ran the stall together packing both into a paper bag for them.

Takeshi linked his fingers with Daiki's as he scrolled through his phone, deciding where to go next in the town while they were already out and about. He was letting her guide him for another loop of the stalls as he skimmed the websites before he made a noise and showed his darling an option.

"There's a shoreline nearby," he suggested, "Near a bridge and a lookout."

"That sounds good, how far away?" she hummed, looking closer to read some of the messages on the community board.

"A fifteen-minute walk?"

"Okay, let's go. Maybe there will be some shells we can bring back too."

"Ooh, true."

Daiki smiled and gave her love a kiss on the cheek before they left the market grounds and began to follow Takeshi's directions, winding through suburbia and shop fronts until the air began to taste salty.

It was mid-afternoon when they finally sat down in the shade of a large tree, Daiki's arm around Takeshi as he leant against his wife, a small bag of seashells and 'nice pebbles' at their side. They sat together for a while, winding down and watching the water lap at the shore, birds stirring up the sand with their feet along the shallows and letting out songs to one another.

"Hey Daiki," Takeshi began, resting his head on her shoulder, his cheek warmed by her skin. "You know the flowers at our wedding?"

"Hm? What about them? We haven't chosen yet," the Sun murmured, dusting her knuckles along his arm, her ring cold against his skin.

"Can we have blue hydrangea?" he asked. "I think that'd be nice; blue hydrangea at our wedding."

There was a moment of pause before Daiki took Takeshi's hand in her own free one and set them on her lap, lightly tracing a line on the centre of his palm with her thumb. There was a soft smile on her face as they sat under the tree, the flowers on her dress blooming brightly to mark another happy memory together.

"I think so too, my love," she agreed softly, "We'll write that down: blue hydrangeas."