"How do I passive-aggressively say f*** you in flower?"

Nagisa blinked. It was just an ordinary day at the flower shop he worked at; he opened the double doors and greeted his co-workers, tied his baby blue apron around his waist and started his shift. The morning was quite slow as they only had three customers: a frantic man desperately looking for an anniversary gift for his wife, a teenaged schoolgirl who wanted to cheer up her hospitalised best friend, and a young lady who was headed to her goddaughter's birth. He was standing behind the counter, arranging the bouquet of lavender-coloured roses and alstroemeria when he walked in. Like a man on a warpath, this tall red headed stranger in a black blazer strode in like he owned the place, the sound of loud confident footsteps reverberated through the empty store as he made his way to the counter and slammed down two a thousand yen notes onto its surface, almost causing Nagisa to drop the posies of purple stock and purple statice in his hand in surprise.

"Um, excuse me?" oh right, he had a job to do.

"Oh sorry, sir," Nagisa said, still completely perplexed by the events that had unfolded during the last minute. Why, out of all times, did Maehara decide to go to see 'the cute barista with the most dazzling brown eyes that suck you in and most adorable antennae and beautiful smile that leaves me weak at the knees' that worked at the coffee shop opposite them and Fuwa chose to work on her commissioned bouquet in the storage room in the back? "I just - um, excuse me - but do you think you could repeat what you just said, please?"

Mr Tall Stranger scoffed, "It's one of my classmates' birthday tomorrow and I positively hate the guy. He thinks that just because he got higher than me in midterms last week that he's sooo much better than me - as if one point is such a difference. Well, the whole school positively adores him and since it's our last year of High School, I thought it would be a kind gesture for me to put aside our differences and just give him a parting gift for the last birthday he'll ever be able to spend with me."

"By … giving him a floral arrangement that would be the equivalent of flipping him off?" Nagisa raised an eyebrow.

"Exactly," the other replied brightly, "so can you do it? I swear I can pay extra if I need to. Trust me the look on Asano's face would be worth every yen."

"Well, I can see what I can do, sir."

"Karma," the young man said, "please don't use any of that 'sir' business."

"Sure, Karma."

"Thank you, Nagisa." If it weren't for the fact that he was wearing a name tag, Nagisa would've jumped five feet in the air at the fact that Mr-Karma used his name. It certainly didn't help that he was somewhat attractive with his sharp golden eyes, stylishly ruffled crimson locks, cocky smile and an aura that screamed confidence. Pushing down the feeling of interest that curled in his stomach and seemed to be targeted towards the other male, Nagisa put down the flowers in his hands and stated, "well, you could use geraniums, which symbolise stupidity, foxgloves, which symbolise insincerity, meadowsweet for uselessness, orange lilies for hatred and finally some yellow carnations."

"Really," Karma was grinning widely, placing his elbow on the countertop and resting his chin on the back of his hand, "and what do they mean."

Nagisa smiled, "disappointment and disdain."

Karma threw his head back and laughed (and no, the sound did not make Nagisa blush all right, no matter what those pesky store cameras said. Everyone knew that they weren't working anyway), "that's brilliant. You sure know your stuff, don't you? I'm going to need to remember that for the next time I do a group project with Terasaka."

"Consider it a gift," Nagisa said, "I like reading and the language of flowers interested me."

"Is that why you work here then."

"Not really," he didn't know why he was explaining this all to a person he just met, but something about the dashing redhead made him feel … safe, in a way. He didn't know why but the golden-eyed gaze captured him and drew him in and he wanted more, "I'm trying to save up for University and my own place once I graduate high school and this store pays really well for part-time work. You don't have to know a lot about flowers to work here but I thought it would be a fun hobby to try to learn and I was curious so I taught myself all about it."

"You must be really smart, to learn all of that," Karma smiled, causing him to blush.

"Not really," he replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, "trust me I'm not. I'm kind of not doing well in school right now. At this rate, getting a 70 percent in maths would be nothing more than a miracle."

Karma just hummed before saying, "I see. Well, any chance we could get started on my 'F*** You, Asano' birthday gift?"

"Which I assume is coming straight from the heart?"

"But of course," Karma said solemnly, placing a hand over his heart and winking. Nagisa rolled his eyes, but the smile on his face betrayed his amusement, as he walked around the counter and began searching for the flowers required.

"So, what do you study in school?" Karma asked when Nagisa was gently pulling out a handful of coral coloured foxgloves.

"Hmm? Oh, just the usual, you know: Maths, Science, English. Oh, and also Psychology. You?"

"The same as you but Economics instead of Psychology, which, I've got to say is really interesting. Can you, like, read minds?"

"Unfortunately, no, I have not yet unlocked that skill," Nagisa replied gravely with a shake of his head, "it appears that my dreams of becoming like Psyren and taking over the world by using mental waves are currently on hold."

"'Psyren'? Like the villain in the Sonic Ninja: A Soldier Returns comic?" Karma sounded impressed.

"You read Sonic Ninja?"

"Yeah, I got to admit I'm not too big on the movies though. The director they had for the last one was kind of terrible."

"I thought it was alright," Nagisa quipped back as he gathered all of the necessary plants and made his way back to the counter, "sure the special effects weren't that great but the plot was good."

"Eh," Karma waved his hand down, "I still think that the villain only won because the plot called for it and not because he was necessarily skilled."

"Are you kidding me?" Nagisa's head was down as he wrapped the flowers but he was sure that the incredulity in his voice conveyed every emotion on his face, "he's one of the most powerful characters in the franchise! He survived a literal nuclear bomb! He was able to create a forcefield so powerful it wiped out an entire village!"

"Yeah, but to say that he's stronger than an entire army is just pushing it."

"I suppose so. By the way, that would be two thousand yen, which you already gave me earlier. Would you like a card to sign?"

"Sure," Karma shrugged, "I've got to show how much I mean this thoughtful gesture, you know."

Nagisa laughed and handed him a card and pen so that Karma could write whatever it was he wanted to write.

"By the way," Karma asked as he picked up the bouquet, "what would you suggest I get if I wanted to ask someone out?"

"Oh, umm, well. Roses are usually the go to, even if they might be a bit clichè. The best option would be to go for the person's favourite flower but you have purple lilacs, which mean first love, pink camellias, which mean longing, and chrysanthemums, which mean long lasting love. Personally, I'd go for sunflowers, which mean loyalty and pure adoration, or forget-me-nots, which mean I'll never forget you, but I think that that one's pretty obvious."

Karma hummed and nodded to himself before cheerily saying "goodbye" and leaving the store, ringing the bell as he went. Nagisa sighed and smiled.

"So what was that about?" Fuwa asked smugly from her place near the doorway of the storage room. Nagisa gasped and turned around in shock, not expecting her to be there.

"How long were you standing there?" Nagisa's tone was accusing.

"Long enough to know that someone's got a fan."

"You've got it all wrong, he's just a customer."

"Mmhmm, keep telling yourself that 'Gisa. I saw the way he was looking at you. It was pure shoujo manga with the flowers and the banter and the teasing."

Nagisa rolled his eyes as Fuwa started to go on in another one of her tangents. He loved her, he really did, but he often wondered if she actually lived in the real world.

"What's got her started?" Maehara asked later when he returned from his break.

"She thinks a customer is into me," Nagisa replied, "which is stupid because I'm not really the type of guy a person asks out."

"Ohohoho, that's what you think, young one," Fuwa wagged her finger, "the romantic tension between you two was so palpable I could almost taste it. And don't deny it, you think he's hot."

Nagisa blushed, "I, well, I - I have eyes okay! It's not like he'd be interested in me though. He might not even like guys that much."

Maehara gave him a knowing look, "that's what I thought about Isogai but guess who just got a date for next weekend?"

"Really?" Fuwa beamed and clapped her hands giddily, "Oh, you must tell me all about it."

Nagisa just looked at his friends and sighed.

The next day, when Nagisa turned up at his shift in the afternoon, there was a bouquet of sunflowers and forget-me-nots lying on the countertop. With his heart beating like a drum, he fiddled with the card that was attached to the ribbon that held them in place.

Hey Nagisa,

Heard that the new Sonic Ninja movie is coming out in a week, wanna go watch it together?

Here's my number: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Karma

P.S: if you ever need help with maths, I'd be glad to lend some assistance

P.P.S: the flowers were great!