lavender – devotion, constancy
carnation (white) – sweet and lovely
primrose – I can't live without you
tulip (red) – declaration of love
cosmos – maiden heart, love
morning glory – affection


Chapter 10: Lavender

Tsuna was annoyed at Hibari, which was unjustified, he admitted at least. For the past four days, he had been receiving relatively large baskets of flowers every single day – red tulips, cosmos, morning glories, and today's primrose respectively. He was happy about receiving the flowers, but with his eyes roaming about his small studio apartment, he was forced to fling away the sweetness of the flowers' message and face reality. Hibari meant well, he knew that; however, it didn't solve his issue of providing space for the flowers.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, he stared at the basket of primrose which he placed down on the edge of his low, wooden table, where all the other baskets were. I can live without you, you... you flower! It was not only the space which was a problem. Unlike Hibari, Tsuna didn't have a greenhouse. Some of the flowers he had received required certain weather conditions and thus were wilting rapidly. Despite it having turned brown already, Tsuna kept the very first flower he received from Hibari: the white rose.

With no choice but to leave it on the table, he sighed and made sure that each flower he had was watered before heading out for the Sky's Flower Shop, promising to talk to Hibari about his flower-giving habit the moment he comes back and perhaps muster the courage to invite himself to check out his garden and greenhouse. I'd like to see him caring for the flowers. Tsuna chuckled.

Work had been going on smoothly. After the customer he had tended to left content, Tsuna stretched his arms, bones unexpectedly cracking, to which he subtly winced. He then softly smiled at Luce and her customer. As a florist, he had the privilege to hear and see people at their emotional moments up close.

Flowers were not only aesthetic, but they also embodied a variety of emotions so pure that Tsuna couldn't help but stare at them despite the length he had been in the floral industry. For the past seven months he had been working for and with Luce, straight after graduating university, it never failed to amaze him how these dainty plants were able to give people the courage to voice out and show their feelings. From blushing confessors to apologetic people, Tsuna felt his heart move every time the door chime makes a sound and someone steps in, nervous and anxious as if saying only flowers could help them.

Tsuna wondered if that was what Hibari felt and that maybe he was using the language of flowers to make up for him being emotionally closed – because, really, he had never met a person who could nonchalantly hand over flowers, and it was for the person he likes.

With closing time right around the corner, Tsuna began cleaning the shop. Only a few minutes had passed when he heard the door open, and he grinned at his three visitors.

"Hello, everyone," said Luce, looking up from behind the counter. "Oh, Haru-chan, Uni's loving the shoujo manga you lent her."

"I'll drop by next week with the rest of the volumes." Haru beamed. "Tsuna-san, it's the one with the kittens scenario! I'll lend it to you, too."

"No thanks." Tsuna chuckled at the girl's pout. He left his friends to chatter with themselves, as he continued to clean. Hearing the door chime again, he subtly groaned, seeing it was two minutes before closing time, not wanting to keep his friends waiting. "Welcome to the Sky's—I-I... Hi."

Tsuna was mortified when he heard Kyoko whisper, "He's not in normal clothes," and his other two friends laugh. The girl most likely already told them about overhearing his and Hibari's conversation, and having the very man stand in front of them with a mixed bouquet of lavenders and white carnations in his arms was in no way helping quell his continuously rising embarrassment.

"Sorry I came so late." Hibari handed over the flowers. "I just returned from my trip."

"Thanks. We're, uh, closed now. We can talk a bit outside."

"Are you free now?"

With a hesitant glance to his friends, Tsuna shook his head. "I'm going to eat with those guys." He jabbed a thumb towards the three.

"We're going to eat at a cake shop. You can come with us. Actually, we insist. Right, guys?" Receiving nods, Enma grinned cheekily at Tsuna, who swore he was going to strangle his friend.

"I'll accept." Nodding, Hibari added, "Hibari Kyouya."

Once introductions were done and everyone thanked Luce, they left. The walk to the cake shop, while short, was excruciating. Tsuna was glaring at the backs of his friends, who forced the two behind them to walk side by side, and Hibari didn't say anything back. Shifting his glare to the flowers, Tsuna was busy grumbling and missed whatever Hibari said. "Huh?"

"I asked if I was interrupting."

"No. No, no, no." Tsuna felt too flustered that he had started waving both of his hands, and the bouquet consequently became messy. "I'm happy—I mean, uh, it's been a while, probably? So no, you're not interrupting, really," he mumbled while trying to fix the bouquet. "I'm sure, yeah."

If it was possible to fly away from Japan right now, Tsuna would love to, because he believed he was going to die from humiliation at Hibari's obviously amused face and at his friends who didn't even try to hide the fact that they were eavesdropping. He was beyond relieved when they reached the cake shop; at the very least, eating will stop his mouth from blurting out anything idiotic.

Upon sitting at a table for six, Tsuna hid his laughter behind the palm of his hand at seeing Hibari sandwiched between the two girls, who, appalled at how little the stoic man was ordering, were coaxing him to order more. Tsuna placed the bouquet on the empty seat at his left, and to his right was Enma, fixated on the menu.

As a waitress came to their table, each of them gave their orders, aside from Hibari who was interrupted by Haru, ordering two differing slices for the man. Without waiting for confirmation, Kyoko added another two slices, which she said was for him, too. Knowing the girls' prowess and thus hiding his pity, Tsuna could only offer a resigned smile at Hibari.

In an attempt to save Hibari after seeing him still at the sight of his four cake slices, Tsuna asked, "How was your trip, Hibari-san?"

From the cakes, Hibari brought his gaze to the Tsuna. "Normal."

"That's good." If it was only the two of them, Tsuna knew what should had come after was comfortable silence, but today he was met with astonished looks from his friends which he assumed was directed to how terse their conversation was. His friends had most likely invited Hibari to gauge the man's character, and he truly appreciated that his friends were looking out for him.

"Tsuna-kun said you have a pet bird named Hibird. Did you bring him to your trip?" asked Enma.

Hibari raised an eyebrow then smirked, which Tsuna interpreted as, You talk about me with your friends? If Enma says anything more, Tsuna was sure he really was going to end up strangling his friend. He stepped on the Enma's foot, sending him a warning, and only received a step back.

"Yes, but he's free to fly as he pleases."

"Do you have a picture of Hibird, Hibari-san?" asked Kyoko. Bringing out his phone, Hibari toggled with it then gave it to her. "He's so cute!" Once Haru and Enma took a look and the latter was preparing to hand the phone back, Tsuna grabbed the Enma's wrist, protesting.

"Wait, I haven't seen it yet."

Much to Tsuna's chagrin, Hibari smirked and took the phone back. "I'll bring him tomorrow."

"Do you like kittens?" Tsuna was confident Haru was going to bring her image of kittens and Hibari to her grave.

"I'm not against them."

Not contributing and allowing his friends free reign on the conversation, Tsuna idly ate his chocolate cake. He jerked upon feeling something cold on his right leg: Enma spilt his strawberry milkshake, even the whole strawberry he often saved for last was on him.

"Crap. Sorry, Tsuna-kun. Sorry." Enma began frantically wiping his leg with tissues. "I'm not helping, sorry."

"Calm down." Tsuna laughed. "I'll go wet it in the washroom."

-x-

Hibari stared at Tsuna's back then returned his attention to the people left. It was on purpose; Enma had spilt his milkshake on purpose. Initially unsure of the objective of such an act, once the girls stood up and sat beside Enma, with Kyoko putting the bouquet of flowers on her lap, Hibari immediately knew what they were up to.

"We're worried," Kyoko started, "and we don't want a repeat of him."

"Him?" asked Hibari.

"Rokudo. Rokudo Mukuro." Haru stabbed her cake. "You've heard of him, right? He's the heir to Kikuyo Inc. Didn't you have some sort of business deal with him?"

"And that's all it was: a business deal," replied Hibari calmly.

"There were witnesses saying they saw the two of you talking in a coffee shop, and it didn't seem like just a business deal."

Hibari felt uncomfortable under her stare, recalling the girl's job as a journalist. He had seen her once in his company's building, interviewing Kusakabe about Nuvola Inc. absorbing a company. He finally said, "We are merely acquaintances." Haru didn't answer, choosing instead to scrutinise him.

"If Tsuna-kun hasn't said anything yet, then we won't." Enma frowned at his empty tall glass, sighing as he did so. "It's been a while since he went out and he seems happy to be with you."

"Hurt Tsuna-san and I'll stab you with my pens." For emphasis, Haru used one of her pens to point at Hibari. Kyoko stared deadpan at him and Enma nodded.

Wao. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Good." Haru smiled brightly, the tension between the four swiftly shifting to a lighter one. "How did you know about Tsuna-san?"

"The flower shop."

"Really?"

Hibari tightened his hold on his cup of tea. "You will know someday."

Haru tapped her fingers on the table. "Very secretive, aren't we? From what I know, you've never been in a relationship before. What made you like Tsuna-san enough to make him your first?"

"He's interesting."

"And?"

Hibari shrugged.

"Strong."

"Tsuna-kun was teased and bullied a lot when we were in school," said Kyoko.

"There are other ways to be strong."

The trio didn't speak for a while, until Enma raised his hand to signal a waitress, then ordered another strawberry milkshake.

"You're a strange man, Hibari-san. You knew I spilt my first one on purpose, didn't you?" Hibari probably made a questioning gaze because Enma continued, "Intuition. So you should know we don't like being half-assed at."

Hibari tapped his cup. "Whatever I have to say, I will say to Tsunayoshi first."

Enma gratefully accepted his strawberry milkshake from the waitress, and only sipped his drink in answer to the man.

-x-

In the washroom, Tsuna made a face at his pants, heavily disliking the wet feeling. He easily washed the milkshake off, but took his time drying it at the hand blower, ignoring the looks he received from the other men who entered. He wasn't going back to the table feeling gross. Mind wandering to his friends, he attempted imagining what was happening right now. He was a bit worried for Hibari, keeping in mind how viciously protective his friends were over him.

Tsuna didn't question the change in seats once he came back and sat down beside Hibari without hesitation, moving his small plate of cake towards himself. "Hope you didn't share embarrassing stories about me," he joked.

"Maybe. Maybe not." Kyoko smiled.

Enma grinned. "Looks like your pants is fine."

Tsuna snorted. "No thanks to you."

Glancing at his watch, Hibari raised an arm to signal the waitress. "Sorry, but I have another appointment in a while." After giving instructions to the waitress to wrap up his two leftover slices, he looked back to Tsuna. "I'll come by tomorrow on my usual time."

Once Hibari left, Enma said, "Are you fine with that? You two barely talked!"

Tsuna shrugged. "I'll see him tomorrow morning."

"Ugh, you're already feeling content." Enma made a face.

"Do you want to see another milkshake gone?" Tsuna smirked at the silence of his friend. "So," he hesitantly started, "what did you guys talk about?"

"Duh, of course it's about you."

Tsuna scowled. "What about me?" With only a wink as a reply, Tsuna kicked Enma under the table. "I really hate you sometimes."

"I think we can trust him." At Haru's voice, three heads snapped to her direction. "Even though he knows that stupid Roku—Ow!" Rolling her eyes at Enma's glare and rubbing the spot her friend had elbowed, she continued, "I just think we can trust him."

"Have you come to like him, Tsuna-kun?" asked Kyoko.

Instead of answering, Tsuna began drumming his spoon on his empty plate. He sighed. "I don't... I mean, I enjoy spending time with him. It's a little freaky how mysterious he is, though. I," another sigh, "I always think I wouldn't be able to fall in love as much as I did with Mukuro again. He's a lot of my firsts."

"Wasn't I your first kiss?" Kyoko giggled.

Tsuna laughed. "Shut up, you. Middle school was a confusing time, okay?"

"But I'm glad," she said softly, "you look way better now." Kyoko gave him the bouquet lying on her lap, making sure it would not hit the table. "I know what carnations mean, but what about lavenders, Tsuna-kun?"

"Devotion," he mumbled.

"Devotion," Haru repeated absent-mindedly. Tsuna was about to ask what was troubling her, when she immediately followed it with, "Do you guys want to go somewhere after this?"

"It's only six. Maybe a movie? I think there's a premiere scheduled at seven." Enma raised his hand once more to signal a waitress. When one came, he asked for the bill. "Unless you guys have other plans." Enma frowned at Tsuna when the girl said the bill was already paid.

Tsuna just shrugged. He'll give Hibari an earful later.

With all of them free, they set out for the theatre, a twenty-minute walk away from the cake shop. No one minded the length, and Tsuna succumbed to the comfort of having his friends around him, instinctively smiling at himself as he does.

Tsuna wondered if he should try asking Hibari out sometimes, or if he would be too assertive if he said he wanted to see the his greenhouse. But he's a florist, surely Hibari would understand his interest. Tsuna couldn't remember if the man had stated that he owned a greenhouse. It would be too embarrassing if he knew Tsuna already knew things about him without Hibari himself outright stating it – just like with his name, and Tsuna felt rather annoyed at seeing his smug smile.

Tsuna snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Haru say, "Seriously, Enma-san? A horror movie?"

"Don't blame me! I just said there's going to be a premiere at seven. B-but now that we know it's a horror one, w-we can think of another thing to do?" Enma looked at him with pleading eyes, which Tsuna replied to with a grimace. The two were no good with anything horror-related.

Cursing under her breath, Haru dug into her purse at the sound of a phone ringing and answered it. "Miura Haru. Right now? I just left the office a couple of—Yes. But that's Irie-san's project." Haru rubbed her temple. "Okay, I'll come back immediately." With a sigh, she returned the phone to her bag looked apologetically at her friends. "One of my co-workers collapsed and he had a deadline tonight. I have to substitute for him."

"Go," said Kyoko, "we can always meet another time."

"But it's so rare for me to get a time off and everyone's here and—"

Kyoko placed a hand on Haru's shoulder. "We're not going anywhere. We can schedule again," she assured her.

"We'll walk you to your office," said Tsuna.

"It's fine—"

Enma interrupted, "We'll walk you to your office."

Smiling brightly, Haru engulfed them in a hug. Tsuna winced when his shoulder painfully collided with Enma's. "Speed walk, though, speed walk," added Haru hastily after releasing them.

Haru wasn't kidding when she said speed walk. The Friday night streets were buzzing with people and employees handing out fliers or tissues; he eventually lost sight of his friends and was thinking how useless offering to walk her was. Tsuna didn't stop walking in the direction of Haru's workplace. Tired of the crowd, he zigzagged through the throngs of people and entered a dark alley. It was a longer way, but at least it was quiet.

As he turned right and entered another alley, Tsuna grabbed his phone and dialled Enma's number, intending to tell them he'll be heading straight to the office. Tsuna remembered Kyoko telling him about a small coffee shop in this alley she frequented when she wanted to lay low from the public. Apparently, it was popular amongst her co-workers. He could see its bright lights now, the complete opposite of the dingy alley.

He paused in order to see the display menu and flicked his eyes to the inside of the shop when he saw a familiar sight.

Tsuna ran away without another glance at the shop.

Hearing a faint voice, he stopped running. He forgot he called Enma. Tsuna croaked out, "Something came up. I'm going home. Tell the girls for me."

"Are you okay? You sound—"

Tsuna hanged up and slumped onto the floor, not caring how dirty it was. He hid his face on his thighs. He felt betrayed. He thought he was finally able to move on but it seemed some people just wouldn't allow it.

Why was Hibari-san with Mukuro?

Tsuna clutched the bouquet with all his might and chuckled bitterly.

Devotion, really?