Work Text:
‘Don’t forget the flowers!’
Is the first thing Kageyama reads this morning, after being rudely woken up by the shrill rings of his mobile phone.
He takes his time to reread the short message over and over again, disbelief lacing his voice when he finally reads it out loud to the empty bedroom. Leave it to Nishinoya to be this tactless.
What are the flowers for anyway?
It’s six A.M. and Kageyama has more than enough time to get ready for work, so he sluggishly pads his way around his apartment, kicking away random articles of clothing on the floor. He actually considers cleaning up when he gets home that evening, because there are way too much shirts scattered everywhere, and he can’t even remember wearing some of them. The thought makes him chuckle.
There’s a board full of colorful little pieces of paper hanging on the wall of his kitchen. All of them are full of scribbles, different handwriting ranging from neat cursive to almost undecipherable scrawls. One stands out the most, appearing on more than ten papers, some decorated with stupid doodles.
‘Knives are in the second to the left drawer.’
‘Don’t forget to buy eggs every time you go to the supermarket, idiot. You know how fast we run out of them.’
(Is that a drawing of him as a crow…?)
‘Work: M– F 9am – 4pm (You) M-F 6am – 5pm (Me)’
Kageyama tilts his head in confusion at the last one. He does work at nine am to four in the afternoon, but what about the other one? He shrugs it off as another thing by his friends and moves to get a box of cereal from the cabinets. He makes a small noise of pain when he stubs his toe against a step stool. Mentally adding the plan of getting rid of it to his to-do list, Kageyama effortlessly reaches up for the box. He grabs a pad of paper next to the sink and writes his ‘plans’. As he eats, he thinks about why the heck he even has a step stool when he doesn’t even need one. Oh. Maybe it’s for when his friends come over.
After dumping his bowl in the sink, Kageyama hops in the shower. He dresses quickly afterwards, and starts making his way to work.
Nothing eventful happens at work that day. Kageyama sits in his chair, his chin propped up by his hand, the usual look of boredom on his face. The first couple of minutes are spent reorganizing the colorful post-its on the wall next to him, the handwritings similar to those back at home. His eyes linger at the one that says, ‘Don’t forget to smile or else you’ll scare everyone away. Again.’ and the little crow is hastily drawn at the bottom of the paper. He gets called by Daichi, his boss, from time to time, usually to get some papers photocopied.
Twelve noon rolls around and he lets himself be dragged to the break room by Tanaka, Nishinoya, and Sugawara. They’re noisy, as always, but Kageyama has learned to appreciate the ruckus that they bring to his life. When Tanaka and Sugawara leave, Kageyama takes the chance to ask Nishinoya about the text he sent earlier.
“What are the flowers for?”
Nishinoya stops trying to wipe away the coffee stain on one of the chairs (which may or may not be why Tanaka dashed away so soon) and gives him his full attention.
He stares at Kageyama for a minute, then two, then three. Kageyama’s already sweating bullets under Nishinoya’s intense stare. He sighs with relief when Nishinoya breaks the tension with a grin.
“Not ‘what’! But ‘who’!” Nishinoya corrects as he pats Kageyama on the back.
“’Who’?” Kageyama asks, still unsure.
“Yeah, for Asahi!” Nishinoya’s grin grows wider. “We have this… thing today, so I won’t have time to go pick it up…”
Now it’s Kageyama’s turn to stare while Nishinoya pats his pockets, lets out an “Aha!” when he finds a piece of paper and a pen.
“I already called them about it yesterday, so you just need to go get it.” Nishinoya says as he writes down the shop’s address. “It’s close to where you live too!”
“But-” Kageyama tries to talk but is cut off by Nishinoya pushing the paper into his hands.
“Thanks a lot, Kageyama!” he exclaims, giving him a thumbs up before running out the door.
“But!” Kageyama calls after him a second too late.
He buries his head in his hands, crumpling the paper in the process. He’s starting to rethink about the whole ‘appreciating their ruckus’ thing.
“How will I give them to you then?” Kageyama groans.
Daichi lets him leave early that day (“I can’t have you ruin Nishinoya and Asahi’s night, can I?” “But Daichi-san, how will I give the flowers-”). It’s only 3:30pm when he arrives at the flower shop, and Nishinoya’s right about it being close to his apartment. Kageyama’s only going to have to walk for five minutes to get home.
The fresh smell of flowers, along with the soft chime of bells, greets him as he pushes the door open. Kageyama steps inside slowly, different colors, shapes, and sizes of petals filling his sight. He walks up to the counter when he hears someone from the back room shout “Coming!”
A short boy comes bounding out, a smile lights up his face when he sees Kageyama.
“Hey!” he greets as he leans on the counter, his orange hair curling up everywhere.
Kageyama is silent for a few seconds, before offering a hesitant “Hello…?” as a reply.
The boy’s smile leaves as fast as it came, and Kageyama panics because him insulting someone as soon as they meet is nothing new. ‘Orange’ (Is his hair color natural or?) seems to sense his discomfort because he tenses, shakes his head, and the smile is back.
“Sorry about that. What can I do for you?” Kageyama has to correct himself because the smile is most definitely not back but is instead replaced by a professional one.
“I’m here for some flowers.”
“Well, duh.” Orange’s voice is teasing. “Of course you are, why else would you be in a flower shop?”
Kageyama fights back the blush that’s threatening to cover his cheeks and also the urge to scream at Orange’s stupidity.
“Yes. Of course.” Kageyama manages to keep his temper in check. Orange looks at him in surprise. What? Is he expecting Kageyama to be angry or something?
“I’m here for Nishinoya Yuu’s order,” Kageyama continues.
Orange continues to look at him, like he has no idea what he’s talking about, before his lips slowly form an ‘o’.
“Oh! Noya-san’s flowers! Yeah!” Orange looks excited now. “Wait a bit!” he says as he runs back to the back room.
Kageyama doesn’t have to wait that long, it’s only been five minutes when Orange returns. He raises an eyebrow at the sheepish look on the other’s face.
“Well, I’m sorry but,” Orange says as he rubs his nape, “they’re still working on the bouquet right now, since Noya-san said he’ll drop by at 4:30.”
“Oh.”
“Ah, it’ll only be a few minutes though! They’re just adding some finishing touches.” Orange assures.
“I’ll just hang around then,” Kageyama says, his throat aching when what he said makes Orange’s smile brighter.
“Thank you! Um,” Orange looks around, “here’s a chair.”
He carries the plastic chair over the counter, which Kageyama accepts gratefully. Silence wraps itself around them for minutes, until Orange leans on the counter and starts talking again.
He talks about how his day went, about the customer that ordered a truck load of roses to surprise his girlfriend, about a little kid that bought a pair of daisies and blushed when he teased him about giving them to a crush, and about a very nervous high school student randomly grabbing some flowers on display for his first date. Orange says that he felt sorry about him and replaced the flowers with those that had special meanings. He laughs when he remembers the look on the poor teen’s face when he told him about what they mean. Kageyama’s throat aches even more at the sound and his chest is starting to feel tight.
He’s not sure when he started to zone out, but Orange’s calls of “Kageyama? Helloooo, Kageyama?” and a hand waving in front of his face bring him back to reality.
“How do you know my name?” Kageyama asks.
Orange visibly stills for a moment before he points at the name tag on Kageyama’s suit. Oh. Kageyama looks down on the apron Orange is wearing and is disappointed at the lack of a name tag. Orange notices (he seems to be noticing a lot of things, Kageyama thinks) and puffs up his chest.
“I’m Hinata. Hinata Shouyou,” Orange says as he stretches his arm out.
“Kageyama Tobio,” Kageyama stands up and reaches over the counter for a handshake, “but you already know that.”
“Yeah.” Hinata says. “Yeah, I do.”
Things are silent between them again. Kageyama moves to sit down again when he sees something on Hinata’s cheek.
“A scar?” he asks.
Hinata jumps a bit, startled. He brings a hand to where Kageyama’s pointing and nods.
“I was… I got into an accident a year ago.” Hinata replies. “A really stupid one, actually. I was crossing the street, and I didn’t see the car coming.”
“A car accident?” Kageyama is surprised that he escaped with minor injuries.
“Yeah. But someone pushed me out of the way just in time, so here I am in one piece!” Hinata flashes him a forced smile. “Well, almost one piece…” He whispers.
“Uh, I got into a car accident too!” Kageyama says, his voice a bit too loud.
Hinata steps back at his sudden outburst. “…You did?” he asks.
“The details… are a bit fuzzy though.” Kageyama tries to recollect what happened before, but stops when he hears Hinata laugh again.
“Y-Your face… looks really scary when you overthink things!” Hinata rasps out in between laughs.
This time, Kageyama doesn’t manage to stop himself from blushing or shouting “Shut up, dumbass!” and he also doesn’t manage to squish the little butterflies in his stomach when Hinata’s laughter only grows louder and how everything feels so much like home when they’ve just met minutes ago.
Hinata only stops laughing when someone from the back room calls for him, and he walks away while wiping away the happy tears that he shed.
Kageyama plops down into his chair, his face still red.
When Hinata returns, he’s carrying a big bouquet of various flowers tied together with an orange ribbon. Kageyama stands up to inspect it closer, sees some roses, some daisies, and are those sunflowers?
Hinata gently places it on the counter and beams up at Kageyama. “Kiyoko-san, you know, the one who arranged this, really outdid herself today!”
Kageyama nods in agreement. The arrangement is definitely one of the most beautiful ones he’s seen.
“They’re all my favorite flowers too,” Hinata adds, his smile growing softer.
And then Kageyama’s not sure what made him do it, it might be because he’s getting poisoned by the sweet smell of flowers, or maybe it’s because he didn’t eat lunch properly, or maybe because Hinata’s hair looks really soft, or maybe because he can smell Hinata’s shampoo now that he’s closer, or maybe the way something seems to be pulling at his heartstrings whenever he sees Hinata smiling, or maybe it’s because of all of them.
“Do you- Do you want to go get some dinner after your shift?” Kageyama asks while staring at the floor. He does so quickly though, that he what he hears himself saying is “doyouwantdinnershift” and he’s planning on running out of the flower shop due to embarrassment.
It’s been a minute now and Hinata hasn’t said anything yet, so Kageyama gathers whatever courage he has left and looks up. He wishes that he didn’t.
There’s an unreadable look on Hinata’s face, and tears are threatening to spill out of his eyes. Kageyama panics.
“I-I’m sorry, did I do something wro-”
“N-No, no you didn’t.” Hinata smiles weakly at him. “But I’m sorry.”
Hinata raises a hand, and Kageyama sees it. A ring.
“I’m going out with someone,” Hinata says, his voice shaking, “and today’s actually our… a-anniversary.”
“Oh god. I’m- I’m so sorry.” Kageyama is trying very hard not to look at Hinata right now.
“No harm done. Thank you, really.” But the tone of his voice is making it really difficult…
And when Kageyama gives in and looks back at him, the panic comes crashing back because Hinata’s seriously crying now.
“It… It means a lot, so thank you,” Hinata whispers through his tears.
Kageyama is confused, very much confused. His head is starting to hurt. And his heart because he just got turned down and he tried to ask someone who has a lover out. Oh.
“I… I need to go… Give this to Nishonoya,” Kageyama says as he picks up the bouquet. He doesn’t wait for Hinata’s reply and quickly walks toward the exit. His hand is already on the doorknob when Hinata calls his name. Kageyama’s already turning around before he knows it.
They stare at each other. Silence is wrapping itself around them again and Kageyama’s feeling dizzy from all the pounding his head and heart are doing.
“Did I,” Kageyama’s voice shakes as it leaves him, “did I forget something?”
A terrible feeling claws its way up his throat when he sees Hinata’s eyes widen.
“You see, I… That car accident might have whacked my brain a bit and there are times when I forget… things and did I forget something, Hinata?” Kageyama doesn’t like how desperate he sounds-
“Yeah.”
-and especially how Hinata looks like he’s going to break down into harsher sobs any time now.
He doesn't though. Instead, he smiles, he smiles as he smacks his cheeks with his hands.
“You forgot to pay for the bouquet, stupid Kageyama,” Hinata says as playfully as he can.
Kageyama rigidly walks back to the counter and places the bouquet back. His head hurts while he rummages in the briefcase that he lugs around every day, and he hears Hinata call for Kiyoko-san when he finally finds his wallet.
“Well would you look at the time? I gotta go now, Kageyama. K-Kiyoko-san will take care of things now. Uh, so bye!”
Kageyama whips his head up but is already too late. Hinata’s already run out of the shop, his apron discarded on the floor. An orange apron. Orange on the floor…
Kiyoko’s at the counter now, and Kageyama’s trying to will the headache to stop when he takes out his wallet and something falls out. A note.
He quickly picks it up. His hands are shaking as he unfolds it.
Shirts with funny cartoon characters on the floor, several sizes too small for him. Step stools. A king-sized bed. Two toothbrushes on the sink. Little crow doodles.
Laughter. Fights. Standing on tip toes. Stealing kisses.
Don’t forget. Don’t forget.
A head tucked under his chin. Tangled legs, tangled limbs. Shared warmth.
Don't forget. Don't forget.
Everyone writing notes for him.
Don’t forget.
A car’s going too fast.
Don’t forget. Again. Don’t do it again. Don’t do it again. Don’t ever forget again.
Hinata!
Don’t forget. Don’t forget again. It’s been a year. Don’t do this to him again.
A ring on his bedside table.
Don’t forget-
‘Don’t forget, I love you.’
And a little crow’s doodled at the bottom.
A hand shakes his shoulder and Kiyoko’s handing him the bouquet as she says “Go.”
Kageyama doesn’t need to be told twice.
He runs, runs as fast as he can, back to his, to their home. He turns right at a street and he sees orange and he runs even faster, shouts “Hinata!” and Hinata’s stopping and turning to look at him and Kageyama’s heart clenches when he sees tears and his eyes are disbelieving but Kageyama runs even faster until he reaches him.
“Kageyama-”
But Kageyama doesn’t let him finish. He drops the bouquet on the ground and wraps his arms around Hinata’s shaking form.
He pulls him in close and buries his nose in Hinata’s hair, smelling his shampoo, smelling home. Hinata clings to him and he finally lets himself break down, tears freely spilling out, sobs getting louder and louder.
“Hinata, Hinata, Hinata,” Kageyama whispers his name over and over again, as though committing it to memory.
“Happy anniversary.”