Chapter Text
Kronii stared at the bouquet of flowers on her desk. There were so many yellow sunflowers that she was pretty sure at least a tenth of them were already broken somewhere in there—all wrapped up nicely in brown paper wrapping. Very classy.
The door clicked open and Sana walked into their shared dorm. “I’m back!” Her customary greeting rang throughout the room unanswered. Sana knew Kronii was there with a quick glance; her roommate often didn’t reply, known through years of friendship. She closed the door and stopped when she was about to toe her shoes off, eyes fixed on the bright yellow across the room.
“Umm, did you get another confession or something?”
Kronii wiped her hand across her face, sighing.
“My brother dropped by.”
Sana just ‘ooh’ed and nodded as if that explained everything. She gestured towards it. “So is there like, some sort of special occasion?”
Kronii flopped onto her bed and heaved another sigh like she just watched a cat paw a glass of water off the table. The words dragged themselves out of her mouth. “He… wants me to give these to Mumei for him,” she said. “I really don’t know what goes on inside his head.”
“Wow, Mumei? That is some tough luck.” Sana walked over to her and patted her shoulder in encouragement.
“Thank you. At least someone understands.”
They paused in their solidarity, Sana nodding along standing next to Kronii laying defeated on her bed. Kronii glanced at her roommate.
“By the way, your shoes are still on. I can see your footprints.” The line of dirt in the shape of Sana’s boots could be seen trailing their way along the wooden panels from the door.
“So… let me get this straight… you want me to give this to a girl in my grade because you think it’s more romantic to be considerate of her boundaries…?”
Across Kronii, her brother nodded. He was standing just outside her door as she held it open. Between the petals, Kronii could see him strangely decked out in a pinstriped suit and tie. In his arms were a large bouquet of flowers—bright sunflowers that swayed dangerously in their bunch.
Kronii’s eyelid twitched. “That’s literally the bare minimum, but you do this in the dumbest way possible. Are you even aware that I never talked to her before? We’re both girls, too.”
Krono laughed his stupid laugh, a chuckle that he always claimed to catch the ladies. Slightly muffled behind the behemoth of a floral graveyard, he clarified, “That’s exactly my point, dear sister! Don’t girls compliment each other all the time? It’ll be better for you to give this to her and just pass along my message.”
“You’re a disgrace to our bloodline,” Kronii groaned.
“I’m a blessing, thank you very much.”
Stomping on her brother’s foot and ignoring the yelp that he let out, she moved to shut the door in his face. A polished shoe marred by a distinct footprint stopped it from completely shutting, and her brother pouted through the crack, puppy eyes shining at her.
In a sing-song voice he said, “If you do this for me, I’ll get you a Steam gift card.”
“...How much.”
“Twenty?”
Kronii opened the door again, taking the bouquet from his arms. “Okay, fine! Get out!” She jeered at his giddy figure fleeing away. His final words before running down the stairs were, “And don’t forget to tell her it’s from me!”
When she shut the door behind her with her slipper-clad foot, Kronii already felt the regret setting in.
The problem was: Kronii and Mumei didn’t share any classes at all. The only times Kronii saw her was with her friend outside of her calculus lecture hall, chatting together after the class on their way to get lunch. That was only sometimes, and she didn’t know if it was because of class schedules or whatnot. It wasn’t her business, after all.
Her friend was Kronii’s classmate, short and red and energetic. If she remembered Mumei’s voice correctly, her name was Bae. She was an odd compliment to Mumei, who was almost always soft spoken and cute… which also happened to garner her a lot of popularity.
The girl was like a spoon of sugar in this beehive of a campus. No matter where she was, she drew gazes and the occasional confession, unfortunately now including her brother, by just being there—a friendly personality that amiable was hard to resist. Last year on Valentine’s Day when they were still freshmen, Kronii recalled seeing Mumei in one of those rare instances walking around juggling a pile of flowers and stuffed animals and chocolate boxes. And holding them all, Mumei looked so small in comparison.
Mumei dropped a box or two to no surprise, even the new campus belle was no match for the woes of physics. Kronii was already in front of her so she’d bent down to help pick them up. The thankful smile that was given her way was… well, Kronii just remembered nodding and walking away, understanding why people thought she was so charming.
Kronii drummed her fingers on her desk, now seated to stare more closely at the flowers her brother pushed onto her. Sana tossed the last wipe with smears of dirt on it into the trashbin and flopped onto her bed across Kronii’s before breaking the silence.
“I think Mumei’s class today is down the hall from ours.” The girl hummed, then added, “What are you gonna say when you give them to her?”
Kronii stretched her arms above her and creaked her spinning chair by leaning back. “I don’t know, I’ll probably just say ‘Hey, my brother thinks you’re cute’ or something.” She picked the bouquet up gingerly, turning it in her hands to see if there was a card or something that came with it.
Thankfully, there was. At least this meant that Kronii would probably be spared from an explanation. A fancy black slip of paper adorned with gold lettering stared back up at Kronii.
‘To Mumei, the girl who attracted my heart. Only these could express a fraction of what I think of you.’
Sana jolted when she heard Kronii gag out loud. “What happened?” She stared in concern as Kronii dropped the bouquet again and pointed at it.
“Just look at it!” Kronii grimaced at the card like it was a dead body. Sana got up and walked over, lifting the bouquet and reading the card herself. When she just started laughing, Kronii looked at her in disbelief. “Isn’t it disgusting? I can’t believe he’s so cheesy like that in this era…”
Sana wiped a tear from her eye. “Your brother is kinda hilarious!”
“He’s a lowlife, that’s what he is.”
“Well, lowlife or not, I think we—well, more like you—have to deliver it anyway,” she put the bouquet down and checked the clock hung up above their desks. “Pretty soon, too.”
Kronii groaned. “...Can you come with me?”
“Of course!”
She hefted the bouquet up and—why was it so heavy?—the two of them went to the door. Kronii checked herself out in the mirror. Even with her outfit of a dark sweater and jeans being largely covered behind the massive bunch of flowers, Kronii nodded in approval at herself. “Looking good as always, Kronii!” She gave a thumbs up at her reflection.
Sana just waited at the door for her. “I don’t think now’s the time for a narcissism session.”
The walk to their afternoon class was… humiliating. Kronii was no stranger to attention, but for something like this, it was wearing on her. Wolf whistles were aimed at her and people cheered good luck. Too many times she explained that it wasn’t hers when an acquaintance talked to her in disbelief, yet none of them really cared when they saw someone with a wrapped up bouquet of bright sunflowers of such size. She stared in resentment each time she watched someone walk away whispering to their friend. At least the size helped to give some sense of anonymity; she hid her face behind the flowers all the way there.
They passed their own lecture hall and Sana had to tap her shoulder when they were a few paces away from Mumei’s classroom. The door was propped open, people filtering in and out.
Actually getting inside the room was worse.
Peeking through the petals, she tried to spot that distinctive light brown hair and was disappointed to see her sitting in the front row along with her group of friends chirping and chatting. Kronii didn’t know why she was hoping Mumei would suddenly be absent or in the corner of the classroom alone. Somehow, they didn’t notice her despite the classroom quieting at the sight of the girl with a bouquet of sunflowers.
Kronii took a deep breath. Even if it was just passing something along for her brother, she was still ridiculously nervous for some reason.
Sana lightly hit her shoulder, whispering, “Good luck!”
Kronii cleared her throat and straightened her back.
She marched up to them and ignored the surprised gasps and whispers that arose from the room as she dropped the wrapped bouquet unceremoniously onto her desk. Mumei’s desk. Kronii grimaced internally as she saw a few petals break off from the impact.
Another deep breath, she looks at Mumei, and—was she blushing? The girl’s eyes were wide open with shock and flitted across her features like she was trying to recall who she was. Kronii avoided her stare.
The words fell out of her mouth mechanically, like she was reading a script for a different person.
“My brother wanted me to give these to you.” Kronii glanced at Mumei again but looked away, staring at the engraving on her desk, ‘I + B,’ in a penciled-in heart. “He’s Krono, if it rings a bell. If not, it’s not a big deal.” She could feel her cool facade webbing with cracks the longer she stood here, shifting her feet in early escape preparation.
The lecture hall was deathly silent and Kronii could feel her ears turn red from the weight of all their gazes. The heaviest of all was the one of scrutinization from the girl in front of her.
She didn’t wait for a response, flipped her hair, and strutted out of the classroom to collapse on the nearest bench. The moment they left the room, she could hear everyone inside bursting out into loud conversation about what they just saw.
“Krono? Isn’t that the hottie from the senior class?”
“Forget Krono. I’m pretty sure that was Kronii just now! She’s like, the top in her grade!”
“She’s pretty hot too.”
“What if the flowers were from her? Maybe she was lying about them being from her brother.”
“Mumei, do you know her?”
Kronii buried her face in her hands, mentally noting to make her brother put more money into that gift card as further compensation for the humiliation she just went through.
But, during that split second of a glance, she thought she saw disappointment in Mumei’s eyes.
…Well, she’d be disappointed too if it was Krono.
Sana sucked in her teeth next to her. “That… wasn’t as bad as I thought it would go?”
“I don’t wanna hear it right now.”
“No, no, it’s okay! It’s not like the sender was you!”
Kronii glared at her. “But I was still the messenger, what’s the difference?” She whined into her hands and Sana helplessly patted her shoulder. It took a few minutes for Kronii to calm down and by then the door to Mumei’s lecture hall was already closed, the professor having started the lesson. The two made their way to their own class and Kronii dragged her feet all the way there.
Kronii shuffled through the door and spotted Mumei’s friend, Bae, near the front. The instant association of her to the brunette made her avoid looking at the redhead. She fled up the stairs and sat near the back.
She couldn’t focus the entire time, laptop open but with only half-effort notes while their professor droned on and on. She kept remembering the watchful eyes of more than fifty people observing her giving a second hand confession—that might as well be what it was with the size of those damn flowers—and had to physically cringe to take her mind off of it, lest she throw her whole computer at the wall. Next to her, Sana could only spare her a concerned glance. She was going to have to pay more attention during this lecture because she knew that Kronii wasn’t gonna know what was happening.
The lecture soon ended and Kronii and Sana packed their bags. Residual embarrassment made Kronii pack extra slow so by the time they left, everyone else was gone.
When they were about to exit, a voice cut through the air.
“Excuse me?”
Kronii flicked her gaze to the side and jolted. Before her, Mumei fidgeted behind the bouquet and smiled sheepishly.
What the hell!
A panicked glance to her left showed that Sana was already far away from them and ready to sprint. She sent Kronii a thumbs up and disappeared around the corner, making Kronii grumble out loud.
So much for support.
It might’ve been too audible, because Mumei furrowed her brows and asked, “Are you alright?”
Kronii’s heart jumped. “Oh, yeah, don’t worry about it.” She tried to play it cool, but internally she was very, very embarrassed at the memory of how those sunflowers got in Mumei’s hands. Mumei’s tone was admittedly endearing when she spoke and Kronii could understand why she had a whole fanclub on campus.
Now that two-thirds of Mumei’s body wasn’t hidden behind a desk, Kronii inadvertently checked her out, glancing up and down. She was wearing a brown hoodie and jean shorts and although the simplicity of the outfit, it just highlighted the cuteness factor of the girl. It may also have had to do with the comically large bouquet of sunflowers whose stems Mumei had to peek around.
“Um, I was wondering if you could…” Mumei’s voice rang through again and Kronii focused back on her as she finished, “...return this to your brother? My reply is on the back of his card.” She gestured with the bouquet.
“You’re not keeping the flowers?”
“I’m actually allergic to them.” Mumei giggled like she was trying to ward off the awkwardness of the whole situation. The situation being that some guy confessed to her through flowers, but his sister was the one giving them to her, and not only that, she had to give them back to said sister because they made her nose itch.
Mumei sniffled.
It was then that Kronii noticed that her eyes were starting to water. “Give it to me, I’ll take them off your hands.” She hurried to take the flowers from her and brushed against her fingers in the process. The wrapping crinkled when Kronii startled and squeezed it in response.
Mumei’s hands were really soft. And warmer than hers.
She smiled in thanks at her before sneezing, lifting her elbow hurriedly.
Cute!
Kronii murmured, “Bless you.” Mumei sneezed and sniffled again and fished out a pack of tissues to blow her nose.
“Sorry about that… gosh, flowers always have my allergies going haywire.” She gasped. “Wait, if hayfever is because hay makes you sneeze, why do you think haywire has hay in it?”
“Maybe because it makes you wanna set something on hay-fire,” Kronii blurted without thinking.
That was probably Kronii’s dumbest attempt of a joke ever and was about to apologize for it until Mumei began to crack up. Her laugh was airy and sudden and Kronii started to chuckle confusedly along with her.
Mumei grinned at her and even though she looked a little miserable with a pink nose and tearing eyes, Kronii’s heart softened at the brightness of her smile.
“I’ll be honest, Kronii, that joke kinda sucked.” Mumei giggled a little, as if the memory of it still tickled her.
Kronii ducked her head behind the flowers, ears turning red at the tips in her embarrassment. “Yeah, sorry about that…”
“It’s fine. It’s the delivery that counts, and something about you is hilarious for some reason. I wasn’t expecting that from you.”
Kronii laughed dryly. Was Mumei calling her a clown? She lowered the bouquet to reply and took a step back in surprise when she saw that Mumei had moved closer to her. She knew Mumei was short, but she probably seemed taller because she usually hung out with her even shorter friend… what was her name? Bae? With the girl so close to her, she had to look down at a considerable angle to make eye contact.
“Actually,” Mumei began, looking up at her through her lashes. “Do you wanna go have lunch with me? Bae’s at the lab, so I’d have to eat by myself again.”
Oh, good. Her name was Bae after all.
Thinking of the twenty tabs open on her computer back at the dorm, Kronii had to reject her offer. “Sorry… I only have the time to eat takeout, you know how it is,” Kronii laughed robotically. She really hoped Mumei didn’t think she hated her or something.
Mumei’s smile faded a little, but it was back to normal when Kronii blinked. She waved her hands nonchalantly, tissue still balled up in her palm. “Yeah, no problem! I really should let you put those flowers away anyway.” She turned around, still looking at Kronii. Her amber eyes twinkled with anticipation.
“I’ll see you later, then?”
Kronii nodded. “Yeah, sure.”
As the girl walked away toward the cafeteria, Kronii stood there in a daze.
She stayed that way until a hushed, “What was that?” spooked her. Kronii whipped around and saw an incredulous Sana.
“Where the hell did you come from?
Sana scratched her cheek, looking away. “Well… I didn’t exactly leave in the first place.”
“So you just watched me make a fool out of myself?” Kronii felt betrayed.
“Maybe I did.” Sana grabbed her by the shoulders. “And I happened to see the Nanashi Mumei trying to ask you out! And you had the audacity to say no!”
Kronii blinked twice, speechless. Processing what she said, she immediately denied it. Sana must’ve hit her head on the corner wall to come up with that. “No, no, she was just being polite after having to return my brother’s bouquet. She’s nice, after all, she probably felt bad about it.”
“Mumei never eats lunch alone. She’s always with a horde of people; it’s unlikely that it’s so coincidental that she had no one to eat with after getting a chance to talk to you.”
“Well… maybe all of her friends happened to be busy today, I don’t know.”
Sana just side-eyed her like Kronii just said that one plus one equaled seven.
Kronii straightened her back in defense. “Look, I have a research paper to do. I don’t exactly have the time to sit down and talk to a girl that’s sorry for my brother,” she snarked.
“It’s due in two months.” Sana continued to complain about the terrible behavior of her best friend. “I don’t know why you have to act so offstandish; Mumei is nice! She doesn’t bite! I know you want to look cool, but are you sure it’s not an excuse to avoid interacting with people or something?”
Kronii pretended she didn’t hear her and pointedly looked away.
Sana sighed. “Okay, well, you should probably give those flowers back to your brother. Or toss them, I’m not sure what you want to do.”
Kronii was reminded about the yellow bastards. “Oh, right…” Thinking about what Mumei could have replied to him with, she felt a little twang of unease in her chest.
…Was she sick?
She rubbed her chest absentmindedly and said, “Let’s head back.”
Pulling out her phone and balancing the stupid bunch of flowers to her chest, she texted Krono.
[ourkronii] your manic pixie dream girl wants to return your flowers
She tucked away the phone. When she and Sana climbed the stairs to the second floor of their dorm building, she got a reply.
[yourkrono] ???
What did she say??
Her brother’s message was left on read until Sana opened the door and Kronii could toss the sunflowers on her desk. As always, she had incredible willpower when she was able to not throw them out the window.
[ourkronii] she said she’s allergic to them
should’ve done some research. L
also apparently she wrote her reply on the back of your card so come get it
Kronii turned off her phone and let her backpack fall with a thud onto the floor next to her desk. With a sigh, she sat on the swivel chair.
She heard a grumble and spun to face Sana who was clutching her stomach. They both laughed and Kronii asked, “What do you wanna eat?”
Sana hummed, thinking about her options. “I can order some alfredo?”
“That sounds good.”
While Sana fiddled with the delivery app on her phone, Kronii had to resist the urge to flip over the card on the sunflowers and read what Mumei had written. She tapped her fingers on her desk, antsy.
“Okay, it says they’ll be here in twenty minutes.”
Kronii spun herself in circles on her chair. “Let’s hope they don’t find themselves on the other side of campus again.”
When the delivery guy arrived, Sana told her to get the food by the campus street—their university didn’t allow visitors in without a permit so whenever they ordered takeout, one of them had to fetch the food.
She opened the door and almost cursed in surprise.
“Jesus Christ, you scared me…”
Krono raised his brows at the unexpected result of him not having to knock. He lowered his fist and invited himself in, much to Kronii’s protest and Sana’s amusement.
“We just ordered some alfredo. I would’ve ordered some more if I knew you were on the way,” Sana apologized.
Kronii glared at her. “It’s fine. He doesn’t deserve it anyway.” She pushed at his shoulder to move him out of her way, reminding him, “Get your flowers and leave, already.”
Her brother clutched his shoulder and pretended like he was brutally beaten. What a drama king. “My dear sister, how you wound me!” When she just gagged at him, he straightened up and said, “I’ll get out of your way in a bit. Go get your lunch.” He smiled smugly and shooed her away and Kronii huffed before she left the dorm, shutting the door behind her.
She obtained the food and Sana greeted her with an update when she came back. “Krono left.”
Kronii hummed, pleased, as she placed the plastic bag onto the floor in the middle of their room. They didn’t have the space to fit a table so they usually ate on the floor facing each other and had cushions to sit on. With the back support provided by their bed frames, it wasn’t that bad.
Sana leaned forward from her bed, a twinkle in her eye. “I didn’t get to see what was on the card, but when your brother read it, he had the weirdest expression. I wonder what Mumei wrote him… Do you think she likes him back?”
Kronii was untying the bag’s knot and furrowed her brows in annoyance. “Ugh, I hope not,” she replied. “She didn’t look lovestruck or anything but I don’t know.”
Her roommate helped to take out the boxes and open the lids, setting one in front of her before continuing, “At first, he looked upset, then he started to laugh to himself?” She shuddered. “I thought he was going crazy.”
That did sound weird. Kronii paused in twirling the noodles around her plastic fork, thinking. Just what on Earth was on the back of that card? The curiosity ate at her and itched at the back of her head, but all she could do was purse her lips and motioned with the forkful of Alfredo. “He’s a weird guy, who knows what goes on inside his head.”
They finished eating their lunch and Kronii stood up to throw away the empty boxes. She and Sana entered a silent agreement, returning to their work for the rest of the day without talking. Words and numbers made Kronii’s head spin until she settled in bed late that night, Sana already asleep.
When she woke up the next day, she’d already forgotten her dreams of round amber eyes.
.