[Ongoing] The Magic Flower House - Chapter 3: 白菊 White Chrysanthemum [Truth]
Title: The Magic Flower House - Chapter 3: 白菊 White Chrysanthemum [Truth]
Fandom: Kis-My-Ft2, [AKB 48]
Pairings/Characters: Miyata Toshiya, Tamamori Yuta, Kojima Haruna (as "Megu-tan")
Rating: PG
Warnings: AU. Harmless. But uh there's magic and stuff.
Disclaimer: Characters are not mine. Story is mine.
A/N: So I was being really uncreative when I came up with the guest for this chapter. If you don't know who "Megu-tan" is, check HERE. I'm part-way through chapter 4 and chapter 5 is still planned to be the last one of this short fic series.
“Miyataaa.” Tamamori wailed, sounding utterly miserable. “Miyataaaaaa!” He called the other again, drawing out the other’s name in a long whine.
“What is it Tama-chan?” Miyata asked from behind the counter, where he was cutting some flowers for an arrangement. He peeked past the flowers at Tamamori, who was slumped on one of the chairs. “What’s wrong, Tama-chan?”
Looking at the other and smacking Miyata’s shoulder, Tamamori complained, “My hair isn’t doing what I want it to do. What do I do?? I have a photoshooting after this!” He kept pulling on his bangs, trying to style them in some way or other.
Miyata grabbed the other’s hands to keep them still and out of Tamamori’s face. “I think you look good, Tama-chan. Very cool. Like a handsome prince.”
“You think so?” Tamamori looked at Miyata and then sighed. “Okay then. What kind of flower am I getting today?” He changed the topic immediately, as if nothing had happened before.
Laughing softly, Miyata presented the small bouquet to Tamamori. It was made up of three large, pink roses and a scatter of lavender to add some more colour and a variation in height as well as a calming scent. “Is this one okay?”
“Looks good.” Tamamori nodded and got up. He paid for the bouquet and accepted it from Miyata. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
Nodding, Miyata smiled. “See you tomorrow, Tama-chan.” Then he added, “And it’s not the way Tama-chan looks, you know? It’s more than that. I like Tama-chan for who you are.”
The words made Tamamori’s eyes linger on Miyata for another moment before the other turned around and left the shop. Miyata blinked and then looked after his friend until Tamamori was out of sight, before he went back behind the counter to clean up the workspace. His words hadn’t been too obvious had they? Otherwise, he’d just say the same thing he always did, when he said things like this. That he liked the other and even loved the other...like a friend. Although that wasn’t really the full truth.
Maybe it was one of those days. One of those days when Tamamori was bothered by everything and everybody. The makeup artists were all over him and then the models he was going take photos with were, too. He tried to act professional but on the inside things were driving him crazy. Tamamori wasn’t so good with people. Especially people he didn’t know. He’d been going around and avoiding people’s eyes most of the time at work. A part of him was amazed that nobody had noticed so far.
To be honest, it was one of the things he envied Miyata for. The other was able to approach people so easily and to interact with them naturally.
Tamamori pouted. Sometimes he wanted that, too. He’d rather have that and not his looks, really. One of the things he’d learned about being in the showbusiness had been that this world was only superficial. This was probably why nobody had noticed things about Tamamori. Nobody had so much as tried to look for him.
He looked at the flowers on the makeup table in front of him. Miyata’s flowers were different. It seemed ironic that flowers - something most people viewed as the most superficial thing there was - were ‘deeper’ than people here. Tamamori hadn’t known much about the language of flowers before but ever since Miyata had taken over that flower shop, Tamamori had tried to read up on things a bit. Of course he’d never tell Miyata that he had and that he knew about some of the meanings of the flowers that the other gave him.
Today’s bouquet was easy though. It was simple and yet powerful. Tamamori smiled and touched one of the rose petals gently. Pink roses stood for trust, happiness and confidence and lavender meant faithfulness. Tamamori knew that the pink roses were supposed to be for him and the lavender was Miyata, watching over him.
“...this is so cheesy. That idiot.” Tamamori muttered to himself.
Speaking of that idiot, Miyata was the opposite from him in the respect that the other wished to be popular and have good looks. The other had told him many times that he admired Tamamori for being who he was. Sometimes Tamamori felt fletter and his ego purred with satisfaction whenever Miyata showered him with compliments but sometimes, like today, he just felt puzzled and maybe a little frustrated by it even.
“Maybe someone should make that wish come true.” He mumbled to himself. Just so that the other could see how stupid this all was.
“You’re so nice. Thinking of someone else.” A new voice spoke up and made Tamamori jump in his seat. He whirled around to see a girl standing in the door to the room. She was sporting a cute ponytail hairstyle and an almost skimpy looking orange dress. Overall, she seemed to be very bright and colourful.
“Who the hell are you and when did you come in?” Tamamori asked.
She smiled cutely. “Call me Megu-tan. I was told to call you out.”
“-tan?” Tamamori vaguely recalled Miyata addressing someone that way. Someone who didn’t really exist in this world but only on TV or on paper. One of those moe-girls the other was so fond of. “Okay uh whatever. Coming.”
He followed the other out. She did somehow look like she had just jumped out of an anime.
Miyata would probably be all over her. Tamamori snorted and tried to brush that thought off.
“Your friend sounds like a very interesting person.” Megu-tan smiled at him and Tamamori realized that he’d said everything out loud. His ears were starting to burn. “I hope someone will make that wish of his come true. That would make you happy, too, right?”
“Uh, whatever.” Tamamori shook his head and walked past her into the studio. He was switching into work-mode now and wasn’t going to think about weird girls anymore. And Miyata. Yeah, he wasn’t going to think about all of this anymore now.
In the evening, Miyata was about to close up the shop when he heard someone coming in. Somehow this customer felt different from others. His flower wasn’t telling him that it was one of the special customers though. They were special though. He was sure of it. Just in a different way. In a way that was similar to someone else he knew.
“Can I help you, miss?” He stepped out from behind the counter.
The girl smiled at him and produced a small pouch. “Oh, this is rather unexpected. I wasn’t expecting to find someone from the same trade on this end.”
“And I didn’t know cute magic users like you existed around here.” Miyata blinked.
“I’m new here. And I need some practice. So I’m making people’s wishes come true.” She told him and then turned serious. “I know you probably know what’s going to come but I’m saying it anyway. I’m going to cast a spell on you. You won’t be able to do anything against it. I’m just warning you here because we’re in the same trade. This spell might have unwanted side-effects for you and maybe a couple of other people.”
Miyata nodded and closed his eyes. “It’s okay. If I get into trouble my heroine will save me.”
“You really are into those anime girls way too much. I see what people are talking about.” The girl rolled her eyes a little. “Or well, what he was talking about anyway.”
Miyata just laughed. He didn’t say of course that he hadn’t been talking about 2D heroines.
He listened to the other chanting a spell and then ending it with a loud “Pon!” A cloud of sparkly dust engulfed him and then Miyata’s world started to spin and blurr.
Somewhere in the distance, he heard the girl’s voice. “Oh, I think I’ve done a good job on this one. I think he’ll be pleased with this. Good night then!”
When Tamamori got to the flower shop the next day, he almost immediately jumped to hide behind a lamppost because a hoard of girls was crowding around the entrance. The inside of the shop looked really really crowded as well. “What the hell is going on?”
“Ouji-sama!”
“Prince Toshiya!”
Some of the girls could be heard squealing. More and more girls gathered by the shop and Tamamori watched in horror as they trampled onto some of the flower displays outside. What was that idiot doing? Miyata would never let people do this! The other loved his flowers. It was one of the things that Tamamori liked about the other. The earnest feelings Miyata always displayed towards his flowers and his work. It always reminded Tamamori to do the same towards his own work as well. To put all his heart into it.
“Where is that idiot? Miyata, what are you doing??” He hissed and tried to catch a glimpse of the other somehow. Maybe he should try from the back.
He made it to the back-entrance of the shop and went up the stairs there to the apartment above. Tamamori knew there was another way to enter the shop from there - it wasn’t used often, Miyata always went from inside the shop but it was there, for emergency reasons and whatnot. It didn’t take rocket science to figure out the place where Miyata hid his spare key, so Tamamori got into the house easily enough and then snuck down to the shop. The door was open so he was able to take a peek inside at the space behind the counter, the space where Miyata usually was, where the other worked.
There was someone there. Someone seemingly shrouded in (way too much) glitter and sparkles. Tamamori almost felt blinded, so he put on his sunglasses. It was a person he’d never seen before. The guy looked like someone who’d jumped straight out of a shojo manga. Miyata’s mother would have probably described him as a ‘prince-like’ guy. Tamamori felt a bit irked. The other resembled him for some reason. Not him as he was now but the him that he was in magazines or on TV. The superficial, fake him.
“Please decorate us with your flowers, Miyata-kun!” Tamamori heard a girl’s voice speak.
Then a male voice answered her. “I shall do that then, my princess.” Tamamori made a face. Princess? What the hell was this? Some kind of host club?
He stopped though. The other’s voice had been familiar. More than just familiar even, he had definitely recognized that voice. He would have recognized it anywhere. The male voice had been Miyata’s, Tamamori was sure of it. But why was it coming out of that weird guy’s mouth?
Tamamori wanted to confront the guy but when he looked at his watch, he found that the didn’t have the time to do so. So he left. And for the first time in a very long time, he left without a flower with him. It felt awful. Like something was missing, no like a part of him was missing somehow. He felt off about it all day.
It got so bad that his manager even allowed him to go home early, saying that he’d been working a lot and seemed pretty tired and deserved some rest.
Of course Tamamori didn’t go straight home but to the flower shop instead. It was almost time for it to close, so people were getting kicked out. Some of the girls lingered around but when it was obvious that nobody was coming out of the flower shop again or whatever, they left. It was then that Tamamori used the same route as in the morning to get inside.
He found the guy from earlier by the workspace. Grabbing him, Tamamori turned him around to face him and demanded, “Who are you and what have you done to Miyata?”
“Tama-chan? What’s wrong? What do you mean? I’m me!” The guy with the strange face but with Miyata’s voice replied. “Hello to you, too.”
This was so weird. This was wrong! Tamamori wanted to say something but found that he couldn’t. This was like talking to a stranger. He felt how his tongue was getting tied, how all words seemed to leave him somehow. This never happened when he was around Miyata!
“I’m a prince now, just like you. How about you come here and hang around my shop? It will be the most popular flower shop in the whole city, I’m sure!” The other continued. “All the girls will come here. They’ll love us together.”
No. This was wrong. This was wrong. This wasn’t Miyata.
“We’d have two flower fields here and we could choose whatever flower we want. Isn’t that great?” Every word the other said was getting to Tamamori. They hurt him. But the thing that hurt the most was the way the other, that stranger, was looking at him.
The eyes were the same, they were the same gentle, hazel colour that Miyata’s were but at the same time they were completely different. The expression in them was different. And Tamamori hated it. He couldn’t stand it. He wanted to punch the guy. Not in the way he usually punched Miyata but he wanted to really punch him.
His feelings did burst out of him eventually but not through his fist. “You’re not Miyata! You’ll never be Miyata! This isn’t you! This isn’t the Miyata I know. Give him back!” Tamamori grabbed the other and shook him. “If you stay like this, I’ll seriously hate you.”
He felt tears welling up in his eyes. “I’ll really hate you!” Tamamori wasn’t going to cry in front of Miyata, or whoever. So he ran out. He ran away from the shop, ran down the street, ran somewhere, he didn’t know where to. People wouldn’t be able to see him cry if he just ran past them quick enough.
Once he felt calmer again, he slowed down and stopped. He had no idea where he was but he didn’t care about that right now.
Using one of his shirt’s sleeves, he wiped his face and then sat down on a random narrow wall by the side of the road he was on. His thoughts were still circling around one thing. His head was filled with one name only. Miyata. Miyata, Miyata, Miyata, MiyataMiyataMiyata…
Why was this bothering him so much? Why was the thought of ‘losing’ the other so unbearable? Why was it hurting so much?
Tamamori wanted to laugh. He was making it sound like the other was dead.
Or well, maybe it was almost as if the other was dead. Miyata was most certainly gone.
“Come back. Idiot.” He drew up his legs and rested his forehead against them. Only for his nose to bump into something. Sneezing, Tamamori pulled away. A flower was looking up at him. It looked like it had gotten caught in his clothes somewhere, probably when he’d walked through the workspace at the shop earlier.
The white petals seemed to glow a little bit in the light of the streetlamp not too far from him.
“Maan, you were supposed to be happy when I made that wish come true. Why are you miserable?” A somewhat familiar female voice could be heard from somewhere nearby.
Tamamori jumped up. “You!! It was you! You made him all weird!”
“Well, you wanted it...and he kind of wanted it, too.” Megu-tan shrugged.
Stomping over to the girl, Tamamori glared down at her. “Turn him back! Now!!” He grabbed her shoulders. “You can do that, right? He’s not going to stay like that forever?”
“Hey, hey, don’t sweat!” She lifted her hands in defense. “It’s all good.” Then she pursed her lips. “I’m so not going to do it for free, though. What will you give me?”
Tamamori twitched. “Huh??” He tried to calm himself and took a deep breath. Once he felt not so out of it again, he offered the other the flower - he couldn’t think of anything else right now. “How about I give you this?”
Megu-tan looked like he was considering things for a moment and then smiled. “Okay.” She accepted her ‘payment’. “By the way, you know what this stands for, right?” She lifted the flower up. “A white chrysanthemum.”
Tamamori blinked.
Megu-tan rolled her eyes. “Ah, boys.” She pocketed the flower. “It means truth. Hopefully you’ll figure things out soon enough. Anyway, things will be back to the way they were in the morning. I’ll see to it. Bye then!” She disappeared into the darkness of the street.
When she was gone, Tamamori huffed softly and stuffed his hands into his pockets. “I already figured things out a long time ago. He’s the one who’s being dumb!” He muttered softly and then went to find a station or a cab or any clue as to where the hell he was so he could go home. He needed a shower and his bed.
Miyata couldn’t quite remember what had happened to him. His memories of the past few hours seemed to be oddly hazy. He did remember seeing Tamamori though. And the other hadn’t looked very happy. That worried him somehow. It worried him to the point that he kept checking his clock every other minute to see whether it was 11:38 yet.
Time passed way too slowly but then at 11:38, Tamamori entered the story. He looked out of breath but his face seemed to light up when he saw Miyata. Talking forward, he made a beeline for him and then punched Miyata’s shoulder. Hard. “You idiot. Idiot, idiot, idiot!!”
“Ow, Tama-chan! What did I do??” Miyata rubbed his shoulder.
“...nothing…” Tamamori muttered and then let out a sigh. “Give me some flowers?”
“Okay. Wait here for a mi-” Before Miyata could finish his sentence, Tamamori had thrown his arms around him and was hugging him. Hugging him so tight Miyata almost couldn’t get any air anymore. “Tama-chan?”
“I’m glad you’re you again.” Tamamori whispered.
He felt his heart beating so fast it almost hurt. Miyata wanted to do something, to say something, to say THAT but...no he couldn’t. It would just destroy everything. He was never, ever going to say those words to the other, even if he wanted to.
He wouldn’t tell Tamamori that he loved him.
To be continued...
Next Chapter: 牡丹 Peony [Bravery/Courage]
Fandom: Kis-My-Ft2, [AKB 48]
Pairings/Characters: Miyata Toshiya, Tamamori Yuta, Kojima Haruna (as "Megu-tan")
Rating: PG
Warnings: AU. Harmless. But uh there's magic and stuff.
Disclaimer: Characters are not mine. Story is mine.
A/N: So I was being really uncreative when I came up with the guest for this chapter. If you don't know who "Megu-tan" is, check HERE. I'm part-way through chapter 4 and chapter 5 is still planned to be the last one of this short fic series.
“Miyataaa.” Tamamori wailed, sounding utterly miserable. “Miyataaaaaa!” He called the other again, drawing out the other’s name in a long whine.
“What is it Tama-chan?” Miyata asked from behind the counter, where he was cutting some flowers for an arrangement. He peeked past the flowers at Tamamori, who was slumped on one of the chairs. “What’s wrong, Tama-chan?”
Looking at the other and smacking Miyata’s shoulder, Tamamori complained, “My hair isn’t doing what I want it to do. What do I do?? I have a photoshooting after this!” He kept pulling on his bangs, trying to style them in some way or other.
Miyata grabbed the other’s hands to keep them still and out of Tamamori’s face. “I think you look good, Tama-chan. Very cool. Like a handsome prince.”
“You think so?” Tamamori looked at Miyata and then sighed. “Okay then. What kind of flower am I getting today?” He changed the topic immediately, as if nothing had happened before.
Laughing softly, Miyata presented the small bouquet to Tamamori. It was made up of three large, pink roses and a scatter of lavender to add some more colour and a variation in height as well as a calming scent. “Is this one okay?”
“Looks good.” Tamamori nodded and got up. He paid for the bouquet and accepted it from Miyata. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
Nodding, Miyata smiled. “See you tomorrow, Tama-chan.” Then he added, “And it’s not the way Tama-chan looks, you know? It’s more than that. I like Tama-chan for who you are.”
The words made Tamamori’s eyes linger on Miyata for another moment before the other turned around and left the shop. Miyata blinked and then looked after his friend until Tamamori was out of sight, before he went back behind the counter to clean up the workspace. His words hadn’t been too obvious had they? Otherwise, he’d just say the same thing he always did, when he said things like this. That he liked the other and even loved the other...like a friend. Although that wasn’t really the full truth.
Maybe it was one of those days. One of those days when Tamamori was bothered by everything and everybody. The makeup artists were all over him and then the models he was going take photos with were, too. He tried to act professional but on the inside things were driving him crazy. Tamamori wasn’t so good with people. Especially people he didn’t know. He’d been going around and avoiding people’s eyes most of the time at work. A part of him was amazed that nobody had noticed so far.
To be honest, it was one of the things he envied Miyata for. The other was able to approach people so easily and to interact with them naturally.
Tamamori pouted. Sometimes he wanted that, too. He’d rather have that and not his looks, really. One of the things he’d learned about being in the showbusiness had been that this world was only superficial. This was probably why nobody had noticed things about Tamamori. Nobody had so much as tried to look for him.
He looked at the flowers on the makeup table in front of him. Miyata’s flowers were different. It seemed ironic that flowers - something most people viewed as the most superficial thing there was - were ‘deeper’ than people here. Tamamori hadn’t known much about the language of flowers before but ever since Miyata had taken over that flower shop, Tamamori had tried to read up on things a bit. Of course he’d never tell Miyata that he had and that he knew about some of the meanings of the flowers that the other gave him.
Today’s bouquet was easy though. It was simple and yet powerful. Tamamori smiled and touched one of the rose petals gently. Pink roses stood for trust, happiness and confidence and lavender meant faithfulness. Tamamori knew that the pink roses were supposed to be for him and the lavender was Miyata, watching over him.
“...this is so cheesy. That idiot.” Tamamori muttered to himself.
Speaking of that idiot, Miyata was the opposite from him in the respect that the other wished to be popular and have good looks. The other had told him many times that he admired Tamamori for being who he was. Sometimes Tamamori felt fletter and his ego purred with satisfaction whenever Miyata showered him with compliments but sometimes, like today, he just felt puzzled and maybe a little frustrated by it even.
“Maybe someone should make that wish come true.” He mumbled to himself. Just so that the other could see how stupid this all was.
“You’re so nice. Thinking of someone else.” A new voice spoke up and made Tamamori jump in his seat. He whirled around to see a girl standing in the door to the room. She was sporting a cute ponytail hairstyle and an almost skimpy looking orange dress. Overall, she seemed to be very bright and colourful.
“Who the hell are you and when did you come in?” Tamamori asked.
She smiled cutely. “Call me Megu-tan. I was told to call you out.”
“-tan?” Tamamori vaguely recalled Miyata addressing someone that way. Someone who didn’t really exist in this world but only on TV or on paper. One of those moe-girls the other was so fond of. “Okay uh whatever. Coming.”
He followed the other out. She did somehow look like she had just jumped out of an anime.
Miyata would probably be all over her. Tamamori snorted and tried to brush that thought off.
“Your friend sounds like a very interesting person.” Megu-tan smiled at him and Tamamori realized that he’d said everything out loud. His ears were starting to burn. “I hope someone will make that wish of his come true. That would make you happy, too, right?”
“Uh, whatever.” Tamamori shook his head and walked past her into the studio. He was switching into work-mode now and wasn’t going to think about weird girls anymore. And Miyata. Yeah, he wasn’t going to think about all of this anymore now.
In the evening, Miyata was about to close up the shop when he heard someone coming in. Somehow this customer felt different from others. His flower wasn’t telling him that it was one of the special customers though. They were special though. He was sure of it. Just in a different way. In a way that was similar to someone else he knew.
“Can I help you, miss?” He stepped out from behind the counter.
The girl smiled at him and produced a small pouch. “Oh, this is rather unexpected. I wasn’t expecting to find someone from the same trade on this end.”
“And I didn’t know cute magic users like you existed around here.” Miyata blinked.
“I’m new here. And I need some practice. So I’m making people’s wishes come true.” She told him and then turned serious. “I know you probably know what’s going to come but I’m saying it anyway. I’m going to cast a spell on you. You won’t be able to do anything against it. I’m just warning you here because we’re in the same trade. This spell might have unwanted side-effects for you and maybe a couple of other people.”
Miyata nodded and closed his eyes. “It’s okay. If I get into trouble my heroine will save me.”
“You really are into those anime girls way too much. I see what people are talking about.” The girl rolled her eyes a little. “Or well, what he was talking about anyway.”
Miyata just laughed. He didn’t say of course that he hadn’t been talking about 2D heroines.
He listened to the other chanting a spell and then ending it with a loud “Pon!” A cloud of sparkly dust engulfed him and then Miyata’s world started to spin and blurr.
Somewhere in the distance, he heard the girl’s voice. “Oh, I think I’ve done a good job on this one. I think he’ll be pleased with this. Good night then!”
When Tamamori got to the flower shop the next day, he almost immediately jumped to hide behind a lamppost because a hoard of girls was crowding around the entrance. The inside of the shop looked really really crowded as well. “What the hell is going on?”
“Ouji-sama!”
“Prince Toshiya!”
Some of the girls could be heard squealing. More and more girls gathered by the shop and Tamamori watched in horror as they trampled onto some of the flower displays outside. What was that idiot doing? Miyata would never let people do this! The other loved his flowers. It was one of the things that Tamamori liked about the other. The earnest feelings Miyata always displayed towards his flowers and his work. It always reminded Tamamori to do the same towards his own work as well. To put all his heart into it.
“Where is that idiot? Miyata, what are you doing??” He hissed and tried to catch a glimpse of the other somehow. Maybe he should try from the back.
He made it to the back-entrance of the shop and went up the stairs there to the apartment above. Tamamori knew there was another way to enter the shop from there - it wasn’t used often, Miyata always went from inside the shop but it was there, for emergency reasons and whatnot. It didn’t take rocket science to figure out the place where Miyata hid his spare key, so Tamamori got into the house easily enough and then snuck down to the shop. The door was open so he was able to take a peek inside at the space behind the counter, the space where Miyata usually was, where the other worked.
There was someone there. Someone seemingly shrouded in (way too much) glitter and sparkles. Tamamori almost felt blinded, so he put on his sunglasses. It was a person he’d never seen before. The guy looked like someone who’d jumped straight out of a shojo manga. Miyata’s mother would have probably described him as a ‘prince-like’ guy. Tamamori felt a bit irked. The other resembled him for some reason. Not him as he was now but the him that he was in magazines or on TV. The superficial, fake him.
“Please decorate us with your flowers, Miyata-kun!” Tamamori heard a girl’s voice speak.
Then a male voice answered her. “I shall do that then, my princess.” Tamamori made a face. Princess? What the hell was this? Some kind of host club?
He stopped though. The other’s voice had been familiar. More than just familiar even, he had definitely recognized that voice. He would have recognized it anywhere. The male voice had been Miyata’s, Tamamori was sure of it. But why was it coming out of that weird guy’s mouth?
Tamamori wanted to confront the guy but when he looked at his watch, he found that the didn’t have the time to do so. So he left. And for the first time in a very long time, he left without a flower with him. It felt awful. Like something was missing, no like a part of him was missing somehow. He felt off about it all day.
It got so bad that his manager even allowed him to go home early, saying that he’d been working a lot and seemed pretty tired and deserved some rest.
Of course Tamamori didn’t go straight home but to the flower shop instead. It was almost time for it to close, so people were getting kicked out. Some of the girls lingered around but when it was obvious that nobody was coming out of the flower shop again or whatever, they left. It was then that Tamamori used the same route as in the morning to get inside.
He found the guy from earlier by the workspace. Grabbing him, Tamamori turned him around to face him and demanded, “Who are you and what have you done to Miyata?”
“Tama-chan? What’s wrong? What do you mean? I’m me!” The guy with the strange face but with Miyata’s voice replied. “Hello to you, too.”
This was so weird. This was wrong! Tamamori wanted to say something but found that he couldn’t. This was like talking to a stranger. He felt how his tongue was getting tied, how all words seemed to leave him somehow. This never happened when he was around Miyata!
“I’m a prince now, just like you. How about you come here and hang around my shop? It will be the most popular flower shop in the whole city, I’m sure!” The other continued. “All the girls will come here. They’ll love us together.”
No. This was wrong. This was wrong. This wasn’t Miyata.
“We’d have two flower fields here and we could choose whatever flower we want. Isn’t that great?” Every word the other said was getting to Tamamori. They hurt him. But the thing that hurt the most was the way the other, that stranger, was looking at him.
The eyes were the same, they were the same gentle, hazel colour that Miyata’s were but at the same time they were completely different. The expression in them was different. And Tamamori hated it. He couldn’t stand it. He wanted to punch the guy. Not in the way he usually punched Miyata but he wanted to really punch him.
His feelings did burst out of him eventually but not through his fist. “You’re not Miyata! You’ll never be Miyata! This isn’t you! This isn’t the Miyata I know. Give him back!” Tamamori grabbed the other and shook him. “If you stay like this, I’ll seriously hate you.”
He felt tears welling up in his eyes. “I’ll really hate you!” Tamamori wasn’t going to cry in front of Miyata, or whoever. So he ran out. He ran away from the shop, ran down the street, ran somewhere, he didn’t know where to. People wouldn’t be able to see him cry if he just ran past them quick enough.
Once he felt calmer again, he slowed down and stopped. He had no idea where he was but he didn’t care about that right now.
Using one of his shirt’s sleeves, he wiped his face and then sat down on a random narrow wall by the side of the road he was on. His thoughts were still circling around one thing. His head was filled with one name only. Miyata. Miyata, Miyata, Miyata, MiyataMiyataMiyata…
Why was this bothering him so much? Why was the thought of ‘losing’ the other so unbearable? Why was it hurting so much?
Tamamori wanted to laugh. He was making it sound like the other was dead.
Or well, maybe it was almost as if the other was dead. Miyata was most certainly gone.
“Come back. Idiot.” He drew up his legs and rested his forehead against them. Only for his nose to bump into something. Sneezing, Tamamori pulled away. A flower was looking up at him. It looked like it had gotten caught in his clothes somewhere, probably when he’d walked through the workspace at the shop earlier.
The white petals seemed to glow a little bit in the light of the streetlamp not too far from him.
“Maan, you were supposed to be happy when I made that wish come true. Why are you miserable?” A somewhat familiar female voice could be heard from somewhere nearby.
Tamamori jumped up. “You!! It was you! You made him all weird!”
“Well, you wanted it...and he kind of wanted it, too.” Megu-tan shrugged.
Stomping over to the girl, Tamamori glared down at her. “Turn him back! Now!!” He grabbed her shoulders. “You can do that, right? He’s not going to stay like that forever?”
“Hey, hey, don’t sweat!” She lifted her hands in defense. “It’s all good.” Then she pursed her lips. “I’m so not going to do it for free, though. What will you give me?”
Tamamori twitched. “Huh??” He tried to calm himself and took a deep breath. Once he felt not so out of it again, he offered the other the flower - he couldn’t think of anything else right now. “How about I give you this?”
Megu-tan looked like he was considering things for a moment and then smiled. “Okay.” She accepted her ‘payment’. “By the way, you know what this stands for, right?” She lifted the flower up. “A white chrysanthemum.”
Tamamori blinked.
Megu-tan rolled her eyes. “Ah, boys.” She pocketed the flower. “It means truth. Hopefully you’ll figure things out soon enough. Anyway, things will be back to the way they were in the morning. I’ll see to it. Bye then!” She disappeared into the darkness of the street.
When she was gone, Tamamori huffed softly and stuffed his hands into his pockets. “I already figured things out a long time ago. He’s the one who’s being dumb!” He muttered softly and then went to find a station or a cab or any clue as to where the hell he was so he could go home. He needed a shower and his bed.
Miyata couldn’t quite remember what had happened to him. His memories of the past few hours seemed to be oddly hazy. He did remember seeing Tamamori though. And the other hadn’t looked very happy. That worried him somehow. It worried him to the point that he kept checking his clock every other minute to see whether it was 11:38 yet.
Time passed way too slowly but then at 11:38, Tamamori entered the story. He looked out of breath but his face seemed to light up when he saw Miyata. Talking forward, he made a beeline for him and then punched Miyata’s shoulder. Hard. “You idiot. Idiot, idiot, idiot!!”
“Ow, Tama-chan! What did I do??” Miyata rubbed his shoulder.
“...nothing…” Tamamori muttered and then let out a sigh. “Give me some flowers?”
“Okay. Wait here for a mi-” Before Miyata could finish his sentence, Tamamori had thrown his arms around him and was hugging him. Hugging him so tight Miyata almost couldn’t get any air anymore. “Tama-chan?”
“I’m glad you’re you again.” Tamamori whispered.
He felt his heart beating so fast it almost hurt. Miyata wanted to do something, to say something, to say THAT but...no he couldn’t. It would just destroy everything. He was never, ever going to say those words to the other, even if he wanted to.
He wouldn’t tell Tamamori that he loved him.
To be continued...
Next Chapter: 牡丹 Peony [Bravery/Courage]