WARNING: Just as a tip, this chapter has mentions of child abuse and alcoholism. It's only mentioned and doesn't feature it, but I'm making note of it just incase anyone has issues with that <3

"I've met him before, trust me. He's an asshole." Takehito walks into work, only to hear his coworkers discussing something. They're getting along, which is a god damn miracle.

"What are you guys talking about?" The two of them turn their heads to face him.

"Oh hey. Moniwa hired a new employee. We're talking about him. Apparently, it's his cousin." Moniwa was the owner of the flower shop across the street. He was also Kamasaki's boyfriend. He's met him a few times. Futakuchi's boyfriend Aone also happens to work there.

"His name is Luciel. I met him when Kaname brought me home to meet him. He looked at me, looked at Moni then back to me then back at Moni before saying 'You can do better"

"I mean, he's not wrong."

"Yeah I agree with him"

"Fuck you guys." Kamasaki glares at them before heading to his workstation. Sasaya just rolls his eyes and sets his stuff down and gets ready for work.

Sasaya has known Kamasaki his entire life. They were best friends since they were kids. It was thanks to him that he even got a job here. But now he's wondering if befriending him was a good idea.

Like now.

"Oh please. I'm the only one who actually has art skills."

"Excuse me?! I've worked here longer than you!"

"Yeah. But I get more custom tattoos than you do." Futa loves nothing more than riling him up. Kamasaki always falls for it. And Sasaya has to deal with it and stop them. Usually threatening them with the piercing gun.

Today, however, he doesn't want to. But what else can he do.....

....The doorbell above the shop rang. He was curious what the guy looked like ever since he first heard about him a few days ago. Sure, he's seen him before but he didn't really know him. Plus he seemed so unlike his cousin. And anything is better than playing babysitter. He takes a look around and-oh.

Someone Takehito has never seen is potted plants on the shelf. He was cute, short but with long dark brown hair that's been braided. He was wearing a turtle neck with camo pants with 2 pockets on the side as well as the store apron. He stood up, turned around, and noticed Sasaya. He had a scar on his left cheek, a diagonal slash about more than halfway down his cheek. He had a flower hair clip he could see now. It was a lily Sasaya thinks. Finally, he has glasses with silver eyes.

Those same silver eyes glare at him, looking pissed.

"Hey-"

"Get the fuck out."

"....Excuse me?"

"Out. If you're not gonna buy something then leave. I don't need a bunch of squatters." Well, this is not what he expected. But he can see what looks like scissors in his apron pocket and he's like 99% sure the guy, Luc, would stab him with it. He sighs, leaving.

Hopefully, he's not this bad all the time....

He's not. At least kind of. Kaname must have talked to him or something cause he's just really smug to them after that. That's fine, he can do sass. But wow. He's completely different from Moniwa.

When Sasaya asked him if he was always like this, after the first time he met him, he just shrugged.

"He's always been like this. Be thankful you didn't grow up with him" Nice.

Coming back to now, Takehito was coming back to the shop. Why? Cause his best friend/boss Kamasaki is too busy flirting with his boyfriend to do his job. And now he has to be the one to drag him back. He didn't sign up for this crap! and

Luciel is sitting at the counter, working on something on his laptop. He looks just as pissed when he first met him. Their eyes meet and he glares at him.

"Hey is Kamasaki here?"

"No. Now fuck off."

"What is your problem? Do you talk to customers like this?" He crosses his arms, which only seems to make Luc madder.

"You are not a customer. You are a nuisance. And I'm having a shitty day so screw yourself." Luc goes back to his laptop, typing something.

"....Do you wanna talk about it?" The typing stops.

"Huh-"

"You might feel better if you say what's bothering you. And I know a good cafe down the road." Luc pauses and closes the laptop so he can see Sasya better.

"You're a stranger to me"

"You must know a little about me. Plus at least you know I won't tell anyone."

Luc pauses again. He seemed to be considering it. He sighs "Fine. Let me put my laptop away."

After he left a text message for Moniwa, they walked to the cafe. Takehito got coffee, Luc ordered a slice of chocolate cake.

"Cake?"

"I hate coffee. Too bitter."

They sit at a table, Sasaya slowly sipping his coffee while Luc demolishes the cake. Once he's done, he puts his fork down and sighs.

"....You wanna talk about it now? You don't have to if you don't want to."

"....My mom died when I was little. My father remarried an awful woman. My stepmom never liked me and was abusive. Emotionally and psychologically and even physically when drunk. Her kids, my two step-siblings, weren't much better. Well the youngest, my half-brother, is okay. But the others are monsters."

Takehito was speechless. He didn't expect that let alone what to say. He continued "Dad was always working, so he was never around so he never saw anything. She never approved of anything I did and belittled me, which really affected my mental health. Eventually, I had enough, packed up my shit, and left. Got an apartment with Kaname. You'd think she would stop, but no."

Luc was looking down at his hand, messing with a ring on his hand "She's a narcissist and thrives on having power over others. When I left and dropped all communication with her and her kids, expect my half-brother, she lost that power and is trying to get it back. She somehow managed to call me and complain about me working at the shop. She never liked the idea and would definitely do something to ruin that place. We never told her where it was cause of it. But...."

"She found out."

He nods "This morning she sent me a picture of the storefront. I have no idea how she found it but she did." Luc sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"I guess I'm more frustrated than anything. This doesn't affect just me, this was Kaname's dream! Not to mention Aone and Kogane would get caught in the crossfire too. Maybe I should quit-"

"No way!" Sasaya stood up and slammed his hands onto the table, gathering the attention of a few people, but he continued "This isn't your fault and you can't go back. That woman is a bitch and you can't let her win. If you go back you're willingly giving her back power and she wins."

Luc, caught off guard, had a surprised expression on his face before it morphs into one more sorrowful "Yeah I guess you're right....what do I do then?"

"Not sure. I think your best bet is to ignore her and talk to Moniwa about this. This isn't your fault. I know he'll understand."

"Yeah...I think I will. Thanks uh...Sasaya right?"

"Yeah. And Kamasaki told me you're Luciel"

Luc snorts "Kaname spoke so highly of him, but I think he could do better"

Takehito laughed "You and me both"

They end up becoming friends thanks to this. It was mostly built upon insults, but a friendship nevertheless. Sometimes they would go back and have coffee hangouts, where only one drunk coffee.

Takehito learned quite a bit about him. That he was in college studying psychology. That he played video games in his spare time. That he had a rather eccentric style with many different (and strange) accessories and jewelry. Speaking of jewelry...

"Hey dude. How much would it cost for you guys to pierce my nose with that" Luc said, pointing to a stud in the display case/counter. Sasaya had learned that he actually has a few piercings already, all though they were only on his ears. But he did inquire about a nose stud.

Sasaya came over and took a lot at what he was pointing at. It was a basic stud. Sterling silver with a teal gem.

"Well it costs $25 for us to do it, and that stud is $45. So you're looking at $70. Or you can just bring us whatever you want us to use and just pay the $25." Luc paused, then took out his wallet and slapped a 100 dollar bill on the counter

"Let's do it." Sasaya now was the one to pause.

"Um....I'm not allowed to accept this. My boss won't let me."

"Do you guys accept 50s?"

"Yeah...."

Luc put the hundred back in his wallet and slapped two fifties instead "Okay. Now let's do it. Keep the change as a tip."

"....Do you normally carry $200 in your wallet or is this a special case?" Luc laughed.

"No. My dad is rich. I get money from him occasionally and I save most of it. I didn't know how much it cost so I took out a bunch of different bills to pay."

"Do you have 10s in there? It would make tipping easier." Without saying a word, he took one of the fifties and replaced it with twenty and 3 tens "Well I'll be damned."

"I wanted to be prepared. Now can we get this done?"

"Yeah, come on." After the piercer put the money in its proper place, ie resister and the tip jar, he took out the stud and led Luc to the back. His section was quaint, with orange walls and various art on it. There was a chair and table in the middle, most likely for tattooing. He motioned for Luc to sit at a table in the corner, which had the piercing gun next to a box of sanitation wipe packets and a box of gloves. Luc did, and he sat in the seat on the opposite side of the table

"I need you to take off your glasses," Takehito said while putting on the gloves. Luc did, placing them folded on the table.

"You know we're close enough to kiss." He said while Takehito was using the wipe to clean the area he was gonna pierce.

"I will not hesitate to stab you more than once with this thing," He said, focusing on what he was doing.

"Kinky" Takehito rolled his eyes. Without Luc's glasses, he had a better look of his own. His pretty eyes...

Takehito shook his head and finished setting up "You're gonna feel a slight pinch." He pressed down, and Luc let out a whimper but didn't move. It was adorable.

"It's done. You wanna look in the mirror-" Luc was already looking at in his phone's camera.

"It looks great! Thanks so much!" He beamed, and Sasaya felt his heart skip a beat.

Once he left, while Sasaya was cleaning up, he couldn't help but wonder what was up with him. Luc was his friend, yeah, and he did like hanging out with him and thought he was cute. But he wasn't in love with him, was he?

.

Oh god, he's in love with Luciel.

God help him.

"How does someone look like a badass and soft at the same time? God, I don't know I want to kiss him or fear him."

"This is the 5th time you've said that" Kamasaki deadpanned.

"Please for the love of God, shut up," Futa added, just as done

"I had to listen to you complain about your crushes, let me complain about mine," Sasaya said while glaring at him. It's been a week since he realized he's in love with Luciel, and a week since he's been a major coward.

And a hypocrite "'I wanna run my fingers through his hair."

"With how long and thick it looks, it would probably get caught," Kamasaki said, which earned another glare.

"Can I be gay in peace?"

"No." His coworkers say at the same time.

"You guys suck."

"So....how's your crush going?" Luc looked at his cousin, puzzled. Together, they were in the back working on arrangements to put in the display case.

"What crush?" Now Moni looked puzzled

"Your crush on Sasaya? You're always talking about him and your cheeks turn red when he compliments you."

"I'm not in love with Sasaya!" Luc blurted out, now flushed "Yes, I can see us going on dates and kissing and stuff but that doesn't mean-" He paused mid-sentence, now just processing this information.

"Oh my god I'm in love with him!" he yelled "Why didn't anyone tell me?!"

"I thought you knew! I'm sorry!" Luc sighed "But are you gonna confess?"

"What?! Hello no! I don't know what to do Kaname! Before this, I thought my attraction to men was purely physical! I didn't see myself getting in a relationship!"

Kaname stopped and turned to him and in an unimpressed tone says to him "So you were gay....then you realized you were even more gay"

"You shouldn't be judging me. You're worse than I am." Moni raises an eyebrow "I mean it. Now help me."

"I don't know what to tell you. Just tell him."

"Okay. How. I never had a friend before." Kaname opened his mouth to say something "You and Sam are related to me. You don't count." Kaname closed his mouth.

"Just tell him how you feel."

"Hi, have we met? I'm emotionally constipated."

Moni threw his hands in the air "Well that's all I got. I'm gonna water the plants. Figure something out okay?" he took his finished arrangement to the case, leaving Luciel alone. He sighed

"What am I gonna do...."

"These idiots freaking owe me..." Takehito grumbled. It was raining outside. He was outside. Why? Because his coworkers wanted coffee and despite the coffee machine they keep, they wanted it from the cafe. He didn't but drew the short straw so here he was. He had his jacket and umbrella at least.

When he was halfway there he noticed something. Someone was sitting out in the rain. They were sitting in the bus stop, so they were safe from the rain, but still strange. As he got closer, he recognized a familiar apron.

"What the...." As he got closer, he recognized the person. It was Luc. He was looking down, clearly upset. He didn't even notice Sasaya was there until he sat next to him.

"You know it's raining right?" Luc practically jumped out of his seat, totally surprised. He relaxed when he realizes who it was.

"Jesus fuck! You fucking scared me!" Luc said, taking a breath.

"I was next to you for a while. You didn't notice. What's wrong?"

"It's nothing-"

"Mmm-hmm. And you're sitting out in rain for no reason."

"I like the rain."

"So you're out here with no protection? Sure. What's wrong?" Luc looked back down, before letting out a sigh.

"We've...been getting bad reviews online lately. But we've had no complaints from customers. Plus they don't make sense and are full of lies. They're also pretty similar like the same person wrote them...."

"...You think you're step-mom wrote it?"

He nodded, letting out a shaky sigh "Yeah....She texted me and made a snide comment about it. I know she's doing it cause of me. I'm just!-agh...Kaname worked so hard for this. I could never forgive myself if I fucked that up for him. But I don't know what to do. I just feel so....upset. At her, at life and at everything." He honestly looked like he was gonna cry. Takehito never saw that expression on him before, and it broke his heart."

"Hey. Look at me." He placed his hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up "It's not your fault, okay? You'll figure it out. She's nothing compared to you. She's so shallow that she needs to put people down to feel better about herself. Meanwhile, you study psychology because you want to help people and work so hard to help your cousin because you know how much it means to him. You're amazing, don't forget that okay?" Luc looks at him, mystified and Sasaya smiles at him earnestly.

Before he realizes it, Luc is kissing him. On the lips. He stiffens, caught off guard and Luc takes that a negative reaction and pulls away.

"Oh god! I'm so sorry! I just!-I really like you can you said all that nice things I couldn't help it I didn't mean it-" He's cut off by Takehito pulling him into another kiss. He's surprised but melts into it. Eventually, he breaks it.

"I like you too. I just didn't think it was a good time with everything going on."

"Hey...we're both idiots."

"Yeah....Are you gonna be okay?"

He nods "I've reported the reviews. Now I just need time."

"Alright. Come on, I'll walk you back. We can share the umbrella." They stood up and Takehito opened the umbrella, making sure Luc was under it too before heading back towards the shop.

"Thank you."

"Yeah well, I couldn't just leave my boyfriend out in the rain." Luc blushed, turning away

"So...I'll see you later?"

"Yeah. See you. Luc paused, gave him a hug before heading inside. Takehito just smiled. Maybe it wasn't so bad he was asked to go out.

Even if his coworkers yelled at him for not bringing coffee.

Gladiolus: Named after Latin for sword. Symbolizes strength, integrity and infatuation. In this case, one growing through the concrete symbolizes one surpassing hardships and becoming better/blooming.