krystalkatzficz | The Art of flowers part 12

“Sakurai-san, you’ll be pairing with Masaki” Nino informed the class when he had once again laid out the flowers and was looking out over the expectant class. From the happy glint that came to Sho’s face Nino guessed that his friend was probably right about the man’s sexual orientation. Looking away from Sho he couldn’t help but think that it was strange how all the older men were standing to attention listening to his words. None more so than Jun who had an eagerness about his face which was almost endearing. “Matsumoto-san, you’re with me. The rest of you I would like you to pair up”

“Come on, Sho-chan! I’ll help you!” Masaki called happily from his right and Nino rolled his eyes happy to know that his friend was happy. Jun was soon coming to stand at the table with him Nino gave him his best passible smile his stomach feeling as though he had caged a butterfly whose wings were beating furiously against his ribs. He wanted to curse Masaki once again for putting unneeded and unwelcome ideas into his head.

Even if he thought that Jun was good looking a relationship was the last thing that he needed right now he had bigger issues, like the fact that his sight hadn’t come into focus since that morning and it was still blurred and faded around the edges. It was like looking through a window marked with droplets of rain and it was enough to give him another headache even though his medicine had taken away the one that he had woken up with. Masaki would probably suggest not having a relationship at all but just enjoying himself but Nino knew himself well enough to know that he couldn’t handle a relationship built solely on sex.

“Did I do that badly yesterday?” Jun asked with a little smile and automatically Nino shook his head blinking to try and focus his eyes. It didn’t work all that well but at least he was able to see the blending colours in Jun’s eyes. They were a warm, chocolate-y brown with flecks of gold and red and they were easily his best feature.

“The opposite actually. I thought that you were one of the few that managed to pick up on what I wanted” He answered slowly before turning to look at the class who had settled into pairs. “For today only the person on the right is to make a display, I want you to question the person on your left about their happiest memory and I want you to put that into a display. Before even touching the flowers listen to your partner and ask them as many questions as you would like…Begin”

“Does this mean I have to question you?”

“Yes. It wouldn’t be fair if I questioned you and did the flowers, would it?” Nino smiled back sitting down in a chair and tapping his fingers against the desk while Jun studied him slowly for a few moments before saying;

“What’s your happiest memory?”

“I don’t have a particularly happy memory…” Nino muttered knowing that all his memories were tinged with the sadness of wondering if this was the last time. He blinked slowly for a moment, realising that he was going against what he wanted to teach and he cleared his throat before saying “Though…I think that I would say when my grand-father first watched me to make a display”

“It was your grandfather? You said the shop was owned by your father so I assumed”

“My dad taught me to arrange them but my grandfather was my biggest influence. He hated my dad’s flower shop, he was a man’s man thought my dad was a pansy for wanting to work with flowers. But…When I was taken to hospital he changed. I’d had a particularly nasty virus and my grandfather came in with a whole bunch of flowers” Nino smiled just a little as he remembered his somewhat gruff grandfather who had been a builder all his life coming in with the flowers. His muscular arms flexing around the bunches of flowers. “He had brought them in the gift shop and said that they looked sad and told me to make them look nice”

“So that was his way of connecting with you?” Jun asked and Nino gave a shrug which was accompanied by a nod.

“Two days before he and my parents were arranging my funeral when I recovered I guess that he decided that he could live with me arranging flowers as long as I was alive” He mumbled closing his eyes for a moment and easily picturing the tired pale face of his grandfather watching him as he took apart the flowers and then put them back together again. He supposed that he had been harsh on the man earlier and he knew that he would have to apologise when he could. “So, any more questions?”

“Do I need more?”

“What do you think?”

“What did your grandfather look like?”

“He’s always been strongly built but then…Then he looked like he was tired. His shoulders were sagged and his back hunched over but he was smiling”

TBC

A/N: I hope that this is okay ^_^