Chapter Text
The sweet scent of flowers fills the room. A small woman with brown short hair, big brown eyes and pink cheeks emerges from the back room of a store. Ochako Uraraka wears a genuine smile as she makes her way through the quiet shop.
Rustic crates in the aisles are filled with handmade flower arrangements of all colors. Large wooden display shelves hug the walls of the store, filled with potted flowers and plants of all sorts. Ochako stops at one of the display shelves, straightening one of the flower pots. Her eyes wander the shelf until they land on a little cactus.
She can't help but think how odd it is for them to sell a cactus. Primarily its a flower shop, but her parents liked having a bit of variety. On some of the shelves you'll find a few plants hidden between flowers. It makes the shop just that more unique in her opinion!
She makes her way to the front of the store. Her hips swinging, brown hair bouncing along to the beat of a song Ocahko hums to herself.
She opens the window at the front of the little flower shop, letting the crisp morning air in. She takes a deep breath and a moment to take in the beautiful morning.
Things had been going so well for Ochako lately. She'd passed her spring semester finals with flying colors, started running the shop, sales were through the roof, and her parents finally had the time and means to take a break.
Her eyes softened, thinking of her parents. They both worked so hard for as long as she could remember. Breaking their backs to make ends meet. She remembers walking through these very aisles as a child, doing small things here and there to help out the store. All she ever wanted was for them to have enough so they wouldn't work themselves to death. Even now, her parents try to hide how exhausted they are from Ochako.
Luckily within the past two years the popularity of the flower shop has sky rocketed. The local rustic look, some good word of mouth from friends, and quality service had finally gotten enough customers in so it wasn't a constant struggle. As soon as she could Ochako convinced her parents to take a vacation.
Ochako leans on her forearms, resting on window sill. Happy with the work she had done to help her parents get here. She smiles to herself, in this quiet moment. Well the store isn't going to open itself!
The front door swings open, the door stopper leaving it wide open, letting the morning sunlight spill into the store. Ochako takes a few steps out into the street, tieing her apron snuggly around her waist. She takes a another deep breath, hands on hips and determination glistening in her eyes," In Bloom is open for business!"
A small droplet of water lands right on Ochako's pink cheek, her eyes fluttering up, a hand reaching up to wipe away the water. Her eyes cast upward to a slightly clouded sky," I didn't think it was supposed to rain today?"
The rain lightly hits against the pavement outside of In Bloom, Ochako sits at the cash register, book in hand. Rainy days are usually slower. She had a few calls from customers saying they'll pick up their arrangements tomorrow. She finished all her little tasks for the day and the store was in top notch shape. Not much to do for the rest of the day now, and Ochako silently thanks her past self for bringing some reading material.
The door swings open, a small ring echoing through the store before the door slams. Ochako jumps at the sudden noise, eyes forward to the door.
A large man, soaked head to toe stands at the front of the store. Shoulders hunched, a glare in his eye, fists clenched. No jacket, a red tee shirt and jeans. His blonde hair spiked up despite all the rain, red intense eyes, wearing a scowl on his face.
Ochako eyes him down, surprised at his slightly disheveled appearance. Quickly enough she puts on her customer service smile and speaks up," Welcome to In Bloom! Do you need help with anything?"
The man locks eyes with Ochako, stomping over to the counter, leaving small puddles in his wake. He slams both hands on the counter, causing Ochako to jump slightly. His voice is gruff when he speaks, like gravel, it sends chills down her spine," You do flower arrangements, yeah?"
"Y-Yes! What's the occasion?"
"I need something that says fuck off in flowers." He sneers.
"E-Excuse me?!" Ochako gasps, taken aback.
"Clean your ears out, cheeks." He leans his arm on the counter, rolling his eyes," Like how some flowers mean love or friendship? I need mine to say fuck off.." The man huffs.
"Cheeks?!" Ochako's face turns a shade of red, her fists clutched at her side. How dare he?!
"Can you get me the flowers or not?" His expression looks bored and unimpressed as he waits for the response.
Ochako can feel her eye twitch, she hates asshole customers like these. They think they can say anything to you just because they're giving you money. It's so rude!
"Yes, I can get you the flowers. What size arrangement do you want?" She doesn't bother hiding her eye roll, and the man notices. He raises an eyebrow at her, but when her pouty lip doesn't falter he can't help but smirk.
His eyes scan a poster nearby with sizes and he nods, pointing his finger," Package A."
"Okay. Anything else specific you would like? Or just flowers that insult people?" Ochako's attitude shines through, one hand on her hip, serving up sass.
"That's it, cheeks. I could care less about how it looks." He shrugs and stuffs his hands in his pockets. His gaze somewhere else.
Ochako starts ringing up the price in the register," Why bother getting flowers in the first place then?"
"I have to get these stupid flowers either way." He rolls his eyes," What's it matter?"
He turns back and holds her gaze. She studies him, before shaking her head,"Whats the name on this order?"
"Katsuki Bakugou."
"Hmm. Alright and are you picking it up or are we delivering?"
Katsuki hesitates, eyeing her over before smirking," I'll pick it up."
"Alright. Fill this form out and we'll call when it's ready. Should only be a few days." She drops the form and pen in front of him carelessly, obviously annoyed at his presence.
He scribbles his information down, before handing the form back, reaching for his wallet," And what's your name? In case you mess up my order."
Ochako puffs her cheeks out," Uraraka. Ochako Uraraka. And don't worry, your order won't be messed up." She sneers, offended at his insinuations.
"Better not be, cheeks." Katsuki throws some bills onto the counter and flashes her a grin," See you in a few days." He turns and waltz out, letting the wind from the storm slam the door behind him.
"What a cocky jerk!" Ochako can't help but think outloud to herself. She straightens her apron and gets back to work.
Katsuki Bakugou had a lot to do. He didn't really have time to be fucking around ordering some shitty flowers for someone he didn't even like.
He has his career to focus on, and skills to improve. You don't become the best chef in the world by wasting time smelling flowers and looking at pretty girls.
Not that the girl at the flower shop was pretty or anything. Katsuki thinks to himself. I mean, she wasn't horrible to look at. He lies, a smirk playfully dancing across his face. It was funny to get her all riled up like that.
Flower girl aside, he had a competition to get ready for. A live broadcasted cooking competition in less than two months. All Mights All Night Cooking Extravaganza. Katsuki didn't care for the name or the spectacle of it all. All that mattered was showing Toshinori "All Might" Yagi that he was the best chef out of all the competitors. Hell! That he was the best out of everyone!
Winning the competition meant not only being the head chef at one of Yagi's restaurants. It meant All Might himself would take you under his wing and teach you all he knows about being a chef. Katsuki knows this would lead him to being a world renowned chef, opening 5 star restaurants, and making the best damn food anyone has ever tasted! He would do anything to achieve that goal!
Even ordering some stupid flowers. It wasn't his idea, but his main competitor had just broken their leg. Fucking moron. Katsuki would never have gotten him flowers.
Katsuki was being interviewed for the cooking competition when he found out. The interviewer asked if he knew and he busted out laughing and said the nerd probably deserved it. Katsuki isn't a fan favorite, but his sous chef Eijirou Kirishima convinced him to get his competitior flowers to please the media and "wish him a quick recovery." Tch. Yeah right.
At least ordering these flowers will get Kirishima off his back. Katsuki couldn't care less about what the media thinks. He scoffs to himself. Only reason he did it was because Kirishima is on his team, and he didn't want to fuck him over by having everyone hate their team.
Katsuki pushes the door to his apartment open, slamming it behind him. He shakes the water off like a rabid dog.
"Bakugou? Is that you?" A voice calls from the couch.
"Who the fuck else would it be?" Katsuki booms, stomping past the couch. A man with big muscles and bigger red hair spiked up lays on the couch. He sits up as Katsuki walks by.
"It could have been someone breaking in!" He cries out.
"Kirishima no one is breaking into our apartment." Katsuki rolls his eyes.
"You never know." He shrugs," So did you get the flowers?
Katsuki tenses as he makes his way to the kitchen," Fuck off, they'll be ready in a few days or whatever."
"Aww, you big old softie!~" Kirishima teases.
"SHUT UP!" Katsuki booms from the kitchen," I did it so our team doesn't look bad!"
Kirishima can hear the fridge slam, followed by more stomping around the kitchen. He smirks to himself," Hey Bakugou, you're still coming with me to that party tomorrow right?"
"Eh?!"
"We talked about it last week. You said you'd go, remember?"
"Fine whatever. Just shut up!" Katsuki growls from the kitchen.
Kirishima grins like an idiot. He knows Katuski uses harsh words, but that's just how he is. It's never really bothered Kirishima. He understands "Bakuspeak" as his friends would put it.
"Awesome! Make sure to clean up a little bit for the party."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Have you looked in a mirror lately?"
...
"Shut the hell up or I'll kill you!"
Kirishima chuckles quietly to himself before turning his attention back to the t.v.