Work Text:
There was just something about plants, Hinata couldn’t figure out what, but they just seemed to speak to him. Sharing their enticing secrets to keep him around for as long as they could. To others who knew Hinata however, the reason was obvious. Shouyo was like the sun. His existence warmed others and pulled them into his orbit with no exceptions. Try as hard as one could, and they would still find themselves trying to please the boy.
Such is the life of sun mages.
Instead of ignoring his gift, Hinata took his high energy and shared it with those around him. He opened a flower shop shortly after his graduation; it hadn’t been his first choice, but it was one that he could live with. His original dream was to soar high above a volleyball net and enjoy the view, but the national match in his third year ruined that.
Hinata mourned his dream after the accident that ended up leaving him with permanent damage and a slight limp. Many hours were spent alone in his room, lights off, curtains drawn, and mirrors turned around. Shouyo had run from himself, as well as from the world. Normally, becoming a shut-in wouldn’t kill anyone, but once again, he was a sun mage. Without connecting to the source of his power, his body grew weaker day after day. What had been responsible for bringing him out of that was a small cactus.
It had been a goodbye gift from a face Shouyo could barely remember at this point. If he thought about it, the details were all blurry and distant, probably due to the fact that he had been dying at the time. After the boy had left, the plant started to call Hinata. It asked for some light, and who was Hinata to drag another life down with his own? He may have shut himself away, but this small flower had done nothing wrong, it didn’t deserve a life in the darkness, and so, Hinata opened his curtains for the first time in a month.
After that, things started to progress quickly. Hinata became fast friends with the flower, they would spend hours talking to one another. The plant asked Hinata a great deal of questions, and Shouyo responded in his usual loud and animated diction. He couldn’t help but want to be a better caretaker to his new friend, so he started going back to school, he joined the gardening club and spoke to his family about his new decision. Then, one plant turned into two, two to three, and three to seven.
Years had passed since that time, but Shouyo couldn’t find any truly dark memories anymore. He now lived in a small loft above his shop. The money to purchase it had been gifted from his parents and savings that he worked hard for throughout college. The business had started out slow but quickly picked up. He liked to think that it was because of how beautiful the plants were, but in reality, many came to see him, the shopkeeper whose smile was as bright as the mini-suns that could be found floating around the shop.
Today had been slow for once. Most of the orders were set out to deliver, Hinata loathed being away from the shop, but the amount of business he had picked up by making deliveries on Mondays had been astronomical. It wasn’t uncommon to fill the van to the max full of different flower arrangements.
Most of the orders had been in a single area, but the last one was a bit of a distance away. He checked the address once more and looked at the flowering gladiolus nearby. The ranunculus had been rather quiet most of the trip, despite its bright colors, the orange plant seemed a bit nervous. That wouldn’t do.
“I hear that your new home has lots of sunshine! Not as much as the store, but you’ll have plenty of windows and maybe some other plants to talk to.” Hinata hoped that his cheerful disposition would transfer over to the plant and cheer it up a bit.
There were a few more moments of silence before the nervousness eased. Taking it as a good sign, Hinata proceeded to ramble for the rest of the drive. Hinata wasn’t the best driver when he was chatting, as he was often so animated, but by some miracle, they arrived at the shop safely.
Try as he might, he couldn’t help the bit of apprehension that rose up at seeing the place. It was a simple brick and mortar shop, nothing special, no greenery, and not a lot of natural light. Instead, there was a lamp post nearby and several neon lights. The buildings were quite tall and blocked out most of the sunlight as well.
“Hello! Delivery from Sunset Flowers!” Shouyo swallowed back his hesitation and gathered the now reasonably nervous flower.
“Just a second.”
The voice like it came from the back of the shop, which Hinata could now tell was a tattoo shop. A rather odd one if he were being honest. There seemed to be a small alcove section with a tattoo chair. Other than that, there was just artwork, draperies, and tables full of different things. No other chair or workstation could be seen.
Was there only one person who worked here?
Hinata was in no position to judge however, he ran the shop by himself, so why couldn’t a tattoo artist run a shop alone as well. He must be pretty good though to make enough money for keep-up.
“What do you want?” The voice was blunt but struck a familiar chord. Hinata couldn’t place it, however. Instead, he turned around and nearly jumped at how close the owner of the voice actually was. Shouyo hadn’t even heard him approach.
The man was covered in tattoos as far as Shouyo could see. His arms, shoulders, and hands all had intricate designs and symbols that Hinata couldn’t make out. Dark hair nearly obscured the man’s eyes which held an annoyed look that was quickly changing to shock.
“Ah, uh, oh!” Hinata thrust the flower awkwardly at the man, managing to create some distance, “This is for you, delivery from Sunset Flowers.”
A couple moments of silence passed before the man responded, “I didn’t order any flowers.”
“Well, someone must think you need something to spruce up this place.” Hinata let out a misplaced laugh. “They’re already paid for. Here, I’ll put them on the counter for you.”
There had been a counter in front of the entrance, and Hinata scrambled over to find a nice place to put down the ranunculus. Without sparing a thought, he created a little sun by the plant to help reassure it. It had been panicking a bit more now at the idea of being unwanted.
Now that it had been put away, Shouyo spun around to speak again before being cut off by a startled-sounding noise.
“Hinata, where have you been?” The man’s voice sounded tense as if something was wrong, but Hinata couldn’t place it.
Wait- How had he known his name in the first place? If he didn’t recognize the shop name, or order any flowers, at what point could this stranger figure out who he was. Shouyo didn’t even wear a nametag normally, so this was really weird. Not to mention the man’s question. Confused about how to react, Shouyo just simply cocked his head to the side and stared at the tattoo artist.
The man’s expression hardened a bit as he realized Shouyo didn’t recognize him. It looked as if he was hurt, a bit pained, moments before his face just went blank.
“Do I know you? I’m sorry if I do and I didn’t recognize you! Did we go to the same school or something?” Hinata rapidly fired a quick apology and a few questions to get a better grasp on the situation.
“My name is Kageyama Tobio.”
Huh? Wait- Hinata really felt like a dumbass.
“Kageyama???” That was the only warning Tobio had gotten before Hinata flung himself into Tobio’s arms with a huge hug. Shouyo couldn’t believe that he couldn’t even recognize his volleyball teammate from high school. Seriously, what was wrong with him?
“I am so sorry! You look so different. When did you get into tattooing? What happened with volleyball? This place looks so cool, do you run it yourself? I didn’t know you liked art! I should have kept in contact. That's my bad but things have totally been like, wham! College. Then bam! Opening a shop. Next thing I know I’m…” Hinata’s filter and professionalism dropped almost immediately, instead, he was rambling into Kageyama’s ear.
The hug started to cross into ‘a bit too long’ territory, and Tobio had to place his hands on Hinata’s shoulders to peel the man off of him. If Shouyo had looked closely, he would have been able to see a light pink dusting Tobio’s cheeks and ears, however, Shouyo was almost bouncing up and down in excitement. There was just so much that Kageyama had missed, and it was honestly Shouyo’s fault for not keeping contact.
Hinata hardly kept contact with anyone from his high school days. The memories of volleyball, while not as painful now, carried a bittersweet tone. His memories involving Kageyama were the most sensitive of all. It was never hard to remember the feeling of soaring through the air, eyes closed, and the feel of a volleyball against his palm. The joy in Kageyama’s eyes as they worked in tandem and proved their worth.
Shouyo hadn’t even noticed he had stopped talking, nor that there were tears gathering in his eyes. The nostalgia was overwhelming him at a rapid pace, his composure quickly breaking in front of Kageyama. His mind just kept bringing forth memory after memory.
There was the time after qualifiers in their third year when the team went out to celebrate. It had been such a happy time, the last point was scored with a quick. The other team hadn’t expected them to use such a risky play, considering there was hardly anyone at that point who hadn’t known about many of the tricks up Karasuno’s sleeve.
That night, the team had stopped at a barbecue place but Hinata and Kageyama decided to leave early. Instead, they had walked to a nearby park to sit and relax. Nationals were coming up soon, and the pair had felt nothing but pressure. Hinata could vividly remember sitting down next to Kageyama and leaning against him a bit. There wasn’t much special about the night, except for the calming atmosphere and company.
That was the thing though, nothing had to be special with Kageyama. Hinata treasured those memories but had locked them up after he couldn’t play anymore. Despite remembering all of the smiles, the laughs, breaking through Kageyama’s cold exterior, Hinata couldn’t forget the loss. He had pushed Kageyama away. He had shut everyone out so coldly, even after returning to school, he avoided the club like the plague.
It was Kageyama’s touch on Shouyo’s cheek that broke him out of his reverie, the memories dissipating in his mind like smoke. Instead, panic and embarrassment flooded in its space. Shouyo pulled himself away from Kageyama.
“I- I’m sorry Kageyama. I-.”
His fight or flight instincts reared their ugly head. Shouyo had never been much of a fighter, so flight it was. With a face painted pink with blush and tears drying on his cheeks, Hinata ran. He barely registered the little bell or Kageyama telling him to wait. All he could think about was leaving, he couldn’t let Kageyama see him like this. Hinata was supposed to be bright and cheerful, he couldn’t expose this side of him ever again.
Hinata barely registered the drive home, nor closing the shop or crawling into his bed. He ignored the concerned whispers of plants around him. They would be there tomorrow, but for now, Hinata’s mind was screaming at him to rest. Tomorrow he would feel better.
Tomorrow he would feel mortified.
Kageyama Tobio was a whirlwind of emotions. So many feelings that had been repressed reared their ugly head, and he felt like all he could do was just watch as the little sun next to the flower faded.
Who could have expected that Hinata would show up for the first time in years? He could still remember the last conversation they had before Hinata pulled away completely. He could remember the pained cry when Hinata landed wrong after a spike. He could still remember how empty Hinata was when Kageyama had visited.
While yeah, Hinata had returned to school, the orangette seemed to avoid everything to do with volleyball, including Kageyama himself. Tobio couldn’t deny that it had stung. He had opened himself up to Hinata over the course of high school and, if Tobio didn’t lie to himself, he could even remember the fondness that he held for Shouyo. He could remember how strong their bond had grown.
The accident changed everything. It ripped everything up from the roots and used it for kindling, destroying Hinata and Kageyama’s life plans in the process. Tobio had tried to stay in the volleyball club, but nothing had felt the same. Much like Hinata, Tobio left the club and found a new passion.
Kageyama was apparently very good with art, especially ink. He was so good, that his ink work had a habit of coming to life on whatever surface it was on. Painted birds would spread their wings and attempt to fly off the page, snakes would curl tighter on themselves, flowers would move ever so softly as if there was a breeze.
If it hadn’t been for the accident, Kageyama would have never found out he was a mage.
With his newfound magic and negative associations with volleyball, Kageyama found himself quickly sinking into art. He had tried normal schooling for art but quickly found that his magic didn’t work with other mediums. It was his second year of college when he had found out about tattooing.
It had taken months to convince his family to support him on his path. The tattoo on this wrist definitely did not speed up that process at all, but eventually, they relented. Kageyama began to study under a local tattoo artist, and to his surprise after giving his first tattoo, that those could come to life too. Luckily, the person he had tattooed didn’t mind much, in fact, they found the slightly swaying flower to look even more enchanting than a still version.
Things happened rapidly after that, word about Kageyama’s skills spread, the tattoo shop became booked with people asking for him, and then his mentor became jealous. Tobio had to leave the shop and tattoo out of his apartment for a while until he could afford his own parlor. After that, things were smooth sailing, well, until Hinata showed up.
Tobio still couldn’t take his eyes off of the orange flower now sitting on his desk. Of all colors, it had to be orange. There were so many questions he had, for Hinata, about who even sent the flower, for himself about what to do next. The one thing Tobio did know, however, was that he didn’t want to let Hinata slip out of his life once again.
The flower looked simple and brought so much life to his shop, who knew that one small thing, could do so much. Kageyama wouldn’t get anywhere simply staring at it though, instead, he searched the plant for some sort of card and an indication of who sent it. To his disappointment, there was none. No hints or clues. Wait, that wasn’t exactly correct.
Kageyama moved to the back of the parlor where he kept his work computer and quickly typed in ‘Sunset Flowers’. To his relief, he found it. The sky was growing dark, and the shop was closed on Mondays, probably to make deliveries, so Tobio would have to leave tomorrow instead.
He would see Hinata again, he had to.
The next morning couldn’t come soon enough. Tobio had a few clients that he had to take care of the night before, but even after, sleep eluded him. Instead, he spent the night watching his tattoos dance along his skin, trying to comfort him and soothe Kageyama to sleep. It didn’t help, and after trying for hours, Kageyama went back to the front of the parlor to watch the plant again.
After what seemed like forever, morning did indeed come, and Kageyama found himself standing in front of a shop covered in greenery. There were plants out front, climbing up the awning. Hanging planters decorated the windows both inside and out, and after opening the doors and walking inside, Kageyama’s breath was stolen.
Inside there were rows and rows of plants. They were all different shapes and sizes and each small section had an accompanying little sun. Tobio had never seen so much green before in his life. The atmosphere was so different to what he had grown accustomed to. Artificial light filled his life, but there was none of that here. No light hum of electricity powering light bulbs, just dozens of mini suns spreading natural light. In Kageyama’s opinion, the shop resembled a botanical garden, not a flower shop.
“Hi! Welcome to Sunset Flo- Kageyama?”
Tobio whipped his head around to the sound of the voice and considered buying an inhaler. Hinata was wearing an apron covered in dirt. The florist had a few leaves in his hair, and seemed to forgo gloves and Kageyama would put money on the idea that they were covered in too much dirt that it had even gotten under Hinata’s fingernails.
Tobio found himself jealous of the plants for a moment.
“Hey Hinata. I looked up your store since you left so quickly yesterday.” Kageyama’s voice was even, not giving away anything luckily. Even years later and his cold disposition still plagued him.
“I am so sorry about leaving so fast yesterday,” Hinata rushed out, “I just… was a bit overwhelmed. Hey, do you mind following me for a few? You are a bit early and I need to finish taking care of a few plants before the store fully opens.”
Kageyama could tell that Hinata was using it as an excuse, giving himself something to do instead of awkwardly standing there and getting himself into another ramble fit like yesterday. With a nod, Kageyama followed Hinata further into the shop and to the left. There were more of those orange flowers here, like the one that was sent yesterday.
“Oh, do you know who sent that flower yesterday?” It was an innocent question from Kageyama, so he was a bit confused when he spotted Hinata’s blush. The florist shook his head before preparing to speak.
“Ah no, I can’t share that information if it was anonymous. Oh! Hey look, this one is about to bloom! Want to see something cool?”
Without even waiting, Kageyama watched as Hinata leaned closer to the flower and whispered something. The nearby sun dimmed a bit and drifted closer and within moments, the bud was slowly opening. Too bad for Tobio, because he barely noticed. Instead, his eyes were trained on Hinata and the soft glow that appeared when he used his magic.
Kageyama startled when he noticed Hinata looking at him in anticipation.
“Well, what do you think? It’s cool isn’t it!”
“Uh, sure.”
Kageyama helped Hinata stand up, accidentally letting their hands linger together for too long, and followed behind Hinata as he walked to what Kageyama could only guess was the register. It was only moments later, that Tobio found himself frozen in his tracks.
On the counter next to the register was a small cactus in a black pot. It was simple, small, yet the emotions that it stirred up in Kageyama were overwhelming. Hinata had kept it. The dumbass had forgotten his face but kept the plant that he had given him all those years ago. For the first time in a long time, Kageyama’s mouth broke into a smile.
“You kept it.” The contentment in Tobio’s voice was almost palatable.
“Huh? Kept what?” Hinata’s head cocked to the side, much like last night, and he followed Kageyama’s gaze. “Oh! This plant? It’s very special to me, someone gave them to me and it’s what caused me to become a florist.”
The soft smile Hinata wore was breathtaking. It almost made up for the fact that once again, Hinata had forgotten him. This returning feeling was not a pleasant one and Tobio decided then and there, he would do everything in his power to not feel that way again.
Tobio approached Hinata and leaned a bit into his space. He found himself enjoying the wide-eyed look from the man. Instead of bringing up the cactus and coming clean about being the person who gifted it, Tobio had another plan. One that would ensure he would see Hinata again.
In the distance, the door chimed signaling a customer was walking in. From the sounds of the voices, it was two people. Hinata however, didn’t break eye contact, it seemed as if he was hanging onto every word Kageyama was about to say.
“Shouyo, come get coffee with me tonight after you close.”
Without giving Hinata a chance to answer, Kageyama placed a piece of paper into Shouyo’s hand before walking out of the shop and leaving Hinata behind to deal with the customers.
“Wh-What?! Kageyama!”
He couldn’t help but let out a small laugh as Hinata’s response echoed behind him. The world changes, dreams change, and people change. Tobio was glad that there was still some of his Hinata left unchanged.