Roses are Red...or are they White? [Subaru x Shu]

Roses are White

If he had to choose one thing that represented Subaru, then it would be a beautiful white rose.

He sat in the middle of the rose garden, twirling the spiky stem of the flower around his fingers.

The innocence and purity of it perfectly represent his inner bashful personality, he thought to himself, gazing at it fondly. It reminds me of his hair....

He sniffed it, wondering if Subaru smelt as good as a rose too.

Shu had always thought of irrelevant things like this, but he'd never thought that it meant anything.

Until....

He sighed and stood, placing the rose down upon the ledge he had been sitting on.

Earlier that day, he had met with Subaru in this very same garden. He had just been wandering around aimlessly, listening to relaxing music, wanting a change of scenery. He was always either cooped up in his room or lounging about the house, so he'd thought it'd be nice if he took a stroll.

He had been drawn to the rose garden because secretly, he had a soft spot for flowers. He loved their varied colours, shapes and sizes, and he admired their fragility yet their ability to draw blood if you weren't careful.

This had made him think of Subaru, and he had laughed, one of his rare, blissful chuckles that he only ever did when he was alone.

But he wasn't alone. He turned his head slightly to see a small, slight figure watching him from the other end of the rose garden, where he had entered.

He saw the white haired vampire blush as crimson as the roses he stood next to, and he ducked behind them quickly.

'Subaru, I know you're there,' he said, in a tiresome voice.

The guy stepped out gingerly from behind the bush, and slowly he walked over to him, like a dog with it's tail between it's legs.

'Were you following me around just now?' Shu asked irritably, looking down at the youngest brother.

He blushed dark red, as was expected of Subaru, and stuttered, 'N-no, of course not! I just saw you, and I just felt like watching you...'

His face sank as he saw Shu's questioning expression.

'Ah- um, not like that!' he retracted hastily, 'N-not in a creepy way....um, I - '

'Tell me Subaru,' Shu interjected, strolling up close to him, 'Are you going tell me why this has been happening recently?'

It was true. Shu had seen Subaru many a time staring at him from a distance. It was one of the reasons Shu was constantly thinking about him; he just never left him alone.

Subaru backed up a bit, getting closer to the rose bush.

'Um, well, it's uh, complicated,' Subaru stalled, trying to find a way out of there.

Shu closed in. 'You're not leaving until you can tell me why you've been following me around for the past month,' he said, in a voice that sounded almost intimidating.

'W-well, you were always nice to me when I was a kid, and I, don't know, I feel kinda compelled towards you 'cause you always have your guard down, and well, to be honest you're not that bad to look at-'

His heel caught the ledge behind his foot, as he had continued to back away, and he tripped, falling backwards into the rose bush.

He had squeezed his eyes tight shut, anticipating the fall; but Shu had gracefully halted his fall, by catching him in his arms.

'Dumbass,' Shu told him, as Subaru opened his eyes and realised how close their faces were.

His face glowed noticeably crimson, and Shu let go of him as he dusted himself off.

'Thanks,' he said sheepishly, trying to sort himself out again.

'So,' Shu continued after a moment's pause, 'What you mean to say is, that you have a crush on me?'

Subaru couldn't possibly get any redder, but he didn't deny it.

Shu sighed deeply. 'I see. Well, I guess it can't be helped then.'

He leaned in close, much to Subaru's surprise, and gave him a quick, soft kiss on the lips.

'What a pain,' he sighed, withdrawing once more.

He had then left the garden, leaving Subaru standing there, touching his lips in shock.

Shu sighed, running his hand through his hair. He wondered what had compelled him to do that.

But when the white haired vampire had cowered before him, trembling like a leaf, having just admitted something that made his cheeks burn up furiously, despite the relatively cool morning, he felt as if he had no choice.

Shu shook himself off and turned the volume up slightly in his headphones. He made to leave the rose garden, but something made him want to turn back, and as he did so he saw the beautiful white rose still sitting patiently on the ledge.

He turned his head away, but in the end he couldn't just leave it there, so he turned back and carefully picked up the fragile flower, caressing it as if it were the most precious thing in the whole world.

With that, he trailed out of the garden, with the slight breeze rustling all of the other roses in his wake.