A Flower's Affection (KiriBaku Flower Shop AU)

Valentine's Day Special

Yes, I know, I'm an idiot for starting a Flower Shop AU a week before Valentine's Day. I have fourteen hours to get this out, and you can be sure I will bullshit it the whole damn way.

        Kirishima sighed, looking tiredly out the quickly darkening window of his store, midnight approaching much faster than he would have liked. The store was closed and had been for hours, but still, the redhead stayed, waiting patiently by the counter. The only light on was the soft orange light directly over the full register. For once, Thursday had been the most active day of the week, because, tomorrow...

        Tomorrow was Valentine's Day. A day of love and romance and togetherness. A day covered in paper hearts and shiny glitter. The cheesiest holiday of the whole year, even single people would group up and spree the UA college town, pretending it was something bigger, like Christmas, and that they wouldn't have school the next day.

        But Kirishima wasn't used to the togetherness of this holiday. He'd never had anyone to spend it with and wasn't sure how to ask. Sure, the Bakusquad would leap at the idea of hanging out with him for the next few days, but Kiri had to work, and their exuberance tended to be distracting. The one time the three of those crackheads had been in the shop together, several pots had been shattered, there had been a mud fight, and Denki had to be sent to the emergency room after ingesting fertilizer pellets he thought were candy. Honestly, the only one he'd ever been able to trust in the store was Baku--

        Kirishima clenched his hand against the counter, his knuckles turning white. He was not mad, and he would not cry, even if the explosive blonde had promised to come to visit him today. Promised and forgotten, because his fiery knight had never come.

        Kirishima forced himself to relax, observing the carved crescent shapes in the palm of his hand with practiced boredom. He willed the tears away. He was fine. He was used to this, used to being forgotten, used to fading away into the background like an unimportant extra. Becoming a hero, getting into the school of his dreams, and finding an angry, ruggedly handsome, heroic man to sweep him off his feet wouldn't change that. Besides, he shouldn't expect too much. They were barely dating, let alone anything serious. Neither of them had talked about a relationship, but they flirted around each other almost constantly, and they were always going places together, and maybe kinda sort of kissing now and then, and Kirishima thought maybe... Maybe it meant something more to the blonde, as it had for him.

        He pushed back from the counter with a final sigh, moving to lock the door. He moved his keys slowly, still clinging to the hope that maybe, at the last moment, something would change. He peered out the window and into the darkness, hoping to catch a glimpse of a tall, bulky shadow, or a familiar streak of ash-blonde. The keys shifted, and the tumblers locked into place. Nothing.

        Kirishima turned away from the door harshly, fighting back the beads of warm salty liquid from his eyes. He was losing that fight. His forearms burned and itched, and subconsciously he rested a hand on the inside of his wrist. The dim lighting caught on the fading white scars from years ago, and he jerked his hand away. No. He would not go back to hurting himself over some inconsequential boy-crush that couldn't even be bothered to--

        The doors behind him rattled and shook, and Kiri stopped, his hand resting on the banister. Slowly, hopeful, he turned. There was no Katsuki Bakugo, but there was something. A... A bear? Kirishima walked back to the door. Yes, it was a large fluffy blonde teddy bear, huge furry arms wrapped around a second red shark plush, but no sign of whoever had delivered it. Hesitantly, he unlocked the door and opened it, spilling a bit more light from inside onto the dark pavement. The postal service didn't run this late, and besides, they wouldn't deliver without a box.