Chapter Text
It had been raining almost the entire month. The whole city seemed to be trapped in the stillness of the weather's caprice. The streets of Akatsuka had been empty for far too long and the only sound that could be heard was the unending lapping of the raindrops crashing down on the roofs. The house of the Matsuno family was slowly becoming a bit too cramped, each brother getting both frustrated and bored in their own way.
Osomatsu couldn't go out to play some pachinko therefore Choromatsu had to deal with his older brother's pissy attitude, Ichimatsu was tired of having people around and couldn't go out to see the strays, Jyushimatsu couldn't spend his overflowing energy by playing baseball, and Todomatsu, who couldn't have access to the internet because of the bad connection caused by the rain, was ready to commit a murder. In all fairness, they were all ready to commit a murder, except a certain young man who, as opposed to the rest of his siblings, looked somewhat relaxed, pensive, dreamy even. Against all logic, he was humming to himself with a smile, clearly not reading the mood of the situation.
“Hey, Shittymatsu, can't you cut it out for a second? You're pissing me off.” Ichimatsu said in a low but threatening voice, clearly at his limit concerning the second eldest's antics.
“Ichimatsu's right, why are you even like this, weren't you supposed to go out today? Aren't you at least a bit displeased like the rest of us?" Choromatsu pointed out. Why he was acting the way he was at this instant truly was a wonder, it was no secret that Karamatsu tended to bottle up any negative feeling and cover it with an overly relaxed attitude but right now? There didn't seem to be anything but innocent reverie in his eyes.
Karamatsu let out one final slow hum and gave a glance to his younger brothers, still looking pensive.
“I was wondering if fate would allow me to meet again with-”
But before he could even finish his sentence, loud groans erupted from every corner of the room.
“He's still thinking about that girl...” Todomatsu murmured with a tinge of exhaustion in his tone before continuing. “Didn't she say she didn't like you? You need to stop obsessing over her, it's getting creepy.”
“Huh!? What girl, what are we talking about, HOW DID I MISS THAT!?” Osomatsu exclaimed, getting up abruptly to swing an arm over Karamatsu's shoulders in a falsely friendly manner. “Tell me everything!” The eldest was trying to sound like he was about to mock him, but truthfully, jealousy was written all over his scrunched up nose and his cheeks were slightly red with anger. 'How the hell did that guy manage to go up to a girl and receive a polite decline to his offer? Usually, Karamatsu would see a girl, take his chance and a slap across the face as soon as a single word left his mouth, so what had gone differently this time around??'
.
.
.
Earlier that week, the sky had decided to give some rest to the earth and the sun was finally shining brightly on the city to warm the streets like any other spring day. Karamatsu had decided to go out before it'd start raining and would get stuck indoors once again. The plan was to go to his usual spot on the Nanai Bridge in hope of finding his Karamatsu Girl but, to his disappointment, he found that the bridge was out of access since the river had overflowed because of the uninterrupted rain of the previous days. That... was inconvenient. 'Going back home while the sun is out would be too much of a waste.' He figured, but still not really sure where he should go now.
Karamatsu was mindlessly strolling around, with one or two buildings, a café, a bookshop catching his attention for no more than a second each until he came across the entrance of the public garden. For some reason he had never had the occasion to visit it, maybe today was a good opportunity to fix that.
Approaching the entry, he saw a couple holding hands and a thought crossed his mind. 'Maybe I'll be luckier in there, it seems like a more romantic place than the bridge could ever be'. Unsurprisingly, he was now trotting to the ivy arch much more cheerfully and seemed to have regained his signature confident smile thanks to that little glint of hope. The map next to the entry indicated that there was a small, almost maze looking path leading to an open area. Thankfully it looked pretty simple on the plan, now he knew where he had to go to find his Karamatsu Girl.
As he slowly made his way on the maroon stone path, surrounded and towered by the hedges, his eyes were incessantly drawn towards the countless types of flowers: a few red begonias, some bluebells, still blooming green dahlias, a bunch of purple cosmos, a plethora of pretty yellow lantanas and small pink cyclamens barely peaking out of the ground, so small you could miss them if you walked a bit too quickly. Some in pots, others planted in the soil of the junction between the hedges and the actual path. He was somehow grateful each patch of flower had its own little label with the name of the species along with a small picture of it. 'Whoever is taking care of this garden clearly had put a lot of care in those.' He thought absentmindedly. It was clear that the rain had done wonders to this garden, but there was an undeniably passionate and caring person behind all this. By admiring the scenery, he almost forgot which turns he was supposed to take to reach the open space and despite ambling by some passers-by, he hadn't been able to tell if he was heading in the right direction.
Still walking aimlessly, taking a right or left turn every now and then, Karamatsu didn't notice that the stone path had gradually become a dirt one until he reached, as the map had indicated, the slightly more open area. All he could see was the greenest grass he had ever seen, a small pond with a couple of occupied benches around it, a few trees, a small wooden shed, even more flowers with a scent that seemed to make him forget that there was also... something ringing in his ears. What was it?
He hummed quietly, his own voice resonated in his ear, but there was something else. It seemed so distant yet so pleasant. As he took a couple more steps in the grass, he saw the source of what his ears were so attracted to and...
.
.
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He suddenly felt so lost.
A young woman was there, probably in her early twenties, no more than thirty feet away on Karamatsu's right. Nothing seemed to make her stand out except for the fact that she was the only person he had seen in the garden who had not been in anyone's company since he arrived. All the people he had come across were either elderly people, groups of teenagers, or couples already drowning in love, but now, she was alone.
As he took a step closer, the whole world seemed to stop around him. She was only watering one of the small bushes of lilacs in the eyes of the passers-by but if one happened to give a more careful listen, an old melody, presumingly playing in her headphones, could be witnessed leaving her slightly parted lips. She was crouched down, her eyes undetachable from the lilacs, focused, as if what she was caring for could disappear in the blink of an eye or the bat of an eyelash. Her hands, covered by a pair of worn-out and roughed up gloves, seemed to be looking for any spot that could have been left out and unwatered. Every now and then, she'd reach out for a pair of scissors in the tool belt resting loosely around her waist and snip off a faded group of flowers in order to keep the whole bush clean looking. In his eyes, hers were filled with the countless sparks that would set his heart on fire as soon as she'd turn to him. 'The gears of love have begun to turn!'
He was so entranced by the delicately of her figure, her manners, and her voice, it was as if he could individually perceive the petite drops of water hitting each petal of the flowers. She had set fire to his heart without doing anything, not even looking his way. 'Maybe she just didn't hear me approaching...'
While taking a couple of steps towards her, he pulled his sunglasses out of his pocket to put on his cool guy front and try to find some composure back.
“Hi!” He said with a seductive smile and tone but quickly realized he had accidentally startled her. Well, now he was sure she indeed didn't hear him getting closer.
She looked up at him questioningly, pulling down her headphones and looking like she was wondering if he was actually calling for her.
“Hello...?” She responded quietly, a hint of nervousness in her voice. She steadied herself to get up and brushed off any dirt she may have had on her knees. “Can I help you with anything?”
Now that he was a bit closer and that she was standing straight, Karamatsu could finally take a better look at her. She was wearing a white frill blouse and the fabric was thin, so thin it was slightly transparent. Then he saw it and was internally thanking the universe for wearing sunglasses to hide where his gaze was wandering, despite the certainty that his cheeks were as red as cherries. Upon closer look, her bra was visible, of a baby blue color, adorned with two small bows attached to each front strap and some delicate lace on the underband. 'So cute, maybe one day I'll get to-... No no no! FOCUS!' Stopping his own train of thought and clearing his throat, Karamatsu tried to engage in the conversation.
“Well, it's the first time I come here and I was mesmerized by the wide variety of flowers you take care of, but I was also wondering: How is it possible that I haven't seen any rosebushes?” He said with a grin, looking falsely pensive before answering his own question. “Oh! How foolish of me! Of course, there aren't any since you're the only r-”
“I don't really like roses...” She said dryly, turning back to the bush and cutting him off as well as another small bit of faded lilac, not even looking at him.
Mouth agape, there was the semblance of a downright horrified look on Karamatsu's face and a few visible stress wrinkles forming on each corner of his eyes... 'Jesus, tough crowd.' He didn't dare to say it out loud, but he wasn't about to give up because of that thorny response.
“Heh, I just think they truly are beautiful, they exist in such a wide variety of sizes and colors, just like people, you can always find one kind that suits your particular taste.”
“...” Now she was the one looking completely lost, staring at him blankly. She definitely was quite the challenge for Karamatsu, him, who had always been painfully notorious for having a hard time reading people and their moods. 'Hmm, maybe that was a bit too straight forward for what must be a very shy girl'. In hope of fixing this possible faux pas, he closed the distance by taking the last step that was separating them and extended one of his hands.
“My name is Matsuno Karamatsu, pleased to meet you, my flower.” He declared in a somewhat solemn voice. She took a step back.
“I...Seriously, is this some sort of joke? If that's the case, it's not funny.” She said as she shook her head, turned away from him and went back to her lilacs. “If you want or need something I can help you, but other than that, I'd rather not be bothered with pranks like these when I work, please.”
“H-hold on, I promise I wasn't joking! I was hoping there could be a time where the two of us could have a nice chat, maybe without having to care about work, I can assure you that's all!” He had had to force those words out of his body, his newfound anxiety getting the best of him and making him regret the slightly too unfiltered way they sounded to him. “I am sincerely sorry if my intentions were not clear enough for you.” She looked at him, eyes wide open, for such a short instant before averting them once more, he was certain if he had blinked he would have missed it.
“It's okay.” She answered... 'Hold on, was that even an answer? To what, my apology or my invitation?' Karamatsu's thoughts were starting to spiral down, that was new. “Anyway, I have to go, I'm being a bad gardener by not working right now. Goodbye, Karamatsu-san.” She crouched to take back her tools and her watering can and walked away.
'So...What now? Come on Karamatsu, you have to do something, right?! Anything!'
“Goodbye then, I'll gladly come back to see you tomorrow, hopefully, we'll have more time to get to know each other!” He shouted cheerfully, a bit louder than what would be considered appropriate in a public garden where people were looking for tranquility, and she wasn't even that far yet. However, she did turn her head to give him a gentle smile and that alone was enough for Karamatsu to get his hopes back up.
On his way back home, he came across the same café but now there was a radio on, playing what he recognized to be the song MISSING by Toshinobu Kubota. It had been a while since he had last heard that song. It sounded more beautiful than ever. It was a beautiful day after all.
Maybe it had been going perfectly and he had been stressing over nothing? Yeah, it had to be that! God, he was so excited to tell his brothers about this fateful encounter.