𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩; KAORU HIITACHIN & TAMAKI SUOH

chapter ten: prairie coneflower

upright prairie coneflower 

the flower of medicine 

used as an ornament.

Tamaki did not doubt his love for his mother, or his father. You could even go as far as saying that he knew of his love for Kyoya and Haruhi. But this feeling did not feel like love. It was overwhelming. It took over every nerve in his body until he was on fire. It was supposed to be love. So that's what he took it for.

He would make it love. 

When morning came, there was no doubt in his mind that something was different. The air, a little thicker. His body, a little tenser. 

Yet, when he looked around, there was no reason to be so tense or so thick. He was again in a room full of plants and flowers, not one looking like the other. All different colours, shapes and sizes might have given him a seizure. 

But then he wouldn't make it back home to m/n. 

And he couldn't have that.

So, he walked around briefly. Simply trying to identify the plants without Kaoru's help. Not like he would be much help right now. (Kaoru was currently trying to sneak out of his mansion without his brother noticing. Hikaru noticed. He didn't say a word.) 

Atop a desk sat a neatly folded note, much like the last. Tamaki hummed quietly to himself before opening it up and looking down at it like an old man without his reading glasses. 

rule #1: interpret

rule #2: choose 

rule #3: understand 

The simple wording of this really should've sparked an inch of anxiety or even a slight uneasiness in the pit of his stomach. Nothing of the sort came. Only a small hum as he reread each word over and over until he went a bit cross-eyed. He didn't tell me to survive this time.

It may be a good time to mention that Tamaki doesn't have the problem-solving abilities like the others. Never mind the botanical knowledge that Kaoru somehow possesses, he has very few real-world skills other than the piano. But calling that a real-world skill may be a stretch. 

Nevertheless, Tamaki prevails through his little mystery. Leaves scatter across the floor as he shifts through each large potted plant. Taking another look at the note, he notices 3 small square boxes lined beside one another, just big enough to fit 3 letters. He looks around. No pen. No pencil. Great. 

That's a problem for later. Right now he needs to figure out what's going on with these flowers. By the end of his third lap, exhaustion begins to set in. This is in no way a small room. 

I used to like flowers but this is too many, even for me. 

On his way down to sit on the floor, Tamaki accidentally knocks over an eerily familiar plant. The iris. The first flower of his adventures. He never thought he would find himself reminiscing on the time well spent with Hikaru. (It was only well spent because he got to see— Yeah you know who.)

Slowly, he gets back, hearing a slight crack in his knees (he ignores it), and creates a small bouquet of the violet plant. Maybe one day he'll get a whole bunch of irises around his home, just to remember all of this.

Feeling much more confident in himself, Tamaki does another walk around. The irises in his hand only seem to fuel his creativity as he picks up the familiar cyclamen without care. M/n probably just wants me to pick out some flowers. I probably haven't found the exit yet buried in all of these damn plants...