The flower shop next door {Oumasai} [Hanahaki AU]

Daffodil

The last thing Shuichi recall hearing was the loud jarring noise of a truck honking at him.

The rest was a blur. Hell, Shuichi wasn't sure if any of the things he could remember even happened.

And soon enough, the other part of his memories went missing.

One by one, pieces of his memories of a sound childhood left him.

His name, it was like he never learnt what he was called.

His uncle's wife was a nurse in a renowned hospital in Tokyo , luckily. Though, that meant he had to say goodbye to his home.

Little by little did he recover. Slowly, he knew himself better. Slowly, he recognized faces easier. Slowly, his memories built up again, as if it had been turned a new page.

And finally, it was time to take the recovery further. He was to be moved back to his old house, seeking to find scattered puzzle pieces to be put together in Shuichi's mind.

The small town he spent his entire childhood in seemed to have changed a lot. Although, Shuichi couldn't tell if it was of his memory loss or things really did take a turn since he had moved away.
His house stood among this string of houses that he found unfamiliar. Stepping out of his uncle's bright red family car reflecting off summer's intense sunlight, Shuichi took a look around, taking notes of his surroundings, carving the setting into his brain.

- Shuichi, come here and help us move the furnitures!
- Coming!

Shuichi hurried back into his house for his uncle and his wife like the obedient nephew he was. Meanwhile, little did he know, someone from next door has been observing him from afar.

Kokichi Ouma, a flower shop's owner, recognized this navy haired boy the moment he saw the car pulling up to his neighbor's house's front gate. The house has been left empty for years now, not like Kokichi didn't know what went down in that house before.
As Kokichi's "new" neighbor went out of his sight, Kokichi retreated into the store, continuing his errands around the small shop.

That afternoon, after helping his uncle and his wife move in, Shuichi felt a bit adventurous and went out for a walk around the neighborhood.

- Uncle, auntie, I'm going for a walk!
- Be home by supper!
His "Okay" became muffled as he shut the door behind him.

On Shuichi's walk down the streets, strangers approached him with a mix of concern and gladness. They asked him about his health, reintroducing themselves to their acquaintance. One person stood out in particular was this blonde girl, who claimed to be his childhood friend, Kaede Akamatsu. He was invited to her house as she also happened to be on her way home from the convenience store.

As soon as Kaede mentioned her old friend's visit at the front door, her parents immediately turned their attention to the navy haired boy, smiling warmly at him, surprised by his unannounced return. They reintroduced themselves as the others did, asking him about his health, his family and such.

- Look! That's us when we were 5! We were playing house and my parents made us dress up. My dad's tie was brutally dragged on the floor, haha!
Kaede had led Shuichi upstairs into her small room fit for a girl like herself. With excitement, she showed him a picture she had framed and placed neatly on her bookshelf stacked with books about music and occasionally a stray novel.

- Oh, I think I still have an album of our old pictures my parents took! Maybe it'll help you! Let me go find it first...
Kaede scanned her bookshelf carefully before kneeling down to search for it herself starting from the bottom row, running her hand across each of the books' spines. Meanwhile, Shuichi sat patiently, looking around and trying to pick up what he could about this girl.