Stop and Smell the Flowers

Now that the group had gotten off the train, it was time to head towards Matsu's aunt's store. It was a short walk to the station in which Arata made every attempt possible to be besides Ichiri. It was futile as she simply moved away from him and promptly put someone between them again and again.

All he wanted to do with her was share one conversation. Just one so that he could try and talk some sense back into the girl's mind. The obvious reason being that he wanted to be close with her once again. Though there was also a part of him that missed when she held him up with some reverence because he was her senior. Having someone look at him like that was a major confidence boost for someone who used to hold little social interaction.

Hmm, he really did have few social skills before getting blackmailed, so maybe that was part of the reason why she was actually bad with handling her emotions. This girl might need to get a new senior.

Soon enough, their short walk was finished as they entered the flower shop. It was wonderful on the inside. The warm of the lights thawed their spirits after having to walk through some chilly urbanscape. The aroma of the numerous flowers budding along the shelves also added a calming touch.

"Auntie, we're here!" Matsu loudly announced their arrival and out popped an older lady from under the register stand.

"Ah, it's nice to see some of Matsu's other friends." The woman said. She had already met the other members of the gardening club, and she found them to be very charming. However, being able to meet new faces was always a joy for her. "And I see you brought along the boy you li-"

"Anyway, do you have any new seeds!?" Matsu was quick to cut off her aunt. It seemed that when adults were aware of their children, or in this case niece, having a crush on someone. They really wanted to do the confessing themselves. "That's why we're here after all."

"Of course I do." She replied. "Why don't your friends go check around the store while the two of us go to the back?" They listened to the lady and split up from there. Matsu disappeared into the back with her aunt, and the rest of them went off in their own way except for Arata. Instead, he wanted to make an attempt to talk with Ichiri, but didn't have a proper game plan.

"What am I going to do?" He asked Hifumi. The pair made it appear that they were simply perusing the store's offerings, but were actually keeping an eye on the younger girl. "Every time I try to talk with her, she just gives me the cold shoulder.

"Giving up is an option." It wasn't in his mind, and thankfully she was only being factious. "Look, just don't give her the chance to escape and at least you can get to the talking part." Whether or not he would be successful afterwards wasn't a concern for her.

"All right, just help block off the escape routes then." It was time for him to make his move. Meanwhile, Matsu had her own conversation with family to contend with.

"I believe this is the bag I wanted to give you all." Her aunt picked up a very large back filled with various seeds from the shelf. It should last the gardening club an entire year if they were smart about their management. Seeing as Matsu was the leader of said group, they'd be lucky if they got a few months out of them.

"Thanks auntie." Matsu responded with admiration of how much was given to her. "We'll make sure to get every single one planted."

"You don't have to worry about using them all." She laughed. "And maybe you should be focused on putting your roots somewhere else."

"Hmm? I don't get it." Despite being someone passionate about gardening, Matsu was not one to get puns. "Do you have somewhere special for me to plant these seeds?"

"I mean when are you going to confess to that boy you brought along?" Immediately, the young girl went to a blushing phase that involved a lot of saying that she couldn't possibly do such a thing.

"He's my friend…" She replied, keeping her eyes to the floor. "And… Well…" There weren't many words she could think of while stuttering. "How am I supposed to confess to him?" That wasn't what she wanted to say, but her true feelings ended up coming out.

"By confessing to him?" There isn't anything special about revealing to someone how you felt about them. Whether or not they returned those feelings were another matter. "The worst he'll say is no."

"But, there's also other girls who like him."

"Then that's all the more reason to confess to him now." She knew that this young girl was going to be a third year very soon in the coming months. With a lot of attention being spent on exams, things were going to be even more challenging to try and maintain a relationship. "I assume that you at least like those other girls, but understand when it comes to love. Some people have to get hurt for it to come true."

"…" Uncharacteristically, Matsu fell silent to those words. She didn't have a counter for them, but at the same time, she was hesitant to follow her aunt's advice and confess to him.

"Look, just promise me this." The older lady put a hand over the young girl's head. "Just ask him out before you go back home, you don't even have to confess or anything. Just make up an excuse."

"…" The idea was tempting to Matsu, who had desperately wanted to go out with Arata for a long time now. "I'll do it."

As that was going on, the boy that was the subject of their discussion was executing yet another plan to get Ichiri to talk with him. This time, it was an operation that involved some others to play 'interference' as he met with the girl in the corner of the store.

"Those are some really pretty flowers, aren't they?" He made his presence known as Arata got right next to her."

"Right, they really are." She gave the same style of response as she had done to him all day, which were short and impersonal. Then she went and did the same thing afterwards, which was to walk away from him. However, as she did it this time, the girl was met with Hifumi giving her a death stare. On the opposite route that she attempted to leave through, she saw Yurime and Yuriko standing there with threatening looks.

This plan was completely absurd, and if that girl didn't hate him afterwards, he'd be glad about the outcome.

"You like flowers?" He continued to talk as if there was nothing weird going on, despite how uncomfortable she was becoming. The more he looked at her, the worse he felt about the situation and desperately wished things didn't have to be this way. What else could he do though? If he didn't try, then would've it have been better to just forget either of them were friends in the first place?

"Um, yeah. They're nice." She had nowhere to run, so Ichiri was left with little choice but to continue talking to him. However, she did this by also turning around and looking at the shelf he wasn't facing. "I'm glad Matsu invited me to join her. This shop is really amazing, and I doubt I'd ever come here without her."

"Yeah, same here." He replied. "Matsu's a real incredible girl." After all the months that he was aware of her feelings, he felt terrible for pretending to be none-the-wiser all this time now.

"She is…" From her tone, Ichiri was obviously unhappy about that thought. Despite losing a lot of confidence after losing the student council race, she still had it in her mind that she should be a better person than everyone else. When it didn't happen, she lost a lot more energy.

"Anyway…" He knew that he needed to lead the conversation into something that would make her happier, and more about herself as well. "What's your favorite flower?"

"Camellias." She answered. "They should be blooming soon in the spring, so I'm looking forward to that." It was a little ironic that she would enjoy those flowers the most, seeing as they represent humility. That was the trait she lacked most of all. "What about you?"

"I really like the ume the most." He answered. It was because of their sweet scent and their presentation in a lot of art that drew him to them. "It's been getting warmer a lot earlier this year, so maybe we'll see them blooming really soon."

"That would be nice." She responded yet again in a short answer.

"But, I was thinking of getting these." Arata pulled out some hydrangeas from the shelf. They had a real nice violet glow under the lights.

"Really?" She was wowed by their appearance while being held in his hands. "You know they mean apologies, but I don't think you've done anything wrong to anyone." While Ichiri was knowledgeable about many things, flowers included. This girl wasn't the only one who did her homework on this topic.

"I think that I have." He replied, making it obvious who he was referring to. "But, they also mean gratitude." His time tending to Hine's garden certainly didn't go to waste with all he learned. "So I wanted to give you these." It was a little cheesy to get the girl flowers, but he wanted something meaningful. So he chose carefully about what to give her.

"Arata…" She was near speechless as he presented them to her. This boy really was someone she held close and dear to her heart. The more time she spent with him, the more she fell for him. He was a kind person… Someone who doesn't deserve to be shackled with someone pitiful like her. "I… I…" Tears began to stream down her cheeks as she tried to speak up.

He was taken aback by her reaction. Did he say something wrong, he wondered. These weren't flowers she hated, right?

"Wh-what's wrong?" He asked with worry on his face. "You're not allergic to these, are you?"

"Arata…" Her voice was breaking with every attempt to speak. "Arata… I love you so much." That wasn't news to him, but it was news for some of the girls around him. Especially one that he wasn't aware was nearby.

"What's going on out here?" Now she was causing a bit of a scene with her breakdown as Matsu and her aunt returned to the storefront. "Is everything all right?" Unfortunately, Matsu did hear the part where Ichiri confessed her feelings to Arata.

"I'm sorry…" Ichiri continued to try and get her words out. "But… There's no way you could love someone like me." She had reached her breaking point. The girl couldn't take her feelings anymore and rushed past the blockers. Quickly, she rushed out of the store in tears, leaving all of them too stunned to know what to do next.