—————————–

7.17 a.m. The usual time the Fujioka twins came to school, even on a first day. Nene and Hagumi a.k.a Hagu entered the school gates, going about their usual chatter.

“Man, school life is the worst now.” Nene sighed miserably as they walked through the foyer of Hartamas High School, passing the prefects who spot-checks students without a tie or name tag before the start of school with ease.

“I know, after Mr. Yew left the school has just been going downhill with Mr. Hamdan here and the other discipline teachers too!” Hagu replied, shaking her head. “Oh well, at least this year is our second last year, and; and we’re in the Science stream, which makes it all the better, eh?”

“Ha, I guess you’re right, but add maths will be a drag. You know how weak I am in maths!”

“Gooood morning, guys!” A girl with short black hair said as she ran up to them, waving.

“Hey, there, Meia! You’re awfully hyped up for the first day of school.” Nene greeted cheerfully.

“Well, I did hear some interesting news!”

“Eh?! What news?” Hagu raised an eyebrow.

“It seems we’ll be getting foreign exchange sub-teachers this year! At least… that’s what Orenji told me.” Meia nodded in the direction of the Prefect EXCO who was walking in a rush, checking her file for prefect attendance.

“What?” Orenji said, stopping in her tracks to look at the trio.

“Nothing.” They all said at once. The bell rang, signalling the time for the usual Monday morning assembly, earning a shake on the head from Nene.

“I hate Mondays now, mainly because of the dumb literature reading programme we always have to do.” She said, tightening the rubber band around her hair. “It’s going to be a looong assembly today.”

And Nene was right, because after they has sat down after they finished doing the weekly anthem singing and school oath, the teachers bombarded the students non-stop with the planned activities for the week and honestly, Nene, Hagu and Meia just felt like they wanted to get back to class so they can at least do something.

Just as Hagu was about to doze off into a short slumber, the voice of Mrs. Cheang startled her up.

“Today, I have some very important news for you all, and they both good and bad news!” Mrs. Cheang’s distinct voice rang through the microphone, earning a whisper among students. “Silence! Okay, do you want to hear the good or bad news first?”

Everyone naturally chanted good news and Mrs. Cheang nodded her head. “Okay, so, much to the excitement of you students, our school has managed to hire some very ‘special guests’.”

Now Nene, who never usually paid very much attention, nearly choked on the water she was drinking as she heard this and looked at Meia, who shrugged. More noises ensued and Mrs. Cheang asked them to keep silent once more.

“You see, our school has taken part in a teacher exchange program and now, we’d like to present to you all our substitute teachers that will teach here.” Mrs. Cheang said, taking out a slip of paper with a list of names. “First of all… Mr. Sa-ku-rai… Sho… Sakurai Sho, where are you? Please come on the stage.”

A lean, man with neat dark brown hair came on stage as his name was called. Facing the entire school, he gave a bow and introduced himself.

“Good morning everyone! My name is Sakurai Sho and I’ll be teaching add-maths for the Science stream students and surprisingly, English for the lower form students. It’s very nice to meet you.”

His politeness and genuine smile earned a gasp and little squeals from the girls. Nene just rolled her eyes as she took out her story book to read, not bothered with what was currently going on.

“Hey… that guy looks really familiar…” Hagu trailed off, trying to put a finger on who this familiar man was.

“Next up we have Mr. Ohno Satoshi, please come up here!” Mrs. Cheang said, making way for a rather… blank faced guy.

“Hello, I’m Ohno Satoshi and I’ll be teaching art for the upper forms…. I guess that’s it.”

“Argh, this thing is taking way too long.” Nene grumbled as she immersed herself inside her all-time favourite literature book; Eight Cousins. Each introduction to a new substitute teacher earned more and more squeals of delight from the girls until the point where Nene hit a girl on the head and asked her to shut up.

“Finally, we have Mr. Mastumoto Jun. Would you please introduce yourself?” Mrs. Cheang said, tucking away the name slip.

A handsome man that earned the highest squeals among all of them came up. The way he moved and looked were just… graceful. He gave a bow and a smile that could make any heart melt, summing up the 8 substitute teachers. The others, as far as Nene only knew through their names were; Aiba Masaki, Ninomiya Kazunari, Domoto Koichi, Oguri Shun, Nishikido Ryo, and Junnosuke-something… or was it the other way around? Oh well, not like she cared.

“Hello, I’m Masumoto Jun and for some reason, I’m stuck teaching history for the upper forms. It’s very nice to meet you all.”

“NENE! NENE! OH MY GOD, NENE!!” Hagu exclaimed, grabbing Nene and shaking the wits out of her. “IT’S MATSUMOTO JUN! THE MATSUMOTO JUN! IS THIS FOR REAL?! NOW I KNOW WHY THEY ALL LOOK SO FAMILIAR!”

“Please, they’re nothing but a bunch of pretty boys who make the girls go crazy, now please let go.” Nene grumbled, forcefully plying her sister off, who seemed in such a daze. “I have no intention of getting to know you’re ‘boys’. I don’t see what’s so special about them other than their looks.” She said, giving them a look of slight-disgust.

“But you know; that Mr. Ninomiya isn’t so bad looking…” Meia said, with a small smirk on your face.

“Oh Meia please, not you too!” Nene pleaded desperately. Seeing as Mrs. Cheang dismissed the students so they can go back to class, Nene stood up immediately. “I don’t know about you all, but they will have certainly no way to impress me and make me fall for them, and I’d like to see them try.” With that, Nene walked I haste back to class, eager to get away from all the commotion, earning inquisitive looks from Meia, Hagu and even Orenji, who came the moment she left.

Class 4 Mars; approximately 9. 47 a.m.

Orenji gave a poke to the depressed Nene who had banged her head on the table is depression. Even coming to class wasn’t good enough, as they girls never stopped their chatter about the new teachers and to make things worse, it was add-maths, not only a subject that Nene hated to death but that also meant…

“Perk up Nene, the teacher’s already here!” Meia whispered from behind Nene, who, along with Orenji, sat in the front row of the class, in front of the teacher’s table.

Nene sighed and stood up, as the class monitor gave a “Good Morning!” to the teacher who had just come in.

“Good morning class! Sorry I’m so late! It’s my first day here so you can’t really blame me!” ‘Mr.’ Sakurai said, signalling his students to sit down. Wanting to avoid eye contact, Nene once again immersed herself in her book. From behind her, she could hear whispers for attention as the teacher examined the class.

“Okay then, seeing as I don’t know any one of you, I’ll ask for introductions then. Who wants to go first? Or shall I choose?” Sakurai inquired, sitting down on the teacher’s table.

“Maybe we think it’s better if you would choose, Mr. Sakurai!” a girl who sat at the back said with a soft giggle, hoping she was the one who was going to be called first.

“Very well.” Sakurai smirked, looking down at Nene, who was to busy too notice the man staring at her. Orenji, Hagu and Meia gave a small snickered at the unknowing Nene.

A tap on the hand made Nene look up from her book, startled. “Eh?”

“We’re doing introductions now, so why don’t you go first?” Sakurai said, looking at Nene right in the eye. Nene looked at Orenji, who mouthed ‘Go for it!’ Getting up, she closed her book and went on with her introduction.

“My name is Nene Fujioka, I like reading books and I’ve got nothing else to say about myself. The end.” She simply said, sitting back down and continuing on with her book.

“Nene Fujioka, huh? Well, isn’t that interesting? I look forward to getting to know you better. Let’s see whose next shall we?” Sakurai gave a small chuckle and Nene merely slumped in her seat, and looked at Orenji and Orenji looked away, pretending to mind her own business.

She just wished that this lesson would finish as soon as it came.

——————————

“Whyyyy?! Tell me whyyy?!” Kimiko Kiri moaned in anguish as she looked at her image in the mirror.

“Why what? You look fine, if that’s what you’re talking about.” Kimiko’s sister, Yuki merely stated, staring at her sister with a blank look.

“I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT THAT! I’M TALKING ABOUT GOING OUT FOR DINNER WITH THAT BUBBLEHEADED BOY!” Kimiko exclaimed loudly as she clenched her fist in pure anger.

“Who? Matsumoto Jun?” Yuki’s sister smirked. She knew Kimiko was talking about him all along.

“Don’t even say his name, please. That over-rated ‘pretty boy’ who thinks he’s all that… pffftttt.” Kimiko mumbled looking back at the mirror in disgust. “I don’t see why we have to go for dinner with his family anyway. Not that I mind his family but…”

“You talk a lot, dear sister! Come on! Relax! It’ll be fun, don’t worry!” Yuki slung an arm around Kimiko’s shoulder. Just then, a knock came on the door, followed by a creak.

“Are you girls ready? We’re leaving now.” Mrs. Kiri poked her head in with a cheerful smile.

“Yeah, mom. We’re ready.” Kimiko said, putting on a forced smile, not being too happy about the feeling she had.

————-

“Ah, so we’re going Italian tonight?” Jun asked as he stared at the entrance to the restaurant.

“Yes we are! We’re also having it with the Kiri family!” Jun’s father patted his son on the back. Jun stared at his dad in shock.

“What?!”

“What’s with that expression?” Mrs. Matsumoto raised an eyebrow at her son’s sudden shock.

“So Kimiko’s going to be there too, right?” Jun inquired, curious to know.

“Well, yes, obviously. After all; her family was the one who invited us.” Mr. Matsumoto stated with a hint of obviousness. “Well, then shall we all go in?”

Jun nodded his head with a smirk. Thing were going to get interesting. He could feel it. Entering the restaurant, a waiter had come up to them.

“Welcome! Are you expected to dine with the Kiri family?” The waiter said with a kind bow. All of the family members nodded their head and followed the waiter as he showed them the way to their table.

In the meantime, Kimiko was sulking away, arms folded with a pout on her face, mumbling some swear words in the process.

“Come on, Kimiko! There’s no need to be sulking!” Yuki sighed to her sister. Their parents nodded their head in agreement.

“Yuki’s right, you know. I mean, your mom and I have been friends with Jun’s family since… high school!” Mr. Kiri said, laughing heartily.

“All the more reason as to why I hate that thing.” Kimiko said. A cheerful greeting that followed her sentence really made her want to kill herself.

“Kimiko! You’re actually here!” Jun’s cheerful voice exclaimed as he and his family approached their table.

“Yes, I am. Isn’t that simply amazing?” Kimiko said, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. She edged her chair away from Jun as he sat himself beside her.

“Why are you moving away from me?”

“Because of you yourself, that’s why.” Kimiko blankly stated, not bothering to give poor Jun a glance or a smile.

“What do you have against me?! You’ve always disliked me since we were kids anyway!”

“It’s simple because you’re a pretty boy and as you know; I HATE PRETTY BOYS!” Kimiko exclaimed shooting Jun a death glare. Seriously, if looks could kill, Jun would’ve died a painful death.

“Kimiko, calm yourself down! There’s no need to get so angry!” Mrs. Kiri said, signalling to a waiter that their table was ready to order their food.

————-

Dinner passed by with a flurry of laughter and chatter in the air, mostly coming from the parent’s side, of course. Jun and Kimiko didn’t bother saying a word to each other. Well, Jun started to start some conversations, but since he was being completely ignored, he gave up half-way. As for Yuki, she ended up simple texting her friends all the while.

Mr. Kiri cleared his throat as everyone was satisfied with their meal and the waiters had taken their plates away. He, along with Mr, Matsumoto then stood up. Everyone looked at the two, wondering what announcement they had to make.

“You see, me and my friend here have been friends since High school, as you all know.” Mr. Kiri said, with a friendly pat on Mr. Mastumoto’s back.

“So, me and Kiri Karuzawa have been discussing… along with our wives, of course.” Mr. Matsumoto said, giving a nod to the wives of the two friends, who nodded back at him.

“Please don’t tell me where this is going…” Kimiko mumbled, taking her glass of iced lemon tea. She had a bad feeling of what was going to happen next.

“Yes, so after days of discussion…” Mr. Kiri said, a proud air surrounding him.
“We have decided that Jun and Kimiko…”

WHAT!? WHY IS MY NAME THERE?! WAIT… WHY IS JUN’S NAME THERE!? Kimiko thought to herself, in shock and panic at the last sentence that was going to be said.

“We have decided that Jun and Kimiko are going to get into an arranged marriage with each other.” Mr. Mastumoto concluded. Kimiko practically spat out her iced lemon tea as she choked on it, while Jun just stared at his father in shock.

“WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!” Kimiko and Jun exclaimed at the same time.

“Father, I refuse! I don’t want to spend the rest of my days with this… thing!” She pointed a finger towards Jun.

“Dad, this girl has been ignoring me since dinner started! What do you think would happen if we got married?!” Jun said, pointing a finger towards Kimko as well.

Their mothers shook their head with a small laugh.

“Well, this would be a perfect opportunity to break the ice, no?” Mrs. Kiri said, looking at Mrs. Matsumoto in agreement.

Kimiko couldn’t believe it. Why?! Why did her parents put her into an arranged marriage with this man?! Her life was ruined… or so it seemed to be.

————————————

“Is this what we’ll be eating for dinner? Looks delicious!” Aiba exclaimed as he sat down on the dining table.

“Don’t worry, there’s plenty to go around!” Natsuko smiled, taking a seat in between Nino and Sho. “Well, is everybody here?”

“Hai! Itadakimasu!” The five boys cheered and immediately dug in.

“Ah, Oishi!” Jun exclaimed with a wide grin. Natsuko laughed as she thanked him. They were really amusing.

“So, Natsuko… you’ve never heard of our music before?” Sakurai asked as he took a sip out of his water.

“No, I haven’t. I’m sorry.” Natsuko apologetically said, helping herself to another serving of spaghetti.

“Not one song?” Nino added. She shook her head. “So, what do you work as?”

“A florist. I work at the shop down the road from here.”

“Oh! You mean the one near the café?” Aiba said, pointing the fork in her direction. Natsuko merely nodded her head once more and continued with her meal. All during the while, Ohno couldn’t stop looking at her. Jun, who noticed his strange behaviour, nudged him.

“Why are you staring?” He asked, raising an eyebrow, looking at Natsuko and back to Ohno.

“Me? Oh, uh…” Ohno stammered, looking down at his place. “It’s nothing. I was just… thinking.”

Dinner passed by with random chatters fluttering about, and as soon as it passed, everyone was seated around the living room.

“So what do we do now?” Nino asked, none of them said a word. It was completely obvious that they were bored right now, with nothing to talk about. Natsuko was the first to get up from her seat.

“Where are you going, Natsuko-chan?” Aiba asked.

“I’m going for a walk outside.” She simple stated, looking at the group of boys who were sitting down. “Anyone want to tag along?”

No one said a word, and shrugging her shoulders, Natsuko headed for the door.

“Wait. I’ll go with you.” A voice said behind her. Turning around, she saw Sakurai standing up with a serious look on his face.

“Okay then.” She said, nodding her head. “Oh and Ohno… thanks for everything.”

“No problem.” He said; smiling at Nastuko as he, Nino, Jun and Aiba watched her and Sakurai leave the apartment.

————-

“You know, you can really cook well.” Sakurai complimented Natsuko as they began walking down the street together.

“Thank you.” She said; looking down at the road she was walking on. “You didn’t have to follow me you know.”

“Well, it’s better than doing nothing anyway.” Sakurai gave a chuckle. “So… where exactly are we walking to?”

“I don’t know. Maybe the park? It seems like we’re going that way.” Natsuko said, not looking up from where she was walking. She was right. In the distance, Sakurai could see a lit up place with benches and a children’s playground. There were still people walking about, probably on a date with each other.

“You know, people might think we’re on a date or something.” Sakurai joked as he shoved his hands into his pockets. This has earned a small giggle from Natsuko.

“That’s highly unlikely. I mean, we practically don’t know each other!”

“We could always get to know each other, right?” He suddenly stopped in his tracks, looking at her with a wide smile. Natsuko stopped too, and looked at him with questioning eyes.

“Maybe.” She plainly said, and the couple resumed walking through the park. “You go first.”

“Me? Why me?!”

Natsuko looked at Sakurai and gave a small grin. “Plainly because you wanted to do this. So why don’t you go first?”

Sakurai gave a small laugh and looked up into the starry sky to think for a moment. “Well, there isn’t much to know… I’m Sakurai Sho. I’m 26 this year. I’m a university graduate and… I sing?” He said, looking from the sky back to Natsuko. “It’s your turn now.”

“Natsuko Fuji. I’m 26 this year as well, I work at a flower shop and there’s nothing else you need to know.” Natsuko dashed off a few steps before stopping and turning around to face Sakurai with a grin. “Oh, and I can seem and be straight-forward at times.”

“I can see that!” Sakurai said, jogging up to her. They just stood there, facing each other with silly grins on their faces, until Natsuko spoke by gazing down at her shoes.

“Well, isn’t this… interesting…” She said, finally looking around her surroundings. People who were walking by gave them strange looks, perhaps it was because Sakurai was there with a relatively ‘unknown girl’. “I think these passer-bys think we’re dating each other.”

“I thought you said it was highly impossible.” Sakurai teased.

“I did. The only fact is that your apparently a celebrity, and I’m a regular person, and I guess they people are wondering why your doing with someone like me?” Natsuko pointed out. Sakurai’s reply was a ruffle on Natsuko’s hair.

“There’s no problem with that, now is there? Unless you harbour a secret infatuation for me… that is.”

“Why would I? I have no reason to like you more than a friend.” Natsuko said, removing Sakurai’s hand from her head. “Now if you’d excuse me, I’ll be going back to my apartment now, and I think you should head back to Ohno’s.”

Sakurai nodded his head in agreement. “So, can I walk you back then?”

“What’s with the request? We’re going back to the same place after all.” Natsuko said, walking past Sakurai. “Well, aren’t you coming?”

“Ah, yes!” Sakurai said, catching up with her, and the two spent the rest of their time going back to their original destination talking about things they had in common.

————————————

My Blooming Rose
Chapter 2

The chime of bells rang as someone pushed the door of the flower shop open.

“Ah, Irasshaimase!” Natsuko chirped to the customer that had just come out. Noticing the familiar face; she gave a smile to him. “Oh, it’s you! How can I help you?”

Ohno examined the contents of the shop before facing Natsuko. She was carrying a whole bunch of flowers, and was probably going to arrange them into a bouquet before he came in.

“Do you need help with that?” He asked, offering a hand to help her out. Natsuko just chuckled and placed the flowers on the cashier table.

“Nope, I’m alright!” She said, folding her arms. “But really… why are you here?”

“Me? Uh…” Ohno looked around once again, thinking of what to say next. The only reason he brought himself here was just so he could see Natsuko, and probably ask her to come to his place for the dinner her was having in the next couple of days with the others. “I’m here to buy this…”

Randomly picking up a pink rose from on of the shelves, he showed it to her with a grin on his face. Natsuko just nodded her head.

“Is that all? Isn’t there anything else you’d like to buy?”

“N-no… that’s it.” Ohno said, following her to the cashier counter.

“Okay. 800 yen please.” Natsuko said, looking up at Ohno with a smile. Digging into his pocket, he managed to pay the exact amount and when she asked him whether a plastic bad was needed for him; he held the flower out to her, earning a raised eyebrow. “Actually, it’s for you.”

“Huh?” Natsuko gave Ohno a blank stare. “You bought a flower and you don’t want it?”

He swallowed the lump in his throat. He couldn’t really tell her that he wanted her to come over his place for dinner! Gathering the courage in himself, Ohno gave a deep bow, his hand still offering the pink rose to Natsuko.

“Please! I would like you to come to my place for dinner sometime this week!”

Natsuko continued to give him a blank look. Waiting for her reply, he heard her give a small laugh. He slowly straightened himself up, slightly embarrassed of what he just said.

“You could’ve just asked me straight away you know.” Natsuko said as she took the flower from Ohno, examining it with interest, leaning on the cashier counter. “Besides, I didn’t know you could cook.”

“I can’t really cook actually… the guys are bringing their own stuff to eat so…” Ohno scratched the back of his head, unsure of what to say next.

“I could help you cook, if you want.” Natsuko cut him off.

“Eh?”

“What are you going ‘eh’ for? I said I could help you; if you want.”

Ohno just stared at her blankly. Was she really serious about helping him out? Why would she want to help out someone like him anyway?

“Well, actually… I don’t know which day I’m exactly doing it…” He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked down. “But I’d appreciate it if you could help.”

“You could always do it on a weekend you know.” Natsuko paused for a moment to think. “Does this Saturday sound good? I mean; this shop closes earlier than usual on Saturdays, and I’ll have the time to guy buy whatever we need.”

“This Saturday? Isn’t that… tomorrow?! Well… Y-Yeah… I guess I could ask the guys… but are you really sure you want to… help out?”

“Is there something wrong with that?” Natsuko laughed approaching Ohno and forcefully turned him around to face the shop entrance and pushed him towards it. “Like I said; this place closes early, and I’ll have a lot of time on my hands. Now, thank you for stopping by, and for the flower.”

Opening the door, Ohno cast one last glance at her for the day. “So, this… Saturday?”

“Yup, this Saturday!” Nastuko nodded her head cheerfully and smiled at Ohno. “You’ll be expecting me around 5 in the evening or so…”

Ohno gave her a pleasant grin in return for her smile and left, his heart full of hope and excitement. He began jogging up the street back to his apartment and suddenly stopped. Oddly enough, he started laughing to himself, his cheeks feeling red.

“People must think I’m drunk right now…” He said, digging into his pocket for his phone, which even if he always brought it around with him, he barely used it. “But maybe it’s just… love? I don’t know either.”

Quickly searching for the name ‘Sakurai Sho’ on his phone contact list, he hit the call button and brought the phone to his ear.

“Hello?” Sakurai’s sleepy voice rang though the other line. He must’ve been in the middle of sleeping, but who cared.

“Dinner’s this Saturday.” Ohno said with a silly grin on his face.

“What? This Saturday?”

“Yes! Unless… you can’t make it… I dunno about the others though…”

“I’ll go ask the other’s okay? What time to you want us to come over?”

“Ermmm…” Ohno paused for a moment. “Does 6.30 p.m. sound good?”

“Yeah, I guess it could work…so… see you then? I might come early to help you out though.” Sakurai said.

“Yeah… I guess… I’ll see you then.” Ohno said and hung up. Well, he was sure Sakurai wasn’t going to be surprised that Natsuko was going to be there. After all; she was going to join them for dinner anyway.

The next evening…

He paced around the room anxiously. Glancing at the clock; Ohno could see it was almost 5.

“Is she really coming? Oh, I’m so nervous! I don’t even know why! It’s just that-” Ohno’s sentence was cut short as his head shot in the direction of the door, hearing a knock from the other side. Taking a deep breath, he approached the door and slowly opened it, revealing the face of the girl he wanted to see all day.

“Konbanwa, Ohno! I brought what we need for tonight!” Natsuko cheerfully said as she help up the grocery bag with and accomplished look on her face.

“Oh, well then… come in…” Ohno said, stepping aside to let her pass. “So, uh… what exactly are we making?”

“We’ll be making pasta! With these, of course.” Natsuko said, reaching out into the grocery back and showing Ohno four cans of tomato paste, minced meat, garlic, onions, a small bottle of olive oil and a packet of spaghetti.

“We’re making spaghetti?” Ohno inquired, following Natsuko into the kitchen.

“Got a problem with that?” Natsuko asked, taking out all the groceries and placing them neatly on the kitchen counter. Ohno couldn’t do anything but simple stare at her as she took out a cooking pot, filling it with water and then boiling it. Noticing his behaviour, Natsuko turned around.

“Aren’t you going to help? Come here!” She said, looking right at him.

“Huh? Oh… okay…” He said, approaching her.

“Here, put this into the pot, will you?” Natsuko handed the spaghetti packet to Ohno, along with a fork. “Oh, and make sure you put them into the water vertically, and stir it.”

“Sure but… why use a fork? Isn’t it… a bit too… short?” Ohno stated, doing as he was told.

“Just do what I asked you to do! No complaints.” Natsuko said, cutting the onions and garlic into small pieces, before proceeding to take out another cooking pot, putting it over the stove and adding olive oil into it.

“How long have you been… cooking?” He said, observing her actions very closely.

“As long as I had to, and will have to! Simple, ne?” Natsuko looked at Ohno with a simple smile that sent a wave of shock throughout his body. Looking into the pot where Ohno was stirring the spaghetti, she gave a small laugh. “I think that’s enough stirring for now. Close it and when the water starts boiling again, stir it some more.”

A knock on the door came and both Ohno and Natsuko’s head turned in the direction of the door.

“Who could it be?” Natsuko said, raising an eyebrow.

“I’ll go check… you just continue, okay?” Ohno approached the door as it continued to knock. Natsuko simply shrugged and got back to her work.

Ohno grumbled to himself for whoever was spoiling their moment as he opened the door. “Yes, can I-”

He stopped in mid-sentence as his face just stared at the figure standing before him.

“Hey, I know I’m early, but I thought I’d help out with your cooking. Is that okay?” The figure stated, with a sheepish smile on his face. Ohno just nodded his head slowly and let the guest in.

It was Sakurai Sho.

“Hmm? Ohno? Who is it?” Natsuko’s head popped out of the kitchen. Sakurai stood there, frozen. He looked back and forth to Ohno and Nastuko with wide-eyes.

“Ohno… I didn’t know you had a girl friend.” Sakurai said, staring at Natsuko. She started laughing at the world ‘girlfriend’.

“I’m not his girlfriend! We’re just… friends.” She said, giving a laugh, going back to her job in the kitchen. Wanting to know what they were making, Sakurai her, and Ohno followed after.

“Spaghetti, huh? Interesting…” Sakurai grinned to himself as he observed Nastuko stirring the pot as she added the tomato paste into the cook pot where she was making the sauce.

“Is it wrong to make something like that? I’m a pasta love, after all.” She laughed with a big smile on her face. “Oh, and Ohno… Could you drain out the water from the cook pot with the spaghetti? And then place it on a plate and put it on the dining table!”

“Sure.” Ohno said, doing as he was told.

“So, what’s your name?” Sakurai said, after a brief moment of silence between him and Natsuko.

“Natsuko. Pleased to meet you…” Natsuko paused for or a moment, seeing as how she finished making the sauce and put out the flame. She then looked at Sakurai and bowed apologetically. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know your name.”

“Huh! I guess you don’t listen to our music then. My name is Sakurai Sho.” He said, bowing his head. Giving a light laugh, Natsuko bowed back politely at him. “So, can I be of any help to you?”

“Yes, please help me get all these things ready in time for dinner! You too, Ohno!” Natsuko cheerfully said as Ohno came back into the kitchen. He simply nodded his head.

“Okay, sure!” Sakurai grinned as he and Ohno helped Natsuko set up the dinner table, and the time eventually came when the rest of the guests came.

Title: My Blooming Rose (title inspired by ‘Rose in Bloom’ by Louisa May Alcott… 8D)
Author: nene-chan
Type of Story: full-fledged story.
Genre: Romance, General, Love-triangle
Pairings: Sakurai x OFC x Ohno
Girl used in image banner: Yaida Hitomi
Summary: Passing through a flower shop one day, Ohno finds a person who makes his heart jump. She’s captured his heart at first sight and now Ohno wants to pursue her. But love doesn’t always go as planned; and an unexpected twist occurs, changing three lives forever.
Comments: The summary sounds so… 19th century! XD Just to let you know, Natsuko is not a Mary-sue. I SWEAR. YOU WILL KNOW WHY LATER AS WELL SO PLEASE DON’T KILL ME. DDD: Uh… anyway… I don’t really like this chapter… dunno why but yeah… enjoy you must! XDDD

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My Blooming Rose
Chapter 1

Ohno ran as fast as he could down the row of shops from his apartment. He was late for a meeting with his friends. Really late.

“Ah, shoot! I need to get there soon of they’ll kill me again!” Ohno exclaimed. It’s only been his first week since moving out into a new place and things were already a mess.

Now you see; along this row of shops there was a flower shop, always neatly decorated with pretty entrancing flowers for display on the outside. Ohno never really bothered about them. He would just simply pass them; playing no heed. However, today was different.

A strange yet fragrant smell hung in the air as he passed the flower shop. Not only that, but there seemed to be a melodious tune coming from it too. Suddenly halting to a stop, Ohno peered into the shop window; driven by curiosity at what has caught his attention.

It was a girl. Somehow she looked familiar to him. She had long black hair that was tied into a messy pony tail. Her expression looked soft and cheerful as she was arranging the flowers within the shop. Ohno could feel his heart going b-dmp. What was this strange feeling?

Suddenly, the girl stopped singing and looked up. Her head turned to Ohno. Ohno wanted to run at that point; but somehow it seemed like he couldn’t move his body. Now he realized why she looked so familiar! She lived on the same apartment floor as him! He never communicated with her, but he has seen her around.

The girl gave Ohno a smile and nodded her head as a greeting. Automatically, he dashed off, seized with a weird feeling in his heart.

What am I doing? He thought as he pushed the door to the café he was supposed to meet the rest of his friends at. Immediately; he dropped to his knees and starting panting from all the running he endured.

He heard the sounds of footsteps running towards him. It was the rest Sakurai and Matujun.

“Ohno?! Daijoubu desuka?! ” Sakurai asked, kneeling down beside Ohno.

“What happened? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!” Matsujun added as they both helped Ohno up and led them to the table the rest of them were sitting at.

“N-Nothing… I’m just… tired… from running… all the way… here.” Ohno said through short breaths as Sakurai asked the waiter to bring Ohno something cold and refreshing. Okay, so what Ohno said wasn’t entirely true; but it wasn’t a lie either.

“Still not used to living alone, eh?” Nino gave Ohno a good-natured pat on the back.

“Uh… yeah… I guess you could call it that…” Ohno uneasily said, thanking the waiter that had brought his drink. It was just what he needed right now; a nice glass of cold water.

“So what exactly did you call us here for, Aiba?” Nino inquired, leaning back in his seat.

”Well, nothing really! I just wanted to get you guys all together to have a nice drink together!” Aiba happily said.

“Is that really it?” Sakurai raised an eyebrow. “You know, you could have just asked us all to go for dinner instead of having… ‘Tea’…”

“Oh! Maybe we should do that next week! Any ideas?” Aiba chirped in an excited tone.

“I dunno, actually. I’m up for anything.” Matsujun said, taking a sip of his drink.

“OH I KNOW! WE CAN ALL GO TO RIIDA’S PLACE!” Aiba jumped at that sudden thought.

“Oh, that’s right! We haven’t been to your place before!” Nino said, agreeing with Aiba’s suggestion. “What do you think, Ohno?”

“M- My place?! D- Doushite?” Ohno stammered. Why; of all places, did they choose his place?! Sure, they haven’t even his place before; but was this really necessary? Why couldn’t they just go to Sakurai’s place or Jun’s place?

“Simply because we want to! Need we say more?” Matsujun smirked. Ohno gave a huge sigh.

“Okay, fine. When do you want to come over?”

“You set the date, will you? It’s your place after all; not ours.” Nino said, getting up from his seat, as did the rest of them too. Ohno just gave a small nod. The five friends said their goodbyes and went their separate ways back to their home.

Dark clouds and sounds of thunder forecasted a very rainy evening and Ohno wanted to get home as soon as he could. Reaching to the door of his apartment; he noticed a bouquet of flowers neatly placed on his doorstep.

“Huh? What do we have here?” He murmured, kneeling down to pick up the flowers. There was a small letter attached to it. It read;

To Ohno Satoshi-san.
Ano ne… Lately you’ve been looking so tired, especially today when I saw you outside looking in into the flower shop! Ganbatte ne~ maybe these flowers shall cheer you up? I hope so! ^.^ /

The name of the sender wasn’t present, but Ohno already had an idea on who she was. Giving himself a smile, he carefully placed the flowers on his dining table. Little drops of rain were already beginning to fall on the window. Slumping himself down on the sofa, he wondered what the flower girl was doing right now.

“Maybe I should see her right now… no wait… what am I thinking?! I sure sound like a weirdo! ” He shook his head and gave an uneasy chuckle to himself. “She’d probably give me a weird look for coming so suddenly anyway.”

Ohno was confused. He wouldn’t normally be bothered about these kinds of things but before he knew it, he was at the flower girl’s door.

Why did I bring myself here? I’m somehow starting to feel weird…he thought to himself as he tried his best to hold his finger back from pressing the doorbell. Too late. He heard the sound of footsteps already approaching the door. Turning his back sharply and proceeding to walk away to save himself from embarrassment; a voice had called out.

“May I help you?”

Slowly turning his body back towards the person who answered the door, his face turned pink with embarrassment.

“Uh… were you the one who… put the flowers on my doorstep?”

Way to go, Captain Satoshi. It was so obvious she did.

The girl gave a small laugh. “Yes. I did. Why? You don’t like flowers?”

“Ah! No, it’s not that…” Ohno blurted, shaking his head. The girl laughed again. “What’s so funny?”

“It’s nothing. Really!” She paused for a moment; peering inside her apartment. Her attention turned back to the man standing in front of her door. “Would you like to come in for some tea?”

Ohno stood there dumbfounded. Did she just ask him to come in? He was a total stranger and yet she’s acting like they’ve been best friends for God-knows-how-long. Well, at least it seemed like it.

“Uh… sure… I’ll come in for some… tea…” Ohno nodded as the girl led him into her apartment. “Sorry, but… I never caught your name…”

“It’s Natsuko.” The girl; whose name was Natsuko simply said with a smile
. “Take a seat. I’ll bring the tea out right now.”

That said; Natsuko disappeared like a breeze into the kitchen. Looking around his surroundings, he noticed her place somehow felt warm and… homely, despite the rain that had suddenly become heavy outside, accompanied by loud thunders.

“Oh dear. It’s raining heavily again today…” Natsuko trailed off as she handed Ohno his cup of green tea. “Be careful, it’s hot!”

“Ah, Arigatou…” Ohno smiled thankfully. A wave of nervousness swept through him as Natsuko plopped herself right next to him. He didn’t realize her was looking at her until she pointed it out by raising an eyebrow and tilting her head to the side with a inquisitive smile.

“What?” Natsuko asked.

“N-Nothing….” Ohno stammered, quickly darting his eyes away to face another direction, earning another laugh from Natsuko. “What is it now?!”

“You’re really weird.”

“Well thanks for the compliment.” He said, taking a sip of his tea that burnt his tongue. “AH! ATSUI!” He exclaimed.

“I told you to be careful, did I not?” Natsuko sternly said. She really sounded like a mother when she said that. “See? Now you burnt your tongue!”

“S-sorry…” Ohno placed the cup on the table and sighed. “I’ll be more careful next time…”

A silence was followed by Ohno’s last sentence, Natsuko silently sipping her tea and Ohno just looking here and there, both of them not sure what to do.

“What time is it?” Ohno asked, peering at Natsuko who has just finished her tea.

“It’s almost 7. 45 p.m. … and it’s still raining.” She stated, looking at the clock that hung on the wall by the window.

“I guess… I’d better be heading off then?” Ohno said, getting up from his seat.

“Maybe…” Natsuko got up and followed him to the door. “Have a good evening, Ohno-san.”

“Yeah you too… Natsuko-san…” He grinned at her. Natsuko returned his smile with a small one. Ohno stepped out of the door and turned one last time to face her. “Oh, and thanks for the flowers again…”

“You’re welcome.” Natsuko waved as Ohno went back to his apartment, and returning to whatever business she was doing before that man came to pay him a visit.

Slumping himself on his bed, Ohno smiled to himself. The nervousness he had when he was around Natsuko… was this what the people called ‘infatuation’?

“I don’t know… but I like the feeling…” He murmured, burying his face into the pillow, knocking himself out into a deep slumber.