Despite being an idea made in the spur of the moment while looking at club recruitment fliers in Gakumon, Chie and Hiroshi agreed on the idea of creating our own club: Phoenix Club!

…

Thinking more about it now, Hiroshi was right, the name does not really tell much about the club… but it also doesn't really matter, as it is more like a name for our friend group. And it is not like we have to follow any specific regulation like the ones in Gakumon, aside from not causing a mess here in Letspri… Lespri- Augh! My dad 's cafe!

“Now that everything’s settled and we know the issue to tackle, we can move on to our first club activity!”

“You mean the F.T.F. mission?”

“The very same! ‘Find The Flower’ will be our first official club activity!”

Turning to Hiroshi, I say “Don’t worry Hiroshi, we’ll all do our best to find that flower for you! As a group!”

“Yeah…”

“As a father, I can’t allow all 3 of you to go on your own before you all warn your parents, if you haven’t done that yet of course.”

“Overprotective as always, dad.”

“I’ve already told my mother about it.”

“And you already know about me.”

“What about you Hiroshi?”

“Oh, uh… sorry I haven’t told my father yet…”

“You should. I’m sure he would be worried sick if you kept him in the dark.”

“Ye-yeah… He… I’ll go tell him right now.”

Hiroshi picks up his phone and calls his father really quickly. But strangely, just whispers to his phone.

“Oh yeah, you 3 little ones are going to Shizen Park, right?”

“Yup, that's the place.”

“If you all happen to meet two individuals in beach themed attire, tell them that the ‘boss’ appreciates their work.”

“Huh? Why would we meet this type of person around a park?”

“I heard from some of the old folk here that those two usually hang out around that area, trying to show their paintings off to people. From that description, it sounds awfully a lot like the two responsible for the art on the walls…”

So all the out of place, ocean themed paintings in this café were made by those two… their clothes do match their type of art.

“The clients talk about them very poorly…”

“You know how these old folks are rookie, complaining about anything unusual in their peaceful lives.”

“Regardless, don’t forget to tell them if you see them okay?”

“Yes boss!”

“Oh, are you done Hiroshi?”

“Ye-yes.”

“Oh sorry, we didn’t even notice that you finished talking to your father.”

“That’s good, I would be very worried if my little girl went somewhere and didn’t tell me about it first.”

“Well, you are all free to go then, have fun on your hangout!”

“Alright, We are finding that flower today everyone! The first club activity begins now!”

“Yaayy” cheered Chie, followed by a few quiet claps while Hiroshi just stared with his usual deadpan expression.

“Let’s go go!”

We walked over to the park, which is not too far away from the café, just two or three blocks away.

“Okay, our first objective is to find a florist shop! If that shop ends up not having the flower, we try to ask for information about other shops around the area and move on from there. How’s that sound for a plan?”

“Sounds like a good one!”

“Yeah, you put a lot of thought behind it.”

“Yup, the stakes for this mission are sky high, we MUST find that flower!”

We started our mission by skirting around the park to see if we would find any florist shops. To our surprise, it didn’t even take 5 minutes of walking for us to find one. The shop didn’t have anything noteworthy outside, mostly what you expect from a shop that sells flowers: A lot of them decorate the entrance so much that it kinda hides the doorway to the inside of the establishment. Inside was a little more different however, there were a lot of flower crowns hanging from the walls to the ceilings, it seems like this shop specializes in those. We asked a person with one of the crowns, who seemed to be the only employee in the shop, if they had any green Gladioluses. But he said that the shop had none left, explaining that a woman bought the last few of them to put on a wreath for her soon to be wife to wear during their wedding, plus, supplies are always low due to its rarity.

“None huh… Do you know where we could find one around here?”

“Due to it being a rare flower, I don’t really know if others have some in their shop but may I interest you with tulips? Or maybe daisies for the pink-haired girl? I see that you like them from your hair ornament!”

Chie hides a little bit behind me after being put on the spotlight so suddenly, urging me to respond for her…

“Uh… she doesn’t want one, sorry.”

“How about you? Would you want one just like your hair ornament… actually, what kind of flower is that?”

“Eh, uhh-”

“We aren’t really interested in other flowers other than the green gladiolus.’”

“Oh, I see. That's a bit of a shame.”

“Do you know if there are other shops around this area?”

“There’re about three florist shops around Shizen Park, counting mine of course. If you go right and continue to skirt around the park, you will find the others.”

“I see, thank you mister.”

“No problem. Please come again if you need anything!”

And so, the first shop did end up being a dud as I kind of predicted it.

“So much for a first try…”

“It’s alright, we still have two shops to check out according to that seller. One of them will hopefully have that flower!”

“...”

We continued to skirt around the park until we found the next florist shop, a few minutes away from the last one. This one, just like the previous one, wasn’t too unique, aside from having multiple floors. We followed the same course like last time… well, would have if not for a woman employee walking up to us the moment we stepped foot inside the building. We asked the lady if they had the flower we were looking for, but she immediately clarified that this store does not sell flowers…? That does not make any sense??

She told us that this store is more like a photo booth where they take pictures and commissions for photos with real, authentic flowery backgrounds and themes, so it’s a common misconception that the shop sells flowers. Shizen Park is known for its gardens and flowers after all, so it’s expected for all the shops with flowers front and center to be florist shops.

“But yeah, my deepest apologies, we don’t sell the flowers here. May I interest you in some kind of photo though? Maybe one with real Gardenias for the two girls! Or maybe some Magnolias for the boy?”

“Why Gardenias?”

“Sorry but we’re just looking for the flower we mentioned, not anything else.”

“Aw, really? Not even a single picture as a group? I personally think you three would be perfect for a photo!”

“Maybe another time we can take a group photo, but no right now. We’re in a bit of a timer here.”

“Alright, I’ll be waiting for your return!” In the end, it was the same outcome, we left the shop empty handed… Despite not visibly showing it in his face, I could feel that Hiroshi was feeling a little down from this second dud. He was more strict and blunt with his words to that shopkeeper….

“Hey Hiroshi, the second shop didn’t have it, but I’m sure the next one will!” I said, not really knowing if that would end being the case…

Regardless, we moved on to the third and final shop; a trip which was a much longer walk than the last ones.

The third shop was the most different from the three, there were way more plants and flowers hanging from basically any surface but the floor. Heck, the building didn’t even have a door, it was just a massive opening that looked like the entrance to a jungle! The building seemed pretty big too, by far the biggest from all the ones we saw. Even the smell from all these plants resemble the wilderness…

We entered the building and tried to search for an employee, but after a few minutes, we could not find a single soul… not only that, but when I looked back, I noticed I got lost from my friends! Somehow I managed to get lost inside the forest… This is bad! The building is not only built to look like one, but feels like on-

rustle rustle

Wh-WHAT WAS THAT!? I just heard something moving behind all these plants!?

What should I do? Should I scream for help?? Should I continue walk-

“Hello custom-”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

“Ah, ah! I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Calm down, I’m not a wild animal!”

“Wh- Who are you!?” This green-haired girl almost gave me a heart attack!

“I’m an employee of this store! How may I help you today, dear customer?”

“Uh…” So this store really does have workers… She looks very tired though.

Suddenly, Hiroshi pops out of the foliage to our side, which also makes me jump a little.

“Seiko?”

“Hi-Hiroshi!? Why were you hiding in that bush??”

“I wasn’t hiding in the bush, I heard you scream and just went in that direction.”

“Wait, where’s Chie?”

“She’s not with you?!”

“Nope.”

“This is a problem…”

“Worry not dear customers, our staff will find your lost friend and bring her back to the entrance in no time!”

“Anyhow, Welcome to Floweret Jungle! How may I help you two, dear customers?”

“We are looking for a green Gladiolus flower.”

“Do you guys have one of those here in this… jungle?”

“Gladiolus, Gladiolus, hmm…” She thinks to herself for a little bit then answers:

“I must apologize dear customers, we do have a good amount of Gladiolus, but none of the green ones. Those have been out of stock for quite a while.”

“Oh, I see…”

That is a big blow, all three shops really did not have any?? How can one flower be THIS rare?

Hiroshi looks a bit sad too, our first club activity really ended up as a failure…

“We do have flowers similar to the color you want, would you be interested in those?”

“No, not really. We’re only looking for that one.”

“We’ll be leaving now.”

“Yeah…” Well, we just need to traverse this dense forest to find our way back…

“Hey, Hiroshi, do you know the way back?”

“I lost track after I came here.”

“I-I see…”

“Hey, Miss.”

“Yes?”

“Could you uhm… show us the way back…”

The employee guided the both of us back to the entrance, which was just walking forward and then turning left… I do not know how she can navigate this place!

“Please come back anytime you need something!” She says as she disappears into the dense jungle.

“Well, I guess the third store ended up being a dud as well…”

“...”

“Wait, where’s Chie? She was supposed to be here wasn't she?”

“The sleep deprived employee said as much.”

“Did she enter the forest again??”

We looked around the area, searching for her. I mean, there is no reason for her to reenter the forest after getting lost, right?

“What's going on over there…”

“Hmm?”

I looked to my left and saw two tall guys with strange surfer clothes talking to someone in front of them, one was holding some kind of big object with a tarp over it…

“What do you say little miss?”

“We just want to show you something worthy of your time.”

“I-I-I-I-I-”

“Little Miss, are you okay?”

“She broken or something?”

The person they were talking to seemed to be frozen in a shocked expression…

WAIT, THESE SKETCHY INDIVIDUALS ARE TALKING TO Chie!

“Come on Hiroshi! Let's stop them, those two are definitely up to no good!”

“...”

I rushed over to Chie's rescue and yelled at the sketchy duo of surfers “Hey! You two, back away from her!”

“Huh?”

“Oh, you know her?”

“Yes, she’s my girlfriend! And I'm not going to let you do anything to her!”

“‘Do anything to her?’”

“We weren’t really doing anything, we just wante-”

“I know you two were up to no good! Go scram, before I have to do something about it!”

Suddenly, both of them froze in fear directly after I made my threat. Am I that scary looking? I guess so…

“That's right, you don't want to see me mad!”

They do not really react or move after this second threat, actually; they seem to be fixated on something behind me… Thinking about it now, there is a menacing and powerful aura from that direction...

I slowly turned around to see what it was…

Hiroshi was behind me and he had a really scary expression! He completely transformed the entire atmosphere around us and it felt like he was casting a massive shadow of judgment on anything in front of him! Hiroshi is so scary when he is angry…

Some time passed, the situation calmed down a little bit, and the two surfers explained themselves.

“We're just showing off our newest masterpiece, sis.”

“Masterpiece?”

“Yeah, we spent such a huuuuge amount of time making this one.”

“Yup, here, let us show you guys this beautiful thing.”

He takes off the tarp from the rectangular object in spectacular fashion, just like a real magician, revealing a painted canvas.

“We present to you: ‘The Light at the End of the Ocean.’”

The artwork shows someone surfing inside one of those weird tunnels of water that waves sometimes create. Inside the water, a bunch of fish circle around the surfer currently going through the tunnel, encouraging him to stay balanced and cheering him on to reach the light at the end of the tunnel…

Wait, thinking about it now… Boss mentioned something about two individuals in summer attire who like to show their things off… could these two be the ones he was talking about? Well, sounds too specific to not be.

“Hey! Could you two possibly be the ones that decorated a nearby cafe with your canvases?”

“Wait, you know L'esprit?”

“Does that mean you know Boss?”

“Uh, well yeah we do. Sorta.”

“You got refiiined taste sis, the coffee there is truly one of a kind.”

“Oh yeah, he told us to say that he really appreciates your work.”

“Really? He really means it??”

“That's what he said, yes.”

“Come on brother, it's been a while since we've been there. Let's go right now and show our appreciation for his appreciation!”

“Sounds like a spectacular idea, let's go!”

And so the duo of surfers walked away, on their journey to visit Léspri Espreso, without really saying bye to us.

“What a… unique duo…”

Hiroshi does not really respond to me, and Chie is still frozen with her shocked expression. The sun is setting, and most shops are starting to close or have closed already, we really ran out of time.

I let out a long sigh and asked Hiroshi to help me carry Chie to a bench nearby at the park, since she is not really going to move.

Our first club activity ended in defeat.