Something was definitely behind me! I can feel it for sure! But before I could do anything, I felt it lean close to my ear and says:

“sei-i-KO!”

“AAA-” The mysterious thing placed their hand over my mouth to muffle my scream and followed it up with:

“Ah! I’m sorry, I’m sorry!-” Wait, I recognize this voice!

I turned around and saw that it was my mother!

“We shouldn’t be screaming at this time of day.”

“Mo-MOM!?” I said, after she took her hand off.

“Hehe, sorry for scaring you this much sweetie~”

“You almost gave me a heart attack! Geez…”

“Looks like we got home at around the same time! And here I was thinking I would be the late one between the two of us.”

“Did you have a good time at your hangout?”

“Of course I did! I got to know my coworkers well, even if the hangout was just window shopping… I saw a really cool horror movie in a store about a life-taking black goo apocalypse. Shame we couldn't buy it…" My mom said with a disappointed look on her face. On the contrary, I was very relieved, it looks like I was spared from another obligatory scary movie night. I am really not good with these horror things…

“Anyway, how about you? Did you have fun with your friends, sweetie?”

“I- uh- well, a lot happened today, both good, bad and weird… But I did have fun spending time with my friends!”

She places her hand on my head, saying “It makes me very happy to see my little girl making new friends and being happy herself.” and then proceeded to mess up all my hair by waving her hand from side to side…

“Did that boy get better by the end of your little adventure?”

“You mean Hiroshi? …”

“Actually, I have something important to ask you mom!”

“Oh?”

“Hiroshi was worried because he couldn’t find a specific flower for a visit tomorrow.”

“A specific flower?”

“Yeah, do you know any places that would sell a green Gladiolus?”

“That’s an oddly specific reason to get depressed for.”

“There’s more to it that I can’t tell, but the point is, this is really important!”

“Hmmm… I can’t say I do know, I’m not really well versed with flower names or even about flowers in general.”

“Ah…”

“Buuuuuut, I can ask around with my coworkers!”

“Re-Really!?”

“You said it’s really important to him, didn't ya? I’ll call my coworkers and ask them. I'll lose some brownie points by being the annoying newbie, but its worth it for my daughter.”

“Great! Thank you mom!”

“No problem! I'll get that by tomorrow!”

“Here, you can write the location on this paper.” I said, handing her the map my dad made earlier today to get to the cafe he works at.

“Alright, now let’s get inside before-”

Before mom could finish what she was saying, we heard the door to the apartment open-

“-wear I heard a scream while… in the… shower…”

It was my dad! He startled both of us and we tried to scramble something up!

“Ah. G-Good evening honey!”

“H-Hey dad!”

“Oh, it’s you two. I was starting to get worried.”

“We just got here, sorry for the wait.”

“Did you two hear a scream a bit ago?”

“S-Scream? I-I didn’t hear any!” I think it is better for dad to not know I was screaming at this time of day in the corridors.

“I’m sure it wasn’t a scream of terror! Maybe it was just a regular noise that felt like a scream.” Seems like mom agrees, even if she flew a bit too close to the truth there

“Really? I swear I heard one while I was in the bathroom… oh well, come in you two, dinner is almost ready.”

“Alright!”“Yeah!”

We entered our home, had a great dinner, with no sweet potatoes, and then I headed to my room to get ready to sleep. But just before going to bed, I wrote in my dairy:

“Dear diary, today was an… interesting day. I learned that flowers do actually listen to us when we talk to them, I even made a promise to the ones at school! Hiroshi also told Chie and I the reason he was feeling down recently: turns out it was because he was worried that he wouldn’t be able to bring something for his mother at the hospital. We weren't able to get the flower today, but it’s nothing to worry about. I won’t allow him to get there without the flower in his hand. Mission F.T.F. (formally known as M.H.S.) will not fail!”

~~ ❀ ~~

. . .

. . - BEEP - BEEP - BEEP-click

“Gotcha!” I exclaimed after pressing the button to turn off the alarm. before it could scare me. Not this time Mr. Alarm! I was already awake before you even turned on!

After a long yawn, I made my usual preparations for school. Oh, and also, I gotta see if my mother got a response from her friends about the flower. Today is going to be a very busy day… but also a successful one!

After taking care of all my daily necessities, getting myself dressed, checking all my backpack contents required for school, seeing if nothing is missing, all that routine stuff, I go on to eat the classic toast toast made by my dad! Always a great meal for this early in the day.

“Oh yeah, Seiko.” My father calls my attention while we are having breakfast.

“Your mother had to leave early today, but she left this paper for you.”

The paper is the map my dad made me yesterday… but it is the exact same as it was before? Except for a single arrow pointing me to turn the paper around. After doing so, the true contents are revealed…

It is another map, this time done by my mother, with less impressive handwriting, and a drawn-on map with a red line going from the school to the supposed store called 'Re- Recherché Flora'... another name that is hard to pronounce… Whatever, her friends knew a place, which makes me feel relieved! I am glad that things worked out in the end.

“You look very happy, are you planning on doing something today sweetheart?”

“Yes! Today is the day me and my friends actually finish our mission!”

“The one you three were discussing at the cafe yesterday? I thought you all did it already.”

“Ah, uh… well, a few things happened and we ended up empty handed… but this time will be different!”

Raising the map to the air for him to see, I exclaim “This time, I’m coming fully prepared!”

“Hm. I’m glad to see my daughter is going down a good path, just make sure to not come home late okay?”

“I’ll try!”

“That’s… not very reassuring, but I hope you have a great day sweetheart.”

“I will dad! I hope you have a good one too!”

With everything ready, I started my day.

The walk to school and the classes today were all the same things as usual. Chie and I met with Hiroshi at the garden and we had a nice lunch together. Hiroshi asked about my plan, but I ended up dodging the question to keep it a surprise for after school… but I am not sure if that was the best option. Despite not visibly showing in his face, I could tell he felt a little anxious by the end… I bought a pomegranate juice for him before lunch ended, as an apology.

DING DONG

After class, finally! I dashed towards the school’s exit and waited for my friends. Me and Hiroshi waved goodbye to Chie and wished her a good sewing class.

“So… what’s your plan to find the flower today? You haven’t told me yet.”

“Hm, hm, hm!” Taking the paper out of my blazer’s pocket, I raise it to the air, “We are not failing this time!”

“That’s… the same map?”

“Oh, wait, it’s on the other side!”

“This is not just another map, this map is the exact location for a shop that sells that flower!”

“I see…” He extends his hand towards me, is he asking me for something?

“Uhm…”

“I’m asking for the map, so we don’t go in the wrong direction again today.”

“H-Hey! Last time it was a fault with the map! A bit of my fault too, but mostly the map’s fault!”

“I’m just making sure.”

“Fine! Fair enough.” I gave him the map and we followed the laid out path for us.

The walk is about an hour long, so to pass time, I tried to come up with anything I could ask Hiroshi, to pass the time. But I never really spent time with just him, Chie was always there with me… he seems very attentive though; looking at the map and making sure we don’t go off the trail, with the same expression as ever. What could I ask him about…

“Hey, Hiroshi.”

“What?”

“If you don’t mind me asking, why does your mother like this specific flower so much?”

“Hm…”

“Well… She once told me that every flower has some kind of meaning, so you should always be conscious of what flower to give someone. And for her, the Green Gladiolus was the most meaningful of them all.”

“Huh, what kind of meaning did it have?”

“According to the plant’s ancient name ‘Gladius’ and the shape of the flowers, it means ‘little sword’.”

“I noticed that! The flowers in the school garden do look like white little swords.”

“These flowers were often given to gladiators as a sign of honor and as a form of remembrance in Roman history. Of course, this is not the-”

Oh, I have never seen this side of him. He is acting much like Chie; when you talk about a topic they are really interested in, they can talk for a long time, I can even see a faint smile on his face.”

“-the colors also have a lot of meaning: the white ones we have at Gakumon represent purity for example.”

“I wanted to plant the green ones instead of the white ones but… I was a bit too late.”

“So what about the green ones? What do they mean?”

“Uhm… They usually represent a new beginning and growth, but to her, they held a little more meaning.”

Hm, makes sense. It is kind of like the color of a little seedling, they begin tiny and grow to be a beautiful plant! But that last thing he said, 'Little more meaning?'...

“When I was very little helping her at the florist shop, I got fixated on the wall of green gladiolus she had. They were beautiful, and she noticed me staring at them. She told me that those were her favorite flowers, and she started cultivating them shortly before I was… born…

A flower that represents honor and remembrance, while also having the color of a new beginning and growth. She was hoping that these qualities would… rub off on me.”

. . .

Hiroshi notices my silence and responds a little flustered, “H-Hey! You better not laugh at this!”

“No-No! I wasn’t going to laugh!”

“I just never expected this to be the reason why… she really is so kind and intelligent.”

“Sh-she is.”

“An-Anyway, we’re here.”

“Oh, at the store already? That was fast!”

“Yeah, it was.”

And it was a nice conversation! He knows so much about flowers and plants in general, it was nice to learn something new from him.

The shop was pretty small and it did not really try to stand out from the ones we saw yesterday. The logo at the top with the shop’s name was a bit decrepit and rustic, and that extended to the whole shop, both inside and outside. I could tell from a single glance that it was very old, but still well taken care of.

Inside, we talked to the elderly lady that was the owner of this shop, and we made our request.

“Oh my, you two want this kind of rare flower? It’s very unusual to see young people requesting such specific species.”

“Do you have one miss?”

“Oh yes, I actually have a pair.”

“You really do?”

“Yes, I really do.”

“You hear that Hiroshi? This is amazing news!”

“Y-Yeah.” Hiroshi said, while making a faint smile.

“H-How much does it cost?”

“Ah, about that…”

“Being a rare variant, they are already pricey, coupled with the other flowers on the bouquet I was making…”

“Wait, wait! We’re not looking to buy the entire bouquet.”

“Huh? You don’t want a bouquet?”

“We want just the flower itself.”

“Now that’s even stranger.”

“You can’t sell us just the flower?”

“Oh, no, no, I can. I’m just even more curious now.”

“If you don’t mind fulfilling this old woman’s curiosity, why do you want just this flower?”

“Ah- Uhm…”I leaned a bit closer to Hiroshi and whispered to him “Should we tell her?”

Hiroshi shook his head and instead responded by saying “It’s a… important flower, to someone I know.”

“Is that so? It’s good to know that there’s still youngsters who are fond of flowers.”

The old lady went to her balcony, and after a bit, brought the flower to us.

“You know, this reminds me of a certain someone I knew a long time ago.”

“Huh?”

“Back when I was less aged than now, something like fifteen or seventeen years ago, I remember a lady who became almost a daily customer for about a month. She would go on and on about this specific flower and how important they would be for her child.”

Wait, could this be… Hiroshi…

“That child… it is very important to her…”

“Yeah. It’s been so many years since I gave her the seeds for the flower, I hope she’s doing well nowadays.”

“...”

“Oh, look at me, talking so much about a memory again. Age is catching up to me again it seems.”

“I hope she’s doing well too…”

“Hm? Did you say something?”

“O-Oh, uh no…”

“Alright then. I’m sorry that you two had to endure my endless talking, Here you go, the flower you want.”

“How much does it cost?”

“Don’t worry about that, it’s on the house.”

“Wh-What??”

“You two reminded me of a good memory and it’s nice to see teenagers interested in flowers too, I think it's fair enough for me to give it to you for free.”

“Seriously, you're giving it to us for free??”

“It’s fine. Giving one flower away won't put me out of business. My only condition is that the person you are giving this to will be happy in the end.”

“Th-Thank you Miss.” He said with a soft smile.

“Woohoo! We did it!”

“You're welcome little ones.”

We- We did it! We actually got the flower Hiroshi needed! The mission was completed!

As we left the shop, I turned to Hiroshi and raised the palm of my hand high in the air, trying to get him to do a high five. After a sigh of relief from all this trouble we had to go through, he high fived.

Mission success!

“Thank you, Seiko.”

“No problem hehe!”

“Just, make sure that this flower gets safely delivered to her. Not only for your mother, but also for the sake of that old lady, and our club!”

“Yeah…”

“Alright, I’ll be heading back home now, see you on monday Hiroshi! Chie and I will be waiting to hear the good news!”

As I was about to part ways and go back home to celebrate a successful first Phoenix Club activity, Hiroshi called me.

“Seiko!”

“Ah!”

“You gave me a scare calling me out like that!”

“I wanted to ask you something.”

“Hm? What do you need?”

“C-Can…”

“Can you come with me to the hospital?”

“Wh-huh?”

“I want you to meet her.”

“Are you sure that’s okay? I’m not part of the family after all, I don’t think this would make much sense.” I do not think it’s good for me to intrude in such an important moment of his…

“You and Chie did so much for the both of us. It’s only fair for her to meet you two.”

“Hm…”

“I’m sure she would be happy to kno-...”

But then he turns back and continues: “Actually, nevermind, I already took enough of your time.”

Did he change his mind because of my unwillingness? … I-I have a feeling that he still want-

“I’ll go!” I said, after putting little thought into it. More of a reflexive reaction than a well throughout response.

“Hm?”

“I’m 100% sure that she is a very nice lady, I want to meet her in person!”

“T-Thank you.”

I do feel a little anxious about this, not sure if it’s really okay for me to watch such a personal and important moment for Hiroshi, but if this is what he wants… then I guess there is no harm, right?