Tell me if there are characters that are OOC. Yes? ^^

Special thanks to the person who gave me the idea of this story.

Mystery of A Rose

By: Midnight blue-rhea

[From Yaone's POV]

'Here goes nothing' I said to myself as I entered the school premises. It was an average day with an average weather on the average sky, and I'm just an average freshman going to an ever so average school.

You know the usual people; the geniuses and weirdoes, the punks and troublemakers, suck-ups and popular and of course, there are the heartthrobs.

Me, I have no idea where I'll put myself in. My life is just in the usual routine and trying my best not to bother anyone. Friends are not too many, just one actually, he's a best friend of mine and sometimes even my tutor. Funny isn't it? But he's really a nice guy. There is NOTHING going on between us. We're just friends.

Best Friends.

Why am I telling you this? A lot of people are looking at us as a couple and teases us about it. So don't get the wrong idea.

"Yaone-san!" My best friend shouted, catching up to me on the school hallway. I paused my legs and turned around to face him, "Ohayou Hakkai-san"

"Book reports are due today, right?" he asked, the moment he catched up.

Before I could say a word, I held my breath and froze right beside him. "R-Right…" I replied in a faint voice.

Right then and there, I saw him. Those silken wine-red hair and dazzling amethyst eyes, he looks so hot in every angle I look at him. If only he knew how I had felt, he wouldn't be ignoring me like this.

If you don't know what's going wrong with me, my crush just passed by. The sad part is, he doesn't even know I exist! If only I wasn't this shy in front of him, I would have kissed him a long time ago.

But alas, this was this, and that was that, and there was nothing I could do about it.  This guy is about to be a collage student and I'm…I'm…I'm…I'm a freshman. Oh the shame! I am levels WAY below from him. Do I have a chance to be his girlfriend? Hmm…I think not!

"Yaone-san… Yaone-san…YAONE-SAN!"

Rrriing!!!!!

I blinked my eyes back to horrible reality and got back to my senses. The bell rang, which means classes are about to start. And because of drooling over me crush, I still wasn't holding any books in my hands.

"Go on ahead to class, I'll catch up to you", I said to Hakkai, pushing him to the door of our classroom.

"Er-I'll see you in class"

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

I scurried to my locker and turned the knob of my padlock without any hesitation. Looking behind my back, the students were already inside their classrooms and I was the only one in the hallway.

I had to hurry up.

Grabbing my history book placed in the right corner of the space, a familiar scent caught my nose. When I looked beside my weekly planner, a white rose was laid beside it.

If YOU would find a rose in your locker, how would YOU feel?

Probably a little flattered, that some one likes you?

But for some reason, the emotion of flattery was not available at that time.

For two straight weeks, a white rose always finds its way inside my locker and I have no idea who it keeps on coming from.

How do they manage to put the rose inside my locker without even knowing the combination of the lock? I never told anyone about my combination except for my best friend.

Realizing that I had already wasted 3 minutes in the hallway, I decided that I would solve that mystery later.

I couldn't just leave the rose inside to rot, right? So I grabbed the flower and inserted it through the tunnel made by the spirals of my spiral notebook, closed the door of my locker and secured it.

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

"You're late…" the teacher said in a loud voice. His hands crossed with a brow lifted, he looked at me sharply. "What has caused you your delay, young lady?"

I bit my bottom lip and made up an excuse, "Um…my…my locker won't open." I said sheepishly. Gojyo made a little snort at my excuse. Was it too obvious?

If I forgot to introduce to you this seatmate of mine, his name is Sha Gojyo. He's an annoying hentai, and is seated miserably behind me.

The teacher pressed his lips together and rolled his eyes intentionally for me to notice. "Just take you seat, I don't any more tardy students tomorrow. Understand?"

"Hai. Arigatou gozaimasu." I said shamefully, looking down at my shoes.

"Nice save, Yaone," Gojyo teased behind me as I took my seat beside Hakkai, "that was a more impressive excuse ever since I heard the 'my-dog-ate-my-homework' routine. Haha!" he chuckled.

"Silence PLEASE." The teacher glared at the redhead. (Did I mention he's got red hair?) For once, I felt grateful for the teacher and Hakkai and I exchanged a grin.

"How far has the teacher gone so far?" I whispered in a low voice.

Hakkai just shook his head, "Not that much. Haven't covered much topic yet. He was giving the introduction of the subject when you came in" he replied in the same tone as mine.

"Good…" I said in a sigh and placed my notebook on my desk for me to take down notes. Searching for my favorite purple-inked pen in my bag, Hakkai noticed the white rose. He smiled and asked, "Your secret admirer again, eh?"

I almost dropped the pen that I was already holding in my hand and protested immediately, "It's NOT an admirer."

"What do you call it then?" he rested his head on his hand, feeling proud he's got the upper hand. I felt blood rush to my cheeks making me blush lightly, "I…I don't know" I said looking away from him.

"Don't you feel special?" Hakkai asked, trying to make me turn my head around to face him, "Some one cares about you"

I was struck at what he said. Yeah, he had a point. I DO fell special, now that he mentioned it. But the question was; who wants to make me feel fell special?

"Maybe that person thinks that I'm the most beautiful girl he has ever seen" I bluffed with a giggle.

Hakkai laughed but covered his mouth with his hand, to avoid the teacher from hearing it, "Maybe…"

Minutes already passed and I couldn't help but NOT participate. I looked out the window and just entertained myself with my usual daydreaming. About my heartthrob, of course…

~ + ~ + ~ + ~

* "Oh, I'm very sorry. I wasn't looking straight!"

# "It's all right. Are you hurt? Here, let me help you"

* "I'm really sorry…"

# "Um…Yaone?

* "Hai?"

# "If…if your not too busy this weekend…um…I was just wondering…

* "What is it?"

# "Would you like to…you know…go out?

* "I…I'd love to, but why me?

# "Yaone, you're the nicest person I've met. You're very kind and caring to other people and always have wise words in your mouth. Not to mention being intelligent and active in your class"

* "I'm not ALL that…"

# "Trust me, you are. And besides, you're the most beautiful girl I've seen in my entire life…"

* "Kougaiji…"

# "…I love you, Yaone"

* "I…I…

# "I wanted to say this to you a very long time ago. I was just waiting for the right time"

* "I liked you since a long time ago too. I was just…too shy to say it. I was afraid"

# "Why in the world would you be afraid?"

* " I was afraid that you won't like me and dump me in front of everyone"

# "Yaone, I would NEVER do that to you."

* "Kougaiji, I love you too…"

# "Yaone…"

* "Kougaiji…"

# "Yaone…"

* "Kougaiji…"

~ + ~ + ~ + ~

"Yaone-san…"

"Mnh…Kougaiji…"

"Yaone-san?"

"Kougaiji…I love----"

"YAONE-SAN!!!"

Suddenly, my precious Kougaiji faded and vanished in a matter of seconds and found a pair of emerald eyes staring at me closely.

"GYAAA! Don't do that!" I jumped in my seat.

"Gomen na sai, but I had to wake you up. You were… you know…" Hakkai said with a concerned face.

I wanted to cry on my desk. The dream was already perfect; the only thing missing was the passionate kiss! I groaned in dismay and felt heavy.

'Of all the times…' I grunted to myself.

'Was it all right that I shouted at Hakkai like that?' I bit my bottom lip.

Well, if Hakkai didn't wake me up that time, I would still be in my paradise dream right now. But I still had the feeling in my gut that he did the right thing.

"Thanks" I said to him with a smile.

"Nah, don't mention it. Just be more careful next time, ne?" He replied and smiled back at me.

Whew, he's not mad.

That's one of the things that I like about him. He's always forgiving and very humble. Always cool, calm and very collected. When I need some extra explanations on subjects, he's always there to tutor me. It was a good thing he was not mad at me for shouting at him like that. It was a good thing he doesn't get mad very easily.

Actually, I NEVER saw him get mad.

Rrriing!!!!!!

"Okay, please pass your book reports everyone. I won't accept late submissions." The teacher finally said as he prepared to leave.

I took out a deep sigh as I passed my book report to the front. "I'm sure glad that report is over."

Hakkai chuckled lightly beside me, "I'm just happy that we don't have to read that book again"

"I thought you had interest in books like that?" Gojyo interrupted.

"I have to say it was a nice book, but it didn't really raise my interest that much." He said in a smile.

Me, I'm relieved that it was over. I knew that we had to face more subjects and teachers later on but I'm just glad that it was over.

Next Day

'I WON'T make the same mistake again' I said to myself strictly. It was a little chilly that morning, but I concentrated on the promptness of my attendance and that I WON'T make the same mistake I did yesterday. As soon as I got to school, I went straight to my locker.

To my surprise, there was no white rose inside my locker that morning and it bothered me a little.

'Am I too early?'

I thought hard. Maybe that person will show him/herself to me today, so there are no more flowers needed. Yeah, maybe that was it. I got the materials I needed and went inside our classroom.

To my surprise [again], I was the first to arrive in our class and I felt proud of it. The room was silent and I liked it. I laid my books under my desk and sat on my chair.

I was early, so I could make a little dilly-dally to myself. The feeling of being alone inside the room made the coldness of the morning colder and it was great.

I got my notebook and favorite purple-inked pen out and began to scribble. Inhaling deeply, the fragrant scent of the rose wasn't lingering in the air anymore.

And I missed it.

Clutching the pen tightly between my fingers, I began to ponder.

'Is it really an admirer?'

The more I asked myself, the more I became intrigued.

'Who could be wasting their money every day just to buy me flowers?'

Maybe I did a great favor to that person and that he/she doesn't know how to repay me, so he/she was left to leaving white roses inside my locker.

'Makes sense…'

'Could it be a girl?'

I filled my head with female students that knew of and tried to recap the past if I did something for them, but I couldn't remember if I did.

'Could it be a guy?'

My eyes widened. Kougaiji was the first guy who entered my mind.

'Could it be him?'

Well, he was avoiding me more frequently for the last few weeks. It might be him! I felt blood rush to my cheeks.

'Kougaiji might really have a crush on me!' I smiled to myself, not minding that I looked like a weirdo smiling to no one in the room.

But then, I might be going too far.

'How could Kougaiji fall for a girl like me? I mean, there are other girls that are way better than me.'

The more I thought about it, the more I sank deeper in my seat. It felt terrible.

'If Kougaiji WAS the one who keeps on putting the roses in my locker, maybe he thought that the locker belonged to a beautiful girl. More beautiful than me…' I said, as my vision began to blur.

Through all that painful pondering, I heard familiar footsteps outside the room.

'Maybe it's the one putting roses in my locker!' I jumped out of my seat and poked my head out of the door.

I held my breath as a glanced around the hallway. The footsteps grew louder and I started to hear voices.

Familiar voices.

My eyes were targeted on my locker, waiting for some one to approach it, when suddenly; four people came to the hallway.

They were Kougaiji, his friend Dokugakuji, my annoying seatmate; Gojyo and my best friend; Hakkai in the hallway talking to each other about I don't know what.

I felt envious of my best friend that he had the chance to get a close encounter with Kougaiji like this because he was friends with Gojyo, who's older brother is actually Dokugakuji.

The gang was talking and laughing in the hallway, making a racket. It was a good thing, not much students have arrived yet.

I glanced back at my locker and still, no one approached it.

Gojyo and his older brother were laughing insanely. They had their hands on their stomachs and their voices echoed in the hallway.

Hakkai and Kougaiji just ignored their friends and were just having a chat with each other.

'What could those two be talking about?'

The question just popped out of my head. Was Hakkai spilling the beans to Kougaiji that I had a major crush on him?! I wanted run out of the room and slap my hand on Hakkai's mouth. But, the mystery of the white roses kept my feet firmly on the ground.

Kougaiji had a hand on his slender waist while listening to Hakkai, whose arms were behind his back. What was he holding? No reason. I was just curious.

I thought he was holding his bag, but when I tilted my head to an angle, my eyes widened at what I saw.

Tears almost fell from my eyes and I wanted run towards him.

'How could I have been so stupid?!' I yelled at myself as I held my mouth with my hand to keep me from yelling his name. I couldn't let them know that I was eavesdropping on them.

It all came together and some tears fell.

'Don't you feel special?'

'Some one cares for you…'

It was so unexpected. Because in his hand…

He

Clutched

A

White

Rose…

-

-

-

Owari.

+~+~+I know you are a good person. Don't be shy… review, yes? ^^;