Disclaimer: I don't own Strawberry Panic!.

Sitting with her back to the wall as she trimmed the leaves from the pile of single-stemmed roses before her, Hikari Konohana hummed slightly to herself, a smile on her face as she continued to carefully--as to avoid thorns--separate and trim the roses, which had been a Valentine's gift from Amane Ohtori.

So beautiful… she thought to herself, as she raised one of the flowers in particular up toward the light streaming through the nearby window, before closely examining the fullness and near-scarlet hue of it's petals. I feel beautiful for having gotten these…

"I'm home."

Glancing up from the roses as she watched her best friend and roommate enter into the room, Hikari gave her a smile of greeting, before saying, "Have a nice day so far, Yaya?"

Nodding her head at this, the dark-haired girl returned her friend's smile, before stepping over and placing a shopping bag down on a countertop. "Every place I went to had all sorts of lovely things out and about--guess they'd all decorated for Valentine's Day."

"Undoubtedly," Hikari agreed, before returning her attention to the roses before her. "Did you find anything nice then?"

"I picked up some candles…" Yaya replied, speaking now as she removed the items from the brown paper bag on the counter, laying them out in a single file as she did so. "And a box of chocolates. We can share them later if you'd like."

"Thank you, Yaya," the blond girl answered, still smiling as she handled her gifted flowers. "I really like chocolate."

"I know, Hikari. I went ahead and got the larger box, just because of that fact."

Giggling slightly, Hikari turned her face to look at her friend, saying again, "Thanks."

"No problem," Yaya replied, before taking the final item from the bag and clearing her throat slightly. "I also got something--a gift--for someone very special to me."

"Oh?" the pale-eyed Hikari said, returning to the roses as she spoke, now working on the last one of them as she trimmed away all of it's extra leaves and the like, preparing it for its vase.

Stepping forward, away from the counter, a hand behind her back as she held onto something she wanted to, for now, conceal, Yaya smiled to herself, remembering a time just a couple of weeks beforehand, when she and Hikari had been in a florist shop together.

"I've always really liked white flowers for some reason…"

"Yeah, Hikari? Any idea why?"

"Not really… just always thought they were prettier than most other flowers."

Continuing to step forward, Yaya began to move her hand out from behind her back, but she paused, getting a bit of a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as she looked down to see all of the roses in the floor, laid out in front of her friend. "Wh-Who sent you those?"

"Amane," Hikari answered simply, a calm smile on her face as she looked over and up at Yaya. "Aren't they beautiful?"

Using all of her mind over matter power to prevent herself from crushing the item she was holding behind her back, Yaya forced herself to nod, although she wasn't perfectly successful in preventing herself from sounding a bit bitter as she replied, "They're lovely."

"I'm glad you agree," Hikari replied, before gathering up her trimmed roses and gently dropping them down, one by one, into a nearby vase she had already prepared. "So, Yaya, what was the gift you got, and who was it for?"

Clenching her first tightly around the stem of the single, pale in comparison to the scarlet dozen, rose behind her back, Yaya hung her head, before saying, "Well, I got it for you, but I doubt… it'll matter much now."

Feeling her cheeks heat up just a bit as she slipped the final rose on down into the vase, Hikari hesitated, before slowly standing, picking up the vase as she did so.

"That," she began, shaking her head slightly as she stepped up to her friend. "Is really not true. It'll matter, Yaya, if anything only because you were thoughtful enough to get something for me. Now, please tell me, what is it?"

Sighing slightly, Yaya finally moved the single-stemmed, white-petal rose she'd gotten for her friend out from behind her back, before moving to drop it down into the vase with the dozen red ones, where it came to rest front and center, ahead of the rest.

"I'm sorry I didn't get you an entire dozen…" Yaya began, but she grew silent when Hikari leant her face in a bit more closely to her own.

"I don't need a dozen," the blond said, her eyes looking back into those of her friend's as she spoke. "You were thoughtful and remembered what I said about white flowers… and besides, the fact that it's only the one makes it all the more special."

Moving to raise the vase up slightly, Hikari smiled, before continuing on, "Don't you see how easily it stands out from all the rest? This flower is a symbol of how much you, Yaya, will always stand out amongst the rest in my heart. Thank you for the rose--it's beautiful--and I love it very much."

Leaning forward to plant a simple, quick peck on Yaya's cheek, Hikari hesitated for a moment, before pulling back and stepping around her, heading for the sink in the kitchen. "I should get some water on these now…"

Moving a hand to the place where she'd just been kissed, Yaya smiled, even as she felt her cheeks heat up just a bit, her voice quiet as she whispered, "I'm glad you like the flower, Hikari."