What is the world coming to? I know I can be unlucky sometimes, but this is ludicrous beyond belief! Okay, ladies and gentlemen, I'll abridge what has happened in my life. I'm Kazama Shohei, 15 years old, now 16 years old as of a few months ago. About a year ago, I bought a plant to save the flower shop and win the heart of Hikari. The plant's name is Hikari II, and it feeds on my life energy in order to grow, but when I got so tired, it had to eat bugs and meat like a normal carnivorous plant. However, time after time, Two-chan would get the craving for life energy, and believe me, this has helped me in a few sticky situations, but one summer night not too long ago...

The story goes back to what happened last.

"G'night, Two-chan," said Shohei as he places his hand on the plant.
Hikari II perks up and says, "G'night, Shohei!"

Just then, Hikari II got a little bigger, teeters, and falls off the desk.

Hikari II says with a newly-deepened voice, "Hey Shohei, I got a growth spurt!"
"Just wonderful..." Shohei says as he puts his hands on his face.

And now, Hikari II is bigger than before, going from 0.3 meters to up to my waist, and let me tell you, it's kind of heavy. So, with its huge size, I figured that I can't take care of it everywhere I go anymore, and take care of it at the flower shop.

One day, Shohei was carrying Hikari II to the flower shop and straining himself trying.

"Either you need to go on a diet, or I should start working out."

Eventually, Shohei makes it to the flower shop, enters, and places the plant near the window.

"Kazama!"
"Sorry I'm late, Mr. Sonoda! Hikari II is kinda heavy since that growth spurt!"
"That's just it; your plant has grown, and it's beautiful! Excellent! Now, we must prepare ourselves for Inspection Day later today at 5:00 PM!"
"Oh my, that's right! Today's Inspection Day!"
"Now, sweep the floor and tend to the plant!"
"Yes, sir!"

INSPECTION DAY

Shohei is sweeping the floor by Hikari II.

"Hey! Stop sweeping the floor and feed me!" Hikari II demanded.
"No way! That was the reason why you're staying at the flower shop from now on!" said Shohei.
"Me? Stay here? That must mean..."
"Right; no more life energy! You're already big enough, and you're beautiful enough to attract more attention now!"

Hikari II grabs Shohei with one of its vines.

"Oh, Kazama Shohei, flattery will get you everywhere... including a whip of the vine!"

Hikari II slaps Shohei in the face with a vine, then lets him go.

"Whatever! But when you have any meat, I want to eat it cooked and with flavor!"
"Don't you ever get spoiled enough?"
"Kazama, quit talking to that plant!" said Sonoda.
"But sir, talking to plants is part of being a florist, isn't it?"
"Talking, yes. Arguing with it, no! Just keep this place clean! If the flower shop passes inspection, it'll appear in a magazine!"
"Wow, that's awesome!"

Hikari comes in.

"Sorry I'm late, you two!" said Hikari. "I am so nervous about today!"
Shohei said, "Me too! All I have to do is keep the place clean!"
Mr. Sonoda said, "Excellent! Now, you two mind the store while I go to the airport to greet the people coming here."
"Airport?" the two teens said in unison.
"Francoise and Luciano, from France and Italy respectively! They're close friends, and they've boarded the same plane together! Luckily, I've majored in many languages, so I'm their translator! So keep the place nice, or you'll both be laid off!"
"Yes, sir!"

As Shohei sweeps the floor, Hikari is organizing things, such as the flowers, and the money in the register, which she counts. Daisuke, Makoto, and Natsumi drop by.

"Hey Shohei, Hikari," said Natsumi.
"Hi guys!" said Shohei.
"What brings you all here?" said Hikari.
"We figured we'd stop by and help you!"
"Actually, Natsumi forced us to come here," said Daisuke.
"C'mon, Daisuke~"
"I love the flower shop!" said Makoto. "Not only do the flowers smell good, but some of them taste good too!"

Hikari II tries to bite at Makoto.

"Shohei, your plant is trying to eat me!"
"Don't worry, Hikari II doesn't eat human flesh," said Shohei. "Shame on you Hikari II, you know better!"

Hikari II sticks its tongue out. Just then, some kids come by and start throwing water balloons at the window.

"What the?"
"Shohei, can you please take care of this? I'm counting the money, and I need to concentrate."
"Let me go instead," said Daisuke. "I am a master negotiator."

Daisuke goes outside and tries to get the kids to leave.

"Excuse me!"

The kids stop throwing balloons.

"Listen, you kids, this flower shop here is going to be featured in a magazine that will attract more business than usual. And the nice glasses boy and his blonde lady friend in there are trying to keep this place neat and clean in order for that to happen. So, why don't you do me a favor, and stop throwing water balloons at it and go play or something?"

The kids' response? They throw all of their balloons at Daisuke, drenching him. He gets so frustrated by this that a rage vein appears over his head.

"Okay! Now, that it's all said and done... GET OUTTA HERE!"

The kids promptly run off, laughing.

"Stupid, bratty kids, now I have to dry off. Ah-CHOO! I really hope I don't catch a cold..."

Meanwhile at the airport, the plane has arrived. The passengers get off the plane, and Sonoda holds up a sign saying "Francoise + Luciano". The two important people descend the stairs and meet up with Sonoda.

"Sonoda! Buon giorno, nice to meet you!" Luciano greeted.
"You two mastered my language?" Sonoda asked.
"Oui oui, we were heading to Japan, so we brushed up and voila, here we are," said Francoise.
"Excellent!" said Sonoda, who then thinks to himself, "My French and Italian are getting rusty anyway."

Back at the flower shop, Shohei returns from a delivery.

"I'm back from delivering an arrangement for a tea ceremony. Anyway, where did Daisuke go?"
"He had to change his clothes after those kids soaked him," said Natsumi.

Daisuke comes back inside wearing dry clothes.

"I did not see all of this coming," said Daisuke.
"Some kids are just delinquents," said Shohei. "But at least Reiko wouldn't think twice about joining..."

Just then, a motorcycle's roar fills the air.

"... the Sharks. Stay put, Hikari; I'll deal with those jerks."
"No, I'll come with you!"
"Me too!" said Daisuke.
"And me!" said Natsumi.
"Count me out!" said Makoto.

Shohei, Hikari, Daisuke, and Natsumi step outside and confront the Sharks.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Hikari and her loser friends!" said Orin.
"What are they doing confronting us?" Piranha asked.
"Yeah, yeah, hello to all of you, too," said Shohei.
"I only have one thing to say to all of you: GET LOST!" Daisuke shouted.

The Sharks exchange shocked expressions.

"What we mean is, we don't want you guys to ruin this important day! The flower shop is up for inspection, and if it passes, it'll be in a magazine and attract more customers." said Hikari.
"Yeah!" said Natsumi. "You don't know how important this is to Shohei and Hikari!"
"Like we care about this flower shop!" said Sango.
"Now that all is said and done... Unagi! Throw the sludge bomb!" said Orin.
"Duh, you got it, Orin-sempai!"

Unagi throws a strange bomb that crashes through the window and explodes, making the place dirty and scaring Makoto.

"Holy crap!" said Makoto.
"WHY YOU-!" Daisuke shouted as he charges at the Sharks, but Orin stops him at arm's length.
"Nice try, freckles!" taunted Orin. "Smell you all later!"

The Sharks ride off laughing.

Shohei stares in disbelief and stammers, "The- the shop..."
"What have they done?" said Hikari.
Shohei drops to his knees and says, "I spent hours sweeping that place... don't cry, Shohei; whatever you do, please don't... WAAAAAAAA~!"

Natsumi goes over to Shohei, picks him up and slaps him with each word.

"PULL! YOURSELF! TOGETHER!"

She then puts him down gently.

"Natsumi, may I?" Hikari asks.
"Go ahead."

Hikari then grabs Shohei and smooches him on the lips, making him come to his senses and blush.

"That's it! That's definitely it!" Shohei exclaimed. "No longer will I just sit here and do nothing; I got to take matters into my own hands! Guys, let's clean up the shop!"

So, the gang cleans up the whole shop. Sweeping, organizing, and carefully picking up the shards of glass. All that's left is the window.

"My dad is a glass maker, so I've just called him to put in a new window!" said Natsumi.

With that, the window was replaced. Shohei and Hikari's friends leave, but not without Hikari giving them free flowers.

"Thank you everybody," said Hikari. "It's nice having you 3 help us on this important day!"
"And thanks for the flowers!" said Natsumi.
"Bye!" everyone said to each other.

As soon as Shohei and Hikari's friends leave, the plant then wilts and plops to the floor.

"Oh no, not now!" cried Shohei. "Hikari, please, I want you to do something."
"What can I do?"
"Place your hand on the plant with mine. And we'll hold each other's hands doing it."
"Why?"
"No time for questions; please do this!"
"Okay!"

The two of them place their hands on the plant. It regains consciousness.

"So the plant feeds on..."
"Life energy, that's right. I don't know why, but it does. But it can still eat stuff like steak and bugs. We can NEVER tell anyone else about this, okay?"
"I promise."
"Oogh... I feel a little dizzy right now."
"Mmm... Me too, but we got to pass inspection."

Just then, the door opens, and Mr. Sonoda arrives with Francoise and Luciano.

"Kazama, Hikari, I see you've kept the place in tip-top shape!" Sonoda said.
"Mr. Sonoda, sir!" the teens said in unison.
"Tres bien! Very good!" said Francoise.
"Molto bene; this is going to be the main article in the next issue of the magazine!" said Luciano.
"Main article? Ya-taa~! (Hoo-RAY~!)" the teens cheered, right before fainting from exhaustion.
"Bless their hearts. They've worked so hard..." Sonoda said with elation.

Despite all of the efforts and turmoil that have occurred at the flower shop, Shohei and Hikari managed to keep it appealing for Francoise and Luciano. The flower shop is now the toast of the town, attracting many customers. Business has never been better. From atop of Chang's shop, the strange trio of girls watch the crowd.

"Bravo, Kazama Shohei," said Ronette.
"You've done well," said Crystal.
"Be prepared for your future! Hehehe..." Chiffon giggled.