Disclaimer: GSNK and its characters belong to their respective owners. (Season 2, where are you!?)

Everything remained still in the room except our hands. No, it's not something that your dirty minds are imagining. I'm still eighty-nine pages away from finishing Nozaki's art book. My fingers felt like they were being torn away from my hands. I paused for a second to wipe the sweat from my temple when I noticed Sakura staring intently at my work.

"Wow!" Her eyes shone with wonder. "What are those flowers in the background, Mikorin?"

"Hyacinth," I answered. At this point, I think she's trying to strike a conversation because she was also exhausted from inking the pages.

I noticed a shadow of curiosity glide through her face. "That makes me wonder. How do you decide what type of flowers do you draw on a panel? I actually thought they're drawn randomly."

Taken aback by Sakura's remark, I almost shouted at her. "NO! Flowers are a serious business for me."

Sakura quickly apologized. "I'm sorry! Do you mind telling how you pick them, then?"

"Okay," I pointed my pencil at her like how cowboys warn their enemies in a saloon with a gun, "you're gonna learn from the expert!" And to this, I sensed beads of sweat dropping from the back of Sakura's head.

"When I was a kid, I always spent the weekends with my grandma. She used to be the town's top florist, and she wasn't limited to Ikebana. She beats men by a mile on how to present a rose bouquet that can win any lady's heart."

Sakura nodded, and I continued: "Obviously, she was the one who taught me about flowers. What I liked about her lessons is that not only did she teach me about the techniques of arranging flowers, but she also shared with me their meanings."

"Meanings?" Sakura asked. "They have meanings?"

"Hmm, I guess these meanings are what we humans attribute to these flowers. Over time, these interpretations became accepted as what the flowers stand for."

Sakura clasped her hands and had a dreamy smile on her face. "That's so cute, Mikorin! I didn't expect that a guy like you thinks too deeply when contributing to Nozaki-kun's work!"

"Oi!" I interjected. "What's that supposed to mean!?"

She laughed. "Hahaha! I'm just kidding, but what I mean to say is that you're rare. You don't meet guys who care that much about flowers, let alone someone who has a profound knowledge of them."

"I guess..." I mumbled as I turned my back from Sakura and scratched my head, trying to hide the sheepish expression on my face.

When the right time comes, she'll probably find a daisy on her desk.

To this day, Sakura's comment, as well as her laughter, continues to echo in my mind. I never expected that my expertise on flowers would be used this way.

Everything in that moment was perfect. Sakura's beautiful smile was all the more accentuated by hundreds of orange blossoms surrounding her. They complemented her ginger hair that shone far brighter than a thousand suns clashing against each other.

It was no mistake that she'd run to me and ask what flowers will suit the event perfectly. After all, orange blossoms symbolize eternal love, marriage, and fruitfulness.

If looks could burn, these blossoms might have already been turned into ashes once people cheered for the bride and the groom to dance. I just couldn't look straight into her face this time. I could hear her giggling. "Still the good ol' shy Sakura," I thought.

Nozaki took her hand. Of course, she was happy, and that's something I can never give to her from day one. The newly-wed couple danced to Johannes Brahm's Waltz Opus 39 No. 15 for Violin. She'd never look at me that way; her loving gaze was worlds away from where I sat.

When the celebration's over and everyone's already gone, she'll probably find a lone daffodil on her chair.

Flowers and their meanings that were not explained in the story:

Daisy - Innocence, Love, "I'll Never Tell" ;)

Daffodil - Unrequited Love, "You're the Only One" :'(

Author's Note: Flower meanings have been taken from The Flower Expert and The Language of Flowers.