Chapter Four: Meeting Rose (Crow's POV)

'So, this is the place? I didn't know a flower shop was right here,' I thought as I took off my helmet and got off of my D-Wheel. I grabbed the package meant to be delivered and walked in.

"Watch out for roots!" a voice warned me from… somewhere within the shop. I sat the box down on a table in favor of looking around and stepping forward without the danger of dropping the fragile objects.

"I brought you that box of flower pots you ordered!" I announced.

"Tha…! Whoa!"

I turned to the right just in time to catch a girl as she tripped over a tree root. I staggered back a little before managing to catch myself. I then grinned down at the daisy red hair sprawled across my arms.

"Watch out for roots," I advised teasingly. She giggled lightly.

"Thank you. I'm always tripping on them. My plants tend to get out of hand sometimes." The head lifted off of my chest, and my breath caught in my throat. The girl was… incredibly beautiful in a natural way. Her hair reached the back of her knees, and her bangs that framed her face like a theatre curtain was colored light pink. Her rose blue eyes sparkled up at me with a smile.

"It is like a jungle in here," I pointed out, congratulating myself on managing to not reveal my thoughts. She straightened up.

"Yeah, it is. I'm Rose."

"Crow." I shook her (very soft) hand before looking around again (mostly to keep from swooning over her eyes, but that stays between us). "You do have a nice shop here, though I don't remember ever seeing it on my rounds before."

"It's brand new. I just set up last week and opened yesterday. I guess people love my flowers so much that…."

We looked back at the door as the bell rang, signaling a customer had entered. A boy walked in, looking around until his eyes fell on us. Rose gave me an apologetic smile before walking to him.

"Good morning, welcome to the Rose Flower Shop. Can I help you to something? Perhaps a beautiful rose bouquet for a special lady?"

"You can help me." I whipped around, watching every door and window slam shut and lock on their own. "But not to a pretty flower." I looked back at the two. Rose was now tensed as if ready to fight, and the guy was smirking calmly at her.

"You do not belong here. Now get out of my shop," she spat.

"That's a lot of big talk for someone who is in the bottom three of her group."

"It doesn't matter. With or without Meta's, Alex's, or Sadao's help, I will keep you from harming my Signer in my own shop!" I jumped back as the roots of trees began to extend greatly. The boy was wrapped up in thick vines.

"The Glower of Nature, Rosemarie Hathaway. I almost forgot about the true extent of that necklace of yours."

"Big mistake."

"However, you've always forgotten the extent of my power." A spirit like hand shot out of the vines and towards me. I staggered back as it went through my sign.

"Crow, back away!" I grunted as the hand wrapped around Black Winged Dragon (A). "Black Fairy Knight, beat him away from your dragon!" I heard as I fell to my knees.

I cried out as heat shot through my arm. But then, soothing cold took over the heat. I looked up in time to see a fairy knight sheath its black sword before it disappeared back into the card Rose was holding. The girl nodded to me before turning back to the boy, her hair lifting slightly from her back.

"Give a message to your leader for me." A white man sized ring appeared behind him. "The Glowers will not tolerate the Flaming Lavas' behavior!" I closed my eyes as the boy disappeared into the ring. A moment later, I felt a hand touch my cheek. "I'm so sorry. It's my duty to keep that from happening to you. And it still did in my shop. I'm sorry, Crow."

I opened my eyes and saw the redhead kneeling in front of me, tears running down her cheeks. "Hey, hey. No need to cry." I reached up and cupped her cheeks in my hands to brush away the tears. "I'm ok now."

"But…."

"No buts. Now, let's get you out of here. We could both use some fresh air." She took a deep breath and nodded. She followed me out to my D-Wheel and got on it behind me, slipping on the helmet I handed to her. "Your friends that you mentioned. Meta, Alex, and Sadao. They're all at the hospital right now."

"What?" I sped off in that direction after feeling her arms circle my waist. "Why?"

"Alex and Aki were attacked."

"That blasted group! Of course they're going to try to get rid of the Glowers and Signers early on! Those stupid cheaters!"

"Speaking of which." She hummed, letting me know she was giving me her undivided attention. "What are Glowers?"

"Oh yeah! It's time for the Talk!" And talk she did.