A/N: I imagined the song on the radio to be this. It's the song I have my alarm to. And I just kind of made up the surnames in this.

A soft tune of a piano based song crackled through the speakers of an old radio at the wretched hour of 5am, forcing Cam to open his bleary eyes. He squinted his eyes, not wanting to go back to sleep but not wanting to get up and ready either. The piano on the radio became accompanied by some synthesizer or something as the song continued, and Cam laid in bed and wondered why he tortured himself like this every Monday. He really didn't know. After a minute or two, Cam yawned, rubbed his eyes and sat up, half dead to the world.

The sun was in the midst of rising, and the new day's light poured into the room between the cracks of the curtains that covered Cam's windows. It was too bright, and Cam was too tired, he'd do anything just for another hour of sleep. But Mondays, Mondays, Mondays. He had work to do. His first and foremost task being to make himself look like he actually cared how the city saw him.

Turning off the radio, Cam stood up and lazily stretched. He searched around for a decent shirt and put it on his lithe torso, and continued to lethargically continue until he had a satisfactory outfit on, topped with his regular purple hat thrown on barely-combed hair. He supposed that yeah, even if he thought he didn't care what he looked like, it was probably best to look somewhat professional for doing business in the neighboring city. Every Monday it was the same ritual. He got up, got dressed, ate a light breakfast, and at 6:30am, he found himself walking outside. The air was cool but the sky was beautifully clear, a perfect day to ride a bus for an hour and do business in a dirty city.

He walked down the stairs, towards the entrance to the town, but when he walked past the Kawata's ranch house, the door creaked open, prompting him to stop.

"Bye, mama! Byeee!" He heard Cheryl call, as she stepped out with her backpack on and dragged her brother with her, Ash's gloved hand caught in her grasp. Cheryl enthusiastically waved to her mother Jessica from inside the house, Ash giving a small wave as well before starting to walk.

Monday is as much of a school day as it was Cam's business day, and so, almost every Monday, Cam would accompany the Kawata siblings to the bus stop and join Cheryl for the ride that would take them into the city. It wasn't bad, the company was nice and the walk to the road was pleasant. Cheryl was a nice girl, and fairly easy to impress. And Ash was Ash.

Cam felt happy to be around him in general.

Cheryl had no trouble picking out the purple-clad Cam from the green fields as he rested against their fence, and as quickly as she saw him, she was eager to get to him. This meant the small schoolgirl had to drag her larger and older brother across the short distance, though it wasn't as if Ash wasn't happy to meet up. Instead, Ash laughed and teased his impatient sibling as she tried her best to slide Ash along the dirt. Cam smiled. And when Ash gave up after almost tripping face-first, he laughed.

"Good morning, Kamil!" Cheryl greeted as soon as her and her sibling got close.

"Hi, Cher. I don't suppose you're ready for school…" Cam said, softly compared to Cheryl's enthusiastic greeting.

"I am! I got Ash to braid my hair and everything." The little girl told him. And indeed, her long hair was in a neat fishtail braid. Cam could definitely tell, as the girl twirled around so she could show it off. Ash gave a breathy chuckle. Spending a lot of time with a needy sister required him to learn some styling tricks. It was cute that Ash cared that much. But that was just Ash, Cam supposed. Caring. No wonder he was a good rancher. Cam wondered if that's what he'd do for the rest of his life…

"Hey, man," Ash said, patting Cam's back, bringing him back to reality.

"Hi," Cam replied with a gentle smile. "Are you walking to the bus stop with us?" He asked. Cam got a grin in reply.

"Of course. I gotta see my best pals go off," Ash reached down and ruffled Cheryl's hair as they walked, getting a wail from the young girl, "especially as they're going to the big city! How exciting. You two must be so brave." Cheryl would have swelled in pride if Ash hadn't ruined her hair. Even if it wasn't really ruined at all.

"I go to school almost every day, dummy. Going to the city is easy!" Ash's little sister boasted, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, well, it's not like I go into the city. Haven't gone in forever," Ash said, melancholic. He gave a little shrug, and the conversation died off.

They walked out of Bluebell, but went down the dirt road that lead to the bus stop. It was a mostly-straight path, surrounded by the local trees. They had blossomed, and all around the trio was green foliage. In the morning light, it was fairly beautiful. The clear air pierced through Cam, as he soaked in what would be the most peaceful part of his day. With his business, he wouldn't be back until after sunset. He watched Cheryl gleefully skip around and ahead of him and Ash, enjoying the setting as much as the florist, however expressing it more physically. She was a good kid. Happy. At ease. What Cam would do to have ever been like that.

Walking side-by-side, Cam broke the silence between him and his best friend.

"I don't really like going to the city like this." He admitted.

"Like what?" Ash enquired, turning his head slightly to face Cam while also keeping an eye on Cheryl.

Cam stuffed his hands in his pockets, "I think it's just such a beautiful day. And it's be such a waste to spend today in the city. Especially alone. It's just not fun."

Ash hummed in agreement, "I guess it does sound like a bummer," he started, looking up at the sky to see the clear blue patches poking through the green leaves of the surrounding trees. He caught a ray of sunlight in his eye, and he quickly put his head back down, not to stare at the blinding light. "Today is a day I'd like to relax on. But, I don't know. I just haven't been to the city with mom for so long, I might have forgotten how to drive." Ash chuckled. "I hope Cheryl takes on after mom, and not… uh…." He trailed off, furrowing his brows before probably diving into something he'd rather not discuss about. He cleared his throat, but he turned it into another laugh. All the while, Cam just felt a huge blow of uneasiness and sympathy for Ash plow through him. Cam looked back up at the other, who just looked uncomfortable, staring ahead at his sister.

Well, he'd have to fix that.

"Business in the city is boring," Cam stated, "if you went there I wouldn't want it to be for business with your mom. I think we should take a day off and go there some time." Cam bit his lip.

Ash didn't stop walking, but for a second he staggered when he turned to look back at Cam. Cam unconsciously gripped the hem of his shirt.

After a moment of wearing a quizzical look, Ash gave a questioning smile.

"I'd love to."

"Oh… Yeah?"

"Sounds really fun." Ash beamed. Cam smiled back.

The rest of the walk went in a haze. At some point they arrived at the stop. At some point the bus came.

Holding Cheryl's hand, Cam helped her on. Looking behind his shoulder, he gave Ash a last smile before he left. Cheryl waved excitedly, and quickly pulled the boy to her favourite seat.

The sky glowed a bright orange as Cam walked back on the dirt road. He stared at the gorgeous colours flared in the sky, half asleep and tired from a very, very long day. He lugged his bag with him, almost home with Bluebell's entrance in sight.

But looking at the sky and the foliage of the trees caused him to not notice a certain root poking out of the ground.

Ungracefully, Cam tripped. He stumbled forward, and fell hard onto his palms with a heavy oof.

"Are you okay?" Asked an unfamiliar, soft voice from not too far away, startling Cam and making him jump from the dirt. He kneeled on the ground and wiped the dust from his scratched hands on his pants before looking up.

A girl in blue with long, black braided hair stared at him, sitting in front of a shrub, book and pen in hand.

Cam coughed. "I think so," he said, putting his bag in order. The girl pursed her lips.

"I didn't think any of you Bluebell people would be out here. I hope you don't mind."

"I… I don't know. You're from, Konohana? What are you doing?" Cam asked.

"Some types of plants don't grow in Konohana. I just wanted to get some notes on the ones you have here," the girl responded. Cam got up and walked to her, noticing that she had her own bag of supplies. The book she held had scribbled pictures and rough notes all over the pages.

"There's no reason to mind," Cam told her. "I don't think I know your name, though. Sorry."

"It's Reina," the girl, Reina, told him, fixing her braids. "I do know you're Bluebell's florist though," she added, and Cam may have felt a bit happy to be recognized, "but I don't know your name either."

"It's Kamil… But that's a bit formal for me. Cam is fine."

"Pleasure to meet you. Can you tell me if this shrub," Reina cocked her head towards it, "is… Abelia? I think?"

Cam hummed. "It's a species of abelia, you got it." Cam was intrigued. He didn't know anyone else in either of the towns knew what abelia was. Maybe it was harsh to assume. But either way, he thought it might be fun to talk with this girl. Reina. "Spathulata."

"Bless you," Reina said with a small smirk.

"Very funny. It's abelia spathulata."

"Got it. Thanks… Cam."

"No problem. I'm glad to see that someone else has an interest to plants here."

"We're practically best friends already. It's incredible," Reina commented with an almost monotone voice. Cam's chest tightened.

No. Not best friend.

He swallowed, trying to clear his throat, before continuing. "You should come by my stand some time. I lend you some books if you'd like. Or whatever."

Reina smiled softly, small creases forming at her eyes. She tapped her pen on her book a few times.

"That's very nice of you. Thank you, Cam." She looked at him kindly. "I think I would like to talk more sometime. When it's not almost dark out."

"I guess… Uh, sure." Cam fidgeted. He wasn't sure if he was as comfortable with being so friendly to a stranger like she was with him. "Whatever you want," he spat out nevertheless.

"Exciting," Reina smiled, followed by closing her book and putting her things back into her bag. The two plant enthusiasts stood up. Reina brushed off her skirt and looked up at the tall boy. "I should… go…" She said after a second.

"Okay."

Reina waited a moment. "Okay. Goodnight, Cam."

"Night."

She pursed her lips again. "Bye," she said, before gently turning to leave, and then doing do.

Cam felt a bit bad for her, not really knowing why. Again, he wiped his palms on his pants, knowing that he'd need a bandaid or two for them. Ah, well.

He left the root and the shrub and went home.

A/N: This took me too long. :(