Chapter 8

Flower Searching

"Alright, Himawari!" Sakurako says while pumping a fist. "Next stop: flower shopping!"

"Why go there?" Her childhood friend asks.

"My sisters want me to pick some flowers, so that they can plant them. Though, I don't know why they want me to pick them instead of Onee-chan, but I guess that's how it is." She sighs heavily as she walks toward the flower shop. The two childhood friends were on their friendly walk an hour ago when Sakurako made some stops at various places, like the park, ice cream shop, crepe stand and then stopping to pet some puppies. Himawari grew tired of stopping to take a break every now and then, but she hopes a stop at the flower shop is their last one.

"Just make it quick, please," the blue haired girl says with a sigh.

"Don't worry~! Onee-chan wrote down what to get and it's right here in my pocket!" She digs into her right pocket, but finds nothing. "Huh? I thought I had it in here." She checks her other pocket, but finds nothing in there, too. "I could've sworn I had it in my pocket."

Himawari frowns at her. "You lost it, didn't you?"

"No, I didn't!"

"Yes, you did."

"No, I didn't!"

"Where did you last see it then?"

Sakurako thinks for a moment when a flashback pops in her head.

**2 hours ago**

"Don't forget the list," Nadeshiko called.

"Don't worry! I already have it!" Sakurako called back as she headed toward the door, passing by a folded piece of paper on the living room table.

**End of Flashback**

"Uhhhh…." Sakurako stares into space.

"Now, do you remember?" Himawari puts her hands on her hips as she eyes her childhood friend suspiciously. She notices the blonde still staring into space. "Sakurako!" The blue haired girl waves her hand over the blonde's face to get her attention, but fails.

"Hey, what's Matsumoto-san doing here?" Sakurako inquires.

"Huh?" Himawari looks in the blonde's direction to notice the raven-haired girl examining the flower pots outside the shop. "You're right. What is she doing here?"

She looks back at Sakurako, but notices that she already vanished. "Huh!? Sakurako!?" She turns again to see her childhood friend running towards the quiet girl. What could she be up to? she thinks to herself.

"So, Matsumoto-san," the blonde says, cheerfully. "Whatcha lookin' at?"

Rise's ruby eyes dart over towards some daisies and day lilies.

"Ohhhh~! Those are really nice!" Sakurako says as she jumps toward the flowers and gives them a whiff. "They smell good, too~! Oh! Hey, I need some help picking some flowers for my sisters. How about we look together?"

Rise nods as the two enter the shop with Himawari crossing her arms and her eyebrow twitching.

"There you go, always relying on everyone," she mutters. "Including the President."

Once the three enter the shop, Sakurako walks ahead of Himawari so that she doesn't hear her scolding while searching with Rise following close behind. The quiet girl sweat drops with a nervous smile on her face as she whispers her question.

"What am I looking for, you ask?" Sakurako says as she turns her head towards the raven-haired girl. "I have no idea!"

Rise stops and gives her a weird expression while still sweat dropping. Why would Sakurako ask her to look for something when she doesn't even know what to look for? This is just a waste of time. The quiet girl shrugs as she whispers.

"Don't worry! Once I see something, it'll ring a bell!" Sakurako declares as she puts up a finger.

Rise shrugs again with a nervous smile. If Sakurako says so, then she might just find out for herself. Both she and Sakurako walk through the shop with Himawari lagging behind to keep a close eye on the blonde. She raises an eyebrow, wondering how in the world is Sakurako going to pull of searching for some flowers with Rise by her side when she forgot what to look for. She sighs as she puts a palm to her forehead. This is going to be a while, she thinks.

Sakurako looks around while scratching her head. There were flower pots around her from where they are, but the blonde is indecisive on what to choose for her sisters to plant. Rise sweat drops again at Sakurako's indecisiveness. She just wanted to go home right now.

"I know!" Sakurako suddenly says, making Rise and Himawari jump. "How about this one?" She runs over towards some daisies and holds one up to show the student council president.

Rise shrugs and whispers.

"You don't like it? Oh, well." She sets the flower down and looks around for another. "Oh! Here's one!" She picks up another flower where some bees are buzzing around. "How about this?"

Rise waves her arms frantically to tell her about the bees. Sakurako tilts her head in confusion and looks to notice the bees buzzing around her.

"AAHHHHHH!" she screams as she purposely drops the pot and runs around, waving her arms wildly to get the bees to go away. "GET THEM OFF! GET THEM OFF! GET THEM OOOOFFFF!"

"You totally deserve that one," Himawari sighs with a palm to the face again.

Rise gives her a nervous smile and shrugs. She then watches Sakurako dive in a fountain near her, making the bees go away instantly. Himawari shakes her head.

"Sakurako just doesn't know what she's doing sometimes," she tells Rise.

The quiet girl nods in agreement. If Sakurako can't decide on a flower for herself, then Rise might as well jump to the rescue.

"Hey, where are you going?" Himawari asks as she watches the raven-haired girl walk away. She then turns toward a drenched Sakurako, who appears in front of her, pouting her lips.

"I hate this shop," she grumbles.

Himawari just does a soft karate chop to the head. "You really are a dummy."

Sakurako looks around. "Hey, where's Matsumoto-san?"

The blue haired girl shrugs. "I don't know. She just went somewhere."

"Awww! And I wanted her to help me pick something so that my sisters don't scold me for life!" the blonde groans.

She feels a tap on the shoulder and turns to notice Rise holding two flowers in her hands. One is cherry blossoms and the other is sunflowers.

"P-President!?" Himawari gasps.

Rise smiles as she hands the cherry blossoms to Sakurako and the sunflowers to Himawari.

"Wait a minute," Sakurako says as she examines the flowers. "Those are…"

"Our flowers," Himawari finishes. "Our meaning of our names!"

Rise nods and whispers.

"This is what I should give to my sisters?" the blonde questions. "But why give one to Himawari?"

Rise whispers.

"Oh, I see," Himawari says. "Both of us have names of flowers, so you picked those for us."

Sakurako happily hugs the quiet girl. "Thank you so much, Matsumoto-san! I couldn't have done this without you~!"

Rise returns the hug as Himawari hugs the president as well. After pulling away, all three girls say their good-byes and Himawari and Sakurako leave the shop first.

"Well, I'm glad this ended well," Himawari says. "But still, you should stop relying on people to help you. Learn to do things yourself."

She stops as she notices her childhood friend handing one cherry blossom to her. The blonde is blushing from this and slightly turns away.

"Th-this is for you," she stutters. "Because I don't…w-want you to have only sunflowers with you."

Himawari blushes as well and does the same with her flower. "Then…this is for you. I'm sure that one sunflower stands out with the rest of your cherry blossoms."

"Thanks."

After exchanging flowers, both are blushing, but are smiling at the same time. Even though the flower search was a bit crazy, Rise found just the perfect ones for both of them to keep. With that in mind, the two walk home together.

**Meanwhile**

Rise looks around some more in the shop until she notices a beautiful rose bouquet. A small smile appears on her face and closes her eyes, having a certain someone flash in her mind. That someone would love this as a gift. And so, Rise walks over to take the bouquet and pay for it.

Next Pairing: Rise x Nana