notes: I want to write a tender fic (about wheelchaired Nozomi and a florist Nico) and … well, I want to seek more of Nozomi's vulnerable persona. Though, perhaps my English will not suffice to make this beautiful (as I wanted lol), but please do read and enjoy!

summary: It was a Patient Day once again for Yazawa Florist to supply the hospital with their flowers, but that day, she found a room without a happy flower.

Beta-ed by mute-ism, thank you very much for your help!

nozonico; AU.

"Welcome to Yazawa Florist!"

A happy and high tone filled the aisles of a small shop, which resided just around the corner of the busiest hospital in town.

Even though it was ran by only two people, the florist business flourished and shone brightly amongst all the other shops, especially since it opened much earlier than the others. They sold freshly-picked flowers that they grew at the back of their shop, and sometimes they would order more when there were more combination requests from buyers.

However, what Yazawa Florist was most well-known for weren't their fresh flowers, their excellent packing and flower arrangements, or their variety of flowers but rather—

The owner always smiled, just like how their flowers did. That alone left a good impression on the customers.

"N-Nico-chaaan!"

"What is it, Hanayo? I'm harvesting gerberas from the backyard—"

"Today is Patient Day, remember?"

"Oh shoot!"

Patient Day was a somewhat monthly occasion at Nishikino Hospital, when they would request a fresh bucket of flowers delivered to every hospital room. Even though they just had to place their orders in the allocated cart and let the hospital employees do the job, Nico always insisted in supervising the procedure, making sure that every flower that day was healthy and good as a patient's mood booster.

"I-I've already packed the white roses and carnations. Anything else that you'd want to add before I call the pick-up?"

"That's fine, those two will do." Nico put down her scissors before taking off her dirty gloves. "I'll be off with the pick-up then!"

Various people greeted her as Nico entered the hospital yard. She was quite well-known around the hospital after all, considering her flower shop's reputable status as well as her eye-catching florist attire. Patients each received a white rose as the hospital employees dutifully walked down the aisles distributing them, while the staff and visitors in the lobby got a free carnation too. The raven-haired florist smiled, seeing that her flowers brought a lively atmosphere inside the hospital, as she followed behind the cart woman while they made their rounds.

Despite her initial annoyance when Dr. Nishikino proposed the idea of Patient Day, mentioning something along the lines of 'making her doing more legwork', Nico enjoyed seeing people in high-spirits when they received her flowers. To her, flowers were something that made living more colorful; it provided words for those left unspoken, and actions for the deeds left undone. Not that she knew much on the topic, since Hanayo was the better expert in flower language and myths than her (she always thought it was unnecessary to know such things, and felt that Hanayo tend to get a bit too excited especially when it was Valentine's Day). Making sure that its message can be conveyed was sufficient enough, so growing and tending to the petals until they blossomed was the only thing Nico believed in with a fiery passion which matched Hanayo's own.

They passed along all the patients' rooms, giving the flowers to its inhabitants, or simply putting them into the prepared vase on their table. Nico watched as small kids voiced their sincerest thanks, as well as an old couple that grinned widely when they were gifted with a bucketful of carnations.

Yes, Nico felt really fulfilled—

"Huh? Room 225 is empty?" the cart woman said, head poking back into said room for another glance. "But there's a nameplate here... Should we just leave the flowers in their vase and go?"

Nico folded her arms. Now this was strange. Usually at times like this, there would be a patient or two in their respective rooms, considering that it was lunch time and the busy visiting period.

"I will wait here and give the flower to them." Nico gestured with a wave of her hand as she spun around and walked in the opposite direction. "You can go on without me. I'll catch up."

Her job was to make sure each flower was delivered, and she would not let it be wasted.

Nico went into Room 225, finding it really void of people as the cart woman had mentioned earlier. There were two beds in the room and only one of them was occupied, judging from the messy sheets and still-wrapped meal. She didn't need to pay attention to the name plate outside the room to know which bed the resident of the room was using.

Her ruby eyes scanned the room quietly, holding the bucket of mixed carnations and white roses tight in her arms, while she observed and took in the layout of the room.

The room was very empty.

Nico felt something off inside this room.

No, it was not because of the lack of flowers; the vase next to the window was filled with nearly-decayed white magnolia.

Then… what was this feeling that she picked up?

There was a name plate just on the side of the bed, providing basic information of the room's sole resident, her name, as well as her age and her assigned doctors.

'Toujou Nozomi', huh...

She began to wonder where the occupant of the room went to.

Nico was abruptly jolted from her thoughts when she heard the sound of the door being opened. She quickly gathered herself from her surprise as she shuffled towards the door—

The first thing that came into sight was a young woman of byzantium hair. She didn't seem to have any noticeable injury, despite the fact that she was seated in a wheelchair. Her hair was tied up in a side braid, while her hands busied to wheel herself inside the room. Nico took a step back in trepidation as the woman wheeled past her, not bothering to offer a greeting.

"What are you doing here?" she said with a flat tone, back still towards her. "If you intended to play around, just get out or I will call the nurse."

Whoa. Hell. So she is the resident of this room?!

"Uhh, sorry?" Nico furrowed her brow. "I'm just here to swap the flowers."

The young woman turned to face Nico. Despite how blank her expression or how bland her tone was, her emerald orbs betrayed her inner emotions, glinting as though welcomed that Nico was here, yet with a dash of want to push the petite florist out. She didn't say anything else as Nico proceeded to swap the flowers in the vase, watching her silently through the corner of her eye. Nico felt the tension in the room grow as she took her time to put her so-called Nico-nii touch to the flowers and put the old magnolia into a plastic bag to be disposed of.

"Hey, you. Stop looking at me with that look."

The wheel-chaired girl blinked as Nico extended her hand towards her, a stalk of white rose held within its grasp.

"This is for you," Nico calmly stated with a smile. "Smile a bit, won't you? You will get wrinkles on your forehead if you keep having that kind of face."

Their interactions were short and brief, it felt painfully long. Her current predicament baffled Nico, as she would always shrug it off when her act of giving was rejected, ignored, or even mocked of. It was normal for her, for she was just a florist, only just a florist—

—it was slapped from her hand, and the rose fell to the floor below.

"Get out of my sight," she said. "Please."

The woman averted her gaze completely from her, the lone bud long-forgotten on the floor. Nico swallowed her retort as she made haste out of the room, with gritted teeth and clenched fists.

What an ungrateful woman.

"Hello! I'm here to bring you guys my new series of manjuu—huh? You are alone today, Hanayo-chan?"

Kousaka Honoka, a baker from the nearby Homura Cake & Cafe, stopped by at times to bring the two flower shop attendants snacks, either some of her newly-made bread, or occasionally cake when she was celebrating an occasion. Honoka was like family to them, as they shared the struggle of tending to their respective shops. Today, it seemed that Hanayo was alone watering some potted plants at the front.

"Nico-chan is upstairs. She seems upset about something." Hanayo smiled at her guest. "I will bring the manjuu to her later."

"Hmm~ Yesterday was the Patient Day, right? It's rare to see Nico angry on days like this."

"I… don't know myself." the junior florist shook her head. "Nico-chan was… home with this scary face yesterday and went inside without a word. S-she was all silent when I asked her to close the shop too. I-I wonder if something did happen— Ho-Honoka-chan?"

Without a heed to Hanayo's plea, the orange-haired woman brought her homemade manjuu along and went inside, climbed upstairs to the room with the name 'Nico' on the door, and called out in her usual cheery voice.

"Nico-chan, I have manjuu for you~"

No response.

"Ho-Honoka-chan! You can't barge in like that, N-Nico-chan wouldn't be happy—"

The door slid open to reveal a scowling Nico. Hanayo stepped back in reflex, while Honoka still greeted her with a toothy grin.

"What do you want? And didn't I tell you that you needed my permission before coming in!?"

"Whoa, Nico-chan is scary," Honoka faked her fear. "I am only here to give you a manjuu, though I will take it back if you don't want any. Besides, Hanayo-chan is worried with you being all angry like that, Nico-chan!"

"Ho-Honoka-chan! That's not it…!"

Nico pursed her lips. "Oh well." She came out from her room. "Hanayo, close the shop and let's rest for the remainder of the day."

Both Hanayo and Honoka shot her a confused look. Before either could rebut, Nico grabbed the manjuu box from the baker's hand and marched to downstairs to prepared tea for their guest.

The raven-haired florist sat in silence as Honoka talked lively about herself and her business partner, Minami Kotori. They were planning to make a Chocolate Day to introduce their new chocolate frappuccino and special Belgian Chocolate-filled red bean manjuu that Kotori and Honoka were working on respectively. Nico nibbled idly at her share of manjuu without bothering to comment as the conversation went on.

"Nee, nee, Nico-chan, isn't this the time you tell us about what is wrong with you?"

There it was. She knew Honoka was just waiting for the right time to ask her, an outcome that was inevitable. Nico huffed slightly as she lightly bit the chewy texture of the manjuu in her hands before putting the rest down the plate.

"You guys will never shut up about it, huh? Fine!" She folded her arms and rested them on the table. "I'll tell you then."

The proceeding few minutes had the petite florist recounting the previous day's events to her two-people audience. It was not the first time someone had rejected the flower that she gave, ignored her extended hand, or let the flower withered, not letting its message reach the other person—

"The truth is… I was confused."She was neither angry, nor saddened by yesterday's turn of events, nor did she want a punch landed on that wheelchaired woman's face for wasting a white rose.

Yazawa Nico was confused beyond anything.

She was—

"Y-you should go and see her!"

"I'm not the one at wrong in this situation, Hanayo."

"B-But!" Hanayo was now in high spirits, eyes glimmering with newborn light Nico never saw before, a stark contrast to her earlier quiet disposition. "D-Don't you want to know why you were rejected, Nico-chan?"

Everything seemed contradictory the moment the flower was slapped from her hand to the floor. That woman didn't mean it, Nico could feel it. Yet, the room, the entire atmosphere, rejected every cell of her body, every strand of her will, to ask if something was wrong back then.

Since when did someone that she just met have the ability to rile up all of her nerves?

"Un, I can agree with Hanayo-chan, Nico-chan," Honoka encouraged. "You should go and see that girl once more, for you to clear your own doubts!"

"… How can you guys be so sure?"

"You always told me that flowers n-never did anything wrong, Nico-chan." Hanayo hesitated before continuing. "I mean… umm… she must be happy that you gave her a stalk of rose, but she was unhappy as there was no meaning to such a gesture… I think..."

Really? Wasn't she simply being a bothersome stranger, for eagerly wanting to give her a flower?

Nico scratched her cheek as she came to a decision. "I will try and apologize then."

(And find meaning to this unknown feeling.)

The way to Room 225 was one hard to forget, straight to the left from the main lift, past the junction of the operating theatres and nursery wing, down the far side of the East Wing. The empty hallway in which it resided in contrasted sharply with the bright atmosphere of its neighbors, remaining shrouded, distant and untouched. Nico came empty-handed, as she was pretty much unsure of what to bring, and definitely not flowers as she couldn't bear to see more petals wasted.

She slowly opened the door, noticing the back of the wheelchair as the room came into view. Curtains fluttered with the wind as the owner of the wheelchair stayed seated without a word, simply facing the current and the mute sky outside. Nico trotted closer, meeting the same view of untouched meal, with the exception of the flowers in the vase being healthy, just like how she saw them yesterday. She mustered her courage to step out as she cleared her throat.

"Toujou-san?"

Her head snapped back, seemingly surprised to find that Nico was right behind her.

"Oh, umm," She turned her chair to fully face the florist. "It's… you."

Nico's eyes widened to see a white rose on the purple-haired woman's lap, neither withered nor wrinkled, the same state it was in when it dropped to the floor yesterday.

"I'm… sorry that I barged to your room yesterday." Nico averted her gaze to her feet, unsure of the next move to proceed. "And uhh… Well… Yeah. I'm here just to apologize."

"I-I should be the one to apologize. I'm sorry… for yesterday, I…" Nozomi paused, her hands gripping firmly on the white rose stalk. "I was… rude in rejecting this rose."

The grip on the raven-haired florist's fists slackened as the tension wore down. "It's okay, really." She awkwardly responded and she shifted uncomfortably, gaze now directed to the untouched meal laid on the table. As if on cue, Nico turned back to the woman in the wheelchair, queries etched on her face.

"Why you didn't eat?"

"So you noticed," the wheelchaired woman forced a laugh. "I just don't want to eat."

Nico's face turned into a scowl, as her voice took on a reprimanding tone. "You should eat."

"And what if I refuse?" The byzantium-haired woman challenged.

"Then I will make you to eat as a way to apologize for my actions."

"W-What?" Nozomi shook her head, slowing backing against the wall as the menacing aura of the petite-sized florist approached her. "N-No! You can't force me!"

"No excuses." The raven-haired caught a grip of the wheelchair. "And it is not 'you'; my name is Nico. Yazawa Nico."

Since then, Yazawa Nico became the unofficial caregiver of Toujou Nozomi, the wheelchaired young woman of Room 225.

Specifically, Nico's 'job' was to make sure that the purple-haired woman was eating her food properly. The former would get angry if she found that the food was untouched, and would forcefully try to feed the latter, often ending with Nozomi surrendering and eating by herself under the watchful gaze of Nico beside her bed.

Despite their frequent bantering about proper eating habits, the petite florist never understood why the woman was not eager to eat, as they mostly spent their time in silence.

"Say… Toujou-san?"

"… Just call me Nozomi."

"Okay, Nozomi." Nico repeated. "Why don't you want to eat your food?"

"None of your concern."

"Tch, fi~ne." The raven-haired florist voiced a half-hearted reply.

"Then, let me ask you. Why do you care whether I'm eating or not?"

Nico's expression was flat, "None of your concern!"

Nozomi giggled at her retort, an unanticipated response for the usually stern woman. Nico's face flushed bright red. "W-What's wrong? I simply returned your words!"

"You are so funny." She couldn't stop giggling. "Nicocchi~"

"W-What's with that nickname!?"

"There you are, pouting again… Ufufu~"

Nico didn't know that the purple-haired woman could smirk so slyly like that. The petite florist was not very amused with these turn of events, slowly picking up the broken pieces of her remaining dignity as she grunted.

"Hmph, there! You finally laughed! If you could laugh like that, then why didn't you ever?"

"… who knows?" Nozomi raised her shoulder, lips pursed as her expression returned back to its former pensiveness, the curve of her lips waned as though what happened minutes prior were only an illusion.

.

.

.

After seeing the wheelchaired woman every day, keeping tabs on how she ate, the florist slowly got to know her 'patient', bit by bit. How she usually spent her time at the hospital, at her therapy schedule, her habit to go to the rooftop when she 'got bored' to simply stare at the sky. Nico could never figure out the reason behind those disturbed emerald orbs.

She needed answers, and she needed to see the right person for them. The petite florist recalled seeing Dr. Nishikino Maki's name among the list of doctors indicated on Nozomi's name plate, so perhaps she would know a thing or two. Nico decided to pay the director of Nishikino Hospital a visit before returning back to the shop.

The young well-known Neurosurgeon often made her rounds about the hospital during the afternoons, though recently she had been seen arguing technical issues with a certain blue-haired Pharmacist, or sometimes discussing rehabilitation protocols with a mature, blonde-haired Physiotherapist. It seemed that the Doctor was at the Pharmacy today, arguing over something about steroid dosages, the raven-haired woman pondered as she approached the bickering pair.

"Maki-sensei, can I ask you something?"

"Oh, hello Yazawa-san," Sonoda Umi tilted her head at the presence of Nico behind them.

The red-haired doctor turned, "What is it?"

"I want to ask you about the resident of Room 225."

Maki's expression went flat, while Umi covered her mouth with her hand, as though both were suddenly disturbed at the mention of the wheelchaired woman. "My… do you mean Toujou-san?"

Nico shot them both a questioned look. Maki placed her hands into her coat pockets, face scrunching up showing emotional stress with a hint of anger. The florist was not entirely sure about the cause to the doctor's sudden change in expression, but she could sense that she didn't want to hear the next sentence that came out from her mouth.

"We'll talk about this later, when I'm paying you for the next Patient Day. If it is okay for you, Nico-chan."

"Nicocchi?"

Nico was switching the flowers in the vase with her freshly-harvested bluebells. Nozomi seemed to be already getting the hang of eating without constant prompts, so the petite florist didn't need to force her as much as the first time anymore. The wheelchaired woman had also started smiling a lot compared to the first few weeks, and had begun to accept her unorthodox companion's presence, sometimes even making fun of the latter. However, there was still a gnawing doubt that needed to be addressed.

"Yes, do you need something Nozomi?"

A great deal of silence hung over the room, the byzantium-haired woman watching the florist as she busied with the flowers' final touches. Seconds turned to minutes, as Nozomi swallowed an invisible lump that was stuck in her throat and voiced out her query.

"Do you… pity me?"

Nico's hands froze, turning to face her with an unreadable expression on her face.

"Are you a close acquaintance with Toujou-san?"

Maki's session felt more like an interrogation rather than the simple conversation that they always exchanged between flower supplier and hospital director.

"Kind… of, I think. I forced her to eat her food every day."

The doctor held her stare for what felt like another eternity before finally giving in, head drooping as a loud sigh rang through her office.

"Normally, I am not allowed to reveal such information to you, seeing as it would be breaking many medical ethics." The red-haired rubbed circles at her nose bridge, before looking back up to meet ruby orbs with her own amethyst ones. "But I've seen what you've done for her, and that to me is enough to at least warrant you to know a bit more about Toujou-san."

Maki took out a yellow folder from her drawer, and handed it over to the raven-haired florist. Urged on with a determined nod of the head, Nico received the folder with shaky hands and opened it to the recently bookmarked page. A small post-it note was stuck at the section of 'Social history', preceding page-long track records of the byzantium-haired woman, dating to even years prior to her admission date. As the petite woman slowly went through its content, the red-haired doctor sat back into her chair, watching as the former's eyebrows furrowed in discontent.

Nico's throat went dry.

"…What?"

"Please… Help her, Nico-chan…"

"Was it because of my inability to walk or…" Nozomi continued. "You felt sorry and were asked by Nishikino-sensei to give meaning to my life?"

Nico's gaze strayed from the bluebells in her hand, and turned to see Nozomi, who was seated on her wheelchair with straight expression. She knew that Nozomi was serious, similar to that day she rejected her rose.

Nozomi wasn't the type that wanted to burden anyone in caring for her, that much she knew. Yet, Nico couldn't help clenching her fist and gritting her teeth bitterly at the venomous implication of that question. Her senses felt overwhelmed by a mixture of sharp and dull sensations, as though her entire being was being stabbed with a million thorns of roses and bougainvilleas.

"Do I look like I am pitying you, Nozomi?" Nico returned her question with an interrogative reply. "Did I really mean nothing to you?"

Nozomi remained silent as Nico gazed at her with a mix of unknown emotion.

"You never wanted me here, I've always known. But I stayed anyway. I don't know why. No matter how long I've been here, I couldn't find my answer," the florist explained. "But I see I'm just bothering you. I won't come here anymore, if that is what you ever so wish."

Without making so much as a single retaliation, the wheelchaired woman watched as her sole companion dashed out of the room, the bluebells left ungranted of its Nico-nii touch.

Summer was already at its peak, as the two employees of Yazawa Florist worked to prep their shop 30 minutes to opening time. Hanayo was drying the flower seeds to be displayed at the front of the shop, while her senior harvested the matured sunflowers and replaced the empty spots with new seeds. Once done, the brown-haired grabbed an extra watering can, helping Nico water the flower garden as the latter continued on with her task without acknowledging her presence.

"Are you going to visit Toujou-san again today?"

The flowing water from the older woman's watering can came to a halt. Hanayo tilted her head as Nico put down the watering can and simply stood there, looking up to the morning sky.

Hanayo couldn't make anything out from the expression of the shop owner. Clouded ruby eyes softened as her gaze shifted to the still-growing asters and daisies, where a single butterfly was dancing between them.

"Now that I think about it, well…" Nico's voice was barely a whisper, uncharacteristic of her usual upbeat senior. "What should I name this feeling?"

Hanayo approached Nico, a bit concerned about her unusual behavior, as the petite senior was the kind whom always put on her best smiles regardless of whatever problems she was facing. Not that Hanayo liked it when Nico hid her problems and shouldered them all.

"N-nico-chan, do you want to talk about it?"

Hanayo listened as Nico told her about a story of a little girl, who gave a lonely woman a flower. It was a sign of new meeting, an offering to enter a new world, but the little girl was rejected miserably and the flower was left to wilt. The little girl, though confused, tried again, this time behaving as nice as she could remain by the woman's side.

It worked well for the two, for a short while, until she had learnt about the lonely woman's past; a terrible accident, her strained family, and how she was shut out and left alone. Doubted of her sincerity, despite never having any ill thoughts from what she had seen and heard about the woman, the little girl was shrugged off, doubted and forgotten, just like the neglected wilting flowers.

Even though the raven-haired florist had modified to omit many details, Hanayo already pretty much figured out who and what the story was about.

"Do you believe that Toujou-san really let the flower wilt?" Hanayo suddenly asked, unabashed in using the true name of the lonely woman of Nico's story. "You said that she still kept the white rose that you gave her in good condition."

Nico jerked her brow. "How would I know? It can wilt for all I care—"

Their conversation was cut short by a sound of heavy steel crashing over the ground at the front of their shop.

Nico thought that she would find someone holding trays of metal dropped their belongings or perhaps a bicycle crashing over her shop the moment she came out from the shop, because the sound of crash was nothing ordinary to her knowledge, and within this time in the morning, too.

A single white rose laid on the road, a young woman with purple hair sprawled beside her fallen wheelchair, desperately trying to reach for the flower though her legs refused to move. Hanayo tried to rush over to help, but Nico was faster than her, grabbing the crippled woman by her two hands, squatting to meet her at eye level.

"Idiot! What are you doing here?"

"Let me get the rose," she pleaded. "Please—"

"I said… Why the hell are you doing here?!" the raven-haired florist screamed. "You are in no condition to leave the hospital!"

"Nicocchi, I—" her voice cracked. "Let me… get the rose. Please. I will explain to you afterwards."

I don't want to see you suffer—

But Nico swallowed those words, as fast as it surfaced in her mind, and stepped back for Nozomi to continue her attempt in reaching the dropped rose. The twin-tailed florist averted her gaze to her feet, unable to bring herself to watch.

"Nicocchi."

She turned her head to see the byzantium-haired woman handed the stalk of white rose to her.

"I'm sorry that I had reject this flower of yours, and I thought that you were a liar," Nozomi explained, the corner of her eyes glistening with tears. Nico held her breath. "I'm sorry that I didn't understand the meaning of this white rose that you gave me, and tried to push you away. I—"

"—Enough."

Nozomi was about to voice another objection.

"Stop it." Nico tried to sound composed. "Don't force yourself to apologize when you don't mean it, and don't bother to come looking for me in your current condition, you might get worse. I know that you've never liked me, wasn't that why you rejected me? You—"

However, Nico's line of reasoning was thrown into the void as Nozomi tugged on her, pulled her down and brushed their lips together. The crippled woman didn't keep their contact long, but the simple touch that lasted a mere second felt like an eternity. As she parted herself from the petite woman's lips, Nico dropped to her knees and kneeled in front of Nozomi, her expression was confused and baffled at the same time. Nozomi bit her lip as she moved her finger to touch the latter's jaw ever so softly, as though almost afraid of the sudden act that she had just did on impulse.

A kiss that melted a thousand stars.

Nico looked down to see the rose sitting on Nozomi's lap.

"Do you believe that Toujou-san really let the flower wilt?"

So that was how it was.

Nozomi had never rejected her; she had always kept the white rose, the same flower that Nico gave the first time they met, in a good condition, despite never having asked her how to preserve it.

"I've never disliked you, Nicocchi. I was just afraid because… I didn't want to feel betrayed anymore," her tone was low. "I already lost everything; family, freedom, my legs. I just didn't want to lose anything anymore. Not your smile, or you, Nicocchi."

Droplet of tears made its way down from the raven-haired woman's bright red orbs,

"What should I name this feeling?"

Is it happiness, something joyous?

Or is it tragedy, something sad?

Why is she crying? Yet at the same time so happy?

Nico folded Nozomi's wheelchair at the corner of her room and let Nozomi lie down on her bed. Her several bruises on the legs have been taken care of with the help of Hanayo, and Nico would need the assistance of the hospital to transport Nozomi back without problems. The purple-haired woman had asked to stay there for a while, with 'straightening her feet' as an excuse.

They sat in silence in Nico's little sanctuary, though she soon noticed a smile etched upon her companion's lips.

"What are you grinning about, idiot?"

"Mm? Nothing," she shook her head. "Just amused at how small this room is."

"Shut up."

"Te-hee. Just kidding, Nicocchi."

Nico decided to bring some tea into the room, returning a few minutes later to see Nozomi gazing at the window, something that she always did back at the hospital.

"So…" The purple-haired woman pushed herself to sit up on the bed with both hands and reclined her back onto the pillow. "When will I have my answer from you?"

"… Answer to what?"

Nico tilted her head as though confused, but Nozomi caught the lie in the former's question by the tint of red visible on her cheeks.

"Such a tease, aren't you?"

The raven-haired florist huffed and pouted as giggles came from the purple-haired disabled woman. Nico placed the tray of tea and cookies at the small coffee table in her room, beside the silent stalk of white rose, and took her seat at the edge of bed beside Nozomi. She cocked her head to the side so that she could see Nozomi's face properly.

She smiles a lot now, it seems. So different compared to back then.

Nico stared deep in those emerald orbs, Nozomi's laughter slowly subsided as a slight tinge of red covered her own cheeks. "W-What is it, Nicocchi?"

Nico narrowed their distance and pressed a kiss on the latter's forehead, the bridge of the nose, the right cheek. Her lips stretched into a relaxed curve as the red on Nozomi's face intensifies.

"I still wonder what this feeling is called," Nico assured, smile still adorning her features. "But I know I don't want to lose your smile, either."

Both of them burst into fits of laughter. Finally, the rose that she had planted was now giving her a newborn petal, an overflowing feeling that she never had experienced before, and the joy of sharing them with a certain purple-haired woman. Their laughter lasted short, as Nico cupped the wordless Nozomi's cheek and brought their lips together in a slow dance of breath.

I won't simply love; what I offer you is my utmost devotion.

[ fin. ]