~FlowerShipping~

"Morning!" Kotori said to her friends Sei and Sachi, as she sat down onto her seat. "Yuma's not here yet?"

Looking around, Sachi spoke up. "Yuma? Forget him, what about that other boy..? You know, the transfer student?" She nudged Kotori's shoulder slightly, awaiting a response from the green haired girl.

"W-what? Transfer student- Alit-kun?" She stammered, while blushing profusely. It had been two weeks since he had come to the school suddenly… and ever since he did, he had been following her around everywhere. Showering her with compliments and gifts…

She was a tad happy at first to receive such things from a boy since she never had before, but now it was becoming a tad cumbersome. Every single place she went, he was bound to be waiting for her.

"It doesn't look like he's here today. Isn't that odd?" Sei assumed, glancing around their classroom. "That makes four days he's missed." If he had been there, he would have gone to see Kotori first thing. Kotori sighed out of relief, but she was sad that Yuma wasn't present. And here I thought we might actually get to see each other today with no interruptions…

She had to admit though, it was a bit lonely. In class, no Yuma or Alit to bother her… She had wished for a day like that before, but now that it had actually come… she was a tad disappointed. It was boring, dull. No compliments or even teasing. Maybe she was becoming spoiled with both the boys? Even if she was, she didn't care at the moment. She could just drift off into sleep…

"Kotori! Kotori!"

"Huh!?"

Kotori jolted upward from her desk, to discover she had accidentally fallen asleep during class. That had never happened to her before. And of course… the teacher noticed. "Go stand out in the hall if you find my class so boring, alright?" The teacher firmly said, pointing towards the door.

"Yes, sensei…" She loudly exhaled, as she went out the door, her shoulders hunched.

"Kotori has never fallen asleep in class before." Sachi whispered. "I know! How unusual… I wonder what's wrong."

Meanwhile with Kotori, she stood outside the door, a look of shame on her face. She was usually the good student, never falling asleep in class. And now she was a hypocrite on top of that, since she had always told Yuma to not fall asleep.

I feel so empty without him here… but… is it just Yuma I feel sad without?

All of a sudden, a sound of walking was heard from the hallway. Looking over, Kotori was puzzled. Who was walking around the hall when classes were still in?

"Kotori-chaaaan!"

A look of amazement and shock, she turned her head to find a dark skinned young boy, now running towards her; Alit.

"Alit-kun!?" She said a little too loudly, not expecting to see him. She was even beginning to blush.

Getting down on one knee, he took her hand and gently kissed it. Pulling it away, Kotori's face grew more red. "Did you miss me?" He smiled, getting up now.

Making a slight pout, the girl folded her arms over and looked away. "Why would I?"

A lie of course, she didn't want to admit it but… a place without Yuma and Alit was a place she wanted no part of.

Her eyes looking onto him again, she noticed that Alit's uniform was a tad dirty. "I haven't seen you at school much this week. Um… is there something you've been doing?" She shyly asked, her face still a shade of red, just like the roses he usually brought her.

Why am I asking him that? It's not really my business!

Taking Kotori's hand, Alit beamed. "You want to know?" He then began to lead her out of the school building, not really caring that he was playing hooky from school.

"W-what are you doing?! School is still in, if the teachers find out we're just leaving, they'll-"

"Come on! This'll be way more fun that sitting in a classroom! Not only that, but it'll just be you and me." He grinned, gently holding onto her hand. His voice was so persuasive, she couldn't say no to him. Why was she finding him so hard to… resist? Did she not like Yuma most?

Still walking, they were now outside behind the school. "Why are we here? This is where you've been?" Kotori curiously asked, taking in the surroundings.

With a slight chuckle, Alit explained, "Of course not. Come on, it's just this way!"

Holding her hand and running, they went past some trees and into a more desolate place. Walking onto some stepping stones, Alit hopped onto each one, like it was a game. "You do it too! Look, its fun."

Like a kid… Kotori giggled. She quickly realized she was smiling though, so she erased it from her face.

Hopping onto each stone, Alit then held onto her hand again and they finally walked into their destination.

It was revealed to be a big garden, full of roses in bloom. As far as the eye could see, there were trees and beautiful red flowers… it was like a dream.

In a state of astonishment, Kotori wasn't quite sure on what she could say. The flowers all looked exactly like the ones Alit had brought her each day… in truth, she was sad that she didn't receive any flowers from him for about four days. This, though, was incredible.

"Alit-kun, I don't understand… what are these doing here?"

Picking a rose from the bushes, he put one in Kotori's hair. "I put all of these roses here. I couldn't grow them all myself since I don't know anything about gardening, but… I bought them all just for you!"

She was shocked to hear that Alit did all this, just for her. Blushing more, he put his hand onto her face.

"What's better than these beautiful roses to go with a beautiful girl such as yourself? Of course… these roses, even in full bloom, are nothing compared to you."

Embarrassed from all these compliments, Kotori looked away. No, I… I love Yuma! Not Alit-kun… he's nice, yes, but…

"So that's what you've been doing these four days?"

Alit nodded, a big smile on his face. He really only wanted Kotori to smile for him… he had never seen a genuine smile from her.

Kotori was trying hard to not smile, as to not betray her feelings for Yuma… but this was just so absurd. All that work, just for her? Missing school, getting himself all dirty… it was so sweet and stupid.

She burst out into laughter, not caring that she was sounding happy. "Hahahahaha!"

Alit looked a tad surprised to hear her suddenly laugh like that, but it made him want to laugh as well. She was happy, so he was happy.

"Ahaha… haha… ha…" Wiping her eyes from tearing up a little, she looked directly at Alit. "I can't believe you took all that time for me. But it's… I mean, only an idiot would do something like that, but…"
Taking a rose, she put one in Alit's hair. "It made me smile for the first time today."

"So I completed my goal!"

"Huh?" Kotori blinked, cluelessly.

"I wanted to see you smile for me. A true, joyful smile…"

Grabbing a bunch of roses now, he got down on his knees and held them out in front of her.
"You know, you're even cuter when you smile."

Kotori's bushing hit the max, she couldn't contain these feelings.

Maybe… maybe he isn't as bad as I thought… If I can let my feelings bloom, I might discover I like him better than…