Sorry I'm a few days late, I've been sooper busy again hahah *dying inside* hahahaha...

The rose in his hand was lovely, and sweet-smelling. Nobody had gifted it to him; rather, he had discreetly plucked it from one of the rose bushes scattered about the campus for this particular occasion as he had passed by. With a gentle touch, he ran his thumb over a thorn, letting it catch against the skin weakly. No blood came but it left a strange sensation on his skin. He wondered if it actually felt any good to receive one of these; they would crumble within days and there was no promise of a lasting romance.

Then why were they valued so? What did they actually mean? He had to wonder, though, that if the reason he doesn't understand was his lack of experience with romantic interaction. He had never really had much of a 'love-life'; everyone was always too scared of him, and no one at True Cross was interested in him - nor he, them.

Well, there was one.

He could recall one moment where he felt something almost akin to primal surge through his veins; his face reddened at the thought of the hard-hearted girl. His chest felt heavy, somehow, when she was near, yet somehow lighter than air. How his thoughts drifted to her, and how her details had been carved explicitly into his memory, there whenever he closed his eyes.

His heart soared at the sight of her beauty; he could not think of a thing to compare. He'd find himself nervous, with butterflies in his stomach, each time he entered the room. Despite her hard words, he couldn't help but attract to her wholeheartedly.

He had utterly fallen in love with her, and it was the best.

A small smile had worked its way to his lips, as he slowly turned the rose in his hand. There was nothing particularly special or unique about it; it was like any other rose. Maybe a symbol of infatuation? Something to do the talking for you? He didn't even know why he had taken it. His suspicions were leaned towards curiosity, though deep down inside he knew that wasn't why. He knew he only thought of this because he was doubting how meaningful his actions were.

Didn't you hear? If you get 13 flowers, that means it's from a secret admirer!

He hung his head, partially due to some kind of shame and partially due to some kind of unknown factor that wasn't quite registering in his head. Why was he even doing this? The cram school only had, what, 6 students, himself included? And four of them were boys. It wouldn't take her long to figure out who had done it, or assume that it was some kind of prank and dismiss it from her mind.

Hey, Rin-kun, anyone you got your eye on~?

Haha, no! 'Sides, I have other stuff to do.

Oh yeah, like what?

Like eat all the discount chocolates with Kuro.

He chuckled lightheartedly at the memory, having only occurred a few days prior. Everyone had already asked their crushes, so she probably already had a date. Shima had had his eye on her from day one - as well as every other girl on campus - but Izumo dashed his requests without a second thought every time. Maybe she didn't; maybe she'd rather hang out with her friend, Paku. A relationship - a romantic one - wasn't very high on her list of priorities; this, everyone was certain of.

Then why did he try? Why had he left a rose on her desk every morning for the last 12 days?

And why was he hesitating now to give the thirteenth? She wouldn't care... Then why did he want to do it anyway?

Hey, Izumo-chan!

Eh? What do you want?

Are you going out with anyone on Valentine's?

Not with you, he could recall her saying to the pink-haired boy.

Maybe it was just a sense of finality. To know that he had done all that he could do and it was out of his hands from there. Did he even want Izumo to figure out that he had left the roses himself? What'd she do? Laugh at him? Brush him off just as easily as she brushed off everything that came her way?

Hey, did someone leave you a rose, Izumo?

Hm? Huh, I guess someone did.

What's the tag say?

I

A word for each day; that's all it had been.

Another one?

have

Why was he doing this?

fallen

Why?

head

A heavy wave of sadness crashed over him. What did he expect to come of this?

over

Who keeps leaving these here?

heels

Heh, they must really like you! I wonder who it could be!

for

How could he trust himself not to shatter into pieces in the face of her rejection? He'd never tried anything like this before, and it was still a bit soon after the camping incident..

you.

Hey, you think there will be any more roses?

C a n

Look! Another one!

y o u

Ooh, I'm so excited for you, Izumo-chan!

l o v e

...

m e

Hey, one more it'll be thirteen. You know what that means, right?

Rin idly fingered the tag on the last rose between his thumb and index finger, standing outside the cram school door. It was more of a navy ribbon wrapped around, with white calligraphy writing. This was it; this was the last rose.

t o o ?

He slipped into the room, early enough that only Takara was there - though he wouldn't care; he probably wouldn't even notice what he was doing - and gingerly set the rose down where she would sit everyday, without fail.

"Okumura-kun?" He heard a voice behind him; her voice, and tensed, whipping around to see who it had been... though he already knew. She stood there in the doorway, her pose screaming smart-aleck defiance as usual - though she had the grades to back her up - but with a kind of... confused look.

"O-Oh, hey Izumo-chan!" he leaned back over her desk a bit, trying to hide the rose behind his back. "Didn't think you were coming in this early." She glanced past him.

"So, you're the secret admirer?" She said bluntly. He froze up, face reddened, then gave a sigh of defeat.

"Gonna chew me out? Make fun of me?" He asked in a timid voice, already expecting her next words - though he was surprised. She padded over to him mutely, until she was directly in front of him.

"Look at me, Okumura-kun," she said sternly, staring him right in the face. Hesitantly, he lifted his head. Then, he suddenly felt hot as she stood up on her toes and connected with him. It ignited something burning in him, that same primal feeling he had felt so long ago. Something he never realized was missing and left him feeling like something was gone from his heart when she pulled back. She leaned around him for a moment, reading the tag with a quick glance.

"W-Wha..."

"For the record, I like you too." She took on a smug expression and sat at her desk. Moments later the Kyoto trio filtered in, not letting him get in another word. Dumbfounded, he had taken his seat, and couldn't help but occasionally lift his fingers to his lips and wonder if what had happened had been real.

The next day he walked into the room, a blue rose sat on his desk, clipped from the bush at just the right time. It had its own tag; a purple one.

I love you too.

the ooc is powerful...

for the record, I'm on the RinxIzumo ship T_T dont get me wrong the other ships are fine, this is just higher on my list of favorites.