Hey there! I started writing this as a sort of challenge/break/whatever, to random prompts given to me by kantellis. They're short and somewhat more relaxed than what I usually write. They started coming out better than I initially expected so I'm posting the first one. More will come, at random time intervals, since I need to re-read the ones I have and create new ones. Each of the stories can be read separately though and there will be no cliff-hangers. Just fluff, happiness and hopefully fun.

The title of each chapter is the prompt, in case you're wondering.

A battle of roses

It started with a single, red rose in full bloom that Mikoto Mikoshiba found in his shoe locker on Valentine's Day, when he was going home. There were also chocolates that accompanied the rose, however, Mikoshiba's birthday was on the 14th of February and he always got more chocolates than he could possibly eat in a month or five, so those went all but unnoticed. But the rose!

It was stunningly beautiful. Delicate petals, deep red in colour, fanned out, their edges curled outwards, creating a delightfully full blossom. It was the kind of rose Mikoshiba aimed at when he was drawing his flowers and it was the colour he would have liked to draw, if he was drawing in colour. In one word, it was a perfect rose and it deserved every bit of his awe, as he stared at it in shock, forgetting where he was and what he was going to do, tuning out the light monologue that died down anyway.

If he has paid attention he would have probably noticed Yuu Kashima's expression and mark that day in the calendar, for it wasn't often that the illustrious Prince was jealous of anything or anybody that didn't have to do with Masayuki Hori's attention and affection. And it was fairly certain that it wasn't the president of the drama club who has left the rose in Mikoshiba's shoe locker.

He did notice the avid desire in Chiyo Sakura's gaze moments later. She and Yuzuki Seo made their way towards him and Kashima, called over by the enthusiastic Prince now apparently on a mission to let the entire school know what happened. And by the time they have arrived, Mikoshiba has managed to shake off the first shock, just enough to become aware of his surroundings somewhat.

'But you can't eat it,' Seo pointed out with a small grimace, when she saw the rose Mikoshiba was still holding delicately. She was the only one, of the four of them, to not be thoroughly amazed by the flower. Was she even human?

'It's so beautiful,' Sakura sighed at the same time, awe and longing mixing in her voice. Mikoshiba could almost bet she was already imagining herself receiving a red rose from a certain, oblivious mangaka. He felt a bit sorry for her.

Meanwhile, Kashima wordlessly traced the edge of one petal with her finger, before withdrawing her hand rapidly. Another time, Mikoshiba would be surprised by the uncharacteristic show of shyness from the school's Prince.

'Was there a letter at least?' Seo asked in a bored tone. The question prompted Mikoshiba to look back into the locker, to find the small box of chocolates, in a form of a red heart, and an envelope.

The letter wasn't signed, Kashima told Hori on the train sometime later that day. She has read it and, since it was short, memorized it, giving the train passengers an impromptu rendition of the content that made everybody around stare in awe. Rather than addressing the slight hint of jealousy in her tone, when she described the rose, Hori focused on correcting her delivery and they spent the rest of the train ride taking turns at romantic monologues. It was probably the most fun Hori had that day. Feeling oddly indulgent, he didn't hesitate to tell that to Kashima as they parted, knowing it would make her happy.

It probably made her forget all about the rose and Mikoshiba, if her reaction was any indication. And Hori didn't really want to delve into the implications of this. In fact, he wanted to forget all about red roses in full bloom left in shoe lockers. He has thrown his out before anybody could see because, for one, he didn't have time for secret crushes. Besides, it surely wasn't from Kashima, who has already given him her "store bought" chocolates and was not one for such subtle gestures.

Not that he would be interested in getting a rose from Kashima. Not at all.

Was what he told himself firmly and walked home. And he forgot all about red roses until the following morning, when he arrived to a school bursting with gossip: Mikoshiba and Wakamatsu have found roses in their shoe lockers. The roses were accompanied by cute chocolates in heart-shaped boxes and a thoroughly romantic, anonymous love letters. Exactly the same love letters, word to word, as a suspicious Kashima informed him.

It took Hori half a day to realize why nobody, not Mikoshiba, not Wakamatsu and not even Sakura, figured out what has happened. Then he realized that nobody knew he also got the rose, completing the exclusive group of Umetarou Nozaki's male manga helpers. Not that he planned on telling anybody, since he didn't want this kind of attention on him. That was why he found Nozaki as soon as he could and informed him, very politely and calmly, that if Nozaki said anything about it, Hori himself would make sure that everybody in the school knew it was Nozaki who planted the roses in the shoe lockers, unable to contain his long since repressed passion.

'What did you feel when you saw it, senpai?' the annoying mangaka asked in reply, seemingly not bothered by the threat in the least. 'Did your heart beat faster?'

'No,' came the flat answer, accompanied by what Hori hoped was a pointed glare. Not that it mattered, because Nozaki was writing in his notebook. When did he even take it out?

'Did your heart beat faster when you got chocolates from Kashima?' he asked without lifting his head from his notes.

'No? Why would it?' Hori asked back. 'It's not like it was even a surprise,' he pointed out. He briefly thought about how Kashima has sneaked into his classroom the previous day. Well, it wasn't technically "sneaking in", but with Kashima anything that didn't alert half the school of her actions could be considered discrete.

It has been somewhat surprising on his second year, especially since it has probably been the first time when Hori has interacted with the incorrigible Prince with no theatrics or drama involved. But this time? He would have been more surprised if she hasn't given him a box of nicely wrapped chocolates that tasted far better than their store-bought counterparts, even if they looked exactly the same.

'What wasn't a surprise?' Sakura asked, coming up to them.

'Kashima's chocolates,' Hori replied easily.

And, as far as Hori was concerned, that was the end of the rose story. He tuned out Sakura's enthusiastic rendition of what has happened by Mikoshiba's shoe locker and bid his goodbyes to the two, only briefly wondering whether Sakura has managed to give her own chocolates to Nozaki. He knew that she has planned something "special", but Kashima hasn't been forthcoming with details for once. Not that he cared. He couldn't understand why girls made such a fuss out of it anyway: what was wrong with simply handing over the chocolate box with a soft, cute smile?

Right, Hori, topic change. He was definitely not remembering Kashima with any degree of fondness.

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It must be nice to receive roses, Kashima thought glumly, watching one of the first-year girls walk into the drama club room with a large bouquet of blood-red flowers. Even from where she was sitting, pretending to be working on the decoration for the next play, chin propped on her hand, Kashima could see the radiating smile that lit up the girl's face as some others ran up, asking all sorts of questions.

Whoever offered roses to Mikoshiba and Wakamatsu has sure started a trend in the school. It seemed that the most desired gift this White Day was a bouquet of roses, ideally red since they symbolized love, and it appeared that a considerable number of boys have caught on, some better than others. Kashima has lost count of the girls who showed off their bouquets with pride. She has seen Chiyo blush as Mikoshiba pushed a small bouquet of white roses into her hands before running away, blushing himself. She has seen Yuzuki sporting a surprisingly thoughtful expression as she tore off petal after petal from bright orange roses lying on her desk.

Kashima has even been thinking about buying some, albeit pale pink, for her princesses, many of whom have mentioned how amazing it would be to get flowers. However, a rare spark of practicality shot the idea down: she didn't really know how many princesses there were and there was no way she could allow for any to be left empty-handed. Plus, even in the most modest estimates, assuming only one rose per princess, she was arriving and numbers and sums of money that were far too large.

'Kashima,' she heard behind her and literally jumped in the air. She kept her balance easily enough, turning around in her crouched position, fully expecting Hori-senpai to start complaining about how she hasn't done anything since he has left her.

Instead, she recoiled in surprise and had to prop her hand on the half-painted decoration now behind her, to avoid falling onto it completely: a single, beautifully red rose in full bloom was thrust almost in her face. It certainly wasn't anything she has expected. Her eyes widened as she took in the flower, glancing beyond it to make sure that it really was Hori-senpai holding it out to her. It was.

'Senpai,' she whispered in awe, lifting up her hand to gently trace the edge of one of the petals. It was even more beautiful than the one she remembered Mikoshiba getting, she thought. Hori clicked his tongue in irritation. The sound, quiet as it was, echoed in the suddenly silent club room.

'Are you going to take it or not?' Hori asked. Was it her imagination or was senpai blushing, standing there with the red rose for her in front of the whole drama club? With a laugh, Kashima took the rose from his hand and breathed in the sweet smell. She wanted to quote Romeo and Juliet, but Hori-senpai was holding out a hand for her. Without hesitation, she grabbed it and he pulled her up, speaking again: 'Get your things, Kashima. I promised we'll go to have parfaits today, didn't I?'

He hadn't. But it didn't matter.

With a delighted squeal, Kashima closed the distance between them, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. Over his muffled protests, she loudly proclaimed that senpai was the best in the whole world. And if she truly, honestly meant it, beyond her excessive act, well, nobody needed to know, right?