It all sounded complicated, but it was simple inside her mind. And the way the teachers would teach these lessons, was in her opinion, much more complicated than how she does it inside her mind.

      It was probably why she failed most of her quizzes – the answers were correct, though the solution was different from what they wanted, and it ended up with points deducted from her paper.

      She always found herself wondering about the little things, then finding herself unintentionally wanting to compute each feature that it had by doing so in different divisions – though, she wanted to do it all in her way. And as she stared longer at the rain waters that were stuck on the window, she didn't notice that the bell that signaled the beginning of lunch had rung, and as well as her peers that began whispering in curiosity and amazement a few minutes after.

      Sayo sighed and turned her head down on her empty notebook, placing her hand under the cover to flip it closed before placing it inside her bag. And as she made a move to stand up, she looks up mid-way to see the familiar light-grey-haired boy that she was well acquainted with, with her head tilting to the side in confusion.

      "Is that Kita-san?"

      "What is he doing here?"

      "Are those flowers?"

      Her eyes widen when he walks in with the stoic expression remaining on his face that he usually had, his brown eyes searching the class making Sayo wonder who he was there for. His eyes then landed on hers, causing the corners of his lips to quirk up a little and Sayo to jolt up from her startled heart.

      Wisterias. Flowers that had many symbolisms and two of them being patience and long-life, but it could also mean love and beauty – but how could she know that, when she barely gave a shit about researching on flowers and their meanings?

      Sayo didn't know what to think or do when he approaches her and stands right in front of where she sat, and could only stare at him with eyes wide as saucers and lips that were parted in shock. She blinks and looks at the bouquet of Wisterias in his hands that were extended towards her, then back at his face that told her that he was not joking.

      She snaps out of her reverie when he asks, "Are you not going to accept the flowers?"

      "U-Uh..."

      She gasps lightly when he personally made the move to grasp her hand that was placed over her table limply, then allowed her to hold the bouquet in her hand. He raised her hand up and carefully laced her fingers around the bundle of stems before waiting for her to speak.

      "Oh, it was for Kai-san?"

      "She's so lucky..."

      "I'm jealous. I want my boyfriend to do that to me too."

      Sayo abruptly stood up from her chair, overwhelmed by the amount of attention that was directed to her by her classmates. She slung her lunchbox over her shoulder and with her other hand, she grasped Shinsuke's wrist while the other held the flowers, then began pulling him out of the classroom.

      "Ooh, get it Kai-san!"

      She cringed at the comment and started to walk at a rapid pace, bringing him to the place where they hung out the week before. She releases his hand from her hold when she sees the lilac hues and the wooden bench before plopping herself down on the seat (mind you, the seat was still wet from the rain), staring up at the boy who looked down at her with an unreadable expression.

      "The seat is we-"

      She cut him off while glancing at the flowers then questioning hastily, "What are the flowers for?"

      Shinsuke looks down at her dark eyes that were staring back at him, almost wavering but she tried to hold it firmly because of her naturally stubborn nature. He remembers the time that he walked towards school this morning and he suddenly felt that same ache beneath his chest, so he made the uncharacteristically impulsive decision to buy her flowers.

      He looks at her properly this time, with his thoughts much clearer; I want to make her happy.

      With that thought in mind, he gives her a proper smile that caught Sayo off-guard at how wide and genuine it was. And the next words caused an implosion of vibrant colors and bursts of softness to bloom inside her already worn-out heart.

      "I had a feeling that you needed a bit of encouraging today."

_____

𝐌𝐈𝐃𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐑𝐔𝐄𝐒  -  𝐒. 𝐊𝐈𝐓𝐀Where stories live. Discover now