White Anemone Petals

Chapter 4

Cupa continued walking into the school with her head down. She was desperately trying to mask her blush, and wasn't succeeding. She continued walking to the occult club to find Oka. When she saw she wasn't there, she kept walking around until she found Oka. She was on the school roof watching a pink haired girl. Cupa knew this girl as Mai Waifu. Cupa had only ever spoken to her once or twice as she wasn't very social.
"What are you doing?" Cupa asked as she tapped Oka on the shoulder. The occult club president squeaked in surprise before turning around to face her best friend.
"There's rumours floating around that Mai has hidden powers. I think that's why her eyes change colours" Oka said softly, making Cupa giggle. Oka was so gullible when it came to anything paranormal.
"It's probably just a rumour, like with the Basu sisters." She said gently. She remembered when Oka had been so intent on stalking the Basu sisters, believing Sakyu Basu was a succubus and Inkyu Basu was a vampire. "If it's true, it will reveal itself to you." Cupa told her, gently taking hold of her hand and leading her away from the unsuspecting girl she was stalking previously.
"So, are we getting lunch together today?" Oka asked a little shyly. Cupa sighed and shook her head a little.
"I'm sorry, but I'm having lunch with Taro today." She said, blushing at his name. Oka frowned a little as Cupa coughed more petals out of Oka's sight.
"That's fine. I'll see you later." Oka said, letting go of Cupa's hand and walking to class by herself. Cupa felt kinda bad for letting Oka down, but she was more excited to spend time with her crush.

Cupa could barely focus on her schoolwork that morning. She was too excited to spend lunch with Taro and without Osana trying to ruin it.
"Hey Cupa." He called, running to the fountain. She had arrived first, and had been patiently sitting on the fountain waiting for him.
"Hey Taro. I'm glad you came." Cupa said, blushing. He laughed a little and sat down beside her.
"Why wouldn't I come?" He asked a little jokingly. He started laughing, also making the small girl beside him laugh.
"Good point." She laughed, reaching down into her bag. She began to cough, her bag hiding the petals coming from her mouth. She removed her lunch and looked at Taro, who looked a little concerned for her. "Don't worry about me, I'm fine." She told him. He laughed and began to eat his lunch. She also ate her lunch.
"This is nice." Taro said once they had both finished their lunches. They would have to go back to class soon, but neither of them wanted to.
"Yeah." She said, wiggling her fingers in the water creating ripples on its surface. "I have a question." She said, looking up at him. He looked back at her without saying anything. "Why did you ask me to have lunch with you today?" She asked. He shrugged his shoulders casually.
"I don't really know." He admitted. She sighed a little as the warning bell for class sounded through the school. "Oh, I'll see you around Cupa." He said, picking up his bag and heading back into the school. She smiled a little and did the same.

She was about to head into the classroom when she felt someone grab her hand and pull her towards the locker area. No one else was at their lockers. She looked at the person, and realised it was Ayano.
"What do you want?" Cupa asked, confused. Ayano smirked, still holding on to Cupa's hand.
"I saw you with Taro. Do you have a crush on him?" Ayano asked bluntly. Cupa's cheeks began to turn pink at the mention of Taro's name. "Knew it." Ayano smirked triumphantly when she saw the blush on her cousin's face.
"Please don't tell anyone." Cupa begged, suppressing another cough. Ayano nodded her head.
"I won't tell." She promised, walking away back to her classroom. Cupa sighed before also going to class.

That evening, Cupa sat in her room curling her hair so she could go to dinner at the Saiko family home. She felt fine, even though she had been coughing more petals. Her aunt walked into the room, watching Cupa until she noticed.
"You ready to go?" She said, staring coldly at her niece. Cupa turned off her curlers and turned to face her aunt.
"Yeah." She said, coughing a moment later. Her aunt shook her head in disgust and walked towards the door.
"No, you've got a cough. You're staying home." Her aunt told her, closing the door behind her. She didn't even give Cupa a chance to protest or say that she was fine. That was the weird thing to her. She had this weird cough, but felt completely fine. She sighed and removed her heels, laying back on her bed. At least now she could read the book Oka gave her and hopefully have a better idea of what was wrong with her. She looked at the large book on her desk and sighed, she really didn't feel like reading that tonight. She instead decided to text Ayano and invite her over for the night.
Cupa: Do you want to come over tonight for a sleepover? Xx
Ayano: Sure. I'll be over in 15 xxx

Late that night, Cupa and Ayano both sat in bed wide awake watching anime. They had ordered a pizza, and spent the evening watching anime and talking about other students in their school. Cupa's cough had only really bothered her when they spoke about Taro, and her crush on him. Maybe there was a link. Ayano still didn't know about it, as she knew Ayano would be overly worried about her. She'd probably be more worried than her aunt and uncle. Ayano had always been like that, being a year older than Cupa, but she kinda liked it. That was part of the reason they were so close.