White Anemone Petals

Chapter 3

That lunch, Cupa met up with Oka on the school roof. They were in different years, so Oka usually arrived at the roof first as her classroom is nearer the roof. Cupa ran over to her best friend and sat down on the bench beside her.
"Hey Oka." Cupa said happily as she removed her lunch from her bag, being careful to not reveal the bag of Anemone petals to Oka. "Do you not have lunch, Oka?" She asked as she looked over at Oka, and realised her best friend didn't have any. Oka shook her head softly, looking down at her hands. "Here. Take mine." She didn't hesitate as she held her lunch out to Oka.
"Are you sure? Don't you want it?" Oka asked, not taking it from her. Cupa smiled a little and nodded her head.
"Of course I'm sure. I don't need it as much as you do." She said. Oka smiled a little as she took the lunchbox from her best friend.
"Hey Cupa." The girl in question looked up and saw 3 of her friends, Pippi Osu, Saki Miyu, and Musume Ronshaku, running towards her. She smiled as they all sat down with the pair.
"Guess who just got a boyfriend!" Pippi cheered happily. "Ryuto asked me out last night." She said happily. Cupa smiled at her, happy for her friend. "What about you guys?" She asked.
"I, like, might have a small crush on Budo." Musume admitted, laughing a little. Her cheeks began to blush at the mention of his name. Cupa thought of Taro, and began to blush also.
"Cupa has a crush on someone." Saki said a little accusingly. She began to blush more as all eyes fell on her. "Spill. Who is it?"
"T-Taeko and Taro." She admitted. She began to cough, catching more white petals in her hand. She refused to let her friends see, even though they were concerned for her.
"Are you alright? Pippi asked as Cupa coughed again. The small girl nodded her head and threw the petals into her bag out of everyone's sight.
"I'm fine. It's just a cough, don't worry about me." She laughed. She didn't like anyone worrying about her. The group continued to talk until the end of lunch.

"Can I ask for a favour?" Cupa asked as she spoke to Oka in the occult club room. It was after school that day, and Cupa wanted something before she went home as she didn't have a club to attend.
"Sure. What is it?" Oka asked.
"Do you have any books on anything botanical?" She asked. Oka shrugged her shoulders and began to search the bookshelves.
"Why do you need a book like that?" Oka asked as she continued searching. Cupa knew immediately Oka would worry about her if she told her the truth.
"Curiosity. That's all." She lied. Oka nodded her head, believing her lie. She turned back to Cupa after a couple of minutes. She had one large, leather-bound book in her hands.
"This is all I could find." Oka sighed, passing her the book.
"This is fine, thank you Oka." She said, taking the book and putting it into her bag. She gave Oka a hug, before heading towards the door. "I'll return this as soon as I'm done with it." She promised.
"Ok. Good night Cupa. Hope your cough goes away." Oka said softly, waving at her friend and smiling. Cupa smiled back and left the room. She also hoped this weird cough would disappear soon. The flower petals tasted disgusting, and she sometimes feared she would choke to death on one.

That night, she sat in her bed with the book rested on her lap. She'd started reading it, but had barely made it a tenth of the way through. She hadn't found anything else about coughing up petals, which she had done a lot. It had started getting worse.
"What are you doing?" Her aunt said as she entered the room without knocking. That annoyed Cupa, but she decided to not say anything.
"Reading." Cupa said, looking up and at her aunt. The older woman shrugged her shoulders casually, she didn't really care what Cupa did as long as she wasn't getting into trouble.
"Just to let you know, we've been invited for dinner at the Saiko family home. It's important to your uncle." Her aunt said. Her uncle worked for the Saikou company, and his boss was Megami Saiko's father. Cupa knew Megami, they considered each other friends.
"That's fine." Cupa said emotionlessly. She knew her aunt loved showing her off like a trophy, even though she seemed like a complete failure next to Megami Saiko. She sighed a little as her aunt left the room. She began to cough again, expelling more petals into the air. It seemed to get worse every day.

The next day was Friday. Cupa had hardly gotten any sleep that night, as she'd been coughing up petals all night. She still hadn't told anyone, as she didn't want people being worried for her. She reached the front gate and saw Taro waiting for her.
"Hey Cupa." He called to her. She coughed again before walking over to him. He didn't see the petals now in her hand.
"Hey Taro. What do you want?" She asked as she reached him. He smiled and hesitantly took hold of her hand. She began to blush and cough a little more.
"Osana's sick, so would you like to eat lunch together?" Taro asked. His question rendered Cupa speechless. She nodded her head, still blushing heavily. "Great. I'll meet you by the fountain." She nodded her head as he let her hand go. She was frozen in place as she watched Taro walk away. She hesitantly walked to her locker a minute later. She still had a heavy blush on her face. She'd accepted she had a crush on Taro, and she wanted to make it work between them.