Take My Breath Away | Peko Pekoyama

03 | Flower Girl

     The students of Hope's Peak Academy were confused yet happy that morning as the small brunette bounced around the courtyard carrying an armful of assorted flowers. Misa closed her eyes and let out a content sigh as the morning sun warmed her face. Wearing a wide smile, she leaped up the stairs leading to the fountain and found Hajime and Chiaki sitting side by side playing video games.

     "Good morning!" Misa said as she approached the two. Hajime looked up from his console and smiled at Misa. Chiaki didn't seem to notice her arrival as she continued to smash buttons on her console.

     "Morning, Misa." Hajime replied. When Chiaki remained silent, Hajime gently nudged her to get her attention. Chiaki looked up from her video game, blinked, and then gave Misa a little smile.

     "Oh. Good morning."

     "I brought something for you guys." Misa said before pulling two flowers out of the bunch in her arms and handing one to each of them. Hajime looked at the blue daisy in his hand before smiling up at the florist.

     "Thank you, Misa! That's really nice of you. Any particular reason?"

     "Nope! I just woke up in a really good mood and wanted to do something nice for my friends."

     "Thanks," said Chiaki as she set her pink chrysanthemum down beside her, "did you want to play some video games with us?"

     "Thanks for the offer, but I still have a lot of deliveries to make before class starts!" Misa said with a laugh before waltzing off to deliver her next flower. Hajime and Chiaki watched the girl leave in silence before Hajime let out a quiet chuckle and shook his head.

"She's odd. Kind, but odd."

"Hm," Chiaki said with a small nod of agreement,"I hope she never changes though."

-

"Wow! Such a wonderful gift from the Ultimate Florist! I don't know what trash like me could have possibly done to be deemed worthy of such a magnificent honour!"

"Uh, don't mention it Nagito! Have a good day!" Misa turned around and tried to leave as quickly as she could without seeming rude.

"Oh, I will Misa! The hope I've seen in your smile will surely make this day exceptional!"

Misa walked a little bit faster.

-

"A-wha-wha-wha-whAT? For me? Damn, thanks Misa!"

Misa watched in horror as Ibuki took the tulip and shoved it in her mouth.

"Ibuki loves getting presents from cute girls! And cute boys! Anyway, thanks!"

And with that, Ibuki took off, leaving Misa standing by herself with her mouth open in shock.

-

"Wait, no! Please don't cry! This was supposed to make you happy!"

"Oh, Mi-Misa! I-I'm so so-sorry! I just - I just-" Mikan cut herself off as she began sobbing and lost the ability to speak properly. The crying girl fell to her knees and clutched the purple flower to her chest tightly. Misa awkwardly crouched down behind her and began to rub soothing circles on the other girl's back while desperately trying to ignore the odd stares she was receiving.

-

As Peko made her way to class, she couldn't help but notice how every single student she passed seemed to be holding some sort of flower. She had noticed Hajime and Chiaki put two flowers in a tiny vase in Chiaki's locker, a bright pink daisy had been tucked in the front pocket of Kazuichi's jumpsuit, and Mahiru had been helping Hiyoko tuck an orange lily into her blonde hair. Peko almost giggled when she saw a particularly grumpy looking Fuyuhiko stomp down the hallway clutching a bright sunflower.

-

"Hi, Peko!" an excited voice called out as Peko sat down at her desk. She turned to see the happy little flower girl standing in the doorway waving wildly at her. As the other girl got settled into her own desk, Peko glanced over at her and smirked.

"Am I correct in assuming that you are the cause of all the happiness on campus today?"

"Aw, Peko, you didn't think I forgot about you, did you?" Misa leaned over and placed a delicate red rose on the swordswoman's desk. Peko tilted her head in confusion.

"But you gave me a flower yesterday..."

"And now I'm giving you another one."

-

The two girls were walking side by side down the hallway when Misa stopped and let out a gasp.

"Is something wrong?" Peko asked, her eyes scanning the surrounding area for some kind of threat.

"I left my phone in the classroom!" Misa exclaimed.

"Let's head back then."

"No, it's okay. I can go grab it quickly. Do you want to go grab us some seats in the cafeteria? I promise, I'll be right behind you!"

Before Peko even had the chance to argue, Misa had sprinted down the hallway back toward the classroom. Peko rolled her eyes and chuckled quietly before continuing on to the cafeteria.

-

Misa entered the classroom out of breath. Rushing over to her desk she began to search for her missing phone.

"I'm guessing this is yours then?"

Misa looked up to see Fuyuhiko leaning against the far wall holding a very familiar phone.

"What are you still doing here?" Misa asked. She hadn't intended for her words to sound rude, she was simply curious.

"None of your fuckin' business." the boy snapped. Misa took a step back. Fuyuhiko noticed and let out a small sigh, dropping his head down.

"Sorry. I didn't mean it like that. But still. Here's your phone."

Misa smiled and gratefully accepted the small device.

"Thank you!"

"Yeah, whatever, forget about it." he said. He turned his head to the side to try to hide it but Misa could see a slight blush to his face.

Misa turned to leave but stopped as a violent cough tore out of her throat. She tried to stop but that only seemed to make her cough more. Quickly she scurried over to the garbage can and began to cough over top of it. Something seemed to be worming it's way up her throat. Finally, she stopped coughing as she got the small object out of her system.

"Fuckin' hell! You good?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm fine." Misa replied shakily.

"You sure? Do you want to go see Mikan? Cause that shit sounded painful."

Misa turned around and gave Fuyuhiko an unconvincing smile and nod.

"I feel fine now," she said, clasping her hands together in an attempt to make them stop shaking, "we should probably get to the cafeteria now before we completely miss lunch."

Fuyuhiko followed her out of the classroom without a fight. Misa tried to put on her usual perky smile, but it was difficult as she couldn't get the image of the rose petals she had just coughed up into a garbage can out of her head.