Spring Blooms 1

The winter was beginning to make its leave as time exited February and entered into March. The month came in like a lion as Arata was still stressing over the girls trying to win his heart. In a sense, he was looking forward the weather getting warmer. While it wouldn't encourage him to want to go outside more than he normally did, the change did give the boy the opportunity to do something that he loved doing again. That being to help out Hine once more with her garden.

He did it at first because of the money. His hobby wasn't cheap by any means. So when the woman was talking to one of her friends at the market about it, he immediately offered his services. Though Arata never imagined what their relationship would bring when he got blackmailed by Erina.

"It's nice to see you coming back for this again." She greeted him as he gave her a familiar sight. The boy was carrying over his gardening tools, prepared to labor over the beginnings of her garden once more. As typical for the start, it was primarily barren land that he was going to need to sow in the seeds and cultivate growth.

"I'm happy to be back doing this again too." He replied as the boy set down his gear. "I've been waiting way too long for this."

"I don't worry about waiting for it to come." She sat down at her porch as they chatted a bit. "When you get to be my age, it's no guarantee that I'll make it for times like this."

"Oh come on." He spoke in a slightly anxious manner, trying to downplay the facts. "You're not that old yet."

"Heh, perhaps." She chuckled, giving the boy a bit of a rub on his head. "You're still young, so I shouldn't be saying these kind of things in front of you." Though even if there was still plenty of time in their lives, there was not as much for another important thing in his life. "So, have you finally found the love of your life?"

"No, I still haven't." Arata was disappointed that reaching this point in time still single was not optimal. "And, don't tease me with that kind of stuff. I don't know if I'll even get married to anyone here."

"But it's cute to see you get all flustered." She let him get to work as she went inside her house. The old lady made some tea for the both of them as she returned back into the conversation. "Don't you have a friend who really enjoys gardening too?"

"Matsu." He answered. "Yeah, she's part of the gardening club. But I don't really consider this to be my passion or anything."

"A shame about that." He was quite skilled in tending to her garden. If he started his own gardening business when he grew up, then this boy would make a lot of money doing so thanks to his skills. "She's also a rather cute girl."

"I thought you'd want me to go with Hifumi." Ever since learning that those two were related, he figured that the one this woman would support at the end of the day would be her granddaughter. It just made sense to him, but she didn't seem very committed. Hine always told him that it was his choice at the end of the day, regardless of her own personal feelings. A part of him was glad, but also felt bad for Hifumi who had no one truly on her side.

"While it would be nice to be able to call you my, 'grandson-in-law', I don't want to force you to do things for my sake." She laughed out loud. In the woman's mind, she had already lived a full life doing the things she wanted to do. "You know, you should invite the gardening club from your school over sometimes. They must be raring to go now that the weather's getting better. So my garden's always free for them to use."

"I bet you don't plan on paying them for making it beautiful though."

"Ha! You know me too well." The pair talked throughout the time he worked on her garden. It was tougher work today since he had to dig up dirt and plant each seed individually. Then after that, the boy had to mark it all so he would know which was which as they drew up to become gorgeous flowers to showcase her outdoors. When he was finished, Arata also shared a drink with her and headed back home.

Her words weren't forgotten by him even as he got back in school the next day. Matsu and her friends would love to have a fun time gardening with Hine. She was a nice old lady and the girls were kind too. So it would make for a match in heaven. Though the factor he was more concerned with was the elephant in the room. That being his knowledge of that girl's crush on him.

They even had already gone on a date, but he never gave her a proper answer. To be fair, a truck got in the way of that. But she never brought it up after he got better from it. Most likely because of the fear of him actually rejecting her. Nearly losing the boy took away all the bravery she had when Matsu was willing to accept whatever answer he had for her when their date was over.

"Hello girls." So he decided to talk with them after school, when clubs were beginning to start work. "You aren't too busy right now, are you?" Arata peered his head into their club room, it seemed filled with a bunch of knickknacks related to plants, trees, and gardens.

"We're never too busy when it comes to you." Matsu answered in a dreamy voice. She was just happy to see him pop by, considering that the boy never came to them.

"Actually, we are a little busy." It was up to Karino, one of the other members, as well as one of Matsu's friends, to keep a level head.

"Since winter's ending, we do need to brainstorm some ideas of what we're going to do." Said another one, Hanaka.

"We fell behind in activities because of the winter, so we don't want to get in trouble with the student council for not doing anything." Said Yumeho, the last member of the group. They decided to speak in turns, which was odd for Arata. Though it was probably because they were so close with one another that they could continue on the same point without any confusion from the rest.

Also Yumeho's point was overblown. First off, he was a member of the student council and none of his cohorts had plans on harassing the gardening club. If they did, he would be the first one to know about it and put a stop to it. Secondly, it didn't matter anyway since he had a plan that they'd surely be on board with.

"Then if I could give suggestion. The old lady I work for, Hine, would love if you girls could join me as I start back to working on her garden."

"We'll do it." Without a moment's hesitation, Matsu already threw in their involvement. Not that anyone minded, seeing as it was expected coming out of her.

"It does sounds like a fun idea." Said Hanaka. They all benefited from it other than Matsu, though the girls were more than willing to support their friend through think and thin. "Plus, it would give us something to put down for activities at a low cost."

"Great, then this old lady's going to have the best garden on the block." Karino took this to brag about their skills, more specifically, hers. "Actually you know what? We should ask all of the elderly if we can help tend their gardens. They're old, so obviously they'd want some help."

"Considering the ones that live there, I think they're more lively than us." Arata remembered a certain old man who seemed to be a fighting master. "They're not that helpless, but I'm sure they'd love to spend time with us." Of course, they only really knew him. So it was more that the boy was going to be there rather than the gardening club. "Anyway, I'm sure we can all go together when my next shift comes up tomorrow."

"My, when you say it like that. It sounds like you have a real job." Matsu giggled. She was the most excited across all of them to have this shot. "Then I guess that makes you our boss then." The girl gave a playful salute to him as a joke.

"Uh, sure." Arata sheepishly accepted the role. "Then I hope you all listen to my orders then." The boy played along as he returned her salute. "At ease."

"Hehe, we'll be at ease all right." Hanaka giggled at her friends' playful natures. "And perhaps…" As they were walking out of the club room, she had one more thing to whisper over to him. "Perhaps you can give Matsu the answer she deserves?"