It might seem odd to most of the people he knew, but flowers were one of only things that Hiyoshi Wakashi truly felt at peace among. He didn't understand exactly why himself, but they had a way of calming him when he was frustrated with his home life, school, or tennis.

"You don't seem the type to garden, Hiyoshi-kun." Akutgawa Jiroh said as he discovered the other boy sitting amongst dirt and flowers in his front yard.

Hiyoshi turned slightly red, and directed his attention upward toward his senpai. "What's it to you, anyway?"

Jiroh laughed as he took a seat on the grass beside the other. "It looks like fun. What kind of flowers are they?"

Hiyoshi sighed as he came to the quick realization that he was not going to be able to get rid of his senpai. "Gardenias."

Jiroh kneeled over Hiyoshi to smell one of the seemingly perfect blooms. "Wow! They smell really nice! And they're pretty too!" Hiyoshi might have said something to the effect of, 'You don't know anything about them, so how can you properly appreciate their beauty?' but didn't, for the sake of respect to a senpai, and the fact that he doubted that he'd get through to the older boy anyway. "Uh yeah. They are…." Jiroh seemed to like everything though, and Hiyoshi simply didn't understand that. How could it be possible for someone not to get frustrated, and to not dislike things?

Hiyoshi watched as Jiroh continued to gaze at the flowers. "How come you're always so...cheerful?" Hiyoshi was genuinely curious as to how someone could be so consistently, and annoyingly positive.

Jiroh grinned before speaking. "What's the point of being gloomy? It can't possibly make you feel good, and it makes people around you feel bad too."

Hiyoshi thought about his senpai's words, and figured they made enough sense, but they didn't seem practical. "How can you stay positive when there's so much pain and suffering?" Hiyoshi wanted to break the other boy's spirit; show him reality, because he seemed to be living in a dream world.

Jiroh laughed at his attempt to dampen his spirits. "Pain and suffering are a sad, but necessary part of life, and we learn from those things. I wish I could help everyone, but I know I can't, so I focus on what I can do." Jiroh jumped up, and placed a hand out to Hiyoshi. "Mainly, cheering you up."

Hiyoshi instantly wanted to come up with some excuse not to join the older boy on whatever excursion he had planned, but figured it would be disrespectful not to go. "Fine." Hiyoshi stood without grabbing Jiroh's outstretched hand and began walking past him. Jiroh laughed as he caught up to Hiyoshi.

"Where are we going?" Hiyoshi asked as he slowed down slightly to allow Jiroh to walk beside him.

"I don't know really..."

The End

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