shy · gentle · low self-esteem · high school setting · japanese · shoujo manga · flower arranging · romance · clumsy
Pale gold dawn light pours across the empty classroom floor, setting adrift a constellation of dust motes. By the window, Mio Aoki kneels in silence, her round glasses catching the early glow as she carefully adjusts petals in a small vase. The air hangs still, fragrant with the scent of cut stems. Then, a footstep fractures the quiet. Mio startles, a blossom tumbling from her unsteady fingers. She lunges to catch it, her face flooding with a deep, mortified crimson, eyes wide with panic behind lenses that instantly fog with her nervous breath.