“Well, every worthwhile endeavor has an origin story,” Emi shrugged.

“I…um…I think what Himari was talking about when she asked who was ‘speaking for the petitioners’ had less to do with the literal Japanese creation myth and more to do with the club itself,” Tsubaki supplied helpfully. “Like…uh…why should we approve your application. I mean, we already have a gardening club and a beautification committee and stuff. What are you going to do differently than what they already do?”

A sudden realization snuck into Emi’s mind like a fox into a hen house. There was no way she could tell the Student Council the real reason she wanted to start the club. How do you explain something like “I want to help other girls like me find some comfort, solace, and real emotions before they’re stripped naked and pilloried for the benefit of someone they might have never met and their own family’s self-serving prestige and search for more wealth” without saying that exact thing?

While Emi’s skill with ideation was a strong point for her, her attention to the actual details necessary to take that idea from her mind to the drawing board to existence could best be characterized as…lacking. In Tottori she’d been the center of an information network to rival that of the most esteemed information brokers. At least, so she imagined having never met an information broker, esteemed or no, in the flesh before. But those details had come from others more…grounded, than she was.

While there had been almost unbearable nervousness at this meeting, for the first-time real panic began to set in. Grandiosity had served her well many times, but in this instance, she knew it would not take her over the finish line. She needed an actual reason. A reason she had no idea how to properly articulate.

“Y-Your m-majesties!” Asami stammered, raising a shaking hand into the air. “I-I c-can h-h-help with th-the explanation.” Asami was not good at public speaking. In fact, ‘not good’ was a gross understatement.

While she was fine in small groups or even with one or two strangers, her anxiety grew exponentially as the pressure mounted and the eyes of people she didn’t know well focused on her. Those eyes staring at her now made her heart feel like it was going to explode from her chest and her lungs seemed to be filled with cotton. She had been asked to read aloud during primary school and hadn’t even gotten to her feet before the world spun wildly and she passed out. She had gotten marginally better as the years passed, but once again that all-too-familiar terror had gripped her. Her knees were shaking, her hand was shaking, her breath came in ragged gasps, and the world seemed to shrink in on itself. But she couldn’t let all the hard work and hope they had put into this idea fall flat.

She’d never belonged anywhere. She was a dirt-poor outsider at school and when she went home, she was treated like she’d suddenly become a snob, even though it had been her parents’ idea to send her here. Emi had been her first real friend, and they’d only known each other for a few days. She, honestly, had no idea what this club was going to do. She didn’t know what Emi was even talking about most of the time when she said it would change everyone’s life. She just knew what the club meant to her.

It wasn’t a thing. It wasn’t an activity. It wasn’t a way to pass the time. For Asami, it was a place where, maybe for the first time in her life, she belonged. That feeling of camaraderie and belonging meant more to her than anything else. So, if by standing in the maelstrom of eyes looking in her direction, she could save that feeling, she would do that and more.

“…majesties?” Tsubaki cocked her head quizzically.

“Oh, honey, we’re not royalty,” Himari waved her hands in embarrassment.

“A-Ah, y-y-yeah,” Asami stammered brokenly. “H-heh. I-I would l-like to explain i-if I c-could.”

“It’s ok!” Himari smiled kindly at the flustered girl. “We just want to understand what your club is about and what you want to do.”

“W-well we are a-all flowers,” Asami focused on the sheet of paper in her hands. The words she’d written so carefully and then re-written until they were perfect seemed to blur worse the more she tried to focus on them. Her kanji was as flawless as she could make it, but quickly began to look like complete gibberish. Her glasses kept slipping and she’d push them back up onto the bridge of her nose only to have them slip again, causing the words to blur anew and her to lose her place. Her heart was pounding so hard her chest ached, and she felt the sweat spring onto her skin and trickle down her belly. For a second, she felt like she was going to faint, but she kept a gentle yet firm grip on the paper in her hands so as to not wrinkle it and pushed on.

 “N-Not really f-flowers like as p-plants. W-We are all different a-and each of us wants to b-bloom. W-We want a club where we c-can learn to appreciate our d-differences. A place we can learn to b-be more than what we are n-now. A place to g-grow and blossom.”

“Hmmm…” Tsubaki tapped her chin, looking at the fluorescent lights on the ceiling.

“So, like an emotional support club?” Chie murmured sleepily.

“I-I-I…y-yes,” Asami nodded.

“Actually,” Emi interjected, suddenly alarmed at how dangerously pale Asami had grown. She moved forward quickly and put her arm around Asami’s waist, supporting her as well as she was able. “That’s precisely it. You’re doing great, Asami chan.” Emi smiled encouragingly at her, aware of how much this meant to her new friend.

“Th-There are a lot of students in school wh-who have a hard time with things,” Asami’s heart still pounded but Emi seemed to ground and calm her. Truly a strange development given Emi’s usual efforts to hype her up. Before she knew it Momo had come to stand by her left side, eyes firmly planted on the floor but doing her best to support her with Suyin taking a position to Emi’s other side. Their strength and trust seemed to flow through her and her shaking calmed. She focused on her friends lending their silent support and the world began to gravitate back to something approaching normal again. Asami took a halting breath before raising her eyes to the Student Council for the first time.

“People have been bu-bullied and are afraid. Some people are different and are afraid of anyone knowing they are because they might get judged for it. But we’re different, too. We want the Flower Appreciation Society to celebrate those d-differences. To help people who have been bullied find a safe place and to soothe people like us who might be scared. To let people wh-who might be different know they’re not a-alone. To-Together we can make a real change in not just our lives, but in a lot of students’ lives. I-I think.” She looked at Emi beside her pleadingly. “R-Right?”

“I couldn’t have said it better myself Asami-chan,” Emi leaned her head forward and lightly bunted Asami’s shoulder encouragingly then grinned at her proudly.

“Yoshi yosh,” Moo murmured appreciatively, patting Asami’s head tenderly. Suyin wiped away tears as Emi pulled her close for a hug.

“That was the singularly most beautiful reason I’ve ever heard to start a club!” Himari applauded, smiling through her own tears. Tsubaki quickly followed form and soon even Chie began to clap, seemingly rousing herself from near sleep.

“Isn’t that amazing, Riku?” Tsubaki wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.

“Quite so,” Riku nodded appreciatively. “Unfortunately, while certainly heart-warming, it is impossible. The petition to form your club must be denied.”