Omoi no Hanazono

Tenth Flower. Lemon Balm Flowers

👉Melissa officinalis

I was the first one to wake up so I stood up, went to the kitchen and searched the refrigerator for something to cook.

I found some eggs, bacon, some apples and a bottle of apple juice.

I also found some arboro rice in the kitchen cabinet, so I decided to make an apple risotto for the three of us.

I sautéed the rice first with garlic then gradually added some apple juice until the rice absorbed the juice and became edibly soft. I then added the chopped apples to the sautéed rice.

On a separate stove and pan, I fried three eggs and bacons.

Afterwards, I plated the risotto rice on three plates and placed the eggs and bacon strips on each plate as toppings; and seasoned them with pepper.

After plating, I woke Hana-chan and Shiota-san.

"Hana-chan! Shiota-san! Mezamero! [Hana-chan! Shiota-san! Wake up!]" I shouted.

When they woke up...

"Our breakfast is ready. Go to the dining room and let's eat." I said.

"Hai, hai." They answered.

After eating...

"Yuricchan, let's go walk for a while." I said to Yuricchan.

"'Kay. Let's go." She said.

And so, we went for a walk.

While walking down the street, we went across a supermarket.

"Do you have something you want to buy, Yuricchan?" I asked to her.

"Betsuni yo. [Nothing really.]" She answered.

"Okay then, just follow me. I'm going to buy something to cook for our lunch."

We proceeded to the meat section of the supermarket and bought half a kilo of breast. Then we proceeded to the vegeteble section to buy some potatoes, carrots, and some spices.

"What are you going to cook for lunch?" Yuricchan asked me.

"Hi－mi－tsu. [It's－a－se－cret.]" I said.

"Mateba shiru yo. [Just wait and you'll know.]" I added.

"Mou... " she said in exasperation.

After picking, we went to counter to pay the things I bought.

"Saki ni dete kudasai. Chodo soto ni machinasai. [You go out first. Just wait for me outside.]" I said.

"Wakatta. [Got it.]" She replied then went outside.

After a several minutes, I finally finished paying on the counter.

"Dorekurai no hiyou ga kakarimashita ka? [How much did all of them cost?]" She asked.

"They just cost a total of ¥120." I replied back.

"Kaerimashou ka? [Shall we go back to the inn?]" She asked.

"Hai. [Yes]"

Then we went back to the inn.

On our way back, we went across a book store.

"20% discount on all books!?" I said in shock while reading the discount sign at the front of the store.

"Yuricchan, shibaraku mattekudasai. [Yuricchan, please wait for a while.]" I told to Yuricchan.

"Hai, hai. [Okay, okay.]" She said.

Then I went inside the store and bought 5 volumes of my favorite reverse harem manga.

"Hmmm... They're ¥30 each, so... 30 times 20% is 6... 30 minus 6 is 24. 24 times 5 is 120. All of them costs ¥120. I just saved ¥30. It's like I bought 5 pieces for the price of four." I said to myself.

I grabbed my wallet from my pocket and picked a ¥100- and ¥20-bill, and paid it in the counter.

After paying, we went straight back to the inn.

Right after we arrived, I immediately went to the kitchen, washed the chicken meat and vegetables, sliced them amd cooked them.

While I was in the middle of cooking our food for lunch, I heard someone crying.

Yuricchan was sitting at the dining table while reading one of her manga books, so I asked her.

"Yuricchan, naiteiru hito ga shiru desu ka? [Do you know who's crying?]"

"Iie. Shiranai yo. [No. I don't.]" She answered.

After the dish was cooked, I look for the person who's crying and I found out it was Shiota-san.

She was weeping in her room while holding her phone.

"Nani ga atta ndesu ka, Shiota-san? [What happened, Shiota-san?]" I asked.

"My mother... *sniff* called me on... *sniff* the phone. And... *sniff* and..." she said while still weeping.

"And what?"

"And... *sniff* she said... *that my..."

"Your what?"

"My father *sniff, sniff* died in an accident... *sniff* in Tokyo! Wuaaaah, wuaaaaah!" She said then cried.

I called Yuricchan and told her...

"Yuricchan, could you comfort her for a while? I'll just have to buy some flowers on Tanaka's shop."

"Ryoukai shimashita! [Got it!]" She said.

Then I went to Tanaka's flower shop.

"Tanaka-san, koko ni remon baamu no hana ga arimasu ka? [Tanaka-san, do you have lemon balm flowers here?]" I asked.

"Arimasu. Sorera wa naibu ni aru yo. [Yes, I have. They're inside.]"

Then I went inside the store and searched for lemon balm flowers.

And when I finally found them...

"Mits'keta! [Found 'em!]" I said.

"Korera wa ikura desu? [How much are these?]" I added.

"Normally, they would cost ¥15 each flower."

"¥15 for just a small flower!?"

"But if you'll buy a bunch of them with the leaves and stem included, they'll just cost ¥60 each stem, no matter how many stems you buy." She explained.

So I bought 8 stems of them and went back to the inn.

Shiota-san is still weeping or sobbing, but her cry has already stopped.

I removed the dandelion flowers from my vase and replaced them with the stems of lemon balm with flowers.

I let Shiota-san sit at the table and said...

"Shiota-san, take these flowers as a symbol of our sympathy. You can place them in your bedroom table as decoration."

"But why lemon balm flowers? They're so small. You could've just give me rose." She said.

"Sorry if they're are too small for you. But, they're the only flowers I know that mean 'sympathy.'" I told her.

"*Sniff* Kimochi ga arigatai. [Thank you for the sentiment.]" She said.

"Saa, tabemashou ka? [Now then, shall we eat?]" I asked.

"Hai! [Yes!]" Yuricchan said.

"Our lunch menu this day is... chicken curry!" I said.

"Wooaaah! Oishii sou desu ne. [Looks delicious.]" Yuricchan said.

"It doesn't look delicious. But it REALLY IS delicious. Go and have a taste." I enunciated.

Few minutes after we finished eating, the owner of the inn, Yui-san, approached us and said...