1. "That's what I thought!"
2. "It's the letter I left."
3. "Mm."
4. "I instantly thought of the rose painted here."
5. "When I looked up what "beneath the rose" meant,"
6. "So you saw my painting at the art room?"
1. "Then it all came together..."
2. "!"
3. "Yes, I did!"
4. "Wondering who'd connect the dots."
5. "I leave those as a signal."
6. "Well, you were right."
7. "And in the end, it was you."
1. "It was my..."
2. "friend who did..."
3. "...I wasn't the one who found your letter."
4. "...You recognized me too..."
5. "Huh? How did you know?"
6. "The girl with the bob cut?"
7. Taken, huh.
8. "I walk by this way sometimes."
9. "And I kept you two in mind after."
10. "I've seen the both of you here before."
1. "You didn't see us do anything else!?"
2. "Wow"
3. "So you only saw us talking!?"
4. "The two of you talking is all."
5. "?"
6. "...What did you... see?"
7. "Well if you say so."
8. "No-thing like that!"
9. "...Doing anything indecent out here?"
1. "A-"
2. "Anyway!"
3. "It's about that girl."
4. "She wants to know who left the letter."
5. "Would you be okay with meeting her?"
6. "And then, if you could... be friends with her."
7. "Or if you could start a... special relationship with her instead."
8. "I think she'd be happier than doing it with me..."
9. "...That's why you went out of the way to find me?"
10. "She's this special to you and you're still asking that?"
1. "It's because..."
2. "she's that special to me..."
3. "You reminded me of it is all."
6. "The one about the girl who left for her partner's sake."
7. "...Like "Dayflower"."
8. "I can't exactly do that."
9. "But sorry,"
1. "I have my own special girl."
1. I was reading Hana monogatari when she walked up to me.
2. She was my senpai in the art club.
3. "D- Do you want to try... that "S" thing...?"
4. "And then, well... we had an "S" style relationship and..."
5. "Ahhh! But it's supposed to be a secret!"
6. "I can't believe I said that!!"
7. "Ohh!"
8. "The two of us... also have a pretend "S" relationship..."
9. "Just like us..."
1. "Our relationship was secret too,"
2. "so you'd better not tell a soul about it,"
3. "okay...?"
4. "Anything said under the rose stays here."
5. "Don't worry."
6. "Our secrets are safe with each other."
7. "Still. Secrets are fun, aren't they?"
8. "Ahah... It's a little embarrassing talking about it to someone..."
9. "phew"
1. "Um... do you like that book?"
2. It was just what I needed.
6. Now she's in my space.
7. "Whoa"
8. "Wow... I love the art too...!"
9. Oh... Senpai from club... She never stood out much.
10. I like the illustrator; it wasn't bad when I started reading...
11. "So... you like it, Asai-san...?"
12. That was when Ono-senpai described "Class S" to me.
13. "Sure I do~! We're in the same club!"
14. "You know my name?"
15. "I don't know yours though, Senpai..."
1. "Really....!?"
2. "...Then I guess we can do it?"
3. "Okay!"
4. "So the others won't find out."
5. "But let's keep it secret."
6. "It sounds sort of fun."
7. That's why I said yes.
8. I wanted something the rest weren't doing.
1. It got more fun the more secrets we kept.
2. "Are we really allowed to make a base on school grounds?"
3. "I don't think anyone will come back here."
4. "It's fine so long as no one finds out!"
5. "How about you paint it right here?"
6. "They did this in a book I read."
7. Doing things we weren't supposed to started to feel good.
1. "Ehhh! You do it, Sayori-chan! I can't paint as good as you!"
2. "Fine, then you have to be my lookout while I paint."
3. "The letter's ready to go."
4. "What if someone finds it~?"
5. "It was. A lot of fun."
6. "That sounds like fun..."
1. But I was always shouting it in my head.
2. It wasn't directed at anyone.
3. It's a well mannered school, so everyone stays on good behavior.
4. We were two unremarkable students.
5. The line between those who made it and those who won't.
6. But you feel it under your skin.
7. Both of us always on the wrong end.
8. Who's laughing now!?
1. Such a rush!
2. And out of their sight, we were up to no good.
3. You all have no idea.
4. That every day we make a mockery of you.
5. It really was just what I needed.
6. But in my head, I made enemies of everyone and proved myself better.
7. I never actually said it to their faces.
1. "Sayori-chan."
2. "Sa-yori-chan!"
3. An upper-classman who was simply sort of there.
4. Though she was in the art club, her paintings looked like a kid playing around.
5. In spite of that, she'd bring the most expensive art supplies of anyone.
1. Did you hear?
2. Did you ever hear, Senpai?
3. Is that why you always curl up like you're trying to hide?
4. They laugh behind your back and call you "long-sleeves."
1. "...? Mizuki-senpai."
2. "Instead of Ono-senpai ...call me Mizuki-senpai."
3. Sen-pai.
4. Mizuki-senpai.
5. "Oh ... Hehe!"
1. "I'm looking at art schools. We can go to one together, Sayori-chan!"
2. "So... I'm applying to colleges next year."
3. "And then... we can live together and walk to school every day!"
4. "You're such a good painter; I really think you should keep going with it...!"
5. Senpai had these plans she'd sketch up that might as well be daydreams.
6. "...That sounds nice."
7. And yet...
1. When I touched Senpai's hair, it had the sweetest fragrance.
2. I asked for her shampoo, but it was a salon's specialty.
3. With her face close, I could tell she was wearing a little makeup.
4. Wasn't that against school rules? But she said she "only put it on when we met." And that was every day.
5. I told her how soft her lips felt. She brought out her sugar scrub lip balm to put on me too.
6. The scent and taste I'd had of Senpai's lips was now part of mine.
7. And I lingered on her aftertaste.
8. That must be why, I thought.
9. Senpai could only be so sweet if she were made of sugar.
1. But somehow,
2. It was just what I needed, for the time.
3. All that
4. could make the flowers more beautiful
5. is if Senpai were laying right here.
6. before I realized,
7. whenever my thoughts drifted, they turned to Mizuki-senpai.
1. Why doesn't she catch anyone else's attention?
2. How was I the first to see her charms?
3. When in public, we'd send signals only we'd recognize.
4. We still kept our relationship a secret.
5. She'd check to make sure no one was watching.
6. I'd see Senpai notice me.
7. It would go like this:
8. Then she'd weakly wave her hand.
1. What I'm really saying is: I was always staring at Senpai first.
1. "So you two have your fun and don't worry about us."
2. "Anyway, the both of us are happy with each other."
3. "...love talk... wasn't it..."
4. "Asai-senpai's story... That was a..."
5. "Hohh..."
6. "Now that we've met, what if the four of us hung out?"
7. "That senpai of yours, hasn't she graduated already?"
8. "Mmhm. She's a year older; away in college."
9. "Oh, I know!"
1. "D-Date...?"
2. "A..."
3. "It can be a double date!"
4. "Senpai would love that!"
5. "There's something else I should warn you two about."
1. "There was another letter before ours."
2. "...OO University?"
1. "I'll be waiting ...for you..."
2. "I'm going to start looking for 2 person apart-ments."
3. "Yeah! It's um, the only one I got in..."
4. I'd never even heard of that school before.
5. "Right ..."
6. really did not want to go to some no-name school!
7. But I...
8. "Congratula-tions on getting in..."
9. This was well past sketches and day-dreams.
10. I was staring at finished reality, and it was staring me back.
1. To be honest... I can't get comfortable...
2. "How has college been for you?"
3. Senpai graduated. I entered my 3rd, final year.
4. "You're studying for entrance exams, Sayori-chan?"
5. "I'll do my best to get through till we're together!"
6. "But whenever I think how you'll be here, this next year seems like nothing!"
7. "What about the school your teacher recommended you, at our meeting?"
8. "I think that would be a better fit too!"
9. "Can't say I fully approve of that..."
10. "An art college?"
11. "It's going to be harder on you, finding a job..."
1. "Then I guess I'll try for there..."
2. That seemed like a good excuse.
3. I talked to Senpai over the phone all the time,
4. and she'd be waiting for me as eager as ever.
5. "...How'd it go in Hana monogatari?"
6. Two girls, who were close, split when one moved on and found her place with a new group of people. Then she began ignoring, forgetting, falling out of love with the first girl.
7. "If Senpai loved it at her college,"
8. "could I have just been the sad forgotten girl...?"
9. "What flower was that chapter?"
10. "Paulownia. That's the one. Paulownia blossoms."
1. "Thanks for having me..."
2. "Come on in! Sure is hot out, huh."
3. "Actu- ally..."
4. "If you're looking at depart- ments, I'd say..."
5. "Sen- pai!"
6. "Why'd you come visit all of a sudden?"
7. "I'll get us something to drink"
8. "Ohh! Are you here for the open campus?"
1. "...So I won't be coming to school with you."
2. Of course she'll cry.
3. Will she cry?
4. "What?"
5. "You're not coming here?"
6. I'm so awful...
1. "When I'm waiting for you?"
2. "You know how hard it's been, how much I hate it here!?"
3. "Going to throw me away, just like that!?"
4. "You're going back on our promise?"
5. Huh...?
1. Who... is this?
2. "Ah...!"
1. "Take off your clothes."
4. "It was. A lot of fun."
2. "You reminded me of it is all."
5. "The one about the girl who left for her partner's sake."
6. "...Like "Dayflower"."
7. Dayflower is the 28th story, from the 1st volume of Hana monogatari.
8. To summarize:
9. Ryouko, an orphaned girl attending a prestigious girls' school on her uncle's money shares a room with a beautiful senpai, Akitsu.
10. Akitsu is admired by the whole school, but they stay distant knowing the two's relationship.
11. Ryouko recieves a letter from her uncle. He can no longer support her. However Akitsu's family is wealthy and she offers to pay Ryouko's tuition.
12. Ryouko accepts but soon becomes cold and hostile towards Akitsu, even tearing up her gifts. Akitsu is confused but never stops loving Ryouko.
13. One day, Akitsu enters their room to find all Ryouko's things gone and a letter from her waiting.
14. It explains Ryouko wanted to push Akitsu away so their parting wouldn't be so harsh. She apologizes for being a burden on Akitsu, and can't bear it any longer. That Akitsu would be much happier with the other girls at school.
15. Ryouko left to live with her uncle. Akitsu fell crying, heartbroken, in a patch of dayflowers.
16. In the language of flowers, Dayflowers symbolize: Reverence, a relationship remembered fondly, secret love, the changing of love, love that goes unrespected.
2. "...How'd it go in Hana monogatari?"
3. Two girls, who were close, split when one moved on and found her place with a new group of people. Then she began ignoring, forgetting, falling out of love with the first girl.
4. "If Senpai loved it at her college,"
5. "could I have just been the sad forgotten girl...?"
6. Paulownia is the 46th story, from the 3rd volume of Hana monogatari.
7. Sayori summarized it already. Paulownia is the story of Reiko and Tamiko, who were so close in their school days any time apart was unbearable.
8. Their relationship bordered on romantic, but after graduation Tamiko drifts away and leaves Reiko behind.
9. Both stories are given twists in the modern interpretations AriSaku does of Class S.
10. Love becomes something much heavier, suffocating and inescapable as it's accepted.
11. Sayori sees it as a mercy to be let go, free to live her own life with heartbreak to remember. Kasumi finds no escape from her feelings for Haruyo that overwhelm her with traumatized discomfort.
12. Not to say it's all bad! Just that there's downsides. Like having a cute Onee-sama (younger) who loves you even when you can't love yourself. Or one with access to a box-cutter.
13. In the language of flowers, Paulownia symbolize: Refinement, nobility, femininity.
14. Paulownia, known as the Empress or Princess Tree, is steeped in Japanese tradition. It was once custom to plant one when a girl was born, then chop it down for furniture when she married.
15. It got its name from when this tradition was borrowed for Princess Anna Paulowna, who would become queen of the Netherlands.
16. The "5-7 Paulownia Seal", now used by the Japanese prime minister, once represented the empress.
17. As Paulownia bloom in 3 prongs of 5-7-5 buds, they're naturally tied to haiku. Their leaves fall year round, associating them with themes of separation and loneliness.
18. Overseas they do have darker associations: audacity, acting without concern for others.