Operation Sprechchor

I knew this place because of Muku. Joining the Environmental club and a change in her student council president schedule aligned our exit time, so we decided to meet up at her school to walk to our apartment. I didn't idly stand at the front gate in my high school uniform, but rather killed my time at a park nearby. It was a prosaic little area located across the street from her school. The street between was an underpass of the E1 highway, the blaring cars speeding above resonated down below as I took a seat on a bench.

The ground was mostly greenery, with patches of sand on the sides. The morning dew reached my nose and provided a familiar scent of freshly cut grass. Above me, and around the park, were deciduous maple trees displaying their viridescent leaves. Overgrown weeds brushed against my ankles as I stared straight ahead. I showed up several minutes early; she arrived punctually.

It was the first time we'd see each other in something other than the school's uniform. I myself wore a simple black and orange hoodie with black jeans. She wore a white short-sleeved hoodie with a beige overalls dress over it. Little colorful pins were over the waistline and a lavender floral purse hung off her shoulder. It was safe to say our fashion senses were on different levels, and it was obvious which one was higher.

She approached with a welcoming smile and a wave. I reciprocated the wave and added a nod of the head as I stood up from the bench. I then noticed her hair was braided differently too, it had a certain shape to it.

"Good morning!" she said. "Seems like you've been here awhile, are you that eager for 'Operation Sprechchor'?"

I shook my head.
"I thought about ditchin' this whole thing for a second, but yeah, I guess you could say I was lookin' forward to this."

"Glad your spirits are high! You picked a lovely park."
She spun around to give herself a view of the place. As she turned, I noticed her hair was braided into a red gardenia's flower head. Her color matched perfectly with the actual flower that one could confuse it for the real thing, as if it was picked and woven into her hair.

The sun wasn't too hot, since Kyoto's summer was usually colder than its spring. She wore her smile – that was warmer than the sun – as we walked along the underpass away from the park.

"So, where are we goin' exactly?" I asked.

"Kyoto Station. We'll take the Keihan Line from Fujinomori."

She didn't say what we're doin' afterwards, I thought. She must be keepin' it a surprise.

"Do you have enough money for a train ticket?"

"I should."
I went to check my pockets, but she intervened.

With a subtle twist of the neck, she shook her head side-to-side.
"No need, I'll pay for today!"

"What? That's not really––"

"No protesting, that'll only make me want to do it more!"

I'd tell her I'd pay her back for the favor, but she'd probably say there's no need for that either. I'm still goin' to do it, I just won't tell her.

After the twelfth minute of the hour, we were on our way to Kyoto Station. The trains were packed, expectedly, with other teenagers and young adults who planned an outing on the first day of summer. I was a bit bothered by the amount of people squeezing and shoving, but she didn't seem to mind; her smile never wavered, which caused mine to remain despite the circumstances.

Exiting the bustling station, we saw Kyoto Tower ahead of us.

"C'mon, we got another nine minutes of walking!" she exclaimed.

"Another what? Where are we goin'?"

I rarely commuted further north from Kyoto Station despite living near here. She must've come to the same conclusion as she guided me past the tower. I was roadside while she flickered between her phone screen and road signs.

"Before getting to our destination, can we stop at the family mart just up ahead? I want to buy something, I'll be very quick!"

I caught myself staring at the ground, and parted my hair to meet her eyes.
"D-Do you not want me to go inside too?"

"There's no need for that, you can wait here. I'll be quick, promise."

There wasn't much room for me to argue, and even if there was, I wouldn't. I didn't mind waiting outside, leaning against a telephone pole just outside the doors of the mart. I was able to reorganize my thoughts.

Goin' through the events of my first semester still doesn't make sense of how I've managed to get to this position. Hangin' out with a girl, alone, doin' somethin' that combines our interest, and on the first day of summer? Was I missin' out on this last year?
I frantically shook my head to clear my train of thought.
I shouldn't compare what's happenin' to what could've happened. We have a task to do, and I need to do my best to not fail her.

"I'm back!"

I turned around to see Rossi-chan with an opaque bag of goods. I offered to carry it for her, but she insisted that she hold onto it. Not backing down that time, I managed to acquire possession of the bag, though she'd made me promise to not look inside it. We continued the walk towards our destination. What a place it was.

We arrived at Shosei-en Garden, a picturesque temple garden dating back to the mid-1600s. It was built with miniature tea houses, a large pond, and many sakura trees. My mouth was wide open in astonishment, yet I wasn't able to produce words.

"I've been wanting to come here for a long time. Let's go!"

She led me into the entrance of the Garden. We walked down a stone brick path with gravel trails and trees on the sides. There were coniferous trees partnered with the smaller deciduous trees in rows underneath.

We arrived at the first teahouse and entered.

"Look, look! They're doing a ceremony! Want to join?"

"What?" I squawked. "What does that have to do with flowers?"

"It doesn't, but it'll be fun, right? Perchance an epiphany will blossom if we take part!"

"That makes zero sense."
I felt the eagerness inside her ready to burst out, and the only way to satisfy it was by joining the ceremony, much to my resistance.

I was a greenhorn in traditional tea ceremonies, but it seemed like she was a veteran. The ceremony spanned an hour, and while it wasn't very exciting, it was fulfilling to the mind.

"That was so tranquil and euphoric! The robes they lent us were comfortable, right?"
She placed her hand on her chest and displayed a look of satisfaction towards the clearing sky.

"It was a new experience for me. I liked the calm settin' of it, could've fallen asleep if I was given a pillow."

Several meters further on the path, we entered the garden portion of the place. There were many coarse dirt paths that led into different directions of the garden. The vibrant green shrubbery parallel to the path were in cuboid shapes; cut similarly to the hedge at school. Spring flowers were fully bloomed and added pastel to the color spectrum.

Rossi-chan crouched to smell a purple flower. I only arched forward.
"These are Petunia flowers. Their old meaning was resentment and anger, but in modern times they've become known for desires, hope, and calmness."

"How did that change? Was it an immediate thing, or over many years?" I asked with genuine curiosity.

"It depends on the region of the world. In Europe, there was an outburst of hatred towards England's Queen Victoria that was linked with this flower. However, in places like South America and Asia, this flower was used in rituals to bring insight and create inspiration. Since the hate for the Queen only lasted her lifetime, the meaning of the flower was temporary, and eventually adopted the other meanings."

"The butterfly weed isn't really directed towards anyone, so we can't wait for that meanin' to go away with time. But, we can play at the positive popularity stuff."

She looked up at me with an interested gaze.
"Positive popularity? How so?"

"I think a positive meanin' has a greater effect on the human mind than negative ones, which means they'll stick around for longer periods of time. It's also easier to spread the popularity of positive things than negative, when talkin' about stuff like flowers or songs. If you want somethin' to be popular, you'll need to spread it around multiple places in the world rather than just one."

"I see."
Rossi-chan began pondering.
"Like the petunias, the negative meaning was outlived by the positive ones, and since those positive ones were in multiple places in the world, they were easier for Europe to adopt. It'll be hard to spread something around the world, but I have an idea!"

She'd tell me her idea as we made it to the garden's lustrous pond.