Operation Black Roses

From Kokorodatabase

Operation Black Roses is a series of pranks that Shirogane Jishou played out with his friends Brett Bancroft and Max Mizuhara in America.

Shou had a history of pulling pranks on others, seeing as sometimes the results would actually cheer people up and make them laugh rather than becoming upset. After arriving in New York, the three worked together to paint all of the roses black in the Beaumont Flower Shoppe where Max's girlfriend Kotoko and her friend, Liz worked.

However, since roses were Liz's favorite flowers, she was quite upset by the seemingly harmless Japanese exchange student's pranks. These pranks were, however, what would eventually bring them together. Jishou and his friends continued playing pranks of this sort, even though Brett was not always thrilled about his friend's ideas and this occasionally led to friction between himself and Shou, almost to the point where Brett would refuse to take part in Shou's pranks.

Though Operation Black Roses refers more towards Shou's flowershop-related pranks, he is also known for playing tricks on a neighbor, Mrs. Highsby who openly disapproved of cross-racial relations, and had a vicious little French poodle to boot. Shou even managed to get Liz's help with dying the dog blue on one occasion, since she was one of the few who could actually get close to the animal.

In any case, black roses have become a sort of symbol of Shou's relationship with Liz, and he will often bring them to her as an apology after an argument. Black roses have also been picked up by Liz herself, who was trying to breed a pure black rose, Ryou, who used them as inspirtation for an illusion-based spell, and Kouji, who has a black rose pendant. Shirogane Shuugo has also morphed flowers to become black from time to time, since he was being compared to his father.

The pranks are generally known all too well by those who know Shou, and have additionally earned him the title "King of Games" (note: not to be confused with the term in Yu-Gi-Oh!).