is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Banri Hidaka. The manga was serialized in Hakusensha's shōjo magazine, Hana to Yume from February 20, 2004, to February 20, 2009, ending at 83 chapters. The individual chapters were published into 14 bound volumes by Hakusensha from August 19, 2004, to May 19, 2009. The manga is licensed in North America by Tokyopop, and in Italy by Jpop.
Plot Ageha Shiroi finds out her sister, Hibari, is pregnant and she will have to be married in less than a month. When shopping with her friend, Mamoru, they meet Yukari Arisaka and Mitsuya Kuromine. Ageha finds out that the bridal store that Hibari is going to is owned by the two men. But during one of their visits, Ageha loses her temper about the wedding and accidentally injures Mitsuya's hand.
To make up for it, Ageha decides to help finish Hibari's wedding dress. Soon after the wedding in volume 2, Yukari offers a part-time job for Ageha at V.B.R. Ageha accepts this job, not knowing that it will ultimately change her life, and cause her to make new friendships-and even love.
Characters There are many characters in the story, most of them that are the V.B.R. staff and classmates.
Ageha Shiroi The heroine of this manga who has a huge sister complex at the beginning of the series and loves to make bags. In order to get her to accept her abrupt wedding, her sister takes her to Velvet Blue Rose, where she meets Yukari Arisaka and Mitsuya Kuromine. Ageha quickly becomes fond of the shop and finally decides to support her sister's wedding by helping make her dress. She then continues on to work in the shop as a part-time employee. Her best friend Mamoru Sakashita, goes to Houjou High School rather than the private all-girls school, Nishimiya High School, Ageha attends. Ageha is also close to her friend's little brother Nagare, who she calls "Nat-chan". Later on in the series Ageha starts to fall in love with Yukari, but will not confess her feelings in fear of losing her place in V.B.Rose, and due to the fear of being rejected. She is oblivious about love, not noticing Nagare's obvious feelings and Yukari's as well. She makes friends with Tsuyu Ichihashi and many of the others. At first, she is terrified of Kana, but learns that she is over Yukari and wishes her luck, only hating her because she was "too happy and overused the word cute". In recent chapters, Nagare confesses his feelings for her, with Yukari listening accidentally over the phone. This causes Ageha to become confused, and Yukari mad. However, she and Yukari confess to loving each other in a nearby park, and they become an official couple. She eventually helps Yukari to reunite with his estranged mother, the famous actress Ran Kashiwagi, who he had not seen for eighteen years. Ran drags her on a "heart-to-heart" shopping spree, buying her many clothing items and shipping the others to her house. Ran wants Ageha to inform her on what she could do to make Yukari happy. Ageha is shown to get along well with children, such as making handmade toys for her niece Madoka and becoming attached to Sakura and Maki and Kazuha's daughter, Hina.
Yukari Arisaka The owner of V.B.Rose despite being a young age of 22. His relationship with Ageha is negative at the beginning of the story, often violently hitting her and even physically throwing her out of V.B.Rose on two occasions. However, as the story progresses, Yukari begins to accept Ageha as a fellow designer. Despite, seeming to be rude and violent, Yukari is actually a kind person who greatly treasures those close to him. Yukari inherited the shop after his father (Aoi Arisaka) died of illness two years prior to the beginning of the series. His mother, a famous actress named Ran Kashiwagi, divorced Yukari's father when he was 5 years old. Two years before his death, Yukari's father married Ririko from the bridal shop Rosa, which is closely aligned with V.B.R. She then gave birth to Sakura, Yukari's young half-brother. Yukari and Sakura have practically the same face, which is also strikingly similar to their father's. In volume 3, Mitsuya teases Yukari about Ageha being "cute", which makes Yukari realize he is in love with Ageha. However, he is afraid she doesn't feel the same way about him so refrains from showing any signs of his love. Yukari's old girlfriend Kana Hirose from high school, now a corsage maker, also shows up later in the series. Yukari often feels traumatized by their relationship when thinking about Ageha. He is often jealous of Nagare Sakashita or any male who happens to look in Ageha's direction, sometimes including Mitsuya and Kyouichi Sekiguchi. In recent chapters, Yukari overhears Nagare telling Ageha that he loves her while she was talking to Yukari over the phone, causing him to get jealous and angry. However, the two manage to confess to one another and become an official couple. Mitsuya makes him red rice, which he "happily" eats. In Volume 10, his estranged mother, Ran Kashiwagi, arrives at VB Rose, presenting Yukari with a new car. He refuses to take it, and she offers to buy newer furniture for the inside of the shop. She finds it humorous that Ririko had not grown since the last time that she had seen her, and believed that Sakura was a miniature Yukari, and that Yukari himself was Aoi. Yukari tries to push her away. Ageha eventually gets taken away by Ran to do a heart to heart shopping spree about how to make Yukari happy. He eventually reconciles with his mother, to Ageha's relief. He is shown becoming more afraid of Nagare and Mamoru Sakashita each time they appear.
Mitsuya Kuromine A fellow Patterner at V.B.Rose and one of Yukari's only friends. He is often viewed as a pervert, especially by Ageha, who is constantly hit on and hugged by him. Despite being a flirt, Mitsuya is often the person that both Yukari and Ageha talk to about their feelings for each other. Like Yukari he is also skilled at making clothing and is extremely passionate about his work, enough to drop out of college to work at V.B.Rose. He is very fond of his younger brother Shizuya and enjoys teasing him whenever he gets the chance. He is considered an in-between, as he knows of Ageha and Yukari's feelings towards one another, though he cannot tell. He does the cooking in the V.B. Rose household. He was friends with Ichihashi when they were children, and when they reunited, thanks to Yukari, he began to treat her differently. She loves him, however, and finds his menacing behavior intriguing. In volume 11 it is implied that he has feelings for her as well. He also smokes cigarettes, and wears cologne to block the smell. He manages to help Yukari with his love issues by telling him where to find Ageha after she runs out of V.B. Rose crying, and makes him red rice when he returns with victory in winning Ageha's heart. Makoto Ohara was his senpai in high school. His role in the story was very short in the latest volumes, but Volume 11 entails the details of Mitsu and Yukari's first encounter.
Hibari Shiroi {Ohara} Ageha's older sister. At the beginning of the series Ageha views her sister as a perfect idol, only to have the image smashed by Yukari, who reveals that Hibari is actually extremely clumsy and absent minded. Hibari and Ageha maintain a strong bond throughout the manga. She eventually gives birth to a healthy baby girl, who is named Madoka. Her husband is Makoto Ohara. She had an easy birth with Madoka and enjoys it when Ageha makes gifts for her. She is said to be Maki's number one fan and often appears in the story to give the Shiroi family souvenirs from Makoto's business trips. Latest chapters show Madoka's growth into a toddler. She was very possessive of Ageha as a child and fears that she will stalk her daughter once she goes to preschool.
Makoto Ohara Hibari's husband. He is very carefree and "boring", and Ageha felt that he was not good enough for Hibari. Her feelings change once she realizes that he is caring and loving of her. He lives with the Shiroi family for a short amount of time when Hibari was pregnant. He was Mitsuya's senpai in high school. He dreams of raising Madoka to say "I love you, daddy." He is often away on business trips and brings back many souvenirs for his in-laws.
Mamoru Sakashita Ageha's best friend. She is very over-protective of Ageha. Although she is nice, she also haves a sadistic side to her like her brother. She is friends with Rei Akiyoshi (a cross-over character from Hidaka's Sekai De Ichiban Daikirai) and Shizuya Kuromine, and they often hang out with Ageha. Nagare is her younger brother by one year. She supports Ageha in her pursuit of Yukari, but is also shown to often help Nagare. However, she claims to like Yukari, if just a little bit. She is often Ageha's support. She is scared that if Ageha and Nagare went out with one another, they would break up and ruin their friendship. She helps Ageha get together with Yukari in chapters 10-43, though she supports Nagare in not giving up. She is shown to have a small crush on Shizuya, as she picks on the ones who she loves. She is a big fan of Ran Kashiwagi but refused to meet her up close, deciding it is better to watch from afar. Yukari is fearful of her.
Nagare sakashita Mamoru's younger brother, who is in love with Ageha. Although he seems to be a sweet boy, he seems to also have a sadistic personality, that Ageha is unaware of. He becomes jealous of Ageha's feeling towards Yukari and often tries to secretly sabotage their relationship. He tells Yukari that Ageha seems unhappier lately, and that causes him to back off for a small amount of time. In recent chapters, he saw Ageha walking home from V.B. Rose after going to visit Yukari, only to find him being overly friendly with Kana, and he comforts her. Yukari then calls her, and Nagare interrupts their romantic moment by confessing his feelings towards her. This causes Yukari to become jealous and mad. Nagare then walks Ageha home and tells her he'll wait for her answer. Then Ageha catches a cold and doesn't see Yukari again until after the new year. Yukari and her try to take up small talk but the topic of Nagare's confession on the phone is awkwardly brought up. Ageha, without realizing what she's saying, tells Yukari that she is unsure of how to respond to Nagare's confession and hearing this, Yukari gets mad and lashes out at Ageha, causing her to run away. He then claims that he will not give up in claiming her heart and tries to find her. Yukari is fearful of him and Mamoru. Mamoru both supports Ageha's relationship with Yukari, but also Nagare's crush towards her. He can be considered the antagonist of the story despite his few number of appearances, trying to destroy Yukari and Ageha's love.
Tsuyu Ichihashi A bead specialist who is an old friend of Mitsuya and Yukari. Tsuyu went to the same elementary school as Mitsuya describing him as "a very mature, kind, helpful boy then." but shortly moved after graduation. Tsuyu then befriended Yukari in high school and was introduced to his friend who turned out to be Mitsuya. Despite his being a "kind boy", from then on Mitsuya shows a sadistic side around her, always teasing her when he has the chance. Despite this Tsuyu still is in love with Mitsuya. She thinks that Yukari and Ageha are beautiful people and loves being in their presence. She loves beautiful people and calls Ageha a "big breasted beauty" upon meeting. She becomes Ageha's friend over time and they often meet at a cafe to eat sweets and talk. She is also friends with Kana Hirose. She and Ageha promised not to give up in their pursuits of love. In volume twelve, the staff of V.B.R. resolve to "rescue" her from an arranged marriage meeting (omiai) so she and Mitsuya can be together, and succeed in doing so.
Kana Hirose