In Imadoki! volume 1, there was this part where some kids put flowers on Tanpopo's desk...?

Putting flowers on the desk means that the person sitting in the desk is dead (or possibly VERY sick near death) in Japanese culture. People are supposed to put flowers on the desk as if they were mourning for the person. Basically, the bullies were mean in a subtle way as to not get in trouble or not appear aggressive (like the time the bullies threw trash on the ground earlier in the first volume of Imadoki), but it would be very offensive to most people, as the flowers say that Tanpopo didn't exist anymore -poor Tanpopo! ;(

I was confused about that as well. The best guess that I can come up with is that it may mean that she is dead, but not literally of course. I had another manga where someone was recently deceased and they put flowers on their school desk. Maybe it was the other kids' way of saying that she was dead or nonexistent in their eyes. That's my guess but I'm not 100% on that. By the way....I LOVE Imadoki. Yuu Watase is one of my favorites! :)