𝗲𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 | 𝙨𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙖

𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟲: 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸

[瀬見 英太] Eita Semi

I didn't know where my feet were taking me. It was dawn, and I needed to be working.

What I didn't realize: My eyes were shut the whole time.

What I did realize: I literally led myself to the stream.

When I opened my eyes, I was welcomed by it. I appreciate beauty and whatnot, but some beautiful things are scarred. I stared down at the stream, and I was tempted to chain every bit of life to the bottom. 

Some flowers were scattered across the field, and I did what I normally did with them.

Kneel. Pick. Pluck. When all the petals had blown in the wind, and all that was left were the bracts and stem, I'd put it in the water.

It might look like it's littering, but it's only a thing my grandma, mother and I would use to do.

See, little Eita, this is how you do it. Once a flower's blown into a wind, it's like us when we are dead. No control over our human body. Then, when we have that, I pick it up—like this, and then take off the petals. These petals can be our sin, our wrongdoings. Leave the stem, which is our character, and put them in here—agh, just like that. It'll be the entrance to Heaven.

I smiled as I recalled my grandmother's voice. It never left me.

I used to plant flowers with them, and one time, we had a "signature flower." My mother's was a daffodil. My grandmother's was a rose.

After some flower-looking, I settled on the hyacinth. I remember flashing one of my humongous bright smiles and my mother returning it.

The evening the day we planted our flowers came, and I said I wanted to stay behind to guard the flowers. My mother laughed and said they wouldn't grow in a day.

When I went home to go to my dad, I asked where they were. My dad was really worried and said he was going to ask me where they were.

I said they went on for a bit because I stayed behind.

He took me back to the stream, and we scouted around. While we were heading to where we planted the flowers, I saw two huge things floating. My dad gasped and ran forward, crying when he saw what happened. He told me they were no more.

The bench beside the stream was also something I did not like a lot. It was where I sat, while, God forbid, my mother and grandmother were dying.

We saw what made them drown in such shallow water. It was a vine. There were many vines, and they were sturdy. Our guess was that my grandmother had fallen and my mother tried to help, but got stuck as well and couldn't move upwards.

We never visited the place since, but when my father died, and I was older by that time, I went over and chopped all the vines out of anger.

Poppies were some things I grew out of boredom. 

I found out daffodils meant rebirth and new beginning a few years later. Ironic, huh.

Even though I knew it was stupid, I always hoped that my mom would be born again, and she could accompany me through life.

The time my dad died was also about the time I went to Shiratorizawa.

I smiled. I remembered.

"Uh, what the hell are you doing here?"

I turned around and noticed that my hands were still in the water from putting the loose flowers in there. My sleeves were rolled up and I was bending forward to look at them. It was Shirabu.

"What do you mean? I was here first."

He got pretty angry at this, which I rolled my eyes at and continued to place flowers in the stream.

"Um, what the hell are you doing?"

I huffed. First what I was doing here, now what I was doing. "Putting flowers in the water." I turned around and shifted, not for him to get a better look, but just to push him on the edge. "Duh."

He got super mad at this. 

Still, I resumed. I walked over the whole place. Kneel, pick, pluck. Kneel, pick, pluck. Kneel, pick, plu—

"Why? I thought you liked flowers or something."

"Your point?"

"If you liked something, you wouldn't throw it away or whatever."

I didn't bother keeping my cool. "Yeah, but I'm not throwing them away, dumbass."

He walked forward and straight out took the flowers from the stream. My eyes widened, and he must've been pretty surprised at my reaction, because he put it back down immediately.

"What's so bad about that? Can't I take it home with me? And why are the petals not on any of—"

"BECAUSE," I nearly yelled, "I TOOK THEM OFF."

He stuck out his tongue. "What're you even doing here anyways? Planting flowers?"

"No."

"So?"

"Why would I tell you?"

"Because." Then he made a hoarse noise in his throat and then said, "Where are your hyacinths again?"

Without hesitation, and right after he said it, I pointed to the back. I didn't even look up or anything. I knew this place like the back of my hand, and I knew where the hyacinths were like I knew my name.

"What's with the rush in telling me?" he said with a smirk. 

"Reflex," I muttered.

"So it's a reflex to point to a group of flowers?"

"NO, when people ask about it, I know."

He crossed his arms. "Why'd you tell me, hm? You didn't tell me why you were here, but why your favourite lil patch of flowers?"

"You'd find it anyway."

"Eh, I would."

We heard some footsteps, and like any normal person, I turned around to look. So did Shirabu.

The person smirked. "Hey, fellas."