Prey and Predator [Ranpo x Reader] + Bonus ✓

Bonus: Four years

ᴛʀɪɢɢᴇʀ ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢ: ᴇɴᴄᴏᴜʀᴀɢᴇᴍᴇɴᴛ/ᴘᴇʀꜱᴜᴀꜱɪᴏɴ ᴛᴏᴡᴀʀᴅꜱ ꜱᴜɪᴄɪᴅᴇ

Autumn's green leaves fell from their designated trees once they'd adopted a sepia tone, waving with the wind to pave the way in which several feet walked over in the morning.

Roze crunched several dried leaves under the soles of her shoes as she hopped from tile to tile, watching with a smile as she grew momentum to jump onto the next targeted foliage; she seemed unusually enthusiastic for a child aware they were heading to school, though the freedom from carrying their bag may have alluded that we were simply taking an early morning stroll.

She returned to my side and took my hand when the leaves no longer covered the pavement, and instead began watching the streaming drainage canal to spot the Koi fish swimming in its current; she pointed down and tugged my hand slightly, urging that I look down when I stopped on my tracks.

'Look, Auntie [Y/N]! The fish are happy today, too,' she exclaimed as the family of carps slithered in the water. 'When I grow up, I'm going to have a big aquarium at home to have lots of Koi! And I'll teach them tricks, too!'

I chuckled as I looked down at her, taking her away by the hand after she waved the fish goodbye and traced in the air the size of the tank she aimed to get.

'I learnt from a friend that Koi fish are really smart! You can train them to eat from your hand, Auntie!' she added, keeping her eyes on the stream while watching them with a wide beam.

I smiled at her ambitions and led her to school, holding onto her bag for her until we reached the gates; once standing outside, I crouched down and fixed her collar for her, handing her the bag gently so she'd not drop it when receiving its full weight.

'Oh, I forgot to tell you!' she began again, bringing me towards the steel fence so that I could look ahead into a sea of red flowers. 'Our year group has been involved in this project to grow an independent garden - and I've contributed loads to it!'

Letting go of my hand, she pointed out towards a varied sea of crimson roses and scarlet carnations, and she told my eyes to dwell on the appreciation of the latter.

'My friends and I were given the choice between roses or carnations,' she continued. 'I was initially going to choose roses because they're really pretty, but I wanted to give you some flowers and didn't want you to get hurt by the thorns.'

I looked at her as her smile grew softer, her eyes lightened with gentle enthusiasm as she looked back at me. 'You wanted to give me flowers?'

She nodded and added - 'Our teacher said both flowers represent love, and that in itself was enough, but they told us that carnations are often gifted from children to their mothers! It doesn't matter if I'm not your real daughter (I hope); I can still give you flowers on Mother's Day, can't I?'

Her words melted my heart; Roze always spoke sincerely and was taught to never lie, yet, I could not recall a time when her verdict had touched me as much as they did now.

'And when you have a baby, Auntie [Y/N], I'm going to tell them to give you carnations, too,' she added, glancing back at the flowers before pointing at my belly and scrunching her facial features to mimic a strict teacher. 'When you grow up, we're going to give Auntie [Y/N] carnations every year - no, every day! - As your older sister, you don't get a say in this!'

Being at a loss of words as the bell rang, she quickly dismissed herself by hugging me and joining in with a group of friends, taking her bag with her as she walked along the path.