Wilted Lotus|| fem muitan

XIII

-recap-

Muichiro hugged her back and hid her flushed face in Tanjiro's chest. Tanjiro smiled warmly and quietly said, "I think this would be a good way to pass the time."

-end of recap-

-・-・-・-・-・

Two months had passed, and spring was just around the corner. Spring. The start of new beginnings and transformation. A season where the flowers bloom and the trees start to regain their leaves. A season where people pretend that they're actually going to get rid of old things, saying, "In with the old and out with the new." But we all know that no one is actually going to get rid of things or clean out their houses. They just want to make it seem that way.

To Muichiro, spring is usually her favorite time of the year. New animals are born, the flowers begin to bloom, and the world just seems more colorful than it normally does. But not this spring. This spring serves as a reminder that with spring comes spring break. And with spring break...

Tanjiro was in her class, so Muichiro was in the dorm alone, writing. She had only one or two more chapters left, so Muichiro was working hard to finish them. Today thankfully seemed to be a good writing day for her, so it was easier to finish chapters than it normally was.

Muichiro was peacefully writing at her desk, trying to forget everything that happened over break, at least for a little while. The reminder of what was to happen during spring break loomed over her like a storm cloud in a cartoon.

She knew that it would be easy to just not go back to her parents house, but they knew where her dorm was and what college she went to, so not going would just make things more difficult. Muichiro also knew that she could try to run away with Tanjiro, but that would just make things harder for Tanjiro. That, and her parents would just track her phone if she tried.

All in all, it was just easier to comply with her parents wishes and go back home. Even if that would lead to something she didn't want, no, Muichiro didn't want any of this. All she wanted was to live a normal life with Tanjiro. For them to be able to stay together and live without knowing that they wouldn't get to see each other for however long Muichiro would be away.

Muichiro shook her head in an attempt to forget about what would happen or what could have happened. She went back to writing, now only two chapters away from the end. After getting halfway through a chapter, Muichiro decided to take a break from writing.

She got up from her desk and walked over to the window, enjoying the view. The trees were starting to regain their leaves, kids were playing outside at a nearby playground, flowers lined the storefronts, and even the clouds looked whiter and puffier than they normally do.

Muichiro looked over at the kids playing on the playground and imagined them as her and Yuichiro. Unfortunately, they weren't really close as kids and never went to playgrounds together, but Muichiro wished they did.

She then looked over at a bench near the playground and imagined her and Tanjiro sitting on the bench, talking about who knows what. She looked over the sidewalk and imagined the two of them getting up from the bench and walking down the street and back to the dorm.

The imaginary visions of them disappeared. Muichiro kept looking around outside, her eyes drifting to the clouds. Muichiro kept spotting shapes in the clouds. She wished she could tell them to someone, but no one was around.

Muichiro decided that she would write them down to tell someone later. She grabbed an unused notebook and started writing down every shape, animal, or person that she saw in the clouds.

After a few more minutes of cloud watching, Muichiro had a pretty long list. There were about 15 or so different shapes, animals, and people Muichiro was able to see in the clouds. She decided that whenever she was alone, she would write down the clouds that she saw in the notebook.

'Maybe Tanjiro would like to hear about the clouds I've seen...' Muichiro thought as she put the notebook in the top drawer of her desk. Muichiro sat back down at her desk and returned to writing.

Looking outside had helped with the scenery she needed for the chapter. Muichiro got back to writing and was able to finish the chapter she had started. Ideas ran through her head as she wrote. There was only one chapter left, so she was able to do whatever she wanted. It would be easy to kill off a main character if she so desired; it wouldn't matter anymore.

Muichiro made it to the last chapter, but that was where she had to stop. Her phone was ringing. The caller was the last person she ever wanted to hear from.

-・-・-・-・-・

-823 words-

Alright, one more chapter left + the epilogue. I might write an alternate ending, if anyone wants one, so make sure to let me know sooner rather than later. 

I'm hoping you guys notice some of the smaller details, like how Muichiro's personality has changed a little throughout the chapters or how her book has caught up with this so far.

 I would like to apologize in advance for the next chapter. I recommend reading the warnings in the description before reading the next chapter, just in case you are sensitive towards some of the contents of the next chapter.

That is all for now. Have a good day/night and I'll see you all in the next chapter!

-the author