Cryptomnesia - Yuzuru Hanyu

Chapter Nine

3 Months Later,

Yuzuru has been working in he pharmacy for around 3 months and Ito sensei has been relatively satisfied with his performance. He even said that in no time, Yuzuru can become an official alchemist considering Yuzuru's hard work and effort put into doing his job right.

"Yuzuru!" Ito sensei called out.

"Yes?" Yuzuru replied after walking into the wooden shed.

"Get yourself ready. We would be going into the forest to gather some herbs since spring is going to be almost over. We need to stock up as much as we can for winter. Normally, I would go myself but since you are my apprentice now, I figured that it would be better if you come along." Ito sensei announced as he pack the necessary items for the trip to the forest.

"Ok!" Yuzuru gave an excited response back as he quickly went to pack his stuff and get himself ready.

After 10 minutes, both of then gathered in front of the pharmacy, ready to set off.

"I will leave the pharmacy to you, Hayabusa! We should be back by 3 pm." Ito sensei shouted towards the pharmacy at the clerk on the front desk. Hayabusa gave a thumbs up before proceeding to attend to the customers.

"Here!" Ito sensei said as he gave Yuzuru a small basket for him to gather herbs with, however received a weird look from Yuzuru in return.

"Dont worry, this basket has no limit in capacity, you can put as many herbs inside and it will not overflow or get too heavy." Ito sensei explains the use of the basket to Yuzuru.

With that, both sets off to the forest.

In the forest,

"Remember to stay within the area at the edge of the forest. If you go any further, it is highly possible that you might encounter a monster." Ito sensei warns Yuzuru.

"Hai, sensei!" Yuzuru gave Ito sensei an affirming nod.

Ito sensei then proceeded to teach Yuzuru about the various techniques as to how to gather the herbs, "for herbs such as the sprinewood grass that are very fragile in nature, you must take note of not touching the leaf but only the stem when plucking it off otherwise it will wither." Ito sensei demonstrates and put the herb into the basket.

"Now, you try." Ito sensei signals for Yuzuru to go for a try.

Yuzuru carefully hold the stem of the herb using his fingers before gently plucking it off, in fear that it would wither if too much force is used. It was successful on his first try! Yuzuru gave an elated smile as he carefully place the herb into his basket.

"You can harvest these herbs faster once you get used to it." Ito sensei said as he pluck off another herb.

With that, both of them busied themselves into gathering as much herbs as possible for the winter season. Ito sensei giving tips once in a while to help Yuzuru get a better hang of it.

In the process, both of them decided to gather herbs in two different areas so as to faster the work process and gather more herbs. Unknowingly, Yuzuru finds himself drifting further and further away from his sensei as he search for more herbs to harvest.

"Aha, here is another one!" Yuzuru happily exclaims as he went off to pluck another sprinewood grass. By then, he had already went pass the edge of the forest, into the middle of the forest. Yuzuru looks up, only to find the atmosphere getting a little gloomy. Oh no, please tell me that I am not lost. Yuzuru quickly scan his surroundings, as he tries to remember the way out.

However, lady luck is not on his side.

"Grrr..." A loud growl could be heard from behind him. Yuzuru slowly turns his head, before realising that standing before him was a large manotaur.

He panicked and his instincts kicked in with him immediately taking off into the opposite direction. The monster seemingly not wanting to let off his prey, chases after him.

On the other hand, Ito sensei was almost done and was about to find Yuzuru when he realised that Yuzuru was no where to be seen. Where did that boy go to? He does not have a good feeling about this.

At the pharmacy,

"Hey Hayabusa, where is Uncle Ito and Yuzuru?" Akira asks as she walked into the pharmacy.

"They went off to gather some herbs for the winter season. They said they will be back by 3 pm." Hayabusa hastily replied as he went off to serve another customer again.

It already 3.30 pm and they are not back. Surely, nothing could have happened? Akira starts to get worried as a bad feeling creeps up. She decided to go to the forest to find them.

Back to the forest,

"Ahh help!" Yuzuru shouted as he ran as fast as his legs could take him however was not making much progress as the minotaur was too fast for him. The monster then fire a blast of magic in which Yuzuru barely dodge it. Yuzuru decides to use a stun spell as he fired it towards the monster. The monster took a step back but quickly recovered and became angrier. Oh no, I think I just made the situation worst. Seeing that he had no chance in defeating the monster, he started his running chase again.

By the time Akira teleported to the forest, she heard a cry for help and immediately recognised it as Yuzuru's voice. She immediately ran towards the direction of the voice. Please tell me you are alright. She prays for him to be alright.

On the other hand, Ito sensei also heard Yuzuru's shout and ran towards that direction.