You lied on the bottom bunk, staring at the underneath of Maki's bunk as the words the old lady said lingered in your head.
Even though you knew she was probably just trying to be poetic or mystical, the way she said it was somehow eerie.
Truths that no one else will hear.
Maki returned to the room. "Alright, let's head out. There's a place to stargaze deep in the forest, so if we leave now, we should be there by sunset."
You nodded and followed her out, zipping up your jacket. The boys were already waiting in the foyer and you all walked out and followed the dirt road towards the forest.
The snow crunched under your feet, thankfully not deep enough for you to sink right in with your running shoes.
You looked up at the sky that was framed by the overhanging branches, seeing that one of those branches looked like it was getting larger and larger. It took a good second for you to realize that it was falling.
You let out a yelp and grabbed Yuta and Panda's arms, yanking them out of the way as the branch that had to be at least your size crashed into the ground, the snow jumping.
"What the heck..." Maki muttered.
Toge approached the branch, kicking it gently as if it would start moving.
"Let's just keep going," Maki said as she took your shoulder.
You couldn't help but think back to what the old lady said the day before, of the tales that were attached to this place.
Oh, how you hoped that she meant that in a good way.
The five of you got to the clearing and you looked up, seeing that the sun hadn't begun set yet. "We're here early."
The clearing had three logs that were arranged in a triangle, nothing in the middle like a normal campsite.
Maki brushed the snow off of one of the logs and sat down, patting the area next to her so you would do so as well. The two of you faced the inside of the triangle that the logs formed while the boys seemed to be committed to stripping a tree of its blanket of snow, shaking it by the trunk and swatting the branches.
"It's nice to be here without my family," she said, trying to hide a grin as snow fell on top of Yuta.
"Not the closest relationship?"
"Not at all." Maki chuckled, but even without hearing it you knew that it wasn't a happy chuckle. "You're lucky. You tell stories about your friends and family and it seems so... perfect."
You didn't have any words of comfort, anything that came to your mind to tell you that her that her family would come around. After all, you just met Maki a few months before, and she didn't really talk about her family... or herself, for that matter.
You wished that Tsumiki was there to put her arm around Maki and give comforting words while you sat there, ready to turn on the karaoke or cook a meal or make some coffee.
"...Family's a pretty flexible term," you started. "It's just... the people who take care of you. The people you want to take care of."
Maki chuckled again, at the naïveté of the girl who lived in a small town where everyone knew everyone her whole life. "Blood runs thicker than water, Y/N."
"I mean... yeah. 'The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.' There are those you'd bleed for and those who'd watch you drown. Don't you get to choose who those people will be?"
You ducked as a snowball that Toge threw flew past your head and you picked up a handful of snow, running after Toge as Panda and Yuta ran after, running through the trees like children while Maki sat with her brows raised.
And with a smile, she joined the rest of you.
•••
Toge took your sleeve and pointed up at the sky as it began to darken.
Before you could get everyone else's attention, a snowball hit you in the back of the head and you forgot what you were about to say, grabbing a handful of snow and packing it together before throwing it at Panda's chest.
"Guys, sunset's coming!" Maki told everyone and Toge took your arm to guide you down a thin path that led to the edge of the forest, where the land dipped in a gradual drop before the land was replaced with a frozen lake that you could see from the cabin.
You sat down in the snow and Maki sat to your left, Toge to your right, then Panda took off his panda head and lied down in front of you, and Yuta sat down beside Maki.
The sky turned pink as the sun began to disappear behind the lake, its light reflecting off the ice.
"Wow..." Yuta whispered.
You had seen sunsets a thousand times, and yet they never looked any less beautiful. The way the sky was so vast, like an artist's dream canvas, and paints of pink and orange and blue streaked across it.
You inched over to Maki and leaned your head on her shoulder like you did with Tsumiki. You expected her to shove you off but you felt her shoulder drop with a sigh, and she let you remain.
With a satisfied grin, you sighed as well, realizing that the sunset wasn't the most beautiful thing here.
Toge glanced at you and patted Panda's shoulder, gaining his attention as well. "Wow... Maki never lets anyone do that," Panda said.
Toge nodded and smiled. "Well, I think Maki really started liking her after Y/N called her a sword lily."
"Oh, did she? What a poetic kid."
"I guess that's what happens when you live in a flower shop."
"Just 'cause Y/N can't hear you, doesn't mean I can't!" Maki snapped.
•••
Once you returned to the cabin and everyone washed off the scent of snow and forest, you all gathered in the cosy living room as the old lady started up a fire.
She didn't really say much, not even bothering to introduce herself.
Toge and Panda played chess while Yuta kept correcting Panda when he made an illegal move, since he didn't actually know how to play. You sat on the couch, downing the second best cup of coffee you had ever had.
Maki walked out, drying her hair with a towel. "Is the bishop allowed to go that way?"
"N-no..." Yuta muttered as he moved the bishop back to its original place on the chess board. "You can only move this piece diagonally, Panda."
She sat next to you and you held out the only comb that was contained in the cabin, since the both of you forgot one. You looked into your mug, the coffee now finished, and frowned.
"Want more?" Maki asked and you shook your head.
You felt the floor shake as something heavy dropped in another room and you all went to check, seeing that nothing had fallen but the old lady sat in a rocking chair in the corner of the room, knitting.
"If that's not a horror movie scene, I don't know what is," you signed.
"What was the banging noise?" Maki asked.
"What banging noise?" The old lady smiled sweetly and you all backed out of the room.
"I think she's committed to terrifying us," Yuta shuddered, his hands shaking while he signed.
"Is she normally here, Maki?" Panda asked, and Maki shook her head. "She's normally out when we're here, at her actual house. I've never actually met her personally until now."
"Great..."
You jammed your hands in the pockets of the sweater you wore as the five of you returned to the living room where the fireplace crackled with flames.
Toge wore a troubled expression, his eyes darting around the room as if something would collapse, and he sat on the couch rather than across the table to continued playing chess.
"Something the matter?" you asked as you sat down beside him and Maki took his place across Panda.
He shook his head and lied back, while you continued to watch Panda get destroyed in chess.
You realized that you had never been so far from home before.
•••
"What is that?" you muttered as you, Toge, and Panda approached the school. "A curtain?"
"Who put it up?" Panda questioned.
"Whoever it was, we need to get in and help Maki and Yuta."
"Salmon."
Panda jumped and crashed through the curtain. You quickly felt the presence of someone of great power — someone like Gojo. "Quick, let's head over!"
You pulled out your hearing aids and shoved them in your pocket as a vine grew beneath your foot and sent you flying upwards. "Foreign sorcerer, nine o'clock."
Panda and Toge were quick to move towards the foreign sorcerer you named: Suguru.
You landed on top of one of the gates that led onto school ground, searching for Maki or Yuta. You found Maki lying on the ground, her sword beside her, her limbs bending in strange directions. Maki!
You jumped down and swung your hands above your head as vines created a dome over you. You hovered your hands above her bleeding leg as stems with precise thorns at the ends of them sprouted from your palms. However, even they couldn't figure out a way to heal her. You lifted her torso gently, holding her closely so you could feel her shaky breaths.
The dome withered away and you placed one hearing aid in so you could yell to Panda, "We need to get her to Shoko!"
Toge came plummeting down, pulling down the blue scarf that was around his mouth so he could say, "Crumble away."
You watched Suguru quite literally crumble, along with the ground beneath him, and you furrowed your brow, seeing that the hole that formed where Suguru was just standing looked remarkably like the black holes that your plants sprouted from.
Suddenly, what looked like a large casket with bandages wrapped around it and a face frozen in an agonizing scream emerged from the black hole, as well as Suguru.
"Toge!!"
•••
You gasped and sat up in bed, nearly hitting your head on the top bunk as you clutched your hands, the strange feeling of plants growing through your skin lingering as if it had actually happened.
Maki groaned and looked at the mirror that was on the vanity facing the bed, seeing you sat up.
She hung her hands down so you could see them. "Nightmare?"
You nodded and sighed. "Go back to sleep. It's okay."
And she was quick to listen.
You stared at her reflection in the mirror, remembering how delicately you had to hold her in your arms.
Like a flower.