Chapter Text
Meiko went back to Luka and Kaito after a while.
‘What could Flower have meant..? What does Kaito want to tell me?” Meiko asked herself before seeing them again.
“Err… I’m back..!” Meiko announced.
“Ah, Meiko!” Kaito replied.
“Oh, Kaito, you’re awake I see?” Meiko replied.
“Mhm. I healed him.” Luka responded.
“Alright, uhm, Kaito, the Goddess of life told me that you wanted to tell me something.” Meiko said to Kaito.
“Oh, do I..? I do, don't I.? Heh,” Kaito said, seeming uncomfortable. “Uh, Meiko, come here.” Kaito continued.
‘Huh, is it this important?’ Meiko thought.
“So, do you know Gakupo? That one purple haired guy? I knew him very well, we weren't friends at all because of his “Destiny” but he didn't want to kill me at all… I wanted to kill myself. So I hired him to do it by giving him a Camellia and calling it a day… he said it would take a long time to actually think of a plan so he couldn't be guilty. So I took the gun I kept in my room and went to the forest nearby…”
Flashback
“Kaito… Alright I know I said I hate you, but not to this extent… W-what the hell…?” Gakupo said, heavily confused.
“Please… You're literally the only person I can ask, we can make it seem like an accident or something! Just.. Everyone wants this, including myself… It'd be a favor on a ton of parts!” Kaito begged.
“... I can't do this.” Gakupo stated.
“Please!.. I'll give you one of my camellias.” Kaito offered.
“I mean… I guess, but it will take a bit. I don't wanna go to prison at 23. That's still young!” Gakupo replied.
“Thank you Gakupo.”
“But, Kaito, You're even younger than me. 19… Are you still so sure? You still have friends and plenty of opportunities ahead of you.” Gakupo suggested to Kaito.
“Gakupo… I don't care about that anymore.” Kaito replied, he then smiled and went away.
*A few weeks later, December 17th.*
‘Gakupo is taking too long, it's almost been a month and still nothing? That's stupid, I said I want it done so why not just do it?’ Kaito thought. He had taken his gun with him, he used it for self protection back when he was in high school. Now he was using it for self-prevention… hah, funny pun.
He already gave most of his stuff to his friend Len. All he needed to do was to get rid of himself. He walked over to a part of the forest, and brought out the remainder of his stuff, it was just a small pot of a camellia, and his gun, as well as some clothes if he decided to change his decision. But he probably wouldn’t.
“... Hold on, is there someone over here?” Kaito asked himself. He slowly walked over to another tree, and indeed did see someone. It was a girl with short light brown hair, and a red jacket with black lace on top of it… she was beautiful.
"Oh, uhhm, hello, I never expected to see another person here." Kaito said… he was somewhat embarrassed because of the whole killing himself thing. But she didn’t need to know any of that.
“Ah, hello” She replied, not looking at him.
“So, why are you here?” I asked, since not many people of villages like to live in forests, unless they're camping, though, this woman was probably not camping.
“I was… Banished from my old village, this place is nice enough, and I’ve been here for a little, so I just made a place and stayed.” She said.
“Ah, well, I just came here myself, well, I didn't really want to, but the people of where I'm from always disliked me, so I just decided to leave.” It was a little lie Kaito made out. But he didn't wanna vent to a random girl he didn't even know the name of.All he did was move a bit closer to her, as it was a bit cold outside, he didn't mind it, but with the girl wearing something with her bare shoulders showing, she probably was.
The girl put a semi-sour face on when Kaito did so, but quickly went back to her regular face.
“Ah, pardon for getting so close to you, it's just kinda cold out here, ya know?” Kaito said, he put his hand on her shoulder and smirked.
"Huh..?" the girl said, looking at the spot where the boy touched her.
"What? Oh, what's this about?" Kaito questioned himself, looking at the dead buds on his palm. "It's... I have a curse that makes flowers grow wherever I touch, usually, whenever I touch someone, roots grow inside them and buds appear and bloom on them, but you...? How?" The girl said, really confused.
"Wait, you have a curse too? That's... Kinda cool..." Kaito said…
‘...Other people have curses..? Other people are.. Like me?” kaito thought.
"Wow... What's your stupid curse?" The girl said, astonished as well.
"Erm.. It is stupid fufu, but every time I touch a living plant, like a flower or even a tree, it immediately dies. It doesn't seem that bad, but plants are some of my favorite things ever, hell, my whole entire old village is about noticing how nice plants and flowers are, many rare flowers are native to the area, except, I've never been able to touch one. One of my favorite flowers, Camellias, are super valuable and are superstitioned to bring good fortune and healing to the people residing in the village. I collect them in my room, though, the healing only comes if you touch them... And I've never been able to do that. Kaito said, looking down… that's a part of the reason he is here anyway.
"Wow... That sucks. Well, in what world do curses not suck? Wait, so does this mean I can like... Actually hug you?" The girl asked.
"Probably." Kaito replied.
The girl then went up to Kaito and hugged him right there and then. He thought of how he had no one ever do this, how a stranger could do this by figuring out something everyone else had hated, he laughed out loud at the comfort, and the girl smiled in return.
“That felt… Refreshing.” The girl said.
“Hehe, sure did.” Kaito replied.
“Wait, you never really told me your name, nor have I… I'm Meiko Saline, but Meiko is just fine.” Meiko said.
“Alright, I'm Kaito, but yeah, Kaito is just fine.” Kaito said.
‘Could this… finally be something I can look up to?’ Kaito questioned himself.
“Sooo…. Maybe we could go back to my village, I mean… . I didn't intend to stay here for that long, so most of my stuff is still at my house.” Kaito suggested.
‘More like most of my stuff is at Len’s house.’ Kaito thought.
“I mean, sure.” Meiko replied.
“Alright, let's go!” Kaito said, forgetting about his worries.
‘Perhaps.. Perhaps this could be the thing that keeps me happy this time around.’
End of flashback
“... I'm so glad you're here, Meiko. You've done so much for me.” Kaito said, tears forming at the corners of his eyes.
“.. Haha.. You have too.. Thank you.”
“... H-hey, how about we go to the night flower festival tomorrow? Len and his sister are going, and a bunch of other people.”
“I mean, aren't you banned from them?” Meiko asked.
“Only some of them, I think they said they're inviting everyone this time.” Kaito replied.
“Well then, perhaps.” Meiko said.
“Good then.. Let's have fun.”