Chapter Text
Aeloria always had the prettiest flowers, especially in the spring. There were many who would hold them, feeling their petals with gentleness. Sometimes, the empresses, Luka and MEIKO, would come out and watch the citizens. While everyone had fun together, there was one who would isolate himself from these festivities.
KAITO never liked how crowded the square got. He'd spend his time hiding away, going to explore on his own. Like everyone else, he enjoyed the flowers. Seeing them slowly bloom brought a sense of peace to him. He didn't just admire them, either. Ever since he could remember, he had been longing to feel the delicate petals of the flowers, but it never felt right. He had been wearing gloves since he was a child, and when touching the flowers, all he could feel was the fabric that lined the inside of the gloves. Maybe today, he'd try to feel one without them. He walked around the garden, looking for a flower he liked. Each step brought him a sense of sentimentality. Longing for the flowers like this... he loved and hated it.
After walking for a while, he spotted a flower out of the corner of his eye. It was a mix of pink and orange, similar to a rose. KAITO recognized it as an Adiper, a flower that only grew here in the kingdom. They were especially rare, too, with only about 500 of them growing every spring. Crouching down, he took off one of his gloves and put it on the ground, the tip of his finger brushing ever so slightly on a blade of grass. Since it was one, he didn't really notice, but that blade had turned brown and wilted. His hand moved closer to the Adiper, almost drawn to its vibrancy. The second his fingers came in contact with the petals, they withered upon his touch, turning from colourful and bright to dull and dead.
KAITO recoiled in horror, staring at the now dead flower and then his hand.
"What the hell...?" he whispered, looking back at it.
Starting to panic, he reached for his glove with his exposed hand, touching more of the grass, which also started to die out. He noticed it this time, and his breath hitched in his throat. Was his touch killing the plants? Desperate to find an answer, he went over to another patch of flowers, dandelions, and touched one with his bare hand. That dandelion wilted and became a white, fluffy ball of seeds. Then, with his concealed hand, touched another. That one stayed bright yellow and alive. KAITO didn't understand. When did this happen? Is this why he had to wear gloves as a child? Maybe he was just hallucinating. They couldn't have died that fast, right? Right?!
Overwhelmed with fear, he quickly hid the wilted Adiper, tossing it into the forest before dashing off. I can't let anyone find out about this, he thought as he ran. I can't. Not like this...
That couldn't have been real. One moment, the flowers were fine, then the next, they were dead. It couldn't have been. He was just seeing things. He'd try again tomorrow, but for now, he just needed rest. Rest, then maybe the flowers would be back to normal.
⊹₊ ˚‧︵‿₊୨ ♱ ୧₊‿︵‧ ˚ ₊⊹
The next day, KAITO returned to the garden, though pressing himself up against the wall upon seeing guards around the flowerbed of the Adiper.
"Someone's done something to them," one of them huffed. "One is missing."
"There were 45 in this bed yesterday," he heard what sounded like Luka's voice. "Now there's only 44..."
"It might've been stolen, though very hastily," MEIKO chimed in. "I can see the roots. Whoever it was didn't do a good job of trying to get away with it."
They found out, KAITO thought, dread settling in his stomach. Would they know it was him?
"The roots seem to be dried up, too," Luka observed, crouching down to see the root of the Adiper. "They couldn't have died out that fast, though."
Every word further supplied the fear and dread KAITO had about this whole situation.
"There's dried up grass around here, too. Seems like whoever did it killed the grass, too."
He felt like he was about to cry. What would they do to him if they found out he was the one who did it? What would they do if they found out about his curse? Negative thoughts overwhelmed him. He felt his legs about to give out on him, but he had to stay hidden. After what seemed like forever, the guards and MEIKO and Luka left, allowing KAITO to step out of his hiding spot. Wandering the garden, he decided to try and touch the more common ones, ones that the empresses didn't really care about. Shaking, he took off his gloves, making sure NOT to touch the grass as he set them down, and caressed the flower's petals. Like yesterday, they withered away. KAITO felt hopeless. It wasn't a hallucination. Desperate to not give in so easily, he went around, seeing if it was the same for all of them, and unfortunately, it was.
"No..."
He sat on the ground and sobbed, knees up to his chest with his head down. This curse wasn't a dream or a hallucination... it was real. It was real, and he couldn't do anything about it. As he cried, a few petals from the overhead cherry blossom tree fell on him. Cherry blossoms were another staple of Aeloria. Some of them were on his head and sleeves, but didn't die or wilt. Needing one last bit of hope, he held his hand out and let a petal fall on his hand. As it hit his palm, it wilted. And that was it.
He cried harder.