Chapter Text
“Haruka”
Two teens are sitting under a willow tree with their backs against each other, sharing their warmth like they always did. Even though the boy did not reply, she knew that he was listening anyway. He always does, even if he stays silent.
“Promise that we’ll always have each other’s backs.”
Her hands continued to carve through the wood she was holding, making art out of something that she could barely even see. The boy then scoffed, looking slightly to her side to see what she was doing.
“That’s a childish thing to promise. What are you even making?”
“Just promise me anyway, so that I can finish this one with sincerity."
Haruka scoffed, his head turned back to the position it was before, and stayed silent. But she felt it, him linking his pinky with hers when she took a break from carving. And he did it so slowly and gently, too, so that he would not take her by surprise.
“That’s a promise, alright?”
She was not able to see how his ears reddened, but she did feel his back get warmer than before. But more than that, she felt his pinky tighten in her hold, and not once did they ever think of letting go.
Sakura’s eyes fluttered open when the rays of the sun seeped through the room. He groaned when the brightness hit his eyes, and he had no choice but to get up from his futon. His body still ached after the sudden fight from patrolling yesterday, but he had no choice but to welcome another day.
“Why did I dream of that of all things?”
He muttered to himself, his voice still groggy from sleep, but he kept recalling that scene from his dream. The girl’s black hair was dancing with the leaves of the willow tree, on which they were sitting, and the small, wooden sculpture in her hands.
It’s been a long time since he has dreamt of something from his past that was not unpleasant, and even though it was good, he couldn’t help but feel guilty for some reason.
“Why do I have a bad feeling?”
At the same time, a young girl holding a carrier bag in one hand and a cane in the other took her first step in her new town and into her new life. She looked at her new surroundings with wonder in curiosity embedded in her dull gray eyes.
"A new story...”
Her smile brightened her face, masking the nerves that were shaking inside her right now. She went forward because forward is the only way she could go now.
“GPS... GPS...”
She muttered, blindly searching through her pockets and pouch, and started panicking when she couldn’t feel her rectangular device.
“Oh, right. I left it behind.”
She groaned when she realized that fact, and now she could confidently say it. That she was lost.
“Whatever, I could just explore first before finding the apartment.”
But what she wasn’t aware of was a group of wolves walking towards her with the intention of attacking the prey.
Tsubaki was just patrolling with his advisors, the Sasaki twins, when they heard a riot nearby, which immediately caught their attention.
Already worried that they might have come too late, and a citizen might have gotten hurt. But to their surprise, it seemed that the situation had already been handled.
They never expected such a scene to ever happen in this life, ever, and to say they were impressed was an understatement. If Tsubaki were to paint the picture, there would be three unconscious wolves on the ground and a hare kicking the head of the last wolf with its strong legs.
Except that the wolves were men who looked like typical beings with bad intentions, and that the hare was a girl with long black hair beating the last man with her cane, even though the man was already unconscious.
“A SKIRT. IS NOT. AN INVITATION!”
Seiryu and Uryu looked at each other to see each other’s reaction before turning their heads to their leader with perfect synchronicity. While the two were puzzled, Tsubaki was watching the scene with sparkling eyes.
“How stylish!”
He exclaimed as he watched the girl continue beating the unconscious man. But Uryu and Seiryu knew that if they didn’t snap Tsubaki out of his trance, things might get out of hand.
“Tsubaki, we should stop her before things get bloody.”
“Oh right, we wouldn’t want that pretty dress of hers to get stained.”
While the girl was still in the zone, her cane was suddenly stopped as if it was stuck on something when she tugged on it.
“What the hell?!”
The girl looked behind her and saw a figure much taller than she was, but she didn’t know if it was a girl or a boy.
She squinted her eyes to see better out of habit, even though it doesn’t work.
“He already fainted, sweetheart.”
The person had a deep voice, but from what she could see, they were wearing a female uniform of some school and had long hair. So it got her more confused than ever.
“What... Are you?”
The twins who heard her question turned around and started snickering. People would usually be confused about their captain’s gender, but to hear it phrased like that was refreshing. But Tsubaki wasn’t offended; instead found her cute. Because her eyes weren’t filled with judgment but just curiosity.
“I’m a fabulous being. You can call me Tsubaki-chan.”
While Tsubaki introduced himself to the newcomer, the twins tied up the unconscious troublemakers and called reinforcements at the same time. Since it wasn’t them that took care of the trouble, they didn’t need to do the usual and just do the clean-up.
“Tsubaki... I’m Airi.”
Upon hearing her name, Tsubaki squealed because the etymology suited her so much.
“Jasmine of Love, that suits you so much”
Airi looked at him while laughing awkwardly, because she had never met someone so extroverted and non-judgmental before. Usually, when she met someone, they would immediately comment on her eyes, but they still haven’t.
Yet, she didn’t let her guard down. Just because she is in another area doesn’t mean that the people are different.