First, there was worry. Then there was disappointment.

Even these feelings light till I couldn’t really feel something.

I gazed blankly on the scene earlier than me.

Three individuals have been arguing.

Heated phrases have been hurled forwards and backwards, then flesh struck flesh. Two individuals have been hitting one another. Silhouettes entwined and separated a number of occasions. The opposite was screaming beside them.

Saori and Ruiko have been beating one another up. Tsubaki was screeching like a crow beside them. I didn’t know what she was saying. Out of the blue, Shizuki stood up and grabbed Ruiko’s hand to cease her. However Ruiko shook her hand off and raised her arm.

A stone got here down. Saori screamed. Pink blood blocked her imaginative and prescient, and he or she staggered again a step. Ruiko regarded round, bewildered. She didn’t fairly perceive what she had executed. Saori stared at her moist palm. One thing had spilled from her cracked head, sticking to her fingers.

Saori’s legs went lax, and he or she slid down the slope.

I didn’t truly know at what level she died.

I regarded to the aspect.

A refreshing breeze brushed towards my cheeks. I used to be sitting in an out of doors café, my complete physique stiff, holding a cup of scorching chocolate.

On the far finish of the café positioned within the academy’s central plaza, the acquainted seats have been occupied by the same old individuals. Naturally, one seat was vacant. We all the time simply silently acknowledged that vacant area.

However proper now, a distinct particular person was sitting on it.

She munched on a sugar dice and regarded us with a smile.

A smile that jogged my memory of a cat.

“I see,” she mentioned. “You women actually don’t know the place she is. That’s a disgrace. Ah, it should be unhappy to know {that a} good buddy of yours is lacking. Each time I see you having tea like this, I ponder how unhappy you might be.”

She shook the cup of tea vigorously, spilling its contents on the desk. We exchanged appears. Nobody knew why she was right here.

“However I apparently lack creativeness,” the woman continued casually. “I can’t for the lifetime of me see you women as being unhappy.” She winked.

A chill ran down my backbone. Ruiko, the aggressive one, began speaking, making an attempt to eliminate the stranger along with her snide remarks. However the cat-like woman didn’t care. A second later, Shizuki, who had been silent till now, struck the desk.

“I’m grieving,” she mentioned.

Silence fell. The woman paused. She closed her eyes and sipped her tea.

Opening one eye, she mumbled, “I mourn for my love. I’ll be chief mourner.”

Was that some form of poem?

Her smile deepened. “So that you’re the one one who claims they’re grieving.”

Shizuki nodded firmly. I studied the stranger. My hackles rose. Indescribable worry gripped me.

She didn’t appear human.

“I hated you all, by the best way,” she whispered softly from my bedside.

I couldn’t say something again.

I pulled the comforter. I needed to shut my eyes. Cowl my ears. I needed to go to sleep.

How good it might be if I might disguise beneath the covers. But I couldn’t even try this.

“I used to be the one who killed them each,” Shizuki mentioned, stroking my hair. “And I’m the one who drove you mad.”

She took a tuft of my hair and kissed it. Then she pulled laborious. I felt a pointy ache in my scalp. I couldn’t even transfer as she pulled my hair out. Trembling, I simply waited for her to go away.

“Hey, is it irritating?” She giggled. “Are you pissed off?”

Tears blurred my imaginative and prescient.

Shizuki’s fingers gently wiped away the tears.

“Now for those who might simply die, it might be excellent,” she mentioned melodiously.

I used to be scared. Terrified. I’d been frightened for some time now.

Ever since Saori’s loss of life, I feared I’d share the identical destiny as her.

And my worry was amplified when the flowers bloomed. Tsubaki’s loss of life drove it house.

Sooner or later I’d change into like that. I’d be killed and change into a corpse.

Sure, I used to be fearful of being punished by the flowers.

“I see. So that you want to overcome your worry. Then the quickest manner to try this is to ■■■ with the topic. It’s actually fairly easy, younger girl. People are trash. ■■■ are much better. I don’t assume it’s so unhealthy to be a ■. Sure, and you then’ll by no means should be afraid once more,” the cat mentioned cheerfully.

I fortunately agreed. Shedding tears, I accepted her proposal.

When was this? I couldn’t bear in mind.

I hated that I couldn’t hear the essential elements.

I used to be standing beneath a blue sky.

At my toes was a dry rooftop. Within the heart of the white-and-blue world stood a woman. Her arms have been outstretched, tears streaming down her face. Out of the blue, she began operating, crossing the roof. I didn’t know her. However I did.

My recollections turned muddled.

I knew that it was unhealthy, however this was my resolution. Borders blurred, existences fused. The boundary between me and myself disappeared, and we turned one. Uterus was embedded in my stomach, and the style of flowers stuffed my mouth. Saori fell off in entrance of me, and the canine bit off its proprietor’s head.

The style of flesh stuffed my mouth. Mayuzumi twirled her pink parasol.

“And… by consuming… tried to… god.”

Mayuzumi Chihana tried to change into a god by consuming the flesh of a god.

“Consuming flowers is a metaphor.”

I took a deep breath. Opening my eyes, I struggled to emerge from the ocean of recollections. The reply was on this aspect. I recalled the woman consuming flowers. The cat’s phrases spun by way of my thoughts. Then all of it melted once more.

The scene earlier than me turned cloudy, like water dropped on paint. Phrases got here speeding in as a muddy stream of incoherent nonsense. I simply cowered within the midst of it, holding my head in my palms.

A sea of crimson flowers stretched on beneath my toes.

Flowers are scary, so I’ve to eat them. They are saying that those that eat demons change into demons themselves. Then you’ll by no means be afraid once more. If you happen to eat a god, you’ll change into a god. The reality is, Shizuki. If you happen to don’t need me to die, then stick with me. Gained’t you die, Kotori? Hey, Odagiri. A womb within the stomach. Flowers into fingers.

My consciousness melted. My existence turned obscure, and phrases misplaced their that means.

Simply at the start turned to nothing, one thing heat touched my hand.

Papa.

One thing heat descended on my hand as I drowned in a sea of stupor. It wrapped its tiny arms round me, clinging to my neck. It smelled of milk and blood. It was heavy. It moved its legs and arms because it tried to inform me one thing.

A small tongue licked my face like a pet, slithering over my cheeks repeatedly. It stored repeating the identical phrases.

Papa, no.

A baby—Uka was calling me.

I embraced the being in my arms and established my very own existence across the little one. I lifted my very own consciousness from Kotori’s recollections.

“I do know. I’m sorry,” I whispered to the kid in my arms.

I nearly misplaced myself.

The kid beat on my chest, sobbing. I hugged her tightly. I pressed my cheek in her hair and whispered.

“I’ll always remember.”

I ought to by no means lose it. I promised Shizuka. I promised to recollect her. I have to not lose sight of myself. I have to not overlook my promise to her.

“I’m your father,” I mentioned.

A declaration. Acknowledgement.

Then swiftly, my imaginative and prescient quickly returned.

I set free the breath that I had been holding, coughing repeatedly. I used to be truly suffocating to loss of life. I nearly drowned in a sea of recollections.

Kotori regarded frightened. What simply occurred was one thing I alone skilled by way of Uka. I doubt the woman knew what truly occurred.

I took a deep breath, exhaled, and pulled my wounded palm away. She rapidly held her wrist shut.

Kotori resumed tearing the flowers, bringing them to her mouth.

Her eyes have been glazed over. I studied her.

Would my phrases actually attain her? I wasn’t certain. However my solely alternative was to hit her laborious with the reply I discovered.

“Consuming flowers and turning into a flower gained’t make your worry go away,” I mentioned.

Kotori froze. Her eyes widened. Her pale lips quivered.

A glimmer of sanity appeared in her cloudy eyes.

I used to be certain. This was the reply.

Consuming flowers is a metaphor.

Consuming flowers had the identical significance as consuming human flesh.

She tried to change into a flower by consuming flowers.

Like the lady who as soon as tried to eat a god to change into a god.

I repeated what the cat mentioned. “I see. So that you want to overcome your worry. Then the quickest manner to try this is to fuse with the topic. It’s actually fairly easy, younger girl. People are trash. Pink flowers are much better. I don’t assume it’s so unhealthy to be a flower. Sure, and you then’ll by no means should be afraid once more.”

Kotori’s fingers creaked. She tore off the flower in her hand and pressed it to her lips. A pink drop dribbled down her chin. However her eyes have been undoubtedly me. Assured that my phrases had reached her, I continued on.

“That’s what the cat instructed you. However that’s nothing greater than sophism.”

People can’t be flowers.

To “change into a flower” most likely meant to be poisoned by a flower and die.