[September 12, 2418 - Wednesday, 10:30 AM]
The day of the festival had arrived, the campus set up with streamers, booths, and various games for each student and staff member to enjoy. The campus was bustling with lively energy, music and laughs filling the air between teachers and students alike.
Aisha and the others wandered around the courtyard, where most of the activities were being held, while the Hounds patrolled the campus with the help of Hisumi and Cerebral to make sure everything was running smoothly. A few security guards stood at the gate, only allowing students and verified visitors enter.
I lingered on the rooftop, watching from bird's eye view while snacking on a few churros. I felt my phone buzz in my pocket then took it out, looking at the screen and seeing a message from Heido. "Hm?"
[Onii (Heido): Alright, Oto. The girls are all enjoying themselves, including the sky blue silhouette you told me to keep an eye out on. I'll be honest, I can barely see her.]
[Me: She's still attached to Naomi, so keep an eye on her, though she can switch at will ¯\_(ツ)_/¯]
[Onii (Heido): Would have been nice to know beforehand because I just lost her again. (¬_¬)]
I chuckled softly at Heido's message then put my phone back into my pocket, my eyes shifting over to the booth area of the campus. I saw the girls below checking out the various artworks and foods within each stand, Nanako now hovering behind Emma.
"Hmhm! I know a good piece of art when I see one!" Emma chirped, standing in front of a painting then leaned forward to see the artist's name.
"Oooh~ I like this one! The wings of fire and the valkyrian sword. This one is definitely Aetherian inspired," Aisha commented, pointing at the fiery wings and the sword on the painting.
"This does have a very expressionate style to it, as if the painter wanted to convey a certain emotion. Maybe passion? Anger? Boldness? There's so many different possible interpretations for this," Rebecca said, studying the very brush strokes upon the painting with a soft hum.
"Hanabi...Hanabi? As in Chiteki? Kenji's mom is a painter? That numbskull doesn't know the first thing about painting and you're telling me his mom painted this masterpiece?" Emma asked in shock, standing up straight and crossed her arms.
"Isn't Hanabi like your distant aunt or something like that? It wouldn't be too surprising to know your love for art could have came from her," Otsuki mentioned, glancing over at Emma and tilted her head.
"Yeah, but I've never actually met her or anything...or maybe I have, my memory is kinda fuzzy," Emma said, scratching her head as vague images of Hanabi began popping up in her mind as Nanako began influencing her memory.
"This is such a crazy realization! At least four of you have a connection to Nanako's friends via family! I've never really realized this until now," Lotus said, looking between the five girls with slight surprise.
Aisha, Emma, Rebecca, Naomi, and Otsuki all glanced at each other then back at Lotus, each of them confused upon what Lotus was trying to bring up. Lotus let out a nervous giggle then rubbed the back of her head.
"What I mean is since we've brought back the festival, we should do our best to have the most fun ever! I know some amazing things we can do, follow me!" Lotus said in a chipper manner, leading the charge down the booths with a bright smile.
I smiled as I watched the girls wander off to continue their adventures. I finished my last churro then dusted my hands clean. "Well, time for me to start setting up as well. A week long, so I gotta make sure everything is ready..."
{Chapter 40: New Memories}
I hummed my mother's melody as I waltzed down the halls, swinging the door of Tsubami's Student Council Room open with a bright smile. "Oh, Silverella! Guess who!"
"You're the loudest one in the building currently. I know it's you, Oto," Tsubami sighed and looked at me, twirling her pen around her fingers. "Why are you here instead of with the girls? Don't you know this week is a big week?"
"Yeah, yeah, I know what this week is. However, I want to do something for Nanako that I know will cheer her up!" I suggested, walking into the room and taking a seat in front of Tsubami's desk.
"What's your bright idea? Humor me," Tsubami asked, raising an eyebrow at me and set her pen down.
I grinned at Tsubami then leaned forward against the desk. "We work to restore the Bunny Garden. It was one of Nanako's favorite locations other than the Cat Alley right? What if we restore even just the entrance areas?"
"Restore it? You're gonna need Noble Level botanists to brings the greenery of that garden back to life, plus...no one has been there since Nanako died," Tsubami answered, sitting back in her seat and crossing her arms with an unsure expression.
I nodded at her statement then took my phone out of my pocket, pulling up a picture then set my phone on the desk. "I went there yesterday with Madam K and Heido, we found an Ark there. Possibly one of Nanako's Arks. I have a feeling that her Arks can play a role in the garden."
Tsubami leaned forward to look at the picture of the Ark and hummed with high interest. "You found Galeis Æ..? Grandma Hisu has been searching for those for years...and you just found it?"
"Heido did initially, truth be told. But, I have a feeling her other Arks could be there in the garden. For now though, I want to work on fixing it just a little. Could you help me out? I'll buy you honey glazed onigiri if you do," I asked, batting my eyes at Tsubami.
Tsubami felt her mouth water at the offer of her favorite snack in the world and closed her eyes with a soft groan. "I hate you for pulling my arm like this...you know better than anyone else how much I love honey glazed onigiri..."
"It's your weakness~" I said in a singsong voice.
"It is...my one and only true weakness. Okay, I'll do it, but only if you buy the dozen," Tsubami said, pointing at me with a serious expression.
'Jesus Christ, one onigiri already costs about ten USD. An entire dozen is 100 USD! But...it's a sacrifice I have to make...' I thought to myself, nodding my head at Tsubami.
"Okay, I'll do it. $100 on the line, Benjamin Franklin has not failed me before," I said, standing up and giving Tsubami a salute. "Sargeant Tsubami, Private Izuna is ready to take orders for Operation Restore B. Garden!"
Tsubami looked up at me then smiled at me, closing her eyes and letting out a soft sigh before standing up. "Attention, Soldier!"
I immediately stood at attention, facing forward as I waited for instruction. "Ma'am!"
Tsubami outstretched her hand toward the door. "First order of business, Private! Go to the Gardening Club and secure Gardening President Rosemary and her brother, Eins! Move swiftly!"
"Understood, Sargeant!" I replied, turning around and matched out of the room.
Tsubami chuckled softly at me and crossed her arms. "Ahh, I kinda missed doing that. Good to know that he still knows his fundamentals."
While I headed to find the Gardening Club, Aisha and the girls were inside the gym where the games were being held. The building was filled with lively music, laughter, and the various sounds of the different games.
Each of the girls were cheering on Emma as she tossed balls at a stack of plastic bottles, each attempt only having her knock down two bottles out of the five that was stacked. Emma groaned and stomped her foot down, pointing at the worker.
"You're cheating! The bottom bottles are glued to the counter!" Emma accused, puffing her cheeks at the worker.
The teacher let out an awkward chuckle and rubbed the back of his head. "No, you're just throwing too high."
"You are kinda shooting for the moon, Em," Aisha said, lightly placing her hand upon Emma's shoulder.
"Any higher and you might hit the sign," Rebecca added, looking up at the sign of the game booth.
Emma scoffed and lightly pushed Aisha back then grabbed hold of another ball while the teacher stacked the bottles again. "Tah! I've got this and I'll be sure to smash those bottles into pieces!"
"That's the spirit! Go get em, Tiger!" Aisha encouraged, giving Emma an encouraging gesture.
"Right! In three! Two! One! Super Chisaka Burnout Throw incoming!" Emma exclaimed, grunting heavily as she threw the ball with all her might.
The ball slammed into the stack of bottles and crashed through them, knocking four of them down while one twirled around. Emma watched the final bottle closely then gasped as the bottle fell down, a loud cheer escaping from her.
"Woohoo! I did it!" Emma cheered, holding her hands up and looked at her friends.
"That was amazing! Great job, Emma!" Aisha giggled, throwing her arms around Emma and hopped up and down with joy.
"Ack! Squeezing...too...tight!" Emma gagged, her arms also wrapped around Aisha.
Lotus chuckled at the two then looked around for more activities for everyone to do. "Oh! Look, it's Kaido and Hanna! They must be taking a break from all the patrolling."
"It looks like it. Looks like they are playing some memory game," Rebecca said then tilted her head and squinted her eyes at the person working the game. "Obassan? She's here?"
"Hm? You mean Ms. Nousagi is here?" Otsuki asked, glancing at Rebecca.
Nanako levitated to the left and leaned to the side, an echoing gasp filling her lungs as she recognized Nousagi as well. She suddenly grew excited and flew over to her, beaming with delight seeing her old friend in person again.
"I wonder what she's doing here. She's never really in Matsugaya anymore," Rebecca said, walking toward the memory game stall.
Kaido groaned and slammed his hand upon the counter, the cards hopping off the table while some flipped over. "How can you stand there and give such a dull expression when you know this game is borderline impossible!"
"Oh, look Kaido-kun~ You got a match!" Hanna giggled, pointing at the matching car cards that were flipped over during his anger.
Nousagi glanced down at the matching cards then looked back at Kaido with her hands in her pockets. "Do you still think the game is unfair, child?"
"Don't you patronize me..! You and your...stupid official Valkyria Badge and shit..." Kaido groaned, lowering his head knowing he couldn't find anything on Nousagi to roast.
"Obassan," Rebecca called out to Nousagi, catching her attention.
Nousagi glanced over at Rebecca and noticed the faint glimpse of a sky blue silhouette hovering in front of her then rose an eyebrow. She decided to initially ignore the blue silhouette until she felt a shudder crawl down her spine as she felt the sensation of a hug around her.
Nousagi shook off the feeling and watched Rebecca and her friends approach the booth. "Rebecca, how are you doing? Enjoying the festival?"
"I'm doing well, and yeah. What are you doing here? You're usually in Itakatsu or Fujitori. What brings you here?" Rebecca asked.
"Yeah, Okaasan said she hasn't seen you in forever," Otsuki added, giving Nousagi a curious look.
Nousagi smiled at the two then let out a soft exhale while looking around the gym. "It's been nearly 10 years since the last Music and Arts Festival here. They haven't had one since Mr. Erik and Mrs. Mikoto attended this school."
"The Student Council President actually called me and asked for me to be here. So, I accepted for old times. I can see this school still has their spirit," Nousagi added, looking back at the girls.
"Yo, Becca, Suki, you actually know this woman? She's not just some random volunteer?" Kaido asked, looking at the girls with confusion.
"Show some respect, Kaido. This is the Bright Hare, an A+ Rank Valkyria. She isn't just a random person," Otsuki answered, looking over at Kaido with seriousness.
"She's also my aunt," Rebecca said, nodding her head at Kaido.
Kaido looked back at Nousagi and cleared his throat, fixing the cards upon the table and bowed at Nousagi. "Sorry for my disrespect, I did not know you had motion like that."
"Motion?" Nousagi asked, raising an eyebrow and looked toward Rebecca and her friends. "Like I'm walking?"
"No, no, lady, Motion as in you've got mad aura! Like you're the boss!" Emma said, pumping her fists down in a hyped manner.
"I still don't know what you mean, but I'll take it as a compliment," Nousagi said, her eyes occasionally trailing over to the sky blue silhouette hovering around her.
Nanako noticed that Nousagi could slightly perceive her, her excitement growing more. She began looking around to see how she could get Nousagi's full attention then looked down at the cards on the counter.
Lotus noticed Nousagi's occasional glances to the side then glanced to the side as well, not seeing anything in particular. "Is there something over there?"
Nousagi shook her head then smiled. "No, just thought I saw something that caught my eye. Did you all want to play a round of Memory?"
"Sure, I'll play," Rebecca accepted, walking around to the front of the booth.
Kaido and Hanna moved to the side, everyone now watching as Rebecca went against her aunt in a game of Memory. Nousagi flipped all the cards over to show what each card was, her gaze rising up to see the sky blue silhouette also studying the cards.
Nousagi looked back down at the cards, a smile forming upon her face as she looked down at the cat cards. 'If it is you...'
~Nousagi's Memory of Nanako~
"I'm gonna get all of them this time! Starting with this one," Nanako said, pointing at the cat cards then looked up at Nousagi with a determined smile.
Hanabi tilted her head and looked up at Nanako, raising an eyebrow. "Nanako, you have trash short term memory. You literally only found one match last round."
"That was because I was trying to find the cat matches, and Nousagi moves at the speed of mach 20!" Nanako said, throwing her hands in the air dramatically.
Usagi giggled softly and looked down at Nousagi's cards, pointing at the bunny card. "Why not try to find this one first? The bunny cards tend to always be next to the cat cards, so if you find a bunny, the cat should be next."
"Ohhh, I didn't see it like that before," Nanako said, staring at the bunny card while nodding.
Kyoto lowered her face into her palm and shook her head. "Singlehandedly the worst piece of advice ever."
Nousagi chuckled softly at her friends before flipping them over and shuffling them around. "Alright, everyone get ready. Three. Two...One—"
~End of Memory~
"Draw," Nousagi said, watching Rebecca closely.
Rebecca stared at the cards with a finger upon her chin, thinking about which cards to flip first. She reached forward and flipped over two cards, both of them being matching bunny cards. Upon the next two cards she flipped, it was the matching cat cards.
Nousagi noticed a bright blue pulse beside Rebecca then smirked, her gaze lowering to the cards that were flipped over. 'Hanabi was always wrong about your memory...it's still top notch...'
"Man, I call bullshit. You're making this game easy for your niece because that's family! Not even my own older sister would do this for me," Kaido scoffed, pointing at the cards and looked at Nousagi.
"Actually, I am not cheating because it's easy to memorize the cards. Plus, this is a children's game," Rebecca said, looking at Kaido.
Kaido rolled his eyes at Rebecca and watched as she flipped over each card, matching each one perfectly and sarcastically applauded her. "Wow, Motosaki's bookworm girlfriend matched all the cards. Truly a riveting performance."
Rebecca blushed as Kaido called her my bookworm girlfriend and immediately grew shy, playing with her hair as she began stammering. "We're...not like that..."
Nousagi scoffed at Rebecca and crossed her arms, rolling her eyes at her niece's modesty. "Please, if you aren't talking about your friends or a book, it's about Motosaki. I wouldn't be surprised if you were part of what this new generation says, 'his roster'."
"I can't lie, bro has a mean roster. With the exception of the mini figure over there, she's too violent for such a snack sized girl," Kaido said, pointing at Emma then glanced at Hanna with a grin.
Emma scoffed softly at Kaido and flipped her hair. "I don't take offense from the words of a mutt."
"Oh snap! Me personally, I wouldn't take that," Aisha said, holding up her hands and laughed softly.
Nousagi chuckled softly at the group and noticed Nanako laughing along with the group, a smile forming upon her lips. 'It really is a blessing I came here...I get to see you again in a way...'
[September 12, 2418 - Wednesday, 11:00 AM]
Jogging my way through the campus, I continued my search for the Gardening Club since I couldn't find them at the greenhouse. I looked down at my watch, huffing softly as I only had an hour left before I had to give up $100 for a dozen onigiri.
Reaching the track and field area of the school, I noticed a stage at the center of the field with a crowd of students standing in front of the stage with loud cheers. I walked forward to the crowd, noticing a group on stage performing a song.
I rose an eyebrow as I noticed the leader was a guy wearing a blue gardening bandana on his head, his voice filling the speakers as he walked around the stage performing his song. Alongside him was a younger girl playing a guitar, a pink gardening bandana tied around her arm.
"There is genuinely no way. They are the Gardening Club?" I asked, hearing the crowd cheering the names of Eins and Rosemary. "I guess everyone has a secret life to live..."
"Matsugaya, let's turn it up!" Eins called out, raising his microphone in the air while a tree made from light green-yellow energy forming behind the group.
"Let's turn it up!" Rosemary yelled, stomping her foot upon the speaker while strumming a fast riff on her guitar.
I looked over at Nachah on my shoulder with slightly disbelief, Nachah also glancing over at me with the same level of amusement to my disbelief. We looked ahead and watched the Gardening Club perform their song for the crowd, the energy becoming more lively by the second.
"Hold on! Hold on! Hey, it's early but we need your energy!" Eins called out, doing the crowd work while his band continued playing behind him. "Raging, pacing, worried if we'll make it. Be real, know God and Be Still!"
Rosemary stomped her foot against the ground, her hair tie flying off her hair as she began resonating with the music. "Be Still!"
The crowd erupted into cheers as the chorus played, followed by a beat switch into a trap beat while Eins paced around the stage rapping. Rosemary hopped around the stage with him with her guitar, dancing along to the beat the rest of the club played before the chorus played once again.
Glancing around the track and field area of the campus, soundwaves pulsed from the speakers, particles of spirit energy rising from the ground of the Gardening Club's performance. I began making my way through the crowd, pushing forward to the front of the stage to watch their performance even closer.
"Go! Go! Go!" One student cheered in the crowd, hopping up and down while he listened.
"Everyone show me your rhythm fingers!" Rosemary shouted, pointing at the crowd as they switched genres a third time to dubstep.
I looked around the crowd, noticing them wiggling their fingers to the hard percussions the drummer was playing. I felt the ground shake from each heavy bass, the speakers booming even harder before slowing down and shifting into a jerk beat before dropping back to their trap beat.
"Everyone, let's dance! Show your moves!" Eins called out then rose his microphone to the sky, the luminous tree of energy shining brightly behind the stage.
'Music...can music really heal the greenery the way it's edifying everyone around here?' I asked mentally, watching everyone around me dancing to the music being performed on stage.
Once the song ended, the crowd's cheers filled the air while Eins and his group bowed toward the crowd before walking off the stage to let another group perform. I began slipping back into the crowd and made my way out, jogging toward the club and hurrying in front of them.
"Hey, hey, real quick! I just want to say that I quite enjoyed your performance," I began, giving each club member a smile.
Rosemary smiled at me and huffed, placing her hand upon her hip while slinging her guitar case around her shoulder. "Of course it was! This was our best performance and the crowd was as fruitful as an orchard!"
Eins adjusted his bandana on his head and tightened it with a chuckle. "I do appreciate your support. Hopefully we'll have your continued support for our music."
Rosemary looked at her older brother. "Oh yeah, we also have to start on our art project. We just need to find a place to grow our garden."
"Yeah, and the greenhouse is already full of our harvests. I guess we could start chopping some stuff down," Eins said, shrugging his shoulders casually.
"Actually, I might have an idea if you're willing to listen," I said, looking at the club and noticing I had gotten their attention. "Great. I was sent by Tsubami to find your club for a special project, and I'll even give you all creative freedom over it."
"Whoa, creative freedom with our skills?" One girl of the club asked, glancing at Rosemary with surprise.
Rosemary hummed with interest and tilted her head to the side with a grin. "Well, the Student Council President needs our skills? That's a first in a long time. What do you need us for, Vice Pres?"
"It'll be better if I show you than tell you. We might need other clubs for later projects, but for now it's gotta be you all," I said, nodding at each of them.
-----------------------------
Naomi wandered around the campus with Aisha and Otsuki, the three of them searching around the campus for me as they haven't seen me all day. They searched the library, the courtyard, even the track and field but could not spot any evidence of my presence on campus.
"There you are!" Heido called out from behind them, jogging toward them with quick pants then leaned down to hold his knees. "How are you all so fast..? And...where are the others?"
Aisha looked back and looked at Heido then smiled at him. "Onii~! You were looking for us? Why?"
"And everyone else is with Ms. Nousagi. What's going on, Hei?" Otsuki asked, looking at her older brother with slight confusion.
Heido stood up straight and exhaled softly once he caught his breath. "Oto told me to keep an eye on you all while he handled a project for the festival. Y'know, make sure nothing happens to you all."
"That's a touching sentiment, but I assure you that us princesses don't need any help right now. Plus, we are looking for Motosaki," Naomi replied, placing a hand upon her chest in a noble manner. "We can not have a true festival without our Bunny Knight!"
"Bunny Knight? Oh yeah, because he has Nachah," Heido said, rubbing the back of his head then chuckled softly to himself once it clicked. "Well, I don't exactly know where he is either and Tsubami ain't talking either."
Aisha crossed her arms and hummed softly, lowering her head as she began to think about where I could currently be. "Where would Saki-kun be at this time? It's almost lunchtime on top of that.."
Nanako looked around from me, her emotions becoming more anxious due to her separation from me. She left the group of girls to search around for me, knowing she would lose her access of speech by leaving her hosts.
Naomi grunted softly as she felt an influence lighten from around her then looked back, noticing the soft image of snowflakes creating a path leading to somewhere. "Whoa, what's that?"
Heido looked at Naomi then turned his attention to where Naomi was looking, noticing a single snowflake floating to the ground then looked up to see no snow clouds in the sky. "A snowflake..? It's autumn, why is there a snowflake?"
"Should we follow it?" Naomi asked, looking back at Heido.
"I think we should! Maybe there's a Snow Valkyria visiting Matsugaya! Mmm! Imagine what we could learn from her!" Aisha said with excitement, pumping her fist in the air.
Otsuki let out an elegant giggle at Aisha, holding her hands in front of herself and shook her head. "You'll genuinely grow excited for anything. I suppose it wouldn't hurt following it."
Heido watched as the three girls hurried off after the snowflake trail then grunted softly at their exciting speed. He followed behind them closely to make sure they didn't get lost while they mindlessly followed the snow trail.
Aisha ran after the snowflake trail as fast as the winds, her excitement growing as the trail began leading toward a secret area of the campus. Naomi and Otsuki noticed Aisha's vigor in following the trail, but the three came to a stop as the once vibrant energy was replaced with dread and silence.
Heido grunted softly as he recognized the area as the Bunny Garden then began slowing down behind the girls. He looked at them then at the gates, noticing me leading the Gardening Club into the Bunny Garden.
"Oto..!" Heido said then watched as Rosemary and Eins walk into the gates last. "What is he doing..?"
Eins looked around the Bunny Garden as he strolled around, his eyes carefully scanning everything in the area. "What is this place? We've never seen this place before..."
"Yeah, and this place gives me massive bad vibes. Hm?" Rosemary said, glancing to her right and noticing a group of bunnies approaching them with sadness.
I looked around the garden with my hands in my pockets, taking a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "This is the fabled Bunny Garden, the supposed final resting place for Nanako. I want to restore this garden in the memory of Nanako, so her story never dies. Her life will account for something..."
Rosemary looked at me, seeing my back facing her while a soft breeze washed over us. "Nanako? The girl who died 30 years ago? She used to come here?"
"All the time from reports to testimonials that came from her own friends. No one has come to this place since my parents graduated from here, and I don't want the final memory of this sight to be dead," I answered, turning around to look at the Gardening Club with a smile.
"Because of that, I want you all to do whatever you absolutely can to restore even just this area. I won't micromanage, I won't even take control of the project from this point. All of this..." I said, looking around the garden. "Is your campus to use."
"Are you serious? Are you sure we can do this?" Eins asked, looking around at the withered and sad trees within the garden.
"I have to agree with my brother here. This seems like something we need approval of the Principal for. I mean...what if we're trespassing? We saw the caution tape," Rosemary added, crossing her arms as she stared at me with uncertainty.
I chuckled at them and looked down at the ground, looking at the bunnies Nachah tried to comfort once again. "I've already been given approval so there's no need to worry. This garden wouldn't be a thing in the first place if the principals from before didn't approve."
The Gardening Club took another look around the garden once again, feeling the lifeless energy around the garden. Nanako watched from the distance, not daring to even enter the garden, but she watched me closely with awe of me standing in the garden.
Eins hummed softly hearing the conviction in my voice then began walking forward, reaching behind him and taking his microphone out of its holster. "I understand what must be done, and I respect how far you're willing to go for something so far in the past."
I looked up at Eins, watching as he walked by me and stood at the center of the entrance area of the Bunny Garden. "I just want justice for her, and for her to be able to Leap to God."
Eins twirled his microphone around his fingers then took a firm hold of it. He nodded and closed his eyes. He opened his eyes, his irises shining veridian green. "It's raining, it's pouring.."
Rosemary listened to her brother then realized what he was saying. "It's raining, it's pouring."
"It's raining, it's pouring, hold on! It's raining, it's pouring, built an Ark, Lord, row me. Warring, Storming, don't let go, Lord, hold me," Eins said into his microphone, looking around the garden to see a few bunnies perking up at his voice.
"Fountain, Fountain, lead me up a mountain. Praying and praying, saw the Lord, I found Him. Praise Him, Praise Him, Lord bring down some rain," Rosemary sang, walking around the entrance area as well.
I watched as the Gardening Club began singing their song called Rain, their voices harmonizing with one another while also filling the garden. Heido and the girls watched as the drummer began using two dead branches as drumsticks while the bassist made a bass line using his mouth.
As the club joined together in their song, I felt something hit the tip of my nose and grunted softly. I glanced up and noticed a rain cloud slowly forming, the cloud only resting above the Bunny Garden. I began smiling and nodding my head to the music, the music beginning to resonate within my own soul.
"It's the Gardening Club with Motosaki. What are they doing?" Aisha asked, her head beginning to bob with the music from the garden.
"I don't know, but I've never seen Motosaki move like this before..." Otsuki said, watching me dance along with Rosemary and Eins.
"Hold on! Wake up, wake up! It's time for a shake up!" Eins spoke into his mouth, walking around under the rain as if he were on stage.
"Hold on! Cultivation, restoration, plant the seeds, I know You won't break it. Rocky soil, vines and thorns, bird's keep..." Rosemary began then paused, kneeling down and touched the soil on the ground. "Good soil, Good News, restoration is coming to you."
"And you, and you, and you!" I added, pointing at a bunny, a sad tree, and the distant area of the garden.
Heido began walking toward the gate, noticing the rain only hitting the entrance area of the Bunny Garden then glanced up. He noticed a white dove circling in the air above us, the body of the dove barely visible but known.
"They all seem to be trying to fix the Bunny Garden, but why..?" Naomi asked, watching the Gardening Club work on refurbishing the soil on the ground.
"I don't know, but it seems like they are happy doing it. We should try joining them sometime, I wanna know what's it's like to garden!" Aisha said with excitement.
Heido looked back at the girls with a soft chuckle then turned around to make his way back to the campus. "Let's leave them be for now. Don't want to distract them from their work."
The girls nodded and began following Heido back to the campus while Nanako lingered behind for a moment, watching each member of the club weeding out the dead plants and chopped down the withered trees to repurpose them for something new. She looked back to see the girls and Heido leaving then followed behind them quickly.
[September 12, 2418 - Wednesday, 12:15 PM]
I yawned lightly as I sat in the back seat of Tsubami's car, resting my head against the head rest then exhaled loudly. Lotus glanced back at me from the passenger seat, noticing my exhaustion and rose an eyebrow at me.
"Are you okay, Motosaki? You and Nachah look tired," Lotus asked, shifting her body in the seat to face me.
Tsubami glanced at me and Nachah from the rearview mirror, noticing my Guiding Rabbit resting upon my shoulder. "Some hard labor today, huh?"
"Labor? More like used my spirit energy...I was not expecting the club to go that damn hard. Who knew Eins was strong enough to be a lumberjack, oh and don't get me started on Rosemary," I said, letting out a soft groan.
"I was not expecting a little green fingered director. 'No, you don't do it like that, Rabbit Pres! No, Bunny Pres, you have to use this first! No, Hare Pres, shovel like this!' like come on, dawg," I said with an exasperated sigh.
Lotus chuckled softly at my impression of Rosemary. "What were you doing with the Gardening Club? I didn't know you liked to garden. I don't remember Miss Mikoto having particular interest in gardening."
"She didn't. If you remember my mom, she might've been graceful, but she was a quick minded woman. She never sat still, so gardening was not her hobby," I said with a light chuckle then looked out the window. "I also just wanted a change of pace, slow down a bit, y'know."
"Ahh, I getcha! You know, if you went to Madam K before you decided to take us both out for onigiri, you'd be in a better mood!" Lotus said, giving me a bright smile.
"No, I wouldn't. Didn't you forget that you had to save me from her yesterday? I'd rather just lose out on 200 bucks than get hit with an Alabama slam into the infirmary bed," I retorted nearly immediately, closing my eyes and lowering my head.
Tsubami laughed softly at my sarcastic comment. "Firstly, no one said to get Lotus a dozen either. Secondly, Madam K isn't that bad. She's still gotta get out of the Yakuza mindset."
"Pfft...yeah right. She doesn't treat anyone else like that except me. Like it's targeted or something," I replied while rolling my eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, Bunny Pres. We're here, so get that wallet ready," Tsubami said, pulling into the Oki-Oni-Giri parking lot.
"Yay! I am just so ecstatic for this!" I said with mock excitement, knowing my wallet would be coughing after this lunch outing.
Getting out of the car, the three of us entered into the local restaurant and made our way to the front counter. I stood behind the two women and took my wallet out of my pocket, realizing I had no cash on me. I closed my eyes as I knew I had to use my card, half my funds spend on Naomi already.
"Hello! What can I get for you all today?" The worker asked with a smile, glancing between Lotus and Tsubami.
"We would like two dozen honey glazed onigiri, please~!" Lotus said with excitement.
The worker gave a sympathetic look and bowed at Lotus and Tsubami. "Oh, I'm so sorry... We just sold our last two dozen to last guest."
"Huh?" Tsubami asked, raising an eyebrow. "Y-You don't have anymore? Not in the back?"
"Unfortunately not, ma'am. We are currently in the process of fixing our bake table," The worker said, stepping aside to see the bake table off the wall. "Some bird brain put a heavy load on the table and broke it."
I moved my mouth to the side, using maximum self control to not even crack a smirk at the broken bake table. "This day just gets even better huh?"
Tsubami bowed toward the worker then turned away, gritting her teeth and huffed softly. "Who the heck bought those onigiri..? I've waited all day for those..!"
"It's only been like...two hours," I said, following behind Tsubami.
"Tsu-Tsu! Look!" Lotus called out, pointing at a man loading a car with two boxes of onigiri.
Tsubami glanced at where Lotus pointed, gasping as she noticed Inspector Inuoe Nakamura loading his car with onigiri then dashed out of the restaurant and toward Inuoe. "Inspector! You stop right there!"
Inuoe paused as he heard Tsubami's voice then glanced over to see her charging toward him then grunted as he ducked under her roundhouse kick. "Sargeant Fugigami? What the hell is the meaning of this? Have you gone mad?"
"Have you?!" Tsubami countered, pointing at Inuoe with frustration. "Do you know how long I've been waiting for those just for you to get your grimy fingers on those?"
Inuoe stood up straight slowly and gave Tsubami a confused look. "No, and frankly I don't care. These are for the Otono Clan. We're celebrating Usagi's new debut."
"Yeah, not happening. I'm getting one of those boxes even if we have to spar for one! Meet me at the gym, punk!" Tsubami challeneged, tapping her finger upon Inuoe's forehead.
"No, we aren't going to do this! Leave the man alone!" I said, pulling Tsubami away from Inuoe and gave Inuoe an apologetic gesture. "I'm sorry, inspector, she's just..."
"Her cycle's started!" Lotus blurted, holding her hands up.
Tsubami and I looked back at Lotus, the two of us giving her a look of pure confusion as to ask, "why"? This was indeed a classic Kabetori Lotus moment. We literally could not believe what we had heard.
Inuoe glanced between the three of us then shook his head with a sigh. "I don't have time for this. I'll tell Usagi hello for you three."
Just like that, Inuoe left with the honey glazed onigiri, but that was the least of our issues.
"Out of everything, you chose that?" Tsubami asked, looking at Lotus with disbelief.
"I mean...it's true, but! But, hear me out! What if we just forget this happened? Right? Right?" Lotus asked, snapping and pointing at Tsubami.
"Jesus, just get in the car, we're just gonna go get a pizza," Tsubami sighed, walking to her car, not wanting to deal with Lotus.
I stifled my laughter and followed behind Tsubami. "This is real life, I suppose. Thank the Lord that I didn't have to spend $200. I just saved a hundred and fifty bucks."
"I'm sorry, Tsu-Tsu!" Lotus called out to Tsubami, hurrying after the two of us.