When the First Flower Withers, orange leaves shall embrace the land.
When the Second Flower Withers, snowflakes shall gently kiss the people.
When the Third Flower Withers, the waters shall freeze.
When the Fourth Flower Withers, tears shall be wept.
When the Fifth Flower Withers, as shall the colors of fate remain grey.
Alas, when the First Flower blooms, the distant embrace guides you.
When the Second Flower blooms, the wept tears fade away in mist
When the Third Flower blooms, the shores in the distance recede.
When the Fourth Flower blooms, the vacancy will be filled.
When the Fifth Flower blooms, may fate draw us together once more.
Glass shards scattered like leaves on the wooden floor. The glass wasn't from a bottle, but instead from a picture frame. The picture frame was discarded on the floor, surrounded by the same glass shards, however the picture was hidden, as it was flipped over.
The sunrays shone through the open window, within the rays of light were lines of dust that lingered around aimlessly.
Kohayuki was lying on the floor, her hands and face covered in scratches, with some bleeding ever so slightly, her arms were stretched out. Her crowbar was leaning against a kotatsu. Her eyes were twitching, still glaring blankly at the ceiling light that was turned off.
Her eyes were, quite frankly, exhausted, and she felt the need to rest her eyes for what she intended to be a brief moment.
Kohayuki, Kohayuki.. Hey! Kohayuki!
"Hmm?" She groaned, her eyes fluttered open, only to see herself inside a classroom. The classroom is filled with students, and the most odd part is how the whole atmosphere felt, oddly dreamy. Outside, is the generic Okamuran high school view, but the overall lighting was in no other words, nostalgic. She stands up from her desk, and realizes she is in her high school uniform, commonly known in the Okamuran language as serafuku, or to put it simply, a uniform which is characterized by the sailor aesthetic with the black skirt.
She looked at the surroundings, and to the obvious fact, this classroom was somewhat empty aside from some of the familiar classmates studying or with friends. She sat on the side of the classroom, where upon her memory, she'd usually hang out with her friends. She was surprisingly a well known student, perhaps popular according to Satoya and Isaac.
Kohayuki proceeded to leave the classroom, yet as she went through the exit, she turned back, looking at a desk with someone stuffing their head in his arms as if he was on the verge of sleeping. It is Satoya, and sitting on the windowsill letting the cool air in, is a girl her age, talking to him in a rather soothing yet knowing voice.
"Do I have to explain it further? Perhaps I should tutor you again later today if your parents are fine with it."
"Do as you want.."
Kohayuki looked at this conversation across her, and let out a calm exhale before leaving them alone. She walked through the hallway, waving her hands at fellow classmates walking past her, going to her friends that were huddled up on the side of the hallway having a talk about their plans for the week. They noticed her approaching and started to call her over. Yet unfortunately she walked past them as well, spending another couple minutes walking out of the school campus. She spent another minute walking around, her mind empty with no thoughts, later reaching a train station.
For – Umikyo
She sat in the center of one the seats, resting her chin on her hand as she slumped over. The train was quite full, mostly consisting of the older generation sitting around her reading newspapers, or the younger generations scrolling on their phone. The conversations around her began to muffle as she started reflecting. Sadly she didn't have the opportunity to reflect on anything as she reached her destination rather quickly.
And again, she spent another couple minutes walking around Umikyo. Umikyo is one of the Okamuran cities, and also prefectures, which is directly translating into Rieamaian as Sea Capital. And as its namesake, this prefecture is located by the sea, specifically the 5th-1st Capital sea.
As she was walking past an alleyway, something caught her eye. She turned toward what had caught her attention, a puddle of dried blood. While glaring at this puddle of dried blood, she realized she had forgotten to breathe, quietly gasping for a breath of air.
"Tch." She clicked her tongue, abandoning the sight as she walked away.
She sat inside a small cafe that can fit no more than 5 people, simply sitting there comfortably. She is, quite frankly, bored, her eyes wandering aimlessly toward the menu, and then out into the streets where people roam around. The people didn't seem to notice her, as if she is a ghost, or perhaps they are the ghost instead? She didn't bother thinking too hard on this matter.
I guess I'll go home.
She thought to herself, leaving the small cafe.
Around almost an hour went by, she is now before her home. It is located in a small countryside town somewhere in Ishikawa, in which she genuinely forgot where specifically. She gently slid the front door, taking a step inside then sliding the front door back closed.
Then, she heard the sound of chattering from up stairs. Out of curiosity she climbed up the stairs leading to the second floor, and investigated the source of the sound. There were 5 people, sitting around a table, with the gentle breeze flowing inside, the flimsy curtains swaying back and forth. These 5 people are the same as the ones she is still hanging out with, the Satoya Gang, with them all appearing to be younger, wearing their high school uniforms. They were having a friendly conversation, enjoying eating snacks while basking outside. She wasn't quite sure what the season is, primarily due to her not feeling any difference in temperature. She couldn't even feel the breeze blowing inside the room, despite her clothes and hair swaying like the flimsy curtain.
She decided to lean against the windowsill, looking at the rushing river that split the earth, with a great arching bridge that bridged the gap. She looked back at her friends, only for them to be gone. They seemed to have vanished while she was looking outside. And before she realized it, white words started manifesting itself in the air above the table.
Why must fate be in such grey colors?
She felt a comfortable cool breeze flow around her. The air she breathed in is crisp and refreshing to her lungs… Hold on a minute. Her eyes fluttered open, yet something obstructed her view of the ceiling. She then grabbed whatever was on her face, and then held it up into the sunray that seeped through the open window, and it turned out to be an orange maple leaf. While she is holding her arm up to look at the orange maple leaf, there appears to be 5 grey-ish blue flower markings resembling that of asters, with one withering into dust.
As if the First Flower Withered.