[center] [url=https://youtu.be/kc_p-CBBbSg][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/019cef99-0eda-77ef-ad5f-1ef6c108965d.webp[/img][/url] [/center][hr] In the depths of an empty lake, there stood a flower. There stood a girl. There stood a puddle, reflecting back the rain that would soon submerge them. A flash, a memory, a time when the flower broke through the frost to search for the warmth of the sun. A time when the rain was nourishing instead of drowning. The wind began to pick up. The girl did not notice, but the flower did. It waved in the whirlwind, as if excitedly greeting the girl who watched it. An annoyance, but at least it was genuine. As the girl stared past the flower and into the growing puddle beneath it, she did not see herself. She saw only the raindrops continuing to fall upon her. She felt something sharp against her neck. She felt something warm and wet on her hands. And then she stopped seeing. --- There was the darkness again. Within it stood a teenager, and there before her stood a child. No, Tsubomi had been a child, barely fifteen when she lost access to her own life. Zassou was a child, an entity that had existed for barely more than a single year. The thing standing before the one who appeared teenage was a [i]child[/i]. She wore the same clothes as the elder one who looked down at her. She wore the same face, a face the apathetic creature towering over her recognized from a mirror a decade prior. [color=0072bc]"Wh-who are you? Where am I? What's going on?"[/color] the small one asked. The older girl took a single step closer and crouched down, bringing her eyes level with that of the younger one. [color=00aeef]"You don't know who I am?"[/color] [color=0072bc]"No... should I? I don't know what's happening. I..."[/color] The words trailed off into the darkness. [color=00aeef]"Mm. That's okay, Tsubomi. Things will be okay."[/color] But the child did not recognize the words, nor the comfort they were intended to bring. [color=0072bc]"What... what does a flower bud have to do with this?"[/color] She didn't know the name? Was this yet another roommate within Tsubomi's soul, a new being born even more recently than the weed had been...? No. The crouched girl knew without any doubt that the one in front of them was Tsubomi. But why was she so small? [color=00aeef][i]Mental Regression?[/i][/color] Were they inside her mind once more? But the girl didn't seem to recognize her name, either. [color=00aeef][i]Retrograde Amnesia?[/i][/color] The older girl paused her train of thought. Why did she know those terms? She hadn't learned them in Hibusa... No, why did she recognize Tsubomi's appearance from ten years before Tsubomi lost her body? Why did she know the things the body's owner had done leading up to the event on the stage? [color=0072bc]"Um..."[/color] the tiny flower fidgeted where she stood, looking away and back twice at the older girl. [color=0072bc]"Are you okay?"[/color] The teenage girl didn't know the answer to that. Something had changed, something important, and it had happened while the two inhabitants of the body each had their own. If Tsubomi had lost her memory yet again, or worse yet if she had truly experienced Regression, then did that mean... The crouched girl forced the muscles of her mouth into a smile, one that appeared much more relaxed and natural than any she had given to anyone in Hibusa Town. [color=00aeef]"I'm okay. Don't worry about a thing, alright, Tsubomi?"[/color] The small one didn't seem to follow that request, still clearly uncomfortable. [color=0072bc]"Why do you keep mentioning flowers?"[/color] Ah. She recognized the word, but didn't know it was hers? [color=00aeef]"It's your name."[/color] [color=0072bc]"My name is... Tsubomi?"[/color] The child didn't seem happy or bothered by the revelation. The word felt odd in her mouth, like a foreign taste that she had never experienced and wasn't sure if her taste buds agreed with it or not. [color=0072bc]"Then... who are you?"[/color] [color=00aeef]"I'm..." [i]Zassou[/i].[/color] That's right. She was the weed, the one who caused all of this. The one whose invasive existence had torn Tsubomi's life from her. The name truly was fitting. She almost opened her mouth to tell this to the one who gave her that name, when the memories she'd stolen alongside Tsubomi's future made her pause. She was a weed that had intertwined its roots with those of a flower, there was no doubt. But neither she nor Tsubomi had ever given any further thought to that fact. But now, armed with the memories of the girl she'd taken everything from, she knew better. [i]Lonicera japonica[/i], japanese honeysuckle, suikazura. The plant that had only nontoxic nectar, bringing poison at all else. A rose by any other name, be it red or yellow, even green. In that case... no, [i]because[/i] of that, because of the plausible deniability, there was only one thing she could be. Something that was true and untrue at the same time, akin to her own existence, her own identity. It was perfect. The girl defined by her apathy let her smile shrink slightly, and told the child the name she had chosen for herself. [color=00aeef]"Suika. Call me Suika. It's nice to meet you, Tsubomi."[/color] [color=0072bc]"You're called... 'watermelon?'"[/color] The flower once more seemed unsure of the texture of the word she spoke. [color=00aeef]"Yeah."[/color] It was a lie. It was a lie that she would make come true. It was a lie that she would bury under her skin, in the depths of her self. The symbol of summer, and the symbol of devoted affection. Even if she couldn't love herself. Even if Tsubomi couldn't love herself. Even if she couldn't love Tsubomi. Even if Tsubomi couldn't love her. She'd become a warm summer for Tsubomi to one day bloom in. She had to. Otherwise everything that happened since her vines twisted into her soul would be meaningless. Zassou, no, [i]Suika[/i], had never had any goals. It had never had any desires. It had never had any dreams. But now one had blossomed upon it, a simple but difficult to reach place where she could safely cultivate a new life, for herself and her host. The weed just didn't know how reach it. But it would find a way, even if it had to crawl up the side of Yggdrasil itself. Even if it had to wind its way alongside the walls of Babel. Even if it had to wilt away so its body could nourish the flower next to it. The suikazura would climb. 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The weed once more gave the flower a smile, and reassurance. [color=00aeef]"Mm. Everything will be fine. Take it easy and rest."[/color] With her words spoken, she looked up towards the light. --- Tsubomi's body lay still, though with Suki still holding open her eyelids, she could see again. The body blinked, or at least tried to, having trouble succeeding with fingers in the way. Suika slowly brought Tsubomi's hands to Suki's, carefully moving them away so she could blink a few times and sit up. A glance around the room, at a much quicker pace than she was used to, showed that Black Gate was there, and Evil Eye seemed to be upset with her. As if by second nature, she felt Kiyo's ill intent against the goat girl. And so she stood, giving Suki a quick pat on the head, as if to say 'it's fine' to her partner. It only took a few quick steps to be within arms reach of the dream weaver. It only took another to be within her personal space. It only took one final step to stand in front of her, so close that Black Gate could feel Suika's breath, had she been breathing with the force of a normal person. In an instant, Suika had Black Gate held, too tight to be comfortable with how foreign the action was to the plant. It was not a reassuring hug, nor was it kind, though not for lack of trying. Rather, it was awkward and tense. [color=00aeef]"Sorry, but I'm going to have to break the link you added to this chain of hatred."[/color] Suika gave her message, loud enough for the room to hear, careful not to say it too close to the goat's ear. Suika still felt the cold of pointed steel on her neck. She still felt a thick, warm wetness on her hands. But even as she looked at them, pressed against Black Gate's back, she didn't see anything there. [color=00aeef]"You won. But I don't think she was mad at you. No, I know she agreed with it."[/color] Tsubomi's body slowly released Michi's and took a few steps back. [color=00aeef]"I don't know if your sister would be proud of you, but I hope we honored her memory with our acting."[/color] Her words were genuine, though without the emotional backing of a human being. Despite everything, Suika still felt nothing, only going through the motions of having empathy. As she turned away, Suika gave one final statement to the one who had so hurt Tsubomi. [color=00aeef]"Mm. Next time you want to give someone a good day... Warn them first. Pleasant dreams are a good gift, but being put into one without warning can cause them to become unpleasant."[/color] Finally feeling that she'd said what she needed to, Suika looked at the remaining members of the Detention Club in the room. Then to the broken window. [color=00aeef]"Mm. Did something happen?"[/color]