"Hey, have you heard of a new school mystery?"
"Oh? You meant by Hanako San Of-"
"No! I meant by the new ones inhabiting the school now!"
"What, there's more?"
"Mhm! Want to hear the first one?"
"Sure! What is it?"
"The legend of... Sakura Kun of Th...
"Alright, you have my permission. You will gain full responsibility."
"Thank you sensei! I will take good care of it!" Ichigo give the teacher a deep bow and left the teachers' office with a little skip in her step.
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Ichigo steps into Sakura's garden with some gardening supplies. She plops down her tools and does a little stretch. She was wearing a cap that tucks her hair in it and a jacket over her gym clothes.
"Oh hello Ichigo, how nice of you to come by!" Sakura greeted her once he saw her insight. He was in his usual spot— sitting in his tree.
Ichigo started doing some light stretches— "I'm not here to hang out with you. Look around— this place is FILTHY! I can't believe you're comfortable in a place like this!"
"I told you, even if I'm not comfortable with it, I have no choice!" Sakura gave a guilty smile due he was being scolded.
"You're lucky I'm taking over this place. This garden is getting a makeover and you are not gonna sit around with dry leaves and pests running around."
Ichigo walked to the flower beds of the garden and started pulling out the weeds and dried plants that were withered there. One by one, she pulled them out from the earth and threw them into the trash bag that was beside her. Not long after, the flower beds in the garden were no longer covered in weeds and dead plants.
Sakura watched the whole thing— he was impressed at how fast Ichigo can work. She pulled them all out without help and it all looked effortless. At that moment, Sakura felt somewhat touched that Ichigo wanted to make his garden pretty for him. To be honest, he was super uncomfortable with his garden looking like a graveyard— he was thankful that Ichigo came to fix that.
He slowly came down from his tree and trudges to Ichigo. "H-hey..."
"What?" Ichigo turned around from tying the trashbags she filled up with dead plants.
Sakura became fidgety while ducking his head to the ground. A small smile was slightly visible "....thanks for helping out this place. It needed a makeover. So... thank you."
Ichigo looked away— her head was slightly tilted to the sky with pride. "Well of course! This garden needs my help y'know? Don't thank me yet though— I'm just getting started."
While she was raking the dry leaves that were covering the ground, a small, brown, flattened oval body with long, threadlike antennae crawled onto her left shoe. A loud screech came out of Ichigo as she clumsily tries to shake it off.
"GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF!!!"
Sakura peered over and walked to her— he crouches down and casually grabbed the bug by the antennae. "Got it!"
Ichigo zoomed as far away as she can from Sakura and the little cockroach— "THROW IT AWAY. EAT IT."
Sakura looks lightly disgusted."What? Ew, no why would I do that?"
"I DON'T KNOW IT'S DISGUSTING GET RID OF IT EW"
He looks at a loss. He didn't know what to do— He could put it far from their location, but it won't guarantee that it might come back. If he kills it, well, it feels wrong to him to kill a mortal while he is a ghost.
If he eats it like he was told to, that's just pure gross.
In the end, he just put it in a bush that was on the other side of the school— it can't find its way back here with it this far from it... right?
Once he thought it was settled, he head back and saw Ichigo continue her work.
She fixed what looked wrong and beautify what looked dull. After a few hours, the garden looked in contrast with what it used to like— The cherry blossom tree appeared more enchanting and its colors were brighter, the ground feels wide and refreshing.
And as a special bonus, Ichigo planted a bunch of plant sprouts such as tulips, daisies, and spider ivies. It may not look much but it's a start to something beautiful.
Ichigo took a few steps back next to Sakura as she wipes the sweat that was prickling on her forehead. A small smile was plastered onto her face— "One day, we'll get to see the flowers in full bloom."
"Hey, now that it's finished, I can thank you now! Thank you so much to cheer up this place Ichigo! It's really... beautiful." Sakura was gazing at the entire structure of the garden. It looked so refreshing to him. He then looked at Ichigo— "I owe you big time."
A wide, calm smile was in view on Sakura. The autumn wind gently flowed through his fluffy and lightly ruffled hair— his eyes were sparkling with pure joy and his pupils were softly dilated. A thought came into his head— "Ichigo may be rough and aggressive, but he felt that deep down she has a kind heart— she just wasn't good at showing it though"
Ichigo gave a light chuckle. "It's nothing. At least someone has to clean up this place." Although she sounds humble, her chest was puffed and her chin tilted to the sky in pride. It was a little tough for her to hide her satisfaction when being praised.
The sun sunk deeper into mountains on the horizon and the stars became more visible. Ichigo starts to store all the gardening supplies she used back into the gardening shed. She packed up all her things and was ready to head home.
"Not staying back?" A teasing tone was heard in Sakura's voice as he dangles his feet from the tree branch he was sitting in.
Ichigo smirked. "Hmm... nahhh... Today's already been tiring for me— I deserve a break."
"Goodnight then! Thanks again for today Ichigo."
Ichigo slowly walked home, giggling at how proud she felt— she came home and had a goodnight's sleep.
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"Hey, you heard of Ustaz Ahmed?"
"You mean the Ustaz that was rumored to be a supernatural? Yeah...I heard if you tell bad stuff about him, he will curse you with eternal bad luck!"
"Yeah, better stay away from him. He calls himself an Ustaz but he doesn't seem like one to me— what a fake."
"I heard he exorcise ghosts, teaches at certain times, cleaned the school... at this point, I don't even know how to address him! Wasn't he first hired as an exorcist?"
"He's gotta be doing that for extra money."
As the two students were chatting in the school hallway after a long day of class, the man they were talking about walked right past them— he didn't look at them though, he just continued walking.
The two students' faces turned a little pale. "...you don't think he heard us, right?"
"He's probably going to his secret cult or something— you know his religion. I can't believe the school allows people like him."
"Come on, let's leave before he curses us."
They both quickly left the school before anything happens.
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At the local MelonPun shop, the cashier noticed that a customer was buying an unhealthy amount of melon pan. (aka melon bread) Ah, there he is right now— walking into the shop.
"Salam, I would like to buy five, no, ten melon pans please." He spoke to the cashier while eyeing the melon pan that was on display— it looked very tempting.
"Yep, guess it's the usual." She started packing some melon pan into a paper bag before wrapping it close.
"You really like these huh?" The cashier prompted the customer with a small smile.
The customer happened to be Ustaz Ahmed.
"What? No, these are for... uh... the squirrels...?" Ustaz Ahmed became a little embarrassed by the question. It was a lie. Ahmed happens to be genuinely fond of pastries— especially melon pan. He eats them almost every day and every time— he just rarely shows them at the school he works in which is where he spends most of his time.
The cashier let out a chuckle— "Well, our melon pans are the best! Enjoy!" She hands Ahmed the bag of melon pans and Ahmed pays. He leaves the shop with a little skip in his step.
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Deep in the forest near the school was a small oasis— it was something you'd see out of a Disney movie.
Words can't explain how magical it looks. (Seriously I'm out of words and I want to publish this fast so here's an illustration by Chiko)
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Ahmed sat bythe pond, eating his melon pan as the oasis twinkles through the forest.
Author's note
AAAAAAA SORRY AGAIN FOR POSTING LATE I WAS BUSY ;-;
GBSK is dying pretty bad rn... I'll try to keep up :'D
