Black Flower

Black Flower Chapter 5

Black Flower Chapter 5

Family

"Hey, have you heard the rumour?" one girl whispered.

"What, the one about the Scourge?" replied the other.

"Yeah! Apparently, he just got out of jail...and they say he's going to come back here for vengeance!"

"What?! It can't be! No way he would come back just for stupid revenge...right?

"Who knows, right?" shrugged the first girl.

I had started to hear those strange conversations and odd rumours all over the school recently, and I had absolutely no clue what in the world it was all about. What's this Scourge thing? Who better to ask about it than my now second favorite person in the world, just after mom: Yomi. However, she wasn't exactly easy to find recently, as she was very busy, and so was I. The school's cultural festival was just around the corner and this week, all of our afternoons were dedicated to the preparations. As a member of the Student council, even if I'm just the Disciplinary Officer, I was still in charge of overseeing progress, organising equipment and so on. It felt like I was busy, and yet Yomi was doing three times as much as me. And now I was watching her go, helping left and right, smiling and nodding, taking notes and such. Ah, right. Yomi is always a little goofy, and even sometimes childish around me, it can be easy to forget she's so reliable, and loved and admired by almost the entire school. It made me smile to know she was so different around me, I liked to think that was the real Yomi.

"Yomi? I-"

She jumped almost a full foot in the air and whirled around to look at me.

"Tomoko!? Don't sneak up on me like that!" she said, visibly way more surprised than she should have been.

I just frowned in mild confusion.

"Sneak up? I just said your name." I replied.

"Make some noise first so I know you're there!"

"Yeah...I'll make sure to carry a bell around my neck next time." I joked.

Then her typical smile finally came back.

"Heh...that'd be very cute...Did you actually need anything, or were you just dying to see me?"

"I have a question, actually. I've started hearing ru-"

But I was interrupted by Rin, who appeared to be somewhat worried.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but...we have a bit of a situation. You need to come to the council room, both of you."

Yomi and I just looked at each other, no doubt wondering what was going on, and followed behind Rin. Once we arrived at the council room, Yakeru was already there, looking a bit worried as well.

"So, what's going on?" Yomi said.

Rin and Yakeru looked at each other, and Yakeru spoke first.

"We uh...we've received an application form for a new member of the Disciplinary Squad."

"Isn't that...good?" I asked. "Means I'll have someone else to help, right? Why do you two look so uncertain?"

They both looked at each other once more.

"It is, yes, but...it's about who it is." Rin said.

I was starting to realize where this was going, and judging by Yomi's darkening expression, she was too.

"It's Murihane Kaede." Rin finally revealed.

"Absolutely not." Yomi spat. I could almost feel her hatred.