𝐀𝐙𝐔𝐑𝐄'𝐒 𝐅𝐀𝐓𝐄 | Fruits Basket FF

(35)

unrevised.
/ chapter 35 /

A forgotten dream. No, maybe it was a forgotten memory.

He immediately recognised the three little figures chasing after one another. The two leading were none other than his childhood friends Shigure and Ayame, though they didn't look like their current selves. They looked younger.

The third person behind them was himself. But if that was he was there, there where was he?

Hatori's gaze shifted to down to his translucent hands.

He was still here.. but he was watching his own memory?

"Hatori! Catch up, or you're gonna fall behind!" Shouted Ayame.

"That's what he gets for digging his nose in books instead of participating in athletics at school!" Shigure snickered.

"Ugh, what's the rush? I was in the middle of studying." Hatori mumbled unhappily after having been pulled out of his house in the middle of his studying by his two friends.

He was definitely going to get an earful from his parents when he gets home. They were always so strict with him when it came to his studies, even though he was still in only middle school.

Ayame and Shigure took right turn down a street. Not long after, Hatori did the same thing but immediately stopped in his tracks when he realised that his two friends were already long gone. It was almost as if they disappeared into thin air the moment they took the right turn. Or maybe he was too slow to catch up to them.

Huffing and puffing, Hatori bent over and placed his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. He was definitely not fit for all of this running.

Wiping the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve, he stood straight up again and looked around. He was in a part of the Estate he couldn't recognise. The Estate was like the size of a town and there were over a hundred residents here.

Hatori frowned. He was supposed to see watch the blooming of the cherry blossom trees with the others but it seems he has gotten lost.

Sighing, he decided to keep going, walking to wherever his feet led him in hopes he would bump into his friends once again. He took in the surroundings as much as he could. Compared the heart of the Estate where all of the buildings looked new and extravagant, the appearance of the buildings seem to slowly deteriorate the further he walked.

He shook his head. He wouldn't find his friends here. Maybe he should just look for the cherry blossom trees himself and meet them there.

The boy turned around and walked back to the direction he came from. That was until he saw a smaller body laying on the side of the road. His eyes widened and his body moved on it's own. Perhaps it was a dead body?! He thought to himself, filled with curiosity and fear.

He rushed over to the body but kept a small distance between them. He could recognise that the body belonged to a girl. She was small and thin, frail-looking even, and she was only dressed in a dirty dress that had patches of dirt of them. Her arms had light bruises and her feet and wrists were wrapped around with bandages.

Hatori glanced to her chest to see the slight up and down movement. He noted that she was still very much alive and breathing.

"Hey, are you okay?" He called out to the girl

He then crouched down and reached over to her, turning her body so she'd lay on her back instead but just as he did so, a white light enveloped his entire vision.

Hatori flung his eyes open with a gasp. He finally came to when he realised he still in Shigure's home and glanced at his reflection in the mirror where the girl still slept peacefully on his shoulders.