The Cursed Iris

Sprout 16: Separated

Katsumi looked around and the landscape he had seen was astonishing. There was no sunlight, but there was light created by the wildlife and other beings that lived there, "Amazing, this is simply amazing," he noted in awe.

"I knew it, I have been here before," he said. "The animals have their own bioluminescence,"

He then noticed that it was a little too quiet, well besides the natural sounds of the forest. He felt like there was no extra voices besides his.

"Where are they!?" he yelled in shock. He looked around, but neither one of them were with him.

"Looking for something?" a childish girl voice said behind him.

Katsumi turned around, and he saw a girl about ten years old with crimson red hair. She kind of looked like Natsume in a way; they stared at each other, then the girl smiled, "You seem like a fun person," she said to him as she climbed on his back.

"Hey, get off," he stated.

"Nope, I can see everything from here. You're way taller than my master," she replied as she planted herself on his shoulders.

"What are you doing?"

"You're going to be my horse silly, now take me to my master," she replied as she pointed north. "She's in the center of the forest where the ruins are."

"Ruins? I guess that's where I should go," he mumbled. He looked at the girl. "Alright, brat what's your name anyways?"

"Natsume! Natsume Hoshino uh," she struggled to say her last name then she had a realization. "Hoshinomiya!" she stated with a large smile.

That surprised Katsumi, "Wait, hold on. How are you here? Why are you so little? What the heck is going on?" he asked confused.

She knocked on his head, "I don't know stupid head, now can we go?" she asked irritated.

"Okay fine," he sighed.

They began walking to the north, and Natsume poked Katsumi. "Hey white hair."

"The name is Katsumi, not white hair," he replied.

She smiled. "Katsumi huh? That's a pretty name, I wonder what character your name contains?" she seemed genuinely curious about that as if it was a full on discipline of science.

Katsumi's expression changed, "What's wrong Katsu?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing if you want to know my name contains the characters for overcome and hope Katsumi," he stated. It was the first time he had shared that with anyone.

"Hmm, so you're the harmonious one who overcomes adversity and leads everyone to hope," Natsume stated as she tapped on his head like a drum.

"Yeah, I wouldn't call myself that to be honest," he chuckled. "So, Natsume what characters does your name contain?"

"I won't tell you. Just know my name has better characters than yours."

"That doesn't really tell me anything," he implied.

"Of course, Katsu. My master told me that a woman should always keep a mystery about herself; I can't reveal all my secrets especially if I end up liking that person a lot."

"Interesting, you know your master isn't supposed to teach you those type of things right?"

"Whatever, now Katsu tell me something about yourself," she responded.

"Huh?" Katsumi said as he looked her in the eye. "Didn't you say that I should keep a mystery?"

"I did not say that!" Natsume exclaimed.