The Bear and the Bunny

Toyo dragged her feet as she returned to her bedroom, the day weighing on her. But the moment her eyes landed on Sina by her bedside, fishing around through her belongings, her fatigue evaporated. “What the hell are you doing?!” Toyo barked, her voice raw with anger. Sina froze, as the tension pouring off of Toyo hit her like tsunami wave.

“Oh, I-I’m sorry…”

She sprang up, jolting to the side as Toyo hurled over and began dumping her items back into her bag. Sina held her head low, suddenly stricken with caution. “I’ve never seen items like that; I let my curiosity get the best of me,” she pitifully uttered.

Finally catching a glimpse of her overbearing attitude in Sina’s solemn visage, Toyo’s temperature lowered with the reflection of herself in the nearby mirror appearing as though she stood before a stranger. “It’s fine…” she said calmly, “It’s just… it’s fine.”

With half of her items still sprawled out on the nightstand, Toyo tossed the bag down on the floor before collapsing onto the bed.

Directing Toyo’s attention to a photograph barely hanging on to the edge of the nightstand, Sina asked Toyo what it was, finding t particularly intriguing. Toyo eased upright, lifting the photo up above her nose. It was a picture of her and the rest at the start of their trek up Kanmu-mori, its partially overexposed film obscuring the image of her face.

“I’ve seen projected imagery before, but never one like that,” Sina revealed, her eyes glistening as she peered at the photograph.

“Akari was being so annoying with that damn camera of hers,” Toyo mentioned as her resurfaced irritation brushed over her words, “We ended up all taking a ton of photos before climbing the mountain. One for everyone…”

“Is she the one closest to the front?”

“Yeah, she’s holding the camera.”

A chuckle slipped through her lips, the memory of her friends calling back to her nonchalant days, never needing to take anything too seriously. “Kuro was pissed because of the way she angled it made him get blocked by her head, ha ha! He made sure to stand up front on the next one.”

Her joy could be felt through the air, but just as soon as she was swept by an uplifting draft, she just as quickly felt shackled to the floor, the energy in her voice dimming softly. “She’s one of the prettiest people I’ve ever met. Absolutely stunning. So many people like that would be so uptight, but she was so carefree. Literally oblivious to how much people adored her. It was always like she was living in her own little utopia. She got us in so much trouble over the years because of it.”

A smirked crawled onto Sina’s face, finding the fondness of Toyo’s memories as precious as a jewel. “Are they the friends that you were talking about before? The one’s you lost.”

Toyo tipped her head softly, still gazing down at the photograph hanging on by the tops of her fingers.

“You’re all wearing the same attire; I don’t know of any guild in Plastos that wears that kind of a wardrobe.”

Toyo placed the picture back onto the nightstand as she leaned herself back atop her bed sheets. “I don’t think there’s a guild in existence in this world that is anything like where I come from.”

“That’s a good thing, maybe?”

“What do you mean?”

Sina craned her neck, passing another glance over at the photograph. “Those patterns are unusual, so if multiple bodies wearing them were identified in Plastos, there would have been a record of it. Perhaps Zida just didn’t mention it to me, but from what I know, you were the only one dressed like that.”

Toyo yearned her neck up towards Sina, her focus as sharp as a blade.

“I’m saying that, wherever they are, they may still be alive.”

A confused sense of relief began to rile through Toyo. That means I’m the only one, or maybe the others are out there somewhere. But just as the thought crossed her mind, the urge to even so much as entertain the idea escaped her. It was easier for her to sweep it all away. She’d grown defiant of the world around her. “None of this is even real,” she murmured.

“Why do you keep saying things like that?” Sina remarked.

“Because it’s true!” Toyo charged.

“What is that even supposed to mean?”

Although her words were collected and direct, Toyo couldn’t ignore the emotion behind Sina’s rebuff. Toyo could sense that she may have somehow denied Sina’s existence by constantly rejecting the world. But even then, Toyo couldn’t help but fall back on her own self-absorbed justification. In a way, she needed to believe that everything was all just a long dream.

“Hopefully I live long enough to find out,” Toyo plainly replied without a tint of tact.

The exchange had exhausted them both, as they let the quiet space between them thin the stiffness in the room. Until Toyo abruptly jumped up straight. Her eyes wondering off in random directions. “You mentioned that I could take a bath earlier, right?”

Sina couldn’t help but draw a smile on her face, watching as Toyo spiraled into a frenzy.

“How long has it been since I last took one?” Toyo feverishly asked, the onset of embarrassment crawling over her.

Sina reluctantly nodded her head with a wry look on her face. Toyo then began inching away from her, tucking her arms inwards. “Is it that bad?”

Sina’s smile slowly dissipated, then returned as she once again, painfully nodded her head.

“Okay,” Toyo then awkwardly replied, scurrying away towards the door with her arms clutched rigidly at her sides. Then turning sharply, she faced Sina once more. “Where’s the bath?”

With the same wry look on her face, Sina softly pointed her in the right direction, with Toyo escaping as quickly as she could.

Finally making her way to bathhouse, she was in awe of how unexpectedly spacious it was. Grazing the bottom of her feet was the stimulating texture of a soft stone, encased by walls of rich wood that filled her nose with the unmistakable crisp, soothing scent of hinoki. As the mist that curled upwards from the bath at the room’s center coated her skin, it conjured the serenity of stepping into a Japanese onsen nestled in the mountains.

Closing her eyes as she leaned her head back against the bath’s edge, the restful warmth of the water seeped the stress from hir skin. But just as her mind began to wander, a drop of water came crash landing onto her face, sending her bridge to heaven crumbling to dust.

Toyo’s eyes snapped open, shocked by the sight of piercing emerald-green eyes glaring back down at her. Striking, intimidating, and far too close. But what truly jarred her was the pair of breasts looming only inches from her forehead.

Toyo dashed aside, pushing herself farther towards the center of the bath. Standing at the edge of the bath was a woman who oddly struck her as familiar. . She remained still watching as a startled Toyo quickly put distance between the two.

Where have I met her before? Drifting farther and farther away, the question coiled around Toyo’s head refusing to let go. Her emerald eyes dazzled like a jewel beneath the sun. Her burgundy hair swept into a half-bun cascaded down her shoulders like the waves of a waterfall. Her face was thin and angular, its captivating beauty holding Toyo’s focus tight like a vice grip.

“Hey, don’t swim further out, this is my personal bath,” the woman soon belted.

Toyo’s eyes widened, a nervous chill slowly eating away at her. Wrapping her arms around her body as she sunk further into the water, she crept her way over towards the opposite end, crying in a timid voice, “Sorry, I’ll leave.”

The woman stood up straight, her athletic physique on full display. Taking a step back, she thrusted herself into the air, shooting across the ceiling. With impact imminent, Toyo cowered, shielding herself from the oncoming impact.

Splash!

Crash landing directly on top of Toyo, the woman quickly wrapped her arms around her from behind, clasping her tightly against her body.

“You poor thing, you don’t have to act so scared.”

Shuffling her hand through her head, it was as if Toyo was her pet. A lost dog that needed to be showered with affection.

The diatribe of chaos then abruptly came to an end, as the woman grappled onto locks of Toyo’s hair. “Whoa! I didn’t notice it before, but your hair is ink black,” she howled, still refusing to let Toyo free. She then turned Toyo around, pulling her head in so close, Toyo found her face planted dead center into her chest. “This might be the first time I’ve seen truly all black hair.”

With her body finally let free, Toyo collapsed into the water, having nearly suffocated from the smothering. Bringing herself back to her senses, she then slowly began to make her way out of the bath, desperately trying not to et caught as the woman seemed preoccupied with filing through her own thoughts.

“Ah!” the woman howled, staggering Toyo yet again. “I remember now.” With her hand pointed firmly at Toyo, she avowed, “I know where I’ve seen hair like that before.” As she spoke, her eyes filled with determination, sending waves of fear towards Toyo who could only foresee further chaos ahead.

Zida, on the other hand, had managed to pinpoint his next course of action, and now found himself stepped through the door to Toyo’s room, only to be unnerved by her absence. Sina walked in behind him with a pair of fresh bed sheets folded over her arm. And well aware of the question that was soon to follow, she handed him what he wanted.

“I think I just caught a glimpse of her and Daku heading towards the gallery,” Sina answered, her finger pointed out towards the direction she last remembered seeing them.

Zida’s face soured as he swiftly turned to make his exit. But Sina stopped him short, lingering questions swirling within her eyes.

“Do you really think that she caused the incident?”

“I don’t know. But all we have to go off are remnants from a time too far gone. All of them point to her being the likely cause of this looming catastrophe.”

“So why did you fight so hard to keep her alive?”

Zida’s expression fell still. “Should I have believed her to be some harbinger of death because of hearsay...?”

Sina had been around Zida ever since he was an infant child, no matter how much he’d grown, or how the world looked to change him, one thing she could count on was the sincerity in his eyes.

“Most catastrophes in this world are the products of shallow thinking. I’m hedging my bets.”

“Is that the only reason?”

Not fond of Sina’s habit of trying to reflect people onto themselves, Zida quietly turned away from Sina, bringing an abrupt end to their conversation. “You should head to your quarters and get some sleep,” he stated, “rather than staying in this up worrying about other people.”

Watching as he marched off, a thought suddenly flickered in her head. “Wait,” she chanted, quickly fetching the photograph from the nightstand.

“I’ve seen everything in that bag already,” Zida preempted without slowing his step.

“Look again,” Sina urged.

Catching up with him, Sina handed him the photo of Toyo and the others at the entrance to Kanmu-mori. Though Zida didn’t care much for dragging his feet any longer, Sina seemed certain of what it was she wanted him to see. As he took a closer look at the photo, his eyes caught on to a single, overlooked detail.

“Zida,” Sina asked, “where have you seen that before?”