Hanamichi

“By the way Yoyohi,” Tatsuko suddenly said, snapping Yoruhi out of his trance as she got his name wrong for the third time already, “where are your parents?”

Yoruhi didn’t respond, for he didn’t know the answer to that either.

“Now, now Tatsuko,” her father said, “let’s not bother Yoruhi with these questions.”

Luckily, feigning his memory loss was turning out to be quite an effective tool at avoiding these types of questions.

“Oh…” she said innocently, “I was just wondering that if he doesn’t have any, can we keep him?”

Keep him? Yoruhi wondered, feeling offended at being treated like a stray dog.

“I’ve always wanted a little brother. You and mommy promised to give me one, remember?”

Little brother?! Listen here you little rascal, I am way older than you by like seven years probably, he wanted to shout, but for the sake of keeping up his fake identity, he remained silent.

Her father let out a sigh before looking at him.

“You said you don’t remember anything right?” he asked, “that means you don’t know where your parents are, do you?”

Yoruhi shook his head.

“Why don’t you stay over at our estate then,” Tatsuko’s father suggested, “we’ll look for your parents in the meantime, but for now you can stay with us.”

Estate? Yoruhi wondered, but not wanting to pass up on the opportunity of securing a warm place to stay in this world, he quickly said, “sure!”

Tatsuko’s father let out another sigh, this time of relief, and said, “great! That makes things a lot easier,” before quietly mumbling to himself, “I just have to deal with Nene and Mizuki…”

Yoruhi didn’t know who those two people were, but judging by the amount of times this man had been sighing, he knew that Tatsuko must’ve been a lot to handle.

A few minutes passed by, and the three of them soon emerged from the forest and onto a paved pathway. It was lit up by mahogany streetlights carved in a sort of elven manner, and the soft glow carried a warm sense of safety and protection as though they were warding off the forest’s darker presence.

Up ahead and along the path, the trees seemed to somehow grow larger and much more dense than the ones Yoruhi had seen until now. Their colorful leaves, still clinging onto their enormous branches despite the winter season, formed a vast canopy that draped over the road and made it hard to see anything too far up ahead. From within their dense foliage however, he could make out tiny bits of light peeking out from between the small gaps.

As the three of them approached the canopy, Yoruhi also began to notice more and more flowers planted along the road. Some of them bloomed in the snow, while others were protected by well-placed rocks and stones. The further they walked, the greater the number of flowers sprouted, and their diversity multiplied just as fast. It was as if they were entering a completely different forest entirely instead of a ‘city’ like Tatsuko’s father had implied.

It wasn’t until they got close enough to see beneath the protective canopy that everything began to click for Yoruhi. His eyes widened in amazement at the sight before him.

What had looked to be another forest on the outside was in fact a bustling and lively city on the inside. Buildings, shops, and homes had been carved into and out of the enormous trunks of the towering trees around them. Staircases stretched up towards the multiple floors built into them where balconies and gazebos protruded, and enormous lanterns were strung along the barks, making up most of the city’s source of light in tandem with the streetlamps below.

High above and hanging from some of the trees were enormous sacks of what looked to be honey, jam, and other strange preserves, and floating amongst the fields of flowers that bloomed in the snow on the side of the roads were little fairies tending to every little bud.

The fairies were not the only out-of-ordinary creatures that Yoruhi noticed in the city however. Other than the humans, there existed tall, pointy-eared people that he quickly identified as elves from the video games he played, and another strange race of creatures that he couldn’t identify but also looked humanoid.

This race of creatures were known as the avikins. They were a race of bird-like people that had feathery proportions on at least one part of their body. It could be as subtle as a few strands in their hair, or as obvious as the long swathes of feathers that made up entire wings. The avikin people came in all sorts of shapes and colors.

Speaking of which, the color of everyone’s hair, regardless of creature, was different from the norm of Yoruhi’s old world as well. Much like his hair, they ranged from a multitude of colors from white like his to vibrant pinks or oranges and sometimes multicolored like Tatsuko’s.

It was this observation of the people and the environment around him that cemented his belief that he had been reincarnated into another world.

The way they toiled and worked and chatted with each other so casually while showing signs of realistic struggle like breathing and grunting and coughing, pushed away the last of his doubts that this was the afterlife unless he was in a special sort of hell or limbo that was made to resemble real life.

“Welcome to Hanamichi, the City of Swordsmen and Flowers” Tatsuko’s father said, noticing the expression of awe on Yoruhi’s face, “you’re not from around here aren’t you?”

Yoruhi didn’t know how to respond to that. He felt that any answer would reveal that he had memories retained, and that would just lead to more trouble.

“Judging by your clothes,” Takashi’s father continued, “you seem to be from the Monsaria region up north. Even if you don’t remember much, it’s pretty easy to tell, but based on that, we’ll find your parents in no time.”

He gave Yoruhi a gentle pat on the back.

Yoruhi realized that he was right: he did look out of place compared to everyone else in the city. Instead of heavy robes, they wore woolen haoris and outfits that heavily resembled the people and swordsmen of ancient Japan. A vast majority of them carried katanas sheathed around their waist, and even some of the children wielded around wooden imitations. He began to understand that the City of Swordsmen and Flowers was in fact a fitting title for Hanamichi.

The three of them continued walking through the city, passing by many vendors selling stuff from the stalls built into the roots of the trees, and children playfighting with their swords.

Yoruhi noticed that as they travelled, a lot of people from varying age groups would occasionally stop to wave at Tatsuko’s father. Because of this, he began to wonder about the true identity of the man before him.

After what felt like half an hour of walking, they finally stopped in front of an enormous tree. It was the second biggest one that Yoruhi had seen so far—the tallest being a tree that wasn’t too far away from where they currently were.

As they walked towards the steps at the front, Yoruhi noticed a large sign plastered above the grand doors.

“Ryuu1 no Kinko2 Tei2” the sign read.

Weird, Yoruhi thought, the language is Japanese but the writing uses Roman characters. And what’s up with the numbers at the top of each word?

Indeed, the writing system was strange in this world, and definitely wasn’t one that Yoruhi was familiar with. He had learned to read Roman letters in his classes, but the superscripts at the end of every non-particle word was very foreign in a weird kind of way.

‘Draconic Vault Emperor’, Yoruhi thought, or… no. Could it be ‘Prosperity’s Balanced Garden’?

Even though he was reading his mother language, it was very confusing without the use of kanji to differentiate the words.

Could the superscripts at the end of the words be how they differentiate the meaning instead? Yoruhi wondered.

Tatsuko’s father noticed Yoruhi staring at the sign above with a perplexed expression and asked, “are you trying to read the sign? Do you know how to read already?”

Yoruhi had been caught red handed and he needed and excuse.

“My parents taught me how to,” he lied.

“I see… so you haven’t started school yet. If we don’t find your parents by then, we can maybe get you enrolled with Tatsuko during the Blossom Moon.”

He then opened the doors to the estate, and the three of them were immediately greeted by an annoyed looking fairy.

“Nene!” Tatsuko shouted happily upon seeing her.

“Nene, I can explain,” her father said nervously.

“What’s this about having to pay for another kid’s tuition?” the fairy asked with a raised eyebrow.

She had short purple hair and matching amethyst eyes, and wore a pink, plum blossom-themed, haori.

Her gaze fell upon Yoruhi, who she gave a gentle smile before shooting Tatsuko's father a death stare.

He’s in big trouble, Yoruhi thought.

“Let’s not worry too much about it now,” Tatsuko’s father slyly said, trying to shift the conversation away, “I’ll explain everything to Mizuki and we’ll relay the information to you later. For now… if you wouldn’t mind taking care of Tatsuko’s injury…”

She glanced at Tatsuko’s twisted ankle and let out a sigh.

“Fine, whatever you say,” she said, before gesturing to Yoruhi to enter inside, “come on in. You must be cold.”

As they prepare to enter through the doors, Tatsuko’s father whispers to Yoruhi, “that’s Nene by the way. She’s our head maid. She can seem a little rude, but she’s actually quite kind.”

Head maid? Yoruhi wondered, what is this family? Rich or something?

Upon entering inside however, his eyes widened at the splendour before him.

Ho. Lee. Crap. They were.