And the Forest Danced

Shino

We didn't speak a word that evening. I drove down the highway, only my thoughts running more wildly than my bike. Not even my favorite activity could distract me this time. Everything happened too fast, and I was now left without a house and with my identity blown away by my very target.

Or at least that's what Chigira claimed, that the weird man was actually Tyrant. I had no way to check it, and his face was nothing like the one he's shown to the public.

On the other hand, I couldn't put it past him to be able to change his appearance. If anything, they did look a bit similar...

Snapping back to reality, I shook my head.

"What am I thinking?" I asked myself under my breath. Why was I trying to accept the girl's claims? Was it because I wished for her to be useful? Was I hoping that she would be right?

But an assassin doesn't rely on hopes and prayers. If she was to be trusted, she was a good ally. If her information was wrong, I could leave her behind...

Or keep her around strictly for combat purposes...

I shook my head again, much harder this time, and almost lost control of my bike. Driving with a girl holding on to you from the front was tougher than expected.

As if to give more reason to my complaint, Chigira reacted to my mistake with a "Wowow!" and she kept repeating it for an uncomfortably long couple of seconds.

After an uncomfortable and long ride, we reached an isolated place. My sense of direction must have gone astray from all the things I had to think about, for we were now somewhere deep in Yamagata, lost in a small forest.

"I don't know when it happened, but this patch is almost gone too..." I said, not expecting an answer.

For many years now—more than I myself had lived—the whole world gave up on protecting the greenery. They say our ancestors used to protect nature, for nature itself was alive. Yet that all changed once Tyrant seized the world.

I wasn't born when it all happened, so I never understood how plants could be alive. Even the ones surrounding us now were nothing more than a whole lot of wood and leaves. They were called Sakura trees, and they would blossom once a year for a couple of weeks.

In days long gone, people would celebrate this by joining beneath them, drinking, singing, and playing games. Now, nobody was doing it anymore. Only some of the oldest people around would tell stories about those days.

"It felt like we were surrounded by life, love, and happiness," they used to say.

"But with every passing year, that life faded, that love turned cold, and that happiness turned sour. No, it all turned to nothingness."

There was no difference between a tree and a wall, at least that was the case for me. Humans and animals too were basically the same as walls, the only difference being that we moved around.

 Maybe it would be better to compare them to robots then, or maybe cars.

Regardless of what had been years ago, now a plant was just that—a plant. It served little purpose, so humanity found no reason to keep it around. The space was much better used for buildings and roads.

"So then why..." I asked myself.

"Why does my heart feel heavy?"

I took a deep breath to calm myself down, then I turned around towards Chigira, readying myself to tell her that we would have to sleep around here for the night.

That's when I noticed I was not the only one feeling rough. If anything, the woman in front of me had it much worse.

Salty puddles formed around her big eyes, and when they overflowed, they dropped down her cheeks, which were flustered red.

"Chigira..." I called her name, but the girl wouldn't answer me. Without saying a word, she started walking towards me. No, she walked past me, going deeper into the middle of what was left of this small forest.

When she reached the very middle, Chigira dropped to her knees, pushing her palms together as she whispered something. She spoke utter gibberish, or maybe she spoke a language unknown to me. Regardless, I didn't understand what she said.

Still, it was obvious she had done something, for the very grass beneath my feet now felt different. It felt as if it was closer to me. It felt...

"It feels like you..." I blurted out without thinking. It was a weird thing to say, a thing to which Chigira would have normally reacted, but she didn't. She kept doing her magic.

The grass felt so good, and it wasn't only the grass. I looked at a tree, and I felt it calling to me. I hesitated at first, but remembering that this girl had control over plants, so I decided to step forth and touch it.

When my palm felt the bark of the tree, my heart filled with emotions I hadn't felt before. No, those were emotions I wasn't allowed to feel. I felt so happy I could burst. I felt so loved I could explode. I felt so alive I could cry.

Images of my time in the orphanage came to mind, and a voice that told me I would be sent to the chamber snapped me out of it. I pulled my hand away, and the feelings were gone.

"Chigira! What are you doing?" I shouted at the girl with green hair again, but she remained silent. Instead, she looked at me with her usual smile and winked.

What came next happened in an instant. All the trees around me bloomed, filling the dark night sky with pink petals. It was the most beautiful thing I had seen in my life, and more than anything, it felt alive.

I looked around, my mind blown away by the beauty that surrounded me. It wasn't the season for the trees to bloom, but they still did, and this time it felt...

"... It feels real. Like it should have always been like this..."

The petals falling on my face and the trees singing happily—it all felt so real. Even the grass beneath my shoes was...

"No... not like this..."

Without thinking, I took off my shoes and my socks. I let the grass tickle my feet, and I started running. The forest was small, so I ran in circles, but I kept running.

Chigira finally got up, and she ran together with me. We ran one past another. We ran one after another. We ran from one another. We ran.

How much time had passed, I did not know. All I knew was that the night felt eternal.

Under the moonlight, we ran until our breaths ran out, and when that happened, we fell on the kind grass, letting the happy petals serve as our blankets.

I looked at Chigira's smiling expression, and I smiled back.

That day, I felt alive for the first time. I wasn't just going through the motions; I actually lived for a couple of hours.

*****

When he feels alone, may someone grab his hand.