Episode XII - Silence as Normalcy

Nov 20th 0- Hanako POV

The dream from last night? Sentient Dreams? It didn’t end the world. It gave me a rebirth, a new awakening. It felt like I ascended into a higher plane: humanity.

“Hana~”

“Oiiii~”

“Wake up sleepy head~”

I heard Ruruka’s voice call for me like a delicious aroma of food. I get up weakly because I had used the entire sentient dream to rewrite my status as the anchor. It was really tiring.

“Just five more minutes…,” I mumbled and yawned as I held my mouth with my hand. I moved off of the bed trying to find my strength, but I collapsed to the floor, face first.

“Oh my goodness!” she came up to help me.

“What’s going on….?”

She sat me gently on the bed.

“I rewrote my existence as the anchor in my dreams last night. I’m no longer tethered to this universe,” I opened up.

“YOU WHAT?!” she was shocked at my revelation.

“But won’t that….disrupt our world?”

“No. It won’t. One of my powers is called Mythic Rewrite. I can control the narrative, but not the outcome,” I explained.

“I simply just used an incantation to revoke my status as the anchor, which allowed me to rebirth myself in other realities.”

“I’m no longer alone anymore,” I said with a gleeful smile.

“But what I did last night was extremely powerful, since I can only use it one time for a hundred years. Which is why I feel weak at the moment.”

I tried to get up so I could walk, because my body is telling me to go into cryostasis mode, so I can replenish my energy.

“Quick….get me to the living room.”

She helped me up again and we quickly switched to a different room. I didn’t want to sit down because cryostasis needs me to stay up. When ice envelops around me like an egg, I shift into fetal position, kind of like how babies come out of a mother’s womb.

“What are you gonna do…?” Ruruka asked me.

“I need to go into cryostasis mode. Don’t worry about me,” I told her. This is a little important for me, but I didn’t want to make her worry. I let my body relax and I triggered freezing touch. The room became cold, snow started to fall from the ceiling. Ice started to form around me slowly like an igloo-like structure.

“Okay~! See you later~” Ruruka waved at me with trust.

The ice and snow finally started to build up, encasing me inside, this time, wholly, in the shape of an egg. The scene in the room became a winter wonderland, with the egg in the living room, just waiting to be cracked.

part.i of xii – Haruhi’s POV──⊰

I watched Ruruka change when she introduced me to her friend, Hanako Reina. It blew my mind! I don’t know what happened between the two, but Ruruka changed drastically!!

From the moment Reina popped into my café, I was told to be patient with her—I was. Reina opened up to me about being The Quiet Crow, which got me surprised. I thought that myth was a legend, but it turns out, SHE was the myth!

And when I first started working with Reina? She changed too. Her usual quietness became excitement. Silence? It became laughter. This is what growth feels like, and I am all in for it. I remember her first confession, longing to be with Ruruka as a lover.

Although it hurt her, she was mature enough to move past it and make Ruruka her girlfriend. I gladly supported that notion because I was the one who couldn’t get to my ex in time.

I do have to acknowledge something though. Although I broke up with Ruruka, I still saw the light in her, and she did too for me. We’re best friends now, platonic best friends!

But….she was just too damn protective…!

(˶˃⤙˂˶)

I remember Reina’s request: ““Can you talk to her, just in case?”"

She had asked me to talk to Ruruka before her birthday. I agreed to her request. I showed up on November 1st, the night before her birthday at her bar. We talked. She broke down. Got sent home because of concerns. We went to my place first. Ruruka told me it’s been a week since Reina’s confession. How she hadn’t been able to respond. But for me? I believe in Reina. That she can break the impossible walls within Koa’s heart.

Reina did it. She did it. It was earned.

I was proud when I saw a different Ruruka when we reunited. Her personality changed, bubbly and warm. Open and soft. Like a warm light under the darkness that enveloped around it. Our reunion was in a mall, because I was shopping for pet supplies for my bunnies.

However, tragedy happened when it came: gunshots. I had grabbed Reina’s hand to run and hide, but I was too scared to let go, even with the groceries in my bag (the pet supplies were in a different one).

But that was when it happened. Ruruka saved us, but at a cost.

Blood.

Even as a Bamboo Rabbit, I was unable to sense this attack. However, I sensed something else: Reina’s emotions. They were on the brink of exploding, as she saw blood coming from Ruruka.

“Reina…!!!”

“Get her to a hospital…now…! She’s bleeding too much…!!”

Her eyes burned red, glowing from within her fury.

“R-Reina…please….!!” I begged her but something snapped within her. She told me to follow her. The alleyway. A safe spot, all before she startled me with her sudden transformation into a giant crow.

I got on her, not because of fear, but because I trusted her. We went back to Ruruka’s complex. Inside, we had patched her up, with Reina treating her with her cool ice powers. She carried her in her arms and put her in their room, letting her recover.

Reina screamed, but I didn’t flinch. She wanted vengeance by jumping out of the window, but I yanked her away and closed it. I never wanted her to become the villain of being a hero. I grounded her (no pun intended, heh).

She broke down. Cried in my arms as I offered my wisdom and proverbs, because she trusted me. And being a Bamboo Rabbit..? I used my skills to find shortcuts to get Reina to come back, not as a monster of her own undoing, but as a human.

Ruruka shouldn’t have Reina become a monster just because she was hurt—she should have her become the person she wanted her to be a girlfriend with vulnerabilities.

“Let me remind you that in life-endangering events, you need to take her to the hospital….,” I said out of worry. She stared at me, partly because I said something triggering, but she wanted to let me know the reason.

“Is there a reason why you don’t want to…?”

Reina opened up about her past, about her being a futanari, and how she was stripped of her will to get surgery. I never once looked down on her or sexualized her identity, because that would break my morals as a platonic friend.

Repressed emotions. That’s what makes her—her—and why she retreated to silence. She was a ticking time bomb, a dynamite. The people tried to silence her, but she screamed.

Then, she dropped her childhood trauma.

Not only I got shocked about her massacre and display of them, I was in genuine awe that she has enormous strength. I can tell she wants to hold back now—now that the two of us were in her life. She gets to chose to define the rest of her story, and I’m proud of that. I then asked her what she thinks about herself now.

“I want love. I hunger for real food. Sustenance. I want to become human, even if I hide behind my abilities," Reina answered me.

“Haruhi, you opened something up in me that I could've never asked for: courage. The confidence to believe in myself. To have the patience for others. I got the chance to let those who care about me into my life,”

“Willingly, with care.”

“I owe you so much, you don't even know how much you helped me be myself. Ruruka too..”

My heart skipped a beat not because she said that, but because I was filled with gratitude and empathy. This was her character arc, her real growth from that quiet girl into a girl who seeks love—even with all that power. Both me and Ruruka, we humanized her from godhood.

I told her, “that's because I never once lied to make you dislike me or forced myself to make you do something you don’t want to.”

“You deserve everything Reina~”

“And that includes Ruruka~”

We later laughed and made dinner. She went to wake her girlfriend up, and she came out, happy. I am proud of those two, and I will forever support them, as a Bamboo Rabbit.

part.ii of xii – Haruhi’s POV: The Egg──⊰

I woke up to a very cold sensation. It shouldn’t be cold this late in November. I had slept in Ruruka’s guest bedroom because we all wanted to hang out together. Chilly. I got up and put my slippers on and wanted to go to the bathroom. But when I opened the door and stepped outside, I slipped and fell onto my bottom.

“W-wah…!” a loud thud came from below me.

“Haruhi?!” Ruruka came to me to help me up.

“Ow…what’s going on—?!” I looked up to see the living room like a winter wonderland, with an egg in the middle. The furniture was slightly re-arranged. I walked over to witness Reina inside the egg.

“She’s….? Alive…?”

Ruruka told me what happened, and I couldn’t believe it.

SHE CAN REWRITE HER MYTHOS?!

That is insane!! Even though I knew she was the living myth, but that…?! Geez…this girl…!!

I laughed.

“Now that’s a surprise,” I touched the egg and it felt cool and nice. It felt like it was healing her, and I was in awe at how beautiful the pristine color was.

“We can’t even make breakfast like this…,” Ruruka looks around, considering that the snow covered everything, except the appliances.

“Do you want to just wait…?” I asked her. She nodded.

Both of us sat down on the couch, looking around us. It felt like peace had came in the form of snow and silence.

“Hey…,” she gripped my hand.

“I’m sorry for treating you harshly…back then…”

“It’s okay, Koa~” I reassured her, “I still see you as a good person—no matter what choices you make with her.”

“You’ve definitely changed. I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks,” she blushed.

“You still stayed with me, even after everything.”

“You’re the best bamboo rabbit, ever!”

After a while, ten minutes had passed. The egg started to crack, symbolizing rebirth and growth. The moment it broke, Reina came out. I caught her in my arms and gently held her in my lap.

“Oh- woah!~”

“We can see both her eyes now..”

She looked a little different…! Her hair was a bit longer and she no longer had bangs that covered over her right eye. She’s beautiful. I was a little bit jealous, but I still remained neutral. Cuz we are besties!

Her eyelashes were sparkly and her hair was extremely soft. Like sleek ice, but very comfortable. She groaned a little bit before she woke up.

part.iii of xii – Hanako’s POV──⊰

Within that egg I formed around myself, I allowed myself to experience those emotions again. And this time? I can now say that I have newfound control. From childhood, I taught myself to stay silent, to hold these emotions back. But even from the wards…? I still exploded, claiming lives. That hurt me so much, I was filled with grief and regret.

But now..? With Haruhi and Ruruka in my life…? I want to express those emotions again, this time, with MY control. If I had jumped out that window without Haruhi stopping me, I would’ve lost myself in the worst way possible. But with those two—and my change from the beginning of our encounter, it made me realize that these abilities I have are still a part of me, no matter how I see myself.

This time, I awoke in Haruhi’s lap.

“Welcome back, little bird~” both Haruhi and Ruruka said.

I got up from laying down and I rubbed my eyes. The ice-patch I wore on my right eye was gone. Probably because it was melted in the ice. I slowly opened my eyes, and I was able to see. I think my bangs disappeared. My vision was perfect even when I wore the patch.

But since I can see clearly now, I looked down at my hands—I touched my hair and it was longer than usual, but it still retained that same color—black with red undertones. Both of them gasped as they looked at me.

“Why are you surprised…?” I said, tilting my head

“You have beautiful eyes, Hana~” Ruruka complimented me. W-what..? Don’t say that.

I don’t want to hear that.

“Dark muted brown and crimson red,” Haruhi said, giving me a shard of ice.

“It pairs really well together~!”

I looked down at my reflection. Something inside me tore, and I didn’t know what. Tears begin to drip down my face.

What is this….feeling….?

Why do I feel like…wanting to accept this change..? I’ve always hated this color combination because it never sat right with me. But since the two are here? And that they told me that my eyes are beautiful…?

I don’t think I can push myself anymore or hate it. The two were witnesses to my change when I first met them. They showed me support. And now, they still do. If I want to change—to accept it—I need to do that.

I wiped my tears away with my arm to get a better look of myself. It was a reflection of myth and emotions: all in one person. I kept trying to wipe my tears, but they streamed down from my cheeks. It’s my first time that my tears agreed with me: wanting to accept myself for who I am.

“Why are you crying at your beauty?” Ruruka took my hand.

“T-that’s b-because…” I tried to find my words.

“I never once looked at myself like this,” I uttered in complete awe.

My face….it’s so cute….

Ruruka came in to hug me, the warm tender feeling of love came back. Haruhi too, gave me a hug. This is splendid. Haruhi’s platonic love and Ruruka’s light gave me strength to believe in myself again. Now I can say that my reflection is the embodiment of acceptance and self love.

Self Love. Something that I’ve never thought of—or experienced—came at me like a crashing ocean wave, this time, with energy and passion. The room was still a winter wonderland, and I used my right hand to revert it back to normal, all while keeping the shard of ice from the egg.

It was a reminder for me and my growth. My own reflection. My own reminder that I can be better for me, and for others.

“You guys are the best,” I softly pushed them away to get some space for myself.

“I will be here with you, forever, Hanako Reina~” Ruruka said to me, kissing me on my cheek.

“And I’ll stop you again and again, if you fall out of line—Rei-chan~,” Haruhi said, giving me a head-pat.

part.iv of xii – Hanako’s POV: Rewrite──⊰

It was 10 in the morning ever since I came out from cryostasis, and I was hungry. I headed over to the kitchen to make brunch for all of us. Both them started to help out.

“What did you do inside..? Before you emerged?” Haruhi asked me, passing me a tray.

“I learnt to show emotion, and that I have authority over it,” I explained, “I can freely express my emotions without triggering my explosive powers…!”

“I also got rid of that cool down for Mythic Rewrite.”

“I’m strong now. I can show restraint.”

The stove started up. Fire crackled beneath it. A pot was put over with boiling water. We’re making ramen, but handcrafted noodles.

“You’re impossible, you know that?~” Ruruka teased me.

“Nothing is impossible when you have the heart for it~” I laughed.

I know Mythic Rewrite is powerful. But I still won’t abuse it unless it’s for a special occasion.

“I don’t have to hide behind fear anymore,” I continued.

“Being friends with you guys opened my world.”

“And I want to expand that more.”

“Including my girlfriend—Ruruka—since she’s mine~”

Haruhi laughed at my ownership over her. It was playful and full of banter. It wasn’t cocky or judgmental. She’s Haruhi, a bamboo rabbit that encompasses softness.

“I’ll tell you what~!” she freed her hands from grabbing stuff and a light emitted from them. A small, green rabbit with a fluffy neck collar and bamboo ears came out and onto her hand.

“You can take half of me.”

She put it down on the counter and it started to sniff around. It wanted to help make brunch too? I don’t mind.

Awww~!

“Haru~hi~” Ruruka pulled her ear, pouting.

“What?” she laughed, “I just wanna look out for her!”

“But she has me…!~” Ruruka pouted more.

“I’m not being jealous of your relationship with her. It’s just that whenever you two fall, I’ll step in to stop you both,” Haruhi tried to convince her. I agree. Ruruka at times can get ahead of herself, even if she is a ninja.

“Fine….,” she let go of her ear. I laughed. Little moments like this..? I love everything about it. From banter, to hanging out, gaining a small Haruhi? This is the life I wanted.

“I will name this little bunny, Aru~” I named it. Aru jumped up and landed on my head, relaxing her body over like a hat.

“Ah-that’s—aghjadhkjad,” Haruhi became flustered, simply because I took a part of her name as a nickname for the lil bunny on the table.

“That was a nickname Ruruka gave me once…,’ she shied away.

“Aru fits…! It’s got your warmth and your grounding presence~!” I teased her. Silence fills. But we laughed after.

“Don’t make me bonk you~” Little Aru spoke.

Σ(°ロ°) All of us were shocked as the bunny spoke. Even Haruhi didn’t know she gave little Aru a mind of its own.

“I….can do that…?” Haruhi was confused.

“Bamboo Rabbit has deeper lore than you think~!” little Aru said.

I didn’t even use Mythic Rewrite for this…!!! What just happened..?! I laughed as we continued to make our brunch. Today was light-hearted and fun. I want this moment to carry on for all my other selves.

To the universe and back…

Within the echoes of time.

Time appreciated me.

Patience was there.

All because….

I—love—myself.

pssst… Hey you! ;)

─────⊰ ✦ ⊱─────

Haruhi doesn’t know, but I escaped the narrative confines! Hehehe – Aru

Don’t tell her, okay? :)

I’m gonna steal some cookies now!

Enjoy the rest of the light novel!