The Flower of Hell

“All right, you brats! You have no less than ten minutes to line up on the tracks! No exceptions!”

This boisterous voice is coming from none other than Mr. Sagisu, the heavy-set Physical Education teacher. He’s balding, in his mid to late forties - and despite the scorching heat, decided it was a good idea to wear an all-black tracksuit. The way that he barks commands while keeping a somewhat positive demeanor earned him the nickname “Mad Dog Sagisu” from his students.

As the first few students pour out of their respective locker rooms, conversing among one another, their optimistic expressions fade upon their coach’s demand.

“Hey, what gives, old man!?” A brave student pushes through the fray, determination stamped across his face. “You told us that we were going to play soccer today! You can’t just make us run on the first day!”

Though he was ready to give him a piece of his mind, the tone of his voice quickly lowers as Coach Sagisu’s gaze meets his own. “Oh, right. You mean this old stuff?” Coach Sagisu turns to face the soccer equipment, forcing a laugh from deep within his belly. “I forgot to put all of this up before the last semester ended! Got a request from the school board to have you kids take a Physical Aptitude test. So, I figured that the only way to get some of you to willingly come to the track without complaints is by making you think you were going to play soccer.”

All of the students freeze as Coach Sagisu’s gaze returns to Shin. His eyes have a strange, glossy look, though the sun glimmers in them, his pupils appear hollow, casting no reflection. “We aren’t going to have any complaints now…? Right, Takashi?”

A brisk feeling of discomfort surges through Shin’s spine. He looks around, desperately searching for somebody to stand up for him; but those few who have already lined up on the track all avert their gaze, afraid of experiencing the famed ‘Mad Dog’s Bite.” Among them is Minato, whose attention fixates on the girl’s locker room.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

The students all line up at the 100-meter mark of the track, conversing amongst each other. Setting his left foot down, Minato raises his right, and grips it tightly. “Not gonna lie, it’s moments like these where I wish I brought my PE clothes. I was so dazed this morning that I hadn’t even considered the fact that we’d be doing something like this today.” He thinks aloud, stretching his quadriceps.

“You’re telling me! Did you see the way that ‘Mad Dog’ looked at me earlier?! I thought I was going to freaking die, dude!” Still a bit shaken up from their previous encounter, Shin turns to their coach cracking a grin. Shaking his head, trying to recollect himself, Shin’s gaze returns to Minato.

“About the clothes situation, I was meaning to bring that up actually. What’s up with you today? You seem totally out of it, man.” Already with his hands and legs positioned as if ready to bolt the moment the timer starts, Kenta seconds Shin’s concern. “Yeah, Shin’s got a point there. You’ve been acting kinda sus ever since Mrs. Tachibana introduced the new girl. Not to mention the fact she’s been a bit clingy. The fact that she insisted on sitting in Ryo’s old seat to be closer to you doesn’t really help either. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you two had a thing for each other or something.”

“What?! It’s not even like that-” This accusation is sudden enough to catch Minato off guard. Though he tries to maintain his grip, he fumbles and his shoe loosens and slips off, making him fall forward.

His peers look on with awe, unable to react in time to save him.

Gritting his teeth, Minato closes his eyes. Shit shit shit! he thinks to himself, prepared to land face first in the rubber track. Acting on instinct as to not damage his face, Minato throws his arms in front of it to serve as a shield.

The moment before impact, however, he freezes. A strange tightness slithers across his torso, coiling him. His eyes widen as he desperately gags for air.

"Minato, are you all right!?" Sakura screams out. Thinking fast, she placed her hand on the soil to summon forth the vine-like protrusions that now ensnared him.

Looking to his sides, Minato realizes that he’s hoisted up by vines. Sakura…? He wants to turn to face her, but in this position, he can’t move so much as an inch, whenever he attempts to, the vines tighten.

With a flick of her wrist, the vines release him. Tossing him over to her, they decay the moment he falls into her arms. Terror washes over her as she comes to realize what she’s done. “No, no, no! Please be all right!” she pleads, frantically patting him down, inspecting his body for any bruising.

What is this? She’s never acted this way before.

Slowly pushing himself free, Minato’s eyes fill with curiosity. She’s crying? Her bright red eyes are speckled with tears, though she continues to speak to him, Minato’s mind drifts and tunes her out as he tries to make sense of what happened.

“Shouldn’t you say something?” One of the female student’s frantically shakes Coach Sagisu’s arm, only for him to dismiss her.

“And what do you expect me to do, actually?” Taking a look at his phone, he scratches the back of his head upon noticing that they have four more minutes until it’s time to start the event. Coach Sagisu is a simple man; while he did see Sakura openly use his abilities, he figures that it’s not his business because no one ended up hurt due to her efforts. “Aren’t you the nosy type? It’s not really in my pay grade to handle teen drama you know. Besides, we have four minutes until it’s time to run. I think they can afford a minute or two to talk things out themselves.”

Sakura’s main form of bonding with Minato has always come in the form of teasing, so seeing her actually showing concern over the fact that her rash actions lead to him being hurt, confuses Minato. His blood races, as a sign from his body that he doesn’t want this moment to end.

He notices that for the second time today, she’s gone through a costume change. She’s wearing a white PE uniform, which is too big for her. No doubt another thing from the lost and found. She’s tied it in the back, however, with what looks to be a vine. What truly captures Minato's attention, though, is the fact that she is also wearing a pair of navy blue bloomers. A stark contrast to the more modest shorts the other female students wear. Though he tries to look away, so that she doesn’t catch him staring for too long. Minato is still a young man, and his hormones ultimately win. His heart begins to beat faster as he begins to fantasize about how the spandex tightly showcases her ‘assets.’

Where the hell did she even get bloomers? More importantly, how am I just now noticing how huge her ass is? Taking a deep breath, Minato’s chest feels as if it’s going to collapse at any moment, but he toughs it out.

Minato signals with his hand for her to come closer, and Sakura’s ears perk up with excitement as she takes one step closer to Minato.

Weakly moving his hand into an O shape, Minato flicks Sakura’s forehead.

“Ow! What was that for you, jerk?” she demands, rubbing her head with both hands.

“Hmph. Consider us even.” He chuckles. Turning his attention back to the track.

As if on cue, a loud screeching echoes throughout the track field. The ferocity at which Mr Sagisu is blowing his whistle makes it loud enough that people in the school can hear it as clearly as they could if they were outside.

“All right, everybody! Now that the love birds are finished yapping it up, I need you all to line up! You are going to spend the next thirty minutes on this track until each and every one of you has run a mile, do you hear me!?”

The more he speaks, the harsher his tone gets. “This is by no means a race! So feel free to finish at your own pace. With that being said, whoever finishes first, I will personally give you a free pass off from doing exercises for the remainder of the week!”

Pfft... This is going to be a breeze, Minato thinks to himself as he turns to see everybody in their starting positions. The only person that stands out, however, is Sakura, who is standing to the far right of him, smiling at the sky. What the hell is she doing? Is she aware of what’s at stake here?

“Ready!” Coach Sagisu begins, and Sakura places a finger in her mouth. “Set!”

Having accumulated enough saliva, she holds her finger out to the sky. “North-east huh?” She laughs to herself, lowering herself to the ground. Stretching both of her arms forward and her legs backward, she gives Minato one last glance before Coach Sagisu releases them with a “Go”

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

"That was totally awesome, right?!” Sakura stares out the metal fence, looking down at the track. Another class period is in session, and the students all sit on the track mystified at how the dust from the previous PE class still hasn’t settled. “Nobody could even touch me out there! I was kinda worried about that Kenta guy since he was tailing me, but I realized after the third mile that he hadn’t even come close to finishing his first one!”

Untucking his shirt, a pound of dirt pours onto the floor. Exhaling deeply, he takes a seat on the bench. Minato wants to hear her out, but his expression remains blank. Digging into his pants with his fingernails, he can’t bring himself to look at her.

“School’s almost over. You did everything that you set out to do, so I hope you enjoyed your first and last day…” Minato is too tired to properly react and it shows in his tone. He wants to be mad at Sakura, but a huge part of him feels guilty for it. Just the thought of it exhausts him.

“Wait, what?! But everybody loves me!” Sakura’s heart drops. Her grip on the fence loosens, and she rushes to his side. She grabs hold of him by the arm with both hands, and violently shakes him back and forth.

After the PE period ended, the two had decided to go up to the rooftop. “Is this why you told me we needed to talk?!”

Truth be told, the school’s rooftop is hardly ever frequented by students. So, Minato brought her to the roof, believing that it’d be the only spot in the school where they could discuss things privately.

Finally getting the courage to look her in the eyes, Minato turns to face her, his expression still cold. “It’s more than just that. Hell, it’s more than just school. In the time that I’ve known you, you’ve always been someone who tries to be better than everyone else. The help in the store is appreciated, but do you really have to make it look like I’m so much inferior to you in every aspect here! No matter what you do, you always have to one up everyone else!” At least that’s what he wants to say, but that naive look in her eyes convinces him to change up his tone.

Instead, Minato says, “I’m just worried about Granny Haru. You said you’d watch her, yet you’re here. So, I’ve been worried all day.”

"Wait, is that why you’re being so mopey? I totally have that covered. You don’t think I’d leave your precious grandmother and her store to fend for themselves after ya’ll so kindly took me in now, would ya?"

Right as Minato is about to ask what Sakura means, a loud crash, accompanied by a bone-curdling scream originating in the middle of the dusty track field bellows throughout the school grounds. Everybody stops, attempting to make out what caused said disturbance. All that they see, however, is the outline of a suspicious silhouette due to how thick the dust cloud is.

“I’m starving!” A deep guttural voice echoes, followed by the screams of terrorized students fleeing from the track field.

“What the hell is that?!” Minato cries out, falling off the bench.

“I…” Sakura freezes, unsure of what to say. Her fingers twitch wildly, her eyes widening as she begins to realize what is responsible for such an attack. “It can’t be...”

“Won’t somebody just feed me already!!!” Though the voice roared its demands, its tone has mellowed out. Whatever it is, it speaks with a southern twang. The type of voice you’d hear in the golden age of radio. Out from the dust emerges a monster standing forty feet high. This beast of plant-based physiology has three heads, each protruding out of its thick stalk; the two heads on the side are small and function like hands, compared to the overgrown head in the middle whose mug is composed of needle like teeth, long flowing hairs protruding from its palate, a thick viscous ooze drips down from each of its maws, burning terrain with each splash, and a large glowing red eye rests in the mid-ridge of the main head.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

As the beast makes its rounds, Sayori finds herself in the crossfire.

She has only just finished getting dressed into her PE uniform when the monster attacked. “Where is everybody going?” Upon leaving the girls locker room, she brings her hands to her face. Her eyes sparkle with that same whimsy, blissfully unaware of the danger she’s in.

She tries to ask someone, only for them to point in the direction of the dust-covered field before continuing their escape. Not having a conclusive answer, she continues down to the middle of the field. Though she could have easily followed the crowd, nothing can prepare her for such a sight. As the dust clears, she finds herself face-to-face with the creature, and with nowhere to run, she freezes.

“Wait, what the hell is she doing? Why the hell isn’t she running from it? Does she want to die or something!” A certain student was among the first to abandon ship, but upon seeing Sayori dive head first into the conflict, he suddenly has a change of heart. Gathering together three of his friends, he ransacks the gymnasium's storage in search of weapons.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

Sayori now finds herself surrounded by a group of young men wearing outdated uniforms. There in the front of the formation stands none other than Seiya Suzuki. Trembling from the size difference between him and the creature, Seiya manages to stow his fear, not letting his grip on his metal bat loosen even for a second.

I gotta be real with myself, there’s no way in hell I’m going to beat this thing. And I’m sorry for dragging you guys down with me, he thinks, looking back at his crewmates' determined faces, then looking back at the beast who seems to be salivating even more than it was when it first started. But this is just something that I gotta do. For too long this school has given people like us a bad rap! And for the longest time I’ve had no choice but to put up with it. To play the role of the ‘delinquent’ because that’s what everybody sees me as! Well, today I’ve decided that I’m just sick of that shit. Today, I wanna play the hero.

Due to his status around the school, he knows that if he were to let it be known that even he is terrified of this thing, the members that so valiantly agreed to aid him in this fight will lose their nerve. So he has no other choice but to act cool.

“Look, kid, I don’t wanna go around owing favors. I may be a lot of things, but Seiya Suzuki has never been the kinda guy to turn tail and run away from a fight. And I’m damn sure not someone who will just leave someone weaker than them in deep shit! No matter what happens here. What happens to us, you need to get the hell out of here.” With that final message to her, Seiya flashes Sayori a grin. Though she can’t move, she’s able to easily see through Seiya's tough guy act.

“Ay’, Seymour!” he shouts, thrusting the end-cap of his bat forward. “If you want something to eat so bad how bout’ me and my boys make you eat shit here and now!”

They all raise their weapons high. The pipe, the paddle, the tennis racket, and lastly the bat all meet for one last hurray as they all charge into battle.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

Could his fear be making his mind play tricks on him? As the dust dissipates, Minato gasps as he sees Sayori standing in front of the monster. She’s alone; all that separates her from the beast are what look to be three battle damaged weapons.

“Sayori!” he screams, clutching at the fences' metal prongs. With his heart feeling as though it’ll burst from his chest, he turns to Sakura with tear-filled eyes. He can no longer hide how he truly feels due to somebody that he cares about being in imminent danger. “We have to do something, Sakura! We can’t just leave her there! That thing’s going to kill her!”

Yet, Sakura just stands there as everything unfolds. “I- it’s all my fault isn’t it?” Her jaw lowers as she falls to her knees. A wave of dread washes over her as she looks at her bandaged thumb, a reminder of the spell she casted earlier in the morning.

“Your fault…?” Minato places his hands on her shoulders, and kneels so that their eyes meet. “Look, I don’t know what you did. But it’s not your fault. Even if for some reason it is, none of that should matter right now. My best friend is out there and there’s a good chance that she may die. You can tell me about whatever's on your mind later, just please. Go save Sayori!”

The moment that his trembling hands grab hold of her own, the seed pendant on Sakura’s necklace glows a warm, vibrant green color. Tears stream down her eyes as she nods. Realizing what she has to do, Sakura’s slender fingers that had been gripping tightly onto Minato’s begin to loosen.

She stands and moves closer to the fenced off edge of the school. A cool breeze wafted toward Minato as Sakura waved her hand over the fence. It’s not until after that split second, vine-like protrusions claw their way out of her arm, forming a singular blade in the palm of her hand that she used to cut through the fence.

Has she been able to do that this whole time?!

Just the thought of her being able to do so many more things than she’s previously shown him causes a pit to form in Minato’s stomach. I don’t know if I should be scared or turned on by this. Without any hesitation, Sakura leans forward. Minato snaps himself out of it and runs to her in an attempt to save her, but he’s too late, and she plummets to the ground. In a parallel to how she saved him earlier in the day, those same vine-like protrusions extend, coiling themselves around a light post. He watches in awe as Sakura slings herself to the track, where she safely lands in front of Sayori.

"OOOOOH, what have we got here!?" the beast exclaims as its eye narrows in on Sakura. “If it isn’t missus mean green herself! Y’know, I was wondering when you’d bring me to life. Mhm, yes, I was. I’ve been itching to get my revenge on these people since I was a seedling! And it’s all thanks to you!”

Lowering its right head to Sakura, the creature senses a sort of familial connection to her. She’s the one who gave it sentience after all, so her next actions send it reeling back in pain and pure disgust. Where it was expecting some form of alliance, a swishing severs whatever ties they may have had, alongside one of its heads.

Reeling back in pain, one of the members of Seiya’s gang slides out of the plant creatures now open wound, shivering and covered in a thick chlorophyll goo.

“Ya know, I was worried at first. But now that I know what you are, defeating you’s going to be a cake walk. You’re one of the muscipula species, correct? You have to trap your food first before you can even dream of digesting it. So, your plan must have been to follow me here and do just that with the entire student body, huh? Shit like this is making me realize why no one wanted to buy your sorry ass when you were in the store.”

Walking over to the delinquent's body, Sakura kicks him in the ribcage. “Hey, kid, get up and leave, all right?” She turns to face Sayori. “And while you’re at it, take the crybaby with you. We shouldn’t risk any more casualties.”

“Oh, you mean mother!”

Due to the pain of just losing one of its heads, the plant isn’t exactly thinking rationally. It wants her dead, and fast.

Slamming its left petiole down, Sakura takes the opportunity to run up it, having caught a glance of its eye. With every six steps she takes climbing up the creature's stalk, she slices a new incision, freeing the other two members of Seiya’s group, and Seiya himself. Lunging forward, Sakura aims the blade directly at the eye.

The monster’s attempts to move out of the way prove to be futile. As the blade makes contact, Sakura slashes an incision through the pupil with brute force.

“NOOOOOOO!" The beast’s screams of agony shrink in size until the point that its voice becomes inaudible to the untrained ear. As the color drains from its larger variant’s eye, Sakura can’t help but laugh as the original plant reveals itself.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

The plant now finds itself imprisoned in that same glass display in front of the store. The only difference being the sign haphazardly draped above it, which reads “Hannibal Nectar.”

Its head droops down, as if it feels shame for being given such a title. Due to a cruel twist of fate, said display has caught the attention of many passersby. Yet, the plant is unwilling to even glance at the customers that it once begged to purchase it. There, standing in the window, observing it from a safe enough distance are a group of four teenagers: Sayori, Seiya, Sakura, and Minato.

“Y’all really think it’s a wise idea to keep that creepy thing? Just say the word and me and the boys can torch it for ya,” Seiya asks, poking at the glass, pulling his finger back at the slightest movement from the plant.

“If he’s not hurting anybody, I really don’t see a problem with it. Besides, I think he’s kind of cute.” Sayori smiles, rubbing the sides of her cheeks. Her cheerful tone is enough to earn a side eye from everybody. “Honestly. I think it’s up to Sakura to choose the punishment for it. She is the one who gave it life, so it’s only fitting for her to choose what to do with it. Also, Seiya, what are you doing here?! I would think this type of place isn’t much your style!”

Seiya can’t help but chuckle as he turns to scan the store. “Is this guy serious? Of course it’s my style! What, you think liking plant’s is exclusively a preppy kid thing? Besides…” He aims his thumb at Sakura. “‘Plant girl over saved here my life. Had it not been for her, me and my boys would have been fertilizer. So I’ll make sure to show my support going forth.”

Having come up with her verdict, Sakura slams her fist down on the glass. The plant’s stalk lurches back, startled by the sudden noise. “What the hell do you want now?!” It asks, its stalk trembles as it looks up at the group. A mischievous smile stretches across Sakura’s face as she moves closer to the display. “I finally came up with the perfect punishment for you! From here on out, whenever we have to go to classes, you’ll be in charge of the store!”