Episode 1.5: Beginnings of a Poem

“Her…lilac…hair…danced on the wind like…sa…sakura…in spu-ring.”

“Mind if I take my glasses back?” She hands the man a pair of familiar looking glasses he folds them up and puts them into a case and then into his bag. He has short brown hair, a goatee, and a smaller, thinner pair of glasses fixed on the bridge of this nose.

“You were taking a while.”

“Why did you need those glasses?”

“Because of how long you were taking?”

“Hmhm” he chuckled without opening his mouth. The woman smiled.

“I can tell you what it says, if you want.”

“You won’t have to if I can read it on my own.”

“What use does a succubus have for anything other than dirty words?”

“I think those words are plenty dirty.”

“I think you’re misunderstanding them then.”

“In that case, I think the teacher should do a better job of teaching.” She took a seat next to him against a wall.

“Her lilac hair danced on the wind like Sakura in spring.”

“What’s Sakura?”

“It’s a kind of flower. They bloom in the spring and fall to the ground. They’re bright pink and float in the air. It’s a beautiful sight. Your hair reminds me of them.

“So it’s a poem of love?” She rests her head on his shoulder.

“I don’t know. It’s unfinished.” He closes his notebook and stands up, hoisting his bag across his shoulder.

“Are you leaving?”

“I can’t be gone for too long.”

“How long will you be this time?”

“I couldn’t say.”

“This path could close at any time, you may have to find another way… and if you take too long…”

“I know, I’ll be back…soon. I promise.”

“You can’t summon me, you know that right?”

“I wouldn’t even dream of it. I’ll make it back.”

They lean in for a kiss.

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My eyes flutter open. I think it was another memory that played for me in my dreams. Flipping myself onto my stomach I could see seemed Mona asleep in her corner. I rolled onto my back and sat up. Adrianna was sitting by a fire with Vanilla’s head in her lap.

I got up. Was it safe to have a fire? It was probably fine seeing how large a place they were in, still, where did she get the wood?

I sat next to her.

“Good morning, Rami-chan.” She greeted me softly as not to wake Vanilla.

“Did you sleep?” She seemed to be in the same place I saw her in before I conked out. She shook her head.

“I don’t really feel the need to.” Now that I looked at her, she still seemed wide awake. How long had I been asleep, there was no way of keeping track of time down here. It might be the middle of the day above ground.

“If you say so. How long was I out?”

“A couple of hours.”

“Have you just been staring at the fire the whole time.”

“Not the whole time. Nill-chan was rolling around on the ground like she was having a nightmare so I moved her here.” I figured it was something like that. She can’t escape her fear and embarrassment even while asleep.

“Umm, where did you get the wood? And how did you know how to build a fire?”

A faint red tint spread across her cheeks, she looked down in discomfort, “I’d rather not say just yet. I’m sorry.”

Right. It was still a long road to trust between the four of us.

“You’re starting to sound a little like Nill-chan.”

“I’m sorry.” After a second of silence she broke into a laugh, and I soon joined her. I could feel Mona turn toward us to see what the racket was about.

“Ah, what did I do? Are you laughing at me? I’m sorry!” Vanilla was suddenly awake and reflexively apologizing. We began laughing even harder. I didn’t know then that laughs from this point forward would be so few and far between.