[AQ] The Hearts Egg [Tsukiko/Yasuko K.]

[Deleted]

"I'm not seeing her," Rosary said as she floated with arms crossed with growing irritation. Tsukiko pouting a bit with slow irritation. "You're the one that brought up this whole book thing out of nowhere today. I don't know why you're irritated..." Honestly, sometimes Rosary just seemed to like being the one putting up with people even when she technically wasn't. It wasn't like Tsukiko had done what she had on purpose. She just got anxious.

"Don't think you're allowed to get upset with me." Tsukiko shut up after that was said. The last thing she needed was to piss off the tiny Rosary. Sure she was small but that girl could bite. "I don't see her-" Tsukiko shut up when she saw that brown hair. There she was, hot sauce girl.

How was she going to approach her without being really creepy and painfully awkward about it? It was approaching people willingly that was damn nearly impossible. Unless it was a friend, Tsukiko was screwed. Plus this girl and she didn't hit it off. Well, Tsukiko felt afraid of her, she wasn't sure how this girl felt about her. An annoyed vibe was something she knew she'd felt for certain.

"Hey you. If you can hear and see me then look over here now." Rosary announced in a loud and annoyed voice that wasn't really shouting.

[Yasuko Kobayashi]

"Where is it..." Yasuko muttered as her hands glided over the books on the shelves. So far, she hadn't found a single trace of the book - well, then again she had no idea what it looked like, but she certainly wasn't able to get any nearer to finding its title. She would probably been faster if she could search by it's classification or book number (if it even had one), but considering that she had no real idea what would its contents be classified into, she was stuck skimming through the books' titles on the shelves.

A voice made her stop and turn around quizzingly. She hadn't heard that voice before, and it definitely didn't sound like the first-year she had bumped into at the entrance to the library. In fact, no one had seemed to hear it; the rest of the students (that she could see that is), didn't even look up from their books. Hearing the next command however, she began to find the source of the voice - and immediately spotted a tiny pink thing. A tiny pink thing that was floating.

"GAHHHH?!" she cried out, nearly tripping over herself again, earning a dozens of shhhhhhhhhhhhs! and questioning stares. Honestly, she should have noticed it by now; the fact that no one else had responded to the voice meant that it was probably one of the Guardian Characters. The third-year had mentioned that before, that only people who have Guardian Characters or those who had them would be able to see and hear all Guardian Characters. And well, since she had seen two by now, getting freaked out by so-called impossibly floating entities shouldn't be even occurring anymore.

"Ah-" was her response at first, noticing the many stares at her. It had dawned on her that she had basically disturbed the quiet library by her outcry; and it was an outcry at something these students most likely couldn't see. She had to do something...! "Oh, ahha, sorry, I uh-uh-uh thought I saw a ghost ahaha...!" Okay that was the lamest lie in the lamest of fabricated lies but still it was something. Soon afterwards the students had returned to their books - although some couldn't help a snicker or two at the girl's seemingly silly reaction.

Turning back to the tiny entity, she glared daggers at it. "You...!" she seethed as softly as she could. "What was the big idea-" she pointed at the small thing. "-scaring the crap out of me?! You made me look like a fool out there...!" It was only then she had realised the that there was a human girl next to the floating thing. A human girl with buns. Buns that she recognised..."Wait, does this thing belong to you?!"

[Deleted]

Rosary wasn't regretting her previous feelings of dislike towards this girl. She absolutely couldn't stand her now. The first facial expression on her face was of total dislike towards hot sauce girl. "I'm not an 'it' first of all." She floated towards her with eyes glaring down at the girl like daggers. "Besides, I didn't realize I was dealing with a child that didn't know how to keep her voice down in a library. Maybe you lack common sense or maybe just maybe," Rosary put her hand to her mouth to keep in a giggle. "You're actually are a fool?"

Tsukiko was in a panic as she quickly grabbed Rosary with both hands and pulled her away. Some students kind of just staring at the weird messy haired girl, to them it looked like she was just grabbing at the air. But she managed to pull Rosary close to her chest and smiled nervously at the girl. "S-Sorry. Rosary doesn't mean to be uh well maybe she does......." No point in trying to explain someone else's feelings when it was pretty clear how they felt about the other person.

"But um Rosary isn't a thing." Looking at the girl she blushed slightly as she squeezed Rosary close to her heart. "She's my guardian character and more of a family to me than my actual family. So um i-if you could," She hoped she wasn't being rude. "Please don't call my family a thing." Rosary blushed to this and settled down enough not to be upset with the other girl.

Tsukiko, however, was not calm as she began to sweat from the anxiety building in the pit of her stomach. It was even starting to hurt as she waited to be yelled at or worse. "S-Sorry about running away earlier. I didn't mean to but um well you uh make me really nervous. To be honest you scare me but w-well I'm mostly sure or at least about fifty percent sure you're not as scary as you seem to be or well maybe you're actually a pretty nice person once someone gets the chance to really uh y-you know, get to know you...."

But she was still scared. So scared of upsetting this girl anymore than she had.

[Yasuko Kobayashi]

"Wha-!" Yasuko bristled, glaring daggers back at the tiny pink thing. How dare it insult her like that?! And how dare it call her a child?! She was an independent individual, not an immature kid that needed babying all the time! And screw it for giggling like that, acting all cutesy and girly - And mocking her at the same time with it! And goddammit, wasn't it really pink?! Yasuko would probably have changed her mind if she had seen the other pink Guardian Character that another student had, but so far this was the pinkest one she had seen.

She was about to give a retort of her own, if not for the new girl snatching the Guardian Character away from her face. She blinked, staring at the first-year before her as she stuttered and stumbled over her words, trying to explain the thing's behaviour. The first thought though, sadly, that she had was This thing had a name?! She probably shouldn't have been surprised by now - the two Guardian Characters that she had seen both had names, but it seemed she still couldn't get used to it. And honestly, she should care less about the fact that it had a name; the pink thing had been rude to her, and she was going to give it a piece of her mind!

But the girl's honest feelings made her stop in her tracks. There was something...earnest about the girl's words, despite all of her stuttering and nervousness. And judging from the Guardian Character's reaction to her owner's words, it seemed to be something that she didn't say all that often. The small entity must have meant something huge to the girl. Heaving a big sigh, she finally said "Fine." Even if she didn't like the thing - okay she should stop calling it thing, if she truly wanted to be respectful - Rosary, she couldn't deny the other girl's feelings either.

"I...scare you?" Yasuko questioned, although said more of a neutral tone; neither surprised nor angry about it. It wasn't something a lot of people admitted to her, but it didn't mean she wasn't at all unaware that she was, in some sense, scary. It was the reason why most kids avoided her; because she was, in general, quite intimidating towards a lot of people, no matter their age. "Huh..." she turned away as she scratched her head. "I guess in some ways, I am."

Looking back at the girl, she sighed once again. The first-year before her didn't need to say that she was scared; she already looked so scared. Maybe she should dial back on the way she spoke for a bit. It...didn't seem like she was a bad person. Rosary though, was another matter, but she didn't want to care about it at the moment. She would try to get along with the Guardian Character...only because the other girl had been so...strangely honest. Too honest about the way she felt about her Guardian Character that Yasuko wasn't keen on going against her wishes.

It was then she realised that she had been referring to the girl as either 'the girl' or the 'first-year' in her mind. "Say...what's your name? I'm Yasuko - Kobayashi Yasuko."

[Deleted]

A small sigh of relief eased out after hearing this girl speak so calmly now. Well, she wasn't just a girl anymore. She had a name. "Kobayashi-san..." Finally taking note of the pin she realized this girl was a first-year student at the high school, just like herself. "O-Oh my name is Tsukiko. Yamamoto Tsukiko. It's nice to uh meet you Kobayashi-san." It was only normal to be polite to someone you just met, well they'd known each other for awhile now but now she knew her name so maybe that meant she knew her just a bit more. However, Tsukiko wondered if it was fine to just address the other girl by a nickname. Probably not.

"I'm sorry if it's rude of me to ask but do you also have a guardian character? I mean we're looking for the same book... right?" She was just assuming at this point but it would make a lot of sense if that's what was going on. How else would Yasuko know about the existence of guardian characters and how they hatch from eggs. As much as Tsukiko herself didn't want to believe it at times it was what it was.

Keeping her sanity afterward was what was really hard. People often stared at her oddly when she spoke to Rosary in public. Normally Rosary would wander around by herself during classes and they would meet at the end of the school day to go into town for snacks or walk around the school itself in search of things that shined.

"But then maybe you can just see them?" She said as Rosary followed up with.

"Makes sense. Only children can see them after all." Sticking her tongue out at Yasuko right after making her little comment to provoke the girl.

"R-Rosary... please be nice.." Tsukiko didn't need Rosary upsetting Yasuko more.

[Yasuko Kobayashi]

"Yamamoto-san," Yasuko repeated, pronouncing it slowly as if trying to make sure she had heard that right. "Uh...it's nice to meet you too, I suppose," the girl added quickly. It sounded a tad awkward honestly, though then again their meeting wasn't exactly normal. Usually, one would do introductions first and not after a series of events like this right? Especially not in this...strange way.

Looking at Tsukiko, the girl pondered on how to answer her question; until her thoughts were broken by the floating entity speaking up. She glared daggers at the pink thing - okay fine Rosary, sheesh it was hard not to refer to it as just an object, especially with the Guardian Character's attitude - before folding her arms across her chest. To be honest, she wasn't quite sure how to answer it. Guardian Characters are...the ones that have hatched, right? But hers hadn't hatched yet.

"Well...uh," she had started, scratching her head with her free hand. Looking around, she realised that they were standing where people could easily see them and thus instinctively moved passed Tsukiko - "Let's go somewhere less...conspicuous,"she had muttered - to lean against an inner bookshelf, hiding them from the rest of the student's view. She knew that people without Guardian Characters couldn't see them but she didn't know about the eggs. And she wasn't at all fond of taking the probable chance of people looking at them funny all because they were staring at seemingly nothing in her hands.

"I...guess I have one?" the girl began. Her hand was on her bag now, although there was an ever slight of a pause as she stared at it. Should she let her see it? Even though they obviously both have eggs, there was something...personal about it. Knowing that it was somehow related to their would-be selves and wishes - or something like that at least - made it feel like it was something rather private. Would she judge? Would she be able to tell what - or who - was the Guardian Character inside? And, by extension, her wish that she didn't even know she had made?

But she didn't think it would be that obvious, and perhaps it was easier to show the egg rather than just talk about her having it. Producing her egg from her bag, she lifted it up to allow Tsukiko to see the design on its front. "It...hasn't hatched yet though."

[Deleted]

Tsukiko hadn't thought about a possibility where Yasuko didn't have a guardian character. It just felt like she would for certain. So when Yasuko had them move away into the space between bookcases, Tsukiko waited anxiously. The egg that greeted her was so beautiful. It almost reminded Tsukiko of the ocean on a cold winter day. Well, the color of it anyway. The pattern didn't remind her of anything and it actually confused her a bit.

What was her wish?

The question followed after that confusion. Though she didn't ask her. Tsukiko wondered what it could be. Did Yasuko know what her own was by meeting Rosary? The way her chest tightened at the thought of someone knowing something so personal, it really scared her. She couldn't ask what Yasuko's wish was. Not when she didn't want Yasuko to know hers.

"Was it rude of me to see?" She worried as Rosary was hugged closer. If Tsukiko was Yasuko in this situation, she didn't think she could just show her guardian egg. It was different from a hatched one. Rosary was hatched and Rosary had feelings, a personality of her own. But this egg was still unhatched and so small. It just needed to be protected until it was ready to hatch.

"I'm happy you showed me, though... I was starting to think I was going crazy." Because she hadn't seen anyway else with one. Sure she could've brought it up to a friend but what if they didn't have one? They'd think she was crazy of course. They would end up staring at her so much that she would probably start freaking out. But this wasn't like that. Yasuko was a stranger and yet she learned something from this stranger, that there certainly was others like her with a guardian character.

"I hope when it hatches the guardian character inside is someone that makes you smile," Tsukiko said it because Rosary made her smile. Yeah, Rosary was a handful but she loved her. "Because um, w-well..." Still why did she say something so embarrassing.

[Yasuko Kobayashi]

"Huh?" Yasuko looked up at her from her egg. Was it rude? She didn't think of it that way. Sure, she was apprehensive about showing it at first, because she wasn't sure what the other first-year would have thought upon seeing it. And there was certainly a bit of hesitation about showing it too. But Tsukiko didn't look like a terrible girl. Her...strange honesty and earnest words made it difficult for her to think she could be anything else but. And besides, she made the decision to show the egg to her. If anything, she at least was responsible for that decision. "No, I don't think so," she shrugged, the egg still in her hands at an easy level for Tsukiko to see.

"Haha, I have to admit I was wondering if I was going insane too," she started to say, scratching the side of her head. "I mean, mine hadn't hatched yet, so all I thought it was just some silly prank left by my brother," she continued, as she brought her egg back towards herself. "I probably would've just keep thinking that if I hadn't met all these other Guardian Characters. And well...they all basically turned my life upside down," she sighed. She had honestly thought high school would simply be just an extension of primary school, and had envisioned herself going through it with relative ease. Until she got her egg that is. "And so far, a fair few of them seemed to be a pain in the ass," she said, taking great care not to look at Rosary when she said that. In fact, she had been injured by an actual Guardian Character before and she had been at great odds with that one ever since. Not to mention said Guardian Character was her roommate's, so she could never get out of constant bickering with it every time she came home.

Yasuko blinked at Tsukiko's words. There it was again, that earnest honest personality. It sounded terribly cliche and something a kid would say, but perhaps because it came from Tsukiko, there was an sincere quality to it that made it hard for Yasuko to be skeptical. In fact, it kind of made her smile a little at the first-year before her. "You, uh...really have a way with words huh?" she said. "Not that it's a bad thing, though."

Carefully packing the egg back into her bag, she looked back at the girl before her. "Say...uh...it seems you were searching for the same book as I am right?" It seemed the case with the way Tsukiko had reacted earlier. She scratched the back of her head, as if pausing before saying the next sentence. "...Want to search for it together? I mean, I don't know how much you know, but I certainly am confounded by the whole eggs and Guardians thing. Maybe that book can...shed a whole new light on it all?"

[Deleted]

Tsukiko stayed as red as a tomato and began to sweat a little. It felt like the whole library turned into a boiler room. Oh, why did she say something so cheesy?! Why was she her own worst enemy in conversations!? As she began to dread her decision to even start speaking, Yasuko said something that made Tsukiko even redder in the face with embarrassment. As the flustered Tsukiko stood there with a shaky body of anxiety and awaited a comment to make her feel even more ashamed of her cheesiness. It didn't come.

Instead, Tsukiko received an invitation to search for the mysterious book that they both needed in order to understand what exactly had happened to them. So she straightened up and smiled at Yasuko with her hands holding each other. "I-Is that okay? I-I'd be so happy to search with you uh i-if that's okay of course! I wouldn't want to um.... Get in the way or cause any trouble for you because well y-you are such a nice person even though you're scary and well earlier I didn't know your name so I was comparing you to something that kind of scares me and uh th-that happens to be hot sauce so.....!! I-I-I-I-I'M S-S-SORRY!" She said in a loud whisper. They were in the library still.

She'd gone and rambled again. "I-I'd really like to........" She finally answered with her head drooped down and bun tops in clear view for Yasuko. Rosary making faces at Yasuko now that she had the chance, Tsukiko was too busy being sad she'd rambled.

[Yasuko Kobayashi]

Yasuko blinked, and there was a slow tilt of her head as the girl before her had started to ramble on. "Uhhh...." she started in a low tone, unsure of how to respond as she continued to talk. Should she stop her? But how exactly? And would stopping her help anyway, considering how she kept going on? And how should she respond to her endless questions of whether it was okay or not for her to search for the book together? She invited her right? Surely that meant that it was okay? She was sure that was what she meant; after all, if she didn't want her along, she would have easily seethed at her and demand that they never see each other again. Oh wait, that kind of happen huh, she thought as she remembered the initial stages of their meeting in front of the library. It was almost...amusing to see how their treatment and impressions of each other had changed.

She blinked again, silent, as she stared at the Tsukiko that just apologised. Hot sauce? "Hot--" she had first started, but stopped the moment she saw how...sad? Scared? the girl seemed to be. Whatever she was feeling, it certainly wasn't a happy one. It was difficult to get angry now, after the way the girl had seemed so sincere earlier. And it didn't seem like she had meant anything bad by the comment. Though hot sauce...hot sauce. Something that scared her huh? Well, considering what she had said earlier, it wasn't too much of a stretch.

The tiny human making faces at her though, made Yasuko shoot her a disapproving look. Honestly really, here at this moment the owner was clearly an earnest person, and being rather embarrassed at what she just said - and instead of being encouraging or being comforting to her owner, Rosary just took the chance to give her looks. Yasuko knew she promised Tsukiko she wouldn't be rude to the Guardian Character just a few minutes ago, but it never meant she could shake off the dislike she had for the small entity.

And so she just sighed and tried to put it all away. "Well then," she started, her hands on her hips in this sort of confident position. "Why don't we split up and search then? I tried asking the librarian but-" she rolled her eyes, remembering how terrible the student librarian was. She could probably tell Tsukiko how rude the student was, but she decided against it. "-she honestly really wasn't helpful. I could search down this line and you could take the next one?" Yasuko continued, pointing to the other shelf with her thumb.

[Deleted]

Tsukiko wasted no more of their time by speaking and just gave a small nod to Yasuko. She hurried in the direction the other girl had pointed toward and began her search. Rosary followed behind Tsukiko before Tsukiko came to a stop. That was when Rosary decided it'd be fine to rest on Tsukiko's shoulder. It didn't look like there were any more kids around that could see her anyway. Yasuko seemed to be the only one. "Maybe we won't find it," Rosary said as she nestled herself close to Tsukiko's hair. "I mean it must be long gone. Considering you and Yasuko can't be the only kids around here with a guardian character."

Even if what Rosary was saying was true. Tsukiko wanted to believe in that possibility that it was still around. If the book hadn't been borrowed by someone else there was hope that it was around this library somewhere. "Normally I'd give up really easily but well," Yasuko wanted answers just like she did. She wanted to know what a guardian character really was and well it felt nice to know that someone else wanted to know the same thing she did. Even if it was just a little bit of information, it was a start at least. "Yasuko wants answers too. Even if we don't understand anything that's written inside it's better then feeling like we didn't try. O-Or something..."

Rosary only sighed. "Fine. Search all you like." It was weird seeing Tsukiko try so hard. The little guardian character watched her search book by book for something they weren't even sure was in the library. That kind of determination was admirable. Not a lot of people, let alone teenagers, seemed to have it anymore. Maybe that was just how Rosary thought about it, though. "Yasuko seems to be doing well." Her red eyes wandered over to where Yasuko searched, Tsukiko stopped to peek over at the other girl.

"Do you think we could be friends?" Her cheeks got a little pink after asking.

"I mean if you want to be friends with it...." Rosary wasn't interested.

"Sh-She's not it. Her name is Yasuko Kobayashi...." Tsukiko wished Rosary didn't pick fights.

"Whatever." Was all she had left to say on the subject. Tsukiko only sighed and continued searching for the book. If only she could find it. Would Yasuko praise her? The thought made her smile like a dork to herself. It would be so nice to be praised.

[Yasuko Kobayashi]

Quickly skimming over the titles on the bookshelf, she made a noise of discontent when the final book on said shelf didn't have the title she wanted. Moving quickly she darted around the next shelf to continue her search. She knew searching for the book in a library would be like finding a needle in a haystack but still. Couldn't it be easier to find it somehow? Like...maybe it could have a really special-looking spine or it was always in a location that could easily be seen?

Or maybe it could glow, Yasuko added sarcastically in her head. After all, the whole Guardian Characters thing was completely illogical. It would make sense if the book could do the same thing. Like glow or float or something. Anything that would make it easier for them to find it.

She didn't notice the library emptying out as she kept searching, her frustrations growing larger and larger the longer she took. It was becoming evident by the way she sharply chucked the books back into the shelf - before she stopped herself because these were books and she honestly shouldn't do anything to damage them. Who knew what kind of information or stories that they contained? If she weren't searching for one rather elusive book, these books would be the ones that she would love to borrow. Especially that history section.

But right now she was trying to search for a book that refused to show itself and she shouldn't get distracted.

And so she continued. On and on as the light into the library turned orange and yellow, as the sun started to set. Sighing, she pushed the last book on her end of the library back into the shelf, both disappointed and irritated that she hadn't found it yet. Maybe Tsukiko had better luck than her? Peeking out from the shelf, she had half a mind to call out to her before she realised that the pissy librarian was still up at the reception. Rolling her eyes, she quickly walked over to the other side of the library, peeking out from the shelf. Seeing the two tell-tale buns, she walked over. "Any luck?"

[Deleted]

Books always seemed to be gems. The covers are what caught your attention but well if you didn't pick up a book for just that then you'd most likely find something you'd enjoy a lot! This was true for people too. Tsukiko could recall being desperate for the attention of her father. In a shy and clumsy effort, she did her hair in the buns. Showing her father one afternoon when he was actually home. The young Tsukiko was surprised to see her dad chuckle at the messy buns. HE ACTUALLY CHUCKLED! HER DAD!

It was like she gave herself an interesting cover just to get a glance at.

The memory alone made her smile. Though he said nothing and quickly shooed her away so he could enjoy his day off. That memory is what continued it for her. The messy hair buns on her head. "Maybe I should borrow a book." It would feel worse going back to her dorm room without anything in hand. Since she was here. Since she wasn't finding the book. "H-Huh?"

Yasuko quickly brought her back. How rude of her to let her mind wander like that. Finding the book was important! The fact she had gotten so easily distracted made Tsukiko feel bad. She needed to be good and help this girl in order to make up for her and Rosary's rude behavior earlier. "I'm afraid I haven't... I'm sorry." Maybe they could stop to think about a good place to find it?

"Um... Why don't we think about this? Where would you be if you were a book containing information about something magical?" She paused and quickly grew a shy smile. "Somewhere magical!" Oh no, she said that too loud! Her excitement got the better of her and she slapped her hands over her mouth.

She tried this again. "What is a magical place to you?" Her voice a very soft whisper.

[Yasuko Kobayashi]

Yasuko raised an eyebrow at Tsukiko's odd acknowledgement of her words. It sounded like the first-year had gotten distracted - though she was, frankly, not surprised, considering the rest of the girl's traits - but the girl made an immediate recovery. She couldn't fault her for that. Tsukiko's answer to her question though, made her sigh; looks like her fellow first-year hadn't had much luck either.

But she was startled by the girl's sudden increase in volume. Somewhere magical? she had thought, a puzzled look forming on her face. Tsukiko had immediately clapped her hands over her mouth though, which made her wonder if the fellow first-year had said something she hadn't intended to say. But the girl had opened her mouth once again - and her words were soft; almost too soft to be heard. In fact, she made a confused expression at first, before she registered what Tsukiko had actually said. Oh; now she understood why the girl said those words. Tsukiko's soft-spoken question had made it clearer what her earlier words meant.

"A magical place?" she began, her brow furrowing in thought as she folded her arms across her chest. A magical place? Normally, she would give the person a disapproving look, one that would've stated that she clearly interpreted the question as a joke and she did not appreciate it. Except in this situation they were actually finding a book that talked about beings that made no sense. Beings that float and talk and...just really not quite fitting with what she believed were the laws of the world. Calling it a magical book wouldn't be too far of a stretch. In fact, she would like it if it was a magical book - it would likely have some traits that would make it easier to find.

And well, it seemed like something Tsukiko would say. A magical place. There was an almost innocent trait to that question; like only something the first-year next to her would say. If she wasn't trying to think so hard about an answer to the girl's question, she would probably chuckle at the words because of it's sheer earnest quality.

"Hmm..." she pondered, a hand on her chin as she stood there thinking. "A magical place huh..." she repeated. Well, she considered stories in the books to be something magical; the way that people could write the setting and the characters that simply draw you into its pages. Like you were being transported into a different world; a world which that didn't exist in their planet, but a world with its own concept and rules. And be sucked into the struggles and difficulties of the characters; the pains and the joys of being human; of being alive and...just being. "...I guess a magical place to me would be the inside of a book really," she began, leaning against the bookshelf. "A book that could take you somewhere you couldn't physically travel; to a world created by someone else's imagination; to connect and resonate with characters..." she continued, a faraway look in her eyes as there was the slightest of smiles on her face. She remembered the first book she had read; a part of a fantasy series that her brother had given to her as a present. Ever since then she had been completely hooked on reading.

Realising that she had gone on about something personal, she coughed, almost in embarrassment. "But I mean - that really isn't a place to look for," she quickly said, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. Turning to Tsukiko, she tilted her head to ask her question. "What about you though? What would be a magical place to you?" It was a genuine question.

[Deleted]

When Yasuko was talking about books. Tsukiko couldn't help but think she looked absolutely adorable. She almost wanted to stop what they were doing to hear her go on about it. She hadn't expected to see something so adorable in the girl she had thought was scary only seconds ago. Tsukiko's own expression showed just how relaxed she now felt well looking at Yasuko. She would have to remember to ask the next new person she meets about the things they like. Getting a person to talk about things they liked seemed like the best way to bring out their cheerfulness.

"Oh uh." How would she answer that question? She'd been honest up till now so what harm could there be in continuing, to be honest with her? "Well, I always thought gardens were magical. Flowers swaying in the breeze looking like beautiful dancers. I always wondered if the flowers danced because they were happy or because they were being reborn in the spring." Yet a rose meant something else. A rose to her was the same as her mother. Something more magical and far more out of reach.

"Maybe that's a little silly. But there are a lot of places that are magical to me. Only a garden is the only place I'm actually brave enough to step into." A garden where she imagined. She could be a tiny flower that no one even noticed and that never got admired. If she could be something so small, live a life that isn't special and, therefore, isn't painful. She could admire the flowers around her. The flowers growing high above her, flowers like Yasuko.

"Do you think a book like the one we're looking for would be in the places we think are magical? But then maybe...." Tsukiko thought for awhile. "You think it's in a birds nest?" It was called Heart's Egg.