'wait, where am i?' her head spun around in scrutiny at the change of scenery as a scowl of confusion moulded her countenance. "..."

and as if a contestant in a competition rang the bell to speak their answer, her mind rang in realisation of her current predicament. 'i got lost again.'

she crossed arms as if shielding herself from the light zephyr of noon, and stared upon a run-down infrastructure. despite its state, she was compelled to walk towards the land of serene. 'it's there!'

"huh? what's this?" her line of inquiry remained unsatisfied as she stared upon the metal bars adorned with years of rust. 'this isn't the park i know of, how far did i walk?'

she strolled leisurely, caution melded with curiosity as the birds chirped the string of white noise.

"nobody's using this place?"
in spite of the physical signs of ageing, the area remained without a particle of litter. 'but it's clean and somehow well-maintained.'

she pursed her lips, hugged the flowers she picked earlier closer, her feet moved furtively to avoid any form of unneeded confrontation. 'no one's here... it's really empty.'

the foliage of viridescence danced along to the tune of the breeze, deriving goosebumps upon her arms and within them was the makeshift, bouquet of wild flowers that was tenderly cradled like a child.

the wooden benches were slightly busted around the corners, nevertheless it was still safe to sit on and as the sunshine refracted its golden glow onto the deserted ground, one might've said it was a shame that mankind would miss such beauty. himawari however, would surely disapprove with such statement.

because this scenery that served as the dictionary definition of picturesque was the dream of every avid child; a hidden, favourite spot.

with twinkling eyes that coruscated the 'hidden' playground further, her smile enlarged with content. "ooh?"

'if no one's here i supposed i could use it?' she thought with a stubby finger on her chin. she was in search for a place to hide her 'riches' for her future escape, and it's not like she could hide too many in the orphanage, so it was considered destiny.

as long as she was careful when the maintenance took place, 'i choose this as my secret hiding place!'

❝ 𝙍𝙀𝙄𝙉𝘾𝘼𝙍𝙉𝘼𝙏𝙀𝘿 𝙄𝙉 𝘼𝙉 𝘼𝙉𝙂𝙎𝙏 𝙁𝘼𝙉𝙁𝙄𝘾 ❞
(•͈⌔•͈⑅)

╔══⊹⊱❖⊰⊹══╗
𝟱
╚══⊹⊱❖⊰⊹══╝

himawari was a child, and a child was curious. what had happened to her previous body? did she faint? did she get run over by a truck? it was your typical catalyst for the plot of isekai.

and all these thoughts occupied the young child who had been ever so busy lying on her stomach and colouring. well, she was an orphan, so it's not like she left anything behind. 'i never want to go back...'

if we were to ignore the part where she dies, a completely painful death, himawari's life now would be considered heaven on earth. there's food, no need to earn money, and she owns trinkets of opulence that even non-orphans don't have.

her legs kicked up and down rhythmically as she drawled out the syllables of kakucho's name. "ka-ku-chi!" perhaps it was because she was reborn, but learning the language wasn't difficult either.

maybe it was the stigma of orphans remaining unschooled and shut out of the education system. or maybe it was that children of that age weren't well versed with complex characters, but when she wrote down some letters...

a memory of himawari showing kakucho, rindou and ran a golden, glowing piece of paper had reminisced into her mind. it ended with all one thought being that their princess was an intellectual. very ironic for someone trying to live life without a spotlight... she had screwed up so early in the game.

and thus, came forth her early education.

"i'm so happy to be by your side, princess." kakucho uttered gratefully, a bashful smile painting his visage as he remained seated beside her.

"hima likes being with kaku-chi, too!" himawari exclaimed, unknowing of the effect her words had on him.

there wasn't too much damage done. the orphanage was isolated from the outside world. stories about her wouldn't leak that easily, she did have the protection of several delinquents after all.

and she wasn't planning to see mikey near the convenience store on her 7th birthday, after all, her plans were to run away with the goods before she turned 12. so it was best to avoid as many eyes as possible.

'i have to defy that dirtbag mikey no matter what. i'm not taking a single step towards anything grande or fancy in this place.' she vowed with a frown of concentration, comically perspiring cold sweat as the atmosphere forebode with a shiver.

"princess, would you like a glass of milk?" kakucho asked as he made his way towards the door.

"yeah! but i don't want it cold!"

"sure, i'll heat it up for you." was the last thing he stated before closing the door and leaving an unsupervised himawari.

she rose up, her hands losing their grip on the crayon that rolled on the ground in silence. pulling out the bags of 'riches' from under her bed nimbly, she tied them to her thighs that would soon be covered with her gown.

she's been hiding these 'pretties' with hopes to stash them in the orphanage for a while... but after overhearing kakucho asking the place to be cleaned soon, she'd decided to change her mind and go through with her altered plan.

'it's heavy... but i have no choice. i'll go back and forth a few times like this.'

"sweet dreams, princess." kakucho's hand ghosted of her blanketed body, a gesture to sooth himawari who instinctively allowed access for kakucho to leave a peck on her cheek.

clack.

"..." himwari's eyes remained closed even moments after the door had closed, a cautionary measure she had taken for her peace of mind.

she sweat-dropped at the silence that reflected the amusement from her spy like actions. and almost comically, she had transported towards the door, tip toeing around it, being completely absentminded of how it only augmentative the numbness of her legs.

'ow, owwie. it really hurts keeping them tied here.'

after completing the first quests: escape the bedroom, it was time for quest no. two: sneak out of here. with the greatest amount of agility she could muster after being suppressed from the weights, she made her way out of the orphanage and through the yard.

quest three was currently being put into action: find the hidden place. 'alrighty, i got out without anyone noticing!' her breath caught in her throat with every of her measured steps. the cool breeze running up her nightgown as the grass beneath her feet smushed under her weight.

quest three: complete. 'finally here! oh gosh, i'm so tired.' her breath huffed almost dramatically as she lost her balance. 'it might be trouble if i hide it inside the building...'

after removing the strings of her bag in accomplishment, her eyes zeroed in abrupt realisation. 'huh?' cue the figurative drums (of liberation) as she furrowed her breath.

'i don't have anything to dig with!' going home with dirty hands wasn't even an option, kakucho would find out and it would only get messier.

with her current predicament, it was only natural that she had no choice but to keep these riches hidden and come back tomorrow to bury them. -ehem, with the tools this time of course.

'i could ask ran-chi to buy me a toy shovel.' she contemplated before running back full force to her room. the funny thing was, she probably didn't need to even ask him for one, he seems to be the type who'd buy it without her even asking.

"wah—!"

if someone were to see her current situation of huffing, puffing and wheezing, they'd think she had actually met this crazy father of hers. whilst she tried collecting herself from the desiccation of her mouth, she could faintly hear the creak from outside of her room.

'ah, i'm dying.' her face flushed in slight heat as she tossed and turned back to her previous sleeping position. a slight whimper went past her throat as she closed her eyes from kakucho's gentle voice.

"princess, it's time to..."

'huh?!'

"my, princess. why are you sweating so much?" as soon as those words left his mouth, he was quick to place the back of his palm on her perspiring forehead, causing her to flinch at the cold touch that opposed to her unusually warm skin.

"it looks like you have a light fever, are you okay?" he mumbled, frowning in scrutiny at her state.

"hng, the room is hot. there's too much sun." himawari got into act with a slight groan in her tone. she inwardly cringed at how grainy it came out, it put too much emphasis on her facade.

kakucho looked out the window curiously, "you're right... it's already summer, huh?" the sun's rays glared down at the two, inciting his next decision, "i'll put the curtains up tomorrow." new item that he needed to buy on the list.

"hima will drink milk. cold milk please." himawari stated with the same scratchy voice.

"but you drank some before nap time."

and after that, she ran out of the orphanage a few more times. once every few days so she wouldn't get caught. to be honest, himawari was slightly reluctant to leave, she was so happy with how she was living right now. in fact, she wanted things to stay like this forever, but...

within this country lives a ticking time bomb named manjiro. she gulped as her gaze darkened from the buzzing fear in her stomach. so all of these pretty things she relished in..,

...were her backup, so to say.

back up for that dreaded day.

today day was serene, almost too serene to be true. the winds were light, providing a melodic hymn that majestically blew the strands of her raven hair in tune.

the silent was also loud. becoming so much more noticeable in such a large, vacant place. 'not a soul to be seen, as usual.' himawari looked towards the tree where she previously left her riches when she came empty-handed (tool wise).

'i won't head that way today...'

once again, cue the drums of liberation because she had stumbled upon her heaven on earth. hanged upon rows and rows were crystal dream catchers. and not any old dream catchers, oh lord no.

these ones were made from 'flawless' grade diamonds that were hung from rings and wires of 22 karat gold. she was sure of it, someone like himawari with a good eye for riches just knew the worth of all this. the riches all sparkled hope into her despair of life.

the sight was blinding to the eyes, the reflection of the sun made it seem as if a deity had blessed the earth with heaven's opulence. 'wowww' her mouth unknowingly drooled at such celestial sight.

'it's real gold and diamonds! that's amazing!' now that she thought deeply about it, the 'stones' that were laid by the edges of the pathway had to be alexandrite. no wonder it camouflaged with the sage, greenish grass, it was in its nature to glow viridescent upon daylight.

'if it camouflages with grass, then no one will notice if i take one, right?' life had finally defined its meaning after having being so harsh on her.

she cautiously reached towards one of the ornaments and gently tapped on of the dangling diamonds, a preventative gesture in fear of it shattering or falling apart. she had lost course of thought and time, dancing within the safety of her reverie.

"ahhng~" her faced moved forward, ponytail swinging behind her as she tip-toed to bite one of the diamonds.

but how careless it was of her.

dwelling into her impulses without being aware of her surroundings. without being aware of the creeping figures. the slight shade that was bestowed upon her, or the slight pause in breeze.

"what..."

the amenity in tone a father would have was not present. it never was to begin with.

"...is this filthy bug doing in my place?"

"?!" she abruptly flinched upon recognition.

how had things turned out like this..?

𝚃𝚘 𝙱𝚎 𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚎𝚍 ➪

IMPORTANT NOTICE PLS READ PLS: 🥹🥹😭😭😶‍🌫️🫣😰😙🤬😅😓😍

𝗩𝗼𝘁𝗲, 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗱𝗸 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗮𝘆, 𝗶