"waaaahhh!"
himawari cried away with snot dripping down her nose as the door slammed open to reveal a frantic kakucho.

"princess!"
kakucho wasted no time and ran towards the child who was crying kneeled down.

"hwaaahhh!"
kakucho carefully picked up himawari, supporting her head on his shoulder as he peeked at her sobbing face cautiously.

"why is my princess so upset?"
he cooed as he rocked her gently in his secure arms.
"maybe you feel hungry?"
he sweat dropped as she aggressively snuggled her face into his chest.

kakucho.

the only person from the book "sunflower child" who claimed himawari was innocent. and for that, he also gets killed by the hands of manjiro. despite being aware of the ticking bombshell himawari was, he still took care of himawari without mikey's knowledge.

the reason was himawari's biological parents. he always admired how hisako's spirit was greatly ambitious, and izana... well izana was the man he promised the oath of the journey to the west with. the kingdom of tenjiku, where izana ruled, alongside his partner, his kin, and lastly, himself the royal guard.

but izana died on the night of the brothers feud and hisako shortly followed after him right after giving birth... and manjiro... well manjiro changed.

"wahhhhhhhh!"
the tantrum did not just end there.
'mikey you dirtbag!!'

"d-don't cry princess."
kakucho fretted awkwardly unused to such a situation.

'i'm pretty sure i ended up in that wreck of a world inside the book. that means i'll die! and he's going to die defending himawari according to the book!'

"she's not hungry and it's not the diapers..."
kakucho trailed off removing her shirt in fear of it irritating her.

'i didn't pee!'

"she's been very needy nowadays."
kakucho muttered as he picked her back up and tenderly patted her back.

'oh kakucho, why for art thou kakucho.'

"it's okay my princess, i'm right here."
he reassured her as he pecked her tresses to bring a sense of comfort to her.

'and why am i himawari? call me tree a or something. i don't want to be himawari! i was right! i should leave this damn country! time, make haste!'

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

╔══⊹⊱❖⊰⊹══╗
𝟰
╚══⊹⊱❖⊰⊹══╝

with the sun just below the highest point of the sky, the faded white blemishes of the sky contrasted greatly against its stark cerulean canvas. the field was abloom and thrived in the beauty of spring.

tousled raven pieces of hair framed himawari's round face as the rest of her longer tresses were tied up high, with the ends coiling up and bouncing at any little movement.

"ran-chi, ran-chi!"
she whisper yelled whilst covering her mouth with her stubby hands to exemplifying a childish way of secrecy. wide periwinkle hues glimmered like opalescence stones as she batted her lengthy dark lashes.

the whole image screamed of wholesomeness as an aura of flowers bloomed around himawari which seemed to blend in with her floral dress.
"hima wants kabukiage."

ah yes, acting cute was just a ploy for adults to fall weak to their requests. and so, the stripe coloured, braided man's heartstrings were violently ripped out as fever burst across his pale cheeks at the display of the endearing child.

"my sweet princess, you'd like some rice crackers?"
the man known as ran rapidly crouched down in front of her, his hands inter-whined together and he and cooed, like a high school girl in love with heart eyes.

"yeah! hima loves rice crackers. hima wants a lot!"
himawari cheered with both of her arms stretched out as she made grabby hands and awaited for the generous donation soon to be given from the man with no self-restraint.

"you like rice crackers that much, little miss?"

"hima loves rice rice crackers thi-s much! hima loves ran-chi too! gimme! gimme! ♡︎"
she sputtered whatever and jumped to reach for wherever the snack was hidden as ran repeatedly clutched in aggression the fabric of where his heart was.

"brother, what are you doing?"
a serious voice suddenly filled the silence making the two flinch out of their reverie, with their hearts dropping to their arses.

"kakucho already told you that you can't give her snacks as you please, you know how naggy he gets."
his monotone tone matching his downturned lilac hues that held irritation. blond hair with blue streaks framed his chiseled face snd his neck as the top half resided messily in a man bun, his features seemed almost identical to his older brother, though his expression contradicted greatly.

whoever said spectacles looked bad would be a pathological liar if rindou was the one modeling it. the two sweat dropped at his stern countenance, expecting to be scolded as he walked towards them. 

"it's just one piece."
ran pointed out with a lazy closed-eyed grin to coax his younger brother.

"but you won't be the only one giving her snacks."
rindou calmly retorted as he internally cringed at his supposedly older brother's immatureness.

"rin-chi."
a tug on his trousers by the younger child startled him a he cautiously gazed down with furrowed brows, sweat dripped down his neck as he feigned annoyance.

"but hima wants rice crackers."
with puppy eyes, the world seemed to twinkle too bright for the brothers.

but rindou remained firm, and swallowed down his guilt with an irk mark as episode two of ran's fangirl played in the background, and with much reluctance he finally retorted,
"no, little lady."

but himawari was more determined, her eyes flashed like a camera recording evidence so it could later be used against him. and now, with much more hesitation, he kissed his teeth and muttered under his breath,
"i really can't..."

and boom, a bag of kabukiage was placed in the outstretched, donation accepting, hands of himawari.

"you can't tell kakucho, okay?"
rindou repeated for the nth time, his eyes closed in shame as he tightly (gently) engulfed her palms that securely held the bag of snacks. the words of kakucho playing like a broken record in his mind. shit, he couldn't help it.

"no kabukiage! they are usually made from refined white rice with very little fibre and protein, so their nutritional value is poor! she may experience constipation and she won't grow if there isn't enough protein! and i already told you she'll lose her appetite and won't end up eating a proper lunch!!!"

ah yes, how many times has he heard that now? too many to count. but who would've thought kakucho cooked as a hobby? another check ticked of the list of husband material, though no one could beat the og tailor.

"thank you rin-chi!"
and in this give and take world, himawari unexpectedly gave rindou a peck on the cheek for the bag of snacks she received. she then ran off to wherever, escaping ran's incoming whine.

"ahhh! rin you shitty bastard! you stole my idea you damn calissa wannabe!"
ran clenched his teeth with an irk mark as he mercilessly pulled on his braids, physically expressing his agony as he rethought all his previous life decisions. all the choices he's made up until now that has led him to make such grave mistake today.

why did he and himawari not trade somewhere with no damn witnesses?

"w-what are you talking about? do you think i'm the kind of person who acts with ulterior motives like you?"
rindou, bless him, with all his might, defended himself.

"then why are you the one giving her the rice crackers?! her kiss was supposed to be mine dammit!"
ran was definitely not having it, this was his chance and his bratty brother, rindou, was acting unbothered despite having crushed his dreams.

"i can't believe you would stoop so low as to use such underlying method into getting what you want. i for one, did it out of the kindness of my heart, unlike your manipulative ass."
rindou the hypocrite crossed his arms and turned his head away with a huff, acting like he don't use underlying methods to handle delinquents.

"you just stole my thunder you damn brat! i was supposed to be the one getting the reward, you thieving little bastard!"
ran continued with his boyish tantrum, not forgetting to stomp his feet like a child who didn't receive the toy they were refused by their parents.  

"stop being so dramatic, brother. it's pissing me off."
rindou rolled his eyes in exasperation as he used one hand to soothe his incoming headache, the other to block his ear that was ringing after assimilating ran's constant yammer.

time flowed like water, and himawari was now 4 years old. and after years of effort she somehow managed to turn these maids and silly delinquents that held sovereignty on her side.

'back then i used to make their (maids) lives difficult for being mean to me,'
she sweat dropped as she remembered the time where she angrily smacked a cup of milk on the carpet.

'but i don't want them against me. ah, and i wasn't imagining things when i noticed the increased number of missing fineries from my room.'

that's right, shortly after himawari's second birthday, the budget for the orphanage seemed to suddenly surge. despite the benefactor involved preferring to remain anonymous, himawari could make an educated guess and assume it was someone who was well-respected by both hisako and mikey, with the feelings being mutual, of course.

so with the augmentation in funds by the unnamed sources, and the workers of the orphanage from substandard backgrounds... it makes sense if you think about it. they only looked out for themselves at first, but as time went by they eventually realised that mikey had no interest in himawari, the orphanage or how it was funded.

'i was as helpful as a scarecrow in a field, as they pecked at orphanage's budget little by little.'

she was the only one there, so they had nothing to be scared of. they became so bold to the point they were stealing the accessories and the decorations from the walls.

'how upsetting it was when i realised they are stealing my means of living for the future!'
insert the image of baby himawari wailing behind the bars of her cage (crib) as she watched, uselessly, how her means of living where robbed. how heart wrenching it was to witness such unjust sight go unpunished.

that was her second heartbreak, being reincarnated into this world being first in the list of course.

'it was upsetting to the point of me wanting to tell on them to mikey.'
but as himawari considered the pros and cons of that possible situation, her face turned blue at the mental image of a dark impulsivity man pulling out a gun on her and saying, 'oh? you're still alive?' popped up in her head.

'i guess he'd want my head first...'

and all of this concluded with kakucho fighting with the manager on her behalf. but the fineries the workers returned when they left the orphanage... never made their way back to her.

'was it her...? i should've known when she didn't even buy me a new toy because of the budget. on the bright side, i got to hide a lot of goodies without kaku-chi getting too suspicious.'

though kakucho has been more attentive as of recently, not that he hasn't been before, just a lot more protective over her snd her belongings especially after the accidental meeting between his delinquent friends and his child. i mean the child he's babysitting.

"where are you going little miss?"
the single braided man further raised his already arched brow. despite his gruff voice, the man meant well and approached himawari benignly (intimidatingly) as to not startle the young child who turned to him and matched his chad face.

"to pick flowers! they're for kaku-chi."
himawari replied almost instantly.

"but you should wipe the crumbs of your mouth. did you enjoy the rice crackers?"
he asked kindly as he bent down before her and unexpectedly used a hanker-chief to wipe her mouth. with a sheepish face, he then quickly placed it back in his pocket, clearly embarrassed of having such an item despite his outwardly feared disposition.

unbeknownst to him, himawari's peripheral line of sight didn't fail to notice the little full moon embroidered on one of its corner.
'how cute.'

"thanks mo-chi!"
she tapped his cheek with the pads of her fingers, a way to express her gratitude and then suddenly frowned.
"but you have to keep it a secret!"

"yes, yes."
mochi sighed unable to hide his growing smile after seeing her face of suspicion. with a fraud huff of exasperation, he looked in all directions before discretely pointing his pinky at her.
"i even pinky promise."

with a bright beam, himawari interlocked her pinky with his, officially sealing the deal and ran off, not forgetting to wave at him. somewhere else, rindou held back tears of fatigue as his brother abruptly started wailing, saying something along the lines of 'someone stole my thunder again!!!'

'oh~ im being such a kid.' 
she fanned her face that burned with humiliation, imagine making kiddy promises at her big age.

'theres grease everywhere. i got it on my hands too! i could just rub it off my dress...'

"..."
she stared down at her dress, a red top with bubble sleeves and a satin blush cream skirt embroidered with red flowers.

'stains are hard to get off of satin...should i clean it off at the wishing well..?'

himawari trotted down the streets finding herself being led by the pathway that was aligned straight with the narrow lines of grass on either side, an indirect protection from the little slope of hill that overlooked the vast, flowing river. 

distinctive wild flowers littered around in an asymmetrical manner, enhancing the viridescent minuscule meadow as the breeze tousled her locks in gentle manner, a manner so gentle one could have mistaken it for affection. and so she mustered up her trust and let herself be guided by the path of nature.

'japan was known for its huge diversity in the natural scenery,'

the park seemed to glow like the milky way, with stars radiating off of the foliage, as if it were a ostentatious spectacle.

'...'
and the well, well the wishing well was small, yet a statement piece with moss and baby's breath wrapping around its stone brick layout and decorating it, and despite its beauty, it seemed to be at peace, collecting its bag from the ignorant humans who wished and wished upon materialistic things.

how ironic, imagine loosing money in hopes of gaining money.

'everyone's looking fine as usual.'

she thought, referring to the people that were further away from the place itself, her hands splashing against the water, unaware of her balance shifting.

and abruptly her shoe slipped against the stubborn weeds, eyes widened in distraught as her heart seized its previous relaxed beating.
"ah!"

luckily, her stubby fingers gripped tightly on to the edge and held her in place, her fringe shadowed against her forehead as she stared straight on ahead, her heart unwinding in stress.

"how pretty."
the white noise of birds chirping turned into naught with her mesmerised mumbling.

'so this is what i look like... she's adorable.'

it was her wide, pale orchid hues that resembled opalescent jewels again. ebony tresses that curled at the end with asymmetry. and her olive tan skin that highlighted her cacao tinted cheeks.

the spitting image of her parents. a complete blend of the both, she was an ethereal inclusion of both beauties indeed.

'but the unique design of these eyes are from my mother.'

jewelled eyes only possessed by those of direct bloodline to the cursed, imperial ancestry.

people from this world don't have any magical power, it was just an ordinary world like her previous life, albeit time leaping which seemed to be a major theme in the original series of the fanfic, its source still remained a mystery to this day.

but the imperial family had a very unique type of magic, a story about how it was passed on through a herbal medicine from the first generation, now renowned only as