Karma’s eyes glanced around the now empty room. Before he knew it, everyone went to doing their own thing. He wasn’t quite sure what to do. He still had no clue where he was, why there was some abyss, and how he could find his way back. Of course, it was more likely he was just a bit away from his home.

His body let out a sigh, as he stood up and stretched. His limbs ‘popped’, as he readied to look around. He might as well go for a walk outside, and in the very least try to find out where he was.

Karma walked toward the door in front of him, opening it. He stepped outside, seeing one of the two girls from earlier, L, playing around in the mud. She stopped after seeing Karma, though returned to her own thing a little afterward. 

 He hadn’t really thought of a destination, having never really been wherever he was before. That being said, his feet just ‘took him away’. Before he knew it, he was engulfed by the large maze of cherry blossoms. He figured that the middle of the maze was that house, so he should probably be okay.

Karma glanced around at the cherry blossom trees, it would’ve cost a fortune to get all these planted here. Maybe they were always growing here, considering it would be the least expensive option. There was a sudden sound of birds chirping behind him, he was quick to turn. The sound of a twig breaking under the pressure of somebody could also be heard, before Karma reached for the nearest weapon.

Out from the maze of trees, came Aikuri. She had a worried look in her face, and she was slightly tearing up. She didn’t seem to notice him at first. What was she doing out here? Is she looking for something? Karma was confused, as he continued to think about it. Eventually, Aikuri saw him, and rushed over. 

“W-Why didn’t you tell us you were going out?” 

Her body was shaking slightly, like that of a frightened person. I don’t get it... why is she so shaken up? He stared at her for awhile, gaining the confidence to ask her a serious question. After all, he needed some answers.

”Why are you so worried...?” 

Karma was confused, it was like he couldn’t understand something. After all, what was so bad with going for a little walk in some ‘maze of trees’. It didn’t really make sense or add up, it wasn’t like he was going to leave or get attacked.

Aikuri started to cry, as the tears rushed down her face, and past her cheeks, before dripping off her chin. She walked over toward Karma, and hit him with just about no force, leaning toward him. She cried loudly, and continued to hit him lightly. 

“Don’t go missing and leave... please...!” 

She spoke out loudly, before slowly passing out for no reason at all. Karma picked her up, putting her in a “piggy back” position. He was beyond confused, as he began the short walk back to the old house. With each step toward the house, he tried to unravel what she said, like it was some code. Though, he was to no avail. As he reached the house, he ran into the older man, Sanjo.

”Excuse me... she passed out. I don’t really know why, but she did...” 

Sanjo looked at him with a little confusion, before smiling. He signaled for him to bring her inside, and take her into her room. Karma was fine doing so, after all, she passed out in front of him. If he didn’t do this much, he’d probably be worried that she had some health problem.

Aikuri’s room was in several shades of pink and red. So much, that Karma had to adjust to the room for a small amount of time first. After his eyes adjusted, he walked over to her bed, and carefully put her down onto it. He was worried, considering she had just randomly passed out after speaking some confusing things. Even though the events recently happening were confusing, it wasn’t all such a bad thing... 

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Her room was slightly messy, so much, that it looked like she was searching really hard to find something. Karma started to clean the room, waning to be of help. He dug through some clothing and other items, folding and putting them away as he went. Though, he eventually touched something softer than all of the other clothing. What is this..? He started to pull it out before seeing a pattern, shoving it directly back down. He ran out of the room and walked into the guest room quietly. 

"What have I just done...?"

Karma questioned himself a few times, before glancing around in the guest room. It was spacious, which almost amazed him. After all, you usually don’t see guest rooms as big as this. 

The doorknob to the guest room turned slightly, as Sanjo, the old man, entered. He grinned at Karma, and walked over to him. He laughed hysterically, which made little to no sense to Karma. 

“We’re going on a little trip to the store if you want to come.”

His voice came out with some more laughter, What was so funny? Karma sighed, and accepted with a nod. The two went into the main living room area, where L and Aikuri awaited. The first ones to leave the door were L and Sanjo. Aikuri was third, and Karma was last, as he shut the door.

They walked through the maze of cherry blossoms for what seemed like an hour, before they reached a decently large town. Keima was confused by the older-fashion of it. He curiously glanced at the people within it. Where am I..? This place is mostly older fashioned, it’s odd...

Aikuri and L were quick to walk toward an open market for foods, where Sanjo, the old man, walked over to Karma and spoke. 

“The girls usually get everything we need, so feel free to look around. We’ll find you when we’re done.”

Karma nod, and walked off into the town of older-fashioned people. Few glanced at him, noticing his ‘odd uniform.’ He shrugged as they stared, and continued to walk. He eventually reached a more modern-day ramen booth, which he sat down at. He reached in his pocket and took out around what would likely be $10 USD of what he had. As he tried to hand the booth’s ramen cook the money, he scoffed. 

“What’s with that paper? Think you can just get ramen for whatever currency that is?”

Karma was even more confused by now. His eyes nervously stared and met with the ramen cooks, before he put the money back into his wallet and staring ‘off into space.’ 

“Where am I... where am I... where am I... where am I...?” 

Karma was just about nonstop with repeating, the bags under his eyes were much easier to see in the light. before a small force rigged on his sleeve. It was L, she stared at him with a confused and slightly concerned look on her face. From what he knew, she hated him. Either way, she continued to tug in his sleeve, signaling that they were leaving. Karma stood up and nervously faked a laugh and smile, he was beyond confused.

As the two walked for a few minutes and returned to Aikuri and Sanjo, he continued to think about his situation. As he got deeper and deeper in thought, he started to feel sick. Karma quickly glanced around himself, noticing small differences from his usual home. Everything seemed slightly off, and older. Aikuri reached out to him, confused. Karma held his hand over his mouth, as if he was going to puke. His skin became pale as he reached his own conclusion. I’m not going home anytime soon... just calm down, it’ll work out.

He took a few deep breaths, before standing back up. He faked another smile and laugh. Sanjo was staring directly at him, the old man’s eyes seemed to glare directly into his. A few awkward seconds of glaring passed, before they continued walking. 

Aikuri nervously went a little ahead, as L fled back toward Karma. She looked at him with an expressionless look in her eye. Her messy hair seemed to bounce up and down as she walked. L signaled for him to kneel down, which he did. It wasn’t long before she climbed onto Karma’s back, seeming to close her eyes and grip on tightly.

”Alright... then.”

He continued walking, this time however, with L in his back. She was lightweight, which was one of the main reasons he really hadn’t cared that she hopped on.

Around five or ten minutes of walking, t started to rain very lightly. Karma began into a sprint, while at the same time, he was trying to keep L comfortable. 

 Eventually, Karma, who had L on his back, reached the house. Sanjo and Aikuri were preparing a dish for dinner. It smelled like a potato-involved dish, though he couldn’t quite tell. Karma walked upstairs to L’s room. He put the sleeping girl onto a black and white striped bed, which felt warm to the touch. The girl curled up into a ball as he did so. He smiled, before exiting the room.