12 Roses

11 | Blood and Water

You lied on the bottom bunk, staring at the underneath of Maki's bunk as the words the old lady said lingered in your head.

Even though you knew she was probably just trying to be poetic or mystical, the way she said it was somehow eerie.

Truths that no one else will hear.

Maki returned to the room. "Alright, let's head out. There's a place to stargaze deep in the forest, so if we leave now, we should be there by sunset."

You nodded and followed her out, zipping up your jacket. The boys were already waiting in the foyer and you all walked out and followed the dirt road towards the forest.

The snow crunched under your feet, thankfully not deep enough for you to sink right in with your running shoes.

You looked up at the sky that was framed by the overhanging branches, seeing that one of those branches looked like it was getting larger and larger. It took a good second for you to realize that it was falling.

You let out a yelp and grabbed Yuta and Panda's arms, yanking them out of the way as the branch that had to be at least your size crashed into the ground, the snow jumping.

"What the heck..." Maki muttered.

Toge approached the branch, kicking it gently as if it would start moving.

"Let's just keep going," Maki said as she took your shoulder.

You couldn't help but think back to what the old lady said the day before, of the tales that were attached to this place.

Oh, how you hoped that she meant that in a good way.

The five of you got to the clearing and you looked up, seeing that the sun hadn't begun set yet. "We're here early."

The clearing had three logs that were arranged in a triangle, nothing in the middle like a normal campsite.

Maki brushed the snow off of one of the logs and sat down, patting the area next to her so you would do so as well. The two of you faced the inside of the triangle that the logs formed while the boys seemed to be committed to stripping a tree of its blanket of snow, shaking it by the trunk and swatting the branches.

"It's nice to be here without my family," she said, trying to hide a grin as snow fell on top of Yuta.

"Not the closest relationship?"

"Not at all." Maki chuckled, but even without hearing it you knew that it wasn't a happy chuckle. "You're lucky. You tell stories about your friends and family and it seems so... perfect."

You didn't have any words of comfort, anything that came to your mind to tell you that her that her family would come around. After all, you just met Maki a few months before, and she didn't really talk about her family... or herself, for that matter.

You wished that Tsumiki was there to put her arm around Maki and give comforting words while you sat there, ready to turn on the karaoke or cook a meal or make some coffee.

"...Family's a pretty flexible term," you started. "It's just... the people who take care of you. The people you want to take care of."

Maki chuckled again, at the naïveté of the girl who lived in a small town where everyone knew everyone her whole life. "Blood runs thicker than water, Y/N."

"I mean... yeah. 'The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.' There are those you'd bleed for and those who'd watch you drown. Don't you get to choose who those people will be?"