"Flowers?"
Shans turned to look at Furiko, whose eyes were darting away, "Sweetie, what did it just say?"
"What have you been hiding from me?"
His gaze swept back and forth across Furiko's face, appearing quite surprised.
Should she tell him about the flowers?
But if Shans knew about her secret related to flowers, he would blame himself, and she didn't want to see him distressed.
Furiko was incredibly conflicted and looked to the little flower beside her for help.
The latter did not step forward to resolve her problems as it usually did. It said righteously, "This is for you to decide."
Clearly, this was a sensible little flower.
"It's like this."
Seeing her plea for help outside yielded no results, Furiko prepared to confess to Shans, "Every time I get hurt, my body..."
"What happens?"
Shans asked with concern, "Does it grow a flower?"
Seemingly finding nothing wrong with it, he suggested, "If you don't like it, you can just pull it out."
"But I can't."
Furiko flinched instinctively, remembering the pain of pulling out a flower that day, "I once tried to pull out a flower on my back, but before I could remove it, my whole body began to feel a burning sensation."
"It was very painful, and I even lost consciousness."
Fearing Shans wouldn't believe her, she added, "Little Flower can testify."
"This is true," the little flower said with a serious expression.
"That sounds quite unpleasant."
"If my whole body were covered in flowers, I..."
Furiko could not bring herself to say the rest of her words. She had imagined such an outcome countless times.
But now, faced with the reality and talking about her predicament, she found it difficult to utter each word.
It felt as if a shadow of death loomed behind her, making her extremely uncomfortable.
Indeed, not everyone could face death with equanimity.
"Sweetie?"
Noticing Furiko's unease, Shans asked softly, "What happened?"
"Are you not feeling well? Why do you look so distressed?"
Seeing that the situation was not good, the little flower beside them loudly interjected, "Furiko, that's enough!"
"If you don't want to talk about it, we don't have to discuss this topic."
Shans rubbed his smooth skull, looking confused, and pressed for answers, "What exactly are you two talking about? What will happen if flowers grow all over her body!"
"She will die..." the little flower said, closing its eyes sadly, word by word.
"Die?"
Shans's expression stiffened, and he uttered the word blankly, seemingly not yet comprehending.
Suddenly,
He immediately turned and looked at Furiko with self-doubt, as if seeking confirmation or unwilling to accept it, "Is this true?"
Sensing Shans's intense gaze, Furiko simply nodded in response.
"......"
Visibly, the red pupils of Shans's eyes slightly froze, and his entire body went rigid.
Furiko, closest to him, clearly noticed his expression change from shock to regret.
"Here it comes, the 40-meter broadsword is being shoved in inch by inch!"
From the sidelines, Mo Zhi pointed to her not-so-wealthy but very generous chest towards the camera, "This cut is too brutal!"
"If I were Shans, I'd want to blast myself with two Dragon Bone Cannons!"
"Thinking about the massacre, I should be in Shans's position right now. I'm too familiar with this feeling."
Recalling past events, Mo Zhi felt a sense of déjà vu.
"Ahahaha, here comes the throwing knife!"
"Ah, a knife, a sweet knife coated in sugar!"
"Here it comes, the familiar taste, the familiar prelude, I can already predict what's coming next."
"Tsk tsk... thrilling!"
"Who wants to hear the thoughts of this barren old woman? I want to see Shans!"
"Hurry up, show us Shans's next reaction!"
"I bet Shans will cry..."
"It's not that serious, not that serious... It's not like Furiko has actually died."
......
The audience chattered incessantly. Mo Zhi then realized, yes, were her feelings important? Shouldn't the focus be on Shans's subsequent reaction now?
With that thought, she immediately put aside her distractions and refocused her attention on Shans's face in the game, not wanting to miss a single detail.
"I..."
After a long moment, Shans spoke with a hoarse voice, "I'm sorry, sweetie."
"I didn't know something like this would happen..."
Recalling all the past events, from the playful teasing upon meeting that cost her a life.
To later ignoring and allowing Paiparis to brutally kill the little girl.
I deserve to die!
Shans was filled with remorse. He completely put himself in that past situation, forgetting that he had no interest in the human before him at that time.
"I'm sorry..."
It was repentance, it was regret. Shans said many things tremulously, and finally, his scarlet eyes became firm, as if filled with resolve.
"Now that you've told me, I will always be with you on this journey. I won't let you get hurt again... maybe."
"What do you mean 'maybe'?"
The little flower looked at Shans with displeasure, "Didn't you just say you wouldn't let Furiko get hurt again?"
"Calm down, weed. If we don't actively attack, I think the young lady won't get hurt," Shans said angrily.
Not attacking means not getting hurt, is that really true?
Furiko was confused, but she hoped it was as Shans said...
"Alright, I think we should move forward."
Shans suppressed his emotions. Now, he only wanted to work hard to help Furiko through the journey ahead, to atone for his past mistakes.
"So, lead the way, weed."
Despite the deep guilt he felt towards Furiko, Shans still held no affection for the little flower.
"My name is not Weed!"
The little flower protested loudly, "My name is Little Flower, you stupid bone trash bag."
After venting its emotions, the little flower burrowed underground to scout ahead and look for monsters.
The two, still digesting the shocking news, were left in the field.
After a while, the little flower beckoned them to advance.
Seeing the signal, the two quickly followed.
Silver light filled the ground, illuminating the dark, winding path brightly.
Stepping onto the soft grass, they could hear the sound of flowing water and the rustling of swaying flowers.
The scent of the surrounding blue flowers reminded Furiko of her memory of falling into the golden buttercups that day. Following these memories, the shadow of Toriel appeared in her mind.
She wondered how Toriel was doing now. She thought dreamily that perhaps Toriel was right about the monsters here wanting to kill her and Little Flower.
Toriel only wanted to protect her, and even if her methods were a bit extreme, the ultimate goal was just protection.
Is it possible that if I had stayed with the Ruin Guardian forever, I wouldn't have grown so many flowers?
Furiko tugged at the little buttercup on her hand, and her consciousness suddenly jolted awake!
Instantly, cold sweat broke out all over her body, and a chill shot straight to her brain.
What just happened?
What was I thinking?!!
......