HACHI

??? - 9w1 - ???

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Snow.

You've felt it many times, yet this was the first time it felt cold.

Where were you? The same place as ever, it seemed, but it was the first time you laid eyes on it. Unfamiliar familiarity. The sound of wind's howl, whistling through bare trees.

Oh, right. You were a tree once, too.

Looking at the villagers brings back memories. Soundless, imageless, flavorless memories, but memories nonetheless. Whoever they were, they loved you, and now they were gone, blown away by the wind, leaving only castings of the past, withered by time. You were supposed to love them back. You failed them.
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Waiting for them to return was dreary.
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You looked at yourself. You were once so tall, yet all that remained was a stump.

You looked closer.

A mushroom grew from the rot. Tiny, blue. It's aura was familiar.

You. It was you. You had not passed, simply changed. Your friends needn't pass either. Your job hadn't ended yet.
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They weren't human anymore, but you weren't either. (You never were, really.) All that mattered were that they were alive once more, and you were no longer alone. They didn't love you anymore. But, like you once were, they probably would've if they could.

It was the thought that counted.


_{Ghosting - Mother Mother}