Lay In A Field Of Flowers, Waiting For A Better Yesterday

As Friday rolled in, the entire nation was in a festive mood as everyone celebrated the Summer Festival.

But, unlike most people who decided to stay in their own prefectures to celebrate, the Shie Hassaikai decided to go all the way to Tottori in order to experience the annual Desert Carnival, Tottori's unique way of celebrating the Summer's first full moon in the desert. This year, it was a coincidence that the Desert Festival actually fell on the same day as the country's Summer Festival, making Tottori more festive this year than the previous years.

On this occasion, Arima decided that it would be best to celebrate it in an onsen resort as neither Lee nor Gaara had experienced it yet in this world, much to Chisaki's unwillingness.

He never did managed to understand how people thought that bathing together was a good idea. Wouldn't it just be sharing their body's filth with each other? Disgusting.

Unfortunately for him, once Arima had made up his mind, there was absolutely no way of changing it.

Thus, onsen it was.

At first, Lee was really excited for it but, when it really came down to it, he found that there was a huge problem.

"Lee, your face is really red. Are you okay?" Gaara leaned closer to Lee, looking at him in concern. "Is the water too hot for you?"

Do not look! Must not look! The mist from the hot springs looked especially thick around Gaara, causing him to look as though he were surrounded by clouds. And the way the water droplets clung onto his skin made him shimmer in the moonlight as the droplets trailed down from his neck to his chest and further down...

Stop looking!!!

"No, no! I'm fine! It's just..." Lee gulped nervously, his eyes trying not to look at Gaara's naked upper body. From the corner of his eye, he seemed to see a sea of red flowers marking the entirety of Gaara's back, but he quickly looked away, pushing what he saw to the back of his mind. "Too close."

"Oh, I-" Suddenly realizing how close the were, Gaara blushed and moved away, making Lee feel sad by the loss of contact. "I see."

Discretely turning away from Gaara, Lee grasped his chest right where he could feel his heart beating wildly.

Suddenly, he understood.

The reason why he always wanted to see Gaara smile at him, why he never liked it when other people tried to talk to Gaara for too long or touch him, why he had hundreds of stolen photos of Gaara collected throughout the years, and why he always remembered every little thing that Gaara liked or disliked.

What he felt wasn't something that could be described as just a simple attraction. No, this was much more potent and much purer than than. It had been simmering under the surface for so long and he had only just realized this now.

He liked the person that he called his best friend.

Or, perhaps even 'like' was too simple.

It was a complex feeling that made him feel breathless in a good way. He was nervous, anxious, excited, and happy all at once.

It made him want to scream and laugh at the same time.

It was crazy.

Most of all, he wanted to confront Gaara and tell him about how he felt but, he didn't know how. He wasn't even sure if he felt the same way as he did.

He understood that Gaara was a bit slow when it came to dealing with emotions, so until he was sure of what Gaara felt for him, he would wait.

In any case, he could just try to make Gaara fall for him in his own way.

And when he did, Lee would confess his feeling amidst a sea of Gaara's favorite things.

Unknown to him, one person had been watching the entirety of Lee's emotional turmoil from a distance.

"Two bros, sitting in a hot tub, five feet apart cuz one of 'em just realized he's gay." Nemoto chuckled to himself. Unfortunately, both Chisaki and Irinaka refused to join them in the onsen and weren't able to witness this occasion. He'd really wanted to see the smug looks on their faces contort into something strange when they saw this scene happening in front of them.

"Dude, what?" Kurono raised an eyebrow in confusion.

...

An hour later, Gaara sat by a kotatsu with Arima as the older man brewed tea in silence.

It was a calm atmosphere that seemed to separate the loud bustling sounds of the outside from the silence of the room. All that could be heard were the quiet bubbling of the tea and the clinking of porcelain as Arima poured in each cup.

"Do you still wish to return to your previous world?" Arima asked casually as they waited for the tea to cool.

Gaara stared at his cup in deep thoughts. "For me to say I don't, would be a lie. But, even if I wanted to, I am unable to do anything about it."

Memories of his siblings, his village, and all the people he met throughout his life in his previous world crossed his mind.

"How so?" Arima asked. Surely, with all the quirks in this world, finding a way to go back, although it would not be easy, it wasn't impossible. The Shie Hassaikai had enough money and ability now to conduct research on it.

Even if Arima would be sad upon losing the son he came to care about, if going back was truly what Gaara wanted, he would be the first to support him.

Fortunately, it didn't have to come to that situation as Gaara had already decided.

"Another me already exists there. In order for me to return to that world, the other me needs to disappear as two of the same cannot exist in the same universe." Gaara shook his head and sighed. "And if my other self disappears in order for that world to accomodate me, that wouldn't be fair. Since they would have already made so many memories which didn't include me."

Even though he can never see them again, he had already made new friends here and saw many things he had never seen before.

Arima was stunned. "Gaara, you really are a kind child."

The boy awkwardly averted his eyes. "In any case, I already have made a lot of memories here as well. I won't just throw all that away like nothing."

"And... I finally found my purpose." Gaara smiled as he looked out of the window to see the vast expanse of the sand dunes outside. "I wish to create my own Sunagakure in this world."

...

Meanwhile, back in Kyoto, the town square had turned into a widescale human stampede. The situation was so chaotic that even the patrolling heroes couldn't do much to help as the entrances and exits had been blocked by people trying to escape.

One of the more rational heroes, upon faced with this situation, decided to climb atop a building in order to find a better vantage point. But, what he saw made his blood run cold.

"Mama!" A small child had fallen right in the path of the villain, knees gashed and bloodied upon having fallen in the stampede and separated from his parents.

Just one look at the villain made the hero certain that he was under the effects of Trigger.

That was very bad.

The villain was so close to the child! Even if he made his way right now, he still wouldn't make it. The hero inwardly winced, already expecting for the worst.

But, at this moment, he suddenly spotted a figure moving against the crowd in an incredibly fast speed, reaching towards the child and saving him right before the villain's smashed down from above, barely dodging away safely.

"Uwah! That was close!" Saraba hurriedly leaped away with the child safely in her arms, if not a bit startled. "Hey, Monoma! Take care of this kid for me while I keep the big guy busy."

Having shoved the child in her blankly staring friend's arms, Saraba once again headed for the villain who was busy destroying all the stalls in his way but a strong tug on her sleeve had her pausing mid-step.

"Saraba, what- Do you actually plan on taking that villain on?!" Faced with Monoma's anxious questioning, Saraba just gave him a determined look, causing the boy to reel back in disbelief. "You're crazy!"

Saraba frowned, looking towards the exits to find it still blocked by panicking civilians, on the outer edges, she could spot other villains keeping the heroes that do manage to get past the crowd away from the center where they and the biggest villain were.

Suddenly the villain roared angrily and stomped his foot to the ground, causing a tremor which shook the building opposite of them and made large cracks along it's walls. One look at it and they knew it wouldn't hold out for long.

"This- This attack was planned." Saraba voiced out, causing Monoma's eyes to widen in shock and fear. "It's not just those one time heists or anything. They want to achieve something by creating the biggest chaos possible!"

Suddenly, Saraba grabbed Monoma's shoulder with a grim expression, her lips set in a thin line. "Monoma! I need you to go around the whole square and look for stragglers or any hidden danger that could make this situation worse than it already is! I'll handle the villain!"

What is she planning?! Saraba couldn't possibly-

"Why do you have to defeat the villain?! Why can't I do it instead and you save people?! I can beat him much faster with my Water Release than you could!" Monoma shouted in disagreement but his face held more of worry and fear for his friend than any actual anger.

The villain they were talking about was only just on the other side of the street! If they weren't hiding behind a dumpster, they would have been crushed by now with how big the size of this villain was and how much destruction he was causing.

"Monoma, the top priority is to save people, not defeat the villain! Sabakuno-kun called you a natural sensor for a reason. You can do it much faster than I could! I'll buy time for the heroes to arrive!" Saraba was right. No matter how much Monoma wanted to go against her and fight the villain instead, he knew that what Saraba said was the most rational solution that they had right now.

But that didn't mean he liked it. At all. And any moment they waste talking is another moment another person's life is put in danger.

Why can't the heroes just come in right now?!

"You can't be serious, right?! If that villain catches you, you're dead! This isn't like those sparring matches anymore, Saraba! This is real!" Monoma desperately tried to plead with his friend but he knew too well that it would all be for naught. Once Saraba decided to do something, no one could persuade her otherwise.

"Don't worry! I don't plan on dying here today." With a bright smile aimed to reassure him, Saraba determinedly turned away, leaping towards the villain. "I'm still gonna be the next number one hero in the future, remember?"

Monoma unwillingly grit his teeth as he watched his friend rush straight towards danger without looking back even once but, he too knew what must be done. The slight dampness on his shirt and the fearful trembling from the child curled against him reminded him of the responsibility he now bore.

Why were the heroes so useless right when people needed them the most?!

Taking one last look towards Saraba who had already begun her battle, Monoma hauled the child up in a one armed carry and set off to fight his own.

...

"Hey, watch it! That was my head you were aiming for!" She shouted angrily as she was forced to duck and quickly roll away from a large fist aimed to crush her head. "Not like you can catch me anyways though."

The villain's eye reddened in anger, enraged by the fact that a mere child was able to toy with him as she pleased. With a loud bellow, he aimed a punch straight towards the concrete ground, creating a large tremor which formed a crack that split the road in half.

Saraba instantly felt dread. With just one move, the villain had created so much property damage already. She'd have to keep him away from the already damaged building quickly in case he'd get any ideas about that too. Otherwise, this situation would be much more dangerous, not only for her, but for the villain as well.

"Ya' know, you should consider yourself pretty lucky, big guy! You'd be the first to see my secret technique in action. I just got it right last week too!" Saraba grinned as she weaved between each of the villain's enraged strikes, leaping some distance away to prepare for what she was about to do. "Behold!"

[Fourth Gate Open]

Immediately, she could feel the immense amount of chakra saturate her body until he skin almost felt too tight around her.

"Come on, villain! Let's dance."

With a large boost to her speed and power, she stomped on the ground, creating a crater below her as she rushed straight towards the villain with punch aimed towards his head.

"Get out of my way!!!" The villain roared, seeming to have finally had enough and struck the air in front of him with an open palm, creating tremors in the space itself.

Saraba's eyes widened in shock and slight fear, not having expected the villain to possess this ability.

Even under the effects of the drug, the villain still possessed the ability to think somewhat rationally and applied his newly strengthened quirk in ingenious ways.

Unfortunately for Saraba, this was bad news.

And, as the tremors struck Saraba's body midair, the extra power provided to her from opening her fourth gate worked against her, making her collide against the tremors with the force of car going at 60 kmph.

"Ku-hack!" Saraba coughed violently, her organs feeling as though they've ruptured and torn as her body crashed against the cracked building's walls.

She could feel a searing pain from her back, no doubt injured from the impact but she forced herself to stand back up again to dodge the villain's oncoming strike before dashing towards the other side of the street.

With every passing second, her situation kept getting worse. She didn't know the full extent of the injuries the villain had dealt to her and the building was no doubt much more unstable now that she crashed upon it so suddenly. She could even hear it creaking and threatening to crumble at any moment.

She knew she had to draw the villain away from the building. Seeing the cracks along it's walls, who knew how unstable it really was despite it still being able to remain standing? She'd rather not take that risk if she could help it.

"Haa... This is gonna hurt so bad."

[Fifth Gate Open]

Opening her fifth gate was never the plan but, when confronted by a villain who was out of control with more power to wield than he was obviously capable of but still retaining the ability to think, she made the decision to put her body even more at risk in exchange for more power. Of course, this was done only because she trusted her friend to have already evacuated the nearby civilians far away in case things get messier than intended.

She only hoped the heroes would arrive faster. There's only so much time she could buy before her body starts to break down.

"Cosmic Force, First Movement!"

Having made up her mind, she used the the first form of her still incomplete self-made taijutsu, hoping it could stall the villain enough for heroes to reach them.

At this moment, Monoma had finally set down the last trapped civilian in a park some distance away from the center of the attack, wincing slightly as he took in the various injuries the victims had but had no way of treating them aside from saying some comforting words to ease their panic.

"Tch! Why am I even doing this?! This is a hero's work, damn it!" Monoma grit his teeth in frustration. "I don't even want to be a hero!"

Why were heroes so useless?!

Boom!

Suddenly, he heard a loud crashing sound coming from the center where Saraba was fighting off the villains and he immediately felt dread sink to the pits of his stomach.

From where he stood, he saw the top floor of the tallest building in the square missing, crumbled previously and caused the loud sound.

At the center, Saraba panted, her breaths coming out in painful wheezes as she felt her ribs pressing uncomfortable on her lungs. Her body felt incredibly wrong, as if her bones were all misplaced and her muscles horribly atrophied but she had to keep fighting since the heroes haven't arrived yet.

"Haha... If this doesn't work, I'm screwed." Saraba winced, feeling a sharp pain from her shoulder. There was a large possibility that her arm had been dislocated or her shoulder was fractured. Either which was bad news.

[Sixth Gate Open]

"I can't hold this for long so I'll bet it all in one punch!" Saraba grit her teeth as she could feel her muscles rupturing from even the mere action of taking a step. "Cosmic Force, Final Punch!"

With a last well aimed punch straight towards the charging villain's gut, the villain flew towards the broken building like a puppet without it's string, crashing with a resounding boom and created a dust cloud which temporarily blocked her vision.

No doubt, after sustaining injuries from an impact that strong, the villain wouldn't be getting up any time soon.

Unfortunately, this also meant that Saraba herself was unable to move due the damage done to her body by opening two gates higher than her body was capable of holding.

So, when an ominous cracking sound came from the building, she was no longer able to do anything but watch as huge pieces of debris and steel came crashing down upon her.

Atleast the fight was over now.

But what they didn't know was that the attack on Kyoto was just the beginning of a chain of attacks that affected the whole country.

...

"Cosmic Force, Final Punch!"

The moment Monoma arrived at the center where the battle was occurring, he was greeted by the sight of an injured Saraba punching the villain so hard that he flew and crashed onto a building.

At first, upon realizing that the villain was no longer getting up, he was relieved, but when the building began to crumble and large pieces of it began to fall straight towards his friend, all he could feel was fear and dread, his feet frozen to the ground despite urging himself to move and do something in his mind.

"SARABA!!!"

He watched as his friend got crushed beneath the debris, unable to do anything but scream her name in futility.

It was only a few moments later that he shook himself off his shock and moved, forcing his legs to rush towards the piles of rubble despite his wildly shaking knees, adrenaline rushing into his veins and pumping him with energy filled with anxiety.

"Ahaha... I messed up..." Saraba gazed blankly towards the night sky as she laid within the rubble, her voice being the only thing that managed to help Monoma to locate her within the pile. "I really hope they won't make me pay for that building..."

"C-Can you not joke right now, Saraba? I'm trying to get this slab of cement off of you!" Monoma grunted, his panic turning to fearful disbelief upon the sight he saw once he finally got the slab off. "S-Saraba... Oi. Why's there a huge steel pole sticking out of your stomach?! This... This is some sort of prank, right?"

"A- cough!" Saraba tried to smile humorously despite having coughed out a concerning amount of blood. She couldn't even feel the flow of her chakra anymore, much less her legs. "Haha... It's funny, isn't it?"

Even if she survived after today, her future in heroics was utterly doomed and so was her shinobi one.

"No, the fuck, it's not! Quit it!" Monoma shouted, hands trembling with unwillingness to accept the sight he was seeing as real.

"Ah, I'm tired..." With every passing second, Saraba seemed to grow increasingly paler as her blood began to seep through the asphalt which she laid upon. "Ne, Monoma... Wake me up when we reach the hospital, kay?"

The stars were so bright tonight and the moon looked so close somehow. It was almost like it was calling to her.

"Nononono- Saraba! Don't sleep yet! Saraba! Don't you dare close your eyes!" Monoma shouted desperately but his voice sounded so far away.

It was gone now. All the sounds dulled and turned to silence as the black spots which hung in her vision grew increasingly bigger.

Her eyes went dark but it seemed like she could see a firework from afar. It was so beautiful but, she regretted how she only saw it for a fraction of a second.

She wished it could have lasted for a bit longer. To keep the memory preserved in a glass jar so she could show it to all her friends.

Saraba took one last shaky breath. "It's getting kinda cold..."