"Alright, today is the day for the altitude test. It's the final year and I hope you show some improvement. It's easier as the Japan Foundation created it. Today you take the Numerical Reasoning Tests. It is 450 questions instead of the usual 480." said Ms. Akemi.
Kagome's eye twitched. How the hell is that easier? She thought. Hanami scratched her left leg. I got drunk before this.
Ms. Akemi passed out the heavy test. As she arrived at Hanami, she heard a loud thud that was too loud for comfort. "It's not timed, but tomorrow you will take the Abstract Reasoning Tests, which is 160 questions and 60 minutes--" she stopped. "Actually, you have a full hour."
Hanami bletched. This should be easy. Hanami thought. "Now I gave you the test. Let me take roll, Akazawa Eizan."
"Here."
"Amai Matashichi."
"Here."
"Fukui Emi."
"Absent. Ms. Akemi Fukui is pregnant."
Ms. Akemi, who had granted, looked at Hanami in the middle row of desks. "I'll mark her here for once."
After all the students were called and marked. Hanami looked at the first question and squinted. What was the total of Grade D and C Wireless Customers in 2019?
$500 per 50 Grade B $300 per 50 Grade C $150 per 50
C? She guessed.
After school, Hanami waited outside with Eri, Ayumi & Yuka. "You think she's throwing up?" asked Ayumi. "Most definitely, we studied for the test beforehand". said Yuka. "Hanami, how did you do?"
"Huh?" She looked up and crushed her soda from the vending machine. "I heard if you don't finish the test. You get kicked out of school."
"Why would you say that?" asked Eri. "We studied!"
"Well, im transferring anyway." Hanami Nohimochi stood 5'11, and people knew her by her hime cut and green eyes. Also, that orange hair and alcohol addiction despite liver failure. "After school, I'm going to have a festival tonight. You wanna join me?"
"You got drunk before the festival?" Ayumi lowered her eyes. "She got drunk before the test." Eri let her head down.
"We're having the Thousand Rice Festival. Grandma told me that our ancestors slept with the oni demons and passed on this pot we keep."
"And you get drunk?" said Yuka. "Off of rice. The Thousand Rice Festival is about longevity. It's supposed to be about honoring the family's Ujigami. In my case, my dad wants me safe from liver failure."
"UGH!" Kagome came pacing towards them. "The last year of school, and I swear I'm back in my old habits." She collapsed to her knees. "Kagome, Hanami's having a festival tonight," said Yuka. "No thanks. I'm exhausted."
"Wanna ride home with me?" asked Hanami.
"You live way in Kyoto. No, thank you!" Kagome shouted. "Fine." Hanami shrugged.
Hanami lived in a Minka home with a low roof. She caught the bus home and stumbled in the doorway. Her room was to the left, and her father, Iwaki Nohimochi, had the main bedroom. Her bedroom used to be to the right, but in the past three years. The house was empty and dark. "Dad! I'm home!" she hiccuped. "I hought this would be over by now." she muttered.
"Dad!" she yelled. "I'm *hiccup* home."
In the doma of the house, Iwaki rolled his eyes. "Welcome home."
"Where is the sake?" she walked over the first step. "Or the festival!" she caught herself. "The festival isn't till tonight."
"It's like 6:31."
"Go to the storage closet--AND DON'T DRINK! GET THE POT!" he screamed.
"Damn..." Hanami's face contorted. She moved to the storage closet of the house. She heard her father grunting. She opened the closet close to her room; the house had been worked on, and the hallway space felt larger. She looked up and inhaled a breath, unable to find it. She looked down and moved a brown bag to the side. "It must have fallen," she thought. She picked up the pot and shook it. "I don't remember it looking like this," she hiccuped. "It feels full.
Hanami pulled the wooden cork and sniffed the inside. It hit her head instantly. "Oh..." she blinked, and her tongue felt numb. Her throat was hot, and her chest was tight. She saw darkness, and her body met the paper floors.
Hanami didn't feel anything. But she heard a dreadful scream.
The sky was clear, and a bird tweeted away in the branches. Hanami opened one eye; she stood up and looked at herself. She still had her uniform.
"Huh?" Her vision was still funny from the last sake bottle, or was that something else? She looked around her and saw below. She was floating. "What?" It smelled like sake. And in that moment, it wasn't that bad until she felt a dull, constant ache. "I can breathe..." she thought as she kicked her feet to the top of where she was.
[System initiated. Blossom System assigned.]
"What--What is this?" she gasped as a red hovering screen.
[STATS
Attribute
Base
Description
HP (Health)
21
Sustains decent hits; enhanced by fire blessing.
SP (Spirit Power)
18
Fuels shikigami techniques and spiritual attacks.
ATK (Attack)
7
Strong with fire-based strikes and fan combos.
DEF (Defense)
5
Agile dodger, moderate physical protection.
MAG (Magic)
9
High—amplifies elemental and charm spells.
SPD (Speed)
8
Quick movement, ideal for hit-and-vanish tactics.
LCK (Luck)
EXP 30 >>>>> Lvl 2 Flare Barrier [A barrier made of fire, protects for 3 rounds]
6]
"What is in my head?" Hanami looked up. Her vision flashed blue.
[Mission: Go to Kaede's Village]
"You arrived, granddaughter." said a voice in the fluid. She couldn't take surprises anymore. "Who?"
"Or you could be my niece," they said. "My name is Sanano Kikumi, and I am Oda Kikumi's daughter." Hanami scroned. "You have been bought to this world as my last plea. Save me. Correct the family line."
"Who--" she had to skip that last thought. "Drunk just like my mother. Just like Yakyoki."
"Wait! Give me time!"
Her head popped out, and once more, she had more questions than answers. She was in a jug, surrounded by jugs. Everything smelled like liquor. She looked ahead and saw an old man sitting comfortably on the bank. She squinted, "Don't give me that look," he said.
"Who are you?" Her vision was slightly foggy. "I should ask you the same thing."
She grunted, "I don't want to be her, the old man! I heard a voice, and they said--something."
"Huh?" Yakurōdokusen eyed her, then remembered something vital. "Hanami Nohimochi?"
"Yea..."
"Pinba village." he took a drink for his sake pan. "I was told about you but first you need that thing."
"What thing?"
"The Hahakigami," he said. Yakurōdokusen put his sake down and lifted his arms above his head. His arm stretched across the lake of jugs. He graded a pot and brought it to the grass. Again, he used his long limbs to reach inside and pulled out a broom. He then released Hanami and sat her down on the grass.
"I was paid. You need to take him and go to Pinba Village.
"I was told to go to Kaede's village."
"I don't care," said Yakurōdokusen. "A man came to me with gold coins and said he was looking for his daughter. Go to Pinba Village," he stared at the broom. "And take that with you."
"This?" Hanami looked at the broom. He wanted her to take his old furniture? "Ok..." She walked towards it and bent down to pick it up, but then it lifted by itself. "What the--"
"You kept me in a jug of wine. I smell terrible," said the broom. Hanami sat on the grass. She held her mouth open. Wings popped out from the broom. "You must be that descendant I heard about." The broom turned itself around. "My name is Haka. I'm the San family broom and was once held by the great Oda San, formerly Kikumi."
"You didn't have to say all that." Yakurōdokusen narrowed his eyes. "Take him with you," he told Hanami.
"You want me to take this broom thing..." he clutched her knees. "Oh, that's right. You're drunk. Sometimes I get drunk, but as the Master of Potions, I have found a way."
[Obtained Hahakigami. Haka is a broom with unforeseen power.
STR: 5
MP: 10
DEF: 11
SP: 10
This broom has one ability for now.
Your main attack is Blazing Sweep. Hanami sweeps the broom in a wide arc, igniting purifying flames that burn away impurity. 🎲 Effects
Base Damage: 120 Fire
Bonus: +50%
Status Effect:Cleanse — removes one negative debuff from allies]
"You have a purpose, Hanami San," said Haka. "My name is Nohimochi." She furrowed. "The more you know, you stupid little girl."
"Excuse me--"
"ONWARD!" The broom floated above ground.
[Gained 7 water Pots]
"It's from the waterfall." said Yakurōdokusen.