When Yamato woke up, he could only see a bright light above him. He felt so weak, only being able to blink his watering eyes.

His fingers, though still, had feeling in them. He could feel something soft below him, and if he knew anything about himself, he knew that they were flowers just by how his fingers stung.

His lungs gave a hard exhale as he tried to reclaim his breath. He knew that if he could breathe normally, he could get up and get himself something to soothe his allergy.

Inhale. Coarse, hard, weak.

Exhale. Coarse, hard, weak.

Inhale. Hard, weak.

Exhale. Hard, weak.

Inhale. Weak.

Exhale. Weak.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Finally, he could just barely get himself up. Looking around, he found himself on a pile of flowers. Scrambling off, he was lucky to find that the pile before him was the only flowers in the room. He noticed his gloves and jacket were gone, leaving him in only his shirt and pants. The top button of his shirt was ripped off, revealing even more of his body. Great.

"What the hell..." He he mumbled.

He couldn't hear himself.

Panicked, he felt his ear only to find it gone.

'My damn hearing aid!' He cursed, looking around as if he could find it. Where did it go? Did that Sakura take it? While he could do without hearing, he really didn't want to take chances in a place like this.

Again, he tried looking. The only door he could find was a  locked trap door, and if not for his weakened state he would have broke it down. The room he was in was large; tables and counters were full of glass vials and liquids, a few machines too. One that stuck out was a small heating machine, as there had to be at least four or five of them laying around. Cork boards with lots of paper stuck to them lined the walls. Upon closer inspection, most the paper was old theories about immortality and perfection with a few newer notes.

After what felt like an eternity of searching, his senses aching, his gaze returned to the pile of flowers.

Maybe he would just go without hearing.

But he would be safer with hearing. He could probably get out faster, too.

Biting the bullet, he started to shuffle the flowers around just enough that the hearing aid would fall right out.

When it didn't, he cursed. Not being able to hear sucked the life out of him!

So did these flowers. He quickly pulled away and looked for a faucet.

There was luckily one, though it was coated in some sort of strange chemical. He didn't care, though. Hopefully washing his hands would at least alleviate some of the irritation.

As he washed his hands, he suddenly felt something grab his waist. He tried pulling away, noticing a large branch-like claw wrapping around him covered in flowers.

He was spun around. Someone who must of been Sakura, though now looked older and more Esper-y tried talking to him.

"I can't hear!" He hoped he said it in a coherent way. "My hearing aid is gone, where is it?!"

Sakura paused herself, then turned to the bed of flowers. She stooped over it, wading through the flowers until she pulled out his hearing aid, covered in flower debris.

She spoke, only to remember and hold it up. Yamato nodded, "Clean it off. I don't want my ear infected."

She pointed to the sink. Yamato shook his head. He grabbed a cloth that just so happened to be laying nearby and held it out. She shook her head and pulled out a clean one. Then, she gently wiped the hearing aid. Yamato watched her like a hawk. He hardly trusted her, but if she would do his (literally) dirty work, he didn't mind.

But, the moment she got a new clean towel, he snatched his hearing aid back and completed the washing himself.

Upon sticking his hearing aid back into place, Sakura burst like a balloon with questions.

"How are you feeling, my dolly? You were out cold for a few hours. Do you like what I've done with your new clothes? Oh, you probably haven't seen them yet, here, a mirror just for you! What do you think?"

Upon looking into the mirror, he found that he was in different clothes and wasn't just missing his gloves and coat. Instead, he worse a pink button up shirt and black pants, accompanied by fancy brown dress shoes with gold buckles.

"I took your old clothes for something more...pretty." Sakura said, a giggle escaping her. "It's so perfect, right?"

"The top button is missing." Yamato said.

"W-what?" Sakura quickly pulled his collar to her sight. She wailed in agony, a little dramatic in Yamato's opinion, and quickly started searching her drawers.

"I'll fix it, darling!" She said, pulling out thread and needle. "I'll just go get another button. Wait here!"

As she left, she left the door open. So, Yamato ran out as any sensible person would.

He coughed a little before making a sharp turn. Running a little further, he slowed down upon seeing the hall.

The hall he was in was just as clean as the house he was in before. The walls and floors were spotless, and they would have been completely spotless if not for the flowerpots lining the ground full of flowers.

This time, Yamato carefully walked past each pot, focusing on not taking anymore allergy hits.

Eventually he found a door with a hole in it. Upon opening it, he found what seemed like a garden. Stepping in, he felt the soft grass crinkle under his shiny shoes.

Suddenly, the door behind him was replaced by a metal door. Feeling it, he noticed how it was anti-Esper. Just as he was feeling himself getting better, too.

Sighing, he started walking. Maybe there was another exit nearby.

While there were flowers here, they were off the path that laid out in front of him. As he walked, he was amazed by the butterflies and bees that inhabited this little part of the world. He shook himself.

"I need to focus." He said. "Sakura will notice I left any minute now."

As he said this, he found himself in a large clearing. Many bee boxes and butterfly cocoons gave more life to the already basically breathing garden. He saw how honey was being collected into a large pot, and how some butterflies lay dead in an open planner.

He didn't waist any more time admiring the garden, for he saw the way out: a barred gate. On the other side, was more ghostly clean hallways. When he tried the door, he found it to be locked.

"The key must be around here somewhere," he said to himself. He didn't have no reason for thinking this; there was a little note that had a riddle on it.

"Strong as an ant,

"Big as a bird,

"Lasting as a tortoise,

"Pretty as a coy,

"Remember where you kept your key, Sakura."

He assumed this was something Sakura wrote to help herself remember where she hid her key. But why the strange riddle? He didn't know, but he could figure out immediately what it was. It must be a statue.

In this clearing, there was four branching paths. He turned left and went onto that path first.

He walked a little ways before finding a pond. On the pond, the only flowers were water lilies. Coy fish splashed around, and in the center was a coy statue. What a strange thing to make a statue out of! But it did match the riddle, he remembered.

He was about to step into the water when a fish jumped up and back down into the water. Trying again, he found the same result.

"Tsk..." he grumbled. This must be more of Sakura's doing. Was there a certain way he had to enter? He tried to just jump in, only to find himself on his bum on dry land.

"Is this Sakura's Esper powers?" He wondered to himself. "Or is there something else going on!"

His Esper powers, though weak because of the flowers he laid on before, still worked. He tried maneuvering his Esper hand to the statue to he could just jump on it, but the hand kept being bumped away by the coy. He didn't quite understand how the relatively small animals could do it.

He tried sliding into the water, but his didn't get him anywhere. He tried just walking in, but the coy's strange strength kept him dry. He tried jumping to the statue, but it yielded the same results as jumping straight into the water because he was no where near close enough to the statue.

Eventually, Yamato could only pathetically plea with the water itself.

"Let me cross!" He yelled.

And just like that, a bridge floated up.

"Wh-" Yamato stares dumbfounded. "That's it?!"

The bridge awaited him silently. He huffed and quickly crossed. Finally at the statue, he found a new note.

"Not here"

"WHAT?!"

***

Yamato had searched the entire statue, to no luck. The note really did tell the truth. He was beyond angry. All that for nothing?! He quickly ran back to the gate and reread the note.

"Is there more than one statue?" He wondered to himself. Maybe that was it. He didn't try going to the other side of the pond, so maybe...

But as he looked over at the path he came from, he saw it was covered in pink vines, the ones like Sakura's arm and the ones that attacked him before.

All that was left were three.

Yamato didn't want to wait around to see if the vines tried anything else, so he went to his right for the next path.

He stepped out into a clearing and, this time, found an ant statue. It stood in the middle of a dirt clearing, tiny bumps all around it. Yamato felt that he shouldn't try walking on it, but he also wanted to know what he was dealing with this time. So, he outstretched his foot and let it land on the dirt.

...

Nothing happened. He breathed a sigh of relief as he took another step, this time he head something. Looking around, he saw an anteater walking over. It looked at him with lazy eyes, licking at one hill. He watched as the anteater licked up black ants. Then, it turned to a new hole.

This time, though, it shot its tongue out as red ants attacked its tongue.

Shocked, Yamato looked at his own feet. A few black ants walked on it. Cursing, Yamato shook his foot before placing his feet onto areas where no ant hills were. Unfortunately, as if unfazed, the anteater kept disturbing hills. Black and red ants alike poured out of their homes, more and more covering the areas that were once safe. Ants crawled up his legs, and he felt little bits beginning to sting his skin. Worse, it made his hives worse. 

"Go away, you pest!" He yelled at the anteater. The animal simply ignored him as it tried another hill on for size. Growling, he decided he just had to run for it.

Despite his running, the ants stuck to him like a sticker and continued biting. Groaning, he grabbed onto the ant statue and saw a note.

"Not here"

***

As Yamato ran into the bee and butterfly clearing, he felt the ants all get off him and return back to their hills. He quickly walked to the next path, angrily stomping.

Now, he saw the tortoise statue. This time, he saw a single tortoise laying on the ground, and a bag hanging from the tallest part of the statue. The tortoise would be enough for him to reach it!

Eagerly, he walked to the large tortoise and was about to climb up on it when it looked up at him with big, sad eyes. It was clearly old, starting to grey and just about to die.

Yamato really needed the bag. He had to get out before he died from the flowers alone.

"Hey, big guy." He said. "Can I stand on you to get that bag?"

The tortoise slowly blinked before standing up, head lowered. Yamato giddily stepped onto the tortoise, only for it to crash down, sending Yamato down with it.

"Ow!" Yamato hissed, Rubbing his head. He looked at the old tortoise again, watching it slowly stand up again, waiting for Yamato to use it again.

"Um, no thanks. I'd rather not fall again." He told the tortoise, instead jumping to get the bag.

"Just out of reach." Yamato hissed. Controlling his Esper hand was a nightmare, and was only able to somewhat do it at the coy pond because it didn't need to grab anything. This time, it needed to grab a tiny bag.

Looked back down at the tortoise, that looked back up, he huffed.

"If you're so sure you can help, go get it yourself!"

And on command, the bag fell right onto the tortoise's shell. It laid back down and fell asleep.

Dazed, Yamato quickly picked up the bag and opened it. A piece of paper was inside. 

"Not here"

***

Yamato completely ignored everything as he ran to the final pathway. This had to be it, right?

And he was right, when he finally found the statue, it was not only a bird but a bird in a birdcage. He scanned the statue and saw the key in the middle of it.

"Of course the last one I look at has the key," Yamato grumbled as he walked to the statue.

This time, nothing hindered him as he reached in and grabbed the key.

"That was easy." He said. "Too easy..."

He quickly turned around, narrowing his eyes. What would happen? Would a bird come swinging down to grab the key? Or maybe he might get attacked. Worse, maybe the birds would stop his path.

Clutching the key, he walked towards the exit.

"Ack!"

Something got his leg. Looking down, he saw that it was a pink vine. It twisted and contorted around his leg, inching further and further up. On the statue, vines began to grow, seeming to give fuel to the vines attacking him.

He tore the vine away. Getting up, he booked it for the gate.

As he ran, he saw the bee and butterfly clearing. He also saw vines growing to block his path.

"Not this time!" He hissed as he shot lighting at the vines, making them fly into an array of fire. Other plants shot into flames, though Yanato did care. As long as he got out, he would be ok.

He ran straight to the gate and unlocked it. As he opened it, he saw pink vines growing even swifter. Instead of taking care of them, he shot into the next hallway.

***

Soon after he got out of the garden, he felt himself becoming tired. So, he slowed down. He would need his energy to confront whatever else came at him.

Finally, he found a new room. It was fancy, with expensive furniture and paintings. A fire was blazing, and Sakura sat in a chair next to it.

"Come in," she said. Yamato did, not wanting her to activate any flower related powers. He could probably easily beat her, but he figured that whenever they were together like this, she did no harm.

"I should have shown you around a little more," Sakura said guiltily. "There was no reason for me to."

Yamato stayed silent.

"You're just so perfect," she continued, staring at him. "I don't want that pretty face going anywhere or worse, ruined!"

"...I see."

Sakura bit her lip before saying, "I'll show you the sakura tree for real now, ok?"