"Like hell I'd want to see that tree." Yamato said. "I wish to leave."

"Oh," Sakura said. "Well, then, I can't help you."

"Why not?"

And then, he felt something grab his face.

When he awoke (again?! What was this?!), he shot up and looked around.

This time, he was in a small room. It looked like a dentist's office, including a similar light and similar tools—except, included in the dentist tools, was make-up brushes.

He checked his ear, and was relieved to find his hearing aid still there. Next, he stood up, finding his was to a doorway with no door. Upon looking out, he found himself in a new lab. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to explore much. He knew Sakura was becoming more aggressive; just the way she was more willing to attack with her weird, pink vines was convincing him. While he knew he could easily fight her off alone, he couldn't fight her off if she had her many, many flowers with her. It was like one man against an army of a million. No, he was not exaggerating. Not one bit.

He heard bubbling nearby. Slowing his pace, he peered around a corner and found that while no one was there, someone had been. A stove top heated a pot, with some sort of pinkish smoke coming out of it. A glass tube was placed above the pot, it sucking in the smoke into a strange looking device that had a number on it that slowly rose. Around the pot, was a few pieces of paper and pink petals.

Yamato slowly walked inside. Once he confirmed no one else was with him, he walked to the pot.

Cough, cough! The smell was so strong once he was next to the brew. Backing away, he turned his attention to the machine.

'What is this counting?' He wondered. Maybe it was heat? But when he daringly put his hand in the smoke, he found it only about room temperature. Then, perhaps it was radiation. But if it was radiation, then Sakura must of known that and taken the proper precautions in not letting smoke escape, unless she was dim witted and idiotic. That didn't seem likely either, though.

'Perhaps the papers hold something?' He wondered as he picked up the papers, letting the sakura petals floating down to his feet.

"THE TRUE WAY TO PERFECTION AND IMMORTALITY" said the paper's title, "BY ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜

(Ink blotches in the paper? Oh well, Yamato couldn't expect them to be perfect.)

"STEP 1: BOIL WATER ON THE LOWEST HEAT. IF IT GETS TOO HOT, IT WILL NOT WORK.

"STEP 2: GATHER YOUR PERFECT PETALS. THEY CANNOT BE BROKEN IN ANY WAY.

"STEP 3: CRUSH YOUR PERFECT PETALS UNTIL THEY ARE A FINE DUST AND POUR THEM INTO THE WATER

"DO NOT MIX. IT WILL RUIN IT.

"STEP 4: WAIT FOR ONE DAY AND ONE NIGHT. MAKE SURE TO MEASURE THE ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ CONCENTRATION.

"STEP 5: AFTER ONE DAY AND ONE NIGHT, MIX IN THE BLOOD OF A PERFECT SOUL. MUST BE OVER 20 YEARS OF AGE.

"STEP 6: ONCE THE BLOOD IS MIXED IN, YOU MAY NOW POUR IT ON YOURSELF. NOW YOU ARE IMMORTAL AND PERFECT FOREVER."

What a weird...potion? Yamato wasn't sure what it exactly was.

"What a strange brew!" The old man from the bus stop remarked.

"Yes, it is." Yamato said, then his eyes widened. "Ack! How did you-"

"Shh, my boy! You'll startle the sleepers." As he said this, he pointed above himself. Yamato followed his outstretched finger to find the ceiling was covered in roots, all entangled in the floorboards. "I hope you don't mind that I took off your door."

"Those are just roots." Yamato said, confused.

"They just look like roots. If we wake them sleepers up, Sakura will surly know you're awake again."

Yamato narrowed his eyes. The shock was wearing off, and his thinking was so clear now, so he cleared his throat.

"How did you get here..."

"Oh, me?" The old man gave a smile. "Why, I live here."

"...what?"

"I live here. It burnt down ages ago, or so I thought. But when I got here, it was still in tact!"

What a...strange...story. Yamato opened his mouth to ask more, but then a floorboard began to creek. The roots seemed to become uneasy as flowers began to sprout from them and just as quickly fall off.

"Ah," the old man said, holding out his hand for the flowers, "you should leave, good sir."

Yamato has so many questions, but hearing Sakura's angry screaming upon finding him gone was enough to make him run away.

"Oh, one last thing!" The old man called. "Take the stairs to the left, that's where you can get outside."

The stairs to the left? Yamato almost missed them, but he could see daylight pushing through petals and vines. He held out his hand to try to squeeze out any energy he could, and but a spark was enough to engulf the plants into a hazy flame.

Once he was through, he tried to inhale the fresh air, but found only horror.

Before him, was the biggest sakura tree he'd ever seen. The entire ground was covered in flowers, and the tree itself had branches that stretched as far and as perfectly as they could.

What a fucking nightmare.

"T-there you are!" Sakura said desperately from the flaming vines. She waved her hand at the flames and stomped them out, all with a desperate smile on her face.

"I'm leaving!" Yamato said, trying to ignore his closing in throat. "I'm the most powerful Esper, and I can kill you!"

"No! You can't leave! I'm so close!" She sobbed, running at him. Yamato finally noticed the steaming potion, the same from where he just was. She splashed the liquid on his face and chest, its warm embrace making his body burn.

"AAAAHHHH!" Yamato screamed, clawing at his eyes. Flowers! There were flowers in that stupid potion!

He backed up blindly, as his eyes had shut up, feeling vines track up his legs. Finally, he felt himself fall over. His head hit one of roots, and he immediately blacked out.

***

"Our daughter is 7! She doesn't need to worry about her appearance until she's at least 18!"The father slammed his hands on the table, his brow furrowed with anger.

"You act like you care about her, but all you do is sit in our basement and study!" The mother swung her hands out, her eyes glowing with anger.

"At least I'm not putting her on an unbelievable pedestal! She'll never be perfect, and neither will you! We humans are built imperfect, there is nothing you can do about it!"

"She doesn't need a bum like you in her life anymore! Get out! Get OUT!!"

Shattering glass made a young Sakura look up from her dusting. She watched as her father walked away from the estate, yelling fowl things at her mommy.

And that was the last she'd ever seen of her father. Now, it was just her and mommy.

Her and mommy forever and ever.

Forever...

"You can never be perfect, Sakura!" Her mother yelled, little tears dotting her eyes. "Please, just..."

This was supposed to be a warm reunion. Sakura would have shown mommy how perfect she had become. Mommy would be been so proud.

But mommy had changed her mind.

"I'll never be...perfect?" Sakura asked, her breath hitched. After all these years of working so hard to make mommy proud, and now it was being thrown away like a make-up tissue.

Oh, Sakura was mad now. Mommy shouldn't have said that.

"Mother!" Sakura screamed in anger. But on her face, a smile curled around her cheeks like vines.

She held out her hand. It was a large trunk of pink wood now, but Sakura thought it looked nice around mommy's neck. She threw her screaming mother into the sakura tree's roots, the impact knocking her out. Sakura crept forward next to her mommy, and with a smile, snuggled next to her and closed her eyes.

"You're still perfect, mother," Sakura whispered as she felt fire engulf her.

Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.

Smash.

Yamato awoke with a jolt. He shot up, but his legs were stuck under roots. He looked around, and found everything around him to be lit ablaze. Bodies of people surrounded him, encased in the roots as he was. Coughing and sneezing, he pushed the roots as hard as he could. He groaned, feeling the pain in his body reminding him that it still was there.

He could hardly see or breathe. His eyes were still swollen shut, only a sliver open. His throat was almost like being under water, but he could still feel his lungs working hard to keep him alive.

He finally stopped pushing against the roots and looked at his hands. They were red with hives, almost like a pox had invaded his skin. He didn't want to think of what his behind looked like.

"You're still alive." Yamato's head shot up and he could barely see Sakura. Her eyes were puffy, too, but it was from crying and not allergies.

"It didn't work!" She wailed. "I'm still the same as before! Why didn't you work?! Aren't you perfect!!"

"No." Yamato said frankly. Sakura gasped and backed away.

"But you look- and you act so-" She fell over and held her head in anguish.

He felt his scar, rubbing it against his bubbling fingertips. He pulled away and saw concealer rub off.

"My scar won't just leave with make-up." He said weakly. Sakura stared at him, still holding her head and sniffling.

"No, no, you were supposed to make me perfect! It's not fair! It's not fair!"

She ran to her mother, still encased in her tree and hugged her tightly. Yamato watched until he felt the fire creeping up his legs. Now that the roots were on fire, he could-

Smash! He pulled himself up and held out his hands to find the exit. It was hard when his legs were numb with pain, but he knew he had all the time in the world due to Sakura's wailing that seemed to swallow him more and more with every painstaking step he took.

"It's not fair!" She screamed. "It's not! It's not fair!"

She just wanted the love of her mother. She just wanted to be perfect. Why, oh why did nothing go her way?

'It's not fair,' he thought. 'It's not. It's not fair.'

He wasn't weak. It was just the flowers. They were nothing. He was the strongest Esper. And flowers were not even a weakness.

He suddenly felt the cold of outside tickling his face. He held out his hand, but he was suddenly grabbed by a large pink claw.

"You can't leave yet!" Sakura cried. "We can still try again!"

Yamato pulled himself away from her strong grip, gasping at the pain it was causing him. He shook his head, gritting his teeth. His escape was so close, he knew it.

"I want to leave!"

With one final yank of his arm, he felt himself land on the cold wood floor. Looking up, he saw the sunrise. Shooting up, he saw that the estate was burnt down all around him. He felt his eyes, and he felt how open they were. He looked at his hands, and they were clean as new. He inhaled, and he could inhale with ease. He only had a bit of a stuffy nose and watery eyes, but they felt like heaven compared to what he just felt mere moments ago.

Taking deep breaths, he took only a moment to relax before he ran straight out of the building. He made sure to stomp on the dead flowers on his way out, for good measure.

***

The bus ride was full of stares. Yamato thought that everything he had experienced was a dream, but as he made it out of the estate grounds, he quickly realized he was still in the pink shirt and fancy shoes. He looked very silly, but he couldn't care less. He just wanted to go home, in his nice bedroom, with no flowers or anything outdoor related.

"Bus stop 25! I repeat, bus stop 25!" The driver yelled into his speaker. Yamato got up and quickly stepped out. He was now in a district closer to the heart of Graywater. He gave his pockets a good pat before feeling his heart skip a beat.

The music box. It was gone. Along with his communicator and his whole bag, all he had was the nasty clothes and his hearing aid.

He'd wanted to leave so fast, that he forgot to look for his stuff.

"Damn it, damn it all!" Yamato muttered as he swiftly walked down the streets of Graywater. He'd just go to Triki and explain the situation. Yeah, that'd work. Or perhaps he could just go back now. But what if the estate went back to unburnt? Would he have to go through it all again? But the music box, he couldn't lost that, his sister, she-

"Mr. Yamato?" Yamato felt a hand on his chest. He looked at it, then followed it to its owner.

"Xiao Yin." Yamato said breathlessly. "I need to see Triki."

"Good," Xiao Yin said, "he wants to see you too."

***

Triki stared at Yamato, who sat drinking up a glass of water faster than he'd ever seen an alcoholic drink a shot.

"What's with the new style?" Triki asked.

"Long story," Yamato said, "not important."

"Alright, why didn't you answer my calls?" Triki asked. "You know I wanted all the deets."

"I lost it, and my music box too. It's Sakura's fault."

"Sakura?" Triki stroked his chin. "Like the Sakura Estate? Someone still lives there? Like a squatter?"

"It must of been Devine power." Yamato finally realized. "It was completely fine when I saw it at first, but then when I left, it was burnt down."

"I see...very interesting! I'll send some people over to look around, and I'll make sure they find your precious music box."

Yamato slowly nodded, holding out his cup for more water.

"I'll send you home, now," Triki said, taking the cup and pushing Yamato to the door, "and we'll see what comes of this, hm?"

"Yeah, yeah." Yamato said, quickly leaving.

***

Sakura hunched over. She stared down at the objects that near perfect man had left; a communicator, a very fancy one, his original clothes, torn only by Sakura's imperfections, and a music box, which was still in pristine condition. She cradled her counting machine, blaming it for her failure for not counting enough miracle concentration as well as that Yamato for not being everything she wanted.

"Sakura..."

"Go away!" She blubbered. "You're not alive, father!"

"You're acting like a child."

"I don't mean to, mommy!"

She stood up to push her parents away, but their voices came from it seemed nowhere and everywhere.

Her sniffling anger came to a halt when she heard someone talking.

"This place is a dump!"

"Yeah. Triki's little business partner better be grateful."

"I don't even know why he puts up with Yamato.

"I betcha he's just losing it, hallucinated the whole thing!"

"Maybe, but this place is pretty creepy."

"Oh, boy, you can say that again!"

Three people turned the corner and stopped to stare at Sakura.

One had a crooked nose, like it had healed weird after being broken.

Another had a lot of scars and bandages all over his face.

The final had only half his hair, from some sort of accident.

"...none of you are perfect." Sakura growled as she lunged at them. The chorus of their screams echoed into the lonely night.

Later in the morning, only one came back to Triki. He shoved everything into his arms and told him he quit right on the spot, leaving as quickly as he came.

Triki examined the items; only Yamato's shoes were missing, everything else was there.

Another day, another year of partnership with Yamato, or at least that's what Triki thought.