[Comprehensive] Goat Song

Initially it is empty.

That young, fragile epiphyllum flower seedling was left in the forest by someone.It is so fragile that even a heavy rain can smash its branches and leaves and crush its roots.

"Oh, who dropped this flower here?"

A certain female youkai said this when she saw the flower seedlings on the ground.Epiphyllum, which was just an ordinary plant at that time, certainly didn't remember this, so it lay quietly in the grass, only the delicate leaves swaying in the wind.

The kind monster planted the epiphyllum under the shade of the big tree, hoping that the dense branches and leaves could cover it from the wind and rain.But even so, the epiphyllum is still weakening and withering day by day.

"Why is this so?" The monster was worried about it, but she was originally a spirit born from a stone, so she didn't understand the growth of plants.

"Are you an idiot, Quartz." Her friend taunts her when she sees the frowning stone monster. "Isn't it fine for an ordinary plant to die? There are so many plants in the forest, do you have to take care of each one?"

"It's not like that, Hina." Quartz retorted to her friend, "I met it and wanted to help it, so I have to do it to the end."

"That's why I say you're an idiot." Hina said in a low voice, then she stretched out her fingers and put her fingertips into the water bowl held in Quartz's hand.

With the infusion of demonic energy, the water in the bowl gradually shrouded in a light green light.

"Give this to it. Anyway, it's an ordinary plant. With this bit of evil spirit, it can survive no matter what."

"Well, thank you, Hina!"

"Wh... thank you, you idiot! I only helped once because this grass is also a plant!"

What he said was as if he was not the same monster as the one who disliked Epiphyllum just now.

Under the nourishment of this evil spirit, Epiphyllum slowly came back to life.It stretches its branches and leaves, and tries its best to extend its roots.Finally, it grew into a strong and vigorous epiphyllum even in this unsuitable environment for its growth.

"Great, I survived." Holding the water bowl, Shi Shi looked at the epiphyllum that was nourished by her and Hina's demon power, showing a silly smile.

"You're such a waste..." Hina looked disgusted, but there was a smile in her eyes. "How did you, a rock, become the mother of a plant?"

"Mother? Me? Oh, I'm sorry..."

"I'm not praising you."

What the two monsters said didn't mean anything, they just mentioned it casually, but Epiphyllum, who had already given birth to sanity, didn't understand this.

At that time, she was ignorant and understood what she heard.Therefore, from then on, Quartz became the mother in her heart.

Epiphyllum thought in her heart, she should grow faster, like a young chick, able to give birth to two feet, grow two arms, and then hug the quartz.

It was Hina who was the first to notice that she had given birth to sanity.Quartz was pleasantly surprised when she made this point.She touched the leaves of the epiphyllum, and then touched the buds she was waiting to bloom.

"Great, this child can actually become a monster!"

"Being nourished by evil energy every day, if you can't do it, it's useless."

"Give her a name...well, how about []?"

"Let's call it that."

Thus, the Epiphyllum demon got a name in this way, a name that only belonged to her.

With this name, the epiphyllum demon is cultivating hard every day. She mustered a lot of strength to grow, pouring the demonic power of her body into the flower buds desperately.She knew very well that if one day her flowers bloomed, she would be able to take human form.

In this kind of practice, the epiphyllum blooms.First one, then two.Slowly, the flowers all over the Epiphyllum demon's body bloomed.

The Epiphyllum demon turned into a human form under the night sky. She saw the sky for the first time, the lake for the first time, and the big tree that protected her for the first time.

She is still very weak, so she can't even leave this flower field.Therefore, the Epiphyllum demon obediently stayed beside her body, waiting for Shi Shi and Hina day after day.

They didn't come in the first year, and they didn't come in the second year, until the 20-year flowering period of Epiphyllum No....the two monsters still didn't come.

Epiphyllum realized that maybe her mother would never come again.

She thought, maybe I've grown up and it's time to be someone else's mother... That's why Quartz left her.

But whose mother shall I be?

Epiphyllum fell into a stalemate, and she didn't know where she was going to find a little guy to be her child.

Then in the flowering period of the year, as soon as she opened her eyes, she saw a flower blooming beside her.

It was a very beautiful young Epiphyllum blooming like a peacock.

The little epiphyllum was planted here by someone, but with the evil spirit of the epiphyllum demon of the same origin, it managed to survive.

"You are my child, right? Great, I will love you!"

So the Epiphyllum demon took care of the little Epiphyllum carefully, like every mother in the world.She also imitated the name Shi Shi gave her, and named Xiao Epiphyllum "Lin".

At the end of that year's flowering period, the Epiphyllum demon gently touched Lin's leaves and said goodbye to it.

"See you next year at the flowering season, my child."

But in the second year, when the Epiphyllum demon opened its eyes, it was as if Lin had never existed... just disappeared.

Where is my child...?

Why is my child missing?

Who can help me, who can save it!

With great sadness, the epiphyllum used her short flowering period to find her child.However, I can't find it anywhere.

Then one day, Reiko came.

"I said, you are the flower demon who has been looking for her child, right?"

"Yes... who are you? Do you know where my children are?"

"I'm Natsume Reiko, I don't know now! But I can help you find it. Compared to you, I'm much more free."

"Thank you! Thank you so much!"

"Don't thank me. Compared to this, you play a game with me. If I win, you can give me your name." At that time, Natsume Reiko pinched her waist and handed out a hand to the Epiphyllum demon with a hearty smile. sheet of paper. "Come and be my friend too!"

"You don't need to play games..." Epiphyllum Bloom blinked, and took the paper in a daze. "If it's a friend, I can give you a name."

As she spoke, she wrote her name on the paper.

Since then, the Epiphyllum demon has been waiting.She waited year after year, and at the end, she slowly sank into resentment.

Why didn't Reiko come?

Has Reiko found my baby yet?Did she already find it, but she didn't want to return it to me?

Damn Reiko... Reiko who stole other people's children...

i hate you...

i hate you...

I hate you…

Ah, so lonely... Reiko...

Why haven't you called my name once?

I miss you so much...

Epiphyllum has been thinking this way between dreaming and waking up.

………………

Natsume Takashi opened his eyes, staring blankly at the familiar wood grain above his head.Then, he turned his head sideways and looked at the Epiphyllum demon who was kneeling on the edge of his bed.

There was not a trace of resentment in her, nor a trace of longing.The Epiphyllum demon looked as if he had already thought about something, or had given up on something.

"I'm here to say goodbye, Natsume-sama." When she quieted down, her delicate face softened, making Epiphyllum look like a real mother. "After I separated from you just now, I thought about it... Sure enough, I still have to apologize to you."

Natsume Takashi didn't speak, but just listened quietly, his brows and eyes were soft, which made Epiphyllum Demon's tone more brisk.

"I did something wrong. I hurt you because of my own feelings, regardless of the reason... I became a bad mother who hurt other people's children."

"Don't say that, you didn't really mean to hurt me."

"If you do something wrong, you are doing something wrong!" The Epiphyllum Demon crossed her arms and raised her head, "I plan to go back to the flower field and practice quietly... After I become a big monster, I will travel around, Then see more monsters and humans."

"Well, it's definitely possible." Natsume Takashi sat up from the bed, took the friend's account, and spread it out in front of him. "I'll give you my name back."

"If you like it, leave it to you?"

"That's your thing, it's the bond between you and Shishi, Hina, and Lin, right?"

"...Yes, Natsume-sama."

"My protector, show your name." As soon as the words fell, the friend account in Natsume Takashi's hand flicked through, and then stopped on one page.

The boy pressed the paper flatly, pressed his lips together, and raised his head.

"I'll give you my name back...Shizuku."

The clapped hands made a small sound, and the wind of evil spirit stirred Natsume Takashi's hair.The body of the epiphyllum demon named Shizuku gradually turned into a twilight, and the power when she was disconnected from the account of friends will send her back to the flower field.

In a trance, he heard the Epiphyllum demon thanking him.

"Thank you. Natsume-sama..."

Teacher Cat, who has been nestling next to Natsume Takashi and pretending to be asleep, snorted softly, but didn't say anything after all.

On the second day, Natsume Takashi told the story to Nakahara Aiya.Although he concealed the existence of the account of friends, he told the girl, but not Shizuku.

He saw Reiko's memory, and he knew that Reiko hadn't forgotten the agreement.She asked the monsters one by one, but in the end, she only knew that Lin was poached by a certain family.However, Shizuku escaped unharmed because of her strange birth.

Lin, who was originally just an ordinary plant, might not be around anywhere these years.

Aiya Nakahara noticed something hidden in Natsume Takashi's words, but she didn't say anything.

Listening to this story, she somehow remembered her former self.Therefore, Zhongyuan Aiya took action.

As a member of the Port Mafia, she has enough ability even in Kumamoto Prefecture.In just one morning, the girl asked Zhongyuan Zhongye's subordinates to find a better-growing peacock epiphyllum for her.While it was still early, the two planted Peacock Epiphyllum beside Shizuku.

They didn't know how Shizuku felt when they saw this peacock epiphyllum.But the next day, as soon as Aiya Zhongyuan opened the door, she found a small but fragrant epiphyllum on the ground at the door, which was still blooming in the daytime.

She raised her head, just as Natsume Takashi also stood up holding an epiphyllum.The two people, one big and one small, looked at each other and suddenly smiled.

Great, it looks like Shizuku is very happy.

The author has something to say:

The story of Epiphyllum is very simple. In fact, right, it is estimated that in the end, it is not Reiko who "takes away" her child with resentment in her heart.What she hates the most is that Reiko gave her a friendship, but gave her even greater loneliness.

Aiya and Shizuku are similar in some ways, but Aiya is luckier, because her affection for Chuya is reciprocated, and it is a two-way, mutually supportive family relationship.