Haruhi Fujioka was no stranger to weirdness. After all, she was repaying the debt she earned breaking an eight million yen vase by pretending to be a boy and working in a host club at a school for the "rich and beautiful". "Weird" was her daily life at this point.
That being said, Haruhi was pretty sure she fell asleep in her own bed at home. So when she woke up on dirty ground with aches all over her body, she immediately knew something was wrong.
Pulling herself up with a groan, she examined her surroundings. She was laying on a small patch of golden flowers, surrounded by stone. Looking up, she noticed cave walls as far as the eye could see, going up and up until the spot where a bit of light shone through. So she had clearly fallen into a cave of some sort. But how had she gotten there? And if she had fallen, and her bruises said she had, how had she survived? The top was so far away!
And….what was she wearing? The blue and purple striped sweatshirt and dark blue shorts she had on were definitely not hers!
Haruhi frowned. If this was some prank by the other hosts, then she was quitting on the spot, debt be damned. Well, as soon as she found a way out that is.
Closer inspection of the cave revealed a pathway leading to some stone columns. Haruhi felt a spark of hope; if there were buildings in this place, there was probably another way out. She dragged herself to her feet and headed on her way. There seemed to be nothing but stone and walls at first, there was nothing else to look at.
However soon Haruhi found herself rounding the corner into a clearing, where a single golden flower with a smiling face sat. The flower noticed her and seemed to perk up.
"Howdy!" It. It said. It said? The flower was talking? "I'm Flowey the flower! It's very nice to meet you!"
Haruhi blinked. She had never seen a talking flower before. That sort of stuff just didn't happen in reality. She must be dreaming. That would explain all the other weirdness. The thought was comforting. "It's nice to meet you too I guess," She said. "I'm Haruhi Fujioka."
Flowey's grin grew brighter. "Hello Haruhi! You seem to be new to the Underground, is that right?"
Haruhi nodded. The underground must be what this place was called. Not very creative, but then again, this was just a dream. Her dreams weren't usually this detailed. It would make sense for her mind to come up with a name like that. "Do you think you can give me directions on how to get out of here?"
Flowey tilted his(?) head. "Out of the Underground? Well sure, but there's no way you can get out like this. Your Soul is too weak. You need a really strong Soul to get you all the way through the Underground to where the exit is."
"Then how do I get a strong Soul?" She asked.
"I thought you'd say that! That's where I come in to help you out!" All of a sudden, everything around them dimmed. Haruhi felt a pull on her chest, and looked down to find a red heart hovering near her heart. Weird. "See that?" Flowey said. "That's your Soul. The culmination of your being. It's weak now, see that bar?" She looked to where the flower was pointing to see a small yellow bar with a "20" at the end. "Don't worry though, it'll get stronger the more LOVE you gain."
"Alright, that sounds reasonable enough, I guess." It made sense, that souls would get stronger with love. "How do I get more love exactly?"
"I'll share some with you now!" Flowey chirped. Small white circles formed around him. "Here, this is what it looks like in physical form. Move around, try and get as many as you can!"
Flowey sent the circles her way. Haruhi moved around to grab them-
"OW!" She gasped in pain as they struck her Soul. It was like something sharp and heavy had slammed into her and then dug itself into her chest! She turned her head to see her yellow bar was at a sliver, and the number read 1.
This wasn't a dream.
Haruhi looked up to see Flowey's face had morphed. Where a smile was, something twisted had taken shape, with sharp teeth and terrifying eyes. "You idiot! In this world, it's kill or be killed!" Even his voice had changed, sounding grating and nasty. "DIE."
The white circles surrounded Haruhi, on level with where her Soul was. Was this how she died? In some strange cave in strange clothes with a strange not-flower that wanted to kill her for some reason? The circles closed in, and Haruhi wished she would stop hurting so much so that she could get out of the way-
-And a fireball flew in from nowhere, knocking the flower away from her. The circles vanished. Haruhi let out a breath of relief and looked towards the person that saved her, ready to thank them.
The words froze in her mouth. Instead, a small "Mori-Senpai?" Came out instead.
Mori-Senpai looked at her. "Hello. My name is Takashi. You must've mistaken me for someone else. Sorry."
Haruhi opened her mouth to snap at him, demand to know what was going on and why he was randomly insisting on being Takashi. She closed it and took a closer look.
It was Mori, absolutely, but there was something….different about him. He was dressed in a purple and white suit and tie, with a strange logo she had never seen before on both. He looked to be the same age as the Mori-Senpai she was used to, maybe a bit older, but his eyes looked both sad and ancient. There was something vaguely...inhuman about him. This was Mori-Senpai, but not the one she knew.
"Um….Takashi," She tried. "Thanks for saving me." The man nodded.
"I've seen that creature before. It's pitiful, picking on a young human like that," He said. "Come with me. I've got a place for you to rest up." Haruhi hesitated. She had trusted Flowey, after all. And why did he say "young human", like he wasn't human himself?
No. It's still Mori-Senpai. He would never do anything like that.
She followed Takashi into another room, with stone stairs and flowers. In the middle was a small glowing spark. On instinct, Haruhi reached out and grabbed it. It was warm, but not burning.
The sight of the Ruins fills you with determination.
Hp fully restored.
Haruhi glanced up in surprise. She could have sworn she had just heard someone else's voice. It sounded familiar, but she couldn't place it.
"Are you coming?" Takashi asked her.
"Yeah." Haruhi followed him further into the ruins. She would ask him more questions once they were safe.
