Chiaki woke to the smell of fish udon being freshly prepared as well as Hajime complaining about the smell.
"How can you stand that smell?" Hajime asked.
"I've smelled worse things when my brother tried to cook" natsumi said.
"It smells nice...I think" Chiaki said.
"Thank you Chiaki" natsumi smiled.
"Fine" Hajime sighed.
Natsumi prepared two bowls of fish udon for her and chiaki, while Hajime stuck to eating mochi. As chiaki ate she remembered something Ashe had to do.
"I have to get something" Chiaki said before getting up and going to her hammock.
"What is it?" Natsumi asked once chiaki came back with her hands behind her back.
"I made these for you two" Chiaki said as she lifted up two charms made of crystals.
"Aww Chiaki" natsumi said as chiaki handed her an orange charm.
"I wanted to show my...I think it was gratitude" Chiaki said as she handed Hajime a green charm.
Each charm was made of six crystals that were put together to look like a star.
"I don't know what to say except thank you" Hajime said," I'll keep it with me forever".
"This will go great alongside my tiger charm" natsumi said.
"I'm happy that you like them...I think" Chiaki said causing Hajimes smile to waver a bit.
"Aww Chiaki you're so sweet" natsumi said.
"We should locate the next heart fragment" Hajime said
"Okay" Chiaki nodded while natsumi gave Hajime a glare.
Once chiaki aimed her keyblade, Hajime looked at the map.
"The world of seasons" Hajime said.
"How does that work?" Natsumi asked.
"It's probably a world made up of the four different seasons" Hajime said.
"Hope we get to walk through the summer part" natsumi said," oh, Chiaki, you probably don't know what seasons are"
"Yes, I'd like to know" Chiaki said.
"Well, seasons are periods of time where certain things happen" natsumi explained," for example, cherry blossoms bloom in spring and leaves fall in autumn".
"Cherry blossom?" Chiaki asked.
"They're like regular trees, but in spring their leaves turn pink" natsumi said.
"That's sounds interesting" Chiaki said," is like to see a cherry blossom"
"I promise we'll find one in the world of seasons" natsumi said.
...
The ship sailed smoothly until it reached the world of seasons. From the outskirts, the world of seasons looked more like the world of winter. Hajime docked the boat and the trio entered the winter forest.
"Winter's not that bad" natsumi said.
"It's still pretty cold" Chiaki said.
"Yeah, but that's when you cuddle with someone close for warmth" natsumi said.
"Sounds scary" Chiaki said.
"Here" natsumi said as she wrapped her arm around Chiaki," it's not that bad".
Chiaki flinched at the moment of contact and was a bit reserved to touch natsumi back, however her longing for warmth led her to hug natsumi back. Natsumi was as warm as her fiery personality and chiaki could even hear natsumis heart beat. Chiaki herself was rather cold, but still very soft like a peach. As Natsumi held Chiaki close, she noticed Chiaki had a faint heart beat. While the two girls cuddled for warmth, Hajime looked at big animal prints in the snow.
"Looks like we found the hopeless" Hajime said," if we follow these tracks and find the hopeless, that should lead us to the heart fragment".
"Looks like a wolf hopeless" Natsumi said as she looked at the tracks," let's catch this sucker"
Following the tracks, the trio journeyed to a frozen lake. They crossed a bridge to reach an island with a big tree in the center of the lake. Lying under the dead tree in a patch of four leaf clovers was the hopeless the were tracking. Rather then being a wolf hopeless, as they had expected, it was a four tailed fox hopeless. The fox hopeless was white with black legs and tail tips. It's face and heart insignia were hidden behind a monotone fox mask with crimson eyes bleeding through. As soon as chiaki approached the fox hopeless, it raised its head and stared at her before getting up. Chiaki approached the fox hopeless only for it to leap over her and face Hajime and natsumi. The fox hopeless swished its four tails as it stared at Hajime and natsumi still on the bridge. Out of nowhere, a powerful bolt of lightning pierced through the sky and destroyed the bridge and cutting Chiaki off from the others. With the bridge destroyed, the fox hopeless turned to chiaki and bowed to her.
"Excuse me, but why did you do that?" Chiaki asked.
The fox hopeless responded by wrapping its body and tails around Chiaki. Chiaki felt the soft curly fur against her, but also the coldness of the hopeless.
"You must miss Nanami" Chiaki said," I'm sorry you had to lose her".
The fox hopeless responded by pushing its nose against her.
"I promise you'll see her again" Chiaki said as she reached for the mask," please let me help you"
The fox hopeless backed its head away until deciding to move it forward to her. Chiaki delicately took off the mask to reveal the fox hopelesses wounded face full of scars. She looked into the fox hopelesses red eyes and could sense the unending sorrow it felt.
"It's okay" Chiaki said as she pressed her forehead against the green heart insignia on the fox hopelesses forehead," I'm going to help you".
The fox hopeless shed a tear before devolving into shadow. Chiaki caught one of the freed hearts in her keyblade as she looked to her comrades on the other side of the lake. Out of nowhere rain started to fall as the sun shined brightly. Following the rain, the surrounding environment rapidly changed from winter to spring. Ice and snow melted revealing the grass and plants. The tree that once looked dead now grew bright with life and pink petals. With no other choice, natsumi and Hajime swam across the lake to the island.
"Looks like a kitsune wedding and a change in season" natsumi said.
"What's a kitsune wedding?" Hajime asked.
"They say that when rain falls while the sun shines that's when foxes get married" natsumi said.
"Is this a cherry blossom?" Chiaki said as she held out a fallen pink leaf.
"Yep" natsumi nodded.
"It's so beautiful" Chiaki said as she looked at the falling pink leaves.
For a while the trio just stood in the light rain and shower of pink leaves, until something shiny descended with the leaves. A heart fragment delicately floated down into chiakis hands and radiated its soft light. Chiaki accepted the heart fragment without hesitation and fainted.
...
'It's time I taught you a very special power'
"What is it mama?"
'The power to synchronize hearts'
"That sounds so cool"
'Yes, and only you can do it'
"Because I have a pure heart?"
'Exactly'
"Then I'm ready to learn"
'I love your enthusiasm'
...
While natsumi tucked Chiaki into her hammock, Hajime looked back to the world of seasons to see that same hooded figure in the distance. The hooded figure watched Hajime until he left to tend to chiaki.
"What were you staring at?" Natsumi asked.
"I was just admiring the scenery" Hajime said.
