Burrow Sweet Burrow

Tsubaki was stressed. It seemed like too many things needed her attention all at once. Meetings, business deals, contracts; she wasn’t sure that her schedule was ever so tight before. She didn’t even have the energy to stop by Dan’s shop for some mitarashi dango, which she usually made time for at least once a week. 

Staring at the paper in front of her, Tsubaki read the same paragraph about three separate times without fully understanding it, her mind wandering too much to focus. As much as she loathed to acknowledge it, she needed a break. Tsubaki pushed her chair away from her desk and stood, stretching out her stiff muscles as she considered what to do with this break. 

As much as she would love to use this time to pick up more dango, she knew she couldn’t use it to keep doing things and being productive. She needed an actual break where she did nothing and did not have to socialize or talk to anyone, or read over another long-winded contract. Thankfully, she knew the perfect spot, and it wasn’t very far at all.

Tsubaki walked down the stairs to the lower floor of her home, then proceeded out the back door and into her garden. The garden was a vast and beautiful area; full of flowers, crystals, a pond, a gazebo, and even some trees. It was Tsubaki’s favorite place by far, and where she most liked to visit to relax and unwind. 

Her dress fell to the ground as Tsubaki slowly undressed herself. When the last piece of clothing hit the ground, she transformed into her bun form. This way, she could better smell the flowers, and she could better hear the soft sway of the greenery and the tree branches. Using her dress as a makeshift blanket of sorts, Tsubaki laid on top of it and stared up at the crystal cavern above. Her eyes fluttered shut as she breathed deeply. In and out, in and out… her mind and muscles were finally starting to relax. 

She wasn’t sure when she drifted off, but when Tsubaki opened her eyes, the crystal lights above had darkened. Shit… she groaned as she thought to herself. She’d been asleep for several hours now, and she shuddered to think about how backed up she was going to be on her paperwork because of this impromptu nap. Well, there was no use fretting about it now. She couldn’t turn back time, and clearly she needed that nap.

Tsubaki sat up and once more gazed around the garden. Night time made it even more beautiful, as the crystals she had strategically placed throughout were now glowing, lighting up both the flowers and water with different colors, making the place even more beautiful and serene. 

She’d already been out here this long; surely a bit longer wouldn’t hurt. Perhaps she would just call it for the day and continue her work in the morning. Yes, that’s what she would do. Tsubaki stood and shifted back into her doll form. Instead of walking back inside, however, she instead ventured over to the pond’s edge. Slowly, she waded through the water until her entire body was underwater except for her head. It’d been a while since she had been skinny dipping, but she loved to do it here where the different lights from the crystal reflected on the surface of the water. 

Truly, she thought, there was no better place in all of Burrowgatory. The mix of nature, solitude and privacy, and unmatched beauty simply could not be beaten, making it Tsubaki’s first choice whenever she needed some reprieve from her everyday life.