"Urghhh...."
Groaned the female lying in the bed.
With her thin brows slightly furrowed, a wave of pain attacked her head relentlessly. Her body felt so weak, muscles aching and throbbing here and there. A shaky hand darted upwards, massaging her temples in an attempt to comfort herself. Atleast it was effective, even for a little.
"Oh my god!"
A gasp was heard followed by a hurried shuffling inside the room she was in.
She could hear fast approaching footsteps before determining that it stopped just beside the bed she was residing in. It was a wonder how that person didn't tripped on their own feet despite the frantic shuffling of footsteps that had resounded. The bed shifted, clearly telling her that her companion leaned to check on her.
A larger and gentle hand pulled her own that was currently massaging her temples. A cold sensation was felt on her forehead, replacing the fingers that were doing it's best to comfort her aching head.
The coldness was very soothing.
"How are you feeling? Are you awake?"
The very same voice asked her. She didn't answer, having a hard time in moving her facial muscles and her throat felt very dry. But the person beside her proved to be patient as they didn't continuously pressed her for answers.
Thank goodness.
Slowly, the pain had subsided and she opened her eyes. What greeted her first was the view of an unfamiliar ceiling.
'Wow. How cliche...'
Despite not having much strength, an eyebrow twitched at the thought as she slowly switched her gaze to the person beside her.
An unknown woman was peering down worriedly at her laying form.
The woman was beautiful.
She might be just in her late teens, judging from her youthful appearance. Pristine skin with faint stardust-like freckles, long fluttering lashes above her emerald green eyes, silky dark auburn hair tied in a high bun and of course, the maid uniform she was slaying.
There will be no doubt that this woman will be a head turner.
"Do you want me to get you something? Are you hungry?" The woman asked with the gentlest of voice, softly patting the cold cloth that was resting against her head.
'Wait....'
It was at this moment that the gears on her head had started turning and working like normal. It wasn't apparent at first but the current situation is slowly but surely starting to register itself on her mind. She stopped in her tracks, gazing her eyes once again at the unknown woman. She wasn't really hallucinating. The woman was definitely wearing a classic maid uniform.
'What the hell... Is this a trend?'
Although the maid uniform suited the woman perfectly, the girl was puzzled. She's inside an unfamiliar room with an unfamiliar woman in a maid uniform. This is suspicious in more ways than one. It doesn't look like the maid is cosplaying.
Furrowing her brows, the girl had started to recall the events that had happened before she lost consciousness.
If she remembered correctly, she was caught up in a car accident while fleeing from the embarassing scene of her getting dumped by her long time crush.
It was such a very humiliating experience. She and the guy had been long time friends. They were so close and comfortable to each other that most people often mistook them as a couple. She was very confident that he likes her back too. But when she had confessed, when Valentine's day arrived, the said guy just furrowed his brows, apologizes and then told her that he only sees her like a sibling and was more interested in her friend before he walked away.
A lot of schoolmates had witnessed the incident, including that one friend that her crush was interested in. Clicking her tongue, the girl slightly shook her head and massaged her temples. It was not the time to be thinking about such things. She had more pressing matters that needed more attention.
The accident itself is weird, now that she had think about it. Everything feels like it was intentional. Another thing to note...
She should be in the hospital if the people who had witnessed the accident had helped her. But here she was, in an unknown place. How long had it been since the accident? Did she fell into a coma? But there weren't any medical apparatus attached on her body for life support.
Did she die?
Recalling the sensation of being crushed by the massive vehicle, she can't stop the shiver that ran down her spine. At that exact moment, she slightly regret forcing herself for trying to remember about the accident. The fear and pain was bone chilling. It actually made her terrified as of the moment as well. There was no way that she could've survive that kind of accident.
Ah. This is not good.
Eventhough she's struggling, she pushed herself to sit up straight. And of course, the woman helped her despite protesting that she still have a fever.
The girl swallowed dryly, eyeing the maid in wonder and suspicion. It took a few more seconds before she switched her gaze around the room. It was very spacious, with a very light pink motif. Bookshelves stood side by side. There was a study table, large windows, fluffy bed and fancy curtains. In short this room looked so expensive and too girlish to her liking.
She visibly winced when her head experienced another wave of pounding pain. Instinctively, her hand went up and held her head but then, she stopped.
She felt that something is strange.
Now that she was finally aware of her surroundings, she noticed that her hand that was on her head was smaller. Her body felt strange as well. The girl looked down and stared at her 'small' hands and upper body that was visible from the thick blanket on her.
In a moment of realization, the girl threw the covers off of herself and ran to the nearest full-length mirror that was just beside the drawers. Her sudden actions startled the maid who let out a gasp as she hurriedly followed after the girl. She still have a fever so it was better to rest. The maid was puzzled to see the girl standing in front of the mirror in shock.
"What's wrong? Are you hurting somewhere?"
The maid asked carefully after instructing another maid to call for the parents of the girl.
But the girl paid her no mind, too busy in her own little world. She continued to stare at the reflection of the child staring back at her from the mirror.
In the reflection stood a little girl between the ages of seven or eight. Long and straight black hair cascaded down to her back. Crimson eyes resembling ruby gems held astonishment and incredulity at the unexpected situation she found herself in.
'What the hell...'
The child's expression was raw.
A genuine expression of shock and disbelief. She held out a hand, touching the image of her reflection while her other hand shakily touched her cheek, slightly pinching on it, -the classic way of checking if someone is dreaming or not.
'That hurts.'
Of course, she would recognize her own face. But the thing is, the last time she checked, she was a 16 year old girl -turning 17- and not a child. The mixed emotions she felt made her more dizzy. Just as the thought passed on her mind, the door to the room suddenly flew open, revealing a man and a woman that were staring at her in worry.
It didn't take a [Detective Conan] for her to form a conclusion in her head.
'Are you kidding me?! I didn't sign up for this Isekai shit!'
Cursing at herself, the girl passed out and fell to the floor with a loud thud. The sudden lost of consciousness causing all the people in the room to panic at her laying form on the floor.
---
"Fuck..."
The girl muttered to herself once she had opened her eyes for the second time.
Above her was the same ceiling she saw earlier. It only solidified the truth that she wasn't dreaming. She turned her head to side, letting the cold cloth on her forehead fall on her pillow. She was alone. The room was dimly lit by the moonlight peeking through the window and curtains of the room.
"It's not a dream."
Memories suddenly started filling her head once she had gained consciousness. She was sure that it wasn't her memory. It was someone else's. It was like she was watching a movie in a fast forward, but she knew everything that had happened nonetheless. That's how it feels.
The girl stood on her feet. Unlike earlier, her fever had already went down, so it wasn't very difficult to move.
"Juris..."
Muttering an unfamiliar name, she stood in front of the mirror once again as she scrutinized her own reflection. She was calmer this time.
It was hard to believe.
It was not like she was transported to the past that's why she was a child again. It's more accurate to say that she transmigrated. More particularly, her soul. Yes, she had come to that 'another world' like those 'Isekai' protagonists that are very popular in novels, comics and animes at the moment.
The very cliche situation of finding herself in an unknown world after getting hit by [Truck-kun] and dying.
And because these kind of genre are 'in' for the masses, of course, this author would also like to give a shot for this kind of story. It might be a bit slow but this author here will take their 'opportunity' to promote this story and thank everyone who had decided to pick up this work that has a lot of cliche moments.
Yay. Thank you for reading!
And now, pushing that small 4th-walling aside, the 'soul' in Juris might've retained her own physical appearance and memories, but the person she replaced on this world looked exactly like herself.
And that child is Juris Wynter.
Experiencing the things that she only had read was something very out of ordinary. And eventhough she already had a clue on what to do on these times thanks to what she had read, everything that was happening is still a hard pill to swallow.
How is she going back home now? Is there even a way to go back home?
Moreover, what kind of world was she in?
The name Juris Wynter is something she never encountered. Is she just an extra on a story? A mob character? She seriously had no idea. And knowing what kind of world is this is going to be a big clue as to how she would act in the future.
Her footsteps sounded in a faint pitter patter as she opened the door that leads to the veranda of the room. The darkest of the night sky was decorated with a massive number of twinkling stars. Living in the modern world, it was very hard to see this kind of view. It's not that the view of city lights from afar is not pretty, it's just rare to see this kind of night sky because of the city lights itself.
The gentlest of the breezes blew, making her night gown and hair sway to it's movements.
The cool sensation comforted her warm cheeks. When was the last time she had admired the nature like this? Back then, she's always glued to her computer screen almost all the time of the day.
After admiring the night sky, she switched the gaze of her crimson hues towards the enormous landscape in front. The estate she was in was humongous. Something she could only see in magazines and picture books from before. But despite looking around and having received Juris's memories, she still have no idea where she was transported.
It will be very convenient if she was transported in somewhere she knew. Like those mangas and novels that she had read, it will be easy to move and counter any dangers if this world is something she's familiar with. But if this is somewhere completely different, it will be another matter. As long as there is no impending danger to her life like those stories, she was sure that everything will be fine.
Her attention shifted when she heard the door open.
Watching the movement coming from inside, she watched as the figure finally came into her view. A woman emerged from the darkness of the room. The waning moonlight striking her features, the soft glow making her appear more ethereal.
This woman is Juris's mother, -Lani Wynter.
Upon seeing her daughter on the veranda with no shawl covering her shoulders, Lani was worried. Eventhough her fever had went down, it's not like Juris is already completely recovered. Not to mention, the girl had fainted earlier that day. With a soft smile, she stood by the door of the veranda.
"What are you doing outside? It's cold."
Lani's blue eyes stared back at her daughter's. Contrary to the blank and plain look in the little's girls crimson colored eyes, the blue color the same as the sea and blue sky was twinkling in the waning moonlight.
Juris remained expressionless while staring right back into her. Lani's heart ached at her daughter's expressionless face. The child who was full of laughters and enthusiasm before is now just like a shell without a soul. After the incident two years ago, Juris ended up so quiet and is just keeping to herself.
She was very different from what she was before.
And knowing that it was their carelessness as a parent that made her end up this way, Lani's heart ached once more. It was her fault that her daughter is like this.
Seeing her smiling but sad expression, Juris remained silent. Of course, she knew what was bothering the woman. She received the child's memories after all. And it wasn't that hard to figure out after she had learned what had happened.
Lani's expression pricked her heart.
She didn't know why. Maybe because she received Juris's memories and can empathize a bit. Or maybe because the body she's inhabiting is Juris's that she can feel her emotions. Or maybe it was because of a completely different and unknown reason. Nonetheless, she wants to make sure that the woman wouldn't make that kind of expression once again.
She wants to see Lani smiling.
Juris's eyes softened. And with a very faint movement, her lips curled into a small gentle smile.
"The cold is comforting." She said.
Lani inhaled sharply at the sight of her smiling daughter. When was the last time that she had seen her daughter's smile? Although it looked awkward at the moment, the lopsided curve of the child's lips still looked like it's a smile. A strong surge of emotion bubbled within her chest. Happiness, shock, relief, -the intensity was overwhelming that she couldn't stop the tears from forming and falling down her cheeks.
With large strides, the woman went to her child and engulfed her in a heartwarming hug. Juris returned the gesture, softly patting the woman on her back.
It was at this moment that Juris released an inaudible sigh.
She wants to go back home.
But then remembered...
'I might be dead though...'
===
Little tidbits:
- The soul inside Juris thought that the maid is pretty hot.
- It took her a week to finally accept that she had transmigrated.