I wish for a day of guidance to let my prayers be carried by the flowing river… – Togetsukyo ~Kimi Omou~, Kuraki Mai
xxxxxx
It was weird.
Even so, Risa approached the spot where she saw that book. She limped a little, but she didn't mind that. Not long after, she reached it and picked up the leather-bound book that caught her attention.
Did someone leave it here accidentally? If not, how could they leave such a wonderful book like this?
Once more, Risa looked around to check if someone would approach her and claim the book as theirs. But as she had already observed a while back, people minded their own business.
Seriously, Risa didn't know why the normalcy she could see around drove her crazy with all the thoughts running in her mind. It felt as if… they couldn't see her or something. And to think a lot of people were in the area at the moment.
Then again, it was probably just in her head. She'd been observing things around her a little more critical than usual. Perhaps a walk would do her good. Of course, she was aware that she'd been doing that for a while now since she went out.
But experiencing weird things (at least they were weird for Risa) all in one morning had made her realize that she had to do something to clear her mind again. She'd worry about other stuff later, especially about her next step in life after making a big decision.
It was then that Risa finally decided to take a look at the leather-bound book that caught her attention.
'Tales of the Last Dynasty's Swords'. It was the title engraved on the leather cover and also on the spine of the book. But Risa frowned when the name of the author was nowhere to be seen in any part of it. Not even on the first page or any other page after that.
"That's weird…" Strike four weirdness. Why was she getting attacked by strange feelings in just one morning?
"Wait a minute… This book looks familiar." Upon uttering that, Risa tried to rake her mind for possible answers about where she could have seen that book.
She scanned the book a few times more and paused when a thought hit her.
'This was on the top part of the bookshelf near the cashier area of the bookstore!'
Now Risa realized why she recognized this book. She would constantly look at it while waiting for the cashier – who happened to be the owner's daughter and part-time helper – to finish wrapping the book she bought in that bookstore.
But if that was so, why was it here in the middle of the road?
"Please come here…"
Risa shut her eyes tight. There it was again. That voice… She was shaking her head as her way of shrugging off any thoughts that would start to surface because of that.
"No… not again. Please…" She took a few deep breaths and opened her eyes a few moments later. Why was she pleading, anyway?
"Please…"
What was going on here? Before Risa could even think of what to do next after experiencing another weird thing, she found herself walking away from the spot where she found the book. The next thing she knew, she was near the main road.
However, she heard people clamoring again. Risa raised her head and looked to the part where she heard it. All she could recall after that was several shouts, the screeching of tires, and her eyes widening as soon as she raised her head to know what was going on.
"Risa!"
"Please come here and release me… Please…"
That voice again… But after that, it was just darkness.
xxxxxx
The rustling of leaves and the chirping of birds disturbed Risa's senses in the middle of the darkness. And yet for some reason, her eyelids felt so heavy that she was having a hard time opening her eyes. Was it okay if she sleep more?
But she had to figure out what was going on. She recalled a white car heading straight toward her. She just froze there and couldn't move regardless of the knowledge that she would end up hurt. Or worse, dead. She remembered someone screamed her name, as well.
It was a guy. And yet why did Risa have a feeling that it was someone she knew? Was it her brother?
'It didn't sound like Hiro, though.'
She knew her brother's voice as they grew up together. If there was one skill she was proud of, it was to easily recognize voices even from afar and without looking. Her family was able to prove it many times whenever they would play games of voice guessing when she was younger. She and Hiro would still do that during her free time in her high school and university days.
This time, Risa was able to open her eyes slowly. But instead of a white ceiling as she was expecting, a ceiling consisting of wood and straws greeted her sight. She couldn't help frowning at that, however. Did she miss seeing such a structure around the area where the incident happened? How did she end up there?
'Where in the world am I?'
That question started to bring fear to Risa as she tried scanning her surroundings. Everything about the room she was currently in screamed life in the old times. She didn't recall any house around the town that had such a set-up. Even the houses over the town border would have steel sheets, clay bricks, and plywoods.
Whereas this…
"H-hello?" Regardless of Risa's hoarse voice, she still called out. Someone must be in that house.
The smell of grass and pines greeted her as she tried to sit. It was then that she was able to see where she truly was. The wooden bed she slept in was on the left of the room, opposite the door. The other pieces of furniture there was a small portable table (or at least it looked portable to her) placed near the bed and a large wooden chest in the right corner.
Risa scanned herself next, but it only made her frown. She was wearing a long-sleeved beige-colored tunic. Her hair was loose and the blanket used to cover her had few holes and was torn on some parts. But for some reason, they still kept her warm.
It was then that Risa felt a surge of pain in her head that prompted her to touch it. Her eyes widened and her heart beat fast upon touching the cloth wrapped around her head.
'Why do I have a bandage wrapped on my head?' Did she sustain a deep injury during the incident? How come she couldn't recall what truly happened?
True, the car was about to hit her at the time. But did something else happen after that?
Her head started to hurt again when a gruff voice resonated outside the house, along with someone pounding hard on the door.
"Open up and come out of there! We got you surrounded!"
Surrounded? For what? Where the hell was she?