I slowly opened my eyes, groggily taking in my surroundings. I was met with an unfamiliar ceiling, and a dull ache throbbed through my chest. Memories of the attack flooded back - the stab wound, the feeling of my life slipping away. I should be dead.
*Oh, I remember this is the ceiling of the old man's house.* I thought with a weak smile across my lips.
"Natsuo, can you hear me?" I heard Tora call as I looked to my right.
I tried to speak, but only a faint croak escaped my lips. Tora's warm breath caressed my face as he nudged me gently with his snout.
"Easy, Natsuo. You've been out for a while. I thought... I thought I'd lost you," Tora's voice cracked with emotion.
*I don't know, but the way he's acting makes me wanna burst into laughter.* I thought.
I weakly reached out a hand, and Tora licked it, his tail twitching with relief. I tried to sit up, but a sharp pain shot through my chest, making me gasp.
"Slow down, Natsuo. Your wound is still healing, more like it just finished closing up." He said, looking at my chest in shock.
I lay back, trying to process what happened.
"How... how did I survive?" I whispered.
*Not like I'm not entirely sure, though.*
"You're not entirely sure, are you?" Tora's whiskers twitched with a hint of a smile. "Let's just say you're harder to kill than you thought." He said.
I smiled weakly, grateful for Tora's presence.
"Thanks to you, I guess."
Tora's expression turned serious.
"We need to get out of here, Kaito. It's not safe."
I nodded, still trying to clear the fog from my mind. With Tora's help, I slowly sat up, wincing in pain. But I was alive, and that's all that mattered.
"Now you're kidding. Does it still hurt?" He asked as I smiled.
"Now that you asked, I feel perfectly fine," I said, touching my stomach.
"Wait, where's Emi?" I asked, looking around.
"She hasn't returned since. Maybe she's dead." Tora said.
"Hey, don't say that. Let's just hope she's fine." I said, looking away.
I looked at Ai lying dead on the floor, and suddenly guilt rushed through my heart. If only I had avoided that she wouldn't have died.
"I'll go get some things I'll be needing," I said, running into the room.
After grabbing some important things, we left the house and ran into the forest.
"Oh, I didn't expect you to return so fast."
"He died a few years after leaving here."
I was in the middle of the three men I saw before entering the new world. They called themselves gods.
"Um... what's going on? I'm supposed to be dead, aren't I?" I asked, sitting up.
"You also surprised us. How'd you do that?"
"Ha... a rare case."
"Seriously, I have things to do, Mr. (G)od of Light." The god of darkness said.
"You could leave if that's what you want."
"Huh?"
"Well, sorry to bother you guys, but how'd I end up here?" I asked as the older guy sighed.
"Your heart was shifted, I guess." He said as I gasped.
*Was your brain shifted, too?* I thought, rolling my eyes.
"Huh?!"
"N-no... biologically speaking, that's wrong," I said.
"That's for your world, though. Anything is possible here."
"Oh, so... how'd it happen?"
"We won't be explaining the details. It doesn't concern the three of us here." He said, lowering his head.
"But don't expect to survive next time. Luck isn't always on our side." He said.
"Oh, okay."
"Now, you can get back. We don't want to keep Raja waiting." He said as a magic circle appeared below me.
"Huh? Who's Raja? W-wait!!" I shouted as I was forcefully teleported.
NOTE: THIS HAPPENED EARLIER AFTER THE LAST CHAPTER.
I woke up to the darkness, my body stiff from the hard cave floor. Tora's soft snores echoed through the cavern, a reassuring sound. I slowly sat up, my eyes adjusting to the darkness. The fire we'd made the night before had long since extinguished, leaving only a faint smoky scent.
I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, my mind racing with the events of the past day. We needed food, and I knew I had to provide it. I remembered the dagger I'd found in the old man's room. Its worn leather sheath still clutched in my hand.
I carefully got up, trying not to disturb Tora. The air outside was crisp, the darkness hinting at the early hour. I took a deep breath, the silence a welcome respite from the chaos.
I made my way to the cave entrance, the dagger feeling solid in my hand. Rabbits, I remembered, were often active at dawn. I hoped my luck would hold out.
As I stepped out into the darkness, the world seemed to hold its breath. I moved quietly, my senses heightened, scanning the underbrush for any sign of movement. The dagger felt heavy in my hand, a reminder of the task ahead.
"Be careful, Natsuo," Tora whispered.
I nodded, even though he couldn't see me. I knew he was watching from the cave, his eyes fixed on me.
I took a deep breath and moved forward, the darkness slowly giving way to the first hints of dawn.
It was already four days since we left the old man's house.
"Doesn't this forest have an end?" I asked as I gulped down the water in the can I held.
"I feel we are closed, I can hear the sounds of horses and carts," Tora said.
"I feel exhausted."
"Me too." He said as we slumped.
"We might as well rest a bit," I said as he nodded.
"Yeah, I feel the same way." He said as I smiled and shut my eyes.
"Argh... we overslept." I said sitting up immediately while yawning.
"Our food is gone, we have no more," Tora said as I looked at my bag, it was torn from the side.
"An animal attacked us in our sleep. I'll kill it!!!" I shouted while jumping from the floor.
"Let's just keep going, we're almost there," Tora said.
"Uh... yeah, you're right," I said looking at Tora closely.
*He smells like... meat.* I thought looking down at him from the corner of my eyes.
Lo and behold, I caught him smirking.
"Tora you bastard!!!" I shouted while chasing him.
"Argh!! I'm sorry!!!"
After walking some distance, we finally got out of the forest. People were walking through a big gate there and some soldiers or maybe guards stood by the gate checking them.
"W-whoa!!" I shouted while smiling, my eyes glimmeringout of excitement.