Yana held unto his coat, looking up at him with teary eyes. She did not mind kneeling on the stony riverbed, rather she could not give it a second of thought.

“Who am I? What do you mean? You… You’re joking, right?”

These questions were asked by Yana, not believing what she had just heard. The expression on her face was so far from the relieved expression she had earlier.

“Sorry, but I meant what I said,” he replied to her. “You’ve been calling me Jiro earlier. Is that my name?”

“You can’t remember anything? About school? About Jean? A-about us?” she asked, silently hoping for him to say that he was bluffing but the look on his face betrayed all of her hopes. She knew it very well when Jiro was serious and when he was not.

He silently shook his head. “I’m sorry. I don’t really remember anything.”

A turmoil of emotions started to flood over her heart. They had escaped that beast yet another misfortune had surged up for Yana. She did not know what to do nor what to say.

On the verge of crying, she bowed down to hide her face from Jiro. As she bit her own lips, trying to stop any sob that would come out from her. The last thing she should do right now was to cry again, she knew this very well. Crying won’t do anything! I have to think!

What to do now? What to do?

…

She was lost.

The two of them were on a different world. That was what she believed after encountering that ‘orc’. Their safety was not guaranteed in this place. They had zero information of how close the nearest town or village was, nor do they know if there were also humans here.

Base from games she had played and stories she had read with a heroine being sent to a different universe, they were supposed to start on a civilized village where gathering data would be easier and not, definitely not, in the middle of wilderness where a ferocious monster would chase them to their deaths.

Also, the question of how and why they were sent here was lingering at the back of her mind. She looked up for the memory of what was the last thing that happened when she was in their original world. Memories of her life which she thought of as dreams earlier. The construction site, Jiro and that woman in the white gown, the red glowing light, and their fall.

Did we die from that fall? she asked herself.

It was possible. After seeing the existence of a cross of a human and a boar, was she still in a place to say that something is impossible?

This world, to her, it seemed like the world she knew of. The world she lived and grew up in. Yet this was not the same world. She felt like she was playing a role of a certain heroine in a fantasy anime, deprived of any knowledge of what is written in the script.

“Whoever wrote this story, I’m going to hunt him down and bring him back here!” she said in a low voice making her to stop contemplating things for now. The fact that she could complain like this ease her mind, at the very least, she knew that she has not gone crazy yet.

Or maybe she already has.

She was convinced of these facts: She is a girl, who was sent into a different world with her memory-less ex-boyfriend. They have nothing with them, not even a spare of clothes. And now, they were standing close to each other, in the middle of the river, with nowhere to go. When this thought ran across her mind, Yana became aware of her position. Of how she was still clinging unto Jiro. Of how they would look from a third person’s view.

Embarrassed, she quickly let go of Jiro’s coat and apologized, still hiding her face. Avoiding Jiro’s curious gaze.

“Let’s get out of the water before we catch a cold,” she suggested standing straight up and started to whisk her way to the other side of the river.

To him, I’m a stranger. I must act appropriately.

Jiro was staring at this woman’s back as she shuffled her way out of the river.

Her clothes were soaked wet, her short hair was in a disarray, but what was this that he felt earlier? When she was near, holding unto him, shaking, he had the urge to embrace her as if it was natural for him to do so.

The feeling of her being close to him felt familiar but he cannot remember. No matter how hard he tried. No matter how much he wanted to. He could not remember.

She looked back at him asking, “What are you standing there for? Let’s go!”

“Where to?” he asked back.

With eyebrows raised, she responded impatiently, “How would I know?”

Hands on waist, she added, “But I think it’s better to keep moving as long as the sun is up, so let’s go or I’ll just leave you here.”

----------------------------------------

“Uhm……. May I ask for your name?” Jiro tried to start a conversation but his companion was deep in her thoughts.

They were now following the river for quite a while now. Yana hoped the body of water would lead them to a small village or something alike. Ancient civilizations started near rivers, right? As long as there’s a human, or a race, they can peacefully talk to, it will be fine.

Though, they had decided to follow the river, Yana had suggested that they should walk within the forest, for she fears to come across with another weird creature that will send them to their graves… Or possibly to its stomach.

Directions did not matter to her, but judging from the setting sun’s position, she believed that they were heading westward. However, this assumption is not that reliable, after all, they were not on Earth nor does she know if this world they were in now, rotates just like Earth. She just hoped that the game designer was kind enough to follow Earth’s astronomical physics.

But if he could be gracious, at least set a better starting point! she thought wryly.

How long had they been walking? Yana could not tell but she knew night is about to fall.

All of her belongings were missing. Her phone was probably lying down somewhere on that construction site. More likely, her bag too shared the same fate.

The clothes she was wearing was almost dry. She would not be surprise, if she was going to have a cold tomorrow. Thankfully the temperature was not so hot for her not to sweat a lot. Otherwise, it was not just colds she was going to have, but pneumonia.

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Aside her health condition for the next day, she was also worried about the coming night. How are they going to eat? How are they going to sleep out here in the open? Just thinking about the cold evening breeze sent shivers to her.

If only she had joined the scouts back in elementary, the skills taught there might become handy here.

Now she wanted to join scouts. Her thoughts were becoming weirder every minute. She felt dumb. She could not even tell if she regret her decision of following Jiro that night, which appeared to be a few hours ago.

If she had not followed, what would likely might happen? Yana wondered. She would probably hear news on the next day that Jiro was hospitalized or at worst had died. And Yana saw herself crying because of this, clueless of why all of this had happen. Simply put, it was almost the same scenario, only situated in different worlds minus the chasing and wandering within a forest.

The woman who was with Jiro, just who was she? Yana believes that she was the one who is behind of all of this and that she holds all the answer to the questions of Yana.

Jiro tapped her on the shoulder to draw her out of her thoughts, which startled her.

“I–I’m sorry, but, can we rest for a bit?” He was not really thinking about him being tired, he was more worried about this woman who was standing in front of him wearing a uniform that goes well with his. He assumed they were schoolmates because of this.

She was pretty despite the marks that were covering her face. Marks she got from the branches that slapped them when they were trying to escape the boar-like creature earlier.

Their heights were not far from each other. Base on his judgement, he was taller by five inches. Her body was slim and fit. Her skin was fairly toned which adds to the allure she has. But her hazel eyes were in a storm, it was like a coffee drink that is being stirred.

Yana agreed to him and leaned on a nearby tree saying nothing. It was then that she felt the weight on her legs. She was so immersed on her thoughts that she had not observed the toil of the long walk and desperate running had brought her legs to exhaustion.

Taking off her coat which she later hung on a branch of the tree she was leaning on, she noticed Jiro was staring at her on a certain area. She quickly looked down and saw what took Jiro’s attention. The top two buttons of her blouse were open, partially revealing her upper undergarment. She impulsively covered herself and shot a glare at him.

Though, they had dated each other for two years, she had not let Jiro touch her on the body parts that defines her womanhood. They had kissed a lot but it was never more than that.

She disagrees to the idea of pre-marital sex, the reason for this is that she grew up without a father whom she had never met. Yana heard from a relative that her mother was never married to that man and he had abandoned her immediately after learning about the pregnancy. Completely running away from the responsibility. After explaining this to Jiro, he respected her wishes and did not force her to do anything kinky. As a result, Yana loved him more.

He had already looked away from her and as he took off his own jacket, he apologized. The apology did not earn any reply but he did not gave up the effort of starting a conversation.

“Um. If you don’t mind, may I know your name?” he inquired this time he asked in a respectfully, still not looking at her.

After buttoning her blouse up, she thought about answering. Yana was wiping her white blouse, in attempt to straighten the wrinkled fabric of her clothes. The method was not really satisfactory so she thought she was just fooling around.

“Yana, Your name is Jiro. We are classmates.” she answered more than what was asked for.

“Classmates, huh? I hope we are good friends,” he was looking at her now. Concerned of what her answer would be.

“Don’t worry, we are.”

He breathed out a sigh of relief and smiled. “I – I thought we’re not on good terms. You’ve been looking angry since we escaped that thing.”

“Sorry. I’m thinking about a lot of things.”

Yana did not even need to enumerate them, he completely understood her situation. Lost within a dense forest, with a useless guy in her tow.

“Don’t take everything all by yourself,” he advised. “You can still confide on me even if I don’t have my memories.”

He paused for a moment, thinking of something helpful to say and settled with, “I may not offer a lot of suggestions, but still, talking it out lessens the stress on you.”

Yana agreed to that. She had been shouldering everything on her own since the beginning. Even back in their real world, it was the same.

“I suppose you’re right when you said that back then,” she muttered looking on a distant memory.

“Back then?” he repeated. “Have we had this kind of conversation in the past?

She smiled adorably at him. “You were so annoyed at me that time.”

Unexpectedly, the atmosphere between them became light, and so how she felt that she forgot her aching legs. The wind blew, and the fluttering sound of leaves echoed throughout the forest.

To Yana, it sounded like the trees were speaking to her, telling that everything would be fine. As long as he was here with her, nothing could go wrong. This thought sent a warmth deep in her soul and so Yana treasured this moment within her heart.

The scene of two lost people standing in a forest talking casually, like everything was under their control.

“Since night is about to come, why don’t we settle here for the night?” Yana proposed as she stood straight. “I’m going to look for some fruits to eat. How about you?”

“I’ll try to set up a fire.” Jiro flashed a smile at her. The familiar smile that she grew fond of, but somehow, to her, it felt different as if it was not only reserved for her.

Yana turned her back to him, with the tears she had held up starting to stream down her cheeks.