Part 7

Knight was lying on his side with the grey grass cushioning his body. He slowly opened his eyes. It probably hadn’t been that long since he lost his left arm and his consciousness as he was sent crashing into the forest. It had probably been a couple of minutes but his sprawled-out arms and legs were oddly cold despite the frozen hell he had just been through. The proper circulation of blood had been obstructed. The beating of his heart was irregular, it may have even stopped once or twice whilst he was unconscious but the man was true to his word. Knight was alive.

Without moving his head, Knight blankly stared at his limbs. His two legs that looked like they belonged to a doll that had been thrown away after its owner had gotten tired of it. Then, he blankly stared at where his left arm should be.

“…”

He tried to move the fingers of his useless, but only hand. His index finger slowly moved liked an insect inches from death, along with a slight raise of his forearm. He then managed to move his eyelids and blink. He was sucking in and blowing out terribly shallow breaths and he could even hear his heart beating faintly from within his body.

“Thank fuck,” he mouthed, his head too dazed to allow shock to come through.

He could still move his body. He wasn’t dead and he wasn’t frozen in place. That meant he could stand up again and see the girl.

“Hey, your awake.” Said a girl’s voice right above his head.

Knight suddenly realised that there was an oddly soft feeling on his cheek, different to grass bristles, as he lay on his side.

It seemed that his head was lying on someone’s lap.

“I’m so sorry. I left you to die…now you’re lying here all beaten up…and…and I even think your heart may have stopped for a short time. So…”

Her voice was trembling. It was the voice that had nestled inside Knight’s head as he escaped the prison. It helped him yet left him to die when he had escaped. Knight wouldn’t be surprised if she was in league with that man, only leading him out so he could have his fun.

“How can you smile like that? You’ve lost your arm all because of me…”

Crimson drops of liquid fell onto Knight’s cheek from above. They were warm like a spring rain yet…

“…”

“Thank fuck,” he mouthed again, still not speaking.

He wasn’t happy with this girl but he was glad the hell of a start in this new world was over. Even if the girl left him, it surely couldn’t have been for dead. After all, would she really have the courage to help him now?

His eyes narrowed slightly in happiness, realising the familiar forest. Yet this time he wasn’t suffocating, nor was he being knocked unconscious. Instead, he was regaining consciousness upon a girl’s lap.

The rustling of leaves caught his attention. The small girl spewed tears from her eyes as they met Knight’s. As she knelt beside him her soft fingers stroked Knight’s hands.

“Thank goodness,” Knight murmured as his body warmed. “It’s alright.”

The girl above Knight didn’t respond. He only heard a rubbing sound like she was wiping at her eyes with her fingertips.

“…You healed me, didn’t you?” he asked, glancing towards his only arm.

A slight sound came from her throat as if her breath was caught there in surprise.

“I mean, it’s pretty obvious.”

“…”

Knight deeply sucked in air, relishing the comfortable lap pillow as he blew out. As another red drop fell onto his face, he turned his face towards the girl cushioning his head.

“Thanks for…this,” he said, momentarily surprised by her teary grey eyes, before finishing his comment and turning away.

His cheeks turned bright red as he became increasingly aware of his surroundings. Or, what he was using as a cushion. ‘I’ve always dreamt of this but…it’s better than I imagined’ he thought, gulping down his nerves.

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Another rubbing sound came from above, presumably wiping her teary eyes. “No…I left you.”

Knight tried to move his arm yet again, which worked yet again. Following his reassurance, he wobblily lifted himself from the seducing lap pillow. He definitely wanted to saviour it for at least another minute but he needed to check with the girl. Besides, despite shaking her apologies off he still held annoyance to the girl, there was some reason she did what she did after all.

The little girl’s golden eyes yearningly gazing into Knight’s. She wasn’t going to gain all the confidence in the world after her talk with Knight, not to mention she was just frozen solid.

Crossing his legs, he reached his arm towards her hesitatively patting her head. “How are you doing?”

Her blue hair was chilly, but far from the cold that man exuded. With a nod of her head and a faint “good” leaving her mouth, Knight she wasn’t hurt badly. It was evident she had a lot of scars but at least that man didn’t open any.

“I’m sorry for only asking now but…what’s your name?” knight finally asked.

However, the girl’s mouth opened every slightly as her eyes began to well up. “I…”

‘Shit, that ain’t good,’ Knight thought as he struggled to get up. “On second thought, let's get out of here first. That man could still be lurking.”

The little girl nodded as she stood, yet the new girl was still wiping her eyes.

“Look, I want to talk to you about what happened more as well, but we need to get somewhere…safe, I guess. I’ll let you cry all you want when we find that place, so come on,” Knight told the girl as he started walking out.

“Hey, I won’t be crying.” She cried.

“Oh, well you are now so I figured…” Knight said as he turned around.

“Figured wrong!” she exclaimed as she stood up, stepping towards Knight and the girl.

Her semi-long flaxen hair swayed in sync with the step she took forward. With the colour of hair seemingly being all-natural, the cuticles on her fingers reflected the evening sun that barely seeped through the dull trees.

With her light hair and the largeness of her eyes, she resembled a small animal, giving her a cute appearance. She wore a slightly worn out mini-dress, dyed the colour of her tears.

As Knight saw her properly, she gave him a shy smile. “You soothed them after all.”

At that instant, he felt a torrent of ripples beating against his heart. Obviously, it wasn’t love at first sight; it was nothing more than a warning alert. That’s what Knight told himself at least, ‘I can’t have her be all cute with me, I’ve already decided to care for this little girl, I can’t become this one’s servant.’

With Knight telling himself she gave off a weird vibe, he looked away, slightly confused. He didn’t know why her grey eyes felt familiar and he didn’t want to think about them more. He turned around, not wanting to get too caught up in her looks. Although that resulted in him missing something else that resembled an animal. Or, perhaps a better comparison would be a demon.

* * *

“I guess we got lucky, huh?” Knight idly asked as the trio started down the black-cobblestone path.

“So, you’re just going to make conversation without my name? How mean…um…”

As her voice trailed off Knight turned around, blankly staring at her.

The girl looked like she realized something, tapped at her mouth, and smiled. “I guess I should ask your name first, hehe.”

‘…What’s with her’ he thought as his heart skipped a beat, ‘is she trying to seduce me orrrr…nonono. I’m thinking too much’ as he turned around.

“Hey” She placed her hands on her hips and leant forward with an upset and pouty expression and continued speaking after Knight turned back around. “Name?”

“Ah, sorry. Er, Knight Yuudai.” He replied, shifting his game to the floor.

“So, Knight-senpai, want to hear my name?”

“…!”

“Well, I’m Iroha, nice to meet you.”

“H-how? Wh-What?” Knight stuttered. “How do you know what senpai means?”

“I saw it in your mind silly” she teased, smiling as she closed in on Knight.

“Ah.”

Iroha pushed her face to Knight’s face with the use of his shoulder, her warm breath tickling his ear. “You like being called senpai dontcha? If you want, I can call you and only you, Senpai.”

“…S-Sure, do what you want…” he started down the cobblestone path, stumbling over her words, ‘Only me? She isn’t gonna call the girl senpai is she…?’

* * *

The little girl pulled Knight’s arm towards her, wrapping her hands around it and making him stop. The black cobble morphed into what appeared to be blood-dyed bone.

“Is this…Dragol’s passing?” he asked. The most unnerving thing wasn't the fact that the bridge was part bone, nor was it the fact the bones appeared to be dyed with blood. Instead, the water between the island and what was probably the mainland wasn't blue, it was red.

“I think so yes.”

‘…think so?’

“Kn-Knight” Iroha called out.

“Yeah?”

“You will look after me, won’t you?” Iroha outed, taking Knight's attention away from the crimson sea.

“…seriously?” he asked whilst turning to the-

“NO WAY? IS THAT A TAIL?” Knight cried as he finally noticed a thin-silver tail wrapped around her bare leg. “Wait…that looks awfully like a succubus’ tail?”

“Um, I kinda didn’t want you to, er, rather it kinda gets in the way or something…”

Speaking bashfully, it caused Knight’s attitude to turn apathetic. “Ah, sorry...I shouldn’t have said succubus.”

“It’s alright, I guess. Just please, er, don’t mention it much…” she said before regaining her playfulness. “Senpai.”

‘I’m a fool…’

Iroha then walked over to Knight and the child, bending down. “Hey.”

The small child slightly turned her head.

“It may be a wyvern spine but it’s got some tough wood with it, it’ll be fine. Watch me.”

Attempting to win over the girl she casually walked down the crimson bridge.

Finally, after a few minutes, she reached the end of the long bridge that connected the island with presumably the mainland. She turned around and stuck her tongue out, waving both arms at Knight and the girl, shouting. “see? Nothing to be scared of.”

Knight knew she was right. However, he was more concerned with the town looming beyond the long bridge. He was reaching his first town and hoped that the bridge wasn’t a sign for things to come.

“Well, come on then.”