A girl is too close. On the tree branch above me is a sleeping girl. I recognize her. The one who played referee, I can tell because of the butt I am seeing here. To recognize someone by their butt, I feel like the value of my life has down a notch.

However, what's important is she's sleeping with a pillow rat. Turning around in my sleep, I knew she looked different. An anime girl. I knew that. What's she doing outside of [Yume Nasai]?

She drooled slovenly over a pink pillow rat. The creature looks more flat than plump. I checked out my orange pillow rat, still pleasant plump instead of flat plump. I'm thinking about switching out the pillow rat under this anime girl's head when she wakes up. This treatment doesn't look healthy for the pillow rat.

And so, upon waking up, I did the best I could, and rolled around on the pillow rat tree branch.

Events swirled around in my head, but I played them little mind. Thoughts arise, they fall away. Moments flows freely, as I am on the branch of the pillow rat tree.

~~~

Yukko yawned. On the tree branch below her was the infamous Wizard. The rules of The Pactio said she wasn't to be contacted by an anime girl. What Yukko was doing now was breaking the rules.

However, her plan is simple. Wait for her to make the first move. That way, no matter how complicated their interaction got, Yukko could frame Wizard as the intiator here. As for why Yukko was sleeping on a nearby tree branch, she would get a pass if she said she was 'tired'.

Anime Girl might not let it pass, but Yukko's friends would. And since Anime Girl listened to Yukko's friends, the situation would easily be solved by them and not by her. It was so easy— Yukko would do what was easy.

However, as Yukko crushed the innocent pillow rat with her head, she didn't realize how long this stalemate would last.

~~~

It's turned into a standoff. To be accurate, a sleep-off. I can't sleep forever, this girl seems like she can. We're sharing this tree. I can't just leave. It would feel weird. Like sitting too close to a girl at school, I'd justify it to myself and say 'no I'm supposed to be here!' Meanwhile, I felt like I looked at the girls nearby too much. Isn't that rude to them? Ah, it was high school, so long ago, why do I still care.

Maybe it's all the anime? I might have forgotten what high school was like if it weren't for anime. Then again, watching anime was something I did since I was a kid. It's just there were tons of high school based anime and manga, and the only frame of reference I had for 'high school' was my high school.

How do I escape high schoo- no wait, I already did. Time took care of that, thankfully. How do I get out of this tree without feeling like I lost to the sleeping girl?

"Hiyah."

I swish my hand forward with a chop, aiming towards the crook of the branch the anime girl slept on. This is justice for the pillow rat you've squished!

The branch creaked under the girl's weight. The pink pillow rat freed itself from her short light brown hair, scampering off as the girl's body turned into a blur. As the branch hit the ground, the anime girl mounted the top of the tree. She stood straight on the peak of the tree. Beneath her foot, a twig.

She rubbed her eyes and yawned sleepily. I heard a "munya munya" I swear. There was no 'kyaa!' or 'baka!' with a justice punch here. All I see is an anime girl who refuses to wake up fully. She's standing, but, her head nodded, and, she's lightly breathing now.

It's amazing she can sleep standing up on top of a tree like that. Like a ninja. I guess? Do ninjas sleep like that? No, it's more that I imagine 'only a ninja could sleep standing up on a tiny branch'. Kind of like a reverse vampire bat, instead of hanging, she is standing.

Oh, well. I slipped out of the pillow rat tree, taking the orange one with me. I'll find somewhere else to sleep. After all, I only stayed at this tree because it had pillow rats on it.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

These plump creatures brought me to the tree, but if someone, even an anime girl, presumes to occupy my precious space, I'll boldly, courageous, move away and say nothing.

The next day, the girl was sleeping over me. Her pink pillow rat came with her. It is closer to a pancake than a pillow rat now. I'm worried.

I drew out my katana. This is normal. I am a normal anime girl. I swung, cutting off the part of the branch under her head. The pink pillow rat peeled of from her face, it's eyes shining in relief.

Then, arms encircled it from both sides, pulling it back into the sleeping girl's grip. She scooted down the branch. Kept sleeping. As if nothing happened.

Is this girl even still asleep? She may be an anime girl, but that feels unrealistic— I forgot for a moment that my heart looks like one you would see on a valetine.

For some reason, it embarrasses me. It didn't embarrass me back when Niji tore it out, no, then THE HEART became a matter of life and death. Now, I just want to cringe.

What came to mind for my next attack made me cringe too.

What will other people think about what I'm about to do? I looked around at the silent forest. No one's here. Except the pillow rats, and I'll make sure they won't talk. This is a rescue operation. I have precedence.

Oddly, I feel like I can't win. Even though all I'm going to be doing is tackling her and going for the leglock, normally, like anyone in this situation would, it all feels wrong.

Maybe that's my feelings telling me 'this is wrong?' I saw the pink pillow rat's body shift around in the light brown haired girl's grip. She's strong.

Looking at her face, she's pretty too. This is unfortunate. I'm not supposed to touch others, especially pretty girls, isn't that what's 'normal' for me?

In that case, cringing is the correct feeling. My 'normal' died a long time ago. It's time to overcome those old barriers. And leglock this girl.

It feels naughty saying it like that and I am very embarrassed and also believe death is a good option for me. Perhaps after this I can have Stehy judge my actions to take the weight off my mind. I closed my eyes. Why not let loose?

After all, I am an anime girl, what's a little skinskip between friends? We're not friends though. But, it's normally for anime girl's to violate personal space- wait, that reminds me of what I said to Hohemi about it not being okay even if we're both girls. Is it okay if we're both anime girls?

"pomf."

A spray of air shot of the pink pillow rats mouth. The hostage is near death. I, the unwilling savior, must leap into action at this moment. That is what I told myself.

This is normal. Difficulty set: Normal. Naido normal-desu.

Leaping off my tree branch from a sitting position, I glomped the anime girl.

This was planned, so it's not like I'm violating any rules here. I feel like a horrible person. Cringyness spread throughout my body, replaced quickly by shame, then elation, as my legs locked onto this girls waist.

The branch she slept on snapped from the glomp. Falling in free air, my hands swooped in behind her head, snatching the pillow rat. A fan appeared from the anime girl's hands as her eyes creaked open.

We fell from the tree. Despite the situation she looked drowsy. A lethargic face, even counterattacking. The fan knocked my hands away. Plunging each of my arms towards the pillow rat, I tightened the leglock to build strength from a place to strike.

The fan the anime girl held moved even more incomprensibly as my attacks grew in strength and speed. As the ground approached, I needed to finish. There is only one attack that comes to mind.

It is time. My hands raised and fanned out, leaving afterimages behind them despite moving very slowly. The time has come. I breathed in deep, and as I fired my attack, I cringed and regretted every life decision I have ever made while I was alive in both of my remembered lives.

"MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA!!"

~~~

Leaning against a tree with a care package from [Yume Nasai] and a maid tending to her wounds sat the anime girl, Yukko. She was kind enough to tell me her name. Ha ha.

Nearby, the pink pillow rat had a halo over it's body. I resurrected it going beyond my limits in a very dramatic scene, already, but it seems like the pink pillow rat's spirit has already gone to a better place.

I'll continue to believe that is true.

Most of my attacks hit the both pillow rats instead of Yukko. Near the pink pillow rat, an orange one was white and black. It's retired now. I cast resurrection(going beyond what I thought was possible!) on poor Garfield here, and he too, already moved on to a better place.

S-should I dig graves? That would be respectful, right? No, first I'll conjure those black and white photos like I've seen in anime, I'm an anime girl, so I must bury them in accordance with my people's traditions.

It feels bothersome though? Ah, I can't be worried about stupid things like if it's bothersome or not in front of a real anime girl! There's social conventions to keep here! Even if I have no idea what that is for anime girls!

Yukko's head had multiple bumps growing from it. The maid put a bandage on the top of each bump, and, I guess this works somehow.

"Good morning," Yukko greeted me, laconically.

Maybe I should finish them both off? The maid and Yukko? Dark thoughts filled my mind as my head swiveled, searching for escape. My speed is high. It's not too late to find a way out of this.

Why did I imagine Stehy teleporting behind me and handcuffing me? Why is she so high speed she can teleport? And why did I naturally accept that moving even a single inch would cause Stehy to teleport in as an absolute fact.

I genuflected reflexively. The pillow rats have moved on. There is little else to do but face this cruel fate...