The orange light from the sun gave a beautiful horizon of the ocean. I stared at it for a few moments before Roy nagged me.

"I need to go back to the village now, see you, Miss Mashiro," said Roy as he waved goodbye.

"Hold on, where is your village?" I asked.

Roy pointed out towards the forest, a different path from where the bandits had run off. He said, "it's around a thirty minute walk from here."

I smiled, "take me with you."

Roy shook his head quizzically. He thought for a moment before coming to a conclusion, "thank you for your kindness, Miss Mashiro, but I can walk alone. Besides, aren't your knights searching for you?"

I softly said, "No, they're not."

"I… see," Roy responded.

I thought about revealing my circumstances to Roy, however he quickly took my hand before I could even say anything. His innocent smile appeared as he led me.

I thought. "He didn't even ask anything and still tried to help me, what a considerate boy."

***

The day turned dark as we hurried into the village Roy lived in. As time went by, we passed the thick forest following a tiny path. Roy and I managed to reach the village he lived in just before the sunset.

The village itself looked rather simple. I could see a few houses made out of wood and stone. There were no walls, just a watchtower. The villagers were gathering around while holding torches as they saw us.

An elderly man holding a lantern saw Roy with a surprise. He even dropped his lantern as he ran off towards Roy's direction.

"Roy! Where were you?!" The old man yelled as he rushed to hug roy.

Roy's mouth started moving, however as more villagers came closer, Roy couldn't speak up. He took a secret glance at me and the old man that hugged him.

"Um, I was just… playing around and got lost," Roy said with the most unconvincing voice ever as he took his gaze at me. The old man sighed a relief as he followed Roy's gaze and stared at me.

"Miss, thank you for escorting Roy here," The old man said. Roy's age couldn't have been higher than nine, perhaps him getting lost was rather an understandable reason to be true. I could see a deep regret and scolding gaze from the old man to Roy.

I shook my head as I looked into Roy's eyes, "didn't we talk about this? Lying like that wouldn't do any good."

The old man's face was confused at my words as he looked at Roy. Meanwhile Roy's eyes were filled with guilt as he took something from his pocket, a shiny white pearl.

"I… went to mom's shack and took this," Roy said while showing the pearl he got from the shack.

"Why?! I thought I told you to never go near there again!" I could see a great anger rose up from the old man, which died down immediately as his eyes were filled with worry and concern.

Roy couldn't form a reply as he held the pearl he was holding dearly. There was a moment of silence filled with the occasional burning sound of the torches held by the villagers surrounding us.

"I don't want mom's hard work to be stolen away by those guys," Roy muttered with enough volume for the old man to hear him.

"I understand where you're coming from, Roy. But your mom wouldn't want you to be restless like that for some pearl. Please don't do that ever again, okay?" The old man asked in which Roy nodded as an immediate answer with a reddened look on his cheek.

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

One of the villagers got closer to Roy. She looked similar in age to Roy, maybe a little bit older. She wore a rather bland outfit, similar to the other villagers, same with Roy. She stared at Roy's knee for quite a while.

"That bruise… Did something happen?" said the villager girl as she took a leaf from her pocket and gave it a little spit as she put it towards Roy's knee.

"That's…" Roy stuttered to answer as his eyes wandered around.

Roy's knee was completely covered by the leaf from the little girl as she gave a questioning look.

"I… fell," Roy answered.

I shot a glance at Roy as he hid his eyes from me, "you're not deceiving anyone with that guilty look, Roy. We talked about this, didn't we? Keeping secrets like this would only make your grandpa worried."

On our way here, we had a long conversation. One of them being what kind of person his grandfather is. Which was why I felt a relief after seeing him in person. He seemed like a sweet elderly man with a cute grandson.

Roy sighed after hearing my words. I simply gave a reassuring smile at Roy, waiting for him to spill everything that had happened today.

Before long, Roy started to talk about everything that happened this afternoon. From our meeting, and the bandits encounter. The villagers were listening with concerned eyes. The old man looked at me gratefully.

"Oh dear Miss Mashiro, thank you for saving my grandson, how can I ever repay you?" said the old man while tears falling from his eyes.

I tried to conjure a perfect smile, befitting for a young lady, "I only helped because it was a natural thing to do, don't mind it."

The old man insisted on trying to repay my act, until he thought of something, "Miss Mashiro, you must be tired, right? It's not much, but there's a room you can use in our house, we'll make sure to cook meals for you too! How does that sound?"

I suppressed my excitement and only gave a little nod, "my, that would be lovely."

Finally, all of the villagers that were gathering around dispersed. I could sense some of them were staring at my ears and tail, however I paid them no mind. I followed Roy and the old man to a moderate sized looking house. It was a two-story building with an adorable bird pole on the entrance.

Roy opened the door as I walked next to him. The old man gestured to Roy to lead me into my room, while I tried to maintain my innocent smile as I followed them. We walked through the hallway and arrived shortly after. Roy opened the door to my room, revealing a somewhat spacious sized room with mostly wooden furniture.

"This room belonged to my mom," Roy said with a hint of sadness in his voice. I looked around the room with an observant expression while looking out the window. The scenery was a starry night sky.

"I see," I replied.

Roy bowed a little bit as he pointed towards the direction of the hallway we came in, "Well, I'll be going now, when dinner's ready I'll call you, Miss Mashiro."

"See you," I waved causally to the running Roy as I closed the door to my new room. I sighed heavily while walking towards the bed I longed for.

Without wasting any more time, I threw myself to the rusty bed without any care of the world. The pillow wasn't as fluffy as my bed, however anything would do.

I closed my eyes as I imagined everything that had happened today. I was stabbed, and I somehow was stuck inside Mashiro's body. However, those things weren't really the ones I felt strongly about.

"I feel awful," I muttered.

After all, I purposely deceived Roy's grandfather into giving me a room to stay in. In the end, I was the one who caused the predicament that put him into danger today. If I wasn't there, Roy wouldn't waste his time talking to me in his mother's shack and left towards the village without meeting the bandits.

I didn't deserve anything, yet I made the villagers think I was some sort of a noble lady that saved Roy from dangerous men.

I slowly opened my eyes as I looked into the outfit I was wearing. It was a gallant yet rich befitting for a young lady with a pure heart and strong figure. The black and pink color of the outfit naturally gave me a rather stunning look.

"But I'm not mashiro…" I muttered once more.

After a few minutes of lazing around on the bed, a soft knock from the door interrupted me.

"Dinner's ready!" Roy said.

I gave a simple reply as I opened the door. I followed Roy into the dining room. It was a small and simple room filled with a table and three chairs. I sat down into one of the chair.

I could see a simple dishes of meat with green vegetables side dish. The old man gave me a wooden bowl filled with meat.

"I'm sorry there's nothing fancy here," the old man gave a regretful look.

"Please don't mind it!" I replied.

I gave the dinner I was served s little taste. It was rather bland, there were some seasonings, but not enough to hide the bland taste of the meat.

I gulped a drink after tasting the side green vegetables. I couldn't conclude what type of plants were used, but it was bitter.

"How is it?" Roy asked.

"It's good!" I smiled, while finishing the dinner they gave me.

My ears were reflexively twitching after I ate the last piece of vegetables. The old man smiled at me as his gaze switched to Roy.

"Once again, thank you for saving Roy, Miss Mashiro. Please rest well," said the old man as he guided Roy into carrying the dirty dishes from dinner.

I smiled and walked back towards my room. I opened the door, walked inside the room, closed the door and once again, threw myself into the bed. My eyes were slowly creeping into the dream world. I closed my eyes.

"I'm the worst…"

I couldn't help but to mutter that. I took advantage of an old man and a young boy to provide me shelter. I shook my head as I tried to calm myself, still with my eyes closed.

I felt tired just from talking. I just wanted to go home and play video games. All of this social activity stuff made my brain hurt.

"Just… where am I?" I silently asked the question I was holding, to no one in particular.

I slowly opened my eyes and saw a familiar room and figure, she was reading a book on my favorite chair. Her eyes noticed me as she smiled.

I looked around to see everything familiar around me. I saw the desk I grew up with, a comfortable bed I loved. It was my room before I moved into an apartment after college.

"Hey, you, you're finally awake. You were trying to cross the universe, right?" asked a silver haired college girl I recognized.

"Furukawa Shiro…" I muttered.