If I compared my current self to my past self, before I ever walked through that door, what would he say? Would he laugh at me? Detest me? Here I stood now, raising two daggers while two tall men ganged up on me. One of them tore his sword into the roof and came slamming down. I knew my strengths already. I’d learned it from the encounter with Officer Guiral.

The first floor of the hostel had been cleared out. Chairs and tables overturned to the sudden brawl. I loosened my shirt’s collar, feeling the sweat being constricted around my neck. Floorboards creaked underneath my feet. The two men were only a couple strides away from engagement. The minute they moved, I could gauge their range.

In a flash my legs moved and voided his attack. As I appeared to his side, his weapon became lodged in the counter. It was my chance. My hands moved as I dove into the opening.

A fist met my face for the first time as I flew into the wall. It appeared that the other one had disengaged from his broadsword to throw hands. My fists still grasped the daggers, as I repositioned them in a reverse grip. My face stung like never before, but nothing mattered more than my own life. Some teeth in my mouth felt loose and jumbled. Water poured from my eyes. But my expression remained stern.

"Come on, kid, let's teach you a lesson.” The man in front huffed and raised his fist. The other finally broke his sword free and aimed it at me. “You ever heard of D’Orient? People like us are from the toughest town in Aquitaine.”

“I have no interest in your hometown.” I lifted myself up.

“Then you will know it!”

The man with the sword came at me again with a running start. For all I knew, the only concern was his weapon. Fists were mostly non-lethal. Blocking the sword was out of question. I sidestepped the slash, but his reactive nature brought his blade reäligned again. My legs retreated into a duck, and seized the moment with a jump. I jabbed several times into his abdomen before he shoved me to the ground again.

“Bleh, ce fils de pute!” He cursed and dropped his sword to grab the blood pouring from his side. First time hearing Aweda swear words. “Tahblo.”

His stats appeared before him as he began scrolling. I took it that he was going to heal himself. The other man slugged me in the stomach. My grip loosened while a dagger flew from my hand. I felt my abdomen retract as the blow rocked my entire body. Sharp breaths of air forced itself in and out of my lungs. I stumbled backward punch after punch. I still had the other pair in my left hand. Veins popped, and I raised my weak arm.

He kicked me in the chest. I toppled to the floor. “You think I’d let you stab me after what you did to bro!?”

Before I got to my feet my head smashed into the floor by a foot. Over and over again, all I could see was black flashing in and out. No matter how hard I put my arms into pressing against the ground, my face continued to be bashed.

[System Warning]

Low HP

19/41 HP remaining

It flashed an announcement. I couldn’t tell whether it was physically in front or in my head. By the time his flurry of kicks ceased, I merely crawled on the floor, choking in crimson. I couldn’t feel my face anymore or know how my head was still connected to my body. The two men followed up and dragged me by the hair.

“Look at you, beaten up by a bunch of drunks, hahah.” One of them burped while I struggled to part my hair. The sensation I felt was the burning pain akin to decapitation. Now I couldn’t help but scream. I was no longer fighting them, but fighting my body to stay conscious.

Why did I even attempt to face two people stronger than me? Why did I even start a fight here? When it came to actual battle, I couldn’t win.

An arrow whistled. It struck the first man in the back, releasing me from his grip. I collapsed as I continued my deathly crawl. Grabbing the dagger on the floor I propped myself up. Standing at the front door was a boy. The one that knew Qawasumi. The other man faced him as he balled his fists.

“Qawasumi!” The adventurer threw off his quiver and tossed it with his bow across the room. I didn’t expect where it would land. I’d told her to go upstairs, so the chance that she would even be here…

His equipment thudded onto the planks of the ground near the stairs. I went silent, blood dripping down from my lip and chin. I couldn’t move at all. My head spun, as pangs of pain ushered my anticipation. And then the boy and I saw a hand reach towards the bow from above. We didn’t even notice how she loaded it.

One arrow flew directly into the chest, another into a hand. With that the two scrawny men fell. They weren’t killing blows, but their face conveyed something other than pure shock.

Qawasumi came from the stairs with another arrow loaded. “Zuhyo.”

Her array of stats appeared before her as she pressed something on it. White energy gathered around her third arrow, while the men laid there frozen. This must’ve been the finishing blow. I tried to get myself to my feet. “Miss Qawasumi, you did it—”

I looked down to see that arrow lodged in my arm. At that point, my mind blanked out.

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The first thing I remembered was cold water splashing down my face. It soaked my clothes as it dripped down my sleeves. I grasped the sheets of a bed while I struggled to pry my eyes open. Sunlight beamed through my eyelids. I positioned myself upright and looked out the window. The quarters we’d been given at the hostel. I’d been passed out the following morning.

“Rise and shine, dude.”

I swung my sight around to see that young boy again from last night. He leaned in the doorway, arms crossed.

“You… What happened?” I winced as I held my arm in bandages. Qawasumi shot me there. I touched my mouth and head which seemed to be fine. No blood, no scars, nothing. As if the wounds were never there.

“Ah, well you kinda fainted when she shot you. She shot you using Time Distortion Arrow. Take a look at your chart.”

“My chart?... Tahblo.”[https://i.imgur.com/M5Qdg75.png]

“See? Your injuries were reversed, although you can’t erase that wound with the arrow.”

“Now I understand.” I stretched my legs with such tight tension in them, aching and sore. “I believe we never introduced ourselves. My name’s Kaizenji Kawari.”

“I’m Taqumi.”

“Taqumi. Why did you go to such lengths to save me?”

Taqumi thought for a while as his head tilted. Then he grinned with his eyes, reflecting a mix of admiration and amusement. "Well, Kaizenji Kawari, you're not the only one who cares about Qawasumi, you know? We go way back, and when I saw you in trouble, I couldn't just stand by and watch."

I looked away. “I see… I’m sorry for everything that I’ve caused you. I believe I’ll have to say that to everyone. Especially her. I’ve caused her so much pain… Miss Qawasumi probably doesn’t want to see me anymore.”

From yelling at her to her saving me from the brawl I created, I was sure she was fed up with me and my actions. I attempted to pry into her personal life and tried to make her work when she despised Han’ei. I was indifferent to all of that. I shoved and barked commands to her without considering her perspective. Was there anything redeeming about me?

He pressed his back against the wall as his expression softened. “That’s quite the assumption. I don’t know how long you’ve been with her, so I’ll say my piece right here. You might not believe this, but the fact that she's still here with you, says a lot about how much she trusts you."

“She is?”

“Downstairs sitting in front of the hostel’s edifice. I only know my version of Qawasumi years ago, but she’s changed since that time passed.”

After hearing his word of advice, I thanked Taqumi and got out of bed. The wound in my arm stung like a sore muscle but I could walk pretty easily. I came down the stairs with the help of the railing to see the hostel’s owners frowning at their wrecked lobby. From there I approached them and returned the daggers to them. Since they housed and fed us for an entire month, the best I could do would be to stop working here completely. I bowed to them with a sincere apology. They told me to keep my uniform.

I stumbled my way outside to Qawasumi sitting near the building’s façade. Wincing once or twice I finally managed to sit down next to her, observing the passing crowd. Some people wore caps and others traditional robes, hurrying from one place to another. Shops and stalls began to open their signs and storefront gates to the morning rush. Qawasumi’s hands were together, legs inward. A slight hunch in her back. Taqumi watched from afar in the lobby, most likely giving us some space.

“Miss Qa—”

“I—”

We both turned away as we both interrupted ourselves. If I let her speak now, I believed that she would place the blame on herself. However I knew whose fault it truly was.

“Miss Qawasumi.”

She turned her head slightly, acknowledging our presence with silence.

“I… want to apologize for what I said to you.” I maintained some level of eye contact, but my gaze gradually fell downwards. “And I won’t pretend as if I’m not anxious about being here in Han’ei. Because I am. That’s why when I said all of that to you, I was afraid. We’re stuck here in a city I don’t know anything about. I don’t know what you’re going through, but at least I want to treat you right.”

For a moment, she seemed to waver, as if wanting to speak but hesitating. Then she covered her face with her hands. “There’s no way to treat me right. I wished to forget all about this place, so I pushed you to the limit. I’m so selfish for thinking that way…”

A variation of what I’d predicted she’d say. “That was—”

“I’m worried, Kawari! But Sorah’s not here and we’re far away from home…” She let down her hands and shook her head, her hair gently swaying from side to side. “Without Sorah, I, I just proved that I can’t do anything on my own. I needed someone to hold me up as a crutch, by him talking to me, by you taking my side, I thought all my past pains would be tossed away. But now I forced them away of my own volition and I can’t hold myself up. I couldn’t even bring myself to leave our room…”

“Miss Qawasumi,” I interrupted her before her voice slashed deep into me, leaving only heavy silence. I had to choose my words carefully. “Please don’t look down at yourself. Our circumstances made us scared of this place. And I can’t be a person like Sorah for you. But there are some things I do understand.” I stood up and sauntered over to her. She lifted her head as I put my hands on my hips and breathed in. “You’re skilled at the bow. You could hit whatever part of the body confidently. You shoot cool time reversing arrows. You are cold, yet concerned about others. You appear unwelcoming but are sympathetic. You like sakura mochi, the best sweet in any confectionary store.”

That last part slipped out from me unintentionally, as I averted my eyes away in embarrassment. Qawasumi blinked a couple of times, her face still as if time had frozen. “Kawari, what?...”

“I’m saying things I know about you.” I cleared my throat, as my cheeks flustered. “Even though we come from different worlds and different experiences, I’ve managed to learn a lot about you these past months. But I want to be someone you can rely on and trust. Just like you've done for me, listening to me going on about my family situation back in Hakone…”

She grasped her clothing and hid her face. “You… You really mean that?”

“Yeah. So take it slow. I won’t ask about it anymore. When you are ready, then we’ll figure out where to start.” I turned my back to her, shielding my face from the sun.

“...You’re stubborn. Idiot.”

“What can I say? I have to be to level myself with you.” I shrugged my shoulders with a beckoning gesture. For whatever reason her mood took a turn and I opted to follow along.

“Can… we start now then?”

My route I chose to take when she felt like hating herself, was praise itself. My first approach to our return was wrong. I’d been rushing everything since we’d found ourselves back in this world. The only way through this mess was brute optimism. Just as I did, Qawasumi decided to give this a second chance.

We strengthened our resolve and marched forward.