“-uji… -ji!... ey!”

“RYUJI!”

His mind focused in on the blurry world and for a second stared blankly into the face of Dot who was once again trying to get his attention after he started acting strangely. The memories of the dream were long gone but the ones of his last life were fresh on his mind. He dropped to his knees and thanked whatever God had given him yet another chance.

The girls expressed their worry and rushed to his side. He looked at them with tears in his eyes. “You’re all okay.” His words were choked with sobs and his demeanor reminded them of a lost child.

They picked him up and moved off the road to avoid prying eyes and to not clog up the road. Once they led him to an open area in the brush, he asked a question.

“Do you guys remember… anything strange?” Ryuji's question caused the girls to look at each other quizzingly. He knew that they probably didn’t, but he still wanted to make absolutely sure.

“Nope.”

“No.”

“Besides you suddenly crying like a baby? No.”

“Thank goodness.” With a smile of relief, Ryuji felt slightly lifted. They were no longer on the road and he figured that the man wouldn’t veer off the road for any reason. Everyone was alive and they would stay that way. This was the best situation.

‘So why? Why do I feel so horrible right now?’ The cries and screams from his last life echoed in his brain and wouldn’t leave. They had even replaced the steps that had recently caused Ryuji's mind to break. No matter how hard he tried he couldn’t get that last image of her out of his mind.

‘She looked so heartbroken… so betrayed.’ His guilt continued to eat away at him.

“Hey, why do you look even worse than before?” While Ryuji was suffering inside his head Dot had positioned herself next to him. She gently asked what was wrong in the same tone a mother might do for her child.

He looked up at her with aching eyes. Those words of kindness that he felt he didn’t deserve had broken a dam within him. Ryuji suddenly hugged Dot from the front and placed his head at her chest.

“W-what are you doing? Look if you were just wondering what it felt like to hug a woman, I would have let…” Her words trailed off as she looked down at the face of pure anguish. His eyes were shut tight while steady streams flowed from them. His whole body shook as he cried. In between his sobs, she could hear a low muttering coming from his mouth.

“I’m sorry.” His voice was little more than a whisper.

“I’m sorry!” Flashes of what he said to her last time popped into his head. Those awful things that tore her heart apart. The heart whose owner was doing her best to comfort him right now.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Her screams that wouldn’t leave his mind got louder and louder.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” He didn’t know what he expected to happen. He just started hugging her and apologizing out of nowhere. It’s not like she remembers what he did to her. This must be the most confusing event of her entire life. What did he expect to happen?

A gloved hand gently grazed his hair as she ran it back and forth. Her other hand rested firmly on his back and only left this position when she patted him there. The warmth that leaked out of the gloves and onto him felt cozy and sweet. Still, he refused to look up from his position. He didn’t want to see what kind of face she was making. He didn’t want to see how he was deservedly being judged.

“It's okay.” A soft voice with an odd static to it vibrated in his left ear. She had craned her head down and now he could feel her hot breath on his ear. “I forgive you.”

Those three words caused him to go into shock. They were words that he wanted to hear but didn’t think he deserved. After a moment of silence, the apologies came out like a torrent. Dot meanwhile continued to forgive and play with Ryuji's hair.

After what seemed like hours of nonstop apologizing Ryuji felt relieved albeit a little sore in the throat. He finally let go of Dot from the bear hug he been ensnaring her in for the last few hours.

When he looked up at Dots face it wasn’t anywhere near what his imagination predicated. He had a picture in his head of her looking like a sweet caring mother with a kind smile. The Dot in front of him however had the face of someone who was genuinely embarrassed.

“Um, thanks for… that.” Ryuji attempted to not sound too weird about it but had failed tremendously.

“I-It was no problem! Nuh-uh, no problem at all!” Dot put on a brave face trying not to let her embarrassment shine through.

Seeing this put a smile on his face and a thought in the back of his mind surfaced. “Hey Dot?”

“Yeah?” Dot's face looked at the ground as if she were anticipating some kind of teasing to come from his mouth.

“I just wanted to let you know that I figured out something a bit ago. You’re important to me too.” He felt heat coming off his cheeks for saying something that he considered lame but when he thought about it crying like a baby for a few hours was probably way lamer.

“Really?” Dot looked exceedingly unsure if she had heard him right. She put her hands together and squeezed like she was making a small prayer.

“Of course ya idiot. I don’t just say things I don’t mean.” He attempted to bring the conversation back into something that could be considered lighthearted. He didn’t know who had abandoned or hurt Dot before, but he wasn’t going to be like that. He would stick with her to the end.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“I’m glad!” Dot jumped up and gave Ryuji an unblemished smile. Time stopped for him. Dot was always grinning or smiling in one way or another, but he had never actually felt like she was happy. It always seemed as if it was just a façade but now the smile on her face felt unforced, genuine, and made her look beautiful.

“Are you two lovebirds done? We have a city to get to and I wanted to make it to a town so I wouldn’t have to sleep on the ground.” Queen's voice knocked Ryuji out of his stupor.

“Yeah let’s get going.” Shaking his head Ryuji answered and the party continued down the road.

As they made their way to the familiar hill Ryuji felt a chill run down his spine. His teeth chattered and his eyes darted as to make sure that nothing bad would happen this time. The breathes that he held in his chest hitched and he felt lightheaded.

After a few minutes, the hill was no longer in view as the road winded into the forest. Ryuji felt relieved letting out a sigh and unclenched the hand he had on his chest.

After a few more hours they made it to a town. The sun began to set as night drew closer.

“Ah civilization how I missed you!” Dot dropped to her knees and made a bowing motion.

“We literally went through a village a few days ago.”

“Shut up crybaby that was a village this is a town. There’s a difference okay?” Dots name calling caused Ryuji to cringe and keep his mouth firmly shut.

“What’s this difference exactly?” Queen smugly looked at Ryuji who had been beat into submission with just one name drop.

“Is it that there’s a saloon here? Cause I could really go for some whiskey right about now. Walking all day is a pain in the ass and the feet.” Jessy looked longingly at the bar in question. It had the feel of a legitimate place, unlike the one Ryuji used to frequent up north.

“We didn’t even have to walk all day. The hero over here graciously gave us a few hours of reprieve while he balled his eyes out.” Queen jerked her thumb in Ryuji's direction while wearing a smirk.

“Urk! Let's just go to the bar, okay!?” Followed by giggles and snorts Ryuji stiffly walked over to the bar and entered through the swinging doors.

Unlike a certain bar, this one seemed pretty fancy. There was no smell of piss that Ryuji could detect which was a pretty good start. The establishment had many tables that various groups were sitting at. There was a bar to the left of the entrance and straight down the middle was a large stage.

“Ooooo is it that kind of bar?” Dot was practically hopping up and down.

“Why are you so excited about it?” Ryuji couldn’t think of a single reason why a strip bar would interest her so greatly, but he decided to leave it alone and sit at an empty table. The party sat down too and ordered drinks.

“One whiskey!” The cowboy ordered with a slamming of her leather-gloved fist.

“One bottle of Hofel wine please.” Queen ordered politely but with the undertone of her usual personality.

“One Mallan beer please.” Ryuji ordered his favorite beer and looked expectantly at Dot. He really wanted to know what kind of weird shit she was going to order.

“Hmmmmm, one frog champagne please!” Dot exceeded his expectations and ordered something he didn’t even know existed.

“Gentlemen and Ladies welcome to tonight’s show!” A loud voice came from the center of the stage as a suited man started talking.

“A show! Do you think they’ll strip?” Jessy had already gotten her whiskey and subsequently downed the whole thing.

“I didn’t even know you were into that sort of thing. Isn’t your saying if it doesn’t involve a gun I don’t care?”

“Well, pardner if ya mus know I am a purveyor of many things and one of them is boobies!” Jessy’s face was bright red from ear to ear. As she talked, she got increasingly worked up. She leaned over the table and jabbed a finger into Ryuji's face. Ryuji slowly moved the finger out of his face and responded with a fake smile and shut eyes.

“Oh, I see now. You should never be allowed to drink whiskey again.” Ryuji's voice quickly went from intrigued to flat as he finished judging Jessy.

“Aw why not this Jessy is so different from the regular one, it's kinda endearing.” The frog champagne arrived as Dot spoke. Ryuji wanted to ask why the drink was purple and orange swirled together and what purpose did the alive frog in her drink serve. He decided it would be better not too as he would swiftly be made fun of by everyone at the table.

“You are the strangest girl I have ever met.” Queen lazily sipped from her wine while eyeing Dot.

“Yea an your tha mos stuck UP bitch I hav evr met.” As the sentence ended Dot stood up on the table and shouted towards the heavens. “EVER!”

Ryuji had reached peak embarrassment. Between the two girls fighting in front of him and the drunk one who was now climbing him like a jungle gym, he was wishing that he had just gone to sleep instead of stepping foot in this bar. “Introducing your favorite catgirl! Nyanjo!

A girl wearing what Ryuji would consider to be idol clothes walked out from the curtain. Her clothes had a pink theme which was also the color of her hair. Instead of having normal ears, she had cat-like ears on the top of her head and a tail that peaked out behind her. Her eyes were very human and had a light purple color.

“Hewwo evernyan!” Her voice was high pitched and cute. When she spoke to the crowd, she bent over and started waving to everyone with both hands while she smiled sweetly. The crowd immediately responded with cheering and shouting.

“Well then let’s start the concert! Teehee~” After announcing the start of her performance, she winked playfully at the crowd, which got them, and Ryuji riled up.

The two at the table were still screaming at each other but the drunk Jessy had calmed down. She situated herself in his lap and promptly fell asleep while holding him. Ryuji felt that this would be a whole lot cuter if the guns she carried weren’t super uncomfortable and riding into him.

“Fwy me to the moon and wet me pway among the stars.” Ryuji had a feeling that he heard this somewhere before but decided to pay attention to her sweet voice instead.

The show ended after three encores, and while he might be ashamed to admit it he was apart of the crowd asking for more. In fact, he kinda wanted to go and ask for an autograph, but unfortunately, he had to babysit the three drunkards.

“Can we go home Ryuji?” Jessy groggily asked from his lap before tightening her hug on him.

“Yeah, yeah we’re going to the inn.” He picked up the heavy Jessy, whose weight was only a problem because of the arsenal that came with her.

He swung open the doors with Jessy in his arms and the two drunkards slowly following him. Leaning on a post outside the bar was a familiar figure who seemed as if she was waiting for someone.

“Hey! I was waiting for you, geez! How long did you plan on making a fair maiden wait?” She shyly rocked herself back and forth while pure confusion flowed through Ryuji's brain.

“Why are you waiting for me?” Ryuji attempted to sound as confident as possible, but on the inside, he was having a panic attack. He was also fairly sure she knew this too from the grin she had before answering.

“Why else sweetie? I want you and your strong, capable self to escort me to Priscillaca.”

“How did you know?”

“Your friends were shouting it during my performance.”

“…Sorry.”

“It’s okay! I’m used to it. So how about it?”

“Um well, it might be pretty dangerous to come with us.”

“I don’t mind!” Her happy tone put him off as she started to sound more desperate.

“I suppose we could always use another hot girl.”

“Yay! Thank you, mister!” She jumped up and down then shook his hand. Ryuji couldn’t get their feeling out of his head, nor could he avert his eyes from the chest of the girl bouncing in joy.

“My name is Ryuji.” He stuck out his hand for another shake.

“I’m Nyanjo! It’s a pweasure to meet you!” She accepted the shake, and the deal was set.

Ryuji said his goodbyes and dragged the party to the nearby inn. He shut his eyes on a cheap bed, and for some reason, felt excited to sleep.