“I'm not even surprised at this point.”

A howling blizzard engulfed Ryuji. His tent and the people who came with him were nowhere in sight. For the second time, he was thrust into a life or death situation, although this time was hypothermia instead of dehydration. He wondered if Ash was okay as the roaring white landscape threatened to encase him. After breathing in the tundra air, he attempted to step forward against the strong wind.

"Shit!"

His entire leg fell into the snow leaving him in an awkward position. Pulling himself up felt like a monumental task in the blizzard, but with enough effort, he escaped the snow and trudged on. The trees he walked past were beginning to disappear as their bottom halves became buried in the landscape.

"Ishtar, you stupid skank!"

As he imagined wringing the person who was responsible for his continuing misfortune Ryuji sensed something.

"A fire!?"

Without thinking, he sprinted as fast as he could over the white wasteland. Deep snow blocked his path as he trudged through it. His entire body absorbed the cold, and his hands started to lose feeling. A slight burning sensation radiated from his closed fists as he made his way toward the heat. Through the veil of white, as he approached the source of his concern, an outline of a cave came into his view. Stepping inside, he couldn't help but release a sigh of relief before looking to see the last person he was expecting. Nyanjo sat on a protruding rock with a bundle of wood set ablaze.

“...What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same damn thing. I don’t even know where I am.”

The silence was crushing. Sweat beaded on his forehead despite the freezing chill in the air. His throat felt scratchy beyond belief, and his body suddenly itchy all over. He decided to just swing for the fences and start up a conversation.

“Do you know what happened to you?”

“I woke up, everyone was gone, but the tents were there, so I...kind of thought...you know.” She seemed like she just wanted to leave it at that, but Ryuji's concerned stare was persuasive. She breathed out a sigh that left behind a white trail in the air. “You left me behind.”

A lump formed in his throat, and he couldn't help but feel angry. He took a deep breath to retain his reason and responded calmly, making sure to put concern in his voice.

“Why do you think I would do that?”

“Don’t do that, don't act so surprised. I’ve been through this before. You’re all for letting me tag along until I make one little mistake. Maybe I wasn’t acting cutesy enough for you, or maybe, I wasn’t flirting with you enough. Maybe, you were expecting me to keep you company in the night! Or maybe! Maybe, I made you mad, and now you don’t want to see me anymore."

In the face of her comment, Ryuji looked away with shame.

"Just one slip up, and they'll toss you to the side! I’ve lived in this world long enough to know that people only tolerate you when they get something out of it, so don’t you act like I'm talking nonsense when all I'm reciting are the rules of this world."

"Is that what you really think? Then what about Rudy? Did he want something too!?"

Pain seemed to ruminate behind her eyes before she answered calmly. "Rudy is an exception to the rule; he was an anomaly. There will never be another one like him!"

"You're wrong! Ha, that's such a warped view of the world. I'm surprised you can even live like that."

"And what's wrong with having a warped view if the world itself is warped!?"

"I'll ask again, is that what you really think?"

"I don't think it, I know it dammit! You act all high and mighty, but the truth is you're just as scummy as everyone else!"

"Yeah, you're right! I am scum! I should've talked to you about what happened instead of pretending you didn't exist like I was some six-year-old throwing a tantrum! But even still, I'm nowhere near the level of scumminess that you'd have to be at to leave someone to die out here. So no matter how mad I get at you, no matter what kind of shit you put me through, I'm not leaving you by yourself."

"...You don't mean that. You're just saying it because of this situation. If you weren't stuck in here with me-"

"Then what will it take? What is it going to take to make you trust me?"

The heat of the argument faded into the silence. As the air between them dissolved, Ryuji realized that at some point, he had stood and walked to the center of the cave. Slowly pacing back to his rock and sitting down, he thought about the precise reason it had gotten so heated in the first place. He couldn't even remember why he was getting so angry at her. Then he saw it; the look on her face was familiar. It was an expression he would often see during his old morning routines. For a brief moment, a swinging rope entered his mind. She wasn't exactly the same as his past self, but her final destination could very well be the same place, and Ryuji would no accept that.

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

"If you don't trust people, then one day you're going to be all alone."

His words broke the silence and grabbed Nyanjo's attention. His breathing hitched from thinking about how embarrassing the next few moments would be.

"Maybe that doesn't seem like a big deal to you, but I can tell you from experience; that kind of life can never be anything but empty. No matter what you do, there'll never be anybody there to congratulate you. Nobody to tell you how much you suck. Nobody to tell you they love you. Every day will feel like nothing until that nothingness makes your chest so heavy that you can't even breathe. You'll be left gasping for a breath of fresh air that will never come. A life like that, what's the point of even living?..."

She seemed to be taking in his words, and in her face, he could see her resolve wavering.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you have to trust me right now, or even in a few weeks, but at some point, I'd like you to."

"You told me earlier that people only keep you around when you're useful. If that's what you truly believe, then why didn't you tell me you saved me? Hell, you've saved me twice now, haven't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there's the time with the squid, but I've also been wondering about something; why would you go through all the trouble of healing me in Priscillaca then abandon me after I pass out again? It just doesn't make any sense; at least it didn't until I saw you in chains. You let them capture you so that they wouldn't do anything to me while I was unconscious, didn't you?"

"...It was my fault anyway! Of course, I would...if I didn't, then when would I ever change?"

"So why didn't you tell me? If you're so worried about being left behind, then why wouldn't you?"

"I...I..." She took a sudden deep breath to calm herself down before looking him in the eyes. "You gave me hope, and I wanted to repay you. You don't go around bragging to someone about the things you've done for them, do you? Then we started getting along pretty well, and I thought that I finally found a place where I wouldn't have to act like someone else. But then I messed it all up like I always do. After that, you started to treat me like I was a nuisance, and I feared that you would end up like everyone else and leave me behind."

"Like I said, I'm not going to leave you behind! We're both making it to that village."

"That's what I don't get. Why wouldn't you leave me behind? All I'm good for is killing and my body. You're already better at the former than me, and when it comes to my body, no matter how many times I tease you, you never do anything."

"It's not that complicated; it's the same reason you didn't mention saving me. You've helped me quite a bit already, and over these past few days, I guess I've taken a liking to you." Crimson crept up his cheeks and looking at the taken aback face of Nyanjo wasn't helping. "Oh god, look, what I'm trying to say is stop thinking about stupid stuff and just go back to being normal with me. Make fun of me, call me a virgin, ask me to make you food even though you're the better cook, shamelessly hide behind me when a monster shows up. Can you do that for me? At least until we get to the village and split up..."

A pang went through his chest at the thought of separating, but he quickly pushed it aside and brought back out his smile. Seeing that, she awkwardly put on a small smile of her own.

"...Yes. But you better be thankful for it!" All of her words were awkward and forced, but Ryuji couldn't help feeling amused listening to them. "It's not every day that you get to be in such close quarters with someone as beautiful as myself."

"Is that so? I guess I should count my blessings then."

"So you're not mad at me anymore?"

"No, I'm not mad at you anymore. More importantly, how the hell are we going to escape this place?"

Nyanjo let out another burst of fire, raising the temperature of their cave to slightly above freezing. Ryuji attempted to keep his gaze in the other direction. He still wasn't okay with seeing flames when he wasn't the one in charge of them.

"Escape? Sorry pal, but we're stuck here till this thing quiets down. Guess that means we'll be stuck together all night long, huh. Who knows, maybe we'll have to ditch our clothes and huddle together in an attempt to keep warm."

"There's the awkward flirting I missed so much!"

"I-It is not awkward!"

"Oh come on! Every-"

"Heyo! Oh, am I interrupting something good? My deepest apologies."

A man stood at the cave's entrance with one of the creepiest smiles Ryuji had ever seen. He had felt more sanity radiating from Envy than the intruder. Without waiting for a response, he walked forward, allowing himself to be better seen. The silver robe he wore set off alarm bells inside Ryuji's head. Markings of blood were etched on his chest that at first glance, resembled roman numerals.

"Who the fuck are you?"

Ryuji attempted to sound as intimidating as possible, but his voice still cracked. His hand firmly grasped the hilt of his sword. All he got in response was a cackle from the deranged man.

"Woah there friend, don't get so testy now. I just came to look at the goods is all. But boy, oh boy, have you been running all over creation! I've been following you forever now."

"What do you want!?"

Nyanjo stood from her seat with noticeable anger in her eyes as she screamed out at the stranger. Fire flared off her hands as her emotions rose. Ryuji attempting not to have a panic attack over the flames instead chose to stare at the stranger. For the life of him, he could not remember what a silver robe meant but had a nagging suspicion he had heard about it somewhere.

"If you don't calm down missy, you might upset me. And I know that no one here wants me to be upset."

"Go fuck yourself!"

"Alright." His voice lost its playful edge and now felt much more dangerous. The one word he uttered was enough for Ryuji to know what was coming next. He attempted to deploy zone to protect himself and Nynajo but was already too late. "Glacial edge."

"AAAAAAH!"

A spear of ice pierced Nyanjo's torso and stuck out the other side. Streams of red started to slowly make their way to the floor of the cave as a screaming Nyanjo stumbled back and forth attempting to keep her footing.

"Maybe that will calm her down, am I right?"

"Raiden!"

A blurring image of the furious Ryuji flashed toward the stranger. With a single move that carried the same speed as sound Ryuji laid swung twice. The stranger danced around the attack, still carrying his insane smile even as his arm dangled helplessly to his side.

"Are you ready to die, you son of a bitch!"

"If you think chopping one arm up to bits is enough to make me quit, then you're pretty naive. Oh yeah, guess I don't need this anymore; got to focus on this fight anyhow."

The brutal snowstorm that engulfed the entire area suddenly lifted, and the skies cleared. The snow quickly returned to the average level. Any sign that a natural disaster had just taken place was now gone. All this, along with the nagging feeling in the back of his mind, left Ryuji with one question.

"Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Kommandant Katastrophe of the Freiheit cult. Nice to meet you!"