Knock, knock... knock.

A few soft knocks on a strange wall ripped him from his trance. Jasper swivelled his neck over. Dry eyes, unblinking gaze on the translucent paper-like wall, thin wooden frames compartmentalising the wall into even rectangles. His gaze focused on the faint shadow outlining a petite figure behind a section of the strange wall. An achoo and the shadow flusteredly jumped back. He narrowed his eyes and cocked his head. Something was amiss. His eyes darted around. He scanned the room again, but this time methodically, as he mentally took note of the room's peculiar design. He noted the design of the furniture. Then it dawned on him.

Huh?

He was oblivious to his surroundings and dumbfounded by the foreign architecture around him. There seemed to be no door. He was sleeping on the floor... that was a mat, with a blanket and another blanket as a mattress beneath him. His stomach knotted. His hands felt for his stomach, except when he looked down, he found himself in a strange robe. Instead, he tightly secured his grip on the hems of the blanket lying on his lap. He glanced up. No lights, no pendant. The section of the strange wall let out a shudder and a crackle.

Jasper looked back in horror.

The shadow of the petite figure had reached out an arm towards the side of the strange wall.

He lifted the blanket to his chest to shield himself from whatever was trying to barge and break down the strange wall to get to him. And eat him.

The section of the strange wall smoothly slid to the side.

Jasper paused at the sight of a girl blankly staring at him, standing there. Breathless.

Her flowing, platinum hair fell between her shoulders and cascaded over her strange robe. Small yet sharp golden eyes reflecting the bestial glint of a predator from the irises. He forced his gaze past her fair skin and strange face to the pair of arctic canine-like ears perched on top of her head. They perked as his jaw slowly dropped. The girl's nose wrinkled, and she covered it with her sleeve as she sneezed and let out a quiet achoo.

Jasper's eyes widened.

"What are you? You're not..."

"I'm... Yumi." The girl said in a hushed tone. "Yumi Hamiyashi."

She folded her hands at her midsection. She took one elegant step at a time forward, entering the room as her eyes loosely glanced around. Jasper leaned back as he lifted the blanket higher to himself.

"Y-You're not gonna eat me, a-are you?" Jasper said.

Yumi displayed no reaction on her face. She stopped beside Jasper. Jasper cringed further back. She slowly sat on her knees. Stared into his soul.

"What. Is. Your..." Yumi's lips quivered as her eyes narrowed, and she cocked her head. "Name?"

"Huh?" Jasper lowered the blanket and cautiously leaned back in. He gulped, his heart wildly pounding in his ears, averting his eyes. "It's Jasper... J-Jasper Brown."

He nodded his head repeatedly, and Yumi pursed her lips. She lowered her eyes to the floor and quietly mouthed his name. Jasper furrowed his brows. He was confused about why Yumi was speaking like this, not to mention the difficulty in forming her words. Even her pronunciation was off, and her accent was.. different.

"U-Um..." he stuttered.

He prepared to say the big question with a deep breath.

"Um... Are you the big, bad wolf?" His feet shifted under the blanket.

Yumi fiercely raised her eyes at him, firmly maintaining eye contact.

"Play," she said.

"Eh?"

"Play. Outside."

Jasper noticed the tail slowly wagging behind her back.

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

"Um... OK," he said, bitterly laughing. "Play..."

Yumi softly exhaled as she fluttered her eyebrows. She stood up. Turned around and sluggishly paced towards the room's exit. Jasper eyed her fluffy, wagging tail. His palms balled into fists. He had an urge to grab that white, moving tail. He snapped out of it when Yumi stopped, and he felt her piercing eyes glare at him over her shoulder.

"Play," Jasper muttered as he briskly stood up. He dusted his strange robe as he caught up to her.

"Yes. Play." Yumi nodded, and they continued.

He didn't know what he got himself into.

They exited his room and walked down the empty hallway side by side. Jasper brought his fingers to his lips as he nervously looked around. More of that strange wall lined up on both sides of the hallway. He let go of his lips as he halted and pointed at one of the conjoined strange walls.

"What is that?"

"Shoji." Yumi didn't even turn her head around nor spare a glance. Her eyes were glued ahead like a doll. She slowly continued walking ahead of him.

Shoji...

He nodded as he recalled the wall– shoji, sliding open. And it was a door. It made sense. Still, he had more questions.

He pointed at himself and his strange robe.

"What. Am. I. Wear?" Jasper said.

Yumi stopped in her tracks. She glanced at him over her shoulder. No reaction.

"Play."

"OK... Play." Jasper glanced at his robe one last time before he caught up with her again. He shrugged his curiosity off– well, he still didn't know where he was. No more questions, then. They turned after reaching a corner. Another strange hallway to venture into. Yumi stopped halfway to sneeze into her sleeve. Achoo. And another one. Jasper stopped thinking about the open, small interior of the rooms they passed by and worriedly looked at Yumi.

"Are you OK?"

"Yes. Thank you." Yumi's eyes flitted to him.

"...Still play?"

"Yes."

Jasper wryly smiled. He lowered his eyes.

They reached the end of the hallway and turned to what extended to be the entry and exit of the house. Light filtered through the thin gaps in the wooden-framed panels, illuminating the specks of dust. Jasper stared at the scenery beyond the wide opening of the entryway leading to the outside. Just the dull facade of what seemed like another strange house. A passerby walked by in his strange clothes, strange backpack, strange ears... Jasper could go on. The fresh air brought in by the draft smelt strange, reminiscent of a mix of wet grass and mud. The strangeness churned away his stomach. This wasn't the home he knew of.

Where am I?

Yumi firmly grabbed his wrist. Jasper's heart skipped a beat. She yanked him forward as she ran, and he yelped as he staggered to balance his abrupt footing. They ran past an open room to their left and rapidly approached the entryway, the day of light.

"Yumi!?" a familiar voice belonging to a woman echoed from the room they ran past. Yumi halted and exhaled deeply through her nose. She churlishly let go of Jasper's wrist, and he brought it to his chest. He waved it off, and he stared at Yumi, bamboozled. Her ears were drooped. Her eyes were closed, her fists were clenched, and she shouted something inscrutable Jasper couldn't understand. Strange words. Strange world. It only exacerbated his uncertainty about this new world around him and people, encroaching on his heart.

But at least he could place that familiar voice.

The familiar, loving, graceful voice of the woman who carried him and hugged him and shared her warmth when he had no one there for him as he lay motionless near the scary forest. Mama. Even though they had separate, distinct voices. Even though he didn't even know what she looked like, only a recording of her distant voice while the other came with a blurry face. If anything, it would be this one who was now there for him. Not the absent one. Soft footsteps behind him beckoned his teary eyes. No, he turned around and ran into his Mama's embrace. Buried his head into her strange yet warm robe and poured his heart out.

"Mama... I m-miss you so much. I-I love you." He thought about the things that terrified him. His master. His dying breath. Mrs Flower.

"S-scary. I'm s-scared, M-Mama."

A slender hand reached out from above and caressed his hair.

"Aw, Jasper, It's OK, my strawberry mochi. Don't be afraid. Everything is OK," said his Mama. Jasper looked up from her robe to her face. A pair of dimples had appeared beside her warm smile. Golden eyes like Yumi shaped into crescents and strands of her silvery, long hair reaching out to him. She had those pointy ears on the top of her head, too, but Jasper didn't care anymore. She blinked and raised her head to face a deadpan Yumi.

"Go back to your room, Yumi," Mama solemnly said. "You're too ill to go and play outside. Now."

She said something in the same tone and speaking duration that Jasper couldn't quite understand. Yumi clenched her teeth. She shouted something back before flouncing away. Achoo. Jasper watched Yumi stride past him, sniffling.

It seems he'd have to adjust to this new life.