Ever since that day, everyone in the house was on edge. James was way more active, every day he would be out buying boxes, bags and tools. It wasn't a small amount, sometimes he would stay out there till it was dark. As someone who already knew what was going on, I didn't have to ask.
But whenever Allisa went up and asked them, she'd be met with. "Nothing's wrong Sweetie, we're preparing for a trip." And a smile from either of them. She'd come back to me with a disheartened look, that's all.
It happened again. She came back into the room with her head hung low and an expression foretelling her grief. However, this time was different. She came up to me and plopped to my side. Then, she rested her head on my shoulder.
"W-What's wrong?" Startled, I asked her. She stayed quiet, silently resting her head there. Does she need to talk? I wondered whilst attempting to focus on my book.
"Why are mom and dad acting like this?"
They're trying to protect you. I wanted to answer her, but I held my tongue. She's only thirteen, but she really doesn't know what's going on… James and Melinda really babied her, if I could, I would verbally scold them. Although, I am much younger even counting my past life's years.
"Even you don't want to say…" She said whilst removing her head.
"I d-don't know…"
"You do know… There's something on your minds…"
"I don-"
"You do! My dad always tells you more than me! And he doesn't know the real you!" Allisa exclaimed whilst pointing at me. Reflexively I had to cover my ears. The real me? Once the ringing inside them subsided, I was able to ask myself.
"W-What are you even talking about?"
"That stutter is fake! I can hear you at night talking to yourself… Recently it's been about some war, or something I don't understand…"
How- I made sure she was asleep?! Safe to say my shock was completely out of the act. Sure, I talked to myself when no one was awake– I made sure specifically she was asleep- Her angry expression turned furious as her eyebrows furrowed deep. Shit. Alright…
"Are you going to say-"
"James and Melinda are trying to protect you…" I laid it out bluntly, slapping my book shut and resting my chin on my hand– Whilst looking up at her. Her demeanor completely flattened at my response– Even her mouth hung slightly open. If the cat– Wolf for me - is out of the bag, I can't hide it anymore. "Something big might be happening. Your parents are trying to keep you from panicking." Word for word, I explained to her.
"T-They are…" Seems like my words completely took her by surprise. She stood there for some time, eventually falling right next to me. Bringing her knees up to her chin. Then, resting her head onto my shoulder once more.
Seems like she's calming down again. For a few hours it felt like she had it there. I flipped through my book as usual, from the slightest move of her head she followed.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Yeah?"
"Will we… Be okay?
"..."
How should I respond? I quietly contemplated how to respond. Will we be fine? I couldn't answer that for myself… I, myself, was quite nervous about that war. Just the thought of it made me incredibly afraid. She scooted away from me, whilst giving me those puppy dog eyes for answers. I can see why this specific look gets James… I'll use it to the fullest!! Not Allisa but the pupp- Why am I even explaining this.
"I-.. Sorry…" She apologized whilst lowering her head. She probably saw the look on my face, one that read as, "I don't know."
"We'll be fine. Your dad will be there to protect us." I gave Allisa a small smile, just to reassure her, I gave a thumbs up. There was a slight twitch in her frown, but her mood seemed to brighten.
"Oh! Speaking of your personality, why are you hiding it? OR how you speak?" Allisa scootched in closer, practically being right in front of me. "It's closer to how you were when you were on your period."
… I felt all my facial muscles tighten at her words. Did she explicitly have to say that?! "First of all… No, can you seriously not mention that?! That is really embarrassing!" Without thinking, I karate chopped her head. She let out a small yelp whilst jolting back. "And it would be suspicious if your father saved me and I was calm about it!"
"Geez… That hurt! Alright! I will stop mentioning that you meanie…"
"Hmph… Now that answers your question." I let out a snort. That should teach her not to talk about that. She rubbed her head whilst looking away. All of a sudden, I heard the click of the bedroom door. Then someone swung it open. Melinda walked in, keeping both hands on her hips.
"M-Mom?"
"Yukina, you're coming with me today. Whilst you Allisa, you're with your father. We're going shopping." Melinda said suddenly, both Allisa and I tilted our heads. That's a bit random. I thought, but we both complied. Did she hear any of this-
She took us out of the bedroom– Allisa and James went first. Melinda left them a list, whilst we left the house shortly after them.
"Allisa already told me, you can be yourself around us." Melinda commented moments after we left. She gave me a reassuring smile. Seems like little miss Allisa really loves to spill secrets.
"What are we going to be getting? Thought James bought everything." I asked whilst crossing my arms. The people here love to stare. "He's been going around buying everything for the past five days." As the word five left my mouth, I brought my right arm out whilst holding up all the fingers.
"Well~ There is one specific topic that he usually avoids… Despite being my husband for twenty years, and being a father for thirteen years."
"... Couldn't you have brought Allisa?" I questioned her. Great, feminine products? She merely gave me a smile, then a soft chuckle escaped her lips.
"The real you, seems pretty silly."
"Huh? What're you even talking about?"
"We're going shopping for you. You don't have much clothing anyways, and I can't keep giving you my own personal wardrobe to wear. Specifically…" She pointed towards this body, the upper and lower areas as discretely as she could. "Your bra-"
"Shut it! Don't say it out loud please!"
"Haha… Alright, alright."
I wanted to hide my face, cover it with my hands. It wouldn't have mattered, she was already belly laughing from my reaction. My dignity has seriously been lost… It was lost ever since I took over this fucking body!!!
For the next god knows how long we walked. She rambled on, talking about whatever- My face is completely hot, we're seriously going to buy that?
Sooner or later, we stopped at a shop that had insanely pristine glass. We could see our reflections. Mannequins of all body shapes stood on pedestals; wearing many.. Different kinds of undergarments.
Are we really doing this? Never have I-
"Yukina, get your butt over here, silly."
"...Coming…"
Inside it wasn't much different, countless mannequins outlined a carpet. At the far end, a lady in an extravagant red dress leaned on a counter. I guess… It won't be that bad. I couldn't help but let my eyes subtly wander downwards.
"Welcome, welcome… How can I help you, Lady Gabri?" The woman asked, she let her head slump a little, whilst her left hand went out. "Least expecting you to come in, need something for your daughter or for your husband?"
"Adopted daughter, this is Little Yukina. Just under a month ago, James and I adopted her." She guided me towards the lady, keeping me in front of her. The shoplady gave me an intense look down, eyeing up, down, having Melinda spin me around.
"Ya're really short, Little 'Kina."
"Thanks..."
"Just go over there, no need to try them on. They'll fit her like a glove." The shoplady pointed towards a smaller row of mannequins. "For the future, the one next would fit her. Just don't get jealous, ya got that?"
.... Woman. You're the first on my hit list.
"That... That hurts, can you let go?"
"Oh... Yes... Sorry, um, let's buy what you need, we're going to get more clothes after." Melinda hurriedly snatched a few pairs of them, paid and practically dragged me out of the store. She seems to be self conscious of her... Breast size. They were well below the average size, the dresses she normally wore tried to make them seem bigger...
Is it because I'm in a girl's body? They were a small cup size, I could tell at a glance. Almost this body's size. As my thoughts went around, rolling. I felt a small tap on my head, Melinda was glaring down at me. Oh- Oh fuck... Did I piss her off? She's really that self conscious of her breast sizes?!
for the next shop, she angrily stomped in-- Literally stomped in, she was like that giant that said "fee, fi, fo fum." Her small bust size really pissed her off, and probably how a thirteen year old girl has future potential than her. She forcefully made me choose outfits.
How are they not broke? Melinda bought a few pairs of each outfit. Seven outfits total, twenty-one pairs. That ended our shopping spree, so we hurriedly made it home. The rest of the day concluded quickly, and we went to bed.
*************************************************************************************************************
"Someone! HELP!"
"RUN Do-" A sickening cutting sound entered my ears. Then the stench of smoke entered my nose. What the hell is- It- No… Is it- Is it starting?!
"GET UP! WE'RE LEAVING!" James screamed at us, sending the bedroom door off its hinges. Is- Is- "C'MON! MELINDA GET Allisa!" I couldn't react, couldn't think. I was only swept off my feet– James held me in his arms. Veins were throbbing in his neck, the altruistic and optimistic guy was gone.
"W-W-What's going on?"
"Keep your voice down! We need to leave Untergrant…"
"W-"
"No questions, we need to get going!"
Is- We were already on the streets. Smoke surrounded us, fire had swallowed everything. People's bodies were on the ground– Cut in half, or were being attacked by men in armor. A-...
"Allisa, cover your eyes. Now." Melinda blocked Allisa's eyes. It was too late, Allisa was already sobbing. Countless armored men's heads creaked over to us. Their invisible eyes bore holes into us, it was already too late…
I- we're…
"James… What are you doing?"
"I'm going to do what I have to do." There was no emotion in his voice… He softly sat me on the ground, turning his back to us. "Take the kids, and get out of here."
"...Just be careful."
He only turned his head, flashing us all a smile as the first man sprinted towards him. Is- Nothing could help me think, my head felt all muddled, panicky… It kept running, running… I could only find myself, blinking and being in different places.
I was there, now I'm struggling, struggling so much to keep up with Melinda and Allisa. We were running– They were, I was trying. My foot kept aching. I was falling behind. People's bodies took over the ground- The ground was stained with the blood of them. Their sunken eyes watched- Watched as we tried to run.
Is there- Is there anything I could do? My heart's racing, just as fast as my mind. We were nearing the gate. But… My foot, it gave up. My arms hurt, the ground is- It's cold. I need to crawl, I have to. I can't put anything into my arms, I can't get up.
"Aww~ What a poor thing you are. Trying to run away?" A creepy voice entered my ears. I heard the clanks of armor striking the pebbled path. Then a clink, clink… The ground around me turned dark, and the shadow of armor loomed over me. I'm dead… "Look at someone when they're speaking to you… That's highly disrespectful…" This guy's voice sent my nerves into overdrive.
"Get away from her!"
"Oh shut it woman, why don't you get running away~ Oh, well… It's not like it matters anyways." I felt a crushing weight grab the back of my skull… Is he trying to break my skull?! It's- That hurts… Please let me go… The world around me is darkening… The pulsating pain at the back of my head is increasing so much. I can't think, it hurts so bad.
"LET- AH!" Before my vision turned fully dark, Melinda's body shot towards the ground. "Let-"
"Mom-"
"Aw… You know little animalkin girl, you're extremely submissive… I thought you'd fight… However, it seems like you're giving into death… Easily!"
"ACK-"
"That's pathetic… Everyone in this city is pathetic, the adventurers couldn't stand against our soldiers…"
It hurts… It hurts, I can't breathe… I think… He broke a rib… My whole body aches, I can't breathe.
"You're already dying, huh. I wonder if that woman who was in front of you can survive more."
"Don't come any closer- DO NOT COME ANY CLOSER YOU WON'T TOUCH ME OR MY DAUGHTER!"
I can't do anything. My body's giving up. I'm trying to move it. It won't listen to me… It could only shake in fear. I can taste the blood in my mouth, the blood that's rushing to my throat. It's cutting my breath off, it's clogging my breathing.
"Mom! Do-"
I managed to move my head, it was the only thing I could do. The world around me had turned extremely blurry– But I could only make out the shiny armor of that asshole. He was strutting, slowly. His feet looked like earthquakes every time he took a step.
Nothing was clear or able to be seen past him. But their screams took over my senses. They were crying, whimpering in fear. Can… I mustered as much as I could… I poured whatever I could into the place in front of him.
Flames bellowed, these blurry flames sprang up from the ground. The heat ached, lashing out at my body, but it surrounded him too. He sprang back, avoiding the lashes of flames attacking him.
"Where the fuck did that come from?" I heard him curse, I could feel his gaze shift to me. Haha… It was the least I could do… "Was that you?" He's- It felt as if he was tearing my hair out.I couldn't react again. But the hair on my scalp was screaming in agony.
"Yukina! LET HER GO!"
"Turns out you did have some fight…" His voice left chills running down my aching body. "A little girl, like you, should be crying, whaling for someone to protect you."
Suddenly, I felt my head clear, the fear that welled up in my body had disappeared. There wasn't any anger, or sadness… Nothing coursed through my veins. It felt peaceful, only one of my eyes could see the man in front of me. I could see the cold dead eyes peering through his visor.
I couldn't muster the mana in my core; that wall of flames wiped it all out. I was completely empty. He and I had each other's eyes locked onto each other, till he released me for one second. With his other hand…
"That's the only thing you can do. Much more fight than the other city goers…" His hand wrapped around my throat. It tightened with each passing second. My consciousness began to fade. My hands couldn't fight it off.
"Y-Ina!"
"GO!"
"..."
That's… The end…