In a world completely different from what Rudy had ever seen or heard before, the sound of rain dripping against a thatched roof slowly stirred him awake on the bed he was sleeping on.
"Ugh." His head throbbed the moment he tried to sit up and Rudy's hand instinctively went to the bandages wrapped around his forehead.
It took him a while to take notice of the environment he was in, but when he did, his eyes widened in surprise when he realized he wasn't in the hospital bed he was used to seeing.
'Where am I?' Rudy questioned in his thoughts as he tried to make sense of where he was right now.
The last thing he could remember was his heart monitor beeping loudly in his room the moment he was finding it hard to breathe.
And that could only mean one thing.
'Did I.....?'
Rudy pondered, but then.....
*Knock* *Knock*
The sound of someone knocking on his bedroom door pulled him out of his thoughts, and Rudy slowly turned towards the source of the knocking.
"Rudy?"
The door creaked open and a girl with a pair of long rabbit ears peeked in.
"Are you awake? How's your head? Does it still hurt?" Leah asked softly with a worried look on her face as she stepped into his room.
The wooden floor creaked softly as she walked in but what really caught his attention was the strange features he noticed she had.
Aside from the fact that the girl in front of him was extremely beautiful, Rudy had never seen anyone with a pair of pink eyes and long fluffy ears before.
But aside from that, she was pretty much the same as any other human he had ever seen.
At first, he thought her ears and fluffy tail were part of a costume of some sort, but the moment he noticed her stepping into the room, Rudy could see as her ears gently twitched with every step she took.
In other words, those ears were definitely real.
'Wait a minute, did I die and I got reincarnated into a .....?' He paused mid-thought as his mind tried to make sense of how he had died and reincarnated into a fantasy world.
But Leah noticed the troubled look on his face and she stepped a bit closer to him.
From the look of things, it seemed like Rudy couldn't recall what might have happened to him last night due to the huge injury he had on his head, so Leah tried to remind him, hoping it would help him become less confused about the bandages on his forehead.
"Um Rudy, Uncle found you last night, remember? He said you must have slipped in the rain and hit your head cause you were lying on the ground unconscious when he found you, so he brought you back home as soon as he could. Thankfully, Aunt Greta healed you before you could lose too much blood. She said you would be fine after taking a nap, but are you sure there's nothing wrong. Do you still feel pain in your arms or legs?" She asked worriedly once again with her usual soft voice and Rudy lowered his eyes to his hands.
Looking at his hands and feet underneath the sheets, Rudy noticed how different they were, compared to the skinny limbs he's gotten accustomed to seeing all his life.
He slowly clenched his fist and wiggles his toes, but there was nothing wrong with them.
In fact, his limbs were in perfect condition.
"Does it still hurt?" Leah asked once again and Rudy shook his head in response.
"What of your head, does it still hurt as well?"
Rudy hesitated as he placed a hand on his forehead, then he shook his head once again.
"Good." Leah sighed in relief and her ears twitched in happiness.
She wanted to help him remove the bandage on his forehead but she slowly retracted her hands just right after she was about to touch his head.
She stopped because she had recalled what happened between them last night and she didn't want to see an angry side of him again, so she thought it would be better to maintain the distance between them for now.
"Um, mom said breakfast is ready. You can come join us downstairs if you like. But if not, you can rest. We still have time before the awakening ceremony...so don't push yourself, okay."
Leah informed him before turning toward the door.
She was about to leave the room, but she stopped when she suddenly heard Rudy's voice calling out her name.
"L-Leah?"
Leah's ears twitched and she slowly turned around to meet his gaze.
"....Thanks." Rudy thanked her for checking up on him.
He didn't really know why he did so, but he felt like it was the right thing to do.
In fact, he didn't really know how he had suddenly recalled her name but he was glad he did.
Meanwhile, Leah's eyes were still widened in surprise.
For a moment, she just stared at him, as if she wasn't sure if she had heard him correctly.
It was the first time he had ever thanked her for anything since he moved into their house, so she didn't really know how to react to his sudden display of gratitude.
To be honest, it felt strange coming from him but it also felt soothing as well and Leah couldn't help but slowly feel happy.
Her lips gently curved into a smile and her cheeks reddened a bit as she nodded in response.
"You're..... welcome." She whispered before happily hurrying out of the room.
Of course, Rudy noticed this and he wondered why she looked so happy right after he had simply thanked her, but he really didn't want to think too much about it.
But just when he was about to think of something else, Rudy suddenly felt an ache in his head as a flood of memories crashed into his mind, allowing him to realize the things that had happened to the previous owner of his body.
From his newly acquired memories, Rudy could hear screams.
But that wasn't all.
He could also see flames of burning houses with dozens of demonic beasts feasting on people he didn't want to remember right now.
The memories were unpleasant but it allowed Rudy to realize who he was in this world and now, he understood why that beautiful bunny-eared girl had entered his room.