Chapter 5: Meeting Who In This World?
The refreshing morning sun cast its rays through a small skylight in the ceiling as Rio opened his eyes a bit, gradually waking up in his bed.
The custom-made bed crafted by Dominic, the elder dwarf, was big enough to fit several people on it, while still offering the greatest level of comfort possible.
Despite the unexpected turn of events that occurred yesterday, Rio had still been able to sleep soundly through the night and woke up feeling wonderfully rested.
That’s right... Miharu, Aki, and Masato are here. I have to make breakfast... Rio thought sleepily, moving his hand sluggishly to grab the blankets and peel them away.
...Hm?
His hand suddenly squeezed around something soft. It definitely wasn’t his blanket or bedcover, and it wasn’t the mattress, either; it had a strange elasticity and springiness to it.
It fit into the palm of his hand snugly, its warmth comforting. When Rio tried to move his hand to confirm the sensation, he could feel a wonderful response in his hands.
...What is it? Rio wondered, his mind still half-asleep. Thinking it was strange, he gently tried to move his hand once more.
“Mm...”
This time, he thought he heard the seductive sigh of a woman — and with it, the sound of rustling fabric too. Rio gently removed his hand from the soft sensation and, with his eyes fearfully fixed on the ceiling, peeled back the covers and peeked under the blanket.
“Zz... z...”
He heard the peaceful breathing of someone sleeping next to him. Cautiously, Rio turned his head to the side.
There was an unfamiliar girl sleeping soundly next to him. She looked to be in her mid-teens, just like Rio; she was a beautiful girl with long, peach-colored hair. No, an incredibly gorgeous beauty with long, peach-colored hair.
However, there was a kind of transparency to her existence, almost as if she wasn’t real; an evanescence that gave a mystical and artificial impression.
“Mmh...” The girl stirred restlessly underneath the covers, reaching out and grasping the sleeve of Rio’s pajamas, before drawing her face closer to him. Her breath blew gently against his ear.
Rio’s mind snapped awake, but he wasn’t able to think.
“...” He gazed at the face of the unfamiliar girl from point-blank range, then turned his eyes back to the ceiling and relaxed, sinking heavily into the mattress once more. He closed his eyes.
Is this a dream? I must still be asleep. Yes, that must be it, Rio thought to himself, trying to convince his own mind and avoid the reality of the current situation.
No matter how soundly he was asleep, he would have awakened the minute he detected the presence of an unknown person next to him. Not to mention the fact that the intruder detection barriers around the house would have activated first. This had to be a dream.
Rio’s thoughts churned rapidly until he came to the conclusion that it was a dream. Then, he squeezed his eyes shut tightly.
And yet, he still felt oddly awake.
After a minute or so had passed, Rio slowly opened his eyes and flipped back all of the covers in one single movement. There, a truly impossible sight spread before him: snow-white skin, extremely well-balanced limbs that were smooth and feminine, and two soft-looking mounds.
In other words, there was a completely naked peach-haired beauty before him.
“EEEEEEEEH?!” In his horror, Rio let out an incredulous yell. Never in either life had he ever experienced the act of waking up next to a naked woman sleeping beside him.
Woken up by Rio’s yelling, the woman sat up in the bed. With her legs folded underneath her, she stared at Rio in a daze. The series of movements she made was strangely erotic, making Rio avert his gaze without thinking.
W-Why am I sleeping with a naked girl?! Rio yelled in his head. His face was burning hot, yet his body had broken out in a cold sweat. If his eyes happened to wander even a bit, the girl’s bare body would come into his view. He tensed up.
“W-What’s the matter, Haruto?!” Miharu asked, boldly peering through the door of Rio’s bedroom.
Dominic had crafted the room to be perfectly soundproof, but Rio had chosen to leave his door open in order to hear things while asleep, which was why Rio’s shouts had reached the living room. Miharu had been trying to take the initiative after Rio accepted them into his care by getting up before anyone else and making breakfast.
“...Huh? Ah, umm, err...”
When Miharu spotted Rio and a naked girl sitting near each other on the oversized bed, she hesitated, flustered. She attempted to explain herself, but her cheeks were gradually reddening. Rio covered the girl’s body with a blanket in a hurry, but it was already too late — what she had just seen was already burned into Miharu’s mind. Unsure of what to do next, she found herself tearing up.
It was understandable — their gentle and sincere savior had brought over a naked and beautiful girl to spend the night while they were unawares, after all. From Rio’s point of view, that was in no way the truth, but the current situation couldn’t help but give off that impression.
“W-Wait, that’s not it! Mii — Miharu! This is a misunderstanding...” Rio tried to explain himself in a fluster, but he was at a loss for words. Even if he wanted to deny everything, he didn’t know how to explain it.
“Huh?!” The peach-haired girl tilted her head in question, watching Miharu steadily before suddenly clinging to Rio. The blanket that covered her fluttered up, making Rio’s body flinch, whereas Miharu’s face had also reached its peak in redness.
“I-I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have opened your door without warning... I didn’t see anything! B-Bye now! —Oww!” With great force, Miharu bowed her head, rotated 180 degrees, then made her immediate retreat. However, in her rush, she crashed straight into the door frame.
“A-Are you all right?!” Rio asked in a panic.
“I’m fine... Ugh... I’m sorry... forgive me. I’m so clumsy.” Miharu staggered as she repeatedly bobbed her head, face flushing red in embarrassment as she retreated successfully this time.
Only Rio and the stranger were left in the room. The urge to chase after Miharu surged within Rio, but he hung his head in disappointment instead.
“...Umm, who are you? Could you explain this situation to me?” he asked, then placed a blanket over the girl. He wasn’t about to leave her as she was, but he needed to sort out the situation at hand first.
“I’m the spirit contracted to Haruto,” she answered in a clear and beautiful voice, cocking her head curiously.
“Spirit... I see. The contract spirit. So you’re...” Rio calmed immediately at the girl’s answer.
Realizing who the girl was, he observed her face and found her to have a very divine look about her. However, she seemed almost artificial in a way, her beauty leaving a cold and fleeting impression. Her aura was similar to Dryas’s in the spirit folk village, though Dryas had a much greater range of emotions than the girl before him right now.
It made sense considering the situation, and the girl had that faint feeling of having a life force characteristic of spirits — Rio concluded that the girl in front of him really was his contract spirit.
“...There’s a lot that I want to ask you. Who are you? Why are you contracted to me? You were the one who gave me the directions to save Miharu and her friends, right?”
Rio asked question after question. He had to understand who his contract spirit was, and how much she knew. He had always wanted to find out, actually. However, the girl shook her head slowly in a troubled way.
“I don’t know,” she replied simply.
Rio’s face fell in disappointment. She had dodged his questions. “Y-You don’t know...? Didn’t you tell me to head southeast when I was in Amande? And you taught me how to use spirit arts, back when I was still a child... Wasn’t that you?” he asked, pulling himself together.
“I don’t know,” the girl answered with an emotionless expression, although her voice had a hint of sadness in its tone. She quietly extended her hand and gently grabbed Rio.
“Warm,” a soft murmur seemed to reach Rio’s ears as she clutched his hand. However, the girl’s mouth had not moved, and her expression looked rather relieved.
Rio was completely thrown off balance. “Umm, okay... Could you at least tell me your name?” he asked with a sigh.
“I don’t know my name, either,” the girl answered with a sad look in her eyes.
“Y-You don’t know your name? Err, then, what do you know?” Rio questioned, bewildered.
“I will stay by Haruto’s side, so I want a name,” she said.
“...By my side, huh.” Rio’s face fell with gloom.
The girl looked at Rio’s face a little uneasily. “Can I?”
“You... can, but why me?” Rio asked in return, confused.
“I exist for Haruto’s sake,” the girl said plainly, showing no sign of shame. Her words were almost like a graceful and pure confession, though the girl probably had no intention of coming off that way.
Rio’s eyes widened before a giggle escaped from his lips. “...Haha. Is that so?”
For some mysterious reason, he didn’t feel any hesitance in accepting the girl’s attitude. Was it because she was his contract spirit? He didn’t know for sure, but that was what Rio assumed.
“Then, I guess... it is what it is. We’ll have to think of a name for you.”
For now, Rio decided to accept the girl’s presence here.
The girl showed a fleeting smile as she nodded. “Yeah.”
“...Speaking of names, you know my name, right?” he asked, nearly feeling captivated by that smile. Now that he was mentally calming down, he realized the girl had been calling him Haruto.
“Because Haruto is Haruto.” The girl returned his question with a curious look. Perhaps it was spontaneous, but her words sounded profound.
Rio scratched his head with a troubled expression. “No... Well, yes, but that’s not quite... Do you know my other name?” he asked carefully.
“I know. Rio,” the girl responded without missing a beat.
“So you know that one, too. How much do you know about my past?” Rio placed a hand by his mouth in thought.
“I know everything there is to know about Haruto.” The answer that came back to him was rather unexpected, leaving Rio feeling taken aback.
“Everything... Which means, umm... Everything about Amakawa Haruto, too?”
“You mean the Haruto that came before the Haruto that exists now?” The girl’s response was rather philosophical, but it told Rio everything he wanted to know.
“...So, you know.”
Rio could almost feel a headache coming on. Just as he had decided to hide his previous life from Miharu, Aki, and Masato, someone who knew of his previous life had appeared. When he thought about it, he realized that this girl and his three Japanese guests couldn’t communicate with each other, so there shouldn’t be any issues.
“Don’t worry. I won’t tell them.” The girl shook her head slowly.
“That’s... Right, okay. Thank you.” Rio was almost about to ask something, but after a moment of hesitation, thanked her with a strained smile. It was a topic he wanted to avoid, but since she had brought it up first, it felt like he now owed her something.
He asked one last thing. “...And do you know why you know those things, by any chance?”
“I don’t know. Because I knew before?” She shook her head, remaining as expressionless as ever as she tilted her head in question.
Rio watched her quietly as she watched him back. In the end, Rio was the first one to avert his gaze — there was no telling how long they could have stared at each other.
“...About your name. Are you sure you want me to name you? It’s your name, so maybe it’d be better for you to think of one yourself,” Rio sighed.
“I want a name from Haruto,” the girl requested immediately.
“Erm, then... Can you give me some time to think about it?” Rio asked with a troubled look. It wasn’t easy to come up with a name on the spot, and he didn’t think names were something that should be decided so easily anyway.
“Okay.” She nodded.
Rio had asked everything he wanted to know for now, so he processed the situation in his head. For now, she doesn’t seem to be a bad person. Which means... what I need to do now is...
“I’d like to clear up the misunderstanding with Miharu right away, so could you come with me? Oh, but we’ll have to get you some clothes to wear first...”
Just as he thought to go talk to Miharu about the situation, he remembered the girl was completely naked under the blanket and paused, at a loss. The sensation of what he touched earlier and the beautiful body he caught a glance of resurfaced in his mind, making him shake his head furiously.
“Clothes... Like this?” The girl murmured quietly. A flash of light escaped from beneath the blanket before she lifted the covers.
“Wah! W-Wait! ...Huh?” Rio hurriedly averted his gaze from such a bold action, but the flash of a non-skin color in the corner of his eye made him glance back timidly. The girl was now wearing a simple dress.
“H-How?” Rio nearly found himself captivated by how cute she was, but his doubt won over her charm.
“I weaved it with ode and mana,” the girl replied nonchalantly.
“Right, so that light just now was spirit arts... No, wait. You can do that?” Rio questioned with a tilt of his head, nodding in half-understanding, half-residual doubt. He had never heard of clothes being crafted by ode and mana before. “Well, whatever. Let’s go. You... might not speak her language, but I’ll explain everything, so just stay next to me.” With a sigh, Rio stood up from the bed; how she had made her clothing wasn’t an issue at the moment. He felt completely exhausted, despite having just woken up.
“I can speak the language, though,” the girl offered nonchalantly. Until now, they had been conversing in the common Strahl tongue, but the language the girl had used just now was Japanese.
“So you can speak Japanese, too. Well, if you knew about my previous life, then... that makes sense?”
“I can speak all the languages that Haruto can speak.”
“...I see.” Rio was no longer surprised, now simply accepting the explanations as they came. “Let’s get going, then. You can leave the explanation to me, but it’d be helpful if you could speak up if Miharu asks you anything.”
“Okay,” she nodded, before getting up from Rio’s bed.
He then opened the door to his bedroom and headed toward the living room where Miharu was most likely to be, his footsteps heavy.
Accompanied by his new guest, Rio finally stepped into the living room. Miharu seemed to be in the kitchen; she had noticed that Rio and the girl had left his bedroom, but she continued to focus on her cooking while hiding her embarrassment. Meanwhile, it seemed as though Aki and Masato were still asleep.
“Umm, good morning, Miharu.” Rio approached Miharu with determination, speaking in a voice that was louder than usual.
“G-G-Good morning, Haruto! Umm, I’m preparing breakfast right now, so... err, could you please wait a little longer?” Miharu blurted out, avoiding eye contact with Rio. Her cheeks were still stained scarlet and her panic was clearly visible.
Rio was too shaken to notice earlier, but her apron and uniformed figure were very domestic and homely. It was the epitome of sweetness, and Rio found himself enchanted before he knew it. “Umm, is it all right if we speak for a moment? It’s about her,” he said to Miharu with a glance at the spirit girl waiting behind him.
“Ah, yes. W-What is it?” Miharu asked, finally looking at the girl. Her earlier impression of the girl’s naked state had been so strong that she hadn’t noticed her beautifully-refined face. Her eyes widened in surprise.
For a moment, silence fell between them.
With a deep breath, Rio opened his mouth. “I know you must be surprised by the sudden turn of events, but I’d like to start by telling you the truth. There are higher lifeforms in this world called ‘spirits,’ and she is one of those spirits...” He knew he had to explain this part properly.
“A... spirit? Her?” Miharu looked at the girl questioningly. While Miharu knew what the word “spirit” meant, she couldn’t see the girl as anything other than a human in terms of appearance. She did have a beauty that was almost ethereal, though.
“...Miharu.” When the girl met Miharu’s eyes, she murmured her name.
Miharu was taken aback for a moment. “Ah, yes. I’m Ayase Miharu. Err, what’s your name?” she asked.
“I don’t have a name.” The girl shook her head sadly, then looked at Miharu as though envious over the fact that Miharu had a name.
“Oh... Y-You don’t have a name?” Miharu looked over at Rio in bewilderment.
“Yes. I don’t know if it’s because she’s a spirit... but she doesn’t have a name. I barely know anything about her as well, actually.”
“Huh? Ah, umm, is that... so.” Unable to process the flow of the conversation, Miharu tilted her head in confusion.
“Yes. She contracted herself to me while I was unaware, and had been sleeping within me this entire time — until just now. I’ve never met her face-to-face, nor spoken to her before. Then, this morning, she suddenly appeared outside of me and... umm, invaded my bed. I yelled because there was an unknown girl beside me when I woke up... I-I swear I didn’t do anything dirty to her!” Rio appealed to Miharu with everything he had, bowing his head vigorously.
“T-There’s no need for you to lower your head! I think I understand what you’re saying, somewhat! If anything, it was m-my fault I peeked inside your room without warning, so I’m the one who should be apologizing! I’m sorry!” Miharu apologized in return, gesturing wildly in a fluster to stop Rio.
“You... believe me?” Rio raised his head timidly and peered at Miharu’s face. To be honest, he wasn’t expecting her to believe him so easily, and had been prepared to be hated for being indecent.
Miharu straightened up and nodded firmly. “Y-Yes. I don’t think you’re the type of person to lie for no reason.” She smiled bashfully.
“T-Thank you very much...” Rio sighed in relief, the strength draining out of him.
“Okay now?” The spirit girl tilted her head and asked Rio.
“Yeah. Thanks.” Rio smiled happily.
“So, she can speak Japanese?” Miharu asked curiously, watching the girl’s face.
“Yes. She was born and grew up as a spirit in this world, but apparently she can speak any language I can speak, so...”
“S-Spirits must be amazing... And she’s really beautiful, too. Even though she doesn’t look any different to us humans on the outside, there is certainly something otherworldly about her aura,” Miharu said while staring at her in awe.
“Miharu is beautiful, too,” the girl suddenly said.
Miharu’s eyes rounded in surprise. “Huh? M-Me? That’s not true,” she denied.
“...No, I think you’re beautiful, too, Miharu,” Rio interjected hesitantly.
“Ah, oh, H-Haruto, not you too. ...Ah, t-that’s right! I have to make breakfast!” Unsure of how to respond, Miharu blushed furiously and fled to the kitchen in a hurry.
“Oh, Haruto. Morning...” A sleepy Masato appeared in the living room, but the instant he saw the spirit girl next to Rio in his vision, he froze on the spot in shock.
“Good morning, Masato,” Rio said with a wry smile. However, Masato was still frozen on the spot, his breath taken away by the appearance of the girl.
“...”
“Oi, Masato. What are you standing around for? You’re blocking the way... Geez!” Aki was awake, now. When she grew impatient of Masato blocking her way, she squeezed past him and into the living room since he showed no signs of moving.
“Ah, good morning, Haru...to.” Aki tried to greet Rio politely when she spotted him inside the living room, but she froze just like Masato had when she saw the spirit girl next to him.
“Good morning, Aki,” Rio greeted with a strained smile.
“G-Good morning,” Aki managed to reply hesitantly. She seemed to maintain her calm better than Masato did.
“I’d like to introduce her to the two of you, but shall we sit down first?”
Rio decided to explain the situation to Aki and Masato right away.
Rio gave a simple explanation of what happened to Aki and Masato and introduced them to the spirit girl.
“...So that’s how it is. Masato, were you listening?” Rio asked with a droll smile. Masato had been distracted throughout the entirety of Rio’s explanation, captivated by the girl in a fluster.
“Y-Yeah. I was. She’s the spirit lady Haruto’s contracted with, right?” Masato glanced at the spirit’s face before nodding, his voice oddly high-pitched.
“Well, yes...” Rio wondered with a wry smile and a tilt of his head as to whether or not Masato would be able to live together with her.
Aki looked at Masato from where she sat beside him. “Don’t let him bother you. He always falls in love at first sight with cute and pretty girls older than him. It seems like he’s suffering from his affliction more severely this time around, but he’ll eventually get used to it, so just cut him some slack for now,” she explained to Rio with an exasperated face.
“Ahaha.”
“Wha— T-That’s not true!” Masato blushed furiously with embarrassment.
Aki shook her head without hesitation. “Liar. You were so nervous the first time you met Miharu, too. Your brother was quite an amusing sight to see, but you were even worse than him.”
“Wahwahwah!” Masato started yelling as though to drown out her voice.
“What are you two yelling about this early in the morning? Come on, breakfast is ready.”
Miharu appeared from the kitchen; she was carrying the completed breakfast dishes from the kitchen counter toward the dining room table.
“Sorry, Miharu. I left you to deal with breakfast alone... Let me help you carry it,” Rio said apologetically, stepping forward to help set the table.
“It’s fine. I can at least handle the housework.” Miharu shook her head with a smile.
“...Thank you very much. It looks delicious.” Rio smiled at the dishes lined on the table; she had prepared a well-balanced Japanese meal.
“I hope the taste is to your liking... Let’s all eat now. Umm, I made enough for the spirit girl, too, but will you be able to eat the food?” Miharu asked, looking at the spirit. While she looked exactly like a human, it was hard to imagine spirits eating meals like everyone else.
The girl slowly drew closer and nodded. “Yeah. I can eat.”
“Thank goodness. Let’s eat together, then. Here.” Miharu took the girl by the hand and led her to the dining table.
Rio watched the two of them with a smile. They had completely different hair colors, yet they looked like sisters for some reason, Miharu being the older one, most likely.
After that, the five of them sat in their seats and began to eat their breakfast.
“It’s kind of inconvenient not being able to call her by a name, though. Have you considered what you’re going to do about that?” Miharu asked Rio partway through the meal as she looked at the spirit girl.
“Actually, she’s requested for me to give her a name, but I’m stuck on ideas for good names. Do you have any suggestions, Miharu?” Rio asked her with a dry smile.
Miharu started to think with a contemplative look on her face, but couldn’t come up with anything good on the spot. “Hmm. When you put it that way... it’s kind of difficult. What kind of name would you like?” she asked, turning to the girl in question.
“As long as it’s a name Haruto picks, anything.”
The girl’s answer made Miharu smile faintly. “Ahaha. You sure are loved, Haruto.”
“Good for you, Haruto,” Masato muttered under his breath.
“Do you have anything more specific than that? Maybe if there’s something you like, you could go in that direction for ideas,” Aki suggested to the spirit girl, ignoring Masato.
“The things that Haruto loves and treasures,” the spirit girl answered simply.
“Ahaha, I see. If that’s the case, then you should just use Haruto’s name as a base for your own,” Aki said with a bitter smile.
...The things that I love or treasure? Rio thought to himself, glancing at Miharu.
“...?” Noticing she was being looked at, Miharu cocked her head in question.
The first thing that came to mind was Miharu... Just how stubborn am I? With a bitter smile, Rio guiltily averted his gaze.
However, thanks to that, one name came to mind.
“How about... Aishia?”
In the ancient spirit folk tongue, “Aishia” was a word that meant “warm spring” or “beautiful spring.” It may have been a bit too simplistic, but the girl’s hair was the gentle peach color of cherry blossoms, so she gave off a rather strong impression of spring.
However, now that he had said it out loud, he realized “beautiful spring” was the exact same meaning as Miharu’s name. He felt rather embarrassed by it.
“Aishia. I want that one,” the spirit girl said resolutely.
“...Umm, we could keep thinking with everyone and come up with a few options first,” Rio offered as he panicked on the inside.
“Nope. Aishia’s good.” Aishia shook her head bluntly.
She hadn’t shown many emotions or expressions since waking up, but the firm resolution that had been revealed just now made Rio widen his eyes. “Well, if you’re happy with that, then I guess that’s it?” he said, giving in with a wry smile.
“Aishia... That sounds like a pretty name,” Miharu said, murmuring the name as though testing it. “Does it have a meaning?” she asked Rio.
“Umm. It means ‘warm spring,’” he replied, feeling somewhat uncomfortable. He kept the other meaning to himself.
“...I see. You took the ‘haru’ from Haruto, right? The one that means ‘spring,’ as in the season.” Convinced, Miharu guessed at the explanation of the meaning.
“...Yes, that’s right.” Rio averted his gaze from Miharu and looked at Aishia. The girl in question should have known the meaning behind the name, but who knew how she felt about it.
“Miharu, Aki, Masato. It’s nice to meet you.” Aishia bowed her head at the three of them. Since her name had now been officially decided, she greeted them once more.
“Yeah, it’s nice to meet you. Ai-chan... Can I call you that?” Miharu asked happily.
“Yup, that’s fine.” Aishia nodded nonchalantly, but the hints of a smile could be seen on her mouth. Aki and Masato spoke up to Aishia, too.
Rio watched the four of them with a smile on his face, but there was a lot he needed to think about regarding the future.
I don’t really want to cause them any trouble, but if I can get permission, it might be better to consider bringing Aishia and everyone to the spirit folk village. I would need to head there myself first to get permission from them, but I should at least wait until the others can speak the language in broken sentences... Rio thought in the corner of his mind.
The spirit folk might know something, whether it be about Aishia or Miharu and the others. It would have taken Rio a month or so to make the return trip there alone, but with the teleport crystal he received from Ursula, he could shorten half of the trip. Even with the crystal it was still quite a trip, but it was an option worth considering.
Well, first things first: the shopping for today. There might be some things that are difficult to buy with me around, so I’ll bring Aishia along as an interpreter. I’ll ask her about it later.
As Rio looked at Aishia, he turned his thoughts toward the day’s shopping trip.
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