Yoshida

  It has been three days since that monstrous cat carried me into this cave like I was one of her own cubs.

  Three days since the desert stopped trying to kill me.

  Rose still hasn’t fully woken up.

  She moves.

  She twists slowly, as if fighting something unseen inside her dreams.

  And me…

  I’m thirsty.

  Hungry.

  Exhausted.

  My body feels like it’s made of soaked stone.

  I haven’t eaten.

  I haven’t drunk anything.

  Every time I try to move, the world tilts and my vision darkens at the edges.

  The cat seems to know.

  Each day she returns with something between her fangs.

  She drops it in front of me.

  Nudges it with her paw.

  Like she’s inviting me.

  Like I’m part of her litter.

  But what she brings…

  They’re creatures I’ve never seen before.

  Dark flesh.

  Empty eyes.

  A thick, metallic smell that clings to the back of my throat.

  My stomach growls.

  My mind refuses.

  My body doesn’t have the luxury of choice.

  I’ve learned to roll onto my side.

  To drag myself forward.

  To push with my elbows like some pathetic worm.

  Every movement drains me.

  Every attempt edges me closer to blacking out.

  When the mother goes out to hunt, the cubs come closer.

  They curl against my torso.

  Sleep on my chest.

  I can feel their warm breaths through the fabric of my white shirt.

  It’s strange.

  They don’t fear me.

  They don’t see me as prey.

  Or as a threat.

  On the third night, I heard heavy footsteps at the cave’s entrance.

  Her massive silhouette cut against the moonlight.

  She was carrying something.

  A leg.

  Red.

  Fresh.

  She dropped it in front of me.

  The smell was intense.

  Hot.

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  My mouth filled with saliva even as disgust twisted my stomach.

  I dragged myself closer.

  Rolled onto my side.

  Bit into it.

  The meat was raw. Slippery. Hard to tear apart.

  But hunger was turning me into something more animal than human.

  Then I saw her.

  Sitting up.

  Disheveled.

  Her Japanese school uniform was dirty and wrinkled. Sand clung to her skirt. Her bag still hung from her shoulder, like it refused to accept she wasn’t home.

  Her crimson eyes burned with an intensity I didn’t remember.

  “Yoshida…?”

  It wasn’t relief.

  It was fear.

  She looked at me like I was the thing out of place.

  Her gaze dropped.

  She saw the raw meat in my hands.

  The blood staining my fingers.

  The beast behind me.

  Her face went rigid.

  Her pupils trembled.

  Then she noticed the black sword leaning against the stone.

  She grabbed it without thinking.

  The cat rose instantly.

  It roared.

  Not in hunger.

  In warning.

  “YOSHIDA!”

  Rose shouted like she was witnessing an execution about to happen.

  Her body moved.

  No—

  It vanished.

  Her speed was absurd.

  She zigzagged forward, the black blade in hand, its edge catching the dying firelight.

  She leapt.

  For a second, I saw her suspended midair.

  The sword descending toward the beast’s face.

  The cat jumped back.

  The blade slammed into the ground with a sharp crack.

  The beast lunged as Rose yanked the sword free.

  “STOP!”

  My voice tore out of me.

  Desperate.

  It wasn’t just a shout.

  It was a command.

  The sound reverberated through the cave, heavy and dense.

  The cat froze instantly.

  Then, without hesitation, she sat.

  Like a house pet awaiting instruction.

  The cubs began to mewl nervously.

  Rose stood still.

  Sword raised.

  Breathing hard.

  But her eyes weren’t on the beast.

  They were on me.

  “…It obeyed you?”

  The cat let out a low, almost offended sound.

  I could barely stay upright.

  “Rose… calm down…”

  She took a step back.

  Not reassured.

  Disturbed.

  Like something had just clicked into place in her mind.

  Her hands trembled.

  Then, suddenly, her knees gave out.

  She collapsed from exhaustion.

  I crawled toward her as best I could.

  Pathetic. Clumsy. Weak.

  “You’re… moving?” she asked in disbelief.

  I tried to smile.

  “Crawling like a crocodile is about my limit.”

  It didn’t work.

  She didn’t smile.

  Her eyes stayed on my hands.

  On my stained fingers.

  On the meat.

  On the beast.

  After a while, she helped me lean back against a rock.

  We spoke more calmly.

  I told her everything.

  The desert.

  The fall.

  How the cat dragged us here.

  How she protected us.

  Rose listened in silence.

  Too much silence.

  When I finished, she raised her hand.

  “I can feel my mana flowing…”

  She murmured words in a language I didn’t recognize.

  The air shifted.

  The ground in front of us rose, forming a small cup of stone.

  With another incantation, clear water welled up from within.

  My mind went blank.

  “It doesn’t taste great… but it’s water.”

  She knelt beside me.

  Held my head.

  Gave me something to drink.

  The liquid was warm.

  Not pleasant.

  But it quenched my thirst.

  Brought me back from the brink.

  I didn’t understand anything my eyes were witnessing.

  A thousand questions burned in my throat.

  “Rose… what’s going on?”

  She didn’t answer right away.

  She gathered stones.

  Whispered another spell.

  Fire bloomed from her hand like it was the most natural thing in the world.

  The meat began to cook.

  “It’s lepir,” she murmured. “It’s edible.”

  The casual way she spoke about magic… about creatures… only made me feel more out of place.

  She sat beside me.

  Flames reflected in her red eyes.

  “Yoshida… this isn’t your world.”

  She said it with a firmness that hurt.

  She explained what little she understood.

  This world was called the Land of Eva.

  A land of magic.

  Of beasts.

  Of kingdoms.

  We were never meant to come here.

  I asked about the cat.

  Her expression tightened.

  “She’s one of the great demonic beasts.”

  “Demonic?”

  “They’re wild. Uncontrollable. Their favorite prey… is humans.”

  I looked at the animal.

  She was asleep.

  Her cubs pressed against her belly.

  “That doesn’t make sense…”

  Rose stood.

  Picked up the black sword.

  “Yoshida… I need to check something.”

  She asked me to extend my hand.

  With some effort, I did.

  The blade touched my palm.

  A shallow cut.

  Blood welled up.

  Rose caught it between her fingers.

  Held it up to the firelight.

  The color drained from her face.

  “It’s… black.”

  I swallowed.

  Looked.

  It wasn’t dark red.

  It was black.

  Thick.

  Like ink.

  “Ryujin warned me about this…”

  she whispered.

  Her eyes shifted to the beast.

  Then back to me.

  “Make her do something.”

  “Huh?”

  “Give her an order.”

  I looked at the cat.

  She turned her gaze toward me.

  “Sit.”

  She was already sitting.

  “Come here.”

  The massive beast rose and took three steps toward me.

  Without hesitation.

  Without resistance.

  The cubs followed her.

  Rose stepped back.

  Her breathing turned uneven.

  “No… that’s not possible…”

  She pressed a hand to her head.

  Started pacing in circles, her sword scraping across the stone floor.

  “Rose… what is it?”

  She stopped in front of me.

  Her eyes held something more than fear.

  Conflict.

  Denial.

  Pain.

  “Yoshida…” Her voice trembled for the first time. “I was sent to your world to find the Demon King.”

  A chill ran down my spine.

  Her words only deepened the confusion in my chest.

  “The one responsible for wars… for massacres… for the fall of kingdoms.”

  I swallowed.

  “Rose…”

  She stared at me.

  Not like a friend.

  Not like a classmate.

  Like a knight.

  “Black blood. Demonic beasts obeying you. This sword reacting to you.”

  Her lips trembled.

  “Tell me I’m wrong…”

  I didn’t know what to say.

  Because I didn’t understand any of it either.

  Because I’m only sixteen.

  Because a week ago I was worried about exams.

  “Yoshida…”

  Her voice cracked.

  “You—”

  The fire crackled.

  The beast let out a soft meow.

  And for the first time, Rose made me question who I really was.