"Yo, guys? Guuuuuys!?"

After slapping himself a few times for good measure and changing his clothes, Ryuji slowly made his way down rickety wooden steps. At the bottom, he realized he wasn't at an inn or a rest stop.

"Oh, hello."

A woman dressed in worn-out rags smiled kindly at him as she slaved away in her kitchen, which also happened to be the living room and someone's bedroom.

"Pitva, kak dall, modo chaliverk?"

The words flowing out of her mouth were naught but gobbledegook to Ryuji. He thought it sounded pretty similar to Russian from back when he watched some meme videos. Then it hit him; it was at this moment that Ryuji realized he had overlooked one vital thing in his plan to travel the world with his friends; he only knew the rough and tumble language of Dengal. He felt like a tourist who went on vacation while only knowing two words from the local language. He had criticized such people on online forums, but now he had become them.

"Um, I only speak Denish, soooooo..." She continued to smile but was very obviously hiding her confusion from him. Undeterred, he would at least thank her before leaving. "Thank you! Bed felt great. You very kind. Bye now."

With what amounted to caveman speech and some emoting, he said his thanks and opened the door. A rush of tundra air made his little men shrivel up back into his body.

"Ah! Voz'mi eto peirad ukhadem."

She tugged on his arm, and he turned to see her blonde hair fluttering from the wind outside. In her hand was a wrapped snack she had just finished a batch of. Ryuji held out his palm and took the gift. The woman seeming satisfied, let go and stepped back a few feet.

"Bye."

Her pronunciation of the word was so bad that Ryuji could barely understand it and probably wouldn't have if she wasn't waving goodbye. In her blue eyes and smile, he saw a kindness so bright that he feared he might start crying.

"Bye!"

It was the first time he had smiled so wide in what felt like forever, and it was all thanks to a complete stranger.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Ryuji had walked through the scant village that didn't even seem to have a place to eat. He was beginning to wonder if they had left him when he saw his goddess standing in front of one of the homes.

"Ah, RHEA!!!"

He immediately rushed over to her and was overjoyed to see her giving him a relieved look. He felt like all was finally right with the world.

"Am I just a stinking pile of shit then or what? Hey, are you ignoring me? Compadre!"

To her left, a short and missable cowgirl stood firm, looking at him cockeyed. He got the distinct feeling that she was expecting something and was now angry for being denied it. But like the virgin he is, Ryuji decided that instead of earning some affection points, he would be a prick.

"Oh hey, Jessy! I'm sorry, but I didn't notice you down ther-OW!"

His middle schooler-level joke was rudely interrupted by a boot to his shin. "You bitch! Can't you take a joke?"

"Not when it's about my height! How would you like it if I made fun of your tiny dick, huh?"

"How would you know if it's small or not!?" His face was the same someone might make looking at a wanted criminal. "You been peeping on me, you creeper midget?"

Instead of getting angrier like he thought she would, she started to giggle to herself. "Noooo, My good friend Ash told me aaaall about it. He said you two bathed together, and he got an eye full."

He was trapped in a cruel situation. He couldn't just say he was a grower. There was no way that excuse could convince Jessy. He couldn't even make the remark involving the temperature being too low; he had been thoroughly checkmated. His knees fell deep into the snow as Ryuji had a searing vengeance ignite in his heart. With conviction, he bellowed into the sky.

"Ash, you bastard! I will never forgive this!"

"Get up and quit screwing around!" Her arms crossed, and the anger left her eyes. Ryuji could tell something was off, so he stopped his whining. In the corner of her eye, he saw something glisten. "You're really not going to say anything about disappearing on us like that? You big, dumb...bastard..."

"I'm sorry, Jessy."

She wouldn't face him and just silently looked off in the distance. A thought crossed his mind while observing the sullen girl, something that under normal circumstances would have never happened. But the event from earlier had given him a sense of confidence. Without warning or subtlety, he lifted Jessy into the air.

"Wah!"

He looked at her fondly. She was one of his first and oldest friends. Inside his heart, he was always holding onto her dearly. She had a great personality, was accepting and kind beyond belief, yet he never had the stones to just embrace her. The closest he had come was pathetically clinging to her back in the river city. For the first time, he held her firmly within his grasp.

"I was just trying to joke around. I really am glad to see you."

"Me too, me too."

His anxiety faded as she returned the hug. For what seemed like an eternity, they held each other there.

"Can you let me down?"

"Yeah, sure."

Jessy stepped into the snow, and with a swiftness that surpassed Ryuji's human eye, she slugged him in the arm. He expected to see her upset about the hug or something but was confused when he saw her grinning from ear to ear.

"You ever get lost again, I'm gonna have to hit you harder!"

"Alright! Geez, it's not like I wanted to wander a desert alone."

"Um." The towering Saint finally spoke up and smiled softly, attempting to get her thoughts in order. This, of course, was how she treated everyone, but men aren't exactly the smartest of creatures. "I-it's nice to see you again, Ryuji!"

"Ah, my sweet, gentle, kind, goddess I'm so sorry for ignoring you like that!" Within no time at all, his hand had already captured hers. He was once again reminded how callused and mighty they were before gripping them gently and looking into her amber eyes. "Oh, how I longed for us to be reunited once more! Please give me the honor of kissing your hand."

He had been getting some pretty good reactions from the other girls and was hedging his bets on the same thing happening again, but reality can be cruel.

"Did Ryuji always act so weird and creepy?"

If one listened closely, it was at this moment that Ryuji's heart broke.

"Nah, just let me hit upside the head a few times, and that should straighten him out."

"If anyone's going to bash the hero's skull in, it should be me."

Marie stepped out of the house they were standing in front of just in time for Ryuji's punch therapy. The depression didn't last for long. Ryuji let go of one hand and beelined it for the other.

"Ah, Marie! How goes it, my queen?"

"It's, uh you know, fine, I guess."

For some reason, Marie decided to not look directly at him. She instead opted for the brilliant tactic of looking at everything for only a few seconds at a time, and occasionally one of those things was Ryuji himself.

"Hmm? Oh, wait, were you also distraught about my sudden disappearance? Did it leave you in tears? Are you overjoyed and relieved at the sight of your best frie-"

One moment he was looking at the increasingly hostile face of Marie, the next, he was staring at a gray sky. When he attempted to move, a throbbing pain broke out in the left side of his face.

"Strike two, I guess."

"Ryuji!"

"Hey, Compadre, are you all right?" She breathed a sigh of relief seeing him get up from the snowy ground. "Don't go breaking on me the second we get you back."

"Ha! You got your shit pushed in!"

An annoying and weirdly scratchy voice came from behind him, but there was no one to be seen when he turned. "Dot, when did you get on my back?"

"Before Marie came out and socked it to you!"

"Ah-huh. So why are you on my back?"

"If I'm always with you, then you can't get lost again, now can you? Now, don't you have some other people to check up on? HMMMM!?"

Ryuji's hand gently caressed his cheek as he wondered what she was talking about. Then it hit him. "You said you spoke to Ash! Is Nyanjo okay? What about Elio?"

His mind raced and hated himself for not asking the obvious questions sooner. Had he just forgotten the people he had come to know over the last few weeks? The words Katastrophe spoke to him replayed. And just because he was okay didn't guarantee Nyanjo to be okay. A gentle hand gripped his shoulder, and the face of an angel took up his view.

"Ryuji, I need you to calm down, okay? Abate is just fine. He went out to wander around the village once Ash woke up. Nyanjo is watching over Ash. And as for him, he's in the house behind us. The leader of this village was nice enough to offer accommodations for him."

"I see..."

"Are you okay now?"

"Yeah..."

"Not even an hour since you woke up, and you've already had a panic attack!"

"I worry about you sometimes, Compadre."

"If you think I'm the only one in our little group that has mental issues, then you all have worse conditions than me. Now I'm going to talk to my two good friends! Good day to you all!"

With a shitty bow, he walked into the house with confidence. To say it was extravagant would just be plain wrong. If Ryuji had to point out which village house was home to the leader, he would not have picked this one. The inside was slightly unkempt, and it was overall smaller and dirtier than the house Ryuji had just come from. As he walked up the stairs, he heard voices, and strangely he heard them from behind as well.

"What are you two doing?"

In a hushed volume, he turned around to give them a talking to.

"What do you mean? Aren't we going to visit your friends?"

"Yeah, I am. Why are you coming?"

"I have nothing better to do?"

"Okaaay, then what about you, Dot? Don't think I cant feel you still clinging on for dear life."

"I told you I'm not letting go ever. And if you even try to tear me off, I'll shout from the rooftops about what you said earlier!"

"Alright, let's go check up on my friends, shall we?"

"No, no, backpedal there, and tell me what it is exactly you two are talking about."

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Ash sat on someone else's bed, trying his best to smile. He felt out of place, but not because of him staying in some stranger's home. No, it was because he was alone with a beautiful woman. His monkey brain attempted to think of conversation topics, but time and time again, he would just draw a blank. Giving in, he chose to wait for her to start the conversation instead.

"Rhea was nice, wasn't she? She acts just like what you'd expect a hero to act like."

"Y-Yeah, she was awesome. I feel very safe resting in the same place as her."

..........

Silence filled the room again. Ash had something he wanted to ask, but he just didn't know the right way to bring it up. An awkward atmosphere layered itself all over him until he was practically about to have a panic attack.

"What is it?" He looked at her in shock. "Contrary to popular belief, I don't bite." The shock quickly gave way to embarrassment as he got lost in the smile she gave him.

"I just wanted to ask, what's going to happen to me now?"

Her eyes widened for a split second before she regained her composure. "Ah, that makes a lot of sense." She scooted her chair closer to his bed and leaned over like she was a schoolgirl giving out some spicy gossip. "I can't really say, but if I had to guess, that idiot's going to burst in here as soon as he wakes up and ask you to accompany him and Abate all the way to their little summit. He'll make up some excuse to Ms. messiah like you're his student or something, and then you'll get a free ride all the way to the capital of Malen."

Ash felt a wave of relief. If Nyanjo thought so, then he would take her word at face value. The alternative was to believe the first person who ever accepted him would just leave him high and dry. Any sane person would choose to believe in whatever was easier.

"You really think so?"

"There's nothing to be worried about. Ryuji thinks of you as some long-lost little brother; he wouldn't abandon you."

Ash had always wanted something akin to family. The relief turned to happiness, but just as he was about to be swept away in his feelings, he felt something was wrong with what Nyanjo had said. There was a key component she had left out.

"Then what about you?"

The smile she had dropped immediately. Her kind eyes turned vicious. Ash knew he would have to tread lightly.

"...Huh?"

"What's going to happen to you?"

He could feel his own heartbeat pounding in his chest. The rhythm only served to make him more stressed. Each pump sent him further down in his spiral of panic. He instinctively looked to the side, but there wasn't a monitor in sight. The doctors weren't going to rush in. He would have to face this.

Nyanjo seemed to understand his plight well as she toned down her hostility into something most people would write off as annoyed. "Well, let's see, now that I'm in a place that actually has roads, I can probably make it to the closest city and live it up there. So I guess that means this is the last time we'll get to talk to each other."

Sweat dripped off his forehead. "...So you think he's going to abandon you?"

He could hear her teeth grind. "...I'm not being abandoned, you idiot. I'm simply moving on with my life and following what it is I want to do."

"Really? Are you sure you don't want to stay with us?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

Her chair wobbled to the side as her feet moved toward the door. Ash didn't have the time to think of something clever to say, so he just belted out the first thing he thought of.

"Isn't it lonely!? Not being able to talk to anyone, hiding your true self from others! I know how it feels; I know how all those things feel! I hid who I was for so long that I actually started to believe in the fake me. But now I have people who know the real me, people I can talk to."

Ash felt glad that he wasn't standing up. He couldn't see straight anymore. The room wobbled back and forth like he was in the middle of a heatwave.

"I don't deserve people I can talk to."

"What do you mean?"

Nyanjo's face reminded Ash of what his mother used to look like when she had to explain the reason behind his treatments. It was the face of someone who knew they were taking another's innocence. And just like with his mother, he felt something akin to inferiority just from looking at her.

"Ash, honey, I feel like you have a skewed version of me inside your head, so I'll just tell you what I really am and clear up any misunderstandings. I'm human garbage. I killed people for a living. None of which really deserved it. I've torn apart families, destroyed relationships, and ruined lives. The only thing I deserve is to suffer. Even if that dumbass doesn't care about my past, the fact remains that I care about it."

"..."

Blank. That's all that came to him. He was only fifteen, and he had spent most of his life wasting away in a single room. What could he say to someone who hates themself so genuinely? And what kept him silent the most was the fact that part of her speech resonated with him. Did he deserve to have people to talk to? His sins weren't nearly as heavy as hers, but they still weighed him down all the same.

"Okay, okay. That! IS the dumbest shit I have ever heard!"

Ryuji bust through the door with two women accompanying him. Ash knew the one who had a rustic vibe and carried around more weapons than a storehouse but had no clue about the one clinging to him.

"You?!"

Nyanjo seemed to be just as surprised as Ash was, her mouth gaping open and shut like a fish.

"Yep, it's me, and I've been listening. I was hoping that my little man Ash over there could convince you with his cute little face, but I was mistaken. This idiocy of yours runs far too deep for the likes of him to handle."

The surprise was quickly masked by rage that Ash could visibly see rising in her. She looked up at him with contempt as if she was daring him to elaborate.

"Idiocy?"

"I call it like I see it! You wanna run away from all your problems. But you can't run away with us because being with us makes you feel guilty, right? You wanna atone for what you've done, so instead of being happy, you would rather be miserable, right?!"

"What's your point!?"

"My point is that the whole reason you're going around singing and acting is that you're fulfilling your promise to Rudy, right? You don't want to be the same old person; you want to grow, you want to get over it, you want to change, right!?"

"YES!"

Ash was worried that if Nyanjo gripped her hands any tighter, she might pierce them. But more than that, he was impressed with how Ryuji was refusing to back down. He knew that Ryuji liked the easy way out, but he also knew that Ryuji would pick the most arduous path available in the strangest of times, all for the sake of something.

"But you haven't, right!?"

Her eyes faltered as the truth punched her in the gut. Her eyes looked upon the wooden floor as she whispered out her answer.

"...yeah."

"Have you ever stopped and thought about why that is? Because maybe the reason you can't get over it, just maybe, the reason you keep running around in circles is because you spend so much time hiding from yourself that you never get to change the real you!"

"T-That's..."

"Have you ever wondered if the reason you haven't changed at all is because you're alone all the time? Maybe if you had someone around who gave slightly more than a single fuck about you, you could make some progress on yourself."

Ryuji stopped and waited for her response. While everyone took a breath to recover from the tense screaming match, Nyanjo seemed sullen. Her lips quivered, and her body shook, but still, no tears fell.

"Why would you go through all that? Why would you want to go through all that? Why would you want me around? What do I bring that you need so desperately that you're willing to go this far just to get it!?"

"Is it really so hard to believe that I just want to spend more time getting to know you? That I don't like seeing you hurt yourself for some sick twisted self-retribution? That I want to help you get better?"

"But you don't owe me anything."

Ash was worried that if Ryuji's eyes rolled any harder that they might fall out. Nyanjo, on the other hand, went back into furious mode and seemed ready to pounce on the swordsman with her claws.

"Oh, for the love of! You know what? You're right, you don't owe me shit, but you know who you do owe? You owe Rhea big time for saving your ass! And how exactly are you going to repay that, huh?"

"Um..."

"Exactly! Now you and your cute outfit are coming with us to the summit, end of discussion. I'll sweet talk it up with Rhea and make sure we hit all the cities and settlements on the way there so you can check in and do your gigs. Oh yeah, Ash?"

"Y-Yes?"

"You're coming too. Any questions?" Not a single peep emerged from anyone. Satisfied, Ryuji smirked before continuing. "No? Amazing, I'm going to go get our savior real fast."

Jessy grabbed his shirt before he could make it out the bedroom door. "Hey Compadre? Apologize to the owner on the way out, would you?"

"S-Sure, but, um, why?"

"You probably just shouted loud enough for his neighbors to hear. Now they probably have no clue what you said, but being rude is being rude."

"Right."

With a wave, Ryuji stepped out and headed down the stairs, his partner in tow. As they descended, Ash could still make out the conversation they were having.

"Ha! You got in trouble~."

"I honestly forgot you were here. Wait, stop crying!"

Jessy seemed to wait until she couldn't hear Ryuji anymore before she started talking. "Well, it looks like we all be traveling together from now on. I'm looking forward to it! My name is Jessy, and I'm an archwizard who specializes in gun magic!"

With her less than grand chest puffed out, she seemed pretty impressed with herself. Ash was thinking that this little girl must be around the same age as him in the strangest of times, her act even cuter to him.

"Wait a second, I never said that I was coming."

"Will you just stop being so damn stubborn? Why don't you just try it? And if you don't love it, just run away in the middle of the night when we get to a city."

"..."

"Yeah, no backtalk on that, huh? Anyway, oh, aren't you a cutie!"

Jessy walked past the glaring cat and started to lean on the bed Ash was resting in.

"M-Me!?"

"Yes, you! You just look so innocent! I wanna take you in and give you cuddles all day long!"

He couldn't tell if she was being nice or creepy. She leaned in even further and started to pet his head like some animal.

"You look pretty innocent too, you know. If any man was caught with you, they would probably get reported to the authorities."

"Would you like to repeat that!?"

Jessy's smile didn't fade, but the hostility was there aplenty. Ash couldn't help but let out an eep as Jessy drew her gun with lightning speed and pressed it to Nyanjo's temple.

"Scaryyy."

"Damn right."

Ash had just a single thought as Jessy holstered her revolver.

'These girls are scary!'