Someone To Lean On

The southern gate came into view. Maya, Casper and I walked back from Emmerberk Woods in complete silence. Everything that we had just experienced was all too much and not something we’d want to go through again.
The senus that I had just killed, instilled a deep sense of fear in me. I was scared for the other kinds of senus that were out there, lurking in the bushes. The impact of cleaving a body straight through, still shook my hand. That feeling, so fresh in my mind.

Maya had told me, that we should bring the senus with us. She didn’t want to let it go to waste. However, that meant we had to carry it back to Emmerberk, which was quite the task.
It was quite heavy, so we carried it with the three of us, but that didn’t necessarily make it any less lighter.

I think that from all the times that we walked from Emmerberk to Raphael Falls, it probably took about 15 minutes. But the silence and the uncomfortable nature of carrying a death creature with us, made it feel a lot longer. Or maybe it always took this long and I didn’t properly pay attention to how much time it took before.
When we finally arrived at the gate, we were stopped by the people on duty.

‘Hold on a sec you two. What were you guys thinking for suddenly running of?’ One of the guards said to us.
‘...I’m sorry about that, but…’ Maya tried to say without looking at them, but got quickly interjected by the other guard.
‘Hold on. Isn’t that…?

They pointed at the death senus in shock. They couldn’t believe that three kids possibly killed this beast.

‘Let us take this of your hands and go home for now. Your parents might be worried about you.’

We left the senus in their care and continued to walk towards Maya’s house. Not taking notice of some of the people who saw us with a death senus and their murmurings of what we had accomplished.
Three kids killing a senus wasn’t impossible, but it was an almost unheard of accomplishment. And the news of it would no doubt spread like wildfire throughout Emmerberk.

When we walked inside, Iris and Richard were already there. I didn’t know what they were doing today, but within the time we were gone, they had returned home.
The two of them saw us three walk inside and quickly took notice of our disheveled look.

‘Maya! Casper! What happened?’ Iris asked, while walking towards us with Richard right behind her. She immediately hugged both Maya and Casper tightly.
‘We had heard from Marcus and Rock that you and Micheal went of into Emmerberk Woods to go after Casper, but we didn’t think too much of it.’ Richard said. ‘Don’t tell me…’

All Maya did was silently nod at her father and it looked like he immediately understood.

‘Are the two of you okay? Please don’t tell me you are hurt.’ Iris said, while checking both Maya and Casper for any wounds.
‘…We’re fine mom. But barely. If it weren’t for Micheal, we probably would have been….’ Maya said while biting her lip. She knew that one wrong move back then would have meant our deaths.

I knew that I almost died, were it not for that fluke of a sword thrust. The thought made me shudder in fear.
I almost died. It only started to truly settle in now.

‘What did you do?’ Richard asked us.
‘I… killed it.’ I said to Richard.

Richard looked shocked, which turned to realization and eventually relief. He put a hand on his mouth and started to mumble to himself. It was very quiet, but I could hear what he was saying.

‘Thank Solaria nothing happened to my family again.’

Richard then walked towards me and put his hand on my head, giving me a headpat.

‘Thank you Micheal. For protecting my daughter.’ Richard said as he started to ruffle my hair. ‘…Thank you. Thank you.’

His grip is so strong that it practically forced me to look downward at his feet.
This feeling. Where do I recognize it from? I slowly looked upward at Richard’s face and I started to recall a very familair face.

‘Thanks a lot Micheal.’

My own father’s words from when I last saw him started ringing in my head. The hair ruffling and what Richard said to me, made me remember just how far away I am from home.

I would have normally been embarassed by someone giving me a headpat, but the familairity only made me feel nostalgic. In addition to everything that had happened today, the feeling of homesickness started to truly wash over me for the first time since I came to this world.

‘Ye-Yeah.’ I stammered over my words and could hear my voice cracking.

‘Come, I’ll start preparing dinner.’ Iris said with a soft look and smile at the three of us. She kissed both Maya’s and Casper’s forehead to put their minds at ease. ‘Sit down for now. Everything is fine.’
‘I-uh, I’m going to be outside for a bit.’ Maya said to us. ‘I’ll be back soon.’
‘Are you sure you are alright honey?’ Iris asked a little worried for her daughter.
‘…Ye-Yeah. I-I’m sure.’
‘…Alright then, but please don’t be out for too long okay?’
‘…Okay.’

I heard the front door close. Maya had now gone outside and none of us knew where she was going. But I could tell, that she needed to be alone for a while. So I didn’t stop her.
In the meantime, I decided to make myself useful by helping Iris.

‘I’ll help you out Iris.’
‘That’d be a big help. Thanks Micheal. …And thanks for being there for my kids.’
‘…No problem.’

When dinner was finished, Maya was still not home. She must have lost track of time and her parents started to get worried about her.

‘Do you know where Maya is at the moment? She said she’d be outside, but I have no idea where she went.’ Richard said to us.
‘I don’t know either.’ Iris said to Richard.
‘I… think I know where she might be. Wait here, I’ll be back soon.’ I said to both of them.
‘Wait… Micheal.’ Iris said to me.
‘Don’t worry, I don’t think she is that far.’

I don’t know why I said that. Maya never said where she’d be heading. It was a hunch at best, but for some reason I knew. I knew where she was.
There was a certain place where we once were together. And somehow it felt like just the place where Maya would be.

I arrived at the hill with the apple tree and there she was. I could only see her backside, but I could recognize those cat ears anywhere. It’s Maya sitting down and all curled up.

‘Hey?’ I said and Maya turned her head to look at me. ‘You alright?’ Concerned about her, I sat down right beside her.
‘I’m sorry. Everything that has happened today. I-It was all just too much.’ Maya said, clearly flustered.
‘Yeah… tell me about it. I know what you mean.’
I mean, I-I I knew of the possibility… that… we could run into one, but that we… that we….’ Maya stumbled on her words. She couldn’t quite bring out the words that were on the tip of her tongue. And before both of us expected it, she started to tear up.
‘Whoa, I’m… I’m sorry.’ Maya said, while wiping away the few tears that were streaming down her face.

Normally, I wouldn’t know what to say, or do in a situation like this. I would have thought that embracing someone in comfort would have been too personal. Something that wasn’t my place to do so.
Yet, I didn’t hestitate for a second. I brought her face close to my chest and pulled her in for a hug.

‘It’s okay.’ I told her softly, while slowly patting her head with my right hand. ‘You don’t have to worry anymore. I-I’m here for you.’

A part of me cringed at the line I just said, but it didn’t matter. I didn’t care. I wanted to make her somehow feel better. In any way I could. And this felt like the right decision to me.
Two arms started to go around my middle and I felt that Maya returned the hug. Her crying had stopped and she sat in my arms in total silence.
Not knowing what to say further, I returned the silence and we would sit there like that for a couple minutes. Until eventually, she started to let go and I did the same. But she didn’t let go of me completely. She had reached for my hand and held it tightly.

Normally I would have freaked out at the thought of someone holding my hand at all, but not this time. I could somehow feel her anxiety and fears through my hand and that she needed someone, anyone, to hold on to. So I returned the gesture and squeezed back tightly.
We’d sit there under the apple tree for another few minutes, watching the sun set behind the mountains. Only hearing a few crickets chirping.

‘It’s so nice out right now huh?’ Maya said to me in a soft voice.
‘…Yeah. It really is.’ I said back just as softly.
‘There are so many times where I feel like I could sit here forever.’
‘I can understand that yeah. Everything looks so peaceful right now.’
‘But despite that. I want to see more than this.’ Maya spread out her free arm, pointing towards the village. ‘I want to see more places. I want to see more of Resilia. But I know that I can’t have both at the same time.’
‘…Yeah… I know.’ I nodded. ‘Is that also why you kept quiet about this? To your parents and your little brother.’

Maya silently nodded.

‘But why did you tell me about this? We hadn’t known each other for that long. So why tell me?’ I asked.
‘I-I don’t know. It… just felt right to do. You weren’t from around here and didn’t know how to get back home. I somehow felt that you’d get what I was talking about.’
‘That’s some pretty good foresight then.’ I smiled at her.

Maya smiled back. The built up tension from today felt like it was slowly releasing with every passing word and second.

‘…Tell me Micheal. Aren’t you afraid of what might happen? Scared of the things that are out there. You saw what could happen.’
‘Of course I am. I’ve… always been scared. About what could happen. About what other people may think of me.’

I knew what she was talking about. More than just the surface level, because I’ve been there before. And I guess I still kind of am.
I told someone I liked anime and they looked at me weirdly for still being into anime at my age. For liking these “dumb cartoons”.
I was mostly left alone. Either by the other people in my class, or by my own choice.

Thankfully when I changed classes with new classmates, it felt like I had a place to belong. I found a group of people that I could spent time with. We ate lunch together. We would sometimes hang out in between classes. But… I always kept quiet about what I liked and my interests. Scared that they might be the same.
What if I am left alone again? What if I’ll never find a friend group like this again?
Those thoughts continued to hold me back from opening up. Constantly overthinking everything I said, would say, or what others might think of me.
But all I ever wanted, was someone to talk to. About anime. About some of my other interests. Without a care in the world.

Maya is somewhat similair to me. She doesn’t say what she wants to do to the people she cares about, because she is scared that she might be a bother for them.
In that way, we are kinda the same.

‘I see. …I guess we’re not so different then huh?’ Maya said to with an awkward smile.
‘Yeah. …Yeah I guess so.’ I said, also giving an awkward smile in return.

I made the mistake before of not telling Maya and her parents that I am from another world. I was worried that they wouldn’t accept me that I wasn’t from this world. But even though it was scary to talk about it, I quickly realized that they weren’t the type of people that would suddenly abandon someone.
There are people out there that won’t accept or like it. Absolutely. But that doesn’t mean that everyone will be like that. There are some people, like Maya and the rest of her family, that do. And just like them accepting me and my situation, I’m sure there will also be other people in my world that will accept me for who I am. People who are there for me.
And I… can be there for other people as well.
So….

‘Maya. Let me ask you again. Do you want to travel together?...’ I asked her, determined and confident about what I was saying.
‘…I want to know more about how I got here. I know that you want to see more of Resilia. Let’s go together. We’ll travel... together.’
‘…But, my parents. Casper. Wouldn’t I be leaving them behind?’ Maya said in a slightly worried tone.
‘Let’s ask them. We won’t know for sure until we do, right? Casper already said that he wanted you to do something for yourself. To travel with me. So at least there is someone who is behind it.’
‘…Do you think they’d be okay with it?’
‘I don’t. But we never truly know until we ask, or say it. That’s something I’ve come to realize in these last few weeks.’ I gave another awkward smile.

I slowly stood up, still holding her hand.

‘Come. Let’s ask them. Your mother asked me to find you. So we can ask them during dinner. I don’t know what their answer might be, but I’ll be there for you when you ask.’

Maya then slowly stood up as well. She averted her eyes from me, but nodded at what I said.
Without really thinking about it, we walked back hand in hand towards her house and stopped at the front door.
Maya put her hand on the door handle, but stopped from opening it.

‘Uhm… Micheal?’
‘Yes?’
‘…Can I get my hand back?’

I now realized how long we’ve been holding each others hand and she seemed to have realized too, since I could see her human ears glowing a shade of red.
She was probably a little embarrassed about holding hands for so long.
And truth be told, I was a little as well. I felt the heat rushing through my cheeks and I was probably blushing.

‘Oh uhh yeah. Of course.’ I said, quickly letting go.
‘… Pfft.’
‘Huh?’

Suddenly Maya was laughing, which was soft, but infectious. I couldn’t help but laugh as well from our shared awkwardness with each other.
When we eventually stopped laughing after a couple seconds, she looked at me with a soft and gentle expression.

‘Micheal… Thank you. For helping me.’
‘…No problem. Least I could do.’

Maya opened the door to her house. She walked in and I followed behind her….

‘Mom. Dad. I have something I want to tell you.’

…And without any delay or uncertainty in her voice, started talking about what she wants to do. About her desire for travelling and adventure.