Gift

I woke up and slowly opened my eyes as I felt the morning breeze and hear the wind blowing through the trees.

As I…, my view gets clearer… I saw a familiar face. “Mi…?” I muttered. After I blinked a few more times, the face got clearer and clearer until I realized who it was.

“Lumi!?” I exclaimed as I tried to sit up straight but she stopped me as she put her hand on my chest.

“Morning…” She said with a bright smile on her face. This view… This soft feeling on the back of my head. Is this a lap pillow?

“Umm… what are you doing?” I asked.

“Enjoying the scenery…” Lumi replied.

“That’s great and all but can you let me get up now?” I added.

“Sure.” She responded then she lifted her hand from my chest and I sat up straight on the bench we’re on. I can’t feel my left hand… is there something on it? I thought before I looked and saw a bandage wrapped on it.

Oh, she must’ve wrapped it in my hand while I was asleep… Wait, my clothes look different… Did I get up earlier and change? That’s probably what happened.

Right now, instead of the hoodie and jogging pants I was wearing earlier, I’m wearing a black, knee-length skirt, white shirt, and a string tie. I have a feeling I recognize this outfit somewhere, but I can’t put my finger on it…

Ah, it doesn’t matter now I’ll ask Lumi about my outfit later, right now I have more important things to think about. I’ll try and analyze the situation first…

If I remember right, I passed out when that beastman Sameal disappeared and I don’t remember anything past that. I should try and ask Lumi, she probably woke up on that street earlier. “Lumi, what happened while I was out?” I asked.

“Nothing much, after I woke up I saw you on the ground passed out with that wound so, I carried you here to the park and bought some bandages to cover up your wound.” She replied.

“I see, thanks…” I added.

“It’s no problem, after all I let myself get knocked out like that so, I should be the one apologizing. Anyways after I bandaged your wound, I disabled the seal and went back to the apartment to grab our things, luckily only the living room and bathroom were the only ones affected by the attack, so I grabbed things I needed then went back here.” She continued.

I’m really thankful that she’s really caring… I know I don’t deserve being cared for this much, but I can’t exactly do anything about it… “Speaking of the attack last night…”

“Yeah, you really did a good job, you defeated Sameal didn’t you?”

“Urk…” I uttered as I started to sweat.

“What’s wrong? You did defeat him, didn’t you?”

“Umm… no, he got away. The truth is I survived that fight on a fluke, after I lost my strength to move, he just went away even though he could’ve just smashed my head in.”

“We’ll get him next time he shows up, so don’t worry about it.”

“Okay…, then what now?”

“What do you mean?”

“A lot of people got killed and disappeared last night, so we can’t exactly continue to live in that apartment, can we?”

“We can still live there, it’s just the living room and bathroom that’s been destroyed, it didn’t reach the room.”

“Aren’t we going to get suspected by the police, because we’re the only ones there?”

“Nope, it turns out, there are plenty of people who survived last night’s attack so, don’t worry about that part too much…”

“Hahaha…, so last night’s battle wasn’t for nothing then.” I said as I leaded back on the bench and stretched my arms upwards.

“Yeah.” What else is there to ask… It’s good that people survived and we won’t get suspected…

I’m an idiot, there’s still CCTV camera’s planted around the streets, so there’s no way they haven’t already seen what happened last night, and also if people survived then surely they’ll report it to the police.

But if me and Lumi are still sitting here then that means that the police haven’t caught on yet? Ugh… I’ll just ask. I thought as I stood up and turned to face Lumi.

Woah… it’s airy down there. I thought as I looked down on my skirt for a moment and faced Lumi again. “You know… Lumi, there’s cameras planted everywhere around here, and people still remember what happened last night so, aren’t we in trouble?”

“Relax…, The seal I set up isn’t just for keeping people out. Once I activated it, it wiped people’s memories of the hour before it, during, and knocked them out once I deactivated it.”

“What about the cameras then?”

“The seal also disables any electronic devices, so you don’t need to worry about a thing. I’ve got everything covered.”

“That's really convenient.”

“Yeah, I’ve been doing this for a really long time now, you know.”

“…” I sighed in relief… Is that all? I can’t help but feel I’m forgetting something. And I’ve also just woken up so, my brain right now isn’t working at 100%

Umm…. What else is there? Lumi said she covered up nearly everything about the attack so people won’t make too much of a fuss about it. And we both can still live in the apartment; it’s just needing a little fixing…

I feel like there’s still more but I can’t figure out what it is… I thought, then a moment my stomach growled. “Pff… hahahaha” Lumi burst out laughing.

“Oi don’t laugh.” I responded.

“Sorry, sorry.” She said as her laughter slowly stopped.

“Then, since we’re out here, do you want to go to WcRo for breakfast?” I asked.

Now that I think about it… I haven’t eaten anything since last night, and I also pushed myself trying to fight those things. “Yeah, let’s go. I have my money with me, so I’ll treat you as thanks for that meal two days ago.” She replied as she stood up.

Two days ago…? Ah, that convenience store meal. I thought as we both started walking. As I walked beside her, I wanted to try something I’ve read in a book once.

Apparently, if you walk slightly behind someone you can get a full view of their side cleavage going boing boing as we walk.

I’m really sorry about this Lumi but just for a few seconds I want to see if it’s true. I thought as I did it for seven seconds then went by her side again.

So, it is true… “Why are you still wearing that white dress?” I thought out loud. Oh…, I didn’t mean to say it.

“Ah sorry, I forgot about it again…” She said then a moment later her clothes faded away and a grey sweater and a black skirt appeared in its place.

That’s the one from my night in her apartment, does she not have a lot of clothes?

I’ll just keep quiet about that for now, I don’t want to agitate her too much early in the morning. I thought but suddenly, Lumi walked a few steps ahead of me and stopped then turned to me. “What is it?”

“I wanted to give this to you…” She said as she pulled out a white box from out of nowhere.

“That is?” I asked as I eyed the mysterious object until I realised what it was.

“A phone, while you were asleep yesterday during the day, I went out and bought you one.” She spoke. Why?

“Why’re you making that troubled face? You don’t like it?” She added.

“No, I’m happy but why?”

“Why… Didn’t I promise you that I’d buy you a new one after I crushed your old one? You need it, so I can contact you in case we get separated.” She explained.

At that moment, my heart suddenly started to beat faster than normal as a tear’s fell from my eyes.

This is… She’s too kind. “Why’re you crying?” She said as I wiped the tears off my eyes…

“It’s nothing.” I responded as I tried to deny it. In the next moment she put both of her hands on my shoulders and leaned in close.

“Tell me…” She whispered.

“I’m really happy because you’re too kind.” I replied then she let my shoulders go and stepped back as she was smiling.

“Oh, that’s all? Of course, I’d be kind to you, we’re partners, aren’t we?”

“Yeah, you’re right.” I spoke as I wiped the last of my tears.

“So, here…” She said as she handed me the white box one more time.

I accepted it and inspected the box for a few seconds before handing it back again.

“Can you keep it in your spatial storage? I don’t have my bag with me.” I asked.

“Okay.” She responded as she took the white box from me and a moment later it had faded away into nothing. “Then, let’s keep going, you’re hungry, aren’t you? So, let’s go!” She voiced as she started walking.

I wonder… Why did I suddenly cry like that? I’ve really let down my guard, haven’t I? I don’t know, it’s just for some reason, I feel really comfortable when I’m with her. I thought as I also started walking.

***

After walking and taking a tricycle, we finally arrived at the fast-food place. “I’ll go order, what do you want?” I asked as Lumi sat down and secured our table.

“Just get some pancakes or whatever, I really don’t mind.” She replied.

“Sure.” I added then I walked away and queued in line. It’s been a while since I ate breakfast outside.

Before all of this, I would usually just skip it to save money, but right now I need the energy to function properly later. I need to train too… I want to get stronger.

Strong enough to face that monster. I’m sure that guy will come back for us.

Before I passed out, he said something about us being the secondary objective. But what do I need to do to get stronger?

I managed to use my own ability just once yesterday. But during the battle with Sameal I couldn’t do it. I’ll ask Lumi for help later.

For now, the best option would be to determine the conditions of my own ability. There’s always a condition for everything after all.

So, for me those conditions will be a key I need to unlock my ability. I know that I used it yesterday, it’s just I can’t remember the moments just before I activated it.

I forgot what I was thinking about. I hate myself…

I’ve always been forgetful about certain stuff from time to time but of all the times for it to happen. Ugh… I wish there was something I could do about my personality.

But there’s nothing, no miracle like that exists. Even now that I’ve discovered things that I used to classify as impossible before.

There can’t possibly be a miracle about saving me. If something like that even exists then I don’t deserve it.

***

A few minutes later, I finally reached the front of the line. “Uhh… two eggy cheese sandwiches and a one-piece pancake meal.” I said.

“That will be 209 pesos.” The cashier replied. Lumi handed me 500 pesos earlier during the tricycle ride, so I should have about 291 pesos left after this.

“Here…” I muttered as I handed the money to the cashier.

“Exchange for 500 pesos, 291 pesos as change.” The cashier uttered as she handed me the change and receipt containing my order number.

After that I moved out of the line, and waited at the claiming counter at the farthest right. I feel like I've seen that cashier somewhere before…

I don’t know, I’ve been thinking too much since I’ve woken up. I’ll think about it once I regain my energy. I’m still pretty much tired, even though I just woke up. I thought and a few minutes later my number came up, and picked up the tray containing our food.

I successfully managed to bring it to our table all the while struggling to carry it because of my wounded left hand. “It’s here.” I grumbled as I sat down.

“Thanks!” Lumi cheerfully said as she took her food off the tray and brought it closer to her.

As I grabbed mine, me and everyone inside the restaurant heard the police sirens and looked at the window. Outside the window, along with the usual private vehicles on the road, there’s an unusual number of police cars.

“Did they find out about it?” I quietly muttered. Now that I think about it, the wolves' corpses didn’t exactly disappear after they died. “Lumi, did you clean up the corpses as well?” I quietly asked to not be heard by other customers.

As soon as I asked that question, she froze on the spot, dropping the plastic back down on the table.

“Umm… I may or may not have completely forgotten about it. Hehe…” She replied as in the moment all energy that I may have had in keeping up my facial expression disappeared.

“We’re done for…” I quietly uttered as I brought my palm to my face.

If they look for traces of any fingerprints or DNA, I’m sure it’ll only be a matter of time before the police discover me as the killer of those wolves.

***

“Let’s go back to the apartment.” She said as we stepped outside of WcRonalds. After finding out about Lumi’s slip-up, we ate the rest of our breakfast in silence.

“Yeah, let’s go…” I responded, still dejected.

“It’s not too bad, as how things are right now, you’re basically an unregistered citizen, you don’t exist on paper because I killed your original body.” She added.

“Oh, that’s right… I completely forgot that I turned into a girl.” I replied. She stepped in front of me and said “Yeah, a cute one at that.” She complimented me with a bright smile on her face.

“Where’d you learn flattery?”

“This isn’t flattery, I’m completely honest.” I’ve seen myself in a mirror before but I can’t tell, I don’t know what people call cute or beautiful nowadays. I got disinterested in girls after that happened.

But being in a body of the opposite gender has been quite an experience for me. My skin is smooth, my hair is long but doesn’t get in the way much, and I’ve been rid of my acne. I thought as I looked at myself.

“I forgot to ask this earlier since I’ve been thinking about a lot of things but where did you get these clothes and mainly why did you put it on me?” I asked as I looked her in the eye.

“Oh that, you weren’t questioning it so I thought you liked it.” She responded.

“That’s because I had more important things to ask you about!” I exclaimed.

“Well… to answer your question, I found it while I was rummaging through my closet and your clothes seemed really bland.”

“My clothes are bland on purpose.” I retorted.

“Either way, it looks good on you.” She suddenly voiced.

“Wh-huh?” I was confused.

“Hey, why’d you suddenly get all red?” She said as she leaned in closer to my face.

“Close, you’re too close!” I uttered as I internally panicked.

“Ah, sorry.” She stepped back.

“No… that compliment just took me by surprise that’s all.” I quietly muttered.

“I see…” She commented.

“We should probably start heading back now, it’s not good to just stand here.”

“Okay, then, shall we?” She said as she turned to the side.

“Yeah.” I replied as we both walked together.