~Y/n pov~

After we had had breakfast, we set off to meet the king in the throne room, but we had to leave our party outside the castle , I don't think they minded waiting to much which was good.

~*~

All four of us were stood by the king and that red-headed girl who was in Naofumi's party was here , but weird thing was Naofumi wasn't here.

Reading the room, it seemed something serious had gone on and as much as I wanted to question it , it didn't seem like the time .

Suddenly , guards barged into the room, and Naofumi followed shortly after in restraints . They all surrounded him in a circle, as Naofumi knelt on the floor with their weapons pointed at him.

"What the hell is going on here?" He seemed just as confused as I was about the whole situation, which is weird if he has commuted a crime.

He looked up at all of us stood not that far away from him, "Hey Myne, are you okay?"

She yelped slightly and cowered behind Motoyasu.

"Yo King, while I was sleeping all of my money and equipment was stolen." Naofumi panicked slightly , probably because there were weapons pointed at him.

"Silence you filth!" The king cut him off and glared angrily at him, "Myne I'm sorry to ask my dear, but would you mind repeating your testimony for us again."

I was panicked at this whole situation, just what in the world was happening!?

Tugging Itsuki's sleeve, I whispered to him, "What's happening?"

He looked at me out of the corner of his eye, "I'm not exactly sure all I know is Naofumi committed a crime and I have a guess what it's all about. Don't worry I'll be by your side whatever happens ."

At the response , I smile softly and feeling more at ease, if only a little , I continued to hold Itsuki's wrist in seek of comfort in this confusing time.

"It happened last night, the shield hero forced his way into my room, he stunk strongly of alcohol. Then he pinned me down , he said something like 'the night is till young'. And then the next thing I knew he was tearing all my clothes off. Somehow, I managed to escape." Myne explained bursting into tears.

Something felt off about all of this, but I had no evidence , it was just Naofumi didn't see like the type to rape someone.

But I knew I couldn't really say anything because I had nothing to do with the whole ordeal.

Myne continued , "I ran down the hall for help and happened to run into Motoyasu, who was luckily staying at the same inn."

"If she hadn't asked me to wait until dawn to call the knights, I would've gladly cut you down myself." Motoyasu scoffed.

"What are you talking about?" Naofumi frowned , "I went straight to bed after dinner last night and I don't drink! Wait.... that's my chainmail that you're wearing." he pointed an accusing finger at Motoyasu, "You thieving bastard give it back."

Motoyasu scoffed, "Who are you calling a thief ? Myne gave this to me as a gift when I met her at the pub yesterday."

The king stood up, "To think the cardinal shield hero would commit the greatest sin in this country. Even attempted sexual assault on a woman is punishable by death."

"I'm the one being framed here!" Naofumi protested.

"Oh yeah, well how do you explain this?" A guard held up a skimpy ,silk nightgown, "We found this in your room."

Myne gasped, her cheeks blazing red.

"You animal!"

"The proof is undeniable!"

"How so?" Naofumi continued to protest, "that thing wasn't there when I woke up."

Itsuki spoked up, "What a terrible shame, I worried something bad would happen but hoped you knew better than this."

"You think a hero can do whatever they want?" Ren yelled.

"That's not even the least bit true."

"This world is not some consequence free playground."

I wasn't sure what was right or wrong, what to do or say, so I just stayed quiet.

Looking away, unable to meet Naofumi's eyes, I stepped slightly behind Itsuki and in worry, he placed his hand gently over mine.

I felt him squeeze my hand reassuringly, this wasn't the time but, my heart felt like it skipped a beat. What was this feeling? Embarrassment? No it was something else. I just couldn't put my finger on what.

"You liar!" Naofumi slowly rose to his feet, his teeth gritted, "You tricked me, it was a setup!"

Myne immediately jumped into Motoyasu arms and cried. Something about Myne screamed bitch , but I ignored my instincts.

I mean what proof did I have to say he didn't ? In this world, I don't think I really have any power.

"You did all this to steal my money and equipment, I'll bet you two planned this together. Screw this world." Naofumi yelled a few more curses before throwing some silver pieces at us and storming out.

I couldn't say I wasn't scared at his certain personality change, but I don't blame him.

Nobody even bothered to listen to him, they just took Myne's word for it because she's a princess , but I guess I'm just being a hypocrite.

It's not like I did anything to help, that's when I decided . I will become strong, it's not like I want to fight for this world but, I want to protect Itsuki since we are stuck in this world together, so that's just what I'll do!

~*~

Mine and Itsuki's party had been travelling together for about 1 week. We had just been fighting the monsters in the area and hadn't been on any real adventures . But that was all about to change.

We came across a town that was in ruin's , it looked like quite the battle had happened here .

From what I could see, not many people were in sight however, it seemed lots of people had been injured as all activity seemed centered around their hospital, which was one of the few building not completely damaged.

I approached an elderly man just exiting the village , "Excuse me but what exactly happened here?"

"Are you the staff and the bow hero?" He gushed , awestruck, before shaking his head and telling us the situation, "Some wild beasts appeared round the mountains near the village,  we can't go gather herbs and resources like we used to without being attacked. Someone accidentally lead one of the beasts here and it started rampaging and attacked our village. It was so bloodthirsty and I've never seen anything like it around here . Heroes, if you'd be so kind as to eradicate the threat."

I nodded taking on his words, then turned to Itsuki, "I think we should help them."

"If we help you, will we be rewarded?" Itsuki asked.

The man nodded gratefully , "Of course , we have gathered all the money we have and we can give you 50 gold coins."

That was quite a generous offer, it was certainly nothing to sneeze at.

Itsuki nodded, "We'll help."

~*~

We set off towards the mountains, we left Aki behind to help in the hospitals , she was pretty good at potion making and such so she'd be a great help and I assumed by the time we left they would all be back in their feet and be able to concentrate on rebuilding .

It was then we encountered the first monster, it was a bigger than average boar, but what really caught my attention was it's demonic red eyes and razor sharp teeth.

Nakei charged in, swinging at it, a small gash was made but not enough to be lethal.

Muttering a spell, a glowing light came out of the orange gem on my staff, as a fireball rapidly shot from it .

A high pitched squeal was heard as the boar was set on fire . Itsuki then struck an arrow in one of its vital points as Morino delivered the final blow with her spear.

This went on for several hours as we cleared out the forest and part of the mountains.

~*~

We stopped halfway up the mountain, and found a ledge with an uninhabited cave, where we decided to spend the night.

Making a small fire , we cooked the boar meet on it and added some herbs that Itsuki had found nearby.

After filling our stomach, we smothered the fire and put our rolls near it, to try and keep warm and preferably not freeze to death.

I shivered slightly from the cold, as I wondered how Aki was doing in the hospital. I'm sure she was doing well.

Again, I shivered but this time it wasn't from the cold, someone's hot breath hit the back of my neck.

Turning away from the fire , I was met face to face with Itsuki and we were fairly close together .

On instinct I wanted to scoot backwards , but if I did I would move into the smothered fire and it could relight .

Nakei and Morino were sleeping opposite us, both sound asleep , hugging eachother , presumably for warmth.

No one wanted to sleep next to the opening of the cage so this was the only option really , we just had to decide who slept closest to the fire.

Even though I was right next to the fire, I was somehow cold.

Itsuki stared into my eyes for a few seconds and I stared right back, I felt myself getting lost in his big ,honey coloured eyes .

He snapped me out of my stance by talking , "You cold?"

I looked away not wanting to bother him, "N-no."

I silently cursed myself for stuttering .

"Sure you aren't!~" A teasing grin appeared on his face, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

My face was bright red by now at how cute he was being .

Wordlessly, he pulled my into a hug, my face resting in his chest and he rested his head on top of mine.

"Better?" His voice was slightly muffled .

"Yeah thanks.." I let his warmth surround me as I drifted off.

~*~

I woke up to my senses being blinded by light, i could hear birds chirping quietly.

Cracking open my eyes, I realised dawn had just broke. I sat up, or more like attempted to.

An arm was pinning my down and I was pressed up against something ? No someone .

I blushed beet red as I saw Itsuki's cute sleeping face, soft snores passing his lips but somehow he made it seem cute .

Nakei and Morino were still asleep and I wanted to go back to sleep.

But now, I couldn't , it's not that the birds were loud, but I just knew I wouldn't be able to sleep.

Not wanting to disturb the others sleep, I decided to at least relax into Itsuki's arms.

I was so warm and comfortable, I think I accidentally fell back asleep.

~*~

Next thing I knew , was being woken up to someone lightly shaking me.

"Psst... Y/n wake up." Itsuki was gazing down at me, his brown locks hanging slightly over his eyes.

"I'm awake." I sat up, yawning softly before observing our surroundings .

Itsuki went over to Nakei and Morino and started shaking them awake .

I took that time to pack my stuff away, freshen up and get the wrinkles out of my outfit .

~*~

At the top of the mountain was another Boar way bigger than the rest, it seemed to be their leader or something .

All we had to do was defeat this and then we would be done with our work.

Nakei and Morino charged , taking the lead .

After a few relentless attacks , they were exhausted but the Boar was unscathed .

My magic was starting to run low and I knew we couldn't keep this up forever , I had to do something .

I decided to try this spell, I hadn't mastered it yet though so it was risky, but it was worth a shot .

The gem on my staff turned a white colour as it started absorbing mana from the atmosphere , I charged towards the boar.

Striking it with my staff, while at the same time unleashing all the energy from the staff at the boar, what I didn't see coming was it's sharp tusks.

"Y/n!" Itsuki yelled .

I felt the wind pressure increase as I fell backwards . So full of adrenaline , I didn't notice the deep stab wounds I'd just got .

All I knew was I had defeated the boar and we got lots of experience .

We quickly got rid of the corpse , taking most of it for meat and burning the rest of it.

Placing my hand on my side, something sticky covered my hand , I looked to see my hand stained a red colour.

It was then I noticed the red liquid dripping from my side , and the pain kicked in.

I winced in pain as Itsuki knelt down beside me noticing the wound.

"Y/n ! You're injured !" Itsuki panicked , "That was so reckless."

"I know sorry but I just saved your asses." I stood to my feet , "See I'm fine."

I stumbled a bit from the blood loss as Itsuki managed to catch me and supported my uninjured side to help me walk.

~*~

When we told the village we had cleared the threat, they rewarded us like they promised and then tended to my wounds .

Itsuki being over cautious, decided to stay the rest of the week there , in case my wounds reopened .

He spent the whole time by my side , while I admit he was cute , I feel like he was overreacting quite a bit.

"Itsuki I'm fine really." I reassured .

"You may say that now but what happens when you want food and then you get up and boom blood." Itsuki frowned .

I sighed , "Now that's a bit over dramatic."

He raised an eyebrow , "Is it?"

"Fine." I grumbled , "I admit the wound is kinda deep and I appreciate you staying by my side , you'd do that for any other member of the squad right?"

"No that's wrong ." He mumbled looking away with a pink coating his cheeks , "Only for you."
(A/N I'm sorry I just had to make that reference lol.)

I smiled warmly , grabbing his slightly larger hand in mine, "Thanks, I mean for staying and I guess caring. No one has really cared about me before."

I sighed closing my eyes , "Not even my parents , my father died when I was quite young and that made my mother a wreck. She managed to maintain a job to care for us both and I know she loved me otherwise she wouldn't of worked so hard all the time, but the thing is because of that , she never had time for me. So I don't know what it truly feels like to be cared for . I don't really have friends , people mostly ignore me but sometimes others bully me."

Tears started to fall from my eyes , "Oh my god I'm sorry for crying ."

"No, no it's okay!" I felt arms wrap gently around my torso, careful not to press into my injured side .

I continued my story , "I felt worthless , but kept living , but at this point was it even considered living . I kept alive because of my mother , she was working so hard just to support us and have this nice how and stuff and I don't know what she'd do if she lost me as well as my father . I think that'd be the breaking point for her . But when I saw you, going to be hit by a truck. All those thoughts left my mind and although you were basically a stranger . I wanted to save you. I guess , you seemed to have more to live for . I'm not sure the true reason why I tried to save you though , perhaps to somewhat redeem myself?"

Itsuki tightened his grip slightly at my words , tears pooling at the corner of his eyes , "R-redeem yourself?"

"I think I thought , if someone as worthless as me saved your life and gave up my life so you'd keep living . It would've given me a meaning to be alive ." I clenched my fists , more tears threatening to fall, "But I guess to you it sounds pretty stupid ."

"It doesn't sound stupid at all." Itsuki pulled away slightly in order to wipe away both my tears and his own, his thumb gently swiped the tears away from my eyes, "I completely understand."

"I don't even know why I told you all these things about me. I guess I just trust you." I smiled , a few tears remained on my face as evidence I had been crying .

Itsuki smiled , "I trust you too and I guess you're important to me." He looked away bashfully.

I stifled a yawn, "I'm exhausted from all this crying , I suggest you get some sleep yourself , you haven't left my side."

"And I don't want to."

"B-but you need to sleep, you may care about me but I care about you and your health is as important as mine so please sleep !" I exhales sharply before glaring slightly at him.

"I just..." Itsuki cut himself off .

"Just what?" I closed my eyes tired and irritated , "If you won't leave my side then sleep here , it's a double bed. I'm too tired to care anymore as long as you sleep."

I shuffled to the other side of the bed and after a few minutes of him contemplating, I felt the bed dip slightly from his weight.

The last thing I felt before losing consciousness was a sneaky arm wrapping around my waist .

~*~

I woke up to be met with Itsuki's cute sleeping face, wincing, I sat up , carefully removing his arm from my waist.

Heading to the bathroom, I unwrapped the old bandages and replaced them. The wound had scanned over but it would be at least 3 days before I'd be able to fight without fear of reopening the wound .

This was going to be a boring three days.

~*~

And I was right it was a boring three days.

Itsuki barely left my side, babying me the whole time, like trying to feed me.

Which in turn, made me super flustered and retort how I could feed myself.

I may not like to admit it, but being babied was kinda nice. Not in a weird way! I mean...it was just nice having someone actually care about me.

And that person being Itsuki made me feel even better. My insides felt warm and gooey when I'm around him. I think I realised what this feeling is, I like him.

I've only been around him what 2 weeks and yet I feel like I've known him a life time. However, I want to wait this one out a bit, until I know he feels the same , because I don't want to lose this.

We were finally about to leave the village, we decided we would travel around for maybe another week before returning to Melromarc.

I'm not sure when exactly the wave is but we were told approximately a month so, we should return on the last week of this month so we'll have a few day or so to prepare.

Next, we are travelling to a fishing village, we've heard rumours of a sea monster or something , so we're going to check it out.

~*~

We checked out the so called sea monster but it turned out to be a gang of teenagers who were quite proficient in tricks and water magic.

They must've though it was fun to scare people , I can't blame them, when I was younger I was quite the jokester myself. I'm not really sure what happened . Why I got so serious...

Maybe, it was ever since my father died , my friends of course knew he died.

But they never found out how , or that I witnessed the whole thing and I feel so guilty , like I could've done something .

My mum never blamed me , which did ease the burden a little, but eventually my friends stopped talking to me.

I became distant and they gave up on me, I stopped trying and didn't open up.

Then, I became invisible , just another nobody .

Reflecting on it, I guess I should've tried harder. But I think if my friends put in more effort and tried to understand me rather than giving up almost immediately it would've been easier.

Saying that though , if things had happened differently I guess I wouldn't be here today and for that reason I'm kinda glad. I shouldn't dwell on the past too much, it'll just make me sad and it'll be harder to move forward .

Anyway now we were on our way back to Melromarc. There are a few things we need to do like sign in with the hour glass so we know exactly how long we have left to prepare and probably get some new armour and weapons .

We were around level 30 now , with a bit more experience we'd be able to reach the level cap and then upgrade even higher .

To think we've made it this far in under a month.

~*~

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3594 words

A/n I was kind of hoping to make this chapter longer but I couldn't really think of anything else to add so... I'm hoping each chapter to be at least 3000 words because although this book will be short , I at least want each chapter to be worth the long wait there will probably be between chapters !