Yuuya’s eyes fluttered open, the wooden logs stacked before him as usual. He reached out with pale fingers, rubbing the smooth wood. The tips of his fingers slipped off it, a barely visible layer separating his fingers from the ridges in the wood.

“Awake, I see,” said a voice from behind him.

“Mm...” Yuuya hummed in reply as he refused to turn around. Today, he wanted to sleep in. He had widened his circuit area even more yesterday, and the resulting exhaustion had been dreadful. Although the concoction had healed him of his pain, making him better than ever...

Today was his lazy day.

The novelty of his freedom, he had not expected would wear off so soon.

The second day out he had been wildly excited, looking at every tree, every blade of grass, examining fruits, flowers and bark altogether. He was from another world, in another world. All new species, all new organisms, this would be a field trip for a scientist back from Earth.

And the sights had amazed him as well. Trees that bent away as he approached, whilst some plants bowed toward him, as if they understood that respect would spare them from possible injuries. Leaves of shapes he had never seen, some twirling together into a helix, strung up by an insect that looked curiously like a spider. The insects were unbelievably hairy here, not having the chitin of those from Earth. Each of them had thick hair that covered their body, perhaps from the warmth.

There were trees that changed colors as the sun went down, and yet another flower, a wildly attractive flower, that would gleam brightly in the night, like it were amplifying the Golden Moon’s radiance. Grass would seemingly pull a few inches out once he’d passed by, and some would pull into the ground if he stared at them. And there were star shaped discs that grew in patches in a spot. It had puffed out clouds of sweet smelling gas that had made him want to eat a few- right before Miras dove in, shoving the concoction into his mouth.

Despite his continued insistence, persisted begging and shameless flattery, she refused to add anything that remotely tasted good, or even bland, to the concoction, all the while trying not to grin.

He had tried to eat some of the luscious berries that grew on the trees, but she’d warned him of how she’d made sure that the berries around were poisonous, and that if he wanted to, he could eat it. Too scared to argue, he had simply avoided the berries.

That was the first two weeks of his parole.

And today was the beginning of the third week.

By the end of the second week, he had grown bored of the subservient plants and color flashing trees. Instead he had begun to expand the radius of his daily run, hoping to find something. Miras did nothing to stop him, exciting and suppressing his excitement at the same time.

It had already been a month since he had arrived at Redorias, nearly a month since his confinement began. He was beginning to grow restless, and although his release had allowed him to expel some of his frustration, he was feeling it again.

His exercise, his running, his inquisitive searches… They were all beginning to feel repetitive, awfully reminiscent of his life on Earth.

“Are you not going to run like a fool today?”

“Mm… Today’s my lazy day,” he answered, a yawn slipping out at the end.

Miras simply chuckled, not saying anything more.

After a while, he rolled over to face her.

Miras was as usual, absorbed in her book. She would occasionally flip the pages as she read through them leisurely. When he got up to leave she’d set it aside and follow him, only to climb up some tree and doze off. Miras… was a total slacker.

A bookworm slacker.

“Say aunty.”

“Mm?”

“Why is there no one else here?” Yuuya asked.

“Because you’re a prisoner,” she replied, turning a page.

“But I proved my innocence.”

“Indeed you did.”

Silence followed as Yuuya stared at her, expecting some sort of continuation. She simply stayed silent, continuing to peruse her book.

“Auuuuuuuntyyyyyy….” Yuuya droned out, rolling lazily on the bed.

“What is it?” she asked, her eyes finally looking up.

“I don’t know, I’m bored. I don’t have anything to do,” he confessed, staring accusatorily at her.

“Why don’t you go out and play then? Don’t you want to get stronger so that you can save your friends?” She replied off-handedly.

“I really do, but it isn’t time for the hero’s entry yet,” Yuuya quipped.

“I see.”

“Auuuuuuuntyyyyyy….”

“…What is it?”

“I’m boooored.”

“Read then. Can’t you see what I’m doing?”

“But I don’t know how to read the gibberish in that book.”

“Write something and read it then,” Miras sighed, turning her gaze back toward the book.

“Auuuuuuuuuntyyyyyyyy….”

“…What is it, you brat?”

“Teach me how to read then,” Yuuya said, finally popping his request.

Once more Miras looked up, this time regarding him with an amused smile. “Teach you?”

“Yes, teach me. I want to learn. Once I leave this place, I would need to know how to read, wouldn’t I?” Yuuya sat upright, staring intently at her. “Besides, it doesn’t seem like the Alignment is happening any time soon,” he looked out through the open door, scrutinizing the clear sky. “Yep, the skies are clear, weather says there’s no Alignment scheduled. So I should be staying here for a while, and I want aunty to teach me how to read, or I’ll bother you until you do.” Finishing, he crossed his arms, handing her the baton.

“What makes you think I’d teach you? I could lock you in here and leave,” she replied. She was trying not to smile as she looked at his unexpected seriousness.

“Aha! But I know that aunty only sleeps in these trees. I’ll just keep yelling day and night and deprive you of sleep,” Yuuya responded, nodding along with his threat.

“Or… I could just mix something into your concoction that makes you mut-“

“-But of course! It’s because aunty is the most beautiful and the kindest woman. Aunty’s heart is made of gold, and she would surely help any who need help, because she’s an angel in human skin… No, an angel incarnate!” Yuuya cut in, finishing quickly before she had a chance to complete her threat.

“Alright you brat, quiet. I want to read,” Miras said, sighing as she returned to her book. Disappointed, Yuuya rolled out of bed, heading out of the cottage. He no longer felt like sleeping in, and instead ran.

Miras did not follow him out.

But his latent fear of her sent him veering away from the point till he had explored, not daring to go a step further. Her threat had terrified him, the possibility that she might mix something into his concoction without him knowing.

***

SPLASH!

Gasping and sputtering, Yuuya cursed as he tried to save himself from drowning. The chilly water slipped into his nose. He shot out of the bed, jumping upright as he roared in pain.

“Wh-what!?” He managed to croak out. His nose burned with the water, and he struggled to wipe the water off his face. His hair was damp, water dripping on to the wood floor.

“I see you’re awake. Good,” Miras said, a pitcher in hand, still pouring the water on to where his head had been.

Yuuya stared at her with a strange expression on his face as he tried to sneeze out the water from his nose.

“Come,” she said, gesturing toward the centre of the room.

And there, instead of the usual single, were two chairs, placed on either side of the table which had been pulled to the centre of the room. A smokeless oil lamp burned on the table, its flame occasionally dancing as it illuminated the little cottage. The door was open, revealing the dark sky. The sun hadn’t even risen yet.

“What… Why… It’s not even morning… A-aunty?” Yuuya managed out, only to be smothered by something distinctly white. Staring all the while at the crook with the pitcher, he wiped his face and hair with the towel. Done, he threw it back at her. Albeit with a bit more force.

Catching it, she went to the table, pulling out the chair and taking a seat. The oil lamp’s flame danced, highlighting some of the lines on her face.

“Sit,” she said.

Bewildered, Yuuya pulled out the new chair, the exact same one as hers, and sat down. He stared at her, expecting some sort of explanation. Miras simply stooped down, and came back up with a thick leather bound book. She set it on the table with a soft thud, flipping it open.

Unknown runes covered the brown parchment of the book as she turned through the pages.

“The most commonly used script in Redorias is Threon-,” she began, long finger pointing toward some of the gibberish at the top.

“Aunty,” Yuuya interrupted.

“What?”

“What are you doing?” He questioned.

“Were you not the one who wanted me to teach you?”

“…”

“Either way. As I was saying, the most commonly used script in Redorias is the Threo…”

“Aunty,” he cut in again.

“Can you not see me trying to teach? What is it?”

“Why are you doing it… now?”

“Because you were the one who told me that you were bored. I figured you’d like it better the sooner I began,” she replied innocently.

“…”

“Now, let me teach you properly. The most commonly used scrip-.”

“Aunty.”

“Do you really want me to teach you? I’m beginning to doubt it now,” she said, sounding a bit annoyed.

“I meant, why are you doing it so early? The sun hasn’t even risen yet. Is it… Is it even dawn yet?”

“In four more hours, it will be.”

“H-how long was I even asleep for?”

“Well… I’d say it was somewhere around four hours. But four hours are fine!” She added quickly, noticing his shocked expression. “Actually, for a human to function productively, a single hour of sleep is more than enough. Now now, enough of the distractions, let’s get back to our lesson.”

***

Yuuya supported his chin with his hands, struggling to remain awake as Miras droned on about the language. His former enthusiasm was nowhere to be found as he couldn’t care less about Threonis or Artethi script, much less Vreedian curves or Pursian runes.

His eyelids constantly fluttered, working futilely against the mysterious force that existed to bring them down. What was it that made his eyelids so heavy? Were there little invisible creatures that sensed his boredom and sought to give him respite? Were they the fae-

Cold water splashed rudely on to his face, startling him awake. Miras stared at him, indignant. Her nefarious pitcher seemed to be making a face at him, its curved mouth almost a smile in his eyes. Yuuya grabbed his towel that had wiped his face down three times, for the fourth time.

“I must say Yuuya, I couldn’t be more disappointed. I made time out of my day-“

Night. It was nighttime now.

“-to teach you because you asked me to, and you show me this? Simply dozing off in class, ignoring all my hardwork, I don’t think I can take this,” Miras lamented, rubbing her forehead.

“Aunty…” He finally muttered out, determined to seek justice.

“What is it?” She looked up.

“You might not have noticed with your nocturnal lifestyle, but we humans are usually…usually asleep by now,” Yuuya finished, yawning. It was the widest he’d ever yawned, he was sure. Even the old lady didn’t force him to study like this; she would be pestering him not to stay up even a minute after ten past eleven instead.

Only now did a glimmer of understanding pass past her face as her eyes widened. She stared at the already drooping Yuuya, before pushing back her chair, getting on her feet.

“Indeed, that makes sense. Although waking up early does help in memory, depriving someone of sleep will only be counterproductive,” she said, pacing back and forth. “Perhaps we should establish a set schedule, one that’ll accommodate your studies and your foolish running.”

“I… I agree,” Yuuya murmured his assent, beginning to nod off. Some parts of his head worked, while the others were already shutting down. Her excitement was quite surprising, had she been… planning it for a while? That was… That was bad… He should listen to her classes then…

“And so, with you running around or doing that silly dance for about six hours, the rest of the time, from dawn, we can devote to your studies,” Miras said. She was deep in thought, completely ignorant of Yuuya’s plight. “There’s so much for you to learn. The countries, the trades, and so much more. Don’t lose yourself in excitement, alright?”

She turned to him, regaining composure. Her face was stern, only for her jaw to slacken.

Yuuya was already on the book, snoring deeply.