Suzu was curled up on her bed, nursing her bruised stomach. Her father had gained a large temper and a drinking habit after her mother simply vanished one year. She never remembered much about her mother, only gentle kindness and a parts of a song.

The day she had first met that strange boy, she had received a beating from her father the night before. She was scared and upset, but the boy's quiet presence soothed her a little as they sat. To say she was shocked when he suddenly started napping would be an understatement. She sat there, enthralled with his sleeping face almost an hour. When she suddenly realized what she had been doing, her head snapped back to look at the river and her breathing grew rough.

From that moment on, she strangely felt comfortable. The wall she'd built between others was knocked down in a single day.

In her previous life, despite proudly walking the path of a warrior, she was still sneered at by most of the men. Given the worst jobs, she eventually lost a hopeless battle and was captured. Despite the odds, she tried her hardest to achieve victory. Sheer willpower kept her on her feet until the end of the battle, when finally, a single arrow struck her chest.

Despite her intentions, she had only been given 3000 recruits, while the enemy had more than 10,000 well trained soldiers. She was captured shortly after being struck down, to be married off.

Even though they never got along well, they both did what was needed to keep the peace. Eventually, she stopped speaking entirely to anyone in her house. No-one looked at her as a warrior any longer, just a wilting wall flower.

As she was just entering her mid thirties, she was struck down by an unexpected dagger in the back. Before her corpse had even grown cold, her husband had remarried while her 2 children were simply told it was due to sudden illness.

Suzu spent a few days crying in anguish, floating through the void. She bitterly cussed at the gods, her husband, everything and anything that had been against her.

The day she was reborn, she desperately longed to be a warrior once more. She resolved herself at a young age to train hard and achieve that goal once more. For a time, she was happy and her mind was finally able to come to accept her past. When she was 4, her mother went missing and her loving father became a violent brute. At first, he only drank, but when he started gambling, his temper got even worse.

His beatings were never bad enough that people would call it abuse. He didn't use a weapon, only his fist. Even though a fist was more than enough to easily bruise a small child, Suzu held her tongue and endured. This treatment was considered normal enough, both in her own time and now, so what could she do about it? She certainly couldn't leave at her age and she didn't want to intrude on Haruki.

'That's the one thing I must not do.'

Feeling a sudden pang in her chest, she quickly shook herself and started dressing for her regular rendezvous. She chose a flowery yellow and white sun-dress, tying it with a leather belt. As she attached her dagger, her mind was momentarily a flood with nostalgia.

'I wish I had a proper Naginata, but this will have to do. When we become adventurer's, I will pour my money into having one made!'

She crept around her unconscious father. He snored loudly, occasionally gurgling and scratching his flabby gut. Wine-bottles were strewn about the floor, but she managed to use her well-trained footwork to avoid them, rushing towards the nearby city gate.

Haruki had finished his training for the day and was already excited to meet up with Suzu. He quickly wiped down his body, before attaching his dagger to his belt.

“Going to the river!” He called out as he ran past the house.

A loud roar of permission from his father echoed around the yard, so Haruki jogged quickly down the road.

As he spotted Suzu, his adrenaline instantly started rushing. By her posture alone, he knew something was up.

'Why is she running so frantically? She's waving now?'

Haruki pulled his dagger out with a shaky hand. He had never seen Suzu look like this before. He'd grown to know most of her expressions and tells after spending so much time together, but this was a new one.

'Is she scared!?'

He quickly spotted the reason... 2 grey wolves were chasing her, about 100m behind!

Haruki shivered in fear at his first time seeing a wild magical beast. Unlike animals, they tore humans apart for their MP, rather than their flesh. He noticed his own knee's were quickly weakening. Slapping himself, he bent down to pick up a small stone, then forced his legs into a sprint towards Suzu.

Suzu was only 20m away and the wolves were inching ever closer. Haruki threw the stone with all his might, hitting one of the wolves in the head with a solid crack. Snarling, it turned towards him instead.

'Ok, Suzu should be able to manage against one, she's probably stronger than I am...'

As he braced for the fight, his mind turned a fuzzy white as he heard a splashing sound behind him. Then another. Sweat started running down his face as he quickly glanced over his shoulder. Two more wolves were charging at him from the river!

With perfect timing, they both jumped at Haruki. One went for his stomach while the other went for his throat. Behind him, the original wolf was rapidly getting closer.

Time seemingly slowed down to half speed as the adrenaline fully hit him. He'd finally realized he was about to die. This had happened a few times in his past life, so he'd been expecting it. Using his frantic thoughts, he came to a snap decision.

'I don't have mana left after training, so I can't escape... I just need to make sure I kill one. Suzu will have a chance..."

Crouching lightly as he cussed his slow regen, Haruki shot forwards with all the strength his legs could muster. His dagger slammed into the chest of the wolf leaping for his throat, using the force to penetrate even deeper into its heart. Haruki felt the wolf go limp as his blade hit the mark.

At the same time, with his left hand, he simply tried to push the other wolf away to protect his vital areas. His intention was to give him time to turn around and get some space to breathe, but the wolf had other ideas. It bit down on his wrist, whipping its head back and forth head in a violent, whole body motion.

With a sick crunching and tearing sound, Haruki's hand simply came off.

As he stood there staring blankly at his savaged wrist, a disturbingly beautiful crimson ribbon arced gracefully from the stump, scattering into the air like rose petals.

The wolf had already started devouring his meal, completely ignoring the moaning child beside him.

As if he was insignificant. Merely food.

In that brief moment of shock, Haruki felt a heavy weight against his back, sharp pains piercing his throat on both sides.

'I'm glad I killed one. Suzu should have finished hers, so she should be ok. I did my job.'

Filled with relief, the last thing he heard was Suzu frantically screaming his name. As the weight on his back grew heavier, his head was finally ripped from his body with a sickening pop.