▌│█║▌║▌║Chapter 4 ║▌║▌║█│▌

I wandered in the space of my unconscious for awhile before I finally jolted up in...a...bed?

The room was pretty small with the only light source being a window above me, and the more I looked around the room, I realized that this was a very poorly put together apartment. It's flooring and walls seemed to be barely put together, and it only had a small oven for a kitchen and a TV in the left corner for entertainment.

From the looks of the shabby abode, This has to be on the outskirts of town where the lower levels live. All the places here are way worse compared to the other areas in town.

No one seemed to be home, so I wanted to look around a bit. I got up and looked at my reflection in the broken black TV screen. Apparently, my wounds have healed, but I still have a bandage around my torso. My body felt fine, and I wasn't aching anywhere. In fact, How am I even walking right now? I know I felt my leg snap during the gank. I wonder why I'm healed this much? How long was I out for?

Just when I was about to put my shirt back on that was laying on the bed post, someone entered the room. It was a girl that looked about my age, that was about as tall as me (5'5"), had long red hair with a ponytail on the side, and skin that was snow white with a few freckles sprinkled on her face. "She is beautiful." I marveled in awe to myself.

No dought that she will be disgusted when she finds out I'm a sagaru though, so I can't get my hopes up. She wore a shocked look on her face when she turned around from closing the door to see me standing there with my shirt in hand and asked, "H-how long have you been up for?"

I must have been seeing things because I thought her face went bright red when she saw me before she turned back around. Maybe it's just the poor lighting? I answered back, "Not for long. I just got up. Do you know how I got here, and how long I have been asleep for?"

She looked kind of surprised and responded back while still facing the opposite direction, "Oh, I guess you wouldn't know Haha. I was walking back from school when the rain finally let up, and I saw you lying on the ground in the forest section. You looked fine, but you had a nasty burn on your torso. I didn't know what to do at the time. Police don't come to the forest section and the hospital was too far away, so I just decided to take you back here to my place. You haven't been out for long. After I bandaged you I went to the general store to get some pain relievers, and when I got back you're up! Are you feeling alright."

I was taken aback by this. No one besides my parents have ever showed compassion to me. I felt my face grow red as I thought about her kindness, followed closely by a sense of depression at the knowledge of what she will do when she finds out I'm powerless.

I hurredly put my shirt on and managed to mumble out, "Thank you for everything you have done. Really it is umm, it means a lot."

I don't think she knew how to respond to that, so we just sat there in silence for a while when she turned back around. Finally she turned her head and asked, "Maybe you want to stay for dinner? We don't have much, but I'm sure my parents don't mind!"

She was so cute, and as much as I wanted to say that I couldn't bring myself to lie to such a beautiful person. So I looked down and told her in a monotone voice, "I'm sorry, but I'm a sagaru. You probably feel bad for helping now, and I get it. I'm sorry for causing you this trouble."

She looked shocked, which I normal I guess, but then she did something unusual. She smile and stated, "be that as it may the offer still stands."

I looked at her in confusion and just blurted out, "Uh, what was that?"

At that moment her parents came home from work. I quickly put my shirt back on. Her parents had a lot of questions naturally. Eventually they calmed down though, and we all sat down to eat. Apparently her dad is a sagaru as well. While her mom is a high level 7, but even though she is a high level she still has to be in the slums since she married a sagaru. Lainey is also a higher level for her age as well, a level 5. She is planning on taking the Crystal High entrance exam as well. She apparently doesn't make that many friends at school either because of her father, so her parents we shocked she brought a friend home, much less one with his shirt off. I quickly told them it was a misunderstanding, but they still kept a weird smile on their faces. I started to leave after we ate. Lainey walked me out, even though it was only a fifteen foot walk. I told her thank you so much for the food and help, and told her we should talk some more. She smiled said, "Yes, we definitely should."

As I was walking away I told her, "Oh. By the way, I'm taking the Crystal High entrance exam too."

She looked back from going back inside to implore why, but I was already gone.

▌│█║▌║▌║To be Continued ║▌║▌║█│▌