'I am blind'
This was the twelfth time Yuzuriha had said that to herself.
At first it was shocking, but after saying it a dozen times over, she felt indifferent to it.
She hadn't confirmed it yet, it was just pure speculation.
But if she had to base it on how quickly her sense of smell, hearing and touch returned to her, then she might be onto something.
Still, there was a fine difference between suspecting and knowing.
Sigh.
Yuzuriha exhaled a heavy breath and decided to redirect her thoughts somewhere else, like her current situation.
'There is so much to think about, where can I start?'
With everything that had just happened, she found herself stuck between a rock and a hard place.
A bit of an exaggeration but still!
There was just a lot of stuff to cover and doing all of that at the same time might overload her delicate mind.
Ok, ok, ok. The beginning, straight from the beginning.
That's how all great mysteries were uncovered right? Yeah, absolutely!
'First off, let's get this out of the way'
Right now, Yuzuriha rode on the back of the boy…
A 30 year old adult was getting a piggyback ride from a child.
…Yep, that was happening.
'B-but I'm not an adult anymore. I've been reincarnated!'
Even so, she couldn't help but feel a bit flustered by this. Her body might have shrunk but her mentality was still that of a woman who had lived for 30 years.
'This is so embarrassing, but I can't let myself get distracted by such childish things!'
Yuzuriha subtly shifted her weight as she tried to bury her possibly flushed face.
The boy didn't seem to struggle, she could feel the warmth of his back as he carried her with ease, meaning she wasn't heavy.
In other words, her body shape was light, petite.
'That's another thing I've learnt about myself.'
The first thing was that, first she wasn't a baby, she was still a child but the exact age was unspecific.
The second, the boy who was carrying her and the little girl who was holding her hand with both of hers were not her parents.
'Honestly, that's a bit of a relief. I can't imagine the type of laws they have in this place, but if they allowed something like that then they would have been crappy'
'Thank God'
'But what if—Okay, okay, environment. Focus!'
Since Yuzuriha couldn't see, she had to rely on everything else. And right now, everything else told her they were outside.
The ground beneath the boy's footsteps wasn't soft like dirt or uneven like cobblestone. It felt smooth, and structured, but not enclosed like an indoor floor. A sidewalk, maybe?
All around her was a cacophony of different sounds.
There were sharp honks layered over the rolling grumble of moving metal. Cars. That meant roads, which meant they were in some kind of town or city.
To add to the mumbles of pedestrians, the air smelled alive!
Not like nature, but with mouth watering creations of humanity.
Food, smoke, oil, hints of something sweet and baked, mixed with the unmistakable scent of street food sizzling over open flames.
That was….oddly nostalgic.
She could almost tell where they were just by following the ever changing scent of something delicious. Something fried to the left, fresh bread to the right, something heavier and spiced further ahead.
Unknown to her, she was moving around a lot, trying to get a whiff of every possible scent she could.
'This sure beats that gross smell in that alleyway!'
Suddenly, the boy shifted his posture as he adjusted his grip again beneath her rear. This broke her focus, causing her to tense up.
'Um, no. It's probably nothing'
No use trying to overthink it. Yuzuriha let out a quiet sigh.
Alright. She had a rough idea of their surroundings now. But the question was…
'Where the hell am I?'
Yuzuriha pondered and made an assumption based on what she could hear and smell.
'First off, this isn't Japan. Why do I say that? Well, that's because, in most Japanese marketplaces there's always that fresh whiff of grilled yakitori and teriyaki. And of course, my personal favorite, the sweet aroma of mochi!'
'All I'm smelling here are roasting meats, freshly baked bread and other delicious stuff'
She felt her stomach grumble from just thinking about that.
'Then there's the clip-clopping of horse hooves, heavy cars and the language these people are shouting. It's not Japanese but I can understand it, but it doesn't seem like I can speak it.'
Throughout this road trip, Yuzuriha had tried to voice out her thoughts, such as; What is this place, who are they, or what happened? But every time she tried to let out a word, her voice just jams.
'These two haven't spoken a single word ever since we left that alley. That isn't really putting me at ease, but I guess they're still pretty shaken up by what happened'
She couldn't blame them really.
'Am I really blind and mute at the same time? Wuah, why's my karma so bad?'
Another sigh escaped her lips.
"Willow, don't tell big sis about what happened ok?"
The boy finally said something as he came to a halt. His voice sounded deep as in contemplation.
"What why?! Those jerks need a lesson and big sis can teach them a good one!"
The girl immediately retorted, and that earned a turn from the boy, facing to the side.
"Just do what I say. Don't be a brat! Yor almost got killed back there. Do you really think she'll allow us to go out again if she hears about that?"
"W-well, um, I guess you're right. Fine"
She was hesitant in her reply.
"Use your brain sometimes. It'd do wonders for you. Besides, we shouldn't trouble big sis with those guys, they're bad news. And she already has a lot on her plate as is. You just keep quiet and don't run that loose mouth of yours"
"You're so mean, Leo"
Yuzuriha couldn't see her but by her tone, she was probably pouting.
"You understand, right, Yor?"
After the boy—Leo, had asked that question, there was a drawn out silence between them. They were waiting for Yor to speak.
Oh, right!
It was only after a while that Yuzuriha realized he was referring to her, but it was already too late…
"You're still shaken, I get it. When we get inside, clean up and I'll make your favorite. A delicious jam roly-poly. We still got some leftover jam and flour, so I should be able to make some for dessert"
His tone had changed to one of comfort and the girl let out a small gasp, immediately forgetting the scolding Leo gave her.
"I want a piece too! A big piece! No, two big pieces! No, three, wait, is that too much?!"
"That's way too much! No way you're getting all that!"
"Ah what, you're not being fair, big bro!"
As established Yuzuriha couldn't speak, but there was more than one way to give an affirmative to someone.
She tilted her head slightly at Leo's words, soon after, he took her head shake as an agreement and exhaled through his nose while ruffling Yuzuriha's hair.
"Yeah, yeah, I got it. I'll make extra. Let's just hurry, it's getting late, big sis must be waiting for us by now"