Two Reincarnated-Chapter 28: from the ground up

....

"... Huh?" The girl blinked, her eyes wide with confusion and quiet surprise.

Hajime’s gaze drifted toward the futon where the girl lay. The scent of roses and chrysanthemums wafted into his nose. But didn’t last long, because it was disturbed by the metallic sting of blood still clinging to his clothes.

’What is this place?’

. He thought, his eyes narrowing slightly, slowly raising a hand and covering his nose. The girl kept staring at him, her face twisted in surprise. It was as if her mind had been playing games with her, and from the looks of things, she started to think it was all a waking dream too realistic to be fake.

She shifted a step back, not out of fear, but disbelief. Hajime turned toward her, his eyes meeting hers, puzzled by a strange look on her face.

"... You don’t remember?" She asked softly, her fingers moving up to just rest below her chin.

" Huh?" Hajime blinked, confused. Then suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his head like a bolt of lightning. His breath hitched, and a burst of white seared across his vision.

....

Then, he froze. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

’I was running... From the village,’ he recalled, ’Then something struck me from behind, hard.’ Releasing his hand from his nose, his gaze fell on the wooden floor beneath him.

’And then... There was that man. He who was beating me up for no reason... But... How did I end up here after that?’ He remained silent.

The girl continued to watch him, unsure of what was going through Hajime’s mind. Then, suddenly, she froze, eyes wide, breath caught in her throat, as something long buried clawed its way back into her memory.

....

She saw herself sitting alone in a dark room littered with corpses. The stench of death clung in the air, thick with the buzzing flies. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she trembled in silence. Before her stood a man wielding a metal rod, its tip glowing red hot, as if freshly plucked from a bed of flames.

"If you still can’t obey my orders... then I’ll keep torturing you, until there’s nothing left of you to fix!" he roared, his voice covered in rage.

The memory shifted.

Now she was crouched in the corner of a rusted cage, her knees drawn to her chest, her hands covering her ears as soft screams echoed nearby. Just outside the bars, a man stabbed a girl again and again, his expression removed of emotion, almost mechanical. Blood splattered across the floor like ink.

That man was Gorthok. And he was the same one who had purchased them both.

Back to the present, her body remained frozen, gaze locked on Hajime, but her mind far away. Then slowly, as if entranced, she began to reach for the fabric of her clothes. Her fingers moved without thought. She started to undress in front of him, her eyes vacant, empty, staring straight through Hajime as though he wasn’t even there.

Hajime jolted upright, the haze of his thoughts scattering the moment he noticed the girl beginning to undress. Whatever trace he had been in vanished instantly.

"... Hey, what are you doing?" He asked, alarmed.

But she didn’t respond. Her eyes were blank, her movements mechanical, like he wasn’t even there. It was as if he were nothing more than another piece of furniture in the room.

’This is bad,’ he thought, glancing nervously at the door, half expecting someone to barge in at any moment. Then he looked back at the girl, panic tightening his chest. His hands began to tremble. It felt like he was staring at something he wasn’t supposed to see, something beyond his control.

Without thinking, he shot up from the chair and dove onto the futon, burying his face into the pile of shirts.

Behind him, the girl finished undressing in silence. Still lost in whatever world her mind had slipped into, she stepped toward the fresh clothes the maid had left earlier and began to change.

Suddenly, a soft knock echoed from the door. The girl didn’t hear it. She continued dressing, unaware of anything outside herself.

Hajime remained face down on the futon, his heart thundering in his chest. Sweat poured from his body, soaking through the fabric beneath him. He didn’t move, didn’t breathe too loudly, just waited, praying for the nightmare to pass. *** He wasn’t exactly praying***

....

The door creaked open, and the two maids stepped inside. One held a small set of child-sized armor, polished and neatly strapped together. The other was the same one who had brought in the clothes and the fresh futon earlier; she carried nothing this time.

"Oh, my," she said, blinking in surprise as her eyes landed on the girl. "You haven’t finished changing yet?"

The girl froze. At the sound of the maid’s voice, her mind snapped back to the present; her body trembled as she slowly turned to face them, fear stark across her expression.

"... I’m sorry." She whispered, barely audible.

The maid tilted her head, clearly puzzled. "Why are you apologizing?" Before the girl could answer, the other maid walked straight past her without a word and made a beeline for the futon where Hajime lay, still curled up, face down, pretending the world didn’t exist.

"... I’m Sorry... I’m sorry... I’m sorry..." The girl began repeating under her breath, the words spilling out like a broken record.

The first maid stepped toward her gently, voice softening, "Hey, it’s okay, there is nothing to apologize for."

Meanwhile, Hajime tightened his eyes shut, unsure of what exactly was going on but sensing the tension crawling back into the room like a fog. Suddenly, he felt a sharp kick to his ass.

"Get up, you." Said a voice, sweet but commanding.

Startled, Hajime rolled over, turning to face the maid who had kicked him. Her expression was unreadable, but before he could respond, his gaze flicked to the girl still trembling, still murmuring apologies over and over, but still not yet completely dressed. But then, looked at the maid again with a surprised look painted on his face.

The maid looked from the girl to the other maid, brow furrowing. "Why are you two looking at me like that?" She asked, staring back at them both, signs of unease dancing in her eyes.

"I didn’t know you could talk?" The other maid said, her tone laced with surprise.

"What?" the maid snapped, blinking, "I can talk just fine." She turned to Hajime, her eyes narrowing. "You, put this on."

Hajime stared at her speechless, while the girl nearby kept on murmuring. Her voice was soft and broken.

"Could you shut her up, please?" The maid with the armor added sweetly, but there was steel behind the sugar.

’Wear that... What are they going to make me do?’ Hajime wondered, looking at the armor.

The other maid had stepped back to take care of the girl with a smile on her face, while the other kept her eyes on Hajime, her eyes serious and focused as if she was going to kill him any moment.

Hajime grabbed the armor and started looking at it instead of wearing it. He was confused cause he had never seen armor his size, and he had no idea how to put it on.

"Would you please hurry up?" She said, taking the armor from him, and suddenly started to take his clothes off.

Her hands were as soft as an angel’s. Even though she was acting this way, she was just trying to help. And Hajime didn’t resist, not even a little bit, when she started to undress him. The only word running in his head was that he was done for.