Chapter 9: A band of thieves
"Oh, Hajime, it’s you."
Reiko asked while taking a step forward towards Hajime, who looked surprised due to Reiko’s appearance.
"Who were you talking to earlier?" Reiko asked as she put down her big, wrong sword. Hajime wondered how she managed to carry the sword, considering that the sword looked big and heavier than her.
"Huh?" Hajime uttered.
"What is she talking about? Can’t she see the girl who’s grabbing my hand?"
He wondered as he looked at Reiko with a confused look. He thought the girl was still there, but he didn’t know that the girl had disappeared a while ago while he was turning to face Reiko earlier. He could still feel the girl’s touch if the girl was still there, touching his hand.
Reiko’s look changed to being concerned while staring at Hajime. She moved closer to him and touched his shoulder while scanning him from top to bottom.
"Are you hurt? Did someone drag you here? Who was it?" she said.
Hajime looked behind him, but there was no one there. he looked at his right hand, where he thought that the girl earlier grabbed him but the only there was no girl; the only thing that was left there was the feeling of being touched by a girl.
"Where did she go?" He asked himself. Then he remembered again that he was badly stubbed, that he was losing a large amount of blood at an alarming rate. He looked at himself with a curious look on his face and started to wonder why he couldn’t feel any pain ever since he woke up earlier.
He searched carefully but could not see any wounds, open or closed. Reiko, filled with curiosity, just watched as Hajime did his thing.