Fursekai: Volume 1

8

"H-Hunter?" The girl whispers, her voice trembling.

All of a sudden she falls to her knees, tears dripping from her mask.

Slowly Hunter walks over to her and picks her up. Along with Ruriko he takes the girl to his room where Ruriko starts brewing tea.

Afterwards he takes off his mask.

"See Maria, it's me." He says, taking the girl's hand and placing it on his cheek.

It takes a while but eventually Maria regains her composure enough to hold a conversation.

But first she takes off her mask.

Ruriko is shocked to see that she is a beautiful young woman around the same age as Hunter. She also has a darker skin tone than Hunter, something Ruriko assumes is due to variance in the human genes. Similar to how their people have different types like dogs, cats or birds.

"So you are Maria. Hunter has told me much about you." Ruriko greets the girl.

Nor is she lying since Hunter has often spoken of his friends.

Seeing the young woman's beauty makes Ruriko wonder if Hunter will still see her the same way. A thought she understands is nothing more than childish insecurity. A thought she can't seem to suppress.

Maria doesn't say anything as she is clearly still unsure of how to respond.

"Maria this is Ruriko. She's taken care of me the last year I've been here." Hunter says.

Then Maria looks up at him, confused.

"A year? I've been here for five years." Maria replies, shocking both Hunter and Ruriko.

"But, you don't look that much older than when I last saw you?" Hunter tells her.

"That's because I aged backwards while traveling through that purple space. The same thing happened to Elaine and the reverse happened to Johnny." Maria explains.

"You know where Elaine and Johnny are?" Hunter asks.

"I know where Elaine is. Johnny hasn't spoken to me in some time. I believe this world has changed him into a different person." Maria says.

"We need to go get Elaine then. We'll get Johnny once we figure out where he is." Hunter tells them, his voice filled with excitement.

"It's not that simple Hunter. The reason I'm doing their bidding is because they have Elaine and I'm not strong enough to help free her." Maria says, placing her head in her hands.

"I'll help. I'll go with you to bust her out." Hunter says as he softly places his hand on her shoulder.

"As will I. I made Hunter a promise and I intend to keep it." Ruriko says.

"But, Hunter, you haven't seen me in a year. And you, Ruriko, don't even know me. Why would you help me like this?" Maria asks, looking up at them.

"Because you are a dear friend to me. So is Elaine and Johnny. And everyone else in your family." Hunter tells her.

"And I promised Hunter to help him find you. And, because I love him." Ruriko says, acting a bit shy with that last statement.

At first, Maria smiles at them gratefully, then her face becomes one of confusion.

"So wait, are you two sleeping together?" She asks.

"Of course not!" Both Hunter and Ruriko say.

"But you are together? Romantically I mean." Maria asks.

After looking each other in the eye they turn back to Maria.

"We are." They both confirm.

"I'll go check on the others." Hunter says after a bit more conversation.

Once he's gone Maria turns to Ruriko with a sad smirk.

"You know, you're his first girlfriend." She tells Maria.

When she sees that Ruriko doesn't understand she explains.

"It means you're the first woman he's had a romantic relationship with."

"Is he not considered attractive by human standards?" Ruriko asks Maria.

"Not particularly. Most girls I've met all thought he looked pretty plain."

"You said you aged backwards?" Ruriko asks Maria once their previous conversation dies down.

"I did. When I landed in this world I discovered that I was somewhat younger than I had been back on Earth. According to those age compass things they sell at stalls I was exactly two years younger." Maria explains.

"How old are you right now?" Ruriko asks.

"I'm nineteen."

Just then Hunter walks in.

"Hey Hunter, can you use this real quick." Maria says, handing him a strange compass.

When Hunter opens it he looks at it in confusion.

"What's it say?" Maria asks.

"It has the number nineteen on it." Hunter replies.

"That means you aged forward by two years when you came here." Maria tells him.

"So is this an age compass or something?" He asks.

"That is exactly what it is. It's mostly used as a children's toy or as a tool to help amnesiacs." Ruriko explains.

"Cool." Hunter says, giving it back to Maria.

"Elaine also aged back two years, just like me. Johnny though aged forward three years." Maria tells them.

"So there is the possibility that whatever it was that changed your ages doesn't follow a pattern." Ruriko says. That possibility does exist.

Just then someone can be heard knocking on the door.

"I'll be right back." Ruriko says before stepping outside.

"You seem to be doing well here. You've even put on some muscle." Maria comments, looking at Hunter's bare arms.

"I've worked more in a year here than I did in sixteen back home." Hunter replies, a little shy.

"Now that you have Ruriko, do you ever consider going back?" Maria asks.

Just as Hunter is about to respond Ruriko calls out to him.

After quickly getting dressed him and Maria step outside.

Outside, in front of Ruriko is a fox man, breathing heavily.

"Tell them what you told me." Ruriko orders.

"Those strange people we were told to look for. We found them." The man tells Hunter and Maria.

"How many." Hunter asks.

"We found three. I marked their locations on this map." The man tells them while clutching a map to his chest.

After taking the map Hunter opens it to take a look.

It had taken a year to find them, and it definitely wouldn't take a few minutes to go to them.

"You are dismissed." Ruriko says after confirming the man knew nothing more.

"Whatever you decide to do, I will support you." Ruriko tells him.

"I want to go to them." He says.

"Okay. I will prepare a wagon. You, Maria and some of my guards can go free Maria's sister. We will leave to pick up Hayato as soon as you return." Ruriko says.

"Thank you." Hunter says.

From her smile Hunter can tell that she wants something.

So he pulls her into his arms, embracing her. This causes Ruriko to smile with genuine happiness as she embraces him in turn.

Seeing this Maria thinks to herself that Hunter has already made his decision.