Couldn't My Reincarnation have been more Cliche!

Chapter 15 (l'etranger )

[Iris] "Hello, and who are you?

I crooked out each syllable like I was speaking to an alien. My voice was no more than an unsteady rasp sore from disuse. It was hard to tell if my words had any effect on the girl, dressed in some sort of barista outfit, who was pressed against the corner of the room as if she wished to escape into it. She glanced at me with beady eyes that were on the verge of tears, I can't say I was ever any good at social interaction, but somehow I felt wronged at such an aggrieved reaction to me just saying hello. Scenes from before I died flashed in my mind as I tried to think of anything that resembled this situation; however, the more I thought, the more depressed I got. Anytime I got into intense situations they had a tendency to go poorly, I'm really not good at this kind of thing, huh?

I was a little disappointed that so many life and death experiences had done nothing to strengthen me in this area, but why was I the one having to break the ice here in the first place? It's not like I even knew where I was. If anything, I should just let this person introduce themselves. Yeah, they might be cowering for the moment, but if I remember right, it's not like my new face was anything special, but it shouldn't be ugly much less scary. They'll probably come around any moment now, right?

Steeling myself to do absolutely nothing, I laughed at myself for earlier thinking I was socially incompetent, wasn't it clear this was the best way to handle things, I'll just leave everything to the girl shaking in front of me, aren't I responsible.

At this thought, my eyes glazed down at my body, catching the clothes I was wearing in my line of sight. Upon seeing them, my mood immediately soured, and I stood up without thinking.

Ahh, when I was fighting the ants, the state of my clothing had been in disarray, but now having returned to what appeared to be civilization, it was no wonder that this girl took so much offense.

My thoughts were interrupted as the girl, apparently freighted from my sudden moments, let out an ear-piercing screech as a shimmering glass came spinning rapidly towards me.

Before I had time to register what was happening, my hand had already reached up to intercept the object. Meeting my hand with a crash; the glass shattered, sending shards of glass flying about the room.

Did I just get hit by something? It didn't really hurt so it was hard for me to tell what happened. Glancing over I saw the remains of the object on the ground, it was obviously a typical cheap, drinking glass. Huh, yeah, definitely just got hit by a glass. I turned my head to look back at the girl, her mouth hanging open in a comically stunned expression. Her arm was bent towards the ground, an open palm at its end. This girl really just threw a glass at me?!. Wait a moment, that's not the way I should be thinking. What kind of crazy guy, just assaults someone as soon as they wake up? I mean, for starters, I don't even know where I am. Shouldn't I be the one freaking out here? I get it my clothes are a little disheveled, but for goodness' sake, all I did was stand up. What'd she want me to do, lay there like a corpse forever!


My internal rant aside, I didn't utter any protest at her action, only letting out a small noise of dissatisfaction, while I wanted to start yelling I needed to be diplomatic considering the circumstances. Distracting myself from my current frustrations, I examined my injuries. Where the glass struck my hand, there was a small cut, slowly dripping blood, but even as I looked at the wound, new skin was slowly closing up the gap. I didn't get very far into puzzling about my now non-existent wound before a voice drew my attention.

[Mairam] "Hey umm, sorry about it; you just surprised me, you know; it just slipped out of my hands, and well, you're not hurt anyway, so no harm, right, oh and that was really cool how you deflected that glass, um you're really ok right, you're not bleeding are you, well um I'll just um go get some help so don't move ok!?"