This was the entrance to Palio forest, the same place he came into the village from.

“We can’t talk in the village, let’s go in the forest for some peace and quiet.”

Ace didn’t want to go back in there, all there was, was bad memories.

He just got attacked the day before, how could he go back?

He started to sweat and back up slowly, staring into the forest.

“—?!”

The girl grabbed his arm and pulled him into the forest.

“What’re you backing out for, scaredy-cat. Monsters don’t come out as much in the morning.”

“And plus, I saw the dagger in your bag, you have to have some experience.”

They started to jog a little deeper into the forest, Ace still feeling on edge and taking glances around him every few seconds.

They stopped at a big tree and she sat down at the root.

She patted the floor next to her, to tell Ace to sit next to her.

“Cmon, cmon, hurry up.”

Ace sat down next to her, not letting his guard down in this forest.

“Now tell me, how’d you get those injuries?”

A chill went down Ace’s spine just remembering the battle he had last night.

A little hesitant and his voice quiet, Ace started to speak with a slightly scared tone of voice.

“A small monster with horns on its head attacked me at around midnight. It looked about the size of a small child. I got lucky and knocked it out, but it already put these wounds into me before that.”

“…”

The girl was silent for a few seconds until…

She started to laugh.

“Hehehehehheehahahahha…”

The first thing Ace thought when he saw that was…

She has a cute laugh.

*shake, shake, shake*

He shook his head a few times to forget about that.

She was laughing at him when he fought against a monster like that.

“hehehe.. I’m sorry... that’s just too funny…”

“You got those wounds from a Toriel..?”

“Haha, That’s impossible. How weak are you?”

“Even I’m pretty weak but cmon… a Toriel?”

“That’s lower than low.”

Ace’s cheeks started to redden up… she was making fun of his near-death experience like it was some child’s game.

This wasn’t out of anger though, he couldn’t be angry at her, she saved his life.

Ace was more on the embarrassed side.

Ace with a quiet voice...

“Shut up... I’m still new to this...”

“hehehehahaha..”

That embarrassment made her laugh even more... tears now starting to form into her eyes.

Ace started to get a little angry, but she still saved him, so he tried to contain it.

“OK, I think that’s enough.”

She continued to laugh.

His anger built up a little more this time...

“Cmon already, it’s not funny anymore.”

She continued to laugh.

He was at the point of not being able to contain it anymore but she still saved him, so he tried to stop it.

“You can stop now, the joke’s over.”

She continued to laugh.

“…”

—Ican’tbeangry, shesavedmylife, ican’tbeangry, shesavedmylife.

And continued.

—shesavedmylife, shesavedmylife, shesavedmylife.

And continued until…

“SHUT UP ALREADY! THAT’S ENOUGH! I GET IT, IM WEAK!”

He couldn’t contain it anymore.

He let it all out, shocking the girl in front of him.

She jumped back in reaction, her hood falling off in the moment.

Ace didn’t notice at the time because of his anger but, she was quite pretty.

She had long, light blue hair that reached her back, perfect as it is, not needing it styled.

Her eyes matched perfectly with the hair on her head, an aqua blue that anyone would be mesmerized by if they stared into them too long.

Her skin was not too pale, a perfect shade of peach, which complimented her two-piece eyes and hair set.

Her face proportions were perfect, her eyes not too separated from each other, and her small nose, a nice distance away from her lips.

She was also around the same age as Ace.

It looked as if she was no older than 18 but no younger than 16.

Again, she was quite pretty but, Ace didn’t notice it because of his rage.

That laugh that was adorable, but at the same time mocking him, he couldn’t stand it right now.

How could she just make fun of what he went through, that was traumatizing for him!

How could she just sit here and laugh like it was a joke?

She’s the one who saved him... she saw what he was like last night...

So how?!

He couldn’t take it...

He just wanted to let it all out...

And so, that’s what he did.

“I don’t know what’s weak and strong in this world! Get off my back!”

“My first battle ever is obviously going to go wrong! Leave me alone already!”

“I never asked to be thrown into the forest by myself with no support! What was I supposed to do?!”

“And then you drag me back here, the same place I was attacked the night before!”

“Not only did you bring me back, but you also criticized me about everything I just went through!”

“All I wanted to do was thank you, but you go on and on about something that was forced on me!”

“Don’t assume I’m a fighter just because I have a dagger! I don’t know shit about fighting!”

This wasn’t rage directed at the girl anymore, Ace was hurting just from remembering everything that happened since midnight.

Tears filled his eyes once again; this was the fourth time today. His eyes were drained from the excessive over usage.

He wanted to go home.

Somebody, please take this job for him…

Somebody, please take this responsibility from him…

Somebody, please take this source of despair from him…

Somebody, ple—

“—?!”

—

——

———

“I’m sorry... I’m so dumb. I didn’t realize how much I was hurting you...”

She hugged Ace and apologized for bringing up memories that he didn’t want brought up.

“…”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“I didn’t think it had such an impact on you... I’m sorry.”

It had only been a few hours since he has seen his family but...

This warmth.

This nostalgic, homely warmth made Ace’s streamy eyes flow even faster.

Biting his lip and his face scrunched, the tears continued to flow.

“No... I’m sorry...”

“*sniff* I... didn’t mean to... get mad at you...”

“*sniff* I was more mad... at someone else, I just directed it at you.”

“No, I was the one who brought back those memories, I’m sorry. You don’t need to explain anything to me, I shouldn’t have forced them out of you.”

“It’s fine, you saved my life so, I should be answering your questions... I’m sorry for getting... heated up.”

“Don’t worry about it... it’s natural for emotions to build up when thinking back on a traumatic experience.”

She also started to tear up a little, feeling bad for forcing those memories to come to the surface of his brain.

“*sniff* Hey, hey, why’re you crying? This is supposed to be my sad moment.”

Realizing she was crying for what she did, Ace tried to lighten the mood a little as he removed her arms from on top of his shoulders.

“*sniff* I’m sorry, I just feel horrible for what I did...”

“Haha, don’t worry about it. I’m over it now...”

“Come to think of it, I don’t even know your name yet...”

“Haha, I guess we never got to introductions. OK, I’ll start.”

Wiping her minimal amount of tears before speaking again, she gave her name.

“I’m Aliza, Aliza Runer.”