A Journey Within the Realm

I woke up to see all the girls still asleep. Well… all, but Miki. I stretched before getting up from the floor. I was about to walk downstairs, when my ears picked up someone singing. If all the girls are asleep, then it must be Miki. I followed the music outside, where I saw Miki sitting on a tree stump, singing. Shina was sitting on Miki’s lap while Miki was petting her. It only took a few steps for Miki’s ears to pick up my sound. As they listened to my footsteps, her ears wiggled to my movement.

“How are you feeling, Randy?” Miki asked, without facing me.

“Fine,” I answered, “How’s your cheek?”

Miki’s ears perked up when they heard the question.

“So… you remember what happen after Commander Dai left,” Miki said, “My cheek is fine now. A little sore, but fine.”

“Sorry about that,” I replied, “I didn’t know that I would absorb some evil when I gathered that storm’s power. Luckily for us, I snapped out of it and fried it out of my body.”

“It’s okay… as long as you are your old self again, I’m happy,” Miki said.

Just then, Shina jumped off of Miki’s lap and walked up to me.

“Morning, Randy,” Shina said, “Do you have any more of those meat strips you gave me eariler?”

I was unprepared to hear Shina speak English. I turned to Miki to see if she heard it too. I guess not. I faced Shina again, pulled out a piece of beef jerky, and gave it to her. She ate it faster than you could blink.

“Thank you, Randy,” Shina said, “You are a very kind person.”

“Thank you for saying that,” I replied, “Can you do me a favor?”

“Sure. Anything for you,” Shina answered.

“Go over to Miki and tell her that I love her,” I said.

“What an odd favor, but okay,” Shina replied.

I watched as Shina walked over to Miki and said those three words. After she was done, I waited for Miki’s reply.

“What is it, Shina?” Miki asked, “Hungry?”

Miki couldn’t understand Shina. I walked over to Miki and Shina.

“Uh… Miki?” I asked, “You can’t understand Shina?”

“Huh?” Miki replied, confused, “What do you mean?”

“I told her to tell you that I love you,” I answered, “but you thought she was hungry.”

“I still don’t get it,” Miki said, “Shina only meows. How can you understand her, if you are not a goddess?”

“Ask her a question that only you and her would know,” I suggested.

“Okay,” Miki agreed, “Shina, what did we do this morning?”

“Well… first we went downstairs and ate breakfast. Then, we went outside and found a small pond. Once we got there, you undressed, picked me up, and we took a bath together. Sometimes I would lick you in some places that made you giggle…,” Shina answered.

“Okay! That’s way more information than I wanted to hear,” I exclaimed, stopping Shina from continuing, “Miki! Why did you let her lick you while you were naked!?!”

“Holy Sprites! You can understand her,” Miki exclaimed, “and she didn’t lick my private bits. Shina only licked the spots that tickle me.”

“That’s a relief,” I replied, “However, it still doesn’t answer why I can understand Shina.”

Miki thought for a while before it struck her.

“Remember what Leiko said?” Miki asked, “For each new member of a different race you team up with, you gain a new power or ability. Miwa, a goddess that can speak with animals, joined you a few days ago. You have gained the ability to speak with animals.”

“Just like when I could understand Kyoko when she was in bat form,” I said.

“Exactly! You might have already gained new powers and abilities that you might not know you have,” Miki replied.

I started to blush when I remembered a power that I discovered before we entered Triharvest.

“Why are you blushing?” Miki asked.

“N-N-Nothing,” I blurted out.

“Now, you are acting odd,” Miki said, “Did you find out you had a new power at one point? Answer truthfully.”

I nodded.

“What was it?” Miki asked.

“D-D-Dream eating,” I replied, “But, only the viewing part.”

“’Dream eating?’” Miki repeated, “You mean, Nori’s power? How did you find that out?”

“When I was petting your head the morning before we entered this town, I saw your dreams…,” I answered.

“What!?! You saw my dreams! What did you see!?!” Miki exclaimed.

“Y-Y-You getting married to me,” I replied.

Miki’s jaw dropped as she turned as red as a ripe tomato. I looked down at my feet as I felt myself turning red too.

“W-W-Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Miki asked, still blushing.

“I didn’t know how you would react…,” I replied, scratching the back of my head.

“Well, of course I would still be as surprised as I am now,” Miki said, clearing her throat, “However, I don’t mind if it was you who saw it.”

We laughed, embarrassed. Suddenly, my own ears wiggled, picking up sounds from the house.

“What’s up?” Miki asked, getting up, “Did you hear something? I saw your ears move.”

“Yeh. I think everyone is awake,” I answered.

“I guess we should go inside,” Miki said.

“Don’t bother. They’re coming outside.”

Sure enough, everyone exited Miwa’s house, carrying their backpacks. Rin and Kyoko were carrying our backpacks in their hands. Rin walked over to Miki and handed her her backpack. Kyoko walked over to me and gave me mine.

“Ready?” Kyoko asked.

“Yeh,” I replied, pulling out the magic map and looking at it, “Let’s see… Rune City is the last city we need to go to. It looks like we need to go west for about two days.”

“Then, let’s get started,” Miki said.

We all nodded in agreement and started towards Rune City.