I only notice that I dozed off on Yaci's lap when I wake up.
I quickly sit up again, startled.
"Did I... sleep?"
"Hehe... don't worry. I was here with you."
Yaci's smile is so shiny, like a sunbeam breaking through the clouds. Her solar personality seems to conflict with her scarred and muscular frame.
"Th-thank you." I say, flustered. "I'm sorry for sleeping on your lap."
"It's no problem, really. And it's no good to get flustered so easily, you know. We'll be sharing a tent for some time now."
I take a look around the tent. It isn't very spacious; there's a place with pelts and blankets, which I suppose is the bed.
I suppose two people could sleep together there... if they keep very close to each other.
"Say, Yaci... where did you sleep tonight while I was passed out?"
"Together with you, dummy. Where else could I sleep, after all?"
She's right; there isn't another place in this tent where she could have slept. I can feel the redness coming up my face.
"What's with that face? You're too young to have that kind of thought, you know."
I have no answer to that. After all, it isn't like I can tell her that I'm older than I look. A lot older, in fact.
She stands up, stretching. At least the tent is tall enough that she is able to do it.
"In any case, you're probably hungry, right?"
I nod, suddenly aware of the hunger inside me.
"Then come with me. Dinner is probably ready; I can already smell it."
I had, in fact, seen some people working over the carcass of some monsters while coming to the tent earlier.
"Is there like a communal kitchen or something like that?"
"Yeah... some families might prefer to eat in their tents, but there's always the communal meals for the ones who prefer it. And I'm better at fighting than at cooking, anyway."
She shrugs, with an apologetic smile.
"I can't complain. It's not like I know how to cook. Most I did was to grill some monster meat that I cut at random."
It's not entirely true. My cooking was something I used to be very proud of in my last life. I just don't know how much of that knowledge would apply to the ingredients of this world.
The seasoning in the food of the slave den was pretty absent, and I don't know if that's normal for that nation or if it was just because we were slaves.
The stew I ate in the morning was a bit spicy, so I'm looking forward to what dinner is going to be.
"How long did I sleep for it to be dinnertime already?"
"The whole afternoon."
"Whaaaaaaat? Why didn't you wake me up?"
"You were so cute sleeping, I didn't want to disturb you. Also, I knew you needed that sleep to heal."
"Heal? I'm not hurt."
She glances at me with a knowing smile.
"Physically, you're right."
And with that we reached the communal kitchen. My stomach was already making some weird noises, reacting to the smell of food.
:::
"So, the ritual celebration will be tomorrow night?"
"Yes. I'm told the stars will be better aligned."
"Agreed. I see that the elders made the right call."
And this is how I learned that the communal kitchen was the place to be if you wanted to be in the know of all the latest gossip of the tribe.
Everyone was very affable there, and it seemed that every family had one member captured or killed by humans at some point in recent time.
And still, they didn't show any sign of hate or hostility towards me. On the contrary, I was being pampered like a lost child of their own tribe.
"A celebration like that takes a lot of preparation, right?"
"Yes, dear. We'll be making a lot of food for everyone."
"Is there anything I can do to help? I don't know much about cooking, but I could try to cut some vegetables or something."
"There's no need, dear. You need to rest, you see. We'll take care of everything."
"No, if I'm going to live with you all, I want to be useful to the tribe. I've slept a lot today already."
Yaci butts in, approaching me from behind and hugging me out of the blue.
"You are such a goood giiiirl, Aureaaaaaa. Hey, you, if she's asking to help, just let her help."
This is not fair, Yaci... I struggle to break free of her hug and maintain a respectful distance.
She probably sees me just as a cute seven-year-old that she wants to pamper and cuddle. This is a truly awkward situation, so it's better for me to keep a distance.
Or try, at least.
After some back and forth, the women allowed me to help in preparing tomorrow's celebration.
It will be a lot better than just being idle. For the first time, I'm expected to do something by others, and that makes me feel a lot better.
We stay there for a couple of hours, merrily bantering with the tribespeople.
At some point some kids asked me to play with them, which was another awkward situation.
In everyone's eyes, I'm supposed to enjoy playing like any normal kid would. But I just want to engage in adults' talk...
I tried to refuse them, but they were insistent, so after some time I agreed to play hide-and-seek with them.
It turned out that some of them were quite the little devils with some rudimentary tricks of illusion, so the hide-and-seek was a lot more fun than expected.
I fought trick for trick, often creating illusions of them so they would get confused as I watched from the shadows, struggling not to laugh.
The play quickly turned into all of them searching for me at the same time, exasperated, while I played with their senses.
The title of "Honorary Kitsune" apparently is not recognized by the system, but I value it above the royal bloodline thing.
It was nice to let loose until we got interrupted by their parents, who called them to go to their homes to sleep as soon as the sun touched the horizon.
Apparently, dinner here is the last meal before the darkness of the night, as there can't be any light turned on after the sun disappears.
Which makes me think... how is the ritual held without any light in the night?
It seems that I'll learn tomorrow. I don't want to ask Yaci; instead, I want to see it by myself.
:::
It turns out I won't need to wait to know, and the answer is pretty obvious.
The tents are covered with pelts. I thought that it was just an aesthetic choice, but it also blocks light from coming out, as long as it's very faint.
The light we have right now is barely enough for me to get the hang of the general locations of stuff.
As I'm reflecting about it, Yaci unceremoniously undresses herself.
Wait, wait, wait, WHAAAAAT?
Don't do that to me, girl!!
Do you want to kill me with embarrassment?
She nonchalantly slips under the blankets right after, while I'm still reeling from the shock.
Her body is too perfect.
Even the scars are too beautiful. I feel like I just had a glimpse of paradise.
"Will you just stay there, Aurea? Come, let's sleep."
"Ah... I'm going in a minute."
"Why am I seeing you all red again? C'mon, I won't bite."
I close my eyes and take some deep breaths to clear my mind, and then I slip under the blankets as well.
This is the life I'll have from now on.