Naofumi had first watch. They'd stopped for the day in a small clearing of trees in the mountains. The landscape happened to provide not only good shelter from the elements, but it kept them out of the direct line of sight of any of their pursuers. The only light other than the moon was the soft glow of the embers left by the campfire, illuminating the immediate area. Behind him, Raphtalia and Melty were nuzzled up against Filo (in bird form), sleeping soundly.

Normally, they didn't need to keep someone up for watch. Most nights, they had a roof over their heads, or they only needed to worry about wildlife, but they hadn't had that kind of luxury over the last few days.

Afterall, they were on the run in a country in which everyone thought he was either a rapist, a kidnapper, a demon, or something else along those lines. They didn't have the luxury of sleeping in an inn, they didn't have the luxury of having an honor guard to send them everywhere they wanted to go, they didn't have any luxuries in general. He was stuck here, keeping an eye lonely trees that surrounded them on all sides, left alone with his thoughts.

Being left alone with his thoughts were precisely the thing that he tried to avoid. He kept himself busy, be it grinding levels with his party or working on jewellery for accessories, he always liked to be doing something, specifically so that he didn't have time to think and reflect.

When he had time to think, all it served to do is piss him off. He'd think about the fact that the world just seemed to throw every possibly 'fuck you' his way. Back in Japan, he'd seen enough anime to understand that the protagonist shouldn't be getting the stuck this many times in a row.

It's all that bitch's fault… he thought, clenching his fist at his side, tightening his jaw. It'd all started spiraling down the moment she'd faked him out on the first day. Even now, as he thought about it, he still didn't know why she'd done what she'd done. Even a member of the church of the three heroes should have the common sense to realize that the world was tearing at the seams, with the waves coming and all, and show some self control.

Yet, it hadn't ended there. She'd turned the rest of the heroes against him, framed him as a rapist, taken what little he had, and sullied his name, before sending him off into the world on his own. Without the little help the blacksmith had lended him, he seriously doubted he'd have been in a position to survive the first wave. Naofumi tried to steady his breathing, and out of the corner, he swore he saw a flashing of red in the gem of the shield.

Still, it didn't end there. Between attempting to take Raphtalia from him to attempting to assassinate Melty and frame him for it, this world and everyone in it seemed to be out for his throat.

All because of this damned shield!

"Gah!" he let out a frustrated grunt, throwing his fist down at his side. It struck the log he was sitting on, and he felt pain shoot up arm. He clenched his fist, feeling his nails dig into his palm as he steadier his breathing. "This is why I don't like watch duty…" he breathed.

A rustling noise drew Naofumi from his thoughts, and he shot up, looking around the area.

"Naofumi-sama?" Raphtalia's voice came, quiet and sleepy, "is something wrong?"

Naofumi relaxed his shoulders and let out the breath he'd been holding, realizing she'd been the source of the noise. "No, I just...I just got a little bit frustrated, is all. You can go back to sleep."

Raphtalia frowned, her eyes drifting down his body, away from his eyes, up until they stopped at his hand. "Naofumi-sama, you're bleeding!" she said, pushing herself onto her feet and away from Filo, taking his hand in hers before Naofumi even had the time to move away, "I'll get the bandages."

"No, that's-" his attempt at an interruption failed as Raphtalia just turned away, walking over to the wagon and shifting through some of the materials. A few moments later, she stood up, walking towards Naofumi with a roll of bandages in her hand.

"You should be more careful," she said, motioning for him to stick out his arm. With a sigh, he complied. Only now did he realize how hard he'd actually hit the stump. The skin around his knuckles was scraped off, and warm blood was running down his hand. The lack of pain was probably due to some passive or another. Raphtalia wrapped up his hand, covering up the damaged area.

When she finished, she held his hand in her own for a moment, before letting out a little noise and scurrying off to put the remaining bandages away.

As Naofumi watched Raphtalia put away the bandages, he couldn't help but let his thoughts drift once more. Except, this time, instead of thinking about all the ways the world has screwed him over, one thing reverberated through his mind. His eyes looked over Raphtalia, and then Filo and Melty.

Maybe not everything was that bad

Author's note: hi I'm alive and writing shield hero. Updates for other fics should be coming soon-ish, writer's block just sucks. More info will be in the note on One with the Mists's next update!