Amber orange eyes stared at the scene before her in stunned horror. Why? Why did this sort of thing always happen to her? She didn't do anything wrong!

Tears brimmed at the edges of her eyes...she just wanted to go home...she never asked to be summoned as a 'hero'.

At least that rude red haired girl wouldn't be able to steal the money that the king had given her...there wasn't any left to steal.

It took her several moments for it to sink in that not everyone was looking at her with open disgust and hatred.

Amaki Ren, the Sword Hero and Kawasumi Itsuki, the Bow Hero, were both frowning at the sheer level of animosity aimed at her.

"Question... are we really supposed to believe a kid who likely hasn't even hit puberty and was actively avoiding his companion with some rather impressive skills would be capable of commiting rape?" asked Ren. "I mean he barely looks old enough to know what to do with a girl if he had one."

"I saw him duck into an alley twice whenever she was within eyesight of him," added Itsuki. "And I have to agree, claiming that a barely fourteen year old kid was able to overpower a grown womam when he looks like a stiff wind could blow him over is a bit of a stretch."

For once her small and 'harmless' appearance was actually helping her to win allies. At the very least it forced the two older heroes to think seriously as to whether the charge was true or not, and their allies. The 'average heroes' were all giving each other looks, before giving her a good long one and silently agreeing that the story didn't sound so plausible.

Considering that out of the four heroes, she had been the most freaked out by the fact they were being forced to fight against monsters, it was a fairly safe bet she wouldn't be able to hold her own against a much larger adult.

The king scowled, less than happy that the 'story' they concocted to give the Shield hero a bad name was beginning to fall apart.

Either way he was more than happy to kick Nozomi to the curb, with only the clothes she had appeared in on her back. He was still trying to figure out where she hid the money that he had given all the other heroes, since her purse had been all but empty by the time they arrested her on the false charge.

Nozomi tried not to cry. Today just wasn't her day...but that was fairly typical.

"Are you okay?" asked Ren, when he found her an hour later. Itsuki was with him.

"I'm fine. It's not the first time people have gone after me for no good reason, but I can't believe they would accuse me of something as horrible as rape," she said.

"No offense Usagi-chan, but I really doubt you could have pulled it off," said Itsuki. Ren nodded in agreement.

"I can't believe they thought the story would stick in the first place," said Nozomi miserably. "If I really had attacked that horrible woman, she would have known to change her story to fit the facts better."

"What do you mean?" asked Ren.

Nozomi tried to change the subject.

"Why do you two keep calling me Usagi-chan?"

"Because you remind us of a small, fluffy rabbit," said Itsuki without hesitation. Ren nodded emphatically.

"...At least you got the suffix right," said Nozomi. She was mentally and emotionally exhausted from her horrible day.

Ren and Itsuki stared at her a bit, before it hit them what she meant.

"So it's Sawada-chan, not Sawada-kun?" asked Ren carefully.

"I don't mind being called Usagi-chan. It's better than Hopeless Nozomi at any rate," she replied.

Nozomi squeaked a little at the affectionate way the two older boys ruffled her hair.

It was immediately apparent they didn't believe a word of the king's claim that she had attacked his daughter, not after learning that the Shield hero was in fact a girl.

"By the way, what did happen to all the money the king gave you? He looked positively livid when he found out there was so little of it left."

"I used it up. I saw this slave tent shortly after leaving the castle while avoiding Mein, and went in... there was this demi-human who looked way too much like an upperclassman in my school and a little tanuki girl with a bad cough. I spent most of it buying their freedom and getting medicine for the girl. The rest of it I spent on dinner and a room, before they dragged me out and started making up lies about me," she admitted.

She wasn't a fighter. She was more inclined to heal people than to hurt them. However the tengu with the angry steel gray eyes reminded her so much of Hibari-sempai that she had to free him.

He had a rather odd look in his eyes when she declined the standard slave spell and removed the constricting collar around his neck once they were outside city limits.

She couldn't even begin to imagine trying to control someone who reminded her far too much of a tengu-version of Hibari! He was scary enough!

Ren spotted something or rather someone peeking at them from around the corner.

"This tanuki girl... she wouldn't happen to have brown hair and brown eyes would she? And tawny colored ears?" he asked carefully.

Nozomi nodded. Then she blinked and turned around.

The little tanuki child was staring at her intently, but was too shy to make herself known.

"Well, even if you can't really fight with your weapon, maybe you can train her to help you. I mean beast people are usually pretty strong once they've leveled up a bit, you know?" said Itsuki.

"It'll be just like having a little sister with you," added Ren.

The two had to leave, mostly to rejoin their own parties...and discreetly inform the others about Nozomi's actual gender.

Nozomi looked at the little tanuki child. The girl looked back.

"Is your cough any better...um..."

"Raphtalia," said the girl quietly.

"Talia-chan," said Nozomi. "You can call me Nozomi-nee, or Usagi-chan, since the other heroes all seem to think I'm a rabbit."

Raphtalia tilted her head.

"Usagi-nee?" she said carefully.

Nozomi hugged her, and once Raphtalia got over the shock of it she relaxed.

Nozomi looked at her purse, and had to hold back a sigh. There was barely anything left, and she didn't really like the idea of making someone as little as Raphtalia fight for her. However there wasn't much choice...she was more likely to get eaten alive than survive any of the stronger monsters.

She barely had enough left to pay for a cheap dagger, which compared to Raphtalia's size was more of a short sword, plus a change of clothes for them both.

The blacksmith was considerably friendlier once he found out that Nozomi was a girl. Mostly because the story the king had been spreading so quickly clearly stated that the "shield hero" was a male.

Enough so that he gave her a bit of a discount on the clothes, since she could barely afford the dagger for her friend.

Considering how monster fighting could be hell on what you were wearing, it was better that she had a spare set.

Nozomi openly squeaked in shock when the tengu she had freed was waiting for her in the field, several dead 'balloons' at his feet and a look of open annoyance on his face.

The only reason she called him a tengu was because of the large black beak where the mouth and nose would be. Other than that he was a dead ringer for Hibari-sempai, right down to the aura of violence the teen had.

He gave her a look that said he had quite likely heard the story. However the fact she was currently wearing a skirt...which had made most of the glares drop to nothing, as most of the people just assumed her shield was something she picked up to protect herself from monsters...made it clear he was willing to at least hear the truth.

Deciding to treat the tengu as she would Hibari, she hesitantly asked...

"Would you like to join us? I can't guarantee we'll always be fighting strong monsters, but anyone who joins one of the 'legendary heroes' party automatically gets summoned to fight in the rifts, which have more difficult boss monsters. I won't ask you to fight the weaker ones like these balloons, but any help dealing with the more powerful ones would be appreciated."

The tengu looked derisively at the balloons he slaughtered, then at the tiny 'bunny' with her tanuki partner.

If teaming up with the small animal meant he got to fight the stronger boss monsters, then he didn't mind. However he wouldn't just take any order from the small animal. She had yet to earn any of his respect.

"Um...do you mind if I call you Hibari? It's just you remind me far too much of him and I'm afraid I'll slip up," she asked shyly.

The tengu huffed, and took a nap on the branch. Nozomi took that as a tentative 'yes'.

While Raphtalia and Nozomi did their best to level up and earn a few more coins before they traveled on, Hibari napped. However there was an odd look in his eyes as he watched Nozomi clumsily try to punch the balloons into bursting.

Finally he couldn't take it anymore, and much to the bewilderment of Nozomi, he took her right arm (which had the shield on it) and showed her how to punch correctly. It took her a few moments to catch on, but once she did she tried her best to copy it.

Suddenly what took twenty hits now only took thirteen. Ten, if she used stationary targets like trees or boulders to punch the monsters into.

It was such a vast difference that by the time night fell, she and Raphtalia had gone up several levels and they had acquired enough money to get proper supplies.

On an unrelated note, she found that the shield could upgrade itself when she added monster parts to it. She was going to fully abuse that to improve her ability to make medicines.

The blacksmith was moderately surprised to see them back, but just as happy to give them service.

Hibari made a beeline straight for the tonfas he had seen coming in, along with a coat that looked far too similar to the one the demon prefect wore for her comfort. She said nothing, just bought what they needed and paid for it.

At least the shield allowed her to get a pair of decent metal gauntlets that were spelled to fit the size of whoever wore them. She had bruised her knuckles more than once with a bad hit.

Next was the magic shop.

It was fortunate everyone thought the shield hero was a boy, because the woman had absolutely no idea who Nozomi was. It made getting the basic books that suited her far easier, even if it had been a nightmare locating a dictionary so she could try to translate the language. Probably the most shocking thing was the fact that the woman found a seal on her magic.

It had taken half their funds to remove it. However the difference was apparently the second the seal was removed...it sent half the books in the shop tumbling off the shelves!

"My word! What fool thought sealing up that much magic was a wise choice? And with such a poorly made seal to boot."

"I take it that was a bad thing?" asked Nozomi, once she got back on her feet.

"My dear, that seal kept all your magic pent up inside you. It's a miracle you're even alive. There wasn't any way for it to vent, which meant you were a year or two away from it killing you, especially since your magic was definitely fighting it. I wouldn't be surprised if your clumsiness was due to the seal on your magic in the first place," said the woman with open sympathy.

Nozomi paled upon hearing that.

On the plus side, removing that seal had done a great deal of good. She found it easier to retain information now and had high hopes of being able to read the book she bought very soon.

The last thing they bought was a few bags that they filled with the essentials, like camping equipment, food, water bags, and a few minor things.

(Nozomi was beyond delighted that the shield could also absorb rope and most of the equipment, since it meant they had less to carry and more diversity when it came to what it could do. The thing she loved most was the fact there was apparently a culinary shield, something she planned to abuse every chance she had.)

Finally, they set off from the town. Nozomi was quite happy to get away. The less time she spent near that awful castle the happier she became.

In her mind, that castle was the equivalent of Namimori. It would take a miracle for her to disperse that internal comparison.

For the next few days, if they weren't actively hunting monsters (to upgrade the shield/gain experience/make money), Hibari was actively teaching Nozomi how to fight bare-handed.

The shield was useless as a general weapon. It's primary purpose was defense, which suited her just fine since she hated hurting others.

Monsters, on the other hand, were a hit and miss depending on their appearance and strength level. She simply could not stand bugs and was almost as leery of dogs as Raphtalia was.

Some time later...

Hibari looked at the odd creature that had been following them for the past three days.

At some point, Nozomi had fallen into a nest of some sort and angered the creature. It had taken to stalking them ever since, and paid close attention to Nozomi in particular.

The thing had white fur, an odd tattered bandana around it's head, and some very sharp teeth. It's kick was positively vicious, and he had been highly amused to see the tiny thing kick down creatures five times it's own size.

Finally Nozomi noticed the creature, and her reaction was rather typical for a girl.

"Ah! A bunny!"

The animal was indeed bunny-shaped, and almost as vicious as Hibari in a mood.

The animal gave Nozomi a long look, before a clear "come at me" stance was taken.

Nozomi didn't want to hurt the rabbit, however she had the distinct feeling that treating him as harmless would be as offensive to it as it would have to Hibari himself.

So she reluctantly treated it as a serious opponent and gave her best to defeat it.

She wouldn't kill it, of course, but she didn't go easy on it either.

Probably a good thing, because she had her ass handed to her quite thoroughly by something well over half her size.

The bunny seemed to give her a measuring look, before looking at Hibari.

The tengu Looked back at him.

"She's still a beginner, and her full potential was blocked until recently."

Nozomi's head whipped towards him in shock, her face almost paling. That was the first time Hibari spoke, and he sounded exactly like the demon prefect.

If he ever went after a strong opponent and said that he would "bite them to death", she would definitely hyperventilate...because it would mean that Hibari had been dragged in with her, and that he was part of her team!

The rabbit tilted his head and considered that. Then he hoppened up to Nozomi and tapped his paw rather pointedly.

"You... You want to join our group?"

The rabbit nodded.

Nozomi calmed down, just a little. She could worry about the implications of Hibari being in this world with her later. She had this headache to deal with first.

"Do you have a name I can pronounce?"

The rabbit gave her a look that said "What do you think?"

"Shirayuki. It's the best I can come up with on short notice, and that way I won't accidentally insult you with a name like Usagi-chan," said Nozomi faintly.

The rabbit tapped it's foot thoughtfully, before accepting the name. Shirayuki was a respectable name for a rabbit. It hopped onto her head and settled there.

Shirayuki has joined your party!

Nozomi took one look at the description of her new partner/pet and wanted to cry from the insanity of it all.

Who knew "Ninja Bunny" was a real thing?

(To top off her surreal night, she woke up the next morning to see Hibari and Shirayuki sparring together. The rabbit lost, but there was far less bruising or damage done to it compared to most monsters or humans that faced Hibari and pissed him off. She did not want to ask.)