AN: Before you begin this story, my dear reader, I'd like to provide a little disclaimer/warning. I am an adult with a full time job and family. I won't be able to update consistently, and I apologize if this is inconvenient for you. Now, if you'd like to continue and enjoy my first ever isekai fanfiction (and quite possibly the only one I'll ever write, as God knows this is not my favorite genre). Love you guys -YLAL
I woke with a start. Had I been dreaming? No, it was too real to be a dream. But, if it wasn't a dream, then shouldn't I be dead? I looked around in a state of confusion. The last thing I remembered was the accident. I could still feel the heat on my skin, burning my flesh. I couldn't move as the fire and smoke spread throughout my car. I watched in horror, trapped inside my little blue Chevy. It had happened. I was sure it had happened. Then, why was I here?
I scanned the city street with widened eyes. I didn't recognize where I was. Then, something caught my attention. A little head of pink hair with horn-like hair accessories clutching the hand of a tall man in a light green suit and hat. No. They must be cosplayers. I had to be at some sort of convention or something. Suddenly, the pink-haired girl turned her head to look at me. She said something to the man and began tugging at his hand. He let her lead him in my direction. No. No. How?
"Papa, look! A person! I think she's hungry. Can I share some of my peanuts with her?" The girl asked with wide, pleading eyes.
The man hesitated before smiling gently at his daughter. "Of course, Anya. We can give her some peanuts. But allow Papa to hand them to her."
No. No. No. No. Anya. Papa. Pink hair. Horns. Green suit. Blond hair. Peanuts. No. It can't be.
The man knelt down, holding his daughter to his side with one arm, while reaching into his pocket with the other hand to fish out a bag of peanuts. He held them out to me, a warm smile across his face, but the look in his eyes radiating protectiveness.
"Hi there. Would you like some peanuts?" The man asked in Alex Organ's voice.
Okay, there was only one reasonable answer for this. The accident happened. I passed out. I'm in a coma in some hospital dreaming this up while my parents sit at my bedside, my mom's crying going in between choked sobs and silent tears while my dad had his arm wrapped around her. Yup, this was a coma dream. A very, incredibly lucid coma dream. In that case, I had one option: live out the dream. I had read too many isekai fanfictions to make the mistake of making a fool of myself.
I opened my lips to kindly decline the peanuts, but my voice came out dry and cracked. I could feel the dehydrated skin on my lips stretching and splitting apart, could feel blood begin to trickle from the new wounds. A hand flew to my mouth out of fear of scaring Anya. I finally made out the words.
"Thank you, but I really shouldn't impose like that." The sentence took way too long to form, my tongue sticking to the roof of my mouth in a desperate cry for water. I swallowed in an attempt to wash it down, but there wasn't much for me to swallow.
"Papa, papa! She's thirsty. Can Anya and Papa get her some water?" And there were those big pleading eyes again.
The man sighed as he stood back up from his crouching position. "Alright, Anya. We can get her a bottle of water from that convenience store right over there."
'A convenience store? How convenient,' I thought. Anya giggled, looking at me. The man guided her to the store and the two of them disappeared inside. A few minutes later they reappeared, a clear plastic bottle in the man's hand. It didn't take a genius to guess the man was Loid Forger. I had been reading the Spy X Family manga for years before the anime was released. And now I was coma-dreaming myself into it. As a homeless bum. A dehydrated homeless bum. Who Loid Forger just bought a bottle of water for.
"Please," he said, holding out the water. "I insist."
I took the bottle with a shaky hand. Top ten anime betrayals: my very first lucid dream making me feel all the symptoms of dehydration within my first twenty minutes.
Spring water. Loid had bought me spring water. Of course he did. The pure passive-aggression made me want to laugh. It was like he was saying 'I'm only doing this because my daughter would be mad at me if I didn't'. I sipped the water slowly, trying to ease the nausea and headache without making myself sick.
"Okay, Anya. We have to go home now," he said, tugging on the girl's hand.
He looked back in shock when she didn't move. I didn't need Anya's telepathic powers to read the thought written plain on his face. 'I did what you wanted, why won't you come?'
"Papaaaaa," she said shyly. "She don't have a home. Can she stay with Papa and Anya for a while?"
Loid's head tilted back as he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Anya, honey, we don't know this person. We can't just take a stranger home."
"Then Anya no go home. Anya won't go home until Anya's new friend comes too." She crossed her arms in defiance, sticking her nose up to complete the look. I had to do something.
"Sweetie, it's okay. Go with your papa. I really don't want to impose upon your home. Besides, your papa and mama should have a grown-up talk before inviting a stranger in." I looked at Loid, hoping that would work.
"But Anya don't got a mama. And you don't got a home."
Wait. Anya don't got a mama. But what about Yor? Is this before they meet her? He did have Anya for a few days before he met Yor, right? I couldn't remember how long it was before he did meet her.
"Anya got no mama. Anya have no mama for long time. Anya no go home." Well this was awkward. People began to stop and watch, waiting to see if the nicely dressed man was kind enough to take the homeless person in. If he was willing to run the risk of inviting a stranger into his home he shared with his young daughter. Either way looked bad.
"Honey," I tried again. "I really shouldn't. Your papa doesn't know me. I'll be okay here. It's really not that bad. I'll be here tomorrow if you want to come check in on me." I thought as loud as I could about how I wanted her to drop it and just go home with her papa.
A sad look crossed her face. "You promise?"
"I pinky promise," I said, holding up my little finger to her. She hooked pinkies with me. "Now I can't break my promise."
Anya took Loid's hand, giving me one last longing look before walking off with him. I sat there on the sidewalk continuing to sip my nasty spring water. But hey, drinking rock flavored water was better than dehydration.
The sun was hot that day in Berlint. A few people stopped to hand me change, and the occasional dollar bill. Or, the Ostanian equivalent. By the end of the day I had probably 25 dalcs. Which wasn't much, but it was more than expected. I went into the convenience store Loid had bought me water from earlier. I bought myself a purified water and a sandwich. I used the restroom there, and looked at myself in the mirror as I washed my hands. What I saw caught me off guard. It was almost my face, but not quite. The hair on my head was a blue-black and hung in long tangles, and my eyes were somewhere between gray, blue, and green. The face staring back at me was lean, and the body just as lean. The dirty sweatshirt I wore hung loosely, exposing my collarbones. I was malnourished. I was dirty and malnourished. I could definitely use a hot shower and a good meal. I walked out of the convenience store and almost right into another person. I apologize without looking up and continued heading back to the side of the road, where I had pinky promised to meet Anya tomorrow.
As I crossed the street a man shouted "Wait!" It was the man who I had nearly crashed into a minute ago. The man who bought me water earlier that day. It was Loid Forger. This time he was wearing black sweats, a white t-shirt, and a black beanie. Agent Twilight's best disguise yet.
I stopped and waited for him to reach me. He looked around nervously, probably checking to see if anyone was watching. Finally, he spoke again. "My daughter wouldn't leave me alone when we got home. Would you like to join us for the time being?"
HUH? I was completely taken aback, and it must have shown. Twilight ran his hand down his face. "Look, as adults, I know you can understand that I don't want to do this. My daughter and her safety come first. But she wouldn't stop screaming until I said I'd come get you. I WILL keep an eye on you while you're with us, so I heavily advise against trying anything."
"I-I don't know what to say," I replied.
"Just come with me. Please," the eyes of a man with an intolerable rampaging five year old begged me to accompany him.
I nodded, and allowed him to lead me to his home. I just couldn't wrap my head around it. But this was a coma dream. Anything could happen, I suppose. The man ripped his beanie off his head once he had locked the door, the two of us now inside. He ran his hand through his fluffy blonde hair. I wanted to do the same, but once again, I've read too many isekai fanfics to do that.
"Anya's asleep right now. I'll show you to your room. We need to talk." He kicked his shoes off and headed down the hall, me trailing after him. Twilight led me into the spare bedroom, which had a set of clothes folded on the bed. "You'll have to make do with borrowing some of my clothes until we can take you out shopping. I'm sorry if it doesn't fit."
I looked between the clothes on the bed and the man in the doorway. "Thank you," I whispered.
He sighed in response. "We need to talk," he said, gesturing to the bed. I sat, and he came over and sat next to me. "I'm only doing this because my daughter wanted me to. I don't like taking in strangers, especially being a single dad with a young daughter." Man, he really does take his cover seriously. "I am warning you right now, if you do anything to cause harm to my family, I WILL end you."
Such a nice man.
I turned my hands up in front of me, showing him my innocence. "I have nothing. I have no desire to hurt you or your daughter, nor do I have the means to. You are doing me a favor by housing me. Why would I risk losing that?"
He took a moment to consider my response. Finally, he decided on what to say. "I've never seen you in Berlint before. You could be a spy from Westalis come to sneak your way into Ostania."
'WOOOOWWWWW. Calling the kettle black, are you, Twilight?' I thought. But the need to play along tugged at me. I gave a soft chuckle. "You think I'm a spy? If that were the case, wouldn't I have a better cover than a street beggar?" I considered telling him the truth. I considered telling him about the whole Spy X Family manga and the accident and the coma dream I was sure I was having. But I didn't. Why? It was just a dream, right? But the thought still nagged at the back of my skull. What if this isn't a dream? In all the fanfics, they always thought it was a dream, and it turned out to be real. What would Twilight do if I told him the truth? Turn me in to W.I.S.E.? I'd be interrogated and locked up and tortured. Nope. No thank you. I'll keep my secrets, Frodo.
Twilight turned my beggar comment over in his head for a bit. It made sense. What kind of intel could a spy gain from street conversations of common folk? That the government sucked? That a cold war was going on? Everyone knew that. You didn't need a spy to figure it out.
The bed raised next to me as my new companion stood up to leave. I needed to think of something quick. Spy X Family was set in a fictional land based on East and West Germany during the Cold War. What was a plausible backstory? I had a semblance of an idea.
"Wait," I called out as he reached the door. I casted my eyes down in feigned embarrassment. "I'm a refugee," I whispered in what I hoped was a convincing tone. Germany wasn't the worst place to be during the cold war, after all. Places all across Europe had troubles, Whether they were the Allies or not. The perfect cover. No identity to try and track. Just a victim seeking escape. The lie seemed to work, as pity filled Twilight's face. It was people like me who he did what he did for. So we could know peace. So we didn't have to be scared. He wouldn't question it.
"I'm sorry," he said gently before closing the door behind him.
After he left I grabbed the clothes on the bed. Sweatpants and a t-shirt. I peeked my head out the door to make sure he was gone. I crept to the bathroom and closed the door. I pulled the dirty clothes off of my body, dropping them to the floor. I ran the water warm and rinsed grime off of my face, neck, chest, arms, and legs. It didn't hit me until after all I was done that I didn't have a towel to dry off with. I turned my dirty sweatshirt inside out and used the almost soft inside to pat my skin dry. I dressed in Twilight's clothes, still smelling like laundry soap. It was nice to smell something so clean.
Back in the spare bedroom I left my old clothes in a pile by the foot of the bed. I sat down gingerly, nerves racked. My fingers subconsciously wrapped around something cold hanging from my neck. It was a blue metal arrowhead tied to a leather necklace. The only thing from my old life in this foreign dream. My grandpa's ashes. At least I wasn't alone here.
That night I dreamt of my grandpa. He sat in his old chair, placed in the Forger home's spare bedroom. His cane rested on his arm as he leaned back. He looked so alive. As alive as he always looked in all my dreams. The way he looked when I was thirteen and helping him build a deck and ramp at the front door to his mobile home. His cheeks were rosy, his hair gray and his beard soft and white. His blue eyes sharper and bluer than even Twilight's. Than even mine had been.
"Grandpa?" I mumbled from where I lay on the bed.
"Hey, sweetie, how's it been? Grandpa misses you," he smiled. Oh how I had missed that voice. The voice I could only hear in my dreams now. The voice that had remained the same as it was when he was in his thirties. Out of all the parts of him that could never age, it was his eyes and voice. I hadn't dreamt of him since the one-year anniversary of his passing.
Tears rolled down my face as I slipped out of bed to give him a hug. He was warm and the arm he wrapped around my back was strong as ever. "Grandpa, I'm scared. I don't understand. Where am I? Am I in a coma?" This dream I had no control over, but still seemed to have priorities that aligned with my thoughts from earlier. A dream inside a dream. Intriguing.
Worry snaked its way into his kind face as I stood back up, ending the hug sooner than I would have if this were real life. If I really had him back. "Sweetie, Grandpa's sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen. It wasn't your time yet. Grandpa couldn't take it if it was. I thought you would go back to your life, to the kids."
"Grandpa, what do you mean?" I asked, the tears slowing as shock settled in.
"You had an accident, sweetie. You got hurt real bad. Grandpa thought if he asked God to let you live he'd send you back to your mom and dad. But he put you here. Grandpa's sorry. This is all his fault." A sadness held his eyes stronger than I'd ever seen before.
A weight sat on my chest like an Incubus, heavy and consuming. I felt like I was laying in bed, pinned down under a smirking demon. "Grandpa, what happened to me? I'm scared," the word easy to say, and yet so hard to ignore. It reminded me of the last conversation I had with him before he died. 'Grandpa, I'm scared,' I had said back then. How things had come full circle as the truth sunk in. Those words were a fatal curse in my mind; something that sealed one's fate for good.
He didn't need to answer for me to understand. I knew without him saying it. Hearing it would have made it more real, but I also knew he couldn't bring himself to say it. I waited for him to tell me not to cry, like he had in my last dream of him, but the words never came. Instead, I woke, with three words echoing in my head: Grandpa loves you.