Dragging Rachel by the hand, I quickly left the house behind in favor of the wide dirt road that ran through town. Looking back and forth, I saw many houses, and several stores, but no trees. This, however, was why I had a guide! An angry guide, who was currently glaring at me, but a guide nonetheless.

“Let go of my hand. I don’t want you touching me!” Rachel gave a fierce tug, not waiting for me to let go, and almost pulled me off my feet. Rather than apologizing, she began to wipe both sides of her hand on the grey skirt she wore. “I’ll take you to the trees, but I don’t want you touching me.”

“Why? You don’t think I have cooties, do you?” I flashed Rachel a small grin as I spoke, but the brunette only gave me a disgusted look in return. 

“Maybe you do! I’ve never heard of a commoner using magic, before!” The girl narrowed her eyes at me. “Momma said only nobles can use magic. She said healing magic is really rare, too. That means you’re secretly a noble, right? And you used your weird noble magic on me!” 

“W-Wait a minute!” I protested, a little flustered by the angered look in Rachel’s eyes. “I’m not a noble! I’m just a commoner who happens to have light magic. I don’t know why any more than you do, though, so don’t ask me to explain it.”

The anger in Rachel’s eyes flickered, replaced for a moment by surprise. Then she narrowed her eyes again. “No way. Momma said that only a noble could ever have healing magic.” 

His mother said what!? Were rumors about my supposed nobility already beginning to sprout? Were people doubting my mother’s faithfulness? Wasn’t this too early!? At least let me grow to eight without any flags! But no, rumors such as these would only grow stronger if I wasted a moment. I needed to pluck them out immediately! With that thought, I grabbed Rachel by the shoulders, and leaned as close as I could while glaring up at her. Her face actually turned a little pink, when faced with my anger. ...I would have preferred her turning pale, but I could only assume she was embarrassed when she realized how angry she had made me! “I am not a noble,” I whispered to her, my voice low. “I am a commoner. Please tell your parents that, okay?” I then gave her my most threatening of smiles.

...I know it’s bad to bully a six year old. Even if my body was five, I was mentally sixteen (plus five). But still! My parents' happiness was on the line! Yet this kid was flapping her gums in the middle of the street… It made me a little mad. “...If you understand that much, then take me to where we can climb trees. I don’t care where you go after that.”

“H-Huh? You don’t care?” asked Rachel, in a confused mutter. “After all that?”

“The sooner you go home, the sooner you can tell your parents the truth. Isn’t that right?” I smiled brightly at the girl with those last words.

“Y-Yeah. I’ll tell them. You’re a commoner! Just like me!” Rachel puffed out her chest proudly as she spoke. I wasn’t sure why she suddenly sounded so enthusiastic about this mission, but as long as she was working to keep my parents together… enthusiasm was A-okay!

“First, show me to the trees,” I reminded Rachel, not wanting the first mission to get lost in her excitement for the second. She gave a quick nod in response, and began to walk down the road

I followed, of course, mentally patting myself for the good work I had done. I knew that my parents still had a rough road ahead, but surely I had at least delayed the start of rumors? I was starting to wonder if I should perhaps give the other kids in town the same treatment as I had Rachel, when my guide suddenly stopped, causing me in turn to walk straight into her back and bang my nose on her spine.

“Ow…” we whispered, at once, as I lifted my hand to my nose and she began to rub her back.

“That hurt,” I whispered, reproachfully.

“S-Sorry.” An uncharacteristic apology came from Rachel. I’d expected her to be annoyed, but for some reason she was blushing faintly, and looking at everyone but me. “We’re here.”

I nodded, looking around. The area we were in - perhaps one could call it a park? It was toward the center of town, but I saw no adults around at all. There were a few children, running about and playing tag. There were also a few square boxes drawn on the ground, with a selection of pebbles for nearby. Memories of my current life told me this was for playing a game similar to hopscotch. What I was interested in, however, were the trees.

There were only four of them, each planted in a different corner of the park. The one Rachel had stopped in front of was the smallest of them, maybe three meters tall. Even the largest of them, however, couldn’t have been more than five meters in size… Well, as a five year old, this was pretty big. Yet I wasn’t sure that it would hold up for practice as I got older. “Hey. Are these really all the trees we have?” I asked, unable to keep the disappointment from my voice. If this was all there was, I could have gotten here myself. I’d played here many times, after all, in my current life.

“Well… yeah,” Rachel muttered, looking around. “You’d have to go out of town to find more…”

“So there are better trees, out of town?” I asked, peering up at Rachel.

The brunette’s brow furrowed in response. “Yeah, but those are for the older kids. We’re too young to leave town by ourselves…”

The older kids? So I’d be able to climb bigger trees as I got bigger myself? That was good enough for me! I gave Rachel a bright smile. “Thanks! That’s all I need to know!” With those words, I turned my attention to the small tree before me.

...Honestly, I had no idea how to climb it. It’s embarrassing to say, but in the sixteen plus five years of life I’d lived, I had never once climbed a tree. My past life had been lived in a city, after all, and my life as Maria Campbell had only lasted five years so far. Not a lot of time to master tree climbing!

Well, there was nothing for it but to try and learn. I sat down on the ground, in front of the tree and began to take off the stiff leather shoes I was wearing. Wouldn’t do to have these scuffed up! And it would give me better purchase, too.

For some reason, though, Rachel quickly appeared in front of me. Her brow was lowered and her eyes were narrowed. “What are you doing!?” she demanded, her usually gruff voice coming out in a terribly high pitch. “You can’t climb trees in a skirt!”

A skirt? Hmmm. Looking down, I was wearing a skirt, wasn’t I? A light brown affair, embroidered with a green flower embroidered on the right side. I hadn’t even noticed it before - I was so used to wearing skirts in this life, that wearing one just seemed like second nature. Still… “What’s the problem?” I asked, tilting my head to the side. “I don’t see any boys about.”

“Th-That’s not the issue!” declared Rachel, glaring at me. “You can’t climb trees in a skirt. Go home and put on pants, at least!”

“Eh? But if I do that, though, my parents might not let me leave again… They were pretty worried about me going, after all… I know! Let’s go to your house. I can borrow some of your hand-me-downs and wear those for tree climbing.”

“No way!” Rachel shot down my idea immediately, though. “Momma keeps those put away, and she’s working right now.”

“Then I guess I’m climbing in a skirt. Aren’t I?” I smiled as I spoke, ignoring the flabbergasted look on Rachel’s face as I made my way toward the tree.

...Really, I wasn’t sure at all how to climb it. I thought I could shimmy up it, like rope climbing in class, but the trunk was much too wide for my small arms to reach. I definitely wouldn’t be able to pull myself up on arm strength, alone, either. So. What was the best way to climb it? I wished dearly, for a moment, that I still had access to WikiHow...

I was not going to be defeated here, though! Placing my fingers on the bark revealed a rough and sturdy surface, with more than enough holds for fingers and toes. Pressing my bare feet against the dark bark of the tree, and ignoring Rachel’s eyes as they bored into my back, I took my first steps at tree climbing.

It went surprisingly well! True, I failed to even reach the first branch before my feet slipped, and I fell down on my rear end. But I managed to stifle my tears, and try again! And again. And again. On the fifth attempt, I actually reached the lowest branch, and managed to pull my legs over it. By that point, I was so tired that I basically just splayed myself on the branch, legs and arms on either side, and laid my small body down upon it.

“That took forever…” came a voice from below, and I was surprised to realize that Rachel was standing at the bottom of the tree. Hadn’t she gone home…? Well. Whatever. I gave her a big grin, and pushed my way up so that I was merely straddling the branch and not laying upon it. “Not bad for my first time climbing a tree, no?”

For some reason, the expression on her face looked more exasperated than congratulatory. I was in too high spirits to care, though.

Now. How in the world was I going to get down?

 

                                               ***

 

My name is Rachel Doren. I don’t think there’s a lot to say about me. If I had to pick one thing, though, it’s that I’m… angry. I don’t really have a reason for this anger, though. My parents are kind and gentle people, who have worked their hardest to raise me. They work so hard, every day, just to put food on the table. I guess if there’s any cause of my anger, it’s seeing how tired their faces are every day, and knowing that I can’t do anything to help. If anything, I often feel like I’m a burden on my kind parents. Even though they work so hard, just to make a living, they’re always taking the time to set up playdates with the other children my age.

Most of those playdates go badly, though. Whether it’s because I scowl too much, or because my voice is too gruff, none of the girls my age seemed to want to play with me more than once. I even started thinking that it would be better to play with the boys, instead; to do so, I went so far as to cut my hair at the nape of my neck, and started to wear pants. Yet the boys still saw me as a girl, and said they didn’t want to play.

It’s because I couldn’t find anyone my own age to play with that I ended up spending time with Maria. Even though she’s a year younger than me. Mother said that she was a sweet girl; but a sweet girl, in my mind, would only run away from my scowling face. That’s what I thought, at least… but when we met, Maria only smiled at me, and asked what I wanted to play. She seemed more concerned with making me happy than with anything else.

With no other choices, I hung out with her… a few times, actually. Every time we did, she’d look up at me with her brightest smile and ask me what I wanted to play. As if my happiness was all that mattered to her. I started to wonder if this girl even had a selfish bone in her body, or if her only concern was making those around her happy.

Maybe that’s why I suggested tag, even though her legs were much shorter than mine. I thought I’d be able to keep running away from her forever, until she got tired and gave up. Maybe she’d even look at me reproachfully, for lording my taller height over her. If she stopped wanting to hang out with me, then my parents would likely give up on trying to find me playdates. They’d be able to focus on themselves, and stop worrying about their useless, angry, daughter.

In the end, though, I tripped and fell during the very first round of tag. A cut even opened up on my foot. It hurt so much, and I wanted to cry, but crying like that would only cause people to worry about me.

For some reason, though, even though I was keeping all the pain inside me, Maria had a worried expression on her face. She even went so far as to reach for my wound - at which point a bright light came from her hand, and my wound was gone. I was so surprised, that I… Kicked her. Hard. She stumbled backward, and banged her head on the ground.

After that, Maria was unconscious for three days. Even though I hadn’t kicked her that hard… even though she’d barely banged her head at all… My usually kind parents were still very angry at me. I had hurt my playmate very badly, after all, and there was a chance we would be asked to pay for the medical bills. Something we couldn’t afford. Even though I had barely kicked her at all…

I tried to explain to them that it was because of the light that came from Maria’s hand, but that only caused my father to yell at me for “telling lies.” Even though it was the truth, I got yelled at? How was that fair? I had thought Maria cared about others more than herself, but because of that weird light she’d used on me I was getting yelled at?

According to my parents, though, healing magic was very rare. There was absolutely no way that a commoner would be born with it. Only a noble’s child would have something like that. I knew what I had seen, though. I knew that light had come from Maria’s hand, and healed me. If it was something only nobles could use, then that simply meant that Maria was a noble.

...A noble? If Maria was one of the wealthy and powerful nobles, then why was there even a chance of my parents being asked for money they didn’t have? Even though I’d never met a noble, I knew that they were wealthy and powerful figures, who lived in large houses and wielded magic. I didn’t know what a noble would be doing in a small town like this. I didn’t know why a noble would be going on playdates with me. I certainly didn’t know why they would be looking at me the way Maria did, as if my happiness was more important than their own.

Still. If only nobles could use magic, then that meant Maria was a noble, right? More than that, she was a deceptive noble who had lied to me, and who might force my parents to spend their hard earned money. All because she had used that magic on me, without even asking first!

To make matters worse, my parents decided that the best course of action was to have me apologize. Even though I had only reacted like any child would, they were worried what the Campbells would ask of them if I wasn’t properly remorseful. In fact, to properly show how sorry I was, I had to go to her house every day she was unconscious, lower my head, and ask if Maria was awake to say sorry to.

By the time Maria actually was awake, I was furious. Having to bow my head to some powerful noble? For something she had done? All to save my parents from losing the money they had saved? Even when I heard Maria was awake, I felt no relief. After all, this was a girl who had lied about being a commoner; who had used magic on me without permission; who had caused my usually kind parents to yell at me, and accuse me of being a liar! I wanted to scream at her, and make her admit her true nature. Instead, I forced myself to apologize.

Yet for some reason, after everything I had been through, the girl looked confused by my apology! She even made me explain what I was apologizing for.

“I’m sorry,” I repeated. “For kicking you. You just startled me, is all. With your magic.”

“If you’re really sorry, you should make it up to me,” came her response. My jaw dropped in surprise, that the usually demure noble girl would ask this instead of giving her usual smile. Was the mask slipping? Were these Maria’s true colors? My jaw clamped shut in anger.

“Why should I have to make it up to you?” I demanded, glaring at her. “You’re the one who used magic on me without asking…”

“That was an accident,” she responded, not missing a beat. “I couldn’t have known I had light magic, right? And all I did was heal you, anyway. I, on the other hand, was in bed for three days! With a fever! My parents called a doctor and everything.” she sighed dramatically with that speech, and cast her eyes down at the floor.

So there it was. The mention of the doctor. Next she’d be asking me for money, right? Yet, to my surprise, she asked instead for me to take her outside! To get around her parent’s desire to keep an eye on her, no less.

I was confused. Unsure what had happened to the little girl I knew, who always tried to make those around her happy. Even stranger, though - she wanted me to show her to the trees. We had been playing tag in the park, hadn’t we? Did she think there was some other section of trees in the town? Or was she looking for something even smaller, that a five year old could more easily climb? In either case, I knew I’d soon be disappointing her. Yet I still agreed to it, hoping that this would make things up to her and keep my parents from getting into trouble.

That thought went out the window, though, when Maria grabbed me by the wrist and dragged me out the door. I didn’t want this girl touching me! Not only was there the risk of more magic, which  could do who knew what to me, but there was the fact that she was a lying noble, who was currently blackmailing me. Even though my parents’ livelihood was on the line, I couldn’t help but snap at her to let me go, roughly tugging my hand free in the process.

“Why?” she asked me. “You don’t think I have cooties, do you?”

The grin she gave me was nothing like the smile she’d done on our playdates. It was not meant to appease me, not one bit. It was meant to tease me, and I felt myself get angrier and angrier.

“Maybe you do!” I spat out. “I’ve never heard of a commoner using magic, before! Momma said only nobles can use magic. She said healing magic is really rare, too. That means you’re secretly a noble, right? And you used your weird noble magic on me!” The words were tumbling out of me, before I had a chance to think. The anger I felt at being deceived, the worry I had for my parents… 

“W-Wait a minute!” Maria protested, her face a little pale. “I’m not a noble! I’m just a commoner who happens to have light magic. I don’t know why any more than you do, though, so don’t ask me to explain it.”

The anger in my eyes flickered, replaced for a moment by surprise. I quickly recovered, though, narrowing my gaze. “No way. Momma said that only a noble could ever have healing magic.” Between my mother, and this girl, there was no doubt who I’d choose to believe.

Those thoughts all went out the window, though, when Maria suddenly grabbed me by the shoulders, and leaned so close that her body was practically touching mine. In fact, her chin was resting against my chest, before I knew it, and my heart was beating fast. She looked up at me through eyes that had been narrowed into slits. “I am not a noble,” she whispered, her voice pitched surprisingly low. “I am a commoner. Please tell your parents that, okay?” She then gave me a dazzling smile, stepping away so that I could see her more fully.

…I wasn’t really sure what had just happened. A minute ago, I had felt like I was in complete control. Then suddenly I had this girl pushing herself against me, and whispering about how she wasn’t a noble after all? What was this weird girl doing!? And why did it make me feel all embarrassed and flustered, even though she was the one doing it? I couldn’t make sense of it at all. Yet the girl continued as if I had agreed with her.

“...If you understand that much,” she said, “then take me to where we can climb trees. I don’t care where you go after that.”

“H-Huh? You don’t care?” I asked. Not that I minded getting released from guiding her, but… “After all that?”

“The sooner you go home, the sooner you can tell your parents the truth. Isn’t that right?” She gave me another bright smile. I felt somehow happy to see it - but also incredibly drained, as if I’d been running for a very long time to reach this point.

“Y-Yeah. I’ll tell them,” I promised. “You’re a commoner! Just like me!” For some reason, I felt a little proud about that. That we were both commoners. Perhaps she really hadn’t been lying about being a noble? Perhaps she really was just a commoner with light magic? I wasn’t sure of anything, anymore. But if I acted confident, maybe things would work out? At the very least, it didn’t seem like this girl had any desire to demand money from my parents.

Thinking that the worst of my worries were over, I guided the girl to the park. Since we’d been there many times before, I thought she’d at least know when we were getting close, but when I stopped she banged right into my back.

“Ow…” we whispered, at once, her lifting a nose to her nose and me rubbing at my back.

“That hurt,” she whispered, a little bit of reproach in her voice.

“S-Sorry,” I muttered, a little concerned that I had hurt her. Even if was her fault. “We’re here.”

 

 “Hey. Are these really all the trees we have?” she asked. The concern was obvious in her voice.

“Well… yeah,” I muttered, looking around. “You’d have to go out of town to find more…” Those trees were for the older kids, though, who didn’t need to worry about staying in trees.

“So there are better trees, out of town?” she demanded, peering up at me.

My brow furrowed. I worried that she might try to actually go get to those bigger trees, and quickly reminded her that they were for the older kids to play with.

In response, she only gave me a bright smile. “Thanks! That’s all I need to know!” she declared, before plopping down on the ground and starting to take off her shoes.

...No. It couldn’t be. She couldn’t seriously be intending to climb the tree? In a skirt? By some stroke of luck, I only saw girls playing in the park at the moment. But still! Climbing a tree in a skirt? Just how hard had Maria hit her head, back when she fell? 

“What are you doing!?” I demanded, unable to keep control over my voice.  You can’t climb trees in a skirt!”

She only responded to me with confusion, though, and pointed out that there weren’t any boys. Didn’t she see that there were larger problems than that!? Couldn’t she just go home and put on pants?

Apparently not. Instead, she wanted to go to my house… which definitely wasn’t happening. Both my parents were currently at work, and I wasn’t going to bother them for something like this.

Yet saying no only seemed to spur Maria on, for some reason, and before long she was attempting to climb trees. In a skirt.

What’s more, she did a terrible job at it. Again, and again, I watched her fall. Never looking behind her, eyes steadfastly on the lowest branch, a mere meter high, she kept at it until she made her goal. After which, she pretty much collapsed on a branch that was barely wide enough to hold her.

“That took forever…” I muttered, from below.

Maria seemed surprised to see me. As if she’d forgotten I was still there. After a moment, though, she sat up so that she was straddling the branch and gave me a big grin, full of self satisfaction. 

“Not bad for my first time climbing a tree, no?”

No, that was pretty bad, I wanted to tell her… But I held my tongue. After seeing this girl work so hard for so little, even I couldn’t stand to burst her bubble. Instead, I watched her for another ten minutes as she stared at the tree trunk and tried to figure out how to get down.

When I pointed out that she was low enough to the ground that she could hop down, she gave me a bright smile. One that made my face turn red, all over again.

What was the deal with this strange girl, who failed to climb trees with a smile? I didn’t understand her one bit… Yet for some reason, I wanted to know more.