I Reincarnated as Drag king in Another World

Chapter 10: Unspoken Bonds

The sky was a muted gray, the early morning light creeping in over the desolate landscape. The wind blew with a biting chill, swirling the dust and debris left behind by the violence of the world. Asuka walked behind Kaelith, her steps slow and measured. Every now and then, she would glance around, checking their surroundings, but she found herself lost in her thoughts more than anything.

She felt the weight of her weapon in her hand, but it felt like it was too much for her. The spear, a tool meant to protect and fight, was a constant reminder of how far she had drifted from the person she used to be. She wasn't a warrior, and every time she raised it, she felt like a fraud.

Kaelith moved ahead with the grace of someone who had long mastered the art of survival. Her silver eyes were sharp, scanning the horizon, every step purposeful, every motion calculated. She was the epitome of what a survivor should be in this world: strong, unyielding, and cold. The way she carried herself was something that Asuka couldn't ignore, even though she wasn't sure she wanted to emulate it. There was strength in Kaelith's composure, but it came at a price. A price that Asuka was too afraid to pay.

Kaelith's voice broke the silence between them. "You're quiet today."

Asuka looked up, startled out of her thoughts. "Just thinking," she muttered. She didn't know how to explain the confusion gnawing at her, the feelings of inadequacy that had been creeping up ever since she'd started traveling with Kaelith. She had always tried to push past her fears, her weaknesses. But lately, those fears were impossible to ignore.

Kaelith glanced back at her, an unreadable expression on her face. "Thinking too much is dangerous," she said, her voice firm. "You freeze when you think too much. In this world, you don't have the luxury of overthinking."

Asuka clenched her fists around the spear, trying to suppress the frustration rising in her chest. "I know," she muttered. "I just... sometimes I wonder if it's enough. If being me is enough."

Kaelith stopped walking and turned to face her. The early light reflected off her silver eyes, making them appear almost metallic. There was a glint in her gaze, something sharp, but not unkind. "What do you mean by that?"

Asuka hesitated, unsure of how to articulate the thoughts swirling in her mind. "I don't know. It's just... I don't feel like I fit in this world anymore. You know, the world where everyone's just trying to survive, where strength is everything. I don't feel strong enough. And I don't know how to be strong like you. People expect that from me—hell, I expect it from myself—but sometimes it feels like I'm not cut out for it."

Kaelith's face softened for just a moment, though her posture remained as rigid as ever. "Strength isn't about being like me," she said quietly. "You don't have to be like me. You don't have to become someone else to survive. You just have to find your own way."

Asuka's breath hitched, a mix of relief and confusion flooding her chest. "But how? How can I be myself when everything in this world tells me that who I am is not enough? That women like me are weak, that I'm weak? It feels like if I'm not like you—tough, unbreakable—then I'm useless."

Kaelith's gaze sharpened, her eyes narrowing as though she were processing Asuka's words carefully. "This world doesn't give a damn about who we were. It doesn't care if you're a man, a woman, or anything else. What matters is what you can do. It's not about pretending to be something you're not; it's about surviving. And you can't survive if you're constantly fighting who you are."

Asuka looked away, her eyes dropping to the ground. "But that's just it, isn't it?" she said softly. "To survive, I have to fight. I have to fight against everything that makes me feel weak. Against everything that makes me human. I can't just sit here and be me. I have to be someone else." She lifted her gaze to Kaelith, her voice trembling with a raw honesty she hadn't allowed herself to express before. "I don't want to lose who I am, but I don't know how to survive without becoming someone I don't recognize."

Kaelith's expression was unreadable for a long moment. Finally, she spoke, her voice softer than it had been before. "Maybe the trick is not to become someone else, but to learn to embrace who you are, even when the world is trying to break you. You think I don't have my own battles? That I don't feel the weight of every death, every choice, every moment of weakness I've had to bury deep inside? But I've learned that you can't throw away who you are. If you do, you're already dead. The world might take a lot from us, but it can't take our core, unless we let it."

Asuka felt her chest tighten, her emotions threatening to overflow. She had never considered that—never thought that it might be possible to survive without completely changing herself. Maybe there was hope in that thought. Maybe it wasn't about becoming unbreakable, but learning how to survive even while feeling vulnerable.

"I don't know if I can do that," Asuka whispered, the words heavy with self-doubt.

"You don't have to do it alone," Kaelith said, her voice low and steady. "We're in this together. And that means we each carry a part of the other's burden. Maybe I'm the one who fights, but you're the one who sees what's worth fighting for."

Asuka swallowed, the weight of Kaelith's words sinking into her. "But... I'm not like you. I don't know how to do what you do. I freeze when it matters."

Kaelith's silver eyes softened, and for a moment, Asuka could almost see something else in them—a flicker of understanding, perhaps, or something akin to compassion. "You'll learn. Just don't let the fear of failure keep you from trying. That's the biggest mistake you can make."

They stood there for a long moment, the wind tugging at their clothes, but neither of them moved. Asuka didn't know what to say, but she didn't feel the need to say anything. Kaelith had given her more than just advice. She had given her permission to be herself, even in this world where survival was the only thing that mattered.

Finally, Kaelith broke the silence. "We should keep moving. No telling what's out there."

Asuka nodded, her grip on the spear a little firmer now. Maybe she wasn't the same as Kaelith. Maybe she didn't have the same resilience, the same cold edge. But she didn't need to be. She only needed to be herself—and that was enough to survive.

The road ahead was long and treacherous. The hill they had been walking toward loomed in the distance, steep and rugged, a fitting metaphor for the obstacles they faced. Asuka's legs burned with the strain of the climb, but she pressed on, determined not to let herself fall behind. Every step felt like a challenge, but she kept moving, her thoughts focused on the idea that maybe—just maybe—she could survive this. She could be someone strong in her own way.

Kaelith was ahead of her, a shadow against the dimming sky, moving with a speed and precision that Asuka could only admire. She was everything Asuka wasn't: unflinching, hardened, determined. But Asuka no longer felt the sharp sting of comparison. She was learning that her journey didn't need to mirror Kaelith's to be worthwhile.

"You good?" Kaelith's voice came from ahead, a low, teasing note in it.

Asuka smiled to herself. "I'm good."

And for the first time, she meant it.

The air was growing colder as nightfall approached, and the once bright sky was now a deepening shade of purple, edged with the faint glow of distant stars. The landscape, vast and empty, seemed to stretch on forever. The occasional rustling of wind and the crunch of their footsteps on the cracked earth were the only sounds that accompanied their journey.

Asuka's breath came in short bursts, her legs aching from the climb. She forced herself to keep going, even as the weight of doubt and exhaustion clung to her like a second skin. Each step forward felt like an act of defiance against the overwhelming despair that threatened to swallow her whole. She had been living like this for so long now—just surviving—but today, for the first time, she felt something else. A spark of something more than just the need to exist.

Maybe it was Kaelith's words. Maybe it was the quiet understanding that had passed between them earlier. But whatever it was, it kept her moving, one foot in front of the other.

Kaelith slowed her pace as Asuka caught up, offering her a rare glance over her shoulder. Her silver eyes gleamed in the twilight, not as cold as usual but warmer, more open. "You're still thinking about it, aren't you?"

Asuka hesitated, unsure how to respond. Was she thinking about the doubts she had expressed earlier? Was she overthinking again? The last thing she wanted to do was burden Kaelith with her uncertainties. But Kaelith seemed to know, as though she could sense the turmoil swirling inside her.

"I don't know if I can let go of the way I've always seen myself," Asuka finally admitted, her voice low, vulnerable. "Everything I've done, everything I've had to become to survive… it doesn't feel like it's enough. Like I'm not enough."

Kaelith stopped walking and turned fully to face her, the weight of her gaze steady and unflinching. "You are enough," she said, the words sharp and firm. "Don't let the world or anyone else tell you otherwise. They'll try to break you, to shape you into something you're not. But you have to decide who you are, Asuka. Don't let them take that from you."

The sincerity in Kaelith's words caught Asuka off guard. She felt a lump form in her throat, her chest tight with the weight of emotions she had kept buried for so long. Kaelith had always seemed like an impenetrable wall, someone who didn't need anyone else. But now, Asuka saw something else in her—something softer, something human.

"I…" Asuka began, unsure of how to express the feelings rising in her. "I don't know how to be anything else but what I've been. I don't know how to fight against what people expect from me. I can't change who I am, but at the same time, I can't stay the same either."

Kaelith stepped closer, her presence as steady as ever. She didn't reach out to comfort Asuka in the way most people might, but the quiet strength she exuded spoke louder than any words could.

"You don't need to change, Asuka. You're not broken. You're just trying to figure out how to survive. And that's enough. No one's going to look at you and see only one thing. They'll see the survivor, the fighter, the person who keeps going even when it feels impossible. That's your strength. And I see it in you."

Asuka's breath hitched again, the flood of emotion threatening to break through. She didn't know what to say to Kaelith—how to thank her for showing her that there was another way to live. A way that didn't involve denying who she was, but rather embracing it, even when it felt like the world was trying to tear her apart.

Instead of words, Asuka simply nodded, her throat too tight to speak. She wasn't sure she believed it all just yet, but Kaelith's unwavering faith in her gave her something to hold onto.

They continued walking, the path ahead uncertain, but for the first time, Asuka didn't feel as alone. Kaelith's words had planted a seed of hope, one that would take time to grow, but it was there now, nestled deep inside her heart.

---

The night settled around them as they made camp in a small, secluded hollow between two jagged rocks. The fire flickered to life in the center, casting long, dancing shadows across the terrain. Asuka sat down on the ground, her muscles aching from the day's journey, but the exhaustion didn't feel as oppressive as it had before. Maybe it was because she no longer felt the weight of her own self-doubt pressing down on her shoulders.

Kaelith moved with practiced ease, preparing their meager rations and setting up their camp. She worked in silence, but Asuka could see the careful attention she gave to every task. Kaelith didn't speak much, but her actions spoke volumes. She was a person of few words, but each one was carefully chosen.

Asuka couldn't help but study her as she worked. Kaelith was so different from her—so much more self-assured, more hardened by the world. But Asuka had come to realize that there was more to her than just the image she projected. Kaelith had her own struggles, her own battles, even if she didn't always show them. And maybe, just maybe, Asuka could learn from that.

She had to. For her own sake.

"Kaelith," Asuka said suddenly, breaking the silence. The words felt strange on her tongue, but she needed to ask. "Do you ever feel… like you don't belong? Like you're playing a role in this world, but it's not really you?"

Kaelith paused, her hands stilling for a moment as she looked over at Asuka. There was a brief flicker of something in her eyes—something that might have been surprise, or perhaps recognition. "All the time," she answered quietly. "But the world doesn't give us the luxury of wondering who we are. It forces us to adapt, to survive. But that doesn't mean you have to lose yourself in the process."

Asuka nodded slowly, her gaze drifting to the fire as she thought about Kaelith's words. It wasn't easy to accept, but there was truth in them. This world was cruel, and it didn't offer the comfort of self-discovery. But maybe, just maybe, there was room for her to grow, to figure out who she really was, even amidst the chaos.

The night deepened around them, and they ate in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. The fire crackled and popped, casting warmth against the encroaching chill of the air.

Kaelith finished her meal and stood up, stretching her arms above her head before looking down at Asuka. "Get some rest. We'll be moving out at first light."

Asuka didn't protest. For the first time in a long time, she didn't feel the need to question Kaelith's decisions or seek reassurance. She was learning to trust herself, to trust that whatever came next, she had the strength to face it.

As she lay back on the cold ground, staring up at the star-filled sky, she let herself relax. The weight on her chest was lighter now, and though the path ahead remained uncertain, she was no longer afraid of what she might find. She had Kaelith beside her, and that was enough for now.

Maybe she didn't have all the answers, but for the first time, Asuka was starting to believe that it would be okay to keep searching for them.