Episode 7- Illayaka’s Past

A hundred years ago.

A woman in a business suit stood in the middle of a sidewalk, and traffic was packed on the streets. It was different than it usually was, and it was because it was rush hour. A time when traffic was higher than usual.

The young girl was a woman who was average-looking, with black hair and black eyes but by Japanese standards, she was not an ugly person, but she wasn't exactly a model either. She was just your average-looking girl.

A lady was standing beside her, and it was her best friend Noella, and they had been best friends for a couple of years… years dating back to middle school.

Of course, they were both older now, both young girls were the average height of a woman, and they were eighteen years of age. Young adults were starting their lives in society.

Noella looked at her friend who was staring up at the heavens. "Yo, Illayaka are you good. You have been staring at the sky for a while now." She was clearly worried about her friend, staring in the air was something that Illayaka had never done in her life.

Illayaka looked at her friend and smiled, the sky was so blue and beautiful, a sky that one would not look at and notice until they reached adulthood.

"I'm good… so there is nothing to worry about," Illayaka said, looking at the packed road that was in front of them. The cross light still had not turned red to signal that they could walk to the other side. There were more people beside them and waiting to walk to the other side.

It has been a couple of weeks since we graduated from high school, and I cannot just stand around after school. I must go out and work so I can become a good functioning adult in society. That means that college would be the goal I strive for. My looks are average, but I think that if I tried to put effort into making myself beautiful then I could but… who would need to do that when they have to do a lot of work? Well, Noella would… since she likes being beautiful.

Illayaka looked over at her best friend. Her hair was a beautiful sea-blue and it was curly, and her eyes matched her hair color. The girl was an overall beautiful woman, if there was a list of 'Most beautiful women in the city' then she would be on that list.

"Why do you put so much into your appearance? We have work today so there would be no point in you doing all this work."

"I am a young girl… I like to look the best I can." Noella said looking over at Illayaka with a smile on her face. "You would stand out more if you put your 'basic' look to the max… I do not think you look basic if you would put the work in to make yourself look beautiful."

Hearing her words, Illayaka shook her head before looking at the road in front of her. The road was still packed with traffic, and they had already been waiting at the light for five minutes.

"You know that's bullshit! You would look even better than me if you were to try to look your best! I still remember the time I dressed you up in those clothes in middle school!"

Everyone that was around them looked at Noella like she was crazy. Not only was she shouting in public, but she was also shouting about something that could be kept private. Telling the world that you were dressing up as a girl was something they did not need to know about. What benefit would they get in knowing that she dressed up other women when they were younger?

Illayaka looked at her friend and she let out a deep sigh. "What was the point in saying that out loud? Was there any reason that anyone needed to know that?"

Noella rubbed the back of her head smiling. "No… there was no reason for me to do that but, it wasn't like I meant any harm. I just don't like it when you call yourself 'basic.' You are one of the most beautiful-looking people in this world." she genuinely said, looking at her friend.

"Thank you for the compliment. You are one of the best friends that I could ever ask for." Tenka said, looking at the red light that was in front of her. The light was the symbol of a man walking. This was the standard look of the crosswalks in their city.

"Illayaka, are you a virgin!?"

"...Do not ask me that kind of question again. Especially not in public where a lot of people can hear our conversation."

Saying those words, Illayaka looked up at the light and noticed that the light had changed to green. The two were at the front of the line so it was good to lead the group behind them to the other side safely.

Walking across the street arm and arm, Illayaka and Noella were walking across the street leading the group behind him.

"Stop! Young ladies, you have to move out of the way right now!" A man shouted from the side of the road.

Hearing his voice, Illayaka looked to her left and noticed a big truck approaching them. Noella was not paying much attention and there was not much she could do at the time, so she decided to push her out of the way.

Noella quickly pushed herself up off the ground. "What the hell Illayaka! Why did you push me?" she exclaimed, slowly looking back at her friend.

"What is everyone doing around here!? We have to quickly pull out our phones! Can somebody please hurry up and call an ambulance now!? Somebody is dying here!" a woman shouted to all the other people who were standing around behind her.

"Wh—"

Once those words came out of the woman's mouth, Noella quickly turned her head back at her friend and noticed that she was bleeding on the ground. Illayaka suffered life-threatening injuries from taking the full impact of the truck. Her blood was overflowing from her body since he could, and her body was losing its life.

Damn… So, this is how my life is going to end. I thought that I could enjoy life with my friend for a little bit longer but… I guess that was just a fantasy.

Rushing to her dying friend, Noella grabbed her friend's hand, her face was drained of color, and she looked like her heart was about to break, tears rapidly flowing down her face.

"I-I-I am… so-sorry... If I was paying attention, then this wouldn't have happened!"

"N-No… th-this… I-is… my… fault." Illayaka was coughing up blood, her body was numb from her bone being broken by the crash. The warm feeling of the blood flowing down her head was the only thing she could feel.

Illayaka was dying, and she locked eyes with her friend for one last time, "Th-thank y-you for–" she tried to get her words out of her mouth but was stopped by the sudden loss of strength.

…Being a good friend to someone like me.

Those were the last thoughts she had before she faded from the world.

"Illaaaaaayakaaaaaaaaa!!" Noella shouted to the top of her lungs with tears pouring down her face, as she watched her friend take her last breath.

........

......

.....

She had died and hadn't even started college. 

There were so many things that she could explore, but her life was stripped away from her. 

Although she couldn't say that she regretted what she did. If she had a choice to save her friend once again, then she would do so—without a second thought. Furthermore, sacrificing yourself for your loved one is something that anyone would do. 

However, she had second thoughts about leaving her friend alone in the other world. Of course, they had made a promise when they were in school to have fun with each other and go to the same college. They also even said they would get married to each other, but those dreams were crushed. The only thing she could hope for was that Noella would move on and not do anything stupid. 

It is too dark to see anything in this place… W-where am I? I could have sworn that I died in that car accident. Well, either way, I am so unlucky… I wish I could have spent more time with Noella. My memories are a little fuzzy. I cannot remember my name, but I know the name, Noella...

Looking around the endless darkness, memories started to flow, and the mind of the mysterious girl and her brain finally started functioning correctly. She started remembering everything about her past life—it was like something jump-started her mind. 

My name… My name is Illayaka and I was an eighteen-year-old that just graduated from high school. I died saving my best friend in my past life. There is not much to that story but… I am unlucky to be in this place, it is pitch black here.

Illayaka looked around at her surroundings and tried to move… but she noticed that she could barely stand. She then tried to move her hands and noticed that they were all wobbly.

What the hell is wrong with my body? This body feels so useless. I am going to have to use my mind to figure out what kind of situation I am in. All I know is that this is not my body. I read a lot of manga, so I know this is one of those plots that happen in Isekai, getting Isekai'd to a different world is beyond me. But… trying out magic would be useful to see what kind of situation I am in. but first I am going to have to try out other things.

"Float."

With those words, Illayaka began to float into the air, and she finally figured out that she was in a world of magic. Floating in the air was not something people did in her previous world, and based on all the shows she watched in her past life she had only seen those kinds of things happen on anime and TV shows. In her past life, she was a hard-core anime fan. But she was taking breaks from the genre to finish her schoolwork, but watching so many Isekai anime showed her things to do.

…So, I am in another world. Now I just got to figure out what I am and where I am at… but first, let me spread some light out in this place.

In the darkness, there was nothing present. She did not know where she was at or anything else regarding the dark area. The only thing that she could see with her eyes was darkness.

Raising her little flappy arm, mana started to fill the whole area up, and lights started to form all around the cave.

"Light Lanterns."

Lights formed throughout the dark area, and she looked around and noticed that stones were everywhere. Thus, she quickly figured out that they were in a cave that was made of pure stone. Illayaka was a normal student back in Japan. So, in a sense, she could adapt to any situation she puts herself in.

"Well, it's time for me to explore and find a way out of this cave," Illayaka said, looking around at all the lanternlights. "I need to get going so I can see what is going on in this cave."