Heart of Demise.

It goes like first grade.

"..."

Her current expression was completely replaced by utter disbelief. 

"...W-Whaa?"

"I said I can teach you how to read. If you want to, of course."

She turned her head sideways and grasped it with one of her hands. it was quite surprising how difficult it was for her to comprehend this.

"Are you... okay?"

"Y-Yes, I am, just-- repeat what you said, please."

"I'm not gonna do that."

Her surprised look gained a hint of annoyance.

"Fine. But, are you serious?"

"Yeah? I already told you, I've got nothing better to do."

"So, when can we start?"

She got out of her seat and walked over to me with the most excitement that I've seen since meeting her.

"W-W-Well, I guess now isn't a bad time. But, let me see what you're reading first."

She handed me the book. Its cover was soft and gushy. The condition was as good as her personality.

"...What the hell?"

When I opened the book and attempted to read the scribbles on the pages, I found that I couldn't. Not because they were too hard to read, or because I couldn't read, but because this simply wasn't English.

"You said this was the language we speak? Is this even the same book?"

"I said I thought it was. And yes, it is."

"Ah-ha. Got it. Well, I can't help you read this. It's just a bunch of french bullshit."

I sloppily handed Rivver the book back, pushing it into her arms.

 "Where did you even get this?"

"That other human gave it to me-- and what do you mean you can't help me read it?"

I gave her a little shrug.

"I just don't speak the language this is written in."

"Oh."

She looked dejected at first, but quickly jumped up with an "ah-ha!" type look.

"W-Wait! I have other books in my chest!"

She hurried toward said chest and rummaged through it incredibly fast, pulling out several books in varying shapes and conditions. She ran back to me, and while I was focusing on the sheer number, she dumped them all on top of me.

"H-Hey! What if one of those hit my leg?"

"Sorry, but I don't care about that right now. Just tell me if you can read any of these."

"J-Jesus, you can at least be a little more considerate..."

I wasn't feeling as enthusiastic now, but luckily, the very first book I picked up was in English, giving me a little relief. It was even a title I recognized.

"Ha, Voyager of my life. Fitting."

"Did you find something?"

"Yeah. Now can you get the rest of these dusty stacks of paper off of me please?"

I pulled my sheet off of my legs and dumped the rest of the books to the floor, which Rivver stared at blankly. I stared at the cover of the book, carefully reading out every syllable, observing every word there was.

This book... it really was from my world, wasn't it? It was a comforting thought; it gave me a little hope.

It also reminded me of another thing, something that was really important for learning a language.

"Before we start lessons, do you know the alphabet?"

Rivver, who was in the middle of picking up all the books, gave me a thinking look.

"...Alphabet? No, I don't believe I do."

"..."