Mike’s eyes began to flutter. He had no idea what had happened to him after he passed out. He only remembered pulling Yu to safety before blacking out. He slowly opened his eyes, making sure to let his eyes adjust to the bright light. “Whe-Where am I…..” Mike’s eyes landed on the dog that was sitting in a chair next to him, and felt slightly confused. Mainly because the dog was sitting like a human, and second the eyes were staring at him excitedly. “Dog? Wait. Did I get isekai’d?”

“No, silly!” Yu’s lips curled up into a smile, seeing that Mike was now okay.

Mike stared at the dog who had just spoken to him and felt shocked, yet at the same time, the voice was very familiar. He tilted his head to the side and asked: “Yu?”

“The one and only! I am surprised that you could recognize me.” Yu replied and hopped down from the chair and onto the bed. She moved over and placed her paw on Mike’s cheek. “Thank you. You for saving me.”

“Should I leave?” Desaray was starting to feel like the third wheel here. She had been standing on the bed this entire time but was being fully ignored right now.

“Haha! No! Desa, thank you.” Yu replied as she turned and looked at the blue-scaled dragon girl. “Your spell worked, and now Mike is okay again.”

“He might be awake, but he will need to stay in bed for a while. He hit his head hard, so even if the first aid woke him up, he needs to rest and make sure there are no lasting side effects. Luckily this apartment is filled with food. So I will leave Mike in your hands. I still need to see if I can find my father. I might not be able to return until tomorrow. I will have Becky stay here to help protect you guys. So you and Becky will be in charge of defense…”  Desaray paused her words and fell into thought for a moment. She felt that it would not be good if both of them went to sleep at night. 

“Yu, you will take the first night watch, and Becky will take the second. So wake her up around midnight. I will destroy part of the wall downstairs and pile up some rubble in front of the door to try to keep any monsters out. While we have not seen any yet, do be careful of the windows for any monsters that might have climbed up or are able to fly. I would suggest keeping lights to a minimum at night.” Desaray did not know what to expect, so she wanted to try to think of any scenario that they might run into. “Also, no matter what you hear at night, do not open that door for anyone.” 

“Understood. Make sure you give Becky the rundown as well.” Yu had long recognized Desaray as their leader. Because of her, they were able to get this far. 

“I will. Oh, if Jake does anything to piss you off, just knock him out with a chop to the back of the neck. I can heal him after.” Desaray left these words as she chuckled and walked out of the room, politely closing it to give the two inside some alone time.

After the door closed, Mike stared at the door in confusion. His eyes drifted to Yu, who smiled and said: “That was Desaray, and because of her, you were able to wake up. She was determined to bring you to the hospital and even fought monsters that could have killed her all by herself. We ended up running into some huge monsters before we could reach the hospital and took up refuge here. Luckily she was able to kill one of the monsters and leveled up, gaining a skill called first aid, which healed you.”

“I see… I will need to thank her.” Mike relaxed as he leaned back. “I need to get used to this. Everything seems like a dream. Can you tell me everything that has happened so far?”

While Yu filled Mike in on the details of everything that had happened thus far, outside the room, Desaray spoke with Becky, who had just finished making some food. “So you will be leaving for a while….”

“Just for now. When I come back tomorrow, I will bring two slimes with me to let both Jake and Mike evolve. I just need you to stay here to help protect them, but….” Desaray leaned in close and, in a low whisper, said: “If it seems hopeless, run away. Leave them and run. I will not think any less of you.”

“Mmm… I will. Desa, be careful out there. And…. Good luck finding your dad. And if you can, please see if my parents are home as well… If you have time, that is.” Becky began to tear up. She wondered if her parents were okay as well…

“Don’t worry, if I see your parents, I will bring them to you. I promise to protect them.” Desaray was not going to leave her friend here worried about her own family. She would be sure to try to find something out, if anything, about her mother and father as well.

“Thank you, Desa!”  Becky hugged Desaray before stepping back and turning towards the food on the coffee table. “Eat a few bites before you go.”

Desaray smiled and did as she was told. Becky only cooked some simple instant noodles, but it was still better than nothing. After a few bites she said her goodbyes and headed out of the room. Her first task was to break up a wall to get as much rubble as she could. She did not go down the same stairwell she came up on but instead made her way down the other stairwell down the hall and went to the floor below. She already knew she was much stronger than her human form by many times. Her scales were also quite powerful. With these new features combined, she felt it should be quite easy for her to bust down a wall and make enough derbies to block the door to the apartment that Becky and the others are in.