On my first night in the 15th century, I woke up countless times, and every time I went back to sleep, I wished I could be freed from this nightmare. But it never happened, and I always rose in this unfamiliar place again. 

I missed the warmth of my bed, the messy desk full of stick-it notes in my room, and staying up until late texting my best friend. The people were what I missed the most, and the thought I could never see them again haunted me all the time.

There was a knock on the door, and a few instants later, Mina and a shorter girl came inside. She had long dark hair, and her kimono was more embellished than Mina's simple hakama.

"So this is the girl you were talking about?" She asked, seeming excited and smiling brightly at me. "You never told me she was this pretty, Mina!"

"Hm, you think she's pretty?" Mina replied, seeming disinterested. I've known her for no more than hours, and she was already starting to get on my nerves.

"I know  'm pretty," I replied snarkily, swinging away the bed sheet and getting up. "I don't need your validation."

"I like you already," the other girl said, and the feeling was mutual because she was a lot more pleasant than Mina. "My name is Yabuki Nako, nice to meet you!"

"It's good to meet you too. My name is Nayeon," I smiled at her and replied. "What brings you here?"

"How come you can remember your name if you lost your memory?" Nako asked curiously, seeming interested.

I blushed, not having thought about that before, and replied, "O-Oh, I lost only a part of my memory... I can still remember stuff from my childhood, including my name."

"Nako is the imperial princess," Mina replied monotonously. "She found out that I brought a girl with memory loss to the castle and became curious to meet you."

"P-Princess? Oh my god, I've been so rude," I said, immediately bowing to Nako. "I'm sorry, Your Highness. It's an honor to meet you!"

"Why'd you tell her that? It was much more fun when she didn't know who I was," Nako pouted. 

"There's no point in hiding who you are, Your Highness," Mina shrugged and then turned to me.

"I told you not to call me that," Nako continued sulking, crossing her arms.

"As your retainer, it's the only way I can refer to you," Mina simply replied before turning to face me. "Get ready, we'll be having breakfast soon." 

"Can I have breakfast with you?" Nako asked, clinging to Mina's sleeve. Surprisingly, her features softened, and she smiled at the younger girl, patting her head. 

"I'm sorry, but you know you need to have breakfast with the royal family," she replied, sounding apologetic. "You should be going now, you know how they get when you're late."

"Aw... okay, I guess," Nako replied desolated, giving Mina a quick hug and waving goodbye at me before leaving the room. "It was nice to meet you, Nayeon! I hope we can talk more later!"

The elegant beauty of the castle's garden made me glad that my phone still had a bit of battery left to take pictures of it. Mina, of course, was terrified when the phone camera's flashed, and I couldn't help laughing at how a samurai was afraid of such a harmless device.

I could only hope I'd be able to see the pictures again when I return to the 21st century and plug it in a charger. But today, we would hopefully be close to finding some clues about what happened.

"I hope this family of priests will be there this time," I nervously said, as we walked underneath the seasonal cherry blossoms, approaching the same cobblestone path from yesterday.

I stepped on a stone that seemed out of place. It was different from the cobblestones, but the most shocking thing was that it made a small yelping sound when I touched it. 

"Is it just me or did this rock just-," I started saying, stopping when it moved on its own, and I screamed, clasping on Mina's sleeve. "WHY IS THIS THING MOVING AND MAKING SOUNDS?!" 

I grabbed a nearby tree stick and began hitting it repeatedly. After a few strikes, the rock surrounded itself in smoke and transformed into a bipedal raccoon-like creature.

"That's Bunta," Mina explained, seeming unimpressed and grabbing him by the fur. "He's a tanuki... one who's always trying to invade the castle to steal food and liquor."

"Get your hands away from me, human!" He screeched, trying to untangle himself from Mina's grasp. Unable to do so by strength, there was another smokescreen, and he changed into a balloon, managing to escape by flying away.

"T-Tanukis aren't supposed to speak... or transform themselves into other things," I argued, still shocked by what happened.

"What do you mean?" Mina asked, turning to face me. "Of course they do, they always have... that's what they're known for."

"Not in my time!" I responded. "Tanukis that can transform and speak are only present in folklore about yokai." 

"Folklore? Yokai are very much a real thing here," she said, as we continued moving. "That's why we must always be careful. Many