"What are you doing here?" I whispered, trying to keep my voice steady, though my heart was racing.
Kairos didn’t answer imdiately. Instead, he kept leading further away, until we were far enough that the sounds of my friends’ voices faded into the background. Only then did he stop, turning to face with a serious expression.
"You don’t need to see that," he said quietly, his tone gentle but firm.
I looked away, unable to hide the mix of emotions swirling inside . "I know," I replied, my voice barely audible. "I was about to leave when you suddenly showed up. Wait, how are you here anyway?"
Kairos’s grip on my hand softened, and his usual smirk appeared. "Oh, I was just hunting so monsters when I mistook you for a pervert peeking at sothing."
For a mont, my sadness was replaced with a surge of annoyance. "Why you!" I exclaid, trying to smack him on the head, but he effortlessly dodged my attempt, his smirk only widening.
"Is that all you got?"
I continued to chase after him, determined to land at least one hit, but he was too fast, always staying just out of reach. After a while, I gave up, out of breath and too exasperated to continue. They were at a small clearing surrounded by tall trees and a blanket of soft, green grass. I flopped down on the ground, deciding instead to enjoy the stars that dotted the night sky.
I’m thankful Kairos didn’t bring up the incident anymore, letting the conversation drift into sothing more comfortable. He laid down beside , and for a while, we were both quiet, lost in our own thoughts. The night was calm, the only sounds were the faint rustling of leaves in the breeze and the distant chirping of nocturnal creatures.
My eyes sparkled as I gazed up at the star-filled sky. "The stars are beautiful tonight, aren’t they?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
Kairos only humd in response, his eyes never leaving mine. He had been looking at for what felt like hours but I was oblivious to his gaze, too caught up in the beauty of the night sky.
"I wish I was one of the stars instead," I said softly. "I want to be free and untouchable, just like them. No worries, no problems, no pain. Just... nothing."
Kairos hesitated for a mont before speaking. "Remillia, you’re already a star," he said, trying to reach out to . "I see the way you shine at the Academy." and sohow you happen to light sothing inside . He wanted to say that but chose to kept quiet instead.
My gaze remained fixed on the sky, but Kairos could see a hint of sadness creeping into my eyes. "You don’t understand," I whispered. "What if I told you I wasn’t from this world? Do you know how scary it is? How exhausting it is to fit in a place you’re not familiar with?"
"I may not understand completely," Kairos replied, his voice filled with empathy. "But you have friends here who care about you. And if they ever forget you, just rember that I’m here. I’m your friend now, aren’t I?"
I finally looked at him, a small smile tugging at my lips. Then, without warning, I lightly smacked him on the head. "That’s for earlier."
Kairos only chuckled, rubbing his head with an exaggerated wince.
I stood up and offered him my hand, helping him to his feet. "Thanks for listening to my whining," I said, my tone lighter now. "But we should get back before the others wake up."
Kairos took my hand and stood, brushing the dirt off his clothes. "Anyti, Lia," he said with a soft smile.
I stopped on my tracks and looked at him, "What did you call ?"
"Since your friends call you Remi, I’ll just call you Lia instead. I don’t want your friends to glare at like I did sothing wrong to you," his usual smirk was back.
I only shook my head at him, "Let’s just go."
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
It was already the fourth day and earlier, Christian happen to stumble into our camp, looking absolutely starving and when he saw us, his eyes welled up with tears.
"Remillia! I really missed you!" he exclaid, his voice thick with emotion. His gaze then shifted to Rex and Whitney. "You too, guys! Hu! Hu! Hu! You don’t know how much I struggled out there—"
He abruptly stopped talking as a delicious aroma wafted through the air, catching his attention. His eyes widened, and without a second thought, he abandoned his emotional reunion and rushed over to the pot where the food was cooking.
"Wait a second," he said, already halfway there. Then, with a newfound burst of energy, "Food!"
Without any hesitation, Christian flocked to the pot, his hunger evident as he slurped it all. The sight for others was both amusing and a little concerning—especially since we hadn’t prepared nearly enough food for such a large number of people.
However I can’t believe how shaless he was, eating all their breakfast for the day. They haven’t eaten yet! Annoyed, I approached him to give him a slap in the back of his head.
"Wait," he was slurping the soup. "Before you hit , are you the leader? If not, then call for him or her."
I stopped on my tracks then I looked at Ezekiel, "Ezekiel, can you temporarily grant the power of being a leader?"
Ezekiel smiled at her, "Of course, hit him as much as you want."
I turned to look at Christian and smiled at him.
"W-wait, that’s not fair!" However I already slapped him on the back of his head.
Christian’s eyes went wide as he turned to face , rubbing the back of his head where I had just smacked him. "Ow! I was just hungry!" he whined, still chewing on a mouthful of food.
I crossed my arms, glaring at him. "I know you’re hungry, but did you really have to be an absolute glutton and eat all of our breakfast? You do realize that food isn’t unlimited, right?"
He blinked at , then glanced at the now-empty pot, his expression shifting from defiance to guilt. "I—I’m sorry! We’ve been starving for days, and I lost all rationality when I slled the food."
I sighed, my annoyance softening a bit. "Then go out there and hunt again."
"N-now?" His eyes widened in disbelief.
"Yes, now go."
He imdiately dropped to his knees, clasping his hands together in a pleading gesture. "I’m begging you, don’t send out there again! I suffered for days! I got chased by giant wasps!"
Everyone around us burst into laughter at his dramatic outburst.
"You don’t understand," he continued, his voice tinged with desperation. "Those wasps are massive, with stingers like daggers! There were hundreds of them swarming after ! I don’t know the na but they’re real, please, Remillia, spare !"
I sighed, exasperated but also amused by his theatrics. Vesprids were indeed a real threat—giant wasp-like monsters with razor-sharp stingers and venom potent enough to paralyze their prey in seconds. They were known for their aggressive nature and tendency to swarm anything that disturbed their nests.
"Alright, alright," I finally said, waving a hand dismissively. "You can stay, but you’re on cooking duty tomorrow."
Christian let out a relieved sigh, slumping back into his seat. "Thank you, Remillia. You’re a lifesaver."
The rest of the days passed by peacefully, with everyone going about their usual activities.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
On the sixth day, Kairos and I were paired up for monster hunting. This was part of the rule we established in our camp: students could group up to five mbers to protect themselves and so they could still earn points by hunting monsters. I had wanted to go alone, but Kairos insisted on joining , so I ended up with him. Although we didn’t bring up the topic ever since that night, I began to be comfortable around him.
We eventually separated to cover more ground, agreeing to et back at a specific spot once we were done hunting. My mind was focused on the task at hand, and I quickly dispatched several mid-ranked monsters, feeling the familiar rush of adrenaline with each victory. As I made my way back to our eting point, I happened to encounter Angela and Edge.
Relief washed over as I finally found them, "Angela! Edge!" I called out, hurrying over to them. But as I drew closer, I noticed sothing was off. The usual cheer in Angela’s expression was dampened by worry.
"Remillia!" Angela’s voice was a mix of relief and anxiety. "We’ve been looking for you. Did you also find the others?"
"Yeah, they’re all at our camp not far away from here," I glanced around, noting that Cypher wasn’t with them. "But... where’s Cypher? I don’t see him anywhere, did he go sowhere else?"
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