Kairos really hadn’t changed at all since the last ti I saw him. Sa calm expression, sa irritatingly composed aura—although this ti, he was dirty.
I had the overwhelming urge to run up and hug him out of pure relief. Unfortunately, reality intervened. We were both filthy, sunburned, probably slled like dried fish and bad decisions, and I wasn’t about to make physical contact under those conditions.
"It’s been a while," Kairos said, giving a small, familiar smile.
I squinted at him, circling slightly like I was inspecting a suspicious artifact. "Don’t tell you were stuck on this island the whole ti."
He nodded once.
...Of course he was.
I glanced toward the sea instinctively, half-expecting a giant fish to leap out and swallow him mid-conversation. Good. At least the Nautilith didn’t decide to make this place its dining table.
My stomach chose that mont to betray with a loud, pitiful growl.
"Let’s eat sothing first," I said quickly, opening my inventory and pulling out the sad remains of the fish I’d risked my life to hunt. It looked... edible. If one squinted. And lowered their standards.
Before I could hand it over, Kairos suddenly grabbed my wrist.
"Follow ," he said, already turning around and heading deeper into the forest.
"...Where are we going?" I asked, slightly alard. This Vision had taught that following people into forests usually led to trauma.
"I thought this might happen," he said casually. "So I prepared ergency food."
I blinked. "...You what?"
"Ergency. Food."
"Right," I muttered. "Of course you did."
We walked for a few minutes until we reached the middle of the forest, where Kairos stopped in front of a massive palm tree. He looked up, reached out, and untied a rope I hadn’t even noticed.
Sothing dropped.
I yelped and jumped back, fully prepared to dodge for my life, but the falling object stopped just inches from my face.
A bag.
Not just any bag—the familiar, system-issued inventory bag. The kind that preserved food indefinitely.
Kairos caught it calmly. "Here."
He opened the bag with a faintly proud expression, like a man revealing his greatest achievent.
I peeked inside.
...And my soul left my body.
There were crabs. Fish. Shellfish. Dried strips of at. Smoked seafood. Fresh seafood. Probably seafood I didn’t even have a na for. It was like the ocean personally apologized to him for existing.
My eyes bulged. "You— You’ve been eating this?"
"Yes."
"Every day?"
"More or less."
I slowly looked down at my own inventory—the sad, tragic pile of survival scraps I’d hoarded like a raccoon on the brink of death.
Then I looked back at him.
"...I almost got eaten in my sleep," I said flatly. "Twice."
Kairos paused. "That sounds... unfortunate."
"Unfortunate?" I echoed. "I’ve been fighting for my life whether I was awake, asleep, or breathing. Killer birds, flying fish, venomous serpents—at one point, I considered the ocean my mortal enemy."
He tilted his head slightly. "You could have stayed on one island."
"I tried," I snapped. "The island exploded."
"...Exploded."
"Volcano," I added.
He nodded like that explained everything. "I see."
I stared at the bag again, then at him. "You were living like this while I was reenacting a survival docuntary?"
"Yes."
I sighed, collapsed onto a nearby log, and held out my hand dramatically. "Give food. Before I start gnawing on this tree."
"You must really be that hungry," Kairos said, a faint, knowing smile tugging at his lips.
"Yes," I replied instantly. No pride. No hesitation. Survival had beaten humility out of days ago.
I stared.
"...You’re telling ," I said slowly, "that while I was fighting for my life with raw fish and regret, you were out here running a seaside restaurant?"
He ignored and started cooking.
The mont the pan heated up, the sll hit .
Oil sizzling. Seafood crackling. The unmistakable, sinful aroma of properly cooked food.
My body betrayed imdiately. Without realizing it, I scooted closer and sat beside him, staring intently as if my gaze alone could make the food cook faster. The seafood gradually turned a beautiful orange, glistening under the firelight like it belonged in a food comrcial.
I swallowed.
Hard.
Kairos flipped the seafood with ease, completely unfazed by the feral look in my eyes. When he was done, he snapped a large banana leaf off a nearby plant, folded it neatly, and used it as a plate like this was the most natural thing in the world.
He placed the food carefully on top and handed it to . "Here."
I took it with trembling hands. "You’re my savior," I said solemnly—and then took a bite.
The mont the food touched my tongue, my eyes went wide.
Then watery.
Then full-on tears.
I cried.
Actual tears.
"This— this is what seafood tastes like?!" I sobbed between bites. "Seasoned! Cooked! Warm! I’ve been eating raw fish like a desperate caveman doing bad sashimi for days!"
Kairos blinked. "You didn’t cook them?"
"I didn’t even have salt," I wailed. "Do you know what unsalted raw fish does to a person’s soul?"
I shoveled food into my mouth like soone afraid it might vanish if I stopped. Tears stread down my face, crumbs stuck to my cheeks, dignity nowhere to be found.
"I’m never leaving your side again!" I declared through a mouthful of seafood. "You can’t get rid of . I’m your responsibility now."
"That’s a bold declaration," Kairos said mildly.
"I will follow you everywhere," I continued. "Forest. Cave. Volcano. If you jump into the sea, I’m clinging to your leg."
He paused, then sighed softly. "At least finish chewing before making lifelong vows."
I was done after a solid half hour of eating. Not because I was full—no, my stomach would’ve gladly accepted another round—but because Kairos finally stared at like a disappointed parent watching their child eat the entire buffet alone.
If I hadn’t forcibly shoved food into his hands, he would’ve ended up standing there like a doting parent, watching inhale his ergency rations.
I stood up, groaning as my body protested the sudden movent, and stretched my arms high. My joints cracked loudly, sounding like they were filing complaints.
"Alright," I said, clapping my hands together. "Let’s start moving."
"...Moving?" Kairos echoed, blinking at .
"Uh-huh," I nodded, already turning as if this conversation had ended.
He raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said you were going to follow ?"
"...."
I pretended not to hear him and started inspecting the trees instead, as if bark textures were suddenly fascinating.
"Hey," he said flatly. "Answer ."
"Uhm—I—You know—that thing?" I gestured vaguely at the air.
"What thing?"
"The... thing," I said, nodding like that explained everything. "You know. Big. Dangerous. Murdery."
He crossed his arms. "You’re doing that thing where you lie."
"I do not lie," I protested. "I creatively rearrange facts."
He waited for my answer as sweat started forming on my forehead.
"Okay, fine," I blurted. "Before I t you, I t another person. I was about to save him—heroically, by the way—when a monster twice as large as the island he was staying on suddenly appeared and swallowed the entire island."
Kairos blinked once.
Twice.
"So," I continued quickly, words tumbling out faster than my conscience could stop them, "I figured we should move. Imdiately. Before that monster decides we look like a light snack."
I let out a smile although it felt awkward.
"Hm," he said slowly. "And what’s the na of this... monster?"
’Why did he ask for a na?’
My brain scrambled, flipping through every dramatic-sounding monster title I could think of.
[Terra Maw]
"...Terra Maw!" I repeated loudly.
Silence.
He stared so hard I could feel my soul sweating.
Seconds passed.
Long, terrifying seconds.
’Please believe . Please believe . Please let get away with this one lie. I’ve been through enough. I swear on cooked seafood.’
In truth, the mont I saw him on this island, a massive weight had lifted off my shoulders. With Kairos here, I wouldn’t have to sleep with one eye open and a dagger clutched to my chest like a paranoid gremlin. Soone competent had my back now and also, very importantly, he can cook. That alone was worth committing a small cri against honesty.
After what felt like an eternity, Kairos sighed. "...Fine."
I internally scread in relief.
"Yes!" I coughed, correcting myself instantly. "I an—good. Sensible. Very logical."
We headed back to the beach to upgrade the raft. The thing barely qualified as transportation before—it was more like a floating suggestion—but with Kairos’ help, it actually started looking... respectable.
We reinforced the base, tightened the bindings, added extra planks for balance. Kairos handled food storage like a seasoned survivalist while I contributed tools, rope, and whatever questionable materials I had hoarded along the way.
In less than an hour, our raft had transford from death trap to slightly less insulting death trap.
I stepped back and admired our work.
"...You know," I said, nodding proudly, "this is already better than my last raft."
"How many rafts have you lost?" Kairos asked.
"...Let’s not dwell on the past."
And as long as Kairos didn’t ask too many follow-up questions about Terra Maw, I figured things might actually turn out okay.
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