All of the young girls gathered around Chloe with their worried eyes.

[ Chloe what's wrong? ]

[ Are you okay?! ]

[ Chloe! ]

[ [ Chloe! ] ]

They didn't fully get what was going on, but they understood that something was wrong based on Chloe's reaction.

Chloe wasn't reacting at all.

I turned around and went outside of that place.

Staying there would be pointless for me.

Anyway, they are going to die either from monsters, starvation, or some kind of disease.

Even after getting out of that cave behind that waterfall, I still could hear their voices calling out to Chloe.

...

[ Shiro? ] ( Hatsuko )

Shiro got out of my hood and took a look at me.

She doesn't usually get out of my hoodie. What is she doing?

Her eyes were staring right straight at me as if she was trying to tell me something.

[ What's wrong? ] ( Hatsuko )

She walked some centimeters away from me and turned her head around once more.

[ Meow! ] ( Shiro )

I understood that Shiro wanted me to follow her back into that cave.

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* * * *

I was lying near the wall of this cave. It wasn't comfortable but I didn't expect anything special from this kind of place. On my side was Chloe, unconscious.

The young girls brought some old rags and placed them under Chloe's head as a pillow so she wouldn't have to sleep on the hard ground.

Shiro was close to me as well.

[ Thank you, mister, for helping Chloe! ]

One of the young girls thanked me as she went back to sleep.

How did I end up staying here?

When I was on my way of leaving this place, Shiro went back inside of this cave and she refused to leave this place for some reason.

I didn't want to leave Shiro behind so I had no other choice but to see what she wanted.

By the time I went back inside the cave, I had found Chloe unconscious in the ground while all of the other girls were crying her name. Shiro went close to her and started licking her face.

That was the first time I saw Shiro act that way towards someone else besides me.

Of course, I wasn't happy about that, but I still stayed here just for a bit longer.

All of the other girls were sleeping near Chloe except one girl who went deeper inside the cave.

I didn't care what she was doing as long as it didn't bother me.

[ hmu... ] ( Chloe )

Chloe's face twitched a little as she was opening her eyes.

Is she going to wake up?

Her opened blank eyes were looking up.

[ You awake? ] ( Hatsuko )

I asked her, not because I was worried but because I wanted to leave as soon as possible.

[ huh... you... ] ( Chloe )

She noticed that I was beside her. She looked at me in surprise by the fact that I was still here.

[ I thought you would have left already... ] ( Chloe )

Her reactions, her confidence, it was like she was a whole different person.

[ Yes... I was on my way to leave!! ] ( Hatsuko )

I replied after taking another look at her.

[ So why?... ] ( Chloe )

She asked. Her eyes were focused on me while still laying down.

[ ... ] ( Hatsuko )

I didn't respond to her.

[ *Purring* ] ( Shiro )

Chloe looked at her chest, noticing Shiro who was sleeping between her boobs.

[ This is... ] ( Chloe )

[ Her name is Shiro. ] ( Hatsuko )

She stared at Shiro with a bitter smile on her face as she started petting her with her gentle hand.

[ Thank you Shiro... ] ( Chloe )

Huh?

Did she realize that It was thanks to Shiro that I stayed here?

...

[ I'm going out for a bit! ] ( Hatsuko )

I said that as I got up and started walking outside.

Chloe stared at me without saying anything.

The moment I went outside of this cave, I flew in the air and looked around.

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* * * *

In the morning.

The first one to wake up was Ava.

She immediately went towards Chloe and started shaking her.

[ Chloe! Chloe! Wake up! ] ( Ava )

[ Five more minutes... ] ( Chloe )

She stared shaking Chloe even more.

[ Chloe, please wake up!! ] ( Ava )

[ *Growl* I'm so full, no more meat... ] ( Chloe )

Her stomach started growling as she was talking in her sleep.

[ Chlooee! ] ( Ava )

Chloe opened her eyes and looked at Ava who was trying to wake her up.

[ What is it... Ava?.. ] ( Chloe )

She started getting up slowly as she asked Ava what was going on.

*Crackle* *pop* *Crackle*

Near the entrance of the cave, could be heard noises of wood-burning.

Not knowing what was going on, she looked in the direction where the noises were coming from.

A small campfire was there where Hatsuko had placed a lot of fish thrusted by slim wooden sticks.

On the other way were gathered and placed, more than 50 wood logs.

[ Huh?! ] ( Chloe )

The cave was being filled with the smell of cooked fish.

**Growl**

Growling noises could be heard between the girls who were still sleeping.

[ WHAAT?!? ] ( Chloe )

Her surprised voice echoed inside the cave.

[ [ Huh... ] ]

[ hm ]

[ ... ]

All of the girls who were sleeping near Chloe were waking up one after another from her reaction.

[ Is that food? ]

[ [ *growling noises* ] ]

[ Fish? ]

All of the young girls were gathering around Hatsuko and the campfire.

Their growling stomachs could be heard everywhere.

The girls were staring at the fish and Hatsuko who was cooking them.

After checking if the fish was fully cooked, Hatsuko started handing them to the girls.

[ Here! ] ( Hatsuko )

He handed the first cooked fish to one of the girls who was near him. His face was still the same as usual.

The girl hesitated to get the fish for a bit, but her hunger managed to overwhelm.

Her saliva was dripping out of her mouth as she was smelling the cooked fish.

Her expression changed into a happy one as she grabbed the wooden stick on each side.

She stared at the fish stuck in the middle of the wooden stick with a hungry expression.

Taking the first bite, she started chewing really fast and immediately swallowed it.

[ Haaa! Hoth! Hot ]

She took out her tongue trying to cool down from the hot fish.

Her hunger didn't let her calm down from eating the fish right in front of her.

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