CHAPTER 48: SHAMELESS AS ALWAYS

I don’t know if it was desperation or relief that someone had come to save her, but she lunged at me and wrapped her arms around me, burying her face in my chest. She didn’t seem to mind the blood caked onto my suit.

I awkwardly stood there with my hands by my side as she cried. Consoling someone in distress wasn’t my forte.

What would Alliah do?

She had told me she had been in these types of situations before, where she had to comfort people who lost their families or were traumatized. She said that in those situations, the best thing to do was assure them that they were safe.

You somehow had to make them feel secure when they were around you; that no matter what, you’d make sure they were safe. That was how you became their hero.

It was a ridiculous notion, but worth a try.

I stroked the back of her head, running my fingers through her hair.

"You’re safe now. I’ll protect you."

As I said that, I could feel her entire body relax against me. It was a strange sensation, having someone put their life in your hands.

"Thank you," I heard her faintly mutter as she continued to sob.

When she finally calmed down a bit, I questioned her. It turned out she had experienced the same thing I had. She had climbed the stairs, and when she came through, she found herself in this cave.

I figured that must have been the same thing that happened to our other classmates. She was still leaning against me, her eyes darting around the cave. She kept one hand on my wrist and didn’t wander too far.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

Her voice was shaky as she answered.

"Y-yeah... I’m fine now, thanks to yo—"

Before she finished her sentence, she began to collapse. I instinctively grabbed her by the waist to keep her upright. She had lost too much blood. I noticed the slow beating pulse on her neck and thought it was only a matter of time.

She moaned and stirred before finally opening her eyes. A red blush crept onto her cheeks as she weakly uttered an apology and created a little distance between us.

"Thank you for your help," she repeated once again. "Have you managed to figure out a way out of this place?"

She was acting much shyer than she normally did in class. She always came across as a little smug or arrogant. Even though she separated herself from us, many of the girls in our class still looked to her for approval.

As to why, I didn’t know; the social hierarchy differed among the girls.

"No, I haven’t been able to figure out how to get out of this place," I answered. "I was following the sound of running water when I came across you."

"I heard it too," she replied in a soft voice.

I could tell that she was still shaken up by what had happened, but what was bothering her right now were the bugs that were pesteringly flying around me.

"D-do those things belong to you?"

Even she realized how unnatural these bugs were.

"No, they don’t," I answered simply.

The bugs and the bodies of the dead moths surrounding us were causing a nervous reaction from her, so we decided to head toward the sound of the stream in hopes that we might find a way out.

It was strange; the closer we seemed to get to the running water, the more Blood Moths we encountered. I wasn’t one for coincidences, so my senses were heightened just from that realization alone.

There was also something else I noticed that put me on edge—we were being followed. It started a while back, not long after I found Natasha.

I knew better than to chase after an unseen enemy in a cave I hardly knew, so I bided my time and waited for the perfect moment. We eventually came upon a section of the cave where the path was narrow, and quick movements were all but impossible.

I disappeared in an instant; not even Natasha, who was standing right beside me, noticed.

This cave was like a maze, but we had been circling around this same spot for a while now. Natasha didn’t notice since she was still in a state of shock from what had happened, and the person following us might have brushed it off as us being lost.

I memorized everything; I knew just what route to take to catch them off guard. When I got in close, they finally realized what had happened. There were two of them.

In a state of panic, one of them threw a rock at me, which bounced off my mask, while the other tripped and fell before they could make their escape.

These two are hopeless.

It was Luna and Kiki. Luna was on the ground, rubbing her bumped knee, while tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. Kiki was glaring at me, somehow implying that I had done something wrong.

Of course it was them—one on the verge of crying from a scraped knee and the other one glaring at me as if I had ruined her day just by breathing.

"What are the two of you doing here?" I asked.

"Seriously, after sneaking up on two girls like some kind of pervert, that’s what you’re going to ask?" Kiki said in a tone meant to belittle my intelligence. "Why else would we be here? We were transferred here just like you after climbing the stairs. The real question is, why were you spying on us?"

Typical; she’s always so shameless, even though she’s a leech.

"Fine, since it’s just a coincidence, I’ll leave you girls alone," I said, turning my back to leave.

"Wait!" both of them shouted in unison.

It was as expected from both of them. Luna belonged to me, so she couldn’t wander too far away, and Kiki was a shameless leech who wanted to cling to me so that I could protect her.

Luna quickly brushed herself off and hopped to her feet.

"We were looking for you," she said. "I used one of my curses that was adept at tracking scent to keep track of you before we left the first floor."

Her curses?... The bugs! They belonged to her.

"Why didn’t you make your presence known sooner?" I asked.

If they intended to find me, why would they be following me from so far away?

Luna fiddled with her thumbs awkwardly before answering.

"We saw that you were busy..."

Busy?

She trailed off, unable to say what she wanted, to which Kiki quickly jumped in to answer for her.

"You were with that girl—Natasha. We were afraid we might’ve stumbled onto something we weren’t meant to see, and knowing how you are, there’s no telling how you would react." She folded her arms and puffed out her chest. "Who is she to you anyway—not that I care; it’s for Luna’s sake."

"Uh, no! Kiki—"

"I hardly know her," I cut Luna off before they could start their bantering. "I found her while I was trying to figure a way out of here."

She raised an eyebrow at my answer but then gave a defeated sigh before asking,

"So, where are we going?"

Shameless as always.