n

n

nKairos thought about Nicole’s proposition to get everyone together. In all honesty, he felt that it was unnecessary, but it had been a while since the group had gotten together. Perhaps it wouldn’t be too big of a deal to gather everyone.

nAfter setting down the vegetables that had been cooked, he let out a soft sigh.

n“Well, this definitely won’t be enough for everybody. But I guess we can work something out later.”

nNicole clasped her hands together.

n“So we’re inviting everyone?”

nKairos shrugged his shoulders.

n“I guess so. Let’s go up to the third floor to do that.”

nNicole nodded with a smile.

n“Ok!”

nThe two of them walked up to the third floor. By now, the ice had reduced considerably, though the amount that remained was quite small. The ice around the doors had been chipped down, probably so that the door could be opened. Kairos was honestly quite surprised that the ice had remained even until now.

nThat made him gradually think of an idea.

nIf the ice from the frost spell lasted so long, then it could work well for the sake of preserving food. Though, he doubted that just Nicole would be enough to preserve food for the entire city.

nHowever, he cast that thought away for now.

nNicole began knocking on a door, prompting Kairos to go on another and knock on it as well. The two of them gradually got through the doors with people.

nChase, Tori, and Sydney all responded to the call and agreed to show up in Kairos’ room. As for Eric, Nick, and Jenny, they didn’t show up after their doors were knocked on. Either they were still asleep, or out doing something.

nRegardless, Kairos felt that there was no reason to force it.

nNicole had thought that they were done, but Kairos went to one last door. It was one that was still frozen over. After cracking the ice at crucial points, Kairos forcefully opened the door.

nNicole put a finger on her chin.

n“Why are you checking this room?”

nKairos sighed.

n“There was someone I specifically brought that should still be in this room.”

nTori tilted her head to the side.

n“Eh? Who are they called?”

nKairos responded promptly.

n“His name is Quinn. He seems quite smart.”

nChase raised an eyebrow.

n“You brought someone solely based on their intelligence?”

nKairos rolled his eyes.

n“Pretty much, I guess.”

nSydney didn’t look too approving.

n“…What good is being smart in an apocalypse?”

nKairos sighed.

n“Look, he has a bit of smarts, and only needs a bit of food. It’s not like he’s joining our team or anything. The guy probably wouldn’t join even if we begged him, opting to remain in the city.”

nNicole nodded

n“Ah, that does make sense!”

nKairos waved his hand dismissively.

n“I’m just going to check up on him to make sure he’s ok. He had a pretty bad fever last I saw him. You guys can go to my room first.”

nNicole looked slightly reluctant, but didn’t resist.

n“O-Ok.”

nThe rest of the group went down, while Kairos got inside.

nIt seemed fairly normal overall, but upon walking into the bedroom, he found Quinn lying on the floor, resting his head on top of the sheets. Despite seeming quite out of it, Quinn was still awake. He gave Kairos a short glance before resting his head on the pillow once more.

n“Ah, you’re here.”

nKairos took a second to respond.

n“You didn’t even sleep in the bed that was right next to you?”

nQuinn coughed.

n“Well, I went to get a glass of water, but it seems like I overestimated myself. By the time I got back, I wasn’t even able to get myself onto the bed. The only thing I could really do was pull the sheets down to me so I could still sleep.”

nKairos blinked a few times.

n“So basically, you’re feeling worse?”

nQuinn shrugged.

n“Maybe a little bit. After a few more days I should be fine though.”

nKairos tapped his chin.

n“If you say so. When you’ve recovered, I want to talk to you about things. Just come to my room and give the door a knock. If I’m there, I will probably answer. Specifically, it’s on the first floor and the second room to the right when you walk down the stairs.”

nQuinn nodded.

n“Alright then.”

nKairos blinked a few times.

n“Want some help getting back up on the bed?”

nQuinn coughed.

n“Could I instead get help to be put on the couch?”

nKairos raised an eyebrow.

n“Find that thing comfier?”

nQuinn shook his head lightly.

n“No… it’s just that I will recover faster if I change where I sleep relatively frequently.”

nKairos blinked a few times.

n“How in the world does that work?”

nQuinn took a deep breath.

n“Basically, whatever is infecting me will get scattered about on the bed I was just on, while it will die later, it will probably still be active for a bit. If I continue sleeping there, I will be in the middle of that stuff making me sick. However, if I change where I sleep, there won’t be that problem.”

nHe blinked in a daze.

n“In a sense, it’s like spreading the disease around to my surroundings, so that it remains off of me.”

nKairos rubbed his chin with interest.

n“Huh, I never knew it worked that way.”

nQuinn yawned.

n“I guess. Anyways, could you help me move to the couch?”

nKairos nodded.

n“Alright.”

nWith that, he picked the man up rather easily and set him down on the couch. To help him out a little further, he even got some food and water for him. After setting it down on the table, Quinn weakly chuckled.

n“Thanks, though you didn’t need to do so much.”

nKairos rolled his eyes.

n“You’re acting like it’s actually a big deal for me to spend a few seconds grabbing some stuff. Anyway, I’m leaving now. Focus on recovering.”

nQuinn sighed.

n“That was the plan.”

nWith that, Kairos left, and got back down to his own room. Upon entering, Nicole excitedly rushed up to him.

n“Ah, you’re back! We decided to bring some other food so that there was enough for everybody.”

nKairos looked inside and saw that Sydney was using the makeshift stove he had earlier, and was cooking up some meat. He began wondering if that food could’ve been saved to eat until later. Though he also realized he was being a little too picky, thus didn’t talk about it.

nChase and Tori were both sitting down on the couch. Chase had his eyes closed, clearly not wanting to talk. However, those signals were not caught by Tori at all, who kept badgering him with pointless chatter.

nKairos let out a soft sigh.

n“It’s almost like… the apocalypse isn’t really happening.”

nNicole had a small smile.

n“…Yeah.”

nSydney caught onto the sound of footsteps and turned to Kairos, flashing a small smile.

n“Ah, hello. You made a nice stove here, but if you use it you have to put out the fire afterward, and also open a window while you use it. Otherwise, the fire might run rampant, and the smoke will pollute the room.”

nShe then pointed towards a nearby window, which was open.

nKairos gave a nod.

n“Alright. I will keep that in mind for the future.”

nAlthough there were quite a few of them, the dining table in the room was quite large, with more than enough seats for all of them. It did not take too long for Sydney to finish what she was making, before she proceeded to set it down on the table.

n“It’s all done!”

nChase got up, and Tori followed from close behind, still talking about some random thing she could think up of.

nNicole and Kairos didn’t wait, and also made their way there.

nThe amount of food that was set on the table would’ve normally been enough for all five of them, and there probably would be leftovers after as well. But that was only in consideration for the normal appetite of people before the apocalypse.

nNow, this would probably only be enough for three people, assuming none of them were particularly hungry. However, there wasn’t really much to do about that, as there was only so much space on the table.

nAnd eating wasn’t really the main point of the gathering anyway.

nNicole cleared her throat.

n“Um, is everyone doing well?”

nTori nodded nonchalantly.

n“I’m doing fine.”

nChase shrugged his shoulders.

n“If you don’t count the overall state of the world after it was plunged into an apocalypse, then yeah, I’m fine.”

nSydney smiled.

n“Haha, you really know how to joke! I’m also doing well, my daughter. All of us are alive, no?”

nNicole’s eyebrow twitched when she heard that. Kairos also stiffened up, while Chase pretended that he didn’t hear anything. As for Tori, she was completely oblivious to all of that.

nThe reason for all this being, they weren’t all alive. As though to poke fun at that, there was one missing seat.

nIf Kairos’ dad was still present, that one would be filled, and it would be a little easier to overlook. But regardless, it didn’t change the fact that Harold had died. Kairos wondered if this was ok, as he didn’t think denial was good. Though at the same time, he didn’t want to make the situation worse.

nThoughts quickly flashed through his mind before he decided to divert the topic.

n“Hey, Tori. We never really got to know that much about you. How about you share some stories with us?”

nKairos tactfully decided to choose to speak to her because he figured from her actions earlier, she shouldn’t be averse to speaking. And as he expected, Tori responded quickly, and even with a bright smile.

n“Ah, of course!”

nYet, right after she said that the smile gradually began disappearing from her face.

nKairos felt a little taken aback.

n“…Is something wrong?”

nTori scratched the side of her head and laughed awkwardly.

n“Um, there isn’t much to talk about, as I haven’t really done much.”

nKairos blinked a few times.

nWhat in the world happened to the person that was so talkative just moments ago?

n“…It doesn’t have to be the most exciting thing, or memorable. Frankly, any random thing could work. You aren’t presenting on stage or something, after all.”

nTori pressed her lips together.

n“T-That makes sense…”

nOriginally, Kairos just wanted to divert the subject. But now, he was a little curious as to why she was so reluctant. The curious part of him couldn’t help but want to pry just a little.

nAnd to do that… he first had to make Tori a little more comfortable with sharing her ideas.

n“My own life isn’t all that eventful, but I guess I can tell you about it. I was just an average kid most of the time, and when I was young, I would usually go out to play and do random things.”

nHe then glanced at Nicole.

n“That was when I met her, and we’ve been friends ever since.”

nNicole seemed both pleased and a little irritated when he said that. It seemed that the word “friends” wasn’t one that she appreciated all that much.

nBut to this, Tori gave a small nod.

n“Oh. Then for me, I spent a lot of my time when I was younger in the dojo. My father spent quite a bit of time every day making me practice using the katana. While I did like using the katana, doing it all day was a little too much for me.”

nShe scratched her cheek.

n“…So, I would sneak out a lot when I was young, and I would try to find people to talk to when I did.”

nKairos rubbed his chin.

n“Ah, what kinds of people did you meet?”

nTori looked down at the table.

n“Well… most people didn’t really want to talk to me.”

nBut then, a small smile formed on her face.

n“But there was one that did.”

n