n

n

nKairos’ eyebrow twitched rather violently. For the first time in a long while, he was told off by Nicole. And the reason for it was… one that made him feel rather indignant, to say the least.

nKaede couldn’t help but laugh as she continued on.

n“Hey, you aren’t getting ahead of yourself now are you?”

nNicole let out a small gasp.

n“Eh? What do you mean?”

nThough none of them could see, it wasn’t hard to tell that Kaede was smiling.

n“I bet you thought I was going to coach you on how to do… that thing.”

nNicole coughed.

n“W-What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

nKaede snickered.

n“Don’t think you can talk your way out of this one girl!”

nNicole let out an embarrassed hum.

n“What else am I supposed to think then?”

nKaede let out a sigh.

n“Oh my innocent little lamb… After you get them in the mood, you can’t forget about foreplay! You gotta get their thing up all the way.”

nKairos sucked in a cold breath while this conversation was happening.

n“I’m right here. Just so you know.”

nKaede giggled.

n“Oh don’t worry, I know, little virgin boy.”

nKairos’ eyebrow twitched. By now, she was completely back to her cocky self, but at the very least she wasn’t being as rude as she had been before. Though she would make the occasional insulting remark, it wasn’t really out of hostility. Nicole let out a clear hum, showing that she was thinking fairly hard.

n“S-So what kind of thing is foreplay?”

nKaede cleared her throat.

n“In essence, it’s the same thing as getting someone in the mood, but just more intense. Unlike just touching them or giving them looks that imply things, you have to go a step further. Maybe tease them a little bit, call them your baby boy to demean that manly pride a little bit. On top of that, both of your hands should be all over him, unrestrainedly touching him everywhere.”

nDespite already being unable to see, Kairos closed his eyes in an attempt to further himself from this conversation as much as possible. On the other hand, Nicole’s breathing got a little heavier, showing she was getting excited just from hearing that.

n“K-Kairos! Come a little closer so I can test it.”

nKairos’ eyebrow twitched.

n“This isn’t the most fitting time, don’t you think?”

nTo his surprise, Kaede spoke up in agreement.

n“He’s right! From how he sounds, it’s fairly clear he’s not in the mood right now.”

nNicole let out a grumble.

n“B-But I already did so much touching!”

nKaede sounded a little surprised.

n“Ah, really? Huh… that’s a little strange. Even if it’s the work of an amateur, I figured that with what we were talking about he should be at least a little into it…”

nNicole took a deep breath.

n“Mm… he’s always been like this. I… I’ve touched him a lot before and um…”

nKairos’ eyelid twitched.

n“If you say it like that, it sounds way worse than it actually is.”

nKaede clearly seemed interested.

n“Oh? What exactly have you done in the past?”

nNicole coughed sheepishly.

n“E-Em… usually I grab onto his arm and stuff. And also uh…”

nShe trailed off, leaving Kaede sounding rather understanding.

n“Well if it’s just that, then as long as he isn’t a complete horndog, that’s normal.”

nNicole’s coughing got a little more violent.

n“Ah, that makes sense. I also touched his chest a little.”

nKaede didn’t respond immediately.

n“Huh. For a second I forgot that Kairos isn’t actually a female.”

nKairos let out a sigh, but didn’t say anything else. In the end, he lost focus on getting any of the red crystals. He doubted that the other two were even trying to do the same thing, so he didn’t really see the point in that. It was supposed to be a creepy place with all the whispers, but Kaede’s energetic voice overpowered all of them, making it sound like they were actually at a slumber party.

nNicole scratched the side of her head.

n“E-Em, why would you think Kairos is a female?”

nKaede let out a soft grunt.

n“Well, usually it’s the guy that’s trying everything they possibly can to get in the girl’s pants. You also say things like… an embarrassed but horny virgin guy.”

nNicole fell silent. As for Kairos, he felt a sudden impulse to join in on the conversation. A smirk formed on his face.

n“You don’t say. She has even groped me on many occasions, which honestly confused me more than anything.”

nNicole became quite flustered.

n“Wha- I em… wait!”

nKaede began howling in laughter before slapping Nicole on the back a few times.

n“Hey, hey, that’s a good thing, don’t be embarrassed! You have confidence, which was honestly the main thing I was worried about. Though if you’re just groping him, then maybe you have a little too much. It’s a little ironic to think I was going to have to work on your confidence when you’re even braver than me!”

nNicole stammered.

n“I-It’s a g-good thing then!”

nKaede clapped.

n“Yeah! Sounds like the two of you have already gone pretty far…”

nNicole seemed confused after hearing that.

n“Hm? But… he’s never really gotten into it.”

nHearing that, Kaede sounded even more surprised than before.

n“W-What? He really hasn’t gotten into the mood after that? Er… K-Kairos, sorry if this is a sensitive question but are you g-”

n“I’m not gay.”

nKairos immediately cut her off as he felt a headache coming on. Nicole let out a soft sigh.

n“I thought that before too, but it doesn’t seem to be that. It’s just… he’s always so unresponsive!”

nKaede let out an inquisitive hum and seemed to be deeply lost in thought like she was actually thinking of the solution to world hunger rather than why Kairos’ thing wouldn’t move.

nIt took her quite a while, but she eventually let out a gasp as though she had come to a revelation. The only thing missing was her screaming out eureka.

n“Nicole! Are you by chance childhood friends with him?”

nNicole hurriedly nodded.

n“Y-Yeah!”

nKaede quickly followed up.

n“Did you have a lot of contact with him while you were younger?”

nNicole spent a second thinking to herself before speaking up.

n“I-It was a little more than average I’d say!”

nKairos’ eyebrow twitched when he heard that.

n“I wouldn’t say that…”

nKaede laughed when she heard that.

n“I get it now! I know why all your advances aren’t working!”

nNicole reached out until she was able to grab onto Kaede’s arm, like she was drowning and that was the only thing that could keep her up.

n“Really?!”

nKaede spoke triumphantly and exaggeratedly.

n“Why, he’s put you in probably the worst place ever! The dreaded and feared… friendzone!”

nNicole let out a gasp, but froze up soon after.

n“Um… that doesn’t sound too bad. Why is it so scary?”

nKaede tutted several times and waved her finger back and forth.

n“You don’t understand. If you’re in the friendzone, then almost all of your attempts to seduce the man will hardly work out properly! Any moves you make will only seem like you’re being friendly instead. Before anything else, you gotta shift how that man thinks of you!”

nNicole sounded rather distraught.

n“Ah! How do I do that?”

nKairos cleared his throat and began waving his hand around violently, though they couldn’t see that.

n“Hold on, hold on, hold on. First of all, I’ve already accepted her confession, ok? We’re just friends for now, because we’re still in the apocalypse.”

nKaede let out a gasp like she was terribly offended.

n“Friendzoning her after accepting her confession?! You’re evil!”

nKairos massaged his temple with the tip of his index finger.

n“How the hell is it friendzoning if I accepted her confession? Sure I might be postponing the relationship but it’s definitely not friendzoning.”

nKaede let out a sigh.

n“Maybe it wouldn’t be if you agreed to be a couple! Why are you even restraining yourself here?”

nKairos clicked his tongue.

n“There’s no time in the apocalypse. Declaring ourselves as lovers would just be fake because there really isn’t any time for us to spend with each other to justify that claim.”

nKaede suddenly fell silent, which seemed a little random.

n“You… you can’t do something like that!”

nKairos blinked a few times

n“What do you mean by that?”

nKaede sucked in a cold breath, like she was in pain.

n“If you really accepted it, then you would accept the relationship! You wouldn’t break it off for something as stupid as not having time! Of course both of you have your circumstances, but that’s why you set those boundaries and… and…”

nShe had run out of breath, leaving her gasping for air. By the end, she sounded quite desperate. Nicole spoke to her softly.

n“I-Is everything ok? I’m not that offended by how Kairos dealt with things. I mean our label is definitely friends but…”

nEven in the darkness, the sound of her voice made it clear she was smiling.

n“We’re basically a couple.”

nKairos coughed violently.

n“Wait, wait… we’re still friends. Still friends.”

nKaede took a little while to speak but she did eventually rather calmly.

n“Oh… well!”

nShe cleared her throat and became cheery once more, which had startled Kairos a little bit.

n“The friendzone is more than just that! I think what’s happening here is that while on paper you think Nicole is your lover, in your mind you still see her as a friend!”

nAnd now, Kairos got his turn to be confused.

n“What? How does that make any sense?”

nKaede clapped repeatedly, moving past her little breakdown immediately.

n“Of course it makes sense! Why would you feel like that otherwise?”

nNicole was mumbling something to herself before she tugged onto Kairos’ sleeve.

n“You… think of me as only a friend? I-I don’t hate it but…”

nKairos let out a sigh as his headache got even worse. But then, he came to a sudden realization. They had been walking in this place for hours without keeping track of where they came from.

n“Uh, hey does anybody remember the way back?”

nNicole grumbled.

n“You’re changing the subject!”

nKairos coughed. Although that was true, it was still a fact that they were indeed lost in this really deep cavern with no clear idea of where the entrance actually was.

n“That’s not important right now. We have to find a way to get back. I… wasn’t paying attention to where we were walking because I was focusing on the conversation.”

nKaede was rather nonchalant.

n“You’re overexaggerating the problem here, we can just walk back, can’t we?”

nKairos sighed.

n“It’s… not that simple.”

nHe remembered almost getting lost despite not walking that far when he first was in a dungeon. But then, his ear picked up on one of the nearby whispers.

n