“It’s cat mode, not cat-girl mode — don’t add words that aren’t there.
And — yes, I think the transformation must be causing the hunger.”
The empty-stomach feeling was genuinely unpleasant.
Yukino kept it to herself that the burning in her stomach had already reached the point of pain.
She also hadn’t expected the side effects to be this bad.
But even if she’d known, she’d have transformed anyway to cover Natsuyū’s back.
He hadn’t been hurt today.
But what about next time?
If they kept assuming he was strong enough to handle things alone, and he ended up injured with no medicine out here in the wilderness, that would be a serious problem.
Ugh…
So hungry…
She pressed a hand to her flat stomach — and saw Natsuyū reach up to pluck several leaves from a nearby tree.
He wiped each one carefully on his shirt, put one in his mouth and chewed, then turned to her and held out the rest on his open palm, one leaf still hanging from between his lips, backlit by the sun, smiling:
“Edible.
Tolerable taste.
I tested it first — non-toxic.
Eat up.
I’ll eat with you.”
He really does have sun energy.
Yukino thought, not for the first time, that Natsuyū’s cheerful-competent-person aura was at its absolute maximum.
She reached out and took the leaves, put one in her mouth, and chewed.
She would never have expected to find herself eating leaves to stave off hunger.
But because he was eating them too, she didn’t feel like it was humiliating.
His emotional intelligence noticed even this.
The taste was sharp and astringent.
There was also a very faint, very definite note of — shower soap?
That wasn’t a thing leaves tasted like.
It was sweat, wasn’t it.
She glanced at the slight dampness on Natsuyū’s shirt, looked at the leaves in her hand, and thought seriously about throwing them away and picking fresh ones herself.
But she met his confident, entirely unself-conscious smile, and decided to give him this one.
She ate a few leaves.
The burning in her stomach eased.
She breathed out.
“More?” he offered.
“No!”
Yukino held up both hands in a firm X.
Absolutely not.
She was not eating anything that had been anywhere near his sweat again.
Next time she’d refuse without mercy.
Why had she not refused just now?
What had gotten into her?
The leaves had carried barely any trace of him — mostly just shower soap, not unpleasant in itself — but just thinking about it made it feel absurd, like she’d licked his skin.
Which was obviously strange.
If Haruno-nee-san or her mother ever found out, they would never, ever let her live it down.
“Who would?!” Yukino said, with feeling.
“I genuinely respect that someone of your aristocratic background thought of eating leaves in the first place.”
She wouldn’t have thought of it herself — and yet it had reduced the pain.
“You’re young,” he said, with the air of someone who’d been through things.
“In a famine year, having leaves to eat was considered fortunate.”
Yukino’s eyes narrowed.
“I didn’t know Mr.
Warm had such detailed historical knowledge.”
He was thinking of something his grandmother used to tell him, about the old days.
He smiled and said nothing.
He watched Yukino’s face settle — no more signs of pain — and felt urgency rise in him.
Leaves were emergency triage, not a solution.
They’d staved off acid eating through an empty stomach.
Food had to be properly addressed.
Soon.
Natsuyū crafted a fresh stone axe, made trail markers as they went, and led the very-much-lost Yukino back to the shimmering gate.
Whether or not this was actually the Don’t Starve Together world, it was close enough.
Might as well give the gate a proper name — the Resplendent Gate.
That was what the spawn-point gateway was called in the game.
He arrived to find the other three already back.
Kiana stood in front of the Resplendent Gate, facing Kurumi, shielding Ema and Kushida behind her.
Ema had taken a step forward, quiet but resolute, to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Kiana.
Kushida had taken a few seconds longer — watched Ema move — then stepped up on Kiana’s other side.
All three of them stood in a line opposite the Kurumi hanging above them.
Kurumi, the moment she caught sight of Natsuyū, smiled slightly.
“The one who can explain things has arrived.
Natsuyū-kun, I leave them to you.”
She closed her eyes and slipped back into sleep.
All three girls turned.
Ema’s face flooded with relief at the sight of him and Yukino — the look of someone who’d found their anchor.
She raised her right hand high and called out quietly: “Natsuyū-kun — Yukino-san!
She woke up just now and said you’d made some kind of deal!”
Kushida was fighting to keep her voice from shaking.
“She — how is she alive?
Is she a person?
A ghost?”
Kiana nodded, arms crossed.
“She startled me.
I’d confirmed earlier that she had no heartbeat.
An actual corpse.
What’s going on?
Natsuyū — you two seemed familiar with her?”
He had a strong suspicion she’d been waiting for him to come close before waking up — startled the three of them on purpose and then immediately dumped the explanation task on him.
If he said “I’m her older brother” right now, would she crack immediately and give herself away?
He looked at his three girls and noticed something: the one most visibly scared wasn’t the fragile-looking Ema.
It was Kushida.
Her smooth bare legs between her socks and skirt were trembling.
“Tokisaki Kurumi isn’t an enemy.”
He summarised the arrangement simply.
Kiana’s expression cleared.
“She’s a veteran.
The fake-death thing might be her ability.
Smart.
I didn’t know nights here were dangerous — Natsuyū, Yukino — you two figured this out.
Without you, we might have been wiped out tonight.”
Kushida’s fear was fading enough to let her persona surface.
She pressed her hands in front of her signature spot, looked up at them with admiration:
“Trading one living creature for a whole night of protection — Natsuyū-kun and Yukino-san, that’s incredible!”
“I spotted some birds earlier and thought about catching them.
With everyone working together it shouldn’t be a problem — Kurumi-san’s requirement is pretty simple!”
She smiled like a little sunbeam, full of optimism about the future.
Yukino felt mildly awkward.
This had been entirely Natsuyū’s doing; she’d contributed nothing to the negotiation.
Ema raised her hand high and called out in a small, carrying voice: “Um!
Everyone — I found a lot of berries.
I think they’re safe to eat.”
Natsuyū lit up immediately.
He pointed at her with a thumbs-up:
“Good work, Ema!”
“Hehe — glad I could help.
I remembered what you said and didn’t touch the berries, but I memorised the route.
It’s this way.”
Natsuyū’s affection for Ema went up several notches.
This sweet, obedient girl.
“No time to waste — let’s go get those berries.”
He glanced at Yukino and set off at the front toward the direction Ema had indicated.
Yukino watched his retreating form, full of energy, and found herself thinking:
Food matters for everyone — of course he’s eager.
But I’m the one most urgently in need of eating right now.
Maybe part of the reason he’s moving so fast is concern for me?
No.
I’m projecting.
He’s just happy there’s food.