Kai and Katie walked into the dense forest after talking at Katie's family diner. Of course, they had come here to do what Katie wanted. And of course, they were not alone.
"Why are you all coming with us?"
Kai asked, narrowing his eyes unhappily at the people following him and Katie.
"Obviously to keep an eye on you so you don't do anything strange!"
"I want to help you as much as I can, so if you don't mind, I'd like to come along as well!"
"It would be dangerous if I let you two be alone!"
Claire, Elly, and Kurt each gave their answers in turn. Kai could only purse his lips, saying nothing more.
Kai's mood wouldn't have been this bad if Kurt hadn't come along, so he truly wished that the man would leave and let him enjoy his time with the girls. Unfortunately, Kai was a loyal friend, so he couldn't ignore his companion who was trying to get closer to Katie. Kai had to make sure that Kurt would repay the favor later.
"I don't mind at all if you all want to come and help me! The more people there are, the better!"
Katie said with a broad smile on her face. She looked like she was having fun, even though all they were doing was walking through the forest.
"Why do you look so happy?"
Kai asked curiously.
"Hm? Did you forget what I wanted earlier?"
Katie asked back, her smile never fading.
"Of course I remember… you wanted to gather mushrooms and other food ingredients we can find in the forest, right?"
Kai replied, recalling what Katie had told him back when they were still at the diner.
"That's exactly right… I've wanted to go and gather various ingredients directly from the forest for a long time now, but I could never find the right time to do it."
"Why is that?"
"Because my parents usually forbid me from doing that."
Kai immediately had a bad feeling when he heard that.
"D-Don't tell me there are tigers or bears in this forest?"
Kai asked in a frightened tone.
"Hahaha… what are you talking about?"
Katie's laughter made Kai feel a little calmer. Yes, that was true. What was he even thinking? There was no way a forest like this would have tigers or bears living in it.
"Isn't it normal for every forest to have tigers and bears?"
"Yosh! It's time for me to go back to tending my plants!"
Kai immediately turned around and started walking back toward the path they had come from.
"Where do you think you're going?!"
"Haven't you already watered all your plants this morning?!"
However, Claire and Kurt quickly blocked Kai's path, leaving him nowhere to go.
"Didn't you hear that? There are tigers and bears in this forest!"
"Of course we know that!"
"You're far wilder than you look."
Kai averted his gaze from Claire, whose eyes were filled with confidence and courage, and turned toward Kurt, who looked slightly shaken. Kai then put an arm around the young man and pulled him away from the girls.
"So, are you really sure about this? They could endanger our lives,"Kai whispered into Kurt's ear.
"I know that… but…"Kurt looked nervous as he said it.
"But… if it's for Katie's sake… then I… I…"
Kurt clenched his trembling fist and looked straight at Kai's face.
"I'll stake my life on it!"
"That line would sound a lot cooler if you could say it without tears forming at the corners of your eyes!"
"What else was I supposed to do!? I tried my best to act strong, but my past trauma suddenly resurfaced!"
Kurt's tears could no longer be held back and began to flow heavily. Kai didn't know what had happened in the past, but it clearly seemed to be something very heavy for him.
"Can you imagine a child who wasn't even ten years old being chased by a huge bear just because he wanted to take honey from its nest?!"
Now Kai understood what had happened to Kurt in the past. Even so, he didn't feel the slightest bit of sympathy for his friend.
"You stole it from the bear, didn't you? Then I think you deserved it."
"Don't say it like it has nothing to do with you!?"
Kai felt an extremely bad premonition the moment Kurt said that.
"Has nothing to do with me? Don't tell me that—"
Kurt nodded, confirming Kai's terrible suspicion.
"I took that honey for Katie, and I'm sure it's one of the ingredients Katie wants to get right now!"
"How sure are you about that?"
"The honey from the bear in this forest is one of Katie's favorite foods, so one hundred percent!"
Alright. Kai had steeled his resolve. No matter what happened, he was going to run away from this place.
"As an extra note, Katie has thirty favorite foods, and I know all of them!"
"That information is completely useless right now, but I still have to ask—how do you know that? Are you a stalker?"
Kai felt that it would be best for him to start keeping his distance from this guy from now on.
"So, are you done with your discussion?"
Kai could hear Claire's angry voice very clearly. "We don't have much time, so I want you to hurry up!"
Kai released his arm from around Kurt and turned to face Claire.
"Yes, I've already decided—"
"If you dare run away from here, don't expect me to ever consider you a man again!"
"Why is that!? Why don't you look scared at all!? There's a bear in there, right? And we're going to its den to steal its honey!? I'm sorry, but I'm not a thief, so I can't help you at all!"
Claire stared straight at Kai with a serious gaze. Kai felt nervous being looked at like that.
"Of course I know that. That's exactly why I need you as bait!"
"Are you a demon or something?!"
Kai felt like crying just like Kurt was now. Kai was certain that something similar must have happened to Kurt in the past. If he kept going along with their plan, Kai was sure he would end up traumatized as well.
"Don't worry, Kai! I'm sure you'll be just fine!"
Elly said with great confidence and a smile that soothed his heart. Her words were hard to believe, but because it was Elly who said them, Kai felt that he could trust her a little. She wasn't the kind of girl who would lie to anyone.
"If you manage to run out of the forest, the bear won't chase you anymore!"
"Wait a second! So I really will be chased by a bear?!"
Kai never imagined that Elly could say something so terrifying while smiling cheerfully.
"Show your manly side and be good bait!"
Claire said as she grabbed the collars of Kai's and Kurt's clothes and dragged them deeper into the forest. Claire's strength was so great that Kai and Kurt couldn't break free from her grip. It seemed the two of them could only resign themselves to their fate.