A couple more days have passed since Shiro's fully recovered.

She would usually climb into my back and crawl inside my robe's hood. Since the hood was big enough for Shiro to enter, there was still enough room to spare even when she was inside it.

Since Shiro can't keep up with my speed, she does me a big favor by hiding on my hood. It even makes it easier for me to fight.

At this moment I was trying to find a place to spend some time until the rain stopped.

Some minutes ago I was fighting some monsters when this sudden rain started.

I didn't want to get wet from it so I put my hood on and started running. Shiro was inside my hood as well.

While I was running, Shiro took her head out of that place. At that moment she was near my neck inside my hood.

I could also feel the warmth of her fur warming up my neck. It was a pleasant feeling.

I didn't want Shiro to fall off from there so I pushed her head back in.

Somehow I finally managed to find an insanely big tree that covered a big area on the ground from rain.

After I sat down, I felt the sensation of the grass on my hand. It was cold and dry.

Well, this isn't that surprising since the leaves are preventing rain from coming through here.

When I was about to close my eyes, Shiro started moving around my hood.

I didn't take off my hood, so maybe she was having trouble breathing air.

When I was about to take off my hood, she slipped her head out from the same place as before.

She started licking my neck.

[ Again?... ] ( Hatsuko)

She has even gotten a habit...

Every time she licks or scratches me, she tells me she is hungry. At this point, everything seems fine but Shiro refuses to eat anything else I offer to her except my blood!

Do other cats have this kind of habit of drinking blood?

I checked her status but nothing has changed except her health which had gotten better.

Is my blood that tasty?

I wanted to try it as well so cut a little bit of the skin on my thumb with a small sharp knife. Blood came out but the moment I was about to put it on my mouth, Shiro freaked out and grabbed my hand with her claws.

That didn't hurt me since Shiro isn't strong enough to cut through my skin with her claws.

She started licking the blood which was coming out of my thumb. But the wound was already healed by the moment she started licking it.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

After she cleaned up the remaining blood which was on my thumb she looked at my eyes.

I'm sure she wanted more but I didn't let her since I was a bit concerned about a cat drinking blood instead of eating normal food.

I actually tried giving her some raw or cooked fish, cooked monster meat, fruits, insects, but she refused to eat any of them.

Is Shiro actually a vampire?

If she was, that would explain her behavior. I mean she is fine towards the sun and she doesn't bite my neck when she wants to drink my blood.

The cat went inside my hood and started sleeping. She went a bit deeper this time.

Maybe she wanted a darker place to have a nap. And from inside my hood, I could feel her purring. That felt like a special message from her.

As I was about to close my eyes and sleep as well...

[ Kyaa, what's with this rain? ]

[ There! I found a place where to hide from this rain ]

[ Let's head there! ]

[ Let's go! ]

From the other way around the tree, I could hear the voices of 3 different girls and a boy.

Wait are they survivors?

[ Everyone let's spend the night here! ]

The voice of that boy said.

I could feel a bit of excitement in his voice.

[ [ [ Sure!! ] ] ]

The other girls replied immediately.

I kept staying in the same place where I was.

There were actual people behind this tree!

I'm not hearing things am I?

It's been so long since the last time I have seen another human.

Do I go there and say hi to them?

...No, why would I do that?

They don't know me and I don't know them.

They sure do speak the same language as me but that doesn't mean they are friendly.

As I was thinking that, I started hearing steps that were getting closer to me.

[ Oh there's a person here! ]

I looked up and there was a handsome boy around my age with black hair, a straight nose, black eyes with a friendly expression.

Behind him were three beautiful girls also around his age.

The one on the right one had pink hair and eyes with a calm expression. Her body was also slim and rounded but her chest was flat.

On the left one was a girl with blonde hair and yellow eyes. She had a big chest with a rounded body. The aura she gave was an energetic one. She was even smiling right now.

In the middle one was a girl who had an annoyed expression. She also had blonde hair, her eyes were brown, and had a hot body with average chest size.

They don't seem like they want to fight with me.

The first one that spoke was the boy.

[ Hello there! We didn't know there was already someone here, do you mind if we camp here? ]

The way he talks was also really polite.

Well, I don't mind them staying here as long as they don't bother me.

I look straight into the boy's eyes and respond.

[ Yeah... I don't mind... ] ( Hatsuko)

I responded with a quiet and deep voice.

[ Really?! Thank you! Well since we're here I want to introduce myself! ]

He said with a smile on his face.

[ My name is Haruto, on my left side is Ren ] ( Haruto )

He introduced himself.

Then he pointed his finger to his left side where the pink-haired girl was. Her name was Ren.

Just like her name, her atmosphere around her was calm. She didn't respond to the boy who was introducing her.

[ This one is Kanae ] ( Haruto )

[ Yo, Kanae here! ] ( Kanae )

She put both of her hands on her hips while she said that with a big smile on her face.

Even her boobs shook up and down the moment she did that.

[ And this one is Hina ] ( Haruto )

...

[ Hmph! ] ( Hina )

She made that weird sound while turning her head the other way.

Did I do something to anger her?

Haruto smiled wryly.

Well, I decided to introduce myself as well.

[ I am Hatsuko... ] ( Hatsuko)

[ It is nice meeting you! ] ( Haruto)

He said with a friendly tone.

[ Why do we have to ask for his permission to stay under this tree? It's not like he owns it! Even if he didn't want us here we could just ignore him! We are four people while he is alone. He can't do anything to us! ] ( Hina )

She started complaining.

Seriously! What did I do to annoy her?

[ Now, now! Calm down Hina! ] ( Haruto)

He tried to calm her down while grabbing her hand.

She started blushing the moment he did that.

[ You aren't that cute if you make that angered expression you know? ] ( Kanae )

Kanae said while clinging to Haruto's back.

She squeezed her big chest against his back while hugging him.

Ren also came by his side and said with a calm voice.

[ We should start camping... ] ( Ren )

I lowered my head while I still had my hood on.

They took off their bags and started setting up a big tent where they would spend the night.