𝓑𝓮𝓪𝓾𝓽𝔂 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓑𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓽| 𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒄𝒆

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉ℯ𝓇 24

"YuYu, I'm hungry!" Aisha told Yue as she pouted, stomping her feet on the wooden floor. Though Yue tried distracting her from her hunger with a tap of her wooden sword, it only made her fussier. "No! Food!"

Yue chuckled awkwardly, unsure of what to do. It had only been two hours since breakfast and the others' departure. Aisha had five servings of her meal; she knew the child ate a lot, but underestimated the kid's stomach. She wondered how a small child like her could eat so much yet become hungry a minute later.

Aisha wasn't tall, her head reaching her waist─a cute kid with her little space buns, a simple yellow camisole, and blue shorts and sandals. Of course, she looked healthy too, but looks were always deceiving. She remembered the shock she experienced when she witnessed Aisha eat for the first time.

She sighed; her poor mistress had to handle such a famished child.

She felt a tug at her dress as she looked down. Aisha frowned while pouting. "Hungry, Yuyu!" She was certain Aisha would only get fussier if she didn't think of something fast.

As she bent over, Yue ruffled Aisha's hair with a smile. "I'll go make you a snack." With that, Aisha's eyes sparkled. Yue giggled as Aisha skipped to the cabin, excited for the meal.

As Aisha sat at the table, Yue went through the fridge. Unexpectedly, there weren't enough ingredients. There were some vegetables, but no other proteins to use, and they weren't enough for Aisha's stomach. Then, she checked the pantries, hoping to find anything useful to cook. However, there was only some rice and flour. Digging deep into the pantry, there was nothing else to her dismay.

Yesterday, a lot of things happened all at once. First, Ace appeared, then those marine people; then they had more mouths to feed, and those mouths devoured breakfast like famished animals.

"Yuyu, where's the snack?"

Scratch that─she had two big black holes for a stomach to feed.

Yue's mind quickly rattled with a solution, attempting to figure out what she could do. Finally, she came up with something.

Yue turned back to Aisha with a smile. "How about we play a game, like hide and seek?"

Aisha pouted in response. "I'm hungry!"

Yue approached the child and bent to her level. "If you win, you get a special snack." She could see the doubt in the child's eyes as her brows furrowed. "It's an extra special snack that tastes super duper delicious!"

Realizing the child didn't trust her words, she made one last effort. "It's special meat," she chirped as the child jumped in her seat. "But you have to win the game to earn your special prize."

With an enthusiastic nod from Aisha, Yue went outside the cabin, shutting the door behind her to find a place to hide. She began counting, her voice booming as she closed and covered her eyes. "One, two!"

Of course, the cabin was small, and finding a hiding place wasn't easy. She heard shuffling inside and a few giggles here and there. "Five, six!" She dragged out the count, giving the kid more time.

A loud crash split the air, barely a second later. Yue froze, her breath hitching in her throat. The noise got louder as she slowly rotated to face the door. For a moment, the noise continued, then ceased as if it never existed.

There was a long pause. Something in her gut screamed that something was amiss. Her eyes trembled as she stared intently at the door. She swallowed harshly as she placed a shaky hand on the cold handle. As the door creaked open, with a shaky tone, she uttered, "T-Ten, ready or not...Here I come."