Shortly after Yoru dumped all of her worries and stress onto Koku's open ears, she relaxed a little as they still continued to run in the direction they had come from. Shortly after traveling the full distance they remembered the cave being around; they noticed that the cave was no longer there.
"Well, our idea of it being gone was spot on. Anyways… let's get back on track." Koku told Yoru, who was looking a little tired. "How about we rest after making it a little ways away Yoru?" Koku asked her as he was getting worried.
"Sure, I'd like that," she smiled at Koku, clearly seeing his kind heart showing. Just as this happened, Koku had a sudden thought; "Wait. Since when have I cared for anyone so much? Surely it's not that I've gained…," Koku was in the midst of questioning himself as he'd never questioned his mind on this matter. Though after a while of running and thinking, Koku snapped out of it.
After traveling a grand total of 4 hours since he'd told Yoru they'd rest up after a little bit of running, he did, in fact, stop. Yoru was by this point clearly very tired and somewhat hungry; so as she sat down and sighed in relief, her stomach growled a few times consecutively.
After hearing her stomach growl, Koku, who had just sat down, stood up and told her to wait for a bit and that he'd be back quickly. So as Koku left, Yoru, who was very embarrassed about her stomach growling right in front of Koku not even a single minute after stopping to rest, began to think deeply about stuff such as her relationship with Koku.
As she prepared a small fire, she'd finish and still be thinking about their relationship. "Why is it that every time he looks at me I… feel butterflies in my stomach…," Yoru curled up into a ball and sloped to the side while giggling. Her eyes met the fire's bright orange flames, and as the crackling noise from the fire sounded loudly, it seemed to be like nothing at all, Yoru's mind was elsewhere.
"He's so caring, strong, very handsome, and charming. Koku… just who are you? You came out of nowhere and changed my life; and now... I think I'm in-", Just as her thoughts were reaching the finale, Koku arrived, "Hey, I caught something for us," Koku said kindly as he began to skin the animal he'd killed.
After skinning it within 12 seconds, Koku placed it on a stick and held it over the fire. He'd then do the same right after Yoru took control over the cooking of that animal. "Hey Koku, have you ever thought of what you'd do after reaching your goal?" Yoru asked very diligently.
Koku pondered for a minute as he thought of what to say since he himself never thought about that either. "I… I'll die fighting for my goal. So there's not much of something I'd be able to do after attaining my goal. Although, in the slightest of chances I don't die… I'd like to settle down and…," Koku slowly stopped speaking; and this shocked Yoru but had her more or less quite flustered. "Why'd he stop saying what he was going to say!? M-maybe he. No, he definitely meant that!" Yoru panicked in her mind as she was currently leaning in closer to Koku with a curious gaze.
"Koku, I don't like the fact you say you're going to die reaching your goal. So to stop that from happening, I~I'll stick by your side. A-and, hey, do you remember last year? How you told me that you were on a journey to become the strongest and to wrong all of those who deserve it?" Yoru paused momentarily so she could take a deep breath in.
"What I'm saying is that I want to see and support you in climbing your way to the top. That and that I've decided to also wrong all those who deserve it with you, by your side. Koku, I won't let you die, so I'll work harder than ever to help you." After a short moment of silence, Koku smiled and gave Yoru a pat on the head as she was still leaning in. "Thank you, Yoru; this makes me unusually happy for some reason. Like it's something I've wanted to hear for a while." After talking for a little longer, Koku and Yoru decided to camp out there for the night. So as they decided this, Koku summoned some Cratrus's to guard the surrounding areas and them as they slept.
That and Yoru and Koku were not able to see them as they went off to sleep (Per Koku's request/order). But before any of the two could get some sleep, they had been feeling awkward and embarrassed, so as they had their backs to each other, they drifted off into a deep sleep while deep in thought.
After falling asleep, Koku woke up and found himself in a rather amusing situation. He opened his eyes and had seen Yoru sleeping soundly with her head on his chest with one of her hands neatly resting in front of her face but over his chest as well. The other hand was a little ways away, which in this case meant that her other hand was near her side but reaching out to Koku's chest, most likely trying to be in the same position as her other hand.
"…," Koku didn't move and just looked at her for several seconds and then began to think. His thoughts clouded his head as he kept looking at Yoru asleep on his chest. Thus several minutes passed by and Yoru woke up. She didn't make a noise, and she didn't lift her head. Instead, she opened her eyes and had seen Koku looking at her for some reason, "Is there something wrong?" she asked Koku, who was looking at her with a surprised expression.
"…Oh not really, so tell me. Did you rest comfortably?" Koku asked her as a mischievous teasing grin grew on his face. "Y-yea? wait did I do something asleep?" she asked as she began to lift her head by placing her hands over the area her head was resting on.
The second she did this, she was in the middle of saying something but quickly grew quiet. "Huh?" after feeling the sensation of skin, she looked down at her head's resting spot and saw Koku's chest.
After seeing it, her face turned completely red as she then turned her gaze to where she'd seen Koku's face before, and there he was. "I- I'M SORRY, I-I-I…," Yoru was in the middle of losing it to embarrassment. Seeing Koku's playful expression didn't help in the slightest, especially after what he'd tell her seconds later.
"Did it feel good? Hmmm, no, it definitely did. Yoru, you know... I wouldn't mind it if you wanted to rest your head on my chest," he muttered in a teasing manner. Yoru's face looking as red as a person's face could get. So after a few seconds, Yoru got up completely and looked to the side, "W-we should get going," Koku agreed and gave her a pat on the head as he then told her to keep up with him.
"I'm certain… Koku I…," Yoru thought to herself as she looked at Koku, who was in front of her, and while on the run to their destination, Koku told Yoru that they'd have breakfast in a short time from now, so for now, they continued to travel; so about 40 minutes after they'd begun traveling once again after eating breakfast and then they'd come across a few people...