When Iris recovered and removed the reluctant vine from her mouth, she picked herself up and laid down onto the bed, next to Rhea who was already lying down on the side. The girl wrapped her arms around her waist, and pulled her closer to her, while hooking her legs over hers. 

 

Iris wanted to turn around and face her, however, she was too tired. And the feeling of her pillows pressing against her back wasn’t too bad either. She simply closed her eyes and without bothering to fix her clothes, she fell asleep.

 

<><><><><>

 

Fwoosh!

 

Iris stared blankly while standing behind the railings. She was standing on the edge of a cliff road. Down below was a stretch of sandy beach, with an endless blue sea that seemed to stretch out from the horizon.

 

If it weren’t for the overhead gray sky, that seemed to appear like it was going to rain any second, and the lack of any people, she would… actually feel no better than what she did now.

 

Iris’s tail wagged behind her. She had a big problem with Rhea’s destination.

 

She turned around to face Rhea, with a helpless look on her face. “I can’t swim.”

 

“No problem.” Naturally, Rhea didn’t seem to mind one bit. “I’ll teach you how.”

 

Iris showed a questionable look on her face. She placed her hands behind her back and walked over, circling around her. “You’re not going to throw me into the ocean right?” 

 

Rhea turned towards the side. She was indeed going to do that, but for some reason, she felt a little guilty for being caught.

 

“Let’s go. We need to find a place to stay, otherwise you want to sleep in the car again.”

 

“Oh.” Seeing how Rhea didn’t answer her, and changed to the topic, Iris went along with it. She was confident that she could learn to swim, and didn’t believe that it was impossible. 

 

The two went over to a car that looked like it had a few accidents along the way. The two entered into the car and Rhea started to drive again, speeding down the road. When they finally left the cliff, they found a random house for them to stay. 

 

The two began to clean and empty the place. 

 

While sweeping the floor and looking at Rhea move back and forth, Iris felt a little listless. Although the world had ended, she felt that the world had grown wider, and if she disregarded the monsters here and there, she realized, she actually enjoyed it quite a bit.

 

When the two finished everything, and set up their base, they left the house and started to walk towards the sandy beach. Along the way, Rhea would solve whatever few beasts that came to attack them.

 

“We only have a month before we need to get out of here.” Rhea said, we also need to have your family evacuate from the building. 

 

Iris nodded, not going to ask why. 

 

When the two reached the beach, Iris glanced around. She still hadn’t decided what creature to make as her kin yet. 

 

Not to mention, the beach appeared empty…. 

 

“Let’s walk around.” Rhea took her hand and led her along the sandy beach. 

 

“Are we just going to walk in like this?” Sand was getting into her shoes, and it was uncomfortable.

 

Rhea rolled her eyes and stopped. “Do you want to walk barefoot?”

 

Iris shook her head before sticking her tongue out. She glanced around, and seeing how nobody was here, her heart skipped a beat. Normally, she would never come here, and she would also not wear a bikini or anything like that. But if there was nobody around, she felt her the urge to wear one.

 

It was too bad, the only thing remotely similar was her underwear. They also weren’t here for a vacation. “Rhea… there’s nothing here.”

 

“There isn’t.”

 

Seeing Rhea’s nonchalant attitude, Iris felt a chill crawl up her spine before moving closer to her. She started to look around and became more alert. 

 

Seeing her actions, Rhea smiled and continued to lead her across the beach. “I just want to walk around the place. However, let’s begin. 

 

“??”

 

Iris’ heart skipped a beat when Rhea did a turn, and they started to walk towards the rolling waves. She was going to teach her just like this? No swimwear or anything?

 

She only kept that doubt in her heart, and didn’t ask. Perhaps, Rhea had her own reason. She quickly thought. Maybe it was because there might be situations where they won’t be able to change into one? When she thought down that path, she felt like she found the reason. 

 

In case of an emergency, nobody is going to give you time to change into swimwear. Unless she had one on all the time. 

 

The water had already reached her ankles, followed by her knees. Feeling more than just sand getting in her shoes, Iris cringe in discomfort. The water was also cold, however, they weren’t enough to causes her discomfort, and nor did she get swept away. 

 

Her level wasn’t there for show either.

 

Suddenly. Rhea picked her up by the waist, and then leapt inside. She plunged into the salty water, before she was let go by Rhea who started to swim away. The only thing that kept her from completely panicking was the vine that connected the two of them.

 

She started to flail her arms while doing her best to hold her breath. She realized, it was amazingly easy?

 

“??”

 

The scene of her sinking didn’t appear. Instead, she was even floating towards the surface, and before long, she surfaced, and was able to breath again. It was as if something was keeping her afloat, without her needing to do anything.

 

Rhea had also gone up. 

 

“Easy right?”

 

“...”

 

Iris blushed. This was not how it was supposed to work.