Change || The Promised Neverland

➴ Chapter Thirty-Nine: Wander ➴

"If you and everyone else are happy at the end," she said quietly, "then I'll be happy too."

Norman nodded mutely, his voice stuck in his throat as his heart rammed against his ribcage. [Name] withdrew her finger, straightening her legs out.

"Do you have the pen?" she inquired. Norman reached into his pocket, taking out the device. Pulling it out from both sides, the hologram projecting out of the writing utensil.

"We're closer to the halfway point," he finally said, frantically trying to calm himself down. "It's about a 2-day walk after that, if we move quickly enough."

"The food we already have is going to last us a day at most," [Name] commented, remembering supply in her bag. "We'll have to gather food later if we want to make it through the night."

"Unfortunately, we don't know what's edible or what's poisonous," Norman sighed, closing the pen. "Meat is definitely out of the question. What's left are the plants, but Minerva's book doesn't detail much about that either. The most we have are the anemones."

"The best reference we'd have is the people who know the forest the most," [Name] tapped her chin. "That would be..."

She and Norman pointed at each other. "Animals," they said in sync.

"Primates, if we can find them," Norman advised. "They would be the most similar to us genetically, so anything they would eat would be likely to edible."

"I could probably start a fire by drilling sticks into each other," [Name] added. "That would get rid of any parasites or most bacteria."

"Mhm," Norman hummed, beginning to nod off. He blinked, shaking his head. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine," [Name] assured, pushing him softly towards the entrance of the cave. She glanced at the sleeping children among the grass.

"Do you think they heard your outburst?" she inquired. Norman shook his head, standing in the arch as over-hanging vines caressed his face gently.

"They're sound asleep from what I can see- and hear," he affirmed, listening to the snoring that was thankfully kept within the cave's rounds. [Name] hummed fondly.

"You should sleep too," she scolded lightly. As if on cue, Norman yawned, his mouth an adorable small gasp. [Name]'s lips quirked up in amusement, Norman coughing in embarrassment.

"Y-Yes, I should," he agreed. Then, a fond smile appeared on his face. "Goodnight, Shortcake."

"Good nigh- Wait-" [Name]'s face went hot at the familiar nickname. She whipped around just in time to see Norman's snow-white slipping down the slide, the only thing she could see being his triumphant smirk.

Shaking her head, she covered her face in her hands, shocked by the pure heat emanating from her skin. Exhaling, she dropped her hands to twindle her music box, holding it close to her face.

Who knew that he could do something that. I guess it's natural that he'd want to get back at me after all of these years.

Still, [Name]'s eyes went blank as she turned over the music box in her fingers. Strange that he'd randomly call me out in the middle of the night, where anyone could hear him. Norman isn't emotional - he tries to be, but he's logical at heart.

He also values his reputation more than anything. Was that outburst to get me to stop hiding things from him, as well as to hide the fact that he's trying to distance himself from the rest of the kids?

Naturally, he'd choose a secluded area to scold me, but this is too close, even if the children are snoring loud enough. Norman wants me to believe that he's still the same old Norman - but he's not.