"Listen to me, because I'm only gonna say this once. We are going on the trip now, and it's going to be rough. It's gonna feel like it's going on for a long time, it's gonna be hard to stay alert and it's gonna be even harder to stay quiet, but you have to do both. You have to do every single thing I say, or we will not make it out of this alive. Do you understand?"
A nod.
"Under no circumstance are you allowed to take off your blindfold. Understand?"
Another nod.
"It's gonna be cold out there. We have food, we have blankets, and we have each other."
A soft smile.
"Now, remember, this is just a place, so there is nothing else that we need from it. Do you understand?"
A nod.
"You have to listen, Ruby, as close as you possibly can."
"Okay."
"If you hear something in the woods, you signal me. If you hear something in the water, you signal me. Now, you remember the signals we went over, right?"
"I squeeze your hand when I hear something in the woods, and I kick your foot when I hear something while we're on the boat in the water."
"And, if we get separated? What do we do?" Ruby smiles again.
"Sing."
"Good girl. Remember, you never ever take off your blindfold, because if you look, you will die. Do you understand?"
A final nod. "I understand, Onee-chan."
Dia smiled through pursed lips and took Ruby's cheeks in her hands. She leaned over and placed a soft kiss to her forehead.
"Okay. Let's get going."
Ruby checked off her list of things she needed to bring.
Only things that I need to bring, she thought. Never anything I want to bring. Water, thermos, tea bags, canned goods, flashlight. What else, what else…?
She did a thorough check inside her backpack. She bit down on her lip, thinking. She took a glance at her wrist and noticed.
Her scrunchy was missing.
Her eyes widened and she was about to look around in a panic before she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see Dia, smiling while holding her scrunchy up.
"Looking for this?"
Ruby breathed a sigh of relief and smiled gratefully to her sister, taking the scrunchy.
"Thank you. Do you have yours?" Dia smiled softly and raised her right arm.
"Always."
Ruby gave her sister a small smile. She bumped her wrist with Dia's, so their scrunchies touched. Dia takes Ruby's hand in her own and pulls her in for a hug.
In each others' embrace, the Kurosawa sisters thought the exact same thing.
God help us.