----- H4
Yukiko slowly opened here eyes. She felt drowsy... and nauseous.
Then it suddenly hit her. She didn't know where she was! She was staring up at... greenery? Up at the leaves in a tree...
She sat bolt upright, gazing around frantically. She was in a forest that was bathed in gentle morning light. The sound of wind blowing through the leaves was a very calming sound, and the tranquil setting had a soporific effect on the disorientated girl. But she knew that something was very, very wrong. The last thing she could remember was sitting on the coach with Yumiko… and nothing after that…
Something had definitely gone wrong…
Though she had taken in the setting quickly, the first thing that had caught her attention was the boy sitting only about a meter away from her. The boy was fairly tall, though to her, almost everyone looked tall. His hair fell down to the sides where it flicked up slightly, and two free strands hung lightly against his forehead. His thick dark eyebrows set emotionally above his sad eyes. Though he forced a smile as he looked up and saw Yukiko was awake, it was still evident that he had been crying.
"Hey, how do you feel?" he asked soothingly.
Yukiko slowly backed away over the soft grass before her back bit rough tree bark. "Yoji?"
Yoji bit his lip nervously. "Yukiko, are you OK?"
"Where am I?" the small girl cried helplessly. "What's going on?"
"You... don't remember anything?" Yoji asked, his expression returning to sadness, almost as if he had been expecting this reaction.
Yukiko shook her head. "We... we were on the bus and then... where is Yumiko?"
Yoji looked down at the ground, and exhaled deeply. Yukiko winced. She could tell it wasn't going to be good news. There was something deeply distressing about where they were. She had only just been on a coach trip... she wasn't supposed to be alone in a forest with Yoji... she barely knew him.
"Yumiko's... " Yoji began, the words catching in his throat, as if they were refusing to allow him to speak out loud. "She's... dead..."
"What?" Yukiko said, her voice a mere whisper, barely audible. Yoji wiped away a fresh tear.
"We… tried to save her… but…"
Yukiko's eyes widened. Something else had caught her eye. She was staring down, ad her chest and legs.
Blood… she was covered in fresh blood…
"But… we couldn't save her in time…" Yoji said sorofully, seemingly unaware that Yukiko wasn't paying much attention to him.
Covered in blood…
Fresh blood…
The Previous Day...
It was around May, and the chill of winter had already passed. Yoji was glad, as he really wasn't one for the cold. In winter, everything seemed to slow down and become dull, and he really hated it when things got stagnated.
People always seemed to be more cheerful in the summer too, and Yoji always seemed to have a better time when other people were too…
As he neared the close area to the school, he came across Niida. They both lived in the same direction from the school, and sometimes ended up walking there with each other, though Niida was normally a lot later than Yoji.
"Yo, Yoji!" he said, grinning widely, "you don't look too bad... so you actually got some shut eye? ha!"
Yoji raised his hand in an attempted wave, though it didn't really work very well. "What d'ya mean?" he said innocently.
Niida sniggered. "You had Yoshimi round last night, right?"
Yoji raised an eyebrow. "Yeah! We were..."
"Studying... yeah, sure!" Niida said, rolling his eyes.
"Hey, we were this time!" Yoji said defiantly.
"This time?" Niida chuckled, winking. "Yoji boy, you need to learn some subtlety!"
"Niida, you dick!" Yoji exclaimed cheerfully, pushing into Niida's side. Kazushi leered dangerously on the edge of the pavement, but did not fall into the road. He was far to used to this sort of reaction from Yoji to let it get the better of him even now.
Niida simply laughed loudly. "Oh, I am so getting you back for that on the trip!"
Yoji rolled his eyes. "Oh sure, what, you going to bore me to death with another lecture about why Chigusa is hotter than Yoshimi?"
"I only did that like once!" Niida protested, as the pair began to laugh.
"… Jackass!"
-----
Yoshimi and Hirono were standing by the school gate, looking slightly bored.
"Good party last night?" Yoshimi asked absent-mindedly, staring with mild interest at her nails.
Hirono shrugged. "Heh, I guess it was OK. Some stupid fucker kept trying to come onto me though..."
"Euw" Yoshimi sighed unenthusiastically, gazing up at her friend. It really made her sad how distant her and Hirono had grown in the last few years. They could barely even keep up a conversation if Mitsuko wasn't there. When they talked, it was more like an automatic reaction than a proper conversation.
"Hirono?" Yoshimi said suddenly, a little more assertively than before.
Hirono looked at her with mild surprise. "Huh?"
Yoshimi smiled. They were both being so stupid... There she was, feeling sorry about their deteriorating friendship and doing nothing about it! Well, why not do something about it at that very moment? They could still have a decent conversation, surely?
"Do you like a guy at the moment?"
Hirono seemed quite shocked at this question. It was rarely that they talked even at this level of deepness. "Well... there's..." she began, but was interrupted as Yoji and Niida appeared.
"Hey Yoji!" Yoshimi squealed, as her boyfriend approached.
Hirono sighed. So much for deep and meaningful conversation.
-----
Yukiko stood outside Yumiko's house, tapping her foot gently on the concrete pathway that lead up to it.
Sighing, she rang the doorbell again.
A window opened on the first floor, and Yumiko leaned out, grinning cheerfully. "Sorry, I'll be there in a few secs!"
Yukiko grinned and sighed, waiting patiently as the sounds of Yumiko running around gradually made their way downstairs.
The door opened, and Yumiko emerged majestically with her overnight bag slung over her shoulder.
"What was that about?" Yukiko asked gazing up at her friend, or her idol, as she so often thought of her. Yumiko was the athletic one, and stronger of the two, and generally the one people talked to more. Yukiko was just... Yukiko.
"Just slept in a bit, hey, we're nearly going to miss the bus, hurry up!" she replied, giggling, and breaking into a light jog.
Yukiko smiled, running after, though she found it slightly harder to keep up the pace.
They rounded the corner and the sight of the school bus waiting outside the school greeted them. It seemed as if everyone was already on, but thankfully the bus hadn't actually left. Hayashida was standing by the side of the bus, holding a clipboard which would obviously be the register, looking impatient.
"Hurry up girls!" he exasperated, ticking them off and ushering them onto the bus. Yumiko quickly shot Yukiko a cheesy grin, and Yukiko giggled. Hayashida was normally quite a pleasant man, as long as you didn't step out of line.
They made their way down the aisle nervously. Neither particularly wanted to end up seated next to someone like Numai or Kazuo, but as they failed to spot a single seat that was free, they began to worry. The gang tended to sit at the back... it wasn't looking too hopeful as they made their way further down the bus.
Then Yumiko turned her head and smiled. "Free two right at the back!" she said, chuckling.
"Phew!" Yukiko replied, as they both climbed into the free seats. "I wonder how long the journey will be?"
Yumiko brushed her hair back behind her ear elegantly, and placed both hands on her crossed knees. "Oh, I don't expect long. I doubt we're even going anywhere interesting..."
Yukiko giggled. "I hope not... it would be really bad if we had to sit through a boring trip"
"Or stand." Yumiko said, "I mean, museums are really interesting, but no seats..."
"Better for you" Yukiko said, "I need to sit down lots more!"
Yumiko yawned. "Yeah... I suppose. Still nice to just lie down though..."
Yukiko closed her eyes and laid back against the seat. "u-hu..."
There was no reply.
"Yumiko?" Yukiko asked slowly, rolling her head towards the seat next to her.
Yumiko was fast asleep. Yukiko was a little confused by this... they had only just got on the bus... but
... but sleep would be... sooooo
so ... ... nice to go...
... to sleep...
She rolled her head over to the other side and yawned quietly, before shutting her eyes and drifting into a pleasant and undisturbed sleep...