Chapter 47

The Groupings

Maki

"Okay, so how will this work?" I ask Kei as the CPUs stare awkwardly to the three companions I'm with.

"We'll be dividing all of you into three groups," Kei says.

"You mean like Neptune will be grouped with Sylvie—something like that?"

"Correct. That was the original plan. However . . ."

"Group up with them? Is this some kind of joke?" Noire asks.

"My thoughts exactly." Sylvie brushes her hair before crossing her arms underneath her breasts. "I'd rather have someone force me to eat meat over traveling alongside these people."

"You think you're so tough even though you're all prisoners?"

"At least I'm not a prisoner of my own pride."

"Okay, that's it!" Noire pulls her rapier out of thin air and points it at Sylvie. However, she shows no signs of backing off. It's like she's the one looking down at her. Seeing her reacting this way, Noire growls.

"Aren't you going to try and stop her?" Vert sneaks towards Kyle and asks him.

"I see no point." He placed his hand on his hip. "I believe that question should also be referred to you as well."

"Our answers are the same. There's no point."

"Good to see you again, summoner lady!" Neptune pops right next to Nana and says.

Nepgear follows behind. "Hello again. Sis and I wanted to thank you for lending us your Spirits for the city's repairs."

"I don't deserve your thanks," Nana replies. "Also, I'm not doing this for you. I made a promise with Rivi. Although, it is taking a toll on my Spirita Mana." She holds her head before drinking a small vial Sylvie gave her.

I told her earlier to not push herself too much. It was also in our promise. I worry more about her having an overdose of Sylvie's potion. No matter what people say, and even if it's Sylvie we're talking about here, nothing good comes from having an overdose.

Nepgear puts a finger on her chin. "I've been wondering for a while now. How come you call Maki with a different name? Of course, you don't have to answer if you don't want to."

Nana smiles. "It started as a little joke of ours, really. If you must know . . ." She proceeds to tell them an allegory of our village. I don't remember much about it, but I can remember the gist of it. There were a blind boy and a girl who looked different from the others. My mother told the story to me, and I would always bug her to tell it to me again. Now that I'm separate from her, I kind of missed those days.

"Whoever gets in whatever group is up to all of you," Kei continues. "The important thing is to gather enough data about the island before moving onto our construction plan."

"And we'll be able to attend the Ball after that?" I ask.

"Just as how we agreed." She flashes a smile before turning to Histoire. They're discussing the construction plan she mentioned earlier.

"H-hey, um, R-Rivi?"

I turn around to the person calling me. The moment I see who it is, my eyebrows twitch.

"U-Uni . . ." Now even I'm having trouble talking. "Why did you call me that?" I've got to say, it sounds weird coming from her.

"Isn't that your name?"

"Well, it is, but, uh, just 'Maki' is fine. I'm not sure if I can handle hearing you call me that." The sound of her calling me other than Maki replays in my head, making my eyebrows twitch again.

She nods. Thank goodness.

"Did you go up to me just to say hi?" I ask.

"No, I was planning on joining your group and have Sylvie join Nepgear's. Rom kept saying she wanted to go with Sylvie. A-and I thought maybe Rom could go with her if Sylvie and I exchange places." Uni looks away as she says her last sentence. That kind of choice should be between her and Sylvie, though. I'm not sure if she's willing to go to a different group.

"You wish to switch groups?" Sylvie appears right next to Uni, who lets out a small gasp. "I have no problem with that. Don't worry. I'll make sure none of those kids get into trouble."

"What are you, a mom?"

"I'm 22 years in human age. It should be no surprise."

"Right . . ."

Not long after chatting about different things, Histoire gets to the center of the balcony and overpowers all of the voices around. For someone small in stature as her, she can sure raise the modulation on her voice.

"Have all of you decided which groups you'll be in? If so, then please stand by with your groups apart from the others."

We all do as she says. I'm positioned near the railings to the right side of where Histoire is facing, along with Neptune, Vert, and Uni. The ones in front of Histoire are Noire, Blanc, Kyle, and Nana. And on the opposite side of my group, it's Sylvie, Rom, Ram, and Nepgear.

"This is a surprise. I was expecting all of you to default to the people you're most comfortable with," Kei says.

"I mean, I probably would've gone with that instead," Neptune says. "But I figured I might as well hang around with Maki here. The protagonist should always be with the sub-protagonist, don't you agree? Of course, he's the sub-protagonist."

She said sub-protagonist twice. For some reason, it's bothering me.

"Whatever you say, Neptune," I say, shrugging.

"Indeed," Vert adds. "This is the perfect opportunity to get to know each other. Why would I waste such a temptation?"

I'm sensing some strange aura around her that I can't describe. Not to mention the sparkles in her eyes and around her. I might want to keep my guard up. Who knows whatever 'opportunity' she has in mind?

"I'll take care of the 'kids'," Sylvie winks at me. Was it supposed to mean something?

"I have trust in her," Nepgear says. "She's not a bad person. I know it."

"You're quite confident about me. I was one of those people who brought destruction to Planeptune, wasn't I?"

"But you stopped it before it caused even more damage. I know you won't do anything to harm us. So please, take good care of us." She flashes a smile at Sylvie, who in turn looks away with her cheeks turning red.

"Y-you're just being delusional."

Nepgear keeps on smiling. Such a bright smile. I almost forgot how similar she looks to the princess. Maybe not physically, but the air around her perhaps? I'm not sure.

". . . Glad to have you." Rom bows.

"Elves have pointy ears, don't they? Show me, show me!" Ram demands.

Sylvie chuckles. "I'm not entirely an elf, but I do have pointy ears. Here, have a peek." She leans forward and brushes the hair behind her pointy ears. Something is hanging on her earlobe. A small leaf-shaped earring hangs on it. Where did she get that?

I look at Kyle. He still has his arms crossed. His eyes are also closed. I could only imagine what's going on in his head with the group he's in. He has Nana with him, anyway. I'm sure he'll be fine.

"P-please to meet your acquaintance . . ." Nana bows at her other two groupmates.

"Hmph." Noire looks away. She might still be upset about what she did to Uni, but I've got no control over what she thinks of Nana at this point. "Don't even think this will make me forget the crimes you did."

"I don't plan on making any redemptions," Kyle says, his eyes still closed. "My only concern is Nana's safety, and Rivi's promise."

Noire brushes one of her twin-tails.

Blanc approaches Nana. "Can I ask you something?" Her voice doesn't have the same growl when she verbally abused me. When Nana nods, she asks, "What kind of creatures are those Spirits? I want to know." She pulls out a pen and a notebook from who knows where. "I could use them for my novel. Please, tell me anything. Anything at all is fine."

This is a first. I've never seen Blanc act like this before. Then again, Nana's Spirits are quite amazing if I do say so myself. They're convenient and also good to keep yourself company.

"O-okay . . ."

Histoire coughs, bringing everyone's attention to her. "It seems you are all ready for tomorrow's expedition. I will adjourn this meeting for now. Rest well. You're all going to need all the strength to make this a success. Remember, the Grand Gamindustri Ball is on the line."

~0~0~0~

"Remind me why we're here again?" Neptune asks as she wipes the beads of sweat rolling down her forehead.

She loses balance from an outgrown root. I catch her in my arms before her face makes a mark on the ground.

"Careful now," I say.

She giggles. "Oopsie. My face almost got muddied right there."

The heat might be getting to me as well. It's tempting to find some shade and take a break, but an expedition is an expedition. There's no way I'm letting this opportunity for the Three Prodigies to enjoy a ball with me. This ball might be the first and final ball they can attend.

"Our nations are losing Shares," Uni says. "Sis told me this could be our only chance to gain more Shares in a single day."

Right now, we're trekking through a forest in the small island North-West of Planeptune, as Histoire and Kei requested us. From what I can say so far, it's the same scenery people can find in forests. Leaves, grass, trees—they're everywhere. This one, so far, has those annoying branches that'll poke you to no end. Not to mention leaves keep obscuring our vision.

Now, you might be thinking: How come all twelve of us are exploring the place? The most plausible answer I can think of is because the island is new, and the fact that I told Kei that I've traveled through different parts of Lluna. She called us expeditionists (which surprised me). Though, I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who fits the description.

I asked Sylvie and the others about their experiences in exploring or expeditions when we were still inside the cellar. They never committed themselves for days of expeditions before. The baffling part about it? They only did it when they arrived in Gamindustri. I owe an apology to Kei for lying about being experienced expeditionists when there are four people but only one knows his or her way around things.

"This is so boring~" Neptune tugs on my sleeve with absurd strength.

"Stop that. You're going to stretch it," I tell her. This isn't her first complaint about the whole expedition.

"But I'm tired." She tugs it again and again. At some point, I grab her wrist. The material on my sleeve is made from rare threads made from the fur of a mythical beast in Lluna.

"What's the point in telling me?"

"Carry me."

"Excuse me?"

"Carry me! I don't wanna walk around anymore. My legs are all mushy and stuff. You're a man. You're strong enough to carry me, right?"

It's not that I can't. She'll get used to me carrying her if I agreed and she'll bug me to do it again in the future. She can at least put in some effort into this whole thing. I won't complain about it if she does. My mood's in a good spot right now. I'll do it for her this once. Just once, though.

I kneel in front of her, my back facing her.

She gasps. "This is . . . the piggyback ride?! Ooh, this is exciting. We're not even childhood friends, but we're having this kind of stereotype to happen."

My eye twitches before shaking my head. "Are you riding or not?"

"I am, I am!" She slams her body as she gets on, almost causing me to lose my balance. I have her adjust herself to make sure I can carry her around without expending too much strength. "Onward, my trusty hare! We must make haste and slay King Dragon before he sends more of his lackeys on us!"

Hoisting her up, I say, "First of all, it's steed, not hare. And second, there's a King Dragon in Gamindustri?!"

"There are lots of dragons here,' Uni says. "But I've never heard of a King Dragon before. Just ignore her. It'll do good for your mental health."

"Hey, that's mean!" Neptune thrashes her arms around. It shifts her weight around, causing my arms to work hard before walking.

"Stop that, we'll fall over!" I face Uni. "I'll try to keep that in mind."

"Have you all calmed down now?" Vert asks. Out of everyone, she's the only person who has a strange get-up for this expedition. Her hair is tied in a ponytail and she's carrying a machete around. "I know we don't have to rush things, but I still have things I need to finish back at home."

"Will do." Great, my arms are about to give out thanks to Neptune's outburst earlier. Hopefully, Sylvie and the others are doing better than me.

"Wh-whoa!" Neptune's body shakes. With how much she's shaking, it's depleting the rest of my patience and also the remaining strength I have for my arms.

"Will you stop that?"

"I'm not doing it on purpose!"

"What do you—"

The tremor grows stronger. Neptune falls off my arms, and Vert latches onto my arms. She stares at my face, her chest pressing onto me harder. "Are you not getting excited from this?" she asks.

"Excited? Why would I get excited from this?"

The ground shakes again.

A crack forms beneath our feet and—

"Waah!" A hole appears below Uni.

For a moment, my mind goes blank. When I regain my senses, wind deafens my ears as my feet fail to find a ground to step on.

~0~0~0~

Alarms go off in my head. I try to swim in the air to catch up to Uni. Fortunately, I manage to grab her arm and pull her closer to me. Our journey down continues at an alarming rate, though.

"Ahhh!" Uni shuts her eyes. The dirt, as we fall, surrounds us and making it hard to see.

Once I get a good grip on Uni, I grab the nearby walls with my free hand. It doesn't stop the sliding, nor does it slow our fall one bit. The only thing I get is bleeding fingers. Wracking my brain, I pull out a dagger and bury it deep into the walls. No good. It only slides as though it's slicing a cake.

The space around us grows wider, giving us more room to move. If anyone of us knows how to control our freefalling in the first place.

I look down. The end of this freefall is nearing, though I'm not happy about it in the least. I've got nothing else coming to mind. Of course, Uni can go HDD and fly us to safety. She still has her eyes closed. That option's out. Damn it, I've got no choice then. The least I can do is make sure Uni is safe.

Letting go of the dagger, I twist our bodies around to get Uni above me.

"What are you—"

"Whatever you do, don't let go!" I shout to her.

She protests and tries to pull away from me. It's no use. I already have her locked in place. Just when I'm about to ask myself how long our fall is taking, my entire world becomes dark in a snap.

~0~0~0~

Sobbing.

Nothing but sobbing. Am I hearing things?

Opening my right eye, everything becomes a blur for a short while. While my vision is adjusting, a cold drop hits my cheek. Even if I can't see yet, my mouth moves to say her name.

"Uni . . ." It comes out hoarse. My breathing is slow, and my entire back is numb. Another drop hits my cheek. A sharp sting on my back causes me to grunt.

"Maki . . .!" She squeezes my hand. "You idiot." Her words are mixed with her sobs. "Why did you do that?" She wipes the tears rolling down her cheeks. "What do I do? I don't have first aid with me. If only Compa was here."

I squeeze her hand back. Though it budges a bit before going limp again.

She whips her head around the area. "Isn't there anything here I can use?"

It hurts me to see her like this. Is she under the influence of Nana's Spirita again?

Is this it? Is this . . . where I finally die?

Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to pass away somewhere without anyone looking. No one will care enough to bat an eye at me, nor will anyone even care what'll happen to my body as it rots to the soil. I'll die in peace without anyone knowing.

But why is my chest growing heavier with each breath?

This is what I want—to leave this world by myself all alone. Yet the more I accept it, the more my chest aches.

"Uni . . ." I manage to get words to come out. "It's . . . okay."

She shakes her head, more tears rolling on her cheeks. Some of the tears drip onto my cheeks. "Don't say that! There has to be—ah!" Letting my hand go, she rummages through her pockets. After pulling in and out of different pockets, she pulls out a small bottle containing crimson liquid inside. She yanks the cork, sending it flying, and puts the bottle near my mouth.

The moment the liquid enters my mouth, I choke. Uni jerks the bottle away.

"No good . . . damn it."

I close my right eye. All I need to do is wait until it's over.

When do things become over? No one knows when everything stops. Growth, feelings, seasons. When do they all stop? Sylvie might know what it feels like when things stop moving. Nana might know when feelings become null. Kyle might know when seasons no longer matter.

Something soft presses my lips, filling the inside of my mouth with warm liquid. With how aggressive it is, I have no choice but to swallow it. It's bitter and quite thick in texture. What is this?

Wait, how am I able to swallow?

I jerk my right eye open.

Uni's hair tickles my nose, filling it with her scent of dandelions. Pulling her face away, she wipes her mouth as she turns around with her cheeks flushed. She keeps avoiding my eye.

I put a finger near my lip. Did she . . . "Uni did you . . .?"

She shakes her head with fury, her already rosy-red cheeks covering more of her face. "It-it was an emergency, got it? I-I-I didn't mean anything of it, okay?"

"Uni."

"D-don't get the wrong idea!"

"Uni."

"Wh-what? Just so you know, Compa told me it was something I could do as a last resort—"

"My breath wasn't bad, was it? I brushed before coming here and all. It—it didn't have a foul odor, did it?" Before I got into the cellars, we were given these garlic snacks. The stench filled the whole room whenever we opened our mouths. Before Kyle and I could use the sink, Sylvie and Nana took so long I almost fell asleep without brushing first.

"Huh? N-no, you tasted like mint—wait, why are you asking that anyway?"

"You telling me a man can't worry about their breaths?"

"That's not what I meant. Argh, whatever!" Uni clawed her hair. "Hmph!" She jerks her head away.

"Thank you."

". . . H-hmph!"

It might be unfair to Sylvie and the others, but I'm glad Uni's with me right now. Whenever I'm with her, my mind is always relaxed. When did I become like this?

It's fine even if we stay here much longer, isn't it?

No, no, no, what am I saying? We need to get out of here and get back to the others. Once I recover, we'll need to find a way out of here.

Still, it's not a huge loss if we stay.

No, stop it. I can't be selfish like this. I can't let my emotions get the better of me.

Never again.