Chapter 2

Take-Off

"For the last time, woman, walk on your own!"

Kidd pulls his arm away from the clutch of the pink-haired girl, walking faster and a bit to the side. Bonney keeps walking not far behind him, shoulders slumped and dragging her feet.

"I'm tired! We've been walking for, what, two hours?"

"An hour and 47 minutes" Drake murmurs, looking at his watch, sweat beading on his forehead. Next to him, Law is in a similar condition, sweaty and panting slightly.

"Latch onto someone else, then!" Kidd grumbles, fishing out a water bottle from the side pocket of his bag and gulping down the content.

The registration form incident was safely solved, because, as it turned out, the committee had already prepared some for cases like this. Luffy and Kidd had filled theirs as fast as lightning (snatching pens from Law and Drake) before submitting it.

After getting nametags pinned onto their clothes, they went through a big, rusty, blue-painted metal gate (Bonney commented that it looked like a gate toward mass graves in horror animated cartoon). From there, they have been walking on a wide soil path, following some committee members (who are wearing very striking neon yellow t-shirt) ahead.

Eventually, their surrounding becomes more and more full of green. At one point, they are sure they've entered a forest, if the big trees, thick bushes, and faint sound of animals at a distance are any indication.

"Is it just me," Bonney starts, looking around, "or is the path becoming more and more narrow?"

"Yeah" Law adjusts the strap on his shoulder "and rougher"

Drake slows down his pace and looks over his shoulder. He frowns, stops, and turns around, before turning around again and catching up with his schoolmates.

"Uhh. Somehow, I think some of other schools' students are…" he mulls over his word choice "…missing"

As if on cue, the others stop, glancing left and right.

As Drake says, the number of people around surely have diminished.

"Maybe they disappeared" Kidd smirks. Drake doesn't appreciate the joke, because really, if someone does disappear in this forest, chances are, they might not be able to return.

"Talking about disappear…" Law trails off.

"What?"

"…Where's Mugiwara-ya?"

There's a pause.

Silence.

A quick, hurried look to the left, right, back, up, and down.

Another silence.

And they run.

"God, I thought you were keeping an eye on him, Trafalgar!" Kidd yells, inwardly cursing himself for bringing a handbag because damn, it's hard to run while holding something.

"I was!"

The others give the tattooed boy a dry look. Law grunts in exasperation.

"Really, I was! I just looked away one second—"

"And why the hell did you look away?"

"I heard something in the bushes!"

"It was just a rabbit" Drake informs. Kidd looks at Law, disbelief written all over his face. Law clicks his tongue, "It was a cute rabbit!"

Kidd rolls his eyes but wisely drops the subject. Now, the more pressing matter is finding their tornado of a friend, Luffy.

Knowing him, Luffy must have run ahead of them, probably even ahead of the committee.

Or into the forest.

They don't even want to start thinking about that, so they just keep running ahead.

They don't know just for how long they run (Even Drake who usually keeps track of basically everything), but they don't stop even when they've started wheezing and gasping for breath.

They pass some students from other schools, most of which looking at them like they're crazy. And a few, for whatever reason, starts running, too.

Eventually, they reach a point where no one else is around.

And by that, it means no one. They don't see a single person anymore.

"Did we.. pass.. the committee..?" Law asks in between labored breaths, leaning against a tree bark.

"I don't.. think so" Drake answers, bending forward with palms on his knees, trying to catch his breath. Not far from him, Bonney sits down, legs stretched out. She furiously grabs into her tote bag and pulls out a bread, quickly ripping open the plastic and munching on the delicacy.

Kidd swiftly lets out a string of beautifully-combined curses, his bags already dropped to the ground. He fights a lot, yes. But the stamina needed for brawl and marathon are hardly the same.

"You run fast, Kizao!"

"I—Fuck!"

All of them turn their heads so fast there could've been heard a snapping sound.

And there, standing straight, hands on his waist and a big smile on his face, Monkey D. Luffy.

Who has the gall to freakin' laugh.

"Shishishi! That was fun! But why were we running?"

If they weren't so tired, they would have ganged up and tried to beat the living daylight out of him.

But they settle with deathly glares instead.

And stressed-out, muffled screaming.

"Where were you?" Bonney asks, strangely eloquent even with food in her mouth.

Luffy tilts his head, as if he is just asked the weirdest question ever, "Huh? I just saw you guys passing by out of nowhere, running. It looked fun, so I just followed!"

At that answer, they groan, throwing their heads back. Their hypothesis is true, though. So, Luffy had been ahead of them, but they somehow passed him and he just followed them without saying anything.

And now they're (most probably) stranded.

Lost.

And have all the energy of a leech.

Thoughts of ditching this whole event altogether cross their minds. But they have come this far, like hell they wouldn't see it through till the end.

So they stand back up, adjust their belongings, and look at each other.

And run some more.

Igaram glances at his pocket watch. 2 hours and 23 minutes have passed since the scheduled entry to the forest. That means, the first team to arrive would come in around 40 more minutes.

When he voluntarily took on this part time job as a committee of the national event, he didn't think much about it. He was overjoyed, though, when he heard that his beloved niece, Vivi, participates in it, and decided to (secretly) look out for the girl.

And he is just having a nice, hot cup of tea, when something appears from a distance. It comes closer and closer, and eventually Igaram can make out the thing.

Or the people.

Who are running as if the apocalypse itself is hot on their heels.

"RraaaaahhhHHH!"

The five people—students, Igaram realizes—shout. In a split second, Igaram is reminded of a battle cry that he once saw in a fighting movie. The students don't even slow down when they've neared the entrance of the clearing. They pass Igaram, whose hair shoots backward from the intense wave of air.

They finally come to a stop a good ten feet from where he's standing, and immediately melt to the ground like lumps of meat. Igaram is too startled and speechless when he sees the youths wheezing and gasping for breath, some of them even coughing. Their clothes are soaked in sweat, and they're rather pale, thanks to the exhaustion.

Igaram almost jump when one of them whips his head to him.

"Who… first, oldman?" the boy—the skinny one with a scar under his eye—asks, his tone somehow indicating urgency.

"..Uhh what?" Igaram is too stunned that what the boy says doesn't really register in his mind yet.

"Who's the… first?" another boy—with flaming red hair—asks, clearly annoyed by the man's lack of intelligent response.

The others stare at him in expectation (they still don't bother to get up from the ground, lying there like dying starfish), and when Igaram finally manages to gather his thoughts, he scrambles with the papers in his hands.

"Oh umm, wait a second" he says, raising his voice a bit to make sure the teenagers hear him. It doesn't take too long to find the file of the group, what with their relatively eccentric appearance.

"Grand Line High School. You guys are the first to arrive here, earning 30 points. Congratulations" he says, writing something on the paper, and walking to the group who are finally making efforts to sit back up.

"What?" the red-haired boy snaps. Igaram raises an eyebrow.

"..What?" the man inquires back, confused.

"Among us, old man" the girl points to the five of them one by one "who got here first?"

Igaram blinks. Once. Twice. Thrice.

Oh, this… so they were having a contest among themselves? To see who could reach the 'Finish Line' first?

Igaram isn't exactly used to this situation, but he just knows that these guys would pester him until he gives a good, solid answer. So he can't say he doesn't know or it's a tie, and he especially can't point out that this behavior is useless in this event.

"Well?" another boy—a black-haired one with earrings, white fluffy hat, and… tattoos?—presses.

Quickly scanning the group, Igaram tries to give the 'safest' answer possible.

"The girl" he says, pointing to the only girl in the group, who pumps her fists to the air with a loud, satisfied, joyful "yes!"

The others look ready to murder her, not quite ready to accept defeat, but don't do nor say anything. And Igaram is really, really relieved he didn't choose any of the boys (otherwise there will definitely be violence involved).

Igaram sighs and writes something again on the group's file and on another smaller paper (around half the size of the previous one), before giving the small paper to the blond teen who accepts it warily.

"That paper is to keep track of your group's points, so do not lose it" Igaram warns. Before he can go back to his post—which is the desk by the entrance—the group stops him.

"What's it about points?" the thin boy with the scar asks, tilting his head slightly. He's been trying to get his hands into the girl's bag for a while now, and the girl has been slapping his hands away consistently.

"Honestly, did you even listen to anything Aokiji said?" the tattooed one asks, and immediately looks like he regrets it, because he knows the answer is a big, solid no.

"It's a competition, idiot" the pink-haired girl answers while taking a huge bite out of her onigiri.

"There's a point system and we're judged on every single activity" she adds.

Igaram nods in affirmation "Yes, that's right. At the end of the event, the points would be tallied and the school with the highest number of points wins and gets the prize"

"What's the prize?"

"It's a secret"

"Is it food? Meat?"

"…perhaps"

At that, the boy lights up, a wide grin decorating his face "Cool!" he looks at the others, eyes sparkling in excitement "Hey, guys! Let's win this!"

The others give the boy blank looks, muttering 'whatever' and not really looking up to it nor enthusiastic at all.

But, strangely enough, Igaram sees a glint of sparks in each of the teens' eyes. Subdued and calm but intense enough that Igaram believes they're just as anticipated of the activities to come. Maybe the prize is a real incentive to them.

"Wait" the blond boy with an 'x'-shaped scar on his chin says, his eyes glued to the Points Paper in his hands. Next to him, the boy with the white hat peers closer.

"You said we earn 30 points for arriving here first, so why is our total points 0?" he asks, pointing at the paper. All of a sudden, all pair of eyes land on Igaram again, silently accusing the man of forgetting to write it down or something.

Igaram sighs.

"Yes, you did earn 30 points for being the first to arrive at this clearing" he clears that up first, before adding "but you've lost 30 points before that"

Igaram is really, really tempted to fish out his phone just to take a picture of the baffled faces of the teens in front of him. They are gaping like fish on land, eyes wide.

"…When?" they finally ask.

Igaram hesitates a little (because the teens look like they're transitioning from shock to anger and Igaram has a feeling he does not want to be on the other end of their protest) but eventually elaborates.

"Minus 10 per person for clumsiness and tardiness—the paper says you lost 20 points at the main gate, meaning two of you either lost something, didn't bring the registration form, came late, or somehow messed up in front of the committee in any way"

Igaram sees the thin boy with the straw hat and the red-haired boy blink, while the others shoot them deadly glares. So they at least know who are at fault for this one.

"…and, well… you're not supposed to fight with each other. Cooperativeness, uniformity, and teamwork are crucial and highly appreciated in this event…"

Igaram sees them cringe slightly.

"…so you lost another 10 points for, you know, battling each other on a race here"

And the teens groan in frustration, some of them cursing the rules and all under their breaths (Igaram wonders if they know that profanities aren't exactly prohibited). After a minute or two, Igaram looks at the group again and points to the clearing where the camp site takes place.

"Since you're already here, why don't you take a look around?"

Rule Number 2 : Students are prohibited to bring any kind of electronic device

After all schools arrive at the clearing (the Grand Line HS students realize that there are actually a lot more people than they previously thought or saw), they are gathered and told to sit while the committee gives some boring speech about the opening of the event as well as some technical explanation.

There are some important points to address, but the more intellectual individuals in that team—aka Law and Drake—just know that those things are useless for them. They'll just do whatever they want in the end, especially with a certain strawhatted kid dragging them around.

After that, they're given time for rest and lunch, which is already prepared by the committee. Luffy and Bonney practically inhale their food like vacuums, and the three others have to protect theirs from being stolen.

Law sees Luffy sneaking up to a person wearing a tiger mask and grabbing a handful of rice from the latter's food compartment. Law leans in closer to see the nametag—'Absalom', poor guy.

Bonney at least has some decency to bring a mountain of food for herself. Drake's eyes look like they almost pop out of their sockets when he sees just how many foods is stored in the girl's tote bag. Really, are girls' bags actually endless dimensional space? How could they put all those things and not have the bags burst open?

Kidd almost gets into a fight with some guy that has a pretty weird-looking facial hair and a parrot perched on his shoulder. Kidd has been trying to be nice and just have a talk with others, really. It's just that he thinks it's a good conversation starter to tell a person that they're a freak.

Drake approaches some people that he recognizes (one of the perks of being a student body member : relatively wide connection). Law does a double take when he sees the people Drake interacts with—a girl with bright, blue hair and a guy with weird make up and a headdress that reminds him of people that live in hot, sandy countries.

Now that Law looks closer, there are a lot—and by that he means a lot—oddballs. Like the guy wearing a ballerina outfit; a guy with long, square-y nose; a guy who has a hairdo that's shaped like the number '3'; a girl who dresses like a goth; and the list goes on and on. Well, Law is more than accustomed to freaks, even his very team right now consists of them.

And here he thought all the weirdos are concentrated in his school. Funny that all these schools look at them and think "Ah yes, let's make these misfits the representatives of our school to compete and win the national camp event!"

Like, seriously.

With more than enough things to ponder about, time goes on. When the clock strikes 3 pm, the students are gathered again for the next activity.

Time to set up the tents.

THUNK

THUD

Drake freezes.

For ten whole seconds, he doesn't move, doesn't blink, doesn't even breath.

Then, very, very slowly, he looks down and stares at a hammer lying still next to his left foot. After a while, he glances behind him, wincing at the fresh impact mark on the tree.

The hammer had just been flung out of nowhere, and had it been one inch to the right, Drake's skull would have been cracked right open.

It hasn't even been a day, yet he has already taken a glimpse of death more than twice. He fights the urge to punch someone and picks up the hammer instead, absentmindedly staring at it.

"Oh hey, there it is!" a pink-haired girl walks toward him and snatches the hammer from his hands.

"My hands are sweaty so it kinda slipped, haha! Thanks for holding it for me!" Bonney says, and after taking quick a look at the young man, adds "I think you should get some rest. You're white as a ghost, Drake." And just like that she walks away, not even waiting for Drake to respond.

A little ways from them, Kidd sympathizes with the blond teen who's still standing like a mannequin, probably in shock with the life-and-death experience. The red-head approaches his schoolmate and gives some light, comforting pats on the shoulder, before continuing on with his tasks.

Which are, setting up the tent and making sure a certain strawhatted person doesn't ruin everything.

Who would've thought that the latter is harder than the former?

"Honestly, why don't you just climb the trees and play with the monkeys or something? Just let us handle this" Kidd says, hammering the metal stakes to the ground and making sure the poles don't break down (which is what happened—somehow—when Luffy hammered the stakes).

"But I wanna help!"

"You'll be doing us a great favour by staying away from making and building something, Mugiwara-ya"

At that, Luffy frowns and pouts in irritation. Law rolls his eyes. The white-hatted teen knows that Luffy usually gets away with anything in the latter's group of friends, but there's just so much that Law and Kidd can tolerate right now.

"Just… look for branches and twigs or something. I believe there will be a bonfire later" Law adds with a sigh. At the mention of bonfire, which equates to a nice night time feast in Luffy's head, the Strawhatted boy brightens and saunters away in search of good branches.

Law doesn't bring up the fact that he doesn't know just exactly which night they'll be having the campfire, but oh well.

"How's it going, Bonney-ya?" Law asks as he glances at his female schoolmate who's busy setting up her own tent. The committee accommodates two tents for each school, one for the girls and one for the boys. It's a despair for them, though (except for Bonney), because that means they have to cram 4 boys and their belongings into the same tent. Law is sure that they would be spending most of the time outside, but still.

"Aside from the fact that somehow this one stake can't seem to get properly embedded to the ground, it's fine" Bonney answers with a grumble, carefully hammering the said stake. Kidd pops out his head above the boys' sleeping area to look at the girl.

"Maybe there's rock in the soil there. Just move the stake a little" he informs. Bonney raises a brow.

"You seem familiar with it, Kidd"

Kidd shrugs, "I go camping with Killer, Heat and Wire a few times" a pause "or more like we have to camp outside, cause, you know, personal matters"

Bonney mutters an 'oo' and doesn't press further.

At some rustles and sounds of dry leaves being stepped on, they turn their heads to see Drake walking up to them, "..Where's Strawhat?"

"Somewhere looking for branches for a campfire"

"…alone?"

Cue silence.

"..I believe he can go back here just fine" Law speaks up, opening the 'door' and 'windows' of the tent to let some fresh air in "I mean, it's a forest. He's right in his nature"

"Yeah" Kidd puts in his thoughts, hands fumbling with ropes and trying to remember how to make bowline knots to set up the guylines, "If something does happen, the little shit will just come back here laughing and grinning like an idiot"

Drake takes in his schoolmates' opinions, his worry dwindling a little.

"I won't be surprised if he gets distracted and comes back without anything" Bonney chimes in, satisfied that she has successfully buried all the stakes into the ground.

"Or he'll come back with huge bugs in hands"

"Yeah, like stag or rhino beetles"

"Or maybe even small animals, like squirrels or rats or—"

"OOOOOIIIIIIIII!"

Speak of the devil.

They all look at Luffy, who's running and waving one-handedly at them, another hand holding something. Something that suspiciously looks like… oh.

The color drains from their faces.

"…or snakes"

The first day, as the committee calls it, is just the introduction day. After setting up the tents, they're given free time until dinner, and then free time again until lights out.

Drake has come up with a theory that they should try to get to know their surroundings, because the games and other activities in the second and third days are most likely dependent on the condition of the forest.

The others easily agree to wander around, with the condition from Law that they do not split up. Who knows what trouble Strawhat and Eustass might get themselves into.

The Great Exploration—as Luffy calls it—goes pretty swimmingly. Well, as swimmingly as the group are able to make it, anyway. Which means, total chaos.

Some of them might have fallen flat on their faces, caught in a rope trap, fallen into a lake, gotten stung by bees, and chased around by a very angry boar.

But no one dies, so that's that.

"This…" Kidd starts, cutting a thick branch that's in the way in two with his bare hands "ain't a forest. It's a fuckin' jungle" he finishes with a hiss.

Feeling done with their adventure and misfortune, they decide to go back to the clearing, clean themselves, have dinner, and finally settle in for the night (Law is amused when he sees Drake throwing salt around their tents).

One problem though, they can't manage to find any restroom with showers. They approach one committee member to ask about it.

"Oh, there isn't any" the lady beams. "There are toilets. But to wash yourself, you have to find the source of water yourselves"

The pure horror is transparent on their faces, and after one look around, all other students (who have also found out about the news) also have this dark, gloomy look on them.

Let's just say, their day doesn't end as nicely as they've hoped.

A/N

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