Chapter 6: Sitting alone…

The sun had already set and it was beginning to get dark.

"Why are we the first ones here?" asked Izumi.

"Well, it's getting dark. We'd better set up camp. We're probably not the first, but I'm pretty sure we're not the last. Half the class isn't good climbers." Kouji said, after climbing.

"But we haven't even gotten to the first base yet," replied Izumi.

"We have four days to do this, so what's your hurry? Besides there are park rangers to make sure we don't fall into any trouble."

"Never mind," said Kouji as he put his backpack down and opened it. He took out a blue rolled-up bag about the size of his arm. It was his tent. He started setting it up. In a matter of minutes he completely figured it out and was set up perfectly. He reached into his backpack and flinged out his indigo sleeping bag. Izumi stood there in awe of how he did that in only three minutes. Kouji zipped open his tent and stop mid-way through going in.

"Hey, aren't you going to set up camp?" he asked.

"Well, you see…" Izumi stammered.

"What?" he asked coldly.

"I think Miyamoto stole some of my things. I checked my backpack just now, and my sleeping bag is missing. I really don't know what happened," she said while looking down at the snow.

Kouji sighed. "Fine. You can use my tent," he said quietly.

"Really? I mean, I don't have anything in return."

"I don't need anything."

"But…"

"I won't mind you using my tent as long as you don't stink it up or of you have bathroom problems!"

'What are you implying? I do not have bathroom problems!" Izumi said.

Kouji smiled at her.

"Oh, you," Izumi said while slightly smiling as she put her lavender knapsack down.

Kouji settled down and started looking for firewood. There was a tree nearby so he climbed up and took out a knife from his pocket. He chopped off a couple of thick twigs and threw them in a pile. He dug in his bag and took out matches. He then lit it to make a nice, home-like campfire. He opened his bag again took out a canister. He put it over the fire for about two minutes, opened it and drank some. He noticed Izumi, who only sat on a rock upon the snow, looking at the night sky.

"You want some?" Kouji asked.

"Uh… no it's okay. You offered me your tent and it's your food and all."

"I'm not hungry," he said, getting up as he thrust the canister of soup broth into Izumi hands. He walked away and sat at the left side of the tent. Izumi stared at him for seven seconds, stood up and walked to him.

"Kouji, look you don't have to act so cold towards everyone. I know your life may be harsh, but think about the good things," she said gently.

"Like what?"

"Well, your life, for one."

Kouji didn't say anything as he turned his head upwards into the sky.

"Don't you have anything else to say besides just gazing into nothingness?"

Kouji still didn't open his mouth or bother to at Izumi.

"Look, Kouji, I know what you're going though. I may not seem like it because I look so popular just by physical exterior, but I am alone, just like you. You've seen Miyamoto and how she treats me just because she doesn't know me or my personality. I used to live in Italy and no one liked me there because I was from Japan. And now, no one likes me here because I'm from Italy. And all I've ever wanted is to be accepted by others around me and to have some true friends. And I'm sure that's something you truly want, even though you never show it."

Kouji stared hard at the snow and looked down. Izumi stared at him for five more seconds. She walked away as her boots crunched into the snow, then sat by the fire hearth, and stared deeply into it, hoping that Kouji did not feel offended by what she said. Kouji stared agonizingly into the snow, thinking about what Orimoto said. He though to himself,

"I hate it when people are right about me."

He stood up and stared at Izumi, her back turned to Kouji. He stared at her and saw how much wisdom Izumi held within her mind and that she wasn't really ignorant as she appeared to be. He walked to her and said,

"Thanks," and sat across from her between the fire.

"It's getting really dark," she said and yawned.

"Go to sleep, then."

"Where will you stay?"

"Out here."

"But…"

"I insist."

"Well, all right. But you'd better sleep in here too. It's awfully cold out here. Don't stay out here too long, okay?"

Kouji only nodded.

Izumi climbed into Kouji's tent and went to sleep. Kouji stared at the starry night sky. There was a stone near the tent that looked good enough to sit on. He sat there while sitting next to the tent, keeping watch, and dwelling on his past experiences. After one hour of staring and thinking, his eyelids began getting real heavy, and he drifted to sleep while sitting up.

Meanwhile, Miyamoto was still advancing up the mountain, making more fake bases, and putting them in dangerous places. She attempted to put it in front of a cave, but that was really stupid of her because there was a bear dwelling in it that saw her and came out to make Miyamoto it's dinner. She climbed up a tree in horror. The bear watched her hungrily for three hours, then went back to its cave. Miyamoto was relieved and kept walking. She didn't know that the bear chewed up the flag while going back to its cave. Miyamoto was really brainless; unknowingly that her name was written on the fake flags she made. She had a tendency to write her name over and over on anything she could write on when she was bored in class.

Izumi was the first to wake up. She got out of Kouji's tent and saw Kouji, asleep sitting up, which she found impossible.

"Kouji, wake up," Izumi said, nudging Kouji on the shoulder.

"Hmm…what?" he said inaudibly through his sleep. Izumi touched his cheek.

"You've been freezing out here all night!"

"No, I wasn't," he said raspily through his throat and sneezed.

"You are so stubborn. Tonight you stay in the tent!" Izumi scolded.

"All right! Uhh… do you have a tissue?" Kouji asked while covering his nose.

Izumi sighed and opened a side pocket of her knapsack. "You really shouldn't have slept out here! And I thought you were smarter."

"Stop yelling at me. You're not my father."

"Here," she said, holding out a tissue for her. "Hey, don't you have tissue? You gave me some on the bus yesterday."

"Well, that was the only one I had," Kouji spoke, while blowing his nose.

"Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine! We have to get to the first base!"

"Well, okay. But if you get even worse, don't blame me."

Kouji and Izumi continued up the trail. Finally, they reached first base. Unluckily, it was one of Miyamoto's fake flags, and it was the one where Miyamoto coated the thin ice with snow. Izumi walked on while Kouji thought for a minute.

"Why haven't we seen Yanagimoto-sensei or any of our other classmates at all? It says on this map that the base should be right here. And we'd see our classmates crowding around the first base initially. And everyone has the same exact maps as us. But this base flag has Miyamoto's writing all over it."

Izumi walked forward, while appreciating the winter surroundings. "Don't you just love winter?" Izumi asked, looking up and breathing in the pristine air.

Kouji heard a slight crack.

"Wait a minute…" Kouji thought. "Orimoto! Get off!"

Izumi was too busy enjoying the seasonal surroundings to mind Kouji's blabbering.

"Orimoto, please, I'm warning you, get off that right now!"

"Why? It seems safe to me," Izumi replied as she stood there.

"No, Orimoto, you're standing on ice!" said Kouji roughly, motioning Izumi to get off the darn thing. He heard more cracks.

"What? I don't see any –ahh!" Izumi fell as the ice floor broke, falling and into the ice cold water.

Kouji stared in horror.