From the last chapter:

She heaved a breath of relief as he took his stuff and got up wordlessly. She had been worried that he would be difficult. After all he never was a groupie; he always did as he wished, when he wished. She has already lost Susumu; she didn't want to lose him now. She didn't want to face any more loss.

Susumu…how she missed him…

No. She mustn't think about Susumu now. Susumu was gone, but there were still her parents to think of. They have already lost their only son; they shouldn't have to lose their only daughter as well. She must live to get out of this forest.

With this mind, she forced a smile back onto her face, and resolutely marched on bravely.

"Let's go." Tsukushi said with a note of determination, "We'll just do as Mitsuki suggested. When we are tired, we'll just take turns to tell stories to keep each other awake.

The story continues….

All of them walked briskly through the dense forest, their hearts beating fast. The moonlight that managed to penetrate through the dense canopy of the forest was minimal, and they could hardly see their own five fingers even if they held their hands right in front of their eyes, much less the roads they walked.

They moved quickly and silently, not talking to one another. Their hearts were heavy as the knell of death over them. Nine of them, including Susumu whom they had already lost, had accepted the dare to camp here at the forbidden forest where the only law was: survival of the fittest. When they had first entered the realm, the words had appeared one by one in bold, floating in the air as if enshrined in gold for a moment before vanishing into nothingness.

Survival of the fittest, how cold that sounds. Tsukushi has never believed in the adage. However, the only way they could leave the realm was to either kill the old witch at Brighton Hill, or be killed by her. It was either them or her. To survive, they'll have to find her and kill her first.

Must they really kill to get out of the place? What makes them different from those beasts of the night if they were to kill merely to save the skin on their backs? If the price of their salvation is at the cost of their souls, then isn't it altogether too high? Tsukushi's mind was in a tempest. She loathed this place and all it represents, and she longed to avenge Susumu. Yet the thought of killing chills her heart. Life is a precious gift bestowed and should be treasured and lived to the fullest. Although, the Queen of Shadows was evil, and had caused Susumu's death, that didn't mean they were justified in killing her. Two wrongs didn't make a right.

"Junpei," Tsukushi called softly, "Do we really have to kill to get out of this place? Hasn't enough blood been shed?" Tsukushi hadn't wanted to be heard by the rest. She already knew their sentiments on the subject.

"We don't have a choice, Tsukushi," Junpei replied in a surprisingly gentle voice as he held Tsukushi's cold hand in his, giving her a reassuring squeeze. "The hunt has already begun."

Wordlessly, Tsukushi nodded. Before she asked, she had already known what the answer would be. For yes indeed, the hunt has begun, more than 24 hours ago. They had no choice except to forge forward, and hope they are the hunter rather than the hunted.

Soujiro lounged comfortably on the thick branch that was almost perpendicular to the branch Akira was resting on. Their eyes were both closed as they enjoyed the moon-bathing in sybaritic bliss. Life was blissful.

"Arrghhh!" The two rogues shouted in unison as they both held on to their respective branches for their lives when the tree started shaking violently.

"Hey, wake up!" a booming voice shouted excitedly from below, "You've been sleeping for hours, it's time you are up and about. Don't pick up Rui's habit of sleeping till the ends of time."

"Tsukasa!" they both yelled back indignantly.

"This tree is towering over the ground! You could have got our backs broken." Soujirou grumbled in disgruntlement as he jumped down to ground effortlessly, followed by Akira.

"And how are we going to give our usual stellar performances in bed if we injure our spines." Akira added as he stifled a yawn.

"Wake up, you sleepy head." Tsukasa continued without any shred of remorse, "I'm bored."

"Go find yourself some chick, you over-aged virgin," chorused the two simultaneously, "Then you won't find yourself this energetic always."

A blush sneaked up Tsukasa's cheeks involuntarily as he burned with embarrassment. It wasn't the first time the two broadcasted about his virginity, and it wasn't as if any one would dare laugh at him, with the exception of the two broadcasters, of course. However, like the boy in him who never grew up, he was still unbelievably and uncharacteristically shy about sex. He didn't believe in casual sex. To him a union of the bodies means making love and not lusty sex. To his way of thinking, if one wasn't in love, how can one make love? Simplistic as his mentality was, one can't deny his logic. He didn't doubt his logic, after all, he was the Doumyouji Tsukasa, and how could he ever be wrong. However, being called an over-aged virgin, being broadcasted as a virgin in a world of lusty bast**ds pricked his ego.

"Bakas! Are you tired of living?" Tsukasa shouted at the two, glaring at them ferociously with his fists clenched threateningly by his sides while his cheeks still burned bright.

Still grinning from ear to ear, Soujiro and Akira both stretched their arms across Tsukasa's back, each flanking one of his sides in a show of camaraderie.

"You know, we are doing this for your own good." Soujiro started.

"You are no longer young," Akira continued, "If you don't get hitched with a girl soon, the whole world will think you are a gay."

"Hey!" Tsukasa yelled while trying to shake loose of the two rascals' arms to get a swing at them.

"No, no, calm down," the two pacified lightly before Soujiro slyly added, "What we meant was that it's really strange for you as the dark prince who's up on the pedestal to be without a mate. What reason could there be? Are your standards too high that no female in this entire universe can ever match up to, and has hence had your sight turned the other way?"

With that last parting shot, the two dashed off, running for their lives while Tsukasa was still pondering over the statement, the meaning of their innuendo having not fully sunk in.

They were already at a distance when Tsukasa finally yelled, "Hey! What other way do you mean? I'm straight, unlike you two who always stick together!"

He was running after them when he noticed they've stopped. Akira even signalled for him to keep quiet, and communicated with him through their minds that there's prey. Looking more carefully at his surroundings, Tsukasa noticed that the old fogies were indeed camouflaging and hiding themselves amongst the trees and the shadows. Some of them were even practically drooling greedily as they eyed their prey. The hunt is on.

TO be continued...