[This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents in this book are either the product of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.]
"Hey, did you get all the things needed?" Chocho reminds Dae and Wasabi. They both raise the paper bag full of decors.
We are preparing for New Year's Decoration Activity for today. We can't lose this contest either but I guess we don't have that impressive creativity. I don't underestimate my teammates or anything but I can feel it. Neither I nor Chocho is best at such a thing. I sigh at the thought and watch as they run back and forth.
I look around and everyone seems so busy with the activity too. I can tell how they work hard for it.
"Hey, what makes you so tepid today?" Chocho pouts after she stopped in front of me. I shake my head so she can ignore me.
"Don't give me that as an answer. What's bothering you?" she is persistent as usual.
"I am thinking if we are going to win this contest too," I say in a weak voice. Her eyes narrow at me like she is mad or being suspicious I can't tell, to be honest.
"Aren't you confident with our creative minds?" she crosses her arms and pouts in front of me.
"I am not confident with my creativity so..." I say with honesty.
"Heh, you can't be so honest, you know?" she sighs and drops her shoulders.
"But, let's do our best!" I say feeling so determined. She smiles at me and raises her hand in the air.
"Why so energetic all of sudden?" Wasabi furrows her brows and we just smile at her.
"Seems like everyone is ready," a voice of a man echoes in the convention room. The adviser from Class B.
We gather in front of him while carrying out our decorations.
"You guys have wonderful tastes. I am looking forward to seeing your decorations. You can start now until this afternoon. Good luck and may the best decorations win," he smiles and wave his hand in front of us.
"Please be careful when you are using sharp tools, okay?" the adviser from Class C reminds us, and we respond properly to her. They leave us working with our activity and indistinct noise starts to echo in the area.
"This is just a piece of cake," I hear Yodo boastfully says. Well, she is fashionable and it's normal for her to be creative especially with what she wears.
"I think there is already a winner," Namida whispers and Chocho stops her from thinking negatively.
"You are wrong, Namida. We can beat her, right?" Chocho thinks optimistically this time. Dae agrees and Wasabi gestures like she is challenging Yodo.
"We will beat them, all of them," Wasabi declares and the rest of my team rejoices. This is fun to watch. I can see everyone else glimpse at them. They don't look embarrassed at all.
"You don't have to push yourselves too hard. Winning or losing doesn't matter. What matters is we enjoy the company of each other, we have learned a lot of new things and we have our bond becomes stronger," I tell them and Namida begins to sob.
"Not again Namida. You're too emotional, aren't you?" Dae comments and she stop her tears from dripping off her eyes.
"I can't help myself from thinking that we only have a few months staying together," she reasons out.
"Let's stop this drama already and start to work with our decoration. Our time is running," I remind them and they start moving. I look around and witness how busy and serious everyone is with this activity.
I glance at Yodo's group work and I still can't figure out what they are trying to make but I don't care I have to focus on ours.
"We will make a Kadomatsu," I say. They hung up their mouths at me. Did I say something wrong?
"Are we able to do that?" Chocho asks not so sure about it.
"Can't we though? We will make a pair of them. We have bamboo sprigs, right?" I wink at them.
"Have you made one before, Sarada?" Namida asks. Is she expecting yes as an answer?
"If we will make one today then it's my first time," I say. Honestly, I never made anything like that my entire life. Mom used to buy them at the stores on New Year's Eve.
"This is not so like you, to begin with," Chocho shrugs, and I just give them an unsure smile.
"Well, we will not know what happens later so we must start making Kadomatsu now," Dae says and takes out the stuff from the paper bag. Then Wasabi takes out the bamboo sprigs too. Namida prepares the twigs of pines while I am taking plums out of its cover.
Everyone is doing their best I must do what I can too. We start by preparing the bamboo sprigs then put the twigs around them.
"Please give me those plums," I say to Namida and she immediately takes them and hands them over to me.
"For the final touch," Chocho utters, and everyone chuckles. We haven't noticed the time. It's already 3:00 p.m.
"It took us forever to finish the pair," Dae says and I nod.
"I didn't expect this to turn out wonderful," I say while blushing I guess.
"This is not bad for a first-timer," Wasabi chuckles and we laugh together.
"Thank goodness, we can rest now," Namida breaths in relief.
"Hey!" Dae squeals when he sees Yodo's decoration.
"No way..." we utter all at once.
"Is that a lantern with bells?" Chocho mutters while narrowing her eyes.
"Hey! Hey! It has lights too," Dae panics. His eyes are wide open.
"Calm down, Dae. What to expect from a wealthy and fashionable Yodo?" Wasabi scolds him while tapping his shoulder.
"So, we are..." Dae says almost sobbing.
"What's with that look?" Wasabi asks and scowls at him.
"It's okay. We did our best and I think that's more important," Namida says and wipes the tears from the corners of her eyes.
"Someone has been enlightened," Chocho waves in front of her face.
"All right, leave all your works on the table right there and we will judge it later," our adviser instructs and points at the corner near the window.
"You can have a break now," she adds and slowly the area was left empty.
"This tea is good," Inojin comments and Shikadai agrees by nodding his head at him.
"Don't you think it tastes good, Mitsuki?" Boruto asks Mitsuki who is sitting next to him. The latter nods and smiles at him.
We are gathered together at a long table while having the best tea in the world.
I shove my hand into my pocket to grab my phone but realize it's not there. I think I left it in our room. I stand up from my seat to check on it.
"Where are you going, Sarada?" Chocho asks me and I pause.
"I think I left my phone in the room. I will go get it. Maybe mom sent me a message," I say and she nods. I proceed in the direction of the stairs and I hear a sound more like people talking to each other.
The conversation has become clearer as I walk closer to the stairs.
"Is something bothering you, Kawaki? You have not participated in any activities since we got here," our adviser and the jerk are having a conversation.
Well, Chocho and I noticed him sitting apathetically in the corner like he has a world of his own.
"They don't interest me at all," he responds to her. Couldn't he be so honest and talk to her nicely?
"I am expecting that this camp will help you get along with others. I was happy when you showed up outside the bus a few days ago," she sounds helpless when she utters those words.
"This camp has nothing to do with me. I only come because this is a requirement for graduation," he answers like this whole thing is just so boring. Could not he see from the corner how happy everyone was doing the activities and just say what he wanted to?
"Kawaki, you don't have to distance yourself from others. You can build an amazing bond with them and cherish it even you're away from each other," she tries to make him understand. I can feel the sincerity in her voice. She truly cares for him. Please don't be a jerk and do what she tells you to do! I am scolding him in my head and I think it sounds horrible.
"I don't want them. That bond, I don't want it," he refuses and I hear footsteps fading away.
"Kawaki, wait..." he doesn't listen to anyone that's how a jerk he is.
December 31st
"I guess everyone is here," our adviser says with open arms. We assemble outside the hotel. It's still a cold morning and the snow stops falling from the sky.
"Why are we here?" a girl from class D asks in confusion.
"Did you forget that we have a surprise activity today?" she says and I remember about it now. She said it during the orientation.
"I see," everyone murmurs as they have remembered about it.
"Are you excited?" she sounds more excited than us.
"Yeah," most of the students yell. Chocho presses me on my side and whispers in my ear.
"Do you have a clue to what are we going to do today?" she asks and I shake my head. I don't know about it myself.
"We have here plastic bags for you," they provided everyone with plastic bags. I have my forehead wrinkle. I am confused now.
"What to do with this bag?" Denki asks and our adviser chuckles.
"Did you see that forest?" she points in a near forest.
"Yes," we respond in chorus.
"You are going to collect dekopon, sudachi, and Fuji apples from that forest," she reveals and we all furrow our brows in confusion.
"Are those available in that forest?" Iwabe asks and she smiles as a confirmation.
"You need to at least get five pieces of each to finish the task. Once you all get the required number of pieces of each fruit, you can head back here. The time duration is until 5:00 p.m., this afternoon. Those who return later than the specified deadline and those who return before the deadline without dekopons, sudachi, and Fuji apples are automatically disqualified. Do you have questions?" she explains and tries to accommodate queries. When everything is settled, we head straight in the direction of the forest.
"What if there are wild animals there?" Namida says in a trembling voice.
"We would not know if we won't get there," Wasabi casually says.
"Are not you scared, Wasabi?" Namida asks her and Wasabi doesn't look like it.
"I am not," she says then rubs her nose.
"You're amazing, Wasabi," I can see how Namida's eyes glitter while looking up to Wasabi.
"Make sure you won't pee on your pants when you see a wild animal in the forest," Iwabe scoffs and Wasabi gets mad.
"What did you say, bum?" Wasabi retaliates.
"Who are you calling a bum, huh?" Iwabe gets back at her while gritting his teeth.
"Hey, stop it. This is not the right time to fight each other," Denki meddle in their way. They both look away when they are scolded by him.
"These two sure get along," Shikadai comments.
"What a nuisance," Yodo complains and Tsubaki shrugs.
"What's the matter here?" Boruto together with Mitsuki checks the situation.
"It's nothing just a little misunderstanding," Denki refuses to tell them about it.
"Let's get going," Mitsuki suggests and we all proceed to the forest. I look on my left and see Sumire all alone and when I look on my right I see the jerk all alone too. Oh wait, he came? This is strange.
"This forest sure is huge," I utter in amazement when we finally get inside. The ground is coated with snow even the tree branches are. We walk a little closer in the depths of the forest.
"Where do we search for them from here?" Lee asks cluelessly. Probably most of us are unfamiliar with this place. This is our first time getting into a place like this anyway.
"Why don't we divide the class into groups so it's easy for us to search?" Boruto suggested. Without any objections, we group ourselves again. The other class does the same thing too. It's convenient that way, to be honest.
As usual, it's us, our group and we take the northern part of the forest.
We walk in the depths of the forest yet we don't find anything. We haven't encountered any wild animals just yet and I hope there is none out there.
"Is teacher serious about searching for fruits here?" Chocho starts to complain when we wasted hours of searching yet nothing is to be found.
"I guess. She would not ask us to look for them if there is nothing in here," Namida answers. She has a point there but I have a doubt. What if there is none?
I take out my phone and try to locate where in the world we are right now but my phone says 'NO SERVICE' we can't search on the internet at the moment.
"No chance of knowing if such fruits exist in here," I say while waving my phone in the air. They take their phones out and check and confirm that there is no network service in a place like this.
"Why do we have to look for them?" Dae complains. I don't have any idea about it either. I think we will just head back and get disqualified. How hopeless.
"Let's not give up. Let's look for them there," Wasabi points in the southeast direction.
"I think we get lost already," Namida says almost crying.
"No, we're not. Don't worry. I have a compass here," after our breakfast, I was called by our adviser and she gave me this compass. I didn't have any idea what it is for at the start now I understood what is its purpose. As long as we have it, we won't get lost.
"Thank goodness," she says in relief.
"Let's continue to search," I tell them and we walk together once again.
After a few hours, we still haven't got anything. I started to think that there are no such fruits in this forest. My friends are already exhausted. We are thirsty, hungry, and tired from searching for mysterious fruits.
"Here. I have water and food," Dae offers us. He has biscuits and sandwiches inside his bag.
"What a relief," Chocho mutters and picks a sandwich and brings it in her mouth right away. I got water with me too. I guess everyone got their water bottles.
We rest a little and we start packing our things again. I glance at my watch and it says 2:06 p.m. I didn't realize that we are roaming around the forest for like five hours now.
"Let's head back," I declare and they all look at me with shocked faces.
"Are you sure, Sarada? We haven't got anything yet," Chocho gauges my thought.
"Chocho is right. We can't head back without bringing even a single fruit in our bags," Namida adds and the rest of them agrees.
"I am pretty sure, there are no such fruits in this forest. We have roamed around for like five hours. If they exist here, we could have got them earlier," I tell them. We should have figured it out sooner. I think we got deeper in the forest now.
I take out the compass and we are in the southern part of the forest. Namida raises her hand and speaks.
"Um. Are you saying that we are being tricked by our advisers?" she asks.
"Kind of. Now that we figured it out already, let's head back," I tell them and they drop their shoulders.
"This is unbelievable. We walked for how many hours just for nothing?" Wasabi could not believe it herself then Chocho speaks.
"It's okay Wasabi. If we don't have Sarada here, we possibly still looking for those stupid fruits," does she compliment me?
"You got that right," Wasabi agrees with her. I think my face turns red. I shake my head and try to forget what they said.
"Let's head north," I say instead. I walk ahead of them and they follow.
Thirty minutes later...
"Hey, Sarada. Did we get to the deepest part of the forest? We have walked like eternity already but I still could not see the open fields," Dae says and the others get confused too.
"Well, let's keep our pace and head north. The compass says it," I tell them. I think this compass would not mislead us.
We walk another thirty minutes and still, we haven't gotten back.
"This is weird," I mutter.
"What do you mean?" Chocho asks in confusion.
"This compass is weird. It says we head west now," I tell them and Namida starts to panic.
"Let me see," Wasabi grabs the compass from me and watches at it.
"Don't tell me we get lost?" Wasabi startles.
"I don't know. I was just following the compass," I tell her.
"No way..." she mumbles while her knees tremble.
"I don't want to get trapped in this forest forever!" she screams and it echoes in the forest.
"Hey, guys calm down," Chocho tries to calm them down but they are vulnerable.
"Hey!" we heard a voice and they panic.
"Hey, you guys," it's Denki, Iwabe, and Lee.
"You scared us!" Wasabi, Namida, Chocho, and Dae say all at once.
"I'm sorry," Denki apologizes.
"I think you're in trouble too," Iwabe mutters and everyone keeps silent.
"Sarada, do you find this compass weird too?" Denki asks me.
"Yeah. I think there's something wrong with it," I respond.
"I thought it's just us. Are you thinking the same way as I do?" he says. I guess I am getting what's on his mind.
"This is a test," I say. He smiles at me.
"Our adviser is the mastermind," he laughs. I could not agree more. She loves getting us in a situation like this as if it is a mathematical problem.
"I hate her so much. I lost a lot of calories today!" Chocho yells in disgust.
"Calm down, Chocho. We will get out of this situation soon," there is always a solution to a problem.
"Hey, Kawaki!" Denki utters. What? The jerk? I thought upon seeing him.
"Are you alone?" Lee asks him and he just smirks.
"He always is. He never gets along with others except for Sarada," Wasabi remarks, and I think my face turns red. My ears tingle and my blood start to boil.
"We don't get along either," I tell her.
"Oh?" she mutters in confusion. I look away and try to ignore what she said.
"Why don't we find our way back now?" Denki reminds us again about our situation.
"Yeah, that's right," I tell him.
"You come with us too, Kawaki," he tells him but he didn't respond. When does he think to stop acting like an idiot?
"The compass says we head west. Do you think it is right, Sarada?" Denki asks me. I don't know if we can take that direction or it may be a trap again.
What should we do?
"Well, it's a hard decision. If we consider the time now, we only have an hour before the time comes. We can't waste another thirty minutes," I tell them.
"You are right. The only thing we can do now is to calculate what would be our adviser's answer to this," Denki says. Well, how do we do that?
"It's really hard to catch what geniuses are talking about," Iwabe comments and Lee agrees with him.
"If it is our adviser who's behind this then..." I say while they wait for me to continue.
"Let's head east," we are all surprised when the jerk speaks. We all gaze at him.
"Oh, he did speak," Iwabe says. I don't think he is mocking him knowing that they are not on good terms.
"She likes doing the opposites. So you have noticed it too?" Denki is amused by him. Really, huh?
I didn't know he has the same thought as mine or noticed our adviser's weird way of thinking.
"Let's get to the east," Denki points at the east. So we start to take that direction.
"How long are we going to walk? I am so tired!" Chocho complains. She truly looks exhausted.
"Cheer up, Chocho," Namida tells her.
"I won't forgive her for this," she portends.
"Stop it already," Iwabe scolds her too.
"Did you know what place is this?" Denki asks. I have a feeling that he will give us trivia about this forest.
"No," we answer in chorus.
"This forest is called the Aokigahara forest. This is famous for its title as the Suicide Forest," he informs.
"S-Suicide, you say?" Lee shivers upon hearing Denki.
"Yes. A lot of individuals committed suicide in this forest," he confirms and they start to tremble even I feel cold all of a sudden.
"Denki, stop making up stories, will you?" Namida begs she is ready to cry at any time.
"It's a very popular rumor I am surprised you guys haven't heard about it," he says casually. Isn't he scared though?
I glance at my watch and it's already a quarter before 5 o'clock and it's getting dark too. The weather is not fine at all and it is going to snow in no time.
"I think we need to hurry. It's almost time," I say but Denki is unstoppable now.
"Hey wait! I have a story to tell you about a high school student coming from our school who committed suicide here," he keeps blabbering about this suicide thing.
"Denki stop it already!" Namida shouts. I think my eardrums are destroyed. Birds from the trees go wild and fly in different directions. It creates a scary sound and the bushes omit a clashing sound like something is going to come out.
My body shakes in fear thinking a ghost may come out in front of me. I hate to admit it but I am scared of ghosts or even ghost stories. We start to panic and we can't hold our fear any longer.
The tension is arousing and we got our bodies shiver.
"The girl might come out now," Denki says and we all scream and shout. Everyone runs in different directions.
I grab Chocho's hand and we run away together. I don't know where my feet are taking us. I just grab her and run as fast as I could. I am afraid the ghost will come out and scare the hell out of me.
"Chocho, are you okay?" I yell so she can hear me. I didn't turn my head to check on her because I am busy running away from this forest. She did not respond to me. Now it scares me that she did not take the tension and gives up. I try to turn my head around to check on her but please, don't let it be the ghost I am taking away with me.
I stop running and close my eyes. I still got a hold of her hand while gasping for air. I turn my head while my eyes are still closed. I slowly open them and I can't believe what my eyes are seeing right now. My eyes grow bigger. I realize I grab the hand of the wrong person and what's worse than that is...
"Why the hell are you dragging me here?"
It was the jerk and not Chocho.
I immediately drop his hand. This is so embarrassing.
"Why didn't you tell me that it was you instead of Chocho?" I yell at him.
"What the hell are you talking about? I was like screaming at you to let go of me but you're not listening at all," he yells back. Damn it!
I feel so ashamed in front of him. You are an idiot, Sarada.
"Where are we?" I ask out of nowhere. We were separated from them. How much trouble this activity has caused?
"How will I know? It's your fault for dragging me here," blaming me now, huh?
"Will you stop with that grumpy attitude?" I tell him.
"What?" he scoffs. He turns his back at me and aims to walk off.
"Where are you going?" I ask him.
"To hell. Want to come with me?" he dumbly says.
"What's wrong with you? Why do you always say such things as if they don't hurt? Are you that dense to not get what other people might feel by the words you throw at them? Why do you have to be a jerk?" I yell at him. I clench my fists in anger. This is too much, I think I have reached my limit.
Now, the place is getting darker. And suddenly, the snow falls to the ground again just like the tears on my cheeks. He did not say anything after that instead he takes steps away from me. He wants to leave me alone in the middle of the dark forest under the falling snow.
"Hey, wait. Don't leave me here," I think I almost beg at him. One more step and I will run after him but...
But...
I could not make any more steps after that. The ground under my feet breaks. I feel like the time runs slower than usual. All I can see is his back facing me. I am wishing him to turn back. The ground completely breaks and I miserably fall just like the snow falling from the sky.
My head hurts, my body gets numb, and the falling snow hurts my eyes. There is an indistinct voice shouting at me. No, there is someone above I could not see clearly. Who are you? Please, save me...