Previously:

"This way," Torako said, taking the lead.

"Eh? How can you be sure?" Kurusu-sensei asked, following her.

"Because of the way those leaves have been trampled," Torako replied.

"What are you, some kind of American Indian tracker?" Itou asked.

"I learned how to track animals from Ken Arden and my dad," Torako replied. "Tracking people isn't that different." Yarai wasn't that far ahead. They caught up easily.

—∞—

They spent the rest of the day walking. They encountered some minor wildlife, some of which was cute, like the little critters that looked a bit like chipmunks with prehensile tails up in the trees. But no major incidents happened. They passed the water bottle around when they were thirsty and drank it all. They slept under the jungle roof that night with leaves for bedding.


Chapter 3: Follow the Leader


{ October 6th, Day 3 }

It was another day of hiking, but this time Torako was wearing the extra pair of socks that had been in her backpack. She didn't want to ruin her tights. They might be useful in the future if they had to make a water filter. They found a stream to drink from. Torako refilled the water bottle. While they were there, Torako duct-taped her knife to a stick that would make a sturdy shaft, and they saw some tiny horse-like animals and a beaver-like animal. Torako wanted to sketch them and make notes about their habitats and behaviors, but there was no time as everyone else was already moving on. She committed it to memory instead, so she could do it later. Yarai led them away from that area. Torako thought it was a wise decision. She saw some very large footprints that appeared to have belonged to a huge feline and an enormous bird. She shared the box of pocky she had in her backpack with the others.

—∞—

There was a loud booming noise sometime in the night that woke all of them up.

"What was that!?" Ono asked. Torako furrowed her brow.

"I'll find out," she said. She pulled a small flashlight out of her backpack and held it in her teeth as she climbed a tree to light her way so she wouldn't misstep in the dark.

"Be careful!" Kurusu-sensei told her. Torako climbed all the way up to the top of the tree. Her eyes widened. There, in the direction of plane, was a fiery inferno that burned taller than all the trees around it. She stood there, staring at it, holding tightly to the tree. She had seen a few forest fires before. This wasn't natural. It was the plane. She knew it. It was the only thing out there that could have made such a noise and such a large fire.

"What's taking so long?" Ono called up to her. Torako got ahold of herself and carefully climbed back down. When she reached the bottom, she took the flashlight out of her mouth and looked at everyone. They stared back at her. Yarai noticed that she had paled.

"… I saw a huge fire… where the plane was," Torako stated. For a few minutes, Kurusu-sensei, Ono, Mikoshiba, and Itou just stared at her. Then it sank in.

"What!?" Itou said, grabbing her by the front of her sweater.

"That's a bad joke, Tora-chan!" Ono said, laughing nervously.

"Why would you say such a thing!?" Mikoshiba asked. They all grabbed Torako, pleading with their eyes that she would take it back.

"C-Calm down!" Kurus-sensei said, trying to pull them off of her. "It's not Fukui-chan's fault!"

"!!" They were all surprised when Yarai walked around and picked Torako up and moved her out of their reach. Then he climbed up the tree. They waited. He came back down.

"She's right," he said.

"No way!" Ono and Mikoshiba cried. Itou punched a tree.

"Are you shitting me!?" Itou yelled. "Why the… How could this happen!?"

"..." Torako was wondering the same thing. 'Something must have caused the fuel tank to combust… but what? It's not like animals carry fire around… Could a human have done this? Why? it's true we can't use the plane without anyone to fly it, and the radio was busted, but still...'

—∞—

{ October 7th, Day 4 }

It was yet another day of hiking.

"Haa. Haa," Kurusu-sensei said, breathing hard. The land had been steadily inclining for a while. They were all sweating. Torako had tied her sweater around her waist. "I just followed him out afterwards without even thinking… even though there were other students there, too… Ah… Good grief… One way or another..."

"Are you all right, Kurusu-sensei?" Torako asked. "You're talking to yourself."

"Ah! Oh, yes! Sorry about that," Kurusu-sensei said.

"Why are you apologizing?" Torako asked. She had fallen back to keep an eye on their teacher, because she was dragging behind, to make sure she didn't get separated from the rest of the group.

"Kurusu-chan! Tora-chan!" Itou shouted as three of the boys came running back to them.

"!" Kurusu-sensei said. "It's 'sensei', Itou-kun! 'Kurusu-sensei!'" she corrected him. "I've told you over and over."

"Y-Yarai-kun's gone!" Itou said.

"What? Again!?" Kurusu-sensei exclaimed.

"Tora-chan, you can track him, right?" Ono said.

"We'll see..." Torako said, walking ahead to have a look. "Yeah!" she called back. "There's still a trail after your trampling stops." They started walking with Torako in the lead. Unlike before, they weren't catching up to Yarai right away. The others were starting to get nervous.

"Didn't even warn us… I don't get what the hell he was thinking!" Itou complained as they walked. "Shit… Why the hell'd I go running after him?"

"This isn't cool, man… those things are running around out there… What are we gonna do?" Ono asked nervously.

"..." Mikoshiba's expression was grim and he was shaking. They fell to their knees. Torako stopped and looked back at them, waiting for them.

'These three trouble-makers, are thinking the exact same thing I am,' Kurusu thought, furrowing her brow and frowning with concern. 'Why did I do something like follow Yarai-kun?' "Regardless, stand up, you three… Let's go find Yarai-kun…!"

"Ready?" Torako asked. The three boys nodded and stood up again.

'Yarai Kouichi is a mysterious pupil...' Kurusu-sensei thought as Torako led them up what was either a small mountain or a rocky hill. 'However, a similar problem child, Sengoku Akira, is the type to draw in people by being the class mood-maker. On the contrary, Yarai Kouichi was always alone.'

"Hey! Yarai-kun!" Mikoshiba yelled.

"Where are you!?" Ono shouted.

"Answer us!" Itou yelled.

'He would decide not to come to school on a whim… and didn't participate in any school events. And yet, I readily gave him permission for the field trip in Guam,' Kurusu-sensei thought. 'I was happy. I thought he was showing some enthusiasm… but for all that… my hopes were quickly betrayed. At that time in Guam, I understood it clearly. This child cannot be responsible for my trouble…!' She breathed heavily as she reached the top. Torako helped her climb over the edge. Yarai was standing not too far away. There was a dead deer-like creature on the ground. "Ah… Y-Yarai-kun!" 'Although… he's the kind of guy that draws others in…! He without fail, draws them in… and they never get away.' Yarai turned to look at them with his piercing eyes. 'That's the kind of pupil Yarai Kouichi is.' "Y—"

"Yarai-kun!" Ono and Mikoshiba yelled as they ran toward him with Itou. Torako was surprised to see that Itou was actually crying. They made a beeline for the deer.

"Sweet! Is this your deer!?" Itou asked Yarai. "C-Can we eat it…?"

"I can judge it! My family owns a meat shop!" Mikoshiba said.

"You can use this knife," Ono said handing him one. "I swiped it from the galley in the plane."

'When did he do that?' Torako wondered. She was surprised she had missed that. "I'll make a fire." She started climbing back down to get the wood.

"Y-Yarai-kun..." Kurusu-sensei said. She tapped the cat ears on her head. "It was true that while wearing these ears, we wouldn't be attacked by any wild beasts. Thank you..."

"That… was a lie, Sensei," Yarai admitted.

"Eh… What?!!" she exclaimed, shocked that she had been tricked so easily.

"Ah, Yarai-kun, there's blood on you hand," Torako observed when she came back up. "Are you hurt?"

"Ah, there is!" Kurusu-sensei said, also concerned.

"It's not my blood," Yarai stated.

'Oh, so it came from the deer, then,' Torako thought. "Well, that's fine, then. I have hand wipes in my bag."

"..." Yarai stared at her, a little surprised. He didn't think most girls would react that way.

"Is there anything you don't have in your bag, Tora-chan?" Itou asked.

"Plenty," Torako replied. "I wish I hadn't been limited by the TSA regulations."

—∞—

"That's some pen you have there," Ono said as he watched her take her tactical pen apart to use its ferro rod and striking plate to start the fire.

'It has a whistle and can break glass, too,' Torako thought. "I never leave home without it." She struck the ferro rod a few times before the sparks lit the tinder and kindling. She put the pen back together and returned it to her backpack. They put the cut up meat on sticks and roasted it over the fire. "We could make jerky with the rest of it," Torako said. "That way, we wouldn't have to worry about food for a few days."

"You know how to do that, Tora-chan?" Itou asked.

"Yes," Torako replied. "It'll take a few hours, though," she said, looking over at Yarai.

"Go ahead and do it," he said.

—∞—

{ Five Days Later—October 12th, Day 9 }

They were walking when Torako thought she heard something. She paused and looked in that direction. She saw animal tracks of varying sizes leading that way.

"Hey, I think there's water that way," Torako said. "I'm going to go check it out. I'll catch up later." She held her spear at the ready, in case something tried to attack her while she was alone.

"Ah! Wait, Fukui-chan!" Kursusu-sensei said, trying to stop her, but Torako was already disappearing into the trees. Kurusu-sensei chased after her.

"..." Yarai paused and stared after them.

"Are we gonna leave them?" Itou asked. Yarai started walking in the same direction the girls went. The trees began to open up as Torako walked, and she soon found herself looking out at an open area with a glistening lake that seemed to connect to a river. There was a cave off to the side, too.

"Fukui-cha—kyaaa!" Kurusu-sensei said, screaming when two of the chipmunk-like creatures jumped onto her. A third hopped up on Torako's shoulder. "What are these!? M-M-Mice..."

"They aren't mice," Torako told her, sweat-dropping. "Calm down. They aren't hurting you."

"K-Kurusu-sensei!" Sengoku Akira and Akagami Rion exclaimed as they arrived on the scene.

"Fukui-chan, too!" Rion said.

"Oh, it's you," Torako said, surprised to see them. But then, with how many people were on the island, they were bound to run into someone else eventually.

"Sengoku-kun!? Akagami-san!?" Kurusu-sensei said. She tossed the little critters aside and pulled them both into a hug. "Thank God! You two are safe!"

"Ah, S-Sensei..." Akira said, blushing.

"W-What!?" Mariya Shirou said, running over with one of the flight attendants and Zaji.

"Ah…!" the flight attendant gasped, recognizing Kurusu from when she spilled a drink on her.

"Isn't that Kurusu-chan!?" Zaji exclaimed.

"Mariya-kun! Saji-kun! All of you… Oh! Aren't you the cabin attendant…?" Kurusu-sensei asked.

"M-My name is Oomori..." the flight attendant said.

"Thank goodness so many people were saved!" Kurusu-sensei said.

"Glad you're safe," Torako agreed.

"I'm here now, so you can feel at ease already!" Kurusu-sensei said brightly. "I'll protect you from whatever there is!"

"… Are you two on your own?" Akira asked her and Torako.

"Of course not!" Kurusu-sensei said.

"Th-Then who..." Akira asked.

"He comforted me, our class's problem child!" Kurusu-sensei said. "We were able to get you as well..."

'… Huh?' Akira thought. 'There's no way that...' Torako heard the sound of berries being squished on the ground behind her and saw that the others suddenly looked nervous. Yarai was standing behind her.

'Yarai Kouichi!' Akira thought, startled.

"Yarai-kuuun!" Ono called.

"Yarai-kun!" Mikoshiba called as the three of them came crashing out of the jungle to join them.

"Who, what the… It's you guys!" Itou said.

"You guys survived!?" Ono asked, surprised.

'Guh… Just these crappy guys!?' Akira thought, furrowing his brow. All six members of Yarai's group stood before the five members of Akira's group.

"Eh-eh… It's Akagami Rion… Luuucky~!" Ono said with a smirk.

"..." Rion looked uncomfortable.

"..." Mikoshiba stared at Mariya.

"… Hmph," Mariya said.

"Zajiiii… You're living well, huuuh… in spite of the small fry," Itou said, grinning unpleasantly.

"… Well… I guess..." Zaji said, avoiding direct eye contact.

"Hey now! You guys can't flat out greet them!?" Kurusu-sensei scolded the three boys.

"Ahh, wonderful! We're gathering people this way!" Oomori said.

'Yarai, huh...' Akira thought. "..." He felt uneasy. 'Never talked to him before, but I've heard he was trouble. He beat up Guam soldiers just by himself… But if we don't work together here...' He raised his sweaty hand to shake Yarai's. "G-Good to have you here..." Yarai walked right past him. "Huh…?" Akira said, turning to look at him. Itou, Ono, and Mikoshiba followed him. 'He ignored me!? He didn't even take me into consideration!?'

"You're being rude, Yarai-kun!" Kurusu-sensei said. They ignored her and made a beeline for the cave. Itou and Mikoshiba immediately started eating the food they found in there, and Ono started going through their bags.

"P-Please stop it…!" Oomori said when the rest of them followed and saw what they were up to.

"Hey, hey now! We're friends from today on! Your stuff's our stuff!" Ono said, pulling a girl's school uniform shirt out of what was clearly Rion's bag.

"Gahahah! Even as far as beds!" Mikoshiba said as he and Itou lay down on piles of leaves.

"Hey! Cut it out, you guys!" Akira said.

"Man, this fruit's good!" Itou said, eating a bunch of berries.

"H-Hold on… stop it, all of you..." Kurusu-sensei said.

"Oh come on, Kurusu-chan..." Itou said. "Whatcha lookin' at, Zaji!?" he asked when he noticed he was staring at him.

"N-Nothin'," Zaji said, looking away.

"There ain't enough stuff here! Go find some more!" Mikoshiba said.

"Nyaa, nyaa! " Ono said, making a perverted expression as he held up Rion's bra. "So whose are these, huh?"

"…!!" Rion gasped, blushing, appalled and embarrassed. Torako frowned and furrowed her brow. Akira grabbed his wrist.

"Knock it off!" he said. "The hell are you guys doing!? You're being really selfish to come along together and do this!"

"..." Ono stared at him.

"I think it's gone far enough, don't you?" Torako said. "Everyone needs to calm down."

'And Yarai…?' Akira thought, glancing in his direction. Yarai was lying on a bed of leaves, ignoring the rest of them. Ono grabbed Akira's face and slammed his head against the wall of the cave.

"Ah!" Torako said.

"Akira-kun!" Rion cried.

"Sengoku-kun!" Oomori exclaimed.

"Shaddup, you..." Ono told Akira with a vein throbbing on his head.

"Ohhh..." Itou said, standing up with his stick. "You've done it now..."

"Stop it, all of you!" Kurusu-sensei said sternly.

"Shut up and butt out, Kurusu-chan," Ono said, pushing her away. Torako frowned and grabbed Ono.

"Cut it out!" Torako ordered.

"Stay out of this, Tora-chan. You've really been pushing your luck, you know," Itou said, raising his stick. Torako narrowed her eyes, getting ready to dodge and counter attack. He was really stupid to attack someone holding a spear with a real blade. What if she decided to use it on him?

"Hey," Yarai said before Itou could swing. "Food..."

"Ah..." Ono said as he, Itou, and Mikoshiba became nervous.

"Ahh, right away!" Itou said. Ono let go of Akira.

"..." Torako relaxed.

"..." Akira held his throat while he watched the three delinquents leave. 'Just one word…? They didn't listen to a word Sensei said… They listened to his words over an adult's… But why…!?' Akira watched Yarai eat a piece of fruit. 'Just what does Yarai have!?'

—∞—

Mariya was looking at his computer, sitting on a rock next to a docile creature that looked like a rhinoceros with four horns, two of which were huge.

"Yo, Mariya," Akira said, smacking him lightly on the back of the head. "Whatcha doin'? Searchin' for something again?"

"..." Mariya turned to looked at him. "… There's something bothering me. Up until now, there haven't been such mistakes in the pictorial encyclopedia and the animal ecology."

"Y-You got a sec? I know you're worried from earlier..." Akira said.

"But do you know why?" Mariya asked. "About those things that went extinct a long time ago… I have a guess. It's because it can't see them directly."

"Huh?" Akira said.

"For example, the Andrewsarchus. There's only one part of the skull they aren't finding," Mariya said.

"Huh!?" Akira said.

"However, from the fossils that were unearthed from the stratum, we know the time it lived, and the place and the environment," Mariya said. "And from the shape of its teeth, we know its feeding habit. They found common traits the animals have from the shape of its jaw, and so it can be categorized. If you attach it to a classification, that 'taxonomic'. That shape is assumable."

"Ahh..." Akira said.

"The shape and feeding habitat… If you can gather its period of living, then next up's the ethology," Mariya said. "In this way, various studies combine together."

'I-I don't get it...' Akira thought. "B-But I thought the animals now were based on those..."

"All right… Then why…?" Mariya asked.

" 'Nature doesn't jump'," Yarai said.

"..." Akira looked in his direction. "Y-Yarai!" He saw that Yarai was squatting down next to the huge beast. Torako was also having a look at it. "Fukui!"

"Ohh… So you know that, Yarai?" Mariya said.

"In Darwin's Theory of Evolution, it's thought that it seems like you're rising up a staircase in evolution. On the contrary, if you go down, you expose the reality of the past's living things, though it wouldn't be difficult," Yarai said.

'How does… he know those things…?' Akira wondered. Was Yarai actually smart?

"… It's strange how docile this thing is," Torako said. "Black Rhinos are aggressive. They'll even attack tree trunks and termite mounds. On the other hand, Asian rhinos are shy, reclusive, and even timid." She noticed there was something strange about its eyes.

"It's an Arsinoitherium," Mariya said. "It looks like a rhinoceros on the outside, but its ecology's like that of a hippopotamus. It's species is in close relation to an elephant. It's appearance is that of a modern rhinoceros with a violent disposition. It's been said to have bouts of extreme rage, but this one..."

"You know of this animal?" Torako asked, surprised since she had never seen one before.

"It's right here in his extinct animal pictorial encyclopedia," Akira said, pointing at the computer.

"Can I see it?" Torako asked. She walked around to look over his shoulder.

"All of the animals we've seen so far have been in here," Mariya said. "This is the first time its behavior hasn't matched the description in here."

"I see..." Torako said, watching as he brought up different images of animals she had already seen. Rion came over and tapped Akira on the shoulder. She poked him in the cheek when he turned his head to look at her.

"Oomori-san was looking for you, Akira-kun!" Rion said with a smile.

"!" Akira said. "Rion! Your injury okay?" he asked her. "Overdoing it's..."

"You're injured?" Torako asked.

"I'm just fine! You see?" Rion said. Torako thought there was something a little awkward about the way she moved her right arm. "I'm sorry for making you worry..." she told Akira.

"..." Yarai stared at Rion. He stood up, walked over to her, and ripped the back of her shirt off.

"!?" Akira and Torako gasped.

"Eh..." Akira said, shocked.

"Kyaaa!" Rion screamed, hugging herself. Torako took off her sweater and put it over Rion's shoulders. It was a little small on her, though.

"Y-Yarai, you bastard!" Akira yelled and punched him in the face. "!?" Akira gasped when he realized Yarai was smiling at him. 'He's… smiling…? Say what…? Did I do something risky…?' Yarai put his hand in is pocket.

"!" Torako was startled when she saw the look on Yarai's face. She tensed. 'This is bad!' Yarai would annihilate him if they fought. "Don't—"

"Hey, you! What are you doing!?" Kurusu-sensei shouted, coming over to them.

"Kururu-sensei..." Rion said, still shaken.

"What happened, Akagami-san?" Kurusu-sensei asked. "You have a change of clothes?"

"Y-Yes… I'm fine..." Rion said. "I have a change of clothes, too."

"That woman… as it is, her right arm remains a hindrance," Yarai told Akira as he passed him. "The shoulder to the elbow should be firmly fixed, and she shouldn't move it for two to three days."

"..." Akira turned his head to look at him. 'Huh…?'

"Wait just a moment, Yarai-kun!" Kurusu-sensei said.

"Geez… If he wanted to know about her wound, he could've just asked," Torako said with a sigh.

"Eh?" Akira and Kurusu-sensei said.

"Is that was he was doing?" Rion asked.

"I think so," Torako said.

"Fukui-chan is probably right," Kurusu-sensei said, looking relieved.

"What kind of guy is Yarai…?" Akira asked.

"I… don't think he's a bad kid..." Kurusu-sensei replied. "He lost his mom as a child, and he only has one relative. His father is constantly transferred around overseas..."

"?" Akira said. "What's the guy do?"

"Not sure… I hear it was with a foreign corporation…" Kurusu-sensei said.

'I see… He's alone,' Torako thought. Kind of like her, except her father was only in a coma, and she did get to see her mother sometimes, when her job let her have some free time.

'I don't get what the hell that guy's thinking...' Akira thought.

—∞—

Under the trees, Ono, Mikoshiba, and Itou were looking for prey. They spotted a small animal that was stuck in a hole in the ground.

"There! Yum!" Mikoshiba said.

"Where? Aim it right, Mikoshiba," Itou said. They had made themselves a crude bow and some arrows. Mikoshiba was holding the bow, while Ono held the arrows.

"Shut up. I'll hit it with this arrow!" Mikoshiba said.

Meanwhile, Torako was eating with Akira's group in the cave. They heard noise coming from the jungle.

"..." Akira stopped chewing.

"The hell?" Zaji said.

"What are those guys doing..." Akira said.

"Probably something stupid," Torako said.

"Lemme take a look," Akira said.

"I'll go with you," Torako said. She grabbed her spear and they left the cave.

"…!" Akira said when they drew close to the group of three and saw what they were up to.

"Stupid, that's skill! Skill!" Mikoshiba said.

"Give it here," Itou said. He took the bow and arrow and shot at the baby animal stuck in the ground. The arrow missed it by centimeters. Torako thought the animal looked like it might be a kind of lemur or monkey. "There, yum!" Itou said.

"Hey..." Akira said. 'Those guys… are just toying with that weak creature...'

"I told you they'd be doing something stupid," Torako whispered, frowning.

"Why are you lowering your voice?" Akira asked. Torako slowly pointed to the tree branches above the other three. Numerous eyes stared back at them from the darkness. "…!!" he gasped.

"This next one'll hit!" Itou said, drawing another arrow.

'Oh… crap!' Akira thought, sweating nervously. 'What do I do!? If I yell out, they'll leap down and come after us...' Akira and Torako heard movement behind them. They looked back and saw Yarai. He walked straight past them. "Y-Yarai… Hold on!" Akira stepped in front of him. "Look up in the trees! Make one wrong move and..." Yarai smirked. He took off running, charging straight at Itou and the others. "Yarai!?" 'What's he plan to do!?'

"Oh, boy..." Torako said, tightening her grip on her spear. It looked like Yarai intended to provoke the animals into attacking. 'I take back what I wrote earlier in my notebook about him not starting fights.'

'What's Yarai thinking!? Just recklessly Rushing in…!' Akira thought anxiously as he and Torako followed Yarai. Akira grabbed a big stick as he went. 'If he provokes those monkeys up top, those three will be in danger!'

"Ah, Yarai-kun," Itou said, picking up one of the spent arrows to use again.

"What's up…?" Ono asked, grabbing another.

'First, he has no weapon, so what's he gonna…?' Akira wondered as Yarai reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys. 'Keys…?!' Yarai clutched the keys in his hand so that they stuck out between his fingers like claws. "!!"

'I see, so that's how he intends to do it...' Torako thought. Yarai charged at Itou as a monkey jumped off the branch above him. Yarai struck the monkey with the keys, wounding it.

'He used the keys as weapons!?' Akira thought.

"Y-Yarai-kun! What is this!?" Mikoshiba asked as the monkey hit the ground.

"Eh!? F-From above!" Ono yelled, startled as more monkeys leaped down. This time one landed on Itou, and they went after Mikoshiba and Ono as well.

"Waahh!" Itou yelled.

"Hiii!" Ono screamed.

"These are that thing's parents!?" Mikoshiba exclaimed.

"Help meeee!" all three of them cried.

Akira's stick was grabbed by a monkey, and he got caught up in a fight with it. Torako stabbed one monkey with her spear, kicked another away, and swept her spear in an arc to get the rest of them to back off. Yarai continued to strike out at the monkeys with his keys.

"..." Yarai had sweat dripping down his face.

'I-I'm trapped…!' Akira thought, pinned to the ground by his monkey.

"Waaaaahhh!" Ono screamed as a monkey opened its mouth wide, prepared to sink its teeth in his head.

"D-Damn iiiit!" Akira cursed, unable to help him.

'I'll never reach him in time!' Torako thought, furrowing her brow. She threw her spear and skewered the monkey through its open mouth. It fell off Ono, completely dead.

"Tora-chan!" Ono exclaimed, surprised and grateful. Another monkey jumped at her from behind.

THUNK!

Its hands were just touching her when something small collided with its skull.

"Uoo!" The monkey shrieked in pain. "!?" It hopped away from her.

"!" Torako said.

'Huh…!?' Akira thought. Torako ran forward to reclaim her spear, ducking and dodging other monkeys that came at her.

THUNK! THUNK!

"Uoo!" the monkeys on Mikoshiba and Itou cried, holding their heads as they fell backwards.

"!?" Mikoshiba gasped. "What the…!? The monkeys just… let go!?"

"What's going on..." Itou asked. Yarai kicked another monkey away from him and reached into his pocket.

"Uwaaaahhh!" Mikoshiba cried as another monkey jumped on him. Yarai withdrew his hand from his pocket and flicked a coin at the monkey's head hard.

'He's... flipping coins at them!?' Akira and Torako thought.

"Uoo!" a monkey howled.

"Uoo-uoo!" another called. They had them surrounded. The coins in Yarai's pocket jingled.

'They're not leaving because they're protecting their young...' Torako thought, glancing at the baby that was still stuck in the ground. 'We need to set it loose!' Yarai must have had the same idea, because he jumped back to stand by the baby, ripped it up out of the hole, and tossed it at the bigger monkeys. The monkeys caught the baby.

"Oooo! Oooo!" they howled and took to the trees again.

"Eh..." Itou said. "They're leaving…? But why…?" Torako watched them go, then began collecting the bodies of the two monkeys she killed.

"They just came back for their kid," Yarai said.

"Huh!? S-So that's it!" Ono said. "We're saved! That's Yarai-kun for ya! Hey, we were…!" Yarai hit him with the back of his hand. Torako stopped what she was doing.

"Huh?!"" Itou said nervously, when Yarai turned to face him next. "Yarai-kun…? You mad!?"

'That was a bore,' Yarai thought, preparing to strike. 'Why the hell'd I...'

"Hiii!" Akira cried, making him stop. "Damn!" He was still struggling with his monkey. "Knock… it… off! Get the hell off me! Your friends already left!" he told it, while it sat on him and gnawed on the stick in his hands as they fought for dominance. They were evenly matched. "Hey! Do something!" Akira shouted at the others. They stared at him. "Waah! Don't come closer! Hey, cut it out!"

"Pffft… Ahahahahahaha!" Yarai burst into laughter, pointing at Akira and holding his stomach. "Hahahahaha!"

"!?" Akira, Itou, and Torako gasped, surprised. Yarai was laughing so hard that he was turning red in the face. Even the monkey was shocked. It and Akira stared at Yarai with wide eyes.

"Hahahahahahaha!" Yarai continued to laughed. "Hahaha!" He fell to his knees.

"Y-Yarai-kun…?" Itou asked.

"C-Can't stop… Hahahahaha!" Yarai laughed. "Pffft… Guhahahaha!" The monkey hopped off of Akira, finally retreating.

"… The hell's he laughing at… Yarai..." Akira said, wiping some of the dirt and sweat from his face.

"Aaahh… Pfft… S-Sorry 'bout that..." Yarai told him with a grin. He had laughed so hard tears had formed in his eyes. "Sengoku Akira."

"Eh…?" Akira said. 'He remembered my name…?' Akira thought.

"Hey, let's get going," Yarai said, turning to leave, still shaking a little bit.

"Ah, yeah, sure, Yarai-kun..." Ono said. Itou was staring at Akira, trying to figure out what had been so funny.

"Ahhh… that was funny," Yarai said. "Pfft… Kuku..."

'What the hell?' Akira thought. 'Though Kou-chan has good reflexes, and Mariya has smarts… Yarai's completely different...' "..." Akira stared at him as he left. 'He laughed with all that was in him… Shit...'

"Sengoku-kun," Torako said, getting his attention. He saw that she had wrapped the wounds the dead monkeys had with leaves. "Help me carry this. We can serve them up for dinner."

"O-Okay..." Akira said, taking one of the monkeys.

"Keep an eye on the wounds. I don't think it's a good idea to leave a trail of blood back to camp," Torako said.

"Yeah… Probably not..." Akira agreed, thinking of all the predators that might come.

—∞—

{ October 13th, Day 10 }

It was a beautiful day. The sun sparkled on the surface of the water, and the Arsinoitherium was grazing peacefully. Little rodents with long tails that had puffy tufts on the end were eating the berries that grew in the area. Torako sat near them and drew them in her extra notebook that was in her backpack. Yarai was sitting up on top of a big rock, and Ono, Mikoshiba, and Itou were sitting on the ground near it. Akira's group was closer to her. They were gathering more food. She could hear them talking.

"What now, what now!? Those guys were awfully meek from last night, huh!?" Zaji said excitedly. "You're an impressive guy, Sengoku! What'd you do?"

"Oh, uh, it wasn't me, just..." Akira said.

"You're kidding! Are you being huuuumble? Sensei!" Zaji said. "You obviously know it, don't youuuuuuuuu? You kicked their asses, right? Right?"

"Is that true, Sengoku-kun?" Oomori asked.

"..." Akira said.

"Heheh… Here's my chance… Might as well crush down Yarai's guys, too!" Zaji said, biting into a bunch of berries. "You and me," he told Akira. "If the two of us..."

"… Stop, Zaji," Akira said.

"Huh?" Zaji said, surprised.

"They're not bad guys, you know?" Akira said, looking over at them. Yarai was eating some berries. Ono, Itou, and Mikoshiba had been patched up using Torako's first-aid kit.

"Huh?" Zaji said. "I don't get it. What do you mean?"

"I don't think they are either," Rion said. Her right arm had been put in a sling and bound in place. "That other time surprised me, but… he was worried about my wound. So, I don't think he's bad either. Without his advice..."

"Cool guys really are different! " Oomori said brightly, to Zaji's dismay.

"Guess we'll have to do it after all!" he said with multiple veins throbbing on his head, clenching his fist. His jealousy was getting the better of him.

"Knock it off!" Akira said, grabbing his shoulder. "You'll be killed."

"Heheh. Looks like fun, hmm?" Kurusu-sensei said, coming over to join them.

"Sensei!" Akira said.

"… Something of a miracle, isn't it?" Kurusu-sensei said. "The cabin attendant Oomori-san. The gymnastics club ace, Akagami-san, and then there's the prodigy and pride of our school, Mariya-kun!"

"… And me…?" Zaji said quietly, but Kurusu-sensei ended her list there.

"Though it looks like a seemingly disparate combination, the leader is someone who does nothing but pranks, Sengoku-kun."

"!" Akira said, blushing a little. "L-Leader…?"

"How is that exactly? Seems like you're getting along with Yarai-kun and the others…?" Kurusu-sensei asked.

"Ah, well… somehow..." Akira said.

"Is that so? Well, that's good," Kurusu-sensei said, sitting down. "I will also try my best, so everyone can all go home together! That's right. We need to get home! To the safety of your own homes, where your parents can surely reach you…! We must leave so that my field trip doesn't end." She smiled at she looked out across the lake.

"… Sensei..." Akira said. "Going back home… huh…?" He clenched his fists. "Let's do it! Let's work together!" The others got excited, too. "Yeah! We'll survive this! Right, sens..." He turned to look at her again and was shocked to see her fall to the ground. They all were, even Yarai. "S-Sensei! You okay!? Kurusu-sensei!" Torako dropped her notebook and went over to check on her.

"O-Oh dear..." Kurusu-sensei said as Oomori helped her sit up. "I'm sorry… maybe I'm a bit tired..." Torako stood over her. Kurusu-sensei was sweating, and her face was a little flushed. Oomori was feeling her forehead.

"She has a slight fever!?" Oomori said. "Don't move! I'll go get something! Zaji!"

"Y-Yeah!" Zaji said.

"I'm going to go wet a towel!" Oomori said, rushing off to get one. Torako furrowed her brow and kneeled down in front of her teacher.

"Let's get you out of the sun," Torako said. "Just in case part of this is heat exhaustion."

"Part of this?" Akira asked. And how could their teacher have heat exhaustion when she seemed to be just fine in her sweater.

"If this were heat exhaustion, she would be paler and her skin would be clammy," Torako said. "But her face is flushed, and she's warm. It's more likely that she's sick. Either way, we need to get her fever down. There's some acetaminophen in the first-aid kit."

At the time, they still weren't worried yet… but from over them, the shinigami's sickle was already swinging down.