Previously:

"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.


Chapter 4: Epidemic


{ October 13th, Day 10 }

They lay Kurusus-sensei down on a bed of leaves in the cave.

"You okay, Kurusu-sensei…?" Akira asked. 'What's wrong with her? Suddenly falling like that...'

"M-Maybe it's… a cold…?" Kururu-sensei said. "I'm sorry… for worrying all of you..."

"Here," Torako said, kneeling down to give her a fever-reducing pill from the first-aid kit. "!" She saw that her teacher's eyes were red.

"What is it?" Kurusu-sensei asked, wondering why she was hesitating.

"Oh?" Rion said, noticing it too. "It seems your eyes, somehow, look awfully red…?"

"Eh?" Kurusu-sensei said.

"Let me see, please," Oomori said, also kneeling down to check on her. Kurusu-sensei tried to sit up.

"Guh..." She clapped a hand over her mouth, but it couldn't stop her from throwing up. "Bleeeeeeeeehh."

"Kyaaaaa…!" Rion cried, stepping back to avoid getting it on her shoes. It was too late for Torako to move away. It was already all over her sweater and skirt. Some got on Oomori's clothes too.

"Hey, now… you can even get weird diseases…?" Zaji said nervously. "Forgive us, Kurusu-chan, but… we don't have a doctor around here." He said it seriously. Everyone stared at him. "W-What? I say something weird?"

'A… A disease…?' Akira thought. 'If we get sick on this island, there's nothing we can do… Seems Oomori-san and Fukui-chan brought some medicine with them. And if it comes down to that...'

"You got a fever, too?" Itou asked, feeling Ono's forehead. "And… your eyes are red, too." Torako and Akira looked at them.

'What?' Akira thought.

'I'm cool… yeah… it's prolly a cold..." Ono said, also flushed in the face and sweating.

'He's Yarai's follower… He and Kurusu-sensei have the same symptoms…!?' Akira thought. 'Could it be that…?'

'Were we exposed to something the others weren't!?' Torako wondered. 'In that case…!'

"Oomori-san, wait a sec—!" Akira said.

"Don't touch him!" Yarai said, getting between Oomori and Ono.

"Wh-What is it…?" Oomori asked. "Shouting so suddenly..."

"My group's using this cave. You guys, hurry up and get out!" Yarai said.

'That's right! We need to separate from them!' Torako thought. 'Quarantine ourselves.'

"!?" Zaji gasped. "Say what!? You guys gonna hijack our cave!? We found this place first!"

"Wh-What is the meaning of this!?" Rion asked, getting upset. "We're even nurturing sensei..." Akira looked at Yarai and made eye contact with him.

"Hold on guys," Akira said. "Let's do like he said."

"Wha!?" Zaji and Rion said, shocked.

"Let's get all our stuff together!" Akira said.

"S-Sengoku!?" Zaji said. "But why in the hell do we have to..."

"We need to go wash Oomori-san's clothes," Akira said. "Come on."

"O-Okay..." Zaji said. Torako took off her sweater and skirt before the vomit soaked through to her shirt and shorts while Akira and his group cleared out. She would wash them when Oomori was done.

—∞—

"I thought it was horrible, too!" Rion said. She was keeping watch for Oomori while she washed her clothes to make sure the boys didn't peek. "Yarai… Even though I thought he measured up as a good guy… And Akira-kun just went and did what he said!"

"Th-That's true..." Oomori said.

"… That's not it, Rion," Akira said, grabbing Zaji when he tried to peek around the big rock they were sitting behind while they looked the other way. "It's the very opposite. He probably… made us mad on purpose."

"Eh?" Rion said. "What do you mean?"

"Only Yarai's group had bad conditions," Akira said. "They probably brought the illness from somewhere themselves… He thought that, and so he spoke to us that way so we'd stay away."

"Eh? I-Is that right…?" Rion asked. "If that was the case… then the bad things I said..."

"Oh my, Sengoku-kun! That's amazing!" Oomori said.

"What is?" Akira asked.

"You made eye contact with Yarai-kun, didn't you?" Oomori said. "That's pretty impressive!"

"S-Stop it, Oomori-san!" Akira said, blushing a little. "Even Mariya knows stuff like that!" He patted him on the back, and Mariya fell over. 'What…?' Akira thought, shocked. "M-Mariya! Hey! What's wrong!?" He moved to feel his forehead. "Yikes! You've got a fever, too! Why were you so silent!?"

"A f-fever…?" Mariya said. "Talking was… annoying, too… This kinda thing's… the first time…"

"Th-The first time… You…!?" Akira said, startled when he saw that his eyes were red, too. 'His eyes… the same disease went as far as Mariya…' "Shit!" Akira picked him up. 'It wasn't just Yarai's group!?' He started running back. "I'm heading back to the cave! You guys come after me!"

"H-Hey, Sengoku..." Zaji called.

'Was it too late…?' Akira wondered as he reached the cave. "Hey, Yarai!" Akira entered the cave to find Yarai holding Kurusu-sensei up in a sitting position so she could take the fever-reducing medicine, and Torako was working on Ono. Itou and Mikoshiba were sick as well, lying on the ground with Ono. 'Huh…? Everyone... but Yarai and Fukui-chan…!?'

"… That state… It showed up in him, too..." Yarai said, looking at Mariya.

"Somehow," Akira said.

"Seems like it wasn't just us," Yarai said.

"It must be something we picked up here," Torako said. "Something we all recently came in contact with."

"What makes you say that?" Akira asked.

"Because in order for us to get sick elsewhere and appear to be healthy before getting here, there would have to be an incubation period," Torako said. "But they're all showing symptoms at the same time."

"I-I see..." Akira said.

—∞—

The sun finished setting by the time they had all moved back into the cave again. The glow of their fire inside could be seen in the darkness. One of the small mouse-like creatures that Torako had drawn earlier that day was sitting in the cave, too, eating one of the berries they had collected.

"Oh, geez! This mouse again!" Rion said, shooing it away. Oomori was helping Torako put cool, wet cloths on the sick people's foreheads.

"H-Hey… what diseases is this?" Akira asked. "Everyone's eyes are red… Even though there's not much of a fever, they're not getting up and keep getting weaker… There's a sickness like this…?"

"… I'm not certain..." Oomori said. "The initial stages of the outbreak have symptoms similar to a cold… But they're in a hazy state… I'm worried… and none of the medicines on hand show any effect… Also… the symptoms are advancing so quickly… their eyes congesting with blood is a bad sign..."

'Mariya… if you were okay, you'd probably know something more...' Akira thought. 'I can't just watch, can I?'

'I've never come across an illness like this in my travels… but there's something...' Torako thought. She held a hand to her head. She felt bad, and she was sweating. "Oomori-san… Do I have a fever?" Oomori looked at her.

"!" Oomori gasped. "Your eyes are red!"

"Oh, no wonder I feel bad..." Torako said, falling over sideways.

"Fukui-chan!" Rion said, concerned. Yarai picked her up and moved her to a leaf bed.

"The Arsino-whatever… Its eyes..." Torako said. "Its eyes..."

"..." Yarai stared at her. He went over to her backpack, pulled out her flashlight, then left the cave.

"Where's he going?" Rion asked.

'Is he going to check on the Arsinoitherium?' Akira wondered. 'Isn't she just getting delirious from the fever?'

"Hey, hey, hey!" Zaji said. "Geez, they're just exaggerating! It's decided that it's just a cold!" He squatted down next to Ono and smacked him lightly on the head. "Heh, serves you right! See? Say something!"

'Man, this guy's...' Akira thought. 'Hey, now… Zaji..." Ono popped up into a sitting position.

"Ahh!" Zaji yelled, pulling back, startled. "Wh-What the hell… You freaked me out… Woken up, huh?"

"Hey… Zaji..." Ono said, removing the cool cloth from his face. "… Hey… The hell… my eyes hurt…"

"Huh? They hurt..." Zaji said, smiling wryly. What was he…? "Wha!?" he gasped when he looked again at Ono's eyes. He and Akira were shocked.

"Hey, Zaji… What's this..." Ono said. "Gaa… Aaaaaaaaaaaaah…" he groaned as his eyes bulged out of his head, blood-red and bleeding. Streaks of blood rolled down his face.

"Aaaahhhh!" Akira and the others screamed, horrified. Ono collapsed face-first.

"Hiiii!" Akira said.

"..." He and Rion stared at Ono's body with wide eyes. Yarai appeared back at the mouth of the cave. He walked further in and kneeled down next to Ono. He felt his wrist for a pulse.

"He's… He's dead," Yarai said.

—∞—

Yarai held a torch over Ono's naked body, searching for other visible signs of illness that might give them a clue as to what they were dealing with. He wanted to save the batteries in the flashlight.

"..." Yarai stared. 'No changes on his outward appearance… As for the inside… annoying...'

"Hey, Yarai!" Akira called.

"!" Yarai was surprised. He looked over his shoulder at him. "Sengoku Akira..."

"They said you came to bury him yourself, so I thought it was weird… So you are looking for something, bastard," Akira said. Why did he have to do everything on his own?

Well, maybe not everything. They worked on burying Ono's body together.

"How are the other three?" Yarai asked.

"They hadn't seen a dead body right in front of them before, so… They're calming down now," Akira replied. "They're supposed to be nursing everyone… Hey, Yarai… Whatcha think will happen to us?"

"Who knows..." Yarai said.

"Don't act dumb," Akira said as they finished burying Ono. "We're..."

"As it is… We'll probably all be wiped out..." He walked past Akira.

"!" Akira said. 'Shit… alone to the end...' he thought, gritting his teeth.

"Come on, Sengoku Akira," Yarai said. Akira's eyes widened.

"..." He looked over his shoulder at Yarai. 'We're working together… He's so tiring… But, well… He gave me his side on it...' "Hey! Yarai, wait up!" he said, hurrying to catch up. His vision tilted. '… Huh…?' He realized he was falling. "Wha… What the..." He couldn't see it, but his eyes were red. 'Wh-What is this…?' Akira wondered, fighting to stay upright. 'My body's… suddenly… No way that I...' "Y-Yarai!" 'Got that disease, too…!?' "My eyes! Look at my eyes!"

"!!" Yarai said, looking back at him. A bead of sweat slid down the side of his face. "… They're red..."

"S-So, I really… I really have it..." Akira said. He held his face in his hand. 'How did this...'

—∞—

"A… Akira-kun!?" Rion exclaimed in alarm when she saw him.

"Sengoku-kun, your eyes…!" Oomori gasped.

"D-Don't worry!" Akira said. "I'm not far yet…" Yarai walked over to check on Kurusu-sensei and Torako. "Anyway, how's everyone doing?"

"Well, there's Zaji-kun..." Oomori said, concerned. "He collapsed a short while ago..."

"What!?" Akira said. He went over to him. "Za… Zaji!"

"H-Hey, Sengoku..." Zaji said, looking up at him from his leaf bed with red eyes.

"E-Even as far as you!?" Akira asked.

"Heh, the hell… so you're my bud in this, too, huh…?" Zaji said.

"Zaji..." Akira said.

"..." Zaji stared up at him. Tears formed in his eyes. "Hey… Sengoku… are… we going to die here…?"

"The hell you going on about..." Akira said, trying to play it off.

"It's true, isn't it!?" Zaji asked, getting upset. "We're all gonna die!"

"Th-That's not going to happen!" Rion said.

"That's right, Zaji-kun..." Oomori said. "You fell just a bit ago… compared to the others, it looks like your symptoms are stable, too. The redness is only because your eyes are congesting with blood… Even the protruding eyeballs were only the inflammation of the fat and muscles in the eye..."

"Don't say soothing words! You're not even a doctor!" Zaji yelled. "And Ono died, didn't he!? No way!! I don't wanna die!!" he cried.

"I'll be close, Akira-kun..." Rion said as she helped him lay down on a bed of leaves.

"O… Okay..." Akira said.

"P-Please calm down, Zaji-kun..." Oomori pleaded.

"Ugghh..." Zaji groaned. Akira looked at Mariya, who was lying next to him as Oomori placed a cool cloth on his head.

'What the hell is this disease!?' Akira wondered. 'An epidemic!? Quarantining doesn't work… Was it already too late for treatment…? What are we gonna do!?' Everyone aside from Yarai, Rion, and Oomori were in miserable condition. He thought about how Yarai had been willing to work with him before he fell ill. 'I thought we could work together, but… now that it's come to this… you're the only one we can depend on.' Yarai looked at Torako and Kurusu-sensei. They had both become weak and defenseless. Even tough little Torako, who had been just as ready to save Kurusu-sensei as he had been and had fought alongside him. They looked like they were in pain. He needed to do something about it.

—∞—

{ October 14th, Day 11 }

The next morning, Akira could see the sunlight streaming into their cave.

"Ugh… It's morning…?" he groaned. "Dammit… I didn't sleep at all… Gah..." he rolled over and held a hand over his mouth, willing himself not to throw up. 'Crap… doing worse than before...'

"Th-The rhino… rh-rhino is..." Mariya mumbled.

'The rhino…? He's having a nightmare, too? And he's saying the something similar to Fukui...' Akira thought.

"Akira-kun! There's trouble!" Rion said anxiously. "Ya-Yarai-kun is…!" Akira sat up and looked over at Yarai's bed of leaves. It was empty.

"… Huh?" Akira said. 'He's gone…?' "But why…? Where'd he go?"

"We've looked throughout the area, but he's nowhere to be found!" Rion said. "You don't think… he ran away, do you? Did he abandon us…? He's even giving up on his own group…!?"

'Yarai...' Akira thought, shocked. "Ah..." He noticed something on the ground at the entrance of the cave. "Aaaaahh..." He realized it was a person. "Oomori-san!"

"..." she looked at Akira with teary red eyes.

"Oomori-san!" Rion said as they hurried over to her.

"Hang in there, Oomori-san!" Akira said. 'Shit! As it is… everyone's… going to die...' He left the cave to gather more food, while he still could, leaving Rion with the sick. "Blegh..." He threw up. 'I'm getting worse fast… Dammit… but there's nothing I can do...' The Arsinoitherium was napping not too far away from him. 'My enemy's a disease… I'm only in junior high… Can't work my hands or legs...'

"Akira-kun..." Rion said, patting him on the back.

"Don't touch me!" he yelled, pulling away from her.

"… Akira-kun… What's wrong?" Rion asked, shocked.

"Don't touch me, Rion. It's probably contagious..." Akira said. "Yarai was right, more than likely… This really is an epidemic…! That's why he ran off…! You run away, too, Rion! There's still enough time if you go now… Run away by yourself! I want you to survive! But, to me, you're my..." Rion hugged him from behind. "I-Idiot… get away from mer, I said!"

"I've… been looking after you all this time… Why do you think that is?" Rion asked.

"Uh..." Akira said.

"I didn't just do it for your sake… It's because… I wanted to!" she said with a smile. "So… I can't give you your request… We'll be together… forever..."

'Rion...' Akira thought. He gritted his teeth. 'Dammit… I really can't do anything…' The Arsinoitherium stood up and started walking to its watering hole. 'As it is… We're all...'

SPLASH!

The Arsinoitherium disappeared under the surface of the water.

"Wha…?" Akira said. 'It's that rhino that was here...' "What's it doing…?" It's head broke through the water. It was making cries of distress and thrashing around. "N-No way!" 'That rhino...' "Is drowning!? You… You've got to be kidding me!" He stood up.

"Akira-kun?" Rion asked.

'Mariya said… it spends time in the water like a hippo… So it's not supposed to drown! Just like fish don't drown!!' Akira thought. 'That's weird… wh-what in the hell…!?" The Arsinoitherium stopped fighting. It drowned.

"Th-That's awful..." Rion said. "Mariya-kun was really worried about that thing, too." Akira's eyes widened further.

"Th-That's right! Mariya! And Fukui-chan!" Akira said. "What did they say!?" He remembered how Mariya had said it was strange that the encyclopedia had been wrong, and how Yarai said 'nature doesn't jump' and how Torako had said something about the Arsinoitherium's eyes. "B-By any chance… was Mariya's pictorial encyclopedia… not wrong… The fuck… It was right in front of us… Help me out, Rion! We might still have some time! That's it! Mariya's pictorial encyclopedia of extinct animals wasn't wrong! If it wasn't, it'd be impossible for an animal that can swim to die by drowning!"

"Eh? What do you mean, Akira-kun?" Rion asked.

"I thought it was some docile rhino, but I just didn't get it! That rhino… no, Arsinoitherium… is constantly in pain! We and it have the exact same disease!" Akira said.

"What!?" Rion exclaimed. "So then this is about that rhino normally being in a rage? I was under the impression that we were automatically being subdued…"

"Ah! You can't just think that!" Akira said.

"But that's… why…?" Rion asked.

"…!" Akira said. "Maybe it's..."

"Ah… and are you going to explain just what that is?" she asked, kneeling down next to him again.

"You're the only one that's safe..." Akira said. He remembered how she was the only one who didn't eat any of the berries. 'The source of it… are these…!?' he thought as he and Rion looked at the berries growing around them. They went back into the cave and turned on Mariya's laptop.

"Look, Akira-kun!" Rion said.

"I still don't know the source but… what's on Mariya's laptop?" Akira asked.

"This is the creature I wanted you to see!" Rion said.

"Hmm?" Akira said.

"Maybe it's this shortcut..." Rion said, clicking on an icon that had the silhouette of the little mice creature on it. An image of the creature popped up with its name and description. It was a Nemegtbaatar Gobiensis. "Ah! This is it! It's always eating those berries, even though it's fine! Mariya-kun was worried about it, too!"

'It ate those, but it's okay?! The hell… What's this mean!?' Akira wondered.

"Uughh…" Itou groaned.

"Ugh..." Mikoshiba groaned.

"Aahh..." Oomori moaned.

"Uhh..." Zaji groaned.

They all looked miserable and they seemed to be having trouble breathing.

'Everyone's worn out...' Akira thought, breathing heavily himself.

"Akira-kun!" Rion said when he staggered to his feet.

'No use thinking about it either!' Akira thought, gritting his teeth. He leaned against the wall of the cave as he started walking.

"Wh-Where are you going?" Rion asked.

"I'm gonna look for that thing anyway," Akira said. 'The thing ate those berries and was fine. That's definitely only… something to bet on...' "While my body can move!" Rion watched him, conflicted on whether to stop him or not with his condition. She ripped off her bindings and sling and hurried after him.

"Okay, Akira-kun!" she said. "The two of us will save everyone!" They left the cave and went to hunt the mice-like creatures.

—∞—

Rion carefully climbed a tree and slowly approached one from behind, but it got away at the last second when she tried to grab it. "Unh! Haahh. Gah…" she breathed hard. She wasn't sure how long she had been trying to catch one, but it was long enough for her to get a little dirty and scratched up, which felt too long with everyone sick.

'This time, I have to save them! All of them! And… I have to save Akira!' she thought with determination, running to find another critter. The sun was setting.

'There's no time!' Akira thought, staggering toward one of the weird mice that was eating berries. He tried to catch it, but it scurried away. 'If we don't hurry… everyone'll...'

Back the cave, Mikoshiba screamed.

"Aaahhhhhh! My eyes… My eyes…" he cried, sitting up. "My eyes!" The cloth on his face fell away, revealing two blood-red, bulging and bleeding eyes. "..." A strangled sound came from him as he fell over face-first. Even though she was having a hard time thinking in her condition, Mikoshiba's death registered, and tears formed in her eyes. It was horrible lying there in pain, unable to move, knowing there was nothing she could do to save herself. She had never felt so helpless before. She hated it. She didn't want to die.

Akira and Rion were moving further into the jungle.

"Hey, Akira-kun… Let's take a break..." Rion said.

"Don't mind me, Rion," he said, even though he was breathing heavily.

"But…!" Rion said with tears in her eyes. 'He hasn't noticed!? His eyes keep getting redder…! I-If we don't hurry and catch it...' One of the little critters ran past them. Rion dove to catch it, but it slipped through her fingers. Her eyes widened when she realized what was ahead of her. They had come to another open area that was like a meadow. It was filled with Arsinoitheria.

"A herd of… Arsinoitherium..." Akira said. The little critter they had been chasing darted through the herd and jumped up to sit on the horns of one of them. "They're eating those berries… That the herd's here means that the one by the lake strayed away."

"So this is where it starts..." Rion said as they approached an Arsinoitherium. "They're eating those berries, so they must be the same rhinos..." The rhino's clear eye saw them coming. It let out a roaring sound and hit them with its horns. Rion was knocked back, but Akira was thrown.

"Guh… Kyaaa! Akira-kun!" Rion cried.

"Gah!" Akira groaned as he hit the ground. 'What…?! What the hell...' He and Rion exchanged terrified looks. They were surrounded. 'They're different from the one at the lake!? This is the true nature of the Arsinoitheria!? But they're eating the red berries… so why…?' "..." Akira stared at them. 'Huh? It's different!' he realized. They weren't just eating the berries, they were eating a flower, too. 'That's...' An Arsinoitherium came charging at them from behind.

"!!" Akira and Rion gasped. Rion closed her eyes and held Akira tight.

'Damn it!' Akira thought. 'Was this all for nothing!? Just when we got a hold of something!'

THUNK! THUNK! THUNK!

Something hit the Arsinoitherium that was charging at them three times, making it stop.

"…?" Akira said. He saw what the something was. 'A coin…?' Yarai appeared and grabbed Akira by the back of his uniform. 'Yarai…' He was relieved. 'Bastard… where've you been till now…?'

"I didn't think I'd get beaten here," Yarai said, covered in sweat and dirt. He looked like he had been chasing the mice creatures, too. His eyes were red. "No doubt, our conditions were caused by the poison in those red berries. More than likely, we ate them without knowing they carried a strong poison for hemorrhaging." He started flipping more coins to keep the Arsinoitheria at bay. "But… did you know the poison of a blowfish and scorpions can offset the deadly poison of an aconite plant? Their conditions are kept normal because they're eating the berries and plants at the same time…"

"So that means..." Rion said, running to get one of the flowers. "If you eat this… then you'll probably… Hang in there, Akira-kun! If you eat this, you'll surely..." She put one of the flowers in his mouth, but it just fell back out. His eyes were closed. 'Akira-kun… his consciousness is already…? Th-Then how can he…!?'

"Keh!" Yarai said, jumping out the way of an attack, still holding Akira. 'This has gotten annoying… the mixture of the red berries with the flowers is probably related! If you eat the flowers, you should be able to neutralize the berries. But how do you make someone who's lost consciousness eat it!? And how do I do it… while avoiding those things?' Rion shoved the flower in her mouth and tackled Akira from Yarai's grip to the ground. "!?" Yarai looked down and saw hat she had placed her mouth over Akira's. He swallowed.

"Pwa haah haah," Rion breathed, blushing. "D-Did he drink it down!?"

"..." Yarai held his chin as he looked at them. 'She chewed it and gave it by mouth-to-mouth...' He started picking more flowers.

"Ugh..." Akira coughed, sitting up.

"A-Akira-kun!" Rion said.

"Wh-What happened to me…?" Akira asked.

"Th-Thank goodness… you came to..." Rion said.

"All right..." Yaraki said, holding a big bouquet. "Let's hurry back to the cave!"

—∞—

The sun was setting when they returned and found Mikoshiba's body. Yarai stared down at it. Rion was helping Akira stay on his feet.

"Mikoshiba's… dead..." Yarai said. He looked at Itou, who was right next to him. The cloth that was over his eyes was stained with blood. Yarai squatted down to check on him. "Hey, Itou… Hey! Unh..." Yarai furrowed his brow when he saw what was under the cloth. His bleeding eyes were almost popping out of his head.

"It… It got him, too!" Akira said. "Sh..."

"A-Akira-kun!?" Rion said when he pulled away from her.

'There were two more deaths while we were gone… shit...' Akira thought. 'I won't allow any more than this!' He tried to give some of the antidote to Oomori. "They're not swallowing it that well! This is impossible. Th-Then I'll mash it… Can you help me out, Rion!?"

"O-Okay!" Rion said.

'After all that trouble of finding a clue… as if I can take having it end in an unknown place like this, without anyone knowing a thing!' Akira thought as Rion mashed the herb in a small pot with a stone, determined to save everyone. 'Kurusu-sensei… Mariya… Fukui… Zaji… Oomori-san… Yeah, that's how it is, right? We'll work our hardest, all of us…' Yarai collected Mikoshiba and Itou's bodies and took them away to be buried. 'We're definitely gonna live and get back home!'

—∞—

{ October 15th, Day 12 }

The sun was rising. Rion was drooling with her head resting against the cave wall as light filled the cave. She was exhausted from nursing everyone. Yarai felt Kurusu-sensei's forehead to confirm that her fever had gone down. He then moved on to Torako.

"..." Yarai stared down at her sleeping face as he felt her forehead. Her fever had gone down as well. She stirred and opened her eyes. They looked less red.

"We were saved?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Yeah," Yarai confirmed.

"That's a relief," Torako said with a sigh and the hint of a smile.

"How do they look, Yarai?" Akira asked. Yarai looked over his should at him.

"..." Yarai nodded. "Yeah… they seem fine now."

"Oh yeah? That's good..." Akira said, looking tired. "You saved us, Yarai. When we were attacked by the rhinos, if you hadn't come for us at that exact moment… You suddenly disappeared because you'd found the cause of it?"

"Yeah… the way the infection was transferred was unclear, and the symptoms were too dramatic," Yarai said. "And that's the case that Arsinoitherium got caught up in…" Yarai looked at Torako. "I checked its eyes, like you said. It definitely had the same symptoms."

'Then… he knew way before us...' Akira thought. "Did you already know what it was?" he asked Torako.

"No… I just thought our eyes were similar to the Arsinoitherium's, so I figured it was connected," Torako replied.

'So despite giving us that clue, even Fukui-chan didn't figure it out that soon,' Akira thought. "You really really are amazing, Yarai… Are you really my classmate…?"

"..." Yarai didn't answer.

"Hey, Yarai… become out leader!" Akira said, surprising Yarai and Torako. "I dunno what's gonna happen after this… but if a strong, smart guy like you became our leader I think everyone else would feel better, too..." 'Yeah, that's right… his way is...'

"..." Yarai looked at the empty leaf beds where Mikoshiba and Itou used to be. Ono's bed wasn't there anymore. On the other hand, not a single person was missing from Akira's group. "Look, Sengoku. This is my answer."

"Huh!? What do you…?" Akira asked.

"Half of my entire group died off," Yarai said. "No matter how you look at it, it's your win, isn't it?"

"M-My win?" Akira said. "I didn't really plan to play games, but..."

"This is the first time I've had such feelings, Sengoku Akira," Yarai said, standing up. "Maybe I wanted to meet a guy like you."

'Y-Yarai… you….' Akira thought. "H-Hey!" Yarai started leaving the cave. 'What are you saying...'

"!" Yarai said, surprised when someone grabbed his ankle. He looked down and saw Kurusu-sensei.

"… Tch… I still plan on being your chaperone…" she told him.

"Sensei..." Yarai said. He picked her up to carry her. "Geez..."

"I'm coming, too!" Torako said, staggering to her feet. Yarai watched her collect her backpack and spear. She was surprisingly steady on her feet, but he could tell she was pushing herself.

"Don't hurt yourself," he told her.

"Then don't walk so fast," she said. "My legs are shorter than yours."

"..." Yarai stared at her. No one else would dare talk to him that way.

"Y-Yarai! Where are you going!?" Akira asked. Yarai gently flipped a coin so that it hit Akira in the middle of his forehead without hurting him. "!"

"Don't be dead before we meet again, Sengoku," Yarai said. The coin hit the ground as he left with Tora following behind.