Previously:

'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.


Chapter 5: The Cave


{ October 16th, Day 13 }

Torako and Kurusu-sensei were paused for one of many breaks. Yarai was going on ahead.

"I don't know where Yarai-kun gets his energy..." Kurusu-sensei said, trying to catch her breath. She still hadn't completely recovered from the poisoning yet.

"Well, his symptoms never got as bad as ours did," Torako said.

"Speaking of which, you're in pretty good shape yourself, Fukui-chan. It must be nice to be young," Kurusu-sensei said. "You're mostly stopping for my sake, aren't you?"

"I'm tougher than I look," Torako said. "And you're only twenty-five, Sensei."

"I don't doubt that," Kurusu-sensei said with a smile. Torako looked up and saw that the tamarind tree they were sitting under had put out its pod-like fruits. They looked ripe.

"Shall we have a snack?" she suggested. Kurusu-sensei followed her gaze.

"Is it safe?" she asked.

"I recognize them. I've eaten them before," Torako replied, standing up. She started climbing the tree to get the lowest hanging pods. "I'd stick to eating only a little at a time though, it's used as a laxative in folk medicine." Torako put some extras in her backpack for later and to share with Yarai. She climbed back down and shared her harvest with her teacher. They enjoyed the sweet and sour taste.

—∞—

"Yarai-kun sure did go far..." Kurusu-sensei said. They were trying to catch up to him.

'That's because we weren't there to slow him down,' Torako thought. "The sun is setting, so he should be stopping soon." They walked further and eventually, as the jungle darkened, they cam upon the glow of a fire. Yarai was waiting for them with another deer. There was a small pond with clear water a few meters away.

"We found these," Torako said, showing him a tamarind pod. "Dessert." Yarai watched while she used the knife that used to belong to Ono to gut the deer and carve it up as Mikoshiba had done before. They roasted the meat and Torako set the rest of it up to smoke inside a shelter made from tree branches and leaves. They ate and drank and talked about the animals they saw that day. Mostly the little chipmunk-like creatures and birds. Torako had seen from the tracks she encountered that larger animals had passed through. Fortunately, they didn't encounter any of them, though Torako had the feeling Yarai might have wanted to, for a little excitement. Kurusu-sensei fell asleep first. That left Torako and Yarai alone together.

"..." Torako didn't know what to say or if she should say anything. She was awkward when it came to stuff like that. She smiled at the happy expression on their teacher's face while she slept.

"What do you look so happy about?" Yarai asked her, curious.

"Eh? Well… I was just thinking how Sensei reminds me of my dad," Torako replied honestly.

"Your dad?" Yarai asked.

"Yeah, they're both protective of the people around them, and they have easygoing and cheerful demeanors. They're very optimistic and quite naive. They're also both a little clumsy sometimes," Torako explained with a wry smile that became sad. "My dad was always getting into dangerous and sometimes crazy situations, but he always came out of it okay. His name is Taiga, so he was nicknamed 'Lucky Tiger' by the rest of the staff on the show..."

"… What happened to him?" Yarai asked.

"…" Torako hesitated for a moment, but she decided to tell him. "His luck ran out. We were 'home' in Japan. The street was wet. He slipped and fell backwards and hit his head on the curb. He's been in a coma ever since. Of all the things that could've…!" She blinked away the tears that threatened to form in her eyes.

"… That's why you transferred to our school?" Yarai asked. "Because your dad is in the hospital?"

"Yeah," Tora replied. "I go to the hospital to check on him everyday after school."

"Everyday?" Yarai asked.

"I heard he might still be able to hear me, so I talk to him. My mom became busy with her work, so I look after him. But she told me to take a break for a few days to go on this trip," Tora explained.

"..." Yarai looked at her. Their eyes met. "I'm Sorry." Tora was surprised for a moment, but then smiled sadly.

"Yeah… Thanks," she said, hugging her knees.

—∞—

{ October 26th, Day 23 }

They were becoming more familiar with each other, and Yarai had started talking more. They had also discovered the entrance to a limestone cavern and decided to explore it. They marked their way by scraping some of the moss growing on the walls in the shape of an arrow pointed in the direction they were going. They had ventured far enough in that they were on the border between the entrance zone and the twilight zone. They started to see cave-dwelling animals. One type looked almost like a small, hornless triceratops. Another looked like a huge, very fat lizard the size of a large small dog with a big head. Both had smooth, clammy-looking skin. There was also a creature that looked like a salamander with a triangle-shaped head. And a creepy-looking thing that resembled an alligator that didn't grow quite right and with smoother skin. Torako could tell from their teeth that the first two were probably herbivores, while the last one was a carnivore. One of the fat lizards brushed against Kurusu-sensei's leg just as a drop of cold water hit the back of her neck. Her flight instinct kicked in.

"Kyaaa!" Kurusu-senseu cried and ran.

"Wait, Sensei!" Tora yelled, going after her. Yarai followed them through a twisting and turning path and several forks in the road. They plunged into darkness. Tora blinked, trying to get her eyes to adjust. "Ah!" Kurusu-sensei gasped as she tripped, bringing Tora down with her when she tripped over her.

"Oomph!" Tora grunted as she fell on top of her teacher. They bumped heads.

"A-Are you all right?" Kursusu-sensei asked.

"I think I should be asking you that..." Tora said, rubbing her head as she removed herself from on top of her teacher.

"I'm sorry I tripped," Kurusu-sensei said.

"It's a good thing you did," Yarai said, looking past them. With their eyes adjusted to the deeper darkness, they realized the ground suddenly dropped out and there was a large, deep ravine between them and the other side where the tunnel continued.

"Yeah, good thing..." Tora agreed, sweat-dropping. "For now, let's just go back the way we came." They finished walking back through that tunnel only to find themselves faced with a choice of two tunnels.

"Which one is it?" Kurusu-sensei said. "Ah! Could it be this one? The moss looks trampled there!" She pointed to the tunnel on the right.

"Unfortunately, that's also true of the tunnel on the left," Torako said, taking a closer look at both. "I can't tell whether it was done by us or by the animals who live here..."

"Oh no..." Kurusu-sensei said.

"We'll try this one first," Yarai said, walking into the left tunnel.

"There' s a surprising amount of life underground," Kurusu-sensei remarked. Aside from the larger animals, they had encountered cave beetles and cave millipedes living in the almost complete darkness. There were more insects and other organisms as there was more light.

"Life is capable of adapting in all sorts of environments," Torako said. They encountered one of the fat lizards again. It was eating the moss on the floor and blocking their way. "When winter arrives in Alaska, local wood frogs freeze solid. Seven months later, when spring finally arrives, the thawed-out frogs hop away."

"Still why's every one of them so awkward like this?" Yarai asked, kicking the fat lizard out of the way.

"Y-You… How could you kick it so easily!? No matter what it looks like, it's still living!" Kurusu-sensei scolded him.

"..." Yarai looked at her.

"Wh-What did you say!? True, it's my fault we're lost… but you, know..." Kurusu-sensei said.

"Didn't you hear something just now?" Torako asked them. "I could've sworn I heard something..."

"The sound of that thing hitting the ground?" Yarai said.

"No, it was like someone gasping," Torako said.

"Kurusu-sensei!?" a familiar voice shouted.

"Ah?" Kurusu-sensei said, surprised. They moved closer and paid more attention to what was in front of them and saw that there were two girls next to the stunned fat lizard. It was Rion and Sakuma Yuki, the class rep of 3-4. "A-Akagami-san!? What are you doing here!? Ah, and Sakuma-san as well..."

"You two look kinda roughed up. You okay?" Torako asked the girls.

'And… Yarai-kun's here, too!?' Rion thought, seeing him right behind them. Yarai stood next to Torako. "Actually, we just outran Miyajima-kun… He's trying to kill us!"

"!" Torako said.

"Eh!?" Kurusu-sensei said.

"What happened?" Torako asked.

"We met Sakuma-san when she fell in a river here and washed up near us. And we came to help Arita-kun's group after hearing they were being targeted by a demonic murderer, but we fell through a sinkhole. Then we got separated from the rest of our group and ran into four of them—Ueno-kun, Makita-chan, Miyajima-kun, and another boy—and they tried to make us kill each other!"

As they talked, a boy was sneaking up on them. It was the same Miyajima that Rion had just mentioned. He stopped a short distance away, keeping their group within eyesight while he hid himself.

"Sh-Shit… What's he doing with those girls..." Miyajima wondered, furrowing his brow. 'Yarai Kouichi… He's rumored to be the most dangerous guy at my school…! And Fukui Torako has that spear. That could be dangerous… Doesn't seem like they've noticed me yet, though...' Yarai yawned. Miyajima picked up a rock. Torako and Yarai made eye contact. 'If I catch him by surprise… and then attack her while she's still shocked…' Miyajima charged at him with the rock. 'Even if you are Yarai… Take this…!'

"… Is that true, Akagami-san?" Kurusu-sensei asked urgently while she wiped Rion's face clean with her handkerchief. "You two were entangled in such killings…?"

"I-It's true," Rion said. "… But you three saved us. Akira-kun and the rest of them should be fairly close, too."

"I see. Then let's hurry and find them!" Kurusu-sensei said. She happened to glance up and saw something that surprised her a little bit. "..."

"… Should be soon..." Yarai said. "Hey, Akagami. Move 30 cm to the right." Rion didn't get why he was asking her that, but she did it, just in time to avoid being hit by Miyajima's body when it fell down from the ceiling, where Yarai had kicked it when he tried to attack him.

"Kyaa!" Rion cried, startled. 'He… He really isn't your average person… with enough force behind his kick to send a person to the ceiling… Is Miyajima-kun even still alive?' They left him where he was and started looking for the rest of Akira's group. Yarai took the lead, flipping a coin as he walked.

"M-Miyajima won't be waking up anytime soon… Was it okay to just leave him there?" Yuki asked.

"Is he really someone to worry about?" Rion asked.

"It's not like there's anything down here that eats humans," Tora said. The only carnivorous creatures she saw down there hadn't been interested in them at all.

"Well… I suppose you have a point..." Yuki said.

"We've got to worry more about finding Akira and the others fast!" Rion said.

"Y-Yeah, right!" Yuki agreed.

"Not to mention… What do we do when we meet up with them?" Kurusu-sensei asked. "And what do we do if we can't get out of here?" Yarai stopped flipping his coin and caught it.

"The hell… you wanted out of here?" Yarai asked.

"Eh?" Yuki said.

"The hurry up and say so!" Yarai said, looking back at them with a sharp grin.

"What do you mean, 'If you wanted to get out of here, then hurry up and say so,' Yarai!?" Rion asked. "Are you saying we can get out of here!?"

"… Look below you, Akagami," Yarai told her.

"Below… Below me?" she said, looking down. Tora looked down. There was muddy water flowing in small streams beneath their feet.

"Ah, I see," Tora said.

"See what?" Rion asked. "Is this water? Underground water…? Where'd this come from? But what'd you talk about this for..."

"..." Yarai started running.

"Ah!? Wait—! Where are you going!?" Rion asked.

"What are you waiting for?" Torako asked. "You want out, right?"

"!" Rion said. "L-Let's follow him, Sensei!"

"Y-Yes..." Kurusu-sensei said. "Let's go, Sakuma-san!" The rest of them ran after Yarai.

'He's someone like me, but I don't get what he's thinking at all… Although, Fukui-chan seems to...' Rion thought, glancing sideways at the other girl. "There's no doubt he's reliable… Right now… he's all we can count on...'

—∞—

"Ha ha ha I… can't run anymore..." Rion said, breathing heavily when they finally stopped.

"Are we there…?" Yuki asked.

"!!" Rion gasped, looking around. "This place is..." 'This is where we first fell in… coincidence…? No, there's no way.' "Why'd we come back here, Yarai-kun…!?"

"You explain it," Yarai told Torako.

"You said you all fell from a sink whole, right?" Torako said. "… And look at the ground this water's running across. It's all muddy, and so is the water. This is not underground water."

".. Eh?" Rion said.

"W-What is it, then…?" Yuki asked.

"You don't get it?" Yarai said. "It's rainwater. It's raining outside, and there's water flowing in. And from where… wouldn't the hole you fell through be the first thing to consider?"

"!!" Rion and Yuki said.

'Well, when he says it like that…' Rion thought. 'But… being able to think coolly in such a situation...'

"Kyaaaah!" Kurusu-sensei shrieked, falling down.

"S-Sensei!" Rion said as they looked at her, startled.

"Wh-What is that!?" Kurusu-sensei asked, pointing to a rock formation that appeared to have eyes, a nose, and mouth. "Is that someone's face!?'

"Sensei… That's just a rock..." Torako said.

"Eh…? Oh, it really is… that scared me..." Kurusu-sensei said.

"… It's a real mystery. That face-looking thing doesn't look like it's something completely natural at all..." Rion said.

"It's not a mystery at all," Yarai said. "Humans will believe that something is a face as long as there are three holes, shadows and so forth, even if they are in wood markings or clouds and such. This is due to a part of the brain becoming active when the object is perceived as a face. Reading a person's face is important, so people will naturally look for the form of a face. All of it is caused by the brain."

'I didn't know he was so smart...' Yuki thought.

"So what do we do now?" Rion asked.

"..." Yarai looked up at the ceiling of the cave. "How much do you girls weigh?"

"Wha… Wh-Wha..." Rion said, getting flustered.

"Don't get me wrong. It's for getting out of here," Yarai said.

"Eh!?" Rion, Yuki, and Kurusu said, still blushing a little.

"What did you have in mind?" Torako asked.

—∞—

A few minutes later, They were standing in a formation where Rion and Kurusu-sensei were standing on Yarai's shoulders, and Yuki was standing on them. Torako was left out of the formation because Yarai limited the total weight to 120 kg and she was shorter than everyone else.

'This is definitely more than 120 kilograms...' Yarai thought, gritting his teeth. Someone had definitely lied about their weight.

"No looking up, Yarai-kun!" Kurusu-sensei said. "Fukui-chan, keep an eye on him!"

"I-I'm not looking..." Yarai said.

"How's it going up there? Can you reach it, Sakuma-san?" Rion asked.

"J-Just a little bit more..." Yuki said, reaching. "K-Keep it up… I-I think we'll be able to get out from here!"

'I was wondering what he meant when he asked for our weight...' Rion thought, smiling as she looked down at Yarai.

"Looks like your hard work is paying off," Torako said, feeling a bit redundant.

"Only a little more and I can do it..." Yuki said. "Unn..." She managed to pull her self up through the muddy hole, gripping the strong grass around it. "Ha ha ha I-I made it..." she said, catching her breath. "I'm outside!" Yarai let Rion and Kurusu-sensei down.

"How about it, Sakuma-san!? Anything that looks like it can be used for rope up there!?" Rion called up.

"H-Hold on, I'll check!" Yuki said. 'I-I have to hurry...' she thought, looking around. "… The rain's really coming down..."

"You two wait here," Yarai told Kurusu-sensei and Torako. "While Sakuma is looking for something everyone can climb, Akagami and I will find the rest of Sengoku's group."

"Okay," Torako agreed. They couldn't leave their teacher on her own with murderers running around, and someone had to stay behind to help test out whatever their class rep found.

"All right!" Kurusu-sensei agreed, also understanding that someone needed to stay behind. "Don't worry, Fukui-chan. I'll protect you!" With that much agreed, Yarai and Rion left to find Akira and the others.

—∞—

Yarai knew they were definitely close when he heard voices.

"Fine, we'll help you out," a voice that sounded like a kid said.

"Grab him over there!" Akira said. He and Rion quickened their pace. "Ha ha w-we did it..." Yarai could see them at the end of the tunnel. They were only a few meters away, but the others hadn't noticed them yet. It looked like they had just finished pulling Arita up from the edge of a precipice.

"Let's quickly get somewhere safe..." the kid said. The kid looked like a girl and was wearing pigtails. The edge of the cliff crumbled and the kid fell. "Eh!?"

"M-Miina!" Akira yelled. Yarai leaped over all of them caught the kid with one hand.

"!?" the kid and Akira gasped.

"Yo, Sengoku!" Yarai greeted him with a smile.

"Y-Yarai! What are you doing here…!?" Akira asked, surprised.

"Akira-kun!" Rion called.

"Huh?" Akira said. He blushed as he was tackled by Rion. "Rion! Owowowow… my ribs..."

"You've done something dangerous again, haven't you?" Rion asked.

"Wh-Why here…?" Akira asked, looking at Yarai, who Miina was now trying to cozy up to.

"They were close, surprisingly enough..." Rion replied.

"..." Yarai wondered how the others were doing.

Meanwhile, outside the cave, Yuki was dragging a long vine over to the sink hole.

"… Hmm?" she said. She stopped and put her ear close to the ground. "I can hear something..." It was like a low rumbling. "I wonder… what that sound is…?"

At that same time, Yarai and the others were returning to Zaji and Oomori.

"Zaji… sorry to keep you waiting! Are you guys all right!?" Akira asked as they ran over to them. Yari could see That Oomori had been injured, and they had stitched it up. It looked like a stab wound.

"Sengoku! That's great! Looks like you found Akagami and the others," Zaji said.

"Yeah! More importantly, how's Oomori-san!?" Akira asked.

"We-Well… she just fainted not too long ago..." Zaji replied, glaring at Arita.

"..." Arita avoided his gaze.

"I… I see..." Akira said, taking a look at Oomori. "Anyways, let's carry her! It seems like Yarai and the others found a way out."

"Ye-Yeah!" Zaji agreed.

"Hey, Sengoku, by the way… what's this rumbling sound we've been hearing for a while…?" Mariya asked. "It's almost like the ground is shaking.

"..." Yarai thought he might have an idea about that. If he was right, they needed to get out of there fast.

"… Maybe it's because of the rain?" Rion said.

"Would rain streaming in make a sound like this…?" Mariya asked.

"N-Now that you mention it, it is strange..." Rion said.

"..." A bead of sweat slid down the side of Akira's face as he carried Oomori with Zaji. "!!" he gasped when he saw water rushing in their direction.

"What the—!? Is this rain water…!?" Mariya asked.

"Gehh! It's like a river," Zaji said.

"Damn it! Watch your step…!!" Akira said. "Anyways, we need to hurry! We just need to follow the current, right!?"

"Yeah!" Rion said.

"… Hmm?" Miina said. Through an opening in the wall, she saw a rock formation similar to the one Kurusu-sensei saw. "…? A face…?" Miina gasped. "! This is… a rock shaped like a face…!! There's one here too…!" Miina had seen one when they fell in and another while they were exploring. "There's a third one here…" 'What are they…?'

"Hey, Miina! Stop dawdling, or we're going to leave you behind!" Akira shouted.

"!" Miina said and immediately started running after them. "Ah! Wait up~ You guys are so impatient..."

Back under the sink hole, Torako could also hear the rumbling.

"What's that?" Kurusu-sensei asked.

"I can't say for sure, but… I think it's water," Torako said, furrowing her brow.

"Water?" Kurusu-sensei asked. "From the rain?"

"It's possible… Either way, I get the feeling we should get out of here as soon as possible," Torako said. A thick, strong vine dropped down from above, nearly hitting them.

"Sorry about that!" Yuki called down. Torako tugged on the vine.

"Seems sturdy enough," Kurusu-sensei said. "Let's test it!"

The others rushed as quickly as they could to that same location.

"Isn't this where we fell down!? Damn it! It's flooded now!" Akira said.

"When it rains, it looked like all the water drains out to here," Mariya said. "No wonder there's so much moss down here."

"… Huh? Sensei and Fukui-chan are gone..." Rion said. "That's strange. I thought we told them to wait here..."

"Hey~" Kurusu-sensei called down, making them look up.

"!" Akira said when he saw her, Torako, and Yuki peering down at him through the hole.

"Everyone! You're all right!!" Kurusu-sensei cheered.

"Sensei… Fukui… Yuki!!" Akira said.

"We checked how strong the ivy is! It's perfect!" Kurusu-sensei said.

"Wait a sec, we'll lower it down," Torako said.

"Okay, Sensei! Just wait there for a little longer," Akira said. "All right! Oomori-san needs to go first."

"B-But how…?" Zaji asked. "We can't climb while holding Kanako-san..."

"Pass her over!" Yarai said. He balanced Oomori in his arms and gripped the vine with his hands. He started climbing. Miina grabbed his leg.

"Ya-Yarai!! A-As usual, he's amazing..." Akira said, watching him go. He was already nearly to the top.

"And Miina-chan's clinging on to him as well..." Rion said.

"He… He's not human…" Zaji said, sweating.

"… Hey, Sengoku," Yarai said, glancing down over his shoulder at him. "Come see me for a bit later. I have something to tell you."

"Eh?" Akira said. 'Something to tell me…! I wonder what it is.'

"… Look's like he's up, Akira-kun," Rion said. "And the others are too."

"All right! Now we'll climb up one by one!" Akira said. "Hmm? … Hey, is it me, or has the water level dropped?"

"Huh? You're right..." Rion said.

"Lucky! This makes it even easier," Zaji said.

"Yeah. Let's hurry while it's still low!" Akira said.

"!?" Mariya gasped. 'The water level dropped? That's not right!'

"Wait, Sengoku, something's weird! The water level dropped so suddenly, but it's still raining….!" Mariya said.

"… Yeah," Akira said.

"Now that you mention it…" Rion said.

'And that noise from before is getting louder...' Mariya thought.

"Did Mariya-kun say the water level dropped!?" Torako called down.

"Yeah!" Akira called up. Her eyes widened.

'But it's still raining… that can't be a good thing…!' Torako thought. "Get up here, quick!"' Mariya looked at the face in the rock.

'If that rock face was formed naturally, then what would shape it like that…?' Mariya thought. The rumbling grew louder. 'Something's coming—' Mariya thought. "This is bad! Sengoku!"

"!" Akira said, furrowing his brow.

"It's coming! Flash flood!!!" Mariya yelled as a rush of water came roaring at them.

"!!!" the others gasped.

"Uwaahh, everybody run!" Akira said, leading the way. "To that hole!!" Torako leaned further into the hole to watch as Akira and the others disappeared into a tunnel just in time to avoid being swept up by the water, which was roiling with stones and animals that had been caught up in it. She started to slip. Yarai pulled her back.

"Thanks," she said.

"W-What do we do!?" Yuki asked.

"Where did you wash up?" Yarai asked.

"!" Yuki said. "It's near here! This way!" she said, leading them away from the sinkhole. They were about halfway between the sinkhole and the river, when they could make out the others moving around.

"Akira-kun!! Akagami-san!!" Yuki called.

"Yuki!" Akira said. They reunited and headed for the trees to get some shelter from the rain. The boys and Torako removed their soaked jackets and sweater. And hung them on branches to dry.

"This rain never stops..." Mariya said. Rion collected some rainwater in her hands.

"Oomori-san, can you drink?" Rion asked, holding it out to her. Oomori drank from her hands.

"By the way, those rocks shaped like faces… there were quite a few of them, right?" Miina said.

"…? What're you talking about, Miina?" Mariya asked.

"What, Glasses? You think I'm lying?" Miina asked.

"Um, who are you?" Torako asked the kid.

"I'm Miina! " the kid said, acting cute.

"That's an interesting choice of clothing," Torako said.

"Oh? You can tell he's a boy?" Mariya asked.

"Somehow," Torako said.

"You're good," Miina told her.

"Maybe your acting needs work," Mariya suggested.

"You picking a fight with me, Glasses!?" Miina asked.

—∞—

It continued to rain for awhile after that. While they waited for it to stop, Akira's group told Yarai's group the things they had experienced since they split up. How they met Miina after a group of adults murdered Oomori's sempai. Miina had led them through an elaborate charade involving two yakuza members to find her body. In the end, the adults murdered the two yakuza and predators came and attacked them because of the blood on their clothing. After that, they met up with Yuki, and she told them about the 'demonic killer' targeting Arita's group. It turned out the killer was none other that Arita, and he led others to become killers as well. What he did was unforgivable, but he had helped Akira and the others escape in the end and stayed behind himself. Akira was obviously upset that he couldn't save his friend. He sat quietly under a tree while the others talked.

"Oh my, it's finally stopped raining," Rion said when the rain eventually let up. "It rained for almost the whole day..."

"..." Akira stared up into the clear, blue sky.

"I forgot that the sky was so blue..." Rion said. They all stared up at the sky together, and Akira smiled.

"Yeah… You're right..." he said.

'It looks like he'll be all right...' Torako thought. She smiled too. The sky really was beautiful.

Now that it was dry, it was time to tend to the wounded, mainly Akira.

"O-Ouch! Be a little more gentle, Rion! Yuki!" he cried while the girls wrapped bandages around his injured ribs and pulled them tight.

"We are! Stop complaining, you're not a kid!" Rion told him.

"Yeah~" Yuki agreed. They finished their first-aid despite his complaints.

"It hurts, damn it..." Akira said as they walked away, a little teary-eyed. "Looks like those two have become pretty close..." He pulled his shirt back down.

"You did pretty bad, Sengoku," Yarai said, coming over to stand by him. "Everyone's injured."

"Yarai!!" Akira said. "… Yeah. Zaji's foot got injured, and I think I fractured something." They both looked over at the others and saw that Kurusu-sensei and Torako were checking on Oomori again. "… By the way, Yarai. Didn't you say you had something to tell me?"

"… Yeah," Yarai said. The wind ruffled their hair. He looked down at Akira. "… Hey, Sengoku."

"What?" Akira asked.

"Do you want to build a country?" Yarai asked.

"!?" Akira said, surprised.