Previously:
"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.
Chapter 6: Mountain
{ October 26th, Day 23 }
"Build… a country!?" Akira said, standing up to face Yarai. "What… do you mean by that, Yarai…!?"
"..." Yarai stared at him. "Sengoku… do you think we'll be able to leave this place alive…?"
"Eh?" Akira said.
"We've been on this island for three weeks already," Yarai said. "Despite it being such a huge accident, we haven't even seen a glimpse of a search team… don't you think that's strange?"
"… B… But..." Akira said.
"There are supposedly extinct animals roaming around, and there's a strange underground cavern below us… This place is more mysterious than any of us could've imagined..." Yarai said. "We've had quite a few losses already… At this rate, all of us might be wiped out..."
'Wiped out…?' Akira thought. "S-So what do you want me to do…?"
"That's why we should make a country!" Yarai said.
"!!" Akira said.
"So that we can continue to survive on this island..." Yarai said. "… You've got a bigger party than before, hmph looks like you've got this ability to attract people, but… when your group grows to ten or twenty people, what are you going to do?"
"Wh-What do you mean? We'll work together to survive..." Akira said.
"All the more reason to create a safe place for everyone to live, that is, 'our country'," Yarai said. "I don't know what an ideal country in this world might be, but if you can find that out… you might be able to save everyone scattered around on this island..."
'I can save everyone…!?' Akira thought, furrowing his brow. "… Hm? Which means, I'm like the king…?" he mused, holding his chin.
"… The… king?" Yarai said, eyes widening slightly. "Ahahahahahha! Hahahahaha!" he laughed with all his might, slapping Akira on the back. " 'The king'… Hahaha!"
"Well sorry for being naive!!" Akira said, blushing. "Ouch!"
"Hahh… You made me laugh one last time," Yarai said.
"Eh? Last time!?" Akira said. Yarai started walking away. "Ya-Yarai!? Where are you—"
"Crowds don't suit me," Yarai said. "I'll follow a different path… You and I… which one of us will survive… It's a battle, Sengoku Akira."
"Are we leaving?" Kurusu-sensei asked Torako when they saw Yarai walking away. Yarai paused and looked back at them.
"Looks like it," Torako said. "See you around!" she told the others, pulling her backpack on.
"Take care of yourselves!" Kurusu-sensei told them, waving as Torako nodded goodbye. They followed after Yarai.
"What were you talking to Sengoku-kun about?" Torako asked curiously as she caught up to him.
"… Making a country," Yarai replied.
"Making a…?" Torako said, taking a moment to consider the idea. "I see… That would give us all a safe place to gather. And maybe help stop incidents like the killings in the cave from happening, if there's a system to provide consequences for crimes like that… And you asked Sengoku-kun to do it?"
"He has the ability to gather people," Yarai replied.
"And you're more of a loner," Torako said, nodding in understanding. Even though she had chosen to follow Yarai, she also thought Akira would be better suited as a leader for everyone else.
"If you know I'm a loner, then why follow me?" Yarai asked.
"Hmm… I guess it's 'because I want to'," she replied. "Right, Sensei?"
"Eh?" Kurusu-sensei said.
"Yarai wants to know why we're following him," Torako said.
"Eh? Ah…" Kurusu-sensei said, sweat-dropping. 'I'm not sure, really...'
"It's because we want to, right?" Torako said.
"R-Right!" Kurusu-sensei said. That was it. She didn't have a clear reason for it, it was just something she decided to do.
"Why do you want to?" Yarai asked.
"Eh?" Kurusu-sensei said again.
"… Maybe I'm a bit of a loner, too," Torako said. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm not very sociable. But, even though some people like to be alone, no one wants to be lonely."
"…" Yarai looked at her. He remembered what she told him about her father being in the hospital and her mother rarely being home. He remembered seeing her sitting by herself at school with her notebook. 'Was she lonely…?'
"I don't think you're unsociable," Kurusu-sensei tolf Torako. "I've seen you helping others out, and you'll talk to people when they try to talk to you."
"That's because I understand the importance of working together," Torako replied. "But I don't really like interacting with people."
"Why not?" Kurusu-sensei asked.
"Because people can lie and turn on you for arbitrary reasons," Torako replied. "Animals are easier."
"Even the wild ones?" Kurusu-sensei asked, surprised.
"As long as you know their behavior patterns, they're easy to read," Torako replied.
"The same can be said for humans," Yarai said.
"… I guess that's true," Torako admitted reluctantly. People were animals in the end, even if they were complicated.
—∞—
{ October 27th, Day 24 }
They were walking when Torako noticed part of an impression in the mud sticking out from under some freshly dropped leaves. Something made her stop and move the leaves out of the way. Part of the impression had been walked over and damaged, but enough of it was left for Tora to see that it was the giant paw print of a huge cat.
"Yarai-kun…!" she called. "I think we should leave this area." Yarai stopped and looked back.
"..." He stared at the paw print. The animal it belonged to was probably too big for him and Tora to fight on their own. "This way," he said, changing direction.
"What is it?" Kurusu-sensei asked. "What kind of animal?"
"It's definitely a giant feline… Mariya-kun said that his group had encountered a saber-tooth tiger before, so it could be one of those..." Tora said.
"A saber-tooth tiger!" Kurusu-sensei exclaimed.
"But we're avoiding it, so we should be all right," Tora reassured her.
—∞—
{ October 29th, Day 26 }
They had stopped for the night and were sitting around their campfire when a new creature came upon them. Kurusu-sensei was happily chatting away about the fruit they had found, when its face appeared behind her from the darkness. Torako and Yarai quickly pulled their teacher out of the way before it could close its jaws around her head. It stepped into the light. It looked like a big bear with long legs. Yarai attacked it with his coins and keys, but it was a stubborn beast. It targeted Torako next, but she dodged its claws and stabbed it with her spear. It roared and reared back. It ran off into the darkness.
"It ran away, huh?" Yarai said.
"I don't think I dealt a mortal blow..." Torako said. "We're going to have to be on our guard now."
"What was that thing?" Kurusu-sensei asked. But they didn't have an answer for her.
—∞—
{ October 31st, Day 28 }
"Are we headed for that mountain?" Torako asked, looking up at the peak sticking up above the treetops.
"I want to get a better look at the lay of the land," Yarai said. "It'll probably take us three more days to get there."
"I see. We should start gathering supplies, then," Torako said. "We don't know what resources will be available on the mountain."
—∞—
{ November 3rd, Day 31 }
They reached the base of the mountain.
"Have either of you ever climbed a mountain like this before?" Torako asked.
"Why do you asked?" Kurusu-sensei asked.
"There's a few things you should know before you do," Torako said. "Like, keep an eye out above you as well as looking as your feet. We need to be really careful of falling rocks on rocky mountains like these. If you see falling rocks, make sure you shout out loud to alert everyone.
"Alert everyone…?" Kurusu-sensei said.
"Yeah… but the rock would be really fast. Even if you think you can't dodge it, you can at least crouch and reduce your exposed body area. Make sure to protect the back of your head with your hands like this, okay?" Torako said, demonstrating. "And we should go slowly. Going up too fast could give us altitude sickness, which can be deadly. And never wander off alone."
"You sure know a lot," Kurusu-sensei said.
"I just learned it from someone else. The show followed some mountain goats in the Rocky Mountains in America," Torako explained.
"You really learned a lot from your travels, didn't you?" Kurusu-sensei said, impressed. "Well, how about a snack before we start climbing, to keep our energy up!"
"Sounds good to me," Torako said. She and Kurusu-sensei ate some fruits that were at the base of the mountain (they had eaten them before elsewhere, so they knew they were safe), while Yarai ate one of the Durian fruits they had found along the way.
"Let's go," Yarai said when they were done. They climbed in a line, with Yarai first, and Torako last. Yarai found the footholds and handholds, and Torako helped Kurusu-sensei when she needed it. They kept their eyes peeled for falling rocks. There was a mist over the mountain, which made it hard to tell how high they had climbed, so they stopped frequently. Torako could tell Yarai was annoyed by the slow pace, but he didn't force them to move faster. They camped out on the side of the mountain that night.
—∞—
{ November 4th, Day 32 }
They started climbing again at the crack of dawn. Torako wished she could have slept more. But they were almost at the top. They came to a steep slope that was too slippery to climb with shoes, so they took them off, and Yarai climbed carrying Kurusu-sensei on his back. Tora was convinced she could do it as well, so she was getting herself up. She was just about to follow them up to the next section, when she saw something shocking. Her father was stumbling towards her from out of the mist. He held a hand against the back of his head, where he had been wounded.
"Tou-san…?" Tora said, not believing her eyes.
"What?" Yarai said, looking down at her. He furrowed his brow.
"Tora… Why, Tora…?" her father asked, holding out a bloody hand as he drew closer. "You're normally so quick to react… Why didn't you catch me!?" Tora's eyes widened as the guilt she felt over he father's injury came bursting to the surface. She had been right next to him when he fell. Why? Why hadn't she caught him? She was right there! Tears formed in her eyes. Her father grabbed her arm so tightly that hurt. "Tou-san, I—!"
"Who are you talking to?" Yarai asked, making her look up at him.
"Eh?" Torako said, blinking. She looked from Yarai back to her father. 'Yarai-kun can't see him? Of course he can't… My father is in a coma in Japan… there's no way he could be here! And he wouldn't talk like that even if he was!' she realized, forcing herself to calm down. "I'm… I'm hallucinating?" she said, looking back at Yarai.
"What?" Yarai said, the crease in his brow deepening. "Is it altitude sickness?"
"I don't think so… This is too extreme. It really feels like I'm being grabbed!" Torako replied, furrowing her brow.
"Kyaaaaah!" Kurusu-sensei screamed. "No! Don't come any closer!" She was looking at something Yarai and Torako couldn't see. "Yarai-kun! Fukui-chan! Run!" she cried, trying to push Yarai to make him move. "They're coming!"
"What's coming?" Yarai asked.
"Can't you see them!?" Kurusu-sensei asked, getting hysterical. "Those big-mouthed beasts from the plane!"
"Fukui! Get up here!" Yarai said, trying to hold their teacher still without hurting her. Torako ripped her arm free from the illusion of her father and started climbing. She thought she felt fingertips brush against her foot, but she kept going, even though she was crying, trying to ignore her father's shouting about how it was her fault he was in the hospital and calling her a bad daughter. Torako made it to the top and grabbed Kurusu-sensei's face.
"We're here, Sensei!" she said, making her look at her. "So even if you see those things coming, it'll be okay! We'll protect you!"
"Like you protected me?" her father asked, suddenly standing there next to them.
'It'll be different this time!' Torako told herself, gritting her teeth. 'I won't fail again!' But Kurusu-sensei screamed again.
"Kyaaaaaaaaaaah!! No! Not Fukui-chan! Fukui-chan!" Kurusu-sensei fainted.
"It seems you're being eaten," Yarai said. Torako wasn't sure how to feel about that.
"Should we go back down?" Torako asked. "If it is related to the altitude, then that might help." Yarai looked up. She followed his gaze.
"We're almost to the top," Yarai said. "We'll go up, look around, and then go down."
"What if we get worse?" Tora asked. "I'm still hallucinating, too."
"I'll carry both of you if it comes to that," Yarai said.
"I wonder why you're fine..." Torako said as they climbed, ignoring her father's new volley of guilt trips. "… Could it be something we ate again?"
"The only thing you ate that I didn't were those fruits you found at the base of this mountain," Yarai said. "It must be that. Certain foods can become poisonous under the right conditions."
"So, that fruit becomes dangerous at a certain altitude?" Torako said. "I'll make a note of that." Her notebook had turned into a sort of field guide for the island. They made it to the top. Torako was starting to have a little trouble breathing, and their teacher was gasping. Torako's father tried to grab her again. She pushed him away. There was a small tower of rocks with a piece of fabric stuck inside of it that fluttered in the wind. Yarai pulled the fabric loose. It was as shirt and there was writing on it. Yarai showed it to Torako. It said:
'Not possible to return
Not our world'
"Our world…?" Torako said, furrowing her brow. She also saw that the shirt belonged to Morita Makoto, because his name was sewn into it.
"I've known that right from the start. That's why I'm going to solve the mystery behind this world..." Yarai said as he climbed to the highest point of the peak and looked around. His eyes widened.
"How is it?" Torako asked.
"Come up here," Yarai said. Torako carefully stepped up next to him. Her eyes widened, too. The land stretched on for as far as they eye could see.
"It's way too huge…!!" Torako said. She saw an inlet of water in one direction. 'That must be the 'sea' where Sengoku-kun and the others saw the Basilosaurus Mariya-kun told me about.' "Mariya-kun told me this island wasn't on any maps..."
"This place is almost a continent..." Yarai said. "I don't suppose you have binoculars in your backpack?"
"No," Torako replied. 'Too bad I didn't think to pack them, they'd really come in handy now. It really does seem like another world from up here...'
"Kyaaaah!" Kurusu-sensei screamed.
"We'd better move her," Yarai said.
"Right," Torako agreed. They put the shirt back and worked together to move her back down the mountain. Breathing became easier. They knew they had gone far enough when Torako saw the image of her father fade away to nothing. They waited, and eventually Kurusu-sensei calmed down too and opened her eyes again.
"Fukui-chan! Yarai-kun! Thank goodness!" she said, throwing her arms around them. "You're all right!"
"It was a hallucination, Sensei," Torako explained. "We think the fruit we ate at the base of the mountain was to blame."
"But we've eaten it before without a problem," Kurusu-sensei said.
"We think it was because of the altitude," Torako said.
—∞—
They rested there on the mountain that evening.
"… You saw your father?" Yarai said, staring up at the stars. Kurusu-sensei was asleep.
"I don't really want to talk about it..." Torako said, hugging her knees.
"It must have been something painful," Yarai said.
"What makes you say that?" Torako asked.
"Because you won't talk about it, and Sensei saw something that terrified her," Yarai replied.
"Yeah, it was a bad trip..." Torako said. She sighed. "I saw my dad… blaming me for the wound that put him in a coma..."
"Why would he blame you?" Yarai asked.
"Because I was standing right next to him when it happened," she said. "I was right there when he fell, and I didn't catch him."
"… That isn't your fault," Yarai told her, furrowing his brow slightly.
"Isn't it?" Torako said, blinking away her tears.
"Did you push him?" Yarai asked.
"Of course not," Torako said, frowning.
"Then you have nothing to feel guilty about," Yarai said. "It was an accident. You can't hold yourself responsible for other people's actions." The tears in Torako's eyes spilled over and she hid her face against her knees. Yarai put his hand on her head to comfort her.
"Yarai-kun... you said you're going to solve the mystery behind this world… I'll help you," she said.
—∞—
{ November 5th, Day 33 }
Yarai took a coin out of his pocket, flipped it into the air, and let it fall on the ground.
"A marker for Sengoku-kun?" Torako asked. Yarai smiled a little bit.
"Something like that," he said. "Let's head for the nearest river."
—∞—
{ November 14th, Day 42 }
Although Torako and Kurusu-sensei both recovered completely within two days, they took their time at the river before they started following it. Yarai hunted while Kursu-sensei gathered fruit and other edible plants with Torako covering her with her spear. Torako made a lot of jerky and they packed her backpack full of it. Torako also fished, making a fishing pole out of a stick and paracord from her bracelet. She whittled a piece of wood into a hook.
"Let's head east of the mountain," Yarai said when it was time to leave.
"We're not going to keep following the river?" Kurusu-sensei asked.
"No. I saw some strange tracks," Yarai replied. He had gone on to look ahead.
"What kind of tracks?" Torako asked. "!" She heard a hissing sound, and suddenly they were surrounded by long-legged crocodiles with their backs against the river. Torako grabbed her spear, but she didn't know how effective it would be against their armored skin. Yarai hit them with coins to keep them at bay, but one slipped past and launched itself at Torako. She thrust her spear at it, but it bit the shaft and performed a death roll, slamming her into the ground.
"Ungh!" Torako groaned, in pain. Its bite broke the shaft of her spear, leaving her without a weapon.
"Fukui-chan!" Kurusu-sensei said anxiously.
Yarai stepped in front of her and fired off another round of coins. Even though they all hit their marks, the crocs continued forward. One launched itself at Yarai, and he was caught up in a wrestling match with it, holding its mouth shut so it couldn't bite him. Two more attacked Torako and Kurusu-sensei. Torako managed to roll out of the way, but Kurusu-sensei was knocked back into the river. Yarai kicked away the crocodile that had attacked him and punched two more with his keys in his hand. He was trying to get to them, but the crocodiles kept coming.
"Sensei!" Torako yelled, fearing for her life, but then she saw something unbelievable. The crocodile was floundering in the water. Kurusu-sensei was able to get away from it as the crocodile struggled to get back on land. "Yarai-kun! They can't swim!"
"What!?" Yarai said, surprised, but he saw her roll into the water, and the crocodiles stopped trying to attack her. They stayed on land while she swam away to an islet in the river.
"Over here, Yarai-kun! Sensei!" Torako called, standing up on the islet. Yarai kicked away another crocodile and jumped into the water. He and Kurusu-sensei both swam over to join Torako on the islet.
"How long do you think it'll take them to lose interest?" Kurusu-sensei asked, eying the long-legged crocodiles warily.
"… We'll make camp here today," Yarai said. It was the right call. The crocodiles stayed hopeful until the sun began to set, then they retreated to wherever they had come from. The moon was full, and they had Torako's flashlight, so they took advantage of the crocodile's absence to leave while they could. Torako collected the knife that had been part of her spear. She picked up a stick as they walked to make a new shaft.
—∞—
{ November 19th, Day 47 }
They were walking through the jungle, when they ran into some new faces. Torako recognized them as Segawa Saki, Matsumoto Michika, and Shigeno Makiko. The three girls screamed when they saw Yarai and cowered away from him as if he were one of the island's beasts.
"Kyaaaa!"
"W-What's the matter?" Kurusu-sensei asked them, stepping forward.
"K-Kurusu-sensei!" the girls exclaimed, surprised to see her there.
"Fukui-chan is here, too," Kurusu-sensei said with a smile.
"Hi," Torako greeted the other girls.
"Y-You're with Yarai!?" Shigeno asked, looking shocked.
"That's right," Torako replied calmly, wondering why they were so freaked out. Shigeno and Matsumoto looked particularly scared. For some reason, Segawa seemed kind of angry. They all looked dirty.
"Don't worry!" Kurusu-sensei told them with a reassuring smile. "I'm here now! You can count on me." The three girls still looked unsure. "My, you three look like you could use a bath~"
"!" the girls blushed.
"It's all right! A branch of the river should be close by, right?" Kurusu-sensei said. Torako had shown her the sketch she made of the aerial view of the island from the mountain. "We can all bathe there."
"No way! Not with him around!" Segawa said.
"It's not like he's gonna watch us," Torako said.
"It's fine. I'll look ahead," Yarai said.
—∞—
Soon after that, Yarai found himself in a dogfight. He sent one wild dog flying. It was an awkward-looking thing, shaped like a dachshund with a spotted body and short ears. The rest of the pack growled at him. Another dog charged at him, and he sent it flying with another kick. Two came at him at once. He punched one and pushed the head of the other up when it tried to bite him. The dogs whined and retreated.
"Hmph. Stupid dogs getting in my way," Yarai said. "..." He stared at the tree next to him. There were three large holes lined up close together in it. "Well, more importantly, these are the real problem. Giant holes…!?"
Meanwhile, as the three new additions to the group needed to clean their clothes, Kurusu-sensei and Torako decided to do their laundry as well. Their clothes were hanging from tree branches.
"Hahh~ I finally feel refreshed~ I was covered in dirt this entire time," Segawa said. They were too scared to let their guard down so low when they were on their own.
"I'm glad we met you guys after coming down the mountain!" Kurusu-sensei said. "Segawa-san, Shigeno-san, Matsumoto-san… I'm glad you're all right!"
"We're also glad to see you, Sensei," Shigeno said. "Fukui-san, too."
"Yeah, we're really lucky…!" Matsumoto agreed.
"We went close to the mountain, but it was higher than we expected..." Shigeno said.
"You guys did really well to climb such a tall mountain!" Matsumoto said.
"You guys reached the top, right?" Segawa said, flipping her wet hair over her shoulder. "Did you figure anything out…?" Torako and Kurusu-sensei exchanged a glance.
'Oh yeah, Yarai-kun told us not to talk about what we saw at the peak...' Kurusu-sensei thought. "… Umm, the mist was too thick, so we couldn't see much."
"Ehh~ I see," Segawa said.
"It's OK. We'll be alright since your teacher's here!" Kurusu-sensei said. "And Fukui-chan and Yarai-kun too…" Segawa, Shigeno, and Matsumoto stared at her. "… Eh? What's wrong…?"
"Is… Isn't it dangerous to be with someone like Yarai…?" Shigeno asked.
"He's a delinquent, and it doesn't look like he has any friends," Matsumoto said.
"We've been together with him this whole time, and we're fine," Torako said.
"That's a misunderstanding! He's not such a bad kid," Kurusu-sensei said. "And he's close to some people too… like Sengoku-kun..."
"Sengoku!?" Segawa said. "Even if you call that useless idiot his friend..."
'Well, not that they'd believe me, huh?' Kursu-sensei thought, smiling. 'Ever since we arrived on this island… those two have really stood out. How can I say it so that they'd believe me...'
'They seem determined to keep their bad opinion of him...' Torako thought. 'His reputation really is bad… He's actually a nice guy, though. Once you get to know him.'
"There's no way we can trust a guy like Yarai," Segawa said with absolute certainty.
"… Eh?" Kurusu-sensei said.
"What makes you say that?" Torako asked. How could she be so sure of it?
"… Segawa-san?" Kurusu-sensei said.
"Sensei, I can't do it. I can't trust a guy like him," Segawa said, crossing her arms. "He's the number one delinquent at school, right…? All he does is cause chaos, he doesn't talk, he's violent, and there's no way to tell what he's thinking. And those eyes… they're the eyes of a… Yeah! A serial rapist!!"
"That's true..." Matsumoto said.
"Now that she mentions it..." Shigeno said.
"!" Torako said, furrowing her brow. Now she was angry.
"Th… That's not true, Segawa-san!" Kurusu-sensei said. "You just don't know Yarai-kun well..."
"Don't know him!?" Segawa said, standing up. "No, I know him very well… I mean, he…" She gritted her teeth. "He disgraced me so much that I felt like dying..."
"… Eh?" Matsumoto said as she and Shigeno looked at her, surprised.
'Disgraced her so much that she felt like dying…?' Kurusu-sensei and Torako thought.
'If I remember correctly, Segawa-san's family is affluent and she's a well-mannered girl, right?' Kurusu-sensei thought. 'I can't even think of a time when she would've come into contact with Yarai-kun...'
"… I don't know what happened between you two, but… Yarai-kun saved Sensei from being raped," Torako said.
"Eh!?" Matsumoto and Shigeno exclaimed.
"Is that true, Sensei?" Shigeno asked.
"Y-yes, it is," Kurusu-sensei said. "Everyone was panicking, and two boys grabbed me..." She looked down, appearing troubled by the memory.
"Sorry for brining it up again, Sensei," Torako apologized.
"N-No, not at all," Kurusu-sensei said, forcing a smile.
"..." Torako felt bad for mentioning it in front of her now.
"… I'm gonna head out first!" Segawa said, walking out of the river.
"Sa-Saki..." Shigeno said.
"Wa… Wait, Segawa-san!" Kurusu-sensei said. Torako stood up and walked over to collect her dried clothes, too. They all quickly got dressed and followed Segawa so she wouldn't be on her own. "H-Hey, Segawa-san, listen to what I have to say!"
"Saki~" Shigeno said.
"Don't try to go off on your own. It's dangerous," Torako said.
"!" Kurusu-sensei said when Yarai appeared before them. "Ah..."
"Hey, Sensei! Fukui! Get ready, we're leaving!" Yarai said.
"Eh?" Kurusu-sensei said. "What do you..."
"Hey! How long are you going to play dumb for!?" Segawa asked him.
"Se-Segawa-san?" Kurusu-sensei said.
"How dare you show me your face after doing something like that to me!" Segawa said, furrowing her brow. "These two years… I haven't forgotten about how you disgraced me..."
"..." Yarai stared at her, frowning a little bit.
"Seeing our situation… I won't tell you to leave… But you could at least apologize! If you do that, then I may forgive you!!" Segawa said sternly, crossing her arms. "So? How about it, Yarai..."
"..." Yarai continued to stare at her. "Who're you?"
"Eh?" Segawa said, shocked.
"Ehhh!? Yarai-kun, don't you know Segawa-san…?" Kurusu-sensei asked.
"No. I've never seen this woman before," Yarai said.
"..." Torako stared at Segawa. Her face was beet red. Segawa stood on her toes and slapped Yarai's face.
SLAP!
"…?" Yarai said, confused. Segawa ran away.
"Saki!" Shigeno shouted.
"Se-Segawa-san! Wait!!" Kurusu-sensei called.
"I'll get her!" Torako said and ran after her.
"Hey, wai—" Yarai tried to stop her.
"Yarai-kun!" Kurusu-sensei said urgently. "Chase after her!"
"Fukui?" Yarai asked. "I was just about to..."
"I meant Segawa-san!" Kurusu-sensei said. "Something must've happened! She looked like she was crying… Please, Yarai-kun!!"
"..." Yarai furrowed his brow and frowned. "Tch." he rubbed his head. "Geez. This is so annoying~" he said. "… Sensei, get ready to leave and wait for me."
"Eh?" Kurusu-sensei said.
"I… don't like this place," he said. "There's something suspicious here..."
Segawa was crying with tears streaming down her face.
"He's… the worst…" she sobbed. "I can't believe he said that he couldn't remember me. Especially after doing something like that to me..." She suddenly realized how far she had gone. "… Eh? H-Huh? Where am I?" She wiped her eyes. 'Oh no… I wandered into the jungle without noticing.' "..." She looked around. She was all alone. "N-No… which way did I come from?" She started to run. "I need to hurry back to the others…" 'It's getting dark. If I end up here alone...' "Kyah!" she cried when she bumped into something. She fell backwards. "Eh? Wh-What the..." Her eyes widened as she stared at the strange creature before her It was big and muscular, with stripes on its fur and big claws. "!?" she gasped. 'What's with it's gorilla-like body…? It's probably almost three meters tall. And it has a horse-like neck… I've never seen an animal like this before...'
"..." the animal turned its head and looked at her.
'B-But since it's eating leaves, that means it's an herbivore, right?' Segawa thought. 'So I'm safe...' It's claws crashed into the ground right in front of her. "—!?" There were large gouge marks in the ground. "… Eh?" 'It attacked in my direction…!?' It roared. 'D-Don't tell me that… it tried to kill me…!?'
"Segawa-san!" Torako called, drawing the animal's attention as she ran towards them with her spear.
'Fukui-san!?' Segawa thought. 'What's she going to do against this thing!?'
"Get down!!" Torako ordered her. Segawa flattened herself against the ground, and Torako jumped over her, thrusting the spear into the animal's belly. It roared in pain, stepping back. But it didn't retreat. Torako thrusted her spear at it again. It jumped out of her reach.
"The shape of those claws… It's definitely the one that made those holes in the tree," Yarai said, coming up behind them.
"Holes? Is that why you wanted to leave?" Torako asked.
"Yeah. I thought it was suspicious," Yarai replied.
"B-But… that's an herbivore..." Segawa said.
"Even an herbivore will attack other animals," Torako said.
"All animals have instincts… they can decide whether to attack or run when facing an enemy," Yarai explained. "It's called the 'fight-or-flight response'."
"..." Segawa furrowed her brow looking troubled. "I-Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! I don't need to be saved by someone like you!!"
"We'll talk later," Yarai told her.
"Eh?" Segawa said.
"It looks like those guys have decided to get serious..." Yarai said as more of the horse-apes came out. "1… 2… 3… Three at once, huh…?"
"How do you want to handle it?" Torako asked.
"Well… I guess we have no choice but to do this!" Yarai said, scooping up Segawa and putting her over his shoulder. She didn't look like she would be able to keep up with them otherwise.
"Eh!?" Segawa exclaimed. "P-Put me down! Let go!"
"Hold on tight," Yarai told her, gripping his keys.
