Previously:
"What do you think, Sensei?" Matsumoto asked, and they all looked in her direction. Torako's eyes widened when they saw that she was on the ground. "Eh? Sen… Sensei…?" She was covered in sweat, and her face was red. Her eyes were open, but they were dull.
"Se-Sensei!?" Torako said, rushing over to kneel down beside her. Shigeno and Matsumoto followed. Torako saw that Kurusu-sensei was unconscious.
"Wh-What's wrong!?" Matsumoto asked as she kneeled down too. She moved to shake their teacher.
"Don't!" Torako said, stopping her. "You shouldn't shake an injured person!"
"So-Someone help! Hurry!" Shigeno shouted.
"Yarai!" Torako yelled.
"Sakiii!" Matsumoto yelled.
Chapter 9: Illness
{ December 9th, Day 67 }
"Y-Yarai, I really… really… li… li..." Segawa struggled to say with a red face and tears in her eyes.
"So-Someone help! Hurry!!" Shigeno shouted.
"Yarai!!" Torako yelled urgently.
"!?" Yarai said, startled. He started running down the stairs.
"Ya-Yarai!?" Segawa said, reaching out for him, but he was already too far away.
"Sakiii!!" Matsumoto yelled.
"It's se-sensei, she…!" Shigeno yelled.
"..." Segawa stood there alone, shocked that he had just run off when she was trying to tell him something important.
Torako clenched her fists with her brow furrowed.
'It's happening again…!' she thought anxiously. She was right there, and yet...
"Se-Sensei! Wake up!!" Matsumoto yelled.
"What happened!?" Yarai asked, running over to them.
"Ya-Yarai! Sensei just suddenly collapsed!" Shigeno said.
"Suddenly, you say?" Yarai asked. He very carefully rolled their teacher onto her back. Her eyes were closed and there was drool on her chin. "!" The crease in his brow deepened. 'She's unconscious!?'
"We were talking and then she simply collapsed!" Shigeno said.
"Even though she seemed really excited and energetic until then!" Matsumoto said.
"It was like when she and Segawa-san fell earlier!" Torako said. "One minute she was fine, and then the next…"
'Yes, that was quite strange, too,' Yarai thought. 'Why would she lose consciousness?' He put his hand on her forehead. 'Seems like she didn't catch a cold and she's not feverish either. And if that's the case…' "Don't tell me… it's something brain related… Damn! If she doesn't wake up as soon as possible, the situation may turn dire!"
"No… No way!" Shigeno and Matsumoto said. Torako clenched her fists tighter.
"Ahh, Saki!" Matsumoto said when an out of breath Segawa joined them. "Something's happened to Sensei!"
"What… What should we do? Yarai-kun?" Torako asked.
"..." Yarai stared down at their teacher. "If there's something wrong with her brain, moving her could be disastrous. For now, shout at her to wake up!"
"All right!" Torako, Shigeno, Matsumoto said.
"Sensei!!" Torako yelled.
"Sensei!!" Matsumoto shouted.
"Sensei! Open your eyes!!" Shigeno yelled.
"Hey, you useless piece of shit! Wake the fuck up!" Yarai yelled.
"..." Segawa watched as she caught her breath. She saw how desperate Yarai was.
"Wake up, Sensei!!" Torako yelled. "Please! You have to wake up!"
"Hey! Do you hear me! Wake up now, you little shit!" Yarai yelled.
"Sensei, Open your eyes!" Shigeno yelled.
"Uh..." Kurusu-sensei groaned and slowly opened her eyes. She saw her students gathered around her.
"Ahh!" Shigeno gasped.
"!" Torako said.
"Mmm..." Kurusu-sensei moaned.
"Se-Sensei!!" Torako, Shigeno, and Matsumoto cried.
"Wh-What a relief! She opened her eyes!" Matsumoto said.
"It should be all right now! Right, Yarai?" Shigeno asked.
"I… I..." Kurusu-sensei said quietly. Yarai put two of his finger under her chin.
"Hey, press down on my fingers with your chin!" he told her.
"What?" Kurusu-sensei asked.
"Hurry up, just do it!" Yarai said.
"Like… this?" Kurusu-sensei asked, lifting her head to push her chin against his fingers.
"Do you remember when you fainted?" Yarai asked her.
"Eh… Well, somewhat..." she replied.
"What is he doing?" Matsumoto asked.
"No idea..." Shigeno said.
"I think he's testing her ability to respond..." Torako said.
'She woke up after being shouted at. 3 points,' Yarai thought. 'She remembered what happened before she fainted. 5 points. She followed orders and moved. 6 points.'
"Wh-What are you doing?" Kurusu-sensei asked.
"Rating you on the Glasgow Coma Scale. At least, my version of it," Yarai replied. "But it looks like you're out of the woods. You've got drool on your cheek!" Torako used her handkerchief to wipe it off for her.
"Thank goodness!" Torako said, immensely relieved. She had been worried their teacher might end up like her father.
"She-She's all right, it seems! That's something, isn't it, Saki?" Matsumoto said, looking at her friend. No one was there. "Huh? She's… gone? Wh-Where did she go?"
"She was here just a moment ago, wasn't she?" Shigeno said.
"..." Yarai stared at the empty spot where Segawa should have been.
"Listen," Torako said and the other girls went quiet. They could all faintly hear a sound like rapid footsteps echoing. It seemed to be getting further away. "She's going downstairs?"
Segawa was going downstairs. She was running. She had to get away.
"Haa haa haa," she breathed heavily. "Kyaa!" she cried when she slipped and rolled forward and hit her head on part of the railing. "Ahh! Ouch!" She was shaking as she sat up. Her forehead was even redder than the rest of her face, and there were tears in her eyes. "Haa haa." 'What was I thinking? That asshole!' She pulled herself back onto her feet, leaning on the railing for support. 'As long as it's got to do with Sensei, so cruel of him. It's really annoying! This… This is my first confession. And yet he… And yet he...' She walked the rest of the way down and headed for the metal gate. "Haa haa haa." She grabbed a desk and pulled, moving just enough of the barricade out of the way for her to open the gate enough to squeeze out. One of the amphibious creatures from before snarled at her and tried to attack. "!?" she gasped. 'This beast is still here?!' "Ahhhhhhhh!" Something silver flashed past her and there was a spear in its chest. Torako hurried forward to pull it back out before more came.
"Get back inside!" Torako told Segawa. Another creature came up behind her. Yarai ran past Segawa and pulled Torako away from it, delivering a strong kick to send it falling back into the water. The three of them ran inside and Yarai slammed the gate shut again. They quickly put the desk back and fixed the barricade. They were all breathing heavily.
"… Ya-Yarai," Segawa said. "Why did you…?" Why did he come after her. 'Fukui-san may have gotten here first somehow, but he couldn't have saved her if he wasn't already on his way, too. He could've left it to Fukui-san, yet he...' Yarai looked at her.
"What are you thinking, you idiot!" he yelled at her.
"Wh-Why the hell are you shouting like that?" Segawa asked, trembling as tears formed in her eyes again.
"If I don't shout you won't get it now will you!? Do you want to fucking die or something!?" Yarai continued to yell.
"No… I was only..." Segawa said, blushing.
"Oh, yeah? You were only what?" Yarai asked.
"O-Only… that..." she said, crying as the tears in her eyes spilled over. "Uh..."
"..." Yarai and Torako stared at her.
'Did… Did something happen between the two of them?' Torako wondered, glancing at Yarai out the corner of her eye. Yarai put his hand on Segawa's head to comfort her.
"Really, I don't know what to do with you," Yarai said as he removed his hand. He looked at Torako. "And you… What the hell was that!? You left yourself wide open!"
"It couldn't be helped!" Torako said defensively. "I had to throw my spear to save Segawa-san, and if I had walked backwards with my eyes on the sea, I would have tripped or slipped on something." It was only the second time he had to save her.
"..." Yarai stared at her. "Let's go," he said, heading for the stairs. Torako followed him.
"..." Segawa stared at Yarai's back.
"Segawa-san?" Torako said, pausing for a moment to make sure she was following. Segawa followed them.
"Damn! Those beasts are still here," Yarai said. "Looks like we don't have any choice but to stay here for the night. Plus the tide should be rising soon."
"I still have food in my backpack," Torako said. "We can eat that."
"… Umm… since you're already mad at me, can I ask you one other thing?" Segawa asked. "You… You and Kurusu-sensei, are… are you really…?"
'Is she really asking that?' Torako thought, admiring her guts.
"… I guess I got it from my father, but even as a kid I was huge for my age," Yarai said. "And since I was always standing out because of it, I was always a target for all the troublemakers. So the only response I knew was to fight."
"Eh?" Segawa said.
'Ah, so that's how it started...' Torako thought.
"In many teachers' eyes, I was their enemy. I didn't have many friends either," Yarai said. "I don't know what they were thinking, but the people around me were always gossiping about me as a 'dangerous bastard'."
"..." Torako and Segawa waited for him to continue.
"Even though I was apparently a 'dangerous bastard', there was one person who always stood by my side. That was my mother..." Yarai said. "My mother was a woman who always smiled. No matter who called, whether it was the school or someone who wanted to collect their debt, she always protected me. She always trusted and supported me."
"She's a really good mother," Torako said.
"So shouldn't she be very worried about you now?" Segawa asked.
"..." Yarai didn't answer.
"What's the matter?" Segawa asked.
'Ah, that's right…. Sensei said his mother died…' Torako thought sadly. It must be hard for him to talk about.
"My mother is already dead," Yarai said. "She had been ill for many years before she..."
"What…?" Segawa said, covering her mouth. "Oh..." She couldn't believe she had just made him say that.
"They don't even look alike, but… she's the first one, aside from my mother, to… not treat me by my looks and to show me this face..." Yarai said, picturing the way Kurusu-sensei smiled at him. "So… Damn. I've said a whole load of useless rubbish."
"It's not rubbish," Torako said, making him pause to look down at her. "It isn't useless either."
"..." Yarai stared at her. She would be the second person to treat him that way. Unlike the rest of their classmates, she had never been scared of him. She didn't smile a lot, but…
"..." Segawa stared at Yarai. 'Eh? Then Yarai is… is he seeing Sensei as a motherly figure? Or is he…?'
'But if he's comparing Sensei to his mother… does that mean he sees her more as a mother figure or...' Torako wondered. The two girls didn't know they were thinking the same thing.
—∞—
{ December 10th, Day 68 }
They waited for low tide to leave the tower and cross back over.
"Awesome! We can cross it just by walking!" Shigeno said. "To think the tide would ebb so far!"
"I wonder if those strange creatures from before disappeared because of this?" Matsumoto said.
"..." Segawa stared at Yarai, who was carrying Krusu-senesei princess style in his arms.
'It's because she's ill… You're worried about her, too...' Torako reminded herself, although she was a little jealous.
"Ya-Yari-kun. Put me down. I can walk by myself," Kurusu-sensei said, a little embarrassed.
"Don't nag. Just be quiet," he told her. "This is to prevent you from fainting again."
"..." Kurusu-sensei looked back at the lighthouse. "And we still don't understand… neither the mystery of that corpse in the adipocere, nor the super computer, nor even what that lighthouse might have been!"
"That's not entirely true," Yarai said.
"Huh…?" Kurusu-sensei said.
"Well, we can conclude that this place was built for 'something' that needed very advanced and complicated calculations to be performed. Most likely some kind of simulations using that supercomputer," Yarai said. "Also, we found a treasure map here."
"A map!?" Kurusu-sensei said.
'Does she not remember when we found it…?' Torako wondered, concerned.
"Yeah. It's this thing," Yarai said, pulling it out to show her without dropping her. "According to this map, this island has four towers. So besides this one, there are three more. Also, these four towers all look different. They couldn't have been constructed for nothing. There must be something hidden in the four towers! It must be something pertaining to the mystery of the island!"
"Then, if we look through all four towers…" Shigeno said.
"Then we might be able to go home?" Matsumoto asked.
"Yeah..." Yarai said.
"!!" they gasped, getting excited.
"..." Segawa was surprised.
"Way to go~! Let's give our best, everyone!" Shigeno said.
"Awesome~!" Matsumoto said.
'The question is whether we still have enough time,' Torako thought. 'About Kurusu-sensei's condition yesterday, I don't think it's just a simple fainting spell! Like Yarai-kun said, it could be her brain, or… some mysterious illness causing it. Something that might affect whether she lives or dies!' She could see from the serious expression on Yarai's face that he was thinking the same thing.
"Eh? What's the matter?" Kurusu-sensei asked.
"I will save you..." Yarai told her.
"What?" Kurusu-sensei said.
"…" Yarai looked at Torako and then Segawa and the others. "Don't worry everyone! I will save all of you! If we're together, we'll definitely make it!"
"That's right!" Matsumoto and Shigeno cheered. Torako and Segawa smiled.
"Then what should we do now?" Matsumoto asked. "Which tower should we head for?"
"..." Yarai stared at the map. Torako walked up beside him to look at it, too.
"Did you notice anything by looking at the map?" Yarai asked the girls.
"Huh? Like what?" Matsumoto asked as the rest of them came over to look too.
"About these four towers… Unlike the others, one of them seems to be a 'special tower!'" Yarai said.
"Huh?" Shigeno said.
"… Are you talking about the one smack dab in the middle of the island?" Torako asked. Yarai looked at her.
"Exactly," he said.
—∞—
{ December 16th, Day 74 }
"Uwoooo!" Kurusu-sensei cried.
"Se-Sensei!!" Segawa said.
"Aaaagh!" Kurusu groaned, doubled over with pain, holding her stomach.
"Sensei, what's wrong?" Segawa asked.
"Is it her stomach pain again!?" Torako asked, kneeling down beside her. Kurusu-sensei's face was twisted with pain.
"Sensei, be strong!" Shigeno said.
"Ugh!" Kurusu-sensei groaned.
"Ya-Yarai!! Sensei has again…!!" Segawa said.
"Hey, Sensei!! Come on!!" Yarai said, coming over to check on her. He tried to pick her up.
"Haa…. Ku..." Sensei breathed heavily.
"…!!" Yarai said when he saw her condition. He carefully lowered her back down.
"Ah! Ugh!" Kurusu-sensei cried, trembling as she hugged her stomach.
'It happened again, her stomach pain has acted up again!!' Yarai thought, furrowing his brow. "Sensei, I need to loosen up your skirt. Fukui! Pass me your backpack."
"All right!" Torako said, handing it over. Yarai took Segawa's and Shigeno's bags too. He arranged them so that their teacher could lay on them in a position where her back and head were raised. Her thighs up to her knees were also raised.
"Do you feel a bit better now?" Yarai asked her. "This position is called 'knee flexion.' It helps to loosen up the tension in the abdomen region."
"Yeah, thank you, Yarai-kun," Kurusu-sensei said, looking relieved, though she was still covered in sweat and panting.
"So, if it's a stomach ache, why don't we massage it? Wouldn't that help?" Shigeno suggested.
"Huh? I heard it's better to cool it down?" Matsumoto said.
"We don't know what the cause is yet," Torako said.
"Although it's a stomach ache, based on the cause of the pain, there are different treatments for it," Yarai said. "If we use just any method of treatment, it could worsen her condition. So let's not rush it."
"B-But..." Shigeno said.
"I wonder what's wrong with Kurusu-sensei's body. Ever since coming back from the 'lighthouse', this kind of thing is always happening," Matsumoto said.
"Also, have you noticed, the time period between pains is getting shorter!" Segawa said. "Is this going to be all right? Yarai?"
"Huh, it's shouldn't be a problem," Yarai said. "It's probably just due to the pressure. Because the school trip ended like this, she's feeling responsible for it. She's a teacher after all."
"Hehe, of course," Kurusu-sensei said, managing a smile. "Yeah, I feel better now. Thanks, Yarai-kun."
"Huh, just don't cause any problems for me," Yarai said, furrowing his brow. 'Shit! This is bad!! There is an infinite number of causes of stomach ache. And we're not even talking about all the organs in the region. Gastritis, ulcer, lithiasis… It could also be a symptom of heart disease. If it's something that requires an operation, then there's really nothing I can do! Damn it! We don't have much time! Must… we must find a cure!!'
'He's trying to hide it, but Yarai-kun is worried...' Torako thought. 'Of course he is. If this is something that requires and operation, then Sensei…!' She clenched her fists.
—∞—
{ December 17th, Day 75 }
They didn't want to move Kurusu-sensei, so they stayed there all night until morning came. Segawa stirred as the light hit her face.
"Mmm…" she moaned, covering her mouth as she yawned. "Ah… Sensei!?" she sat up and looked over at their teacher. She was sleeping peacefully in the knee flexion position with Yarai's jacket over her. "This is good! At least the worst seems to be over!" She looked around and realized someone was missing. "… What? Where's Yarai? And Fukui-san is missing too?"
Yarai's clothes had been left out on a rock.
SPLASH!
Yarai stood up from under the water. He threw his head back, shaking the water from his hair. He stood there glistening in the sunlight, exposed from his head down to the top of his butt.
"Whaa!"
He turned his head and saw Torako. She had fallen on her hands and knees and was staring at him with wide eyes and flushed cheeks, looking like a startled deer. Her whole face turned red and she quickly averted her gaze.
"S-Sorry… I was thirsty, and..." she said lamely, turning redder by the second. The empty water bottle was on the ground in front of her. She wasn't completely awake when she had decided to get more water, so she hadn't paid attention to the tracks on the ground and had even slipped on some leaves wet with dew. And, then when she looked up, there he was. Not that she didn't like what she saw, but it was a bit much on the unprepared heart. To top it all off, she was pretty sure she had skinned her knee. "Sorry!" she said again and managed to get herself to move. She closed her eyes and pushed herself back onto her feet, turned around and ran back into the jungle.
"..." Yarai stared after her. "Pfft! Hahahahahaha!" he burst into laughter, holding his side. "Hahahaha!" The look on her face was priceless. "Hahaha!" He thought it was cute that she was embarrassed. He took a deep breath. He needed that laugh, but it was time to get serious again. He furrowed his brow and combed his fingers through his hair.
"Where did you go?" Segawa asked Torako when she returned to their campsite. "Where's Yarai?"
"Don't ask," Torako told her.
"But—" Segawa said.
"I said, don't ask!" Torako said.
"..." Segawa found that extremely suspicious. Especially since Torako was still red in the face. Torako dug through her backpack for the first aid kit to treat her skinned knee.
"How is Sensei?" Torako asked as she cleaned the wound and applied disinfectant. "Does she still look better?" She applied a bandage to her knee.
"Yes, she's sleeping peacefully," Segawa said. They both looked at her. It didn't take long for Yarai to return, too. When he did he set the refilled water bottle down next to Torako. He noticed her knee was wounded.
"Th-Thanks..." Torako said, avoiding direct eye contact, still embarrassed. She didn't see it, but Yarai smiled at her. Segawa furrowed her brow a little bit.
—∞—
"We need to make an important decision, right here today!!" Yarai announced once everyone was awake. Kurusu-sensei was feeling well enough to sit with them in their circle.
"Important..." Torako said.
"Decision…?" Segawa finished.
"Yes. Look at this!" Yarai said, pulling the map out of his jacket. He laid it out so they could all see too. "Listen up. According to this map from the lighthouse… we are here right now. And from here we can go to one of two towers. The one at the center of the island, 'the antenna tower.' Or the one near the coast, 'the pyramid.' Regarding of which tower we go to, I want to hear everyone's opinion on this."
"Why not go to the 'pyramid?' Since it should be easy to follow the coast," Segawa said. "And with that kind of shape, there might be some kind of important facilities there. And if we got lost while on the way to the center tower, that would be disastrous."
"But the strange tower that Yarai-san mentioned before is the 'antenna tower', right?" Shigeno said.
"And, being in the center of the island, it must have greater importance than this 'lighthouse' or the 'pyramid', right?" Matsumoto said.
"I think it's also important to consider which one will be easier to get Sensei to if her stomach ache keeps coming back," Torako said. "If only we knew more about them..."
"..." Yarai stared at the map, frowning. 'We are still lacking the decisive factor! And there's not much time left! Our lives might depend on the decision we make now. Where should we go to!?' "..." He looked at the antenna tower again. He suddenly remembered the last time he saw Akira. "… We are going to the 'antenna tower!!'"
"Huh?" Segawa said. "Why?"
"Because of Sengoku Akira!" Yarai said.
"Ah, right! Last time we split up with their group around here," Torako said, pointing to the area on the map.
"And the 'antenna tower' is right next to that area," Yarai said. "If Sengoku is still alive, then it's likely he'll be around there, and then we can meet up there!"
"B-But Yarai, isn't Sengoku the troublemaker from class 4? What good can there be to meet up with that kind of guy?" Segawa asked.
"Segawa, it's not like that. Sengoku is a very reliable person, and there's Mariya!" Kurusu-sensei said. "!" she gasped. "Don't tell me..."
"I see… there's that, too," Torako said.
"Yeah, that's right!" Yarai said. "Sengoku's friend, Mariya, always carries around a laptop. And this can be easily read by a laptop." He removed the hard drive from his jacket. "If all goes well, we might find out the contents of this hard drive!"
"!!" Shigeno and Matsumoto said.
'So this is the 'clue' they were talking about back then,' Segawa thought. 'How did he get that kind of stuff?'
—∞—
Yarai carried Kurusu-sensei in his arms as they made their way to the antenna tower. They passed some beautiful orchids, but Torako was too focused on what was happening in front of her to appreciate them.
"Ya-Yarai-kun, you can let me down now. I can walk..." Kurusu-sensei said.
"You're so annoying. If you collapse again, it would be a massive pain for me," Yarai told her.
"He's right. You shouldn't push yourself more than you have to," Torako said.
"So those two are really..." Shigeno said blushing a little.
"Yeah, that's really suspicious," Matsumoto said.
"..." Torako and Segawa said as they listened to the conversations behind and in front of them.
"Is he thinking of carrying her all the way there?" Shigeno said.
"Yeah, they are way too close," Matsumoto agreed. Segawa furrowed her brow and frowned. Torako furrowed her brow too, troubled.
'Y-Yarai isn't really doing anything strange… We're all worried about her. We could make a stretcher or something to carry her or drag her across the ground… but it doesn't really make sense for four of us to carry her when one of us can do it, and dragging her over the uneven jungle floor in her condition is just…' Torako thought, sighing. She pushed her thoughts of jealousy away.
"..." Segawa had a harder time doing that. She spotted a turtle. She picked it up.
"Eh?" Shigeno said when she saw her holding it.
"What happened? Saki, why did you pick up the turtle?" Matsumoto asked.
"?" the turtle said.
"I say… that's our dinner for tonight," Segawa said, startling the turtle.
"Yeah, that's a turtle, you know," Shigeno said.
"You don't know? In China, turtle meat is a delicacy," Segawa said. The turtle started trembling. "We'll turn it over… then chop off the shell, and we can make soup with it!" The turtled was startled again. "If we use plenty of water and put it on a gentle boil, we can make some really tasty soup out of this." The turtled started shaking its head and wiggling its feet, trying to escape. "It's gonna be great!" Segawa said with a slightly evil look on her face. The turtle was terrified out of its wits. "Ha! Of course I was joking!" she said, letting it go.
"Whoa, so fast..." Shigeno said, watching it scurry away at a surprisingly quick pace.
"Wha-What's wrong with you? You scared me back there, Saki," Shigeno said.
"Let's hurry, we are falling behind!" Segawa said. 'I'm such an idiot! What good can come out of releasing my anger on a turtle! And now is not a good time to get sour. Anyhow, I do worry about Sensei's health as well! But there aren't any doctors on the island! What should we do?'
"That Sengoku-kun!" Kurusu-sensei said.
"Huh?" Yarai said.
"If… If something happened to me..." Kurusu-sensei said.
"!" Yarai said.
"Just leave me here, and move on," Kurusu-sensei said. "Yarai-kun is someone that should be helping everybody."
"Tsk, don't say such idiotic things," Yarai told her, furrowing his brow.
"That's right! How could we just leave you?" Torako said.
"..." A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Yarai's face. They wouldn't leave her, but they might not be able to save her. There was rustling in the bushes nearby.
"!!" They all said. Torako tightened her grip on her spear, ready to react to whatever came.
"Wh-What!?" Segawa said. "There's something in the trees!" Yarai got some coins ready.
"Hmm?" a deep voice said from behind the bushes and a tree. "Hey, hey! Those uniforms… more of those fucking school children!!"
"Huh!? It's a person!" Kurusu-sensei said.
"Who are you!?" Yarai asked, ready to flick a coin.
"Who am I!? Shouldn't you give your own name before asking someone for theirs!" the man said as he stepped out into full view. His hair was slicked back with two pieces in his face, and he was wearing a pinstripe suit. There was a cigarette butt in his mouth. "God damn it, you kids have no manners!"
"Ya… Yakuza!?" Segawa said.
"Hmm?" the man in the suit said, looking at Kurusu-sensei. "What do we have here? The missus doesn't look too well. She's not ill is she?"
"It… It has nothing to do with you!" Segawa said.
"Well, say that I thought… that you guys were going to that fucking doctor's place, as well..." the man in the suit said, smoking his cigarette.
"…!?" Yarai and Torako gasped.
"Doctor…!?" Yarai said, eyes wide.
"You're saying there's a doctor on this island!?" Torako asked.
"..." Yarai stared at the man in the suit, shocked.
"Eh? You didn't know?" the man said. "Yes, there is a doctor here on this island… his name is Nishikiori, he's a surgeon from the university hospital."
"!" Yarai and Torako said. Yarai grinned a little.
'If he's a surgeon, then not only can he perform operations, but he should also be a competent physician. He should be able to give treatments to various illnesses,' Yarai thought, daring to hope. 'Sensei's strange illness, maybe he has more information about it!?'
"Th-That's great, Sensei!" Segawa said.
"If we let the doctor take a look at you, then he can treat your stomach ache!" Matsumoto said.
"What's the catch?" Torako asked. "There's a doctor on this island, yet you're staying away from him. From the way you talk about him, I'm guessing you're not a fan."
"You've got that right," the man in the suit said. "You want to know the catch? He'll demand for you to become his slaves for the rest of your lives."
"Huh!?" Segawa asked.
"… What's this about?" Yarai asked.
"That Nishikiori, he's the devil incarnate!" the man in the suit said. "He uses his medical knowledge to play with human lives. And if you go against him, he'll turn you into a slave. Who knows what kind of things he'll demand from you!?"
"How… How could this be?" Segawa asked. "Why would a doctor…?"
'This is why I prefer animals...' Torako thought.
"Wh-What should we do?" Matsumoto asked.
"What are you scared about? Let's go and see him!" Yarai said.
"Huh?" Segawa said.
"I guess we have no choice," Torako said. "He's the only doctor on this island right?"
"That's right! We have Yarai on our side! Who's scared of him?" Segawa said.
"Hey! Are you listening? That guy is impossible to deal with!" the man in the suit said.
"Same here, guess you don't know about Yarai! Yarai's impossibly strong as well!" Segawa said. "He can easily beat up that shitty doctor!"
'Tsk, bunch of idiots! Looks like they won't listen to whatever I have to say,' the man in the suit thought. 'He's strong? So what? Strength has nothing to do with this. That guy is a psycho murderer.'
"Strength may not matter where we're going," Torako said, holding her chin and furrowing her brow. "I mean, if he doesn't want to treat sensei, we can't make him. If we try to force him, he may intentionally do something to harm her rather than save her. Plus, it's not just him we'll have to deal with. We might have to fight his slaves, too."
'This brat is obviously the brains of the group,' the man in the suit thought.
"So now you're saying we shouldn't go!?" Segawa asked.
"I didn't say that," Torako said. "Of course we have to go. I'm just saying, we need to be careful."
"Hey, Yarai-kun… we're not going to change our objective that easily, are we?" Kurusu-sensei asked. "Let's just get to the 'antenna tower' and find out the contents of the hard drive. Then we'll have a clue about how to get home..."
"That can wait," Yarai said. "Treating your illness should be our number one priority."
"… B-But..." Kurusu-sensei said.
"Hey, you, would you please take us to where that doctor is?" Yarai asked.
"What? What did you say!? Please tell me you are joking!!" the man in the suit said.
'"..." Kurusu-sensei looked at her students, concerned for them. 'But is this really the best way? This doctor called Nishikiori seems to have a questionable character. If we are going to rely on someone like him… What should we do?'
'I have a bad feeling about this...' she and Torako thought as they followed the man in the suit to the doctor.
—∞—
The man in the suit brought them to a place where they could see the pyramid in the distance. It was dark, but the pyramid was still clearly visible in the moonlight.
"Che… We're here again, at this disgusting place!" he said. "Hey, I said that I could only bring you up to this point!"
"Yeah, I know," Yarai said. "Hey! Sensei, are you all right?"
"Yes..." Kurusu-sensei said, though she didn't look so good.
'She looks so tired, even though he carried her the whole way here,' Torako thought, concerned.
"Hurry up!!" Segawa said. "Yarai, if you don't hurry…!"
"The doctor, is over there!" Yarai said, looking at the pyramid. They heard a sound like a bang and people shouting indistinctly in the distance.
"What? It sounds pretty noisy!" the man in the suit said.
"What is it?" Segawa asked. "I hope it's not something bad!"
"I think that was an explosion…" Torako said.
"An explosion!?" Segawa asked.
"I've heard my uncle make them often enough to recognize the sound," Torako said. Her eyes widened as she realized what that could mean. "My uncle might be there!"
"Uncle?" Matsumoto asked.
"You had a relative on the plane?" Shigeno asked.
"Yeah, Kokonoe-sensei," Torako replied.
"Eehhh!?" they shouted in disbelief.
"No way!!" Segawa exclaimed. The three of them were super shocked. They didn't look alike at all!
"..." Yarai stared at the pyramid. "He carefully set Kurusu-sensei down on the ground.
"Ya-Yarai?" she asked, wondering what was doing.
"Yarai…? Wh-What's the matter?" Segawa asked.
"You're going to take a look, aren't you?" Torako asked, furrowing her brow with concern.
"Yeah. You all should wait here," Yarai said.
"I'm going too," Torako said.
"No. I need you to look after Sensei while I'm gone," Yarai told her. And the others. She was the best fighter in their group after him. "I'll look for your uncle."
"..." Torako didn't like that, but she decided not to argue. Should something go wrong, he may need them to rescue him from that doctor and his slaves. "Be careful."
