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"If there's a chance, then we have to do it!" Akira said. "We're going to save her!"
"Se-Sengoku!' Mariya said.
"Bu-But…!" Suzuki said. "How the hell do we do that!? Miyauchi and the others were done in! And you guys weren't a match for it either! We're all injured now, and there's hardly anyone that can move freely anymore! And moreover, it… it's just going to get stronger, isn't it? There's no hope of defeating it or anything like that! There's no way to save Miina!"
"….." Akira and the others stared at him, starting to feel hopeless.
"Nope, there is a way," Yarai said, stepping forward with Torako.
"Eh?" Akira said, looking behind himself at him. "Ya-Yarai!"
"That kid gave us a hint," Yarai said. "Before being swallowed by it!"
"Eh?" Akira said.
"What was it?" Miyauchi asked.
"However…" Yarai said. "However, this will… require everyone here to risk their lives!"
Chapter 14: Dangerous Strategy
"Everyone… needs to risk their lives…?" Akira asked "Wh-What are you planning to do? And… what do you mean that Miina gave us a hint on how to defeat it?"
"It's the eyes, right?" Torako asked.
"Yeah," Yarai confirmed.
"Eyes!?" Akira said.
"Yeah, think back to before," Yarai said. "That kid was hiding with only a school uniform. It was totally obvious to anyone watching. It was a childish thing to do. Despite that, she was able to approach the monster despite it supposedly having good eyes… Why is that?"
"Why…?" Akira asked.
"It's simple," Yarai said. "It couldn't… It couldn't see that kid!!"
"It… couldn't see? What do you mean by that!?" Akira asked.
"In nature, there are animals with a wide field of vision," Torako said. "For example, it's said that horses can see 350 degrees around them. Animals that are a bit closer to people, like dogs and cats, are said to have a field of vision up to 290 degrees."
"..." Akira stared at her.
"So much..." Rion said. "Animals really do have amazing eyes..."
"But it's not as simple as just that," Yarai said.
"Eh?" Rion said.
"In reality, their 'visual acuity' is much weaker when compared to a human!" Yarai said.
"!?" Rion and Akira gasped.
"Dogs and cats have maybe around 0.3 the visual acuity of humans… and when it comes to horses, it seems they can only see up to about 100 meters ahead," Yarai said.
"Moreover, it seems that most animals that breastfeed have poor color comprehension," Torako said. "It's said that cats and dogs can't recognize the color red… That's why we they used red lights when searching for nocturnal animals on the show, though you still can't blast them with it."
"B-But guide dogs can move according to traffic lights, can't they?" Rion asked.
"That's not right," Yarai said. "The person with the dog listens to the surrounding noise and gives a sign whether it's all right to start moving. In all likelihood, that monster has a wide visual field… but its visual acuity and color discrimination ability are extremely poor. If we can take advantage of that weakness… we might be able to defeat it and save that kid!"
"…!!" Akira said.
"However, be prepared," Yarai said. "If things go wrong, we might all be done for… it's a very dangerous strategy." Akira and the others were determined to save Miina.
—∞—
A cloud passed briefly in front of the moon. The beast growled, sitting in the same spot it had been in ever since it swallowed Miina. Something appeared in its field of vision. A light.
The fire crackled as Kirino added more wood to it.
"..." Suzuki was kneeling between her and Oomori with a tense expression on his face. "Hey… It's looking over here… We better make a run for it now, after all!"
"What are you trying to say now? This is our mission!" Kirino told him.
"That's right. We'll build a fire like this… and lure that animal over here… It's a necessary part of the strategy," Oomori said, even though she was scared, too.
"..." Suzuki stared at the beast. 'Damn… Yarai, that bastard… is this really going to be all right?'
««« Flashback «««
"We know that is has a weakness, but just how are we going to beat it?" Suzuki asked. "A huge monster like that… the vital point at the neck didn't work, right!?"
"There's another vital point that we haven't tried yet..." Yarai said.
"Another vital point that we haven't tried?" Akira asked.
"Yeah… the stomach!" Yarai said. "When animals recognize defeat, they inevitably display their stomach as a sigh of submission… It's their weakest point… We'll attack it there, everyone at once! We'll attack it from below!"
"What…!?" Akira said. Everyone but Torako was surprised.
"Are… Are you insane? That's suicidal!" Suzuki said. "That monster's tongue is flying about… and even if we were able to get underneath it, we'd just be stomped to death… and not just that, everyone would be eaten! It's definitely hopeless!"
"… We can do it," Yarai said.
"Eh?" Suzuki said.
"That's right… Suzuki, I'm counting on you for something important..." Yarai said, looking wicked.
"… Me?" Suzuki asked, paling.
"Yup," Yarai said.
"We'll help out too!" Oomori and Kirino said.
"… Well, sure. That's fine," Yarai said. "Got it, Suzuki? I think there's an additional reason that it didn't see through Miina's ridiculous disguise."
"An additional reason…?" Suzuki asked.
"Yes… That's right," Yarai said. "It's… a problem with its 'cognitive ability'! Listen up… first we'll build a fire where that monster can see it. Animals have a strong sense of curiosity. It should be fascinated by seeing fire for the first time and start to approach it..."
»»» End Flashback »»»
The beast growled and stood up again. It started moving toward them.
'I-It really came!' Oomori, Suzuki, and Kirino thought. They remembered what Yarai had said next.
When that kid approached it… Sengoku and I were battling with it. Even humans… when their attention is caught by something, will begin to overlook things right in front of their eyes. This thing's the same. In all likelihood, with its poor visual acuity… it isn't able to see certain things that are right in front of it. Of course, given how Kirino was attacked, we can't assume too much about it. We'll camouflage ourselves here! If that thing's 'eyes' are how I think they are… it'll be engrossed by the fire… and even if we're right in front of it…
Suzuki, Oomori and Kirino watched with wide eyes as the beast approached, stepping closer and closer to where Yarai, Akira, and everyone who could still move were hidden under huge leaves. Yarai clutched his keys, and Akira had a stone axe.
We'll be able to… totally erase our presence…!!
'Amazing!!' Akira thought. 'It hasn't noticed us at all… Just like Yarai said. Even though this would be so obvious to us humans… to that thing… we can't be seen." The beast drew closer to them. 'Come! Just like that, come!'
'Everyone's taken positions in case that it doesn't approach the fire directly, but...' Mariya thought, hiding with Kokonoe-sensei. 'It's coming straight forward, after all!'
'We're counting on you, Sengoku!' Morita thought, hiding with Aya.
'We're also going to follow right away!' Rion thought, hiding with Rei.
'We can do this!' Torako thought, hiding with Mami. The beast came closer.
'Just wait, Miina...' Akira thought. 'Soon, we'll definitely… we'll get you out of there…!!'
'Just a little bit more...' Oomori thought.
'Come… closer!' Akira thought. 'Closer!!' The beast stopped. 'What!? W-Why did it stop!? Did it notice us!?'
"..." The beast looked behind it.
"ROOOOO!" something growled from the trap hole.
"!?" Akira gasped. 'Moaning!? Something's there… inside the trap hole.'
"RUOOOOOOOOOOO! GARI! GARI!" a shadowy figure emerged from the hole. "RUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" it roared as it came into view. It was another monstrous creature. This one only had one head, but it had horns and a nose and teeth like a vampire bat. Its skin was smooth.
'N-No… way…!!' Akira thought.
"Ah!" Suzuki gasped.
"Ah! Ah!" Oomori gasped, too.
"That… But..." Kirino said.
'It was just a little bit more...' Oomori thought. 'Now there's another monster—!!'
"…!!" Akira said.
"Aahh..." Oomori said with tears in her eyes.
"What…? How is this…?" Suzuki asked. "Just when we were only a step away from defeating that thing… to think… that another monster would come out..."
'Gu… This is bad...' Akira thought. The beast was turning around. 'It's moving away from us! It's being distracted… by that second monster! What do we do!? Just one monster was bad enough… If we have another opponent… Shit! At this rate, Miina's definitely going to die!' "Gu..." He gritted his teeth. "..." 'Should I go for it?' he wondered. 'That's it! If I'm going to do it, now's the only time!' He gripped his stone axe and was about to run out from cover, when Yarai put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "! Yarai!?" he whispered.
"Don't do it, Sengoku," Yarai whispered.
"Why not!?" Sengoku whispered. "Right now, the distance between us is short… I can get to the stomach with a single attack! I'm sure it'll work!"
"It's impossible, it's too far away!" Yarai whispered. "Indeed, you could get to the stomach, but… it'll just have the opposite effect!"
"!" Akira said.
"I've already said it. Defeating it will take everyone attacking at once," Yarai whispered. "With just one of us, you wouldn't be able to defeat it with just a single attack. Then, in the meantime, everyone else would start rushing over. The timing for this is critical! If we give that thing time to retaliate, this time for sure, all of us will be annihilated… for that sake of saving that child… do you intend to kill everyone, Sengoku!?"
"..." Akira gritted his teeth. 'Shit… just another step… it was just another step…! Can't we do anything…? Shit!!'
"ROOOOOOOO!" the second beast roared. "!" It gasped and fell backwards. "ORORO!" It disappeared back into the trap hole.
"Eh?" Akira said. He and Yarai were surprised. "…? It fell into the trap again…?"
"Wh-What happened!?" Mariya whispered.
"… That animal...' Igarashi whispered.
"Fell into the trap on its own!?" Seigou whispered.
"What happened…?" Rion whispered.
"I… I'm not sure..." Rei whispered.
"There was a shadow..." Torako whispered.
"Eh?" Mami whispered.
'I don't know what happened, but this is our chance!!' Akira thought. 'As long as that other monster isn't here...' The beast was still walking away from them. "!" 'B-But how… can we make that thing come over here?' The beast stopped. It roared and turned around. 'Huh? It's coming back!? Why…?' he glanced behind him. "!" The fire was much bigger than it had been. 'The fire… it's getting bigger!?'
"Ahahahahaha… Come!" Suzuki said, burning his shirt. "You've go to be interested with the fire burning like this!!"
'Suzuki! He burned his own clothes…!' Akira thought.
"I'll burn this, too…!" Suzuki said, removing his pants.
"..." Oomori couldn't stand by doing nothing after seeing that. "U-Use mine, too!"
"Oomori-san…!" Suzuki said. Oomori ripped off her jacket and shirt and threw them into the fire. The beast walked toward the fire.
'All right!! It's working…!!' Akira and the others thought.
"..." Yarai was still watching the trapdoor hole. 'Even so… just now, a shadow appeared next to the second monster… It looked like it pulled that animal down… It looked like a human shadow, but… Hmm… that can't be right…
Down in the trapdoor hole, Yuki was waking up.
"… Ugh..." she groaned as she opened her eyes. She was lying on a pile of bones. "Ah..." She pushed herself up into a sitting position. "… Ugh… Ouch..." Her arm hurt. "..." 'Wh-What happened? I… That's right. I got knocked into one of the trap doors by that nasty animal… Huh? These bones cushioned my fall… I guess they saved me… Hm? What is that sound…? It's been going on for a while...'
"RRROOOOOOO!!" the second beast roared.
"Hie!!" she shrieked. 'What!? A monster!? It's… It's different from the one before...' She saw a human-shaped shadow. "… Eh…?" 'Huh…? There's someone there!!' She leaned forward to get a better look.
"Oi, oi, oi… You're going to be seen, if you keep sticking out like that!" a voice said.
"!?" Yuki said.
"Be quiet and stay down," the voice told her. "That animal… judging by how it didn't eat you after waking up… It seems like it's nose doesn't work that well. So if you keep yourself hidden like this, it shouldn't be able to find you."
"… You… who are you…!?" Yuki asked.
"Me? I'm..." the voice said as tribal mask came into view. "Hades… the lord of the underworld, Hades!"
"…!?" Yuki exclaimed. 'Ha-Hades!? Who is this guy…? I'm sure that's a mask from Guam… He's also wearing our school uniform… He looks like a middle school student just like us, but...'
"RRROOOOOO!" the beast roared.
"!?" Yuki gasped.
"Kukuku… Those bastards have really started going at it, hm..." Hades said, watching the shadow and the beast fight.
"I knew it… so that's a person!!" Yuki said. "That person's going to get killed…!"
"Kukuku… There's no need for alarm… He's an immortal man, after all," Hades said.
"Immortal…?" Yuki asked.
"Yeah… When I saved him, it was already like that…" Hades said. "Some time ago, when it was raining quite hard, he was swept away by a river after losing consciousness. Well… I pulled him out on a whim, but… to be honest, I thought he was just going to die right away. He had terrible injuries, and was quite weak, you see… but he didn't die! On the contrary, he acquired quite a fearsome power."
"ROOOOO!" the beast roared and charged.
"W-Watch out!!" Yuki yelled. The person fighting the beast grabbed its horns, stopping it. 'Eh!?' "He stopped the animal!?"
"Hoooo… As expected, a person whose limiter has been removed is something else, huh…?" Hades said, holding his chin.
"Li-Limiter?" Yuki asked.
"It looks like he took quite a few dangerous hits to the head… It's because of that, perhaps… It seems… he may have killed people as well?" Hades said.
"Eh…?" Yuki said, staring at him with wide eyes and a furrowed brow. 'Killed… people…?' "W-Who is it…? Who in the world…?"
"GAROOO!" the beast growled.
"… Hmm… At my middle school, everybody knows him..." Hades said with a grin. "He used to shine… He's the former superstar..."
"… Then… That's..." Yuki said, covering her mouth. She watched the person fighting the beast wrestle with it.
"… Friendship… huh?" Hades said. "I thought he had lost those feelings a long time ago, but… he just couldn't help jumping in… when that guy was caught in a pinch."
"That's… Ko… Kouhei-kun…?" Yuki asked as his half-bandaged face came into view. "Ko-Kouhei-kun? Is that really Kouhei-kun!?" 'Kouhei-kun, the ace of the volleyball team Was a superman-like person that everyone looked up to. But after coming to this island, a lot of terrible things happened to him! And because of that, he killed a lot of people. But in the end, he saved Akira-kun, and was supposed to have disappeared after being swallowed by that flash flood.'
"Kukuku! But he didn't die," Hades said as if reading her mind. "I told you, didn't I? He's immortal."
"So he was alive! It really is him!" Yuki said, shocked. The beast raised its head, lifting Kouhei off the ground.
"!" Arita Kouhei said. The beast shook him off and sent him flying. "Whoooa!" He crashed into some bones.
"ROOOOOAR!" the beast roared, charging at him.
"Heh!" Arita smirked. "Oraaa!" He stabbed its snout with a sharp piece of bone.
"GAAAA!" the beast roared in pain.
"Not done yet, not done yet…!" Arita said. He grabbed the beast by one of its horns and its snout. "Oryaaaaaaaaaa!" he shouted, pulling it up off the ground.
"A-Amazing!!" Yuki exclaimed, shocked.
"Kukuku! Because of those head injuries, he's able to use strength that's at the very limit of human ability!" Hades said.
"Huh?" Yuki said.
"Hey, hey! Miss Class Rep! You should know about this," Hades said. "It's like the principle of an adrenaline rush. It's said that normally, people are only able to use 60% of their strength. When they're caught in a pinch, they're able to use the remaining 40% as well. There's a story that in order to save her parents caught under a car, an ordinary middle school girl was able to lift up and automobile! That guy's able to make use of that ridiculous kind of strength at any given time. Well… that would make that guy the human race's strongest man." The beast growled.
"Eh..." Yuki said.
"What is it…?" Hades asked.
"That animal… something looks strange about it..." Yuki said. It roared again. "Wha…"
"What's it trying to do?" Hades asked.
"..." Arita waited for it to attack. "!?" The beast ran towards the wall.
"What!?" Yuki exclaimed.
"It went towards the wall!?" Hades said. The beast jumped up onto the wall and then leaped at Arita.
"!?" they all gasped.
"OOOOOOOOOO!" the beast roared.
"It… It leaped!?" Yuki and Hades exclaimed.
"Damn!" Arita cursed. He tried to dodge, but the beast knocked him aside. "Gah!" A little blood came out of his mouth.
"Kouhei-kun!!" Yuki yelled. "Ah! Ah! Kouhei-kun!"
"Hey, hey! That's some secret weapon it was hiding!" Hades said. "That bastard! What amazing agility for that enormous body!" It jumped up again as Arita was picking himself up.
"Lo-Look! Those feet!' Yuki said, talking about its hind feet.
"Yeah! They're like those of a wild goat!" Hades said. "That jumping ability is how it was able to get out above ground, huh? And moreover, that speed! Even Arita can't keep up with it! This thing is a monster, beyond all imagination!"
"Haa! Haa! Damn!" Arita panted, holding his arm. 'Shit! That hit just now, dislocated my shoulder!'
"I-Is Kouhei-kun okay?" Yuki asked.
"… I wonder? No matter how much abnormal strength he has, in the end, he has a human body," Hades said. "Against an animal opponent like that, the odds are probably against him..."
"Bu-But that..." Yuki said.
"Well… no matter how badly he's injured, that guy won't back down!" Hades said.
"Eh…? Why?" Yuki asked.
"This was from two to three days ago. We'd found your group, you see. And we were secretly watching over things," Hades explained. "After you fell in here, up on the surface, Sengoku and the others were joining together against that other monster. And that blonde kid got eaten."
"Eh!?" Yuki gasped. 'Mi-Miina-chan…!?'
"But it looks like they haven't given up," Hades continued.
"!" Yuki said.
"So to save that kid it seemed like they were plotting something. But while all that was happening, that thing appeared," Hades said, looking at their beast.
'If-If a beast like this were to start wreaking havoc on the surface...' Yuki thought, anxiously. "So… Kouhei-kun is fighting all alone. For our sake?"
"Well, that's how it is," Hades said.
"Haa! Haa!" Arita panted. "..." He formed a fist with the hand of the arm that used to be dislocated. 'All right! Somehow I managed to pop it back in.' "Well, let's settle this, monster! Even if it kills me, I won't let you get to where Akira and the others are!!"
"GRRRRRRRRR!" the beast growled.
"Is… Is it going to jump again!?" Yuki asked, alarmed.
'Here it comes!' Arita thought. The monster sprang forth.
"…!" Yuki gasped.
"Eh!?" Hades said.
Up on the surface, the first beast was drawing closer to Akira and the others.
"..." Akira gritted his teeth. 'All right! Just like that, keep coming!' It growled. 'Just a little bit more… Wait for us, Miina. We'll definitely save you!'
"..." Oomori had her hands clasped together. She looked like she was praying.
'Just one more step!' Suzuki thought.
'Come!' Akira and Yarai thought.
'Come!' Mariya and Kokonoe-sensei thought.
'Come!' Rion and Rei thought.
'Come!' Torako and Mami thought. The beast stepped over Yarai and Akira with its great, big paw.
"Now!!" Akira shouted as they sprang up to attack. "Come on, everyone!!" They all jumped up with their weapons raised, armed with sharp sticks and stone axes, except Yarai and Torako, who had their keys and spear. "Listen up! This is our only chance. I'm counting on you, everyone!"
"Ooh!" they yelled, charging at the beast's belly. They pierced it with their weapons.
"ROOOOAR!" it roared in pain.
"Oraaa!" Kashiwagi yelled.
"Eat this!" the vice president said.
"Whooooah!" the man in the flower shirt yelled.
"Haaa!" Torako yelled, using as much force as she could muster with her injury, even though it hurt. They all kept stabbing it, any part they could get at.
"Give Miina back!" Miyauchi yelled.
"GRR!" it growled and coughed.
'How's that!?' Akira thought, if we keep this up...' "!" he gasped. The beast's tongue was coming out.
"Waaaah!" Morita and Tokiwa cried as they were hit by it.
"Ei-Eiken! Tokiwaaa!!" Akira yelled. "..." He gulped. 'It's not going down! Even with everyone attacking! Is it not going to work?'
"Waaa!" the president cried as he was also hit by the tongue.
'Is it impossible for us to defeat it!?' Akira wondered.
"Don't give up, Sengoku!" Yarai said. "Look at its face!"
"Eh!?" Akira said. He looked up. It's eyes were rolling in its head, and it was coughing.
"It's on its death throes! We have to keep at it!" Yarai said.
'Just… a little bit more!' Akira thought. "Don't be afraid, everyone! We're going to finish it off!" The man in the flower shirt was hit by the tongue.
Down below, Arita still faced the second beast on his own.
'It's... coming!' Yuki thought. 'It's going to jump again!' The beast jumped.
"ROOOAR!" it roared.
"It's going to end up like last time… he's going to get taken out again!" Hades said.
"Do-Dodge it, Kouhei-kun!" Yuki said. Arita stayed where he was. "!?" 'Why? Why isn't he running away?' Arita took a step forward. "!?" 'Instead of escaping, he's stepping forward!? Why…!?''
"Grr!' Arita growled, gritting his teeth as he swung his fist forward, delivering a powerful hit to the beast's head.
"GROOOOWL!" the beast growled as it continued forward with its momentum, knocking him down.
"Kouhei-kun!!" Yuki yelled.
"He-He got taken out!!" Hades said. He grabbed a rope he had that was attached to a hook. "Fuck it! I'm getting out of here! See ya!"
"Wa-Wait!!" Yuki said. "Th-That..." She pointed at the beast. One of its eyes was shut and bleeding.
"!?" Hades said. The beast growled. "Th-The monster's eye is… What is this!? … I-I see! That guy… he was resigned to getting injured… and went for a simultaneous hit, huh..."
"Haa! Haa! Haa!" Arita panted, holding out his hand, which had two severely injured fingers on it.
"But… But going for a simultaneous hit..." Yuki said. "That's too much, with a monster like that for an opponent! Why would he do something like that?"
"It's precisely because that monster is his opponent!" Hades said. "It's an opponent he knows nothing about! And it's just getting stronger! The situation will get worse if he stands by and watches! And that's why… it's become an all-or-nothing battle!"
'Ko-Kouhei-kun...' Yuki thought.
"Well then, the problem now is… whose body will be the first to fall, I wonder?" Hades said.
On the surface, Mariya and two others were recovering from being hit by the tongue.
"Ugh!" Mariya groaned, picking himself up.
"Haa! Haa! Haa!" Akira, Yarai, Miyauchi, and Torako breathed heavily. They looked at the beast they had been fighting. Its eyes had rolled back in its head, and its belly was stuck full of sticks, looking like an inverted porcupine. Torako's spear was stuck in it, too.
WHUMP!
It hit the ground hard with a massive thud.
"We… We did it!" Akira said.
"It was an incredible monster!" Yarai said.
"Yeah! The most dangerous one up until now!" Akira agreed. "But we… we did it!! We finally beat it!!"
"Whoa! You guys did it!" Suzuki said, rushing over in just his underwear, socks, and shoes, followed by Kirino and Oomori, who was trying to keep her bra covered with her hands.
"Suzuki! Oomori-san and Kirino, too!" Akira said. "Thank you! It was thanks to you guys going as far as burning your own clothes to distract it!"
"Hehe! Yeah, well..." Suzuki said, scratching his nose.
"Bu-But Oomori-san, you're..." Akira said.
"I… I didn't have anything else to burn..." she said, blushing.
"Glasses! My glasses!" Kokonoe-sensei shouted. What a time to lose them!
"Ah, well… I'll lend you my jacket!" Akira told Oomori.
"Sorry about that..." she said. The beast twitched. Mami and Torako saw it.
"Oomori-san! Watch out!" Mami yelled.
"Eh!?" Oomori said, looking at them as Kokonoe-sensei found his glasses. "Ma-Mami-san…?"
"Run for it!" Mami shouted as Torako ran toward Oomori. The beast opened its giant mouth around her.
"…!!" Oomori gasped. "Kyaaaaa!" she screamed as Torako pulled her out of the way, and Akira and Yarai charged at the beast. They attacked it with their keys and stone axe. It was just like Mami's vision. Blood spurted from the beast's head where they wounded it, and it raised its head one last time before hitting the ground again.
WHUMP!
"Ah..." Akira said. "That was close! Is it finally dead this time!?"
"Yeah! It's fine now," Yarai replied, checking the monster closely. "It won't surprise us again! It's dead!" He looked at Torako. "You all right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied, standing up and brushing herself off.
"Thank you!" Oomori told her. "You risked your life to help me!"
"It's good that you helped Oomori-san, but be a little less reckless in the future," Kokonoe-sensei told her. "Rushing in unarmed..."
"But my spear is stuck in its belly," Torako said.
"All right! Well, let's hurry up and open up its stomach," Akira said. "We have to get Mina out."
"Wait for us!" Rion said.
"You two are really observant!" one of the girls said to Mami and Torako.
"Yeah! Well, because I knew..." Mami said with a smile.
"Eh?" Torako said.
'That's right,' Mami thought. 'I knew that something would happen. That image I saw before… when the two of them were going at it, that scene didn't take place… For one thing, neither of them had weapons at the time. But… when we came back, they were holding weapons! So I knew that that scene would start to play out soon. I didn't know exactly what would happen, but… good thing I was paying attention. That scene wasn't the two of them fighting each other, but rather working together to defeat a common enemy!' She smiled. '… That's right, huh… The two of them have already gone back to being friends!'
"Hey, hurry!" Mariya told Akira. "Hurry up and open its stomach!"
"Er, yeah," Akira said, approaching it with a sharp rock in his hand.
"Hey, brat! Use this," the man in the suit who had shown Yarai's group to the pyramid said, handing Akira a real knife. "It should be infinitely better than using a stone blade."
"Ya-Yashiro-san," Akira said. He took the knife. "..." 'Miina, I'll get you out now!'
"Hey! Do you think Miina's okay?" Suzuki asked.
"Eh?" Miyauchi said.
"I mean, it's already been an hour since Miina got swallowed! Even if she hasn't already been completely dissolved, the stomach juices must have already started to turn her into goo!"
"Stop saying all these stupid things!" Mariya told him.
"Bu-But…!" Suzuki said.
"..." Akira raised the knife. 'Miina, please… please be alive!' He pierced the beast's flesh and, as carefully as he could, sliced open its belly.
"!!" they all gasped when something dark came out. It hit the ground with a sickening splat.
"Y-Yuck!" Akira said. "Th-This is…!? A-A school uniform!?" It was definitely a jacket.
"Th-This is the one that I lent…?" Suzuki said.
'I see… back then, Miina was swallowed whole along with the school uniform!' Akira thought. "Could it be that Miina's inside? But even if you consider this a coincidence, it's..."
"It might not be a coincidence," Oomori said.
"Eh?" Akira said.
"Miina-chan is a smart kid," Oomori said. "She might have done it herself! Trying her best to help even while she was being swallowed..."
"!?" Akira and Rion gasped.
"If that's the case, then..." Mariya said. "He-Hey! Hurry up and open it, Sengoku!"
"Ah… Right!" Akira said. He started opening the jacket. 'Miina!!' He could see Miina's face.
"Whoooooah!" Yuki exclaimed as she watched Arita continue to fight his beast, punching it in the eyes. It threw him off.
"Aaaaugh!" Arita cried as he slammed into some bones.
"How long does that bastard Arita intend to keep this up for?" Hades asked. "It hurts just to watch from here!"
"We… We have to stop him already!" Yuki said. "At this rate, Kouhei-kun's body will..." Arita was bleeding and breath heavily, but he smiled.
"No, it seems the same on the other side, too," Hades said.
"Eh?" Yuki said.
"GRR!" the beast growled, bleeding from its eyes and mouth.
"Because of Arita's attacks, both of that monster's eyes are pretty much gone," Yuki said. "And now it's unsteady on its feet..."
"That thing's strength is probably near its limit as well," Hades said. "In all likelihood, the victor will be decided quite soon!" Arita and the beast collided in another attack.
KABLAM!
—∞—
"How is it, Suzuki?" the guy and girl holding onto him asked as he leaned down over the edge to peer into the trap hole with a torch.
"Yeah… there don't seem to be any other monsters," Suzuki said.
"I see… but we don't know when they might pop out again, so… we have to be vigilant!" the other boy said.
"The more you look at it, the stranger that animal is!" Yarai remarked, looking at the beast they had just killed.
"Yeah!" Akira agreed.
"I've never seen anything like it," Torako agreed too.
"Though it's a beast, it has those closely packed scales on the back. And the arms are like those of a human, without any fur. And on top of that, it has three heads. It's tongue extends for more than five meters, becoming a powerful weapon!" Yarai said.
"Maybe it's part pangolin?" Torako suggested. "Pangolins are mammals, but they have scales, and they have long, sticky tongues, which are often longer than their body. But it's clearly mixed with other things as well…"
"A pangolin? That could be..." Mariya said, considering it.
"Maybe… If you say that this was manmade, then that's a frightening level of technical ability," Yarai said.
"Yeah, it was a scary one!" Akira agreed.
"But, well, thank goodness everyone was fine!" Mariya said.
"Yeah!" Akira agreed.
"Oniiiiiiii-chaaaaaaaan!!" Miina called, getting their attention.
"!" Akira said as they all looked over and saw Miina walking towards them with a smile, wearing someone's shirt. "Miina!" Akira said, relieved. "What? You're already okay and you're even awake!?"
"Isn't that obvious? Who do you think I am!?" Miina asked proudly.
"Huh? That shirt..." Akira said, recognizing it.
"Yeah, I borrowed Onii-chan's," Minna said, twirling around. "My clothes got dirty from the monster's stomach fluids, after all!"
"I-I see… but are you really okay?" Akira asked. "Are you injured anywhere?"
"Hmm..." Miina said, staring at him.
"What is it?" Akira asked.
"Are you that worried?" Miina asked with a grin, raising the shirt to show off more of his legs. "About… my bo-dy? "
"..." Akira looked at him angrily with a vein throbbing on his fist.
"Noooo! Don't joke like that!" Miina cried, dashing out of reach.
"Jeez!" Akira said with his brow furrowed.
"But… well, it seems she's really fine, to be acting like that," Mariya said.
"Yeah!" Akira agreed, relieved. 'I really thought she had died, back then!' He had to shout at Miina just to get a small response when they first rescued the kid. "It was just like you said, Mariya! Because it had just awakened, its organ function was slowed, too!"
"No, that's not all," Mariya said.
"Eh?" Akira said. Mariya removed his glasses.
"You saw that school uniform, right? It was all chewed up by the stomach acid," Mariya said. "If Miina hadn't been struggling with all her might, we wouldn't have saved her. That kid's will to live brought about a miracle!"
"Yeah, that's right!" Akira agreed.
'That kid sure is tough...' Torako thought, watching him prance around until he was picked up.
"Miina, I got you!" Rei said.
"Re-Rei!" Miina said. Rei started tickling him. "Wait, what are you doing?"
"What you ask? Some punishment for making us all worry!"
"Pu-Punishment!? What are you going to do!?" Miina asked nervously as the people around him grinned evilly.
"Here we go!" Rei said, and they all tossed Miina into the air, catching him and tossing him up again. "We're celebrating you coming out alive!"
"Eeh!?" Miina exclaimed.
"Heave! Heave-ho!" Rei said cheerfully.
"Kyaah!" Miina said.
"Miina-chan sure is popular!" Rion said. "All right! Should we get going as well?" she asked the people with her, and they all went over to join in tossing Miina up and down.
"Heave!" they said. "Heave-ho!"
"Kyaah! Please stop it! It's dangerous!" Miina said.
"Heave! Heave-ho!" they continued with big grins.
'Wha-What's with these people?' Miina wondered with a furrowed brow. 'What are they so happy about? I don't trust people… I've had so many terrible experiences, after all… however...' He remembered everyone's concerned and crying faces as they asked if he was okay. Now they were all smiling. 'Really! Everyone is so stupid!' he thought with his eyes hidden beneath his bangs. Kirino smiled as she watched.
"She's so lively! Is Miina-chan already all right?" Yuki asked. They had rescued her from the trapdoor hole.
"Yes! It looks like she's back to her energetic self again!" Kirino replied. "And what about yourself, Sakuma-san?"
"Yeah! I'm fine already!' Yuki said.
"But thank goodness for that animal falling and dying on its own like that!" Kirino said.
"Er… yes!" Yuki said a little awkwardly.
"Mami-san and the others were saying they saw a human shadow or something like that! But no way! Right?" Kirino said with a smile.
"..." Yuki thought about what had really happened. 'Kouhei-kun!'
««« Flashback «««
Arita had defeated the beast, ripping off one of its horns. He dropped the horn after the beast fell.
"He-He won?" Yuki said, amazed. "Kouhei-kun won!"
"Hohoho! After that monster got its eyes gouged out, its movements slowed down," Hades said. "Despite being a monster, it didn't handle pain very well! And that's the difference between it and Arita.
"Wh-What do you mean?" Yuki asked.
"Arita doesn't feel pain! Because he received some brain damage, it seems like his sense of pain is numbed," Hades said. "Which is why his movements didn't slow down from his pain. Until death, that is!"
"..." Yuki was stunned.
"Once he's started fighting, he won't stop until he dies. That's the destiny that man holds!" Hades said.
'Kouhei-kun!' Yuki thought, worried for him. 'Th-That means...' she ran over to him. "Kouhei-kun!!" He looked at her. "You saved us all! Thank you! It was a disaster when this monster appeared on the surface! I'm sure everyone is grateful, because you fought so hard for us! Hey! Kouhei-kun, let's go together! Did you know? That this island might be close to Okinawa? We're thinking of making ships and crossing the sea! So Kouhei-kun, let's go together!"
"It's impossible," Arita said. "I can't go!"
"Wh-Why not?" Yuki asked.
"Look!" he said, holding up his bloody hand. "Look at this hand!! This soiled hand has killed numerous people. Do you think that I can go with everyone, with this hand? You should know this as well, Yuki."
"..." Yuki stared at him. Tears welled up in her eyes. She squeezed them shut. "But… But..."
"Hey, Arita! There's air flowing from the back. This passageway might lead somewhere!" Hades said.
"Yuki, I'm going," Arita said.
"Ko-Kouhei-kun!" Yuki said, opening her eyes.
"I have just one favor to ask, please don't tell Akira about me," Airta asked. "I no longer have the right to show my face in front of Akira."
"Bu-But that…!" Yuki protested.
"Akira is light. I'm fine as shadow," Arita said. "I will definitely protect him!" He walked away from her to leave with Hades.
"Jeez, there shouldn't be any more monsters that show up, right?" Hades asked as they walked.
"..." Arita paused for a moment. "Hey, Yuki… Thank you!"
»»» End Flashback »»»
'Kouhei-kun… It's a miracle that you were alive and that we were able to meet! So this can't be the last time!' Yuki thought as the wind swept through her hair.
"Everyone! Gather around for a bit!"
"!" she said. "It's Akira-kun's voice. What could it be?"
"Let's go and see!" Kirino said. Everyone who could move gathered around Akira.
"What is it, Sengoku?" Miyauchi asked.
"Just when we're finally able to rest!" Mariya said.
"..." Akira's expression was grim. "Yarai! Come over here!" Yarai came to stand behind him. "Actually… I have a favor to ask of everyone!"
