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Late that night, after everyone else had gone to bed, Yarai quietly approached the bed of the man who had attacked Torako. The man tried to cry out in alarm, but his jaw had been broken, so Mutou had bound it tightly to keep him from moving it.

"I want you to know… that if you ever put your hands on her again, I'll crush them beyond repair," Yarai said with a terrifying expression on his face.

"That's not a threat Yarai..." Kokonoe said, coming up beside him. He glared sinisterly down at the injured man. "If you lay even one finger on her, I'll rip your balls off and feed them to you." The looks they gave the 'pyramid' man were enough to bring tears to his eyes make him tremble uncontrollably with fear. Yarai and Kokonoe left together.

"Thanks for looking after her," Kokonoe said.

"It should never have happened..." Yarai said.

"Is Tora blaming you?" Kokonoe asked.

"… No," Yarai said.

"Then you shouldn't either," Kokonoe said, turning to walk away. "Take care of her." He waved goodnight without looking back.

"..." Yarai watched him go then quietly returned to the shelter he shared with Torako and the others. He made it to his bed without disturbing them and lied down next to Torako. In the incomplete darkness, he could just make out the peaceful expression on her face. He listened to her soft breathing, relieved that she seemed to be all right.


Chapter 32: Consequences


Segawa's thoughtful silence didn't last long. Things returned to normal after a few days, and she was bugging Yarai and Torako so much that it was starting to get on their nerves. But they had started to build more permanent shelters. The idea of a room with solid walls and a solid door that he could lock Segawa out of appealed greatly to Yarai. Two members of the 'pyramid' group who had been an architect and a construction contractor were supervising everyone, helping them pick the right materials to design a stable, functional structure that could last. They managed to find a way to fell trees with the limited tools at their disposal, and they were making log cabins.

"Hey, Sengoku!" Miyauchi said, walking up to him with Tokiwa. "We've been thinking, ever since the incident with Fukui… We should have some sort of law enforcement agency, don't you think?"

"Sounds good to me!" Rion said.

"… Yeah, you're right..." Akira said. "What did you have in mind?"

"Tokiwa and I want to start a vigilante corps..." Miyauchi said, grinning.

"Vigilante?" Akira asked.

"Well, we're not cops," Miyauchi said

"That's true…" Akira agreed. "All right. We'll try it. Recruit people you think you can trust, and we'll decide the rules later, during break."

"H-Hey… Wait a minute…" Suzuki said, looking at the plans for the new shelters. "These… things… there are only six of them, and they're huge! What's the meaning of this!?" he asked the architect.

"Well, there's only so much we can do with our resources… and we can't use all of the trees in this area, because we need to make sure we have enough for the boats. And there's limited space inside of these walls. So rather than a lot of separate houses for smaller groups, we'll have everyone live closer together in a few large houses, which can hold up to fourteen or fifteen beds," the architect explained. "I've done the math. We'll actually use fewer trees this way."

"W-Wait a minute… fifteen people to one room…? Does that mean we'll have to share with the men!? Please tell me there's a changing room included!" Takahashi said anxiously, while Suzuki and another boy high-fived each other in the background.

"About that… We were thinking that the men and women should be in separate shelters… at least for changing and sleeping," the architect said.

"W-What!?" Suzuki and the guy he had high-fived exclaimed, shocked and dismayed. Takahashi breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"What bullshit is this!? Who decided that!?" Suzuki asked.

"Huh? What are you saying? We all did, last night… Weren't you paying attention?" Igarashi said as he passed them, carrying a log with twenty other men.

"Huh!?" Suzuki said.

"It was decided that was the only way the women could have any privacy, and after that unfortunate incident the other day, the women are really wary of being so exposed in front of men or possibly ending up trapped alone with them..." the Architect said.

'Th-That rapist bastard!! Ruining everything for the rest of us!!' Suzuki thought furiously. And if everyone was crammed together, then there would be no privacy, which meant he and Kashiwagi were going to have to find someplace else to do it!

"We're going to make water troughs and a small infirmary while we're at it," the architect added, either completely oblivious to the boys' feelings or completely indifferent to their adolescent drama.

"So… the women and men are going to sleep separately from now on..." Kurusu-sensei said. She, Torako, Segawa, Shigeno, and Matusmoto were slated to go in the first cabin along with Miayuchi, Tokiwa, Rion, Yuki, the vice president, Rei, Kashiwagi, Oomori, Mami, and Isurugi Miina (once she was better). Yarai, Akira, Suzuki, and any other men who might have been sharing shelters with them were going into the first cabin for men, because the temporary shelters were being cleared away as they were emptied of their occupants.

"…" Yarai wasn't really happy with the new sleeping arrangements that would come into effect in about twelve weeks, but he decided it was better than having some pervert like Suzuki and who knew how many other boys peeping on Torako while she tried to change.

"I bet you're relieved, huh, Saki?" Shigeno said slyly. "They're going to separate Fukui-san and Yarai for you."

"That's… right," Segawa said, happy that Torako would be away from him, but unhappy that it meant she would also be separated from him.

All around a lot of the boys and some of the men were grumbling about the new living conditions. Which, in the girls' minds, meant that they clearly had been intending to try something they wouldn't have liked and cemented their opinion that this was the right decision.

—∞—

For the next few days they had fish as their meat, because it was quicker and easier to fish with the net than it was to hunt, but people began to get tired of it, so the hunters went back out again while the others continued to work. This time the lolicon trio went with them.

"If we bring back something good, Miina-chan will praise us!" Heero said.

"Yeah!" the other two cheered.

"They're in good spirits..." Yamato remarked. Yarai and Torako led the group, looking for signs of any animals that might be close by.

"I wonder if the new living conditions will really work out..." Akira said. He had agreed to it, but he didn't like being separated from Rion.

"Even you're saying that, Sengoku?" Miayuchi asked, disappointed in him.

"Shh!" Torako said as she and Yarai halted the small company. "These tracks were just made..."

"What is it?" Akira whispered.

"We're going back," Torako said. "Quickly and quietly..."

"Why?" Yamato asked.

"These look like boar tracks..." Torako said.

"So? that's good, isn't it? We can eat some wild pig—" Yamato said.

"Do you have any idea what wild boars are like?" Torako asked. "Never mind! I'll explain later—we're getting out of here now."

"It's not like you to shy away from a little—" Miayuchi started to say, but Torako cut her off.

"From the size of these tracks, the animal that made them weighs about one ton… It's probably about the size of a black rhino!" Torako said.

'Eh? Weighs one ton… about the size of a rhino… I've heard this before...' Akira thought, trying to think when.

"And if it's like modern boars, it'll have thick layers of fat that will make it difficult to penetrate into its internal organs and kill—" Torako said, but then she and Yarai froze.

"What—" Yamato said, but Yarai held up a hand up to cut him off.

"Straight ahead..." Yarai said quietly. "By the tamarind tree… Don't make a sound." He pointed to the spot.

"..." Akira and the others looked where Yarai was pointing.

"!—" they all gasped, but quickly silenced themselves. Torako had been right about the animal that left the tracks. It was huge with a thick, muscular body and comparatively thin, spindly legs. There were long rough bristles sticking out around its neck and up out of the hunch on its back between its shoulders. Its ears were small, it's snout was long, and its mouth was full of sharp teeth with long canines. It's head was massive compared to its body. It was eating one of the large rabbit-like creatures (which Mariya had said were nuralagi.) Its teeth stripped away the flesh of the nuralagus it was eating with terrifying ease.

'E-Entelodont…!?' Akira thought, alarmed as he recognized the creature. He looked around, worried the one in front of them was part of a herd like the ones he had seen around the time they met Miina. Fortunately, this entelodont seemed to be alone. Despite himself, Yamato took a step backwards and stepped on a stick.

SNAP!

The sound of the stick breaking echoed like a gunshot, and the beast's head snapped up instantly. Its eyes bored into them. Everyone held their breath, hoping it would let them go. No such luck. It charged through the trees, breaking the skinnier ones as if they were matchsticks.

"Uwaaaah!?" Yamato screamed.

"What now!?" Miyauchi yelled.

"Do we run!?" Heero asked.

"Too late!!" Torako said. The beast had already crossed more than half the distance between them; they'd never outrun it.

"We'll have to fight!" Yarai said, getting ready.

"But she said—" the guy with the bow and arrow said.

"Avoid being hit and aim for the base of the ear!!" Torako said. The entelodont let out a roar of a squeal and tried to gore them. They all threw themselves to the side to get out of the way. Torako rolled over and threw her spear, hitting the beast right at the base of its ear. It squealed bloody murder and fell to the ground, writhing. 'That should have dropped it immediately!?' Torako thought. "Hit it again!" she yelled at the archer. He quickly aimed for the base of the ear, too, and fired. The boar happened to turn its head just the right way so that the arrow slid in though the wound made by Torako's spear, driving deeper into its head. The entelodont stiffened and fell limp, completely dead.

"..." They all stared at it.

"It's… It's really dead, right?" Yamato asked warily. Yarai picked up a rock and threw it at the beast, hitting it hard on the belly. It didn't even twitch.

"… I guess so," Akira said. "I thought you said it would be hard to kill?"

"We must have gotten lucky… boars are deceptively smart. I think we happened to catch this one by surprise," Torako said. She retrieved her spear.

"Or maybe the modern boar's ancestor is just stupid..." the archer said.

"I think it would be dangerous to make assumptions based on one individual member of the species..." Torako said. "We'll have to keep an eye out for them in the future."

"We really do," Akira said. "I've encountered these before… They were traveling in a herd. Mariya said they're called entelodonts, and they're absurdly ferocious. They're omnivores that eat everything from fruits to dead meat—they'll even eat each other, too! They have a violent disposition… They're called 'the pigs from hell'!"

"… We're really lucky it was only one, then..." Torako said.

"Well, I'd still rather have to fight one of those things than the paraceratherium," Murayama said. "Isn't it strange that we haven't seen it since then?"

"Maybe we were just unlucky…?" Yamato said.

"What do you mean?" Akira asked.

"Maybe… This area isn't actually its territory, and it just happened to be passing through that day?" Yamato suggested.

"Well, according to Mariya-san, it was a browser, eating mainly leaves, soft plants, and shrubs… There are no signs that something that big has been eating the vegetation, we haven't come across fresh footprints, and there have been no droppings large enough to belong to an animal like that, so… Yamato-kun may be right… Or it's possible that its territory is so wide that it doesn't come here that often..." Torako said. "But… I think the more pressing matter right now is… getting this entelodont home."

"I guess we'll all have to carry it together…" Akira said. They all picked a spot on the entelodont and lifted.

"Ugh… This thing weighs a ton!" Duo said.

"I did tell you..." Torako said, furrowing her brow as she did her best to help carry it. The ten of them staggered under the weight a little bit at first, but they managed to find their footing. They moved slowly, but they were making progress.

"Of course, now that we have a giant pig… you know what this means?" Miayuchi asked.

"We can make a lot of leather items?" Torako said.

"What? Really?" Akira asked.

"Pigskin is a type of leather used for many items such as clothing, rarities, handbags, book covers, accessories, and more," Yarai said.

'Hmm… A leather jacket might be nice...' Yamato thought. Maybe if he looked cooler, he'd have better luck with the ladies.

"Yeah, that's great and all, but I was thinking of the giant ribs!" Miyauchi said.

"Oh, right, like in the Flintstones..." Torako said.

"Right!" Miyauchi said.

"..." Torako didn't think they had the Flintstones in Japan.

"… It'll probably be easier to cook if we strip the meat from the bones first," Tokiwa said.

"That's probably true," Torako agreed.

"And there goes the dream..." Miyauchi said, disappointed.

They had to stop for numerous breaks, but, eventually, they managed to get the entelodont home just as the sun was setting. Everyone was excited when they saw what they had caught.

"Oh? You guys did well," Miina told the lolicon trio when he saw it.

"Yes! Miina-chan praised us!" the trio cheered.

'Not that you actually did anything...' Yamato thought, but he didn't say it out loud because he hadn't really done anything either aside from helping to carry it back.

"This is great! I wonder how we should cook it?" Rion said.

"Well, I think we should skin it first, so the hide can be turned into leather..." Torako said.

"Yes, I'm sure that'll be useful," Kurusu-sensei said. They set to work on skinning and prepping the beast for dinner immediately. The hunters were glad to finally be off their feet and drank some cool water.

"It looks like they're making progress..." Torako said, looking at what the others had done while they were out. It seemed they almost had all of the materials needed for the first cabin.

"I can't say I'm really looking forward to it..." Yarai admitted. "I like having you next to me, and I like watching you sleep..."

"You like watching me drool on the leaves?" Torako said wryly.

"You've never done that," Yarai said. "Well, maybe once." Torako wrinkled her nose a little and laughed.

"… I like having you next to me, too," Torako said.

"Let's go find some shade," Yarai said. 'find some shade' had become a code between them for going off alone to make out.

"Thought you'd never ask," Torako said.

"If you want it, then say so," Yarai said, giving her a smirk that made her blush. They looked around to make sure no one was watching, then headed for their spot.

"W-Where are they!?" Segawa said when she looked around several long minutes later and realized they were gone. "I turn my back for one minute…!" She went to go find them, but Matsumoto and Shigeno grabbed her and held her back.

"Saki, maybe you should leave them alone for awhile," Matsumoto said.

"Yeah, if you keep this up, Yarai is going to hate you," Shigeno said. "Right, Sensei?"

"Well, I certainly think it would be better if you cut them a little slack… They're probably just kissing..." Kurusu-sensei said.

"Just kissing?" Segawa said jadedly. "That's all they're doing because I'm watching them! You know he wanted to do a lot more with her..." She clenched her fists, getting angry again. 'The only thing that's keeping them from doing more is Fukui's reluctance to go that far… but once she gets used to the idea, then…!'

"Relax, Saki. I doubt he's even put his hand up her shirt," Shigeno said.

"He'd better not!" Segawa said. "I mean, there's nothing there to feel anyway, is there?"

"You don't have to be so mean, Saki..." Matsumoto said.

"What about you? You're my friends! You should be supporting me," Segawa said.

"It's because we're your friends that we're telling you to chill," Shigeno said. "People are going to start calling you 'that crazy girl who stalks Yarai and Fukui'."

"S-Speaking of which, they're a couple, but they're still calling each other by their family names! Doesn't that mean they aren't that close?" Segawa said hopefully.

"Who's not close?" Yarai asked, coming up behind her with Torako. As usual, they had decided to quit before someone came looking for them to protect their spot.

"Y-You two! You only call each other by your family names, after all," Segawa said, trying to sound confident.

"..." Yarai looked from Segawa to Torako. "I guess I should start calling you Torako."

"I prefer Tora," Torako said. "Can I call you Kouichi?"

"Yeah, but just you," Yarai said.

"Why? You don't like your name?" Kurusu-sensei asked.

"Doesn't it mean 'one happiness'? I think that's a good name," Matsumoto said.

"Actually, it's written with the kanji for 'arrow', 'rely on', and 'to shine'," Yarai said.

"What? Isn't that a cool name, then?" Shigeno said. "I'd say it matches 'tiger child' pretty well, wouldn't you?"

"Unless her name is made up of different kanji as well..." Segawa said.

"No, it's 'tiger child'," Torako said. "My dad's name was Taiga, and his nickname was 'Lucky Tiger', so when he had a kid… Well, my name is basically one big 'dad joke'."

"Wow..." Shigeno said.

"Right?" Torako said, smiling wryly.

"I think it suits you," Yarai said.

"If you say so..." Torako said, shrugging.

"I agree," Matsumoto said. "You're small, but you're tough, and you're a good hunter."

"…" Segawa didn't want to agree with anything that sounded like praise, but Matsumoto had a point.

—∞—

Everyone seemed to be in the best mood they had been in for days that night as they ate the entelodont, which had a strong, nutty, rich flavor. A few people could be heard laughing again.

"This may look like a giant boar, but they're not related to modern pigs. They're closer on the evolutionary tree to hippos and whales," Mariya said.

"Really? It tastes like wild boar…" Torako said.

"And it had thick layers of fat just like Fukui thought it would..." Akira said.

"Well, whales do have thick layers of blubber under the skin..." Torako said.

"That's true," Mariya said.

"I don't care what it is, it's delicious!" Matsumoto said.

"Totally!" Shigeno agreed.

"This was a good catch!" Rion said. "Everyone seems happier..."

"It probably helps that they're making progress on the cabin," Torako said. "They can feel like they're doing something worthwhile."

"Right, and the sooner we get the cabins done, the sooner we can start on the boats," Rion said.

"Hey, Onii-chan, I want seconds for Miina," Miina said, coming over them. "But the people in charge of dinner said I can't have more because they already gave me two bowls..."

"I'll come with you, then," Akira said, getting up and going with Miina to help him.

"How is Isurugi Miina?" Kurusu-sensei asked.

"She's gradually getting better," Oomori said. "Kirino-san has been helping Doctor Mutou care for the injured, and she said Miina-chan was well enough to ask for her sketchbook today."

"That's good," Torako said. "When I saw the bleeding from around her eyes, I was worried they might be damaged..."

"No, it'll take some time for her to heal, but she's going to be just fine," Oomori said, smiling.

"What a relief," Matsumoto said.

"And how are you doing, Rei-san?" Kurusu-sensei asked.

"… Yeah… I've decided I have to keep living for Tooru's sake!" Rei said, looking determined. "He saved me, after all..."

"Tora..." Yarai said.

"Hm?" Torako said, looking up at him.

"You have sauce on your face," Yarai said.

"Eh?" Torako said, a little embarrassed. "Where?" she asked, preparing to wipe it away herself. Yarai reached out and wiped the small smear of sauce from the corner of her mouth with his thumb. "T-Thanks, Kouichi-kun..." she said, blushing a little bit.

'They got closer again… Saki's not going to be happy about that...' Shigeno and Matsumoto thought, watching their friend. Segawa narrowed her eyes at the couple. Rion smiled at how cute they were.

"Hm? You're not calling each other by your family names anymore?" Akira asked, rejoining them.

"Well, they are going out," Rion said. "You didn't expect them to keep calling each other by their family names forever."

"Of course not," Akira said, sitting down. "So… How are you two going to deal with the new sleeping arrangements, once they come into effect?"

"What do you mean?" Torako asked.

"Well, you two are… you know..." Akira said.

"It's not like it'll make a difference," Segawa said coldly.

"Eh?" Akira said. "But..."

"We share with other people, so we're used to not having any privacy," Yarai said.

"Yeah, they can't do anything because we're there, too," Shigeno said.

"Ah..." Akira said. Of course. He had forgotten that Kurusu-sensei and the others would be in there, too, at night. But, during the day…

"Segawa's always stalking us, so we have no privacy during the day either," Yarai said, as if reading his mind.

"What?" Akira said, suddenly feeling sorry for his friend. "Segawa-san, are you really stalking them?"

"I-I'm keeping an eye on them! Someone has to!" Segawa said defensively.

"But Kokonoe-sensei already gave them his blessing..." Kurusu-sensei said.

"That's a polite way of putting it!" Segawa huffed, disgruntled. Her plan to have Kokonoe-sensei shut the new couple down had totally backfired. She stomped off, figuring she could afford to leave Yarai and Torako alone with the others watching them.

"I see… you have it rough," Akira said to Yarai.

"I'm sure Segawa-san will calm down… eventually..." Kurusu-sensei said, though she didn't seem very convinced herself.

"… Are you finished eating?" Yarai asked Torako.

"Yeah, why?" Torako asked, surprised when he pulled her into his lap.

'He really likes being close to her, huh?' Rion, Rei, Oomori, Kurusu-sensei, Akira, and Mariya thought.

'Good thing Saki left, because she would not like seeing this...' Shigeno and Matsumoto thought.

—∞—

Segawa seemed to get even worse, and Yarai was in danger of snapping at her, but just when he couldn't take it anymore, Torako asked Kurusu-sensei to cause a distraction and pulled him away to their spot. It had been so long since they last kissed, that they didn't want to stop and lost track of time.

"Ahhhhhh!?" Segawa exclaimed when she found them. "So this is where you've been going whenever I lost track of you!!" Yarai and Torako stopped kissing at looked at her. Segawa turned red in the face with anger when she saw that they had been kissing so much that they were breathless.

'Oh no! Now she's knows where to find us...' Torako thought, dismayed.

"..." Yarai stared at Segawa coldly.

"W-What's with that face? You've had enough, right? If you've been kissing ever since I lost sight of you, then it's been twenty minutes already!!" Segawa said. To her annoyance, he was still holding Torako close.

"It has?" Torako said, surprised.

"Sorry..." Yarai said.

'Huh?' both girls thought. Yarai looked at Torako.

"Even if you're embarrassed… bear with it," he told her. Before Torako could ask what he was talking about, he pressed his lips against hers again and gave her the most intense kiss yet.

"W… W… Whaaat!?" Segawa shrieked, horrified. "I-I'm standing right here, you know!! Hey!!" Yarai just kept kissing Torako. Segawa's face became redder and redder as she watched Yarai continue on as if she wasn't there. "A-Are you kissing her or inspecting her tonsils!?" Segawa demanded hotly. "Your tongue is so far down her throat, I'm surprised she isn't choking!!" Yarai finally stopped kissing Torako, and she gasped for air, blushing furiously. She was clinging to him as if she was having trouble standing.

"If you don't like it, then leave," Yarai told Segawa coolly. "We were here first."

"B-B-But that's beside the point!" Segawa said incredulously, fuming. "And how can you kiss her like that when I'm standing right here!?"

"It's your own fault for not leaving," Yarai said. "If you're going to be watching us the whole time, then I'll have to kiss her in front of you, since you aren't leaving me any other choice."

"Y-You could always stop kissing her!!" Segawa said.

"I don't want to," Yarai said. He looked at Torako, who was still gripping his jacket tightly. "Sorry, did I get too carried away?"

"N… No," Torako said, steadying herself.

"Good. Did you enjoy it?" Yarai asked.

"Y-Yes..." Torako said, avoiding eye contact with Segawa and blushing deeply.

"That's good then," Yarai said, smiling at Torako and stroking her cheek.

'Nooo!! It's nooot!!' Segawa thought furiously. She opened her mouth to scream but was quickly silenced when Yarai clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Don't even think about causing trouble for us," Yarai said. Segawa stared at him as he removed his hand and scooped Torako up into his arms, walking away with her.

"I-I can walk on my own!" Torako said.

"Just let me do it," Yarai said. "This is the first time I've carried you like this, isn't it?" Segawa stood there without turning around to look at them. She started trembling, and tears formed in her eyes. She was so frustrated. Yarai didn't care if she was watching, and Torako had just let him do whatever her wanted. There was nothing she could do to stop them anymore. Segawa knew now that Yarai didn't care if he hurt her anymore. She collapsed into a squat, hugging her knees as her tears fell.

'I pushed him too far, and now...' Segawa thought, crying, knowing that she had just suffered a major loss.