Wow..." Daisuke looked out at the sea. The seaside school trip starts today. Six days on a southern island studying things like nature observation, but everyone's excited and it feels like we're spending time at a resort. Since that time, Dark hasn't shown up at all. I'm taking a break from being a Phantom Thief. It was good timing, since we have a seaside school trip. I can be a normal middle school student for a while.
"I envy you." Satoshi said.
"Oh, Hiwatari..." Daisuke said.
"You're always so innocent. You're too brilliant for me to look upon now." Satoshi said.
"Hey, take pictures of us! But this is the only place that we can take pictures." Kuri said.
"No way! It's stupid!" Reiko said.
"Miss Hikawa is cheerful, isn't she?" Daisuke aid.
"She's too cheery. But..." Reiko said.
"But what?" Daisuke said. "Look, look! It's so pretty!"
"Nothing..." Reiko said. "Wow! Look, look!"
"Incredible!" Daisuke said.
"Boys stay on the first floor and girls stay on the second floor. There are to be NO boys upstairs. Meetings for each group should take place either in the lobby or the dining room. That is all!" Teacher said.
"Incredible! This place really is like a resort! If we didn't have to study, it'd have been heaven." Daisuke said.
"Hey, Daisuke! Here you go, Hikawa Reiko's room is here." Takeshi said.
"What about it?" Daisuke said.
"What are you playing dumb for? You'll be with her for five nights and six days.
That's a big chance, right?! Here. Do something while we're on the island!" Takeshi said.
Xxx
"Here's the instructions! You have free time until five o'clock. If you want to swim, tell the teachers first." Teacher said.
"Okay, got it. Of course we'll swim." Takeshi said.
"Right?" Daisuke said.
"I found a sea slug!" Reiko said. "Kuri, come over here. You too, Niwa!"
"No way, that's gross!" Kuri said. "I can't believe that you're watching
something like that."
"But it's interesting." Daisuke ran over.
"Hey, there's another one! It's cute!" Reiko said.
"What's so cute about it?" Kuri said.
"That's true, they've got a certain charm to them, don't they? Don't they? They're not gross at all, right?" Reiko said.
"Yeah, you're right." Daisuke said.
"Niwa, help me out here!" Kuri said.
"Okay." Daisuke said.
"Pile up some sand for me!" Kuri said.
"You're playing with sand this time?" Daisuke said.
"It's not playing with sand. It's sand art!" Kuri said.
As I thought, my heart doesn't pound anymore like it used to. Even though it may actually be a good chance to get close to her...Or rather, even though I should give her support... Daisuke thought.
I didn't know Niwa had such mature eyes. Come to think of it, I've seen him like this before. Reiko thought.
"And we'd almost finished it...The tide is coming in. Should we go back now?" Daisuke said.
Xxx
"Geez, where did Kuri go? It's dinnertime." Reiko said.
"Is this really okay? It's almost lights-out." Daisuke said.
"If you're going to talk like that, you can't go stargazing." Takeshi said.
"Let me see..." Daisuke said. "Wow! It's incredible! Hey, that's the Milky Way!"
"Yeah." Takeshi said. "I've never seen it before. It's beautiful!"
"Yeah..." Daisuke said.
"Hey! What are you doing?!" Reiko said.
"We're stargazing!" Daisuke said.
"We have stargazing planned on the third day, don't we?" Reiko said.
"Go back to your room." Teacher said.
"Okay." Daisuke said.
"Darn! It was just getting good." Takeshi said.
Xxx
"Why were you crying, Kuri? You always used to tell me everything, so why aren't you telling me anything?" Reiko said.
Kuri looked up from her book on Cultural Reform. "Have you ever heard of a work called the Kokuyoku."
The name sent a chill through Reiko.
"What? Why?" Reiko said.
"I don't know why, but I suddenly thought about it." Kuri said. "I can't remember anything I learned in class about the Cultural Reform...and its so hard to find information about that artwork."
She paused then continued. "Do you think Dark and Niwa are similar in anyway?"
"They're totally different! Niwa's more absent-minded, thick-headed, and childish, but he's honest and kind." Reiko said.
"That's true...but deep down you know the truth Reiko."
Niwa likes Kuri, so it'd be best if she came to like him too.I should support her, right? Reiko thought.
Xxx
"Morning!" Reiko said.
"Morning! Are you alone?" Daisuke said.
"Yeah, Kuri is still sleeping. Since I got up a little early, I just took a walk." Reiko said.
"Sounds nice! I'll take a walk too." Daisuke said.
"Oh, hey, did you see the sky last night?" Reiko said.
"I did! The Milky Way was beautiful, wasn't it?" Daisuke said.
"Yeah. In a way, it was very mysterious." Reiko said.
"It made my existence seem really small." Daisuke said.
"Yeah, I know what you mean." Reiko said.
"Well then, see you later." Daisuke said.
"Okay, at the nature observation." Reiko said.
"You don't get it, do you? It's not something that we'd know, right, Niwa?" Takeshi said. "I'm going to go by myself from here."
"What? What's that about? We should go to the nature observation as a group." Daisuke said.
"I have something that I'd like to observe on my own." Takeshi said. "Daisuke, let me copy your notes later, okay?"
"Saehara! See you. Go for it! Good luck! Don't blame us if you get attacked by a wild dog or something! He's hopeless. Hey, are we there yet?" Daisuke said.
"We just started going up. We won't be there for a while." Teacher said.
"No way!" Daisuke said.
"Hey, let's take a little break." Kuri said.
"If you take too many breaks, it'll actually make you more tired." Reiko said
"But I didn't know it would be this tough!" Kuri said. "Who suggested going up the mountain?"
"What's wrong with it? There's a waterfall, and I'd also like to see alpine plants and glow worms." Reiko said.
"Those worm-thingies are larvae of flies or mosquitoes, right? I don't want to see them!" Kuri said.
"But in dark caves, they glow!" Reiko said.
"That's even grosser!" Kuri said.
"Since we came all the way up here, let's go. I'll carry your stuff." Daisuke said.
"Niwa, you shouldn't baby her." Reiko said.
"Anyway, let's keep pushing ahead until we come to the waterfall." Daisuke said.
"Wow..." Reiko said.
"Okay, should we get going?" Daisuke said.
"I don't want to go any further. I'll wait for you here." Kuri said.
"Kuri, don't be selfish." Reiko said.
"I will! I'm tired, my legs hurt, and it's nice and cool here." Kuri said.
"A wild dog will show up." Reiko said.
"Then I'll beat him up!" Kuri said.
"Well, there's not much we can do about it. Where is the cave?" Reiko said.
"A little ahead of the waterfall. I think we're almost there." Daisuke said.
"Then let's go and come back quickly." Reiko said.
"We'll be right back, so wait here and don't run off." Daisuke said.
"Okay!" Kuri said.
"It seems to be around here, but..." Reiko said.
"I found it! It's here!" Daisuke said.
"I thought this place would be better maintained." Reiko said.
"What should we do?" Daisuke said.
"We'll go, of course!" Reiko said.
"Is this really the place? I wonder if it's okay?" Daisuke said.
"Are you scared? You're a wimp." Reiko said.
"But it's a dead end. Hey, Miss Hikawa?! Miss Hikawa?" Daisuke said. "Are you all right? Miss Hikawa..."
"Turn off the light." Reiko said.
"Okay." Daisuke said.
"Look over there." Reiko said.
"Wow..." Daisuke said.
"Incredible, isn't it?" Reiko said.
"Yeah, it looks just like the Milky Way." Daisuke said.
"Hey, I'd like to show this to Kuri too." Reiko said.
"Yeah, let's go get her." Daisuke said.
"They're taking so long! They said they'd be back right away." Kuri said. "Niwa is colder than I thought. Reiko! Niwa! Mr. Dark...Niwa! Reiko!"
"Did you hear that?" Reiko said.
"Hear what?" Daisuke said.
"Kuri's voice." Reiko said.
"No, I can't hear anything." Daisuke said.
"Could something have happened to Kuri?" Reiko said.
"Look out!" Daisuke said. "Miss Hikawa!"