Hello y'all, long time no see.

First I'm going to answer a few questions that I forgot to answer last time (sorry!):

Sals:

1) so do the sakamakis boys torture masami? And like who does it and why? Aren't they scared of ayano?

So from last chapter and this chapter I hope that you guys kind of got who the culprits were. I won't go into detail, but Laito cut Masami with a knife in her thigh and bit her several times as well. Ayato does not like her attitude (and her having an attitude in the first place does have consequences!), so he completely messed up her neck, shoulder/collarbone area and some other stuff. I guess that counts as torture? I wouldn't say the brothers are afraid of Ayano, it's more like they're careful around her. She's extremely unpredictable and just generally a weird person. The triplets are less cautious of her though, and honestly when they're bored or annoyed they just end up doing whatever they want lol.

2) will the maukamis find out about this torture and get pissed? Cause a conflict would be fun to see in that aspect

Yes. ;)))))

3) can we PLEASE have a subaru /masami interaction?

We had some last chapter, but don't worry there is MORE to come. Last chapter was mostly setting up their dynamics. Poor Snowflake, she unconsciously hit him right in his insecurities!

Leah

1) Do the Sakamaki's like her 2) I hate the Sakamaki's in this fanfic though.

- Not really. She's not as tolerable as Yui, and she's as expressive as a piece of paper. They don't really get much entertainment out of her lol. But who knows… They might warm up to her hmmmmmmm

- Yeah I get that lol. I base the Sakamakis mostly on the first game (and even then, they seem a lot more mellow in my fic than in that game) so that's why they're a bit more on the mean side lol. Normally the Mukamis would be assholes as well, but they happen to know Masami so they naturally end up acting differently towards her. :')

CHAPTER 15

► Vampire Voyage: pt 1

→ Scar

The whole point of the trip was to strengthen teambuilding among students, and most of all, letting students meet new people from other classes and years, in the hope that new friendships could form and that first-year students would feel a bit more comfortable among the seniors.

It was, overall, a horrible idea, but no one complained as trips didn't happen very often at the night school. So, all students adjusted their sleeping schedules for the trip, and all planned to make the best of it, in the hope that it would be an unforgettable experience.

Masami out of all people, hoped for the complete opposite: a totally forgettable experience. But how well she knew that that was not going to be the word to describe this trip.

Traveling to the island by bus, and then by ferry, had been quite uneventful, much to Masami's surprise. The fact that Blue had been in her bus, must have been the reason. All Masami did was sleep throughout the whole ride, trying not to think about what had happened with Sakamaki Snowflake.

The boat ride itself was peaceful as well. No one bothered Masami, so she took the opportunity to enjoy the ride as much as she could. The smell of the ocean was intensely satisfying. A fresh, plunging, salty smell mixed with the sound of the waves banging into the ferry and the seagulls crying from above. Everything else, Masami blocked out. Her eyes were set on the scenery before her, not on the students and teachers behind her. She ignored their whispers and laughs, their voices and smiles until it was just the sea and her. It was in that moment that Masami felt she could close her eyes peacefully. As if the waves ebbed her worries, problems and stress away, even if it was only for a moment.

In all honesty, Masami couldn't remember the last time she'd been at sea or on a boat. There was perhaps a distant memory, because the second she boarded the boat along with the other students, she was hit with a strong sense of belonging. Like she'd returned home, if that made any sense in the first place. It was an extraordinary feeling. She had the exact same feeling when she was slumping through those dark alleys near Blue's store.

After arriving on the island, Masami couldn't stop admiring the scenery. It seemed to come straight from one of those nature documentaries, where green stretched as far as she could see, waves of salt water clashing onto cliffs in the background.

But she also knew that the highlight of this trip wouldn't just be the scenery.

Masami pulled the hood from her head, revealing a whirlwind of black hair. There were three girls in the room. They didn't notice Masami right away, but when they did, it felt like they had stopped breathing, if not only for a second. Masami just nodded in greeting, her face neutral as always. She wasn't too sure what she was supposed to do or say, it somehow made her feel nervous. She wasn't very accustomed to talking with peers her age and when she did, she felt like she was being too stiff, not offering enough to keep the conversation going. Though there wasn't much to say to begin with, and a lot of questions people asked often went unanswered due to the lack of participation Masami offered. It was, in the end, her own fault. But oh, well. She wasn't here to become friends with these girls.

Her targets were something entirely different.

One of the girls, the one who had been unpacking on her own, spoke up first. "We already picked our beds, so you'll have to sleep on the top bunkbed, if you don't mind."

"It's fine," Masami replied.

The other two girls were ignoring Masami for the time being. They sat across Masami, on the other bunkbed, gathered around what seemed a magazine. Masami started unpacking, often shoving her hand in the pocket of her hoody, only to realize that her phone was not there.

Remember, remember! Snowflake crushed my phone to bits and pieces!

Quickly after unpacking, Masami grabbed some clean clothes and rushed out of the room, down the hallway, into the shared bathroom. The bathroom was decently large, the walls covered in basic white tiles. Overall it was comfortable enough. The only strange thing was that there was a door that led towards a balcony. A balcony for a bathroom? For crying out loud, why? Masami decided to close the blinds on the window of said balcony door, and then quickly washed her hair over the sink. Only later, in true Masami style, she realized that she'd forgotten her towel. Masami, if not slightly annoyed, decided to dry her hair with her the inside of her old sweater, before putting on the new one she'd brought with her.

While in the process of tying her shoelaces, Masami heard a knock on the door. Completely startled and in full on panic mode (was it Snowflake? Was he going to break her bones next?), Masami gaped at the door in the hope she wouldn't need to die today. She knew he was still angry with her, and it was only a matter of time before he remembered what she'd said to him.

"What about you? Do you see yourself as weak, dirty, powerless and stupid?"

Why did I say that?! Why, oh WHY, can't I shut up?

The door then opened, blessing Masami with the presence of a tiny, blonde girl, who seemed to look more startled than Masami herself.

"Yui!" Masami held a hand on her heart, "don't scare me like that! I thought I was going to die!"

Yui laughed nervously, apologizing like always. The girl crouched next to Masami on the floor, her hands folded on her lap. It seemed like there was something Yui wanted to say, but couldn't decide how to word it. Her eyes were getting teary as well, a sight that worried Masami.

"What is it, Yui?" Masami asked. "Did something happen?"

Yui took a deep breath. "No…Just…What happened, Masami-chan? I was so worried. I thought they had caught you. They kept telling me they'd found and killed you because you ran away. I was so scared."

Now she was truly crying, heavy tears rolling down her cheeks. Masami had no idea what to do besides hugging her. Yui cried onto her shoulder as Masami patted her hair.

"There, there," Masami said. She still felt guilty for leaving Yui like that. She should've tried to escape with her, bring her somewhere where none of those vampires would ever be able to find her. Masami wanted to apologize for abandoning Yui, her only friend besides Blue. Whether it was shame or just the fact that she was afraid to lose her friend, in the end the words never left her mouth. The only thing Masami could do was improve Yui's situation from this moment on.

Apologies mean nothing. Actions, however, do.

"Yui, did you see that new teacher?" Masami asked as the blonde girl wiped her cheeks dry and sat back against the neat, white tiles on the wall.

Yui looked up in surprise. "The woman with the blue braids?"

"Yes," Masami said. "She is the one that helped me. When I ran away, I mean. The thing is, she's damn strong, so if one of those pricks bother you at school, go to her. They won't touch you while you're near her."

Masami couldn't confirm this was true, but considering no one had bothered her while she was near Blue, said enough.

"…Masami, I don't understand. Who is this woman? Are they afraid of her?"

"…She's my friend. And I think they are, in any case, we'll find out soon enough."

Speaking of the devil, there and then the door was pushed open with a foot covered in bedazzled sandals, the sound of dangling silver bracelets following the movement.

"Kid," Blue managed to bring out as calmly as possible after seeing Yui, "I mean, ladies…There are activities planned and the whole school is already downstairs."

"Oh! That's right, that's why I came to get you, Masami-chan!"

"Because you're late, both of you will do the dishes later this evening," Blue continued. Before Masami could protest, Blue shushed her.

Not wanting to waste any more time, Yui quickly collected Masami's dirty clothes and ran off to drop them in Masami's room and also offered to grab their backpacks. Masami walked behind her, until Blue stopped her. "I didn't expect there to be this many of them here. How in damnation did you get into all this trouble?!" Blue angrily poked a finger at Masami's nose, barely touching her though. All Masami could do was shrug and give a small, apologetic smile.

"Sorry for the wait," Yui said as she rushed back. They grabbed their backpacks and walked back downstairs, with Blue a few paces ahead of them. Then Blue went to help a few fellow teachers, while the two girls waited on the porch. The other students were gathered in front of them, on the square in front of the building.

When Blue was completely out of sight, Yui carefully pulled Masami by the sleeve. "Masami this fell out of your pocket." The girl handed Masami the envelope that Masami had gotten from the suspicious Cabbage man. "I didn't open it," Yui assured her.

Masami turned the envelope, stroking the blue wax seal with her thumb. "I almost forgot about this," Masami replied, giving Yui a thankful smile.

'A spark to return memories' Richter had called it.

His joker.

Masami was more frightened than curious about the content of the envelope. But remembering the promises she had made to herself, her mission and the thought of stopping the never-ending stream of nightmares, she knew that she couldn't afford to be afraid.

So, immediately, Masami opened the envelope, and grabbed out the content.

It was a single photograph, very old school. On that photo Masami saw herself smiling next to Ayano, who was holding a little girl of around three. There was a man on the photo as well. He stood right next to Ayano, with his hand on her shoulder and a bright smile on his face. They were standing next to what seemed to be a willow, somewhere in a park. Masami had seen enough movies to know that the dresses were typical 1950's American fashion. Masami looked at herself for a while, seeing her sad smile, along with unusual long hair and bangs that went beyond her eyes. The longer she looked the bigger of a headache the picture was giving her.

Was she remembering something?

Masami gave Yui a quick glance at the photo, who gasped upon seeing Masami.

"I've never seen you like this!" Yui said. "Look! At the back, there's something written…" Yui gave the picture back to Masami, who read what the back said.

My family, a gift that no one can take from me.

1954

Masami stuffed the picture in a small, hidden pocket of her backpack and rubbed her temples, as if that would help lift the headache.

Yui tugged Masami's sleeve again. "I have to go, they might come looking for me if I stay away too long," Yui said, her voice low and sad. "I don't want them to run into you."

"Oh no, are they angry with me?"

"A…little bit. Please be careful, Masami-chan," Yui said, grabbing Masami by her hand.

"You be careful too."

Masami had her hood pulled over her head as usual, to protect herself from the blaring sun as well as to conserve her identity as the school thug, which was for some reason what other students had called her behind her back.

Me? A THUG?

They also seemed to call her the homeless-looking girl (or short, just hobo girl), which was a nickname she was not ready to acknowledge. She knew she didn't look a hundred percent all the time, but come on, they had to cut her some slack, right?

At a teacher's signal, everyone was supposed to meet up with their teammates. Students could switch teams but only one person was allowed to switch out of the team. The whole ordeal wasn't as chaotic as Masami had expected, but still a bit overwhelmed by the crowd and all the different students running round and about, Masami made sure she stood well out of sight, keeping a discrete eye out for certain individuals after Yui had left.

Blue then walked over again. She stood next to Masami, pretending to read the notes on the schedule she was holding, occasionally flicking through the pages.

"Explain," Blue said, still looking at her notes, "how in the hell did you get in trouble with one of the most notorious vampire families in existence?"

Masami gaped ahead of herself, repeating the question in her head, looking for the most logical answer.

"I'm a pretty unlucky person."

"Shit kid, this isn't a joke," Blue said, sighing. "If you ain't telling me, then I ain't helping you, just for your information."

"Sorry." Masami kicked a pebble stone with the tip of her shoe, sighing deeply. "I have no idea why I'm with them. My so-called sister dropped me off and left me there without any information. Everyone here seems to want something from me, and everyone seems to know who I am better than I do. I'm going to try and figure out this mess, though."

Blue turned her head, pulled down her sunglasses to the tip of her nose and gave Masami the most judgmental stare in existence.

"I'm really going to figure it out! Jesus, Blue. I promise."

Blue turned her head again, schussing Masami for being too loud.

"You can't do it alone, not even with my help. With that mouth of yours I'm surprised they haven't shredded you to pieces like those crocodiles do on the National Geographic channel."

They did, though. Masami had entered Blue's shop in a condition of which Masami would rather not think about.

"I have some allies; I mean potential allies. They seem to know the most about me and they hate the Sakamakis," Masami said slowly. The word 'allies' certainly left a bad aftertaste in her mouth.

"Are you talking about the whiny blonde boy, mister 'my dad will hear about this', the mummy and Shrek? Because if yes, I think that is going to be a horrible idea."

"I need them on my side!" Masami said, trying her hardest not to burst out in laughter. How were Blue's nicknames for them even more accurate than her own versions?

"None of those guys will give you information for free," Blue said. "Unless you're prepared to give them what they want."

"I am not a prostitute."

Blue pushed her sunglasses back onto the bridge of her nose. "Your words, not mine."

Masami stuck her tongue out for a second, knowing that of course, that wasn't what Blue had meant. Blue was talking about a lot worse. "Aren't they afraid of you?" Masami asked to change the subject.

"I am absolutely not going to get involved in this mess," Blue hissed quietly.

"Aren't you already involved? I thought you got attached to me?" Saying that always managed to drive Blue on edge.

"Stay in your lane, kiddo. And please, student number 203, go join your respective team."

Masami grinned broadly. "What's my team though?"

"Team twelve." Blue checked something off her list, then turned to Masami again. "Get that clown smile of your face, and go kick some ass."

"Ass kicking is my field of expertise," Masami laughed. "And if I die, weep for me."

"Oh, hell no."

Groups consisted of six to ten teams of four people, and each day, teams rotated between groups in a random order, so that everyone had a chance of being in contact with people they might have never seen or talked to. The teams were, after a lot of switches, set. Those were the people you were going to be hanging out with for the whole week. On Thursday evening, the date where the school party was organized, a prize would be given to the best team.

Team twelve, right?

Masami urged herself not to be too nervous, and walked over to a student, asking if they knew where she could find her team. They were helpful enough, and pointed her into the right direction. From what she could tell, her team consisted of ordinary students she'd never seen before.

"Mi-chan!"

Hearing this doomed nickname, Masami started walking faster, until she remembered that she had to become allies with these people. So instead of continuing her fast-paced walk, she halted and turned. As expected, Goldilocks was walking right after her, waving at her with that Cheshire smile planted on his face.

Masami was still angry with him, so she did not return the wave, though she did put effort into keeping her face from frowning.

"Seems like you missed me," Masami said as he approached. "What's up?"

"Of course I did Mi-chan! You've been away for ages without letting us know anything," he said, dramatic as ever and shaking her shoulder like she was an old friend. "After all that happened to Ruki, we…We were so worried!"

Masami had no idea what he was talking about. What had happened to Ruki?

"I was on house arrest."

Kou lifted a brow. "What do you mean? They just locked you up? What do they want from you?" came the flood of questions, not allowing Masami to answer any properly. Kou also seemed unusually agitated, suddenly grasping her a lot tighter by the shoulder. She had seen glimpses of this side of Kou, but now she'd gotten a bit more than a glimpse. He seemed a bit irritable, though not nowhere as bad as Eyebags usually was.

"I think I should go join my team now," Masami said, patting the hand on her shoulder to discretely let him know that she did not want that hand on her shoulder.

"Right!" Kou laughed, his mood making yet again a 360 degree turn. Now he put his arm around Masami's shoulder, pulling her closer to him. The familiarity in how he talked and behaved around her was truly overwhelming.

He completely misunderstood my signal!

"I wanted to ask you to switch with someone from my team, so that we can be together in one team!"

Masami was internally struggling between being in a team with this thief, at the same time working on an alliance and torturing herself mentally during the whole ordeal, or to just dump him to save her from a nerve-racking experience.

"Come on, it'll be fun!" he laughed.

"Yeah, okay. Sounds good," Masami replied while keeping in mind that for discovering the truth, she would have to step out of her comfort zone.

Brace yourself, Masami.

Upon hearing her answer, Goldilocks removed his arm and faced her, so that she could see the radiant ear-to-ear smile on his face.

"Calm down that clown smile," Masami joked, which naturally led to the boy laughing out loud at her overly dry response. A few heads turned at the sight of the most popular boy at school talking to the hobo girl. Another thing to brace herself for. On their way to his team, he fawned over her new hair color, said he'd take her out shopping again (I don't think so!) and mentioned something about backstage tickets to his next concert.

The team consisted of Goldilocks, Rocky (who, she greeted with a nod, which he returned after an intense stare that lasted way too long) and some other girl that Masami didn't know. For a split second, Masami could've sworn that the girl had given her the stink eye, though it could've just been her imagination toying with her. The girl immediately went over to stand next to Goldilocks, while Masami stood at a distance, checking out the other teams that were part of their group.

A bit further Masami spotted Bandage man. From what she remembered, she knew he was a bit weird (okay, understatement, he had cut himself in front of her) but that put aside, he was okay. At first he hadn't noticed her, but when he did, he seemed to light up like a candle. She signed a peace sign in his direction, earning a soft smile from him in return. Masami had to admit that she'd rather be with him in a team. Out of all of them, he seemed the easiest to get along with. Though in the end, Masami had to pry as much information from these vampires as possible, and that she could only do if she was friendly with all of them.

Bandage was in a team with Ponytail, who currently had his back turned towards Masami, so he hadn't seen her yet. Good, because Masami wasn't up for drama right now. Turning around, Masami made straight eye contact with Shoe, who leaned against the nearest tree, earpods plugged into his ears as usual. He didn't seem particularly surprised to see her, but there was something off about the way he looked at her. Masami let her gaze wander off, pretending she hadn't seen him and then turned around to stare at the grass in front of her, not wanting to look around for any other Sakamaki brothers.

The situation with Shoe was particularly awkward. The day she ran away from the Sakamaki mansion, Shoe had been her babysitter. Masami wondered whether he looked at her like that because he got into trouble because she ran away, or whether he was just surprised that she'd returned alive.

Maybe both.

It was around nine in the morning, and the first activity was about to begin. It was simple; the teams would have to follow a map to a certain place, while answering a few questions about the environment and history of the island. Along the way there were 'flag posts' where the student could get hints to answer the questions correctly. The answers would be graded, so it was important to answer them correctly. Overall it was an easy activity to start the morning with. Wilder things would follow later, apparently. Why else would they tell the students to pack extra clothes and shoes in their backpacks?

In case of emergency, everyone got the number of the front desk of the hotel, so that when in need, they could call for help.

I would love to call for help.

IF I STILL HAD MY PHONE!

Masami walked behind Ruki, while Kou walked with the girl, who for some reason, couldn't stop talking to him. Every time Kou tried to talk to Masami, the girl managed to pull him back to her with questions and compliments. Masami didn't attempt to meddle in their conversation, so she kept her distance. At some point, Ruki slowed down, and ended up walking next to Masami. He wrote some things down as they walked, leaving a rather comfortable silence between the two of them.

"I wanted to talk to you about something," Ruki said when the distance between them and the others was large enough for them not to overhear the conversation.

"Hmm? Me?" Masami said, slightly lifting an eyebrow. "Sure, what is it?"

"What's the last thing you remember from the time you were with us?" Ruki folded the map and let his fingers slide over the edges of the paper, anticipating her answer.

"Ah, that." Masami frowned, forcing her brain to spit out any remaining memories she had from that time. "I don't even know if it happened, but I remember running in a forest. I remember falling and hitting my head. Afterwards I woke up in the Sakamaki house. Yui might have told them where I was."

Ruki was quiet for a few seconds. "And before that? Do you remember what made you run away?"

That was indeed a good question. Again, something she couldn't answer and yet again she had to give that basic answer that made her look so stupid and unknowing. "I don't remember."

It was like he had expected this answer, since he immediately continued his interrogation. "Did something scare you?"

Masami had nearly stopped walking. Yes, she had been scared, but there was no way she was going to tell him. "You know what happened and I don't. Instead of asking me questions I can't answer, why don't you just tell me what happened?" The words poured out of her mouth, and it was already too late to take them back. "Just a suggestion, though."

Ruki was a bit taken aback by the sudden preaching, and yet amazed at how similar, though at the same time so different this person was to the person he had once known. He saw her as a small candlelight, that at unusual times, burned brightly like she used to. Though at many times, she seemed to be on the verge of going out. It was as if every time he saw her, the light grew fainter and fainter. He wondered, in all secrecy, whether there was a way to make her remember. A way to make that light bright again. He damned himself for thinking about such things, when he was supposed to work on his mission for him. Yet instead, he didn't have his mind on Eve, like he was supposed to. No, he thought about the girl next to him. It was regret that made him think about her. He knew this fact and he hated it.

"I do know what happened. Whether you'll like what you're about to hear is something entirely different."

"It can't be that bad, can it?"

Ruki faintly smiled at that. "Very well. That evening, you were standing in our hallway, all on your own with a knife pointed at your own heart."

"What the heck."

Ruki casually opened the map again, checking whether they were going into the right direction. "I found you like that. I tried to wake you from whatever daze you were in. You then stabbed me and ran. That's what happened."

Masami laughed. "Yeah, right," Masami said. "Even I don't believe that kind of stories. Nice try though."

"It's all up to you whether you believe me or not."

Masami frowned. Was he telling the truth? "Let's say, hypothetically, that I believe you. Why would I want to stab you? Or myself?"

Ruki sighed. "I don't hold all the answers to your problems."

"Wow, okay," Masami said while holding a hand up as if she were surrendering. "Sorry for overestimating you."

"Careful, now. I'm not as tolerant of your behavior as the others," Ruki said, though he had smiled slightly which made it seem less of a threat.

"Sure," Masami responded. "If that makes you feel better."

Apparently, they were the first ones to arrive. All the other teams had either gotten lost, were fighting over answers or both. Their destination was the Miyanoura river. Their group of teams would join another group to participate in this activity.

Which was, by the way, a raft race.

A horrible idea by default.

Building your own boat with tires and rope? Actually using said boats?

As they waited for the other teams to arrive, Ruki and Masami went over their answers for the questions, which Ruki had filled out by himself. It was obviously going to be a perfect grade. He took the time to explain a few of his answers, and even gave more background information considering the culture and cuisine of the island. Masami learned that he was a fervent reader and that he had read a few traveling guides on the way to the island. Upon confessing that she did not like to read, Ruki told her that books were like movies, and that if you looked hard enough, there was always something out there for everyone.

Masami could tell that Ruki was the clever type of person, the one that saw power in knowledge. She also knew that he was not someone to mess with, and that with him, she had to be extra careful. Surprisingly enough, he wasn't as intimidating to talk to as she had expected. Maybe it was just because he was in a good mood, or something. Who knew.

Kou seemed a lot less pleased when he joined them.

"You guys just ditched me!" he said as he walked towards them, carrying the usual air of drama.

"You seemed to be busy," said Ruki matter-of-factly, as he leaned against the railing of the bridge.

"Fans always keep me busy. Even when I don't want them to," Kou sighed. "Don't worry Mi-chan, I haven't forgotten you."

"Nah, I'm fine."

"Come on!"

There was some back and ford joking and teasing between the two, mostly Masami winning with lowkey snarky remarks. This continued, until slowly, the stream of students filled the bridge.

Being the most valuable team member, if she had to say so herself, Masami had gotten up to deliver their task, while the others went to look for Ponytail and Bandage. As she walked back, Masami saw a fedora hat and a bright red head of hair somewhere in the distance of the small crowd, and then decided to make a 180 degree turn to avoid them completely.

Walking fast, she tried to make her way back to her team. Masami tripped once, almost falling, then tripped a second time, again nearly falling. Because of her cursing, she hadn't noticed that she had tripped over an actual person

"Nearly fell onto me again," came the voice from behind her. "Troublesome woman."

Shoe lifted his chin slightly, as he sat in the shade of the tree behind him. He looked lazily at her from the corners of his eyes, not giving away a hint of anger for the whole running away ordeal. But there was an air of tension that any outsider could sense from miles away.

Masami withheld herself from saying anything that could be considered incredibly stupid, and decided, after this awkward staring situation, to just turn and walk away like the complete suicidal donkey that she was.

It wasn't all that bad of an idea, because out of all people, Masami knew that he wouldn't follow her.

Masami joined Kou and Ruki again, who already started grabbing tires and rope for the build of their raft, while other teams were still organizing themselves. Kou asked where Masami had been, and Masami just told him she'd been held up. He didn't question her any further than that, so they left the topic as it was.

Being the most valuable teammate, Masami grabbed one of those large balloon tires as well, and followed Kou. As she pushed, a girl behind her bumped into Masami's shoulder. It was the girl from her own team. She smiled, sweetly, and then moved along to join Kou.

It wouldn't have been a big deal if one, the girl hadn't pushed like she was racing to get the last piece of pizza. And of course, reason two, Masami already had a lot of pain in the shoulder blade area lately. It always hurt, though now she was more aware that it was hurting badly.

Thanks a lot.

But oh, well. There's no cure for being an asshole.

"What is her problem?" said Ponytail, holding two tires under his arms with ease.

The damn giant had nearly scared her with his sudden appearance. Playing it coolly, Masami looked up and shrugged. "She's just a hopeless cretin."

Much to her own surprise, Ponytail loudly laughed at her joke. She didn't think that she'd heard him laugh before. He was obviously loud in everything he did, but his laugh seemed so childish that it almost felt like he was just twelve years old.

"Ya damn right she is!"

"You get it completely," she said approvingly. Masami then nodded at the tires under his arms. "Looks like you can't wait to start building. Great enthusiasm and participation, Ponytail."

At that Ponytail scoffed. "Ha? Why do you think I want to be here? I have better things to do than building a garbage boat."

"Like?"

He gave her a look as if she'd just asked the most stupid question. "Taking care of my garden, for example?"

"Oooh…" Masami said dramatically, like she was too stupid to understand. "Right. I forgot. It's because I still don't see you as the gardening type of guy."

At that, Ponytail lifted a brow. "What? What do you mean with that?"

"Well, you're a jerk. Gardening isn't a typical jerk activity."

"Ha! What kind of bullshit is that?!" Ponytail said, slightly aggravated. "Then what are you? I can barely tell you're a girl. You should at least try to look like you care."

How does the way I look even correlate with what we are talking about?

Anyway, welcome to World War III, children.

Masami laughed. "You're giving me beauty tips? Do you even own a mirror? Honestly, you're God's most hideous creature since the existence of aardvarks."

"You have some guts comparing me to a fucking aardvark." At this point of the conversation, Ponytail had dropped the tires against the railing of the bridge and people had turned to watch the spectacle of dumb and dumber fighting yet again. Apparently, they hadn't forgotten the time that Masami had kicking him in his delicate area, and they were hungry for more drama.

"True, I shouldn't have done that," Masami said. "It's an insult to aardvarks."

And in that moment, Masami knew she'd fucked up.

Then everything went into slow motion: Masami being picked up by Ponytail, while she kicked and cursed at him, before being flung over the railing, right into the water. Teachers ran over, students gasped and yelled and cheered.

Complete chaos erupted.

Once out of the water, Masami saw Ponytail getting scolded by at least three teachers from out of the corners of her eyes. She didn't look at him, because she could tell he was staring at her. Instead she turned her back and accepted a towel and a clean sweater from Yui, who had apparently sprinted to get these out of Masami's backpack. Masami accepted these without too much drama, and even winked at Yui just to ease the concern out of the girl.

She then immediately pealed the heavy, wet sweater she was wearing off, throwing the towel over her shoulders instead. Luckily, the tank top Masami was wearing under her clothes was black, so nothing was showing through. Instead she just sat on the spot where they were building their raft, and gazed into the abyss like she was planning for a murder.

Just the usual Hobo girl shenanigans.

When the drama had died out, everyone went back to building. Meanwhile Masami sat back against the railing, with the towel now on her head, waiting for her hair and clothes to dry. Her shoes were lying near her backpack, drying as well. Kou eyed her several times while he was building the raft. He looked at her in a strange way, like he had seen an actual ghost. Finally, Masami gave him a questionable look, and he just smiled in return, turning back into his virtuous and happy self.

Masami eventually decided to help build the raft with Kou and their other teammate. Her name was apparently Kiko. She was a pretty girl that didn't look all too pretty whenever she gave Masami the damn stink eye. Masami would keep calling her a cretin in her head, since that was the most accurate way to describe this girl.

Kiko who?

In any case, after a while Ruki came to join them as well. Kou and Masami immediately noticed he was on edge, while Cretin didn't seem to sense the change of vibe.

Ruki sat next to Masami and held the rope, so she could tie it easily. They did this several times, until he spoke up. "Do not anger him like that again. He might look like your usual hothead, but I can assure you that he's nothing like that," Ruki said. Masami pulled onto the rope again, putting in a second knot.

"He tolerated a lot from you, but there's always a limit. Don't think that getting swung into a river is the worst that he can do," Ruki said as he took the rope from her hands. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yes," Masami said, finally.

Ruki nodded, not fully convinced that she meant what she said, but he was completely worn out after talking with Yuma. He had wanted to talk with Yuma about his actions and his behavior towards Masami, and most of all, the attention he was drawing from the students and the Sakamakis. However, the only thing Yuma could talk about was the apparent scars on the shoulder of the girl. Yuma had seen them when she had taken off her sweater, while standing with her back towards him. Ruki could see them too, now. The low cut of her shirt in the back and the thin straps allowed him to see scars crawling up from down her left shoulder blade. It wasn't too noticeable, they seemed like just a few large dents in her shoulder.

But Ruki, as well as Yuma, knew that only a gun could make scars like those.

Run.

Run.

Run.

The fresh air, the trees, the sky, the wind. Freedom. It was all we had wanted, and finally we were so close, so close. The only thing we had to do was run.

But I made a mistake. They found out we are escaping, and for every step we take, they take seven more. The feeling that we would get caught, that we would have to go back there… It wouldn't leave me. I felt desperation and fear growing inside me, swallowing up every inch of hope I had to make it out alive. But I had to bear with it, because we had come so far and I couldn't disappoint them.

Most of all, I couldn't disappoint her.

That's why we had urged her to leave us behind, to run for her live. Out of all of us, she hadn't been outside those walls even once in her life, and without even discussing it, we all wanted her to have a chance outside that hellhole. And I knew that she would survive it out there. She was strong enough, and she was kind. She would be able to make a life for herself.

And I, no, we all, wanted to give that to her. In return for the friendship she had given us when we needed it most.

After Masami was out of sight, each of us ran in pairs into different directions. Azusa and me, and Yuma and Kou.

We all got caught eventually. Before I was taken away to be punished separately, I heard about her death. Yuma had been hysteric; shouting and screaming and cursing, as he completely ignored the pain of the shot wounds he had received. Kou on the other hand, had his hands in his hair, nearly pulling everything out. His good eye was wet with tears, washing away the blood on his face. Azusa was crying quietly, making himself so small you barely knew he was there, if it weren't for the pool of blood he was sitting in.

She had been shot multiple times in the shoulder. The guard in question had thought that wouldn't be lethal, as he was saying while we waited in our cell. He had chased her after she'd thrown a rock at him while confronting the other girl. The guard sighed heavily, saying he'd get into real trouble, because 'the girl' was auctioned off for today. He continued to say that he didn't want to carry that bleeding brat all the way back, when he noticed the damage he'd done. The guard had enough trouble with the other two, Kou and Yuma, and said he'd clean up the corpse later.

He had left her to die.

He had left her to bleed out like cattle.

And it was all my fault.

For the years to come, after we were saved by him, I still couldn't stop the nightmares from making me remember my past. And I knew my brothers had the exact same problem. Eventually, we made ourselves forget about our pasts, and her, though it was impossible to completely erase a scar of that caliber.

She was dead and there was nothing I could do about it. I've been branded like cattle to make sure I wouldn't forget.

SOOO that's the end of the chapter. It's split in parts as you can see lol otherwise it'll get waaaay too long.

As usual some commentary/announcements:

• NEW POLL! On the other poll I have like the same amount of votes for 5 guys lmfao. Check out my profile and vote for the guy you want to see more of in this fic!

• Obviously, the Mukamis are a LOT more tolerant of Masami's behaviour, but it was only a matter of time before they'd run out of tolerance and patience. Also, they're all pretty much freaking out because now they have actual proof that this is the real Masami and not some fake (Azusa saw them and Kou saw them as well, hence the weird look he gave Masami). Masami herself doesn't really think a lot about the scars, she doesn't even know where they come from. She just thinks she was born with them lol.

• ALSO this is a trip centered around teamwork, so the teachers might want to put the fighting bulls together in one team in order to help them get more friendly...hMMMMM WHO KNOWS.

• The picture? Ayano and her family, and Masami looking disheveled as always. Spoiler alert: Masami will get a memory spark... in the form of a nightmare.

• Where is Snowflake? Subaru is in another group right now, but he'll be back next chapter lol. There will be more Sakamaki boys next chapter.

• What can I say about the raft race? One word: CHAOS. Who even allowed this lmfao

• Also shoot out to Yui, an actual angel.

• (might update this list with comments)

SEXY REVIEWS/FOLLOWS/FAVS ARE APPRECIATED.

Also wanted to shortly mention that urging me to update, especially when you blame me for not updating, doesn't actually make me update faster. There's no issue with asking when I'll update, don't worry about that, but please be polite.