Nagisa woke the next morning with his cheek pressed against the cold floor underneath, muscles already aching and complaining for spending the night on the ground. Stifling a yawn, he rolled over onto his other side and came face to face with Haru's sleeping face. A small smile formed on his face as he reached out and touched the silky black ears attached to his head. The ears flicked when touched, but the contact did not wake the boy. Rolling back over onto his back, the young blond yawned and stretched his arms up towards the ceiling before finally lifting his body into a sitting position.

When he was finally awake he would remember what had happened the night before, and quickly turned around to look for Rin. The large teen was still laying on the ground sleeping, drool coming from one side of his open mouth. After the redhead had jumped his kouhai, the rest of the boys had led Ai into the bedroom so he could have privacy to get over the shock of what had happened. The rest of them had unwillingly fallen asleep soon after, still strewn about the cabin where they had been sitting before sleep overtook them.

Nagisa had fallen asleep on the ground beside Haru, close to the sofas and far away from the red wolf. Rei was sprawled out on the sofa beside them, while Makoto was on the opposite sofa still in a sitting position with his arms crossed on the arm rest and head nestled between them. What a strange turn of events, the shorter boy thought to himself, glancing over at the game that currently lay abandoned beside Rin.

But no matter what happened, the four of them - Haru, Makoto, Nagisa, and Rei - had all agreed last night that they would have to proceed with the game in order to escape whatever reality this was that they were currently stuck in.

A shallow breath came from across the room as the olive-haired teen slowly raised his head and ran his hand across the back of his neck, bleary green eyes slowly opening as he woke up. Noticing Nagisa was awake, he gave him a small smile before stretching his muscles and rousing himself enough to stand up.

"Guess I'll make us some food," he murmured softly and as if on cue the blue eyed, raven-haired boy beside Nagisa woke with a start. Stretching his body in a very cat-like manner, he got up without a word and headed towards his childhood friend to help cook the remaining mackerel that was inside the ice box.

Seeing not much else for him to do, Nagisa roused himself as well before he headed to the cabin entrance. Opening the door, he stepped out into the welcoming morning air. The sun warmed up his chilled body, the sweet scents of the wild forest greeting his animal senses and bathing him in a sense of tranquility. He stayed outside until the food was ready to eat.

All the boys gathered in a circle around the bear skin rug to eat, though they could all feel the tension in the air. Ai had thankfully found another sweat shirt in the bedroom and had changed out of the clothes Rin had torn in his lustful rage. During the previous day he had always chosen to sit beside his swim captain, but today he sat opposite him between Nagisa and Rei. No one said anything on the matter, but the rosy pink cheeks of the Samezuka swimmer made it clear he was still thinking of last night. Rin as well made no comment, but he was turned to the side with his red gaze on the far wall, eating in silence.

Once they were done eating, Makoto sat up straighter and cleared his throat huskily so that he could get the attention of the rest of the boys.

"I think for the day we should leave the cabin," he spoke, his green eyes flickering between the surprised faces of the swimmers.

"Are you crazy? Who knows if that hunter is still out there," Rin snarled first, dragging his hand along the back of his head and ruffling his bed head.

"That's true, but that also means there's a greater chance of him stumbling across this cabin," Makoto replied calmly.

"I agree, it sounds most reasonable to leave," Rei murmured, pushing his red glasses up his face with ashen ears flicking back and forth atop his head. "As long as we can find our way back to spend the night, it would be most wise to keep moving."

"Agreed!" Nagisa chimed in, beaming a brilliant smile before turning his head towards the two boys to his left. "Haru-chan? Ai-chan?"

"If you guys want to," Haru muttered, still chewing on his fish, while Ai simply bowed his head and hid his blue eyes behind silver bangs.

With everyone else agreeing, Rin just snorted but eventually nodded his head in acceptance. They quickly cleaned up, Rei grabbing the game this time and Haru taking the dice along with him, before heading out of the cabin. They made sure the door was closed behind them before they took off into the woods once more. This time they walked at a slow and leisurely pace rather than racing through the forest. As well, they also made sure to purposely break bushes and overturn rocks as they went so they could find their way back for the night.

They didn't seem to have been walking for very long before the sound of rushing water greeted their ears, not long before they came across a large flowing river. The sight of water was a welcomed sight for the boys, but no one greeted it better than Haru, who immediately began to strip out of all his clothes before taking off towards the clear water.

"Haru!" Makoto cried in exasperation, reaching forwards to grab his friend but found himself just short of being able to grab his arm. Nagisa just watched, already used to seeing the teen strip at the first sign of water, before panic suddenly erupted in his mind. Wait, Haru's a cat now, right? Don't cats hate water?

His question was answered as Haru swiftly dove into the water, only to come flailing back to the surface with a surprised yowl. Makoto immediately jumped in after him, wrapping his arms underneath the muscular shoulders and pulling him back to shore. The stoic boy was clearly upset, his eyes glistening with desire as they looked back at the water. He had always believed that the water would attack when you dove in, but as long as you realized there was nothing to fear then you would be fine.

It seemed that his belief was coming back to bite him in the ass now. The moment the cool liquid had touched his body, he had felt instantly paralyzed with fear. His muscles refused to cooperate, and for the first time in his life he found himself unable to move at all in the water. It terrified him to go back into the water, but perhaps what was most terrifying was the thought of not being able to swim again.

Haru moved to jump back into the water and try again, but Makoto pulled him back with an iron grip this time and a frown on his face.

"Looks like this is one time you're going to have to resist the water, Haru," he murmured in a soft voice, clearly distraught by the pain going through Haru at that moment. They were distracted by a laugh that came close by them as Rin stepped towards the water, dragging his shirt and pants off and tossing them into the bushes, leaving him in only his boxers.

"Thankfully for me, canines love the water," he purred, flashing sharp teeth at his two friends before he dove into the water. He cut a handsome figure as he swam gracefully through the clear liquid, but Haru watched him in anguish. The mood was ruined that much more when Rin suddenly waved at Haru stranded on the bank and shouted, "Look at me, I only swim the dog paddle."

He was obsessed with beating Haru when it came to swimming, but even this was a low blow. "Rin-chan!" Nagisa huffed, annoyed at how insensitive Rin was being at that moment. All he got was another gruff howl of laughter before the red canine set to swimming once again, the despair still evident in Haru's blue eyes.

As much as they didn't want to hurt their friend, the rest of the boys all looked on with envy at Rin as he bathed himself in the glorious water. They had to restrain themselves from throwing themselves in after Rin and shuffled along the bank awkwardly.

"Go ahead," the black-haired boy muttered finally, resigning himself to sitting on the bank with his legs curled up and his head atop of his knees. The rest of the boys looked at one another before they too stripped and jumped into the water, Rei excluded of course, to enjoy the fresh relief that came from the swim. It brought back a small sense of their humanity, to be able to act like their real selves once again.

Eventually they would lift themselves from the water and gather around on the bank of the river, sitting atop both rocks and grass as they let themselves dry naturally. The game was set on the ground between them, the dice handed to Haru.

"We may as well continue the game, even if we're not at the cabin anymore," Makoto sighed, and the rest of them unconsciously tensed up. What if another card like the one last night came up? Before anyone could say anything, the black-haired boy had tossed the dice and revealed his two numbers: five and three. Once the cat was finished slinking along the ground the infamous card popped up. Haru didn't seem to want to take it however, so Makoto was forced to lean forward and grab the card to read.

"You go into heat."