DAY ONE ; 7:32 A.M.
Makoto Naegi was eating with Mioda when Hinata tossed a bag at him. "We're heading out," he said. "I don't want to be anywhere near J3 when the time comes. We should try and meet up with Kirigiri and Nanami."
"Kyouko-chan and Chiaki-chan are fun," Mioda said. "Ibuki likes them. Let's go!"
Naegi nodded and swallowed the last bite. Mioda kept chattering as they moved out.
"I wonder when the love declarations will start!"
"This is hardly the time for that," Hinata said. "We need to try and find a way out of this."
"There's a way out of this?"
"There has to be," Hinata said. He touched the collar at his neck almost reverently. "We need to find people like Souda and Fujisaki, too, the ones who know stuff like this. They have to be able to turn them off or something like that."
"Ibuki can sing."
"Please don't sing."
They traveled like that for a while, Mioda's enthusiasm undeterred.
Naegi saw the tripwire a second too late. "Hinata-kun, watch-"
Hinata glanced back at him just before an arrow buried itself in his leg. He dropped to one knee almost reflexively, staring down. Mioda shrieked.
"Please!" Naegi said. "Whoever it is, we don't want to hurt you!"
"Someone shot me," Hinata said. "And Mioda's giving me a headache."
"Mioda-san, please stop," Naegi said, though he was very much trying not to look at Hinata's leg. "Please… come out here. We can try and find a way out together."
His voice sounded weak, but he couldn't believe that one of his classmates would try and straight-up murder Hinata. Maybe they hadn't seen it was him. Maybe they'd thought it was… someone… someone else.
"Naegi-san."
It was Sonia Nevermind.
She dropped down from the tree lightly, crossbow in one hand. She kept it trained on him as she advanced. "You truly mean it?" she asked. Naegi swallowed and nodded. "It is you, Hinata-san, and Mioda-san?"
"Y-yeah," Naegi said. "We're trying to find a few others, but-"
"Who?" Sonia asked, jerking the crossbow up. Naegi backed up a few paces, hands up defensively. It was Hinata who answered.
"Kirigiri, Nanami, Fujisaki, and Souda," he said, teeth clenched against the pain. Sonia seemed to consider it.
"I would much prefer to not run into Souda-san in a situation like this," she said. Still, she let the crossbow drop. "The three of you seem to be good company, however. I apologize for hurting you, Hinata-san."
Hinata swallowed and nodded. Sonia turned – Naegi noticed the alterations she'd made to herself, hair tied back into a low ponytail and jacket off, presumably in her bag – and knelt beside him.
"I will administer first aid," Sonia said. "You may want to cover his mouth, Naegi-san, as he will probably shout."
"What the-" Naegi put a hand over Hinata's mouth and Sonia pulled out the arrow with one quick yank. Hinata let out a muffled shriek.
"Mioda-san. Rip up my jacket," Sonia said. Mioda, strangely subdued, did as she asked. Sonia wrapped up Hinata's leg. "That will have to do until we get to a better place to stay. There is a lighthouse at C10. It would be a good place to set up camp."
"Yeah," Naegi said. He was fully supporting Hinata at this point, the other boy having lost any motivation to support himself. He stood up and slung Hinata's arm over his shoulder. "That sounds like a good idea."
"Ibuki agrees," Mioda said. She jabbed out at nothing with her fork. "And Ibuki can take care of any bad guys with the power of good table manners!"
"That sounds perfect, Mioda-san," Sonia said. She slung her bag back over her shoulder.
"I can take that," Naegi said. Sonia looked back at him. "I mean, you're really protecting us. You should focus on that."
"You are carrying Hinata-san."
"Put the bag on him," Naegi said, shrugging. Sonia nodded.
"What a fantastic idea!" she said. She seemed to be reverting back to her normal self, though she still glanced around nervously often. "I must apologize for my behavior… a few of our classmates are playing, most notabely Fukawa-san and Togami-san. I saw her kill Hagakure-san and Togami-san was following her. I was not sure how many others were… Tanaka-san is dead, and I am unsure who killed him."
"It would be better if they would tell us who killed who," Naegi said. "But I guess that would make people avoid each other."
"Exactly," Sonia said, sighing. "Either way, let us continue on our journey! Perhaps we can pick up a few more people on the way!"
29 STUDENTS REMAINING