Half an hour into the meal, Towa pitched forward violently and clutched her stomach, groaning.

"Towa!" Ibuki and Noa were the first to respond, jumping up in alarm. "Poison?!"

"Why did that have to be the first place your minds went?!" Towa complained through another groan as she wrapped her arms tighter around herself.

"Well, if you hadn't eaten so fast!" Noa shrilled. All around, the others pushed their plates aside, expressions ranging from disgust to fear.

"Can you see if you can find any medication?" Ibuki quickly took charge and looked Noa in the eye as they knelt beside Towa.

"What?!" Noa shrieked. No way in HELL I'm leaving Towa! Especially not right now! One of Ibuki's hands rested on one of Towa's shoulders, so Noa defiantly placed her hand on Towa's other shoulder. For a moment, Ibuki was surprised by such direct confrontation.

No, wait. Of course, it's Towa! Ibuki smiled sadly at the Ultimate Theater Actress. You love her, even if you love pretending you don't.

It was also Saki. None of them would ever forget what happened the last time their unit split up… What if something happened while Noa was gone?

"You're the only one who might know what she needs!" Ibuki whispered, pleading. She had no way of verifying how accurate her words actually were, but it was no secret that Noa was one of the brightest students of the class. She was the Ultimate Theater Actress, so literature, language, and writing came naturally and easily to her, but even math and science could get her excited. If there was anyone who might've known medications…

Noa's eyes widened at the reminder. Of course! I'm not a nurse, but… Who else did they have? It was clear she was still reluctant to leave Towa's side, but she could not deny that her leader had a point. She was the most likely to be able to help Towa… With one last helpless sigh, she stood up and took off running towards the academy. If only I had Ibuki's Talent! Even a fraction of her speed would be nice!

The others stayed behind, looking amongst themselves worriedly, wondering who was going to be next…

"Oh, crap! I'm so, so sorry!" Maho panicked, clutching the sides of her head as Ibuki rubbed Towa's back and held her close.

"We don't know if it's your fault yet," Ibuki replied grimly, then she addressed Towa. "You doing ok, Towa?"

"I… I don't know…" Towa admitted through clenched teeth. This isn't like anything I've EVER felt before, good or bad, food poisoning or normal poisoning! Not that she knew what normal poisoning felt like. Oh, mannnn, what if I'm the next one to die?!

"Ohhhh no… I think it's my turn now!" Rinku was the next to double over, clutching her stomach.

"Ope, yep, happenin' over here too!" Rika waved, falling flat on her rear. "Belly up! Belly up!" she cried, half-joking and half-serious.

Towa could only stare into the hypnotic, flickering flames, ignoring how dry her face and eyes were becoming. Somewhere in the distance, sounding as if she was underwater, Towa could hear Ibuki… shouting at her…

"Towa! You idiot! How many times have I told you not to eat so much so fast?! Honestly! It's like having to look after a child sometimes! You can just be so fucking immature and embarrassing to be around!"

"Ibuki…?!" Towa muttered, rearing back. N-no… this has to be some type of hallucination. There's no WAY the real Ibuki would ever talk like that! Especially in front of everyone else! Speaking of… oh no… What if this wasn't even just normal poison?! What if it's… the next motive?!

The moment the thought crossed Towa's mind, Ibuki started shouting again. Towa managed to stagger to her feet. "I have to warn them…!" she muttered, trying to ground herself. "E-e-everyone! R-run! RUN!" she cried, waving her arms frantically, praying that it wasn't too late. "Hallucinations! Ibuki's… mad at me…" The blue-haired girl turned to her much taller, stronger, faster leader, stomach churning.

"TOWA!" Ibuki sounded furious at Towa's audacity in calling her out like that. Towa finally succumbed to her paranoia and ran, fleeing the campsite and racing towards the forest without a second—or even a first—thought. "Towa?! TOWAAAA!"

Ohhh, man, ohmanohmanohman! What do I do?! What do I DO?! Towa panicked. Part of her brain berated her for running away. She couldn't outrun anyone, let alone Ibuki! But the other part of her brain only pushed her on even faster and faster. What if they kill me? What if they all decide to gang up on me and agree to kill me just to buy themselves some extra time?!

The cruel irony was that while Towa feared the others were scheming against her together, they were each lost in their own delusions and hallucinations, every bit as paranoid and terrified of each other as Towa was of them.

Rika was flat on her ass, also staring unseeingly into the flames. Awww, damn it… I did it again, didn't I? Tried to make things fun for everyone and fucked it all up. It was that… god damn "hero complex" of hers, or whatever, always wanting to be the White Knight, the super hero, the main character. But at best, she was a nuisance extra. If she was actually of use to anyone there wouldn't be so much tragedy in her past…

Tsubaki flickered in her mind's eye, and a little boy with hair just like her own. Oh… you guys… I'm so sorry… They were far from her only two failures, she just considered them some of her most monumental. They were the ones that haunted her most, the epitome—in her opinion—of all her other failures combined. And then suddenly, she was aware of Saori poking her arm.

N-no…! Rika flinched away from her, physically revulsed by her touch. "I'm fine, Saori, jeez!" she snapped. "Leave me alone, will ya?!"

"S-s-sorry! Sorry, sorry, sorry! Sorry!" Saori fell away from her, waving her hands desperately. Oh, God, I'm such an idiot! Why did I think that would be a good idea?! Of course Rika wouldn't want someone as gross and ugly and stupid and cynical as ME trying to comfort her…

It was a strange, slow torture, every student acutely aware that their classmates' sanities were slipping, yet they were always unaware when their own was the next to go. There was no confirmation, but the quickest theory to take hold was that something in the exotic mushrooms Rinku found earlier had infected the rest of Maho's stew and done this to all of them.

Those who ate less of the stew than others were at an advantage, but it wasn't much. Someone was just as drowned in a foot of water as they would be in a mile of water. The truly frightening thing, the night was only just beginning.

ooo

The students took flight from the campsite, sometimes alone and sometimes in small clusters. When Shinobu snapped, things really heated up because she grabbed a knife lying forgotten beneath the cooking pot.

"Shinobu! NO!" Kyoko hopped up and sprinted after the Ultimate Gamer without a thought.

"Kyoko!" Yuka went after her leader while Esora desperately shot her hand out towards Rei, but Rei lurched away from her and everyone else that tried to get close, even her own unit-mates. Before long, they went running into the darkness as well.

Only Rika was able to even slightly come to her sense, digging her fingers into the log upon which she'd sat during dinner. The roughness of the bark cut into her hands and brought her back to life.

We gotta get to the dorm, and then we just gotta SIT THERE AND STAY THERE until whatever the heck this stuff is wears off! It wasn't the most elegant or sophisticated of plans, but Rika felt lucky that she was able to think of it at all before the mushrooms clouded her mind too.

"Come on, you guys!" The Ultimate Volleyballer finally forced herself to her feet, reaching out to grab her unit-mates. Unsurprisingly, they fought back. Dalia retaliated with a swift, powerful punch that Rika barely dodged, bending over backward to avoid it as Dalia's fist flew over her face. Thank goodness for all that practice dodging volleyballs! Rika gave a nervous laugh as she straightened up again. But how to rescue them…?

Knowing that she couldn't subdue Dalia alone, Rika turned to Marika.

"No! Don't touch me!" Marika ripped her arms away from Rika the moment she came too close. "Leave Marika alone!"

"Wha-? No! Marika! C'mon! It's me! Rika! Your BFF! That's just the mushrooms talking! I'm trying to get us to safety!" Rika pleaded, still reaching out for the Ultimate Model, but holding her hands in what she hoped came across as a submissive gesture.

Marika's wary expression never changed, but as the chaos around them kept escalating, she was able to admit that Rika was one of the only ones who somehow seemed to have a shred of sanity left. To trust, or not to trust…? Something in Marika says not to, but… This is Rika, isn't it…?

Why would Marika ever feel anything other than trust for her closest friend of the class? But Marika couldn't shake the feeling…

"I just want to get us to safety, that's all," Rika continued to say, as soft and comforting as she could. She was aware that time was ticking, Dalia still looked seconds away from lashing out and Saori was curled in fetal position on the ground, but Rika had to start somewhere.

Somehow, she got through to Marika and Marika was at least willing to help her try to calm Dalia down too. If there was one thing they could all agree on, a jumpy Dalia was bad. Even Dalia was able to understand that, because although she still had to reign in from attacking Marika and Rika, the fear that pushed her to want to attack them at all also warned her to be careful. If she could not trust them, she could not act rashly around them. So, three quarters of M4 managed to slowly agree to an alliance in the name of self-preservation.

"Ok, Saori, last but not least," Rika sighed as she knelt beside the purple-haired DJ, Dalia and Marika standing over them protectively. The number of students around the campfire was almost zero, but in case anyone tried anything…

"Just leave me," Saori sighed in despair, curling up even tighter into herself. "I'm not worth it. I'm just too tired to go on…"

"Oh, quit being such a drama queen!" Rika sighed. "You've been listening to too much sad music lately!" Although her words were harsh, her tone was relieved. It did not seem that Saori's hallucinations made her hostile, just more depressed than usual. That still wasn't a good thing, but it was way easier to deal with than fury. Rika proceeded to pick Saori up as if she weighed nothing, even though Rika was the smallest of M4.

"All right, you guys, let's go!" she said grimly, cocking her head towards the academy, and then she led the way as Marika and Dalia followed her to safety, the fire's light and the screams of the others still filling the background behind them.