Chapter 3: Arrival at the camp
A short distance from the lake, on a large grassy area, there was a camp made up of an expanse of multicolored camping tents (yellow, red, blue, purple, white, green...), among which around 150 girls moved, engaged in various activities: some were sunbathing, lying on towels; others chatted with each other, or listened to the radio, or read books/comics etc. One of them, a blonde with length-back hair and light gray eyes, was sitting on a folding wooden chair, on the edge of the camp, and was busy reading a novel, "The Valley of Fear" by Arthur Conan Doyle. At a certain point a shadow appeared in front of her, making her look up. A girl about six feet tall, with shoulder-length black hair and brown eyes, appeared in front of her, staring at her with an ironic smile on her face.
"Still reading, Earl Grey?" She asked.
The blonde snorted and closed the book, but not before inserting a bookmark between the pages.
"That's my old St. Gloriana battle name, Onizuka… Call me Eri Kitamura." She answered.
The girl named Onizuka giggled.
"We are in the middle of nature… You should take healthy walks in the forest! Other than sitting and reading!"
Eri stood up, giving her interlocutor an annoyed look.
"First of all, I already do it. Secondly, we are also among corpses since, for unknown reasons, people have been coming to commit suicide here since ancient times!"
Earl Grey, former commander of the St. Gloriana, still remembered her last, macabre discovery which had occurred a few days earlier: the body of a man, perhaps a teacher, who had hanged himself.
She crossed her arms.
"With all the places in Japan, did we have to come on a trip right here? We could have gone to Ise Grand Shrine, or Mount Fuji, or anywhere!"
"Afraid of ghosts, Eri?" A voice she knew asked her.
She turned, locking eyes with a blonde, about 1.60 meters tall, with long hair that reached her back and blue eyes hidden by a pair of sunglasses.
"Fear of finding other, unpleasant surprises, Himuro-chan… It's not pleasant to find yourself in front of a corpse, perhaps decomposed."
The girl called Himuro made a disgusted face.
"I agree, darling… But Aokigahara is also a tourist destination, attracting visitors every year."
Onizuka scratched her head lightly.
"Changing the subject… Did you hear about Kuromorimine's victory against Chi-Ha-Tan? That was overwhelming!"
Earl Gray shrugged.
"It's easy to win when your opponents are a mass of idiots obsessed with frontal charges. Instead, St. Gloriana soundly beat BC Freedom! Darjeeling lived up to my expectations!" She declared, with a hint of pride.
Himuro gave her a sarcastic smile.
"Easy to win when your opponents are more busy fight each other than with you!" She declared.
Eri glared at her. She hated that anyone belittled the accomplishments of her now former team. The discussion was interrupted by the sound of an approaching engine. The trio turned, noticing a Dodge WC truck stop a short distance from them.
"They must be the deputy commanders, returning from their afternoon swim." Onizuka commented.
"Strange… They usually come back around 7 in the evening. It's not even two." Earl Gray commented, suspicious of that early return.
Rumi got out of the vehicle first, from the driver's seat, then Megumi and Azumi also got out of the truck. To the surprise of the three girls, the latter was holding an unconscious girl in her arms.
"And where did that girl come from?" The dark-haired girl asked, amazed.
Himuro adjusted herglasses, before replying:
"We'll find out soon …"
Rumi, Azumi and Megumi walked in their direction, and when they were close enough the trio were intercepted by the three female students.
"Vice-Commander Azumi, who is this girl? And why is she in her underwear?" Eri asked.
"A would-be suicide… Whom I stopped just in time." Azumi replied.
Himuro approached and, carefully observing the unconscious girl, took on a surprised look.
"But… But it's Miho Nishizumi!" She exclaimed.
That news left her classmates stunned.
"Did-you say Miho Nishizumi? Maho's younger sister, the one who took over command of the Kuromorimine from you?" Onizuka asked, stunned.
The blonde ex-Kuro nodded.
"She were once the vice-commander of the Kuromorimine team, but after last year's finals was disappeared from the scenes. She reappeared recently, as captain of the Ooarai." She explained.
"And what drove she to come all this way to commit suicide?" Azumi wondered, looking at Miho.
Rumi pondered.
"Maybe the news of Ooarai closing…" She theorized.
Megumi looked at her skeptically.
"It seems unlikely to me… In short, she is the daughter of a big shot in the Sensha-do Federation, she has a rich family! She could very well have transferred to another academy! Anyone would have wanted a Nishizumi on her team!"
"Look, when she wakes up she'll be the one to explain to us. Rumi, you go and warn the commander! I'll take her to my tent." Azumi ordered.
The bespectacled woman jumped to attention.
"Yes!"
With that she ran away.
And she'll have a lot of explaining to do...
Himuro was thinking meanwhile.
