Just thirty minutes later, Sencho Neo eyed the weary King as he himself was failing to keep awake.
"Hey, man…don't fall forward into the fire while trying to hold back your tiredness there."
King instantly jerked up and chuckled on hearing that.
"I'm trying…my best. Man, this is what happens when you travel alllllll day…"
"Mhm."
He then stretched his two arms into the air, taking a deep breath and then sighing. Tiredness was about to start 'creeping in through the back door', as he would say, but he simply couldn't allow himself to sleep, not with Kamazaki and Shizaki still absent.
***
Question of the day, once again…how the hell did I get into this situation!?
Daizen Shizaki sighed. He actually couldn't believe it.
{"Ah, I need…to…pee."}
{".....I beg your pardon?"}
With Kamazaki revealing that she needed to use the bathroom in the middle of Sekoto Forest, Shizaki suggested that they find a place overrun with bushes that allowed her to have some private time.
Now with both of them finding a suitable location, Shizaki stood behind a nearby tree, crossing his arms and closing his eyes tightly as he faced the opposite way.
This…is embarrassing…probably for the both of us.
"Y-You're still there..right?"
"Of course, Kamazaki-san."
"G-Good."
Her voice echoed from a short distance, but Shizaki did not bother to check up on her until she stated that she was finished.
"Sorry for giggling when you told me…"
"About time you apologised! Geez!!"
"If it makes you feel any better, I got faced with the same situation myself, alright? It…wasn't pretty."
A bit of a silence followed, and soon, the duo started laughing heartily.
"Alright, I'm done…"
Kamazaki tried to stop herself from laughing again, but couldn't. She finally emerged from behind a few tall bushes and flashed a smile.
"Thanks, that was close."
"No problem. We should head back now."
"Mm, right."
As they walked back, Shizaki glanced at Kamazaki. He could tell that she was back to her usual happy self, and he was glad for that. Seeing her contagious smile made him smile too.
"You've been peeking at me for a while now. You okie-dokie?"
"Ah, s-sorry. Yeah, I'm fine.
Kamazaki had caught him red-handed, but she giggled in response.
"It's alright, I'm pretty attractive, so guys usually stare at me for quite a bit. I apologise for that."
She leaned forward and made eye contact with him, narrowing her eyes as she grinned seductively.
Shizaki quickly glanced in the opposite direction and could feel his cheeks heating up.
She's teasing me right now, isn't she?
Talking to a girl is hard.
Talking to a beautiful girl who teases you as you are alone together in the middle of nowhere in a forest while having horrible communication skills is impossible. Shizaki tried to find an idea to bring up a conversation, but simply couldn't.
Kamazaki patted his shoulder as he tried to ignore her and looked ahead. But then, a noise that sounded like a rustle came from behind them.
Kamazaki: "Kyaaahh!!!"
The scared girl jumped towards Shizaki in fright, with the latter embracing her tightly, preparing for what was in the tall bushes close to them.
"W-W-What was t-that?"
"I don't know…"
And then--
A black cat simply strolled across the path without a care in the world.
You're kidding me.
After staring blankly in silence for a few seconds, the duo finally realized that they both had each other in an embrace for a while, and moved from each other instantaneously.
Kamazaki was a bit red from embarrassment, while Shizaki seemed to have his skin color change entirely to red from blushing.
In their minds, they were desperately trying to get a hold of themselves.
D-Damn it…why am I so jumpy today? Just calm down and get a grip, dummy! I can't let myself look so scared to everyone! Haaah, honestly…
She was way too close to me just now!!!!! Her body was a bit soft- wait, get those thoughts outta your head, stupid!!
"S-Sorry, Kamazaki-san!"
"Fine…it's fine!"
As they both finally had the courage to face each other again. Kamazaki smiled with a bright disposition as always, trying to pump herself up as well as ease Shizaki's disposition. Shizaki weakly smiled as well.
He then slyly peeked at her face.
"Pfft."
"D-Don't tell me you're laughing at me again! I was genuinely scared for my life, fucking hell!"
"Sorry again! Haha, looks like we're both a bit clumsy though, huh?"
"Yeah…."
"Ah, wait, so you are scared."
"Uwaaah, Babyface, you meanie…"
"Hey, when will you finally call me by my actual name!? Why do you even call me that, anyway?"
She looked at him, and then blinked.
"You're cute."
"C-Cute!?"
"Mm, and you also get flustered a lot! It reminds me of a little baby, haha!"
She skipped ahead of him, and Shizaki could tell that his face was becoming red again.
D-Damn it…why did she have to say it like that…
"Come on, Babyface! Let's get back to our camp! I can't wait until it's morning!"
Kamazaki continued to scurry ahead, but her smile quickly faded as she spun around, as if looking for something. Shizaki looked a bit confused.
"W-What is it, Kamazaki-san?"
"Um, we ventured off a good bit from our main path, didn't we…?"
She stared back at him, with Shizaki's eyes widening with shock.
"Do you remember…our way back to the camp?"
***
"The fire is going out."
"Ah, is it?"
Another hour passed after Neo's proposition to wait for Shizaki and Kamazakis arrival as the fire was now dwindling. King had somehow stayed awake until this point but he was soon reaching his limit. Neo was…well…showing no signs of sleepiness due to his mask shielding his emotions, but still decided that he would rest as he laid on his back and watched the stars. There was no telling if his eyes were open or not thanks to his mask hiding his face.
He finally spoke up.
"You should rest, Kawarasuri."
"Please, just call me King…and, I can't…"
"No, you should really rest. I'll go search for them, don't worry. We'll need more wood anyway, so it would be best to do two things at once."
"Are you sure…?"
"I'll do my best to bring them both back. I can assure you of that."
He faced him and spoke in a strong tone of assurance, and King ,who was yawning much more frequently now, finally gave in.
"Thanks, Neo-kun. I appreciate it."
"Sure thing."
"Keep safe out there!"
And after waving him off, King went to sleep, unaware of what was to follow.
***
Pulling back the tall blades of grass in different locations while walking briskly, Daizen Shizaki prayed that he had coincidentally found the way back. Unfortunately for both Shizaki and Kamazaki, they stared at new, undiscovered territory.
"We're…lost."
"Shit!!!"
On hearing this, the perspiring Kamazaki slowly sat on the ground in fear and her shaking hands now crossed over her tucked-up knees in nervousness.
Shizaki looked back and saw a side of her he hadn't seen before, a pure state of weakness and fright. Seeing her like this also made him feel extremely nervous as well.
What…do we do…? We're lost…
"We…um…uh…"
He couldn't think of a good idea.
Call for help? Maybe, but he still wasn't feeling one hundred percent safe out here. Anything could be alerted to their presence. Still, it was an idea.
Losing the trail has to be such a stupid rookie move. No matter what, I gotta get back to our campsite.
"It's alright, Kamazaki-san."
"Eh?"
Clenching his fists, he remained focused on the task at hand.
"Operation: Camp Arrival has now begun."
Thus, the terrifying sequence of events within Sekoto Forest was about to begin.
-----------------------------------------
(Chapter 10: Operation: Camp Arrival.)