Without warning, Kamazaki lunged onto Shizaki and tugged at his shirt.
"Aaaaah!!!"
Shizaki's heart nearly stopped working from fear.
"W-W….What is it!!???"
"We're lossssttt!!!!"
"You don't think I know that!? You scared me half to death-"
"We're lossst!!!!!!"
"I said I know, Kamazaki-san!!!!"
"Owowowow!!!!!!"
He pinched her cheeks that were wet with tears, causing her to yelp in pain.
As she pouted and sat back down, wiping her tears, she looked at him icily.
Crap. She definitely hates me for that-
"T-Thank you."
"You're thanking me!!??"
"Alright, let's try to find a solution! Yessirree!!!"
"How are you suddenly smiling!!??"
Kamazaki had…somehow…returned to her bright and cheery mood, almost instantly. Shizaki could almost see a radiation of light emanating from her smile. He shielded his eyes in disbelief.
"You're…unbelievable."
"I overreacted a little bit there, but you put me back to my senses." I will always try to convince myself that everything will be okay when I find myself in a bad situation and I will smile through the pressure."
Still confused, Shizaki outstretched his arm to her, and she accepted it with her own grasp, pulling herself up with his help.
"You don't seriously believe that, do you…?"
"Huh? Believe what?"
"You know, that everything will be okay no matter what. There will be some sort of predicament sooner or later that could really hurt you, you know."
Kamazaki looked at him and then put a finger to her chin, seemingly trying to find a response. Then, she finally answered.
"...You've suddenly become very chatty."
"H-Huh? Hey, I'm just being reasonable here, unlike someone."
"It's called being hopeful. Maybe you should try it out once in a while, Babyface."
"M-My name is Shizaki! Anyway, we're drifting away from the main topic! We're lost!"
"Ah, you're right, you're right. Soooooo…what do we dooooo…we can't just keep walking. We gotta walk with a plan in mind, huh?"
They both though about it, and after a while, Shizaki proposed an idea.
"Maybe we just call out super loudly and just hope that someone hears us. I think that's the best option we have right now, Kamazaki-san."
Sekoto Forest is huge. So in order not to be stranded even deeper, it would be best for them to call out while they were still here.
"Yeah, and we should also retrace our steps. Maybe we can start by looking for our previous footprints in the soil."
"That would be difficult but we'll merge my idea with yours. Call out loudly for help…"
"...While trying to retrace our steps."
They were finally getting somewhere. Shizaki was feeling a bit more confident, but he could not rejoice yet.
What if we never find our way back? Could I survive out here by myself until we manage to get out of here?
No, he tried shaking those ideas out of his head. It was better to stay positive. Whatever good could happen, must happen. It will happen.
Finally, he started thinking like Kamazaki. Optimistic and hopeful.
"Okay. Let's do this."
***
"Yukino-kuuuuuun! Aya-saaaaan! Neoooooo-kuuuuun! Suri-chan, you dumbaaaaaasss! Anyoneeeee!!!"
Kamazaki called out at the top of her lungs as she was walking a great distance behind Shizaki, who was trying to closely examine the trail to pick out their previous footsteps.
"They…end here."
Hearing Shizaki mutter disappointingly, she sprinted toward him, examining the trail for herself.
"...Huuuuh? But we're in the middle of nowhereeeee!"
"This doesn't make sense…I'm one hundred percent sure that this is our footsteps, unless- oh."
"Hm? What's up?"
Kamazaki kept her face close to Shizaki, who turned to face her. He was caught aback by her close proximity, but quickly regained his composure and pointed to a small area just wide of the footprints.
Over there, what looked like flattened grass lay with the outline of a shoe heel.
"We…had drifted off from that point to over here…when you said that you wanted to pee."
"So that's where our trail is! Niceee!!!!"
"...Right. So far, so good."
With a pumped fist of victory in the air, Kamazaki smiled as Shizaki simply walked ahead without much feedback.
After ten minutes of walking, they had found their first diverging point from their initial trail.
Another three minutes went by. Shizaki, once again, fell silent as only Kamazaki did all the calling. There was still no answer from anyone or anything out there in the forest.
"Heyyyy, Babyfaaaace…I can't shout for help anymore…help me out for a bit, will ya? I can take over in tracking our clues…"
Shizaki stopped, but he did not answer. He was too busy trying to ensure that he did not lose sight of the footprints. Then, he moved forward slowly.
Pouting and a bit red from being ignored, Kamazaki followed.
Ignoring me huh…?
Unaware that Shizaki was too engrossed in his activity, she narrowed her eyes.
...Hmph. Guess I have no choice…
Taking a deep breath, she now prepared to call out again for help…but this time…
"Babyfaaace!!! Are you out there??? Babyfaceee!!! Please, If you're out there, let me know!!! Babyyyfaaaceee!!!!"
Shizaki's eyes suddenly twitched.
"Babyfaaace!!!! Babyyyfaceee!!! I know you're out there, somewhere!!!"
A vein began to pulse on his forehead.
She took it a bit further, hugging herself as she shook her body around from side to side while walking.
"Ah~ please save me Babyfaceee!!! My dear hero!!! My-"
He spun around, with a completely beet-red face, and his fist clenched in the air as he opened his mouth to speak, displaying razor sharp teeth.
"Alright, I heard you!!!! I heard you, Kamazaki-san!!!!"
A sly smile crept as she tilted her head in a teasing manner.
"...Heh. Thank goodness."
"D-Damn you…are you even taking this seriously…?"
"Of course I am! But you're practically sleeping on me here! I don't like it!"
She shrugged while keeping her warm smile. Her teeth flashed in the moonlight.
Shizaki looked at her and then avoided eye contact. In reality, he was still extremely insecure about himself around others.
I didn't even realize that…
"S-Sorry…I didn't realize-"
"Ah…don't sweat it. You can get chatty when you're ready but it seems like you're mostly quiet all the time, huh? Is that how you usually are?"
She walked past him and took over his role while waiting for a response.
"...Yeah…actually…no, forget it, the reason is stupid really."
"It's okay, unless you're really uncomfortable with telling me, then I'll respect your wish to keep it under wraps…ah. We diverged from over here again. This way."
"O-Oh."
They both turned to face east, and then continued walking.
I do feel a bit comfortable telling her, but…where the hell should I even start relating my story? And would she even want to continue staying close to me if I told her?
Taking a deep breath, he dejectedly began, fearing the worst.
"Well…I was always treated like an outcast by everyone in my village. I found it hard to talk to anyone…so I kept to myself. Thanks to that…I can't really communicate and understand much of others…I think."
Kamazaki stopped and faced him.
"...I don't get it. Why would they not want to be close to you?"
"Ah-um."
He had actually not anticipated this question, but maybe telling her was for the best.
"I have a disability that no one else has, I think. Not a physical one though. My Soul Realm is fractured."
Kamazaki's face was now serious.
"F…Fractured?"
" Yeah…I can only disperse a fraction of my true magic. If I try to process the output of my mana to be used to its full capacity, it manages to work, but I can feel intense pain afterward, like a very small but repeated stabbing sensation in the head. I can also feel the Soul Realm crack everytime I use it at full strength."
Raising his left arm, Shizaki's eyes narrowed into a glowing white color as a small pressurized wind of white blasted forward from his palms. The wind hit a nearby tree and quickly dispersed.
"That's the best I can do. My full potential is strong enough to shatter trees and even propell my own body due to the force of the wind. If I keep using my magic at full power, it might be a matter of time before my vessel of mana completely shatters, not allowing me to use any more magic. Who knows, I might even die if that happens. "
Kamazaki stayed silent, clearly stunned. Out of all disabilities, diseases, injuries in the world, this was the first she had heard of it. She couldn't even imagine a possibility of a vessel being broken but Shizaki had just mentioned it to her.
"News spread about my disability when a Healing Mage came to check on my 'power illness'. I was quickly known as a cripple kid and useless. Some seemed to pity me, but many didn't want to be associated with someone who was useless."
He remembered it all very well. The children who used to play with him never showed up again. He never got a job in the village, so he stayed at home. He never liked farming, so he never went with the old man, but tried to help him with other things. His self-confidence kept diminishing, so he never had the courage to go out and talk with others unless he had to.
"It was then that my life became like a boring, repeated cycle. I woke up, imagined the joy of being with others, bathed, ate, drank, stayed indoors or tried to train at the back of the house until night, read books, went to sleep, and the cycle continued. There was no sense of purpose anymore, and sometimes I wondered if it was just meant to be that way. Just me, myself and I."
Kamazaki's eyes lowered as she realised the depth of Shizaki's past. She didn't move, but kept staring at the ground as if she was thinking about something.
"But, it wasn't always that way, right? I mean, you had Aya-san as your friend, so naturally you would've had some other friends too right…?"
Ah. That.
"...Sure, I somehow managed to make some friends despite my difficulties. But then…"
"...But then?"
But then there was the fighting…the screaming.
The violence, the blood. Ah…the split open heads.
The cynical smile from the one that was terrorized that day.
The tears of one that was of blood itself. And then…emanating from the lips of that haunting bloodied smile…
{"One day, I'll return to kill you…Daizen Shizaki."}
Shizaki smiled as he sighed and tried to keep the thoughts locked away.
"I…completely destroyed the group. Sorry. It's not worth…talking about."
Unlike talking about his time at his village, he had no intention of revealing the Underworld incident to anyone.
Kamazaki could sense a strange feeling from that sentence and felt a bit tense as Shizaki walked past her and once again returned to the front. It was probably best not to pry.
"Sure…sure thing…"
She then reached out and held his hand. Shizaki turned to her, a bit surprised.
"It's okay…you've been through a lot, huh?"
He tried to avoid her comforting gaze but was quickly entrapped in it. He could only sigh.
"Yeah…I have…"
"I get it now. But don't worry…just know that…I…"
It rushed toward the duo with frightening speed.
Kamazaki stopped and paused, as if she heard something.
The immense tall grass hid it, but not for long. It charged as the foliage flew past it, being tossed aside by it.
Kamazaki turned in fear. And in that exact same moment-
She pushed Shizaki out of the way.
She was immediately sent flying by the monstrous figure, with one of its claws sinking deep into her left eye.
Shizaki couldn't see it coming. Neither could Kamazaki, or rather, she was just a second too late.
It had taken her eye and slashed into her lower body.
Shizaki's body toppled to the floor. It all felt as if he were in slow motion. The only thought he could generate was…
…What just…?
The blood-red eyes of a large and dark Timberwolf shone as it had attacked from its own free will.
--Then there were three.
-----------------------------------------
(Chapter 11: Then There Were Three.)