[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/h5xf31C.png[/img][/center][hr][i][b]//Day 1 | Location:[/b] Nameless Forest - Lakeside[/i]
[sub][@AThousandCurses][@baraquiel][@Nakushita][@Yankee][@Vertigo][@Cu Chulainn][/sub]
There it was. The first to go loopy.

And there was no way Hiroshi was going to leave, no way he was going to miss out on [i]this[/i]. Was it a side effect from consuming the golden blood? Was this another manifestation of the stranger powers that the Awakened possessed? Was it literally just owing to the rock that Ayana had picked up, some sort of light-novel-esque curse? Or did that perpetual klutz always have some sort of underlying mental condition? Regardless of what it really was, Yukiko was looking increasingly nervous, Masato had decided to leave the whole situation without even a backwards glance, Duncan was about as wide-eyed and empty-brained as the basketball ace could be expected, and only Shun was willing to step up.

Good girl. He should find an opportunity to chat with her some time. Pick at [i]her[/i] brain too. But for now?

[b]“Daisuke, help Yukiko get the three of them to the shelter. They can rest up better there.”[/b] Exacting words, the sort of words to inspire action.

Daisuke’s expression was a bit complex though, casting a glance towards his best friend. [b]“You comin’ with?”[/b]

A shake of his head. Of course Hiroshi wasn’t going to.

The vibes of this whole situation, of the nonsense that Ayana suddenly spouted off, wasn’t anything that Daisuke really got. He generally just avoided Kogen for the same reason; it was hard for him to parse just how serious people were being about that sort of stuff. And while the klutz’s crazy laughter had set him on edge…he wasn’t going to try anything if all she was doing was laughing. A sigh escaped between his teeth. [b]“Yukiko, go hoist up Asahi, yeah?”[/b] A slap upon his broad chest. [b]“I can carry out the other two.”[/b]

And so, the group gradually dispersed.

And so, there were soon just three, to witness the continuation of Ayana’s spiral: Shun, Duncan, and Hiroshi.
[hr]
After an admittedly half-hearted effort to locate Kogen (the dude was Awakened; he could take care of himself), Masato headed back to where the others were. Most of them had transitioned to eating the fish that Kumi had cooked up by now, happy to have something hot and tasty to bite upon. The Ito twins were squatted over the fireplace in their gym shorts, both of them soaked to the skin from the fishing they’ve done, while Rin and her crew at the shelter were continuing to make things bigger and better, the inventor-in-making apparently having hit her stride. She looked a bit shaky, perhaps owing to the constant usage of her own Facsimile, but she looked about as energetic as she had been for weeks.

Elsewhere, Ayano was side-eyeing Fujita and Haruko as the two of them had a conversation that seemed uncharacteristically animated, while Tsubaki spoke with Maki over the matters of their own injuries. Neither of them were dead, which meant that once Asahi recovered, he could probably help Maki fix up her own broken bones too. It was good news, better news once Yukiko and Daisuke hauled the [i]three[/i] unconscious (but healthy-ish) boys to where Tsubasa and Ayane, the twin talents of the Arts and Crafts Club, were weaving together what looked to be blankets out of the surrounding reeds, plants, and branches.

[b]“Over here, Masato,”[/b] Tsubasa called, when their gazes met. [b]“You have to tell us: what happened over there? They look so much healthier now!”[/b]

There was no reason for him to refuse her summons, was there?

…

And that, of course, was what Kogen saw when he stomped back through the woods, his own stomach growling. Everyone else getting along, eating fish and warming themselves up by the fire. The injured all healed up, the shelter built to grand heights, and even Ayana and Shun making up with Duncan in the distance, if his eyes didn’t deceive him.

They forgave betrayal easily, didn’t they?

But he?

He saw Masato there with Tsubasa, enjoying a merry fucking time, despite having done absolutely jack shit. Asahi was the one that knocked himself out and Masato had the fucking gall to just sit there, soaking in all the praise for those achievements?

Kogen never forgave. And it was too early to forget.