Hiroko had lived a rather normal life since her graduation from high school. Sure, she was living alone. Sure, she was living in a rickety apartment. And sure, she's barely getting by. But at least it didn't have the craziness of her earlier life where she had to deal with so many other things - like her mother and her drinks. Though, she often still thought that maybe she could get out of that kind of lifestyle. Maybe she could get into some college after a while. It was a far-off thought and she was pretty sure that it wouldn't happen, but at least nothing crazy will ever happen in her life again. She was just a cafe worker and a newspaper girl. What could possibly make her life more exciting than it currently was?

So when she opened her eyes, she had expected to stand up, get dressed and head to get some newspapers. She was not expecting to wake up in a forest.

She had sat up and paused to look at her surroundings. Everything seemed real enough, and it didn't seem like she was having some sort of bad dream that involved her being lost in some forest. Hiroko then turned to herself to see what she had been wearing. And indeed, she was in her clothes that she had crashed into bed earlier - a green parka and a black shirt and pants. She patted herself down and felt that her 'essentials' were still there.

"Okay..." She muttered to herself as she stood up and dusted herself off. Hiroko had surveyed her surroundings yet again before a grumble was released from her throat. "Now where the hell am I?" Obviously, she was in a forest. But where? And how exactly did she get here? She was pretty sure that she did not have the capability of sleepwalking. And even if she did, it seemed like a far fetched idea that she had walked all the way to a forest without anyone noticing and waking her up. It was ridiculous.

Taking a stick of cigarette, she lit it up and took a drag. Obviously, panicking was not going to help her. She can't say that she had gone through worse, but she could still reign in the weirdness. All she needed to do was get back to civilization - maybe meet some others along the way - and then go back to her old, regular and boring life. Seemed like someone just wanted to play a practical joke on a bunch of strangers and she was unlucky enough to find herself as the victim. Or... no, that also didn't seem like it was possible. After all, who would have the resources to kidnap someone from their home and then throw them into the forest - all the while them not waking up?

"Get out now, speculate later..." Hiroko muttered to herself as she began walking, unknowingly towards her future companions.

---

---

---

---

Iyasu Kaito was a creature of habit. His morning routine was mundane, but one that hadn't changed in over ten years. He would wake up from his slumber with a yawn and stretch his hands above his head, his sleepiness causing him to forget the wall was right there as he would hit his hand. After taking a moment to rub his sore knuckle, he would take in a deep breath and sit up. Jumping up from bed, he would then stretch the rest of his limbs and go on to the bathroom for some minor self grooming.

So when he stretched this time and found no wall to hit, despite his grogginess he knew something was off.

Opening his eyes slowly, he could see the sky above him. Blinking a few times, his other sense slowly started to kick in; he felt the hard ground underneath him, heard some sort of wildlife in the distance, and smelled the grass he was currently laying down on. Slowly sitting up, he observed his unfamiliar surroundings, the sheer amount of green throwing him for a loop. Was he dreaming? Pinching his cheek, he determined the pain felt real enough, but he had no idea where he was.

Standing up, Kaito looked around as he took a few steps. "Uh..." He voiced his confusion, a somewhat moot point considering he had yet to see anyone else around.

Hiroko had traveled for only a few seconds before she saw two figures. And from what she could see, they were at least human. Better than encountering a bear or something far more dangerous in the woods, at the very least. She decided to come closer and see if they had any idea of what was going on. Even though they may be the people who had thrown her in here - which was highly unlikely as they look just as confused as she was - she might as well ask to see how she can get out. She huffed out her smoke once more and then crossed her hands behind her back, bringing the cigarette out of sight as well.

Before she could even speak, the other girl had beat her to it - questioning who they were and where were they. Her lips formed a thin line. So they were definitely not the ones who placed her in here... and they also didn't know what was happening. Great. At least they could all be lost together. Three heads are better than one, though even she wasn't sure how well they'd fare in something like this. "Ikazuchi Hiroko." She replied, letting her arms fall down next to her as she felt an itch to take another drag, but avoided it since she didn't really want to piss them off thanks to the smoke. "As for where we are, my guess is as good as yours."

Hiroko had turned briefly to the male who was still in a dazed state. She couldn't blame him. Even she needed to stop and take a cancer stick just to calm herself down for the moment. When the girl had gone out to take her phone, Hiroko thought that maybe they'd get lucky and be able to get out of here without having to put up too much effort. She had a job tomorrow, after all, and she'd rather not miss it. But alas, it was not to be. "Unfortunate." She muttered under her breath before looking around. "Well, I don't think we'd do much by just standing around here. Maybe if we can find a river, we can find civilization." She suggested to the two, giving them both a brief glance as she awaited their decision.

It was a good thing that Ebisawa Honami seemed just as eager to get out of this forest as she was. Dropping the cigarette behind her and stomping it out with her heel discretely, hopefully not being caught in the process, she turned her gaze to where Ebisawa was pointing. Indeed, the red torii was completely in contrast with the nature around them - showing signs of civilization. Her mouth twitched into a smile as she nodded. "Sounds like a solid plan to me."

Then the guy finally spoke, Iyasu Kaito. She nodded in his direction to acknowledge that she had heard and understood what he had said. Hiroko reached up to fiddle with the edge of her coat for a moment as she mimicked Iyasu's reaction to their surroundings. Had she known how she got here and that she was fully intending on going here, Hiroko would agree that this was a beautiful place. The kind of place where photographers would go to. Once more, Hiroko merely nodded at him in agreement before turning heel and beginning on walking.

"At least we're not going to be stumbling in the dark." She offered the optimistic thought to the group, looking up to the sky where rays of sunshine were beginning to peek from the horizon. They would have sunlight to guide them in the unfamiliar territory even if they didn't end up finding anyone by the shrine. Hiroko could only think of the consequences of having to travel in the dark - in the woods with three people who barely knew each other.

Forget about this ordeal - now there was something Hiroko also wanted to do once she got back home. Certainly, it was an experience that you would want to tell your friends and family eventually, but she would also like to erase this from her mind. It was much too odd and much too freaky to really happily recount to anyone. When they had encountered a road, Hiroko had breathed a sigh of relief. Even though it didn't look like it had been maintained, surely it meant that it lead somewhere. Aside from the temple, it had to branch off to a town close to them and they would finally be able to find some form of civilization, get a signal and call for help.

Noticing the statues as well, she squinted at them. Hiroko wasn't the best at memorizing the various deities her culture had, but she was pretty sure that these two were not statues of them. They looked unfamiliar - absolutely foreign. The words inscribed seemed to be of another language and she would have looked away had it not been for the fact that she understood them a second later. She blinked once. Then twice. And then looked at it with confusion. Hiroko was certain she had not studied whatever language that was. The most she knew was English and Japanese and she was pretty sure that it was neither.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by a loud sound - what seemed to be thunder - followed by a very strong breeze that was enough to lift her coat a bit as she shoved her hands inside the pockets to keep it down. With Honami's comment, Hiroko had looekd up to see what she saw - clear skies. "Well, hopefully the temple is still intact so we can spend some time there should it rain." She said with a resolute nod before moving forward again and keeping her eyes out for anything that moved. For all she knew, an animal could be stalking them right now and thought of them as easy prey.

---

Kaito uttered a soft grunt of worry as he realized he was being left alone in the forest. He quickly strode over to what had caught the girls´ attention and said nothing as he read the text engraved on the statues. His lips pressed against one another in his typical way of showing worry, but for the first time in a long time there was a sense of helplessness added in as well. He had only been in this strange land for a short moment, yet in his heart Kaito was aware that whatever had happened to them was far away from the reach of what conventional therapy could deal with. He hugged his reference journals tightly against his chest, their current uselessness evaporating the sense security they usually gave him.

A monstrous noise tore through the forest, causing Kaito to flinch. The loose strands of hair that weren't secured by his relaxed ponytail twitched from the wind that briefly enveloped them. He raised his journals in front of his head to shield his face from any debris.

"Hgnk!..." he whined. The sky looked nothing like how it was supposed to during a storm, so it had to have been something else. Fear crept into his mind as he began to ponder what that "something else" could possibly be. One of the girls had suggested they take shelter inside the temple, a relief to the worrywart.

"I agree. Seeking civilization can help us know where we are." he said gently. "But... we should be wary. That might have been a noise of aggression just now." Being more unnerved than they were about their predicament was embarrassing given he was the only man and the eldest of the three, but establishing some kind of plan was definitely worth it.

Hiroko hummed to acknowledge the fact that even Kaito seemed to agree on getting to some form of shelter to get their bearings. Once more, it would be highly unlikely that they were somewhere too far so they can see a place of civilization from a high vantage point like the shrine. Of course, even this plan wasn't perfect and she would be lost if none of them can recognize where they are. She dug her hands further inside her pocket and looked over at Honami as she snapped at Kaito.

"He's nervous." She pointed out as she placed a placating hand on Honami before sending an apologetic smile. "The faster we get to shelter, the faster we can calm down." With that, she let her hand back fall from Honami's shoulder and returned her hand inside her pockets. Hiroko did understand why Honami seemed to be irritable considering Kaito seemed to be older than them and was male and yet he seemed to be the most cautious and the jumpiest. But she wasn't going to blame him for that.

"Yeah." She absentmindedly agreed as she followed the high schooler as she continued her trek forward. However, Hiroko kept her eye out for anything that might be out of place. She kept close to Honami but made sure that Kaito didn't lag behind too much or that would be disastrous. They would need to stick with each other for now. There were merits to being in a group after all. Now... hopefully they reached the shrine soon and hopefully it was still intact.

Hiroko had to agree with Kaito on the note of the language they had all appeared to understand. She was not someone who was well-versed in other languages aside from her own and some English that she had learned and picked up from her high school days to her working days. In any case, understanding what was written had bothered her somewhere in her mind but that wasn't exactly the main concern she had right now. One problem at a time - they could tackle that little tidbit once they were in civilization and safe from the dangers of the woods.

Kaito had soon taken the lead after Honami had struggled with the foliage. Hiroko was more than happy to cover the back. She tensed up a little bit, however, as she kept herself alert to any sound that did not come from them. The mere fact that the forest was mostly silent was something that made her suspicious and cautious, but it was not something she was going to voice. Kaito was already nervous, no need to make any more unnecessary comments from her paranoia.

She heard Kaito's comment first before seeing the shrine itself. As she passed the last of the foliage, she let out a hum of acknowledgment to the shrine. Well, it certainly was in a rather sorry state. Obviously, it hadn't been visited for a long time. The forest had already taken over the poor, abandoned shrine. That would have taken years to have that extent of taking over. Hiroko couldn't exactly remember the last time she had seen an abandoned shrine, or even if she had ever visited one. With how devoted the Japanese were with gods and goddesses, shrines weren't often abandoned but it was not unheard of a deity to be forgotten.

The shrine looked like a danger solely for its crumbling structure.

Nevertheless, as Honami proceeded forward, Hiroko followed close behind. Better to have someone to pull the girl back before something bad happens. She peeked into the room first as the other girl proceeded inside. And, as expected, no one was inside and Honami said as much. "Let's hope for that." She mumbled as she entered. Deities weren't really a big thing to Hiroko considering what happened in her life, but it didn't hurt to follow superstitions. Her nose wrinkled at the hole the roof had as well as the fact that some animals may have already claimed this as their home - the spiders certainly did.

"We could stay for a while. But I'm not sure it'll weather a storm." She felt the need to point that out as she inspected the structure more. "We should probably rest before looking for another path to a town. Even if this shrine is abandoned, surely there's a town nearby."

The brief flickers of hope Kaito held were overpowered by the rays of sunlight from the holes in the ceiling. The rest of his party had noticed it around the same time as him.

“We haven´t traveled for very long.” He gulped, both because he was determined and a bit fearful. “So we should keep searching for more signs of life.”

His mind screamed at him to stay here and never leave, but he knew that he had no choice but to keep trudging along the wilderness, whether he liked it or not. He tried to convince himself that the shrine was dirty and most likely infested with insects as a way to encourage his continued exploration, but the thoughts in his head felt disingenuous somehow. It felt as if a switch had been flipped inside him, one that made him see little fears like that worthless to even consider in his current situation.

He exited the shrine quickly, feeling that he´d stay there anyways if he wasn´t fast enough. The crisp air of his surroundings once again filled his lungs, seemingly welcoming him back to the outside world.

“If there´s a shrine, then there has to be people.” Unless, he thought, their buildings are in the same exact state, abandoned and rotten. He kept that last bit to himself.