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Last night had been rough, but the morning was rougher. After a fitful night's sleep, the adrenaline and paranoia of yesterday had melted away and left Masato to sit with the knowledge of what he'd done. That, and a pounding headache. He sat with his back pressed to a tree, his head tipped back against the bark and his eyes squeezed closed.

Leaving their camp in the middle of the attack was the right choice, of that he was certain. If they didn't move everyone away from the fight there was no telling what might have happened to them - slashed, eaten, trampled, shot full of holes... escaping into the forest was the correct move to protect the most amount of people. But what did that mean for the ones left behind? They weren't that far away, but none of the changed students had come to reunite with them. Did they stay in the area?

Or maybe they really did all die.

Masato let out a long, slow breath. There was the other thing too - Akito and Okumura. When day broke and the full knowledge of what he'd asked Akito to do actually registered in his brain, his stomach had turned several times over. If he'd had anything left in it he might have thrown up again. Was that the right choice too? No beasts had followed them or attacked them throughout the rest of the night. But could he chalk that up to ditching Okumura and not just coincidence? He had to if he didn't want the guilt to eat away at him. It was easier than he thought it would be... in regards to Okumura. But Akito was missing, he hadn't returned. What had become of him? He and Masato had never really been friends, but they'd known each other for a long time. They used to run in the same circles. Even if they had been strangers, if his choice meant that Akito had gotten into trouble and died too then... 

He blinked his eyes open, glaring at the sky for a while before looking over his class as they roused from sleep. Everyone was hungry, thirsty. Exhausted physically and mentally. His eyes naturally found Sato as they usually did. There were still students with really bad injuries, and he had no idea if they could recover. That and... wait. Something was off. Was there was another missing?

Masato startled, standing quickly as he raked his eyes over the group again. Including himself, there were twenty. Accounting for Akito and Okumura, plus those they'd left behind (Kogen, Hoshino, Inaba, Todokawa, and Kanamori) there should be twenty one still with them. 

[i]...Higasa,[/i] he realized. Sato's friend. They were together a lot, so of course he'd notice if the boy was suddenly gone from his vision when he looked at Sato. [i]When did he...? Was he with us before?[/i]

The student council president pressed a hand to his forehead. Just how was he supposed to keep everyone safe...?!

[b]"Masato!"[/b] 

Ah, someone needed him again. He joined the group once everyone was awake, taking in their haggard expressions up close. It had been less than 24 hours since they arrived here.

[color=B1E4FC]"Okay, so... plans,"[/color] he began slowly, massaging one temple as he spoke. [color=B1E4FC]"We're back at square one. Worse than that even, since... uh, well. But for now, we're alive.

"Food, water, shelter."[/color] Forced to leave most if not all of their meager supplies behind, they had none of those. Though separated by trees and inadvertently echoed Kanamori at the same time, saying, [color=B1E4FC]"Even if it was small, we did find a stream yesterday. It might be the best option right now. And I don't think it's a good idea to stay in that clearing anymore. But... we should... see what happened. See if we can find any of the missing people."[/color]

He knew that a majority of the students would want to see for themselves what befell their friends and family. But Masato didn't want to see, he was too scared to find a pile of carrion that had once been his classmates. He glanced at Stewart, the only other changed person with them at the moment with his lips pursed. Maybe they could each take a group, one to water and the other the check on the state of the clearing? Though he would hate to separate everyone even further. 

With his thoughts laid out Masato spread his hands, offering the floor to anyone else to voice their opinions. His palms were smudged in red and black and this heart thumped dully against his chest. He was certain he could lead them back to the stream, but if the will of the group decided on another option then he'd go along with it for now, provided it wasn't something completely stupid. And if they all wanted to move as one to check on status of the others, then he'd just bury his feelings about it like he always tried to do.

[color=B1E4FC]"...we should get moving as soon as we can."[/color]