[img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/230221/cb6484a02614df90a439df4f3d7154be.png[/img]
[color=#FFFFFF]_[/color][color=#FCFBFB]_[/color][color=#F9F8F8]_[/color][color=#F6F5F5]_[/color][color=#F3F2F2]_[/color][color=#F0EFEF]_[/color][color=#EDECEC]_[/color][color=#EAE9E9]_[/color][color=#E7E6E6]_[/color][color=#E4E3E3]_[/color][color=#E1E0E0]_[/color][color=#DEDDDD]_[/color][color=#DBDADA]_[/color][color=#D8D7D7]_[/color][color=#D5D4D4]_[/color][color=#D2D1D1]_[/color][color=#CFCECE]_[/color][color=#CCCBCB]_[/color][color=#C9C8C8]_[/color][color=#C6C5C5]_[/color][color=#C3C2C2]_[/color][color=#C0BFBF]_[/color][color=#BDBCBC]_[/color][color=#BAB9B9]_[/color][color=#B7B6B6]_[/color][color=#B4B3B3]_[/color][color=#B1B0B0]_[/color][color=#AEADAD]_[/color][color=#ABAAAA]_[/color][color=#A8A7A7]_[/color][color=#A5A4A4]_[/color][color=#A2A1A1]_[/color][color=#9F9E9E]_[/color][color=#9C9B9B]_[/color][color=#999898]_[/color][color=#969595]_[/color][color=#939292]_[/color][color=#908F8F]_[/color][color=#8D8C8C]_[/color][color=#8A8989]_[/color][color=#878686]_[/color][color=#848383]_[/color][color=#818080]_[/color][color=#7E7D7D]_[/color][color=#7B7A7A]_[/color][color=#787777]_[/color][color=#757474]_[/color][color=#727171]_[/color][color=#6F6E6E]_[/color][color=#6C6B6B]_[/color][color=#696868]_[/color][color=#666565]_[/color][color=#636262]_[/color][color=#605F5F]_[/color][color=#5D5C5C]_[/color][color=#5A5959]_[/color][color=#575656]_[/color][color=#545353]_[/color][color=#515050]_[/color][color=#4E4D4D]_[/color][color=#4B4A4A]_[/color][color=#484747]_[/color][color=#454444]_[/color][color=#424141]_[/color][color=#3F3E3E]_[/color][color=#3C3B3B]_[/color][color=#393838]_[/color][color=#363535]_[/color][color=#333232]_[/color][color=#302F2F]_[/color]

When they departed the clearing, Masato's tense shoulders relaxed - by about three millimeters, but it was a start. Yesterday ([i]God, has it only been a day? The hours felt like months[/i]) when they'd all woken up after the crash, he'd felt it best to stay put and wait for help. Now, he wanted to get as far away from this place as possible. It was dangerous, tainted with the blood of their friends; same with the area of the forest he'd left Okumura in. He wasn't naive enough to think that the next place they settled in would be devoid of danger, but anywhere had to be better than the ruined, stinking remains of their bus. 

He firmly ignored the dour mood that had settled over the students, the grumbling and the tired panting that accompanied their footsteps. He shut it out and focused on moving. Bansen was on his back, the unconscious boy's arms draped over either side of Masato's neck. He didn't feel heavy, and realistically Masato knew that was due to his awakened strength, but that didn't stop an unnerving feeling from taking root in his mind. The blood he coughed up in his sleep didn't help, dirtying Masato's shoulder and bringing with it the coppery smell he was beginning to hate. Bansen would probably be the next to die. 

They continued. After much too long their prayers were answered. A lake, water. They could clean themselves, their kill, and maybe even catch some fish. Miraculously, the river led them to something else too.

[color=B1E4FC]"How...?"[/color] Masato breathed as the other students flowed around him toward their friends and family. He was struck with so many conflicting feelings at once that he'd stopped in place. He was glad, of course. Relieved that the people they'd left to fight the monsters had actually survived despite the odds. Kanamori must have led them to the stream thinking that the rest of them would head there. It was smart thinking of her. The relief was doubly so for Kogen, though that particular feeling came with an edge. Of course Kogen was alive and well. He was a survivor, and fearless, and dependable. A good person, unlike... well.

Okumura, though. Seeing her alive was shocking. Last night she was on the brink of death, bleeding out with no way to save her. So how the hell was she here now? The shit eating expression on Akito's face told him nothing, but he could get the answers out of the boy later. For now, the confusion and the frustration and the dread started to melt away and the knot in his chest loosened.

[color=B1E4FC]"Ha... hahaha..."[/color] Masato nearly dropped Bansen in his relief. Things hadn't gone the way he expected, but that was okay - he'd made the right choice! He quickly pulled himself together, going back to the more stoic (when he wasn't arguing) Masato they all knew and walking the rest of the way to find a spot to lay down his charge.