The night sky was like a pool of ink that had been repeatedly smeared by someone, slowly and viscously blanketing the air above the campsite in the woods.
The bonfire over by the cooking counter that had been used to boil the curry had long since been extinguished, leaving behind only ashes that gently caved in against the wind, producing a near-audible cracking sound.
Miura stood at the edge of the wooden cabin's shadow, quietly tailing that petite silhouette not far away, while simultaneously harboring a few doubts in her heart.
Come to think of it, wasn't that fellow Tobe ordered by Hiratsuka-sensei to be responsible for extinguishing the fire? Because the running water pipe over by the cooking counter was clogged, he had even grumbled about only being able to fetch water from the tap on the completely opposite end of the camp to put out the fire; yet looking at it now, the bonfire seemed more like it had gone out naturally, showing zero signs of having been doused with water.
——Tsurumi Rumi did not look back, her footsteps as light as a cat's.
Even though the surroundings were pitch black and the girl held no mobile phone in her hand for illumination, she walked through the woods with practiced ease as if an invisible person were guiding her path; aside from the rustling sound of tree branches, there was absolutely no sound at all.
Whether it was a psychological effect or not, Miura even felt that her own footsteps sounded a fraction louder than any other noise.
She did her best to lower her voice, trying her utmost to avoid being detected by the little creature.
Initially, her trailing along was merely driven by an inexplicable curiosity; after all, seeing a young child like Tsurumi Rumi walking into the woods all alone at night was intrinsically very bizarre.
But right now, driven by worry and a certain complicated, indefinable sense of pride, the young girl conversely desired even less to be casually noticed by the other party.
She suppressed her breathing, keeping a distance of a few trees as she followed her up.
The air inside the summer night woods carried a damp odor; whether it was her own illusion or not, Miura constantly felt as if she could smell a soggy, mushroom-like scent, blended with the fishy sweetness of decaying leaves and cold earth, as though someone were turning over stale humus soil in the dark.
The further in they walked, the scarcer the light became. The starlight had long since failed to penetrate deep into the woodland path, and the faint artificial brightness of the campsite was also quickly swallowed up by the layered, cascading trees; only scattered, fragmented bits of moonlight managed to fall through, barely keeping the young girl from plunging into a plight where she couldn't see her own hand in front of her face.
Tsurumi Rumi's back profile flickered in and out between light and shadow, yet her pace showed a complete lack of hesitation, carrying the aesthetic of a nocturnal animal.
Shouldn't an elementary school student of this age have fallen asleep long ago? Why does she look so perfectly adapted to the night, just like a high schooler pulling an all-nighter to do homework or a university student staying up late to cultivate immortality!
Could it be that I'll end up getting lost in the woods in a little bit too?
For no rhyme or reason, Miura began to feel uneasy.
The dead twigs beneath her feet produced crisp snapping sounds whenever she stepped on them, causing her heart to constrict suddenly each time; yet the child walking ahead was never startled throughout, acting as if she couldn't hear any sound at all, or perhaps concentrating single-mindedly on discerning something.
The summer night breeze stopped, and the chirping of insects vanished imperceptibly as well. The surroundings grew so quiet it made one panic; Miura suddenly felt that her own heartbeat sounded a fraction too loud amidst this night scene.
No, the wind hadn't stopped.
If one listened meticulously, the rustling sound of the flowing atmosphere brushing against the treetops could still be heard from afar; it was just that the trees surrounding her were layered row upon row, turning as dense as a walled enclosure at some unknown point, to where even a hint of the wind's sound could barely penetrate.
At a certain moment, Miura suddenly realized that her sense of direction had become blurred.
The trees no longer possessed clear intervals, and the darkness felt as though it had acquired thickness, squeezing and pressing down from all directions.
Right at this juncture, she felt something brush past her feet—cold, flexible, carrying a fine and continuous sensation of friction.
Is it a snake? Is there a snake!
The young girl felt her goosebumps rise all at once. She snapped her head down, yet she could see absolutely nothing; the ground held only fragmented shadows sliced apart by the moonlight.
That sensation did not disappear; instead, it rose and fell in waves all around her.
The fallen leaves shifted gently, as if countless long, thin entities were crawling slowly beneath the soil.
"Ah..."
As if sensing something, Miura abruptly cast her gaze sideways.
This time, she saw a snake.
It was a brilliantly patterned snake.
At this moment, this snake was wrapped around a tree branch in an exceptionally crude and forceful manner. Countless sharp twigs had impaled its body, leaving the massive serpent as rigid as a vine; a fishy, metallic scent of rust diffused through the air, making it blatantly obvious that it was as dead as dead could be.
Frightened to the point of losing her color, Miura wanted to scream, only to find her throat acting as if it were blocked by something, leaving behind nothing but a dry, parched breath.
She raised her head to search for Tsurumi Rumi, only to discover that at some unknown point, nothing but dense trees and shrubs remained ahead; that tiny silhouette from just now had completely vanished.
In the very next instant, the darkness suddenly tightened.
Her field of vision felt as though it were closed by an invisible hand, and all light was brutally wiped away.
Yumiko only had enough time to experience a wave of weightless vertigo before her consciousness was dragged into a deeper place.
The woods closed up silently behind her, as if nothing had ever transpired.
☆
"Tsk!"
"What's wrong?"
Seeing the expression of Asakura, who was walking ahead of him, suddenly turn displeased, Hachiman couldn't help but speak up to ask.
"Something happened."
Asakura's tone was chilling: "The familiar I sent out was taken out by who-knows-what kind of thing."
"Eh?! Isn't that remarkably bad? Then do we still need to keep looking for Tobe right now?"
Hearing this, Hachiman couldn't help but grow a bit worried as well.
Although the person in front of him usually seemed a fraction unreliable, in reality, he was a terrifying entity capable of easily intercepting and shooting down a meteorite that could destroy an entire town. Now that even this guy was showing such a serious and solemn expression, could it be that the situation this time was going to be even worse than the spirited-away Itomori Town?
"There's no need anymore. Tobe has likely no longer been in the campsite since not long after dinner ended."
Asakura shook his head.
"How do you know?"
Hachiman asked curiously.
He knew very well that Asakura wasn't the kind of guy who would disregard human life just for fun. If he had known from the start that Tobe was no longer at the campsite and might be in danger, it would be impossible for him to deliberately say nothing while just making quips and wasting time over there.
He must have investigated and found out something during this period using methods difficult for ordinary people to comprehend.
As for why it was clear that Tobe's current situation was bad, one could tell simply by the fact that the person in front of him was no longer using that meaningful and solemn tone to call him 'Kakeru,' but was instead properly calling him 'Tobe.'
"My familiar just discovered marshmallow and sweet potato skewers not far from the campsite. That fellow Tobe probably wanted to copy the movies by roasting marshmallows and sweet potatoes, so he quietly took some embers from the bonfire and was doing it sneakily over at the edge of the camp."
Asakura said: "After all, he was the one ordered to be responsible for putting out the bonfire."
Judging by that guy's attention-seeking personality, he was probably planning to show off in front of Hayama and the others after successfully roasting them.
It's just that before he could even start roasting them, he suddenly vanished mysteriously.
"Then what should we do?"
Hachiman asked hurriedly.
Before Asakura could speak, Komachi came looking for them in a great rush at this exact moment.
"Brother! Asakura-senpai!"
The girl asked with some anxiety: "Have you seen Sister Ebina?"
"Ebina just had a nosebleed and is currently resting over at Hiratsuka-sensei's place."
Hachiman answered.
The girl grew visibly relieved to the naked eye, and then she asked: "Then are Sister Miura and little sister Tsurumi over at Teacher's place as well?"
"Miura and Tsurumi are missing too?" Hachiman blanked, his expression turning ugly.
"Are they not over there?" Komachi blanked as well: "Just now Sister Miura said she was going to look for Sister Ebina, but she hasn't come back after a good while. When I went out to look for her, I found that little sister Tsurumi, who shares a cabin with me, was gone too."
At this moment, Asakura spoke up: "Don't worry, I saw them just now."
"Is that so? That's great!"
Only then did Komachi breathe a sigh of relief. She gave Hachiman a glare: "Honestly, Onii-chan shouldn't tease me at a time like this. Komachi points are going to take a massive deduction!"
"Hachiman, it's fine if I go look for them alone. You stay here and keep Komachi company."
Asakura said to Hikigaya.
Hachiman instantly realized that with the situation this time, he would only drag them back even if he went. Naturally, he wouldn't dilly-dally like the heroine in a movie, so he nodded very readily: "I understand, then I'll leave it to you."
"Takuma-tan!"
But before Asakura could set out, Yui, who had similarly run out from the wooden cabin, arrived here as well.
She had clearly overheard the conversation between Asakura and Hikigaya: "I'll help too!"
"No need..." Asakura shook his head and refused.
"There's no need to worry about me!" The girl said seriously: "I brought 'Napoleon' along."
Asakura cast a glance at the young girl's slightly loose pajamas: "I knew about its existence from the very beginning. However, the situation this time involves some uncertain elements, and this place isn't my home turf after all. So, Yui... I hope you can stay in the camp and let Napoleon protect the others."
"Onii-chan, what is Napoleon?" Seeing that the atmosphere was a fraction solemn, Komachi found it hard to ask the two of them directly, so she could only whisper into her older brother's ear very softly.
"No idea. It's probably a safety word between Asakura and Yuigahama or something." Hachiman couldn't easily explain it to Komachi, whose memories had been erased, so he could only answer evasively.
As a result, he was glared at by Komachi with a gaze reserved for looking at filth.
Before the pained older brother, who was despised by his younger sister, could explain further, Komachi's expression shifted once more into a helpless look that practically said, 'An older brother like this is fundamentally unmarriageable, so he can probably only be sold off cheaply to someone else's older brother.'
Sister, when you think that way, your brother feels even more pained, alright...
"...... I understand."
After hesitating for a long while, Yui still nodded her head: "I will look after things on this end in place of Takuma-tan. But Takuma-tan must absolutely be careful too... don't go getting yourself covered in wounds again... I'm truly worried you'll end up looking like you did that time at Mount Kumotori..."
"Rest assured, ordinary demons and monsters can't do a thing to me. I am already matchless under heaven!" Asakura said with absolute seriousness.
But Yui still appeared deeply worried.
Asakura said no more, simply waving his hand to the crowd, and then sprinted forward all by himself into the woods beside the campsite.
Yui stood there blankly, watching Asakura's retreating figure continuously until his silhouette completely vanished into that pitch-black stretch of forest.
"If you are truly that worried, why didn't you keep imploring him to take you along?"
Suddenly, a clear, cold voice rang out.
Startled, several people subconsciously looked toward the direction of the wooden cabin, only to see Yukino standing in the shadows, entirely unaware of how long she had been watching from there.
"Yukinon..." Yui stared at her blankly.
"Given his character, if you had just implored him a few more times, his heart might have actually softened and he would have taken you along," Yukino continued.
"I need to protect the other people here..." Yui said softly.
"You and I both know that fellow has plenty of other ways to protect the people here," Yukino said decisively, "Are you simply 'not wanting to cause trouble for him,' Yui?"
"There are factors of that nature too, I suppose."
Yui said softly: "But you've got it wrong, Yukinon. I truly want to protect the people here... whether it's Yukinon, Hina, little sister Itsuka, Hiratsuka-sensei... ah, and the Hikigaya siblings."
"Oh la, onii-chan~ It feels like the two of us siblings were just tacked on as an afterthought," Komachi complained: "That's a bit subtle."
"Be content with what you've got, someone was forgotten entirely, you know," Hachiman comforted her in a soft voice.
"Sorry about that, but by the looks of it, you two must know at least a little bit about Takuma-tan's circumstances, right?"
Yui flashed a somewhat awkward smile toward the two of them.
"Yeah." Hachiman nodded his head.
"Huh?" Komachi looked completely blank: "Why does it seem like only Komachi is being excluded?"
"Don't let it bother you, this isn't a topic Komachi should dabble in. You should just head to sleep early; I'll come call you after Asakura finds Tsurumi and the others. Be a good girl." Hachiman tried his best to coax and deceive her.
As a result, the gaze Komachi directed at him became even sharper.
Yukino did not speak, but merely continued to fix her gaze upon Yui, as if trying to read something from her face.
Yet the pink mochi, who was usually incredibly radiant and carried a hint of silliness in her cheerfulness, wore an expression that looked remarkably mature at this moment.
"I don't know what this world will turn into. But no matter what, the fact that I want to protect the people important to me will not change..."
The young girl declared toward her dearest friend: "It's true that Takuma-tan is incredibly powerful, but he is still a human being, and he gets tired too! I don't want to hide inside Takuma-tan's embrace forever. I hope that one day, I can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him, and become an existence that can share the weight of this world for him!"
"Yui..." A fraction of warmth entered Yukino's gaze; she had never expected Yui, one of her very few friends, to harbor such thoughts.
That was a level of courage that even she herself had failed to summon, even after coming into contact with the true dark side of the world and learning the meaning of horror.
"It feels like the topic suddenly became incredibly grand... 'the weight of the world' and all that," Komachi muttered under her breath.
"Well, recent light novels feature similar developments from time to time; I think it's called the 'Sekai-kei' genre or something," Hachiman also responded in a quiet whisper.
"You two over there! Stop destroying the atmosphere right in the middle of someone's serious speech!"