Conflict

The music continued playing before the creature couldn't handle the sound anymore; it started backing away, giving everyone a breather of relief, knowing the danger was repelled, letting the music stop for the meantime. The next two hours were going to be a breeze at this stage.

Under Ayuri's hand signal, the group take off their headphones, a clear sign that there is nothing nearby that was caught by Kazu's senses or Toki's gaze.

“Hiwo, I want to go attack the creatures.” Shina takes a look to her side, her red eyes beaming with hunger. Hiwo’s eyes, before closing, glanced at her strange demeanour, his eyebrows lifted, and his face stayed still for the next couple of moments.

“Sure, you can go if you want. I can’t stop you anyway. I should be able to carry things around here, but don’t think about dying out there,” a stern warning of both suspicion and regret.

Shina nods before stuffing the headphones into her pockets and venturing into the forest after the creature; her decision didn’t make sense to either Ayuri or Toki, watching the scene play out. Howi stood firmly, seeing her off.

Toki rushes over towards Howi; his movements are bold and quick. “Where is she going? At a time like this, it's basically suicidal!”

“Let her; the creatures know about her capabilities and will ignore her.” Howi had good reasoning behind his words; they weren't mere beasts that were made to fight, but intelligent magical beings made to hunt.

“I won’t let her just go out like that.” Toki moves to the side, attempting to brush past Hiwo, his own spear extended outwards, blocking him from moving forward.

He's really determined to let her go die like that? Allowing her to just wander freely, yet trying to prevent me.

“You're still injured and weaponless and also angry.” His emerald eyes glare down towards him. He wasn’t planning to budge at all in this confrontation.

Ayuri, seeing the eternal conflict, starts to rush over to calm everyone. “Calm down, everyone!”

“And you are also going to let your own sister basically leave? Let her fend for herself. Toki's glare pierces through her, disapproval enveloping both their stances.

Ayuri’s head shakes. “I know her enough that I can trust her decisions, even if they don’t make sense. There has to be a reason we just don't understand. When have you ever gotten to know her?”

It doesn’t matter if I know her or not; going out there is illogical! You even said it yourself. I'm causing this massive scene just because I care for someone who despises me. Teammates or enemies, it doesn't matter to her, yet I won't stand by her, throwing her life away. But suit yourselves; I won't sacrifice two of my bonds for her.

His stance begins to loosen before starting to head back to the camp. There was enough craziness during these times that having more added to his plate was just going to drag him down.

“Ayuri, come help me recover. With Shina gone, I want to be able to at least serve as a distraction for Hiwo to get a hit in. He flaps his hand, indicating for her to follow, which, after a momentary glance back at Hiwo, she does swiftly.

Back at the camp, Toki takes a seat at a log away from Kazu behind the firecamp. Ayuri was scavenging in their backpacks placed next to the tent for the medical mixture they had developed in preparation for this event.

“Get a spare set of bandages too if you don't mind. He gives an embarrassed smile as his hands wander down to his side. He presses gently, getting a wince of pain from the wound still. He takes off his school uniform and then the white shirt underneath.

Taking a stare at his wound, he notices the bandages being tinted red slightly from the excessive travel he had to endure; the wound opened back up slightly. He starts by grabbing one of the edges and starting to pull it out around him, slowly loosening the bandages from his body.

“Don’t take it all off yet,” Ayuri quickly warns before tapping herself over to his side with a cream-like substance and a new set of bandages to wrap around.

She takes hold of the last bandage before pulling it down herself. Toki's upper body being exposed to the air causes him to shiver slightly.

"It's healing quite well; it's rather abnormally fast. The herbs in this world must have a strong effect.” She puts some of the cream onto her hand before gently patting the area where the wound lies.

“Ah,” Toki lets out a painful whimper as her hands glide over his skin, causing him to jolt away reactively.

Ayuri lets out a soft giggle. “You shouldn't move around so much; it makes it harder that way.”

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Toki leans back, letting her finish applying the cream onto his body. It had a light green colour to it due to the ingredients used; it had a faint tingling aroma coming from it that would cause numbness if inhaled for too long a time.

Kazu, hearing the commotion from behind the campfire, takes a glance, seeing a shirtless Toki and Ayuri next to each other; a flustered expression appears on his face before he quickly scurries away back towards the campfire, making sure not to look further.

“Once you two are done, then come here. Take your time!” Kazu's voice shouts over the campfire, startling both of them from the sudden sound.

They quickly turn to face each other before turning away instantly with a slight blush.

Toki, being first to respond with an embarrassed tone, knowing Kazu must have looked past the campfire, said, “Nothing is happening, Kazu! Just, uhm, don’t look…”

Ayuri pinches his cheek before whispering, “You make it sound even worse!”

She clears her throat before speaking again.

“I'm treating his injury; he got stabbed earlier. Nothing more, I promise!” Her voice was cracking the entire sentence; she was trying to have some composure but failing miserably.

Ayuri finishes wrapping the bandages around Toki; the new set feels nice on his body compared to the old, bloody one. He starts by putting his shirt back on, then his uniform and standing up.

“Thank you, Ayuri. It feels better now. Ah, what would I do without you?” That last being said in a joking tone only added to the atmosphere.

She starts feigning anger. “Maybe Shina or Hiwo would have done it instead, so it's fine even if I wasn't here.”

Toki smiles softly. “But you do it best; I would always pick you if I had the chance to.”

Ayuri flushes her cheeks red before trying to sway the conversation away. “Kazu needs us; let's not waste his time already as much as we have.”

She walks over with Toki around the campfire where Kazu sat with his violin, and he was clearly figuring out whether to ask them or not.

“So… I have a request to ask of you both.” His words were soft and timid.

They both wait for him to finish the execution he has.

“I am weak, someone who can’t move past this camp without being at risk, so please search for my companions.”