Chapter 9_Jungle Madness

The rest of the journey across the desert was simple compared to the first half. Water wasn't a problem after filling every container they had. They decided to skip the other bosses of the desert. Both were tired and wanted to make sure they got out of the dessert area before leaving for the day. Neither were interested in starting the next day dealing with sand and heat.

There were a couple of enemies encountered, but nothing that posed a great threat. More cactus shooting needles, some enlarged desert foxes that kicked up sand before pouncing, and a creature that resembled a velociraptor. Tomiko almost walked into a sand trap, but Chimon could see it and warned her before it could become an issue.

The end of the sands reached the craggy slopes of the next area. Vegetation was still sparse, but the ground was more dirt like in consistency before the steep face of the cliff. Tomiko questioned to herself why Chimon didn't take her on a path leading around the cliff, but it was possible it wasn't an option. She was the one who insisted they went through the desert after all.

Now that it was done, she appreciated the experience. Tomiko never intended to repeat the experience, but was satisfied with the fact that she had done it.

Tomiko lifted up her arms in a victory stance and let out a dominant “Wooh!”

“W-what was that for?” Chimon said timidly.

“Victory holler. We made it through the desert. That’s a big goal for some runners.”

“To make it through a desert. Why not just pick a small desert, or pick a path not directly through the middle?”

“Huh. You're missing the point. There is a famous race that runs through the Sahara that is like... the ultimate test of stamina.”

“Oh, so you’re saying we did something impressive.”

“No. Not really. I mean we may have. I’m not sure how many other people could make the same journey. But probably not because in this world I can’t really be held back by pain, and dehydration doesn’t have the same consequences. We also only spent an afternoon where that race takes multiple days.”

“Multiple days! Just how long can people run?”

“You would take breaks. Pacing is important with tests of stamina.”

“If you say so” Chimon said as he mulled something else over. “Is the only thing that makes a race worth it is if others can’t?”

That question seemed to come out of nowhere. Tomiko guessed he got it from her comment about not being sure how many other people could make the trip they just made.

“I never thought of it like that before.” Tomiko replied.

“I never liked running, but I also was never really a competitive person. So maybe...”

“Everyone is competitive.” Tomiko interrupted. “That's just how the world works. Kids who study harder get better grades, people who work harder get better jobs, people who train harder win more.”

“I didn’t say the world wasn’t a competitive place, just that I’m not a competitive person.” Chimon said.

“You either compete or die. It’s that simple.” Tomiko said plainly.

Chimon didn't have a response. Tomiko felt like she just stepped on an emotional landmine. She wasn't in the mood to get blasted with those types of emotions after a long day of adventuring, so she changed the subject.

“So… are we going to scale this now or tomorrow?”

“Let’s leave it here.” Said Chimon.

“Good. Could you please log us out”

That was the first time Tomiko said please to Chimon. It may have been the first time in a while she said please to anyone.

“Sure… yeah I can do that.” Chimon responded.

And thus they saved their spot in the world and returned back to reality.

“Here’s your payment for today’s progress. We got pretty far.” Chimon said as he outstretched his hand with Tomiko’s money.

Once again, she was a bit hesitant to take the money. Not as hesitant as the time she had that argument with him last week. She still thought she overstepped a boundary. Even if she did, Chimon wasn't the type of person to let it get in the way of a promise. Tomiko wouldn't be able to do that. If the roles were reversed, she would say they hadn't earned it and walked away. In such a scenario she wouldn't deserve any future help.

It would be too much of a bother to explain how she was feeling about the money to Chimon, so she just took it and started walking away.

“See you tomorrow” She said as she gave the same walking away salute she would give Aio’s dad.

“So cool” Chimon muttered to himself but loud enough that Tomiko could still hear. “See you tomorrow.”

#

Tomiko returned home. She started to make herself dinner. She was excited to open up her console and get it set up. Maybe even start that game Aoi recommended. Tomiko knew Aio was going to ask if she had done so the next day during school.

She didn't want to spend too much time on dinner, so she just made something quick, Soba with veggies, for herself.

Then her dad stepped out of his room.

...

“Just cooking for yourself today?”

“Oh? I didn’t know you were home…”

“It’s fine. You’re already sitting down. I’m not really hungry anyway.”

He shuffled slowly to the refrigerator and opened it to grab a beer.

Tomiko got nervous.

“So ah… how is school?”

“It’s fine.” She avoided eye contact.

“Good. Good. Staying out of trouble.”

“Yeah, I was only in one fight but they started it.”

“I see. Try not to let it happen again”

She was hoping for a bit more of a reaction, but knew better. Maybe he could tell it was a lie.

“Well… I’m going to have some more late nights this week. You call me if your mom comes back.”

“...She’s not coming back.”

He gave her a nasty look, took a long sip of his beer, and returned to his room.

Good, so he hasn’t had too many yet, Tomiko thought to herself.

Tomiko put what was left of her meal in the refrigerator. Maybe she would get her appetite back later.

She put off opening her console for another time.

#

“What do you mean you haven’t opened it yet?” Aio said as Tomiko was changing shoes for school.

“I got really busy with homework, so I didn’t really have the time.” Tomiko said.

“Ok.” Said Aio.

Tomiko didn't like disappointing Aio, but she wasn't in the right mindset last night to enjoy herself.

“I’ll try to do it tonight. Promise.”

“You don’t have to promise me anything. I’m just surprised you haven't already is all. Are you sure it’s something you want to do?” Aio asked.

“Of course! I wouldn’t have bought it if I didn’t intend to use it.” Tomiko said.

“I guess so.” Aio paused to think briefly about something. “That’s something I don’t see you doing, but I got loads of junk at my place that I don’t use anymore. Like, do you remember that funny video that was going around with the kid and the yo-yos? I wanted to try and pull off some of the tricks, but after an hour or so of trying I put it in a box and haven’t used it since. Oh, and remember that retro music player that made a resurgence last year? I bought so many songs for it, but I still just end up streaming music because it’s so much more convenient.”

Tomiko just had to be quiet. Aio’s wasteful spending was eating at her, but she didn't want to let it show. She was making an effort with the game console. Was it not enough? Did she make the wrong choice?

“Hey Aio!” A distant, yet familiar voice called out in their direction. One Tomiko wasn't looking forward to conversing with.

It was Mako, Aio’s boyfriend.

Aio was too busy talking to notice. So with a big dumb smile on his face, he put his hands over her eyes from behind and said “Guess who?”

“Stop it Mako! You're going to mess up my makeup.”

“Oh that’s right, sorry.” He immediately moved his hands away and held them out like he was trying to signal a surrender. “But you know, I wouldn’t have done it if you noticed the first time.”

“Oh did you call out to me again? Sorry, I was a little busy talking to my real friend Tomiko.” Aio retorted back, but with a hint of flirtatious sarcasm.

Tomiko wished he would leave.

“I guess I did interrupt your conversation. Didn't I?” He turned to Tomiko, put his hands together over his head, and bowed at a 90 degree angle “Really sorry about that, please find it in your heart to forgive me!”

Tomiko didn't like how over the top he was about his apology. But she mostly didn't like that he was intruding on her time with Aio.

“Whatever.”

“Ah, shot again by the ice queen Tomiko. Will I ever warm up to her, or will I always be an insignificant insect under the heel of her boot?” Mako said while striking a ridiculously dramatic pose.

Tomiko was about three seconds away from hitting him so hard he would never see out of his left eye again.

“Oh give it a rest. I’ll see tonight at seven. And you better help with dishes this time.” Aio said, reading the situation better than he could.

“I would, but your mom keeps telling me I don’t need to. This time I’ll finish first so she’ll have to kick me out of the kitchen” Mako said.

He left with a blow kiss that Aio pretended not to notice. Tomiko noticed though, and it still made her feel sick.

“So when are you dumping him?” Tomiko asked Aio curtly.

“Oh stop. He’s really sweet and you know it.” Aio said back.

“Could have fooled me.”

“He’s a great guy.”

“You can do better.”

“Maybe.” Aio said with a pause “But I don’t want to. I can’t see myself dating anyone else.”

Tomiko was fighting back a jealous impulse. She would end up saying something she regretted if she continued.

Why does he get so much of Aio’s time? Was he that much better than her? Was it because he was a boy? Was it because Tomiko wasn’t good enough?

Tomiko hated Mako. But the sad thing was, she didn’t always. She used to have a bit of a crush on him years ago. He went to the same middle school as her. It was actually Tomiko who ended up introducing the two of them together. It was long after her feelings for him had faded, but it still hurt to see them happy. To see Aio have something she couldn't.

“We should really get to class,” Aio said.

Tomiko got a grip and the two of them walked up to their homeroom before announcements.

They resumed their conversation about Tomiko not having opened her game console again during lunch, but some more of Aio’s friends interrupted to talk to her about plans for the weekend. Aio invited Tomiko, but she declined. She said she was busy, which was only partly a lie. She would have really liked to have hung out with Aio more, but she wouldn't know what to do with herself if Aio’s other friends were there. She would probably end up getting mad at them and hurt Aio.

During practice, Tomiko felt a little haunted by how she had interacted with others that day. Was she too mean to Mako? Did Aio think she was being too mean to Mako? Was Aio getting tired of how unavailable she was outside of school?

Tomiko was too preoccupied with these question to notice she had distributed her weight wrong, and collapsed during her run.

“Huh,” Tomiko thought to herself as she laid on the ground “This feels kind of familiar.” It reminded her of the times she passed out on the other world after running out of stamina. Except now she was experiencing more pain due to actually feeling the impact of the fall.

It took Tomiko a bit longer than it should have to register the sting from the abrasions on her knees and left forearm.

“Tomiko!” Aio circled back after realizing her friend wasn't still running next to her. “Ah, you’re bleeding.”

Tomiko got up on her own, but while brushing off her clothes she stumbled forward again. She would have fallen if Aio hadn't rushed in and helped support her.

“You got bumped up pretty bad! We need to take you to the medical office” Aio said.

Tomiko didn't want to argue, but she would have preferred to keep running. At least mentally she wanted to keep going, but for some reason her body was having a difficult time moving unassisted. She felt pretty weak.

The whole way back she felt guilty for liking the close time she was spending with Aio. It wasn't a position she necessarily wanted Aio to see her in, but she liked feeling seen.

“You’re low on substance.”

“What?” Tomiko replied back. She was a bit in a daze and hadn't fully registered what was happening in the medical office.

“You’re not eating enough to be running as much as you are.” The school nurse explained.

Tomiko looked around to check if Aio was still with her. She wasn't, so she didn't hear. Good.

“I don’t want to make any assumptions, but you shouldn’t try starving yourself to get thin. I know that appearance it really important for girls your age, but your health could be on the line if you don’t listen to your body”

The nurse clearly didn't know what they were talking about. Tomiko always made sure to eat when she was hungry, she just… wasn't hungry as often.

“I understand. I’ll make sure to get more in me before tomorrow.” Tomiko said.

She figured that if she fought the nurse’s opinion, they would report it to her dad. Which… may not be the worst thing if it happened…

“Um, I don’t think I can let you continue for a few days. This isn’t something that works itself out in one night.”

Now Tomiko was mad. They were going to take something away from her, and that she wouldn't allow.

“No! I’ll be better by tomorrow. I’m already feeling better. I can do what I want. What do you know, it’s not like you’re a real doctor!” Tomiko shouted and stormed out the room slamming the door behind her.

She was probably going to get a phone call home about this, but she made her point.

Tomiko waited in the school for practice to finish. She didn't want to explain to Aio or her dad about what happened. She didn't want them to worry about her, but at the same time she did. She mostly just wasn't sure what to say to them. She felt embarrassed and wanted to talk to Aio about it tomorrow when she would have less of a reaction.

After the team left, Tomiko continued on with her business and went to the back alley.

She wasn't in a pleasant mood, so she kicked the side of the dumpster pretty hard.

“Gah! Oh it's you.” Chimon said as he popped out of the trash. He still held his game console up in his hand like he was surrendering but didn't have the time to fully drop what he was doing.

“Ready?” Tomiko said.

“Yeah. Just let me save.” Chimon replied.

Once again, this meant no to Tomiko, but it got even more under her skin because of everything else that happened that day.

“Alright hurry up.” Tomiko said as she walked over to the portal.

Chimon pressed a few buttons and scurried out of the bin.

They faced the cliff wall they had left yesterday. Timoko waited a second, thinking that Chimon may have something to say about how to get over the cliff. He eventually tried breaking the silence.

“Say, I think you should equip this ring. It will reduce the damage you take from slash type attacks by fifteen percent.”

“Um, that’s not really helpful in this situation! How about something that teleports me to the top of the wall, or something that can make me jump really high.”

“Oh, I don’t remember seeing anything like that, but let me check your inventory again. Still, fifteen percent is a lot of reduction for a common damage type.”

Tomiko rolled her eyes as she approached the cliff face. Someone had to be useful today.

Climbing wasn't as difficult as Tomiko was expecting, but she still felt like there was something Chimon could have done to make it easier.

At the top of the cliff face, she was able to look out farther, and saw there was an area in the distance where the cliff wasn't as steep. It was approximately an hour walk by her estimate, which is probably why Chimon didn't take her in that direction. She still felt a bit cheated. Tomiko would much rather spend the time walking than climb. She bottled it up instead of communicating her complaint.

Tomiko looked around at the new scenery. Not too far away from the ledge was thick jungle. The tops of the trees were a dark green, but the undergrowth was a royal purple. She just needed to cross over some very flat, rocky land to reach it. Tomiko found it strange to see a jungle and a desert so close to each other. She wasn't very curious as to why this was the case, but Chimon was going to tell her anyway.

“You may be wondering why the forest biome is right next to the desert biome. This is actually fairly similar to how it would work in our world. You see, as the wind travels up the mountains, all of the moisture rains as it rises in elevation. This means that by the time it gets to the other side of the ridges, there is no more moisture, thus creating a desert over time.”

“Did you make me climb a cliff just so that you could explain that phenomenon?” Tomiko said with a bit of a growl.

“Er… no!” Chimon replied.

“Whatever. Let’s keep moving” Tomiko said.

She continued to bottle up her frustration.

The plant life in the jungle was dark and lush. The purple and green foliage was impossible to avoid. While not causing damage, the leaves brushing up against her was very unpleasant. The sky was still just as bright, but it was difficult to see due to how close all of the vegetation was.

It was easy for Tomiko to lose her sense of direction with how much plant life was around her. She could only see about ten meters in front of her before it just blended into leaves, vines and tree trunks, both fallen and upright.

Because Tomiko wasn't able to navigate, Chimon had to frequently tell her where to go to stay on course.

“Please turn a little more to the right”, “I recommend going to the right side of that large tree up ahead”, “Try following the path close to those rocks instead of this one”.

Each direction got more and more on Tomiko’s nerves. It felt like he was constantly telling her she was wrong. There wasn't much she could do about it, because she really didn't know how to keep to a straight path in a thick jungle. It didn't mean she had to like it. Chimon’s directions normally were only a minor annoyance, especially with how long they had been adventuring together. However, that day had already been going poorly.

About fifteen minutes into the jungle, they encountered their first enemy of the new area.

“What the heck is that!” Tomiko shouted pointing at the disturbing creature.

“The closest thing we have in our world is called a centipede. Although, this one has a bit rounder abdominis, so maybe it would be more like a millipede.” Chimon answered.

“Whatever it is, I hate it!” Tomiko drew her sword and braced for it to attack.

This was the wrong move for her to make, because as the creature approached she became paralyzed with fear due to its unnerving movement. Its countless legs marched in a waving motion, while its large front antennae scurried left and right to feel its surroundings.

The creature got up close and lashed out with some of its upper body. It did very little damage, but creeped Tomiko out as its tiny, many arms grazed over the right side of her body.

Tomiko wanted to scream ‘gross’ as loud as she could, but then something else happened.

She snapped.

“You took...:”

But Tomiko lunged forward before Chimon could finish his thought.
She gripped her sword tight and slashed faster than a blink of the eye. About one fourth of the creature separated from itself before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. The other end of the creature quickly wrapped itself around Tomiko’s right leg as it writhed from the attack. On instinct, Tomiko swung down at the creature where it had attached itself. It cut the creature up further and removed it from her leg, but her impulsive strike left a large gash on herself.

The creature writhed some more on the jungle floor, not making a sound but clearly displaying pain. It set itself upright and tried running away. Tomiko fixated on the creature, and leaped at it with her sword in a downward striking position.

“Hraaaah!” She cried as the sword pierced the earth.

The creature had narrowly moved out of the way. It tried crawling away again, but this time directly underneath Tomiko.

“Gaaaaah!” Without missing a beat, Tomiko punched down at the creature with more strength than she had to pin the creature and stop it from moving.

It needed to stop! She needed to make it stop!

Tomiko proceeded to pulverize the creature. One fist after another. Beating down on the creature as it tried to move.

At first it was out of fear, but as the creature stopped moving, she continued to wail on it. It started to feel good. Its insides burst, its long exoskeleton crushed, but she kept going.

‘Screw this bug,’ Tomiko thought to herself. ‘Screw its gross arms, screw its freaky movement, screw this annoying forest’. But before long, her anger shifted to more than just the creature. ‘Screw Chimon’s directions, screw his chubby face, screw Mako’s personality, screw that stupid nurse, screw Aio’s friends, and screw dad!’

Tomiko didn't notice that the creature had disappeared into a cloud of dust. She even crushed the dropped item that spawned for defeating the monster.

The guts of the creature disappeared along with it, but Tomiko was still splattered with blood. Not only was the gash on her calf coating her leg with blood, but the glass from the broken potion bottle, which was the loot drop, had covered her fists with many deep cuts. Splattering blood everywhere every time she pulled back to strike the ground.

She knelt there, breathing heavily from the fury she had just unleashed.

Chimon said nothing. He wanted to tell her she needed to drink a health potion, but he was too scared to do so. He wasn't sure how to process what had just happened. Chimon knew that she was impulsive and sharp tongued, but this was more than he knew how to deal with. What do you do after a girl goes berserk?