Shirou Yukimura − First Hour (and More) in Another World

As he started to wake up, Shirou could still remember the pain that his body had went through, even though he could no longer physically feel it. As he tried to get off the ground, he felt a weight on top of him. As he slowly regained his senses, he realized that Mayumi was laying on top of him, her arms still around his neck. Carefully, he rolled Mayumi off of him onto the ground next to him and tried shaking her away.

"Mayumi? Mayumi, are you okay?" Shirou whispered as he tried to wake her up.
Eventually, Mayumi slowly opened her eyes and lifted herself up to sit up on the ground.
"Shiro? Is that you?" Mayumi asked still a bit confused, "Where are we." She raised her hand to cover her eyes from some light shining down from from above them. 
Shirou turned his eyes up to the source of light and slowly realized the larger change of environment around them. No longer were they in Classroom 1-B but were instead all scattered on top of what appeared to be an elevated stone platform with grass strewn all over it's surface. Around the platforms were four equidistant arches that joined at a center above the platform, creating a dome with empty quadrants. 
As the other students, and Miss Fujiwara, started to slowly wake up, Shirou stood up and helped Mayumi get on her feet. While everyone was standing up, the others started to look and walk around, clearly just as confused as he was.
"What the hell is going on?" Tommy asked as he squinted looking beyond the platform. Shirou turned to also observe their surroundings around them, but the area around the platform was obscured entirely by a forest of tall trees.
"Holy shit," Jun said as he stood up next to Shirou and put his hat on, "Do you think− No way?"
Shirou turned to see Lia walk towards the archways, observing it closely.

"Those symbols," she said while observing them, "these look almost exactly the same as the ones in the classroom."

Shirou walked towards the archway closest to him and looked closely at the stonework. It was clearly a very old structure, weathered and worn from the elements and time, but it was also clear that there were deep carvings all over the stone. While Shirou couldn't match the symbols on the stone to the ones he had seen in Classroom 1-B, they seemed to be similar. 

As he was observing the archway, he heard what sounded like hyperventilating and turned around. He saw Kiyo, sitting on the ground, having hyperventilating as Tommy and Rio tried to help her calm down.
"It's okay, it's okay. Everything's going to be okay Kiyo," said Tommy as he took of his jacket and put around her shoulders, "everything will be okay."
"Just breathe, Kiyo. Breathe," added Rio, "Make the world smaller."
Slowly, Kiyo's breathing became slowed down as she eventually calmed down.
"We'll be okay," Tommy said to her, "I promise you, everything will be okay." Kiyo gave a small nod to Tommy before he and Rio helped her stand up.

"Don't make promises you can't keep" Everyone turned to see who had spoken. Noboru helped Masaru up while he slowly walked towards them. Tommy walked up to Noboru, 

"What did you say?" he asked. Noboru looked up at Tommy,
"I said, don't make promises you can't keep." He lifted his arm and gestured all around them.
"Look around us," he continued, "We're in the middle of nowhere in some forest after having been kidnapped or something and you still think you can promise her that she'll be okay? For all we know, we might all die in a couple minutes. Who the hell knows what's going on?" Tommy slowly walked towards Noboru before Hiro stepped between them. 

"Tommy, he's not wrong," Hiro added, "We don't know what's going on and−"
"Thank you!" interrupted Noboru, "at least he's more reasonable than you."
Tommy clenched his fist as he walked closer to Noboru, 
"I'm not planning to stop protecting my friends just because I have no bloody clue of where we are," he replied, "unlike you, I don't plan on living or dying like a coward."
Noboru stepped back before scoffing and turning around to walk back to Masaru.

Eventually, most of them walked towards the center into a larger group. Yuko helped Miss Fujiwara as she tried to use her cellphone to call for help.
"No reception," she relayed to the students, "this doesn't make sense. Where could we be if I suddenly can't get reception?"
Ana raised her phone up before bringing it back down to look at the screen, "I don't have reception either. But I have an international plan? Where on earth are we?"
They all tried to check for reception or call someone before Shirou and Jun made eye contact, a similar idea forming in both their heads.
"Guys," Jun started, grabbing everyone attention, "I know this'll sound crazy but here me out." He gestured towards Ana before continuing,
"What if the reason none of us have reception, including people with international plans, as well as why we all suddenly showed up here after we were all definitely in room 1-B is because−"
"Holy shit," interrupted Rio as he put his hands on his head, "did we get isekai'd?"
Rio's question left a long silence in its wake before Masaru's snickering broke it. 
"Isekai'd?" he asked, "c'mon, be serious. Don't bring up your nerd shit now." Tommy turned to Masaru, "Are you stupid? How can you say 'be serious' when we're in the middle of a forest after having been covered in them weird characters in the classroom. Why aren't we in the classroom Masaru? Do you have a better explanation than Rio and Jun?" Masaru paused, clearly not expecting Tommy's rebuttal.
"Maybe we were kidnapped?" he guessed. Tommy almost immediately slapped him across the face before anyone else could react.
"Kidnapped?!" he yelled, "By who? You think the light was actually some people who picked us up from the classroom, carried us out of the school and took all twenty-one of us to a remote forest? That's your explanation?" Tommy walked away from Masaru, still reeling from the slap.
"Well," added Yuko, "as crazy as it sounds, it would certainly explain the sudden and drastic change of location. Not to mention how those images on the wall and floor were moving. Like they were alive."

"So what? Isn't something supposed to happen then?" asked Kazuya, "Aren't we supposed to be guided by a goddess or gain some kind of crazy power?" The others looked around or at themselves. For all they could tell, nothing around them had changed since they woke up nor did they notice any changes to themselves. Emi even held out her hand and tried hard for something to happen, only to no avail.
"So what do we do then?" Hoshi asked, "What's our next plan?" Everyone looked to one another, waiting for someone to come up with an idea.
"We should wait," said Miss Fujiwara, "In situations like this, it wouldn't be wise to try and navigate the forest around us with no tools."
"I concur," added Satomi, "It's the only logical approach given how much we still don't know."
"Alright then," said Takumi as he sat back down on the platform, "I guess we'll just have to wait." Emi sat down next to him and slowly, one-by-one, the others followed suit. Most of them sat down while some, like Lia and Miss Fujiwara chose to lean against the arches instead.

The group waited for any change, whether to them or their surroundings. Minutes turned to hours as nothing new happened. All while they waited, Shirou sat next to Mayumi, with her leaning on him. He thought about everything that had happened. Just a couple hours ago, he was still worried about his future and whether there was anything for him. Now, all of that had been thrown out the window. What's the point in being anxious of your impending future when he was basically ripped away from his life. He almost smiled at the absurdity of the whole thing. He had been trying to ignore the future and now, it felt he had been snatched away from all of it. Strangely though, he felt a sense of ease in that regard. All that stress about his future wasn't really that big of a considering their current situation. For now, he had bigger things to worry about, he thought as he turned to Mayumi, like whether or not any of them would survive in this strange place.

Eventually, after what seemed like hours had passed, Ichika stood up.
"This is a waste of time," she said, breaking the silence. Everyone looked to her, most of them having already thought what she said out loud.
"At this point we might as well pick a direction and go walking for all the difference it'll make" Ichika added. Lia stood up and walked up to her,
"I know that just waiting here seems like a waste of time, but it's the safest option we have. We don't know these forests or what creatures could live there. For all we know, if we went into the forest we could be attacked by an animal. At least if we're here in an open space, we would have a better chance of clearly seeing it. We get rid of that advantage if we leave."
"So what? We should just wait here until we starve?" Johnny asked as he stood up, "Or should we only wait until we get hungry and then go into the woods even weaker looking for food?"
Lia paused at his question. He brought up a valid point. If they waited to long here and no help came, they would have to go looking for food anyway. If they ventured into the woods after waiting because they were hungry, the would certainly be more vulnerable than if they were to go into the forest now. 

"I still think it's a bad idea," added Ana, "we have no way to defend ourselves, especially if there are any large animals in the forest."
Ichika was clearly frustrated, but didn't say anything back to Ana. She didn't want to just stay there and wait for even longer, but Ana was right. They had no idea what was in the forest. The also didn't know that if whatever could be in the forest were just normal animals or some fantasy, monster animals.
For a moment, Ana's frustration carried a silence through the whole group before Hiro broke it.
"Then how about we put it up to a vote?" Hiro proposed, "We shouldn't split up but it's clear that some of us would leave or stay. So let's see which one more of us want."
Tommy stood up and walked over to Hiro and nodded. For a moment, it seemed like most of them were in agreement with the vote before Miss Fujiwara interrupted.

"Absolutely not!" she said firmly, putting her foot down. Yuko tried to say something but she carried on,

"I'm still a teacher and I cannot condone you all voting for something that may end up with you being injured or worse," she continued," I have a responsibility as your teacher to shut down this whole idea." It seemed that Miss Fujiwara's words hit a chord. This vote could have significant outcomes given what the winning vote is. Eventually, Kazuya walked up to her.
"News flash Miss Fujiwara," he brought up, "but we're already screwed. Whether we stay here or go in, there's no guarantee that we'll make it out either way. Everyone who's down for the vote, say aye."
"Aye," said everyone besides Miss Fujiwara. Despite her protests, Miss Fujiwara quickly realized it didn't matter. This was an unprecedented situation and everyone's opinion had to be put into consideration. It wasn't the type of circumstance where the teacher and/or adult could choose what was correct for the students. Frankly, there may not have been any "correct" choice in this one.
"Alright," continued Hiro, "Everyone who wants to leave can raise their hand. Everyone who doesn't can keep it down. Ready? On one. Three, two, one..."
Shirou raised his hand and turned around. He, alongside Tommy, Hiro, Jun, Ichika, Johnny, Naoko, Masaru, Hoshi, and Satomi raised their hands. Kazuya, Mayumi, Lia, Rio, Kiyo, Takumi, Noboru, Ana, Hoshi, and Yuko all kept their hands down. It was ten to ten. Everyone turned to look at Miss Fujiwara, she had walked away from the vote, but they needed her to break the tie. 

"Miss Fujiwara," said Tommy, "If we stay here, we are almost certainly guaranteed to go hungry. We should go into the forest together when have a chance."
"But we have no idea what's in there, man," replied Rio, "Let's just stay here. We don't know for sure that someone won't come eventually."
"We can't rely on that," rebutted Hoshi, "We need to do something. At least if we go in the forest, we could work to find a way out." As argument started getting thrown out, Miss Fujiwara stayed away from the group. There's no way she could play a part in their vote. They were essentially making bets with their lives; she couldn't participate in that.

As they continued to argue, Shiro saw from the corner of his eye, Miss Fujiwara's head quickly turn towards the forest before she turned back to them and ran up to them. 

"Everyone. Everyone!" she yelled to grab their attention, "I think I heard someone coming from that direction." She pointed out toward the patch of forest that she had run from. Tommy, Hiro, and Lia stepped in front of everyone as the sounds of footsteps and sticks breaking started to reach all of them. Shirou saw Kazuya hug Naoko tightly as they also started to hear something metallic approach them.
As the sounds got closer and closer, they all tried to calm their nerves, preparing for the worst. Eventually, two lines of people walked into the clearing around the stone platform. They were all wearing shining plates of armor, with a sword sheathed at their waist. As they walked closer and closer to the edge of the platform, Shirou noticed how the lines of soldier had considerable space between them, enough for another two lines of people to walk between them. 
As they reached the edge of the platform, they stopped and each turned 45 degrees to face the soldier opposite them on the other line. Eventually, there were only the sounds of one set of footsteps left. From the obscuring of the forest walked forward someone dressed in a different set of armor. This one was much more intricate and detailed than that of the other soldiers. With highlights of gold all around the much darker, more silver colored plate. As the knight walked past the soldiers, each soldier would lift their fist and press it against their chest, like a salute. Eventually, the knight made her way to the edge of the platform and started to walk up to them. The close she got, the more they got closer to each other, behind the seniors. The knight stopped walking about a meter and a half from the seniors before pulling their sword from its sheath. Immediately, the group tried to move back and Shirou thought he heard Tommy swallow his saliva, waiting for the something bad to happen. Instead, the knight brought their sword down blade first into the grass, letting go of it and leaving it in place. They then reached for their helmet and pulled it off, with long locks of blonde hair falling down from it and onto their back and shoulders. The knight, then placed her helmet onto the hilt of her sord before taking the gauntlet off of her right hand and running her fingers through her hair. She then took a knee and placed her hand on her chest and bowed to them.
"Greetings to your, strangers from beyond our realm," she spoke, in a voice that told the group that she must have been no more older than them, "I am Captain Valeria of House Ariecastre, ruling family of our great kingdom of Deusaerium. It would be my great honor to escort you to our capital to explain to you the nature of your summoning.
Everyone stood there stunned for a second, before Jun leaned in and whispered to Shirou, "called it."
Miss Fujiwara stepped up to Valeria, to which she asked, "Do you speak for your group, miss?"
Miss Fujiwara, still a bit shaken, responded, "Yes, I do."
Valeria offered her a smile before standing up and extending a hand out. Miss Fujiwara, quickly grabbed hold and shook her hand. 
"I guess you also shake hands here," Miss Fujiwara noted nervously.
"Of course we do," answered Valeria, "it's important to be courteous to guests."
After pulling her hand away, Valeria beckoned to the other to follow her before she put on her right gauntlet and helmet before removing her sword from the grass and re-sheathing it. Miss Fujiwara went to follow her and called the others to go with them. Some of them were slower to follow, but eventually they all made their way off the platform and followed Valeria into the path between the lines of soldiers. As the last of them went in-between, the soldiers turned back away from the platform in unison and marched alongside them into the forest.

As they walked down the forest, Shirou noticed how some of the soldiers around them had special patches on their chest pieces. It appeared to be made of cloth but was a deep red color. He asked what they were for to which Valeria turned back while walking and replied, "They are pieces of cloth dipped in dragon's blood. All animals can sense or smell monster in some way and most of them tend to avoid anything that comes from a dragon. It's also very toxic to them, so it wards off any would be predators who can smell human. It should keep us safe until we make it to the boat."
Shirou turned back to Mayumi as they walked through the forest. Now that they were deeper into it, it was true that they had all started to hear the sounds of animals, only some of which they recognized. They must have only walked for 20 to 30 minutes before they walked out of the forest. Before them, they saw a sandy beach that stretched quite far into an ocean that went for as far as their eyes could see. On the shore, were multiple rowboats that which the soldiers must have used to land on the island. However, the much more eye-catching vessel was a bit farther from the shore. A ways into the water, they all saw a massive ship, made of wood with three large masts with multiple square sails and a massive hull. It was certainly the largest ship any of them had ever seen in their lives. 
As they started to walk onto the beach, Valeria ordered her soldiers to assist them in getting in the rowboats to reach the ship. They were separated in multiple groups, each with two soldiers who pushed them off shore and rowed them towards the ship. As they all got closer and closer to it, Shirou truly realized how large it was. It must have been over 60 meters long. As the rowboats got up next to the ship, multiple ladders were thrown over to them. After everyone made their way up the ladders, Shirou saw the crew throw down ropes with hooks to pull up all the rowboats. 

The deck of the ship was much cleaner than Shirou had expected. He thought it would be like a pirate ship where the decks were gross and smelled horrible. But the wooden flooring was quite clean and seemed to be in pretty good condition. After all the rowboats had been brought up, Valeria walked up to a man who appeared to be the captain. He was dressed in a clean uniform that seemed less like a pirate and more just like a regular sailor. 
"Captain, we've retrieved everyone," Valeria informed him, "set sail for Lucedus's Port." The captain raised put his fist to his chest before bowing before he started yelling orders at the crew.
While this was happening, Valeria came up to the group and guided them down under a deck through a door. As they stepped down, Shirou was once again surprised by not only how clean the area under the ship's deck seemed to be, but at how it also seemed to be decorated with cushioned chairs, tables, and even some beds on top of one another.
"I believe this should be comfortable enough for you all for the journey, " Valeria explained, "Don't worry. It shouldn't take longer than a couple days." She turned away from the group to walk again towards the staircase before adding, "If you need anything else, don't be afraid to ask. We want to ensure your as comfortable as possible." With that, she made her way out of the door onto the deck. 

As they all sat down and settled in, they could feel the ship slowly start to move. While some of them had been in boats before, none of them had ever been inside of a ship like this. The space they had been left in was actually rather spacious, and they all spread out to sit or lay down in different places. Shirou chose to sit down on top of one of the beds next to the wall. He could hear the sound of the water as it hit the side of the hull outside. It was so strange. Despite living in Japan, he had never gone out of his way to experience being on the water in a ship. Who knew his first time doing so would be after he was teleported to a mysterious island?
Shirou pondered everything for a moment before Mayumi sat down next to him. She placed an arm around Shirou, trying to comfort him.
"It'll be okay Shirou," she said, "We'll get back home, I'm sure of it."
Shirou smiled back but couldn't say anything else. Yeah, home. He had home waiting for him after all, just like the rest of them. Right?