Chapter 27

With her jacket completely soaked through from the downpour, Izumi shivered as she rocked in place, rubbing her hands together.

"Sorry we took too long to find dry ground," Kuruma said, shrugging his coat off. "Here, my coat is still dry inside, so it should keep you warm." He placed it over her shoulders.

"T-thank you." Izumi pulled it tighter around her and breathed in his scent. She giggled. "It smells like pizza."

"It does? Oops. If it bothers you—"

"No, not at all. If anything, it's the opposite; it's comforting."

"Oh, okay... cool, I guess."

"But aren't you going to be cold without it? Maybe we should share it." Being close would also help with heat...

"Na, I'm fine. It's not too cold for me. Man, it's really not letting up." Kuruma sighed, shoulders slouching as he looked up through the leaves at the sky.

Wish I knew what to say here. He looks so down. It's not his fault that any of this happened. At least he tried... Curse you, Hoshi. There was no need to push me over. Tears welled in her eyes. No, no, no. Don't you dare cry now. She turned away from Kuruma slightly to wipe her eyes.

"Hey, are you okay?" He reached for her shoulder and hesitated.

She swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "Yup." She forced a smile and turned back to him. "I'm just glad I'm not here on my own."

"Not sure I'm much help, but I guess being alone would be worse," he mumbled and stuffed his hands into his pants pockets. "Wish I could at least work on the game, but I'd rather the tablet not get wet."

"Oh! Is everything safe in your backpack? What about your manga?"

"I have an extra bag in my backpack to make sure things stay dry, so they're fine."

"Wish I did that." Could've saved a few volumes that way.

"Izumi, Kuruma!" a faint voice rang in the distance.

"Hey, do you hear something?" Izumi asked.

Crackle.

She jumped. "N-not that. I swear I heard someone calling us."

Kuruma checked his phone. "No signal still."

"No, I meant called out names."

"Izumi! Kuruma! Where are you?! Call out if you can hear me."

"Wait, I think I can hear... Yanagi?" Kuruma tried to peek out of their cover, up at the path they fell from. "Stay here for a moment; I'm going to call out to them."

"It's still a downpour; take your coat." Izumi handed him his coat back.

"Thanks." He held it over himself and ran out into the storm. "Yanagi!"

"Are we really going to find them staying on the trail?" Shiori complained as she tried to block her eyes from the rain with her hands as she looked around. "I mean, if they were on it, they'd follow the red ribbons everywhere. They make it easy to spot for a reason."

"But if we wander off the trail, we might get lost," Yanagi said as he pulled his coat off to hold up over both of them. "Let's go further; I know a spot that looked dangerous." They rushed off, deeper into the trail as one of the staff called out, chasing after them.

"Kuruma! Izumi!" Yanagi yelled as they kept moving.

"Ah!" Shiori yelped as her foot slipped in the mud. Her arms flailed as she fell backward.

Yanagi's coat fell back as he swooped in to save her, his arm wrapping around her waist. "Got you."

"Oh..." Shiori's heart hammered in her chest as she stared up at him in the rain.

"You okay?" Yanagi asked as he pulled her to her feet.

"I... Ahem," Shiori cleared her throat and turned away from him, glad he couldn't see her burning cheeks. "Thanks," she mumbled and took a deep breath.

"We're going to have to be more careful around here." Yanagi picked his coat back up, grimaced as he looked at the mud, but still used it to cover them, since it was only on the outside.

They started back down the trail until the path narrowed.

"This is where I meant. Seemed a bit dangerous, especially with the rain," Yanagi said, squinting as he gazed down the slope. "Izumi! Kuruma! Where are you?! Call out if you can hear me."

"Yanagi!"

Yanagi and Shiori exchanged glances. "So, I'm not hearing things?" Yanagi asked.

"Nope, I heard it too."

"Yanagi!" Kuruma yelled from below.

They inched closer to the edge, careful not to slip.

"Damn, that's farther down than I expected," Yanagi grumbled. "Hey, where's Izumi?"

Kuruma pointed to where she was waiting in their dry spot.

"Is she safe?"

"Yes! But I don't know how to get back up."

"Maybe I can get down to them." Yanagi handed her his coat and took a step down onto a protruding rock that fell away instantly. He pulled himself back up before he could fall down to join them. "So much for that. Maybe there's another path or some vines to climb down."

"You're going to trust vines to hold your weight?" Shiori asked.

"Depends on the vine." He shrugged.

"You two!" Hands landed on their shoulders from behind, and they jumped. "You were supposed to stay with the rest of the students."

"Taku?" The corner of Yanagi's mouth twitched up as he glanced back at him, his hood pulled up and brows furrowed.

"You were supposed to stay with the rest of the students, not go running off on your own, making it so we have to find four students!"

Yanagi flinched back. "Did you really expect me to stay put? It's Kuruma and Izumi we're talking about. Izumi already has an injured ankle, and Kuruma fainted not too long ago. It was impossible to stay still."

"I get you're worried, but I'm not accepting that excuse. We'll talk about this later. For now..." He gazed down the slope at his brother, holding his coat over his head.

"Sir, we can get there if we go past the resting area, further down the route, and loop back to their location where it splits." The trail staff held up a map of all the trails on his phone.

Takumi looked down at Kuruma. "It's too wet to use here, so we're going to use a different path to get to you. Go back to Izumi. We'll be there soon."

Kuruma gave them a wave and headed back to where Izumi was.

"Okay, let's go. You two, go back to the picnic area with the rest of the students." Takumi pointed toward it.

"But what if you need help?" Yanagi peeked at the man's phone.

"He's just going to follow you no matter what. Isn't it better if you let him stay with you? Who knows what shortcut he might take otherwise." Shiori sighed and glanced up at Yanagi, trying to use his coat to block her from the rain. "By the way, you know I have a hood on this coat, right?" Shiori pulled her hood up.

"Oh..." Yanagi dropped his coat on his head, letting it hang there.

"Ugh... You have a point," Takumi grumbled. "Fine, have it your way, but you're still in trouble for this. Both of you." He pointed at them.

Shiori shrugged. "Fine, whatever."

"Don't you two dare wander off, or your punishment will be even worse."

"What is it going to be?" Yanagi asked as they followed Takumi and the staff member.

"I'll figure it out later."

"I see... Well, if it affects baseball practice, the coach will get mad at you, too."

"Don't I know it..."

The rain eased up as they followed the path further.

"The downslope here on the path is slippery; be careful," the staff warned them.

Yanagi automatically took Shiori's hand.

"What are you doing? I'll be fine," Shiori huffed.

"But what if you need to save me from falling?" Yanagi winked at her.

"I think if I tried to stop your fall, I'll just get pulled along. There's no way I'm holding back your weight."

"Ouch."

Shiori rolled her eyes, but kept holding his hand as they descended the slope. "It wasn't too bad," she muttered.

"Only because you held onto me."

Shiori tried to pull her hand away, and his grip tightened.

"At least until we find them."

"Fine."

A few minutes later, the rain stopped completely, and Izumi and Kuruma emerged from their hiding spot as the others approached.

Shiori let go of Yanagi's hand and rushed past the others to Izumi. "Are you okay? How's your ankle?" She looked over her scraps and the tears in her clothes. "Geez, did you catch on every branch on the way down?"

Izumi chuckled, smiling despite her appearance. "I'm okay. I think Kuruma took the worst of it. And my ankle is only slightly worse than it was."

Not sure about my mental state, though. She gripped her hands, thinking back to her chat with Kuruma, the word 'friend' resounding in her mind.

Shiori frowned, watching her carefully, but reached out her hand to Izumi. "Let's head back."

Izumi's eyes lit up, and she took Shiori's hand without hesitation.

"Kuruma!" Yanagi pushed past Takumi and picked Kuruma up in a bear hug. "I was so worried about you again!"

"Ack, put me down." Kuruma wiggled around.

Yanagi set him down and stepped back. "I think you're going to need new clothes."

"That's what you're worried about?"

"Well, you're standing just fine, and you're no longer lost, but you look worn down."

Takumi stepped up beside Yanagi and stared at Kuruma. "Somehow, I'm going to get into trouble again," he grumbled. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Nothing broken," Kuruma replied.

"Good, let's go." Takumi turned back to the staff member waiting with the girls. "Thank you for your help."

They bowed to him and led the way back.

Now, what do I do? She glanced back at Kuruma, who was staring off to the side, into the distance.