Return the Flag (Part 1)

Toshiko dashes across the forest, running as quickly as possible. "Okay, like we planned! Phoenix, Solaris, Nova, Eclipse and Vortex, scatter! I'm gonna go ahead!" Toshiko yells. From a distance, Aya hears the faint yelling and looks visibly surprised. "W-what?! Damn, he had the same idea! All of you, split!" Toshiko climbs up a tree and manages to roam around from tree branch to tree branch with quick hops. 

The ten students around him slowly follow suit in a circle. Toshiko puts his hand to his head. "Lemme think.. the heart of the forest shouldn't be too far.. hopefully." Toshiko grabs the compact radio, holding it up. "Hey, Hiroshi. How are things on your side?" The radio crackles to life as a voice comes in through the other side. "You should be able to hear me! Me and Eclipse are near the river down the stream. I'm trying to figure out the enemy frequency to get an idea of what they're doing.." Toshiko pulls away from the radio surprised. "You can do that?!" 

Hiroshi chuckles. "Pretty easy. There's one problem, but we'll have to worry about that later." Toshiko knocks on a tree. "Nice job man, I'm gonna check on Kazuki so over and out!" Hiroshi knocks back. "Right. Understood!" 

Hiroshi fiddles with the radio, but before he can make any progress, an explosion of blue smoke goes off in the distance. "Shit, who's that?!" Hiroshi yells. The radio flares to life. "Nova Squad, here! We're being ambushed!" Someone yells over the radio. The squad huddle together while covered in smoke. "What do you want us to do, Toshiko?!" He yells. 

Toshiko holds the radio close, hearing the scuffle over the radio. His heart pounds as he clenches his fist. "Throw your smoke bomb into the air! If you ABSOLUTELY need to, then get OUT!" He yells. The members of Nova Squad throw their bombs into the air as red smoke pushes the Blue Team members back. "I saw that through a clearing! I'm on my way to help Nova!" Kazuki yells. 

"Right, but be careful! We can't lose you yet!" Toshiko shouts. He jumps down from the branches and signals his squad to keep moving. As they reach the river however, Toshiko watches as a blue streak rushes past the stream. "IT'S AYA!" One of the team members yells. "Push in! If we can take her out, enemy morale will drop! She's heading straight ahead from the river!" Toshiko announces. 

"Solaris Squad leader here. We managed to set up shop past the river almost immediately. Are we in for a pincer attack?" He asks. "Right! They're rapidly approaching you, you don't have much time so split into the trees and the ground!" Toshiko instructs. The chase after the blue streak, Toshiko clutching the paintball gun with determination.

3 minutes have passed. 57 minutes remain.

Kazuki dashes through the forest, his squad following closely behind. As they approach the site of Nova Squad's ambush, smoke still permeates through the ground. Once they pass the dense bushes, they find Nova Squad on the ground, covered in paint. "Damn it, Nova Squad's been wiped! Someone report back to Toshiko!" Kazuki yells.

 "I wouldn't do that if I were you." A voice says from above. A woman drops from above, Aya makes her presence known. "You?! What the HELL are you doing over here, bastard?!" He yells. "Toshiko said he needed you for something, right? It'd only make sense.. I won't let him lay a single finger on Emi!" Kazuki looks disgusted. "Is this seriously about that girl? What the hell is wrong with you all and that specific girl?! You're all weird and I'm sick of this BULLSHIT!" He fires a paint bullet, but she blocks it with her gun. 

"W-wait, sir! She said stuff we only said over comms... They might've gotten into our communications channel!" A member of the squad shouts. "Fuck, wait that means... Toshiko is-!" Kazuki exclaims. "Sorry about this, nothing personal." Aya responds. A flurry of paint flies out, but a smoke bomb covers them. Kazuki's squad retreats, but he sticks around in the smoke. 

"Come out, come out Kazu-san! Running away so soon?" She taunts. Kazuki hits the ground with anger before smearing his hand with paint. He rushes in and swipes at her, but she flips back. "Acrobatics, huh?! I'm not gonna let you take down our DREAMS!" Kazuki yells as the two of them hit each other's hands. Kazuki moves back slightly as Aya sweeps his leg. He rolls away before her hand can touch him and he jumps to his feet. 

Aya tosses some paint at Kazuki, who narrowly dodges but gets pinned to a tree. "All according to plan. You're SO predictable, you know?" Aya taunts, laughing heartily. Kazuki knocks on the nearby tree once softly, then again, but harder. Aya looks at him confused, his face showing the signs of a defeated man. "W-what are you doing?!" He knocks on the tree hard, soft and the hard twice. 

"Are you playing some kind of game?! Are you trying to signal something?!" Aya slowly backs off. Kazuki looks up, smiling widely in victory. "According to plan, eh? Can't wait to watch it all crumble down." He drops a smoke bomb from his pocket. As soon as he arrived, Kazuki disappears without a trace. Aya punches the tree angrily, breaking the wood a little. "DAMN IT!" Elsewhere, Hiroshi taps in. "Message Received, I'll need a minute to send out the signal!" 

As Toshiko sprints through the forest, the group in front stops. Toshiko's group gets closer and lifts their guns. "Give up, Aya! I don't hate you, but your tactics are startin' to get on my nerves." Toshiko exclaims. The girl turns around as Emi comes face to face with Toshiko. His hands start shaking a bit as his determination starts to waver. 

"E-Emi.. Is this seriously how things are going? I don't WANT any of this.. I just want things to go back to how they used to be. Us staying up late, all four of us just sitting down and talking about things that don't really mean much. You saved me, but I hurt you. I just want to make things right." Emi looks at him with saddened eyes before shaking her head. "You already hurt me once.. I just can't let it happen again. Please lose, for my sake."

Multiple blue team members surround both of Toshiko's groups in a large circle, both from the trees and the ground. "Then... I'm sorry." Toshiko replies.

10 minutes have passed. 47 minutes remain.

Chapter 12 - The End.