The hypothesis
When the four of them set off on foot, Arisa made sure to ask Chisato, “Where did Kanon-senpai say she and Yukina-senpai were? Are they near where we got off the buses?”
No good would come out of this if they had no idea where to even go.
“I don't think so.” Chisato kept her eyes in front of her as they travelled on the dirt path. “But she said she didn’t know where they were, so she texted me coordinates instead.”
“That was so smart of them!” Kasumi cheered, but again, very little came out of her that wasn’t a cheer. “How did she even figure out their coordinates?”
Lisa answered in a sweet tone. “I‘m pretty sure you could just use the map app on your phone, right?”
Chisato deadpanned, “I really don’t know, and it doesn’t really concern me either.” She raised a hand above her eyes, gazing forward through the haze of the heat. “I just want to find my friend.”
“And Yukina!” Lisa added with zeal.
“Yes, her too.”
They continued walking through the mossy trails in silence, in silence except for Kasumi. She couldn’t seem to stay quiet or still. One moment she would be leading the group, and a minute later she would be slugging behind and whining like a child.
“It’s so hot…” Kasumi mustered through the heat. “I’m… I… think I’m gonna die…”
Arisa flicked her on the forehead which received her an ‘ow!’ and another whine to complement it. “Stop complaining!” Arisa shouted. “You promised you wouldn’t cause trouble, and the running commentary really isn’t helping!”
Kasumi mumbled defeatedly, “‘Kay… got it…”
But Arisa did begin to notice the growing heat. The sun was still standing tall, if not beginning to set, embedding its amber waves into Arisa’s bare skin. Time seemed to have been twisted by the heat.
“Hey, Chisato,” Lisa began as if she was reading the mood. “How long have we been walkin’ for?”
“I don’t know,” she replied. “I don’t want to use my phone for anything that is less than necessary.”
“Is your phone really gonna die on you if you check the time?”
“I’d rather be safe than sorry,” Chisato said. “Did any of you bring your phones along with you? We could check the time on one of them.”
Lisa shook her head. “Left it back at the cabin,” she said. “I thought this search and rescue would’ve taken less time if I’m gonna be honest.”
Chisato made a hum of thought before continuing. “And you, Arisa-chan?”
“I-I didn’t bring mine either,” Arisa added. Being put on the spot - by Chisato of all people - took her off guard. “I left it charging on my bed in the cabin.”
And Kasumi said as her gaze fell, “Dropped it in the bath….” When the other girls stared at her, she added a mere ‘don’t even ask’. Nobody seemed to question it otherwise, that was just typical Kasumi for them.
Chisato raised a fist to her mouth and coughed into it; despite being a regular action, it seemed almost smug coming from Chisato. “If I am the only one currently with a phone, then I will conserve my battery power.”
And nobody argued with her on that. She had them beat.
Truth be told, Chisato was very polite, and it wasn’t odd considering her childhood as an actress. She was in the spotlight more than she wasn’t, so her public image always held a big priority.
But when she spoke, she carried her words with a secret bitterness and venom that was covered up so sweetly that nobody had the courage to talk back.
It was almost like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, at least from an outsider’s perspective.
“Of course, don’t worry about it Chisato,” Lisa said resplendently. As expected, very few ever talk back to Chisato; nobody ever pressed for more details.
Arisa found it quite admirable in a weird way. The concept of controlling others so subtly was interesting to Arisa, but it made her feel anxious. She was too nice for that, she liked to think.
“This is the right way, though?” Kasumi asked as she stood in place and raised her fingers to the path right in front of them. She was constantly whirring around, physically and mentally.
Chisato’s words came out with hidden venom. “Yes, it is .” She turned around for a moment as she flashed a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Does anyone else have a question? Does anyone else wonder if we’re on the right trail?”
Kasumi quickly backpedalled, shaking her head feverishly along with Arisa and Lisa. “Ah! Nuh-uh! Nope!” She stuttered as the herd began walking again silently. She shifted herself slightly closer to Arisa and mumbled under her breath, “Chisato-senpai can be super scary sometimes…”
Arisa didn’t desire to gain the attention of a certain blonde, so she spoke quietly and shortly. “Tell me about it.”
Then silence returned to them for the most part. Excluding the occasional comment on a pretty flower or a cute animal they passed by, they could only occasionally hear deep rustles a ways off of the trail. But the path seemed endless; it felt like Arisa had travelled the same patch of dirt path two times prior.
She had wanted to say something, but she noticed that even Kasumi had stayed almost completely silent, bar the light humming she always seemed to do. Arisa didn’t want to lose this small moment of solace, so she remained quiet and hoped that Chisato could get them to point B in no time. The quicker they arrived the better.
But with a gust of wind, it seemed the grey that wrapped around the sky would get to them first. It was noticeably overcast now, and the weather didn’t look to be improving. Arisa stared upwards, where did the blue sky go?
Arisa smiled. It wasn’t one that held any resemblance of a positive feeling, it held pure irritation, the wondering of why me?
Lisa spoke at a moment’s notice, and she was the first to speak in a long time. She gestured up to the bleak sky. “That isn’t good… right?”
No, no, it’s excellent! Fantastic, even! I really loved how the dark clouds blocked out the clear sky! It’s a wonderful difference, a true spectacle of something that I longed to see on this fantastic camp trip!
Arisa thought that she was clever, even funny sometimes.
“No, it isn’t,” Chisato replied bitterly with an obvious answer. “Let’s pick up the pace.”
Arisa didn’t want to.
She should have been at home taking care of her bonsai, eating junk food and not studying for her upcoming math test. But that ship had sailed a long time ago, so she wasn’t going to get dragged along starting now.
Arisa chided, now fed up with the unnecessary physical exercise. After all, her body was made for the couch, not the woods. “Do you even know where you’re going? We’ve been walking for…” She paused a moment to think. “How long have we even been walking?”
Chisato sighed. She took out her phone and checked the time. “It is mid-afternoon.”
“We’ve been hiking for that long?” Lisa asked.
Chisato replied, “Seems so.”
Kasumi wiggled in place, being stationary was rare for her. “How far are they?” She paused, before whispering, “...Did they even come to the camp?”
The blonde didn’t crack. “I’m just following the coordinates, Kasumi-chan.”
“That’s not an answer!” Kasumi said back. “That’s just dodging the question!”
The air around Chisato changed with the weather; it was heavy and thick. She muttered, “We will find them when we do. Do you have an issue with that?” It was stated simply and bluntly, like a mother addressing her fuming child.
“Hey, hey guys…?” Lisa said, interrupting. It was as if she was trying to approach two feral dogs in a fight. “Let’s focus on what we have to do, yeah?”
Chisato nodded, looking up to the sky, or maybe looking up to only clouds. “The weather isn’t looking great; I’d rather find them before we get soaked.”
And then Arisa felt a cold drop splash on her head.
I shouldn’t have come on this trip.
Kasumi, unaware of the mood, twirled around as the raindrops fell one by one, growing in numbers. The forest around them felt to shine with an almost blue colour, it felt cleansing. “It’s raining!” She stomped a foot in the dark mud. “I love playing outside when it rains!”
Chisato’s face didn’t shift as she scanned the four of them for an object, something that could help them create some sort of a shield from the rain. Or maybe she’d find a miracle, she wasn’t particularly picky. Finding nothing useful, she sighed and continued walking with an indiscernible expression on her face. It was hard to make out as the evening began to roll in. The darkness made it feel almost like night.
“Where are you going, Chisato-senpai?” Arisa shouted over the rain from behind her. She was really starting to get wet now, she hated it.
Chisato stopped and turned around. She looked up once at the darkening sky, then back down to Arisa. She said, “It’s starting to get dark soon and they shouldn’t be too far away. I’ll take my chances.”
“How do you even know we’re closer to them than we were an hour ago?” It was very cold. And wet. And dark. Everything was cold, wet, dark and obvious.
“It’s either we find them, or we try to go all the way back we came,” Chisato answered. “I don’t know where they are, but they must be close. It’ll take longer to walk back anyway.”
How was Chisato staying so calm?
After having stayed silent for more than a while, a wet Lisa spoke. “Eve and Himari know we should have been back by now.” She was comforting as always. “They would have told someone where we’ve gone, right?”
Chisato stared at her. “Are you certain about that?”
Lisa smiled back at her, there was no trace of malice or resentment behind it, just wetness from the rain. “Help is on the way.”
Chisato sighed, “Fine.” She turned around and pointed at a small blob running and rolling around on the ground in front of them. “Can someone wrangle up Kasumi-chan? I don’t want her to get a cold.”
Arisa volunteered with a frown. “I’ll get her…”
Lisa giggled. “Really?”
“Don’t get the wrong idea or anything!” She shouted suddenly with a flushed face. “It’s just that I was the one who suggested we let her come so... “ She turned around and made her way to her muddy friend. “It’s my responsibility.”
“Responsible as always,” Chisato teased.
Arisa ignored her. She only sighed and went to get Kasumi. She probably got herself dirty, and when Arisa got closer - shocker! - she found out she was indeed very, very muddy. She spoke from a safe distance, “You know I’m not going to let you hug me when you’re all dirty like this, right?”
Kasumi’s head perched up like a dog. She completely ignored Arisa and dove straight for her. Lisa and Chisato watched them from a safe distance, which was anywhere where they wouldn’t get splashed by mud. This was going to be very fun to watch.
Arisa screamed as Kasumi pulled her down into the mud. “No mud in my hair! NOT in my hair!” She fell down into the mud with the cry of a fallen Amazon, or maybe a hard carrot. Soon though, her cries subsided. In less than a minute, Arisa - along with Kasumi - were engulfed in a fit of giggles, like children. Any half-witted threats that Arisa shouted held no weight to them, just a warm fondness.
Lisa and Chisato chuckled to themselves on the side too. It was fun to watch, but they’d rather stay only wet.
Regardless, they’d have to get moving soon. They had to get back on track and find Kanon and Yukina as soon as possible, and obviously not in the dark.
However, two lights broke through the rain, and everyone froze where they stood, some messier than others. They all stared in the same direction at the two lights as they became brighter and closer like a star. Have they finally been found?
They have.
Lisa’s face went through shock, then happiness. With a beaming smile, she lunged towards the light to the left. “Sayo! It’s you!” She squeezed her and buried her face into the crook of her shoulder, and Sayo hugged her in return.
“Shirokane-san, Matsubara-san,” Sayo said with an unusual smile from where she stood, enveloped by Lisa. She pointed with her free hand to Arisa, Chisato, and Kasumi. Her other hand was holding an umbrella. “Please pass a blanket and umbrella to each of them, they must be cold.”
“Yes…!” Rinko said as she carefully walked over to the other three. Walking beside her with a blanket and an umbrella in hand was Kanon. She walked forward meekly like a mouse to its prey.
Chisato stared at Kanon with a smile. It was hard to make out in the darkness. “It’s you.”
“Chisato-chan,” Kanon said as she passed a blanket to her. “I’m so, so, so sorry…” Once Chisato accepted the blanket, she passed her an umbrella as well. As Chisato propped it open, she said, “I don’t even know what to say… If I hadn’t gotten lost with Yukina-chan...”
“Don’t say anything then,” Chisato said with an unusually understanding smile. “Let’s talk about this over some tea, alright?”
Kanon nodded with a quivering lip before bombarding her with more apologies. It would be a while before she’d live this down. Maybe next time she’ll finally learn how to use a map correctly, but again, nobody had high hopes for that.
-
Rinko passed a blanket to both Kasumi and Arisa, then she passed them both an umbrella. The two girls gave a thank you and an apology, an apology for making them come find them. Arisa didn’t look Rinko in the eye, embarrassed to have been found so muddy in front of an upperclassman like her.
Rinko smiled. “Don’t worry about it…” She said, “Thankfully... Wakamiya-san and Uehara-san let us know where you guys went off to… Although it would have been nice… to have been told earlier…” She looked to the side. “The dark isn’t nice.”
Arisa stared down at the ground through soaked pig-tails. Once again she said, “I’m sorry…”
And to this, Rinko repeated, “It’s fine… really.” She giggled lightly at the end. “Let’s get you both back to camp… so you can dry off… okay?”
“Okay!” Kasumi shouted over the rain. “Hey…” She scanned over the girls and let her eyes rest on Kanon. “You guys found Kanon-senpai and Yukina-senpai on your way here?”
“They were… near the south entrance…” Rinko replied. “One of the employees at the camp… found them, thankfully…”
Arisa muttered to herself, “They’re really bad with directions, huh…”
Kasumi resumed her thought. “It’s only the three of you though…” She made a thinking noise before continuing. “Did Yukina-senpai not come with you guys?”
“She stayed... back at the main cabin…”
“She must’ve been super tired from staying out in the rain!” Kasumi said with a smile, and Rinko probably agreed because Arisa was tuning out.
The rest of the conversation began to blur, twist, and fade into white noise. She wasn’t focused on them, but two others.
Arisa watched Sayo and Lisa from where she stood. They were talking about… something… something she couldn’t make out. But she could see Sayo pass her umbrella to Lisa only to promptly tenderly wrap her up in one of the dark blue blankets she brought along with her.
Their touches lasted a very long time, Arisa didn’t find this particularly odd, though. It was just touches.
But there was something different between them, and Arisa could notice it through the dark rain. Sayo was close with almost no one, and she barely even smiled at the majority of people she normally talked to. She was cold and desolate like a winter’s garden, or maybe a dead bonsai.
Arisa thought back to what she heard Sayo mention in the student council room that one day.
Romance.
But that can’t be it. At least I don’t think...?
Thinking it over, Arisa was now sure something new was brewing, which was aided by Sayo and Lisa’s lingering embraces and expressions of… adoration. She was very sure that it was adoration, not the usual sign of care you give to a friend; compared to this, there was definitely a difference - and even though it may have been a long shot, Arisa had a guess, a hypothesis in mind.
She had never expected Sayo to be one for romance, but anyone was capable of anything, even the less socially inclined. First though, Arisa had to get clean and dry, for her, anything else could wait.