CH. 111 - Camp Activities on the First Day

Some time later, in the deep dead of night, the peace officer convoy continues through the forest. The second officer in the car in front looks back at the large transport van for a moment before looking at the first officer driving the car. 

 “I know we gave him a dose of that numbing drug stuff, but.. do you think transporting him to Symphony is a good idea?..” He asks, sweating a bit. The first officer doesn't look at him and stays in silence for a moment before responding.

“I don’t know. All I know is he killed every other inmate in Fort Link. He can’t be trusted around life..” He says, sweating with a distraught look. “The bodies…”

The second officer gets a scared look before looking back at the van again. In the van, there is an armored driver cut off from the back by a steel cage. In the back sit two heavily armed guards, one is wearing armor that is familiar. The new task force Fullsky and Watchdog just encountered. Despite the sentinel and the second officer guard, only one prisoner sits in the far back. He is a large man in an orange jumpsuit. Metal bindings wrap around his wrists and ankles, along with a black bandana covering his eyes and top of his head. He sits perfectly still, save for the slight bumps and sways of the van, before he slowly lifts his head. The prisoner sniffs the air for a moment when the sentinel and the guard suddenly point their weapons at the prisoner. 

“Do not move.” the sentinel commands.

“Don’t even breathe wrong.” the guard says firmly. The prisoner slightly shifts his head as if looking at something.

“You might want to sit down.” The man says with a deep, scratchy voice. The guard then stands up, pointing the gun at him.

“Don't speak. Not a word.” He commands angrily when suddenly, a bright flash of beaming red light followed by a boom strikes a tree on the side of the road just ahead of the escort. The initial boom causes the front officer car to swerve in shock. The driver of the van slams on his brakes when a large portion of the tree collapses right into the road. The van tries to swerve around it but still hits it on the right side causing the whole van to topple over and skid across the ground, the scratching sound of metal sparking on stone ringing out until everything slowly stops, leaving only the darkness and the red and blue lights dancing through the trees.

Inside the van, the once standing guard had flipped over and slammed into the van’s walls as the seated passengers remain restrained in their seats. The van lays on its side as the other two cars halt abruptly. The guard pushes himself up when suddenly, a heavy stomp lands next to him as the prisoner, now freed from his chair, stands above him.

“You should’ve sat back down.” He says before reaching down and grabbing the guard by the neck, and without much effort, he snaps the guard's neck with his hand, the crunching sound echoing around the van.

The sentinel, now hanging sideways from his seat, slowly reactivates, his visor flickering on. His eyes widen when he sees the large man before him now unrestrained. He lifts his weapon and points it directly at the prisoner.

“Surrender or I will put you down!” He shouts commandingly. The prisoner stares at him for a moment before taking a step towards him. The sentinel then fires his gun at point blank, but instead of hitting the prisoner, he instead catches the metal slug blasted from the gun in the palm of his hand right before his face. The prisoner slowly moves it to the side as he stares at the sentinel. The sentinel is stunned with fear filling his entire body before screams of pain and death are heard from outside the van as the bashing sounds slowly drown them out until the screaming stops. Despite the armor and amplifications that were strong enough to resist Fullsky and even a Pillar of the Devil’s Syndicate, the prisoner easily murders the sentinel in his seat. The driver shakes his head before adjusting himself in his chair. 

“You guys okay back there?” He asks before a bloodcurdling scream fills the air once more as a metal spike pierces his body from behind, through the seat and out the broken windshield.

The other four officers approach the van with their weapons drawn. Suddenly, a metal object comes bursting out of the van, piercing through its armored exterior and shooting straight towards one of the officers. It stabs straight through his face, causing him to collapse backwards when another one jets out, hitting the other officer in the shoulder. He falls back in pain but quickly crawls behind his car, holding his shoulder. He looks at it for a moment to see what stabbed him.

“A… rail spike?..” he says shakily. His attention is quickly taken elsewhere when he hears the door to the van slam open along with the quick response of his peers.

“Take him down!”

Gunshots ring out before the murderous sound of violence screams. The officer hiding covers his ears from the brutal noises he hears until everything goes quiet. He slowly uncovers his ears before looking up a bit. His body stiffens up in fear as he sees the prisoner standing over him with the same uninterested expression on his face. Blood dripping from his hands and across his chest.

“W-what are you?..” the officer asks, his voice and body trembling. The prisoner stares down at him for a moment before speaking.

“My name is death, and I end all life I see because that is all it is good for.” He raises his hand as another rail spike sits in his grasp. The officer’s eyes widen as he screams before a splash of blood paints the road behind him. “There is no such thing as a good life or a valuable one. There is only death…” he says as he looks at his blood covered hand before turning around to walk away. “And the bodies that follow.”

He says with a cold tone as he goes to walk away from the scene, but he suddenly stops when he sees someone standing in the middle of the road. He stops, not concerned in the slightest, but stopping nevertheless. The figure stares at him with odd eyes, eyes that are not human yet somehow familiar.

“You did this.” the prisoner says plainly. The figure stands for a moment before speaking.

“Maybe.” it says as the prisoner continues to stare at him in silence. “If you’re wondering why, it has something to do with having better use for you than Symphony would.” it says. The prisoner then slowly approaches the figure and lifts his hands to grab onto its head. He holds firmly with both hands as he responds.

“I don’t need to hear anything you say.” he says before yanking the figure's head to the side, snapping its neck with a vicious crack before he completely rips its head off. He stares at it for a moment before dropping the head and stepping over the body. He only takes a few steps before he stops, finally showing a hint of emotion: surprise.

“Perhaps. But then again, I’m not asking you to.” the figure says as it stands up behind the prisoner. He slowly turns around to see it flip its head back with a cracking sound before seemingly having its head perfectly reattached and continuing to stare at him. “I’m simply saying I could give you purpose.” it says with focused eyes. The prisoner pauses for a moment before he speaks.

“Life has no purpose. Only death matters.”

“Then you understand me.” it says. The prisoner doesn’t show it, but the figure seems to know anyway, its words have reached him. “Just stay in the forest for a few days. Live off the land and maybe you’ll find something that could only matter to you.” it says while tilting its head ever so slightly.

The prisoner stares at it for a moment before stepping towards it once again. The figure stands undisturbed as the prisoner approaches, only for him to walk straight past it and into the dark forest behind them. The dark figure can’t show it, but one would know it was smiling in this moment.

The next day, at Camp Circle V, the class is cozied into their bunk beds when a trumpet horn plays in the distance, signaling them to wake up. Sugawara sits up rapidly with a drowsy and confused look.

“Huh? What?..” He looks around for a moment before yawning and rubbing his eyes. As he does, Haru falls off the top bunk and crashes on the floor right next to their bed, startling Sugawara. He leans over the edge of the bed and looks at Haru groaning on the ground. “You okay, love?..” He asks nervously. Haru gives him a mangled thumbs up.

“Yep.. I’m good..” he mumbles.

In the bathrooms, the door opens up, letting steam pour out, revealing Suiyoubi in a bath towel wrapped around her body. Alice stretches as she walks over but stops as her jaw drops seeing Suiyoubi walking out and to her belongings. Alice’s nose bleeds a little as she stares. 

“I got the hot water going if anyone cares to join me. They’re community showers.” She says with a smile to the others. Alice then slaps herself in the face to snap her out of it.

“Community showers, you say?..” Alice smirks, getting a mischievous look before rushing to a sleepy Shiori and grabbing her by the shoulders. “Come on, Shiori! Let’s go shower! We don’t want the water to get cold!” she says while pushing her to the bathroom.

“Alice, wait! I just woke up, let me at least get a change of- WOAH!” Shiori shouts as she’s thrown into the bathroom. Alice then rushes in after her excitedly. Suiyoubi sweats a little as she watches.

“Don’t worry, we’ll make sure she’s okay.” Lucy says as the other girls all get up and head to the bathroom to get ready. The boys watch as Daiki looks over with sharp eyes.

“You know what this means..” Daiki says before Airi smacks him on the head.

“Don’t even think about being a pervert!” Airi says as she walks off with a towel. Daiki cries a little as he rubs his head, looking at her.

“I wasn’t! I was thinking something else…” he says with a smirk and a twinkle in his eyes at the other boys. Kitaro picks up on his tone as they both look at the other bathroom. He then snaps his head back with a shocked look.

“No way. I think I’ll wait my turn..” he says nervously. 

“Come on, brother. There’s no reason to be ashamed of your body.” Kuzan says, placing a hand on Kitaro’s back. Kitaro turns and looks at him but jumps back with a blush when he notices he’s naked.

“HEY! What are you doing?!” he shouts.

“Get over here and bond with us, brother! Hoorah!” Daiki shouts as he, Kuzan and Touma all flex and pose together, naked. Haru smiles and takes his shirt off excitedly.

“Bro bonding, let’s go!” he shouts, then jumps in and poses over them before they all rush to the bathroom. Kitaro and Sugawara watch with looks of disbelief when Hikigaya grabs a towel and follows them into the bathroom casually.

“You too, Hikigaya?..” Kitaro asks with a droop.

“Nah, but I wanna shower so whatever.” Hikigaya says with a smile as Kitaro, Ryuji and Sugawara sigh and follow them in.

Soon after the students all get dressed and ready for the day, they rush out to the mess hall for a hearty breakfast.    

“Ah, back so soon?” The rambunctious chef says loudly with a laugh as she serves the students.

“Hell yeah! Egged toast and eggs??” Haru shouts happily.

“And bacon and ham? The food here is amazing!” Chizuru says too. They have big smiles while taking their trays to the table.

“Oh, one thing for the pretty little lady there.” The chef says, pointing to Hisana. Hisana looks surprised but steps to the window as the chef turns around and grabs something. “Heard a little something, so I made this special, just for you.” She hands Hisana a bowl as she sniffs the food in it before getting a big smile on her face and lifting it over her head.

“Red bean soup and french toast!” She cheers.

“Really?..” Hikigaya smiles with a look of disbelief. The chef lady chuckles before continuing her work.

“Okay, first thing on today’s agenda. I think we can start with a fresh morning hike. Then after that, we can visit the nature center and look at some of the native species that live here.” Samuel says to the class with an excited smile while staring at a sheet of paper and a map. Lucy droops a little with a spoonful of fruit in her hand.

“A hike already?..” she mumbles.

“Isn’t it like 48 degrees outside right now?” Sugawara asks softly with a sweat. Samuel smiles at them as she answers.

“I’ll admit, it’s a bit colder than I expected for spring, but that’s the fun part! You never know what to expect out here, but now you don’t even have to worry about the heat!” She says enthusiastically. The class looks a little disappointed at the idea as they eat their food. Samuel vein pops as she looks at them. “I’m just trying to make this fun for you guys!” she yells cartoonishly angry. They sit in silence for a moment as Samuel pouts. “Fine, I guess you don’t want to see the ruins then..” she mumbles as the class’ eyes instantly light up.

“Ruins??” Alice asks.

“In the forest??” Haru asks. Shiori looks at Hikigaya with a smile.

“Could be haunted.” She says.

“Not the first ghost we’ve fought.” Hikigaya responds as Shiori leans in and whispers behind her hand.

“Or the second..” she whispers as they both giggle. Samuel raises an eyebrow at the class.

“Oh, now there’s interest. Well, too bad.” She sticks her tongue out at the class and turns her back to them. “You were all pouting about it two seconds ago.” Samuel says with a huff.

“Aw, come on! We didn’t know it would actually be interesting!” Chizuru says.

“Please?” Hisana begs with a cute look. The class all begs Samuel with big eyes as Samuel looks back. She stares at her class for a moment as they sparkle to her. She blushes a bit as she sighs.

“How can I say no to you?” She smiles in defeat as the class cheers.

Soon the class is walking up a trail in light jackets and a few bags, with them being led by Samuel. As they go, Chizuru pants and struggles a bit as she stops for a moment. Touma and Shiori stop and look at her.

“You okay?” Shiori asks gently as Chizuru nods.

“Just gotta… catch my breath..” She pants while placing her hand on her chest, rubbing it a little. Touma looks at her for a moment before suddenly he grabs her and lifts her up. She is surprised by this as he puts her on his back.

“T-Touma! What are you doing??” she asks, blushing and embarrassed.

“I want you to enjoy the hike too…” he says softly with a slightly embarrassed look too. Shiori smiles as they continue with the rest of the group, Touma now carrying Chizuru on his back. She smiles a flustered smile as she gently wraps her arms around his neck.

“Thank you..” she says softly as Touma shakes his head a bit.

“I.. I am strong.. Strong enough for both of us.. You don’t need to worry, Chizuru..” he says with an embarrassed look before turning his head to look at her a bit with a smile, causing Chizuru to blush more and place her forehead on his shoulder, steam coming from her head.

“You’re too good to me..” she mumbles cutely before lifting her head and looking at him with an embarrassed smile. “I love you!” She says with a smile as they continue up the hill and along the trail.

“Alright, here we are!” Samuel says with a smile as she lifts her hand at something. The class gathers around as they look over to see something that makes them all gasp. Surrounded by forest on all sides, they see a medium sized stone structure, overgrown with vines and leaves and quite aged.

“Woah, check that out!” Sugawara voices as Kitaro nods, impressed.

“Let’s go in it! Onward!” Chizuru says excitedly as she points ahead and Touma follows her command. 

“I wonder if anyone has died here?” Alice says with a smile while rushing to the structure. Samuel looks shocked as the class all makes their way to the structure.

“Hey! Wait! We can’t just.. Ugh.” Samuel groans. Realizing the class isn’t listening, she follows them. 

“Woah! This place is kinda big!” Haru says, standing on a concrete stage surrounded by stone steps facing it. 

“It kind of looks like an outdoor theater. Could that be what it was intended for?” Suiyoubi asks, standing next to Samuel.

“Yes, explorers believe so. It’s been here for a long time, long before the camp was built, but the reason this site is so interesting is the lack of civilization around it. Whoever was here first, built this place and nothing else for kilometers around.” Samuel says, obviously passionate about the topic.

“Interesting.” Suiyoubi says when Hisana rushes back excitedly.

“Enough about archeology! Time for entertainment!” Hisana says happily. Suiyoubi sweats as Samuel looks irritated for a moment before her look shifts to one of surprise.

“Huh?.. she’s actually right about the topic…” Samuel says softly before shrugging and joining the class.

Kitaro and a few others look around the lower side of the structure when he comes across metal bars blocking off a doorway shaped hole in the stone wall leading to a room below the stage. 

“Check this out.” He calls out softly. Shiori, Hikigaya and Ryuji look at it. “You’d think there would’ve been a door here, with the windows being completely open and all.” He points to the square cutouts in the stone wall that look like windows.

“Think they’re hiding treasure in there?” Ryuji asks playfully.

“Only one way to find out.” Shiori smirks as Hikigaya steps forward.

“Please, allow me. Don’t want to get your pretty little hands dirty.” He says flirtatiously as Shiori blushes and smiles while playfully waving her hand at him. Hikigaya grabs the bars, then looks back over his shoulder to check. Kitaro gives him a thumbs up, then Hikigaya nods. He grunts as he bends the metal apart, opening a way through them. He steps back and lifts his hands to the entrance.

“Tadaa.” he says with a smile. The four starting heading inside when Shiori smiles and puts her hand on his cheek and slides it off, gently leading him after her as he blushes and smiles dumb. Once they’re all inside, they look around only to find more vines and an empty room.

“Guess not.” Kitaro says, disappointed. Shiori looks around and runs her hand along the back wall before noticing grooves in the wall going from the floor to the roof. She examines it for a moment before gently pushing the door shaped stone with both her hands. It slides back a bit before slowly descending into the floor below. The guys turn around with surprised looks as Shiori smirks and points her thumb at it.

“Heh. Secret door.” She says. The four of them peek their heads through and gaze into the dark, ominous room. After a moment, they lean back, still staring at the room.

“Give you twenty isos to go in there.” Hikigaya says with a smug look to Ryuji, lifting his hand for a shake. Before Ryuji can respond, Kitaro slaps his hand and walks in.

“Deal.” he says casually. They’re surprised as Kitaro walks into the room. He looks around before looking back to the others and shrugs. “I don’t think there’s anything in here.” He looks back down before smiling a bit. “Wait, I think I found something.” He bends down and grabs something, but the others can’t see what it is. Kitaro gets a confused look. “What the?.. What is this?.. It’s a…”

His eyes grow wide when suddenly he turns sharply and throws what he picked up at the others with a shout, causing the three of them to scream in fear and jump back before running away. This startles the others as Samuel watches the three of them run a little away from the structure. 

“Come on! Everyone off the structure, now!” Samuel commands as the class quickly gathers themselves around Hikigaya, Shiori and Ryuji. “Are you okay?? What happened??” she asks, concerned when Kitaro steps out of the room they were just in with a smirk.

“Dead tree branch.” He says smugly while lifting up a fallen tree branch he found in the room. The three of them get angry looks as Samuel sighs in relief.

“You jerk! What the hell is wrong with you?!” Shiori shouts.

“I’m taking all your isos for that!” Hikigaya shouts too while they both tackle him to the ground and start beating up Kitaro in a dust cloud. The others shake their heads.

“Tough..” Sugawara says.

"I thought they liked scary stuff?" Suiyoubi asks.

“Why would he do that to them of all people?..” Hisana says. Shiori holds Kitaro by the shirt as he hangs there, all beaten up.

“Totally worth it..” Kitaro says with a weak thumbs up. Samuel sighs as she steps forward.

“Okay, that’s enough. You’ve all lost exploration privileges. Now we’re gonna head back and I’m gonna give you a lecture on the history and findings about this place.” Samuel says firmly. The class groans as they all start heading back as the hike comes to a close.

The class stops by a set of benches and has a quick packed lunch before they continue. They sit and eat as Samuel begins her lecture. Daiki pulls out a sandwich happily and chomps into it, but the bite causes jelly to spurt out and hit Haru in the face. Haru is stunned for a moment as the others try to hold back their laughter. Chizuru and Lucy giggle quietly as Haru looks at them.

“What? Is something on my face?” He asks as Touma and Kitaro start laughing out loud. Samuel sighs with a smile as Shiori and Suiyoubi look at them with a sweat drop.

Soon after that, the class continues their day with a walk through the nature center. A staff member guides them through a beautiful garden house, explaining educational material for them before entering a wildlife exhibit. Along the walls are many displays of bugs and animals from the area.

“Camp Circle V is known for its wide variety of insect life. In fact, we have the most winged insects in one area in the entire District. And if you look around, I’m sure you’ll notice all kinds of insects flying around.” The staff explains.

“Yeah, like those.” Hisana says as she points up to the high dome roof of the room. The class looks up to see many butterflies sitting on the vines and branches or floating around. Some are in awe while others look uncomfortable.

“Exactly! Our butterfly population is quite impressive. You’ll find all kinds in different sizes or colors!” The staff says excitedly. Alice looks at him and smirks.

“Yeah, well, it’s a good thing they’re up there, cause if they were down here, they’d have to deal with me. The master of butterfly wrangling.” Alice says smugly before suddenly the butterflies all attach themselves to her. She freezes for a moment before she starts running around screaming as the others try to calm her down or just laugh at her. Soon, they all exit the nature center as Alice droops with a tear in her eye.

“Alright. You’re free. Enjoy your free time, but please stick to the campsite and don’t go too far. If you do, we won’t be able to recover your corpse.” Samuel says casually as Sugawara and Hisana tense up. She smirks before smiling at them. “I’m kidding! I mean, stay on site, but nothing’s going to hurt you out here. Just go, have fun.” She says, waving them off. The class heads off, walking down the path before they stop for a moment as Hikigaya smirks at Haru.

“Hey. Wanna go make a makeshift camp out in the woods?” He asks.

“You mean with our bare hands, go out and gather resources then dig up the ground to make shelter like a survivor in the forest?..” Haru asks with a drooping look. He stares for a moment before suddenly smiling brightly. “Hell yeah, I do!” he shouts.

“We’re in!” Alice, Daiki and Sugawara say together excitedly. They cheer as the group rushes off to do just that. Shiori watches with a soft smile before Chizuru walks up next to her with a concerned look.

“You think they’ll be okay out there in the forest by themselves?” She asks softly when suddenly there’s a small explosion and cloud of smoke as Haru screams. Lucy laughs as Shiori shakes her head with a smile.

“They’ll be fine. Let’s go play a board game or something.” Shiori says, walking off as Chizuru smiles and follows.