That night when the students and teacher were sitting around the bonfire, devouring their food as though they hadn't eaten anything for eternity, Arina can't help but keep staring at Chimon Ryo with an anxious set of eyes.

He was almost as fat and big as Butaro, and Arina shivered at how she imagined them running out of food and having to eventually kill and eat this guy's flesh as he was most likely the target in everyone's eyes.

"Don't worry, Chimon-kun. I will protect you," she said suddenly, to which the fat guy delivered a confused gaze to her.

"What?"

"Stop eating, Chimon-kun. You need to lose some weight."

"Look at the evil bitch now have nothing to do but body shame others."

Maeda now grinned derisively at Arina from the opposite spot, gesturing her palm up. But she quickly got rid of that attitude as soon as Asano lectured her to not cause any more drama.

"Oh, Maeda-san! I didn't mean to insult anyone," said Arina in sorrow, a hand on her heart, as Asano glanced at her with a look of 'get over it!'.

Despite things will not going to turn out well, Arina reckoned she might see it as a challenge to stay optimistic all the time. While everyone was busy eating, she was busy imagining all the nice and lovely things they will experience with each other (and tried to eliminate all the possible bad things that might occur to them).

In her imagination, the students and Mr. Inoue were all cavemen, as well as her, as though they had time-traveled back to the Stone Age. Sitting around a bonfire, they'd eat the meat that they hunted, drink the water that they got from the river and boil it. Instead of the P.E uniforms that they were wearing, Arina replaced them with shaggy animal hides. Each one carried a sharpened stick as their weapon; except for her, she was the only one to possess a proper spear.

'Wait, wouldn't a bow be easier to use?', thought Arina, as she made up her mind and kindly switched everyone's sharpened stick to a spear and hers to a bow.

Mr. Inoue -- the unofficial leader of the cavemen band -- was barely shaved as his beard had grown to a point that it got dipped into the bowl of soup he was eating. But for some reason, he turned a blind eye to it as he ate his own beard, which was a unique way to shave them.

Asano Gakushuu -- the official leader of the cavemen band -- had sacrificed his right arm for his comrades so they could have this fulfilled meal. He had fought a sabertooth today with bare hands. But actually, the only thing he did was snap his fingers and the sabertooth had already surrendered to his big aura of superiority. However, due to his compassion, Asano cried at that poor sabertooth's fate and obliged it by letting it eats his arm first, then waited for it to get full and fall asleep so he could kill it in a less heartbreaking way (with tears streaming down his sorrowful face of course, moaning over the sabertooth's death). But what could Asano do? He got more than ten loving comrades to take care of.

Hori Sayaka was such a badass that she was the first person in history to tame a wild wolf and called it her pet. That wolf had helped a lot in the recent hunts and everyone in the band appreciated it a lot. Despite her stomach rumbling, she still cared for it more than herself as she shared more than three-quarters of the sabertooth's meat with the wolf. It was howling in delight.

Arina smiled at their bond and again questioned why general Fedorov had gone so stupid that he dared to dislike dogs.

Back to imagining, Kibe Hideki -- too tall for an average caveman -- was grilling the sabertooth's meat for his wife -- Maeda Maki -- as she was too useless to do anything herself besides repeatedly whooping monkey sounds.

And Chimon Ryo—

"Arina!! Are you hearing me!?"

Arina immediately came back to reality. Looking at Asano, his indignant glance indicated that he was in the mood of wanting to strangle her.

"Oh, sorry! I'm just zoning out for a while. What are you saying?" asked Arina, smiling bubbly.

At this point, Asano thought he no longer wanted this deplorable girl to get away with her fault as easily as before. She must be punished for it.

"Do. Not. Make. Me. Repeat. Myself. I warn you for the last time, Arina. If you dare to zone out while I'm talking once again, I will have my group exclude you from all the hangouts in the future," declared Asano, being manipulative and mind-controlling, knowing well he had streak one of her weaknesses.

Indeed he was right when in a split second, he caught a glimpse of her expression consumed with fear. Although he didn't expect her to take it so lightly afterward.

"Aye, sir!" saluted Arina eagerly, but Asano was irritated, and secretly hoped she will not take his words seriously and ended up getting punished as she deserved.

They were eventually getting divided into pairs by Asano to fit in the number of tents given. Miyake and Shirai were going to stay with each other considering the efficiency of medical treatment for both of them while lying in the same tent. Arina Avenira was looking ecstatic when her gaze followed Asano's pointing his index finger to Hanazono Sakura -- a poor girl who had just lost her friend in the morning with puffy, red eyes -- and Arina immediately rushed to her side. Kibe Hideki -- Maeda's humbly servant -- ironically was going to share the same tent with the leader and establisher of the Anti-Maeda Party -- Enoki Osuke -- who happened to also go to the same class with them. And as though Asano wanted to make fun of them, he put the pig boy Chimon Ryo and the skeleton boy Kanie Sato in the same tent. Finally, the troublemaker girl who had quite a reputation in school -- Maeda Maki -- was going to stay with Hori Sayaka and the dog Sora as Asano thought it was the most reasonable choice he could possibly make.

"Alright, group one, let's clean up!" announced Asano. "Group two, you guys are going to stake out the tents! And Arina!!"

Arina quickly stopped her attempts of cheering up Sakura and whirled to him in a solemn attitude, saluting passionately.

"You're going to look out for Miyake-san and Shirai-san," demanded Asano.

"Oh, how thoughtful of you, Asano-kun! It's a brilliant choice for you to have me doing those meaningful jobs. I was about to too, you know, before you even asked me to do so. Anyway, are you going to share the tent with Inoue-sensei? Sleeping with a teacher doesn't seem to be quite exciting as with someone your age, doesn't it? Because—"

But Asano had walked away, far enough to keep Arina's voice out of his earshot.

Group one a.k.a the cleaning group consisted of Chimon Ryo, Hanazono Sakura, Hori Sayaka, and Arina Avenira, though she was busy taking care of the other two heavily injured girls while group two a.k.a the staking tents group consisted of Kanie Sato, Kibe Hideki, Enoki Osuke, and Maeda Maki. What a bad combination for a team as Asano thought it would be better for the girls to clean up and the boys to do the heavier work, although he was afraid putting Maeda with the girls will cause some unwanted drama as he went ahead to switch her and Chimon's place.

'But what is Asano-kun's job by the way?' Arina questioned herself. Will he just stand there watching people do their job and commanding? No, that was selfish and Arina didn't want to perceive it that way. Instead, she imagined him being the devoted leader of their cavemen band and possessing the important duty of protecting his comrades from the wild animals so they could do their job in peace knowing they were safe as long as Asano was still with them.

Back to group one's duty, Chimon Ryo hadn't yet satisfied with his food portion thus taking the opportunity, he collected all the leftover bones from their finished meal and sat his fat ass down, eating the marrow inside them. And when he was told by Hori Sayaka to be considerate and help his group members out with the given duty, he tossed a bone to Sora and nastily said, "Cleaning is girls' duty, you're lucky that I and your dog are obliged enough to help you out with what to do with these leftovers."

And somehow, he got away with his ill-natured manner.

Only if the meek Hori Sayaka was replaced with Maeda Maki...

Now shifting to group two, they were actually doing their job surprisingly well, all due to Kibe Hideki...being a humble servant of Maeda as he was, he gasped for breath whilst staking most of the tents under her command, while she was busy coming up with ways to flirt with Mr. Inoue. Yes, Maeda had a crush on Mr. Inoue, as the teacher was actually pretty fond of her too, hence why he never comment about her rude behavior toward other students.

And the leader of the Anti-Maeda Party, Enoki Osuke? Even though he was the one to establish such organizations to stand against Maeda, he was pretty... quiet. This guy was a firm believer in being evil behind your back was a better method than being evil straight up in your face. He exaggerated Maeda's actions and wrote them down in a notebook that he titled 'The Burn Book, Maeda's edition' including pictures of Maeda's daily routine that he hired professionals to photoshop into nasty things. Therefore, Maeda was the most hated student in school all thanks to Enoki's maliciousness, with the exception of Mr. Inoue liking her of course.

Standing there watching Kibe Hideki pathetically obey Maeda and did most of the work for them, Enoki can't help but sneer darkly at them, scribbling down his 'The Burn Book, Maeda's edition',

The foolish slave of Maeda continues to lick her stinky feet, then she spits on him and whoops his ass with a whip, expecting him to lick harder.

There he kept writing for more minutes to come, as both himself and Maeda left Kanie Sato and mainly Kibe to stake all the tents.

Just like how he looked from the outside, the skinny boy Kanie wasn't so helpful when it comes to things that required physical strength, especially since he now had injuries on his limbs. And Kibe Hideki, although had his injuries too, had to give in and helped Kanie, which, ended up with him doing most of the work.

Kanie though didn't bother to thank Kibe at all, as he was too occupied with recalling the image of his dream girl, Arina Avenira gently wrapping his knee with bandages this noon. He even considered injuring himself on purpose so he would be able to experience it again.

All the nonsense stopped once Asano came back to check on them. Chimon instantly sprang up on his feet and helped the girls with the cleaning. Maeda snapped back from forming flirtatious words in her head and marched to the working Kibe and snatched the hammer out of his hand as she told him to back out. Enoki frantically halted the writing and threw his burn book into the shadow area and did the same thing as Maeda, with the only difference being that he went to fetch his own hammer. Kanie faked wailing from the (already eased) pain in his knee, whilst his gaze desperately wandered around searching for a sign of Arina and hoping that Asano would let him pass this time because he was still 'hurt'. Kibe Hideki was the only one to remain calm.

The sound of Asano's scolding from the outside was reachable to the tent Arina was in. She was feeding the two vulnerable girls soup as their condition was too bad they couldn't even sit up themselves and Arina's heart broke for them.

After feeding them, she checked on their wounds and disinfected the wound on Shirai's belly, to which the girl thanked her repeatedly.

"There's no need to thank me for that much, Shirai-san. I refuse to take any more words in, simply because they haven't invented a bigger word for 'you're welcome'! I mean, it would be nice too if they'd invent a more extreme version of the word 'thank you' because sometimes, Shirai-san -- sometimes I'd feel like I will never be able to fully express my gratefulness to someone and it indeed makes me feel very awful...oh yeah, right. So I understand you, Shirai-san. Thank me as much as you like! Or you can just say thank you multiply by the amount of gratefulness you spare for me and I would gladly say 'you're welcome multiplied by the equivalent amount of your thanks'. Oh, but comes to think of it, you owe me nothing! But I guess I couldn't stop people from what they are feeling, wouldn't I?"

Shirai sweatdropped at her sudden outburst of energy and decided to not slip any more of the word 'thank you' out of her mouth for now.

At last, when the kids were done with their tasks it was also time for them to sleep. Asano opted to sleep with Mr. Inoue in the tent placed in the center so he could get easier access to everyone's tent in order to check on them. The closest tents to his were Maeda, Hori's and Miyake, Shirai's. Arina was determined to choose the tent right next to the two injured girls' so she can come around to check on their condition anytime. And the nearest to the forest entrance were Chimon, Kanie's and Kibe, Enoki's tents.

Thanks to her meekness, Hori Sayaka was fine with staying with Maeda Maki as Maeda didn't seem to bother with someone like her. And if she did, Hori wouldn't react much to it too, leaving no trace of drama whatsoever.

As for Hanazono Sakura's impression of Arina, she liked her a lot. The foreign girl was immensely beautiful, too beautiful that Sakura failed to not smile when she looked into Arina's joyful eyes while trying her best to cheer her up from the loss of her best friend.

Was it a bad thing to forget about her best friend's death for a brief moment?

"You can call me Sakura," she told Arina while they were laying next to each other, face to face.

"My, I envy your lovely name! How do you write it?" Arina asked as her eyes sparkled.

"It's made up of the word 'cherry blossom' and 'love' from kanji."

"Woah~"

Arina carried a rapturous face whilst she gaped in awe, "Fancy, how perfectly lovely is that! I just love how some Japanese names may sound the same but the way they are written down is way different. They just have so many meanings in each character! For example, my father told me my name means 'peace' because that's the goddess of peace's name. I wish it would have more beautiful meanings in it like how Japanese names are supposed to be, but oh well, anyway -- goddess of peace -- after the day he told me about the origin of my name, I've constantly imagined myself becoming a goddess bringing eternal peace to this world. Isn't that just sound...SO grand? You couldn't help but imagine yourself living through your life like a heroine, wouldn't you? And if I were to choose my own Japanese name because having one would be very nice -- I've been thinking about this thoroughly though -- I'd love to be called Sachiko. It's such a happy name whenever you look at it or say it out loud because 'Sachi' means joy and 'ko' means child, isn't it? So together combine it would be 'A child with joy'. What a perfectly cheerful name! I used to like Nadeshiko before due to it sounding so romantic, but I like Sachiko better now. After hearing those nice names, couldn't you help but think of Arina as being so dreadful and shallow? I am though, oh how I wish it got more depth into it. The only thing that keeps me from not liking it is that it lightens some hope within me, you know, the hope of someday -- maybe someday, I'll be able to catch on to the ongoing wars and mark an end to it. Even though it sounds a bit too idealistic and unreachable, don't you think? But imagine it is already nice enough."

Unlike Asano -- who would have criticized Arina for wasting his time by not delivering her thought efficiently -- Sakura looked like she enjoyed listening to her deeply, to which Arina immediately thought she had found another kindred spirit. Just then, a voice sounded outside their tent.

"Arina, hold your tongue and let Hanazono-san rest. It's midnight also so it's time for both of you to go to sleep. Don't make me stroll around and check on you like that considering you are no longer a child to be told what to do."

"Good night, Asano-kun! Sweet dream!" replied Arina kindly, which, made that voice pause for a brief moment and returned her with a monotonous 'Good night. Now go to sleep' and left.

"Asano-kun is very nice, isn't he?" said Arina, turning to Sakura, who looked rather upset. "He's always so considerate toward his com-- I mean, followers. Although sometimes he's a bit harsh on me, I reckoned it's a good way for me to improve myself even more."

Sakura's smile stiffened, as her gaze saddened, and asked, "Do you like Asano-kun?"

"In a romantic way you mean," smiled Arina, she had heard this question multiple times to know what was going on, "Oh, how I'd love to like him romantically because then I'd have a very interesting love story, don't you think? My, my, just imagine that! 'I'm in love with the student council president' that'd be a fine title for any teen romance book! Well, sadly, I tried to like Asano-kun that way too as almost everyone does but I guess Asano-kun is just so s-q-u-a-r-e! And cold too if you wonder any further. He'd be a perfect mentor but not as a romantic interest! But oh well, if you like him -- we have time, I'll help you out--"

"No, no!" interrupted Sakura, not aware that she somehow blushed. "I'm--I'm glad that...you don't like him."

"Why? Oh," blinked Arina, and giggled, "Well now, Sakura-chan, don't worry. Girls often think I must be Asano-kun's target due to my look, but he doesn't see me that way one bit. I think he must underestimate me a lot judging from his attitude toward me, but well, let him be. And if you like someone, don't wait, you don't get many chances."

"No! I mean--" ejaculated Sakura, blushing heavily, "I mean I too don't like Asano-kun that way..."

"Ah ha!" beamed Arina, as she suddenly grabbed the blushing girl's hands, which, made her blush even harder. "It's fine, Sakura-chan! You can tell me if you like him and we could find a subtle way for you to approach him. Your secret is safe with me, I promise."

"No, I'm being serious!" declared Sakura, now looking rather irritated. "I don't like Asano-kun..."

Arina double-blinked as she let out a bright smile, "Alright! Sorry for misunderstanding you then."

Although when she intended to release her grip on Sakura's hand, the girl held tight onto hers.

"Don't let go..." murmured Sakura. Arina could feel her desire as she nodded.

Minutes passed, and when Hanazono Sakura had fallen asleep, Arina carefully removed her hands, and one of them gently lay on Sakura's wounded cheek, she caressed it sympathetically.

"Oh, dearest Sakura-chan, I will protect you matter what," said Arina with an undertone, her hand moving from the girl's cheek to her strand of dark green hair, stroking them.

Finally, Arina gave Sakura a loving peck on the cheek to make up for the poor girl's loss this morning as she carefully stood up to not cause any noise and went outside of the tent.

Knowing well that Miyake and Shirai might have a hard time falling asleep due to their wounds, Arina proceeded to enter their tent.

"What are you doing here, Arina?" Shirai whispered. Apparently, Miyake had already fallen asleep but Shirai kept staying up due to the itchiness from the wound on her belly.

"I'm worried," whispered Arina back to Shirai, as she laid herself in between both of them. "What if you two have any trouble and I wouldn't be there when you needed me because I have fallen asleep?"

Shirai said nothing in return but she was touched by her. Arina laid a hand on her belly to keep her from scratching and hummed a song so she could fall asleep more easily.

"Thank you, Arina."

"Your welcome multiplied by thirty-two," replied Arina, delivering a closed eyes smile.

'I will protect you all'