Day 18 of Disaster

Asano was awoken by the annoying little girl that morning.

"O-o-o-oh, Asano-kun," faltered Arina, sitting by the tree stump, crying bitterly whilst burying her face into her palms. "I suppose you could sympathize properly now given that you had seen what I'd seen last night. And oh, what if Kibe-kun came to you and told you that he loves you -- not like a friend or a brother, but as a lover, how'd you feel about that? Now that he's gone, would you consider torturing yourself by taking his love for granted? I get it now. Love no matter what -- is still love, wouldn't it? Oh how dare I freaked out when someone loves me wholeheartedly. Do you think a devil is capable of love by any chance?"

Asano -- who had got barely of sleep from last night due to being overwhelmed by horror and grief (and the sleep terrain was a nightmare to a prince like him) -- blinked his weary eyes, unconscious of whatever gibberish thing the girl just blabbed about.

"At least you hadn't died," sobbed Arina luxuriously, "Or else in many years when I've become an adult I'd still pay visits to you all's funerals REGULARLY because I'd be grieving too much over not being able to save at least one of you. I'd also retell my kids about the Tragic Fate of the Squad of Outcasts. But I'm not so sure whether they will like you, Asano-kun, because you dared to treat their mother like crap. Oh boy, can we get a trip to heaven to bid a proper farewell to them? I imagined a good deal this whole morning about what I'd say to Sakura-chan if I have a chance. The conversation would go like this -- I'd say 'But Sakura-chan, even though I'm straight, I still appreciate your love for me nevertheless. In fact, I'm likely to love you to a farther extent that would surpass my future husband,' and she'd say 'I'm so glad you said so, Arina. Thank god you don't look down or see me as a devil,' and in the end, we'd give each other a tight embrace. And--and, Shirai and Miyake will also be there to join in the hug. Everyone else also. But oh, how sad to think about when I made up everything in my mind. Do you have any idea on how to get a ticket to heaven, Asano-kun? We must think of a way without dyi-i-i-ing--'" Here Arina broke down entirely and wept with increasing bitterness.

Asano still hadn't processed what she just whined about from all the dizziness from just waking up after a sleepless night. However, after a while, it eventually hit him -- the horrendous scenes from last night and how they ended up there in the middle of the forest.

"SHIT!" cursed Asano uncontrollably, gritting his teeth. For once Arina didn't bother that someone was cursing.

He swiftly sprang to his feet and went over to the weeping Arina, clutching her arm, and pulled her up, "Let's not waste time and find a way out of this mountain! Where's the note you jotted down!?"

"Oh..." sobbed Arina, reaching out for the notepad she used to write down methods to escape the mountain in her pants pocket. "Here you go."

Asano snatched it from her hand. To be honest, he didn't have too high hopes for her investigation but quickly changed his mind when he scanned through the detailed note, which showed her dedication and will to get everyone out of the mountain.

"You even wrote and illustrated how to build a shelter, that's impressive (Arina was about to blab out 'Did I?' when she quickly realized and stopped herself from saying out)...where did you learn all of this?" interrogated Asano, looking up at the nervous Arina.

"Right! I forgot to mention besides medical practice, my dear father had also taught me crucial survival skills. Just how useful it is? Oh my father sure is a saint," lied Arina, again. Asano had no doubt whatsoever, too, this time.

"Your father--" he said but quickly halted and looked as if he was thinking of something. "Nevermind, let's go," and turned around, leading her even though she was the one who wrote that notepad.

Arina continued sobbing on the way whilst Asano's anxiety struck him down while envisioning how the chairman would react to his poor leadership.

"You're such a bad leader, Asano-kun."

Kibe's last words kept haunting his head, not even letting him take a break from it. He angrily marched forward, each step as heavy as stones weighing down. How was he supposed to face his father after this?

Turned around, his gaze fixed on the sobbing girl. She was his last minion now, and he shall protect and get her back to daily life at all costs.

They walked and walked down the mountain for the next hours when extreme hunger finally surpassed Asano's limit; resulting in a loud rumble from his belly.

'GODDAMN IT!' Asano screamed internally. His image was further ruined. His pride was hurt. How should he whirl around and face the minion behind him from now on?

"You're hungry, Asano-kun?" was her response. She blinked wide-eyed after witnessing his usual, dignified image got shattered after such normal things as belly rumble.

Asano didn't reply as he kept on walking away when Arina said with a smile, "Wait a minute. Let's sit down and eat something first."

There she took her backpack down and unzipped it, as she rummaged something in it. Asano halted his step and waited to see what kind of thing she stored for, but honestly, he wasn't expecting something like the military-related stuff.

"Ta-da!!" exclaimed Arina brightly, showing him the pack of MRE. "This is for emergency only, you see. Before I got to taste such scrumptious food like ice cream, bingsu, steak, or pancakes-- wait, pancakes aren't that good, to be honest -- this is the thing I liked the most! I'm wondering whether you'll like it as much as I did. Oh! what's your favorite food by the way?"

"Where did you get that?" asked Asano, already suspecting something was off. "Is it normal to eat military food on a basis in Normady?"

"Ah ha! I forgot to mention that my father is a military man, haven't I?" replied Arina. At least she didn't lie this time. "And oh, Asano-kun, why are you always ignoring my question?"

Asano replied coldly, "If I do, then I'd have to sacrifice my entire day just replying to your constant, unnecessary questions."

Together they chose a clean spot and sat down, preparing the ready-to-eat meal. Arina took out a folding knife from her backpack, which added more to Asano's surprise. He stared at her in disbelief whilst she unfolded the knife and started to cut the box of MRE open.

"Are you always this prepare?" Asano couldn't help but ask. It was rather out of character for this reckless girl to see her with all these supplies. The last time he got dragged to dine out with her and the minions she even forgot to bring her wallet.

"It's always better to be prepared for these circumstances, don't you think? I guess I have developed this habit since-- hmm, I don't know. I can't remember," while taking things out from the MRE, Arina paused for a while to try to regain her memory. But it was no use.

"Oh, look! This used to be my absolute favorite, Asano-kun!" beamed Arina over-excitedly, showing Asano a packet of melted cheese. "And this too -- meatloaf!" and showed him another.

"Oh, isn't it Christmas-like?" she said softly.

"No," returned Asano curtly. "I suppose you shall not forget where we are."

"Well now, of course I am not," declared Arina, squaring her shoulders (she actually forgot about their situation for a brief moment). Then, she took one dry fuel out and placed it on a folded metallic stove. Seizing one out of five stormproof matches, she struck to start a fire and put it on the dry fuel.

"How convenient is this," said Asano in amazement.

"Isn't it?" Arina said, beaming at him. She rummaged through her bag and took out a pot. Asano's jaw dropped at her extra preparedness.

She started pouring water from a bottle she stored into the pot and placed it on the flame while Asano watched her gingerly. He began to analyze her actions days earlier and can't help but somewhat admired her resistance toward the food she stored in her bag until this day.

"Okay, Asano-kun, would you like beef stew, or potato, or-- um...what does this call in Japanese? Kasha grechnevaya. Hm, I suppose it's something like grits? Japanese never eat things like this, I think. Well -- great! Then it's settled, let's eat grits. You gotta try it!"

"Of course I've had them before," stated Asano, firmly, feeling as if his experiences got pulled out as a testament.

Arina boiled the water and made them two cups of instant coffee. After that, she heated the box of grits, which was a portion for three people.

"I'm so thankful for these," she said, handing Asano a spoon.

"It needs to be eaten straight out from this?" asked Asano, unreluctant to dig his spoon in the box of grits, especially if he was going to eat it with Arina.

"Well, whatever choice else do we have,  Asano-kun?" said Arina. "You mustn't be so picky."

"It isn't about picky. It's about hygiene and basic manner," retorted Asano, gravely.

"Oh, mister, I suppose you shall not forget where we are," she responded, mimicking his earlier tone and attitude.

Asano winced and had no choice but to do what she told. It has been days since he had a proper meal, also a proper bath, which led him to crave high-end facilities more than ever. Being able to return home to take a bath, sleep in his bed and eat his mother's cooking was more than enough though. It was more like a dream. But he didn't know whether he will able to return home or not.

"My oh my, it tastes so-- um~" moaned Arina. "Nostalgic. Yes -- that's the right word for it. Have you ever experienced nostalgia before?"

Asano paused and thought for a moment then replied, "No," as he took a bite from the spoon of grits.

The first bite he took was heavenly. He didn't know grits was this good until this moment. Although, he reckoned it was pretty much his hunger and craving for decent food products to blame there.

"Er, you're boring," said Arina honestly, forgetting that she once vowed to never say things as it is about Asano in front of his face again.

Asano immediately shot his livid glare at her, but Arina had been so used to it that she wasn't bothered to pay a mind to it at all.

"I'm not boring," retorted Asano in a dignified tone.

"Alright, alright -- You're not boring," said Arina, being sarcastic without knowing.

Asano was even more bothered by the fact that she dared to take that matter so lightly, that he was willing to deliver a whole speech about why he isn't boring. But if he does so, he will be known as an easily emotionally triggered person, which, he regained his composure and let things slip. For this time.

Normally, if it was someone he wasn't scorned like this stupid little girl that tells him he is boring, then he'd likely show some interest in her. But for her? He only found her unbelievably annoying.

"Let's save it," he told her, while they nearly finished the grits box.

"Why? There are plenty more."

"It's not guaranteed when we will be able to escape this mountain," responded Asano, wincing. She was still as reckless as ever.

Despite his advice, Arina enthusiastically showed him the pack of melted cheese and crackers, "But look at these, Asano-kun! Don't you wanna gobble them? All you have to do is to dip the crackers in the cheese. Oh, how grateful I am for the guy who sparked the idea of enhancing the bland flavor of crackers with such creative methods as dipping them in cheese" — she propped her chin on her palm and stared at the sky — "But why cheese though? Have you ever wondered why — cheese, but not yogurt? Oh, have you ever tried that combination before? Crackers and yogurt...huh, interesting."

"I said to save them for later," snarled Asano threateningly. "And do not speak such irrelevant things."

He went ahead and told her the explicit details of their journey and calculated the remaining food to see how much it will last, which, around a week only if they try to save them as much as possible.

"My! You're right!" Arina finally agreed, a hand on her forehead. "Never knew how math could be this handy."

And Asano lectured her for undervaluing the importance of math while they packed up and continued on their journey.

"Oh, Asano-kun, Asano-kun!" said Arina suddenly on their way. Asano rolled his eyes in irritation, preparing to endure what this girl had come up with.

"I know! Once we got back I will write a story about The Adventure of Two Blessed Kids! The main characters will be inspired by you and me. I will name my character Poppy. That's a cute name, doesn't it? And yours -- hmm, how about Bobby? Do you like that name? Actually, I would name my future twins Poppy and Bobby. Only if I have both girl and a boy."

It turned out that Asano had only paid his mind to the rubbish title of the story she came up with.

"Whatever ridiculous 'adventure' and 'blessed kids' is this?" hissed Asano. "You never seem to acknowledge the seriousness of whatever situations."

And with that, he ceased his mouth and reflected on the first days after the accident when Arina constantly warned him and everyone about their future.

"Oooh," said Arina furiously, hands on hips, acting tough. Though she didn't look intimidating at all considered Asano had to lower his head to view her standing there no taller than his shoulder level.

"I think I do, Asano-kun. If you have ever listened to me and acknowledged the seriousness of the consequences of your decision, then none of these wouldn't have happened. And Sakura-chan wouldn't have to die!"

Realizing how she only mentioned Sakura out of everyone, Arina quickly covered her mouth.

"And--and," she said, in a much lower tone than earlier, "we must stay optimistic, Asano-kun. Especially since I want you to feel lighter after going through so much trauma recently. Because a single ray of hope can deeply motivate us, isn't it? We really are blessed to survive after all."

Asano didn't respond. He didn't like how she pitied him like that. Held his head high, he proceed to trek faster, as Arina had to hurry and ran up to him.

"How is your arm, Asano-kun?" she asked. "Need help changing bandage? Lucky for you I have brought medical aid!"

"Thank you for your concern, but I'm capable of doing it myself," he replied, secretly thankful that this reckless girl prepared some bandages with her.

They navigated the way out until the sky fell orange and magenta, indicating night was about to occur, and being the two most athletic kids in class, both Asano nor Arina didn't seem to lose all of their stamina despite a whole long day spent just trekking and trekking.

"Let's build a temporary shelter before night falls," said Asano, coming to a stop, and taking out Arina's notepad from his pocket. He scanned the tutorial and had his eyes fixed on her.

"If you know how it's built, then you must know how to do it right?"

For a second, he saw Arina break into an alarming reaction, but she quickly converted into a 'yeah, I can do that' attitude.

"Leave it to me, Asano-kun!" Arina's eyes gleamed in determination, clenching her hands before her. "You have one arm down so go sit over there at the tree stump with those little mushroom friends and I'll build us a nice, lovely shelter."

"More like a quick, effective shelter," restated Asano. "And no, I won't let you do it alone."

"Why? You don't believe me, Asano-kun?" asked Arina, looking rather unhappy.

"No. It's because I can not let a girl do all this by herself?"

"So you don't trust girls?"

"You are missing my point," declared Asano. "This is a basic social skill. I can't let a girl do the heavy stuff while I'm sitting and doing nothing."

"Oooh," said Arina, giggling. "Oh, I see. What a man's pride."

Asano didn't reply as though he secretly admitted she was somehow spot on. He scanned the notepad again when Arina barged in suddenly, also trying to review the tutorial she, Arina wrote down.

Asano merely thought she was just trying to review her handwriting, or drawings and stupid things like that, as he finished scanning and shut the notepad close.

"Oh no, Asano-kun, I forgot-- I mean, can I have it back?"

Asano turned to look at her with the most confusing gaze ever.

"Why do you want it back?"

"Because I want to add more details to it," Arina came up quickly. Sweat rolled down her forehead.

"Then just tell me in the process then."

"Oh, come on, Asano-kun! It's mine after all. You're too harsh all the time you're not lovely one bit," said Arina. She was looking mad this time.

Asano can't help but laugh scornfully at her. He just couldn't take whatever thing this stupid little girl said seriously.

"What's it that's so funny?" asked Arina wide-eyed. "Aaah, I get it. You think I'm funny. Oh, I'm so glad to be funny. I've been making attempts to try to appeal as comedic, you know. But it all wasn't like how I imagine it would turn out. Like how you laughed when I told you you're not lovely. Wait, but why though?"

Asano laughed even louder, as equivalent to his contempt for her. Indeed, she was very funny. Very idiotic. Ceasing his laugh, he broke into a cold, livid stare full of disdain and said:

"Yes, everyone is funny in their own way. You managed to make me laugh, that's whole progress."

"How nice," said Arina brightly, clasping her hands. "And yeah, I think you're at least half-lovely now, so can I have my notepad back?"

Asano realized that as long as he still stuck with Arina, he was losing the game to her never-ending ability to make him feel annoyed. But he couldn't tell her to stop because he felt annoyed. What if she realizes and uses it as an advantage against him someday? He wouldn't dare to expose a single vulnerability.

He had to give the notepad back to her at some point, considering she told him her entire dramatic life before that notepad changed her life. Therefore, it meant a lot to her (she made it up of course).

At last, when Arina finally finished studying the instructions and got her hands on the tree branches, instinct and body memory kicked in. She snapped the branches and built the shelter faster than Asano could even figure out the mechanism.

He stared at her in shock. Of course, he knew that Arina knew the way but didn't expect her to be this kind of an expert in survival skills. Reflecting back, she knew the correct types of edible plants, knew how to take care of wounds, and looking back yesterday, which, he almost forgot since he wanted to erase his memory from yesterday so badly -- she knew how to build a fire. Although, he didn't want to compliment her at all, due to his pride.

"I'm curious," said Asano, a hand on his chin. He examined the shelter, which was quick and effective, while Arina was building a fire.

"Did your father teach you all of this? Consider he is a military man."

"Well, yes, indeed he does teach me almost everything I need to know."

Up to this point, Arina was a professional liar. She blew into the tinder bundle as smoke started to come out of it.

Asano relapsed into silent thought. Her father must care about her very much. He taught her a whole deal of useful techniques. He provided her with unlimited money in her bank account. She mentioned him every time she had the opportunity to do so. It was not hard to acknowledge that she is a spoiled girl, too. He didn't quite realize why his stomach lurched when thinking about this.

Night came, as spooky as being lost in a dark forest is, a single firelight and warm shelter accompanied the kids. Asano hadn't yet realized how having Arina by his side had somehow saved his life and eased his anxiety either. Instead of caring how he'd have to face his father and deal with the fact that his poor decision led to the death of many of his minions, he was caring more about how to make the girl next to him shut her mouth or at least become more rational. He will soon appreciate her presence later in their harsh journey.

Arina spent the whole night telling Asano fantasy stories she came up with from merely three keywords she requested him to give her, which were 'rational', 'success', and 'quiet'. She ended up telling him a story about the aliens on Mars enforcing a training program for whoever species in the universe to become sociable (if they're introverts) and break out of their 'quiet shells' so all the species in this milky way can associate with each other more easily (Asano was quick to piss out at how illogical and wrong this was). The program soon became successful in its training method and one day they abducted a muted human boy. Though he was muted and antisocial, he was a genius and excels in almost everything. Soon he rationalized the system and the special training program was put to a halt, seeing it as meaningless and contributing nothing to the community. Introverts gotta be introverts, there was nothing wrong with that. If everyone was extroverts, it would be disastrous. They need each other to balance society.

Asano was quite relieved with this ending. He sometimes found himself joining in and rationalizing everything that was wrong in her story, and basically inserting himself in the genius muted human boy, as though he got isekai into the story.

"Yeah, Asano-kun! I think we should write that down," said Arina repetitively.

Aside from telling him bizarre stories, Arina constantly whined about wanting to eat crackers dipped in melted cheese. Asano confiscated her backpack not letting her touch it.

He changed his bandage that night and told Arina to sleep first considering he didn't want to sleep before her. It was a sort of vulnerability too.

"But I can't sleep, Asano-kun!" she whined. Her heart had broken since the moment she saw everyone's death and Sakura's in particular. However, she spent the whole day trying to appear careless and optimistic so Asano wouldn't be affected by her gloomy, true feeling. Hence why keeping it to herself had stressed her out so much that she can hardly sleep, and Asano didn't like the fact that she can't sleep either.

And the worst was yet to come. Now he suddenly felt like he needed to pass the food and drinks he had today.

'Oh no', Asano told himself, 'stop it'.

He turned to look at Arina. What should he do? Just casually stand up and walk away in the middle of the night? Then this girl with a curious mindset of a child will ask him where he's going. How was he supposed to answer that? Going to take a dump? He'd rather die than say so.

"Just sleep!!" demanded Asano through gritted teeth. Now he had no other choice than to force her to sleep even if he had to cost his life. "We have to continue on our journey at 4 A.M tomorrow!"

"Oh, Asano-kun, you can't just tell someone to 'just sleep' when they are struggling to sleep," replied Arina airily, shrugging her shoulders. "And well, why 4 A.M but not 5 A.M, or even 6 A.M? And how can we know the exact time to wake up? Ah, I see. Your phone isn't run out of battery yet, I suppose."

Asano now wished more than anything that his other arm hadn't broken, so he didn't have to rely solely on the fire and shelter that Arina built. But to save his pride? Alright, he will give in everything.

"I'm not going stay here for tonight," he replied. His tone was cold though a little bit shaking. He stood up and attempted to march away when Arina raised her voice.

Unlike how Asano thought Arina would react, she merely said, "Oh, maybe you are the genius muted boy after all. Need some space apart from me? That's okay! Do you need help with starting a fire?" as she smiled.

On the verge of holding back from passing the food (as a part of human nature should be), Asano said something he later wished he didn't.

"N-no."

And he ran away sloppily, rather different than his usual composure manner. Arina's gaze followed him with her mouth forming the shape of O.

Asano later came back feeling much lighter. He approached the shelter to see that Arina had finally fallen asleep, wrapping herself in a pink blanket she brought with her.

The fire had run out, and suddenly at that moment, why did she become so...vulnerable? She didn't seem annoying at all, but peaceful. His instinct kicked in, and he swore he felt like wanting to protect her so badly. And the grief in his chest occurred when he realized how much of a bully he was to her. This girl pulled him out of the bus and treated his arm. She searched for edible plants. She dedicated herself to finding a way out of this mountain. She shared her food with him. She built them fire and shelter. She told him light-hearted (though dumb) stories.

Asano walked over to view her peaceful sleeping face. Her soft breathing was adorable, as his gaze softened. He heaved a sigh and turned, walking away. It would be weird if he said he wouldn't stay there for tonight but ended up still staying.

He chose a spot and sat down, trying to sleep sitting up since he didn't want to dirty himself. And now he was the one who was struggling to sleep.

Without Arina's constant blabbing about ridiculous things, his anxiety again struck him hard. Why did he miss her company now, just for a moment alone?

"You're such a bad leader, Asano-kun."

After a while of fighting off his anxiety, his sleepiness finally overwhelmed and won, as he was able to fall asleep. Although, it was utterly uncomfortable, and cold.

In the middle of the night, while still asleep, although it was vague since he hadn't regained consciousness, it seemed like someone came and wrapped him with a warm blanket.

"Sweet dream," she whispered gently, stroking his forehead, and eventually set off.

That person gave him a sort of warmness he yearned for so many years. It was so peaceful...and managed to erase the leaden feelings in his chest. He slept comfortably with the blanket for the next hours.

Day 19 of Disaster

Morning came, and Asano opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the pink blanket wrapped around him. He recalled the vague memory that he thought was merely a dream and clutching the blanket tightly, he buried his face into it.

'I guess you're very reliable after all,' Asano told himself.