Chapter 13: Bonds aren't spoken words

"Fuck!" Balo shouted after kicking the door. We’ve been stuck here for a while now and I felt helpless at our situation. We looked around the room, but we couldn’t find anything.

“Fuck! That bastard!” Junpei shouts kicking at the glass door.

We're all at an edge. Everything went to complete crap in an instant. But right now, we’re more worried about that girl Akane and Sawada. We can’t go out to them and it’s been over an hour now ever since Rikimura-san left us trapped in here. I’m keeping my hopes up that they manage to defend themselves against Rikimura-san. Junpei and the other went around the area to see if there’s any hidden lever to open the glass door. I sat around it looking out just in case one of them comes to our aid or if Rikimura-san comes back. Kumiko-sensei decided to join me and kept me company. We tried everything including attacking the glass door. All of our attacks explode on impact. But when we wait after the smoke dissipates, not even a dent is on the door. Even the wall around the area doesn’t break. It seems like a barrier protects the whole wall. Junpei and the rest come back from searching and have found nothing.

“Fuck. The whole place is a dead end.” Junpei says as he slumps down towards a rock formation.

“Damn I should have known he was fucking weird...” Balo says. “Say, why didn’t you guys know he was a psycho? And what the deal with that Yasu stuff? Can’t control him? Right now, I rather have him than that fucking psycho here."

“We didn’t know. The whole time in the dungeon he seemed normal. Even when we got out of the dungeon, he was normal. Only when he made the choice of choosing Yasu to die was out of character but at that moment, we all needed to survive.” Junpei says.

*Scoff

"Yea well you guys picked the wrong one to come out with," Balo says in a low voice but it was loud enough for us to hear. It irked Junpei causing him to retaliate back while we all kept silent.

“Hey, watch what you say! It wasn’t our fault he went psycho!” Junpei snarls at Balo.

"Not your fault? Who is the fucking idiot that decided to follow him? Wasn't it, you guys? He decided to kill one of your teammates and all you did is followed him like a sheep! It’s your fault for not knowing his character the minute he joined your team!” Balo replies back and I can see the agitation in his eyes.

“Don’t bring Yasu in here!” Junpei shouts back and even I couldn’t say anything. “I admit, it was our mistake and it’s something that we have to live with. But we didn’t have a choice at that time!”

“Not have a choice?” Balo says as he takes a step forward towards Junpei. “Why didn’t you idiots consult each other first?! You didn’t decide anything except follow him! He initiated the choice to leave your friend to die. You followed. He lied about it back at our camp and what did you do? You followed! All you have been doing is following his shadow! If you look at it, he kind of makes sense. You’re easy to manipulate.”

The minute Balo finishes his outburst. Junpei attacked Balo by taking a swing at him. Junpei swing doesn’t connect since Balo dodged by weaving back and he took a swing at Junpei using his left hand which connected and caused Junpei to fall to the ground.

“Stop it!” I scream at them. Junpei quickly got up and tackled Balo to the ground and the two started wrestling. “Guys stop it!”

Riki jumped in to try and separate the two along with Tobi. The two wasn’t strong enough so Naoki, Masato, and Takumi all jumped in. They have managed to pull the two apart and Tobi and Riki are holding back Junpei while Masato, Nako, and Takumi are holding back Balo.

“You fuck! You’re an ungrateful prick! I bring you here risking my teammates in the process and all you got us trapped in this fucking hellhole! Because of your damn incompetence, I left a teammate out there with that psycho member of yours!” Balo shouts as his team held him back.

“Huh?! Do you think we walked around with him knowing he's a fucking psychopath?! Besides, you could’ve refused to help us!" Junpei screams back. Junpei broke free from Riki and Tobi grasp while Balo also broke free from his members. When the two were about to punch each other again, Kumiko-san got in between slapping some sense on both of them.

“Both of you stop it! This isn’t helping our situation!” Kumiko-sensei shouts as the two grabs their cheeks. Everyone's out of breath and tired and the room was filled with low breathing. But once the screaming stopped, that's when we heard a voice.

“G-g-guys. Help…” We all look to where the sound is coming from and we see Sawada outside the glass door on the floor. He is drenched from coming out of the pool of water. He is holding his right shoulder and blood was flowing out onto the floor. There is also a cut on his neck and his left eye closed. He had multiple stab wounds and he’s barely managing to stay awake.

“Sawada!” I scream as I run to the glass door. He seems disoriented and he’s trying to pull the door that’s supposed to be pushed from his side.

"Push it! Sawada! Push the door!" I say instructing him how to open it. Using his last bit of strength he opens the glass door from his end and we all came rushing to his side as he falls to the ground.

“Sawada!” I shout towards him as I catch him fall. Kumiko-sensei rushes to my side and I see her activating her skill. The only part that was untouched form his body was is left chest towards the heart. Everywhere else there are multiple stab wounds that missed all of his vitals and it looks like it was on purpose.

“F-fucking Rikimura! Ill fucking kill him!” Junpei screams.

“H-H-Help.” Sawada tries to say.

“It’s ok we’re here. Relax and don’t worry, this doesn’t look like you were hit on your vital spots so just wait and let me heal you. Since your severely injured, your energy won’t come back as fast but at least I can close the wound.” Kumiko-sensei says as she tries to reassure him. But all he did was pant. Kumiko-sensei opens his closed eyes that made us gasp. It was missing.

“N-n-not m-me. Help…Aka..ne.” Sawada says right before passes out. The minute he says her name, Balo and the rest of the gold district members jumped in the water and rushed to the other side. Kumiko-sensei also wanted to go and help just in case Akane is severely injured but she has to close his wound first or he will bleed to death. Once she's done, she rushes jumping in the water and swims to the other side.

“Hiroko, Riki, Junpei go and help them out just in case Rikimura is there. I’ll stay and watch over Sawada. Once he wakes up, we will swim over.” Tobi says and us three dives into the water to get to the other side. As soon as we emerged out of the water, we see Balo and the rest of the group circling Akane.

“Oh no…” I whisper seeing the scene. Akane’s condition was worse than Sawada. Her left arm was almost severed from her elbow. She has multiple cut wounds all over her body and one of her eyes is also missing. Her other eye is swollen shut. A cloth was wrapped around her neck, which had blood oozing out of it. She was covered in blood it was leaking out of her mouth and the cuts she had all over. Her clothes were ripped open like someone forcefully did it. She had bruises to her face that is starting to turn black and blue. She was just lying there on the ground, not moving.

“Akane! Wake up! Akane!” Kumiko-sensei screams as she heals Akane’s wounds. Tears are coming out of her eyes.

“Akane!” Balo also screams kneeling down beside her. In an instant, his expression changed into fury as he runs out of the cave. The rest of the gold member followed him along with Junpei and Riki.

"Urgh." I Hear Tobi groan as he pulls Sawada out of the water and dragged him near us. He took out his weapon and stood to watch as he noticed everyone gone. All of a sudden, Akane started coughing out blood and the minute she opened her mouth, I felt more hopeless than ever. Her tongue was missing.

“Akane! Stay with us! Don’t worry! I’ll heal you! Stay with us!!” Kumiko-sensei screams as she frantically tries to close all the wounds Akane sustained. She is crying as screams heal over and over again. She kept on screaming on Akane’s unmoving body. But no matter how hard she healed. Akane didn’t wake up.

I couldn't do anything but sit there helping her prevent blood from coming out. Guilt has made it harder to swallow. It was all our fault. We brought them Rikimura. In my mind, this must be Karma for leaving Yasu behind.

After the whole ordeal, everyone came back from trying to find Rikimura but luck wasn’t on their side. It’s now nighttime. We decided to stay inside the cave for now since it’s easier to watch the entrance. If Rikimura-san decided to attack us, he has to go through the entrance to do it.

“How is she?” I asked Kumiko-sensei who is tending to Akane while she rests to regain her energy back. She almost died earlier. If Kumiko-sensei didn’t manage to heal her on time, she would have died. But she hasn’t woken up. She’s lying down on a pile of leaves that was set on the ground as a makeshift bed. All of her wounds are healed. We don’t need bandages since Kumiko-sensei healing ability closes all type of wounds and cuts and probably replaces lost blood. But her limb never grew back. I guess Kumiko-sensei can only heal wounds to a certain degree. Even Sawada’s eye never grew back.

“She’s resting. Akane is strong so I know she will pull through this.” Kumiko-sensei says as she parts Akane’s hair stroking her head. I couldn’t say anything to make them feel better. I feel like it’s our fault. We brought this on to them. If we went by ourselves to save Yasu instead of them, Akane and Sawada wouldn’t be in this condition. I felt guilt envelope my body.

“Hiroko-chan, I need you to be strong. We need to protect Akane just in case that psycho comes back again. I know you’re thinking it but it’s not your fault or your team’s fault that this happened. We decided to help you. It’s nobody’s fault but that psychopath. Right now, I need you with me.” Kumiko-sensei says like she read my mind and is trying to reassure me.

"Yeah," I reply still feeling guilty over the situation. Junpei decided to watch the entrance while Sawada sleeps right next to Akane. Balo and the rest of his group went out hunting for Rikimura-san again after resting for a bit. Riki and Tobi are out gathering food and materials for the fire. For now, Balo indicated that everyone must go in groups. Going alone is a lot more dangerous. We’re not dealing with only boars now. We’re dealing with a serial killer. Balo and Junpei still don’t talk but at least they’re not trying to kill each other anymore.

Once everyone got back, we ate dinner in silence. While Balo and the rest of his group slept, we decided to stay awake since its easier for us due to our messed-up sleeping habits. I decided to soak my feet in the water to calm myself.

"Status Window," I whispered trying not to wake everyone up.

Status Window

Name:

Hiroko

Class:

ARCHER

Level:

15

Guild:

Gold District

Skills:

Skill Level:

Deadshot

12

Arrow Rain

10

Flame Arrow

7

Wind Arrow

5

Infrared

8

Passive Skills:

Passive skill description:

Hero's Soul

You're a hero.

Sharpshooter

This improves your accuracy.

Leather Aim

Wearing a full set of leather increase accuracy.

“Ah, I’m a gold member now. I forgot.” It sucks a bit leaving our original guild. The diamond district sounded much better than gold. “I got out of the dungeon when I was level 5. Since we hunted a few level 12 through level 16 boars on our way here form the gold camp, my level skyrocketed up to 15.”

I read all my new skills, but it didn’t help with anything. I’m far too weak to do anything.

"Wind arrow, skill description," I whisper reading one of my skill.

Skill Name:

Skill Level:

Skill Type:

Experience:

WInd Arrow

5

Offense

32%

This arrow won't be affected by the wind direction. Any arrow you send out will land where you aim.

“Infrared Skill description” I read the next one.

Skill Name:

Skill Level:

Skill type:

Experience:

Infrared

8

Sensory

14%

this skill will give you a brief vision of heat signatures. Try not to look at the sun...

"Show DPH," I whisper as I grab my bow.

DPH

2,000

I view my attack damage and holding my bow, it increases as usual. Barehanded, my attack damage is 500. Which I think is pretty overpowering thinking about the undead skeleton’s health on the dungeon. I probably can kill then now with two punches.

"So, when I level up, my general damage without a weapon also increases a tremendous amount. Status window." I call out again my status window and study them. "Hm, I use infrared when hunting. It is useful when aiming at the weakest spot of the boar’s body. But I guess it won't work on any undead since their body probably doesn't have any heat signatures."

I think about more of this world monsters. Everything is so unreal. Even the boars here are not the same as the ones on earth. Quite harmless but, the skin is like rubber. It’s very hard to penetrate.

Hmmm....with my infrared skill, it shows me its weak points which are the section where it's mostly red means its closer to flesh. I say in my mind as I study my skills. I felt a hand tap me in the back and I see Kumiko-sensei handing me a cup made out of wood.

“It’s not tea but, its better than nothing.” She says as I take a sip of hot water.

“Thank you. And I’m-“

“Ah, nope, stop saying that. I told you, it’s no one’s fault.” She tells me as she gave me a smile. I know she’s hurting seeing Akane in that condition and I can’t help thinking of other possibilities if they never met us. She sat beside me to soak her feet and she started talking about her life back on earth. After a while, we both felt tired and switch with Balo and Riki as they wake up to take night watch.

.

.

.

“Are you serious? So, do you know where it is?!” Riki asked Balo and his voice was loud enough to wake me up.

“Shhhh, you’ll wake them up.” He whispers to him. I got up and walked to them as I don’t think I’ll fall back asleep.

“You guys found him?” I ask Balo and luckily, he isn’t cold to me like he is towards Junpei. I sat near them and he handed me a cup of warm water since it’s really cold during the night.

“Balo told us the mission they were doing before meeting us, "Riki says as he takes a sip of the hot water.

“What? A mission?” I asked surprised.

“Yeah, when we got out of the dungeon, Luro came to us. It turns out each guild have a castle. That castle is a safe zone. Also, there are other people in this world Luro created. From what he told me, there are elves, dwarves, and humans he created along with the world.” Balo paused and took a sip of his hot water.

“The Elves are called Monstra, the Humans are called Hominum, and the Dwarves are called Nani. There are also other races, but he didn’t want to say. So, our real main goal is to find the castle and start from there on planning how to kill Luro.” He continued on to explain everything in detail. He went along to explain their plan. Find a village and get clues from there. When he was about to continue on, I hear a rustle making me look behind me.

“Sawada!” Riki shouted but covered his mouth suddenly not wanting to wake anyone up. Sawada saw us and gestures to help him up which we did guiding him towards the campfire.

“Sawada, how do you feel?” I asked him and I see he’s still exhausted.

“ugh….my head…it feels like it’s going to split open," Sawada says as he touches his head. His hand then went slowly down his face towards his eyes that was supposed to be there, but it isn’t. His expression quickly changed. It showed his rage and anger towards the culprit who took his eye.

“Sawada-“ I tried to reassure him but he suddenly spoke with anger in his voice.

“That fucking bastard…I’m going to rip his eyes out when I see him.” Sawada pounds the ground with his fist.

“I know you just woken up and still getting your energy, but you mind telling me what happened to the two of you?” Balo asked. Sawada tries to sit up properly. Balo helped him up as sawed prepares to tell his story.

“I don’t think you can hear it from anyone else but me.” he looks at Akane with a sad expression reminding us that she won’t be able to talk properly anymore without her tongue. “When you guys left to go to the portal, me and Akane decided to hunt some boars that are around the area. When we got back, we see Rikimura-san coming out of the water. We both went running towards him and asked him what happened and where’s everyone else.”

Sawada Paused. He clenched his fist but loosened it afterward.

“He told us that you guys have gotten Yasu out the portal, but his condition wasn’t so great. He said that you guys needed a few sticks to create a stretcher for him to be transported here. I was so glad by hearing you guys have gotten Yasu that I didn’t catch the lies in his stories. He said he needed help to get the sticks and asked Akane to help him. He told me to stay just in case one of you guys come out of the water and needs help. That’s when both of them exit out the cave.”

He paused and indicated he needed to drink water. Balo went to get some cold water and handed it to Sawada. “drink slowly.”

After taking a sip of the water he then continued on.

“But, I wasn’t stupid. Thinking about what he said, that’s when it hit me. How in the hell are you guys are going to be able to swim underwater with a stretcher? So, I decided to exit the cave and look for them to ask what's the stretcher for. Then I hear muffled cries and decided to follow the sound. That’s when I saw him, that fucking bastard. He was trying to force himself on Akane. She was struggling too much for him to be able to do anything, so he decided to punch her in the face. Before she even screamed for help, that’s when I got out the bushes and kicked Rikimura-san on his sides so hard he went and stumbling sideways. Then I launched at him and punched him in the face over and over again.”

He paused and closed his one eye to relax. Then he continued to speak.

“That’s when he shouted a skill. It paralyzed my body and I basically froze in place. He started laughing hysterically and telling me how I should have waited for my turn then he kicked me down and stomped on my gut that it forced all the air out of me and I couldn’t breathe. Once the paralysis wore out, Akane tried to use her staff she was holding with her left hand she took out from her dimensional back and that’s when it all happened in a flash. Rikimura-san almost cut her hand off from the elbow. She started screaming in pain. I tried to get up and stab him with my dagger, but he was quickly on top of me before I even got up and lodged his sword on my back towards my right and impaled me through the ground. “

He paused, and we can see tears accumulating in his eyes. He then continued to talk. “Then he…..h-he took my dagger and started torturing Akane in front of me….I screamed for him to stop but he wouldn't. He stabbed her precisely on certain spots slowly and I can hear her scream in pain. I managed to force myself out the floor with the sword still in inside my back coming out my right side. That's when he decided to take one of my eyes. He yanked it out with his hands and the pain of getting my eyeball ripped from my head was so painful it brought me back to the ground. That's when he grabbed the sword that still lodged in me and impaled me to the ground one more time. "

Sawada touches his right chest where a huge open wound was earlier before Kumiko-sensei healed it.

“He went back to Akane and tortured her more. She kept of screaming begging him to stop but he didn’t. Then he said, ‘You’re too loud’ and that’s when he cut her tongue. She screamed more in pain but I guess it was too much as she passed out from it. “

He paused to take a breath then Sawada continued on. “I only had one eye left and the tears made my vision blurry. But I can see him get closer. He then whispered to my ear ‘Now it’s your turn’ and he tortured me. Unlike Akane, he decided to keep me awake. Every time I would lose consciousness, he would slap, punch, or press on a wound with his fingers to wake me up. After when he was done, He told me to not worry, I’ll meet everyone soon enough. And left. He left us there to bleed to death. But I wasn’t going to die there. Using my last of energy, I grabbed Akane and dragged both of us back here in the cave.”

After Sawada finished talking, all of our expression was a mix of hatred, sadness, and guilt. We were angry at Rikimura-san for doing such an inhumane thing. We were sad that we couldn’t do anything about it. We were guilty of leaving them here instead of bringing them with us. If we did, they wouldn’t have to suffer. Sawada story brought tears in Balo’s eyes, including mine and sunrise came without us even noticing.

None of us got enough to sleep that night. In the morning, we explained to everyone what happened, and they had the same expression we had when Sawada told us the story. Balo and Junpei reconciled knowing that they’ll need each other to deal with Rikimura. But in reality, they know that like their quarrel is just small matter compared to what those Sawada and Akane endured.

“Ok everyone, it’s very hard to predict whether that asshole Rikimura is watching us right now. But we can’t stay in this cave. We have to keep on moving and find our castle. This way, we can defend ourselves much better and get a better night sleep.” Balo says. “Once Akane wakes up, we’ll leave this damn cave.”

It was around noon when Akane woke up. She tried to talk, but she couldn’t. It turns out not only her tongue was cut but it seems like her voice is gone completely. She became distraught on her condition and she ended up with a blank stare and was unmoving for the rest of the day. She isn’t as energetic as she was when I met her. But who can blame her, she went and undergo an ordeal that none of us have even gone through. Not even on earth. We tried to convince her but she wouldn’t budge. She didn’t want to leave the cave. So, we didn’t force her. Balo decided we would leave when she’s ready. A couple of hours became days and Akane’s mental condition never got better. Balo and the others couldn’t get through her so he asked me and Kumiko-sensei to talk to her since she’s more attached to us.

“Akane, you have to eat a lot today okay?” I tell her as I try to feed her with a cut up boar meat. Akane eats but she doesn't eat enough. She lost a tremendous amount of weight and seems like the fire in her to survive is gone. If she were left alone by any chance, she would end up killing herself from starvation. It’s only me, Akane, Riki, Sawada, and Takumi in the cave. The rest went out to kill boars around the area to collect meat for the coming days. If Rikimura-san had a skill that can paralyze enemies in his surroundings, Junpei should get it also. This will help if either Rikimura-san or enemies decided to attack us and we get surrounded.

So, while I help Akane recover, the rest of the group went to help level Junpei up. It has been a couple of days since we last saw Rikimura-san so were much more relaxed but still was cautious.

“Great! Doesn’t it taste awesome?” I say as I try to cheer her up. But she just chewed. She didn’t smile. I decided to feed her since she wouldn’t eat a lot herself. “Akane, I know you have been hearing this a lot but, we’re here for you okay? We’ll never leave you by yourself again. I’ll never leave you by yourself.”

She then looks at me, then looks back at the water she always stares at every day. She tried to drown herself one night and we were able to get her out before she did. Ever since then, one person has to stay awake and watch her. I decided to sit by the water with her tell her my story about the guy who saved me.

“When I was back on earth, I wasn’t the smartest girl. But I studied hard. It turned out it wasn’t hard enough. I didn’t get accepted on the school I really wanted and needed to get into.” I tell her

“That’s when my knight and shining armor came and saved his damsel in distress from peril.” Saying that made Akane smile a little. I decided to continue on.

“My prince charming. His back was so handsome. As for his face, I don’t know about that. I still don’t know what he looks like.” Akane now is looking at me with curiosity within her eyes.

"When I went to take the entrance exam, I failed it. That's when he came swooping down in his golden horse and came to my aid. He begged the faculty to take me and even gave his scholarship to me. But who knew, the prince charming didn't live a lavish lifestyle. He had a worse condition than what I had at that moment. My prince charming turned out to be a frog. That's why I have to find him and turn him back into a prince." I tell her, and I look her in her eyes.

“And I feel the same for you Akane. I will be your prince charming and help you become the princess you’re supposed to be. So, don’t lose hope okay?” I say to her. Akane is now looking at me with tears in her eye. She then suddenly hugged me and cried silent tears.

“There, there. Cry as much as you want. We will protect you.” I tell her as I rub her back.

Then everyone else came back. Akane decided she was ready to leave and we all decided to rest one more day. Traveling out at night might be a little bit difficult for Sawada and Akane who had only one eye. Junpei and the other also need rest from killing the boars around the area. Once morning hits, we all packed up and decided to leave the cave. Everyone was cautious about their surrounding, but I had another feeling inside.

I had the feeling of guilt. I’m leaving Yasu for the second time. We're already having a hard time out here as it is but at least we have a source of food and water. But Yasu, he’s all alone inside the dungeon probably having a much harder time than us. To him, every day is a survival.

I’m sorry.I say in my mind as the distance between the cave and myself gets further and further apart. I’m sorry, Yasu. Please forgive me.

.

.

.

A couple of days have passed. We covered quite a distance heading back to our camp by the lake. It’s now starting to get dark and we decided to make camp. Akane tugs on my arm and indicates for me to build my hut next to hers.

“Sure. Say, why don’t we build it bigger so both of us can sleep in it.” Fire lit her eyes and she was motivated. She grabbed Sawada and forced him to help her collect wood. Ever since their unforgettable experience, they became closer to each other.

“Ah! Ah! Ah! Don’t pull on my ear! Jeez ill go, ill go!” Sawada says as he follows Akane while she is pulling his ears like a dog.

“Those two really have gotten close huh?” Junpei says as he stands next to me. Junpei and the other boys are starting to have an amazing body that me and Akane sometimes get caught at staring. We even catch Kumiko-sensei blushing at times. Since they train every night to level up, their muscles have started to form.

"Y-yea," I say as I try not to look at his abdominals, which are currently exposed right beside me.

*Sigh

It's just chocolate bars, just chocolate bars Hiroko so stop freaking out. Just look at it and think of it as chocolate bars. I say in my mind as I feel my face becomes hot.

Akane came back and like a guard who is protecting her VIP client, she came rushing towards between Junpei and me, dropping all the wood she was holding with her one hand and leaving Sawada to carry all of them. She gestures with her hand pointing at her eyes and back to Junpei like saying, “I’m watching you.”

“Haha. ok ok, I got it." Junpei says and then he walks away. I clap my hand together and gestured her a thank you. Akane hugs me and we both started building our hut together. Nighttime has fallen, and we all finished our dinner and started to fall asleep. Tonight, it's Junpei and Balo’s turn to do night watch. I still feel guilty about leaving Yasu and the fear of Rikimura-san prevented me from sleeping at night. What he said about getting to me first sent shivers down my spine. As I was falling asleep, I feel Akane’s presence as she tries to wake me.

“Akane?” She then gestures to be quiet and gestured she has to go pee. “Ah..haha ok. I’ll go with you.”

A smile was on her face and gestured me to go since she can’t hold it in anymore. Ever since the ordeal, she can’t go alone by herself at night to pee in the woods. I wouldn’t blame her; even I get scared when I pee in the woods at night. When we got out the hut, we see Junpei Leaning against a tree near the fire pit and Balo sitting on a log tending to the fire. When I was about to gesture to them, Akane stopped me.

“W-what? Why?” I asked. She then pointed towards her private part than her ear and shook her head side to side.

“Wait, you don’t want them to hear you pee?” I asked, and she nodded. “haha’ ok as long as we don’t go too far out, we should be fine.”

We went around our hut and decided to pee near a tree only a couple of ways away. I also felt like peeing, so I did. We didn’t need a light because the moon’s light illuminated the darkness that’s enough for the human eye to see properly.

Akane and I are on squatting position facing each other exposing our private parts as yellow liquid leaves our body. At first, I would find it uncomfortable even with my friends exposing myself but to Akane, I felt like she was my sister and I had no issue with it. Though I would admit, looking at each other’s private parts while we both piss at the same time will look kind of weird for another person’s perspective. Once we finished, we pulled up our panties along with our pants and started heading towards the camp. Since it wasn’t that far I could still see the light of the fir---

Huh? I say in my mind as I was unable to move my mouth. I can see that Akane who is in front of me is also in the same boat. She also stopped moving and it seems like she froze in place.

Then all of a sudden, my body became loose and we both fell to the ground. As I was about to say something to Akane, something grabs me from behind and covers my mouth preventing me to scream. I trashed and kick the ground but the force behind me was too strong. Akane tried to grab the hand that is hugging me, and she tried to bite it, but she was kicked in the gut and she went down fast vomiting our dinner.

Since Akane couldn’t talk, she couldn’t use her magic or spells. Then the entity grabbing me from behind punches me on my gut and I go on all fours and vomit my dinner. Then I feel an arm hold my neck in a lock and prevent me from breathing I can feel my body slumps as it loses oxygen and I start to lose consciousness.

I was picked up before I completely black out. Whoever picked me up started running away from my camp and Akane. Somehow, I can't move my body, but I can see Akane running after me trying to scream but her voice won’t come out. She then trips, and she looks up crying with tears coming out on her one eye and hair was covering the other. She cried as I was taken away from her. Fearing the fact, then she might never see me again, she stood up and ran after me but the one holding me was too fast. Her image became small then I lose consciousness.

I woke up slowly on a dark cave. There was a hint of light coming out from stalactites scattered around everywhere.

“Ugh..” My head was hurting, and I feel very dizzy. “h-huh?.......W-w-where am I….”

I look around and the coldness of the cave made me hug myself. I look down and I am almost completely naked. My underwear is still on, but my top, bra, and pants are missing.

“Ah!!" I tried to cover myself, but my hands aren’t enough to keep me warm. I started screaming frantically not knowing my current situation. I just screamed for help over and over again.

“No one is going to help you~” He came out of the dark side of the cave and slowly walked towards me holding a piece of stick and a dagger.

“R-r-rikimura-san! Let me go-” I scream at him as he slowly comes towards me. But my body suddenly froze as I was unable to talk.

“No can do~~” Then he grabbed my hair and pulled it up sending pain into my scalp. His face is right in front of mine and I smell his breath and it smells like he hasn’t brushed his teeth in a very long time.

“Didn’t I tell you? I will come for you first. Let the games begin~~” He lets go of my hair and sat down in front of me and started sharpening a stick he was holding like it’s a pencil. He tied up my hands and feet with a vine and I felt helpless as my body was paralyzed. There is nothing I can do. After regaining the feeling, I tried to struggle but my feet are tied together it’s hard to move them. I manage to throw both legs out and kick him when he got close. Rikimura-san fall backward, and the dagger cut him in the face.

“Fuck! You bitch!” He screams as he sends his foot flying to my sides and kicked me.

“Ack!” I felt a sharp pain towards my side where he kicked me. Then without warning, he kicked me a second time on the same spot without decreasing his strength. “Ack!!”

"See? Don't try to fight or this will happen a lot. Now, where were we? Ah yes, I would like for you to sing."

H-Huh? Sing? I whisper in my mind as I vomit my dinner. I’m lying on my back with my front exposed. Rikimura-san then gets on top and sits on me.

“Ok, you ready to sing?” He asks me.

"F-fuck you," I say between breaths.

“Yes, I know. We’ll get to that later on when I feel like it okay? For now, we sing. La~ la~ la~ la~ la~” He tells me showing me the sharpened stick. Rikimura-san started singing. He then slowly brought the sharpened stick towards my right shoulder above my boobs and slowly punctured my flesh. The pain was so intense. I felt the stick slowly go through my skin that made me scream at the top of my lungs.

“la~ la~ la~ la~ la~ there we go sing!” He sings as I scream to the top of my lungs as the pain spread throughout my body. I felt like convulsing but his weight on top of me limited my movement. My blood started flowing out where he punctured. Then he slowly pulled out the stick, which sent more pain to my brain.

“Stoooooop!” I shouted in pain but he wasn’t listening.

“la~ la~ la~ la~ la~” He kept on singing as he slowly pulled out the sharpened stick. I felt like a small amount of the stick logged inside my body and splintered my flesh.

“So, how’s our acapella?” He asked me while bringing his face close to mine.

“f-f-fuck you.” I try to say between pain signals.

“What? Is that so? You want an encore?!” He then jammed the sharpen stick again on another spot next to the previous one and the pain is as much as the first time.

“Arrrrrgghhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as the stick puncture my body. This time he covered my mouth and my muffled screams echoed through the cave. He continued to puncture holes on me as I lose track of time.

He will leave after two 2 or three stabs then will come back the next day and do it all over again. This continued on until my body is full of holes. I sobbed quietly as the pain was everywhere. From the tip of my toes up to the tip of my fingers, my head, my face, it was everywhere.

"Someone, save me," I begged under my crying breath, but I know no one can hear my plea.

“Im baaack~” Rikimura sang as he got back.

“P-please stop. No more. I’m sorry I’m sorry please no more.” I beg him.

“What? You’re not going to say fuck you anymore?” He asks as he looks down at me sobbing.

“N-no I-I’m not. I’m sorry. Please let me go I beg you please I’m sorry.” I say as I beg for my life.

“Hmm…well that’s too bad. Why? because now I’m in the mood~” He says as he unzips his pants and took out his erection. “See Hiroko? My buddy here likes you~”

“N-No. Please n-no spares me. Please! NO!” I shout at him. I didn’t want my first time with this psychopath.

“yes! Oh yes! Scream some more! You’re making me more excited!!!!” He shouts as he opens his arms and twirls himself around the cave. He then stops to looks at me bringing his face close to mine. “You know what, let’s make it more interesting shall we?”

“W-what?” I asked him as I try to sob the nightmare away.

“How about I cut you free and you try to escape. How about that? If I catch you, we’ll have fun all night long~” He tells me before removing all of his clothes and standing over me naked.

“P-please let me g-go,"I begged him, and he just gave me a smirk as he approached me and cut the vines tying my arms and legs.

“Ok, now stand Hiroko.” He instructed. I tried to stand but all of the punctured holes in my body and legs sent pain everywhere and I fell back to the ground. "Come on! Try harder! See you try so hard makes me harder! hahahahahahahahahahahaha!"

I tried to get up again, but the pain was too much that I started to try and drag myself out. My cries echoed through the cave and I can hear him laughing behind me. The pain was too much every time I moved that caused me to pass out. I was suddenly woken up with water hitting on my face and it felt warm yet had a pungent odor.

“Wake up! You bitch! Who told you to sleep during our game?!!” Rikimura is standing above me. Naked while he peed on my face. “You have to be awake when I jam myself in you. So, I can hear you scream~!”

Then he started masturbating to get his erection back up and he got on all fours on top of me licking his own piss off my face. He removed my panties and now I'm completely naked. I’m laid sideways on the floor with my back near the exit of the cave. I can feel a breeze hitting me that’s coming from the outside. My conscious is fading and my vision is starting to get blurry. Rikimura-san words are becoming distant.

Ahhh. So, this is what it feels like to know my end is coming. I guess I deserved it. I whispered in my mind as I picture my family and apologize one more time, I’m sorry.

I can feel Rikimura-san erected meat touching my private part near my rectum. As I brace myself for the worse. That’s when I heard a voice.

“Wow, you have some weird shit going on here. Did you just lick your own piss off her face? That’s fucking disgusting.” His voice partially brought my conscious back. My vision is still a bit blurry and I’m down in the floor laying sideways unable to move. I can see Rikimura-san looks up towards the exit of the cave and his expression quickly changed.

“Y-y-you? B-b-but how? How did y-y-“ Rikimura-san stutters. He then got up quickly and slowly stepped back. All my energy is gone, and I can’t move my body anymore. My vision is beginning to fade out. But I notice a shadow over my body and I see a foot stepping over me.

“J-Junpei?” I say in a hoarse voice, but he doesn’t answer.

“How can it be?! How can you be alive?!“ Rikimura-san is shouting and I can hear the fear in his voice. It seems like he knows him.

“Oh shut the fuck up, will you? Stop asking me questions~ pleeeeaase~” The voice atop me rings out. His voice is a lot more sinister and psychotic than Rikimura-san.

But it seems familiar.

“W-w-w-who are yo—“ I tried asking but he interrupted me.

"Will you also shut the fuck up? Both of you are annoying me with your stupid questions. I’ll kill you if you talk agaaain~” He sang. His voice feels cold and even when I can’t move, it sent chills down my spine.

Ah, my consciousness is disappearing again. I whisper in my mindbut before I pass out the foot moved closer to Rikimura-san and I got a full picture of his back. Its outline seems familiar. Due to my vision being blurry, I really can't get a clear image. Huh? I-I-its him?! Why is he here?! My savior! It’s him! The one I have been looking for! It’s him!

I reached my hand out towards its back, but my condition got the worse of me and my hand falls to the ground. My vision is getting smaller and smaller and right before I lost consciousness, I hear him talk one more time.

“Why don’t we cut the small talk? Sharpen~” My savior sang his last words and my eyes closed fully as I succumb to the dark.