And then there were none...[OPEN]

[Tsukimori Ryosuke]

Outfit here (Miura Shohei's)


Ryosuke had dressed for the cold.

It had actually been something of a chore, picking out an outfit that wasn't his school outfit. Even when he hung out at friends' houses or went on a date, he was usually in his school uniform. Sure he decked out his uniform with a few bits and bobs, like his favorite waist chain, for instance, and sure he typically wore anything but the real shirt portion of the uniform under the jacket, but he never really had the opportunity to dress to impress.

Today was different. Today was what would have been a normal weekend, had it not been for the grand plan of possibly the weirdest teacher in all of Karasumori High.

Kashiwagi Sensei really had to be the most optimistic man Ryosuke had ever met. He would say it was to the point of annoyance, but he knew if Kashiwagi was meek and serious, rather than the meek and optimistic guy he was, then he'd be just like every other dull homeroom teacher Ryosuke had ever had, and that might be worse.

But he'd begun to think differently about things. At least for today. Kashiwagi Sensei had opted the guys' entire Tumbling Team take a visit to a very rural area outside of their town as a sort of extracurricular field trip. The area was one with a number of good-sized mountains and pretty freaky looking wildlife.
Kashiwagi, something of a huge nature enthusiast, had somehow decided in the goodness of his heart that a trip to the mountains was a great idea for the boys. Not only so they could have more of the bonding time they already got, but also so they could get in shape climbing a mountain with their favorite homeroom teacher. And thus, Ryosuke had been forced to dress nice. Simply because he had no idea how the other guys planned on dressing, and he hadn't wanted to show up looking like garbage.

But it was already quite some time into the trek, and Ryosuke was fairly exhausted. He raked one arm across his damp forehead, sighing, then started grumbling to himself when he noticed a minor tatter in the sleeve of his blue sweatshirt. He'd just bought the thing...it was ruined already? So much for dressing to impress...

More than that, Ryosuke had thought it would be kind of cool to try out some of the mountain berries during their hike up the oversized hill, and now he was paying the price for it.

He would take the city over the country any day, that much he knew.

A pang of pain went through his stomach, and Ryosuke stopped following the group of Tumbling guys momentarily to press a hand to his gut. Stopping was okay, especially considering he'd long since ended up in the back of the group and likely wouldn't be holding anyone up. Although....he didn't want to lose the gang either.

"Oi, guys...."

Kashiwagi was leading the group unfailingly, so not everyone turned around, but Ryosuke was happy to note he'd at least gotten a few of the guys' attention.

He gestured in the direction of a large rock nearby, conveniently positioned at the edge of the road and in between two large trees.

"I'm just gonna sit down for a bit. I'm feeling kinda sick...just so you know."

He didn't know if any of the guys would join him or even wait, but he hoped so. He really didn't like being on his own all that much, definitely not in the way Hino seemed to, and if he had to be honest, mountains and nature in general kinda scared him.

TAG: EVERYONE! Let's get lost!!!

[Kiyama Ryuichiro]

Kashiwagi kept the pace lively and brisk, but not too demanding. It was comfortable for Kiyama, who'd spent most of the walk so far lost in his thoughts.

Though he'd lived near the mountains most all of his life, he'd never actually gone to them. There were probably a lot of reasons for that, but the prevailing one was that he'd simply never been interested in "out-doorsy" kinds of things.

Kiyama himself didn't have any strong feelings about the trip; the tumbling team did seem to hang out a lot and Kashiwagi was crazy about the whole plants deal so it all seemed to make sense to him. In the beginning, it all ran together like blah blah blah plants blah blah bonding blah in his head, but he'd agreed to attend with all the rest.

But he suddenly found himself upset that, until that time, he'd neglected to venture out in the wilderness surrounding the town. The rich hues of the local foliage, the near silence barely broken by the negligible drone of their conversation and their footsteps against the soft forest floor...

It was all very stunning.

He'd been lost in his thoughts when he heard the shout from behind him, and turned around to see Ryosuke, hunched over and gesturing somewhere off the path.

Kiyama hadn't suspected that Ryosuke would be the first to have trouble keeping up, even though it'd been years since he'd first moved there, and he still gave off that "city boy" vibe.

Pushing those thoughts aside, he looked around to and noticed that many of the other team members weren't even acknowledging Ryosuke, continuing down the road. Not sure if any of the others would make a move to help, and definitely uncomfortable with the prospect of leaving his teammate on his own, he started to jog back towards him. "Tsukimori? You alright?" he called, hoping that it wasn't anything too serious.

[Mizusawa Taku]

ooc: Mizusawa's outfit!

ic: At first, Mizusawa had thought Kashiwagi Sensei's idea had been a great one. Even though the team spent a lot of time together already, there was never enough time for them to get closer, enough so that they could function like a proper team. Mizusawa, like the Captain, had been all-for this adventure, especially since it wasn't every day that they got to trek up the nearby mountains. And personally, compared to the stuffy air in the gym, Mizusawa had been enjoying the fresh air out here. At least they were still getting their exercise, right?

Well, that was how he had felt at first. But after they had already been trekking for some time, he began to feel that perhaps just practicing at the beach might have been a better idea. After all, this wasn't helping them to master their routine, was it? It was definitely good exercise, and he wasn't exactly tired just yet, but well....He'd feel better working on actual tumbling.

Not that he was going to complain. It wasn't that bad. He'd dressed comfortably enough and he'd actually enjoyed chatting and joking with Yuuta and Kaneko on the way up. Having them around was a good thing, especially since Kiyama had joined them. For some reason, he'd been very nervous the moment he'd heard Kiyama agree to come along as well, and had been worrying about it for a while, up until they actually got to the mountain. But then, the fresh air and the prospect of the climb had made him completely forget those feelings for the freedom ahead, and so he'd joined his good friends in trekking up the mountain without a care in the world.

But now, as so much time had passed, everyone was getting more tired. Yuuta had begun speaking passionately with Kashiwagi Sensei about gaining more access to the gym, and meanwhile, Kaneko had ended up in something of a headlock with Wataru, who was making sure the former was stumbling after him. On Wataru's other side, Nippori had been fooling around. And somewhere behind them, Mizusawa remembered seeing Ryosuke trudging along, grumbling to himself.

But as Mizusawa had become lost in his own thoughts, he too had begun to slow down--not as much as Ryosuke, but enough that--he realized, when he came out of his thoughts--he had ended up beside Kiyama.

His shoulders tensed, as he realized that all this time, he had been walking beside Kiyama and not said a single thing. He meekly shot a look at the taller boy, and was relieved to see that Kiyama looked as lost in thought as he had been only a moment before. Kiyama's furrowed brow was proof of that. Mizusawa knew that look well enough now. It was actually a look he quite liked.

He gulped and looked away guiltily, back down at the ground. How embarrassing would it be if he was caught staring?

Too embarrassing, Mizusawa thought, keeping his eyes trained on the rocky ground now.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kiyama stop, heading backwards rather than following the group. Mizusawa stopped too, momentarily stunned out of his thoughts. He couldn't help it. He turned around curiously to see where Kiyama was going.

And that was when he saw that Ryosuke was some distance away, and had also stopped. He was sitting on a rock, clutching his stomach, and Mizusawa actually felt a bit worried. What was going on? He watched as Kiyama approached the other, and felt like doing the same himself. But something about the prospect of having to talk to Kiyama held him back for a moment.

That, and...something else was bothering him. Looking back at the group of boys and their teacher, all of whom were continuing without having noticed those who had stopped (and Mizusawa didn't even think to tell them to stop), he realized that he had almost neglected to notice the missing presence of another. Someone who, though he was generally quiet, had a strong presence, for sure.

"Ryosuke!" Mizusawa called, jogging back over to where the Yankee was now sitting with Kiyama. "Daijoubu?" he asked, concerned. He held Ryosuke's gaze intensely, only because he was trying to avoid Kiyama. "Was Hino back here with you?"

[Hino Tetsuya]

Hino angrily swiped a branch out of his face, making sure not to let any prickly bits catch onto his pristine tracksuit jacket. It seemed the branch was just as angry with him also, as on its return it slapped him in the back of the head as he passed it.

Hino cursed under his breath, regretting his lapse in judgement and forethought that got him separated from the rest of the group. Sure, he no longer had to be in their presence, but he has succeeded in getting himself lost.

He pulled his backpack further up his shoulders, determined to get himself to somewhere safe, even if that ‘somewhere safe’ was not with the others. He stumbled over a fallen log, and had to take a quick hold of an unsteady looking branch to keep himself from falling flat on his face. So apparently, he thought to himself, not only was he lost; he had also managed to lose the track.

He continued on, despite the developing pain in his ankle and the nagging worry in his mind. It was never a good thing to think about the worst possible scenario. Thinking negatively in a negative situation wouldn’t be good for his mental wellbeing if he was going to make it out safe and unscathed.

Hino mentally slapped himself for not completely rejecting the idea of this outing when he’d had the chance. ‘It’ll be fun’ they said, ‘you’ll learn a lot’ they said, Hino ducked under an exceptionally low branch, all he had learned was that he really didn’t like nature and as far as fun was concerned, someone would have to explain to him when that was going to come into the picture.

He felt a familiar slap to the back of the head and turned on his uninjured ankle to realise, he knew this tree. He knew that bush, and he knew that dirty mud puddle. He scrunched up his nose and his eyebrows drew together. He’d been walking in circles for the past 10 minutes.

He suppressed the urge to panic, and instead changing direction and heading off his imaginary track at a severe angle. Not long on his new way he could see bright colors through the expanse of brown and green, and if he listened carefully enough he could hear voices.

His pace increased as much as it could on his an ankle that refused to cooperate. Just as he made it through to the small clearing to where the voices came from, said ankle gave out and in the moment when he should have ended up face first into the dirt he discovered that something had cushioned his fall.
Or should he say someone. His eyes widened considerably.

“… Mizusawa-senpai”

[Tsukimori Ryosuke]

Ryosuke was pretty grateful when Kiyama came jogging back to see if he was doing all right. He hadn't been all too surprised this whole time to find that the other Yankee guy actually seemed relatively interested and enthusiastic about the whole trip, at least more so than he was for a lot of other things. And Ryosuke felt that was simply because Kiyama did seem the type who would be in touch with nature, unlike himself.

Either way, he was grateful for the company. He typically didn't like being on his own all that much, especially in a place like this, where he was so out of his element.

"Tsukimori? You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I've just been seeing stars..." Ryosuke winced and clutched his stomach again, "...since I decided to eat those friggin' mountain berries. Last time I do that." Ryosuke settled himself down on the large rock he'd gestured to before, grateful for the shade the trees were providing. It was cold on the mountain, that was for sure, but they'd all made such a long, difficult trek, that he himself was sweating bullets, especially under the hot glare of the afternoon sun. "I'm a city boy through and through. I'm not made for this kind of thing."

As if to emphasize the point, he withdrew his phone from his pocket, eyed the lack of service--not even half a bar was available up here--then sighed and tossed his hands up in the air, consequently sending his beloved piece of technology into some nearby brush.

"Ah, I give up!" He turned on the top of the rock, scanning the foliage for a piece of black metal that should obviously did not fit in.

It was around that time that someone else came around too. Ryosuke recognized the voice as Mizusawa's, even with his back to him, but he didn't turn around right away. His phone was like his hand--an important part of him he'd rather not do without.

"Ryosuke! Daijoubu?" Mizusawa actually sounded pretty concerned.

Ryosuke didn't turn yet, but he nodded. "I'm okay...just regretting making this trip..."

"Was Hino back here with you?"

At the question, Ryosuke finally turned around, having been unable to find his damned cell phone. Mizusawa had this seriously intense look on his face, like he was trying to penetrate Ryosuke's soul or something. Inwardly, Ryosuke laughed--he'd been playing too many arcade games lately. He raised a hand to scratch the back of his neck and glanced away, reddening a little. "What? Am I turning blue or something?"

He didn't quite get a response to his question, because the next thing he knew, a third person had joined them, though not, perhaps, in the way he'd expected.
One second, Mizusawa had been having a staring contest with him, the next he was on the ground, knocked flat by Ryosuke's favorite little guy to dislike, the one and only Hino Tetsuya. It was as though the guy had heard Mizusawa's question.

“… Mizusawa-senpai”

Ryosuke actually felt embarrassed for the two of them. He cast a quick look at Kiyama, then back to the two boys on top of each other on the ground, then stuck out his tongue. "Too bad Wataru's not here," he said jokingly, hopping off the rock to go search the greenery for his lost cell phone. Rather recklessly, he continued, "At least he'd feel like he's got less competition for Mari-chan if Mizusawa's around..."

He chuckled to himself, all too unaware of the repercussions he might cause, as he used one hand to start swiping aside tall blades of grass, and another to rub his still-aching stomach.

[Kiyama Ryuichiro]

Really? Eating mountain berries? You don't belong out here...

Kiyama felt at tug on the corners of his mouth, and he soon found himself smirking. If the boy was well enough to be as melodramatic as usual, then there was really no reason left for concern.

The smirk faded when he heard another voice, sudden and sounding very worried.

"Ryosuke? Daijoubu?

He looked to see Mizusawa not too far off.

"Was Hino back here with you?"

Kiyama bit his lip. He'd been so lost in his thoughts that he'd barely noticed that Mizusawa had been there... he didn't know how long, but he somehow got the feeling that it'd been a while. He hadn't noticed that Hino had not been there, but somehow he got the feeling that he'd been gone a while, too.

“… Mizusawa-senpai”

Kiyama looked up just in time to see Hino Tetsuya stumble out of the bushes and land squarely on top of Mizusawa. That was... unexpected, to say the least.

"Too bad Wataru's not here. At least he'd feel like he's got less competition for Mari-chan if Mizusawa's around..."

Kiyama narrowed his eyes as he watched Ryosuke wander off into the bushes. There was a large part of him that was confused and wanted to ask for some clarification on what he meant, but there was also a part that knew that he tended to talk a lot of crap and really shouldn't be taken that seriously.

Still, he found himself looking down at Mizusawa. At the moment, it was hard to do that without looking at Hino too, who appeared so ridiculous lying on top on the other boy it was frankly a bit difficult to take the situation seriously. But seeing Hino, he did notice that the boy's clothes were dirty and he seemed a bit battered. Where the heck had he been all that time?

Gazing off down the path, he noted that the others were barely in sight by that point. He considered that in the short time he'd been part of the group, Hino seemed to do everything in his power to make himself unapproachable... but Kiyama himself was no stranger to that kind of thing.

Shoving his hands in his pockets, and watching the last of the rest of the club disappear down the mountain path, he addressed his unpleasant teammate. "Hino, are you alright?"

[Takenaka Yuuta]

ooc: Yuuta's outfit: i110.photobucket.com/albums/n85/moonseden/y.jpg

Meanwhile, Yuuta was following Kashiwagi-sensei diligently. He knew the importance of training and that this would bring the team together as a whole.

He felt that he was perfectly dressed for the situation and his hands were itching to get the camera out of his backpack but he withheld. He knew what would happen if the rest knew his secret.

They had been walking past an hour without stopping and so far everything seemed to be fine. Kashiwagi-sensei was confident on navigating and leading. He seemed to be in his element.

"Oi, guys...."

Yuuta turned around upon hearing Ryosuke's voice but a side glance at Kashiwagi-sensei showed that he didn't notice it. He could tell that Ryosuke still wasn't used to the area. That's usually what happens when you move from the city.

He saw Mizusawa heading towards Ryosuke so he thought that maybe Mizusawa might be able to handle it.

Yuuta turned towards Kashiwagi-sensei to continue their previous conversation on gaining access to the gym while ignoring everything else. After all, what could go wrong?

[Mizusawa Taku]

"What? Am I turning blue or something?"

Mizusawa's face flushed, as he realized he had been trying so hard not to look at Kiyama, that instead he'd been focusing his stare completely on Ryosuke. Poor guy, Mizusawa thought, feeling bad that he might have potentially just made this situation more awkward than it already had been. But that being said, he still hadn't gottan an answer to his question, had he?

The last thing he had expected was what happened next. From out of the brush nearby, there appeared a figure. But Mizusawa didn't have time to register who or what it was, because a moment later, he fell over backwards into the dirt, the figure having landed right on top of him.

Having closed his eyes during the fall, as the fastest means of preparation for the impact, he still had not seen who had landed on top of him. But now, aside from the rocks beneath him that were digging into the small of his back, he could feel the warm breath against his face of who or what was on top of him. When he opened his eyes, he looked back into the wide eyes of that person.

Hino.

At first Mizusawa felt it strangely funny and ironic that the one person he had been asking about had landed right into his graces. There was a strange moment of silence between the two, as Mizusawa just stared back into the strangely warm brown eyes of Hino, his kohei...

And that was when he remembered where they were, who they were with, and what had just happened.

“… Mizusawa-senpai”

"Too bad Wataru's not here," came Ryosuke's joking voice from only a few feet away. "At least he'd feel like he's got less competition for Mari-chan if Mizusawa's around..."

Mizusawa paled. He suddenly felt like dying, or burying himself further into the ground, if that were possible. Anything to escape. A sick feeling entering his stomach, he quickly glanced over at Kiyama, had to, to see what Kiyama thought about what was happening, but the other boy was already looking away, down the path at where the others had disappeared to.

Mizusawa felt his stomach flip-flop and, when he looked up at Hino's confused (maybe pained?) expression, it repeated the motion.

This was definitely not an ideal situation.

Trying to get into a sitting position from beneath the other boy, Mizusawa grabbed Hino by the upper arms and tried to pull him up too. "Ano...are you okay...Hino?"

From above them came Kiyama's concerned voice too. "Hino, are you alright?"

Mizusawa looked up, almost apprehensively, to see that Kiyama was staring down, concerned, at Hino. Mizusawa felt a shiver of jealousy run through him, that he wasn't the one getting that look.

What the heck? What are you thinking? Mizusawa shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, erase the feelings that he couldn't seem to piece together in his head. This was all too weird, and Ryosuke's comment had just made it ten times more embarrassing--and in front of the worst people, of all people.

"Ah, okay..." Slowly, he extricated himself from beneath Hino's light form, until he was able to get back to his feet and dust off his clothes. He reached down to give Hino a hand. "Um...should we catch up with the others?" he asked the group, avoiding everyone's gaze now. He was just hoping Ryosuke's comment wasn't stuck in their heads as much as it kept replaying over and over again in his.

[Hino Tetsuya]

ooc: Sorry it's short... I'm sweepy

Hino’s voice caught in his throat and all he could do was stare, their faces so close and their bodies completely flush. Hino could feel the other’s breath playing across his cheek and the rise and fall of his chest beneath him.

Hino’s brain told him that all but an inch or two closer and they could surely..

"Too bad Wataru's not here," The Yankee’s voice thankfully interrupted Hino’s body’s autopilot and his minds momentary lapse in judgement. "At least he'd feel like he's got less competition for Mari-chan if Mizusawa's around..."

Hino frowned, he didn’t understand what the Ryosuke was implying, though after a few moments of thought he realised Mari-san was one of the girls from the gymnastic team. Though, her involvement in the conversation was completely beyond his comprehension.

Hino could feel Mizusawa squirming beneath him, and tried to lift himself from the ground but failed, only managing to sit up with the others aid.

"Ano...are you okay...Hino?"

"Hino, are you alright?"

He nodded in reply and tried to push his foot firmly in to the dirt only to feel it remained extremely sore. He held back the urge to squint and lurch in pain and wondered if he could manage standing up once again, but was more than thankful for Mizusawa’s helpful hand in front of him.

"Um...should we catch up with the others?"

He took the offered hand and pulled himself up, putting as little weight on his injured foot as possible, shifting to the other for support.

“I guess we should” He paused and looked around the clearing realizing that he still had no idea where they were or which direction they had come from or were going.

“Which way did they go?”

[Tsukimori Ryosuke]

Ryosuke remained pretty oblivious to the madness which ensued after his words, even the others' concerns about catching up, as he'd become quite busy going through the brush around him looking for his beloved cell phone. Actually, he was more determined than ever to get this one back not only because it had girls' numbers on it that his old phone didn't have, but also because it had taken him some time to save up enough money to get this exact newer model in its exact color. He was proud of the thing.

Snapping aside a few twigs and kicking aside an odd-looking mushroom patch or two, Ryosuke finally discovered it. His phone was just a few paces ahead of him now. He sighed happily. He imagined this was what it must feel like to lose a child and find them again after a long time apart. In fact, he swooped down pretty dramatically at the sight of his phone, this big smile plastered on his face......until he saw it.

Ryosuke's smile reversed itself instantly.

"Ano....S....s...snake?" He pointed a trembling finger in the direction of what he was sure was something he'd actually only seen in books and on TV before, and took a few awkward steps back, tripping on an overgrown tree root and landing hard on the ground. The impact reminded him of the pain in his stomach again, and he grimaced. A double blow.

Tree roots attacking him and snakes attacking his phone. Damn he hated nature. And despite how uncharacteristic it was for him, Ryosuke scuttled backwards across the ground until he was close to Kiyama. He reached out and grabbed the other by the leg, gesturing frantically in the direction of destruction.

"Damn it, damn it.....I-I hate snakes." Ryosuke squeezed his eyes shut.

[Kiyama Ryuichiro]

OOC: Sorry, this is meccha-rushed!

Kiyama suddenly found himself lost in a sea of implications and references he didn't really understand, and wasn't sure if he cared to. He was pretty sure he caught a few sidelong glances and looks that weren't meant to be returned; one or two of those might have been in his direction.

But Mizusawa was tending to Hino, and Ryosuke was tending to... something else. So all was well again... wasn't it?

"Um...should we catch up with the others?" he heard Mizusawa ask, and Kiyama once again turn his attention to the road.

Up until that point, he'd remained relatively oblivious to Ryosuke's antics; it wasn't until he felt the boy grap onto his leg that his train of thought had been derailed.

He looked down to see his classmate completely latched on his leg.

"Ano....S....s...snake?" Ryosuke babbled, pointing frantically at something in the bush. "Damn it, damn it.....I-I hate snakes."

Kiyama placed a finger to his temple; he was feeling a headache come on.

Shaking his appendage free of the boy, he made his way over the area he was indicating. The phone's bright plastic case was instantly recognizable, as well as the creature in question. The actual snake was small, probably about ten centimeters long or so, and quickly slithered away being confronted with something that was probably a hundred times its size. Admittedly, Kiyama had very little experience with wildlife, but the even he felt that the Ryosuke's the top reaction was way over the top.

He bent down and grabbed the phone, looking at it carefully. He supposed he was to return it to its owner... It wasn't any of his business, but he felt somewhat like he was handing a butcher's knife to a serial killer. Clicking his tongue, he dropped the phone by the blonde's feet.

Kiyama turned his attention back to the path. Again. The longer they stayed still, the further the rest of the group was going, which worried him. He wasn't too familiar with the area, and was pretty sure that none of the other three with him were, either.

Taking the few steps back towards the road, he began to muse out loud.

"I'm pretty sure that they went this direction..."

And he was; it wasn't enough time for Kiyama to get completely disoriented. However, he wasn't prepared to deal with what he saw several meters in front of him.

The road split into not just two, but three different paths.

"We... might have a problem."

[Mizusawa Taku]

ooc: Great posts, guys! You all said your posts were too short, but I thought they were great! Exactly like your characters! ^__^

ic:

“I guess we should” had come Hino's response to Mizusawa's question. Mizusawa made it his purpose not to look at him. “Which way did they go?”

He looked around, but realized they really had in fact lost the rest of the group. At least, they were no longer in sight anymore. He bit his lip and looked back at the ground. What could they do now? Just wait for the others?

At this moment, Ryosuke had begun to go on some tangent about his phone, but Mizusawa hadn't been paying attention. He'd been so concerned about avoiding everyone else, that he had almost neglected to notice Hino's injured ankle. Hino seemed to be trying to play it cool like he usually did, but Mizusawa could tell he was in pain.

"Are you sure you're really okay?" he asked Hino hesitantly, finally glancing back at the other boy. Hino was already slightly using his arm for support. The least he could do was help out a little more.

"Umm, here..." Mizusawa said softly, offering his shoulder to the other. He lifted Hino's arm so that it was hoisted over his shoulders. Hopefully this would be enough support for the little guy. "Better?"

At that moment, Kiyama spoke. At the sound of his voice, Mizusawa looked up, as though pulled to by some invisible force. He stared at Kiyama and saw that the other looked very concerned.

"We... might have a problem."

Mizusawa followed his gaze behind them. Bucking a little to better support Hino's weight, he turned as much as he could--and paled at what he saw.

Kiyama was right. The path ahead of them--the path the entire group had been following--split into three different paths somewhere not too far ahead. Mizusawa wondered how he had missed that when he had turned to look in that direction only a moment ago.

He gave a side-glance to the boy he was now supporting, then looked over at Ryosuke, and finally, Kiyama. "What should we do now?" he asked them cautiously. He nodded to Ryosuke's phone. "Do you have service this high up the mountain? Maybe you could call Wataru, or..." He bit his lip, suddenly very concerned that this had not been all that great an idea. Here they were, lost, and Hino was injured. Not only were they literally separating the team right now, rather than bonding, but they'd also managed to injure one of their team mates. This wasn't working out as expected, at all.

ooc: I think we just wrote out Yuuta! >< But since Yuuta went ahead with the others, can Wataru join him?

[Hino Tetsuya]

"Ano....S....s...snake?"

Hino was momentarily distracted from the pain enough by Ryosuke’s freak out to jump slightly in shock. This, as it turns out, was quite the mistake. A shot of pain shoots up his leg as his foot hits the ground under his weight and he stifles a groan.

The others are distracted so he hopes no-one notices, but Mizusawa’s eyes pin him.

"Are you sure you're really okay?" Hino was about to lie, and say he was perfectly fine , but he realised his efforts would be futile as his hand was already clutching the other’s sleeve for support. Mizusawa lifted his arm around his shoulder.

“Better?” Hino mouthed the words yes and thankyou but no voice left his lips. His brain stopped dead in it’s tracks and his cheeks heating from the kind gesture. Lucky for him, before he was to sidetracked in to lalaland, Kiyama spoke. And it was not good news he bought with him.

"We... might have a problem."

Hino’s eyes drew to where everyone was now focused, the split path. He bit his lip and frowned. He hated being lost more than he hated most things, at least this time, he was lost with other people. Even if two of them were Yankees.

"Do you have service this high up the mountain? Maybe you could call Wataru, or..."

Mizusawa’s concerned voice rang through his ears.

“You don’t think I tried that when I was lost by myself?” Hino replied sternly, instantly wishing he’d been a little more kind considering Mizusawa was currently his walking rock. “I don’t know about any of you, but I lost reception as soon as we got here”

Hino breathed a deep sigh, and hopped a little closer to Mizusawa to release the strain on his shoulder, the other’s height just a little to much for him at that angle.

“I’ve been told that in situations such as these, the best thing to do is to wait where you are for someone to find you” He said making sure to have the others fickle attention. “Unless of course, any of you remember the direct way back…?”

Hino moved his eyes to the direction he had come through the trees.

“I’m afraid I don’t even remember how I got here”


ooc: Hope that was ok, wasn't sure if we wanted to aim to get comepletely lost or try and find the others HaHA!

[Tsukimori Ryosuke]

OOC: Maybe so, Kiyama, but it was also meccha good too! This is fun! And Boe....xD Oh Hino....

Ryosuke surrendered Kiyama's leg as the other Yankee left his side to go hunt out the creature who was holding his phone prisoner. He watched from the ground, silent, as Kiyama got close to the area, anticipating when the other guy would turn and run too, but instead, approximately ten or so seconds later, Kiyama was coming his way very calmly, Ryosuke's shiny black phone in his grasp.

He looked annoyed, dropping the phone at Ryosuke's feet.

Ryosuke did his trademark pout as Kiyama turned away, looking cool and collected as ever. He reached out to pick up his phone, which was now encased in the same dirt he, too, seemed to have swept up, and frowned. "It looked way bigger, I swear."

He got to his feet, dusting himself off in the process--now his clothes were even more ruined with all the dirt and grass stains--and quickly stuffed his phone back in his pocket before it could incur any more damage. Ryosuke couldn't help feeling like that phone was his single best comrade on this mountain, even if it wasn't functioning properly. Simply because he and it shared the same fact that this was the kind of place neither of them had any way to properly function in.

Ryosuke moved back around the trees to where Mizusawa and Hino were waiting and frowned further. It seemed the latter of the two had somehow injured himself. Ryosuke was guessing from the fall, though he was surprised it wasn't Mizusawa who was hurt in that case, since he'd been on the bottom. Though then again, Hino weighed probably about half of him....

"I'm pretty sure that they went this direction..."

Ryosuke looked up in time to see Kiyama had moved for the main road again and appeared to be scanning it for the others in their group. Ryosuke actually considered doing the same--he was beginning to feel oddly lonely without Wataru or Nippori around, even if they were probably a lot more used to the natural surroundings than he was--but refrained out of concern for the two in front of him.

Much as he wasn't the little guy's biggest fan, Ryosuke could see that Hino was pained. Climbing a mountain altogether seemed to have been the worst of the ideas in Kashiwagi's Fruity Idea Arsenal, but climbing it with an injury seemed near-impossible. And Ryosuke's own stomach hadn't quite settled yet either, though his earlier snake scare had at least diverted his attention from it for a while.

He approached Hino and Mizusawa, grumbling and pulling a tree bur out of his hair. He opened his mouth to ask if the two were okay--if it was serious enough, at least there was Kiyama and him around to help--when Kiyama's words cut through his thoughts.

"We... might have a problem."

Ryosuke turned the same time as Mizusawa and Hino. He moved a bit past the two to get the same line of view as the others, then whistled. There was definitely a problem. A problem in the form of one path breaking into three. Ryosuke had enough difficulty making decisions--he was one of those more impulsive "wait for the last minute to choose" types--and considering they were in a place where they had no real idea what they were doing or where they were going....

"What should we do now?" Mizusawa was speaking. "Do you have service this high up the mountain? Maybe you could call Wataru, or..."

Ryosuke didn't even bother taking out his phone. He merely shook his head.

“You don’t think I tried that when I was lost by myself? I don’t know about any of you, but I lost reception as soon as we got here”

At Hino's response, though Ryosuke tsk-ed slightly at the other boy's harsh tone, he gestured in Hino's direction when Mizusawa looked his way. His case was exactly the same.

“I’ve been told that in situations such as these, the best thing to do is to wait where you are for someone to find you. Unless of course, any of you remember the direct way back…? I’m afraid I don’t even remember how I got here””

Ryosuke looked at the ground. He didn't really want to wait here any longer. Although...He pressed an arm to his stomach again. The pain had returned a little. Hadn't he been the one to ask to stop for a bit, rest here? And because the others--well, maybe not Hino, who had apparently just been lost on his own--had been concerned about him, he'd ended up getting them lost too. He felt guilty as hell.

Feeling a tad awkward with the realization that this was very much his fault, Ryosuke began to shy away a little, reaching up a hand to scratch the back of his neck. His mind was whirring trying to come up with good solutions for the group. He suddenly cursed his absolute inability in a place like this. On the streets, he would have been able to take care of all of them. The exception being Kiyama, who could undoubtedly take care of himself. But up in this random place he was very slowly beginning to hate, he was pretty useless. He couldn't even think of a good movie he'd seen where the characters had to escape off a mountain. He momentarily pondered building a fire to maybe get Wataru and Kashiwagi Sensei's attention from wherever they were, but then tossed the idea aside when he remembered that they were surrounded by rows and rows of trees and probably didn't want to risk starting Japan's greatest wildfire.

Ryosuke realized he was still stepping back a ways when he collided with the large rock he'd been sitting on earlier. "Uh.....do you think, maybe if we went as a group to try out each of the paths...? Like, if one didn't work out, we could just go back and try another? We would have to mark it along the way or something so we don't get lost, but...."

[Kiyama Ryuichiro]

Kiyama turned to the rest of the group; to be honest, everyone looked rather pathetic. Ryosuke was hunched over that rock again, and every now and again he made a face that made it obvious that his stomach was still bothering him. Hino looked like he could barely walk. At the very least, he’d sprained something when he was wandering off by himself… and in the case that he’d broken something or even gotten a cut that could be infected... Everyone seemed to be very uneasy.

Not that Kiyama wasn’t worried himself. He was just a hell of a lot better at hiding it.

It suddenly occurred to him that the others might’ve been looking to him for some kind of guidance. Even if that was kind of presumptuous, he felt obligated to be the calm, rational one.

He took a deep breath, looked at each of the others dead in their eyes, and in what was a very rare occasion for him, he began to think out loud.

"Well we have two options… I think that’s obvious. Stay, or go. We can try and find the others, but even if we try going backwards, there’s no guarantee that we won’t find ourselves getting more lost than we already are. Marking our paths is a good idea, but there’s a chance we won’t catch up with them before dark, and…"

He trailed off, preferring not to express his own concerns about staying the night on their own so ill-prepared, particularly when two of the them likely needed medical attention.

"Or we can stay put, and hope that the others will come for us… that’s assuming that they know where they’re going too… but Kashiwagi just moved here, right? There’s no guarantee that even he knows where he’s going."

Kiyama winced; he hadn’t meant to say that last part out loud. Before he could try to go back and repair his statement, he suddenly found himself thinking about every horror story he’d ever seen. Most of them inevitably had a scene like this – a group of young people lost in a wood, confused and unsure of what to do next. He then thought about that one forest not so far from the area, famous for all the suicides. The one they say is haunted. He inwardly shivered.

Now, Kiyama wasn’t a superstitious boy, but it unsettled even him to be lost in a place like this. Why did he agree to go on this stupid trip, anyway?

He took a moment to refocus himself, and looked to the others once more.

"I think this calls for a vote. " Democracy was a great thing, especially when you didn’t want to make the important decision on your own. He paused a moment before adding something else.

"Whatever we do, we stay together, understood?"