●・○・●・○・●
CHAPTER THIRTY,
tethered

-

༇ "KAORU?" Hana walks up to him that morning, her hair barely fixed, dark bags below her eyes. Her brother is aware she hasn't been sleeping well— or doing well, really. She might've returned home safely even during her depressive episodes, but depression doesn't just leave like that. Hana is just so incredibly desperate to make her family proud again, that she forces herself to get out of bed and be nice and do favors.

"Have you seen Mom, Dad, or Koko?"

Kaoru looks up from his bed, running a hand over his face. His nose no longer itches and no rashes are visibly. "No. Dad's at work, Koko's at school, and Mom is... I don't know, probably just doing something. She often leaves the house to shop, or walk around, or whatever else she does."

"Koko's school bag is still home, and both cars are still here. I found all the keys, which is strange. Dad never leaves the house without his keys," Hana explains. "Do you know where—"

"What?" In a second, Kaoru is sprinting down the stairs. He looks inside the garage: cars are indeed there. He looks at the stack of keys on the table: all there. He looks at each bedroom: the sheets are still messy, even though Baya fixes them every morning.

"What if—"

But again, before Hana can finish her question, Kaoru grabs his own keys from the table and bolts out the door, crosses the street, and uses the key Nozomi gave him a while ago to get inside her house. There, he finds everyone's keys once again, but only one person: Nozomi.

"Have you seen your parents?" He asks between breaths, panting.

"What the— why are you in my room in the morning?" She lifts the sheets to her face as if she's not wearing the thickest pajamas Kaoru has ever seen. "What if I was naked, huh? Why—"

"Have you seen your parents?" He pleads again.

"You just woke me up! Of course I haven't seen them, why? Wait— what time is it?" Nozomi grabs her phone from the nightstand, only to gasp and jump out bed. "Shit! I slept for too long! Why didn't my alarm work? I need to go to—"

"Because you use some weird aesthetic app for your alarms but the WiFi has been shut down!" Kaoru bursts out. "Shit, shit, shit—"

"WiFi has been shut down?" Nozomi gasps even louder. "You're kidding me—"

Kaoru's hand reach up to his head, where he weaves his hair between his fingers, pulling hard. "Shit. Nozomi. Stay here. Don't move. Don't touch anything. Not until I come back."

"What's going on—"

Well, half of the population disappeared and we had no internet, his father once explained.

"Kaede?" Kaoru bursts into Kaede's room, only to find an empty bed.

His heart drops. What if Kaede didn't...

To keep the thought from coming, Kaoru checks the garage. The Arisu household's one and only car still stands there, and Kaoru is just about to leave when he notices a moving shadow in the front seat.

"Kaede!" He gasps out of relief, but pity as well. "Oh, I thought you were also gone. Have you seen your parents?"

"No, I always wake up before them. But the car won't work. I'm supposed to go to—"

"Kaede," Kaoru says sharply. "You can run fast and long, right?"

"...yeah?"

"Go find your friend Shindou. And Seika and Kiyoshi. Find literally anyone you know and bring them to my house, okay? And whatever else you see, don't follow it. Do not listen to any billboards."

"What's going on?"

"I—" Kaoru runs a hand down his face, frustrated, panicked, and overwhelmed at once. "I think we're in the Borderlands."

Kaede stares at him.

"I swear! Our parents are gone and so are the younger siblings! Weren't our parents also mostly in the Borderlands with people in their twenties? There was like... one kid and they never met an elderly, did they?"

"So what? A meteorite hit and happened to only hit us? Not our parents or siblings, who were in the exact same house?"

"Well..."

Kaoru already has it figured out. At least, he assumes that the toxin spread around and infected one group of people: young adults.

But the more he thinks about it, the guiltier he feels, and the less he likes the idea of telling the others it's all his fault. They haven't even realized he betrayed them.

"I don't know," he ends up saying. "But we should gather as many people we know as possible. I'll get my other friends. We can come up with a plan. I think, that if we're indeed in the Borderlands, the games will start tonight."

●・○・●・○・●

A few hours later, the gigantic living room in the Chishiya house gets put to use.

Kaede, Hana, Nozomi, Kiyoshi, Seika, and Shirabi are on the couch. Kaoru's old high school friends put a few kitchen chairs in the living room: Nanaka, Elikai, Shoma, and Renji.

Kaoru stands in front of them, as much as he dislikes speaking in front of crowds. He always starts stammering and gets sweaty, and the feeling of those wet beads trailing down his spine always gives him shivers. But since this is his doing, he decided to take matters in his own hands.

"It's become clear that we can't find anyone in the city," Kaoru says. "Either they're still asleep, we didn't see them, or we're the only ones here. What can be concluded is that we're probably in the Borderlands."

"The what?" Nanaka repeats.

"Borderlands. Shortly summarized: you play games. If you win, you get a few days on your visa. But if you lose a game or run out of days... you die."

"What?" Shoma scoffs loudly.

"It's real." Hana stands up beside Kaoru. "Remember the meteorite in 2010? Everyone ended up in a shared coma: the Borderlands. Those who died in the Borderlands also died in real life."

"You're saying we're in a coma and this is not real?"

"Yes," Kaoru declares. "Otherwise, the disappearance of everyone would make no sense. And tonight, the games will start."

"What happens if we don't play them? How do I know how many days I have on my visa?" Elikai wonders, calm as always.

"I don't know if we already have a visa. Maybe we don't. If that's true, we technically aren't forced to play a game, but I don't know if we should take the risk."

"What kinda games?"

"Good point. We will go through every single game that we know about. That way, we know the answers and solutions. We have a higher survival—"

"You're joking, right?" Shoma asks. "This can't be real."

"We'll see tonight, dude." Shirabi stretches, yawning. This morning, when Kaede picked him up, he got some kind of energy rush after hearing they might be in the Borderlands, and now he doesn't seem worried at all.

"Shindou, this is life or death—"

"Shirabi," he corrects.

Kaede's eyes widen. "We said we wouldn't—"

"My name is Yoshiro Shirabi, not Shindou and whatever first name Kaede and I made up. We did that to hide me from your parents. They know I'm the King of Spades' son, and they don't love that."

"King of Spades?" Shoma repeats. "What kind of sick joke—"

"It's not a joke, Shoma!" Hana claps in her hands, loud. "We will explain everything in detail later on. Shind— Shirabi, I mean. Wait, why do you and Kaede call each other by your last names?"

"Because we're not gay."

"The norm is no longer to—"

"Still makes it gay."

"That's also legal now," Nanaka points out.

"I'm not gay."

"Okay, true," Hana admits. "Because what I wanted to ask is if your wife and kid are also gone?"

Shirabi blinks.

Hana's bottom lip moves forward slightly. "It's just so sad—"

"Since when do I have a wife and a kid?" He looks at Kaede, who's mouthing something as he shakes his head furiously.

"You don't?" Hana frowns. "But Kaede said—"

"Oh, yes. Well, she had a miscarriage, but she's still my wife, indeed. My dear Charlotte... oh, I feel dear Charlotte's absence deeply. I'm missing her presence in my life. Oh, dear Charlotte."

"Okay..." Kiyoshi mutters, staring at Shirabi like he's crazy. "Anyway, what's the plan?"

"We won't risk not playing any games. I'm certain we're strong enough to survive, especially if we're together. That's why we should split our group in half. I will be explaining each suit, then you can write your name down behind what suit you think you're best at. That way, we'll make sure we have a combination of all suits in one team."

It takes several hours to explain all the games, rules, and suits to the ones who have never heard about the Borderlands before, but once it's done, the whiteboard is accurate.

SPADES: Kaede, Shirabi.
HEARTS: Elikai, Renji.
DIAMONDS: Kaoru, Seika, Nozomi.
CLUBS: Hana, Kiyoshi, Shoma, Nanaka.

"Okay. Kaede go over there. Shirabi goes there." Kaoru points at each side of the living room. "Elikai, go to Kaede. Renji goes to Shirabi. Hana and Shoma, go to Shirabi, too. Kiyoshi and Nanaka go with Kaede. Seika, go with Kaede. Nozomi and I will go with Shirabi. Shirabi's team has one more person, but that's not a big deal."

"I object."
"Me, too."
"Shouldn't we—"

"No," Kaoru says sharply. "These are the teams. If you don't agree, go play alone. My apologies that I might've put your dear crush in another team."

"You put yourself in your crush's team," Hana mutters.

"I literally made sure you're not in the same team as your million exes. Don't you dare complain," Kaoru shoots back. "And I don't have a crush."

Shirabi's eyebrow shoots up so high that it practically flies off his face.

Kaoru ignores it. "Okay, so, tonight, billboards and lights will lead us to game locations. Whatever you do, do not go to botanic gardens or baseball fields. We just ran through all the games, so you know what will happen. Now we just have to hope we get the same games as our parents did. However, we only know everything about the games my parents played, Heiya gave the description of the baseball game, and Kaede's father explained the botanic garden. Other than that, we don't know anything about the other games Arisu and Usagi played, unless they were in there with my parents."

"...what?" Nanaka mutters.

"I mean that even though I told you about the games, we don't know all of them," Kaoru sighs. "And it's not guaranteed that we'll be playing the same games."

"It's not even guaranteed that we'll be playing games," Kiyoshi adds.

"Argh!" Nanaka lets out a frustrated sigh. "Does the power really not work?"

"No. If we want a car, we need one that runs on diesel, but for showers, we have to take a swim or use water bottles. Food will probably get bad soon, so if you see anything canned, bring it here."

"This sucks."

●・○・●・○・●

Twilight has fallen and the group is walking through the empty city. A soft breeze blows against their bare arms, and the dark sky stares down at them without a single star.

Kaede sneakily slides in position next to Hana, tapping her wrist. She looks up. He mumbles through his teeth, "Switch with Seika."

"What?" She whispers, almost too loud.

"Switch teams with Seika," he repeats.

"But Kaoru—"

"Join my team," Kaede whispers.

Hana narrows her eyes. "You're being weird."

"Please, Hana," Kaede mutters. "I don't know why, I just... I have a bad feeling. I want you on my team."

After a short pause, she nods.

He subtly nudges Seika, murmurs something too low for the others to hear, and Seika slips over to Shirabi's team while Hana walks to Kaede's side. Kaoru doesn't notice the switch until they're approaching the large flashing screen at the end of the street.

He stops walking. "What are you doing on that side?"

"I switched."

"Why?"

"No reason."

Kaoru's gaze lingers for a moment. "Fine. Just stay close to your team. I see lights over there, towards an office building. Haven't heard anything bad about that, so Kaede's team can go there. The rest, come with me. We'll find another arena."

●・○・●・○・●

Kaede, Hana, Kiyoshi, Elikai, and Nanaka stand in a round room. Several other people, who are around their age, are also spread around the room.

"Welcome, players. Difficulty: Five of Hearts. Game: Tether. Rules: Find your partner. Attach the chains to one ankle each. All duos must make it through all doors to win. If your partner dies, you're still able to win."

Hana gasps. "My parents played this one!"

"We have five people in our team," Elikai says worriedly. "One person won't be able to pair up."

"I'll find someone else," Kiyoshi volunteers.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Not a big deal."

"I'm going with Elikai," Nanaka decides as she grabs her friend's arm.

Kaede instinctively steps closer to Hana, who seems to be completely fine with everything. However, when Kaede also wraps his fingers around her arm, he can feel it trembling. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Hana says, high-pitched. "Just nervous. But I know this game, and I'm with you, and I know you won't betray me, so... yeah. I'll be fine."

Kaede grabs one of the chains and attaches either side to their ankle, pulling it tight right before the female moderator's voice echoes again.

"The game starts. Every duo must step inside a room and close the door. Throughout the game, you will rotate until every duo has been in every room. There is no time limit in general."

Hana and Kaede walk into the closest one, the chains clanking every other second. Once every door is closed, and all sounds from the other rooms are inaudible for them, the monitored voice announces, once again, that the game starts.

"First trial," a specific speaker in their room says. "Shared Breath."

Two chairs are placed on the ground in the middle of the room, and a single oxygen mask hangs from the ceiling. The speaker continues: "Both players must sit down. Knockout gas will fill the room. The oxygen mask will sustain only one player at a time. Last ten minutes to complete the first round."

A hiss fills the air, and the gas begins to seep in. Kaede hands the mask to Hana, who takes an unsure breath before handing it to him. Kaede takes a little longer, making sure to apply the training he got from Aguni when they were in a swimming pool.

For Hana, ten minutes have never felt this long before, while Kaede is so focused on using the correct techniques and making sure Hana has enough air, that time flies by.

In the second room, they end up in a glass box. Taps are sealed to the edges, and they don't get the chance to realize what's going on, because water already starts emerging from the taps, filling up the box.

"Second trial: Drown. Retrieve the key. Only one player is allowed to be underwater every time."

The water is freezing cold. It slams against their legs, swirling violently. Hana presses herself back against the slippery wall, eyes wide, breath catching in her throat.

Kaede scans the small enclosure. The water's coming from four taps in the corners. In the center of the floor, he spots it a steel grate with what looks like a key glimmering just beneath it. The current is too strong for it to be fished out casually.

He unzips his hoodie and tosses it aside. "You stay warm. Tuck your hands under your arms. Don't move too much, it'll help keep your temperature steady."

Hana nods. His breath mists the air as he looks back at her, offering a crooked smile. "Count to thirty."

"What do I do when I reach thirty—"

He dives. Kaede's entire body seizes at the cold. Aguni's training kicks in: calm body, calm mind. He lets the first burst of panic ride through him, then clears his head.

The current makes things ten times harder. He grips the grate. It's bolted in place. But just through it, he can see the key. There's a release button on the inside. He can reach it, but his fingers are stiff.

Kaede presses one shoulder against the floor and extends his hand, squeezing his fingers through the gap in the grate. It scrapes his skin. Blood mixes faintly with the water, yet he succeeds to touch the button. The grate pops open.

He grabs the key and pushes himself upward.

"Forty-two seconds!" Hana scowls. "You said thirty! I thought you drowned but I couldn't pull you up—!"

Kaede gasps and coughs, letting the air return to his lungs. Then he manages a smile. "Still alive, and I got the key."

The water drains away in seconds, and the door leads them to the next chamber.

"You're a really good partner," Hana mutters. "Too good. I feel useless already."

"You're not useless. You—" he stops, hesitating. "You give me a reason to push through."

Her cheeks flush, and she nudges his shoulder with hers.

"Third Trial: Pulse. Both players will receive a heart rate monitor. If either player's heart rate exceeds 115 BPM, an electric shock will be administered. The only way to exit is for both players to maintain a heart rate under 100 BPM for three minutes. Time limit: twenty minutes."

Kaede's chest tightens at the sound of the rule.

Heart rate. Of all the possible trials, this one might be the worst for him. Because he's paired with Hana, and every time she looks at him, every time she accidentally touches his arm or even offers him one of her smiles, his pulse explodes.

Two thin armbands extend outward, tightening around their upper arms with a soft hiss. Kaede breathes deeply, already trying to slow himself down. Don't look at her too long. Don't think about her lips. Don't think about her hair—

The display on the wall lights up.

Kaede Arisu – 109 BPM
Hana Chishiya – 86 BPM

"Wow. I'm calmer than I thought I'd be." She laughs nervously.

Kaede forces a weak smile. She really is calm. Beautiful—

His heart rate spikes.

112 BPM

He quickly looks away. "You're doing great."

"You're the one doing all the heavy lifting," Hana replies, misunderstanding completely. "If it weren't for you, my heart rate would also be high up."

Kaede closes his eyes. Tries counting backwards from one hundred. Imagining anything except her voice. The way she looked at him in the gas room. How she touched his shoulder, like—

115 BPM

"Kaede! You'll get a shock!"

Hana grabs his hand. It's meant to ground him, but it only makes things worse. His whole body stiffens. Her fingers are warm and familiar. He's memorized them before, just from the way she hands him pencils.

"Let go," he says. Then softens his tone. "I mean... sorry. I just— I need to focus."

"Oh. Right." She lets go, blinking. "Sorry."

The screen beeps.

110 BPM... 108... 106...

Kaede crouches down, sitting on the cold floor. Eyes closed. Focus, Arisu. He thinks about snow. About the Borderlands' awful stillness. He thinks about dying. And how, without Hana, he would've accepted it long ago.

Hana sits across from him, mimicking his posture, and murmurs softly. "When my parents played this game... Mom told me that Dad was acting all cool, but then his heart rate suddenly went up because Mom looked at him for too long. She said it was the first time she felt like she could see through him."

He looks up, and immediately regrets it. She's sitting close. Her eyes are open, gentle as always. Her hair is slightly damp from the water room, strands clinging to her cheek. He sees the freckles under her eyes. The corner of her lip twitches as if she's suppressing another smile.

116 BPM — Shock administered.

The jolt hits Kaede out of nowhere, shooting through his limbs and locking his muscles for half a second. He gasps and drops back, biting his lip to keep from crying out.

Hana scrambles forward. "Kaede—"

"I'm fine," he says quickly. "I just need to get a grip. Stop distracting me."

A visible pained expression flickers across her face. "I was just... trying to help."

92 BPM – Hana
117 BPM – Kaede

He turns his back on her. Literally turns so that she's facing his back. His mind runs, faster than his heart. This is a Hearts game. Emotions. Relationships. That's the whole point.

Kaede immediately decides that he's not good at these sort of games, even though his father might've been. And it's not just because of Hana. From what he's heard, he wouldn't exactly nail Jack of Hearts, either.

He presses his hands to the cold floor and keeps his forehead down. He can't think of Hana. She's probably still caught up in the aftermath of her last heartbreak.

In. Out. In. Out.

107... 104... 99 BPM.

The screen lights up.

Both players below threshold. Countdown initiated.

Three minutes begin ticking down on the monitor. Neither of them speak.

●・○・●・○・●

The walls of the fourth room are smooth and has a single panel in the middle. The voice announces, "Fourth Trial: Divide. Players must make a choice. Only one may exit the room immediately. The other must endure the consequences."

"Oh, oh! It's just a few bands wrapping around you!" Hana realizes. "Mom told me about this. She said Dad sacrificed her, but the consequences were simple, she just had to stay put for a few minutes. It's more about knowing whether or not you can trust each other. Clearly, Mom couldn't trust Dad. They literally fought to touch the button."

Kaede snorts. "I can't imagine Shush being that desperate, but sure. You press it."

"No. You've already endured the worst. It's my turn, even if it's just a mild punishment."

They stare at each other.

"Come on, don't be so selfless," Hana encourages. "Press it, please. Or I'll do it for you."

"As in, you pressing it? Because please do that—"

She grabs his wrist and presses it. For him. Like she said.

"Hana—!"

"There." She leans back, satisfied.

"The player left behind will be restrained for five minutes. The game will continue afterward."

The restraints have already clamped around her wrists and ankles. A steel band even wraps around her waist, pinning her against the wall. Kaede remains by her side, unable to move due to the tether.

"This is kinda embarrassing." Hana laughs, throwing her head back. "But other than that, this game seems quite alright. Not too difficult as long as you have a good partner."

"Because it's only a five," Kaede says below his breath, but Hana doesn't hear it.

Once the five minutes are over, they walk into the next room.

Complete darkness hits them. Hana gasps, clutching to Kaede like he's a lifeline. There is a strange sort of breeze flowing through the air, as if they're standing on top of a high building.

"Fifth trail: Shadow. One of you will see, one of you will be blind. Choose. Guide each other to the next trial."

"You should wear the mask," she tells Kaede, who agrees and slides the mask over his face.

Instantly, his world lights up in eerie green. He sees the path: tiles running over a pit so deep he can't see the bottom. Flames shoot from gaps in the floor. Metal rods swing from above.

Hana is standing in the one safe spot.

"I'm carrying you," Kaede decides.

"What?"

"We won't risk it. These obstacles are extremely dangerous. You might be able to jump, but you're likely to be too late if you listen to my commands. I'll jump with you on my back."

"Kaede—"

He's already crouching. "Come on. Wrap your arms around my neck."

Hana's hesitating. Her pride protests, yet something about his tone cuts through the panic in her chest. He sounds so sure of himself.

Slowly, she slides her arms around his shoulders, her legs clutching his waist. She says in his ear, "I'm not very light."

"Yes, you are," he murmurs back. Then he steps onto the first tile.

Which shifts, and a dart shoots up from the floor an inch to his left.

He sidesteps it.

"I'm going to turn a little," he tells her. "The next part has swinging poles. I need you to pull your legs in as close to my body as you can."

"Okay," Hana whispers, as if it's actually night and they're not supposed to wake the obstacles up. "Got it."

They pass the first pendulum. Then the second. Kaede lowers slightly as they approach a high wall of beams. A gap looks at him on his left, but it's too fat away to jump with Hana on his back. To the right, a narrow plank stretches toward the next platform.

He adjusts her slightly. "You good?"

"Yeah."

"I'm going to run."

"What?!"

He surges forward. The plank wobbles as he sprints across it. Beneath him is only air and darkness. For a single second, he feels her grip falter, but to Kaede's relief, she tightens it again. They make it across.

"I can't tell if my eyes are open or shut," Hana murmurs shakily. "Are we almost there?"

"Yeah, just a few more steps."

Kaede sets her down gently on the platform, and the lights switch on for the first time since entering.

Hana squints against the sudden brightness. Her legs wobble. Kaede pulls the mask off and leans on the wall. "Just a few more rooms."

●・○・●・○・●

"Finally!" Seika opens the front door for Hana, Kaede, Nanaka, Eliaki, and Kiyoshi. "It took you guys long enough."

She gives all of them a reassuring smile as they walk inside. When Hana passes by, Elikai's expression hardens, but then she nods politely and closes the door behind them.

"Hey!" Shirabi jumps up from the couch to greet Kaede: he gives him a hard slap on the back. "Glad to see you back."

"You, too." Kaede manages a smile before he looks around. According to the mood, nothing bad happened, and the fact that everyone is back in the living room says enough: they all made it.

"Kaoru!" Hana hugs him. "What was your game?"

Kaoru stiffens, purely because he's still not completely used to the return of his sister. "Five of Spades. Tag."

"Shirabi nailed it!" Renji yelps, clearly impressed.

Shirabi scoffs. "What was yours?"

"Five of Hearts. The tether game."

"Great," Kaoru comments. "We all played games our parents have played. That's enough to confirm that most games will be the same."

"This is not as bad as I thought," Nanaka admits.

"That's because we're in the first stage. For now, we're safe throughout the day and only have to play games as a team at night. But if there's another King of Spades..." Kaoru sighs, then glances at Shirabi. "No offense."

"No offense taken." He raises his hands in the air. "Everyone was trying to survive."

Kaoru nods. "Exactly. Now, the thing is, we don't have electricity, but we can find a water-powered generator and propane tanks somewhere. We should be able to make the showers work."

"Will we stay in your house?"

"If we do our best, we can make that work, yes. We have five bedrooms. Three of them have a twin-sized bed. Kokos bed is single-sized. There are two beds in the guest room. That gives us nine places. We're with eleven, so it's safest if the other two sleep downstairs."

Kaoru swipes the old text from the whiteboard and starts writing a new plan. "Let me know if you don't agree."

"Can't we write anonymous requests? Then Kaoru does some weird math and comes up with spots that will make everyone happy," Seika mutters.

"Requests? Like, you say who you want to sleep next to, and who you don't want to sleep next to?" Shirabi questions.

"Yes, or everyone comes up with their own personal plan, and Kaoru makes a combination."

"Oh, I'm in for making my own plan." Shirabi grins widely, nudging Kaede in the side.

"Or we take the easy way and just make five duos, and one person stays alone in Koko's room." 

Out of nowhere, Kaede grabs Shirabi's arm and pulls him up from the couch. "Come on. I have an idea." 

They return not long after, carrying a literal twin-sized bed through the back door.

"Eh, that's also a solution," Nozomi mutters.

"We can put this in your father's office," Kaede explains.

"I'm fine with it." Kaoru shrugs. "Anyone who doesn't agree?"

After a silence, Nozomi claps in her hands. "Alright! Pair up, everyone! Seika and Kiyoshi, go help Kaede and Shirabi out. They're showing off. Kaoru and I will try to make duos."

The two of them sit down in a corner, discussing quietly. It doesn't take long for them to come to a conclusion.

HANA'S ROOM: Hana
KAORU'S ROOM: Kaoru & Nozomi
SAKIKO'S ROOM: Kiyoshi & Seika
PARENTS' ROOM: Nanaka & Elikai
OFFICE: Kaede & Shirabi
GUEST ROOM: Shoma & Renji

"Oh." Nozomi's eyebrows scrunch. "No, now I feel bad. Maybe I should join Hana. She's all alone."

"Yeah..." Kaoru mutters. "Maybe we can ask Kaede and Shirabi to get Miyu's bed. We can place it in my room. The three of us can sleep there."

"Sounds good." Nozomi stands up. "Hana, would you mind sleeping in the same room as Kaoru and I? Otherwise, you're all alone in your own room. You can also sleep in the same room as everyone else, just choose something."

"I don't mind sleeping alone," Hana tells her.

Worry crashes over Elikai. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I'll tell you if I change my mind."

Kaede sneaks up to her. "If you want—"

"I'll be fine," Hana tells him. "Trust me."

Shirabi snorts a little too loudly. Kaede kicks his leg. Shirabi hits his shoulder. Kaede goes for his ribs—

Kaoru sighs and announces, "I'll go look for canned food tomorrow. Time goes faster here. Most food won't be edible after a while. We should also go find those tanks and a water-powered generator if we want to shower properly."

Kaede taps Hana's shoulder again. "If we can't get showers, we can always look for a hot spring. My dad said they're very—"

"I think it's more likely to find a tank than a hot spring." Hana presses her lips together to suppress a laugh. "But I'll keep it in mind."

Kaede mumbles something about elephants as he walks back to Shirabi.