The boy tipped back, and Ariyama pushed his whole weight onto him, the two collapsing to the floor. With his ruined, bloody hand, Ariyama grabbed Jack by the collar and pulled him in close to his snarling face.

“You tell me, you bastard.”

Jack's face was twisted in astonishment at what had just happened.

“W-what…”

Ariyama huffed an angry breath and punched Jack again. It hurt like a bitch, and his knuckles were already bruised and bloody, but it felt damn good.

“You were the one who brought us here, yeah? So you must've known this place was the best choice for some reason. It took me until now to figure out why. This place is trapped! There's dead end after dead end, traps that shoot out arrows! Kazura was lucky I saved her, because otherwise she'd have ended up like Koenji. You know, your only friend? Yeah, he's bleeding out from a bolt through his damn forearm right now. So unless we get out this instant, he's as good as dead! And who's fault is that?”

“I… didn't know this would happen. I was just told this place was–”

“I don't give a fuck what you were ‘told’! It's your fault we're in this situation, you stupid bastard!”

He hit him again, and again, and again.

Ariyama felt flashes of white-hot pain flooding his whole hand as his fist connected with the side of Jack's face.

He was finally doing it. Finally talking out all his frustration on somebody, while hurting himself in the process.

Jack groaned in pain, his face red and his eye swollen. Just as Ariyama was about to hit him again, a hand grabbed his wrist and pulled him off Jack. The jarring force made him feel like his shoulder would be torn off.

So he knew it was Yaranagi before he even came into his line of sight. His friend's mouth was set in a hard line, clearly suppressing his own anger, which he very rarely did.

“Listen, Saato. There's no time to beat him, no matter how good it may feel. We got to get Koenji out of here. Probably Machi too. They're both injured, and for all we know, those bolts could've been poisoned or could cause a disease from the rust.”

It was weird, having Yaranagi being the sensible one while Ariyama was the one losing his temper. This place was changing everything Ariyama had grown so accustomed to.

Taking a deep breath in and out, Ariyama nodded without another word. He was still kind of pissed off at Yaranagi, but right now he was telling the truth. He sat up, wincing at his busted hand and holding it close.

“OK, OK. Can you crawl under those traps in the hallway and grab Koenji? If we all meet up here, there can't be only one path to the entrance.

Yaranagi nodded, then gave Kazura a reassuring pat on her good shoulder, before disappearing around the corner.

Ariyama squeezed his eyes shut, ignoring small moans from Kazura and the wheezing breaths from Jack. He dreaded the thought of hearing a whistling bolt, followed by the sound of a body dropping to the cold stone floor.

But as luck would have it, Yaranagi returned just moments later, scuttling across the floor on his knees, his arm muscles bulging as he dragged Koenji's groaning form behind him.

Leaning Koenji against the wall beside Kazura, Yaranagi exhaled loudly and got to his feet, dusting off his pants.

“Fatso…”

Ariyama's shoulders relaxed as his best friend returned. He brought his knees close to his chest.

“Right, cool, awesome. Now we need to get them out of here… But you can't take both of them, and Jack and I can't help. We don't even know another way back, but we need to escape anyway…”

“I agree, Ariyama.”

At the foreign voice, Ariyama jumped a little, his nerves not helping in any way. He craned his neck around, stifling a gasp as he saw two familiar faces approaching from the other side of the hallway.

Matsuragi Kento and Odomura Airi.

Ariyama first noticed how covered in dust they were. Whichever route they took, it must've been a lot dirtier than the one he had taken.

“Guys? Oh, I'm so glad you're OK. But listen, there's been–”

“Don't worry, Ariyama-kun, we heard everything. We were heading in this direction anyway. And you'll be surprised how thin these stone walls are. Though, it was probably more thanks to the echoing.”

Odomura, despite looking like she's been through hell, still gave him a kind smile.

Matsuragi nodded in agreement.

“Indeed. Luckily, we got here through an alternative path than you all. It's… a lot more dusty than we'd have liked, but it's clear of any boobytraps.”

Matsuragi winced as he glanced at Koenji and Kazura leaning against the wall.

“We'll have to leave the topic of the person at fault for this alone for the time being. Right now, these two need to get out of here. And frankly… I think we should too.”

Odomura nodded in agreement, her hands fiddling with the hem of her beige coat.

“Yeah, sorry, but this place is seriously giving me the creeps. I only really came here because I didn't want to be left out. And I was also invited personally, so it'd feel bad if I didn't go. But right now, I'm regretting my choices.”

Ariyama ignored the blazing pain in his left hand for a moment, just to give Odomura somewhat of a reassuring smile.

“Look, we're all beat up and dirty and in over our heads. You're not the only one wanting to ditch this place.”

At that, Odomura's face lit up.

“So… does that mean you're leaving with us?”

Ariyama caught himself before he spoke. In the spur of the moment, he had almost said yes.

But that would've been a lie.

Had he gone through all this hardship just to get into this place, only to run away like a coward after no more than twenty minutes?

Over his dead body.

“I… don't think so, Airi. Sorry, but I just need to stay. I can't really explain but–”

“OK guys, enough of the politeness, please.”

That was Kazura, now leaning forward slightly, her hand stained red from where she held her injury.

“It's bad enough that my pretty tanned shoulder is all messed up, but Koenji is in serious danger. I know no one likes him, but we're not leaving him to die.”

“My thoughts exactly. We're wasting time as it is, which is a precious commodity in this scenario.”

As he spoke, Matsuragi leaned down and used all his strength to pull Koenji up, slinging an arm around his waist to support him. The chubby boy just gurgled something, his face scrunched up in a mix of pain, resistance and impatience. Ariyama was more shocked at Matsuragi's strength. The guy looked as skinny as it got, but maybe his brain wasn't the only thing that was fortified.

“Even if that damned dust keeps fogging up my glasses, I'm confident in saying that I can retrace our steps and head back to the entrance. We have no time to lose. Odomura, if you'd kindly bring Kazura with you…”

“Sure thing, Kento-kun!”

As Odomura crouched down to scoop Kazura to her feet, the noticeably-quiet Yaranagi finally spoke up.

“So what the hell are you gonna tell the authorities when you come to them with a guy with an arrow through his goddamned arm?”

“If we're lucky, not much. If we're not, then I'll just explain to them that it must have been a trap laid out amongst the trees, likely from a hunter trying to catch some game.”

Yaranagi crossed his arms, nodded in agreement.

“OK. OK, that should work. Just get them out of here before anything worse happens. And, uh, stay safe… or whatever.

Odomura pulled Kazura beside her, looking back to Yaranagi with a bright grin.

“We'll do our best!”

Matsuragi looked back too.

“Of course. And you're sure no one else wants to come with?”

“Nah man. Missing something as interesting as this? Never.”

Ariyama shook his head.

“I… can't, not when I'm here for a reason.”

Even Jack, now finally sitting up, grunting the whole way, spoke with a muffled voice.

“I'm not leaving this place. Captain goes down with the ship, and all that. And I also need to prove to some of you that I'm not who you think I am.”

He made no attempt at hiding the nasty glare he gave Ariyama out of the corner of his eye.

Matsuragi turned his back on them, and began stumbling away, Koenji's heavy form weighing him down.

“Very well. Good luck, all of you.”

Odomura scampered to catch up, Kazura hanging off her but actually able to move in a little run alongside her, unlike Koenji.

And just like that, they were gone.

Ariyama waited until their receding footsteps disappeared before he let himself curl into a ball on the floor, clutching his hand.

“Damn… This hurts…”

Yaranagi shook his head and laughed incredulously as he came to one knee beside Ariyama.

“Look bro, I get that punching the shit out of Jack was fun, but do you regret your broken fist?”

Through his contorted face, Ariyama looked at his friend with a wild expression.

“Nah, not one bit.”

“Oh, now we're acting all in-charge now, huh?”

It was Jack, who was standing on his two feet despite the swelling on the half of his face. His lip was busted and his nose was bleeding.

“Listen you little brat, I demand an apology. How the hell was I supposed to know that all this was going to–”

Yaranagi whirled around to face him with a glare.

“I for one don't give a damn. You're you, so opinion invalidated right off the bat. Now don't forget, there's still the other three who are with us. For all we know, they could be lying dead on the floor with arrows through their heads. Let's go check up on them.”

Jack's face burned with fury, his jaw flexing. But he contained his outburst and just gave Yaranagi a deadly stare as he walked past him.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Ariyama, even with the flaring pain from his bruised fist, had a feeling of satisfaction seeing Jack knocked down a peg or two. Even if he didn't get his big moment on this outing after all, punching Jack Hayakawa in the face multiple times sure was worth it.

Their footsteps were echoing through the barren hallways. It was all so quiet that even the slight whoosh of the breeze or skittering stone from being kicked made Ariyama instinctively jump.

He was bringing up the rear of their reduced group, with Jack hobbling along in the middle, holding his bruised face, while Yaranagi was leading them.

It was eerie how quiet it had gotten, even only five or so minutes after the whole scene with bolts flying and fists flying and arguing.

If that did one thing right, it got Jack to shut up.

“Hey, you guys hear that?”

Yaranagi suddenly stopped ahead of them, making Ariyama and Jack stop too. Ariyama closed his eyes to focus on whatever sound Yaranagi was talking about. It was still difficult to hear much of anything in this place, even with the echoing hallways.

Nothing yet.

Just the same sounds: human breathing and the breeze and distant voices and…

Distant voices?

Ariyama opened his eyes, locked eyes with Yaranagi, and nodded.

“Yeah, I hear it. That must be the others, right? So they must be close by. I'm glad.”

Jack groaned loudly, clearly just looking for attention.

“Oh, thank God. Let's hope they won't start beating on me for something I never even did–”

“Shut up, Jack.”

“Shut up, Jack.”

Jack spluttered in disbelief at the attack on him, before scoffing and walking ahead alone. Once they were alone, Yaranagi leaned into Ariyama.

“So… if he gets hit by one of those bolts…”

“I won't be in a rush to save him. I'll say that much.”

Yaranagi huffed a laugh at Ariyama's response, but looked at him oddly for a few seconds.

“Yeah, and on an unrelated note, is… everything OK?”

Ariyama blinked in confusion for a second.

“Yes? What are you on about?”

Yaranagi licked his lips, a rare occurrence. He only ever did that if he was genuinely talking about something that he was embarrassed about.

“Well, just today in school. And now here in this creepy hellhole. All of a sudden, you seem distant…”

Ariyama rolled his eyes.

“Why do you even care? It's not like Yaranagi Yasuke to care about his friends’ feelings.”

Ariyama instantly wanted to take it all back. His heart had been racing as Yaranagi had finally asked the question Ariyama had wanted him to for the last few hours. His mind was running way behind his mouth.

Yaranagi took a step back, narrowing his eyes accusingly.

“Huh? Come on, man. We both know I joke around but we can also both tell I'm being serious about this.”

“And you're only asking me now because?”

“Because I didn't notice it until now? God, Saato, you're impossible sometimes…”

Those words made Ariyama's already-shortening temper break further.

“Oh, I get it. I'm the impossible one? Says the one who's just pretending to not be a fake-as-can-be friend.”

“What? How the hell am I ‘fake’?!”

“Oh I dunno. Maybe when you weren't gonna tell me you were going to this place in the first place? The only reason I came is because… Uh, Jack told me, so I decided to come. He already asked you to go though, didn't he? And for some unknown reason, you weren't even gonna ask me if I was even going? I thought we were best friends, and isn't that what best friends do?”

Yaranagi crossed his arms and chuckled nastily.

“No way. No way that's what's gotten you so riled up. And I mean really riled up. I've never seen you get this pissed at really anything before. So sorry I did the unforgivable act of forgetting to ask you. How could I ever be redeemed?”

“You know, you use that excuse a lot, huh? If you're starting to forget all this stuff more and more often, do you know where you need to go? A doctor, bro.”

Yaranagi flinched, as if he was ready to knock Ariyama on his ass, but he refrained at the last moment. His hands balled into white-knuckled fists, his breathing shallow and uneven, Yaranagi trembled as he glared at Ariyama, his seething building.

Ariyama couldn't deny that his heart skipped a few beats when he came face-to-face with Yaranagi's intimidating anger on full display.

He let out a breath to calm his own nerves.

“Look, forget it, OK? Let's just move on, and get out of this creepy hellhole, eh?”

He managed a meek smile and held out a hand to shake.

Ariyama had managed to quell his own frustration, but clearly Yaranagi would need a bit more time, as he just gave Ariyama a nearly-murderous look before ignoring his outstretched hand and walking off after Jack.

Ariyama just stared after him, mouth hanging open, hand still expecting the phantom of another hand to shake.

He slowly retracted his hand and instead curled it into a fist and smashed it against the side of his leg again and again.

What was he thinking? Did all that just happen or was it a dream? All that pettiness made Ariyama want to vomit. But it was in the heat of the moment and he couldn't really control himself at the time.

“Good work, you damn idiot…”

Breathing in the stinking air of the building, Ariyama fixed his gaze ahead, and continued onwards to follow his group.

Since everything looked the damn same, Ariyama only told that he was approaching the location of the remaining adventures when he heard their distant voices grow louder and louder.

He turned a corner, narrowly stepping over a section of the floor that just caved into the ground, and then he had finally arrived.

Of course, Jack and Yaranagi were already there, leaning against the far wall. Well, Yaranagi was leaning, but Jack was more along the lines of being pinned against the wall by Yaranagi's toned arm, his jacket off and his sleeves rolled up, showing off his muscles.

Ariyama could tell instantly, without even looking at his face, that Yaranagi was angry from their argument. The way his veins pumped along his forearm made him look a hundred times more imposing.

Further left along the wall, Ariyama saw the anxious Takemichi, the quiet Matsune and the flustered Yasami. They must have gotten the news about the division of the group. Now, they were down to only six as opposed to the original ten.

Then Ariyama noticed it.

He was surprised at himself as it took him so long to notice it, but thanks to the patches of darkness covering the interior hallways, his vision hadn't picked up on it.

Between the two groups up against the wall, set into the hard stone like something carved.

A doorway.

Or at least the outline of one.

It looked like a stone elevator door, without any buttons to press. Just incisions into the rock to make out a set of plain doors.

Ariyama walked up to the doors, a bead of nervous sweat rolling down the right side of his face. It tickled and it burned and it made him ever so slightly more unsure if any of this was worth it.

Kazura had gotten hurt, and Koenji – even if Ariyama didn't like him – got hurt much worse.

And would they have ever even gotten inside the place in the first place if he hadn't activated that Shrine Gate? He was the only one who knew about it from the history book he read, as far as he was aware, so no one else would've been able to do it. Was this his fault? Was he the reason that–

“So, are you gonna stare at it or are you actually gonna do something?”

The voice snapped Ariyama back to reality, and he awkwardly tugged at the ends of the zipper of his coat as he looked to his right as Yaranagi acknowledged him. His face was set in a stern mask of stone. His mouth was a straight line and his words were gruff.

Looking over his friend's shoulder, Ariyama saw Jack leaning against the wall on the floor, a new bruise added to his battered face. Seems that Yaranagi had to rough him up a bit more to be confident of him leaving him unguarded.

Yaranagi met his gaze again.

“Well? There doesn't seem to be any other door in this entire damn place. So this thing must be it. It must be the reward we've received for going through all this trouble and causing the injuries of one of our friends and one of… our other classmates.”

Ariyama didn't realize how dry his throat had gotten, so he forced himself to swallow his saliva before speaking again.

“I guess so. Well, no one said I'm the leader here, yeah? So I think we should get everyone else's opinions first.”

Yaranagi looked inclined to argue, but Matsune interrupted before he could erupt.

“I'm not sure about this anymore. Of course, our friends being hurt isn't a good thing in the slightest, but I'm even more unsure about this doorway here. I… Well, let's just say I don't like any of this.”

“Great observation, Matsune.”

Yaranagi grumbled under his breath, crossing his arms in annoyance before deciding to busy himself by walking back over to where he left Jack slumped against the wall.

If anything, Ariyama was for sure not going to stop whatever he did to that fool. Jack Hayakawa had to be knocked down a few pegs, and a few hits from Yaranagi Yasuke would surely do the trick.

I looked back at Matsune, my heart drumming in sympathy as I perceived her troubled face.

“Whatever you mean, Matsune, I get it. No wonder you do. So, Yasami? Takemichi? Thoughts?

Yasami stuffed his hands in his pockets.

“Screw off, brat.”

Takemichi shakes as if drenched in a snowstorm naked.

“I… want to g-go home…”

Ariyama sighed.

What had been expected?

Matsune, who remained by his side, placed a hand delicately on his shoulder, a tight but reassuring smile on her face.

“Look, I know you just said you're not our leader, and you're right. But Ariyama-kun, you are… just one of those people who can always stay calm in moments of panic. I don't exactly have any proof, but I just have this feeling.”

Ariyama's throat tightened and his stomach churned with a weird happiness. No matter what happened, how did Matsune manage to always say the right things?

Maybe that's what made her so popular in the first place? Along with her good looks and strengths in sports and academics, of course.

Ariyama had always questioned why there were people like her. People who were above others in social hierarchies, even if they were all humans.

But in moments like these, Ariyama was glad that it was people like Matsune – kind, caring, reassuring – who were popular.

Realizing he hadn't responded to her words of encouragement yet, Ariyama stuttered a little.

“O-oh, thanks Matsune. I know a lot has happened, but… it's nice to have some like you to be some motivation.”

Matusne gave him a smile, her full lips glinting slightly, even in the darkness, with the lipstick she applied. Similarly, her silver bracelet seemed to glow too, but in a weird fake light that didn't seem natural.

But then Yasami interrupted them, waving his hands to separate them.

“Alright, alright. Enough flirting, you two idiots. Are we going through the doors or what? Yo, boss, what's the plan?”

He looked over Ariyama's shoulder at Jack, and when Ariyama turned to follow his gaze, he saw Jack try to get up, only to receive a gut punch from Yaranagi. And Yaranagi did not look happy.

“Listen, you dumb bastard. Call Jack ‘boss’ all you want, but don't believe that he's the one in charge of this little escapade of ours, got it? We're heard as one, and now we're basically stuck in here. Only Matsuragi remembered the way out, and by now he's long gone. Him, Odomura, Koenji, Kazura; all safe and sound outside of this damned place. So I reckon we bust into this doorway and see what's inside. We've come this far, haven't we? Why bother stopping when we're seemingly at the end of the road?”

Yasami scoffed at Yaranagi's words, but as his boss was still curled up in a painful heap on the cold stone floor, he backed off.

Wordlessly, Yaranagi trudged ahead, his eyes dead set on the carved doorway on the wall. He gave everyone a cold glance, and when no one spoke up against him, he continued.

He stopped in front of the door, as if surveying the surface for just a moment, before taking a step back, then rushing forward.

His foot that was behind came in front and his booted heel smashed into the stone of the door. It must have been fairly thin, as dozens of fractures ran across the door like a spiderweb. Ariyama flinched at the sharp sound of his boot cracking the stone.

Yaranagi repeated his action, again and again, his boot making the stone door splinter under its weight. After about ten or so blows, the door finally caved in. Its parts fell in a cloud of dust like a waterfall of pebbles, littering the floor and collecting into a heap at Yaranagi's feet.

Letting out just a low grunt, Yaranagi ducked into the man-sized hole he had put into the doors. Inside, it seemed pitch black, and Ariyama watched as Yaranagi's body slowly lowered further and further until he was out of view. Judging from his movements and the tap of his footsteps, Ariyama expected there to be some sort of stairs leading down.

Just what was this place really?

And sure enough, when Ariyama was the next person to go and he peered through the hole, he saw just darkness, and a set of stone stairs leading down into more darkness, dimly-lit by very faint torches flickering weakly in brackets against the walls.

One thing that came to his attention was how smooth and well-made the stone steps were. While everything else in the building was either rubble or cracked stone, the material here was sharp and professional, like a proper builder had cut and placed these stones by hand.

Not wanting to keep the rest of the group waiting, Ariyama drew in a long breath, the cold air hurting his throat, Ariyama ducked into the space, getting his balance on the small steps before slowly descending down the stairs.

The air down there was even colder than it was upstairs. As the echoing of his footsteps on the stairs sounded out down the path they were taking, Ariyama's chest sank deeper and deeper into uncertainty and slight horror.

Yaranagi was the only one ahead of him, and he was about a dozen steps further down than he was. After Ariyama, Matsune had gone next, her face visibly pale as she went down the steps, as if she was realizing something horrifying.

After her came Takemichi, his knees wobbling so much Ariyama worried he might trip. Finally, Yasami helped his ‘boss’ down, Jack slinging one of his skinny arms over his goon's shoulders.

He probably recognised the fact that if he tried running, Yaranagi would be sprinting after him with his long, toned legs. No one could ever outrun him.

Ariyama's breath began to explode from his throat in plooms of cold mist, a shiver running through his bones. His body shook and he zipped his coat up as far as it would go, forcing the zipper so much that it would've broken if Yaranagi hadn't suddenly called out.

“Hey! I see something here! Looks like some kind of room. And there's something glowing too…”

Ariyama was just glad to soon be not descending anymore of those damn steps. They were smooth, but so smooth they became unstable to comfortably walk down.

But then he heard someone cry out behind him, and Ariyama half turned as Matsune collided with him. For a moment, he thought she had just accidently fallen down a step or two. He'd just been telling himself about that just now, after all.

But when he saw her face, he knew it was something more.

It wasn't the shocked face of someone who was receiving momentary shock after tripping down some stairs. It was the face of someone who was horrified. Not by something that was happening in front of them, but by something that was about to happen.

“Yaranagi, no! Whatever's in there, don't touch it!”

She outstretched her hand in desperation, and nearly fell again as she hurled herself down the remaining steps, before hitting the ground and chasing Yaranagi into the darkness.

Ariyama was stunned momentarily, his limbs frozen in place.

What had just happened?

Matsune's voice screaming out resonated in his head like a replay from the Devil himself, beckoning him to answer the call.

What ‘call’ exactly? Ariyama wasn't wasn't, but what he did know is that in that exact moment, his body's functions started up again and he too went flying down the stairs. He did a worse job than Matusne at trying to not trip, and lost his footing on the last few steps. Luckily, the momentum he had built up sent him over the last of the steps, and instead he tumbled to the cold floor of the dark room at the end of the stairs. His body shook with dull pain, especially his knees and elbows, which he felt were cut and bleeding.

But he noticed it right after. That weird thing glowing a faint white in the darkness. More distant cries burning into his mind, Ariyama gritted his teeth and forced himself up, ignoring the stinging pain in his muscles. He didn't know what was going on, but if Yaranagi or Matsune were in trouble, there was no way in hell that he'd let them–

“DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!”