"Then let's go sign up too."
It wasn't until Ajitani disappeared around a corner that Shouko looked away.
"Mhm."
Following the signs, the group joined the end of the line, where three or four other groups were signing up.
"How will we be grouped later?" Takagi-chan asked, puzzled.
Tsuna unhesitatingly raised his hand and pointed to Shouko and himself. "Let's just stick to the groups the Class Monitor made for us earlier. Shouko and I, you and Nishikata."
Afraid she might refuse, he added, "Besides, it's so late. I wouldn't be at ease with you two girls together, or Nishikata and I in a group."
"Alright."
"Mhm."
"No... no problem."
Seeing that no one had any objections, Tsuna patted Nishikata's shoulder. Nishikata looked up and saw Tsuna looking as though he wanted to say something but held back. Before he could ask, a staff member interrupted them.
"How many of you?"
A plastic folding table was covered with a stained white cloth, and a staff member in a faded blue robe puffed on a pipe.
His face was smeared with cheap white powder, and fake blood was smudged on his right cheek. Behind him stood a handwritten price board.
"Four," Tsuna said, pointing to the other three.
"You all know it's two people per group, right?"
"We know," Tsuna nodded, then, ignoring Nishikata and Takagi-chan's dissuasion, paid for all four registrations at once.
"If you reach the exit in 30 minutes, you'll get a mysterious reward."
After receiving a flashlight and a crumpled map, and listening to the staff member's eerie explanation of the backstory, Tsuna and Shouko were let in.
He then held back Nishikata and Takagi-chan. "You two have to wait about ten minutes before you can go in."
"Mhm."
As Tsuna led Shouko in, he didn't forget to glance back at Nishikata.
"Nishikata, don't worry, I'll protect you when the time comes," Takagi-chan saw that Nishikata had been quiet since they started queuing and mistakenly thought he was scared.
"…" Nishikata didn't refute, just nodded with reddened ears. He was still wondering what Tsuna's look before entering had meant…
——————
Dusk dyed the maple leaves dark purple, and the surrounding leaves creaked in the wind.
Tsuna could clearly feel the hand holding his tighten.
"Shouko, there's no—"
The wind chimes hanging on the tree directly opposite suddenly jingled, shaken by a staff member, interrupting Tsuna's comforting words. However, neither of them reacted much and continued walking forward according to the map.
"…"
"What the heck?" The staff member in the tree watched the two walk away, speechless. "That girl looks nervous, so why isn't she scared by a sudden strange noise?"
"Tsuna, what did you just say? I didn't hear clearly." After walking a distance, Shouko finally mustered her courage and asked, puzzled.
"…"
Tsuna shook his head helplessly. "Nothing, I just wanted to comfort you, but it seems I don't need to."
They say that in horror movies, the background music plays a huge part. If you can't hear it, you barely feel any horror.
Here, besides the darkness, there were also small noises occasionally made by staff members to scare people, but as long as they didn't jump out in her face, Tsuna was sure Shouko wouldn't be scared at all…
Tsuna tapped the yellow marker on the tree trunk with his flashlight. "There's a punch-in point five hundred meters further north."
Shouko clutched the crumpled map, the fluorescent pen-marked route blurred by sweat. "But we saw this tree twenty minutes ago."
"Thump…"
Tsuna tapped her head. "Don't scare yourself, okay? These trees all look pretty much the same."
"Oh…" Shouko nodded, covering her head dejectedly.
After walking for five or six minutes, she felt no fear at all, except for a little nervousness and fright at the very beginning.
Firstly, someone was by her side, and secondly, she had taken off her hearing aid…
Now, she communicated with Tsuna only by lip-reading, translating with the faint moonlight and flashlight.
The two arrived at the third punch-in location. Dry branches crunched underfoot, and a flock of crows suddenly fluttered up from the woods.
Shouko took the opportunity to close her eyes and bump into Tsuna's arms. There was a temporary small monitor set up nearby, so she didn't dare to do anything too excessive…
Things like secretly kissing him in the dark out of fear, then excusing it by saying she was startled and it was an accident, or suddenly hugging him tightly—these were things the innocent Shouko "never even thought of."
"They're thrushes." Tsuna chased the flock of birds with the light beam. As the light spot swept across the tree trunk, Shouko suddenly froze—a twisted tree knot in the light and shadow looked like a crying face.
"This way." Tsuna noticed her abnormality and naturally took her cold hand.
The smell of humus grew stronger and stronger. Shouko followed, stumbling, and suddenly tripped over a protruding tree root.
Tsuna's arm muscles tensed instantly. A muffled laugh came from the chest she had bumped into. "Watch your step."
Moonlight filtered through the tree canopy, shattering into silver fragments, accompanied by the sound of a distant stream.
As the flashlight beam swept over the punch-in wooden stake tied with a red ribbon, Shouko was about to cheer when a terrified scream suddenly came from behind them.
"Ah!!!"
"What's wrong, Tsuna?" Shouko saw him suddenly turn back with a serious expression, looking behind them. She was very curious, but she didn't dare to look back herself.
"No… nothing." Tsuna shrugged. "I just heard Nishikata's scream, and I was a little curious about what happened to him, that's all."
"…" Shouko was a little speechless at Tsuna's calm. "Should we go back and check?"
"No need. There's no danger here, and we don't know where they are now." Tsuna shook his head. "If we turn back now, we'll miss out on that mysterious reward."
"Hmm…" Shouko hesitated for a few seconds on this matter, then still chose the latter—to go to the exit and wait with Tsuna.
On the way back, Tsuna used the rope from his belt to tie their wrists together. Shouko mumbled, staring at his distinctly jointed hand. "It's not like we're elementary schoolers."
The hooting of an owl passed overhead. She instinctively leaned closer to the source of warmth. The moonlight stretched their two shadows long.
——————
"How are Takagi-chan and Nishikata?" Ajitani asked curiously, seeing the two calmly emerge from the forest.
Tsuna released Shouko, letting her go chat with Ajitani, while he turned to the staff member to return the flashlight and map and claim their reward.
"They should be out soon." Shouko put on her hearing aid and sat down on a chair beside her. "Just now, I heard Tsuna say he heard Nishikata's scream."
"Ah…?" Ajitani looked at her in surprise. "For a test of courage, shouldn't it be Takagi-chan screaming?"
Shouko shrugged. "I'm not sure. Tsuna said it was Nishikata's scream. Anyway, I didn't hear it clearly."
"Never mind, it's not important. They'll be out soon, we can ask then." Ajitani waved her hand. "The most important thing now is to see what your mysterious reward is."