December 10th : 7:30 Am
The next morning the group gather near the general Store ready for accomplishing Goal 2:
The "General Store" owned by Weng's father was a labyrinth of stacked canned goods and the smell of dried spices. Weng stood in the back storage room, his hands trembling as he stared at a crate of "Grade B" protein bars—slightly squashed, but perfectly edible.
"Hurry up, Weng," Kito's voice hissed from the small ventilation window near the ceiling.
"I'm trying!" Weng whispered back. He began stuffing the bars into the secret compartments Aien had helped him sew into their five school-issued sleeping bags. Along with the bars, he slid in flat packets of vacuum-sealed jerky and small, high-calorie chocolate squares.
Suddenly, the heavy metal door creaked. Weng froze, a protein bar halfway into a lining.
"Weng? Are you still counting the inventory?" His father's voice boomed from the hallway.
Weng slammed the sleeping bag shut and sat on it. "Yes, Dad! Just... making sure the expired stuff is ready for disposal!"
"Good lad. Don't be late. You have that school trip tomorrow." The footsteps faded.
Weng exhaled a breath he felt he'd been holding for a century. He tossed the five heavy, reinforced sleeping bags out the window to Kito, who caught them with the ease of an athlete.
"Goal 2," Kito grinned in the dark, "is in the bag. Literally."
The mission at Weng's store had been a success. Five sleeping bags, now heavy with the weight of "Operation High-Calorie," were hidden safely in Aien's garage.
To celebrate the successful heist, the group headed to their favorite haunt: "The Glitch Gate," a high-end gaming cafe where the air smelled of ozone and energy drinks.
The group getting some time to relax from the risky work they had taken, playing the most hyped game of cafe...' LEAGUE OF LEGENDs'...( No promotion of game ...just came in my mind.)
The sound of keyboard was already echoing through their cafe rooms. The Air around them was now much calmed from before.
But something else was in Aien's mind ."You really think we can pull it off?"suddenly ,Enori whispered, his fingers flying across a keyboard in a private booth. He wasn't playing a game; he was looking at motherboard schematics for the school's "Aether-Tech" tracking vests.
Aien sighed, leaning back and staring at the ceiling. "A trip without gadgets isn't just boring, Enori. It's a lobotomy. If I have to spend 72 hours listening to Nitz's voice without a pair of noise-canceling headphones, I'll jump off a Blackwood cliff."
Aien pulled a small, flat box from his hoodie. Inside were five ultra-thin, modified tablets and a set of earpieces he'd been tinkering with for months.
"The school's signal jammer is a Pulse-8 model," Aien explained, pointing to a line of code on Enori's screen. "It blocks standard cellular and Wi-Fi. But it doesn't block short-wave radio frequencies used by emergency services. I've tuned these babies to hop onto those frequencies."
Enori's eyes widened. "That's illegal, Aien. If the government picks up our signals..."
"They won't. I've capped the range to 500 meters. It's basically a private, invisible network just for us five. We can text, share GPS data, and even play local multiplayer while we're sitting in our tents."
Near About 1:30 pm
The five finished their gaming session. Now it's time to go back to their homes. Enori mumbled," Aien, won't you tell this to them."
Aien whispered,"shhh, it will be a surprise for them ."
Aien nodded toward Kito, Weng, and Hiraka, who were arguing loudly over their final scores at the front of the cafe.
"Let them have their normal excitement for now," Aien said to Enori. "The more they act like regular, nervous students, the less the teachers will suspect we have a digital tactical map in our pockets."
The group stepped out of "The Glitch Gate," the afternoon sun of December 10th casting long shadows over the pavement. The city felt different today—noisier, faster, as if it were moving on without them while they prepared to step into the unknown.
At the crossroads, Hiraka stopped them. "Everyone. Tonight, double-check your bags. Ensure the 'modified' sleeping bags are at the very bottom. If you see Mr. Kazi or any staff member near the school tonight, stay away. We don't exist until 7:00 AM tomorrow."
"Understood, Boss," Kito said, giving a mock salute.
They split up, the weight of their secrets feeling heavier than their actual backpacks.
December 11th: Morning
The morning began with the sharp, rhythmic beep of an alarm cutting through the freezing morning air. Hikara didn't linger in bed; today was the day they stepped beyond the theoretical.
He moved with practiced efficiency, checking his heavy-duty rucksack one last time. He rolled his winter-grade sleeping bag tight, securing it to the base of the pack alongside a compact stove, extra rations, and a handheld GPS.
When he reached the school gates, the sky was still a bruised purple, devoid of the usual swarm of students. The silence was his ally.
Finding his usual corner in the back of the library, Hikara spread out a series of topographical maps and a handwritten ledger. He began marking "Point-Alpha" through "Point-Echo"—specific stops along their projected route—noting elevation changes and potential cover. He knew their window for a clean exit was narrow; every minute of their schedule had to be accounted for before the first bell rang.
Across town, the quiet morning was being thoroughly dismantled by Weng's groans.
"It's literally still night, Enori," Weng hissed, his breath misting in the glow of a streetlamp. He shifted his own pack, which felt twice as heavy as it had the night before. "The sun isn't even awake. Why are we awake?"
Enori didn't slow his pace, his boots crunching sharply on the frost-dusted pavement. He shot him a look over her shoulder, her eyes bright with a mix of anxiety and resolve.
"Because 'normal' students arrive at 8:00 AM, Weng. If we're seen hauling enough gear to survive a week in the wilderness during homeroom, the whole plan is over before it starts."
"I could have slept for twenty more minutes," Weng muttered, though he quickened his step to keep up.
"Precision is the only thing keeping us safe," Enori reminded him, her voice dropping to a whisper as they neared the school perimeter. "No witnesses, no questions. "
It was nearly 7:00 AM, and the quiet stillness of the morning was finally beginning to break. The first few early-arrival buses were visible in the distance when Aien and Kito scrambled through the side gates, breathless and adjusting their heavy jackets.
They skidded to a halt near the central courtyard, their eyes widening in disbelief. There, sitting stoically on a frozen ground bench, were Enori and Weng.
"No way," Kito panted, leaning forward with his hands on his knees. "You guys are actually here? I thought for sure we'd be the first ones."
Enori stood up instantly, his face a mask of cold fury. He marched over to them, tapping his watch aggressively. "Almost 7:00? Do you two have any idea what 'early' means? We've been sitting here in the freezing cold for forty minutes making sure the coast was clear!"
"The alarm didn't go off!" Aien started to protest, waving a hand dismissively, but Enori cut him off.
"If someone had seen you two sprinting in here with those oversized bags just as the teachers started arriving, the secret would be out," He hissed. "You're lucky the parking lot is still empty."
Before Kito could offer another excuse, the heavy side door of the main building creaked open. Hikara stepped out into the light, his eyes bleary from staring at maps but his posture rigid.
He had his ledger tucked under his arm, clearly under the impression that the school day was about to officially start and their window for private talk was closing.
He stopped mid-stride, his gaze shifting from the furious Enori to the disheveled Aien and Kito. For a moment, the five of them stood in a tense circle in the center of the yard—the only students present, caught between the lives they were supposed to be living and the journey they were about to begin.