Disclaimer : I do not own Love Live!

"Why hasn't anyone contacted us yet? Rin tried to call everyone including Umi-chan and Kotori-chan too but it didn't get through nya…" Rin looked at her phone screen. She locked it and then opened it again, hoping that she received a mail, text, or call from her friends. She keeps doing that for awhile but then she groaned in frustration since nothing came out. The sun is set and the night is coming. Rin and Hanayo had already waited for almost five hours but no one contacted or back to the first check point. They started to get worried.

"Maybe they didn't get a signal?" Hanayo tried to reassure the orange-haired girl and herself by finding a reasonable explanation.

"I hope that's the case nya…" Rin throw her body to a small mat she carried and looked up to the sky that starting to have a white dot on it. "Kayo-chin, what if they got eaten by a bear?!" suddenly Rin got up and stretch her arms, imitating a bear with it claws. Hanayo was surprised by Rin's sudden movement.

"G-geez Rin-chan! Don't scare me like that! You really gave me a shock!" Hanayo slap Rin's shoulder lightly.

"I'm sorry Kayo-chin, it's only a joke." Rin scratch her head and smile innocently. Seeing the orange-haired girl like that of course Hanayo couldn't help but smiled herself. She knew Rin was only joking but somehow her thought just run wildly. No one has contacted them yet and whenever they tried to contact the other instead, they never get through.

"I know you're only joking Rin-chan." Hanayo said softly half laughing. "Let's just pray for everyone safety okay?" Hanayo looked at the sky which was now decorated beautifully by the stars. Under this same sky, their friends were out in the mountain, going through something they didn't expect.

"Mama, Papa, somebody help meeeee!" Maki keep running in the dark forest while shouting for help. She didn't know how long she has been running. She lost track of time. The one thing she was sure of is that the sun's already set and she knew that it's not a good thing. Though she still wanted to keep running her burning lungs forced her to stop. Maki stopped, panting heavily. She took a deep breath and tried to breaths regularly again. After a few minutes finally she gained back her breathing tempo. She opened her backpack, took out a bottle of water and a flashlight. When she thought back about it, how could she run in a dark forest without a flashlight?

"I must be really desperate…" Maki let out a sigh. After her throat satisfied, she turned on the flashlight. Suddenly her eyes widened, realizing something.

Oh no, I left Yuki alone! Should I go back to where she was?

She pointed her flashlight to every direction, trying to figure out where she was. The result was her pale face. She was lost. Alone in a dark forest in the mountain was something she didn't imagine before. It's not like she was afraid of the dark, but the thing she was afraid of is definitely coming from the dark.

Maki tried to retrace her steps when she heard a weird noise from the bushes behind her. Somehow she could feel some stares from behind the bushes, sending a shiver run down her spine. Cold sweat began to flow from her forehead.

C-calm down Maki, Panic isn't going to get you anywhere. There's no way a ghost will come out from bushes ha…ha…

The noises were getting louder and now she could hear footsteps. She tried to run but her quivering feet didn't move at all. The footsteps stop precisely behind her. When she felt something touch her shoulder she immediately screamed.

"Kyaaaaaa! Ghost don't eat me! You can have all my money if you want but please don't eat me!" Maki shut her eyes tightly and kneeled on the ground, covering both her ears with her hands.

"Maki-chan?" what Maki heard in return was a really familiar voices. She opened her teary eyes a little and looked at the source of the sound. Someone was there behind her and pointing a flashlight at her. Blinded by the light Maki put her hand in front of her eyes and take a closer look at the silhouette. A petite girl with raven-haired twin tail was standing there, looking at Maki with confusion.

"Nico-chan?!" after making sure the silhouette in front of her wasn't a ghost but a human instead, Maki back to her feet.

"What are you doing, kneeled on the ground like that?" Nico walked closer to the red-head. She could see some tears that still lingering on Maki's eyes.

"N-nothing, I just taking a rest." Maki wiped her tears and flushed, realized that she let Nico saw a part of her she didn't want anyone to see.

"By yourself? Where's Anju-san?" Nico looked and pointed her flashlight around to find the other red-head but all she got was big tall trees and bushes.

"We got separated on the way." The younger girl replied trying not to look suspicious so that Nico wouldn't find out that she was leaving Anju behind.

"Is that so? Then we're the same, Nozomi and I got separated ourselves." Nico believed what maki said and let a relief sigh. "I'm glad I found you Maki-chan." Nico smiled cheerfully, followed by Maki's reddened face.

"A-anyway we should find a place to spend the night. Since we didn't know where we are, it will be too dangerous to explore the area in the night." Maki looked around, trying to determine which way they should take.

"Isn't here fine?" Nico tilted her head in question.

"No! We need to find somewhere else!" Maki insisted though Nico couldn't see why the red-head didn't want to camp there.

"Well if that's what you want. I think I saw a meadow back there, want to try it?" Nico pointed her flashlight to the bushes where she came from. Maki nodded and they start walking to the direction Nico was talking about.

"Nico-chan?" Maki called for the older girl beside her.

"What is it?" Nico answered without looking at Maki, trying not to take a wrong step so that she wouldn't fall.

"T-thank you for found me." Maki feel her cheeks becoming hotter as she said that. So did Nico's.

"I-instead of thanking me, you should thank Nozomi later." Nico replied awkwardly. They walked in silence until it was Nico who called for Maki this time.

"M-Maki-chan?" Nico stopped and turned to look at the younger girl.

"Hmmm? Nico-chan what's wrong? You're quivering." Maki realized that Nico's body shaking rather heavily.

"A-actually, I need to use the bathroom."

"UUEEHHH?!"

"Anju!" The moment Erena heard Anju's scream, she ran as fast as she could. Ignoring the cold she got from her soaked-from-sweat shirt and the wind. All she could think about was the red-head.

What if I couldn't see her again?!

Bad thoughts began to haunt Erena, making her tripped because she didn't pay any attention to the road. She grimaced a little. Even though she wears sweatpants, it was torn and her knee was bleeding. She stood up and started running again.

I don't care about myself as long as Anju is safe!

After running for about thirty minutes, Erena saw a silhouette with red hair sitting on a big tree root.

"Anju!" without making sure who or what the silhouette was Erena jumped to that silhouette and hugged her from behind "Thank goodness you're safe!"

After a couple minutes hugging the silhouette, she realized something odd. The silhouette she hugged didn't turn around to face her nor letting any words from her mouth. All Erena could hear was a faint sound like someone is chewing something. Erena then realized another odd thing.

Does Anju has this much hair?

The silhouette Erena hugged finally turned around and faces her.

"A chimpanzee?!" Erena surprised and tripped to the back. The silhouette she thought was Anju turned out a chimpanzee with red hair covered all of its body. Erena looked at the chimpanzee. The chimpanzee was indeed is chewing something, didn't surprised at Erena's presence at all. Suddenly Erena spotted Anju's backpack beside the chimpanzee.

"Y-you!" Erena pointed at the chimpanzee with her quivering finger. "What did you do to Anju?!"

The chimpanzee however, didn't reply her nor moved an inch. It just kept chewing.

"Don't tell me you ate Anju?!" Erena stood up and walked closer to the chimpanzee. "Spit her back right now!" Erena hold the chimpanzee's shoulders and shook it didn't realized that another silhouette coming at her from behind.

"Erena?" Anju pointed her flashlight to the girl in front of her. When the light reached Erena, Anju frowned. In front of her the other girl was standing with her hands in the chimpanzee's shoulder, mouth opened in disbelief. "What are you doing?"

Erena immediately let go of the chimpanzee and running towards Anju, hugged her tightly.

"Thank goodness you're safe." Erena stroking Anju's hair carefully making the red-head blushed. "Where have you been? I thought you were being eaten by that chimpanzee!" Erena looked at Anju with a half angry and half worried face. Anju couldn't help but burst out in laughing.

"Erena, since when did chimpanzee eats human?" Anju laugh at the taller girl.

"You're really cute after all. Of course anyone wants to eat you." Erena covered her mouth with her back hand and muttered to herself. She turned her face to hide her embarrassment. Anju wasn't better. She threw away her flushed face elsewhere. After both of them calmed down, they decided to make a fire camp and spend the night there. The chimpanzee was still there too of course.

"When I was resting with Maki-san here, suddenly she screamed and ran away leaving me behind. Without knowing anything, I turned back to see what was exactly behind me. And this chimpanzee over here suddenly jumped to me from the tree, making me surprised. It turned out that this chimpanzee is hungry and smelled the food we ate before." Anju smiled brightly and patted the chimpanzee's head. "And so I was gone for awhile to search eatable fruits around here for this chimpanzee. I didn't think that you'll be here though." Anju smiled warmly making Erena's face as red as the fire.

"But isn't that one a wild chimpanzee? Isn't it dangerous to be around it?" Erena looked at the chimpanzee who just kept nothing but chewing from the moment they met.

"Is that so? But this chimpanzee is so cute!" Anju scratching the chimpanzee's chin, making Erena let out a sigh.

"Fine if that's what you thought. At least it seems harmless." Erena put another dry wood to the bonfire. "Has anyone contacted you?" Erena changed the topic of their conversation.

"No they haven't. Even when I tried to call Tsubasa, her number was busy." Anju shook her head while boiling some eatable plant on a small pot Erena brought, making dinner for the two (or three) of them.

"I guess no one have found Sonoda-san and Minami-san yet." Erena put her hand on her chin and closed her eyes.

"I wonder what happened to Tsubasa…" Anju looked at the wide sky above her worried if anything bad happened to their precious friend. "I hope everyone is safe…"

"How is it, Honoka-san?" Tsubasa asked the brunette beside her who was holding her phone to her ear only to get an answering machine replies.

"No good Tsubasa-san. I've called everyone's number but no one get through." Honoka locked back her phone, put it back inside her pocket and let out a sigh. They decided that one person should let her phone turned on while the other turned it off to save the battery life.

Honoka and Tsubasa have already reached the mountain feet about one hour ago. They didn't find any traces about Umi and Kotori whereabouts. Honoka send a text message to everyone, reporting what her situation was but no one replied. Though they should have just camp and spend the night at the mountain feet, Honoka insisted that they should try to search for her childhood friends once again before the sun completely set. Tsubasa couldn't help it but followed the brunette request.

It has been two hours since they decide to climb back to the first check point, hoping that they will find any traces left by Umi and Kotori. Lit by the crescent moon above the sky and their flashlight, they tried their best not to trip on the dark, slippery and narrow road.

"Be careful Honoka-san, the road up here is pretty slippery." although her body was smaller than Honoka, Tsubasa could maintain her balance really well and never tripped once before unlike Honoka. Tsubasa held out her hand to helped Honoka walked.

"Thank you Tsubasa-san." Honoka smiled brightly and took Tsubasa's hand. "I don't know what would happen if you weren't here." Honoka scratch her hair in embarrassment, somehow making Tsubasa who heard that become embarrassed as well. They continued to walk in the dark. From the distance on their left, they could hear a river stream faintly. Both of them stopped.

"Did we pass a river when we get to the first check point?" Honoka frowned, didn't remember that they passed one before.

"I don't think we did." Tsubasa closed her eyes trying to remember.

"D-Don't tell me we got lost ourselves?!" Honoka's eyes widened in horror. It's bad enough already that they haven't found Umi and Kotori and know they didn't sure where they are.

"Calm down Honoka-san, I'm sure we just got a wrong turn. Let's go back down a little." Tsubasa said trying to calm down the other girl that starting to get panic. Honoka nodded in return, feeling a little relief after hearing Tsubasa's calm voice.

The two of them were now walking back down to the intersection where they mistook the turn. Being as clumsy as Honoka is, she accidentally jumped and step on a slippery rock making her fall a small hill. Unfortunately Tsubasa got dragged by her because their linked hands.

"Whooaaaa!"

"Ho-Honoka-san?!"

Both of them rolling down the hill that fortunately soft because of the falling leaves from the tree. While they were rolling down, they realized that the sound of the river stream is getting louder and louder.

"It can't beee!" Honoka shouted, making the birds that reside on the trees fly away, surprised by her voice and the sound of something falling into the water.

When the sun fully set, Kotori and Umi stopped walking and decide to camp near the river. After one hour following the river stream, they still haven't found another road that leads to the mountain feet or any other check point. With Kotori's injured feet it would be best to wait for tomorrow to start searching for another route again. Not to mention Umi's own fatigue after carrying Kotori around for an hour. They have lit a bonfire and set up a tent. Outside the tent, Umi and Kotori were sitting while having their dinner and a hot chocolate after to keep their bodies warm.

"Here Umi-chan." Kotori handed Umi a cup of hot chocolate.

"Thank you." Umi took the cup from Kotori's hand and sip it. "How's your feet?" Umi asked the younger girl.

"Better! Now I can move it a little~" Kotori tried to move her left ankle but the result was her wrinkle face. Umi realized it and immediately went to her side, kneeling and carefully replace the cold towel on Kotori's left feet.

"I told you not to move it for awhile." Umi flickered Kotori's forehead lightly.

"Teehee~" Kotori just smiled innocently making it hard for Umi to be mad at her.

"There. If you need something just tell me okay?" After done with Kotori's feet, Umi sat beside Kotori.

"Thank you Umi-chan." Kotori smiled and nodded in replied.

Both of them fell into silence and just keep looking at the sky, decorated by the crescent moon and the stars.

"I'm sorry Kotori…" Umi was the one who break the silence. Kotori looked at the bluenette beside her, didn't really understand why she was apologizing. Without looking back at Kotori, Umi continued to speak. "It's my fault that you ended up getting your feet injured and got lost. If only I listened to you…" Umi looked down to her hot chocolate cup, didn't dare to face the younger girl.

Kotori placed her own cup on the ground. Suddenly she cupped Umi's cheeks with both hands and turned her face to look at her own. Browns meet with ambers.

"Umi-chan, how many times do I have to tell you that it's not your fault?!" Kotori furrowed, looking a bit angry because of what Umi said.

"B-but…!" before Umi could answer anything, Kotori's furrowed getting deeper. Umi let out a sigh. "Alright I won't apologize anymore."

Getting satisfied, Kotori finally smiled brightly making the bluenette blushed.

Seeing her from this close, Kotori…you really have grown…

Looking at Kotori from up-close Umi realized how beautiful Kotori's amber eyes were. Her stare began to move down to Kotori's nose, cheeks and finally her lips.

What would it feels like if I touch it?

Realized that she was being stared at, Kotori's cheeks reddened. "U-Umi-chan?" Kotori let go of her hands from Umi's cheeks. The younger girl soft voice brought the bluenette back to reality.

"I-I'm…! S-sorry, I d-didn't mean to s-stare…!" embarrassed, Umi swing her arms wildly in the air. Looking at Umi like that, Kotori couldn't help but giggled softly. As soon as Kotori's voice entered Umi's ear, the bluenette did nothing but stare at the younger girl again.

I'll do anything to hear that voice forever…

Again, Kotori realized that Umi was staring at her. Kotori smiled at the older girl and then looked up at the sky. "Umi-chan, the moon sure is beautiful."

Hearing Kotori saying that, Umi's face suddenly blushed furiously. She remembered that the literature teacher has told her about it before. Long ago 'I love you' was translated as 'The moon sure is beautiful'. Even though Umi knew that Kotori didn't mean it that way, somehow hearing that from the girl she loved make her heart beats faster than ever. Umi took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She looked at the sky with crescent moon on it.

As she translated what she says on her mind, she opened her mouth. "You're right Kotori. The moon sure is beautiful."

Very beautiful…

Eli crouched in the dark forest alone, shutting both her eyes tightly. Warm liquids started falling from her eyes as she sobs a little

"Nozo…mi…" she keeps calling for her best friend name, hoping that she would pop out from nowhere like she usually did.

Though Eli is well known as the cool and composed person the truth is she was still afraid of the dark. Nozomi was the first one to found out about it. If Nozomi was with her, the dark wouldn't be as scary as it is right now. She thought that it was impossible for Nozomi to find her in the dark forest and beside they took a different route after all. Despite knowing that, Eli just keep calling for the purple-haired girl, hoping that a miracle would happen. And it did. From the distance Eli could hear someone was calling her name.

"Cchi…Elicchi!" the sound was getting louder. Eli opened her eyes and then shouted as hard as she could.

"Nozomi! I'm here, Nozomi!"

"Elicchi!" Nozomi responded to Eli's voice. Even though there wasn't any sign of her near Eli, she kept calling out for Nozomi to let the other know where her position is. After awhile finally Eli could hear a footstep from behind. She turned around and just as she thought, Nozomi running toward her from the bushes. She immediately kneeled down and hugged the blonde.

"Elicchi, thank god you're okay..."

Eli put her hands around Nozomi's shoulder and cry while keep calling for the purple-haired name. Nozomi did nothing but stroke Eli's hair until she calmed down. After several minutes finally Eli stopped crying. Nozomi loosened her hug. She brought her own face to Eli's until their forehead and nose touched each other.

"I'm here Elicchi, you don't have to be afraid anymore…"

"You make me wait for so long…" Eli closed her eyes, still sobbing a little.

"I'm sorry, finding you in the dark was harder than I thought~" Nozomi replied playfully, making the blonde pouted.

After making a fire and a tent, Nozomi and Eli sitting side by side, with blanket covered their bodies together.

"Thank you for coming Nozomi…" Eli looked at the fire, her cheeks getting redder. Nozomi didn't know if it was because of the fires or simply because Eli was embarrassed. She assumed that it was the latter.

"Don't mention it, I know that Elicchi couldn't do anything if I'm not by your side~" Nozomi said with proud, and Eli couldn't deny it since it was almost true.

"Speaking of which, is Nico gonna be alright?" Eli asked Nozomi, remember that she was actually being paired with Nico.

"I think Nicocchi will manage somehow~" Nozomi replied playfully, making the blonde concerned about her friend.

"What's with that answer…" Eli muttered to herself. "How about Umi and Kotori? Do you found any traces about them?" Eli shifted the topic.

"Nope." Nozomi shook her head. "But my cards told me that they're safe~" Nozomi smiled brightly.

"I hope what your cads said is true…" Eli said as she wished for everyone safety.

"You know yourself that my card rarely misses." Nozomi let out her tongue at Eli.

"Yes miss fortune teller, you and your card always right and it's creepy sometimes." The blonde let out a defeated sigh and the letter only grin feeling satisfied.

"Now I should ask for a reward from you." Nozomi looked slyly at the blonde.

"A reward?"

"Yes, since I came and rescue you from the dark." Nozomi closed her distance with the blonde little by little.

"S-somehow I have a bad feeling about this…"

"Nico-chan, you're there aren't you?!" Maki standing in front of a big tree leaned her back on it.

"Geez Maki-chan, I already told you that I'm here ten seconds ago!" from the other side of the tree, Maki could hear Nico's voice. She sounds like she was annoyed by Maki's repeated question. She couldn't help it though. She has to make sure that Nico was there so that she wouldn't start running away like crazy again.

"Could you hurry up a bit?" Maki taped her feet impatiently. She kept pointing her flashlight in every direction, afraid that something might come out from the dark.

"You really don't want to be separated from Nico huh?" She could hear a muffled sound from Nico. Although she's pissed by what Nico said, she couldn't manage to reply anything. All she need right now was the other girl presence, since she was starting to get afraid of being alone.

"Nico-chan, hurry up!" Maki called for the older girl once again, impatiently.

"Yes, yes I'm done already." Finally Nico came out from the other side of the tree while carrying a plastic bag with some plants and mushrooms inside it.

"What's that?" Maki looked at Nico's hand and furrowed.

"Eatable plant and mushroom, we haven't had our dinner yet right? Nico is smart, right?" Nico smiled proudly. Maki only rolled her eyes at the older girl. She just wanted them to reach the meadow Nico was talking about as fast as possible. She wanted to set up a fire, a tent and immediately went to sleep, hoping tomorrow would come faster.

"Right you are. Now let's just hurry to the meadow you talked about before!" Maki started walking, followed by Nico beside her. After walking for ten minutes, they finally reach the meadow Nico was talking about. They immediately set a fire and a tent. Nico was in charge with the fire while Maki set up the tent. After making a dinner, they sat opposite to each other. Maki turned her phone and tried to call her other friends.

"How is it?" Nico asked the younger girl. She stirs the pot in front of her.

"No good, no one answered." Maki shook her head. She decided that she would just sending all her friends a text message, saying everything that happened to her and that she was with Nico right now. "How about your phone?" Maki asked the older girl back.

"The battery runs out." Nico raised both her shoulders and the two of them let out a sigh. "I'm pretty sure that everyone will manage somehow." Nico tried to brighten up the gloomy mood.

"Yeah you're right." Maki smiled, trying to believe what her senior said.

"Now let's have our diner, it's already done." Nico said as she took out two small bowls from her backpack.

"You carried something like that around this whole time?" Maki said in amusement.

"Of course I do! We'll never know what happen in the mountain!" Nico said proudly while putting her knuckle on her chest. Seeing her senior act like a little kid, Maki couldn't help but smiled.

"Do you want any mushroom Maki-chan?" Nico asked the red-head as she poured the soup she made for Maki.

"No thank you, I'll just go with Tomato." Maki opened her backpack and take out a plastic box filled with cherry tomatoes.

"Yo-you carried something like that around this whole time?!" now it was Nico who asked the redhead.

"Of course I do! We'll never know what happen in the mountain!" Maki repeated Nico's gesture before, and the latter just let a defeated sigh.

After eating their dinner, just when they prepared to sleep suddenly something weird happened.

"Maki-chaaan~" Nico called for the younger girl playfully while getting up from her seat.

"What is it?" Maki lifted her face and looked at Nico. Something was wrong with her. Nico's face was bright red. As Nico walked closer to her, Maki could see Nico's flushed face better now. Nico bent down to face Maki.

"Nico-chan, are you alright?" Maki put her hand on Nico's forehead to check her temperature but there was no sign of a fever. Her body temperature was normal.

"Maki-chaaaan~" Nico called her name again in a teasing voice.

"W-what?!" The red-hear blushed as Nico thrust her face closer to Maki until it was only a mere centimeter separating their lips. Maki blushed become more furious at Nico's sudden movement.

"Kiss me?" Nico put her index finger on her lips, making the redhead blushed go wild.

"Ueeh?! Ni-Nico-chan what happened to you?!" Maki asked the raven-haired girl but the latter didn't answer. She just kept pushing Maki down, demanded for a kiss. As both of them fell to the ground, Maki's hand accidentally touches the plastic bag Nico was carried before. From inside of it she could see some small mushroom she has seen before on a book.

Psilocybin?! Don't tell me Nico-chan ate that…

"Maki-chaaan, you shouldn't averted your eyes from me!" on top of Maki, Nico pouted. "You have to be punished~" Nico cupped Maki's cheeks with both of her hands and leaned closer to her.

Because of Nico's weight, Maki hardly moved. As Nico's face getting closer to her own, she couldn't do anything but closed her eyes tightly.

"Now, are you ready?" Nico whispered softly to Maki's ear, making the red-head limp though she managed to say something before Nico's punishment started.

"UUUEEEEEHH?!"

"Hachooo!" Honoka sneezing. After the girls rolling down from the hill, Honoka and Tsubasa ended up falling into the river. Now after light up the fire, Honoka and Tsubasa sat side by side, wrapped by blanket.

"I'm sorry Tsubasa-san, I dragged you along with me and you ended up getting wet." Honoka apologize while holding the warm tea they made before.

"It's okay Honoka-san. It's my fault for not holding you properly." Tsubasa smiled trying to reassure the brunette. Since they phone both got wet, they didn't have any choice but to wait for tomorrow and found the way out. They decided to go back to the first check point and after that discuss with the others another way to find Umi and Kotori.

"Hachooo!" Honoka sneeze again.

"Are you cold? You can use my blanket if you want." Tsubasa offered her blanket but Honoka refused.

"Thank you Tsubasa-san, but you must be cold yourself right?" Honoka put her tea on the ground and poured another one for Tsubasa. "Here drink this. You'll feel warm in no time!" Honoka smiled and handed Tsubasa the cup of tea.

"Thank you…" Tsubasa took the tea from the brunette and sipped it. The two of them spend the peaceful night accompanied by the sound of cricket and the wood burned by fire.

"Even though I shouldn't say something like this, I'm really grateful to Umi-chan and Kotori-chan." Honoka grinned looking at her cup of tea. Tsubasa turned her head to face the brunette and tilted it, didn't understand what Honoka's word means.

"Because of them, I got to spend the night with you!" Honoka smiled brightly. Tsubasa eyes widened. Hearing Honoka said that her face suddenly went hotter and brighter than the bonfire. Looking at Tsubasa, Honoka's face starts to reddened as well. "I-I don't mean that in a weird way!" Honoka immediately blushed realized that she has said something ambiguous.

"Hahaha Honoka-san you really are a funny person." Tsubasa couldn't hold her laughter any longer. "I get it, I feel like that too." Tsubasa smiled gently at the brunette, making her flushed.

"S-shall we go to bed soon?" Honoka get up and asked the smaller girl. She stretched her hand to Tsubasa. Again, Tsubasa's face suddenly flushed. "Whoaaa! I said something ambiguous again didn't I? Honoka covered her face with her hands, making Tsubasa giggled at the view.

I don't mind whichever meaning you're referring though

In the middle of the night Umi got awake. When she looked at Kotori, she realized that Kotori's breathing tempo wasn't the same as usual. By the time Umi woke up, Kotori already drenched in sweat, her face was flushed red, and she looked like she was in pain.

She's getting a fever, must be because of her injured feet. What should I do?

"Kotori, are you okay? Kotori?!" Umi tried to wake the younger girl. Kotori opened her eyes a little and then started muttering something.

"Umi…chan…? Is it morning already…?" Kotori's breathing getting hard as she tried to wake up from her sleeping bag.

"No it's still midnight. You're having a fever. Wait here I'll go get you a cold towel." Umi get out from the tent while carrying a towel with her. Luckily they camp near the river so Umi didn't have to search for water that far. After squeezing all the water on the towel, Umi back to the tent. She putted the towel on Kotori's forehead, hoping that it would help the fever down.

"Thank you… Umi-chan… it feels nice…" Kotori smiled and thanked the bluenette. Umi looked at her with concerned and guilty look.

"I'm sorry Kotori…" She bowed her head and apologized.

"Umi-chan… didn't you said before that you wouldn't apologize anymore?" Kotori frowned. She doesn't want to see Umi keep blaming herself. "It was an accident, not your fault." Kotori lifted her hand and touch the brunette's cheek. "Don't blame yourself anymore okay? I'm alright as long as Umi-chan is here with me." Kotori smiled gently at the older girl, wiped away a little tears that started to form on Umi's eyes.

Umi nodded. She moved her hand and placed it on top of Kotori's. She took it to and plant a kiss on Kotori's knuckle. Umi then opened her backpack, trying to search for a medicine. Miraculously, she brought one.

"Kotori, I brought a medicine with me. Can you get up for awhile?" Umi asked the younger girl, but looking at her condition she thought that it wasn't a good idea to let Kotori get up. Beside Kotori was already sleeping. She closed her eyes, trying to find a better way for Kotori to drink the medicine. An idea came to her mind but at that thought suddenly Umi's face grow redder. She shook her head.

"I'm sorry Kotori.." Umi apologized for the last time. She put the medicine to her mouth and drinks some water without swallow it. She leaned closer to the younger girl face, her lips was exactly above Kotori's now. She kissed her gently while trying to open Kotori's mouth. After it was opened, Umi pulled the medicine and the water from her mouth and transferred it to Kotori's mouth. She drank it and then Umi immediately covered her mouth with her hands.

I just kissed her…

Fortunately for her, Kotori was sleeping and didn't realiz what was happening.

"Geez, what am I doing?" Umi covered her face, feeling embarrassed by what she did. Suddenly she felt Kotori's hand touching her. She muttered Umi's name in her sleep. Umi took Kotori's hand with her own.

"I'm sure you'll be better tomorrow morning." Umi stroked Kotori's hair gently.

I'm sorry for the trouble I made. I promise I'll get you home tomorrow…

Umi plant another kiss on Kotori's cheek before she goes to sleep herself. The next morning, luckily Kotori's fever already went down. The weather that morning was great and they decided to continued their walked after some breakfast. After they finished, Umi insisted that she would carry Kotori again today. The grayish-ash haired couldn't refuse and followed Umi's request. They continued to walk along the river stream until finally they spotted smoke billowing upward to the skies.

"Umi-chan look!" Kotori pointed her finger to the smoke direction. "There must be someone camping there last night!"

"Let's go and check it." Umi tightened her gripped on Kotori's thigh and fastened her pace a little.

Just like Kotori said, someone did camp there last night. In fact they were still there. They spotted a tent and started calling out for the resident of the tent.

"Hello, is there anybody here?" Umi walked closer to the tent. There was no answer.

"Maybe they're still sleeping?" Kotori said to the bluenette.

"Yes? Is there anything I can help?" After awhile someone finally show up from the tent while rubbing her eyes.

"Honoka-chan?!"

"Honoka?!"

Umi and Kotori shouted in the same time when they saw the resident of the tent came out. It was a brunette they knew so well. Her hair was messed up and her eyes still half closed. It took her a couple minutes to proceed and realized what was happening.

"Kotori-chan and Umi-chan?!" Honoka shouted in excitement, making the other resident of the tent came out.

"What's the matter Honoka-san?" Tsubasa come out from the tent and suddenly smiled brightly at the view in front of her. Honoka was hugging Umi and Kotori tightly, a relief tears was flowing from her eyes so did the other two. Tsubasa couldn't help herself but let a relief smiled escape her lips.

After they cleared the tent, the four of them walked back to the first check point. They followed the river stream until finally they found the road that connected to the main route. After they arrived, they were being greeted by the others that already there.

"Umi-chan, Kotori-chan! Thank goodness you're okay…" Nozomi walked toward the bluenette as she put down Kotori on a bench.

"I'm sorry for the commotion I made." Umi bowed to all the girls in front of her.

"You should be, you don't know what terrible night I went through." Maki sighed heavily.

"Did something happen last night Maki-chan?" Nico tilted her head, didn't remember anything bad happened to both of them.

"No, nothing happen." Maki replied her immediately and averted her gaze from her senior, hiding her embarrassment.

"Yes you should, I went a through a terrible night as well." Eli rubbed her neck, seems like she was really tired from something.

"Ara, Elicchi did something bad happened to you too?" Nozomi smiled mischievously to the blonde, making her turned around to hide her blushing face.

"Well since everyone is here should we go back down?" Erena suggested to the girls.

Before they go, Kotori opened her mouth. "Wait a second. Aren't we short of people?"

"Rin-chan, like I said we should just wait for the others!" Hanayo stopped walking. In front of her, Rin looked around here and there, trying to find a familiar mark.

"But Rin got bored because of all that waiting nyaa!" Rin pouted trying to defend herself.

"But now we got lost ourselves." Hanayo replied.

"We're not getting lost it's just that Rin forgot which way we took before." Rin smiled and put her knuckled on her head.

"Ugh, it's not going to end anytime soon, someone helped uuuussssss!"

A/N : Hello it's me, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it! Sorry for my bad grammar and terrible sorry for the late update and the rushed ending! I blame the 5th live because of this! /got slapped but it's true, I just can't get out of all the Jolks moments that happened from my head, also I blame Flowers Natsu-hen opening videos for this! /I just keep blaming other because of my own mistakes. Anyway thank you so much for all your support, see you again on the next story!