Rion was still holding onto Akira as if she were afraid he might disappear again.
Akira stood there awkwardly, but making no attempt to pull away.
“…You’re really here,” she murmured.
“…Yeah,” he replied.
“I made it back.”
They remained like that until Mariya and Kanako climbed in through the exit behind them.
“Hey, Sengoku… how long are you going to keep hugging her? You’re blocking the entrance,” Mariya said, rubbing his forehead.
“W-What?! She’s the one hugging me!” Akira protested, his face turning red.
“Idiot! What did you say?!” Rion snapped, though she still didn’t let go.
Mariya sighed.
“You two haven’t changed at all.”
“…Haha…” Akira laughed awkwardly.
Rion finally released him and stepped back.
Her face was still red, but the tension in her shoulders had eased.
“Mariya-kun, let him enjoy it. He worked hard to get here,” Kanako said with a faint smile.
Mariya glanced at her.
“You’re surprisingly calm after everything that happened.”
Kanako gave a small, awkward smile and straightened slightly.
“I’m always calm.”
Before Mariya could respond, a familiar voice called from behind them.
“Kanako-chan?!”
Kanako froze.
“T-Towa-senpai?!”
Before she could react, Towa rushed forward and pulled her into a tight embrace.
“You idiot… where were you?” Towa’s voice trembled slightly, relief slipping through.
“I-I got separated, and then there was this huge bird, and then…” Kanako began, the words spilling out one after another.
Towa pulled back slightly and held her shoulders firmly.
“You don’t need to explain anything. You’re safe now.”
Kanako nodded quickly, her eyes already filling with tears.
“Y-yes…”
In front of Towa, Kanako seemed to lose whatever composure she had managed to gather.
She slipped back into her usual tearful, clumsy self.
The corner of Mariya’s mouth lifted slightly.
“…Weren’t you always calm?”
Kanako’s face turned red.
She immediately hid her face in Towa’s shoulder and stayed there for a moment before finally pulling away.
She still looked reluctant to let go, so Towa lightly tapped her on the head.
Nearby, Akira finally noticed the three men standing behind Rion.
Akira recognized Ono, Itou, and Mikoshiba immediately, and his expression tightened.
Those three…
Mariya noticed them as well.
His expression became slightly more guarded.
They were not strangers to them.
Ono, Itou, and Mikoshiba were known around school for picking fights and causing trouble.
They weren’t the kind of people Akira wanted to be around right now.
Ono noticed Akira staring at them.
“Hah? You know us?”
Akira hesitated, unsure whether to answer.
Itou frowned.
“Huh? Where are you looking at?”
Kurusu noticed the tension and stepped in.
“That’s enough. You three haven’t changed at all.”
“Hah? We didn’t even do anything,” Ono protested.
“You don’t have to,” Kurusu replied.
“I know exactly what kind of trouble you usually get into.”
Itou looked away with a quiet click of his tongue.
“Tch.”
“I didn’t say anything,” Mikoshiba said, raising his hands.
Kurusu sighed.
“Good. Keep it that way.”
Before the exchange could go any further, Kurusu turned toward Akira and Mariya.
“Akira-kun… Mariya-kun… you both made it…”
She stepped forward and pulled them into a hug.
Akira stiffened immediately.
“W-wait!” he protested, flustered.
Mariya frowned slightly, clearly annoyed.
“…That is not necessary.”
“Ah… sorry,” Kurusu said, quickly regaining her composure.
Her eyes shifted to Kanako.
“I’m Kurusu Makoto, their homeroom teacher. You’re one of the flight attendants, right?”
“A-ah… yes, I’m Kanako Oomori,” she replied, still a little flustered.
Akira scratched his cheek awkwardly.
“Kurusu-sensei, good to see you too,” he said.
Ono glanced toward Kanako.
His eyes stopped on her torn clothes.
“Seems like you had a rough time.”
Kanako shifted uncomfortably under his stare.
Only then did Towa notice Kanako’s torn clothes.
She looked her over from head to toe.
“Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine, Senpai,” Kanako said quickly.
“Sengoku-kun saved me in time.”
“What happened?”
“She was attacked by a strange bird called a Diatryma,” Akira replied.
Towa looked at Kanako again before turning toward Akira.
Her expression softened.
“Thank you so much.”
Akira barely had time to respond before Towa stepped forward and pulled him into a hug.
“You… really don’t need to,” Akira said, his face turning red.
Mariya sighed.
“You really are popular today.”
Rion gave Akira a side-eye.
“Good for you, Akira-kun. You got back-to-back hugs from three beauties.”
Akira blinked.
“Huh? Three? I can only see two. Where’s the other one?”
He looked toward Towa and Kurusu, deliberately ignoring Rion.
“Why you…?” Rion clenched her fist.
“Sorry, sorry,” Akira said, laughing awkwardly.
Kurusu covered her mouth, trying not to laugh.
Their familiar bickering brought back memories of school.
Their conversation came to an end when a voice came from behind them.
“You said Diatryma?”
Akira’s gaze locked onto him immediately.
Akira instinctively stepped slightly in front of Rion.
Damn… these guys were already trouble, but this guy is bad news…
“Akira-kun, it’s fine. Yarai-kun isn’t a bad person. He saved us,” Rion said softly.
Akira still remained cautious.
“Y-yeah… that’s what Mariya called it,” he said.
“Was it tall, with an eagle-like head?” Yarai asked calmly.
“Yeah. How did you know? Did you see it too?”
“No. I just know what it looks like,” Yarai replied, his expression thoughtful.
Akira scratched his cheek.
“I didn’t know its name at first. Mariya showed me an encyclopedia entry after we escaped, and that’s when we learned it was a Diatryma.”
“Let me explain from here,” Mariya said, stepping forward.
Akira glanced at him before moving aside.
Mariya adjusted his glasses and looked directly at Yarai.
He wasn’t intimidated.
From the way Yarai spoke, he already understood that he was dealing with someone intelligent.
“I assume you’ve already noticed that something is wrong with this island. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have asked about the Diatryma.”
Yarai did not deny it.
“Everything we’ve seen so far feels unfamiliar, but at the same time, it doesn’t. The animals match extinct species, but their behavior doesn’t always match what we know about them.”
Mariya’s expression sharpened.
“You noticed that too?”
“I did.”
Their conversation had already drawn the attention of the others, but the two seemed more interested in comparing what they had observed.
Kurusu gently clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention.
“That’s enough for now. You can talk about all of that later. Come inside and eat first. You’ve all been through enough today.”
“That’s right, Akira-kun. Let me get you some curry,” Rion said.
“Curry? Really? Man, I’m starving.”
“Me… too.”
Kanako’s face turned red as her stomach growled.
Towa smiled wryly.
“You’re as clumsy as usual.”
“Heh.”
Kanako smiled sheepishly.
Mariya and Yarai exchanged a glance before breaking off their conversation and following the others into the cabin.
Rion stayed close to Akira as they moved inside, glancing back at him from time to time as if making sure he was really there.
“Here, Akira-kun. Eat before it gets cold.”
She placed a plate of curry and rice in front of him.
Akira looked down at it and smiled.
“…Thanks.”
Mariya accepted his portion quietly.
Kanako stared at hers, her eyes already filling with tears.
“It smells so good…”
Towa smiled and gently patted her shoulder.
“Eat slowly.”
For a short while, they ate quietly.
Akira finished his curry and looked around the cabin.
“…Where is everyone else?”
The question immediately changed the mood inside the cabin.
“Arita… Eiken… Ayumu… Katsuragi… Where are they?” Akira asked, his voice tightening.
“They should be here too.”
Rion lowered her gaze and took a slow breath.
“…I’ll explain what happened.”
“After we woke up, everyone stayed together near the plane. We didn’t know what had happened, so we made a camp outside and tried to figure things out.”
Her expression changed as she remembered that night.
“For a while, nothing happened. Captain Tsuchiya had told us that he had made contact and that a rescue team would be coming, so we stayed near the plane and waited. Then we were attacked by a huge animal that looked like a giant wolf.”
Mariya narrowed his eyes but didn’t interrupt her.
“Yarai-kun called it Andrewsarchus. It came out of nowhere. Everyone panicked and started running. Some fled into the forest, while others were attacked while trying to get back to the plane.”
“Andrewsarchus? That’s another extinct animal from a completely different era,” Mariya said quietly.
Akira’s expression hardened.
“Don’t tell me… the others were…”
“They were safe,” Rion said quickly.
“If not for Yarai-kun, we would have… all…”
“…It’s okay,” Akira said, gently taking her hand.
He looked toward Yarai.
“Yarai-kun, thanks.”
Yarai gave Akira a brief nod but said nothing.
“That wasn’t the worst part,” Rion continued.
“Later that night, the passengers found out that the radio wasn’t working.”
Akira’s expression changed.
“Wait… then the rescue team?”
“There was no rescue team,” Rion said quietly.
“The radio had been damaged during the turbulence, but Tsuchiya-san told everyone it was fine. He didn’t want people to panic.”
Towa’s shoulders flinched slightly.
“He probably thought that if he told everyone the truth immediately, things would get out of control…” Kanako said quietly while continuing to eat.
“When people finally realized the truth, everything fell apart. People started shouting and blaming each other. Then they started fighting.”
Rion’s voice tightened.
“Eiji-san was beaten to death, and Tsuchiya-san was stabbed during the chaos.”
Kanako froze.
Her spoon slipped from her fingers and struck the plate.
“…No…”
She covered her mouth as tears immediately began running down her face.
“Eiji-san… Captain Tsuchiya…”
Her breathing became uneven.
Towa moved closer and put an arm around her shoulders.
Kanako shook her head repeatedly, unable to stop crying.
After a moment, she looked at Towa through tear-filled eyes.
“What about Asami-san…?”
“No. Asami-san is safe,” Towa assured her.
Kanako nodded, but the tears continued falling.
Akira looked away, his teeth clenched.
“…What the hell happened here…”
Rion waited for a moment before continuing.
“Later that night, another creature appeared. Yarai-kun called it Megatherium. It was enormous. It moved around the plane and nearly tore the aircraft apart.”
Akira rubbed his forehead.
“…You’ve got to be kidding me. Another extinct animal?”
Rion nodded.
“That attack was the last push. After that, most of the remaining passengers decided to leave the plane. Arita-kun, Eiken, and Asami-san were among them.”
Akira’s expression darkened.
…Ko-chan.
He lowered his gaze.
“…That idiot better not be dead.”
“I see…” Mariya said quietly.
“Once they lost the radio and people started believing they were trapped, panic was bound to spread. After that, it wouldn’t take much for people to start blaming each other.”
He opened his laptop and turned the screen toward Rion, bringing up the encyclopedia entries for Andrewsarchus and Megatherium.
“Was this the animal you saw?”
Images of the animals appeared alongside their names.
Rion, Towa, and the others leaned closer.
“…That’s it,” Rion said.
“That’s exactly what we saw.”
Towa nodded slowly.
“It really is the same.”
Yarai’s eyes remained fixed on the screen.
They really do match.
The proportions, the shape of the skull, even the overall body structure…
But that’s impossible.
The reconstructions were based on incomplete fossils and scientific assumptions.
They shouldn’t have been this accurate.
Yarai said nothing for now and kept his thoughts to himself.
Ono and Mikoshiba exchanged a quick glance.
“Yeah… no doubt,” Itou muttered.
Yarai looked away from the screen and toward Akira.
“…What about you?”
Akira looked at him.
“What happened after the turbulence?”
Akira nodded slightly.
“…I woke up alone in the jungle. I didn’t see anyone at first. Then I ran into Mariya and Oomori-san after hearing someone calling for help. It turned out to be that bird mimicking voices. After that, we were attacked by it…”
Yarai narrowed his eyes.
“It could mimic human voices?”
“Yeah. That’s why we thought there might be people nearby.”
Mariya adjusted his glasses.
“I heard the same voice while I was moving through the jungle. I followed it and found Oomori. We didn’t realize it was the bird until it attacked us.”
Kanako nodded quickly.
“I thought someone was really calling for help. When I followed the voice, it led me straight to it.”
Akira clicked his tongue.
Yarai remained quiet for a moment.
Weird.
Diatryma shouldn’t have been capable of mimicking human speech like a parrot.
The more we see, the stranger this place becomes.
“But that wasn’t the worst part,” Akira said.
“At least we were able to fight back against the Diatryma. What we encountered next was something else entirely.”
His expression tightened.
“We saw a Smilodon slaughtering the Diatryma like it was nothing. We couldn’t even move.”
Kanako shivered at the memory.
Mariya’s expression became more serious.
Even Yarai’s expression changed slightly.
“That’s another extinct apex predator,” he muttered.
Mariya nodded.
“Thankfully, it wasn’t interested in us. But if something like that is hunting here, this island is more dangerous than we thought.”
Akira rubbed the back of his neck.
“Yeah. After seeing that thing tear apart the Diatryma, I didn’t want to stick around and find out what else was hiding in the jungle.”
After a moment, Yarai spoke.
“…My situation was different. When I woke up inside the plane, it was already on the ground, but none of us knew how we had landed.”
Mariya frowned.
“That’s what doesn’t make sense. How could a plane land in a dense jungle like this without suffering significant damage? A pilot’s skill is one thing, but we’re talking about the landing itself. There should have been some damage.”
“Exactly,” Yarai said.
“It shouldn’t have been possible.”
He paused before continuing.
“Tsuchiya-san also told me something before he died.”
“He said there was no island on our route.”
“…What?” Ono was the first to react.
“That doesn’t make sense,” Itou said quickly.
“We’re standing on the ground right now.”
Mikoshiba frowned.
“…Are you saying the pilot was wrong?”
Towa’s face went pale.
“…No. Tsuchiya-san would not have said something like that without a reason.”
Mariya adjusted his glasses.
“I checked the flight path earlier, and he is right. There shouldn’t have been an island anywhere near our route.”
“Maybe the storm pushed us far off course,” Ono suggested.
“Or the instruments failed.”
“That kind of deviation would be extreme,” Yarai replied.
“But it is still more realistic than assuming an island suddenly appeared where there should have been open ocean.”
But even that doesn’t explain the blackout… or why everyone lost consciousness at the same time.
And it doesn’t explain how the plane ended up here without anyone remembering the landing.
Yarai thought.
Mariya remained quiet for a moment before speaking again.
“…There are stories about places like this.”
Akira looked at him.
“What kind of stories?”
“Places in the ocean where ships and aircraft disappear.
Yarai looked toward Mariya.
“…You’re talking about the Dragon’s Triangle?”
Mariya nodded.
“The Dragon’s Triangle, sometimes compared to the Bermuda Triangle. It’s a maritime legend about ships and aircraft disappearing, people losing their way, navigation systems failing, and some vessels never being found.”
Itou let out a nervous laugh, trying to hide his unease.
“So now we’re talking about ghost stories?”
Akira’s expression changed as he listened.
Rion and Kurusu exchanged uneasy looks, while Kanako gripped Towa’s sleeve tightly.
“I’m not saying it’s a ghost story,” Mariya replied.
“Most of those incidents have ordinary explanations, and there’s no solid evidence that anything supernatural is happening there.”
“But our situation is different. We have no idea how we got here, the island wasn’t supposed to be on our route, and there are animals here that should have been extinct for millions of years.”
Kanako swallowed hard.
“…What should we do?”
Yarai answered without hesitation.
“We should continue hoping for rescue, but we cannot depend on it. We already have food, water, medicine, and other supplies from the plane, so we need to secure as much as we can while we still have the chance.”
“And if that isn’t enough?” Kanako asked quietly.
“Then we will have to leave the plane and search outside.”
Kanako’s face went pale, and Towa tightened her grip on her shoulder.
Yarai looked toward the forest through the window.
“If we stay here without preparing, we won’t last. Whatever is living in this forest, we have only seen a small part of it.”
Mariya nodded slowly.
“…Then we should prepare for the possibility that we may have to leave.”
Yarai looked around at the others.
“From now on, don’t move alone.”