Yarai paused at the sound of the voice.
It felt familiar.
When he looked over, he saw Rion Akagami speaking anxiously with two others nearby.
One of them stood out at once.
He was tall and broad, with a rough build and a messy brown perm.
The other was much smaller, his hair hanging low enough to hide his eyes.
Yarai didn’t know them personally, but he had seen them around before.
Rion kept questioning them, her words coming faster as panic began to show.
“Arita-kun, have you seen Akira-kun? I couldn’t find him inside the plane, and he’s not outside either.”
She looked between the two boys.
“I didn’t see Mariya-kun either… Do you think they went somewhere together?”
Her gaze shifted to Eiken.
“What about you, Eiken? Have you seen them?”
Arita Kouhei didn’t answer right away.
His expression was still unsettled from everything that had happened, but after a moment, he steadied himself.
“I haven’t seen him since we landed. He has to be somewhere nearby, so don’t panic yet, Akagami.”
Makoto Morita aka Eiken gave a small shrug, though it didn’t fully hide his unease.
“Yeah… it’s Akira we’re talking about. He’s probably off messing around somewhere. Mariya-kun might be with him too.”
Rion lowered her gaze slightly.
“Akira and I were together during the turbulence… but where could he have gone…?”
Yarai listened quietly.
So both of them are missing… first the flight attendant, and now these two.
He stepped closer and asked
“Did you check every part of the plane?”
All three turned at once, their bodies stiffened slightly when they realized who had spoken.
Rion answered carefully.
“…Y-Yarai-kun… yes, I checked the other sections too.”
Yarai studied them for a moment before continuing.
“Have you seen the flight attendant who was handing out drinks near the students before the turbulence? And did you hear if anyone else is missing?”
Arita shook his head.
“I didn’t notice the other attendant… I wasn’t really paying attention to the crew. As for our group, I haven’t noticed anyone else missing. Some are injured or still unconscious, but Akira and Mariya are the only ones I haven’t seen.”
Eiken scratched the back of his head.
“I didn’t think anything about this. Akira disappears whenever he feels like it, and Mariya-kun usually keeps to himself. I only realized they were both missing when Rion started looking for them.”
Rion hesitated, then added, “I didn’t ask people outside our school group, but I did see a few people looking for someone.”
“I see… that’s strange,” Yarai said quietly, his expression tightening slightly as he considered it.
Rion looked at him, confused.
“What do you mean?”
Yarai didn’t answer immediately.
He let the thoughts settle before speaking.
“There’s no damage to the plane. No cracks, no openings, nothing that explains how anyone could disappear without being noticed. And if this had been a crash, or even an emergency landing, the plane wouldn’t be this intact. Doesn’t that seem strange to you?”
The question caught them off guard.
In their confusion, they hadn’t thought that far ahead, and for a moment, none of them responded.
Yarai turned and headed back toward the aircraft.
His focus shifted to something more important, the cockpit and the damaged controls he had noticed earlier.
Before anything else, he needed to confirm that with Tsuchiya.
As he walked, he noticed that most of the passengers had already gathered outside, forming small groups.
Some were talking quietly, others were helping the injured, and a few were simply trying to understand what was happening.
Not far ahead, several voices rose in frustration as they spoke to Tsuchiya.
“Have you contacted the authorities?”
“My son is missing! I can’t find him anywhere!”
“My co-worker is gone too!”
“My wife is missing as well!”
Near the front, a bald, slightly overweight man in a wrinkled business suit snapped impatiently, “Why aren’t our phones working? Where is this place? I have an important meeting!”
Tsuchiya looked overwhelmed as he tried to respond.
“Please, everyone, stay calm. We don’t fully understand the situation yet, and even some of our crew members are missing, but we are trying to assess everything. Due to technical issues, we can’t use the radio right now, but we will restore communication as soon as possible, so there’s no need to panic.”
Beside him, Sawamura Eiji, Watanabe Asami and Suzuki Towa worked to calm the crowd, guiding people back and preventing things from getting worse.
After some time, the tension eased slightly, though the unease remained.
“This won’t last long. If people find out that…” Eiji muttered.
“Enough. We need to stay composed. If we lose control, things will only get worse. Everyone is already struggling to stay calm,” Tsuchiya said firmly, cutting him off.
He glanced at Towa briefly before adding in a quieter tone, “We’ll find Oomori-kun.”
“Towa-san, don’t worry. She’ll be fine,” Asami said.
Towa didn’t reply.
She only gave a faint, strained smile and looked away.
Tsuchiya then turned to Yarai, his expression softening slightly.
“We’ve spoken several times, but I never introduced myself.”
“I’m Masaru Tsuchiya, the captain. This is First Officer Sawamura, and these two are Suzuki and Watanabe from the cabin crew. As you can see, we’re missing one of our attendants.”
“I’m Kouichi Yarai,” he replied.
He paused briefly before adding, “Some students from my class are also missing. The situation is not limited to the crew.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Tsuchiya said.
Yarai nodded once.
“Did you notice anything unusual during the turbulence?”
Tsuchiya frowned slightly as he thought back.
“Everything was normal at first. Then we suddenly hit turbulence, and shortly after that, the instruments started failing. The sky turned black, and we lost consciousness. The next thing I remember is waking up after you came in.”
“Same here,” Eiji said.
“I don’t remember anything beyond that.”
“I hit my head when the turbulence started,” Asami said.
“After that, everything’s a blur.”
Towa hesitated before speaking.
“I might be mistaken… but I thought I saw something. It looked like a bird’s beak. It was bigger than a person, and I thought it passed through the side of the aircraft…”
Tsuchiya gave a faint, uneasy smile.
“You probably saw it while you were unconscious.”
“Or dreamed it. Something like that couldn’t happen,” Eiji added.
Towa lowered her gaze.
“That’s why I said I might have imagined it. I only mentioned it because the passenger sitting next to me was Tanaka-san…” she said quietly.
Yarai looked at her.
“Did you ask him?”
“I would have. But he’s missing. His wife has been looking for him.”
Yarai fell silent, noting that detail.
Tsuchiya cleared his throat.
“Let’s not assume anything strange yet. Everyone is shaken. We should focus on the injured first.”
“…Maybe,” Yarai replied.
“Anyway, we should focus on helping the others for now. We can talk later.”
He turned to the others and gave instructions.
“Eiji, check the injured and use whatever supplies we have. Towa, hand out blankets. Asami you get water and food. I’ll check the cockpit again and see if the radio works.”
Three of them nodded and moved.
Left alone, Yarai stayed where he was, organizing his thoughts.
First, the black sky and the sudden turbulence.
That isn’t natural.
Second, the plane is intact.
That shouldn’t be possible.
Third, people are missing without any clear reason.
Fourth, the environment itself.
And finally….unknown knowldege
He looked toward the jungle.
The plants, the structure… even the animals I saw.
Ptilodus and Eumegamys shouldn’t exist together.
So what is this place?
This environment… I’ve never seen anything like it.
How can species from completely different time periods exist together?
Something is wrong with this place.
And that “beak” the attendant mentioned… it doesn’t make sense, but ignoring it would be careless.
There are already too many impossible things.
As the sky slowly darkened, the mood among the passengers began to change.
Some students had started laughing again, trying to bring back a sense of normalcy as they stayed close together.
A few students had started building a fire, working together without being told.
As Yarai watched, he noticed several familiar faces among them, people who were usually around Akira, including the people he met recently Arita, Eiken and Rion.
Further away, a tall, muscular man with dark skin and a white bandana stood apart from the others, relaxed but alert.
Not far from him, a monk-like man sat quietly, his composure remained unchanged.
Not everyone here was a student.
Among the groups were adults as well, quieter and more composed, but carrying their own tension.
Near the edge, a small group of teachers spoke in low voices.
Kurusu stood with them, alongside another teacher with long, spiky black hair, Ugen Kokonoe.
Both looked far more serious than before.
A faint buzzing sound passed near Yarai’s ear, and he paused briefly.
Even something as ordinary as mosquitoes felt strange.
Not because they were unusual, but because they seemed to belong here despite everything else around them feeling so unfamiliar.
His gaze shifted across the groups again.
I should confirm what she said about the beak.
Someone close to a missing person might have noticed something.
Though finding someone like that would be easier if I actually had friends.
He looked up as a familiar voice reached him.
Rion stood a short distance away, holding the back of her skirt awkwardly, her expression caught between irritation and embarrassment.
“Eiken-kun, are you filming again?”
“I’m not filming. I’m documenting the accident.”
“What exactly are you documenting?”
A few students behind him laughed.
“Idiot…”
A boy wearing an “I Love Guam” T-shirt grinned.
“Katsuragi, we got lucky, right?”
“Yeah, I thought we were going to die when the plane started shaking, but we’re still here.”
“But I heard some people are missing,” the first boy added.
“Like Akira,” Katsuragi said.
“Shut up, idiot,” a blonde girl snapped, then turned to Rion.
“Cheer up.”
“P-please… why would I be sad, Rin…” Rion said, forcing a smile.
After a brief pause, she added quietly, “I’m sure he’ll show up. Akira-kun is stubborn.”
Yarai watched them in silence, noting how they laughed and worried at the same time, holding onto something familiar even when nothing made sense.
I’ll ask her.
We’ve talked once before.
That’s enough.
With that thought, he stepped forward and walked toward the group.
The students had begun talking quietly among themselves, but their conversation stopped when they noticed him.
A few exchanged uneasy glances while the others turned to watch him.
Rion was the first to respond, forcing herself to remain composed despite the reactions around her.
“Yarai-kun… is there something you need?”
He noticed the nervous glances they kept directing at him, the distance they maintained, and how their conversation had stopped the moment he approached.
A faint chuckle escaped him.
“I wanted to ask you about Akira and what happened before he disappeared,” Yarai said.
Rion hesitated, her fingers tightening around her skirt.
After a brief pause, she nodded.
“…Alright.”
Without another word, Yarai turned and began walking toward a nearby rock.
Rion watched him for a moment before standing up.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” she said.
“Wait, Rion.” Rin looked toward Yarai before lowering her voice.
“You don’t need to go with him. We don’t know what he might do.”
“Yeah,” Ayumu said, leaning forward slightly.
“You know his reputation.”
“And don’t forget what happened in Guam,” Katsuragi added.
“They say he took down an entire gang by himself.”
Rion let out a small sigh and turned back toward them.
“Seriously… you’re making him sound like some kind of villain,” she said, a hint of frustration in her voice.
“Most of that is just rumors… and we’ve talked before, right, Eiken-kun?”
Eiken nodded.
“Yeah. He looks scary, sure, but he didn’t seem like a bad person.”
Rion gave a small nod.
“Exactly. Maybe people just misunderstand him.”
Rin crossed her arms, still unconvinced.
“…Fine. But if anything happens, scream.”
Rion smiled faintly.
“I’ll be fine. I’ll be back.”
With that, she turned and walked toward Yarai.