When the first rays of morning sunlight pierced through the canopy, Aoyama opened his eyes.
The campfire had burned away most of the night.
Only a few dark red embers remained buried beneath the ashes, glowing faintly as they released the last traces of warmth.
Utaha was still asleep.
She lay on her side, her long black hair scattered messily across the dry grass.
One hand was curled beside her face, her lips slightly parted as she breathed steadily and peacefully.
The collar of her school uniform shirt had loosened slightly during sleep, revealing the delicate line of her collarbone beneath the soft morning light.
“…”
Aoyama quickly looked away and quietly stood up.
He took two pieces of dried crocodile meat from the leaf bundle hanging on the tree and checked the three water containers again, making sure none of them had leaked.
The two condom water pouches from yesterday and the thermos were both intact.
Their water supply was enough to last through the day.
“Time to wake up.”
He didn’t bother lowering his voice.
Utaha’s eyelashes trembled twice before slowly opening.
Her crimson eyes looked especially vivid in the morning light, carrying the hazy sleepiness and laziness of someone who had just woken up.
“…Morning.”
Her voice was slightly hoarse, with a faint nasal tone.
“Morning.”
Aoyama handed her a piece of dried crocodile meat.
“Eat something.
Drink some water, then we’ll leave.”
Utaha sat up, accepted the dried meat, and took a small bite.
After a night of air-drying and being exposed to the remaining heat from the fire, the meat had become firmer and chewier, but the flavor had also become more concentrated.
She chewed slowly, her gaze falling on Aoyama’s back.
He was cleaning up the dry grass they had used as bedding, restoring the area beneath the stone overhang to a relatively neat condition.
From the side, the lines of his shoulders and back looked strong and smooth.
His shirt was slightly damp from sweat in several places, outlining the faint shape of the muscles beneath.
“Seriously…”
Utaha’s cheeks puffed slightly as she took a sip of water to suppress the small sound of annoyance that escaped her.
Fifteen minutes later, the two of them left the stone overhang shelter.
Aoyama walked ahead, still using the steel bar to clear their path by cutting through vines and thick bushes blocking the way.
His pace was noticeably faster than yesterday.
Part of it came from replenishing his water and protein.
The other reason…
He lowered his head and looked at his palm before slowly clenching his fist.
The overwhelming strength flowing through his body reminded him that the physical enhancement from his ability had made ordinary exhaustion almost meaningless.
Utaha followed behind him, clearly more focused than she had been yesterday.
She held a sharpened branch like a walking stick, using it to test the soft ground beneath her feet and avoid stepping into hidden holes covered by fallen leaves.
“Aoyama-kun, which direction are we going?”
“First, we return to where the school bus crashed, then climb upward along the mountain.”
Aoyama pushed aside a patch of low plants without looking back.
“The bus rolled down from above.
If we follow the mountain ridge, we’ll definitely find the road.”
“I hope so.”
Utaha’s tone remained calm, but Aoyama could hear the faint tension hidden beneath her words.
The two followed the stream upstream.
After walking for about forty minutes, they finally returned to the area where they had woken up yesterday.
The wreckage of the school bus was still lying there.
The twisted metal frame reflected the cold morning sunlight.
Aoyama didn’t spare the bodies another glance.
He walked straight through the scattered debris and looked toward the mountain above.
The cliff was steeper than he had expected.
The slope was around sixty or seventy degrees, with dense vines and plants covering the surface so completely that almost no exposed rock could be seen.
However, if he looked carefully, there were still some protruding roots and rock edges that could serve as footholds.
“Can we climb up?”
Utaha stood behind him, looking up at the nearly vertical slope.
“Yes.”
Aoyama inserted the steel bar into the side of his backpack, freeing both hands.
“Follow my route.
Make sure your footing is stable before moving upward.”
“But I’m wearing a skirt.”
Utaha looked down at the skirt of her school uniform, her expression becoming slightly complicated.
“…I’ll close my eyes halfway up.”
“Such a gentleman.
I’m touched.”
She let out a small scoff but still stepped forward.
Aoyama climbed first.
He grabbed a thick vine with his right hand, placed his left foot on a protruding root embedded in the rock, and pushed himself upward.
His body rose almost a meter in one smooth motion.
The soil here contained a lot of moisture, making it slippery to grip.
But his finger strength was completely different from yesterday.
The loose dirt layers that would have been difficult before were almost no challenge now.
“Follow me.”
Utaha took a deep breath, grabbed the same vine Aoyama had just used, and began climbing.
Her stamina was far inferior to his, and her movements were clearly less efficient.
She had to carefully search for every foothold and move upward step by step.
Sometimes a protruding root would loosen under her weight, causing her foot to slip and her entire body to tense in alarm.
But Utaha’s determination surprised Aoyama.
She didn’t complain once.
She didn’t ask to stop and rest either.
When they reached around fifteen meters above the ground, the slope became even steeper.
Above them was a nearly three-meter stretch of smooth rock wall.
There were almost no places to grab onto.
Below the wall was only a narrow stone ledge barely wide enough for one person to stand on.
Aoyama climbed onto the ledge first.
Once he was steady, he looked down.
Utaha was about a meter below him.
One hand gripped a nearby vine while the other was wedged into a crack in the rock.
She frowned while looking at the smooth cliff face above.
“…I can’t get up.”
She bit her lip.
“It’s too high.
I can’t reach.”
Aoyama estimated the distance.
“Come up first.
Stand beside my feet.”
“Grab my hand.”
He crouched down and extended his right hand.
Utaha looked at him for a moment before releasing the hand that had been wedged into the rock.
Aoyama caught her wrist accurately and pulled.
With only a small amount of force, he lifted her entire body upward.
For a moment, Utaha’s body was pulled up almost pressed against his side.
Her chest brushed between his shoulder and arm, and a warm scent mixed with a faint trace of sweat reached him.
“…”
The two of them fell silent for a moment.
Aoyama didn’t think too much about it.
He simply adjusted his position and placed both hands at her waist.
Then he pushed upward with exactly the right amount of force, helping her climb onto the final stone ledge.
“Stand steady first.”
When Utaha stepped onto the ledge, her foot slipped slightly and her body leaned backward.
She almost fell.
Aoyama instinctively reached out to support her.
His hand landed directly beneath her.
“Uh…”
His fingers tightened slightly on instinct before immediately relaxing.
Utaha froze for about two seconds.
The tips of her ears turned visibly red, but her expression remained as calm as ever.
“…Are your hands in the wrong place?”
Her voice remained steady, but there was a faint tremble at the end.
“No.”
Aoyama kept a straight face and continued supporting her until she was completely stable before letting go.
“If you don’t want to slip back down.”
Utaha stood on the ledge with both hands against the rock wall and turned her head to look at him.
The morning sunlight shone from behind her, revealing the faint redness on her ears and the expression of someone desperately maintaining her composure.
“That is…”
She paused.
“An absolutely flawless excuse.”
“Let’s keep climbing.”
Aoyama looked away and grabbed a thick tree root above the cliff, continuing upward across the steep slope with steady movements.
Below him, Utaha watched his back and slowly exhaled.
“…”
She looked down at her skirt, then touched the place where his hand had supported her.
Her face became even warmer.
“You’re insane.”
She muttered quietly before continuing upward.
…
The path ahead became much easier afterward.
Once they passed that difficult section, the slope gradually became less steep.
The two of them stopped and continued several times, but after more than an hour, they finally reached the mountain ridge.
Standing halfway up the mountain, their view suddenly expanded.
Aoyama looked around.
The slope beneath them stretched downward, with dense layers of trees covering every visible patch of land.
He looked toward where the road should have been.
But there was still nothing.
Only endless forest.
The treetops overlapped endlessly, moving like waves of green under the morning wind.
“…There isn’t a road.”
Utaha stood beside him, breathing heavily.
Her school uniform shirt was soaked with sweat, clinging closely to her body.
Water droplets slid down from her chin and disappeared beneath her collar.
Aoyama’s gaze lingered for less than half a second before he looked away.
“Let’s keep going upward.”
His voice was slightly lower than usual.
“The view will be better from the top.
The road might be on the other side of the mountain.”
Utaha didn’t reply.
She only nodded.
But Aoyama noticed her mood had clearly dropped.
The two continued climbing along the mountain ridge.
The higher they went, the thinner the vegetation became.
The thick vines and ferns were gradually replaced by shorter bushes, while the ground beneath their feet changed into loose stones and exposed rock.
Sweat slid down Aoyama’s forehead and evaporated instantly when it touched the hot stone.
Utaha’s breathing became heavier and heavier.
Her pace slowed noticeably.
Her uniform was completely soaked through, the fabric clinging tightly to her skin and outlining her figure.
“Let’s stop for a moment.”
Aoyama finally said.
“No.”
Utaha’s voice carried a slight breathlessness, but her stubbornness remained.
“We’re almost there.”
Aoyama didn’t argue.
He simply slowed his pace, allowing Utaha to follow more easily.