Rikou walked towards Hana’s hut, and midway through he took off his wristband and hid it in a nearby bush. As he kept going, he found a small chunk of black material on the ground. “Carbon fiber..? What’s that doing here?” He pondered but decided to leave it be, it wouldn’t be of any use.

  After two hours of walking, he arrived at her hut. It was roughly 11 a.m., so they would most likely be out hunting. However, to his surprise, he found Hana, Kenzou and Tenkai all chatting in the hut.

  Hana heard footsteps, which made her wary. Though, when Rikou stepped in, she happily welcomed him and offered him a seat. Rikou was taken aback.

  What happened to the angry Hana who cussed Hakaku out? This mask of hers, which wasn’t shattered by that loss, made Rikou inwardly praise Hana.

  Rikou sat down and Tenkai explained what had happened to him. Tenkai and Kenzou met each other when trying to take the coconut at the northeastern shore, and instead of fighting over it, they solved it diplomatically.

  They figured out that they were in an alliance due to their partner’s plans before heading out, and seeing that no one acted, Tenkai chose to give Kenzou the coconut. In return, Kenzou had to support him in the future.

  Rikou, hearing the story, was impressed. Getting closer to Hana’s team and solidifying the alliance was a great move by Tenkai. He understood the situation and took five coconuts out of his bag. He handed them over to Hana and said, “Here you go, we made a deal after all. How many coconuts do we have now?”

  Hana gladly took the coconuts and replied, “This.. That’s.. a lot of coconuts..” She gulped, looking at him as if he was crazy. She couldn’t believe the sight. They had gathered a total of six coconuts and Rikou came back with five more?

  Hana quickly grabbed the coconuts, while Kenzou looked to the side as he put his hands in his pockets. He furrowed his eyebrows and briefly glanced at Hana.

  Her eyes wandered off towards Kenzou for a split second, and he immediately backed off. “We found a total of eleven coconuts, including those that you brought back. We will keep five and you will keep six.” She handed three coconuts over to Rikou and Tenkai.

  “We’ve been here for a while, so I think that it’s time for us to head out again.” Kenzou spoke. Rikou just arrived, but they had been talking about their plans on how to find more coconuts and take down other teams for a while.

  Kenzou was the first to head out, with Hana following soon after. But, before Hana ventured deep into the forest, Rikou walked up to her. “Hana, wait. I have something to tell you.” She turned around, confused.

  “I saw what happened at the southwestern shore. I’ve decided to terminate my alliance with Karasu and Hakaku’s team.” He knew that Hana would figure their alliance out sooner or later, it’d be better to come out and say it first.

  “I know the location of their hut.” He pointed to a place on the western part of the island. “You could steal some coconuts but be careful. They’re the wary kind. Someone might be keeping watch.”

  Hana’s eyes widened in surprise. Rikou was giving her a huge chance for revenge with this information. She listened carefully and then asked, “How can I be sure that they are keeping their coconuts in the hut and not bringing them along with them?”

  This was a natural question, but Rikou was not unprepared. “I followed Hakaku all the way to her hut and noticed that she left with an empty backpack. Their team didn’t want to carry any extra weight, so it was only natural to keep the coconuts in the hut.”

  “I see. Why are you telling me all this?” Hana asked, clearly suspicious of Rikou. “Because they have my wristband.”

  He then lifted his right arm and showed her that his wristband was missing, clenching his fists in anger. “I had to exchange my wristband for their trust. In return, I know everything about their team. I fell for such a simple plan, and now they want to blackmail me. I need it back, but I can’t go get it myself. That’s why I’m asking you.

  Without it, I don’t know what the organization behind all of this would do to me.. I’m afraid, so please.. help me out. You’re my only hope.”

  Hana felt pitiful, understanding his situation. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him, feeling sorry for him. “It’s okay. I’ll get the wristband back for you, as well as those coconuts for our team. Don’t worry about it, Rikku.”

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  After talking for a bit more, they came up with a plan. It’d be best if Hana went to steal everything at night. That way, she couldn’t be seen easily, and Hakaku’s team would still be out hunting in a hurry, trying to get as many coconuts as possible before the trial ended.

  They finally separated themselves from each other, with Rikou then walking back into the hut. Tenkai was sitting there, waiting for him. Rikou had given him a hand sign when he left, telling him to wait.

  “Sorry that it took so long, I had to make some preparations. There’s something I need you to do for me.” They spoke for a while, before finally setting off.

  Rikou sighed, “Now.. I wonder what move Satoi will make? I may have awakened a beast that should’ve been left slumbering..

  Also, being without a wristband, that’s pretty dangerous, huh..” He felt a sense of insecurity rushing through his body. Even so, one should not look back. The only way from this point onwards is forward.

  “Guess I should make my way to his team now.” Rikou smiled inwardly as he walked off into the distance.

  For the next 11 hours, everyone was busy searching for as many coconuts as they could. Rain started pouring from the sky, the ground had a disgusting, mushy texture once stepped upon.

  Hana’s legs burned as she raced through the rain-soaked forest, mud sucking onto shoes with every step. Her blonde hair plastered across her face and her breath came in ragged gasps.

  Karasu was chasing behind her, running after her as fast as he could. She kept on going, but her legs were slowly starting to get numb.

  She fell down, tumbling forward with her body violently slipping onto the ground. Mud sticking to her cheeks and forehead as she hit the ground.

  Just as Karasu’s outstretched hand lunged for her shoulder, she rolled herself sideways. He missed, nearly losing his balance whilst cursing under his breath.

  She stood up. This was the worst scenario. She was caught trying to steal their coconuts!

  Karasu had gluttony written all over his face. If he caught her, then he’d be able to gain all of her coconuts and all the information that she had. He had to catch her at any cost.

  He kept on running after her and sped up, his arm being only a hair’s breadth away from her. Hana’s legs were about to give in, but her mind was determined on running away. If she could meet up with anyone else, she’d be safe.

  Just then, an arm grabbed her hair from behind and pulled her back. She yelled out in pain and fear, but the rain silenced her voice.

  She tried to get away, but he kicked her back before she could do anything.

  “I’ve finally caught you.. Ha.. ha.. Hahahahah!” He laughed out loud, kicking her once more. She moved her head around, trying to escape from his grasp.

  He noticed this and let go, giving her a moment of hope. However, right as she was about to crawl away, he stomped her head onto the ground. She coughed as the mud entered her mouth.

  “What? You thought I’d let you, a little bitch who tries to steal from people, go, just because you look good? Fuck you!” Karasu said as he applied further pressure onto his foot.

  Her head felt like it was about to explode, but she couldn’t speak, nor scream out in pain. ‘It hurts.. it hurts so much!’ Tears spilled down her face as a shrill scream tore through her mind.

  “Heh.. Thinking about it, you do look good, don’t you?” He stopped stomping on her face and squatted down, leaning forward with his arms on his knees. He slowly caressed her face with the back of his hand, then moved his hand on her chin, holding her head up. As she heard those words, her pupils dilated and she moved her head away from his hand, quickly trying to turn around.

  Karasu intercepted her movements and kicked the side of her stomach, sending her rolling across the ground. Now it wasn’t only her face, but her entire body was covered in mud.

  Karasu slowly walked towards her as she tried standing up. She tightly gripped the ground with her hands whilst moving her knee closer to her chest. Her vision blurred, each breath she took burned her throat. Even so, she was determined to escape. She slowly managed to lift her arms from the ground and stand, though it seemed that she had no power left.

  Her arms were swaying in the air as she almost fell back down but luckily managed to stop herself. Karasu was getting closer, it was like inevitable doom approaching.

  He stood in front of her, staring down at her eyes that had long lost their shine. “What a pitiful state you’re in.”

  She growled at him, and just as he was opening his right hand to grab her, she threw the mud that she had picked up from the ground towards his eyes. However, he was not an idiot. He noticed her intent and quickly moved his arms in front of his eyes.

  “Damned idiot!” she yelled as she closed her hand into a fist and punched his stomach as hard as she could. Karasu’s eyes widened in surprise. She was in such a situation, yet she came up with a plan to fight back this quickly.

  Karasu withstood the hit and moved his arms away from his eyes, trying to grab her arm, which resulted in failure, as she had already run away. “She still had this much power left, huh..” he whispered to himself as he kept on chasing.

  She was already far away. Karasu couldn’t help but inwardly curse at himself, he had messed up.

  Hana kept on running with all her might, her muddy blonde hair was flowing back as she ran. Her body hurt all over, she felt unbearable pain. ‘That damned Karasu.. If only he wasn’t here! I just wanted to get as many coconuts as I could and win first place, damn it!!’

  However, unbeknownst to her, her body had long gone past its limits. She fell on the ground, lying there motionless.

  Karasu noticed this and felt great relief. “So, it was an act after all..” he sighed as he breathed out, a wide smile appeared on his face as he stared deep into the night sky.

  The sky was pitch black with the moon shrouded in dark clouds. The heavy rain poured, trees were gloomier than ever, while the jade green grass lost its color in the darkness.