We refilled our plastic water bottles at a nearby fountain as small talk was made, "Hopefully this water's clean." Maki spat under her breath. Himiko had found another student's location.

"You know, with each student we find, It's like we level up!" I know she was trying to cheer us up, but it wasn't working.

"Who is it anyway?" I was curious. A victim from the killing game? One of the blackened?

"Right the name..." She searched, gasped, "Angie!" She squealed. She hugged her phone. "I'm so happy!"

Maki pulled the phone from her hands, "It's just a phone. Stop freaking out."

Himiko pouted, "Give me back the phone!" She tried reaching it. Every time she would jump for it, Maki would raise her arm, keeping it out of range.

"Oh, come on Maki, we have to get going." I sighed while walking away from the two. Maki gave back her phone.

"Shuichi, you don't know where you're going!" Himiko ran after me, at least I heard her small footsteps behind me. I turned around and let her lead.

"How far are we going?" Maki hummed.

"She's pretty far, but she's the closest one to us. She's a few cities over."

"I'm surprised she was this close!" I noted out loud. You'd think you would want to get as far as you can from this place. I wasn't wrong but a few cities could be a few dozen miles.

"Thirty miles..." Himiko added, "I don't know how far we'd get before we collapse."

"It's not that far if we start now we'll be half of the way there by sundown, "She sucked on her finger and tested the air, "We won't be cold either. It's a nice day. So?"

"Are we sure we want to go after everyone? What if they don't have the memories of the killing game?"

"We have to try right?" Himiko moved her sight to Maki. No one made an objection to that and with that, we were off. The new journey that would take months to complete.

...

"How far have we walked Himiko?" Maki asked as what seemed to be hours had passed.

"Here, let me check... No!" She sighed in defeat. "The phone died! We can't know where we are going!" I was disappointed, to say the least. I froze from exhaustion.

"I could steal a charger, find a wall out here with an outlet. Problem solved." Maki was so calm... She sat us down in an alley. "I won't lose you. If I don't come back in twenty minutes then I'm dead." For not being the Ultimate Child Caretaker she was acting very much like a mother to us both.

I was quickly being squeezed by Himiko. I myself was happy to just finally get a break from the constant walking. "Shuichi?" Himiko asked me. Our journey was silent, with the occasional barking of Himiko's direction.

"What?" I blew my head back, taking in how tired I was. "What is it?"

"Sorry about that. I would've caught it earlier..."

"Yeah, I know." I sighed. I couldn't blame Himiko. She couldn't change battery life. It would've run out eventually.

Maki came back to us and shoved us aside to reveal an outlet. How did we not notice that before? "Phone?" She held her hand out and Himiko placed the phone there.

As she plugged the phone she sat between us, "You were quick, "I mentioned to her.

"Didn't take me long to find a fool crazy enough to have a cord hanging out of his bag. Himiko, is the phone turned on?" She nodded. "Yeah, this place's pretty hidden, the sun will be down soon... we've been going for almost ten hours."

How far did we walk? Maki was curious as well. "How many miles?" Maki asked.

"Nearly twenty and according to one of my spells I know we walked at a pace of 2mph!"

"That doesn't need a-" Maki started but I shook my head. In our situation, we needed someone like Himiko to keep our spirits high.

Maki shut her eyes, "Then we'll definitely get there tomorrow." we keep saying that and it holds true but I can't help thinking, wondering if there'll be a day when it doesn't?

Where are these imaginary stakes coming from? There's nothing bad that we know of going on. Of course, that is only what we know of.

Maki and Himiko were both asleep so I joined them. I never thought I'd spend an entire day walking outside. It seemed like something I wouldn't normally do. We were lucky it was so nice today and we could only pray to our gods that it would stay that way.

The night was colder than the last. Was it already fall? I guess only Himiko knew what day it was. It was too early... I had woken up in the middle of the night from the chill. There was nearly no one walking down the streets so I checked the phone to see what the weather would be like.

It was 1 am on August 20th. The weather, rainy today, lower temperature. Based on what Himiko said, we would be in Angie's area at around noon if we left at seven. Twelve's a good time. It was still a while from now. I should've gotten more sleep.

Morning poke out again and I woke up to find that I had fallen asleep in the first place. I was the only one awake. The phone was fully charged. 6 am. I woke Maki up.

"Huh, Shuichi?" She stood and stretched, "Walls are uncomfortable."

I couldn't imagine Maki would say something like that. Yeah, she was blunt but she usually didn't complain about things like that. "I have to agree." I said, standing as Maki shook Himiko awake, "We should get going' if we hurry we can get there before noon." Just while saying it, it started to sprinkle.

"Well, time to get going."

Our walk continued as the rain poured down. The streets were near empty, and everyone who was out had an umbrella or poncho. The thunder kept frightening Himiko who would hold my hand tighter.

Our clothes were soaked and we were miserable. Maki, who was the least bothered of us, was handling the phone. "Are we there yet? I don't know how much more of this I can take." Himiko complained.

"Just another mile or so... Did you guys even check where you were going?" she sounded unimpressed. I thought I was going to pass out. "It's close to a boat service. There are a few islands close to here. Oh, and it's 11:37." Thanks, Maki.

The storm wasn't lifting up and if it was, we were too soaked for it to have mattered. We got to the boat service and thank goodness there was a cafe nearby. Himiko went first, peeking her head into the building before pulling it back out in shock."S-she's..."

Angie? Himiko waved at us to enter here. I followed in with Maki right behind as I searched the cafe. Angie was sitting in a corner, with her recognizable hair and skin color, along with her eyes. She hadn't noticed us.

Himiko, due to her size, was sneaking up on her from the seats."Boo!" She startled Angie who flinched and let out a small gasp. I walked up to the two which just scared her more.

"How... You all are..." She held the back of her head, "Why?"

Himiko blinked at her," Do you remember me?" Angie nodded slowly.

"I didn't before but... now... What's going on? How could I forget all that?" She was afraid. Himiko fell into her arms and hugged her.

"I'm sorry I was so cold, to you and Tenko..." she apologized, "I missed you."

Angie was unresponsive. It was as if thousands of thoughts invaded her head like how I when I woke up in the hospital bed. "I was going to leave on a ship at once... back to my island where Atua's people reside..." She hugged back. Her eyes dimmed as she pushed back, "Why have you all gone looking for Angie? Why were you out in the rain?"

"We've decided to reunite all the students. You know, from the fifty-third killing game." Maki explained. Angie was sweating. I killed the thought in my own mind, finding the small joy from her struggle. She had made a life for herself, ignorant of the killing game and now that was all ruined. The despair she'd be feeling. I was impressed by her ability to bounce back from waking up in the hospital.

"...Are you guys hungry?" her breath was heavy. "You guys look like you're starving. Himiko shook her head.

"We're just a bit cold," Maki said blatantly. As she mentioned it, I felt it down on me. We were freezing, soaked. She shouldn't have said that. "Can we sit down?" Angie nodded and invited us.

"What happened to you? How long have you been awake?" Himiko asked. Maki covered her mouth.

"I don't mind. I've been mostly by myself for so long and I couldn't remember the killing game until just now." That intrigued me to no end.

"Wait, so you're saying you didn't remember?"

"Angie remembers she was in a killing game, but she couldn't remember any of the details. Except for one... " She didn't have to say anything, her thoughts were so loud even I could hear them. "I've been awake for a good month."She whipped out her own phone. She also had one. "Thanks to Atua, he was gracious enough to grant me luck!' I guess that hadn't changed.

"Luck?"

"To be able to survive here. Being dropped on the streets with nothing isn't easy."

"And we'd know that more than anything else." I ended with my eyes closed. "Would it be wrong to assume this happened with everyone?"

Maki shook her head. "So you want Angie to join you?" Angie asked before shutting her lids. "It is...the will of Atua." She seemed a bit lighter, more of her original cheeriness from the killing game returning to her, "Angie was destined to join you!"

"Then it's settled. Time to leave. Himiko should start looking for the next student, and I doubt the cafe will let us sleep here once it gets dark." Maki shuffled out of their seat. That was the end of that I guess. We exited the cafe.

Angie has joined your party