"Tenku Okuihara..." Setsuka said softly the name of the boy who held her hand tightly when she fell into the pit and had saved her life again for the umpteenth time.
"Argh!" Tenku groaned in pain. Upon hearing that voice, Setsuka quickly realized he was holding her hand with his injured shoulder.
"Let go of my hand! You don't have to do this! We've only known each other for a few days! So you don't have to save me!" Setsuka raised her voice and tried to free her hand from Tenku, but the other party gripped it tightly.
Not long after, Setsuka felt drops of liquid on her face and wet her hands. Her body trembled, and her chest ached when she saw blood flowing from Tenku's hand.
The blood came from a wound on Tenku's shoulder after saving Setsuka from a cactus golem attack, and he still hasn't received treatment until now. Due to the great pressure on his hand, the wound became even more severe and painful.
Tears flowed from Setsuka's eyes when she found out about that. When she wanted to open her mouth to ask Tenku to let go of her hand, a stalactite shard above them fell and hit both of their heads.
Tenku gritted his teeth to endure the pain. Blood flowed past his eyes and clouded his vision. On the other hand, Setsuka also felt the same way as him, and her consciousness slowly faded away.
"Please... let go of my hand..." Setsuka said weakly and felt her heart squeeze. Even though her vision was blurry, she could see blood flowing from Tenku's head and hands, but he kept holding her hand tightly.
Setsuka kept trying to get her hands off Tenku. But no matter how hard she tried or how weak Tenku's current condition was, she still couldn't do it.
Tenku ignored Setsuka and used his other hand to hold her. He pulled her up slowly and gritted his teeth to endure the pain in his shoulder. Not long after, Tenku finally managed to get Setsuka out of the pit.
When Tenku saw that Setsuka had no strength to move and was about to lose consciousness, he decided to carry her out of the cavern. Tenku carried Setsuka in a princess hug and staggered while avoiding the stalactite fragments that fell to the ground. Even so, some stones still hit his body, trying to protect the girl in his arms.
Setsuka was speechless, and her heart was beating so fast. She kept crying and held Tenku's jacket tightly. Not long after that, Tenku saw the light and was sure it was the cave's exit. But then he stopped his pace after hearing the sound of footsteps approaching him.
Even though the cave was quite dark, Tenku could recognize one of those people, and she was a friend of the girl in his arms right now, Kaede. Tenku didn't want to meet them and decided to leave Setsuka at that place. He laid her down slowly on the ground and wanted to get out of there. But Setsuka held his hand before he could take a step.
"Where are you going? It's dangerous! Can't you see that the cave is about to collapse!? Please don't come back to that place!" Setsuka used all her strength to speak and gripped Tenku's hand tightly to prevent him from leaving.
Tenku was silent for a moment, but she quickly removed Setsuka's hand from him and left the place.
"Wait! You can't go there! Tenku..." Setsuka screamed with the last of her strength. The cave ceiling collapsed and blocked the path to the other side.
"Nooooo!" Setsuka tried to move and wanted to chase after Tenku. But the strength left her body, and she passed out. Before Setsuka lost consciousness, she could hear the panicked voice of her best friend.
"Setsuka... Setsuka..."
***
"Why..." Tenku muttered as he returned to the location of the monster corpses.
"Why did I save her? My body moved on its own when I saw her in danger. Did I do it because she treated me well even though people said I was weak? Is it because she cares for me? Or for some other reason?" Tenku was confused by how he felt right now.
"No! I can't have feelings like that for her. It is impossible!" Tenku shook her head vigorously and denied his feelings. He finally realized what made his body move on its own to save Setsuka, but he didn't want to admit it.
"I can't go on like this! This kind of feeling will only hinder me from getting stronger! I can't let Haruna wait for me any longer in that world! I have to kill this feeling! The most important thing for me is getting stronger! Yes, that's all!" Tenku said with determination and made a serious face. He clenched his fists tightly and forgot about Setsuka.
Before long, Tenku arrived at the location of the monsters' corpses, but he frowned when he saw the stalactites falling from the cave's ceiling.
"I have no other choice." Tenku said softly.
"Phantasmal release..."
GLUTTONY CENTIPEDE
A giant centipede of genesis power condensation with a length exceeding thirty meters appeared above the monsters' corpses and coiled up to block the falling stalactites. Tenku quickly moved to collect the cores and valuable parts from the monster's corpse because he knew the cave would collapse soon. If that happened, the giant centipede wouldn't be able to withstand it.
Thirty minutes later, Tenku finished collecting all the cores and valuable parts from the monsters' corpses. After that, he hurriedly left the cavern. Tenku ran towards the large hole where he had fallen due to the wyvern's attack. He intended to return to the camp from that place.
***
"Ugh!" Setsuka slowly opened her eyes and felt pain in her body.
"Setsuka! Thank goodness you're finally awake! How is your body now!?" Kaede asked worriedly when she saw Setsuka had regained consciousness.
"Hmm... Kaede? Where am I? How long have I been unconscious?" Setsuka looked around and was confused because she was in a tent. She remembered that she was lying in the cave before she passed out.
"We're back at camp. You passed out for two hours due to heavy blood loss from the wounds on your body. After we brought you out of that place, the cave collapsed. Luckily we managed to escape in time. Otherwise, we will be buried alive there." Kaede explained.
"What!?" Setsuka was startled, and her body trembled violently. She tried to get up from the mat, but Kaede quickly stopped her.
"What are you doing, Setsuka!? You shouldn't move too much, or your condition will worsen!" Kaede said frantically.
"Please help me up, Kaede. I want to see the situation outside." Setsuka urged Kaede.
"You! All right... I'll help you. But you can only come out of this tent to see the situation outside. After that, you should hurry back and rest." Kaede reluctantly agreed to Setsuka's request as she couldn't bear to refuse after seeing the pleading look on her face.
"Yes, I understand." Setsuka replied weakly. Kaede could only sigh in response. Then she helped Setsuka up and walked out of the tent.
After exiting the tent, Setsuka looked around for someone. She frowned when she saw that the first-year students had returned to that place.
"Why did they come back here?" Setsuka asked Kaede.
"Do you mean first-year students? They reported this matter to the organization and returned with the teachers' permission. Mr. Okamoto was angry when he saw that. But after hearing their excuse that they couldn't let us fight the monsters alone, he was speechless." Kaede explained. Setsuka nodded slightly and wanted to ask Kaede another matter, but a voice interrupted her.
"Setsuka! How are you feeling now? Why did you come out of the tent instead of resting?" Satoru trotted over to Setsuka and asked with concern. But before Setsuka could reply, another voice rang in her ear.
"Are you all right, Senior Fuyushima? I heard that you were injured fighting fifth-level monsters." Akio came along with Asuka and the others.
pαпdα Йᴏνê|,сòМ Setsuka sighed heavily when she heard the questions from the two people. She wanted to answer them but then fell silent as her eyes looked in a certain direction. She saw a boy limping toward their camp. When Setsuka saw the boy's face, her body trembled. She subconsciously released herself from Kaede and walked toward him.
Kaede and the others were confused by Setsuka's behavior. But when they followed where she looked, they found a boy walking towards the camp. Asuka frowned because she knew the boy. He was Tenku and had changed his main combat gear to the simple one he wore for the mission.
"Wait, Setsuka! You can't walk alone! I will help you!" Kaede chased after Setsuka and supported her after she saw her best friend's body stagger and almost fall.
Satoru and Akio felt strange when they saw Setsuka approaching Tenku. Even though they were curious, they could only stay silent and didn't dare to question it.
When the distance between them got closer, Setsuka opened her mouth and asked Tenku.
"Are you okay?" Setsuka looked over Tenku's shoulder and felt sad when she saw the red stains on his clothes. Even though Tenku had covered his wound with bandages to hide it, the injury was quite severe, and blood kept flowing until it seeped through the bandages and clothes he was wearing.
"I'm fine. Thank you for being so concerned, president." Tenku bowed her head to Setsuka and walked past her without looking at her face.
Setsuka froze when she heard Tenku's words. Although they weren't close, Tenku usually called her by her family name. But now, Tenku wouldn't even mention it, and Setsuka felt he was keeping his distance from her.
"Why..." Setsuka said, and tears flowed from her eyes. She looked at Tenku, who was greeted by Akina and his two other friends.
(Did I do something to make him angry? Is he treating me like this because I already know his secret?)
Setsuka suddenly felt dizzy, and her vision blurred. She pushed herself too hard and made her condition worse.
"Setsuka! What happened to you!? Setsuka!" Kaede said frantically, and her gaze shifted from Setsuka to Tenku.
(I'm sure there's something between them. Otherwise, there's no way Setsuka would be like this! I have to find out about that! I'm sorry, Setsuka. I have to intervene in your matter)
Kaede made up her mind and quickly brought Setsuka back to her tent.
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