Survival Of The Fittest

(Takeshi Yoshikawa continued from Glass)



Takeshi had run away.

There were plenty of ways to dress up that sentence.  Plenty of ways to justify it.  The moment one of these explanations happened to cross his mind, however, it ended up without exception leading to the same thought.

Aren't you just finding another way to say you abandoned them and ran away

A hundred or more ways to lie to himself.  That's what Takeshi had in his mind as he ran away from his friends.

...Friends?

In a normal circumstance, would one usually consider somebody they'd associated with less than too weeks as such?

Well, they probably would, actually.  Somebody you eat lunch with every day, or work with in several of your classes... somebody like that would be a friend, right?  But even so, there are different degrees of such things.

There's a difference between a friend like that and somebody who you've known for years.

If such a person asked you to get something for them from the store late at night, you'd ask to put it off until the morning.

If such a person needed to borrow several thousand dollars, you wouldn't loan them the entire amount.

If such a person were going to die, but you could sacrifice yourself in their place...

But even so...

At that time, hadn't he joined together with them for that very purpose?  To increase his chances of survival by having them help him, and in turn helping them to survive?

And you're going to abandon them why, exactly?  Because Ian had the gall to protect himself?  Even if he went overboard, shouldn't you have heard him out?

As Takeshi was considering this, his surroundings had turned from foliage to abandoned buildings.  He'd set out with no particular destination in mind, or more accurately, when he'd set out it had been with a destination of "anyplace but right here".  Amongst the buildings he saw two larger in size than the others.

Back at the mansions, eh?  I wonder if they're still inhabited by... no, wait, they're all dead, aren't they?  I wonder who's living there now?

If the mansions were occupied, moving into this area could be risky.  It could be somebody willing to protect themselves by "winning" the game.

No, even if they weren't playing, it would be dangerous.  Even encountering a nervous person could be a life-ending event if that person felt threatened, and by this point there should be nobody left who wasn't nervous.

Like, for example, a person who ditches his friends because he thinks they might arbitrarily turn on him

For just a moment, Takeshi was worried about what might be in store in the mansions ahead, and for just a moment, he wondered if he should head back to the park, instead.  Wondered if he should meet back up with his allies, get down on his knees, and apologize.  It seemed like the right thing to do, and if Takeshi had been slightly more afraid of the aparently deserted town, he might have made that choice.

Morning.

Even if he thought it was the right thing to do, for Takeshi it simply couldn't be done.

Despite the weather being relatively chilly, he was sweating.

Despite the fact that holding the spear he'd pilfered from the hotel should have made him feel safer than before, he couldn't hold the weapon steady at all.

Despite knowing what awaited him back at the park while what lay ahead was completely unknown, he found it easier to step forward than to turn around.

Morning, then.

They'll probably have moved on by then, but after hiding out here tonight, I'll go looking for them in the morning.

With that decision, Takeshi took another step toward the unknown.

Morning.

It wasn't quite fully morning, really.  The sun had surely cleared the idealised horizon but had yet to completely rise above the forests of the island.  There was still a significant chill to the air.  Most importantly, the biggest indicator of morning to the few students remaining on the island, the announcement, had yet to begin.

Even so, Takeshi Yoshikawa gathered his things.

Even though he'd told himself that he'd wait to leave until morning, even though it was relatively safe where he was, he'd begun packing his things upon waking up near sunrise.

If I just wait until the announcements, I'll know what areas will be safe.

If I just wait until the announcements, I might run into trouble getting out of here, if this place is declared a danger zone.

Nobody's here right now.  I'm safe here.

Somebody might have already found me.  Being on the move will make me harder to track.

As he checked the room to ensure that he hadn't left anything behind, Takeshi was nagged by the desire to simply stay put.  There were arguments both ways.

If I wait a little longer, you'll be able to find out what happened to them.  It might help you find them.

If I wait a little longer, it might be too late to find them.

His hand hesitated over the handle of the mansion's front door.  His situation from the previous afternoon had been reversed.

He knew what it was like here in the mansion.

He knew not what it was like outside the mansion.

Even if I find them, there's no guarantee that staying together is safe anymore.

There were so many reasons not to go.  There were so many reasons not to take the risk.  So many...


Takeshi's hand firmly grasped the door handle, pushing it open and flooding the room with the morning light.

For better or worse, I guess I'll take that risk.

Gripping his spear and his pack, Takeshi set out to find what had happened in the last few hours on this island.

(Takeshi Yoshikawa continued in Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien)