On the Unknown Land (SatoSugu)

3. Deeper In The Forest

He stood at the edge of the floor, leaning his hands on the railing and looking thoughtfully at the jungle. This place had a bad influence on him and caused him to have real mood swings. In an instant, he was losing his mind with despair, thinking that he was stuck here forever. But then he became sure that he was definitely wanted and the rescuers would not rest until they found him. And this moment was getting closer. Just a little more.

Suguru watched in silence as his bouts of rage and bouts of euphoria changed so quickly that even Satoru couldn't keep up with his emotions. But he didn't say anything about it. He didn't comfort him. He didn't condemn. He let Satoru live in his house, shared food and water with him, but did not interfere in his life in any way. Not only he didn't care, but Satoru guessed that the boy would be too busy with his daily activities. After all, he had more to do than sit and cry over his fate. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he was responsible for their survival.

For now, Satoru felt... Lost. He couldn't get used to the new environment. He thought longingly about his home in Tokyo. Clean clothes every day. Hot bath. Comfortable bed. Even going to work. He would give anything to go back to that.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by a strange sound, something like scratching with claws. He frowned and leaned forward, looking down. Suddenly a monkey jumped onto the railing.

Satoru blinked a few times, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. The monkey was running furiously along the railing, babbling. It stopped right in front of him and they both stared at each other. It wasn't very big, as big as a cat. It had thick brown fur and yellow bulging eyes. It looked at Satoru, grinning proudly.

Looks quite cute, he thought, smiling. He extended hand towards the animal. The monkey didn't run away, it stood proudly and looked at him curiously. He almost touched it when suddenly Suguru came running.

"Go away!" he shouted, waving his hands. The monkey growled at him, bristled, and ran away screaming. They both watched as it disappeared into the higher branches and jumped to the nearest tree.

"Watch out for the monkeys." the boy looked briefly at Satoru. "They steal fruit and everything... "

"Oh yes. Sorry." Satoru really felt stupid. "I should have known. "

Suguru didn't even listen to him. He just left without saying anything else. Even though they could communicate, the boy was not willing to talk. Satoru preferred to think that Suguru didn't understand him than to now have the knowledge that he was willingly choosing to ignore him.

Besides being lost, Satoru felt useless and that was probably even worse. There wasn't much for him to do. It was Suguru who took care of the house, lit the fire, got food and water. The other person's presence didn't seem to affect him at all, and his life just went on. However, he remained vigilant. He still didn't trust the man, avoided him, but watched him furtively.

The lack of anything to do made the days stretch endlessly, and Satoru spent too much time dwelling on the hopelessness of his situation, spiraling into madness.

As soon as his physical condition improved, he went to the beach every morning and watched the horizon. He returned in the evening, full of bitterness and disappointment, and the next day he made his way through the jungle again. He got lost many times before he remembered the way through the forest. The jungle was constantly noisy. He heard sounds of unknown origin from all sides, sometimes a branch or bush shook. The man was overstimulated, trying to pay attention to all signals of potential danger.

A week has passed. He spent all day sitting on the beach and yet he never once saw even a small boat looming on the horizon. This place was truly godforsaken. The truth dawned on him more and more, and it became more and more difficult for him to cling to his flimsy hopes.