⭐️ starstruck

🩵hesitant - 5

"I don't think that I communicated it

But I really liked our conversation"

—🩵—

To be honest, Kanaka was hesitant to show him, yet here she was, leading Akarui, the guy she had only started talking to two weeks ago, to the one place she had kept to herself for eight and a half years.

Doku Forest, approximately 600,000 square acres of pure wildlife, was located only a few minutes away from Koko. The last time Akarui had been there was when he went camping when he was 3. Obviously, he didn't remember anything from the trip, but it was likely that at the time, he was too full of awe and wonder to notice some of its more standout features.

Unfortunately, it now seemed that wasn't the case.

The two teens entered the eerie forest. The cobalt-eyed male couldn't decide whether he preferred the dead silence to lots of rattling noise. Whenever the silence was interrupted, he shuddered and jumped with astonishment. Same with any kind of small, distant noise; he even jolted at the barely audible sound of the crackling foliage.

The boy attempted to take a steadying breath. The tall, green grass brushed against his bare ankles as he walked, sending shivers down his spine. Why'd he decide to wear short socks today?! He looked up, and saw that the thicket of trees glaring at and hanging over them, like the plants were leaning and closing in on the vulnerable friends.

Or at least, that's what Akarui imagined.

"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Akarui questioned for the fifth time thus far, fiddling with the strings of his light gray hoodie that he had put on earlier when the temperature was dropping. He tried his best to stay as close to Kanaka as possible, but his eyes were constantly darting around the quiet forest, so he didn't know how slow he was actually going.

Kanaka, with a sigh, glanced back at his sorry state, nodding and adding, "And if you don't pick up the pace, I'll drag you there."

Akarui immediately caught up to her.

Kanaka seemed a little amused for a moment before looking back ahead of them, her eyes searching for a certain bush. She spoke to him, "You know, this forest isn't all that bad. It only looks intimidating because it's nighttime."

"Aren't there predators? Wolves?"

"Not in this part of the forest. The most danger around here stem from foxes and thorn bushes, but foxes are just a little mischievous, and I know where all the thorn bushes are. Speaking of which, watch out."

Akarui was confused for a moment before seeing that he was right next to a shrub that was filled to the brim with sharp thorns. He yelped, hurriedly placing himself by Kanaka's side and slightly trembling. "W-Why didn't you tell me sooner?!"

"You're lucky I even noticed it. Now, like I said before, stay close to me. I know where the path is."

Akarui quickly nodded before picking up on the small sound Kanaka tried to contain. He glared at her. "Hey! That wasn't funny!"

She only shrugged in response before continuing on.

The brunette grumbled under his breath, but swiftly followed suit, now making sure to walk briskly behind her. Though, his eyes couldn't help but keep exploring the unfamiliar surroundings, despite how many goosebumps rose on his skin. He examined every part of the surrounding vegetation before looking down at the grass beneath them and questioning curiously, "Why isn't there a path here? Like in other parts of the forest?"

Kanaka glanced back at him, answering, "Even though this part of the forest doesn't have predators, they're arguably easier to deal with than thorn bushes. You're allowed to kill or injure wolves if they attack you, but you can't burn down or remove the poisonous bushes here. So, having all these thorn bushes around, that as you saw, are barely noticeable, especially in the dark, is really dangerous. That's why there's no path, and no other people nearby."