Two Versus Danger.

+ Yīkào +

!! Trigger Warning !! Gore at the end

It was early afternoon, and going to the forest was the last thing that I wanted to do, yet I couldn't always be the killjoy in the friend group, so I was forced to come. I was the one that was falling behind, not because I was tired. Well, that's a lie. I was tired of Adam's constant yapping, but that was who he was, so I shouldn't be complaining exactly.

"Yīkào! Hurry, we're almost at the river. We can take a break there if needed, Adam said as he turned back to look at me. I looked back at him in the eyes in response. His glasses were bulky yet his dark blue eyes were visible against his white skin. "I'll drag you along if necessary," he giggled.

"That might help me."

The other two had gone up ahead, no surprise, so it was just me and Adam. Like usual. The other two always ended up leaving me and him behind, which annoyed me, but what could I do? He extended his hand, and I looked at it before taking it. Adam's hand was smoother than I had expected. I mean, for a kid who did a lot of after-school activities, you'd expect him to have rough hands. But then again, I'm the one that burns their hands, due to soldering back together things their mother had used so much that it looks like it belonged to a caveman. We started lightly sprinting in the direction where the other two could've gone. The reason I was referring to them is that they aren't the sort of people I'd talk to a lot, unlike Adam, but he just sort of yapped with me, so I guess I had no choice but to be his friends.

"Dibs Adam is going to fall in first."

"H-Hey! That's not very nice." Adam retorted and stamped his foot into the mud. It was funny seeing Adam pout, so I smiled.

I looked at what Adam was going to fall from, and it was a convenient tree that had fallen over, giving us a bridge over the seemingly shallow river. Interesting. Oh, but how nature has blessed us by giving us a virtual tool; this must be a sign for us to cross it and risk our fragile ankles if we fall onto the pebbles below. How smart, and yet they're crossing it, although it is more of a 'fun' way the more you look at it. The twins had to clutch the slippery tree to get across it, which I thought was internally funny—not as funny as Adam falling perhaps. The two stayed there for 0.5 seconds or more, like waiting for the other one before running off again—another reason to hate them. While Adam attempted to get onto the log, I looked into the water; it looked about ankle deep, and the big rocks down and up weren't sharp and were only slippery from the rain earlier today.

"Yīkào, are you watching?" as he finally got on the log and now the real challenge was to cross it. Knowing his clumsy self, it was going to be a 50-50 chance. If he concentrated.

"Sort of." I said bluntly, still looking at the water and the noticeably easier path.

"Oh. Well-"

"How about you concentrate on getting over first?"

Adam was quiet after that, and I heard his splat when he landed on the wet mud. Concentration was rare for Adam in my experience; on one of his yapping sessions, he disclosed to me that he once set his school fire alarm off because he left a gas tap on when successfully making elephant toothpaste. I don't know what elephant toothpaste is, but I now know that it's flammable, and I know that I never want to be in a Middle Fractioned School with Adam during a Science lesson. Apart from that, I applauded him for his concentration.

"How come you're staring at the river for so long?" looked down at the river to see what was so special about it.

"Well, it just looks like an easier route than the one you took."

"You don't have to take my route; you can take the safer way," he frowned.

"No, it's okay; I wouldn't want to seem not fun." I got onto the log and put my arms out to balance myself. Adam had to look away to not see me struggle, which I was not, but he's a worrier. I hope that wasn't because I'm a part of the Lower Fraction, but it most likely was since his family owns a charity. I got over the river with ease; surprisingly, I would've thought I'd be the one to fall due to my shoes being the consistency of marshmallows.