Rebellion

Forest Test

Another meeting. This time, Ayase looked more serious, yet healthier and a bit buffer. Her bones were less visible by a lot and her paleness was slowly fading. Even the weather got a bit warmer. But the expression on her face gave away that there wasn't much nice intention in her head. Like she'll drop some bad news any minute. 

"I decided to test your strength. I don't need any weaklings in my gang." She stated, looking at the crowd with a stern face.

Satoko had a confused expression. What did she mean by that? She knew it was nothing good though. How were they supposed to prove their strength to her?

"All of you will be tested, except my loyal men." She gestured toward the group that was always on the stage.

She noticed a few of them were missing. She could only guess they were involved with the whole rape scenario, because Hiroji couldn't do this without someone holding Naoki back. There were twenty of them, but she knew only two by name. Tsukamoto Teruo and Seto Benjiro. She could see both of them had guilty expressions, especially Benjiro. As if he was trying to say, I'm the one who should be tested, I'm the true weakling. Like it was unfair. 

"How will I test it? I'll spread you across different parts of the forest. All of you need to find your way back to the center of the forest, also known as the meeting place." She pointed at the ground she was standing on.

The people in the crowd looked threatened. The forest was huge and it wasn't exactly harmless. Filled with demons and who knows what else. The forest was huge, even the people who were in the gang for a long while didn't know the forest exactly. It was just too big. Most of them didn't know where the traps were hidden and where the hidden passages were located. How were they gonna eat? It wasn't exactly known for animals. They couldn't even call for help, the forest didn't even have signal. So many people are gonna die. Ayase didn't really look bothered by it though.

"Anyone have anything against this?" Ayase questioned.

Nobody said anything. There was just a terrifying silence. They were too scared to speak, remembering what happened last time. Ayase, satisfied that they reacted just as expected, grinned. They were very easy to lead with fear. 

"Get them to their places." Ayase commanded, her loyal men intending to take the members of The White Walls to different places of the forest.

There weren't many members in the gang in the first place. In this last year, at least seventy of them got killed off. All due to the multiple police calls, demon attacks and the most recent City Fighters attack. Why did she have a need to kill off more people? Was there not enough bloodshed?

Satoko  looked at Shiro, holding his hand. She knew they'd get separated, but she still tried. She just wanted him near her, so she could feel protected. Even if he couldn't protect her, at least she'd feel safer. But of course, her pale boyfriend got taken away on a completely different side of the forest, his hand slipping away from hers. It all went by so slowly that it was painful. 

She couldn't stop thinking about him as she watched the other man take him away in another group. He was clumsy and ditzy. He could get hurt. He will get hurt. She didn't even know if he could survive. He didn't know of all the Setsuko family traps. It'll take him ages. If he even lives. At least they were in a group, that was the only thought that gave her hope.

That was soon shattered as she realized there were no groups. They were just taking them in groups, but as they got deeper, they left off a person on the way. They all wore blindfolds, making it difficult to walk. She really wanted this to be as hard as possible. She felt herself being pushed on the ground, a bit panicked before she noticed what happened. Her blindfold was cut off, as realization sunk in. She heard walking continuing. Satoko was left off now. 

She looked around the forest with her light brown eyes. Everything looked painfully similar to everything else. She was in this family for five years, yet it all looked too similar. Almost identical. She didn't even know where they left her off. Panicked, she stood up. 

Satoko breathed in deeply. She was here multiple times. Naoki trained her properly. She needed to know where she was. She just needed to stop panicking and get going. It was just like when all three of them played hide and seek, although they were all too old for the game. The game would always last far too long because the forest was huge, and only three kids playing wasn't making things any less difficult.

But as she started remembering these memories, she noticed something. A big bush near a very familiar tree. She looked up and saw it still had that old tree house. Granted, it was very messed up and barely standing, but it was still there. It was just a matter of time before it collapsed. She smiled. Naoki used to count here before looking for all of them. Ayase would always hide on the most obvious places, feeling bad if Naoki looked for her for too long. Satoko grinned. She wasn't like that, both of them would spend hours and hours looking for her. She even lightly laughed. She was such a difficult child to deal with... She wondered how Naoki picked her for an apprentice in the first place.

But she felt odd. She knew where she was, but it felt like Ayase got her here on purpose. Like she wanted me to find her way quicker than others. She sighed. She still did care, in her own weird way. But no way in hell would she forgive her until Ayase apologized from her own mouth. What she said about Naoki was something she couldn't forgive so easily.

Satoko decided not to think about Naoki. Now that she knew where she was, she decided to fuck off the point where they were supposed to be going and headed south, where she saw the other man was taking Shiro. She should stop thinking about dead people and focus on what can be saved.