Travel Ban Semishira

Flood and Fire

Disclaimer: All the characters belong to Haruichi Furudate. None of the art belongs to me. Full credits go to the various artists. Author-chan out!

Shirabu couldn't breathe. His sleeping bag vanished in the water. Shirabu's arms windmilled, instinctively searching for something to hold on to. But there was nothing. The second year tried to reach the surface, remembering that people often drown in flash floods.

His fingers ran into his backpack. He seized it, desperate not to lose his supplies. Kenjirou tried to swim up, but the incredible force of the water propelled him forward and prevented him from reaching air. He held onto his backpack with all his might.

The setter thudded into a low hanging treebranch. All the air was forcibly knocked out of him. The unbelievably strong current shoved him against the branch, pinning him there helplessly. Kenjirou couldn't breathe. He saw stars.

Nonono! I can't black out now! He screamed in his mind. Shirabu levered himself over the branch with his hands and the current carried him away. Twigs lashed his face. He frantically swam up, dragging his sodden pack with him.

Kenjirou's head broke the surface. Thunder almost deafened him. Lightning strikes shone on the gushing, raging water that held the setter captive. The flash flood was flying down the creek that Shirabu had foolishly chosen to sleep in. His head went back under.

He crashed into a tall bush. It shoved him sideways. Without warning, Kenjirou spilled out the side of the flood, falling awkwardly away from the creekbed. He landed in a heap, panting for breath. The setter seized his backpack and desperately stumbled away from the flash flood. He slipped and fell, but got up and kept moving. Shirabu ran until he couldn't hear running water anymore.

It was like a nightmare. Thunder and lightning clashed all around. Lightning and darkness alternately lit up the mountains and plunged them into black. Kenjirou fell dozens of times, unable to see obstacles in his path. He ran all night, or so it felt.

When the sun finally rose on the twelfth day, Shirabu was bruised and battered, but alive. Daylight shone through the dark clouds. It had stopped raining.

Kenjirou stopped moving, panting heavily. He sat down hard and waited for his mind to catch up. I should take an inventory of my supplies, he realized. The second year spread out his stuff to let it dry. By some miracle, he still had all his food. Shirabu sighed and ate some blueberries. They were rather squashed, but edible.

He started talking. "I started this trip with a phone, sleeping bag, flashlight, water bottle, water purifying iodine tablets, bug spray, a map, a booklet on identifying fruit in the wilderness, and a compass. I lost the sleeping bag in the flood."

Kenjirou tried to turn on the flashlight. It didn't work. "And it looks like the water ruined my flashlight." He opened his map and booklet.

"Finally, some luck. My map and booklet are still legible, they just need to finish drying." He checked his long dead phone. It seemed alright, but he couldn't know for sure.

The setter hefted the can of bug spray experimentally. "I'm almost out of bug spray. Great, I'm going to be eaten alive when I sleep. At least my iodine tablets, water bottle, and compass are okay." Kenjirou sighed and stretched out on the grass. A tick crawled onto his leg. He sighed and flicked it off. "Speak of the devil," he muttered.

Once his stuff dried off, Shirabu put everything back in his trusty backpack and kept hiking. That day was mostly unremarkable, to Kenjirou's eternal gratitude. He'd had all the excitement he could stand. He slept like a log that night, despite the insects.