The hope:

As soon as they scrambled out of tents, still on all four limbs, their eyes caught sight of a silhouette dressed in black jeans and a leather jacket, wearing a black helmet. The person looked male, he was sitting on the bike which was falling from the cliff.

And then they saw an unbelievable scene, the man put both feet on the seat while still gripping the handle. When the bike was just a few feet above ground, he pushed the bike at a 45 degree angle with full force.

Both the bike and the person flew away in opposite directions.

The bike fell down near the forest while the person drew an arch and fell to his side. After rolling across the ground he came to a halt, face up near the tents, unconscious.

The girls looked at each other, speechless and praying that their last hope which came with this person wouldn't die just like that.

They moved closer to him slowly but he was not moving. One of his shoulders was sagging , dropping lower than the other. It was probably dislocated from the impact of the fall.

Yuria took his helmet off and what came into their view was a young handsome face. This boy looked like a teenager and had dark black hair and a chiseled face. The girls stood silently, looking at Yuria for her instructions.

"Lets move him to the tent first."

They dragged him into the tent different from Amane so as not to disturb her. After laying him down they tried to think of something about his dislocated shoulder but there was nothing productive they could do. There was no other visible injury present on his body probably because of his protective gear.

They couldn't take off his jacket because of his shoulder so they left it as is.

"Do you think he has some food or water?"

Sachi inquired, her voice filled with expectation.

Yuria and Michiru jerked their heads and looked at each other, their eyes shining with hope. They quickly moved outside and went to the place where the bike fell.

There was a large traveling bag tied to the back seat, somewhat damaged due to the fall. They hurriedly opened the bag and to their delight they found snacks like some sweet cakes, biscuits/cookies, and a bottle of water.

Yuria and Sachi couldn't stop their tears from falling down as they quickly opened some snacks and devoured them greedily. Even Michiru had a shine in her eyes as she ate the sweet cake with a satisfied expression on her face.

After eating and drinking some water Yuria ran to the nearby tent.

"Amane, look we got food and water"

Yuria said happily like a young girl. Amane slowly turned her lifeless eyes towards Yuria.

"Not.... hungry."

She said with some difficulty, her voice was raspy due to the dry throat and her lips cracked due to dryness moved with difficulty.

Yuria moved to her side taking her into her lap, and making her drink some water forcefully, ignoring her reply. After making her eat some snacks she said to Amane softly, like she was soothing a child.

"Don't be like that Amane. If you don't eat properly, you won't be able to get better."

After that she told her about the person who fell down just like them.

"I believe he can help us. You didn't see how he jumped off that bike. He is definitely strong. We will be able to get out of here soon."

Amane didn't say anything to her in response because she didn't believe she would be able to survive and get out of here due to her injury, because the agony she felt every second she was awake would not let her forget the reality. But she didn't want to make her teacher sad so she kept quiet.

After some time, Yuria moved out. She helped the other girls set up the remaining one tent. After Sachi and Michiru moved into the new tent, they retired for the night.

....

In front of a wooden house in the forest.

I realized that I was doing pushups with a large stone on my back and I could not control my actions.

'A dream or perhaps a memory.'

I mused to myself as this kind of situation was not something new for me. The young boy whose body I was in, sat up after throwing the stone aside.

An elderly man came into my view. I immediately recognized him.

This man was my master. He was a terrifying person in the past but now he is just a kind old man who taught me how to live.

"Good job boy. Now let's go. We have to take gaa gaa into the forest to set him free."

"I already told you not to name my birds old man."

I said to him annoyingly. His eye twitched a little as he picked me up by grabbing my ear.

"And I told you not to call me old man you brat. I am your master. You should respect me a little."

"I think I respect you enough. And you are an old man so I will call you that, old master."

Bickering with each other like that we picked up the bird from the house and moved to the forest.

"Hey old master, why are you making me do these things?"

I asked him the question that has been on my mind for as long as I have been with him.

"What do you mean?"

"Like why do you want me to save these birds. Is there a reason?"

I explained my question to him. He looked ahead and replied in a manner like it was a matter of fact.

"What are talking about brat. You don't need a reason to save someone."

As those nostalgic words hit my ears, I sensed my consciousness being pulled by something as I got the feeling of my body back again.

'Looks like I am about to wake up'

......

As I was getting my consciousness back I felt that there was someone nearby, and this person was touching my shoulder. There was pain and a numbing sensation in that arm.

'An enemy? '

'I can't be sure.'

I couldn't analyze the situation because I just woke up but I had to take action.

'So fight or flight?'

I pondered these options and the decision was made in a second

' Let's make some distance first because I don't want to hurt the person if he is an ally'

As soon as I felt my eyes fluttering open I rolled to the side and tried to gain some distance but was stopped by something. I saw that I was sitting against the interior wall of a tent.

"eek"

A cute low shriek hit my ears like I had startled someone and my eyes moved to the voice. What came into view was a head of short pink hair. A cute young girl was sitting on her buttocks, looking at me with wide eyes.

'Looks like I really startled her'

I calmed down a little and thought about the situation.

'I fell down the cliff. I remember seeing some tents at the bottom.'

As the pain from my shoulder flared again I decided to take care of it first. I grabbed my arm with my other hand and forcefully put the socket in place.

*crack

With a loud sound my shoulder got back into place. I rolled my arm around to check its mobility.

'ummm. I shouldn't have done that'

As soon as I saw the face of the girl in front of me I realized that I made a mistake.

'I hope the girl is not frightened of me'

"I am sorry I startled you. Are you okay."

I asked the girl to somewhat diffuse the situation. And she nodded, still not sure herself.

"Can you please tell me about the situation"

I inquired about their circumstances.

"Yes. We fell... and got stuck. And ... then you fell"

Looks like she needs some time to get a hold of herself. The information she gave was not really much of help.

"kyaaaaaa"

As I was lost in my thoughts, a loud scream came from a distance.

"Yuria sensei"

The pink haired girl in front of me shouted and we both dashed outside. She looking around frantically, probably panicking inside.

"Don't worry. stay here"

I said to the girl quickly and I ran to the side where the scream came from.

'Looks like the girl in forest is her companion.'

'An enemy ambush? quite unlikely here.'

'Then probably an animal. It could be a harmless one but chances of the animal being dangerous are as equal.'

As I thought that I increased my speed to the limit. Soon I saw the person who screamed. A blond haired western beauty in a shirt and jeans pants. There was a dog like creature some distance away from her, ready to pounce.

'A coyote. Not so dangerous than'

As i thought that I zoomed across the trees and got ready to attack.

......

I woke up in the morning quite refreshed like a burden that has been crushing me under its weight has somewhat lessened.

We managed to secure some food and water yesterday. Actually even I had almost lost hope of our survival but help came in an unexpected way.

Sachi, Michiru and I gathered where we used to set fire previously once again. Having our breakfast with the little food we saved last night. The boy who fell from the cliff was still unconscious or perhaps sleeping.

"We did manage to eat something after some days but we have to secure food. We have another person to feed with us. And we ate his food without his permission."

The girls remained silent, but I knew they agreed with me.

"Although it couldn't be helped in our situation so we shouldn't feel guilty about it.

I will go to the forest to look for water and food"

As soon as I said that both girls' eyes widened in horror as they tried to stop me.

"No sensei. You can't do that and didn't you yourself tell us that it's dangerous?"

Sachi pleaded to me to not go and Michiru nodded her head vigorously in favor of Sachi.

"I know you are worried about me. But we cannot survive like that. Although we got another helping hand but he is injured. He can't do anything for the time being so we have to do everything we can."

"....."

"And we haven't seen that wolf again. If I do come across it I will just run away."

After some persuasion, they agreed with my proposal. I took the military metal can with me.

"Sachi please keep an eye on that boy and try to wake him up. And Michiru, feed Amane something when she wakes up"

After advising them to be careful I chose a random direction and entered the forest.

To be truthful, I was afraid, so afraid that even my steps weren't steady. I felt like I would die here but I couldn't turn back.

The girls got their hope back somehow so I would do everything in my power to keep that hope up. We just have to wait for the boy to get better.

I knew that it was unrealistic to stack all our hopes of survival on a single boy who was probably of the same age as my students but what could we do. We have already lost confidence in ourselves so the only thing we could do was hope that others will save us.

As I was lost in thoughts advancing slowly, something cut my route off. There it was, the same little wolf we met previously, growling at me, showing its sharp teeth.

"Haha. You gotta be kidding me."

I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation. Was this animal waiting for me? If not then what are the chances that I would face it as soon as I entered the forest. It looks like this abyss really want to keep us here, doesn't matter dead or alive.

The beast lunged forward suddenly, making me stagger and fall on my butt. It backed away after seeing me fall.

'Oh well. I give up. I have been too hopeless to even think about continuing my fight for a few days now. At least I will get my freedom. I am tired, really tired now.

Sorry girls I don't think I have the will or any strength to help you get back home. I just hope that this beast will kill me and not leave me injured. I can't add a burden to the girls'

As I tried to close my eye, I found out that I couldn't do so. My whole body has been frozen stiff. Can this be considered a form of punishment for leaving my students to fend for themselves?

'If that is so, I gratefully accept.'

The beast as if aware of my internal thoughts, ran forward and pounced at me.

As my eyes met its predatory eyes while it was still in the air, a blur came from the corner of my vision. A knee bashed into the lower lateral side of its neck. With a loud and clear crack of breaking bones both figures flew past me as my eyes followed them. The black figure skidded across the ground trying to stabilize himself. The beast lay emotionless after hitting a tree, its neck turned at an unnatural angle, clearly dead.

"Are you alright. Did that coyote hurt you somewhere?"

The dark haired boy asked me in a calm voice after moving closer to me. I realized he was the same boy who was unconscious in the tent.

Probably seeing that I didn't reply, he introduced himself to ease the awkwardness.

"Ummm...Hello. I am Yuuji. Are you okay?"

________________________

A.N:

Finally the protagonist appears. I can't believe it took me 5 chapters just to introduce the mc. I just hope everyone isn't frustrated by my writing. I am sorry but no matter how much I thought, I couldn't think of a way to introduce the protagonist early without changing the whole story. I accept that these are my own skill issues.

I know I went overboard a little with him but it was Mc's fault, he was too eager to appear. So please don't bash me too much.

P.S: Is someone even reading this sh*t? 5 chapters and this story has only a single comment. But I am grateful to people who have this story in their library.

And to people who are reading this story (I hope there are), I am extremely low on story ideas and motivation so next chapter will take some time. I am sorry