Kushida answered a little too slowly.
Raindrops landed on her eyelashes, softening that hint of a smile even further.
But she still tucked the waterproof bag into her arms and turned toward the girls' line.
She didn't ask why it was the north side of the old water source.
Nor did she ask why she was only being given the first half.
After taking two steps, her right thumb lightly scraped along the edge of the bag's opening.
The thin plastic edge gave off an almost inaudible rasp beneath her nail.
Gu Heng saw it.
But he didn't call her back.
He only gathered the people remaining by the fire again.
"From now on, only follow your own page."
"The more you ask, the more mistakes you make."
"If anyone tries to piece together someone else's page, I'll assume they're helping the people outside piece together the chart."
The firelight flickered.
Yamauchi instinctively looked up.
"But what if something goes wrong on someone else's side first?"
"Then plug your own holes first," Horikita cut in directly.
"No one completes the whole map tonight."
"Whoever leaves their own page will be the first to ruin things."
Yamauchi's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed the rest of his words.
Hirata had already torn the verbal relay roster he had just written down into two halves.
He gave one half to Horikita.
The other remained in his own hand.
"The relay order stays the same."
"But from now on, report only results. Don't report routes, and don't explain reasons."
After saying that, he added another line himself.
"If you don't understand, look at the page in your hand."
Leaning against the white rope, Sudo lowered his head and scanned those three lines again.
`Patrol inside the white rope`
`Two handoffs`
`Listen to verbal