[Technically, alcohol and drugs are just recreational or necessary evils in some walks of life: giving them to a (supposed) minor is really relative to how long one lives. Ergo, life is first and foremost; but that's neither here nor there. (It may be a little bit here, given that they're risking life and limb instead of just their braincells. They really should have just stuck with algebra.)

And the shovel only wins out as long as the trees are thinned out enough not to bang it against every stray limb or trunk (or fellow student). Luckily, they're near the edge of the orchard here, where the younger trees are planted.

At Atsushi's shout, Lenka moves almost faster than the eye can track -- there's a complicated maneuver involving the shovel, apples and further apples (thanks buddy) that ends with the shadow chomping down on a mouthful of apples and a bit of shovel. The important thing is that Lenka gets away with maybe a scratch or two, which is impressive given that the shadow ended up on top of him.]

Thanks-- [it's through gritted teeth, because fending off a shadow is very different from holding it off] More... apples!

[Please continue fruit projectile reinforcements while senpai tries not to get too friendly with otherworldly shark teeth.]