Profile.
Shinichirou Takamochi: Shinichirou Takamochi, a heretical scholar at the Japan Archaeological Society who is trying to understand the history of ancient civilization based on his own assumptions, gets on a plane because of the results of a new excavation and ends up in a plane crash.
Kouichi Nakata: Kouichi Nakata is on his last summer vacation from high school. He was planning to spend it with his uncle in Australia, but instead he heard an emergency announcement.
Rika Nakajima: Rika Nakajima is a 21 year old girl who majored in science and technology at the university. She was planning to go on a trip abroad to enjoy her summer vacation, but she was involved in a plane crash and everything came to nothing.
Erina Koyanagi: Erina Koyanagi is a 24-year-old stewardess who was on the plane that crashed. She is proud and fun-loving, good at languages, and has the best knowledge of high-tech products among the crew.
Saori KURASHIMA: Saori KURASHIMA is 17 years old and a sophomore at a private high school in Tokyo. She is a member of the track and field club, and is the fourth holder of the Japanese record for the women’s 10,000 meters. She was on a plane that was involved in a plane crash because she was attending a training program abroad.
Suzune Ayase: Suzune Ayase is 10 years old and her father is a university professor who is a world authority on zoology. On her way to Stockholm, where her father lives, to meet her mother, she is involved in a plane crash.
prelude
Ten days until the last summer vacation of high school life.
I was sitting in the last seat of my third year D class against the hallway, looking through the window into the hallway.
It was already thirty minutes past school’s dismissal time, and the number of students walking in the corridors was gradually becoming less and less, but that ‘girl’ hadn’t come, she should have passed by here.
“Kouichi, you’re not going back yet!”
“Eh, I’ve got a few things going on.”
“Then Nakata, let’s go first!”
“Aiya, feelings so good to go back together ah. You guys go first, bye-bye!”
Aside from me, the only classmates left in the class were Hirono and ko, who greeted me in that polite tone before walking out, though I replied in a polite manner as well.
It’s infuriating that the two of them were flirting there just now, ignoring my presence and actually pretending to be there.
But now is not the time to get angry with them.
The person I’m waiting for is – Miki Ishida.
July, 19XX at the wrong school for me. Attended 3rd year A class, used to be in the swimming club.
Of course, she’s not my horse.
A month ago, that’s when I saw her by the pool in her swimsuit drying her hair and immediately fell hopelessly in love with her.
Her innocent face with big eyes and the beauty mole on the right side of her lips are sexy. Long lustrous hair, well-fitting swimsuit, luscious curves, and a curvy body ~ wow, that’s hot!
Ever since then, just thinking about her has given me an indescribable feeling, and I go through my day with this inexplicable feeling.
Though I’ve never spoken to her directly face-to-face, I’ve learned from her friends that she has a very introverted personality, is currently confirmed to have gotten admission to the university, and most importantly – right now – doesn’t have a boyfriend.
I decided to do it. Even shy as I am, I still do it when it’s time to do it.
Just today, I decided that I would convey my blazing heart for her to know. Thinking about it, I clenched my fists without realizing it.
I’m going to take advantage of the last summer of high school life, and the rest of high school life, and the rest of my life. That’s probably too much to say, but I’m going to make them all in color.
This way, if it goes well, I’ll be able to explore the beauty of women this summer and can fully understand the mysteries of the opposite sex.
Maybe I’m being a little too impulsive, but now that I’ve made up my mind I can’t back down.
I looked up to the front of the classroom, and slightly above the center of the blackboard, a piece of paper written with a quill pen that had yellowed caught my eye.
Trying…?
Since I’ve been in high school, maybe this is the first thing I’ve wanted to work on maybe.
Didn’t get into the school I wanted, and although I plan to continue on to college, it’s a super B university.
The chances of being able to take the test are almost as good as those “All Readers Giveaway” prizes given to readers in the weekly comic book magazine. And it’s not like I’m struggling to be able to do well in sports, or music.
But this me, today…
Ah, finally!
In the corridor where no one was, Miki could be seen coming this way.
I rushed out the door at the back of the classroom.
“That, Ishida-san…”
I appeared in front of her out of nowhere and she stared at me with a panicked expression.
“Perhaps it’s a bit presumptuous, but that…”
If you don’t mind, can we go home together? Anyway, let’s start with that, I thought to myself. But…
“Miki, what’s wrong? Who is this guy?”
From behind me a raspy man’s voice suddenly emerged.
“Ah, Shuji you’re here!”
“You’ve got a lot of nerve picking up a girl at school!”
As soon as I turned around, my chest was immediately grabbed by a guy with long blonde hair.
What! Shuji Takasaki.
Although he was a second-rate student at the school like me, basically he and I were just different types of violent people.
Is it possible that this guy is Miki’s boyfriend…? But it seems like it is.
While I was thinking in my mind, my back had been pushed hard against the wall.
“No, that, I just…”
“Cut it out!”
The next instant, the guy’s fist came flying.
But, in the fraction of a second before I got punched square in the nose, I looked over the guy’s shoulder and saw something shocking.
Miki laughed.
The lips pouted on one side, very, very cute, but very, very cruel.
１
“Waaaaaahhhh~!!!”
I woke up while screaming at the top of my lungs.
It looks like I was punched by that guy and fainted… Huh? What’s this place?
The touch underneath the ambling face was a little different than the hallway floor at school.
White… sand?
I stood up as I slapped the sand off my face.
It hurts. I don’t know where on my body I got hurt, but blood is oozing from the area below my right elbow. And my throat is really thirsty. It seemed that I wasn’t dreaming. But if it wasn’t a dream, then… As I looked around, I realized that I was getting more and more confused about what was going on.
It turned out that where I had fallen was a beach with only white sand and a green forest visible from a distance.
No, I should say jungle, it was a jungle any way you looked at it. In the farther distance, mountains could be seen rising high and pointed. When I looked back, there was an endless sea and sky, not even the shadow of a small island could be seen, it was an indescribable greenish color, and the strong scent of sea water could be smelled in my nose.
All in all, the neighborhood didn’t feel like there was any activity at all.
Does it mean that this is… the Kingdom of Heaven? Did I go to heaven just because I got punched by that guy?
How could this have happened, how could I have gotten hit with a punch and hung up.
Now calm down, calm down properly first.
I shook my head a few times harder, then looked at the watch on my wrist.
The pointer was pointing to somewhere around 2:50 p.m. (I think it should be p.m. because I could still see the sun).
The date, on the other hand, stops at the number eight, which is Thursday.
I just stood still and closed my eyes for a while, thinking quietly for a moment… “Waaaahhhh~!!!”
I couldn’t help but scream out loud.
Although I was fuming for a while, I suddenly remembered something.
I’m trying to remember!
I remember, after I got punched in the nose, I heard Miki yell, “Stop it!” Then there were a few more punches and a few kicks to the stomach. No, that’s not the point right now.
After that, very tragically after being dumped, I stepped into a sad summer vacation trip.
The destination is Australia, where the branch of Uncle’s travel agency is located.
I remember when I got on the plane it was the day of August 5th.
Well, after thinking about it so much, everything came out one by one, and I felt a little bit happy.
Then… the plane crashed.
The last place I can think of is inside the airplane where the radio said there was engine trouble.
But how about the moment the plane crashed can’t be recalled.
If it’s still eight days today, then I haven’t been drifting on the ocean for three days and then I’ve drifted here.
Looking at the condition of the surroundings, it looks like this should be a tropical place right.
The plane was traveling from Japan to Australia, and if you look at the location on the map, it was flying down from Japan… I’m afraid this is an island in the South Pacific Ocean.
That means this is not the Kingdom of Heaven, which should be considered an unfortunate blessing.
But this should not be the time to talk about such things!
Damn it, now is not the time to geek out.
Am I in trouble? But if that’s really what happened, then here… it would be… only… me… As I thought about it, my nose suddenly turned sour.
“Hello! Is there anyone here!”
The yelling was mixed with a few cries.
I called out several times in a row, but there was no response.
This must be an isolated island in the South China Sea, or maybe it’s an empty, uninhabited island.
I’ll never see my mom and dad again, or my classmates at school.
Despite this kind of thing, I want to meet Miki now.
The strength in my body faded away and I fell to my knees on the sand, tears dripping down my face.
I’ve seen sights like this on surf shows on TV. That was probably a coral atoll. White waves were breaking in the distant sea, and I stared at the sight in a daze.
The burning sun on my hair made me notice it for the first time, and after a short while the tears slipped silently down again.
I don’t know exactly how long I cried.
Suddenly I noticed a purple crab crawling quickly past me on the sand where I was kneeling.
“On the white sands of a small island beach in the South China Sea…”
Suddenly, I blurted out this short song. Ah, I think it was “Tokai”. I remember it was in my Mandarin textbook. I think it was Ishikawa Takagi… I don’t know who it was.
I’m really a big dummy, I’m still thinking about such things in the present situation.
Thinking about it suddenly made me feel much more relaxed, while my body’s strength seemed to have returned.
It’s not a good idea to keep crying like this.
“Eh! I’m going to fuck lo! I’m going to live! It’s only right.”
As if my mood had stabilized, I grabbed a handful of sand and threw it as hard as I could, screaming at the top of my lungs into the sea.
That’s it. I’m going to live. In short, I don’t know what to do now, but I have to live first.
And by the looks of it, this doesn’t have to be some uninhabited island, there might be a village on the other side of the jungle inhabited by people.
One has to live on towards the bright side to make it work.
But the sun was setting today, so we couldn’t just go into the jungle now, and it didn’t look like there was a road. And it’s not a good idea to follow the coast like this…
As I walked along, I thought to myself, “Isn’t the place where the sun goes down the West? Yes, that’s right it’s the west. I looked at the sea in the west.
Huh? That’s something.
Big supposed it was because he’d been thinking about things just now that he hadn’t noticed that there was a rather large orange-colored thing floating about fifty meters across the street.
I walked up and saw that it was a lifeboat made of rubber. The original shape was probably round, but now it was full of holes and was in a state of disrepair.
‘FIFERAFT’ has these English texts written on it. On the cover of what was supposed to look like a tent, this text was written, and on it you could see the name of the airline I was traveling on. Although it was labeled for six people, it would be more appropriate for about four people if you were sitting in an adult seat.
But then again, it’s amazing that such a rickety boat could have drifted here, and this lifeboat is as lucky as I am.
“Hello! Is anyone in there?”
He himself knew there was no way anyone could be in there, but he always felt a little uneasy if he didn’t say something.
So I dug my head in to explore while holding the lid. There were various items scattered all over the place inside.
“Good luck!”
I found three silver packages with stickers on them for preserving food in case of emergency, and there were also three bottles of drinking water in translucent Bolt bottles that also said for use in case of emergency. This way at the very least the water to drink and food to eat would be fine.
There were also five translucent plastic bottles of five hundred milliliters that I don’t know what they had been filled with, but were now empty, and these were supposed to be used for water later on.
Its not bad for a lifeboat, get inside the lid and have a look around, it’s a bit awkward to move my body around, I try to reach inside and explore other things.
It turned out to be a small toolbox with a knife and driver, and there was also a four-square briefcase-like box made of aluminum.
I opened the very heavy box and saw that inside was some machinery that looked like a computer with something like an antenna attached to it, a communicator of sorts, I suppose.
Anyway it shouldn’t be something I can deal with.
Still, I hauled all that I found here, some distance from the shore.
Since I don’t know what kind of things will happen next down the road, I’ll take whatever I can use.
It was difficult to move such a large and disorganized lifeboat elsewhere, but I managed to do it before high tide, and by this time my watch was nearly five o’clock.
The sea to the west was drained to a reddish color.
I’m going to go ahead and consider this my primitive campground for the day. But tomorrow I’ll have to do a proper tour of the island (assuming it’s an island for now).
If we were to settle down like this for now, even if it wasn’t cold yet, at the very least we’d have to find a way to avoid the dew at night.
Let’s build a house! As soon as I thought of it, my mood grew happier since I brought up the lifeboat.
I felt like I was back in my elementary and junior high school days when I went to a summer camp by the river or by the sea.
I hummed a song on my lips as I searched the neighborhood for materials that could be used to make a house.
There are driftwoods of about two to three meters everywhere along the beach, and not far from the jungle, there are banana trees, the leaves of which should come in handy, and as luck would have it, I found a lot of bananas that had ripened and turned yellow.
Well, it’s been the saddest summer I’ve ever had, to say the least, but it seems like things have been going in a fortunate direction. The whole body is filled with the strength to build a house.
Although it was said that a house was to be built, it was just something like a tent-like thing, so if we were talking about camping it should have been enough.
Form the driftwood into an X shape, then use a knife to cut the leaves from the banana tree and twist them into rope to tie the previously formed driftwood.
Stand these completed brackets in front and at the back, and then take a driftwood and place it on top of the X-shaped bracket as a beam, and then one on each side, and these portions are likewise bound securely with string made of leaves, so that the general skeleton is completed.
The skeleton is then covered with a wide banana tree leaf and you’re done.
It was a green and quite spacious tent.
By the time the house was finished, it was completely dark all around.
It was great to get inside the house.
If you barely squeeze in, you can probably sleep about ten people. The front and the back were just empty, the sky full of stars and the twinkling starlight with the reflected sea, presenting a tropical flavor.
The aroma from the green banana tree leaves is so refreshing, it should be a field of object therapy, right?
Probably not. Ha!
Sometimes, from the jungle, there would be a high-pitched sound like a bird’s call, or you could hear the cries of apes and monkeys, and so on, but incredibly, it didn’t feel scary at all.
I ate the banana and then drank a small amount of the drinking water used in emergencies with an unspeakable feeling of satisfaction in myself.
This may be due to my hidden strength, or my potential when faced with a crisis… “I’m quite reliable in this way, and I’m actually able to build a house to live in by myself.”
Muttering to himself while then nodding his head to himself in approval of his accomplishments.
How about that!
Gradually, I was getting a little cocky myself by the atmosphere.
Then I looked at the star-filled sky outside the tent and renewed my resolve once more. If this island is really an uninhabited island, I have to live by my own strength. No, I should say that I am confident that I can survive, so how can I die on this uninhabited island.
With that I made up my mind while doing so, and then I went to sleep without realizing it.
２
The refreshing morning came.
But I got up feeling anything but refreshed.
It was probably because of the fatigue from sleeping on the beach and the three days of rafting (I’m not sure). As soon as I moved, my whole body made an ear-splitting sound like the brakes of a broken bicycle.
And with all the pain in my body, I couldn’t get myself to sleep and rest properly.
So I washed my face with seawater, ate two bananas and then launched into action.
I decided to use the emergency food I found in the dinghy for hard times. Bananas are currently the only food available until something else is found.
“The reason why the poop is in the shape of a curl, this can also be said to be the nature of your students!”
I mimicked the bald principal’s speech after the one he made during the court meeting, and then cleared my throat.
But now it’s still here playing the idiot, and the water used for drinking seems much more important than this boring thing.
Although there was a river flowing on the east side of the camp, it was too slow and therefore a bit muddy. And the location of the beach will be more or less mixed with some seawater, this kind of water can not be used to drink it.
It’s times like these that have to be considered carefully.
Although I said that if I could meet someone to save me before I ran out of food and water, then everything would be fine, but…
No, there must be someone!
Although I feel a little down because of the physical pain, it’s times like this that I really need to look on the bright side of things.
“Postitive-thinking!”
It was a catchphrase that the English teacher always used to say, but he himself always had a gloomy look in his eyes, and it just seemed so far from the meaning of the phrase.
Why do I keep thinking about school today.
All of a sudden, all the courage to go into the jungle was gone, so we had to walk along the coast first.
You shouldn’t get lost walking along the coast, and you might get lucky and pick up something like you did yesterday, and maybe walk in the other direction and see other islands, or maybe spot a ship under sail.
The eastern shore, which is opposite the mouth of the river, does not have a long sandbank there, and in the distance it looks as if it should be some black rocky shore. The west coast, though not visible in front, extends all the way into the distance as a sandbank.
“Well, let’s go west for today.”
I muttered to myself as if giving orders to myself, and set off toward the west.
After an hour or so of walking I couldn’t see anything but sea and sky and a beach circled by jungle, so I guess I had used up all my luck yesterday.
The only colors contrasting in the eyes were blue, green, and white.
I kept an eye on the waves under my feet while searching for anything I could use, but found nothing. There was an endless expanse of wide white sandy beaches, and I didn’t know where Ting stretched out to. But I thought to myself that I’d better search as much as I could today.
Ah, that one is!
On the far side of the beach, I saw what looked like someone moving.
“Hey─!”
I tried to yell as hard as I could, and the sound probably got through, the other guy ran towards the area, and I ran forward as hard as I could.
Surprisingly, the one who rushed into my arms while crying was a girl who looked like an elementary school student. It was a cute girl wearing a skirt with a wave pattern and a white blouse that was a bit dirty.
“That’s great! I thought I was going to die here.”
While speaking happily, the eye frames underneath the long eyelashes were constantly shedding tears.
“Were you in a plane crash too?”
“Well… I was going to my foreign father’s place with Mommy… but I was only halfway there. And then the plane just… went bang…”
She sobbed as she broke off to tell the story of what had happened.
Although I can’t remember what happened when the plane fell, it must have been quite a scary experience for a girl that young.
And it’s been four days since the crash, so I don’t know how she’s survived these four days.
“When I woke up, I found myself on the beach…”
“Do you have any injuries on you?”
“No, but Mommy…”
“Don’t worry your mom should have been rescued by now and is probably worried about you.”
I tried to calm her down, so I spoke in a gentle and cheerful voice.
The little girl finally stopped crying and nodded.
“My name is Koichi Nakata, and you?”
“My name is Ayase Suzume and I’m ten years old.”
The sound is pretty good.
“Where is this place?”
“How should I put it, I’m not really sure yeah. But I think it’s getting close to being near the equator here.”
“Will someone come for us?”
“┅You don’t have to worry!”
I’ll just stop here for today’s action, so I took Suzume back to the campground.
“Huh, that’s awesome, did big brother make this house all by himself?”
Suzume was happy to look around the hut.
I opened a bag of bananas with water and the emergency rations that had been perfectly preserved for her, and she devoured them one after the other. The water was precious, but I didn’t want to tell her about it now.
Seeing her drinking water as if she was happy, I don’t know why a feeling of happiness welled up in the bottom of my heart.
Probably what it feels like to be someone’s gentle big brother? Haha.
It’s amazing that a high school student like me can feel this way – that I have to guard this girl.
Continuing the atmosphere since yesterday, I once again felt like discovering a true self again, and even I couldn’t help but be embarrassed.
“Let’s work hard here together from today.”
I said while looking at Suzume, not realizing that at some point she had laid down and was snoring.
“Though I don’t know how much longer it will be, Miss. I’ll be looking forward to your guidance in the future.”
I bowed my head deeply to the sleeping Suzume with both hands on the floor like in a costume drama.
Even though she was just a little girl, it was very rewarding to have an extra companion.
And as cute and adorable as Suzume is, she’s almost cute enough to be on a TV show. She’s going to be a very pretty beauty later on in the future, I wish I could book her first right now.
And it’s so much happier this way than searching the beach alone, talking to myself, this way now.
But I didn’t realize that she was so fond of the outdoors, which startled me. She is very observant, attentive, and knowledgeable about strange objects or fruits that bugs are eating. I was also amazed by her ability to find crabs or shellfish to eat, or to pick fruit from the mango tree.
From what she said herself, her dad is is a professor of zoology at a university in Stockholm (I didn’t even know Stockholm is the capital of Sweden. I didn’t even know Stockholm is the capital of Sweden.) She has been traveling around the world experiencing all kinds of outdoor life since she could walk.
Despite her cute looks, I didn’t realize she was a feral faction girl.
I nibbled on the mango in my hand, thinking that this partner was surprisingly more reliable than I thought, which made me happy.
But there are still a lot of problems.
First there is the issue of Suzaku’s stamina.
Since I couldn’t leave her, who was afraid of loneliness, alone in the camp, I took her with me wherever we went. But this way, the range of action we can go to has been drastically reduced.
The second problem is even more serious than the one just mentioned, that is, we are drinking less and less drinking water.
There were originally three Bowtie bottles of water, but now there are only two left.
It had only been five days since the camp had been turned into two people, so if you were frugal, you should still be able to use it for almost a week or so.
But it’s just so hot here, usually about 30 degrees when it’s cooler, that it’s really hard to conserve water.
If there’s no water…
Can you drink the water in such a muddy river? I remember reading in a book somewhere that there are a lot of parasites in this kind of water. If you drink it without heating it, they will parasitize your stomach, lungs, and internal organs, and then they will end up mixing with your blood and running around inside your body, which is really horrible.
I don’t dare think about it anymore, it’s just too horrible and too umm heartbreaking, I can barely stand just imagining it like that.
If there is no drinkable water, seawater… is of course not drinkable.
If you don’t have any, I wonder if you can drink your own urine? It’s a hmmm, but I remember hearing about someone who was shipwrecked and did that.
But come to think of it, there are urine therapies… maybe you can get better by drinking urine… how can that be?
“Big brother, what are you talking to yourself there all alone?”
“Ah, it’s fine. I’m just a little worried about the water…”
“Did you say water? It would be nice if it rained.”
Sh, what? I’m such an idiot. Why didn’t I think of the rainwater method.
But with this weather, it doesn’t look like it’s going to rain by any stretch of the imagination. Within the past few days of living here, there hasn’t been a single cloud in the sky.
“I say Suzume, I want to set out in search of water to drink, and I think if I follow that river upstream, I should be able to find a place with clean springs gushing out.” I said while pointing to the river to the east.
“But if you go into the jungle, it’s quite dangerous, there might be some poisonous insects or snakes…”
“Boss–? You’re going to leave Suzume here alone, I don’t want it!”
Suzume glared at me with a look like she was on the verge of tears, this guy’s intuition is so good.
“No, it’s not like that. It’s just that I was thinking it’d be hard, so I thought it’d be nice if you could come along too.”
“So that’s how it is, of course I’ll work together too!”
Suzaku said with a cute smile like a singer.
Well, at such a young age, this little girl will surely grow up to be a woman who makes men cry…
Women who make men cry…
I’m reminded again of the last smile that Miki Arita gave me.
So we set off right away in search of water.
Suzume suggested weaving a basket out of the leaves of the phoenix tree and putting in it all the remaining food, water, and the plastic bottles that she had retrieved from the lifeboat… In short, just carry everything that is left on your hands with you.
Although this trip is to look for water, if it goes well, we might even find a village or people living on the island or something like that. But from another point of view, it’s likely that you’ll encounter something unexpected.
I stood in a shallow river, slowly moving forward as I tried to gauge the depth of the water.
The width of the river was about ten meters, and the banks were almost entirely covered with trees, making it impossible to find a route forward. Moreover, the sun was also covered by the leaves of the trees, so the surroundings seemed particularly gloomy.
Even in this creepy situation, we have to keep moving.
The more you move in, the more you feel that the atmosphere inside is completely different from the coast, and the air around you seems to be extraordinarily heavy.
Gah, gah, gah, gah, gah, gah, gah, gah, gah, gah, gah, gah, gah!
Sometimes when an animal’s call comes from the jungle, it feels like an electric current on your back, thus stopping you in your tracks. I’ve been a little freaked out to be honest.
I don’t mean to brag, but I was born and raised in Tokyo.
In front of a ten year old girl, it wouldn’t do to act like a trustworthy big brother, and even though he had been thinking that in his heart, that mood suddenly shriveled up sharply.
I looked at Suzaku beside me, and even her face, which usually looks like a wild pie, showed some nervousness as she kept peering around.
“Eldest Brother… I think it’s a bit bad…”
“Yes, that’s true… but with me, everything will be fine… I guess… but I’ll say this first… at this point, Si, what should I say?… this…”
“What are you muttering, big brother? Does it mean you’re praying? It’s really strange. Hahaha…”
I suddenly felt as if I had been saved by the feeling of Suzume’s laughter.
But it wasn’t long before the uneasy feeling blew up again, perhaps because we had been walking in the water.
At times like these if you don’t say something you can’t.
“But what can I say… Anyway, we have to work hard.”
It sounds like a comic strip.
“Inside a river like this one, there should be many kinds of fish… like piranhas or something like that.”
Ah, bleh! Mentioning such a subject that would make people feel uneasy again.
“Boss! Piranhas are supposed to be Amazonian fish.”
“Ah, is that what it looks like?”
“Of course, there won’t be any scary fish, but there might be snakes or crocodiles…”
“Snakes! Crocodile, crocodile, crocodile!?”
“Well, because my father said that animals like that don’t come near people, so as long as we don’t come around, we’ll be fine… Ah, on your neck, big brother…”
“Huh…?”
At Suzume’s comment, I ran my hand up my neck and suddenly a slippery, sticky feeling came over me. I retracted my hand with trepidation and saw that it was a pile of something as big as a thumb and as black as garbage.
“What? I thought it was a snake… You’re such a prankster, Suzune…”
But the pile, which looked black and trash-like, suddenly squirmed, and then reddish-black, sticky blood flowed out of its front end.
“–Wahhhhhh!”
I hurriedly shook my hand and dropped the pile of hearts.
“Big brother, that’s still stuck to you…”
When I heard Suzaku say that, I hurriedly ran my hand up to my neck again, and yes! It’s the same feeling as earlier.
“Yaaaahhhh~? Help, help, help-!”
“What’s wrong! Is everything okay!?”
“Wow! I’m going to die! Huh?”
My shoulders were suddenly gripped tightly.
I looked to see that it was an older man in a hunting outfit standing over me.
The older man pulled up what was stuck to my shoulder and threw it into the jungle.
“There’s nothing to fuss about, it’s just a bit of blood being sucked. It’s just a small injury, hahaha!”
“Hahaha! Uncle you’re so funny!”
It’s really only a person of Suzume’s level who can laugh at this, really! What’s so funny about this uncle, he’s really low class.
It was embarrassing to not be able to pick up the conversation all at once after all the fuss, but I had a hard time calming down, so I started talking to the older man.
“I’m so sorry about just now, may I ask if you are also because of that plane crash?”
“Well, that was an unmitigated disaster. Ah yes, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Shinichiro Takamori, I’m currently engaged in archaeology research at Shoboku University, and I’m an attractive middle-aged handsome man of forty-nine years of age. Ahaha… what about you guys?”
“I’m Koichi Nakata, I’m a junior in high school this year.”
“I’m Ayase Suzume, ten years old!”
“All in all, now that we have more partners, we can rest assured that from now on, if we work hard, we will have good results. That’s what they mean when they say that where there’s a will, there’s a way…”
He was a hoity-toity inexplicable uncle, but all in all, it was much more reassuring to meet an adult, so to speak.
That’s how Suzume and I came to be known as “Professor” (he himself told us to call him “Prudence”, but that’s not very nice.). (He himself said that we should call him “Koshin”, but that’s still not very nice.
According to his own words, he often traveled around to unexplored places to conduct research for archaeological digs. And I heard him say that hunting is also one of his interests, so now he’s a real ray of hope for us who are still worried about what might happen inside the jungle.
The professor seems to have drifted to the east coast, and from there came the feeling that this is some island near Melanesia, I’m afraid.
What with Mela what with Asia I don’t know where it is geographically but all in all it’s still an island is what it is.
In my heart, although I had such faint expectations just a moment ago, now they were all dashed at once.
“But then again, where exactly are you guys trying to get to?”
“Eh, we’re about to run out of water to drink, so we’re just about to set out to find it, right.”
Suzume said while looking back at my face.
“Oh, so you’re looking for water.”
“Huh? Professor do you know where there’s water?”
“Of course I know, just follow this river up for three or four hours and you’ll see a spring.
There’s clear water coming out of there. If you’re looking for water, just ask me, ahahahaha!”
It seems like a reliable guy, but the thought of having to listen to his boring jokes all the way here is a bit of that.
I pondered with a heavy heart while looking at the professor’s face as he smiled broadly while shaking his beard.
We followed behind the professor and traveled up the river for about three hours before coming to the spot that split the river into two. Although there was water flowing on both sides, we chose the tributary part to continue on. It resulted in coming to a pool the size of a school swimming pool.
In contrast to the murky color of the present stream, the water here is so clear that you can see the green aquatic plants underneath.
“Wow! It’s so cold!” Suzume let out a joyful exclamation as she brushed up the water with her hand and flopped it on her cheek.
“Professor, is the water here really drinkable?”
“I’ve been drinking water here for more than ten days or more, there’s nothing abnormal at all, you guys can feel free to drink the water here, haha!”
For a split second, the parasite thing flashed through my mind again, but now I only had to take the professor’s word for it.
And, in any case, water is still the most necessary, according to the present situation, there is no telling when it will rain, and the water in front of us is still the most real.
So I made up my mind and took a big gulp of the water here.
Guru Guru… It’s really good!
Maybe it’s because I’ve been drinking all that emergency mineral water up until now, the water here is so good it’s almost like it’s moisturizing my whole body.
So I took a bellyful of water, and of course, I went along and filled up those empty bottles I brought with me.
“How’s it going? The water’s good here, isn’t it?”
The professor, who had finished drinking water himself, took out his pipe from his pocket and then lit it with a lighter… “Huh? Professor, is that…?”
“Oh, you mean this pipe? It’s something I brought back from Colombia in South America…”
“No, I mean the lighter.”
There’s the fire, the next most important thing after water. This fire looks really lovely. With this look, you get two of the basic minimum necessities of life, all at once.
And that’s when I, still mesmerized by the emotion, suddenly heard Suzume’s shout in my ears.
“Big brother! Look over there! There’s a man over there!”
In the shade of the trees on the opposite bank, white boots peeked out of the lime green bushes.
Walking over to it, it turned out to be a girl in a white sports-like top who had collapsed there.
She looked to be around twenty years old, with long brown hair and blue earrings visible underneath. Her shoulders were moving up and down weakly, and she looked like she was still breathing.
“Are you okay!?”
“Pull yourself together!” As if hearing our call, the girl slowly opened her eyes.
Her beautiful eyes looked very strong.
“Shui… Shui…”
“Water? Hello! Hurry up, Kouichi-san!”
The professor urged me to take out the bottle I had just filled with water and pass it to the girl.
The girl slowly straightened up and gulped down about half the bottle in one gulp.
“Thank you…”
“Did Big Sis take that flight too?”
“So everyone was… the plane fell… and then I was alone…”
It was only after these words that the girl closed her eyes.
I swallowed nervously as the professor hurriedly probed her neck for a pulse and the temperature on her forehead.
“There’s still a pulse la, and there’s no fever, it looks like she should have fainted because she saw us at ease. But it’s better to take her somewhere to recuperate first.”
“Take this big sister back to camp.”
“Camp?” The professor put on a strange expression.
“Um, there’s a hut I built there by the sea, so anyway, it’s good to take her there for now…”
“Uh, okay! Want to carry her over?” The professor said while holding out a hand to me.
“What for!?”
“Rock, paper, scissors!” The professor smiled, he was such an insufferable uncle.
“Rock, paper, scissors! Rock, paper, scissors!”
But what the hell are we doing?
There are many people around the world who have suffered mountain or sea disasters, but like this, “Rock, Paper, Scissors!”
I see that this should be my first… I think it should also be my last.
But I’m not bragging, I’m very confident in boxing. In the world of kung fu (is there such a thing?) I’m the strongest man in the world…
Ah, losing.
“Wahahahaha, I won. Justice shall prevail!”
“What justice will prevail, bullshit!”
“Come on, two people acting like idiots.”
Even a ten year old girl looked down on me, but I carried the girl, fainting people can be heavy to carry.
But… people say that a loss is an advantage.
The soft touch on your back and the soft texture on your hands… Heh heh heh heh… You deserve it, Professor.
I held back my own wicked grin as I started to walk.
And at this time, my cheek was suddenly dripping with something I didn’t know what.
I looked up to see that at some point rain had started to fall from the overcast sky.
“This is not going to be good, it looks like it’s going to be a late afternoon thunderstorm soon.”
The professor took Suzaku’s hand and began to run at a fast pace.
I didn’t expect to come looking for a water source, but it didn’t take long to find one before it started raining.
So I hurried after the two of them.
On the sunny beach, we sat in a row and ate fish roasted over a campfire. This is the fish that the professor caught with a stick that he sharpened with a knife, and thanks to the lighter that the professor brought with him, we were able to eat food roasted over the fire, which was a delightful experience.
But my body is exhausted.
The muscle pain from carrying that woman on my back for five hours in the rain three days ago is still fresh. And the person sitting in front of me had slept for two days… and only woke up just now.
As we ate, we introduced ourselves to each other.
“Thank you guys so much for saving me, I was really at the end of my rope on my own.”
Her name was Rika Nakajima. She is twenty-one years old and is a third-year student at the National Joto University College of Science and Technology.
It was a top-notch university that hung me up and couldn’t get in.
But then, when I think about it, here we have a university professor, a first-class university student, the daughter of a zoology professor, and me, an incompetent high school student… It’s quite a super combination.
“What should we do next…”
“Professor, is it true that there’s no one on this island? Maybe there are people living on the other side of the mountain…”
“Who knows, it doesn’t look like anyone lives near this coast or the river.”
“I think it’s necessary to confirm whether this island is really an uninhabited island or not.”
Rika said so with a serious look.
“I… I’ll go over there and get some bananas!”
Suzume suddenly got up and stood, then hurried to the beach.
“Suzume…”
I whispered to myself. Because I saw it, I saw tears glistening in the corner of Suzaku’s eyes.
I’m afraid the professor and Rika and the others must have seen it too.
For a moment we all thought of how Suzume she felt when she had tears in the corners of her eyes and couldn’t speak. We all thought the same thing, we all wanted to cry, but were not able to do so at this time.
This is not the time for everyone to be able to continue moping around.
“When I woke up just now, I suddenly realized something… that was placed inside the hut…”
Rika was the first to speak.
“Ah, you mean the aluminum four-square box, the one that was found in the lifeboat.”
“That thing is called so SES, it’s a machine that can be used to transmit distress signals to artificial satellites. If it’s not damaged, as long as it’s connected to a power source and a transmitting antenna, I think it should work.”
“Power supply and transmitter antenna…”
But can these two items be found on this island?
I looked up at the blue sky a bit impatiently while then sighed.
“Well, maybe it will be a little difficult to find these things too, but all in all, let’s just explore this island for a while, Captain?”
“Huh, Captain? Are you talking about me…?”
“I’ve decided that not only did you build this hut, but you’re the one who carried Rika all the way back here.”
“But that Rika thing was decided by you and me in a guessing game…”
“Well you don’t have to be polite to the group anymore. Anyway, we have gathered four people in the chase, and we don’t know how much longer we’ll be here, and we’ve formed a new group, and in the case of a group, it’s necessary to have someone in the capacity of a leader. And to be able to assume such a person in a leadership capacity, I think it should be a young man, that’s my conclusion.”
“Well, the professor has a point, don’t you think so, Captain!”
I didn’t realize that Rika, who was smiling from the side, actually agreed with this fallacy.
What’s this? You want me to be the captain? What kind of bullshit conclusion is this? This isn’t a joke.
When I think about my three years of high school, the most responsible position I’ve ever held in a classroom was just the Health Unit Leader.
Although I have done it, it is just a job of collecting information for urine or fecal examinations and weight measurement.
“It’s all yours now, Captain. Anyway, after all is said and done you’re just going to be the captain is all, hahaha.
”
It’s infuriating that the professor is still making jokes at a time like this.
Well, that’s even if, anyway, even if you’re pushed out as a captain, it’s not like there’s anything that necessarily has to be taken care of by the captain.
“Big Brother… Captain!”
When I heard the talking, I turned around and it was Suzume standing there, and I don’t know when she came back.
And on her shoulder, eh? A rag doll… No, a monkey. There was a little monkey sitting on her shoulder.
“This is when I just went to get a banana, I saw this little guy right there, I just slightly hugged it, I did not expect it to stick to me, refused to leave as if it took people as its mother.”
The little monkey’s eyes dripped as he surveyed us and the surrounding area.
It’s only been a moment, but she’s actually become the mother of a baby monkey! What a wild school of Suzaku.
“This man is the captain… big brother Kouichi, and this is the professor, and Rika-san.”
“Is it called Ululu?”
“Yeah, I just naturally named him that because I saw him like that.”
“That’s a lovely name.”
“There’s a new companion added, and from today you can’t call it a little monkey anymore.”
Rika and the professor also laughed happily.
“And then, you guys, look at this. The live one was found by Ululu in the grass nearby.”
Suzume pulled out something she had originally hidden behind her back to show everyone.
“A saw!?”
The group joined in an exclamation of admiration, and although the thing was raw with so much coffee-colored embroidered etching that it was already a bit tattered, what it was was indeed a saw unanchored.
“In that case, maybe it’s true that there are people living here…”
“But from this raw part it looks like it should say that ‘once’ someone lived there.”
True to form, as a student of science and engineering, and still so calm to analyze at a time like this, Rika uttered such a judgment.
“Eh, this is a really big discovery, good job Suzume, and Ururu too.”
Hearing the professor praising her like that, Suzume smiled a little embarrassed and rubbed Ururu’s head.
“Professor, let’s start the island expedition from tomorrow. It’s so nice to finally get energized!”
“That’s the way to do it, Captain!”
I don’t know if there was anyone on the island, but there was always a saw, and maybe if I was lucky I could find other tools too.
Up until just now, I had only been fooling myself that there would be hope, but at the moment, hope was welling up in my heart.
We left the two girls, Rika and Suzume, at the campground, and the two of us, the professor and I, entered the jungle. Anyway, our current combat style is to start exploring from a close place first.
Although at first we thought it was a jungle that no one had ever been in, a closer look showed that there were a number of areas with a lower density of numbers than the others, and that these areas extended over a good part of the country.
Those areas, according to the professor’s speculation, are likely to be parts of what were originally roads.
But then again, all of these places are now covered with trees as well, and are simply no different than the rest of the world.
So the two of us continued to explore along this part of what looked like a road and continued to push into the inner part.
Walking along suddenly we made an amazing discovery.
“Bone, bone, bone…”
“What? Captain, what’s with the bone? City kids make a big deal out of it.”
“I mean bones!”
I was so shocked that I almost had to urinate…
But I had the professor by my side, so I managed to calm down.
“This is probably a Japanese soldier from that time of the Pacific War. This one should be called an honorable donation, right?”
The professor mouthed the words as he did so, and then as if nothing had happened, he felt around the tattered clothes on the bones.
Seeing the professor like this, I also calmed down and started thinking.
BONES… I… No, we will become like that too, if no one comes to save us, we will die on this island, and then we will become like that pile of bones, right?
“What are you still gawking at, look at this.”
The professor removed a ball of paper from the bone soldier’s breast pocket and held it out to me. It was a tattered map.
“Huh, this is, the map of the island… Does it mean that this is the map of this island?”
“Probably, as it looks like… this is that mountain. And then from the coastline, it’s probably these parts, and our camp is on the south side of the island.”
The professor took the pencil he found in his pocket along with the map and then indicated it to me on the map.
I see, this really is an island all right.
I was now no longer as surprised as I had been earlier at the fact that this was an island. Instead, after grasping the general geographic location of the island, I was happy.
According to the map, the road we’re on now (I don’t think it can be called a road anymore), if we go straight ahead, we can reach the spring where Rika fainted the other day. With this map, even if it’s Rika or Suzune, it would only take two hours to get water from the campground.
There are also other parts of the map, such as the river that divides the island into four equal parts, the mountain range in the northwest and the distribution of the vast jungle that extends underneath, the hills in the northeast, and the existence of small islands to the east, west, and south of the island, among other information.
There’s also a couple of places labeled (No. 1) or (1,400) or (14th Infantry Division) and so on, which I think probably has something to do with the military aspect of it.
“Captain, what should we do next? Should we go back to the camp first and show this map to Rika and the others?”
“I don’t think there’s any rush to show them yet, it’s still early in the day, so I’d better investigate the neighborhood a little longer.
I have a feeling I’ll find something else…”
After looking at the map and feeling like a real explorer, I almost forgot that my pantyhose was almost going to get wet just now, and now I was talking more and more like a captain.
“I see. Goodbye! Mr. Soldier…”
The professor tried to say something to the white bones, but couldn’t.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“It’s okay, I just remembered the stories I heard from my father about the war… the tragic stories of that time. Captain, I’d like to say a prayer for this Mr. Soldier.”
So the professor and I stood in place and joined our hands in a simple prayer.
Then we went on our way deeper into the jungle.
The professor seemed to still be thinking about the soldier from earlier and was silent for quite some time.
Without a word he advanced with the stick in his hand plucking the grass to the right and left.
Looking at his side, I can imagine how tragic the story the professor’s dad told the professor was. No, I should say it’s more tragic than I can imagine.
Even I, who dozed off or scribbled in my textbooks every time I spent history class time at school, could feel the misery.
Although I don’t remember it very well, I always added some mustache to those pictures, or helped them to grow their hair long, or even helped them to add a penis, etc.. Si, I should do some soul-searching.
As I walked, I thought about these things…
“Hey! Old man! You hurry up and let me out!”
It’s a girl’s voice.
We immediately ran in the direction of the source of the sound.
They came to an open space. In the middle of the clearing was a hut made of what looked like timber for livestock, and it was from there that the girl’s voice came.
We sneak closer to the back of the hut while keeping an eye on our surroundings.
This, this is what’s going on!
There was a railing made of wood, and inside the railing was a woman wearing an airhostess uniform… “Who are you…?”
The woman noticed us and looked towards here, yet for a moment.
“Miki…”
An innocent face, big eyes, brown hair, and luscious breasts. And there was a small mole on the right side of her lips… How could this be possible? How could Arita Miki be on this island?… As if all at once, I felt the heavy humidity of the jungle, making me stand still and unable to move.
“Miki? What are you talking about? My name is Erika Koyanagi.”
The woman laughed out as if she was mocking me.
Ah, that smile… the one I had that day when I was flattened in the hallway of the school… So I watched in awe as the professor saved Miki… no, I should say this woman, who called herself Erika, from the railing.
“You were also involved in the crash… I see. Anyway, thank you for rescuing me. Well… I was working as a stewardess on that plane, took a lifeboat to the shore, and was about to enter the jungle when I was… by a strange old man…”
“Who are you calling a strange old man!”
“Woahhh, it’s coming out!” Appearing before us was, an old man in a tattered uniform.
I really don’t know what to do now.
“Who are you fellows? Are you the same as this woman, the lackeys of the Anglo-American brutes!”
“It’s this stinky old man who called me the enemy’s lackey.”
“Excuse me, are you…” the professor asked the old man for his identity with a careless look.
“I am Private Meguro Gonnosuke, a member of the 13th Infantry Division of the Imperial Japanese Army!”
“What, you’re a World War II survivor?”
I couldn’t take my eyes off the upright, motionless grandfather in front of me.
“The war ended more than 50 years ago. Japan lost the war when the atomic bomb was dropped on it.”
“What are you, what are you talking about! What are you talking about? How could God’s Country Japan lose…”
“Old Mr. Meguro please listen, my father used to be a Major in the original Army Infantry Division.”
Although the old grandfather was furious when he heard what the professor said, he immediately straightened his back when he heard the word Major.
“My father became a prisoner of war at the place in Indochina and returned home in Showa 22 after the defeat of Japan.”
“You said you lost the war? That’s surprisingly true… His Majesty’s… God’s Country Japan would lose…”
“That’s why I say you, even the Showa Emperor is now…”
Miki… no, I should say Erika-san, who was about to continue her speech, had her mouth covered by the professor.
With this action of his, even if I came across this kind of accident, I could understand his intention no matter how unclear my brain was.
It was precisely because the professor’s father had been in the military that he was able to respond immediately to this sense of caring.
This old grandpa was already trembling all over and in tears just by hearing that Japan had lost the war. If you tell him, “Even the year has been changed now.” He would have killed himself on the spot.
It’s heavy for the era this old grandpa grew up in.
And with this look today, the atmosphere has become extra heavy.
Along the way, I saw the bones of Mr. Soldier, a woman who looked like Miki, and Grandpa, a survivor of World War II…
“Captain, let’s just leave him alone for now.”
The professor prodded me, long exhausted.
“Oops, so you’re the captain, please teach me more from now on, huh huh.”
Ugh, this woman is so unsympathetic. I wish I didn’t have to see that smile again!
３
Having the map made the search of the island much easier.
The professor and I, both of us, go inside the jungle almost every day.
Basically this is a search class made up of two men. However, there are times when it switches to me taking Suzume and Ululu, or the professor and Suzume in a group, or the professor and Eirina-san together.
But I don’t know how to put it, anyway, I just can’t get along with Erika-san in any way.
“Captain, what’s going to be good today? Oh.”
As soon as she smiled at me, I felt my heart race and my back feel like it was electrified. In short, it’s that smile on her lips that makes me feel uncomfortable.
Whenever I set out with the professor, I can generally find something to bring back. Like papayas or fruits like mangoes and bananas and so on.
Otherwise, it’s things like vines or hemp, etc., which can be used as long as they’re processed (but there’s a dearth of tools to make them).
Sometimes you will find some relics from the war, such as fighter jets or jeeps and other large items.
Of course those things are impossible to move with us.
However, wherever there were usable parts within those things, we took them all back to camp as much as we could.
There were other miscellaneous things like poles for coiled wires, or bottles of who knows what, most of which were embroidered, but we picked them up and brought them back to camp.
Rika says that even with all this broken brass, it might be possible to put it to use.
At first, the machine – she was there all day messing with the machine called SES, but then it seemed to die.
Now she has started to use the saw to make various items out of the wood, like some tables and chairs, and I heard that she is going to make the house a bit more sturdy.
While Suzume and Eirina-sama were in charge of going to bring back water, or collecting driftwood for firewood, as well as taking care of the daily meals.
Of course food-wise, compared to that time when we first came to this island, what we eat has become better now.
The food includes fruits, of course, but also fish (most of which I don’t know their names) that I caught with a spear made by the professor himself, and shellfish brought back from the sea, etc. They are seasoned with the natural salt from the sea water, so they taste quite delicious.
Almost a month has passed since we arrived on this island.
“I say, O Captain, it’s almost time for us to look a little farther afield next, isn’t it?”
The professor said so while holding the map in his hand.
Lately it has become a regular daily occurrence for the guys to have an all-hands-on-deck conversation centered around the campfire almost every night. One of the reasons why this was done was to try as hard as possible not to let the professor’s lighter run out so quickly.
Secondly, it doesn’t matter that you can go to bed very late on this island. But having said that, living without a TV or a radio is pretty much the limit to last until about 9:00 or 10:00 at night.
“That’s right, those places marked on this map are the locations of military bases, I think, and if we go there, we might be able to find something more useful.
”
“That’s roughly what happened, just as the captain said, true to form. I remember the last time I asked old Grandpa Meguro about it, and he did say that those marked places on the map were military bases.”
The professor has since made about two or three subsequent trips to old Grandpa Meguro’s hut since the last one.
Probably remembering his father, he wanted to tell the old grandpa about the change of times slowly and bit by bit as much as possible without irritating him.
“The military base should be something to look forward to, because just relying on what we have here now is also…”
Rika spoke while looking in the direction of the hut.
“And not only is there no way to raise the standard of living, but of course the idea of leaving this place…”
“Gee, you mean you can get out of here? Is it really possible?”
“That’s not what Eirina-sama said.”
“I’m really sorry, I accidentally said what I wanted to say…”
“You mean that’s what you really want to say… At a time like this, let me just say that basically, Erika-san, no matter what you do, you just complain, so I hope you’ll think about the current situation a little bit more in the future.”
“You said I was just complaining, when did I complain again?”
“You want to hear it, don’t you? Then I’ll say lo, just listen! Ms. Eirina, this is a southern island, an isolated island in the South China Sea! There’s no brand-name cosmetics or dresses you like, and there’s no good men you like!”
There are no good men here, so you don’t have to make it so clear. I couldn’t help but get a little angry when I heard Rika say that.
But it wasn’t for nothing that Rika was angry.
Indeed, Eirina-san had no way of getting along with everyone in harmony at all, always capricious and doing whatever she wanted.
For example, running off alone to the spring to take a bath without informing the others beforehand, which resulted in everyone’s chickens coming home to roost, and this actually happened as many as twice.
And these two people, probably originally belongs to the collision, or how to say it, personality type is just the opposite of it, in short, the two people just can not get along is it, this point I also slightly feel.
“What the hell! It’s just a little bit of good sense.”
“It’s quite a feat for someone as willful as you to be an air hostess.”
The two men glared angrily at each other.
Gah–!
“You two big sisters, stop arguing, even Ululu can’t take it anymore.”
“Today, even if Suzume asks me to, I won’t do anything about it. How can there be such a person, who opposes me every time…”
“When did I go against you again, tell me.”
Although Suzume was sandwiched between the two with a difficult expression, it seemed that there was still no way to quell the sinister atmosphere.
“Hey! Captain, this kind of time should come out to talk about it, one person kiss a mouth well, maybe this way they will not be this way to fight on oh, heh heh heh heh.”
The professor whispered to me while chuckling.
Kissing! Don’t be silly… But then again, it’s important to stop the bickering between the two of them.
“Listen to me for a moment, both of you… As the saying goes, it takes a fight to see true love…”
“What did you say!”
Rika and Eirina both stared back at me at the same time, this is bad, I’m really adding fuel to the fire.
“No, I mean that. I’m a captain at least, so that…”
“So what!”
“Ah, no, I’m sorry.”
Idiot! Ugly girl! Vanity-loving! Cold-blooded animals! Nymphomaniacs! Deadheads! Prodigal daughter! Spinster! All sorts of curse words were exchanged between them. Oh, really, they’re even saying such bad things about Suzume It’s really…
“Will you guys stop? Both of you are girls, it’s inappropriate to fight, hahaha.”
Professor! Ugh, what the hell am I going to do with these two women, I can’t help but hold my head tight.
“Ah! Great!”
Who is it? You’re still talking like that at this hour! It’s so ungrateful. Huh? What? Did I hear you wrong? At some point the two had stopped arguing, and even the eyes of the professor and Suzaku were behind me.
“There are actually other people around!”
I hurriedly turned around to see a girl in a sailor uniform with holes everywhere standing right behind me.
“My name is Saori Kurashima.”
The girl introduced herself with a smile on one side.
Saori claims to be a second-year student at a private high school in Tokyo.
Unlike Rika of the rationalist school, and Eirina of the sexy school, she’s a girl with charisma.
A face with distinctive features, and a slender body but not of the dry kind of look, can be said to be the kind of healthy type of sound beauty girl.
Her kind must have been one of those people at school who both men and women liked to be her friend.
Even better, she was the 10,000 meter champion of the track club. Her record is said to be the fourth fastest ever.
And it’s even more remarkable to say so many good things without feeling at all like she’s boasting.
“Captain, do you usually do any sports or anything like that?”
Saori asked me while doing calisthenics on the beach in the morning.
There’s just something strange enough about the image of a girl in a tattered sailor uniform standing in the morning sun on a white sandy beach on a southern island in general.
Even in a third-rate yellow book, this inexplicable condition does not occur.
But it’s different when Saori is standing there, it just feels like it looks so refreshing and pleasant.
“No… why do you ask?”
“That’s what it looks like, I’m asking because I see that your body is one of those muscular types.”
“No way?”
I suddenly felt a sense of “The captain seems to be reliable” emanating from Saori’s eyes, so I replied in a panic.
Surely it’s because of myself that I’m particularly attracted to the kind of people who play sports, isn’t it?
I felt my body, and underneath the slightly dirty clothes, my body exuded an air of solidity and muscle. Although there were small bruises all over my body, my arms and legs looked a bit majestic and powerful.
The original me should have looked like I was in a weakened state.
Right!
That’s why I’ve become like this, because I’ve been doing physical labor every day since I came here. At this rate, it’s no longer a dream to become like Arnold Schwarzenegger… If I stay here for a few more months… what am I talking about?
“We can definitely get out of this place right.”
Saori asked so to me who was indulging in a fantasy in my head.
“Well, it’s going to be fine (what can I say other than that?), with the professor and Rika and the others who have good minds, they’ll find a way, and even I…”
“That’s true. We can definitely return to Japan…”
Saori said and looked towards the blue sea again.
I looked in the same direction as her. This coast is actually toward the south, while Japan is on the other side of the island.
But don’t worry about such trivialities now.
Since drifting to the island… No, I should say that the “Top Ten Best Atmospheric Moments” of my life over the past 18 years have finally made their debut, and they’ve made it to the top of the list.
“Captain, I will definitely work hard in the future, so please teach me more.”
“Eh, me too, everyone with each other.”
I hesitated for a moment, but I took the right hand that Saori held out.
Saori looked at me with her refreshingly moving and at the same time slightly shy smile.
Those eyes are so clear.
As soon as I thought about it, an electric current seemed to pass through my hands and go straight to my heart.
Ah, I’ve fallen in love. I’ve decided!
In September 19XX, she was chosen by myself as “Miss Distress”, regardless of anyone’s opinion!
It’s time for this era to shift from hot bodies to slender women, and the era of Miki Arita is declared over here today!
That’s right, from today I’ve decided to forget all about Miki Ishida all together.
“Alas, two handsome men and women, this is truly the most touching moment.”
“Hate it, Erika-san, things aren’t what you think they are.”
“Eh, what a high school student, isn’t this a good look, huh huh huh.”
Eirina her devil-like smile-Miki style.
Alas, the scars inside me are still not forgotten so easily.
After the discussion, the result was to form a team and set up a general plan before taking actual action.
“No need to get into the nitty-gritty of it, it’s all casual, it’s a free southern island.”
Although Eirina-sama alone was strongly against it, and of course Rika and her held naturally opposite opinions, in the end Suzume had to go through a lot of trouble to convince Eirina-sama.
I don’t know why, but all in all, Erika-sama is just especially gentle with Suzume.
Although she looks like a fun-loving young lady due to her status as an airhostess, her maternal instincts are probably still quite strong.
Therefore, the composition of the team is based on the consideration of interpersonal relationships and the ability of the individuals.
◇Team A – Me and Saori.
Live up to your physical strengths and be primarily responsible for the exploratory portion of the island’s work.
◇Team B–Professor and Miss Rika.
They are responsible for exploring the island and making the necessary supplies and tools for life, which is why their brains and knowledge are expected.
◇Team C – Eirina-sama and Suzume and Toruru.
Responsible for preparing food and water distribution as well as preparing three meals. And managing the campfire (in order not to let it go out, as the campfire was also to be used as a signal for salvation.) .
The distribution of work is as described above.
And Thursday evening was a full staff meeting as much as possible, with everyone reporting on the results of their actions individually, as well as everyone discussing the course of action going forward.
Finally Sunday is used for rest.
Therefore, everyone started their own actions according to their assigned duties.
After discussing it with Rika and the professor, I decided on the distribution of the search survey for the moment.
Team A was responsible for the military installations on the map, while Team B was responsible for the jungle search on the west side of the island.
The thought of being able to act with Saori made my face uncontrollably smile like a mollusk. It’s really delightful.
The area where I had been before with the professor was roughly the area centered on the camp – the area separated by the river on the east side of the camp, and another river on the west side where it meets at the upper stream.
This part of the trip can probably be done in a day or less round trip.
But once you go beyond that, it has to be more than a two-day trip, if not more than two days.
So it was necessary to look for a spot where I could set up camp while moving towards the day’s destination in the jungle. Although I had long been accustomed to trekking through the jungle these days, the enormity of the journey ahead was still conceivable.
But if it were me…
It would be underestimating me to still look at me as the old me. The current me has grown enough both on a spiritual and physical level.
And Saori seems pretty reliable too.
“Everyone should work hard from now on!”
“Please boys don’t have any evil thoughts, besides everyone should be very careful when going out!”
Suzume and Eirina-san watched us leave, and the four of us just followed the coastline to the west.
After crossing the west side of the river, we split into two.
The professor and the girls were heading toward the west coast of the island.
We, on the other hand, were closer to the center of the island, aiming towards those suspected military installations inside the jungle.
After crossing the river, the trees are really sparse here, and this was probably used as a road in the past.
Saori and I, both with sticks in our hands, ruffled the grass on the left and right sides while moving along the road.
Use a stick to paw the grass, a method the professor taught us to use to avoid snakes.
But for Saori whether it’s the jungle or those bushes, it’s still a bit of a struggle for her.
Because even though I was dressed in rags, I was at least wearing jeans and sneakers, while she was wearing a sailor suit and leather shoes.
“Do your feet hurt?”
The blades of grass continued to make reddish marks on Saori’s appropriately sunburned calves.
“Um, thank you, but I’m okay with that, it just tickles a little bit.”
Saori said while smiling slightly.
Still, more than the injury on her foot, the skirt she was wearing was inconvenient to walk in, even if it was replaced with Erika-sama or Rika, or even Suzume.
I’m wondering if I should make a trip back to the camp first and discuss it with Erika-san or Suzume, since I know we still have hemp leaves and stuff, so I’m sure we can use them to make a short.
But suddenly–
“Oopsie-daisy!”
Saori screamed miserably.
I followed the direction of the sound, and it turned out that she had tripped over her foot on a branch that had fallen to the ground, so she fell to the ground.
Maybe I have precognition, how else could it be so coincidental, and while I was trying to figure out what to do, she fell.
Ah, that’s…
The inner part of the skirt…
Inside was a pair of pants with a blue color. Huh? Is it blue…? Speaking of blue, the sky and the sea on this island are also blue, so that means Saori’s panties are also blue… Well, panties!
After a moment of inexplicably calm reflection, my heart suddenly began to beat rapidly.
My eyes widened hard, and then I shook my head desperately.
After about three hours of trekking, they finally came to an open area.
A green hill can be seen in the center part.
We walked up and saw that it was a building made of concrete and covered with dense ivy.
Once upon a time, I think there was a song about ivy and churches… but that was a long time ago.
But of course this isn’t a church, this is the military base on the map I’m afraid.
I urged Saori as I headed inside.
The inside of the building was a little dark and felt a little eerie, and a couple of places were obviously badly broken from having taken artillery fire at one time or another.
“This probably used to be a military command.”
“There was a real war here once upon a time, a scene that was only seen on TV and in books, but I didn’t expect it to really appear in front of me now.”
“Ah, that’s true. Saori, you haven’t seen those broken down jeeps, and the bodies of the soldiers, and that old Meguro grandfather…”
“Grandpa Meguro is?”
So I sat down and started to tell Saori that there was something about Meguro’s old grandfather.
Saori, who had been listening to me in silence, suddenly stood up and then jogged towards the corner of the building. There’s an iron desk there (but it’s raw and embroidered and badly worn out).
“What’s wrong?”
With a happy look, Saori picked up the thing that was placed there with her hand and handed it to me to see.
“Look, it’s a telescope yeah, this can be used for that!”
“Really, this is a great discovery!”
“Wow, I see the captain yeah!”
Saori picked up the binoculars and looked around, frolicking like an urchin.
“Ah! I’ve made another discovery!”
I grabbed my binoculars and looked toward the front, where something I seemed to have seen before was falling to the ground.
It had become a bit of a coffee color, but you could still see that it was something formed by tying bamboo and rope together.
“What’s this called?”
“Ah, this is called a door pine! My family seems to have them at the entrance during the New Year.”
So it’s Munsatsu. I can’t believe I’m getting one of those.
Well, come to think of it, New Year’s Eve is coming up here in three months, so I wonder if I’ll be able to get back to Japan before then.
Suck – there was a sudden snorting sound from my side of my nose.
“Saori…”
“I’m sorry, Captain, I just can’t… I can’t help but feel sad when I think about what happened in Japan…”
Saori’s shoulders shook uncontrollably.
“It’s okay, I’m fine…”
Seeing Saori, who was usually so cheerful, suddenly shedding tears, I felt as if someone had pinched me in the chest and I couldn’t breathe for a moment…
It occurred to me that… It is at times like this that a boy should hold a girl tightly and gently.
But even in this situation, with just the two of us alone in this room, I still can’t get up the courage to hug her.
“I’m sorry, I won’t cry again.”
Saori lifted her face.
“I won’t cry again, I’ll try not to cry again!”
The sun had turned a reddish color at some point, and Saori stood teary-eyed at the bottom, her eyes shining as she smiled weakly.
It’s great to be able to recover my spirit, I thought in my heart, and I looked at Saori with a smile on my face. But in an unknown part of my heart, I still wanted to continue that touching atmosphere.
The yellow moon rose outside the window and shone on both of us.
Since we try to avoid jungle walks at night whenever possible, we’ve decided to spend the night in this headquarters tonight.
Against the wall the two of us talked about so many things.
Things like favorite celebrities, music, hobbies, TV shows, school, family, etc. But the more we talked about those things, the more we missed Japan.
But it’s like my mind is missing several tendons, and I’ve been barely talking and barely smiling.
Because if you don’t, the atmosphere seems like it’s going to get weird.
The panties that I had glimpsed during the day appeared in my mind from time to time. The hot blood of a man inside me seems to be coming out (what a strange thing to say). I wonder if Saori would think the same?
“Let me tell you… once that Takahashi guy fell down in the restroom… Huh? Saori, are you asleep?”
“Captain…”
“What’s the matter, you’re still awake, you didn’t say anything for a while, I thought…”
“Do you have a girlfriend?”
Being asked like that, I couldn’t say anything at once. Of course I don’t have a girlfriend, nor have I ever had one before, and although Arita Miki’s face flashed through my mind for a moment, that no longer has anything to do with me.
“Wow, there it is.”
“No, I haven’t. I haven’t had a girlfriend in eighteen years. You, on the other hand, must have one, seeing as you’re just a popular guy.”
“No… I used to have a favorite, but now I’ve…”
Halfway through her sentence, Saori fell silent again.
Things seem to be going badly… So Saori had a crush on someone, and she probably still can’t get over that person.
I wonder what kind of man Saori liked?
I looked up at the darkened ceiling and sighed deeply before closing my eyes.
I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight.