I Was Stranded on a Deserted Island with a Beautiful Classmate - Chapter 21

Our stomachs were now full.

Everyone was relaxing, except for Kitakami.

She was heating Riko’s shovel over the campfire.

What is she doing?

“Hey, Hayasaka-kun, are you curious?” she asked.

“Of course. What’s the point of this?” I replied.

“I’m sterilizing it right now.”

“Sterilizing…?”

“Almost done. I’ll fill the shovel with water next,” she said.

Kitakami poured water from a bottle onto the shovel. Precious water…!

“Wait, that’s our drinking water!” I exclaimed.

“It’s fine. I’m just making tea.”

“Tea?”

“I found some ‘Iwatabako’ growing nearby,” she explained.

“Oh, that’s the plant that looks like tobacco leaves, right?”

“Yes, it’s edible and can be used as wild vegetables. It also works as a stomach medicine. For now, I’m using it as a tea substitute.”

Huh, I never knew Iwatabako could be used that way.

I knew it existed, but I never thought I’d see the real thing.

The water on the shovel started boiling. I was impressed by how resourceful Kitakami was with the shovel.

Kitakami added the Iwatabako leaves into the boiling water.

After a while, the tea seemed to be ready.

“Wow, I never thought I’d be drinking tea here,” I said.

“It might be a bit bitter, though,” Kitakami warned.

“Sometimes, you want a bit of bitterness.”

After all, the charm of tea and coffee lies in their bitterness.

I took the shovel from Kitakami and—wait.

“Hold on, Kitakami-san. Why am I the first to drink this? Shouldn’t the person who made it taste it first?”

“You looked eager to drink it.”

“I guess, but it’s still too hot to drink.”

“No worries. I made a wooden cup earlier. You can pour it into that.”

At some point, a wooden cup had appeared on the ground.

It was a bit misshapen, but still functional. Did she carve it from a log? Impressive work.

I carefully tilted the shovel and poured the tea into the cup.

It’s done.

Now I just have to blow on it to cool it down.

“It’s still hot, but I think this is fine.”

I brought the cup to my lips and tasted the Iwatabako tea.

…Hot.

But, what’s this? It’s pleasantly bitter.

“How is it?” Kitakami asked.

“It’s good. It tastes like proper tea. Maybe it’s just a placebo effect, but you should try it too, Kitakami-san.”

I handed the cup to Kitakami, and she froze.

Her face turned red as she stared at the cup.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Uh, well…”

While Kitakami was fidgeting, Mana Amane came over.

“Hey, hey, what are you guys doing?” she asked.

“Oh, Amane. Finished brushing your teeth?”

“Yeah, thanks to Kitakami’s ‘Fusayouji.’ It feels great to have a toothbrush!” Amane smiled.

Fusayouji.

It’s the Edo-period version of a toothbrush.

I didn’t even know it existed until Kitakami taught me.

I still can’t believe she knew how to make it.

“Teeth are important. Getting cavities would be a real problem,” I said.

“Yeah, you really saved me. So, what’s this?” Amane asked, pointing at the cup Kitakami was holding.

“It’s tea. Do you want to try some, Amane-san?” Kitakami offered.

“Tea? Sure, I’m interested!”

“But, I’ll drink it first, so please wait a moment…” Kitakami said.

Still, she wasn’t moving. Oh, I get it now. She’s worried about the indirect kiss.

Kitakami finally pressed her lips to the same spot on the cup where I had.

“How is it?” I asked.

“It’s…really good. I’m so happy…I’m glad I made it,” Kitakami said with a content smile.

Amane then took a sip of the tea as well.

“This is pretty good! But, where did you get tea leaves?” she asked.

“It’s Iwatabako. It’s not perfect, but it adds a decent bitterness,” I explained.

“Wow, you know so much. How do you even know all this stuff?” Amane marveled.

“It’s all thanks to Kitakami-san. Working together makes everything better,” I said.

It wasn’t just me.

We were only doing well because Kitakami was here.

Without her, things would have been much harder.

Having a true survivalist like her around was a huge help.

Soon after, Yaegashi and the others returned, and we gathered around the campfire again.

Everyone enjoyed the tea, and the feedback was good.

It seemed like Iwatabako tea might be a decent substitute for a while.

“Alright. A lot happened today. Let’s talk about what’s next,” I said.

I’m not really a leader, but I decided to speak up.

Everyone focused on me.

In the past, I would have crumbled under their gaze.

But not anymore.

I wasn’t the same person I used to be.

Someone had to step up and lead.

“I want to find Kurashima and kick him off this island,” Yaegashi said, her anger burning.

She had a point, but if we did that, he’d probably die. Tying him up would be the best we could do.

“Yeah, he’s a threat. We either need to capture him, or we could try to escape ourselves,” I suggested.

“But how? We don’t even have a boat,” someone pointed out.

“There’s a lifeboat. If we fix it, at least one person could leave the island,” I explained.

“But we don’t even know where this island is. Wandering aimlessly could be dangerous,” another person argued.

That idea was off the table, it seemed. We’d have to wait for someone to find us.

But who knows when that might be?

As I was thinking, Amane raised her hand.

“Amane, what’s on your mind?” I asked.

“I think we should search for our classmates. The more people we have, the better we can help each other,” she suggested.

“You think there are others who washed up on the island?”

“Yeah! This island is pretty big. Maybe there are people on the other side or somewhere else,” Amane said.

Considering that there were hundreds of us stranded, it wouldn’t be surprising if there were more survivors.

Some people could be in trouble right now.

We also needed to explore the island to understand it better and improve our lives here.

“Alright. Tomorrow, we’ll split into two teams: one for base development and one for searching for survivors.

The development team will work on improving our camp. The search team will look for other survivors and gather food and supplies,” I proposed.

No one objected. It was settled.

“How do we divide the teams?” Chitose asked.

“Good question. Let’s decide with rock-paper-scissors,” I suggested.

That’s the quickest way.

We’ll split into two teams depending on who wins.

Four people will be in the base development team, and three will be in the search team.

“Hayasaka-kun, aren’t you joining the rock-paper-scissors?” Amane asked.

“I’ll be in the search team. It makes sense since I’m a guy,” I replied.

“Oh…okay. But…” she hesitated.

“What’s up, Amane?”

“Nothing. I’ll do my best to be on the same team as you,” she said, turning to face the others.

Rock-paper-scissors began, and soon, the teams were decided.

Base Development Team: Kitakami, Yaegashi, Higanbana, Chitose.

Search Team: Hayasaka, Amane, Hoshubana.

It was official.

Kitakami looked a bit down. I hope she’ll be alright.

“Yay! I’m with Hayasaka-kun! Let’s do our best together,” Amane said, holding my hand.

“Y-yeah, I’m glad to be with you too. Let’s explore the other side of the island tomorrow.”

“Yeah! Just the two of us, we’ll do great,” she said excitedly.

But, wait—she’s forgetting someone!

“Uh…I’m here too, you know,” Hoshubana, or Hokkii, said with teary eyes.

“Of course, Hokkii. We’ll do our best together,” I reassured her.

“Thank you, Hayasaka-kun. And Amane-san too.”

“Nice to meet you, Hoshubana-san.”

“Likewise!”

With the teams settled, we went to bed.

I checked my phone. The date read **Saturday, July 2nd, 11:19 PM**, and the battery was at **46%**.

I was only using my phone to check the time and date, but the battery was slowly draining.

I really didn’t want it to die on me. I decided to turn it off.

As I was switching it off, I heard a strange sound from another bed.

*Clink, clang! Shooooom!*

It sounded like a game.

I hadn’t heard that in a while. Who’s playing a game now?!

“Aaah, I lost!” someone shouted.

It was Riko.

Oh come on, wasting precious battery power!

“Riko, what are you doing?” I asked.

“What? It’s an offline game! I just couldn

’t help it,” she said.

“No, I get that, but don’t you want to save battery?”

“But I have 74% left, and I’m playing offline,” she replied.

“I see…well, I hope that works out for you.”

With that, I laid down to sleep.

We’d need all the energy we could get tomorrow.