I Was Stranded on a Deserted Island with a Beautiful Classmate - Chapter 29

As we leisurely ate, I finished my snake dish, and Amane and the others enjoyed their fish.

With our stomachs full and a relaxed atmosphere settling in, Amane began examining her familiar school bag.

“Ah, found it, found it.”

“Come to think of it…If your tracksuit was there, does that mean your school bag too?”

“Yup. I never thought my bag would wash up here.”

Inside were chewing gum, candy, a thermos, a sewing kit, manga and novels, hair ties, perfume, hand cream, lip balm, sunscreen, a handkerchief, pocket tissues, wet wipes, a folding umbrella, writing tools…and more.

“Hm, what’s that?”

“Th-this is…sanitary products…”

Amane blushed bright red and fell silent. Crap, I touched on a sensitive subject for girls. The awkwardness was overwhelming.

“Ah, sorry. Is that the last thing?”

“And…underwear, too.”

“I…I see.”

Still, that’s quite a lot of items. Many of them are very feminine. As expected of an idol.

But it’s impressive that all of this survived. They must’ve washed up on this island after being swept away by the stormy waves that night.

“With all that, you should be fine, right?”

“Yeah, my hands were getting rough, so the creams really helped.”

“The thermos is useful. You can keep hot water in it.”

“There’s still some barley tea in it too, so you can drink it.”

“Oh, I’ll finally get to drink proper tea after so long. That’s great.”

“I’ll share it with everyone later.”

Personally, I was curious about the manga and novels. I wonder what kind of genres Amane likes.

“Hey, Amane, what’s that manga?”

“This? It’s ‘Kimi ni Todoke’.”

That’s a pretty famous shojo manga. I’ve heard of it before…But I didn’t expect Amane to read romance manga.

“That’s…kinda old, right?”

“Yeah, but it’s a classic and really fun. Want to read it, Hayasaka-kun?”

“Before that, tell me about the novel too.”

“Oh, this? The novel is ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep’?.”

That’s a well-known sci-fi novel.

From romance manga to sci-fi. Quite a change of pace.

I haven’t read either. Maybe I’ll borrow them and give them a try.

“Huh, so you read sci-fi too?”

“Yeah, sci-fi has a unique world view that draws you in. I forget the time when I read it.”

“Lend it to me later.”

“Sure thing.”

Now I had a good grasp of what Amane had. There were still other mysterious items in the remaining bags, but we’d leave that for tomorrow.

—

The night deepened.

Before I knew it, it was almost midnight.

Thanks to the portable battery, my smartphone had recovered to 73% charge. I didn’t fully charge it to be considerate of Amane and the others, like Ooi, who’d join us later.

…I should get some sleep for tomorrow.

Tap, tap.

Someone tapped my arm.

Who could it be? I was just about to sleep.

Tap, tap.

Guess I have no choice…When I sat up, I saw Riko, her cheeks flushed.

“What’s up, Riko?”

“Um, could you…come with me for a bit?”

Seeing her fidget nervously…Ah, I get it. She must need to use the bathroom.

“Wait, me!? Can’t you ask Amane? I mean, I’m a guy.”

“Th-the thing is, everyone else is already asleep.”

Looking around, I realized that everyone except Riko and I were fast asleep.

Thanks to Amane’s handmade “log beds,” everyone could finally sleep comfortably.

“Well, it can’t be helped. I can’t just let you go alone.”

“Thank you, Hayasaka-kun.”

Riko, with teary eyes, repeatedly bowed her head. But…was I really the right person for this?

Well, it’s not like I have a choice. I’ll go with her, thinking of it as protecting her.

I turned on the light from my smartphone and we left the cave.

Even though it’s summer, it felt chilly at night. The wind was a bit cold, and if I wasn’t careful, I could catch a cold.

We walked quite a bit away from the cave, toward some bushes.

“Beyond that should be safe. Kitakami-san set up traps like pitfall and rockfall traps, so even if animals approach, we’ll be fine.”

“Wow, when did she do that!?”

I was surprised too. She said she made them in case of an emergency.

“Well, I’ll turn the other way.”

“…Cover your ears too. It’s embarrassing.”

“O-okay.”

Just as she asked, I covered both of my ears with my hands.

Now even the sounds of nature were gone.

It’s so quiet…

Man, I’m tired. Maybe it’s from all the recent exhaustion. I might be completely drained. Maybe I should take a break soon.

Everyone needs a rest sometimes.

Yeah, tomorrow, I might just take it easy for half a day.

As I was thinking that, I heard rustling from the bushes. …Huh, is she done already?

“Hayasaka-kun, don’t take pictures with your phone or anything!”

“I wouldn’t do that! Just pretend I’m invisible.”

“Ugh…got it.”

Riko disappeared back into the bushes again.

But she quickly came back. That was fast.

“…It’s not coming out.”

“Huh?”

“I can’t go…because I’m too aware of you being nearby!”

“Is it my fault? Should I move further away?”

“No, that would be scary. Stay close.”

What am I supposed to do here!?

Hmm, this is a tough one.

“How about we talk while you try?”

“Yes, that! Hayasaka-kun, tell me a funny story.”

“Got it. Hmm…”

Riko disappeared into the bushes again, and I began telling a funny story loud enough for her to hear. But…a funny story, huh? Do I have any?

I’ve been a loner my whole life, so I don’t have any tales of glory. But surely, I could come up with something.

“Let’s see, I never had a girlfriend…or friends, for that matter.”

“That’s a tough one to react to! Try something else.”

“About a month ago, the girl next to me dropped her eraser. When I picked it up for her, she smiled at me. That definitely means she likes me, right?”

“Way too simple! No way she was thinking that! Absolutely not!”

Is that true…?

By the way, that girl was Amane.

Come to think of it, Amane was sitting next to me. I thought she was cute, but I was too much of an introvert to talk to her, let alone learn her name.

And now, here we are…

“Riko, haven’t you ever had a love-at-first-sight experience?”

“Hmm…not really. I was too busy hanging out with Mao-chan and Hokkii to have time for romance.”

“Now that you mention it, you three are really close.”

“We’re childhood friends, after all.”

“Really? But you’re in the shogi club, right? Why didn’t you join the archery club?”

“…Do you really want to know?”

Maybe I shouldn’t ask about that.

“You don’t have to tell me. Everyone has one or two secrets.”

“It’s fine, I’ll tell you, Hayasaka-kun.”

“Seriously?”

“You know Yomogi-chan from the gardening club? She was originally in the shogi club.”

“Oh, your friend?”

“Yeah. Yomogi invited me to try the shogi club. But…we got into a fight.”

“Why did you fight?”

“Well, it’s because Riko was too strong. I completely defeated Yomogi, who was the club president. She got mad…and before I knew it, I was the new club president.

So, I couldn’t quit.”

I didn’t expect that.

So that’s why Yomogi switched to the gardening club.

I guess that’s why she didn’t join the archery club.

As I was mulling over this, Riko came out of the bushes.

“Did you finish?”

“Yeah, I feel much better. Thanks.”

“No problem. It’s my job to protect my precious friends, after all.”

“You’re so reliable. Yup, I’ll be your girlfriend.”

“Wait, Riko?”

“N-never mind! Forget it, okay?”

She just said something amazing so casually.