Aoyama sat by the fire, tearing the smoked crocodile meat into small pieces and chewing slowly.
Kasumigaoka Utaha sat opposite him, cradling the thermos in her hands, sipping the hot water infused with perilla leaves.
After half a cup, her complexion had visibly brightened.
“How are you feeling?” Aoyama asked.
“Much better than this morning.” “The dizziness is gone, and my body doesn’t feel so heavy anymore.
The herbs you found really worked.” Kasumigaoka Utaha set the cup down, pulling her knees up and wrapping her arms around them.
“Bupleurum and perilla are both used to reduce fever and dispel cold.
Drinking this for a couple of days should completely cure you.” Kasumigaoka Utaha nodded, her gaze falling on the bulging new hiking backpack beside Aoyama.
She stared at it for a few seconds before speaking.
“Aoyama-kun, you…
ran into someone else today, didn’t you?” Aoyama didn’t hide it.
“Two men.
One was chasing the other with a blade.” He briefly recounted what had happened.
The man with the backpack was being hunted by the man with the long blade.
The long-blade man tried to recruit him to split the supplies, but Aoyama intervened, dealt with the long-blade man first, and then took care of the man with the backpack.
He spoke calmly.
But as Kasumigaoka Utaha listened, her fingers unconsciously tightened around the thermos.
“You…
killed them both?” “Yeah.” Kasumigaoka Utaha fell silent for a moment.
She showed no fear, nor did she press for details.
She simply processed the information in silence, then asked softly, “Did they try to hurt you?” “The Long-Blade Man tried to use me.
The Backpack Man tried to drag me into his mess.” “And…” Aoyama paused.
“I was worried they would find this shelter.” “You’re here alone, and you haven’t fully recovered from your illness.
If you ran into either of them, it would have been very dangerous.” Kasumigaoka Utaha froze for a moment.
Then she lowered her head, a faint smile touching her lips.
Her eyelashes trembled as she gazed at the campfire, her voice softening considerably.
“So, you did it for my sake?” Aoyama didn’t answer.
Instead, he pulled a folded waterproof map from his pocket and spread it on the ground between them.
“Let’s talk business.” “I found this in a hidden compartment in the Backpack Man’s bag.” Kasumigaoka Utaha’s gaze shifted to the map.
It was a crudely hand-drawn map, its edges heavily worn from being folded and unfolded countless times.
A point near the southern coastline was circled in red, with a few crooked characters written beside it.
“Settlement, Resource Point?” Kasumigaoka Utaha leaned in to examine it more closely, her long black hair falling forward, the tips brushing against the map’s surface.
Aoyama spoke calmly.
“We’re not the only ones who ended up here.” “Those two men probably came from that settlement.” “Judging by their condition, that place might have already fallen into chaos.” Kasumigaoka Utaha looked up at him.
“Which settlement are you planning to go to?” Aoyama answered candidly.
“Food, tools—those are my primary goals.” “And of course, if we can find a boat there, we’ll have a chance to leave this island.” “But…” Aoyama glanced at Kasumigaoka Utaha.
Though her complexion had improved, her lips were still pale, and she wasn’t sitting as relaxed as usual, clearly still struggling with the remnants of her illness.
“We’ll wait until you’re better.” “In your current state, you can’t travel very far.” “Besides, looking at the map, the southern coast is at least a half-day’s walk from here.” “If we run into anyone else on the way, it’ll be a problem if you can’t run.” While he could directly kill everyone they encountered, he didn’t know if Kasumigaoka Utaha’s body could withstand the ordeal.
Kasumigaoka Utaha tilted her head.
“Are you saying, Aoyama-kun…
that I’m a burden?” “No.” Aoyama met her gaze steadily.
“When a teammate is in poor condition, you wait for them to recover before moving.” “…That’s a decent enough answer,” Kasumigaoka Utaha muttered, lowering her eyelids as the tips of her ears flushed red.
She returned her gaze to the map, pretending to study the markings intently.
“So, those two men came from the settlement, right?
The fact that they’re fleeing suggests there might be conflict there, or perhaps someone’s fighting over resources.” “If the settlement has truly fallen into chaos, then rushing in blindly wouldn’t be a wise choice.” Kasumigaoka Utaha traced a line on the map with her finger.
“But we could observe the perimeter first.
If there’s still some semblance of order there…” Aoyama nodded.
“My thoughts are the same as yours.” The corners of Kasumigaoka Utaha’s lips curved slightly, a trace of satisfaction appearing on her pale face.
She folded the map and pushed it back to Aoyama, then pulled her knees to her chest again, resting her chin on her arms as her gaze fell upon the dancing flames of the campfire.
“…” The two fell silent for a moment.
Aoyama looked down and began organizing the supplies in the hiking bag, sorting the canned goods and compressed biscuits by their expiration dates.
Kasumigaoka Utaha sat opposite him, her gaze drifting aimlessly across every corner of the shelter.
And now, Aoyama was sitting right across from her.
I wonder if he noticed…
I’ve already put my underwear back on.
The thought made the tips of her ears flush hot again.
Subconsciously, she pressed her legs closer together, knees touching, using the hem of her skirt to cover the tops of her thighs.
But that only led to another embarrassing problem.
Wearing these panties, she couldn’t help but keep recalling the entire ordeal—how Aoyama-kun had held them in his hand, soaked them in hot water, folded them into a compress, and pressed them against her forehead.
The memory made her squirm with restlessness.
“…” She squeezed her legs together even tighter, as if trying to clamp down on and hide her shame.
Sitting across the fire, Aoyama caught her fidgeting out of the corner of his eye.
“Are you cold?” his voice suddenly asked.
Kasumigaoka Utaha snapped her head up to find him staring right at her.
To be precise, he was looking at her suddenly pressed-together legs and slightly hunched shoulders.
“No!” Her voice was half a tone higher than usual, but she immediately lowered it.
“…The smoke from the bonfire is just stinging my eyes.” Aoyama watched her for a couple of seconds, then gave a simple “Mm” without pressing further.
He lowered his head to continue organizing the bag, taking out the antibiotic tablets and iodine solution and placing them where they’d be easy to reach.
Kasumigaoka Utaha stared at Aoyama’s profile for a long moment, trying to find any hint of something unusual on his face.
But from start to finish, he remained as calm as if he were organizing textbooks in a classroom.
Kasumigaoka Utaha quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as he didn’t notice…
Clearly, Aoyama-kun was an upright person.
As Aoyama sorted the supplies, his gaze swept over a rock.
The white underwear he’d placed on it this morning was gone.
Kasumigaoka Utaha put them on?