Crackle…
crackle…
The campfire situated beneath the protective eaves of the cave’s wooden lean-to burned brightly, filling the cavern with gentle amber warmth.
Although washing in seawater was far from ideal and left an uncomfortable, sticky film on the skin, the two had no choice but to use the ocean waves for their daily hygiene.
Lacking any spare clothes, they had woven crude wraps from broad leaves and supple bark to wear through the night while their school uniforms dried by the hearth.
Fortunately, their damp clothing invariably dried by sunrise under the heat of the embers, sparing them the embarrassment of wandering around in prehistoric foliage during the day.
Even so, this makeshift arrangement was only tolerable in the sweltering heat of summer; what would happen if autumn passed and the biting winds of winter arrived…?
Throughout the days Kato Jun and Yukino Yukinoshita had been stranded on this desolate island, they had not seen a single passing freighter on the horizon, nor had they heard the distant drone of search planes.
By now, neither of them brought up the subject of a rescue team anymore.
Life on this uncharted island was undeniably grueling.
These few short days felt like a lifetime to both of them.
Aside from the steady ticking of the mechanical watch on Kato Jun’s wrist, they had largely lost track of the conventional calendar.
However, calculating from the departure date of their high school excursion on September 5, 2020, today was likely around September 11.
To mark the passage of time and map their surroundings, their only medium was a flat sheet of dried bark and dark, indelible plant sap.
Sitting cross-legged by the fire, Kato Jun was currently sketching a crude topographic overview of the interior jungle by the flickering light.
“This is the spider colony’s territory…
This is roughly where the wild boar tracks crossed the ridge.
There’s still uncharted land here, and in this direction as well…
We’ll need to scout all of these areas eventually…”
Kato Jun meticulously inked one rough symbol after another onto the bark, recording every detail of their recent trek.
“What are you working on?”
Yukinoshita asked, emerging from the depths of the cave after washing up.
She knelt beside the fire, curious to see him so thoroughly engrossed in his scribbles.
“What is this supposed to be?”
Staring at the jagged lines resembling tangled earthworms and centipedes, accompanied by completely abstract geometric blotches, Yukinoshita admitted she couldn’t decipher a single stroke.
“It’s a map…”
Kato Jun mumbled defensively, self-consciously setting down his sharpened twig stylus.
“I see…
Pfft…”
The moment she registered that this chaotic mess was meant to be a navigational map, Yukinoshita couldn’t hold back a soft, musical giggle.
Seeing Kato Jun’s usually stoic and handsome face flushed with embarrassment over his dreadful drawing skills struck her as delightfully charming.
“It seems Kato-kun has absolutely no talent for the visual arts…”
Chuckling softly, Yukinoshita took the twig stylus from his hand and leaned over the rough bark, smoothly amending the clumsy scribbles he had butchered.
Under her deft fingers, the ugly, irregular scratches transformed into elegant, three-dimensional topography complete with shaded ridges, flowing streams, and crisp directional landmarks.
Even without considering the supernatural boost from her Deft Craftsmanship skill, her natural artistic sensibilities were light-years ahead of his.
“How about that?
My version is much clearer than you thought, isn’t it?”
Yukinoshita placed the twig down, turning to him with an unmistakable gleam of smug pride dancing in her blue eyes.
“Um…”
Kato Jun swallowed dryly.
In order to correct his map, she had crouched right beside him without the slightest guard, practically pressing her side against his arm.
Although her improvised tunic of woven grass was coarse and fibrous, the porcelain, velvet-smooth skin peeking from beneath it felt anything but rough.
Feeling his heart rate quicken dangerously, Kato Jun cleared his throat and stood up from the log.
“Yukinoshita-san, could you please turn around and close your eyes for a moment?”
He decided it was high time to utilize a little primal, masculine biology to add a vital layer of security to their campsite.
“What…
what are you planning to do?”
Watching Kato Jun casually reach down to unbuckle his belt, Yukinoshita’s eyes widened in sudden panic.
“I’ll explain later, but for now, Yukinoshita-san, it’s better if you just turn your head away…”
Kato Jun stepped out from under the shelter, walked over to the sandy perimeter of the clearing, and prepared to relieve himself.
Pitter-patter…
Although Yukinoshita had obediently turned around, her heart was hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird.
What is he doing?
Why did he undo his trousers…?
Blushing furiously, she imagined all sorts of scandalous possibilities.
However, the sound of his receding footsteps followed immediately by the undeniable, echoing sound of a pressurized liquid hitting the sand shattered all of her romantic nervousness.
Wait…
could he be…?!
Yukinoshita instinctively peeked over her shoulder, only to immediately clamp her hands over her eyes and shriek at the top of her lungs.
“Kato-kun, what are you doing?
Why are you doing this in front of me…”
“You exhibitionist!
You filthy, vulgar, and unhygienic bastard!”
She had genuinely worried he was about to make an aggressive romantic advance, never anticipating that he was simply urinating in plain view.
Was this guy a territorial dog marking fire hydrants?!
She parted her fingers by a fraction of an inch, peeking toward his silhouette against the dark sand.
Is that the male anatomy the teacher talked about in high school health class…?
Seeing it in reality is nothing like the medical diagrams in the textbooks…
Her mind was an utterly scrambled, overheated mess.
“Seriously…
I told you not to turn around…”
Having finished laying down a complete scent perimeter around the cave, Kato Jun fastened his belt with an aggrieved expression.
He felt entirely victimized; not only had she peeked at him, but she had also bombarded him with venomous character assassinations.
“You, you wash your hands first!
No, wait, don’t come any closer!
You exhibitionist!”
Yukinoshita crossed her arms firmly over her chest, taking three frantic steps backward to keep him at bay.
“This is just to prevent wild boars or other wild beasts from encroaching on our camp.
I’m not an exhibitionist…”
Kato Jun rolled his eyes, sighing heavily at the girl who was practically ready to hurl rocks at him.
“My urine contains concentrated male hormones, so animals in the area will detect the territorial scent and steer clear.
This is a far more effective biological deterrent than our crude wooden fence…”
Given the abundance of dangerous fauna lurking in the jungle, his flimsy V-shaped palisade offered meager peace of mind.
With night falling, applying the proven techniques of world-famous survivalists was only sensible.
“You wouldn’t want to wake up with those monstrous spiders crawling into your bed, would you?”
To drive the point home, he deliberately brought up her ultimate fear.
“Is that really true?”
At the mention of those terrifying arachnids, Yukinoshita’s indignation deflated significantly.
“Then…
do I need to pee too?”
Her brain briefly short-circuited, blurting out the thought before she could filter it.
The instant the words left her mouth, she wished the sand would swallow her whole.
Instead of mocking her, however, Kato Jun answered with complete clinical seriousness.
“No, and pardon my bluntness, but female urine contains minimal testosterone and far higher levels of estrogen.
So you’d better relieve yourself somewhere much further away from camp…”
“Why do I have to go…
further away…”
Yukinoshita slumped by the fire, her face burning like molten copper.
“Because many predators enter their mating season during the summer, meaning female pheromones could actually lure them straight to our doorstep…”
Kato Jun explained with a faint, wry smirk.
In raw wilderness survival, masculine biology occasionally offered practical perks.
“You’re the one who’s in heat!”
Yukinoshita snapped frostily, spinning on her heel and marching deep into the cavern.
Her thoughts were in absolute turmoil, her mind flooded with vivid, scandalous impressions of him.
Why couldn’t that idiot have explained himself before pulling down his belt?!
Curling up on her hay bed behind the wooden partition, she resolved not to utter another syllable to this shameless savage until the sun rose.
Yukino Yukinoshita’s current affinity: [Unmeasurable].
Drizzle…
drizzle…
The next morning, the rhythmic drumming of rain against the rock face gently woke the girl from her sleep.
“Haa…”
Yukino Yukinoshita rubbed her weary eyes, letting out a soft, sleepy yawn.
“Is it raining?”
Looking out at the misty grey drizzle veiling the ocean and the dull roar of waves crashing onto the shore, her mood mirrored the dreary sky.
Fortunately, their school uniforms hanging inside the shelter remained perfectly dry.
However, with the rain pouring outside, she could no longer slip out to the secluded seaside boulders to change in private.
“I hope he doesn’t wake up right now…”
Casting a wary glance at Kato Jun, who was still fast asleep, Yukinoshita silently stripped off her leaf tunic.
Holding her breath, she delicately slipped back into her underwear and school uniform, her movements as quiet as a falling leaf.
She exhaled a long breath of relief once the final button was secured.
Glancing down at the boy sleeping so peacefully, a faint pout formed on her lips.
Hmph.
This guy always sleeps like a log while I’m up early working.
Gazing at his relaxed, defenseless sleeping face, an irresistible, mischievous impulse sparked in her mind.
“It’s a little itchy…”
Kato Jun slowly blinked his eyes open, scratching at his brow.
“Did it actually rain today?”
Wet weather was universally miserable in a survival setting, though it did allow them to harvest a massive reserve of fresh drinking water.
Outside the entrance, Yukinoshita was diligently boiling fresh rainwater steeped with sweet palm roots over the revived fire pit.
“Good morning, Kato-kun…”
She greeted him sweetly, handing him a carved wooden bowl filled with steaming water.
As soon as her eyes landed on his face, her shoulders quivered slightly, and she hastily looked down to stifle a giggle.
“Yukinoshita-san…”
Kato Jun froze the moment he caught his reflection in the surface of the water bowl.
No wonder his forehead had felt so itchy this morning, and no wonder this proud ice queen was acting suspiciously polite.
Drawn across his forehead and cheeks in dark, indelible plant sap was an exquisitely detailed, lifelike coconut crab—complete with the bold kanji for Baka scrawled prominently between his eyebrows.
Setting the bowl down on a stone, Kato Jun cracked his knuckles with a menacing, predatory grin.
It was time for some righteous retribution.
“Kato-kun, what are you going to do?”
Sensing the dangerous aura radiating from him, Yukinoshita squeaked, scrambling toward the back of the cave to evade his grasp.
“I’m not going to do anything, I’m just going to let you experience what it feels like to be teased…”
Despite her agile Deft Craftsmanship, the confined cavern offered nowhere to run.
Within seconds, Kato Jun lunged forward, catching her easily by the waist.
“Honestly, Kato-kun is so petty!
It was just a harmless little crab…
Ah!
No!”
Yukinoshita tried desperately to shove him away, but her back was soon pressed flat against the cool stone wall.
“No more, Kato-kun, it itches!”
She squirmed helplessly, her arms flailing to block his ruthless fingers.
“Not a chance.
I’m going to make you endure this trial until you genuinely beg for mercy…”
Channeling his inner demon, Kato Jun’s fingers mercilessly targeted her ribs, waist, and underarms.
Yukinoshita dissolved into hysterical laughter, tears of amusement and ticklish agony streaming down her flushed cheeks.
“You…
you’re supposed to be a man, yet…
you’re so utterly petty…
I should have…
drawn a giant turtle across your forehead instead…”
Even under severe torment, she stubbornly refused to surrender.
She’s tough…
Even Megumi breaks within three minutes of tickling, but Yukinoshita has held out for five!
Noticing her smooth, bare feet kicking helplessly against the sand, Kato Jun shifted his tactical assault downward.
“I beg for mercy, I beg for mercy, Kato-kun!”
Curling her toes inward, Yukinoshita completely broke down, unable to withstand the sensory overload for another second.
If this continued, she would literally die of laughter.
“Hmph, it’s far too late for simple apologies.
I won’t let you off the hook unless you give me a kiss!”
He tossed out the absurd demand purely to tease her and watch her flustered indignation.
“You…
ahahaha…
stop!”
Tears spilled from her eyes as his fingers danced over her soles.
“Alright, let go of me first!
I promise…
I promise, okay…?”
Kato Jun paused his assault, leaning back on his heels with an amused smirk, waiting to see what excuse she would invent next.
To his absolute shock, Yukinoshita pushed herself up, her face burning crimson, and leaned forward without hesitation.
Her soft, delicate lips brushed gently against his cheek, leaving behind a cool, tender sensation that sent an electric shock straight down his spine.
Kato Jun froze, his brain instantly flatlining.
Wait…
she actually kissed me?!
A profound, suffocating silence descended over the cave.
Both of them stared at each other with wide, shell-shocked eyes, the atmosphere turning agonizingly shy and electric.
Yukino Yukinoshita curled her knees to her chest, burying her burning face in her arms, completely overwhelmed by her own boldness.
“I’ll go out first…
to check if that coconut crab from last night is still secured…”
Unable to endure the suffocating tension, Kato Jun scrambled to his feet and bolted into the torrential rain like a fleeing criminal.
“Fool…”
Watching his drenched figure sprint down the beach, Yukinoshita pressed her fingertips to her own lips, muttering a soft, affectionate curse into the rain.