CH 2

Arc-1 Chapter-2: What is a Cold Medicine?

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"This is...? Are you a staff member?"

As soon as she woke up, she said something unintelligible.

She must have been at a cosplay event or something.

"I'm not on the staff. You were swept out to sea by some accident, and washed ashore. This is an uninhabited island not far from the mainland of Japan."

"Isn't an uninhabited island inhabited because you're here?"

"I'm not usually here either. I just happen to be on summer vacation. I think you should warm yourself up at my cabin. It's not good for you to stay like that."

"Oh, well, all right, thanks."

The next thing I knew, she sneezed, a very cute "kuchoo" sneeze.

My father would have said, "Hagushonoraa boke!"

❄️ウチの親父なんて「ヘーグッションオラァボケェ！」と言うぞ。I don't get it...❄️

"Cold..."

"Your clothes are soaking wet. I suggest you get naked."

"Ha, naked?!"

Her face turns bright red.

"Look, I know how you feel. You don't want to get naked in front of a boy, so just put on my clothes for now. Luckily, it's summer and I don't mind being naked."

I quickly took off my clothes and stripped down to my underwear.

"Yeah, well, wearing clothes of boys you don't know is..."

"There's no time to worry about it. You'll get more than just a cold if you keep this up. You don't want to die in pain, do you?　I'll turn my back on you, and you can tell me when you're fully dressed."

"Uh, yeah, sorry, and thanks..."

She took my clothes, looking embarrassed.

I looked back at her as she reported that she had finished getting dressed.

"Is this okay?"

"Ou. ...Ah, you'd better wear some shoes. If you are barefoot, you could get hurt just by stepping on a pebble."

"Alright."

She takes off her white over the knee socks and puts on her loafers.

"My shoes are soggy..."

"Be patient. Now let's go."

I started walking towards the forest to return to the hut.

◊◊◊

We made a brief self-introduction along the way.

Her name was Takamine Yukiho, apparently.

It was a fitting name for her snowy skin and silvery white hair.

She was also in the second year of high school and the same age as me.

"This is my cabin."

I took Yukiho into the cabin and let her rest by the hearth.

The hearth was fueled by firewood, so it made a nice buzzing sound from time to time.

I then put on my spare clothes.

"Daikichi-kun, are you sure you don't know who I am?"

When I caught my breath, Yukiho asked me.

"I don't know how many times I have to tell you this. But, I don't know who you are."

Apparently, Yukiho was a celebrity.

She said that she was an idol who appeared on TV.

I don't doubt it because of her appearance.

It's just that--

"I'm sorry, but I don't watch TV."

"I see...*Kuchoo!*"

"You better be ready for tomorrow, it could get ugly."

I poured hot water from an iron kettle hanging on the hearth into a cup and handed it to her.

Yukiho wrapped her hands around it and took a sip.

"Daikichi-kun, is there a phone or something like that in this cabin?"

"I've got a phone, but there's no signal. Rest assured, though. Grandpa will be here tomorrow. Then you can go home."

"Well, then, I guess I'll be spending the rest of the day here with Daikichi-kun..."

A hint of anxiety appeared on Yukiho's face.

"We're not just staying under one roof, we're also sharing a futon. Since there's only one."

"Ugh... I won't be able to survive if the media finds out about this..."

"No, if you're worried, you should be worried about being attacked."

"Haha, that's true. But I think Daikichi-kun can handle something like that."

"People aren't always what they seems to be."

"Is that so?"

"No, I'm just saying."

"What's that?"

Yukiho smiles cutely, but then she sneezes again.

"Better take some cold medication as soon as possible."

"Do you have it? Cold medicine."

"I'm pretty sure I have some on hand."

I rummage through the cabinets on the wall.

"This is my grandpa's cabin, to be precise, but given his personality, he should have cold medicine."

With a thud, I took out a bottle of cold medication.

"You're gonna be fine-- No way, that's not good."

My hand stopped when I saw the label of the cold medication.

"What's wrong?"

"It's expired. And that was 8 years ago."

"8 years?!"

"A year or so would have been fine, but 8 years is too much, so I wouldn't recommend it."

"Yeah... *Kuchoo!*"

"Your sneezing is getting more frequent."

"Sorry..."

"No need to apologize."

I warmed her up by the hearth and also gave her something hot to drink.

There's nothing else I can do.

--No, there is.

"I'll be right back."

I got up and started to head out.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna get you something to replace the cold medicine."

"You have something like that?"

"Mhm. I'll be right back. You can eat the dried meat on the dirt floor if you like. If you want to drink some cold water, you can just drink it out of the kettle."

"Okay, but come back soon alright. I'm worried about being alone..."

With his back to Yukiho, he answered, "Got it," and left the cabin.

◊◊◊

This island has been improved over the years by my grandfather.

So the environment is somewhat opportunistic in a way.

Therefore, I successfully got the kudzu root I was looking for.

I washed it off in the river and returned to the cabin.

"Welcome back, geh, geh."

Yukiho was coughing.

The symptoms had become worse than before I left the cabin.

She could get a fever by tonight, if not tomorrow.

"What's that in your hand?"

"It's kudzu root. I'm going to make kudzu tea with it."

"Daikichi-kun, you can do that?"

"It's easy. Just like how you make potato starch, you can make kudzu starch to make kudzu-yu."

"No, I don't even know how to make potato starch, but that's... amazing."

"Wanna watch me do it then? Since there's nothing entertaining here, and it'll pass the time"

"Yes, I wanna watch it."

Yukiho was showing interest, so I made it for her while explaining.

I crushed the roots with my handmade stone hatchet, strained them, and carefully taught her how to...make it.

"After that, when the white mush dries, it becomes kudzu powder, but I can't wait that long, so I make kudzu-yu with it."

"Amazing! So interesting! Daikichi-kun, are you some kind of expert on deserted islands or something!?"

"I don't watch TV, but I do know a little bit about survival."

And so the kudzu-yu was completed.

"Here, you should drink this. It'll make you feel better than hot water."

"Thank you!"

Yukiho drinks the kudzu-yu happily.

-- but immediately afterwards, she made a face of disgust and said, "Ugh."

"Good medicine is bitter in the mouth," I explained. "Well, it's not really good medicine, so I don't think it tastes too bad."

"Well, it didn't taste good, it was more like 'nothing'. The texture was different from what I expected and I was surprised. I'm sorry that you had to make this for me."

"Don't worry about it."

Then I tried to drink my own kuzu-yu.

"Gak, that tasted horrible! That tasted far worse than I thought it would! I'm sorry!"

Yukiho laughed out loud and said, "That's right."

Right after that, she sneezed and made my face all sticky.