CH 3

Arc-1 Chapter-3: What is Survival?

￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣

Compared to modern cold medicines, kudzu-yu is not very effective.

Not to mention, instead of getting better, Yukiho's cold got worse.

"Gah, gah, gah. My cough is awful, and my nose is runny too... I'm sorry..."

Yukiho is lying on the sembei futon with a painful look on her face.

"You don't have to apologize."

I stroked her head gently.

She looks anxious, so I gave her hand a squeeze.

It was an act that could get me burned at the stake if her fans saw this.

"Why does it get worse after taking kudzu-yu...?"

"You can't think like that."

"Eh."

"You should think that the kuzu-yu kept me from getting worse than this."

"You're a positive person, aren't you?"

"That's the correct view, and more importantly, it's the only way to honor our efforts."

"That's true too!"

Yukiho laughed and then turned and coughed into the futon.

While the frequency of sneezing has decreased, the coughing has intensified.

I'm worried that she might have pneumonia.

"I guess you don't need to be told what to do, so just stay down."

"Yes. Are you leaving again, Daikichi-kun?"

"No, I'm going to make some porridge out of rice for Yukiho-san."

"You have rice?"

"Grandpa gave me some for emergency rations. Don't worry, unlike cold medicine, this stuff doesn't expire."

"Haha, that's good to know, gah, gah."

I went to the earthen floor and used the cooking stove to cook rice.

Yukiho watched the whole thing from the bedroom.

The living room is located between the dirt floor and the sleeping room, so it would be hard to see.

The sunken hearth in the living room was a nice distraction.

"Daikichi-kun, thank you for everything you've done for me."

I turned around and smiled.

"You've finally grown up."

"What do you mean, 'grown up'?"

"You said 'thank you' instead of 'sorry'."

"Ah..."

"I'm tired of hearing, 'I'm sorry.'"

"Haha, sorry."

"You don't have to apologize."

"I know, but I feel bad about it."

"This is your chance to practice saying, 'Thank you.' instead."

"Yes!"

Yukiho smiled, and said, "Thank you."

◊◊◊

Since there was only one futon, I decided to sleep on the floor.

As a healthy high school boy, I indulged in sexual fantasies at night.

In my brain, I enjoyed this and that, but in reality, I had neither this nor that.

It seems that my rational mind is quite strong.

Then, the next day--

In the morning, I was awakened by a sound coming from outside.

Zsa zsa zsa, it's getting really annoying.

It's supposed to be heavy rain sound... but I lack knowledge in sound to text.

It's raining.

And it is raining hard.

"This is bad, Yukiho-san, looks like you'll have to stay here with me today again."

On a rainy day, there is usually no smoke signals.

That's why Grandpa won't check for it.

"That's a shame, but also glad."

Yukiho had changed into her own clothes.

The hearth had dried them out.

"Why are you glad?"

"Because, I can talk with Daikichi-kun more."

I'm thrilled to hear an idol say something like that.

I was so embarrassed that I started to wipe my mouth with the palm of my hand.

照れくさいあまり手のひらで口を拭いてしまった。

"Wh, why, do you want to talk to me more?"

My voice rose.

"I couldn't talk to you at all yesterday because I wasn't feeling well, and I thought it would be interesting to talk to a boy my age who lived alone on a deserted island for two weeks. Besides, the only way I can thank you is to talk to you."

"How can a conversation be a thank you?"

"Because, you know, I'm an idol! We shake hands and stuff!"

"That does make sense..."

Yukiho is feeling much better.

I can't be too careful since she's been sick, but this is fine.

The kudzu-yu seemed to have helped.

"So tell me about yourself, Daikichi-kun! Do you have a girlfriend?"

"That's a good question. Actually, I was cheated on and then dumped."

"Oh, sorry, I asked the wrong question..."

"Yes, Yukiho-san lost!"

"Eh?"

"You apologized, so you lost."

"How long have we been playing this!?"

"From now on. If you apologize when you don't need to apologize, you lose. Next time you lose, you get a pin."

"Uuuuuuu.....! It's not fair to play a game where I'm the only one who loses....!"

"If you don't lose until the end, I'll make you a delicious meal."

"Then I'll do my best! Yesterday's porridge was really good, too!"

"You're a real cash cow, aren't you? By the way, there's nothing wrong with the ex-girlfriend thing, so if you want to know anything, go ahead and ask."

"All right! Then I'm going to ask you a lot of questions!"

That day, I just enjoyed talking with her all the more.

◊◊◊

The next day, August 19th.

It was a sunny day, but something surprising happened.

"Whoa, wait, are you serious?"

"Yeah, I'm serious. So can I?"

"I don't mind."

"In that case, I hope we'll have a great time today!"

Yukiho told me that she didn't want to leave.

To be precise, she wanted to experience the life of survival.

She liked that this wasn't a tough game of survival.

"There are shows on TV about exploring uninhabited islands, and if they do well, they can get a stable viewership rating. As a person who wants to survive in the entertainment industry, I thought it would be great if I could enter such programs."

"I think that's a noble gesture, but is there any trauma involved?"

"What trauma?"

"Because you washed up on this island in a filming accident, didn't you?"

She had an accident while trying to film a program about deserted islands.

Apparently, the ship they were traveling on had been capsized.

"Yeah, but it was a traveling accident, so it's not a problem."

"That's true..."

"All right! First of all, teach me how to make a fire!"

"Got it. Let me take out my lighter."

"No!"

We had become friends and could joke around.

◊◊◊

August 19 ended without any problems, and it was our last day.

After eating grilled sweetfish we had caught ourselves, we headed to the beach.

My grandfather's old fishing boat was approaching us.

"Oh, yesterday was so interesting!　You're amazing, Daikichi-kun!"

"Is that so?"

"You can make your own fishing rods, dried meat, anything you want!"

"I'm glad you're satisfied."

Grandpa's boat arrives.

"Oh, Daikichi is...?"

Grandpa's eyes fluttered when he saw Yukiho.

"I'm sorry, Daikichi, but my eyes seem to have gone crazy. It looks like there's a very pretty lady standing beside you."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Yukiho Takamine."

Yukiho takes a bow.

"Wheeheehee! It's a ghost! Daikichi, there's a ghost! Grandpa, can hear the ghost's voice! This is not good, Daikichi!"

"Grandpa, she's not a ghost. And you're eyes haven't gone crazy. She's a real, genuine human being."

"What the-!?"

"Let's just get on the boat. Then we'll talk."

The three of us boarded the boat and headed for the mainland.

"--Yeah, that's about it."

I explained about Yukiho in a nutshell.

Of course, I don't want to mention that she is an Idol.

"It's your destiny! Did you say you're Yukiho? You should marry my Daikichi! Despite his appearance, he's a rather nice guy."

Grandpa was very excited.

Yukiho said, "Yes. I understand!" with a big smile.

"Grandpa, please don't take her seriously. She's only trying to make it sound good, alright?"

"I know what I'm doing!"

When the conversation calmed down, the signal on my phone was back.

I also used a mobile battery to recharge the phone.

"You can use this to contact someone."

"Thank you for everything."

Yukiho is flipping through my phone to contact her agency.

The person she contacted was not the fire department or her family, but the agency she belonged to.

The sight of her makes me realize that she is a celebrity.

"Thank you, Daikichi-kun. Let me repay you once I get settled in."

"I can't possibly get in touch with you on the mainland. Besides, how are you going to get in touch with me?"

"You can reach me through your phone. I've registered my contact information on it."

"Really?"

When I checked my phone, I saw that Yukiho's information was indeed registered.

The phone number, email address, and even her LINE.

"Please don't share it with anyone else. That's my private contact information."

"I wouldn't give out your contact information even if it wasn't private. I have good manners."

"I knew Daikichi-kun would say that."

Soon after, the boat arrived at the mainland.

A group of people, probably arranged by Yukiho's agency, were waiting for us at the pier.

"Thank you, Daikichi-kun. I'll never forget what you did on the island."

"I've also enjoyed it."

Yukiho left in a van with black tinted windows.

My grandpa and I were handed a large sum of money from an intimidating black suit with words of thanks.

"Please don't speak to anyone about this. Absolutely no one."

The black suit was emphasizing "Absolutely" a lot.

My grandpa and I both shrunk as we felt like we would be killed if we said anything else.