And so, amid a chorus of warm cheers and good-natured teasing, Shikime Natsu walked right out of Class B's base camp — and took their leader, Ichinose Honami, along with him.
Sunlight filtered through the dense rainforest canopy, dappling the uneven forest path below with shifting patterns of light and shadow.
Ichinose Honami walked with her hands lightly clasped in front of her, her steps light and careful as she followed just behind Shikime Natsu.
She lifted her gaze, those clear blue eyes of hers resting quietly on the tall, upright silhouette striding ahead of her.
In that moment, the girl's expression held a tangle of emotions.
There was a thread of curiosity about the unknown, a thread of disbelief at what had just transpired — and more than anything else, a flush of embarrassment she couldn't quite hide.
Ichinose Honami genuinely hadn't expected it. That Shikime Natsu would simply walk up to Class B's base camp so openly, so brazenly, and then — right in front of everyone — lead her away as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
What made her heart flutter even more was the fact that her own classmates hadn't breathed a word of protest. Instead, every single one of them had enthusiastically fanned the flames, urging her again and again to set down her work and go with Shikime Natsu, to rest properly for a while.
Rest. And just what kind of rest did they have in mind...?
That feeling of everyone smiling as they watched her go...
It felt, somehow, as though Class B — with great reluctance yet with whole-hearted blessings — was placing her into the hands of another man.
"Mm..."
The moment that rather bold comparison surfaced in her mind, Ichinose Honami felt heat rise unbidden to her cheeks.
A lovely blush spread across her fair skin in an instant.
She hurriedly raised both hands and pressed them lightly against her warm face, trying to forcibly drive those scattered, shameless thoughts from her head.
Ichinose Honami, what on earth are you letting yourself think!
She scolded herself inwardly.
Once she had managed to calm the beating of her heart even a little, Ichinose Honami drew a slow, steady breath and returned her attention to the figure moving calmly ahead of her.
Looking at Shikime Natsu's broad shoulders and unhurried stride, that feeling of safety — unlike anything she'd felt before — wrapped itself around her once again.
If... if she were tired, and could quietly lean against that back... how wonderful that would be.
That embrace, those shoulders — they would surely make anyone feel completely at ease.
The moment that small, treacherous flame flickered to life in her heart, Ichinose Honami immediately shook her head — hard — and scattered the thought before it could take root.
What a shameless thing to be thinking.
Ichinose Honami reminded herself, with a touch of bitterness.
Shikime Natsu already had several lovely girlfriends. She herself was nothing more than an ordinary friend of his — and on top of that, a friend whose embarrassing past he happened to know.
Shikime Natsu didn't hold it against her, but... Ichinose Honami still couldn't help but compare herself, instinctively, to his other girlfriends. That piece of history counted heavily against her.
Up ahead, Shikime Natsu's pace suddenly slowed.
He didn't turn around. He simply spoke, in that mild, quietly amused voice of his.
"Ichinose-san."
"You see — I was right, wasn't I?"
"You have people around you that you can rely on. You don't need to manage everything yourself. Try letting go once in a while — like now. They're perfectly capable of handling things without you."
Hearing those words, a gentle smile curved Ichinose Honami's lips, and she gave a quiet nod.
"Mm."
Ichinose Honami was happy right now — not only because her classmates were so considerate of her, but because Shikime Natsu himself had said something kind about the people she cherished and trusted.
Shikime Natsu tilted his head slightly, glancing back at the girl in his periphery, and continued.
"So, as Class B's leader — Ichinose-san shouldn't keep piling so much pressure onto herself."
His tone carried a quiet, steadying warmth.
"Every now and then, try sharing a little of that weight on your shoulders."
Listening to him, a warm current moved through Ichinose Honami's chest. He was thinking of her.
"Understood, Shiki-san."
She answered softly.
After a brief pause, Shikime Natsu turned around and stopped walking.
He faced Ichinose Honami directly, those pale golden eyes of his studying her with quiet attentiveness.
"Speaking of which..."
"Ichinose-san, how have you been feeling lately? Any better?"
Hearing that question, Ichinose Honami immediately understood what he was asking.
He was asking whether that guilt was still tormenting her.
Ichinose Honami met his gaze without flinching.
The smile on her face grew a little brighter, and she nodded, firmly.
She looked at Shikime Natsu with that expression of hers — full of gratitude — once again.
"It's all thanks to you, Shiki-san."
There was a lightness in Ichinose Honami's voice, the unmistakable ease of someone who had finally set down a burden.
"Ever since that afternoon, when I told you everything I'd been carrying all this time... I feel like a completely different person. So, so much lighter."
She lowered her gaze slightly, watching the fallen leaves at her feet, her voice taking on a quiet, reflective quality.
"Those memories that used to make me feel like I couldn't breathe — when I think of them now, they don't weigh on me the way they used to."
"Because even after learning what kind of person I am, you were still willing to be my friend."
"Truly — thank you so much."
Every word of it was sincere, and Shikime Natsu could see that plainly. It had taken an entire semester, but Ichinose Honami had finally found her way through. He felt, genuinely, relieved.
"I'm glad to hear it. And if something else ever weighs on you, you can come to me anytime."
The two exchanged a small smile, and the heavier topic quietly dissolved.
Shikime Natsu turned back around and led the way once more.
It didn't take long before Shikime Natsu brought Ichinose Honami to the door of his cabin.
The moment that log cabin — nestled in a forest clearing, almost entirely concealed by the surrounding trees — came into view, Ichinose Honami stopped in her tracks.
This was her first time laying eyes on the cabin that had existed, until now, only as a rumour.
Those clear eyes of hers went wide with shock.
The structure was at once intricate and solid, the grain of the raw timber gleaming with a natural lustre in the sunlight. The precision of the joinery was breathtaking.
"This..."
Ichinose Honami stood with her mouth slightly open, staring in a daze at a building that looked nothing like anything a high school student ought to be capable of constructing.
She couldn't help but turn to look at Shikime Natsu, her voice full of disbelief.
"Shiki-san, did... did you really build all of this yourself?"
Shikime Natsu looked at her stunned little expression and gave a light laugh, shaking his head.
"Of course not. Others helped too."
Even so, hearing that modestly phrased answer, Ichinose Honami still couldn't quite bring herself to believe it.
Her gaze swept over the sturdy cabin once more.
A cabin of this quality — even with help.
Even if every single student in Class B had banded together, working in perfect coordination to fell trees and build from scratch — she had no idea how long it would take them to produce something even resembling a frame. And whether it would come out anything like this, this solid and well-built — that was another question entirely.
After all, they were just a group of high school students raised in comfort. Not everyone possessed professional construction knowledge or the practical skills to match.
Having a classmate who could look at the plants in this rainforest and tell, by common sense alone, which wild fruits were safe to eat and which were not — that would already be impressive enough.
Building a house? That was the stuff of fantasy.
"Shiki-san, you really are incredible."
Ichinose Honami couldn't hold back another genuine, heartfelt compliment, her eyes full of admiration.
This time, Shikime Natsu didn't deflect the praise. He accepted it with a smile.
"Come on, let's go inside and take a look."
As the two of them drew closer to the centre of the camp, Ichinose Honami's sharp eyes caught something — just there, in the shade of the trees not far from the cabin's front: a small, beautifully crafted pond, ringed with stones and packed earth.
And when she leaned in to look, out of curiosity—
She was startled to find that the clear water inside held living fish and shrimp, darting about with lively energy.
Noticing where her attention had gone, Shikime Natsu offered an offhand explanation.
"Oh, I finished that pond not too long ago. The fish and shrimp — I just picked them up from the river a little while back and put them in there to keep. They're meant to be our lunch today."
On this resource-starved Deserted Island — a place full of trials and hardship for every first-year student — Shikime Natsu, it seemed, wanted for nothing.
In this desolate stretch of forest, he had a fine, weatherproof house. He had the company of several lovely girlfriends around him.
Food was no concern either. And water — Ichinose Honami's gaze drifted to a large wooden barrel resting beside the cabin door.
It was filled to the brim with water that looked completely clear, free of any impurities. Drinking water, by the look of it.
Shikime Natsu stepped up to the door, pushed it open, and turned to invite Ichinose Honami inside.
"Come in and sit for a bit."
At the invitation, Ichinose Honami nodded.
"Pardon the intrusion."
She murmured it softly, then followed Shikime Natsu's footsteps and slowly stepped inside.
The moment she crossed the threshold, Ichinose Honami felt a flutter of nerves she couldn't quite suppress.
Because this was the place where Shikime Natsu and his girlfriends lived together — spent their nights together.
The moment that thought crossed her mind — what might have happened here, what might be happening here — stepping into a private space like this as an outsider made her feel the warmth creeping back into her cheeks.
But when she had fully stepped inside and looked around, she found the interior of the cabin was, in fact, very simply furnished.
Sparse, even. Practically bare.
Beyond a few neatly folded articles of clothing stacked in a corner, there was nothing but a handful of chairs, plainly assembled from lengths of wood.
There was no large bed of the kind she had, perhaps, half-imagined.
Though, admittedly, a bed wasn't of much practical use here regardless — this was the Deserted Island, and things like blankets and mattresses required class exam points to redeem. Without those, sleeping on a bed was no different from sleeping on the floor.
Shikime Natsu stepped to the side, pulled one of the wooden chairs over, and set it in front of Ichinose Honami.
"Sit."
He gestured for her to rest, then extended an invitation in a perfectly natural tone.
"There's still a little time before lunch. Why don't you stay, Ichinose-san — and have lunch with me."
At that, Ichinose Honami didn't hesitate for long. She smiled, nodded, and accepted.
"Then I'll impose on you a little longer, Shiki-san."
She settled herself obediently into the chair.
Once seated, Ichinose Honami glanced around the quiet interior, then couldn't help but ask.
"Speaking of which... where are Kamuro-san and the others? I don't see them anywhere."
Shikime Natsu took a seat in the other chair and answered without much thought.
"They're over at their respective class base camps right now. They should come by here when it gets closer to lunchtime."
Hearing that, Ichinose Honami quietly let out a long breath of relief inside.
The tension she'd felt from stepping into someone else's private space dissolved considerably.
But at the same time, in the deepest corner of her heart, an irrepressible little thrill bubbled up.
Which meant that... inside this cabin, for the next stretch of time — it would just be the two of them.
That moment of privacy felt, to her, like an unexpected gift.
Though, no sooner had the thrill passed than Ichinose Honami began to worry about something else entirely.
With just the two of them here — what should they talk about?
She tilted her head slightly and began to think it over in earnest.
"Shiki-san."
"This Deserted Island special exam — what kind of strategy is Class A planning to take?"
"Are you thinking of trying to guess which students from the other classes are the key-card leaders?"
At that question, Shikime Natsu leaned back in his chair and shook his head without a moment's hesitation.
"No."
"We have no intention of wasting our energy on something like that."
Having said that, Shikime Natsu turned his gaze back to Ichinose Honami and asked in turn.
"What about Class B?"
The question brought an easy smile to Ichinose Honami's face.
She nodded, and there was a note of relief in her voice as she answered.
"Actually — after our class meeting last night, everyone came to the same conclusion. We decided we weren't going to take the risk of guessing the other classes' leaders either."
"We feel that as long as we play it safe, accumulate points by holding the base camp, and do our best not to lose any for rule violations — that should be more than enough."
After hearing that.
Shikime Natsu gave an approving smile.
"It seems, then, that the strategy our two classes have chosen for this exam is exactly the same."
Hearing him say that, Ichinose Honami's face lit up with a smile of genuine, unguarded happiness.
She really hadn't expected it — that in an exam like this, Class B and Class A could arrive at such a perfectly aligned strategy independently of each other.
That unspoken understanding, that perfect coincidence of thought, made her feel just a little bit closer to Shikime Natsu.
"How wonderful."
Ichinose Honami pressed her hands together in front of her chest and smiled, thinking out loud.
"I hope that this time around, everyone can just avoid attacking one another and see this exam through to the end safely and smoothly."
It was an earnest, simple wish — and at a school like this, it was something of a luxury.
Shikime Natsu looked at her and gave a quiet, agreeable nod.
"Mm."
With the topic of the exam wrapped up, a brief silence settled over the cabin.
Ichinose Honami absently twirled a strand of her strawberry-blonde hair around one finger, her blue eyes resting on Shikime Natsu with a slightly uncertain look.
A moment later, as though gathering her courage, she asked quietly.
"Shiki-san, I wanted to ask you something."
"What... do you plan to do in the future?"
Sensing the question might be too vague, she quickly added.
"I mean — once you graduate from high school and leave here, is there a particular career or goal you've been thinking about?"
The question caught Shikime Natsu slightly off-guard.
Ichinose Honami was asking about something quite far away.
After all, they'd only just finished their first semester. Graduation — and whatever lay beyond it — was still a very, very long way off.
As for the question itself — Shikime Natsu had no intention of giving a concrete answer. After all, with a system at his disposal, whatever he chose to do would present no real obstacle.
"I haven't given the future much thought yet."
After receiving that answer — which wasn't really an answer at all — Ichinose Honami didn't look disappointed in the slightest. If anything, she looked as though a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, visibly exhaling in relief.
The tension in her shoulders eased noticeably. Looking at that unmistakable expression of relief, Shikime Natsu spoke again.
"Is it the same for Ichinose-san?"
He had read her perfectly with that.
Ichinose Honami gave a slightly sheepish little nod.
In those usually bright blue eyes, a flicker of uncertainty and hesitation had appeared.
Shikime Natsu naturally understood the reason behind her hesitation.
The reason she didn't dare think about the future — didn't dare plan what lay beyond graduation — came down, largely, to her family's lack of means, and the shadow of inferiority cast by that piece of her past.
Even if bringing up that incident no longer affected Ichinose Honami the way it once had — she still hadn't made peace with her mother and her younger sister.
That was a wall she hadn't yet crossed.
"Ichinose-san, if you're not sure where to look — try going back to the reason you picked yourself up and enrolled here in the first place. That's enough."
"Let that original goal lead the way for now. As for the future — by the time you reach that point, the answer will come to you naturally."
Hearing those words, Ichinose Honami went still for a moment — and then memories came rushing in like a tide.
"Mm!"
"Thank you, Shiki-san."
She thanked him with heartfelt sincerity, once again.
"Shiki-san, you always seem to find exactly the right words when I'm lost — words that put me at ease and give me strength."
But even as she said it, the smile at the corner of Ichinose Honami's lips softened just a little.
She lowered her head slightly, her voice carrying a trace of wistfulness.
"It's just..."
"Whenever I'm with you, Shiki-san, I always feel like... I'm the one being helped. Every time."
Shikime Natsu waved a hand carelessly, cutting off her self-reproach.
"Don't worry about those kinds of trivial details."
He smiled.
"Among friends, who keeps score of who helped whom a little more?"
Hearing Shikime Natsu's easy, open-handed response, the small knot in Ichinose Honami's heart came undone entirely.
She smiled again, bright and unguarded, and gave a gentle nod.
Those blue eyes of hers drifted back to rest on Shikime Natsu, as if drawn there without her permission.
She realised that even just sitting quietly beside him, she felt at peace.
Noticing that enough time had passed, Shikime Natsu rose from his chair and turned his attention to the ingredients waiting for them.
"Time to get lunch started."
The moment she heard that, Ichinose Honami immediately rose from her own chair as well.
"Let me help."
She said it as she followed Shikime Natsu's lead toward the cabin door.
"Shiki-san, is there anything I can help with?"
The phrasing she chose was not whether there was anything to be done — but what she herself could do. A small distinction, but it shifted the flavour of the question entirely.
And it was precisely at that moment that a figure came jogging down the path without any warning — it was Morishita Ai, and trailing just behind her, somewhat hesitant and shrinking, was Yamamura Miki.
Morishita Ai's violet eyes went slightly wide as her gaze landed on Shikime Natsu and Ichinose Honami.
Just a few hours ago, this guy — Shikime Natsu — had done those bad, bad things to her. And yet, barely any time had passed at all, and here he was, already with another new girl. Outrageous. Absolutely outrageous. What a scoundrel!
If it had been Kamuro Masumi or one of Shikime Natsu's other girlfriends, Morishita Ai wouldn't have had much to say. But the person standing right in front of her was Ichinose Honami — and Morishita Ai was absolutely certain that she was not Shikime Natsu's girlfriend.
That infuriating Shikime Natsu — after everything he'd done with Morishita Ai, he was already making moves on another girl!
____
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