In the forest of the deserted island in August, moonlight filtered through the layered canopies and scattered onto the ground, leaving only a few pale columns of light haphazardly distributed across the forest. Where the moonlight could not reach lay an unfathomable darkness. A single glance revealed nothing distinguishable—only an inky blackness smeared across the eyes.
Yet even so, the forest at night exuded a vitality completely different from the daytime.
All manner of small sounds became startlingly clear against the silent backdrop. The distant, then near, hooting of owls. The metallic, high-frequency trill of tree crickets. The murmur of the stream. The waves crashing at the island's edge. All of it blended together, ceaselessly playing in the ear.
In the thick, black forest, a beam of light suddenly shot out, sweeping across the surrounding scenery with a hint of curiosity.
"I didn't really pay attention when I came back with the main group last night." Walking through the forest, Fuyuji Mikage held the flashlight and let its beam linger on a large tree with tangled, twisted roots. Several vines had merged with the wrinkled bark, making it look rather like an old man's face. "Pretty creepy."
Behind him, Yamamura Miki, who had been clutching the corner of his clothes, shivered. Her other hand also grabbed onto his clothes. She silently closed the distance between them, her whole body shrinking behind his back.
"Don't be scared." Fuyuji spoke in a light, teasing tone. "Don't elementary schools organize those kinds of field trips? Just think of it as one of those."
"This kind of primeval forest—no, man-made forest—isn't it pretty much the same as those strange places you wander around on field trips as a kid?"
The beam of light fixed on the ground about two meters ahead. Athletic shoes rustled through the weeds.
"No. I actually never went on those kinds of field trips."
Yamamura shook her head and spoke in a soft, quiet voice.
"In elementary school, the school organized a camping trip. It was basically an event where kids gathered under the teachers' supervision and tried to cook and spend the night together. At first, everything went smoothly. Then, during roll call, the teacher left me behind there. Because there were campsite staff around, they helped me contact my family, and in the end, I got home safely. The teacher apologized to me later too."
"But after that, my family wouldn't let me join those kinds of activities in sparsely populated places. I think they were afraid I'd be left behind again and never make it back. It continued until I grew up a little and could find my own way home. Then they weren't so anxious anymore."
The navy-blue of Yamamura's eyes gradually dimmed.
"Because I never went before, and once I got a bit older, the school never organized those kinds of activities again..."
The forest fell silent for a moment. In the distance, an owl hooted softly.
"It's fine." Fuyuji reached back and comfortingly stroked Yamamura's head. "Actually... I've never been on that kind of field trip either."
"Eh?"
Yamamura raised her head and looked at the faintly glinting tips of Fuyuji's hair in the darkness, puzzled. "Why hasn't Fuyuji-kun been on one either? Normally all elementary schools organize these kinds of activities, don't they?"
"Well..." Fuyuji scratched his cheek and spoke with a touch of embarrassment. "Probably because, compared to organizing those activities, the school preferred to focus on physical training and improving academic ability—striving to grind the competition into dust as early as possible?"
"..."
Yamamura was silent for quite a while before asking, with a hint of curiosity, "I get the feeling that the place Fuyuji-kun went to school before was really impressive. Is that why Fuyuji-kun is so outstanding?"
"Ahaha."
Fuyuji laughed dryly, then lowered his head, his face covered in black lines.
No! In truth, I was the one who got ground into dust!
Over half an hour later.
In a hidden corner of the pitch-black forest, a small, pale hand reached out and placed a key card against the machine's sensor.
"Beep!"
Confirming the occupation success prompt that flashed on the screen, Yamamura raised her hand and wiped the fine sweat from her forehead. After catching her breath slightly, she tugged at Fuyuji's clothes.
"Done. There are only two left now, and then we're finished."
"Don't you need to rest a bit?" Fuyuji looked at Yamamura's flushed little face and glanced up at the full moon visible through the gaps in the leaves. "We still have plenty of time."
Working backwards from the final occupation, with three check-ins per day, even after deducting the travel time between points, they still had several whole hours to spare.
"I'm fine. Let's seize the momentum and finish it." Her navy-blue side ponytail swayed gently with the shake of her head.
"Alright."
Seeing Yamamura's insistence, Fuyuji said nothing more. He turned around, and the beam of light shot forward as they continued toward the remaining base points.
Suddenly.
Fuyuji furrowed his brow and pressed the flashlight switch.
In the next instant, the entire forest plunged into darkness.
"What's—"
Faced with the sudden loss of vision, Yamamura, still clutching his clothes, didn't even have time to voice her question before Fuyuji seized her wrist and quickly pulled her toward a thicket. After a flurry of rustling and snapping, they abruptly crouched down.
"Shh—"
Fuyuji raised a hand in a silencing gesture and spoke in a hushed whisper.
"Ryuen..."
"..."
Yamamura's mind had gone completely blank. The leaves of the thicket brushed gently against her body. A powerful heartbeat echoed in her ears through the thin athletic fabric. The angular line of his jawbone rubbed faintly, elusively, against her head...
She stared blankly at the darkness before her eyes. After a moment, she slowly closed her eyes. Her arms reached out and, bit by bit, wrapped around his waist. Her cheek pressed close to the crook of his neck, burying deep.
Tonight... was time alone...
So, Morishita-san... please let me be just a little greedy.
About a dozen seconds later, a faint sound of footsteps arose in the silent forest. Three figures emerged vaguely from the darkness, not using flashlights, navigating only by the sparse moonlight in the forest. Their eyes quickly locked onto the check-in machine that had just been used.
"Heh~ So there's a base point here too. Those Class A guys are really something. I've wandered around this island who knows how many times these past few days and never found it." Ryuen Kakeru's sneering, teasing voice drifted over.
"Damn it!"
One of the figures kicked at a dry branch on the ground in frustration. "We almost caught them."
"Even if we had caught them, it might have been useless. Class B has been fiercely competing with us for base points these past few days. There's no reason Class A wouldn't know about it. Since they're not at all surprised by this, it proves they've probably adopted the same plan as Ryuen-shi."
The last figure, slightly smaller in build, pushed up his glasses and analyzed calmly.
"Let's go."
The figure whose swagger was recognizable at a glance as Ryuen shoved his hands in his pockets and retraced his steps with his two remaining underlings.
"I originally wanted to get to know which bastard is currently leading Class A—not a single whisper of information about them. But since they want to keep scraping by right under my nose, I suppose I can let them off the hook."
"Huh? Ryuen-san, you're really going to let them go?"
"What else? What if Class A's honor students start crying their eyes out?"
"Good point! Hahaha!"
After a few chuuni laughs, the group was swallowed entirely by the darkness.
The deep forest fell silent once more. Only the chirp of crickets, the crash of waves on the shore, and the calls of unknown birds remained.
"..."
Hidden in the thicket, Fuyuji reached out and gently stroked the girl's hair, his hand moving down the back of her head, bit by bit. It was irresistibly pleasant to the touch, like fine, luxurious silk.
Sorry, Ryuen-boy. Forgive me for not being able to acknowledge you right now. I have my reasons!
Another two minutes passed.
Suddenly, Ryuen's extremely irritated voice rang out in the silent forest. "Tch! So they really did leave? What a waste of effort."
Before long, the rustle of footsteps sounded, growing fainter and fainter until it vanished completely.
Ryu, oh Ryu. I stopped playing these kinds of tricks back in elementary school. You're still too young.
They waited a few more minutes.
Confirming that Ryuen had left, Fuyuji loosened his arms and gently shook Yamamura, who seemed to have fallen asleep.
"Miki. Time to go."
"Okay." Her originally timid voice now sounded a little strange.
Yamamura raised her head and, gripping Fuyuji's collar, tried to stand.
Unexpectedly, halfway up, Yamamura suddenly stumbled. Her body stiffened involuntarily, and then, as if nothing had happened, she continued to hold onto Fuyuji's clothes.
Fuyuji furrowed his brow and immediately sensed something wrong. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Yamamura's body paused. Her left foot subtly retreated half a step as she waved her hands repeatedly.
Fuyuji bent down, turned on the flashlight, and aimed it at Yamamura's left foot.
"Let me see."
"It's really fine. I just got scraped by a branch earlier. I'll just put some medicine on it when we get back."
"Don't move. Let me see."
Fuyuji repeated himself and, without waiting for permission, reached out and lifted the hem of her red athletic pants.
Just above the border between her white socks and ankle, on skin where the blood vessels had been clearly visible beneath the flawless surface, several blood-red scratches had been carved. Tiny specks of red were seeping out. It truly didn't look serious, but it would definitely hurt when putting weight on it while walking.
At that moment, Yamamura also reached out her hand and stroked Fuyuji's prickly hair, speaking as if to comfort him.
"It's fine. It doesn't actually hurt much. And it doesn't affect walking."
"You..."
Fuyuji let out a long sigh. Silently, he bent down and turned his back toward Yamamura.
"Get on. I can manage this short stretch."
"No need. I can do it mysel—"
"Get on!"
Fuyuji's tone hardened just a little.
Yamamura stood frozen in place. She pressed her lips together and spoke with a trace of grievance. "Fuyuji-kun, you can't be so forceful."
Saying such, she reluctantly draped herself over him, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face against his back. She spoke in a muffled voice. "You clearly know I'm not good at refusing people."
His left hand hooked behind her thigh, his palm sinking into the soft muscle. His right arm swept back, the back of his hand brushing past the bend of her knee. Fuyuji slowly stood up.
"With Miki, I have to be a little forceful. If it were Morishita, I could only beg Morishita-sama to get on."
In the pitch-black forest, moonlight spilled onto a pair of overlapping figures. The boy was slightly bent, walking forward at a steady, unhurried pace. The girl's cheek was pressed against his back, as though savoring something.
Yamamura was very light—like an airy, drifting cloud of cotton candy. She was probably the lightest of all the girls Fuyuji knew.
"Fuyuji-kun." Yamamura, who had been silent against his back, suddenly spoke.
"Mm?"
"Why are you so good to me?"
Dry branches snapped and crunched underfoot. Fuyuji lowered his eyes.
"Actually... I don't know either."
"I see..."
After another short stretch, they reached a relatively open clearing. The silver moonlight cast their shadows onto the ground.
Fuyuji had been mulling it over for a long time before he finally spoke.
"In truth... apart from that misdelivered love letter from Ichinose Honami last time, I also received another one. A pale blue envelope. It only had one line written on it, saying that she liked me."
"Fuyuji-kun is so outstanding." The girl on his back didn't seem surprised. She spoke softly. "Isn't it normal for someone to like Fuyuji-kun?"
Fuyuji didn't follow that thread. Instead, he continued on his own.
"After that, I received several more letters in the same kind of envelope. Most of them described my everyday appearance—plain and ordinary, nothing spectacular. I don't know why she would like me."
"Liking someone has no reason." The girl retorted quietly.
"Then... me being good to Miki also has no reason. So Miki just has to accept it."
Yamamura didn't respond. Fuyuji didn't say anything more either. After occupying the remaining two base points, they headed back toward the cave camp.
Moonlight sifted through the gaps in the leaves, blending their shadows into flowing silver flecks that swayed with Fuyuji's steady strides. The drooping tips of Yamamura's hair brushed past the side of his neck. Her breathing rose and fell with his steps, carrying the unique coolness of the forest at night, dissolving into the mingled scents of sweat and breath between his collar.
This quiet atmosphere, belonging solely to the two of them, lasted until they neared the cave entrance.
Outside the cave, Morishita Ai kicked a pebble at her feet and looked toward the end of the moonlit path for the third time.
"Morishita-san, calm down. They'll be back soon. You could just wait in the tent."
Shiraishi Asuka pressed her palms together, her gentle tone tinged with a hint of awkwardness. Kamuro Masumi leaned against the rock wall nearby, watching the two at an impasse with schadenfreude.
"I'll say it again. Morishita-sama is not angry."
Morishita sat fuming on a rock outside the cave, arms folded, her gaze ceaselessly sweeping the surrounding forest. Her expression was cold as she spoke.
"That damned Fuyuji Mikage. To actually not know what's good for him and abandon the opportunity granted by Morishita-sama—"
"..."
Morishita, lying in wait at the cave entrance, and Fuyuji, returning with Yamamura on his back, came face to face.
As their eyes met, cold sweat instantly soaked the back of Fuyuji's shirt.
He forced out a smile. "Y-yo. Nice weather tonight, isn't it, Morishita-sama?"
Morishita rose from the rock. She drew Fuyuji's prized weapon and swung. The blow tore through the air with a sharp whistle. A faint smile crossed her face.
"Fuyuji Mikage~ Shall I take you on a trip to hell with me?"
"I can explain."
Carrying Yamamura on his back, Fuyuji subconsciously retreated two steps. And Yamamura, with the cunning of a fox, had already closed her eyes and chosen the escape of feigned sleep.
"No need for explanations. Scumbag Fuyuji Mikage—take this! The Express Train Straight to Hell!" Morishita stepped forward.
"I surrender!" Fuyuji quickly admitted defeat.
"No surrendering! The word 'surrender' does not exist in Morishita-sama's dictionary!"
"It exists in mine!"
"Not in yours either!"
Under the silver moonlight, in the clearing outside the cave, a tall, overlapping shadow was chased in a desperate, frantic sprint by a small shadow wielding a raised stick—all the way into the forest, until it was impossible to tell whose shadow was whose.
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