Stranded on a Deserted Island with the School’s Number One Beauty, So I’ll Give It My Best Shot.

Amidst the mid-July heatwave that felt as though it could kill, I, Masato Ichinose, was on a boat. I was there unwillingly, not out of some desire to seize the moment before my third year of high school and the impending entrance exams. It was all due to a mandatory school event.

As a result, all my classmates were onboard the same boat, against my wishes. Even though I had hoped to quietly enjoy the sea breeze, loud laughter echoed from all directions.

(How are they so energetic in this scorching heat?)

Amazed by the seemingly boundless energy of my peers, I attempted to head inside the ship to cool off. Just then, the boat started to shake with a rumble.

An earthquake—or no, a seismic disturbance in the sea.

“Screams echoed, ‘Kyaaaaa!'”

Laughter on the deck turned into screams of terror. The violent shaking tossed several students into the sea, and among them—

“Ichinose!”

—I was included.

The teacher was shouting desperately, but it was futile.

(Damn, whether it’s the seaquake or something else, I can’t move as I want to…)

My body was swallowed by the sea.

Resistance proved utterly pointless.

◇

Miraculously, I had survived.

My consciousness awakened rapidly.

“Where is this…?”

The glaring sunlight stabbed at my face, causing discomfort.

The sensation of sand clinging to my hair, neck, and back was utterly unpleasant.

“A sandy beach…?”

I found myself on some seaside location.

A beautiful sea stretched out in front of me, one that seemed unlike Japan.

Terrifyingly overgrown weeds were behind me.

“There’s not a single man-made object around here… Ah!”

Looking around, I made a discovery.

A girl lay collapsed several dozen meters ahead.

She was also dressed in a uniform, just like me.

“Are you okay?”

I hurriedly rushed over to the girl.

Walking was difficult with my loafers soaked and squelching from seawater.

“Ughhh…”

Thankfully, the girl was still alive.

She had medium-length chestnut hair, and the hair above her ears was tied up with a cute ribbon.

It was Iori Nikaido from Class 2-2, known as the school’s top beauty. She exuded such an adorable charm that I couldn’t help but be captivated.

“Ni..Nikaido, hey, are you okay?”

I turned her body to the side and rubbed her back as I asked.

“Blerghhh!”

The girl spat out a large amount of seawater.

It seemed to be the signal for her to wake up.

“Oh, Ichinose-kun.”

“Good, you seem fine.”

I offered her a hand to help her stand.

“What in the world is happening?”

Io wiped off the sand clinging to her skirt and shirt as she spoke.

“I’m not sure, but it seems like we’ve drifted to some island or another.”

“Right, we were suddenly thrown off the boat when it started shaking.”

She pressed her head as if feeling pain.

“Got a headache?”

“I’m fine. Probably just got water in my ears.”

“I see.”

I surveyed the surroundings once again.

No sign of the ship or any other students.

“There’s no point staying here. Let’s explore the area for now.”

“Okay, understood.”

We walked a short distance from the water’s edge.

*Achoo!*

Shortly after we started walking, Iori sneezed.

Her uniform must have been chilled by the water.

Mine was in the same state.

“You might want to take off your clothes.”

“Huh?”

“Wet clothes steal body heat and can lead to colds. It might be embarrassing, but until your clothes dry, wearing only underwear might be better.”

“But being seen in my underwear by a boy…”

“Then let’s walk in a single line. I’ll go ahead, and you can follow from behind. That way, you won’t be seen in your underwear, right?”

Io hesitated for a moment before nodding.

“Let’s do that. Sorry and thank you.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not just for your sake—I’ll benefit too.”

Though I had suggested it myself, I still felt like it would be hard to maintain my composure if I had been walking next to her.

“Huh?”

“It’s nothing. It’s summer, and our clothes will dry quickly. Let’s endure for an hour or so.”

“Endure?”

“Yeah!”

“Uh-huh, endure!”

“Heh?”

“Haha, I kind of ended up using a strange tone at the end there.”

(She’s cute…!)

So, we walked in a single line, wearing only our underwear.

“Still, there’s nothing here.”

We walked for about ten minutes, but there was no significant change in sight.

“We’ve been walking for a while now. Is it really okay for us to keep going like this?”

“I was thinking the same thing. Given the circumstances, this is probably some deserted island, and there might not be any cell signal—”

“—Ah!”

Suddenly, we remembered our smartphones.

We both frantically reached into our uniform pockets.

However, neither of us had our phones.

“Even though we forgot about them until now, not having our phones is tough.”

“Yeah… What should we do?”

“It might be dangerous, but let’s try heading towards the interior of the island. There’s no shade on the beach, and being exposed to the sun like this could lead to heatstroke or sunstroke.”

“I agree!”

Summoning our courage, we stepped into the overgrown vegetation.

It was hard to walk through the knee-high grass, and we couldn’t see our feet.

“Seems like there aren’t any animals or insects around here.”

“Now that you mention it, there really aren’t…”

“Well, it’s a relief that there are no insects at least.”

We pushed through the thicket and entered the forest.

The danger level seemed to be increasing, but we had no choice but to press on.

“It’s about time to put our clothes back on.”

“Yeah! Ichinose-kun, you’ve never seen me in my underwear, right?”

“Haha, well, I am a gentleman!”

I put on my shirt’s buttons and ventured into the woods.

“It’s so peaceful here. None of these animals are fighting each other!”

“Maybe it’s because they’re not struggling to find food.”

We passed through the difficult thicket and entered the woods.

“There are all sorts of creatures around here.”

“Yeah! There are lots of monkeys!”

Monkeys were visible on the trees around us.

I couldn’t identify the species, as I wasn’t an expert.

“There are various other animals too.”

Squirrels and other arboreal creatures seemed to be living here.

There were small holes that seemed like nests near the base of some trees.

It appeared that a variety of animals were coexisting here.

“It’s quite peaceful. None of the animals are fighting each other!”

“They probably have enough to eat.”

We continued deeper into the forest while eating an apple each.

“So, we don’t need to worry about starving to death, but if we keep wandering without any clues…”

Just as I was talking, we stumbled upon a clue.

We pointed at it and exclaimed together.

“A cabin!”