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

Once the weather began to worsen, it happened in an instant. It grew into heavy rain and a fierce storm. We were once again assaulted by a storm like the one we had experienced on the island.

“We’re in trouble! We’re in trouble, Masato-kun!”

“Let’s paddle together!”

I put my phone in my pocket and joined in.

“One, two! One, two!”

We synchronized our voices and paddled.

“It was sunny just a moment ago, why is this happening?”

“The sea’s weather changes quickly!”

“But this is way too sudden!”

“I agree!”

Large raindrops pelted us, and a strong wind whipped the waves.

The waves were so rough that we weren’t making any progress. Well, maybe we were making some progress, but it certainly didn’t feel like it.

“Whoa!”

Iori looked like she was about to be thrown off the raft. I quickly reached out and grabbed her clothes.

“Thank you, Masato-kun!”

“Don’t paddle too close to the edge! It’s harder to paddle, but it gives you more stability!”

“Got it!”

We paddled with all our might, ignoring the raft’s swaying from side to side.

“By the way, what were you trying to say earlier?” Iori asked.

“What do you mean?” I responded.

“Something about a groundbreaking something!”

“Oh, that. I realized that even in the darkness, we can go straight using the compass app!”

“But isn’t that app broken?”

“The display is, yes! But the compass functionality is still intact!”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll skip the technical details, but if we start the app while knowing our correct direction, we can use it to correct our course!”

“That’s amazing!

“But in this weather, it’s a problem even before the darkness!”

The wind direction was unstable. It would shift from tailwind to headwind in a chaotic manner. Because of this, waves were crashing at us from all directions, making it quite annoying.

“What are we going to do?” I exclaimed.

“Curse you, weather gods!” Iori yelled.

Surprisingly, our shouts seemed to have reached the heavens.

“Huh?” Suddenly, the rain stopped.

The wind became calm, and the clouds started to thin out.

“Wow! It’s amazing! When we yelled, the clear sky returned!” I exclaimed.

“Thank you, weather gods!” Iori sighed in relief, taking a seat.

“You can rest. I’ll keep paddling,” I offered.

“Sorry, please! I need a little break,” she replied, handing me a water bottle. The cap was open, ready to drink from.

“Thanks.” I gulped down the water and tossed the bottle into the sea.

—

Afterward, we enjoyed a comfortable journey for a while. In the scorching heat, we took turns paddling every 30 minutes.

“It’s fortunate that we didn’t lose our belongings in that storm earlier,” I commented as I rested under the roof, munching on some dried fruits.

I put one in my mouth without checking, and it seemed to be a banana. Its unique flavor spread in my mouth.

“It’s all thanks to the roof,” Iori said.

“Absolutely. I never thought it would come in handy like this,” I agreed. The roof had turned into a wall, preventing the pottery from falling. What was initially made for shade unexpectedly ended up being a lifesaver.

“How far do you think we’ve come by now?” Iori asked.

“Probably around 15 kilometers,” I replied.

“Only that much? We’ve been out at sea for over 6 hours!”

“Well, we were stuck in that storm for over an hour. It depends on how much progress we made during that time, but if we didn’t move at all, I think 15 kilometers is a lot,” I explained.

“I get it when you put it that way.”

“Alright, it’s time to switch. Don’t be stingy with the water,” I said.

“Of course!”

I stood up and touched hands with Iori. Before paddling, I took out my phone from my pocket and checked.

“We’re still out of range,” I said, attempting to hand the phone to Iori.

However, she shook her head. “You keep it, Masato-kun!”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah! My skirt doesn’t have pockets, and if I put it in my chest pocket, it might fall out when I lie down!”

“In that case…”

I tucked the phone into my pants’ pocket.

“We’ll do our best to reach our destination by tomorrow morning!” I declared.

“Yeah!”

As the expected arrival time steadily extended, we continued paddling without giving up.

“The situation is tough… but it’s not time to give up yet!” I thought to myself.

The waves were calm, the wind barely noticeable on our skin. We had enough supplies. We were going to be okay.

And we had hope in the form of our smartphones. Even if we didn’t reach land, we should eventually get a signal on our way. Once that happened, we could make a rescue call.

(We don’t have to reach the goal. If we get a signal, we’ll be saved!)

In the midst of impending despair, we clung to this faint hope, like holding onto a lifeline named fate.

“Life like this ain’t half bad!” I couldn’t help but shout.

“Why are you suddenly yelling? You sound just like me!” Iori retorted.

“I’m having an experience that could lead to a great adventure story with an amazing girl! When I think about it that way, our current situation doesn’t seem that bad!” I explained.

Iori’s laughter, a hearty “ahaha,” reached my ears.

“We’re almost at the goal. Look forward to it, Iori!”

“Over 12 hours away isn’t ‘almost’!” she teased.

“Don’t sweat the small stuff!” I shouted back, giving myself a pep talk, and then paddled vigorously, yelling, “Woooohooo!”

It seemed to increase our speed slightly. However… “Hey, you’ve got to be kidding…”

“Why does this keep happening?”

Once again, the rain started pouring down, just like before. In an instant, it turned into a heavy downpour, and the wind grew stronger.

“It’s raining, stopping, giving us hope, and then taking it away again! This is ridiculous!” I exclaimed.

“Yeah, that’s right!” Iori joined in, and both of us paddled. However, this time, we had to stop paddling almost immediately.

“It’s impossible! Hold onto the raft!” I shouted.

“Okay!”

The rain and wind were stronger than before. We couldn’t stand up anymore. We both lay down, grabbing the back end of the raft with one hand while using our opposite hand and legs to secure the pottery.

“We’re okay on the sides thanks to the roof, but the front and back are open. We need to protect the pottery!” I explained.

“Got it!”

As the boat rocked violently in the storm, we held on for dear life, praying that the tempest would pass quickly.

“Ah!” I heard Iori scream.

“What’s wrong!?” I asked.

“Masato-kun, the dried fruits!”

One of the pottery containers filled with dried fruits had been tossed into the sea.

“Don’t worry! There’s nothing we can do about it!”

“Sorry! We lost one of the paddles too!”

“It’s okay! It’s a good thing we had spares!” I reassured her.

Due to the waves, the raft’s angle had risen. What should have been a horizontal raft was now nearly vertical.

“Ughhh…”

We somehow endured until the waves calmed down. The storm continued, but the raft was back to being horizontal. It was a brief respite.

“Let’s hydrate now while we can!” I suggested.

We emptied one water bottle each. Water was the source of life, and we couldn’t afford to run out.

“We lost half of the pottery,” Iori murmured.

Indeed, there were originally 10 pottery containers, and now we only had 5 left.

“But most of it is dried fruit. We managed to protect the precious drinking water,” I reassured her.

In a situation like this, water bottles were more valuable than food. You could go without eating for a few days, but you couldn’t afford to go a day without water, especially in this scorching summer heat.

“By the way, this raft is incredibly durable, isn’t it? It’s survived these waves without breaking,” Iori remarked, pushing the pottery closer to the center.

“I guess tying it tightly with vines and nailing boards onto it paid off,” I added.

In the midst of the storm, we found a moment of respite.

“We should either paddle while sitting down or not paddle at all. It’s too dangerous to stand up,” Iori suggested.

“Let’s go with that!” I agreed.

However, we never got the chance to paddle while sitting down.

“We’re in trouble, Iori!” I suddenly exclaimed, pointing behind us.

“Huh?” Iori turned to look.

“Wait…” Iori was left speechless, and I felt the same way.

A colossal wave, like a skyscraper, was rapidly approaching us.

“We need to get away quickly!”

“It’s impossible!”

I released the paddle and pushed Iori’s back, forcing her to lie down.

“It’s coming! Brace for impact!”

In the next moment, the towering wave swallowed us whole, and the raft that we had just praised for its durability broke into pieces in an instant.

—-
I might be able to finish this today~