"Between me and Nishikawa-san — if we're being honest — this was really only our first proper conversation."
Facing Shiraishi Asuka's gaze — curious, though not conspicuously so — Natsu's hands never stopped moving. He continued preparing the fish with practiced ease, answering her with a small smile.
"It wasn't as good as you might be imagining, Shiraishi-san. But then again... it wasn't bad, either."
"As for the clothes-swapping thing you mentioned earlier..."
Natsu paused for just a moment, his tone carrying no particular weight.
"That was simply because Nishikawa-san didn't want to hold Class A back."
"The walk from that river back to Base Camp is a good ten-plus minutes. If she'd had to make it in soaking-wet clothes with the wind blowing on her the whole way — even with the temperature being what it is right now — catching a cold would've been a real risk."
"And once you're sick, in order not to compromise your condition for the rest of the exam, you'd very likely have to return to the cruise ship to recover — effectively withdrawing from the exam and costing the class points."
Natsu glanced over at Asuka beside him, a faint smile touching his lips.
"Nishikawa-san has a strong sense of teamwork. She didn't want to be a burden on the class — so she agreed to swap with me. That's all there is to it."
Presented with that perfectly sensible explanation, Shiraishi Asuka gave a small nod.
Those soft violet eyes flickered for a moment — she seemed to accept his account.
With that explanation, Natsu had neatly dismissed every slightly suggestive theory she'd been entertaining. The theories, yes — dismissed. But the action itself... that was harder to wave away.
No direct skin contact, true. And yet — they had still exchanged clothes. That was the sort of thing that simply couldn't happen between two people with zero feelings involved.
It was genuinely difficult to imagine two people who'd never properly spoken before being able to pull that off. Then again... maybe it was just Shiki-san's charm working at full blast, as usual.
"I see."
Shiraishi Asuka said softly, that composed smile still resting at the corners of her lips.
"It seems I was overthinking things."
Natsu smiled slightly, set the last finished fish onto the leaf beside him, then turned those light-golden eyes toward Asuka.
"Since I've answered your question, I think it's only fair that I get to ask one of my own now, don't you?"
Shiraishi Asuka blinked, mildly surprised — then nodded and gestured graciously.
"Please, go ahead."
Natsu looked at her, a note of playful curiosity in his voice.
"Shiraishi-san... you seem quite invested in knowing whether Nishikawa-san and I get along."
"If you were just an ordinary classmate, you probably wouldn't go out of your way to ask something like that — especially when it's just the two of us."
"I'm a little curious. What's behind it?"
Asuka didn't look flustered in the slightest.
She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear — the gesture unhurried, naturally elegant — then gave a soft laugh and explained.
"The reason is actually quite simple."
"In all the time I can remember, I've never once seen Shiki-san and Nishikawa-san talk. They barely even made eye contact."
"And yet the moment we set foot on this uninhabited island, Shiki-san suddenly seemed to become... close with Nishikawa-san. Familiar, even. Like you two had always gotten along."
She paused there, something unreadable drifting through those violet eyes.
"And besides... when I've observed things back in class, I've noticed that Nishikawa-san is actually quite similar to me."
"More often than not, she tends to be on her own — keeping to herself, the same way I do."
Hearing that, Natsu felt he understood.
Ah — so it was a sense of recognition. Like seeing a kindred spirit.
And yet...
Natsu gave a quiet, inward shake of his head.
Yes, both of them were the type who drifted outside of the class's social clusters, moving through the world largely on their own. That much was true.
But the two of them were cut from completely different cloth.
Nishikawa Ryouko's version of being "on her own" came down to her sharp little tongue and her slightly wicked personality. She had a gift for saying exactly the thing guaranteed to make people squirm — she liked to tease, liked to prod, and she genuinely enjoyed watching others go red with embarrassment or stumble over themselves. That kind of mischievous, provocative energy naturally kept ordinary people at a comfortable distance.
But the girl standing beside him now — Shiraishi Asuka...
Natsu looked at her. Quiet, refined, carrying that quality of stillness that felt almost otherworldly.
Hers was an entirely different kind of solitude. When she wasn't speaking, she was like a finely crafted porcelain figure — something people couldn't help but want to approach, yet somehow couldn't quite bring themselves to disturb, held back by the mystery she seemed to radiate without effort.
At their core, those two ways of being alone were worlds apart.
"I see."
A smile played at Natsu's lips. He looked at Asuka, and something clicked.
"So then, Shiraishi-san — the reason you've been keeping such a close eye on Nishikawa-san's movements..."
"Could it be that you're thinking of making a friend?"
This tied back to a topic they'd left open from their last conversation. Back in May, during that chance encounter, Natsu had said something to Shiraishi Asuka.
"If you ever want to make a friend, Shiraishi-san, just say the word."
And yet, all that time had gone by, and she'd never come to him. She'd remained exactly the same in class — that quiet, enigmatic distance intact, drifting through each day on her own, seemingly content in her solitude.
But today, she'd approached him first. She'd initiated conversation. And she'd shown what could only be described as genuine curiosity.
That was quite remarkable, coming from her.
Asuka didn't deny it.
She glanced down at her own pale hands and said softly:
"Fufu... maybe so."
"Maybe" — vague, noncommittal. Neither a yes nor a no.
That sort of ambiguous answer was, admittedly, perfectly in character for Shiraishi Asuka. She was exactly the kind of girl who defied easy reads — no matter the moment, a thin veil of mist always seemed to hang about her, obscuring the view, leaving her true thoughts somewhere just out of reach.
She was the keeper of quite a few little secrets.
Natsu had been expecting the topic to quietly die there.
But then Asuka lifted her head. Those violet eyes met his — direct, unblinking — and a warm, gentle smile spread across her face.
"But..."
"If I were ever to go looking for a friend... the first one I'd want would still be you, Shiki-san."
As a topic, it was nothing more than ordinary friend-talk.
And yet — coming from Shiraishi Asuka's lips, paired with that soft voice and that focused, unwavering gaze — the words took on a faint, almost inexplicable warmth that felt like more than just friendship.
As though what she was saying wasn't simply "friend" — but something closer. Something more intimate.
That line — "if I'm choosing a first friend, it would be you" — sounded, for all the world, like she was saying: "If I were ever to choose a boyfriend, it would be Shikime Natsu."
Natsu looked at her, and couldn't help raising an eyebrow.
"Is that so?"
He smiled — unfazed, unruffled, the faint ambiguity doing nothing to throw him off balance. He met it head-on.
"Being chosen as Shiraishi-san's top candidate for a first friend — well, that really is an honor."
"So then..."
The smile on Asuka's face deepened. She tilted her head slightly, and the beauty mark beneath her eye looked somehow mischievous.
"Would Shiki-san... be willing to be my friend?"
"Of course."
Natsu answered without a moment's hesitation.
He wasn't entirely sure why she'd gone from "maybe" and "if" one breath to lobbing a direct, no-nonsense request the next — but regardless, things were moving in a good direction.
Having a friend as sharp, easy on the eyes, and genuinely interesting as Shiraishi Asuka? There wasn't a single reason to say no.
"Wonderful."
A confirmed answer — and she looked genuinely pleased. Asuka gave a small, light clap of her hands, then leaned in just slightly closer, lowering her voice to something conspiratorial.
"Now that Shiki-san and I are officially friends..."
"Let me share one more little secret of mine with you."
Natsu gave a nod.
"I'm all ears."
He was genuinely curious — just what kind of secret was this perpetually mysterious girl hiding?
Asuka glanced around, making sure no one was within earshot. Then, satisfied, she turned back to him with a quiet, unhurried smile — deep, warm, and just a little enigmatic — and began to speak, her voice low enough for only the two of them to hear.
"The truth is..."
"My mission at this school is simply to be an ordinary high school student — nothing more, nothing less — and spend my three years here doing exactly that."
"..."
Natsu stared at her for a moment — then couldn't stop himself from laughing.
That was a secret?
Wasn't that exactly what the vast majority of students at this school were already doing?
And yet...
He looked into those violet eyes of hers, and he knew — those words were nowhere near as simple as they sounded on the surface.
"Mission."
A mission given by whom?
And why the deliberate emphasis on being "ordinary"?
Whatever lay beneath that, only Shiraishi Asuka herself truly knew.
"Interesting."
Natsu filed that away quietly in the back of his mind.
If she wanted to play riddles with him, he was more than happy to play along.
"Since Shiraishi-san has been so generous as to share a secret with me..."
As he spoke, Natsu finished the last fish, wiped his hands clean, and turned to face her.
"Then, in the spirit of reciprocity — allow me to share a secret of my own."
Asuka's eyes brightened just slightly.
She leaned forward, interest plain on her face, tilting into an attentive listening posture.
"Oh? Then I'm all ears as well."
"Just what is Shiki-san's little secret...?"
Could it be — that Shiki-san had also been placed here by "someone" or "some faction," just like her?
Watching that expectant expression on her face, Natsu let the corner of his mouth curl up in a playful smile.
He mimicked her earlier delivery, lowering his voice in exactly the same way.
"Well, actually..."
"My mission is also simply to be an ordinary high school student at this school — and then... graduate from it."
And then he put on a look of exaggerated, wide-eyed surprise and said:
"Well, how about that — turns out our missions are exactly the same."
"What a coincidence... it must be fate."
Hearing her own words handed back to her, note for note, without a single alteration — Shiraishi Asuka couldn't hold back a laugh.
"Fufu..."
She covered her mouth, shoulders trembling with quiet laughter, those violet eyes curved into perfect crescents as she looked at him, bright with amusement.
"Shiki-san, you really are..."
She stifled her laughter and looked at him, smiling as she turned the question around.
"Are you saying you don't believe my mission?"
"Of course not."
Natsu shook his head, all sincerity.
"I believe you completely."
"After all, Shiraishi-san is my friend now — and between friends, trust is only natural."
Then he turned it back on her.
"What about you, Shiraishi-san? Surely you believe my mission too?"
Asuka nodded, that same warm, faintly cryptic smile in place.
"Naturally."
"After all, Shiki-san is my friend as well."
She paused there — then added, with quiet significance:
"And what a funny coincidence it is."
"Because Shiki-san's mission is to graduate from this school — and that part is true."
"You could even say that every student here shares essentially the same mission, in that sense."
"But... if we were to single out just the two of us and look at our missions side by side — that would make things rather... special, wouldn't it?"
They held each other's gaze, and a quiet understanding passed between them — unspoken, yet perfectly clear.
The conversation had the quality of an elaborate game of charades — and yet, somehow, also of two people who already understood each other implicitly. That duality made the air between them feel all the more charged.
"Alright."
Natsu glanced at the neatly sorted pile of ingredients in front of them.
With both of them working together, all the fish and shrimp had been cleaned and sorted.
"That takes care of dinner prep."
Asuka surveyed the results with a satisfied nod.
"Is there anything else I can help with, Shiki-san?"
Natsu looked around.
The other odd jobs — gathering fruit, collecting dry branches and fallen leaves — had all been delegated to Katsuragi Kouhei to coordinate with the rest of the class.
The hour was still early; dinner was a ways off.
So he turned to Asuka and shook his head.
"Nothing more, actually. Thank you for the help, Shiraishi-san."
"I can handle what's left on my own."
Asuka nodded, not pressing the matter.
"Understood."
"If anything else comes up, don't hesitate to say so."
"Of course."
Natsu smiled and agreed.
"Well then..."
Asuka smoothed out her clothes, then looked at him with a smile full of quiet anticipation.
"I'll be looking forward to tonight's cooking, Shiki-san."
"I've heard your culinary skills are something else — and the grilled fish at lunch today was honestly impressive. Without a single seasoning, you still managed to make it genuinely memorable."
"I'll be watching with high expectations tonight."
"Thank you for the compliment."
Natsu smiled with easy confidence.
"Don't worry — I won't disappoint."
With the work in front of him done, Natsu had no reason to just linger at Base Camp doing nothing.
He rinsed his hands, rolled out the stiffness that had settled into his neck, and let his gaze drift toward the depths of the forest.
"I think I'll take a walk around."
Asuka, who had been about to leave, stopped in her tracks.
She looked at him, a flicker of curiosity passing through those violet eyes.
"A walk? Are you going to scout the area, Shiki-san?"
It was the middle of the special exam, after all. Even if Class A had treated this whole thing like a vacation, it was only natural for the Leader to take stock of the surrounding terrain — and keep an eye on the movements of the other classes.
Natsu gave an ambiguous smile.
"Something like that."
"After a good meal, it's worth taking a stroll to settle the stomach. And there might be some interesting scenery on this island worth seeing."
Something lit up in Asuka's expression.
She hesitated for just a moment — then spoke up, on her own initiative.
"If you don't mind..."
"Could I come with you?"
"I'd like to see the island's scenery too — and it would be a good chance to talk more with you, Shiki-san. After all... you are my first officially recognized friend."
Natsu glanced at her, mildly surprised.
He hadn't expected this — that Shiraishi Asuka, who so preferred to be alone, would show interest in something like this. Let alone ask to tag along.
But they were friends now, and besides — having a beautiful girl for company was never something to turn down.
"Of course."
He gave a nod.
"Let's go together then."
The two of them set off, one slightly ahead of the other, leaving Class A's Base Camp behind and heading deeper into the forest.
The wind moved through the treetops with a soft, rustling sigh.
As they walked, Asuka suddenly turned her head and looked at Natsu beside her, a playful smile curling at her lips.
"Oh, and — Shiki-san."
"Mm?"
"If we happen to run into any of Shiki-san's girlfriends along the way..."
"Like Sakura-san from Class D, or Shiina-san from Class C..."
"I'll graciously make myself scarce."
She blinked those lovely violet eyes, her tone breezy and light.
"Please don't worry about me on that front, Shiki-san."
"I have no intention of being a third wheel and intruding on any precious couple time."
"A date on an uninhabited island — not a bad setting, actually."
Natsu couldn't help but laugh at that.
He hadn't expected Asuka to be this considerate.
But he didn't take it particularly seriously.
"That's not necessary."
Natsu shook his head, his tone easy and natural.
"We're all classmates — normal interaction is perfectly fine."
"Besides... I'd actually like to introduce you as my friend to them. I think you'd all get along quite well."
Hearing that, Asuka couldn't help but smile — the warmth reaching all the way to her eyes. Introducing an adorable girl to your own girlfriends was, by any ordinary measure, the kind of move that got you buried alive in complaints — but then, that was part of what made Shiki-san genuinely extraordinary, wasn't it?
Her gaze settled on him, quietly fascinated.
And his voice — she noticed, not for the first time — was really something. If she could just walk beside him and listen to it for the rest of this little excursion, that alone would be a kind of pleasure.
There was something about that voice that made it dangerously easy to lose yourself in it.
"If I won't be in the way then... I'll just enjoy the walk right here beside you."
____
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