21.07.2023
It is I, the Absolute Madman and I'm back with your weekly dose of the family-friendly content that is Stranded! But first, my family-friendly dose of your comments!:
darkkrt - You and many others I bet! Fear not, everyone will have their turn eventually!
Makaze125 - Hell yeah, now I can officialy state that I can pull off both lewd and wholesome! Though I do wonder which one people prefer... I think I might have an idea about that one!
Guest - It's funny how you brought up sizes and fitting stuff in. Did you know that an average human could fit about one and a half racoons in the ol' backdoor? Did not test it as we don't have racoons here, but it's not like the Internet would lie, right?
Kamori I'm The Infinity - Yup, slow burn and corruption is what I believe works for Shiozaki, not only in this story, but in most stories that try to portray her in her canon-ish style.
n1ght4ury20 - You and me and probably a whole bunch of people as well!
- I mean, this is the first troll that I've had in about a year and something? Maybe even two years. If they want to mass report me, go right ahead, I ain't budgin'! And I also can't be bothered since this story - as well as all my future projects - are actually posted on Ao3 as well! So if I ever vanish without a word for longer than a week or two you might to look for me there! I do appreciate the concern and the kind words though!
And to continue on the high note - the chapter!:
Shiozaki didn't remember falling asleep, yet that's exactly what's happened as she was currently trying to blink the drowsiness out of her eyes. Sure, rubbing it out with her hands would've been way easier, but she was currently unable to move her arms. Shiozaki wasn't the only one to fall asleep as Izuku was quietly snoring right behind her.
His closeness caused Shiozaki's cheeks to warm up, especially once she remembered the soft kiss that filled her stomach with butterflies. In his sleep Izuku didn't move around much, though he seemed to have embraced her instinctively and now Shiozaki found herself trapped in his muscular arms.
One of his fingers was uncomfortably close to the very edge of her breast, but she knew that this wasn't some devilish deliberate plot to corrupt her like he did with the other girls. Finally being able to let those suspicions out into the open and have them debunked allowed Shiozaki to view things for what they really were and now she knew better than to commit that same mistake twice.
Shiozaki knew that Izuku worked hard and so she decided to let him sleep for as long as he needed, choosing to bask in his warmth in the meantime as she waited for him to wake up on his own. She relaxed her body and snuggled against his bare chest, closing her eyes with a dreamy sigh and almost falling asleep once again. That was a new experience for her as she usually got up right after waking up and now her body seemed to want nothing more but to go right back to sleep. If she hadn't realized yesterday that her feelings for Izuku were already reignited and possibly stronger than ever, then this would've been a very good indication.
A short amount of time passed before Shiozaki felt Izuku's body tense and relax as he finally woke from his slumber. His movements were sluggish and uncoordinated as he yawned and most likely tried to blink the remaining sleepiness from his eyes.
"Good morning, or at least I think it's morning." Shiozaki decided to greet Izuku, tilting her head backwards to catch a glimpse of the man.
"Y-Yeah, g-goodmorning to you too." Izuku stuttered out, taken aback by the beautiful visage directly in front of him.
He'd woken up next to a fair amount of women already, but there was something almost angelic about Shiozaki that stole the breath directly out of his lungs and caused him to forget three fourths of his entire vocabulary, or at least half of it anyhow. Adding to this unexpected torpor was also the feeling of Shiozaki's warmth greeting him beneath the sheet.
"No wonder I slept like a baby." Izuku realized immediately. "I'm literally sitting on rocky ground and have my back against rocks, but I'm feeling surprisingly comfortable. I might fall asleep again if I'm not careful." He thought to himself.
"I hate to break this serene atmosphere, but we should probably get going." Shiozaki said with that kind smile of hers that put butterflies in Izuku's stomach for some reason.
"Y-Yeah, good idea." Izuku nodded, definitely agreeing with Shiozaki's reasoning, but not happy that they had to get up already.
"C-Could you close your eyes then?" Shiozaki asked with sudden shyness and a blush that crept onto her face.
"Sure!" He responded, a bit louder than he intended, his cheeks flaring up in a similar, embarrassment-based fashion.
Once his eyes were closed he could only imagine what was going on around him, but his senses were more than happy to provide him with enough stimulus to make the images in his head as vivid as possible.
His thoughts quickly ventured south of course and Izuku had to struggle against his body to force his semi-flaccid erection back down before he was caught. His brain didn't make it particularly easy for him to resist as all he could think off were the glimpses of Shiozaki's hourglass-shaped figure that he caught yesterday.
"Calm down!" Izuku psyched himself up during the mental struggle. "We've talked things out yesterday and the last thing I want is for our relationship to grow awkward again!"
It was unpleasant, taxing on both the mind and the body and even downright torturous, but Izuku was able to keep his cool. Once Shiozaki was all dressed it was time for Izuku to get back into his clothes as well. Shiozaki turned around to offer him the same amount of privacy that she's had, but Izuku could've sworn that she stole a couple of glances when she thought he wasn't looking. Well, he had less than decent thoughts about her just a few moments ago, so he couldn't really hold it against her as he'd done the exact same thing, so he chose to simply ignore her peeking and finish dressing up.
They did get a bit too absorbed in this whole getting decent again thing and didn't check to see if they actually had a valid reason to get up. They were a bit too mesmerized with each other to look outside and see if the weather had let up somewhat. Thankfully that's exactly what happened and they were good to resume their journey.
This trip to get some flowers doesn't sound that epic, but it could easily be classified as an important turning point for two main reasons.
First of all, Izuku and Shiozaki were able to talk things out and managed to mend their relationship with words alone, although that fair bit of bare intimacy definitely played a role in this whole making up endeavor. Izuku was happy to be back on speaking terms with all of his companions and Shiozaki was happy to finally have an answer to the few questions that were plaguing her mind for some time now. Whilst this is all well and important, it might just have to give up the top spot to the other reason that made this trip so rewarding in the end.
Izuku and the gang had already gotten used to being watched by whatever it was that decided to play the role of their stalker. Yeah it still creeped them out since they never caught more than a glimpse of that animal, but as long as it stayed up there on the cliffs and didn't come down to bother them, they were more than happy to more or less ignore its existence.
When Izuku felt that all-too-familiar spine chill during their trek through the forest however, it was clear that this time ignoring the issue will not work as well as it always did. Shiozaki seemed to have sensed that presence as well as she started walking just a touch closer to Izuku, their satchels barely a couple of inches away from bumping into each other as they continued onwards.
Izuku wasn't showing any outward hostility, though he made sure that his grip on the spear's shaft never faltered so as to be ready for the seemingly unavoidable confrontation. This wasn't actually that good of a call since it being all tensed up could not only lead to Izuku gassing himself out really quickly, but could also limit the fluidity of his movements as opposed to a more relaxed stance, but it was quite hard to relax when an unknown entity was stalking you from the shadows. Izuku would probably prefer fighting actual human villains, because he could at least try to predict how a fellow human would behave. Predators - the extinct ones even more so - were a wildcard however and so he'd need to have his guard up from the very beginning.
Tek Spear firmly in his grasp and Shiozaki nearly attached to his hip, the green duo continued their journey under the vigilant gaze of the beast. Whatever it was, it was quick, but it wasn't flawless in its approach.
There were times where Izuku would feel the hairs on the back of his stand at attention only for him to hear some rustling in the bushes up ahead a few moments later. At least it was easy to notice whenever it decided to circle them due to the cracking noises of snapping twigs and the crushing of dry leaves.
One thing that puzzled Izuku was the footstep - or should he refer to it as pawstep? - pattern that accompanied the sudden bursts of movement. He could more or less imagine what that rhythm should sound like, he'd spent a fair amount of time evading predators when he was still all alone so he had some amount of experience dealing with animals, and what he was hearing now was… odd. Every other step felt off beat and puzzled Izuku greatly. If those movements were so uncoordinated, then how come that stalker managed to keep up with them at all times? They weren't going that fast due to opting for a more cautious approach sure, but shouldn't that animal have stumbled at least once by now?
This was one of the mysteries that kept Izuku at attention, another one being the distinct lack of animal noises in the vicinity. Back in their hidden valley it was quite common to hear distant primal howling and stuff, but the only sound they could hear at this time was the rustling of leaves overhead.
It was hard to believe that their stalker would not only keep up with them whilst being clumsy but also stop itself from growling.
This state of constant danger was quite taxing and Izuku found himself already somewhat fatigued when they finally found what they were looking for. Izuku had to agree that this was definitely a worthy endeavor since the flowers were really beautiful. And they didn't just find the one specific color they were looking for, no. They found quite the sizable clearing near one of the mountain ranges that was home to a whole slew of different hues and colors. Shiozaki already had most of these of course, but the ones here seemed just a smidge more vibrant than those in their valley. It was really strange, but Shiozaki decided to gather a little bit of everything - with her focus still being on those elusive blue hues - to compare with the ones she had back home once they got back.
With their satchels slowly running low on supplies and filled to the brim with spoils instead, it was time for them to embark on the journey back home. At least the weather was alright as the hot sun was mostly blocked by the thick branches overhead and the accompanying breeze carried just enough warmth with it to make the atmosphere quite splendid.
"The weather sure is nice." Izuku commented at one point and the universe took that personally.
"I feel like I'm about to melt!" Mina whined as she continued to lay in the sun, bathing her skin in the scorching glow to try and speedrun a tan.
"If it wasn't for Shu and her magical tonic then we would've turned to crisps long ago!" Setsuna exclaimed with a grin. "Good job Izu's daughter!" She said with a thumbs up.
Shuusa was currently enjoying the shade with Momo and Kyouka who opted to stay out of the sun and enjoy the warmth without worrying about skin cancer and whatnot. Just laying in the shade was no fun however and so the three girls were currently trying different hairstyles, braids being their newest obsession. Itsuka was sitting just off to the side and overseeing the whole operation as her mother loved to braid her amber-colored hair when she was younger and so she had a lot of hands-on experience on the matter.
"Do you think I should go topless? I heard that tan lines are apparently a major turn on for guys, but wouldn't it look weird on me?" Mina suddenly wondered as she looked herself up and down.
It was true that her tan was certainly… unique, turning her pink skin into a strange mix of lilac and purple that was close to how it looked whenever she blushed, but was at the same time very distinct.
"Now that's a tough question to answer." Setsuna mused out loud thoughtfully. "I was actually thinking about the same thing. 'Bara's not here, so she wouldn't be screaming at us constantly and this is probably the only time we'll be able to do this. Tan lines do sound pretty arousing though."
And so the dilemma remained unresolved. Well, at least the weather was excellent for traveling, right?
Wrong.
"Where did this rain come from again?!" Izuku shouted over the heavy downpour.
"I really hope that the Lord is not mad at me for making up with Izuku despite his sins." Shiozaki thought to herself as she tried to keep up with the man in front of her.
The black clouds came out of nowhere and so it managed to catch the duo off guard. They had no other choice but to run and search for a suitable shelter to wait out yet another hissy fit of mother nature. The cliff of the mountain range was their current destination and with Izuku's innate ability to always know where he was going, they were retracing their steps on the double, hoping to reach the cave that they'd already spent a night in before all of their blankets end up sopping wet.
They were just about to reach their destination with the cave entrance peeking at them between the trees when a wrench was thrown into the works. A humanoid one at that.
What Izuku could quickly describe as a girl crossed the path right in front of them, vanishing in the brush as suddenly as she appeared and causing both Izuku and Shiozaki to grind to a halt mid-sprint.
"W-Was that a person?" The out of breath Shiozaki asked as she panted from the exertion.
"So we both saw her, that's a relief." Izuku confirmed Shiozaki's observation as he took one deep breath to steady himself and prepare for more running. "I'll try catching her, you can go ahead and hide in the cave!" He yelled and gave chase, not waiting for Shiozaki's answer.
Leaving her by herself could be frowned upon as a reckless idea, but this was a one-in-a-million chance to catch their stalker and that's something that neither of them could argue wasn't a big deal. Especially since they turned out to be a girl!
Izuku gave chase, diving into the brush headfirst and sprinting as fast as he could, catching glimpses of the one he was pursuing every now and again. If he had time to think right now he'd no doubt feel a strange sense of deja vu enveloping him from all sides. Chasing a stalker that turned out to be a girl through the forest was definitely something that he's done in the past afterall. But that's a distraction and he couldn't afford any at this point in time.
The part of the forest that became their race track was seemingly quite ancient and so there were many nigh invisible obstacles hidden all over the ground. It was actually a miracle that neither of them had had their foot hit a random root sticking out from the ground and sent them tumbling down to the dirt. That, whilst impossibly funny, would've been too anticlimactic however and so the chase continued for a couple of minutes, Izuku slowly but surely gaining on the girl, though she still had quite the lead and it would take only one mistake on either side to end the pursuit prematurely.
The dense forest suddenly vanished and Izuku could take a clear look at their stalker. She was wearing what looked to be ripped jeans, though Izuku was unsure whether that was wear and tear or actual fashion, and a loosely fitting, short-sleeved red shirt. She had jet black hair with few strands of fiery red poking through the otherwise monocolor sea. Izuku watched her slow down substantially as she turned to look back at him, her eyes surprising him with their familiar multicolor pattern.
She seemed very annoyed with him firmly on her tail and tried to push herself even more, but that turned out to be a very poor idea. The dense forest ended so abruptly for a reason you see. It was hard to notice in the heat of the moment, but with a sudden flash of clarity Izuku could clearly hear the sound of a rushing river and the unmistakable thunderous roar of a waterfall. There were no waterfalls in sight however and that could mean only one thing - they were on a cliff's edge.
"Wait, stop! It's dangerous!" Izuku tried to warn the girl and him calling out to her managed to catch her attention, though the timing turned out to be quite horrific.
As soon as she turned her head around, one of her feet failed to make contact with the ground. The girl's head snapped right back to see what's going on and was horrified to see nothing but a dense forest right beneath her feet - she'd jumped off a cliff by mistake!
A terrified shriek tore its way from her throat as Izuku's every single atom entered a heavily agitated state and propelled Izuku straight towards the edge. He dove forward, using his momentum to slide the last couple of steps on his belly and have his arm reach over the edge blindly. His heart skipped a beat when he couldn't feel her, but he was relieved when he caught a glimpse of her hanging from some roots.
It was clear however that - despite her petite build - those roots could snap at any moment and so Izuku stretched himself out as much as he could, reaching out to the girl and offering his arm to her.
"Grab my hand!" He yelled at her in desperation.
The girl flailed wildly whilst looking up at Izuku with conflict written all over her face. She took one more look down, taking in the scenery below as if weighing her chances. The rain had yet to let up and the roots were quite wet, making them slippery. She began slowly but surely sliding down, almost escaping Izuku's reach. He could stretch himself even further, but then he'd risk being dragged off the edge as well.
"Please just grab my hand!" He yelled again, doing his best to try and grasp her hand himself.
After what felt like an opportunity she finally made up her mind and made a lunge upwards, her fingers barely reaching up to Izuku's hand, but that was enough for him to catch her. His hand was wet as well however and so were hers and she began slowly sliding out of his grasp.
"Give me your other hand, quick!" Izuku commanded right away, already reaching down with his other arm and hoping he'd have enough leverage to pull her up even with both arms tied down.
This time there was no internal conflict as she immediately went for his other hand, grabbing it just in time as her other one slipped out of Izuku's grasp right after. Now, still hanging on with a single arm, she took the initiative and pulled herself upwards so that she could firmly grab Izuku's wrist and secure her hold.
"Could you climb if I were to pull you up?" Izuku asked, his arm slowly growing tired.
The girl nodded vigorously in response and so the duo prepared for the last push. Izuku exercised whatever strength he could muster and pulled the girl up as far as he could from his position. She then found some leverage with her foot, pushing off the flimsy roots and climbing up his arm, grabbing Izuku by the neck to cross the cliff's edge and pull herself onto solid ground once again.
Once she was safe and sound they both crawled away from the edge, panting heavily with the rain pouring down as hard as ever. Izuku took a moment to calm himself down from the mixture of stress and exertion before looking over at the girl, all ready to start asking some questions. They'd go unanswered for now however as he quickly noticed that the girl had passed out already.
Realizing that there was nothing he could do right now, Izuku threw the girl over his shoulder as gently as he could whilst also being quick about it before heading back into the forest. Staying out in this rain wasn't a very good idea and so he hoped to find his way back and rejoin Shiozaki as fast as he could.
"I could definitely use the warmth right now." He thought to himself as he embarked on one last trek. If only the weather would take it easy…
Whoa, what the fuck? Am I about to introduce a character that will no doubt alter the course of the story? Am I about to disturb the balance of the harem? I don't know, I'm in my spaceship trying to send those kids home and playfully arguing with my big titty-having holographic girlfriend.
If you have any ideas as to what is going on then feel free to share them, but as of right now I got nothing, so have a great day and I'll catch y'all in the next update!