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Disclaimer: I don't own Tokidoki Bosotto Roshiago de Dereru Tonari no Alya-san or any of its characters...
"...everything was normal at first, then it suddenly went to shit."
Masachika silently chewed on his food as the events of that day played in his mind like it was a movie, before forcing himself to think about something else.
Although many weeks have passed since that unfortunate disaster, it still felt like it happened yesterday because of the consequences that it brought upon them.
While he was eating in peace at the kitchen countertop, his companions — who were all gathered around the main lounge behind him — were all quiet.
Too quiet, in fact.
It's as if they were all thinking of the same thing, but no one had the guts to speak up about it.
Things weren't usually this silent, as they normally speak to one another about the tasks they have for the day as well as cheering each other up in spite of their dilemma.
But not this time.
No one seemed like they had any intention of talking. Soon, they would have to leave and go their separate ways to do their afternoon tasks, with their next gathering being later tonight for dinner.
Unable to take the silence anymore, Taniyama cleared her throat and tried to start a conversation with the first thought that came to her mind.
"In two days, it'll be a full month ever since we got stranded in this place," she stated, only to immediately regret her words when she realized what she just said.
…oh dear, she just made things worse by bringing up a depressing topic.
No one will want to talk at this rate because of her carelessness!
But fortunately for her, someone would speak up and continue the conversation from there.
"Don't remind me, Sayacchi. God, I'm so booooored~" Nonoa Miyamae groaned as she stretched her limbs lazily, wanting nothing more than to take a nap right now and rest after a busy morning.
Taniyama released a sigh of relief and sent a grateful look to her best friend, who went out of her way to save her from screwing things up.
Maria Kujou chuckled nervously. "I don't think 'bored' is a good way to describe how we're doing right now, Miyamae-san…"
"The thing is, Masha-chan… it kind of is. We're stuck here with nothing to do but to survive on our own until Touya and everyone else return," Chisaki sighed while folding her arms across her chest.
When the typhoon first came to a halt, Touya Kenzaki along with the Suou family servants who were with them set out to find a ship using the yacht that was by the beach, which miraculously remained in one piece despite the strong waves and winds.
Because the yacht wasn't big enough to carry everyone, it couldn't be used to transport them back to Japan.
And the cruise ship that was due to collect them was scheduled to arrive at noon… assuming that the typhoon won't come back and rain again.
Therefore, the solution that they came up with at the time was for a select group of people to venture out to the ocean and search for another ship, where they can proceed to ask for help from the people onboard that vessel.
Packed with flares and one end of a transceiver, they set out from the island in search of ship out at sea.
Originally, the only people who were onboard were the few servants of the Suou family that were with them, but Touya Kenzaki volunteered for the reason that he had knowledge of how to pilot a yacht.
…and almost four weeks have passed since that group left the island.
The typhoon had long since ended, and the sky was clear ever since.
But somehow, there was no sign of them anywhere.
"For how long, though? No doubt everyone back home must be worried sick about all of us," Nonoa commented.
Masha turned her head towards Yuki, who looked deathly serious at the moment. "Suou-san, are you really certain that there's no other way for us to contact other people while we're here?"
Yuki heaved a deep sigh, before facing the brunette. "We've already had this talk before, haven't we? Unless you want to fire off a flare to send a distress signal, Masha-senpai, all we can do is wait for our radio transceiver to say something."
Ayano, who was standing beside Yuki, stepped forward and spoke in her usual stoic voice.
"Maria-sama, there are a total of five flares left that can be used if you wish to fire a distress call for any nearby vessels to see."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's just that our companions here haven't called us for a long time now. I'm worried that something bad might have happened…"
"What about the ship that's supposed to fetch us, Suou-san? It's been weeks ever since the storm ended, but it hasn't arrived until now," Sayaka pointed out.
"I don't know. By all rights, it should have arrived after the storm ended, but now it's long overdue. There's no reason why it shouldn't be here, unless there's some kind of foul play involved."
"Do you think that your family could be going through something grave at the moment, Yuki-sama?" Ayano whispered quietly.
Yuki thought about that possibility for a moment; it's definitely strange that her family hasn't done anything about her 'disappearance' until now, but she didn't feel like brainstorming about the possible reasons why.
"Don't know, don't care. Either way, there's no use talking about this any longer. The best thing for us to do is to stay on this island where it's safe until Tadokoro-san and the others on the yacht return, because I've lost hope on the other option. It's not like we have a choice."
Hearing these words from the person who invited them on this trip dealt a massive blow to everyone else's already-low morale.
To think that even Yuki — someone who's normally all-smiles and had a playful nature — felt like this…
It was at this moment that Masachika turned around in his seat to face them, as his voice drew everyone's attention towards him.
"...I agree with Yuki. Our only means of communication are a radio and some flares. With our transceiver, all we can do is wait for an update from the other end, because it doesn't matter how much we shout into it. As for the few flares we have, we should use them only if there's a nearby ship that can spot us from here. Not before."
Sayaka pushed her glasses up and nodded slowly. "You make a valid point, Kuze-san… however, it doesn't make things easier for us when our goal is to get back home."
"Our best option for that is, like what Yuki said, staying here. But that's not a bad thing. We're on an island in the middle of the ocean, with no way of returning home at the moment. Even if we finished building the raft that Sarashina-senpai wants, we have no chance of using it to get home without putting ourselves at risk."
Chisaki nodded in agreement. "As much as I hate to say it, Kuze-kun is right. I don't want any of us risking ourselves for that, when we're already on our own."
"Then what the hell was it for if we're not using it to get back?" asked Nonoa.
"We can use it to go fishing or if we're gonna use a flare to get the attention of a ship out there. Anything that doesn't involve making a long journey away from this place, really."
Masachika then stood up from his chair before walking over to the girls. "Our goal is to make it back to Japan, that's true. But what good is that if we don't stay safe and be far from danger? What if we lose our lives in our efforts to get back to our home?"
At the mention of their lives being put on the line for the sake of their goal, it made everyone stop and think about their actions up until now.
More than anything, they wanted to go home and be away from this place for good… but they failed to account for the possible risks that come with that endeavor.
What if something bad happened to them while they're working on a way to get back or worse…
"If you ask me, I think it's better to get back home after a long time and still be in one piece, instead of making it back at the cost of something bad happening to you."
Masachika finished his explanation with a reassuring smile — something that they desperately needed during times like this — despite it being hard to show as he was also affected by this dilemma.
However, there was one person who didn't seem to appreciate his 'words of wisdom'.
"How could you say that… Kuze-kun…?"
"What's wrong, Alya?"
Alisa Kujou stood up from her seat with her head low, only for her to reveal a look of hurt and anger on her face when she faced him.
"Why are you speaking in that tone? It's almost as if you are fine with us being stuck on this island!"
Everyone was taken aback at her sudden outburst, but none moreso than Masachika himself and her older sister.
"Alya-chan, I'm sure that's not what he meant—"
"Are you saying we should be fine living here forever? That we have no chance of getting back home to our old lives?"
All he could do was stare at her in confusion.
"Where did you even get that? I was only explaining why it's more important for us to be safe than sorry."
"You've lost hope, haven't you? You don't actually believe that we can get back, and you're trying to convince everyone that it's fine to just live here!"
Masachika didn't reply, mostly because he had no idea what was going on. For some reason, Alya stood up out of nowhere and started going off on him, even accusing him of trying to manipulate everyone through his words.
She was angry at him, but why? He couldn't understand it.
"—and you!"
Alya shifted her gaze towards Yuki, who stared back at her with a stone-faced expression.
"If it wasn't for your stupid 'invitation', we would have never been in this situation in the first place! Because of you, Yuki-san, we're stuck here on this island! An island where we can't even contact anyone back home so that we can tell them where we are!"
Yuki continued to stare at her, showing no kind of emotion on her face but listening nonetheless. There's no telling what she must be feeling at the moment, because she was completely silent.
"You said you made preparations for this trip but in truth, all of this was just a stunt to improve your image. Right? Поздравляю. Ты сделал себя популярным, обрекая нас всех."
Alya began to walk towards Yuki with her fists clenched, only for Masachika to step in between them, his arms spread out in a protective manner to defend his sister.
"Alya, that's enough. You're going too far. If you want to be angry at someone, be angry at me. Don't take your frustrations out on Yuki. She couldn't have known that a typhoon was gonna hit this place."
"Yuki… Yuki, Yuki, Yuki, Yuki! That's all that ever comes out of your mouth! You're just like everyone else who treats her like a spoiled princess, Kuze-kun!" she shouted at him, all while feeling a pang of betrayal in her chest. "Even after everything we've been through… after everything we've done together…"
"It's not like that. You think starting fights will solve anything? I'm trying to stop this from blowing up any further!" he shouted back at her.
"And I'm trying to think of a way to get back home! But it feels like I'm the only person doing that because everyone seems content with living here!"
"Do you think you're the only one who feels that way, Kujou-san?" Taniyama frowned at Alya's ridiculous assumption, before continuing. "We all have lives that we want to get back to, but I value my own life as well."
Miyamae nodded in agreement. "Sayacchi and Kuze-kun make a good point. I mean, I want to hug my family the second I see them again and everyone knows I'm not the type to get all warm and cuddly with other people. But I can't do that if I'm in a hospital bed or something…"
"Alya-chan, we all get it. We understand how you feel because we all feel the same way. We want to go home, but we can't do that without making sure that we can get back in one piece," Sarashina added in her two cents, hoping that this would de-escalate the situation.
"But Kuze-kun doesn't feel the same as everyone, does he?"
Alya looked at all of them and scoffed, before redirecting her gaze back towards Masachika.
"Kuze-kun doesn't care about getting home because he doesn't have anything to go back to, right? Until now, he sleeps in class, his grades remain as average as ever, and he clearly has no intention of improving himself. Kuze-kun might not even want to go back because out here, he can do what he wants without worrying about anything."
Nonoa began to sweat from the rising tension in the atmosphere around her. "A-Alya-san, I think it would be better for you to take a rest and—"
"Am I wrong, Kuze-kun? Почему бы тебе не показать, насколько тебя не волнует наша проблема?"
In a very rare fit of anger, Masha stood up and glared at her younger sister, a move that left almost everyone in disbelief.
The same girl who loved her younger sister dearly and was very gentle to a fault, felt angry .
"Alya-chan, that's enough! Apologize to Kuze-kun right now!"
However, in spite of her sister's warning, Alya continued to glare at him as she waited patiently for his answer.
On the other hand, Masachika was still confused on why Alya was doing this and why he was her target. In fact, he had no idea why she even brought up his actions in class.
Unless…
Still, Masachika knew that the student council president was waiting for him to say something, so he decided to simply give her what she's looking for.
"Fine. You're right, Alya. I don't have any big reasons to go back. It's exactly how you said it is," he explained calmly. "Matter of fact, this is probably the life I dream about for myself. A quiet place to live in, a beautiful scenery to look at, everything that I need to keep me alive, and free from any responsibilities."
After he was finished, all Alya could do was send him a look of disgust and betrayal. She felt hurt too, despite everything that she said about him a while ago.
She almost couldn't believe that this was the same Kuze who helped her find her place in the student council years ago, an act of kindness that she would always be grateful for.
…up until now, that is.
"You're unbelievable. A hopeless idiot… to think I even partnered with someone like you…"
Deciding enough was enough, Sayaka stood up as well and glared at the silver-haired president.
"Kujou-san! Such behavior is unbefitting for the Student Council President! Kuze-san hasn't done anything wrong!"
However, Alya didn't seem like she heard those words, because she was deep within her thoughts at this point.
"Whatever. That idiot can do what he wants. I don't care anymore…"
And with that, Alisa Kujou stormed off and headed up the staircase, presumably going back to her room where she can be alone.
As soon as they heard the loud bang of a door closing, Sayaka turned to look at Masachika and offered him a look of concern.
"Kuze-san, are you okay?"
Amazingly, even with everything that just happened, Masachika managed to flash a small smile that showed he was fine.
"Don't worry about me, Taniyama. Alya's just stressed out from this whole thing, that's all."
"Perhaps. But that doesn't give her the right to talk down on you, even if she's the Student Council President."
"Let it go already. Besides, it's not like I'm going to stay here for real. I may like this place because of how peaceful it is, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stand here and watch all of you suffer. Everyone else wants to go back home, and that's enough for me to help."
"If you say so," she sighed and sat back down to calm her nerves.
"That said, I appreciate you looking out for me, Taniyama."
"Think nothing of it. We are part of the same council. It's part of our duty to watch each other's backs."
Masha quickly walked over towards him out of worry, followed by Chisaki and then Ayano.
"Are you sure you're okay, Kuze-kun? My sister didn't hurt you with her words, did she? I'll make sure to talk to her about this so she can apologize to you," spoke Masha, who was back to her normal demeanor after shocking everyone with the paradigm shift in her personality.
"Don't worry about her, Kuze-kun. I'm pretty sure she just needs to cool her head. Honestly, any one of us could have been like her, going off and shouting at everyone. I just didn't expect it to be Alya-chan…"
Ayano appeared before him with a towel. "I can prepare a hot bath for you to relax in, Masachika-sama. It would help relieve you of your growing stress from everything that transpired with Alisa-sama."
While everyone else was making sure that Masachika was fine after Alya's shocking outburst, Yuki remained where she was… but kept her eye on her brother all the same.
She had been observing Alisa ever since they gathered here at the lounge and right from the start, Yuki noticed how quiet she was the entire time.
She had a feeling that Alisa was hiding something from them, but Yuki didn't expect her to find her release in the form of shouting it in everyone's faces.
"Ne, Onii-chan… you must have realized it, right? The reason why Alya-san snapped and went off on the both of us… hehe…"
Translation notes:
- "Congratulations. You made yourself popular by dooming us all."
- "Why don't you show how much you don't care about our problem?"
MINASAN, YONDE KURETE ARIGATŌ! AISHITEMAAAAASUUUUU! *starts playing air guitar*
-Lance