Stranded on a Deserted Island with the School's Number One Beauty, So I'll Give It My Best Shot. - Chapter 36 [END]

However, the words that came out of my mouth were entirely different. They were impulsive and lacked any romantic flair. But, precisely because of that, they were filled with genuine emotion.

“Ichinose just confessed to Nikaido!” someone exclaimed.

“Wait, was that even a confession!?” another voice chimed in.

“He’s challenging Kashima-senpai without a fighting chance!” a classmate remarked.

The nearby extroverts were facepalming, and the looks from others seemed to say, “He really messed up, didn’t he?”

It could all be summed up in one sentence: “He misunderstood things just because they spent some time together on that deserted island.”

It was typical behavior for an introvert – falling head over heels for someone who just showed a little kindness. More than sympathy, it was likely a feeling of pity that everyone had.

However, I didn’t care about any of that. The only thing that mattered was Iori.

I only cared about how Iori would respond. What others thought of me was irrelevant.

“Iori!” Iori called my name again. She slowly approached me.

When she reached me, tears welled up in her eyes, and she smiled.

“You finally said it,” she whispered.

Then, Iori embraced me.

“Wait, does this mean…!?”

“Oh, Ichinose did it!”

“I can’t believe Nikaido accepted a guy’s confession!”

“And the guy is the unremarkable Ichinose!”

In the next moment, the whole classroom erupted into cheers and applause.

“Whoooa!”

“Ichinose, you’re amazing! Seriously, you’re incredible!”

“Ichinose-kun, you’re so cool! Confessing in front of everyone!”

“You managed to win over Iori, who never showed interest in anyone!”

“This is insane! It’s a miracle!”

The people around me seemed more excited than I was. The extroverts were throwing chairs and desks, and one overzealous individual even accidentally shattered a window. It was becoming quite the commotion.

“I can’t believe it…,” said the handsome Kashima as he slumped to his knees.

“I’m sorry for being late, Iori,” I said as I embraced her, holding her tightly to make sure no one could take her away from me.

“It’s okay, I was getting worried,” she replied, burying her face in my chest. However, she quickly raised her head to look at me.

“So, Masato-kun, what about our plans to live together?” she asked.

I gulped and my eyes began to dart around nervously.

“You see, I actually talked to my parents about it over the summer, but they told me to wait until after I enter college…”

I had talked to my parents multiple times about it. Being the clueless person I was, I even tried to convince them with a PowerPoint presentation and a 50-page document filled with complicated business terms to make myself look more intellectual. But the outcome remained the same.

“Actually, my parents said the same thing to me,” Iori confessed.

“That’s true,” I responded.

“Living together was a bit of a leap,” Iori chuckled. I joined her with a light-hearted laugh.

—

Our relationship became widely known throughout the school in no time, given the conspicuous confession I had made.

During that time, there were a couple of developments related to the uninhabited island we had spent time on.

First, there was the television network that owned the uninhabited island. Initially, they were thrilled about the fact that we had stayed there, leading to the rerun of various popular uninhabited island shows from the bubble era. However, it later came to light that they had been involved in illegal lion smuggling and the unauthorized release of various animals.

For instance, they had illegally released chipmunks, and the Chosen Chipmunks, which are a popular pet, were designated as invasive alien species, making it illegal to release them into the wild. The Ezo Chipmunks in Hokkaido were not even allowed to be kept as pets. Nevertheless, since these actions took place decades ago, they weren’t held accountable to a great extent. The leniency of the media played a role in this, as they were often forgiving of scandals within their own industry.

The second development was related to the Yakuza member who had abandoned a corpse on the island. Our use of the corpse’s smartphone led to the discovery of a murder case. It turned out to be a dispute among gang members, but the involvement of the police escalated the situation. As a result, one well-known Yakuza group ended up being dismantled.

Regarding the corpse disposal, I had one question in mind. Wouldn’t it have been better to toss the body into the sea instead of leaving it on the island? If I were a Yakuza member, I’d probably attach weights and sink it to the ocean floor. However, experts explained that this would have been a foolish move.

Many people seemed to have the same question as me, as it was discussed on television. They explained that using just a simple weight wouldn’t keep the body submerged because the gas produced after death would create significant buoyancy, causing the body to float to the surface. If it washed ashore or was discovered by fishermen, it would have been a disaster. It seemed that the professional approach was to leave it on an uninhabited island.

When I learned this, I couldn’t help but feel grateful for the professionalism of the Yakuza. If they hadn’t acted professionally, we might not have made it out alive.

◇

A few days later…

After school, Iori and I walked home together, openly displaying our affection by holding hands.

“Hey, Masato, how about we start our own club?” Iori suggested enthusiastically.

“Again with that idea?” I replied with a chuckle, glancing at the people passing by.

People of all ages had the same expression on their faces, as if they were all thinking the same thing: “Isn’t the balance between the guy and the girl way off?”

Especially noticeable were the guys who seemed confident in their looks. They couldn’t help but widen their eyes when they saw someone as ordinary as me.

“It’s a great idea! The Uninhabited Island Club! It’s bound to become popular now,” Iori insisted.

“Yeah, there seems to be a trend for uninhabited islands in society,” I replied.

“That’s right! And we’ll be the pioneers!”

Uninhabited island survival was gaining popularity among young people, albeit slightly older than us—college students.

The catalyst for this trend, as Iori would say, was undoubtedly us. Personally, I thought it was more because of her. Her exceptionally cute appearance was incredibly photogenic.

“Spending our precious high school days in the Home Ec Club would be a waste. But that doesn’t mean we should start an Uninhabited Island Club; we don’t even know what activities it would involve,” I remarked.

“That’s obvious! It’s a club where we go to uninhabited islands and live there!” Iori declared.

“The club budget would be astronomical,” I pointed out.

“We’ll figure something out!”

“It won’t work! Especially not after that incident; no club budget will be approved, especially not a single yen!”

I interjected with a dose of reality. Then, I casually opened my school bag and began searching inside.

“While the Uninhabited Island Club is a no-go, I did prepare something as an alternative,” I said, pulling out a sheet of paper that I had printed from the internet.

“What’s this?” Iori asked, taking the paper and reading its contents aloud.

“Uninhabited Island Caretaker, a two-night, three-day live-in part-time job… You see, because of the recent uninhabited island trend, there have been many unauthorized landings, so to counter that, some places have started hiring caretakers on weekends and holidays.”

“Oh! And the daily pay is incredible! It’s 40,000 yen!”

“They fully reimburse transportation costs, and you only need to work during weekends and holidays. Plus, you can spend your working hours as you like. You can relax in an air-conditioned room or immerse yourself in a survival experience. You can even save up for cohabitation!”

“So, in other words, we can enjoy life on an uninhabited island and get paid for it?”

“Exactly! And this job posting is government-sponsored, so it guarantees safety and security!”

“I’m sold! I want to do this! Masato, I’m going to be an uninhabited island caretaker next long weekend!”

“Then let’s apply right away! We have experience living on an uninhabited island, so we’ll surely get preferential treatment!”

We used our smartphones to apply for the job on the spot. We were certainly resilient, considering the challenging life we had experienced on an uninhabited island.

“Application completed!”

“Me too!”

As we looked forward to the results, we continued to walk hand in hand on our way home.

“Masato, thank you for always leading the way. I’ll work even harder to become the woman who deserves you,” Iori said, hugging my arm.

“That’s my line. I’ll do my best to make sure no one thinks we’re ‘mismatched’ when they see us,” I replied with determination.

With our eyes fixed on a radiant future, Iori and I moved forward together.

———–

Hi, this chapter marks the end of this novel. If you enjoyed it please leave me a small tip on ko-fi to support me~

According to the author, this is the end of part 1 of the novel but they have yet to decide on a part 2.