COTE :  Oh No, I've Become the Substitute

Within the vast, profound stillness of the deserted island's forest, two figures moved one after the other through the dappled, scattered sunlight.

The girl's footsteps were very light. Her breathing, too, was very light. When she walked, she always subconsciously lowered her head and hunched her shoulders as she advanced. For her, a person of such faint, negligible presence, it seemed as though even her fear was silent and soundless.

The boy, by contrast, was the exact opposite. Casually picking up a fallen branch from the roadside, humming some nameless, unknown little tune, he tapped and knocked at the nearby ferns and foliage from time to time, as though this were not an uninhabited, deserted little island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, but rather the small garden in his own backyard.

As the current designated leader of Class A, there was naturally no way Fuyuji Mikage and Morishita Ai could allow Yamamura Miki to return to camp alone to fetch the seasonings.

Naturally, matters had evolved such that Morishita remained behind to watch over those two ground-walking pigeons, while Fuyuji accompanied Yamamura back to camp.

Strangely enough, at first, everything was perfectly fine. The two of them bid farewell to Morishita with utter, absolute naturalness, and set off together back toward the cave in the most ordinary, normal manner.

But as they walked further and further, the surrounding environment gradually growing unfamiliar, the two—who, when the three of them were together, could talk about anything and everything without reservation—now, missing the mediating, harmonizing presence of Morishita, suddenly found themselves utterly at a loss, not knowing what to do.

Clearly, they wanted to say something, yet they didn't know what to say.

The two strings of footsteps rang out in the silence, now sparse, now dense. Occasionally, they overlapped and merged together, then swiftly separated once more, leaving behind only the bent and trampled blades of grass silently, soundlessly springing back upright, bit by bit, behind them.

The tap-tap, tap-tap sound of Fuyuji's branch striking the fern leaves seemed especially jarring and sudden in the quiet, still air.

Yet, the tacit understanding born from the two of them spending so much time together also created a sense of distance between them—neither too close nor too far.

Fuyuji, just as when the three of them were together, walked at the very front, slowing his pace, waiting for Yamamura to catch up.

Yamamura also kept her head lowered the entire time. Her field of vision was filled entirely with the red of Fuyuji's athletic jacket. His hands, with their clearly defined knuckles, appeared in her line of sight from time to time with the swaying of his steps—broad, solid, warm...

Then, the figure within her line of sight suddenly, slowly magnified. Yamamura's heart, too, skipped a beat along with it. She nearly crashed straight into Fuyuji's back.

She hurriedly pulled her feet to a halt. Her white athletic shoe inadvertently snapped a small, dried twig. The sharp, crisp crack of the snap startled her so much that her shoulders trembled, like a frightened little rabbit.

"Um, Yamamura..."

Fuyuji halted his steps. Turning his head in another direction and gazing into the depths of the forest, he spoke with a hint of awkwardness and unfamiliarity.

"If you're scared... just grab hold of the corner of my clothes, like before. I'll wait for you."

Yamamura swiftly lowered her head once more and gave a vague, indistinct "Mm." Her fingers naturally, instinctively pinched the back of Fuyuji's athletic jacket. An almost imperceptible flush of red crept up the tips of her ears.

A moment later, the two strings of footsteps rang out once more. One was more hesitant, more faltering. The other was lighter, more scattered and chaotic.

However, Yamamura's shoulders did not hunch inward again. Her blue-green side ponytail swayed lightly and briskly. The field of vision around her also seemed to open up and broaden along with it.

Fuyuji no longer toyed with that tree branch, either. He once again adjusted his pace back to its original frequency, and at that rhythm—familiar to both of them—they walked unhurriedly, unhastily, toward the cave campsite.

Finally, after traversing a stretch of the path and sensing that Yamamura's state of mind had more or less settled, Fuyuji casually gazed at the verdant, drooping branches around them and took the initiative to strike up a conversation.

"Come to think of it... this seems to be the first time the two of us have been alone together like this."

"Mm."

Yamamura followed right behind Fuyuji, step by step. She spoke in a soft, gentle whisper. "Because situations where Morishita-san isn't here are very rare."

Fuyuji smiled. "Of course. After all, she is so idle. All day long, she's either entertaining herself alone or dragging you all over the place. Finding someone even more idle than her—in this school, it's basically impossible."

"Morishita-san likes fresh, novel sensations. That's why she always pulls us along everywhere. Like earlier, on the cruise ship—she immediately led us together to the bottom deck to see the ship's anchor." A trace of tender gentleness flickered through Yamamura's eyes.

Fuyuji shook his head helplessly as well. "I really have no idea how that personality of hers was even formed. To actually be curious about how a ship's anchor works—isn't that the kind of thing only boys like?"

Hearing this, Yamamura covered her mouth and let out two soft, stifled laughs. "But that's precisely what makes Morishita-san who she is. If she didn't do things like that, she wouldn't be herself."

"That's true..."

Suddenly, as if the two of them had realized something at the very same moment, their laughter and their words fell silent simultaneously. Only the rustling, crunching sound of their footsteps still echoed and lingered amidst the forest.

They had simultaneously discovered—if Morishita were removed, between the two of them, there seemed to be no topics they could actually bring themselves to talk about. As though Morishita were the very link binding and connecting them together.

Fuyuji lowered his eyes and strove to think of some topic suitable for just the two of them to discuss.

No...

Speaking of a topic unique to the two of them—there was, in fact, one...

After walking for yet another stretch through the silent, still forest, Fuyuji opened his mouth. He wanted to say something, but at the very last moment before the words could leave his throat, he diverted the topic elsewhere.

"How have you been feeling these past few days? Is your body still holding up? If you feel tired, just stop. Right now, our class doesn't lack those few points anyway."

Over these past few days, Yamamura had been responsible for the class's most critical task at present—checking in at the base points. The vast majority of the time, Fuyuji would accompany her. But sometimes, when he truly couldn't get away, he could only have a few Class A students accompany her.

The same principle applied to Morishita. That unreliable, scatterbrained girl would sometimes miss the designated time because she had gotten utterly absorbed in observing some roadside insect.

Only Yamamura had seen it through from beginning to end, start to finish. But because her physical ability ranked among the lower-middle tier of the entire class's girls, Fuyuji deliberately controlled the number of base point occupations. Of the three times a day, the nighttime one was always skipped.

As for whether those base points would be occupied by other classes if left unattended—Fuyuji wasn't worried. The majority of the base points occupied by Class A were ones known only to Class A. Ryuen Kakeru had merely seized a small handful of them.

"It's fine. I'm alright."

Yamamura shook her head. Her gaze lingered upon Fuyuji's retreating figure.

After all... when Fuyuji was absent, Morishita would be there with her. When Morishita was absent, Fuyuji would bring Shiraishi Asuka or Kamuro Masumi along to accompany her. No matter what, there was always one of them by her side.

As they walked, Fuyuji suddenly lowered his head and let out a sigh. He felt a pang of distress for this girl.

"Actually, at the very beginning... my original plan was to hand the leader role over to Totsuka Yahiko. Occupying base points and everything would all be left entirely to Katsuragi Kohei and the others. Once the supply situation was sorted out, the three of us could have spent the full seven days just wandering around this island with absolutely nothing to do."

"I'm sorry..." Yamamura lowered her head and apologized in a muffled, downcast voice.

If they had followed Fuyuji's original plan, the class points Class A could have earned in this special exam would probably have been more than what they could earn with herself as the leader.

Although the leader withdrawing from the exam would incur an additional deduction of thirty points, those thirty points could be entirely made up for by occupying those base points at night.

Totsuka was different. Fuyuji would feel no pity for him. As long as his body didn't break down, before Class A's Minister of Revenue, he would simply become a heartless, emotionless check-in machine.

But because it was her...

That was why he indulged and spoiled her so. Occupying base points and such—there were absolutely no rigid requirements at all. Every day, he sacrificed his own time to accompany her, and from time to time, he paid careful attention to her physical condition.

It was because she herself was too slow-witted, too dull. When Katsuragi had said the leader needed someone with a low sense of presence, the very first person she had thought of was herself.

Her heart had surged with emotion. That low sense of presence—the very thing that had always kept her alone and isolated—could actually, on that day, be put to use.

She wanted to step out. She wanted to... become someone useful to him...

She had once read a book. The book said: The greatest adventure is not traveling around the world, but bravely leaving the deserted island of one's own solitude, and setting out together with others who have likewise left their own deserted islands, to explore a new continent together.

Once, she, surrounded on all sides by an expanse of deathly still sea, had already encountered companions who had likewise departed their own deserted islands. All that remained was to set out with them and explore that unknown new continent together.

So, at that time, she had mustered her courage and, before the assembled Class A students, raised her own hand.

And then—what she had never expected was that he already had a far more thought-out plan in mind. Her own stubborn, willful insistence had instead become a hindrance, dragging down the class's progress.

As expected... she was truly far too usele—

"Thump..."

A faint, muffled impact sounded. Lost in her silent brooding, Yamamura's forehead knocked against Fuyuji's back.

"I'm sorry—"

She quickly raised her eyes and met Fuyuji's gaze, who had at some unknown point already turned around.

"Why are you apologizing again..."

Fuyuji rubbed the space between his brows. He felt both helplessness and a pang of tender concern. "On the first day of school, I wasn't watching where I was going and bumped into you, and you apologized to me. Now, after an entire semester has passed, after we've spent so much time together, I suddenly stopped and bumped into you again, and you're apologizing to me once more."

"I'm sorry..." Yamamura clutched the corner of Fuyuji's clothes. Her eyes dimmed as she spoke. "Aside from this... I don't know how else to express myself."

"Listen, Yamamura... No, I should call you Miki now."

Fuyuji raised a hand and gently pressed it on Yamamura's shoulder. Staring into her blue-grey eyes, he spoke with earnest, sincere gravity. "You didn't do anything wrong. Whether it was me not watching where I was going and bumping into you, or you volunteering to be the leader—neither of those things was wrong. There's no need to apologize."

"You're wonderful. You're gentle. You cook better than I do. You actively mediate the conflicts between me and Morishita. For the sake of the class, you took the initiative to step forward and become the leader. For me and Morishita, you went to the supermarket ahead of time to buy things, just to cook us dinner... All of these are your strengths. You're already far stronger than so many other people. They're the ones who should be apologizing to you—not you apologizing to them."

"But... Fuyuji-kun's plan was better."

"Wrong."

Fuyuji shook his head with absolute, unwavering certainty.

"You being the leader is the truly perfect choice. In truth, that leader-switching plan—from my perspective, it has a flaw. It was because I wanted you to stay safe and sound in your own world that I pressed your hand down."

"A flaw?" Yamamura murmured.

"Correct." Fuyuji nodded in affirmation. "A flaw that is destined to manifest the moment the leader-switching plan is used. Although the other classes might not notice this flaw... it truly does exist."

"Is... is that so..." Yamamura's pale, fair hand pressed over her own heart. She suddenly let out a breath of relief and murmured. "So I didn't hold you all back..."

"You would never hold us back. Just like right now—among the three of us, without you, neither Morishita nor I would be able to eat this chicken dinner."

Fuyuji bent his knees and maintained a half-crouching posture, bringing his line of sight level with Yamamura's. Reaching out, he stroked her blue-green strands of hair, following the line of her side ponytail, smoothly, gently running his fingers down bit by bit.

"You are important. You deserve to be seen. You are not some invisible ghost person. So now— grab hold of the corner of my clothes. Let's go back to camp together and get the seasonings. And then, give it everything you've got. Let's feast together."

"..."

Within those blue-grey eyes, a watery, shimmering light glistened. Yamamura, who had never known how to properly express herself, could only softly, gently breathe out.

"Okay..."

...

Within the quiet, still forest, the two figures still moved one after the other beneath the pillars of light. The boy still hummed some nameless, unknown little tune as he walked at the very front. The girl still subconsciously lowered her head. It was as though nothing had changed. And yet, it was also as though something had faintly, subtly shifted.

Before either of them knew it, a stretch of road—neither long nor short—had been traversed by the two of them.

Gazing at the cave campsite, now close at hand, Yamamura pressed her lips together. The strength with which she clutched the corner of his clothes intensified by a few more degrees. After hesitating for a moment, she softly opened her mouth.

"Fuyuji-kun."

"Mm? What is it?"

Yamamura bit her lip. For the very first time in her life, she asked for help from someone outside her family. Her eyelids rapidly opened and closed a few times. Her long, narrow lashes fluttered beneath the sunlight like dancing butterflies.

"I want to do something I'm capable of doing. So... can you help me? At night... I want to try going to occupy a base point."

Fuyuji's body froze mid-motion. His little tune came to a halt. A sly, roguish grin spread across his face. "Just the two of us? Not bringing Morishita?"

Yamamura's pretty face instantly flushed bright red. But she still nodded firmly and emphatically. "Mm! I can't always let Morishita-san be the one accommodating me. I want to try... leaving her side."

"No problem!" Fuyuji agreed with absolute, instantaneous decisiveness, the words flying straight from his mouth.

Having been an empty-nest elder more times than he could count at school, Fuyuji finally, at long last, held his head high and played the master of his own domain for once.

Hmph haha!

Morishita Ai! Empty-nest elder—you're doomed to be one now!

"We need to set the time properly in advance. You and Morishita sleep together, right? Make sure she doesn't find out." Fuyuji immediately began plotting and strategizing for Yamamura.

"Actually... Morishita-san sleeps very deeply at night. Her sleeping face is very, very cute. But she's never allowed me to tell you."

"Is that so? Also—it'll be very dark at night. And to avoid being spotted from afar by people from other classes, we can't use a flashlight that's too bright."

"It's fine. I'll do my best."

"I know. You've always been capable."

...

In the deep, dark forest a little distance away, Morishita, who had been observing with keen interest the two chickens' final, dying struggles, suddenly let out a tiny, unexpected sneeze.

"Who is it? Missing the adorable Morishita-sama yet again?"

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