One day, I was in the forest with Meiko
Today is Sunday, so work’s closed, and everyone’s spending their time as they please
We walk side-by-side with the monkeys watching us from the treetops.
With no particular destination in mind, we just stroll around.
That was Meiko’s request.
「 Why, are you sure you don’t want to do anything else? 」
「 Yes. You don’t want it, Shinomiya-kun? 」
「 That’s not what I mean, but I just want to make sure that I wasn’t boring you 」
Neither Meiko nor I are talkative.
We’re just talking a walk, not saying anything.
If she’s happy with it, then that’s fine, but I can’t help but feel uneasy.
「 It’s fine. If there’s anything else I want, then that would be holding hands 」
「 That’s not a problem 」
I held her hand and her fingers entwined with mine.
Her supple and slender fingers gently rub the back of my hand.
「 I think that this is the most luxurious way to spend time on this island 」
「 You mean talking a walk while holding hands? 」
「 Walking with Shinomiya-kun to be precise. 」
「 Is it that important? 」
「 Yeah. I get to monopolize the popular guy and just spend time hanging out. It’s like going on a vacation, but spending the entire time in a hotel, see? 」
「 Isn’t that more of a waste than a luxury? 」
Meiko laughed it off, saying “Maybe”
「 But it’s a luxury to me 」
「 As long as you’re satisfied 」
We walked for a while after that.
I occasionally glanced over to check her profile and indeed, she looks happy.
So I didn’t say anything.
Guu♪
My stomach rumbled loudly.
That sound was naturally noticed in the quiet forest.
「 Sorry, we’ve been walking for so long that you got hungry 」
「 No, I’m sorry for being insensitive 」
「 There’s a river nearby, how about we eat fish? 」
「 Let’s do that 」
We changed courses and headed to the river.
◇
My hunger increased as we reached the river.
That’s because there’s a lot of delicious-looking fish swimming around.
「 First, we need to get some skewers 」
I quickly built a campfire.
「 Don’t worry about that. I brought some bamboo skewers 」
Meiko took out some skewers from her pocket
「 You had those? 」
「 I thought of bringing it 」
「 Good Decision. All that’s left is to catch the fish 」
「 That’s the problem. If we don’t have a fishing rod, then we have to use traps 」
“Right…” I said while looking around.
「 What to do? 」
Meiko’s peeking at my face, looking happy for some reason
「 Okay, let’s use poison 」
I see a squirrel running in a nearby tree.
「 Poison? 」
「 I’m sure that walnuts are native to this area 」
「 That’s poison? 」
「 The leaves are 」
The walnut fruits are edible for humans and squirrels.
It’s a useful plant with high nutritional value and excellent preservation properties.
Then the leaves contain alkaloids, a poison.
This should paralyze the fish and keep them afloat on the surface.
「 Is it safe to use poison? It could harm us 」
「 That’s not a problem in small quantity. This is what they call poison sink fishing, and it used to be a common practice. Today, however, that would be illegal, just like stone-throwing fishing 」
Meiko seems impressed.
「 Let’s begin 」
「 Right 」
We split up and gathered leaves.
Then, we threw them into the river.
「 It should take effect immediately 」
By the time I said that, I saw the change.
「 Oh, fish 」
Meiko points at the river.
Poisoned river fishes began to float.
「 All we have to do is collect them. I wish we had a scoop net for times like this 」
「 I have them too 」
“Here,” Meiko handed me the net
「 Seriously? 」
「 I sneaked back to the hideout to get them while collecting leaves 」
「 That’s some planning! 」
I scooped up the fish at a nice tempo.
Thanks to Meiko’s attentiveness, the work progressed.
「 Oh, Meiko, look at that! 」
I pointed at the prey excitedly.
It was an Eel.
Just like the river fishes, it was poisoned and floating.
「 We even caught eels, that’s amazing 」
「 I know it’s a hit or miss because there’s no sauce and they’re river eels, but I can’t help but get excited on this one 」
We finished capturing prey.
Fishes are placed in an enclosure built in the river to keep them fresh.
「 Let’s finish prepping the fish and grill it 」
「 I’ll do the spit-roasting and putting the skewers by the fire 」
「 Can you? 」
「 I think 」
「 Just ask me if you don’t get it 」
I worked with my favorite survival knife.
I was excited to know that soon, I’d be able to eat a lot of delicious fish.
「 I want to catch more eels, let’s do this again 」
Meiko agreed.
「 But, maybe it goes too well and we catch too much to eat? 」
「 That’s likely. After all, poison sink fishery is hard to coordinate 」
This island has several rivers, all of which are teeming with fish.
So, overfishing shouldn’t be a problem, but that doesn’t mean that we should catch more than we can eat.
「 If we can’t finish it, we’ll just turn it into dried fish or something 」
「 That’s true 」
Our work is finished.
The campfire is surrounded by delicious-looking fish.
We’re sitting on the floor grasping our knees, waiting for it to be completed.
「 Are you feeling okay in your stomach? Do you want some nuts? 」
Meiko looks at me worriedly.
「 It’s a little tough, but it’s not a problem. I mean, I’m in the mood to eat fish. I wouldn’t want to eat anything else now 」
「 Ahaha, I feel you 」
Meiko leaned on me.
She rests her head on my shoulder and a nice smell reaches my nostrils.
Normally, those pheromones would hit my lust.
But, my hunger won today.
「 Thanks, Shinomiya-kun. It’s been a while since we spent time together like this, so it was a lot of fun 」
I pat her head and said “Likewise”
「 I’m also happy to spend time with Meiko 」
「 Stop that, you’re making me blush 」
「 That wasn’t my intention 」
「 Geez, you should do that more 」
「 I don’t know if I could do what the popular guys could 」
Meiko happily laughed.
After that, I had a pleasant time while eating fresh fish.