Past react to future

Under the tree.

I returned to the campsite around half an hour later, just in time to watch Ike light the campfire he had been working on.

"You're quite resourceful."

"Well, you gotta do whatcha can to help out. Do you know how we were like, told beforehand that we'd be doin' an exam out on an island this time? I reckon most people went and looked up how to handle this kinda stuff ahead of time cuz of that."

With his eyes fixed on the campfire in front of him, Ike continued.

"But, well, there's a difference between knowledge and experience, right? How should I put it... If you could do something just cuz you knew about it, nothing would be hard at all."

Indeed, you can't always replicate something just by reading a couple of articles or watching a video about it.

You'd only be able to find out what you're capable of by trying it out for yourself.

"Ah, there you are, Ayanokōji-senpai."

"What's up?"

"You were gone for a while, so I went to look for you."

Nanase turned her gaze over toward the forest as she spoke.

From the sound of it, we had just missed each other when I came back.

"Alrighty guys, I think it's about time we had some grub."

"Okay."

Ike had a broad grin on his face as he went to retrieve a bucket from over by his tent.

And then, he proudly showed us what was inside.

"Wow, amazing...!"

The bucket contained several fish that Ike had caught at some point.

"well, Ike-kun was used for that stuff and he had more experience so it was easy for him," said, Matsushita.

And others agreed.

"I had some time to kill back when my group was by the ocean, so I took the opportunity to catch a few. Let's chow down!"

In somewhat of a hurry, Ike started preparing dinner.

At a glance, he seemed to be carrying on in good spirits, but it was obvious that he was just pretending.

"What did he mean Ike just pretending to be in good on spirit. is he not happy when he meets Ayanokoujji on that island" said Miyamoto.

"no, its not he was not happy when he met Ayanokouji, he just worried about some person," said Aokimuchi.

"so, he worried about some person huh, how cute," said Sudou.

"Stop teasing me, Ken," said Ike.

However, he seemed to be taking on the uninhabited island exam with a far more level head than I thought he would, so for now, I guess there was nothing to worry about.

"Something smells good over here—"

A group of three that happened to be passing through the area approached us, perhaps drawn in by the appetizing scent of the fish Ike was grilling. We were camping out in the open since we were next to the river, so it wasn't surprising that they had seen us.

What was completely unexpected, however, was the identity of one of the three students in the group.

"Ah-!"