My new Neighbor's an Idol!?

Can't Handle the Heat

A part of Ishi felt that he really didn't want to be running around to check on everyone. Especially not with those he was going to checking on. However, he knew that lazing about was not the right thing to do, so he thought about where would make for a good starting point for the day. Of all the girls here, he was most worried for Youna.

That girl believed herself to be incompetent. In his eyes, she was a fairly capable person, but lacked the confidence to see that. So she would most likely be hesitant to try and start any fires, even if they were simply just campfires.

So that was where the boy headed off to first. There was a sectioned off area of concrete ground with pits for students to learn how to start their own fires should they find themselves in the wilderness. When he arrived, it seemed that the teaching instructor had finished explaining how to start one as he lit the wood in front of him. After that was demonstrated, the other students went off in groups to try it out themselves.

Meanwhile, Ishi scanned the area for the girl he was searching for. There he saw her, standing all alone, looking around as if trying to find something to do.

"Hey Youna." He greeted her, which gave the girl a slight jolt as she was not expecting him to be here so early. "Looks like they're expecting us to also find our own firewood."

"Y-yeah." She responded, appearing very nervous. This time around, it wasn't because of his presence. What Youna was most concerned with was actually starting a fire for the first time in her life. She really didn't want to get burned. "I wanted to set a good example for the younger students, but it's hard to start a fire all by myself."

"Good thing I'm here then." He said, taking the girl's hand without a moments hesitation. She immediately felt weak in her legs as he lead her towards the woods to find some proper branches and chips to get them started.

"Th-thank you." She had to fight hard to get her mind back into reality. "I'm sorry that I can't just do this on my own."

"Don't worry about it." He replied, his eyes peered across the ground to find good resources. "I'm sure you'll get there eventually, just need to keep working on it." This was what he expected out of her, which is why he came here first. Chances were, Youna would give him the most work to do, so things should become more smooth as his day progressed.

There were a lot of other people in the forest along with them. As chaperons, they also had to make sure no one was doing anything stupid that could get them hurt. Such as climbing the tall trees. At the same time, they also wanted to make sure no one took a wood log that was too large. Those could cause a potential fire hazard for everyone around them.

"I think this should be enough." Said Youna. She had a fair bit of branches in her arms now, which combined with his set, would be enough for them to start a fire. Ishi also found a longer stick which would allow the pair to safely move around the wood in order for it to improve on its burning.

They returned to the campgrounds along with everyone else, most of them had already begun placing down their resources. There were multiple ways that the students could do to get their campfires lit. The first was the basic tool-less method which involved drilling a branch on top of another to create friction for heat. The second used what was known as a magnesium fire starter. That methods meant one stripped off some magnesium from a special tool using a knife, then one would flip the tool over to scrape the knife along it for sparks, therefore lighting a fire.

Finally, they were also allowed to use matches, but that was viewed as boring for most. So a lot of students opted to try the old fashion branch method as a means of showing off that they were skilled enough.