After a dinner made up entirely of retort foods, we gathered around the hearth. With coffee in hand, we chatted in the relaxing atmosphere provided by the crackling fire.
"It’s so quiet..."
"It is," Hiiragi-san agreed. "All you can hear is the rushing river and the wind rustling through the trees."
"It’s nice to have this once in a while, isn't it? It helps you forget the hustle and bustle of the city," Yuji added.
"Yeah..."
I looked up at the sky. A starlit expanse stretched out as far as the eye could see. It should have been the same sky I looked up at back home, but from here, it seemed like something else entirely.
The most striking sight was the dense, straight line of light formed by countless stars—the Milky Way.
"The Milky Way really does look like a river of stars. Seeing it like this makes me realize the name is perfectly literal."
"In the city, streetlights and building lights get in the way. You can't see it like this unless you come to a place with almost no artificial light," Yuji remarked.
Time flowed peacefully as we chatted about whatever came to mind, our idle conversation serving as a side dish to the view. But even those gentle moments had to end.
"Well, it's getting late. We should probably get some rest."
"Eh? Couldn't we stay up a little longer?" I asked. "It's not like we have anything specific planned for tomorrow."
"True, but this camp is strictly a rehearsal for the bivouac training we have coming up. It's better to rest your body while you can. Besides..."
"Besides?"
Yuji's voice trailed off, and he averted his eyes slightly as if finding the topic difficult to broach.
"Night watch during a bivouac is incredibly dull when nothing is happening—especially in a small group. Since you have no one to talk to, the sense of isolation is unreal."
"That sounds rough."
"On top of that, since your friends are sleeping nearby, making unnecessary noise is strictly forbidden."
Hiiragi-san and I both grimaced as we imagined the scenario.
"I’ll tell you now: listening to music with earphones is out of the question," Yuji continued. "The whole point of the night watch is to stay alert for abnormalities. Using your hearing is vital for monitoring the area at night. If you cut off one of your primary senses, you've already failed at the job."
"We get it," I said. "The challenge is fulfilling the duty while enduring the boredom—or rather, the isolation."
"Exactly. If you aren't used to it, even a shift of just a few hours can be mentally exhausting."
Yuji let out a small sigh, his gaze drifting toward the horizon. I wondered if he was recalling some particularly unpleasant memory.
"You'll understand just how lonely it is once you've tried it."
"I-I see."
The enlightened, weary tone in Yuji’s voice made Hiiragi-san and me recoil slightly, our expressions twitching. Sensing the awkward mood he had created, Yuji cleared his throat to get us back on track.
"Anyway, let's decide the order for the night watch. According to the internet, sunrise was around 4:30 yesterday..."
Yuji checked his watch. Following his lead, I saw the hands pointing to just before 21:00.
"I guess that means about two and a half hours per shift?"
"Which means we're all up by 4:30?" I asked.
"We start our day with the sun."
I felt a surge of anxiety about whether I could actually wake up that early.
"I’d like Hiiragi-san to take the first shift. Is that okay with you?"
"Me first?" she asked.
I had assumed we would use rock-paper-scissors to decide, but it seemed Yuji had already worked it out.
"Honestly, having to approach a tent where a girl is sleeping in the middle of the night is awkward, even if I don't have an ulterior motive. It’ll be a lot easier for everyone if Hiiragi-san goes first. Besides, you probably don't want us seeing your face the second you wake up, right?"
"That’s a fair point," she admitted. "I appreciate the consideration."
"Glad to hear it."
Yuji was right; it would be awkward for us to go wake her up later. Having her take the first shift solved that problem. Since she was on board, the first slot was settled. That meant...
"I'll take the second shift," Yuji proposed. "Daiki, you take the third."
"Are you sure?" I asked, surprised.
The second shift was usually the most grueling because it broke up your sleep into two chunks, unlike the third shift where you could at least sleep through the first part of the night.
"Yeah, I don't mind. I fall asleep easily enough. It would be cruel to dump the second shift on you since you've never done a night watch before."
"Thanks, man."
I offered a brief word of thanks for his thoughtfulness. With that, the order was set: Hiiragi-san, Yuji, and then me. Leaving the first watch to Hiiragi-san, Yuji and I retreated to our tents.
"It’s big enough to sleep in, but it’s definitely cramped," I muttered to myself.
I spread out my sleeping bag and looked around. The tent had seemed spacious when we were setting it up, but a one-person tent was exactly what it claimed to be. There wasn't anything left to do, so I turned off my light and crawled into my bag. Since we were at a decent altitude, the air grew quite chilly once I was away from the fire. Back home, I had questioned if I really needed a sleeping bag in the summer, but I was glad now that I’d prepared properly.
"...I can't sleep."
Ten minutes later, I was still wide awake. Staring at the faint glow of the fire through the tent wall, my thoughts drifted toward the upcoming training session with Genya-san.
This camp was just about getting used to the outdoors, so it hadn't been too difficult yet. Still, living away from modern conveniences meant there were plenty of things I didn't know how to handle.
"Cooking on the hearth was harder than I thought, too."
Even for a dinner of retort pouches, we had to boil water and heat the food. What would have been a simple task on a gas stove became a chore when I had to manage the firewood and the intensity of the flames. When I’d tried to speed things up by adding more wood, the fire had surged into a tower of flame that engulfed the pot in soot. I’d even managed to get ash in the water, forcing me to start all over.
"And they definitely won't let us use a hearth during the actual training next week."
Knowing Genya-san, the bivouac training would be brutal. The anticipation filled me with dread. My thoughts circled around that anxiety until, eventually, my mind slowed down and the world went dark.
I heard someone calling my name. I blinked my groggy eyes open and saw a shadow cast against the tent wall by the firelight. As my consciousness returned, I slowly remembered where I was.
Wait, that voice...
"...Yuji?"
"Yeah. Good morning, Daiki."
"Morning..."
I rubbed my eyes and sat up while still inside my sleeping bag.
"Is it my turn already?"
"Yeah. And as you’d expect, nothing happened."
"Good."
I crawled out of the tent. Outside, the world was still draped in pitch-black darkness, save for the brilliant stars above. It was so quiet it felt almost eerie.
"You okay, Daiki? You awake?"
"Yeah. My head is still a bit foggy, but I'm mostly there."
I massaged the bridge of my nose and shook my head to clear the cobwebs. Yuji looked a bit worried, but I gave him a nod to show I was fine.
"Alright. The water's boiling, so have some coffee to wake yourself up. I added wood to the fire, so it should stay lit for a while."
"Thanks. I appreciate it."
"I'm counting on you for the rest, Daiki."
Yuji raised his hand for a high-five of sorts. I reached out and tapped his palm.
"Good night."
"Good work, Yuji."
Looking satisfied, Yuji disappeared into his tent.
"First things first... coffee."
I watched the kettle on the hearth, which was whistling and puffing out steam.
Wait... isn't that boiling a bit too much?
The sky began to pale as the first hints of dawn arrived. The birds began their morning chorus, and the once-silent mountain suddenly felt alive.
"Almost sunrise..."
I tossed a few small branches into the hearth and stretched, gazing toward the ridge where the sun would appear.
"That felt a lot longer than I expected."
It had been two and a half hours since I took over. Just as Yuji had warned, a night watch where nothing happened was mind-numbingly dull—and incredibly lonely. Trying to stay alert while fighting off sleepiness and maintaining silence was a real mental grind.
As I ruminated on the sheer boredom of the shift, a sudden flash of brilliant light broke over the mountain's edge.
"Oh, there it is."
I squinted as the sun slowly crested the ridge. It was blindingly bright, yet I found it impossible to look away. Within minutes, the sun had fully revealed itself.
"Good morning, Kokonoe-kun."
While I was entranced by the sunrise, Hiiragi-san had emerged from her tent with her towel and toiletries.
"Good morning, Hiiragi-san. You're up early."
"The morning sun made it too bright to sleep in the tent."
"I see. Heading to wash your face?"
"Yes. I'll be right back."
"Take your time."
I watched her head off, then filled the kettle with fresh water. Even in summer, the early morning mountain air was chilly. I wanted to have hot drinks ready for both of them. As I set the kettle back on the hearth, Yuji finally crawled out of his tent.
"...Morning."
"Morning, Yuji. You look exhausted. You okay?"
"Yeah... just a little sleepy."
"Go wash your face. It'll wake you up."
"Good idea... be back in a second."
I checked my watch as Yuji headed off with his towel.
"It’s not even 5:00 yet and we're all awake. We're early."
Once they returned and I handed them their wake-up coffee, I started on breakfast. Like the night before, it was a selection of retort pouches. This time, I’d learned my lesson; I managed the fire carefully and avoided any towers of flame.
"It’ll be hot in a minute. Just hold on."
"No rush, Daiki. It's still early," Yuji said.
"True, but it's not like we have anything else to do," Hiiragi-san quipped.
We all shared a small laugh. She was right; there wasn't much to do but wait for the food. In the relaxed morning air, Yuji turned to us.
"So, what did you two think? Now that you've actually done a night watch?"
"Boring. That’s the only word for it," I said. "It was mostly just a fight against sleep."
"I agree," Hiiragi-san said. "Maintaining the concentration to stay alert while fighting off drowsiness was the hardest part."
Yuji nodded knowingly.
"When you're on watch alone, sleepiness is the biggest threat to your focus. Once your concentration slips, your situational awareness goes with it. Learning how to shake off the cobwebs and stay sharp is the whole point. I’m willing to bet Genya-san’s training is going to focus heavily on that."
Hiiragi-san and I both straightened our posture. Yuji’s theory made sense. They would likely stage night raids while we were bivouacking to test our ability to stay alert. We’d have to manage our rest while the person on watch battled isolation and exhaustion to protect the group.
"Well, it's just a guess," Yuji added. "We won't know the specifics until the day of the training."
"Don't scare us like that, Yuji..." I grumbled.
"I’d like to say the same, but the possibility is quite high, isn't it?" Hiiragi-san noted.
"Probably. Well, no use worrying about it now. Hey, Daiki, isn't the food ready yet?"
"Eh? Oh, yeah. Looks like it."
I pulled the retort pouches from the boiling water and served the contents onto plates. This morning’s menu: retort curry and rice. Once everything was served, I looked at my friends and pressed my hands together.
"Let's eat."
"Let's eat," they echoed.
And so, we began our very early breakfast. I wondered what we would do to kill time until our train arrived.