From the end of the world

Chapter 6 Picking up the Doomsday Girl 6
It is now mid-September of 2023, and the time when I awakened my superpowers was early April of 2019.

It was almost four and a half years ago. I was in the second semester of my third year in junior high school, and I was still at an age full of fantasies.

Although I am now considered a dreamer by people around me, I was even more naive in the past. Therefore, when I awakened my superpowers, I no longer had any doubts about the authenticity of supernatural powers, and I was able to concentrate on finding those mysterious things that people around me thought were impossible.

The goblins, demons, and gods in legends might all exist, and people with super powers like me undoubtedly also exist in some corners of this world.

I never thought that I was the only person with super powers in the world. If there is one, there will be two. It's a very simple truth. Although I don't know how lucky I was to have awakened super powers by accident, even if the probability is one in a billion, there are 8 billion people in the world, so there should be dozens of super powers. If the search terms are expanded from "super powers" to "supernatural powers", I don't know how many there are. My idea should be correct.

However, more than four years later, my search has made zero progress.

Only my power is advancing by leaps and bounds on the evolutionary track.
-
This time, Ma Zao did not sleep all night like last time.

Just a few minutes later, she opened her eyes drowsily and looked at me as if she was still in a dream.

I took the initiative to release kindness.

"You must still be very tired now. It's okay, you can rest for a while."

Hearing this, she didn't say anything, but just observed me silently, and her eyes became clearer and clearer. After a while, she opened the quilt on her body, got out of bed, and staggered towards the door.

"Where are you going?" I got in front of her first.

“Get out of the way.” She glared at me like a wounded wolf cub.

"Do you want to leave now?"

"I told you, I have nothing to do with you anymore."

"But I have something to do. After all, I risked being arrested by the police to shelter you, and I can't just sit back and watch you act on your own." I gave a legitimate reason.

She turned a deaf ear to me and tried to quickly get around me.

However, after taking just one step, her body began to sway involuntarily, and then her knees went weak and she was about to fall to the ground.

I quickly stepped forward to support her, but she stubbornly pushed me away, then immediately took two steps back cautiously, keeping a relatively safe distance from me.

"What can you do in your current state?" I pressed the issue. "You can't even walk properly. You could pass out at any time. What's more, you are covered in blood and wearing a barely-there hospital gown. If you walk outside, you'll be caught by the police very quickly."

"I won't tell anyone about your affairs, is that okay?" She responded with a frown.

"I mean... don't you want to take a shower first?" I racked my brains to buy time to think about how to persuade her to stay. "You can throw away this dress first. You can wear my clothes for a change. I'll get you new underwear."

"Take a shower?" She was puzzled at first, then seemed to have thought of something, took two steps back, and looked at me with more vigilance, "Are you..."

"Don't get me wrong." I immediately dispelled her suspicion, "If I had that kind of feeling towards you, I would have done everything long ago."

"That's true..." Having said that, she checked her body again and admitted reluctantly, "Shower... What you said just now makes sense. I really can't just walk out like this..."

After much persuasion, she finally listened to my advice and went into the bathroom, looking back every three steps.

I brought her a pair of spare slippers, took out my clothes from the bedside table, and handed them to her as well as new underwear and a towel. I followed her all the way to the bathroom door and watched her close the frosted glass door.

Behind the door came the rustling sound of towels being unwrapped in plastic packaging, followed by the sound of undressing. A vague and petite shadow was reflected on the frosted glass door. She seemed to be distinguishing the toiletries and could hear the subtle sounds of bottles being picked up and put down.

The shower was running, and the sound of water splashing on the floor could be heard through the door. The first water that came out was definitely cold, and she let out a short but cute cry like a frightened little animal.

Soon, the water probably became warmer, and she finally became quiet and made comfortable sounds.

There was a living, naked beautiful girl just across the door. I realized belatedly that I shouldn't have stood so close to her, so I sat down on the sofa in the living room, thinking about what to do next, while taking out my cell phone to ask for leave from the university.

Just then, I found a few text messages on my phone, sent by my only friend in college. It was from last night, asking me if I was free that evening. At that time, I was busy with my work and didn't notice the message at all.

Why do you want to find me so suddenly? Is there something urgent?
I replied to his inquiry text message and added that I would not be going to school today, and then asked for leave from the school.

After a while, the sound of water in the bathroom stopped.

Maybe the survivors of the doomsday era have an inseparable habit of saving water resources. I thought that since she was a girl, she would definitely spend a lot of time taking a bath. In this way, I would have a lot of time to weave a trick to keep her. But Ma Zao's bathing speed was faster than that of a rough man like me. It didn't take long for her to put on my clothes, hold on to the wall, and stagger out of the bathroom.

The clothes I prepared for her were a grey long-sleeved T-shirt and long pants, and black boxer briefs. Unfortunately, I don't have any tops specifically for girls, and I don't know if it would have a negative impact on a girl of her age.

The top that was meant for me was obviously too loose for her, with sleeves long enough to cover her hands and hems that looked like a dress. She simply rolled up her sleeves and trouser legs, revealing her fair, thin forearms and calves.

I led her back to the bedroom. I had already removed the dirty sheets and quilt. She sat down on the bed, still smelling of warm water and lemon shampoo.

It's incredible, the lemon scent on her is exactly the scent of my most commonly used shampoo. Now it's just wafting from her body, but it gives me a completely different atmosphere.

The same goes for clothes. Those commonplace clothes, now just put on her body, inexplicably exuded a wonderful charm.

This is probably what the "boyfriend shirt" mentioned on the Internet means, although she and I are not in that kind of relationship. I feel that such thoughts are self-indulgent just by thinking about them.

"Thank you, I can't remember the last time I took such a comfortable bath."

Maybe the hot water temporarily softened the stiff hair of this "hedgehog", and Ma Zao's attitude has now become softer.

Then she asked me to give her gun back. I refused without hesitation.

"Come to think of it, why do you have a pistol? Did you bring it with you when you traveled through time?"

"...This has nothing to do with you." She was still so uncooperative, but her tone was gentle, "Since you won't return the gun to me, then keep it for yourself. I'm leaving."

"You want to investigate the cause of the doomsday, right? But do you have any clues?"

"No. However, the end of the world will not come suddenly. There are signs and preludes. People just don't pay enough attention to it. Unthinkable phenomena or bizarre monsters... things like that must have appeared in this era." She became a little more patient, and then issued a warning, "You must also be careful. Once you encounter suspicious signs, don't hesitate, stay as far away as possible. And..."

"What else?"

"...Don't come near me again." She seemed to be consciously speaking in a calm tone, "I... am different from you, I am a jinx.

“People who are with me, people who are related to me…are always more likely than others to be involved in bizarre events that cannot be explained by common sense, until they die tragically.

"If you value your life, stop pestering me."

Ah? There is such a good thing?

I felt refreshed.

"How can this be possible?" I immediately said righteously, "I told you at the beginning that the reason I saved you was because I couldn't sit idly by and watch you - a ragged girl lying in the night. And now you want me to forget about you. Isn't this going to kill me mentally? If I do this, then am I still myself?"

"Anyone can say high-sounding words, but when you are about to die, you will definitely regret your decision." Her tone became heavier.

"Don't underestimate me. I don't regret it if I say so, and you are the one who should re-evaluate yourself." I said, "You can't use your superpowers now, you can't move around freely, and you still need to rest, but you are going out to run around. Isn't this adding insult to injury?

"Instead of doing that, why not stay with me to gather your strength first, so that you can better serve the mission of preventing the end of the world, right? Or is it more important for you to satisfy your own stubbornness?

"Besides, even if you are really a jinx who will bring unpredictable disasters to the people around you, you can't be so quick to show up that you can't even wait for a few days, right?"

"This..." She seemed to be moved by what he said, "If it's just a few days..."

"How is it?" I tried.

“……” She was silent.

I waited anxiously for her answer.

If……

If I can't persuade her no matter what, then to put it bluntly, I will break her legs and tie her up with iron chains and keep her imprisoned in my house.

Although illegally imprisoning underage girls is both a crime and a perversion, it is necessary to avoid being discovered by official forces. I have already illegally possessed firearms and ammunition and was hiding a "serial killer", so this is not a big deal.

I didn't want to resort to such extreme measures until the last minute. For me, this was something that required a lot of mental effort.

After a long while, she finally let out a breath and nodded reluctantly.

"...I understand." She looked defeated. "But just in case, I won't stay here for many days. No matter how I recover, I will be gone in five days at most... no, three days at most.

"And...thank you."

At the end of her speech, her voice became very small.

My heart finally settled down for the time being.

dong dong dong.

Suddenly, there was another knock on the door.

We were silent at the same time and looked at each other.

Another policeman? Is it the same policeman from before who has returned?
Why did he come back? Did he finally realize that something was wrong with me? How many policemen are outside the door now?

"I'm coming." I shouted towards the entrance and made a quiet gesture to Ma Zao.

She nodded and curled up in her bed.

I came to the entrance, but instead of leaning forward to peek through the peephole, I remained alert and slowly turned the doorknob.

There was no sudden force opening of the door from outside.

I pushed the door open and saw the person standing outside.

"It's you?" I was surprised.

Standing outside the door was my only friend in college.

But his complexion now looked very bad, and one could vaguely see traces of fear, as if he had experienced some incredible and strange thing before.

(End of this chapter)