A youth story of a passerby at the end of the world

The little girl glanced at Kasumigaoka Utaha's chest with lingering fear, then looked down at her own.

The two boys in the kitchen had twitching lips. Hachiman looked at Uesugi Genshin. If his younger sister really resembled Yukinoshita, then... the future shouldn't be worth looking forward to.

Uesugi Genshin shook his head. Since she is the daughter of the Yukinoshita family, Yukinoshita Yukino should have a promising future. There is such a possibility. The evidence is that you can see her older sister!

"Rumi-chan, huh?" Yui Yuigahama, her feet clad in calf socks, walked excitedly toward Rumi Tsurumi. "I'm Yui Yuigahama, nice to meet you."

Meanwhile, Miura Yumiko and Ebina Hina were talking, "This child reminds me so much of Yukinoshita."

"Hmm... it's probably just your imagination, Yumiko. It's probably because you both have long, black hair." Hina Ebina's glasses gleamed.

"Really?" Miura Yumiko believed her. "But she is indeed a lovely child."

The living room was spacious, which was one of the reasons they moved the welcome party here, since only Uesugi Genshin lived in the apartment and there was nothing extra piled up there.

You don't have to worry about disturbing anyone or disturbing the rest of other people in the apartment.

"Great!" After everything was set up, Komachi cheered with her hands on her hips, "Everyone, look this way."

"Ahem. First of all, welcome everyone to Soubu High School." Everyone applauded in response.

"Thank you, thank you." Komachi looked around and then continued, "Wow, Genshin-nii is right here, but I shamelessly stood here to speak."

With his chin resting on the island platform, Uesugi Genshin waved his hand, indicating that it was nothing to worry about.

"Yes, yes, I wish everyone a wonderful start to your new life here, so I held this welcome party. Let's all get along well. Please continue to support us in the future!" Komachi cheerfully raised her cup of cola.

"Oh~~~"

Everyone raised their glasses, and the ice cubes inside collided with each other, making a pleasant "clanging" sound.

Uesugi Genshin symbolically raised his cup of oolong tea and took a big gulp.

"What's wrong?" Uesugi Genshin asked, bumping his arms together as he watched Hachiman hesitate to take a bite.

"What do you think?" Hachiman gave him a knowing look, then drank it down, the spicy, smoky liquid churning in his throat.

The moment he drank it, he clearly felt dizzy. "This is bad, I'm already feeling a bit lightheaded."

"After you finish drinking, go back and get a good night's sleep." Uesugi Genshin chewed on a squid tentacle, not paying much attention.

"You make it sound so easy." Luckily, Hachiman had dinner to eat, so he started chewing something too. Hmm, the more he chewed, the more delicious it tasted.

Dressed in casual clothes, Sakurajima Mai sat down opposite Uesugi Genshin, picked up the oolong tea on the table, and brought her delicate nose close to smell it.

“Alcohol abuse is bad,” Uesugi Genshin reminded her as he saw her preparing to drink.

Mai Sakurajima gave him a charming glance with her grey-blue gemstone, "It's none of your business to say that."

"I... I'm doing this to relieve stress." Uesugi Genshin clinked glasses with Hachiman. Even if he didn't say it, Hachiman didn't mind drinking, because killing zombies every day would gradually accumulate negative emotions, a complex and indescribable darkness mixed with violence, bloodshed, decadence, and even indulgence.

“There’s more than just alcohol.” Mai Sakurajima forced herself to swallow the “oolong tea” while enduring the cutting sensation in her mouth.

“Yes, you’re right.” Uesugi Genshin agreed wholeheartedly. “It seems that the Ministry of Revenue and the others have some erotic magazines. I’ll go borrow a couple.”

"..." Then she was met with a fierce glare from Mai Sakurajima, her face flushed red. "I didn't tell you to do that!"

Her flushed face—was it the effect of the alcohol or from hearing dirty jokes?

"Pfft, hahaha..." Uesugi Genshin burst into laughter, drawing everyone's attention.

He raised his amber glass with a calm expression. "Cheers!"

"Cheers!" everyone shouted.

The living room returned to its usual hustle and bustle, with everyone's voices mingling and echoing throughout the room.

Yukino Yukinoshita was talking to Rumi Tsurumi and Utaha Kasumigaoka across from each other. It seemed to be about work. The atmosphere between the two was quite harmonious, and there was no unpleasantness between them.

Yui Yuigahama sat close to Yukino Yukinoshita, chatting between them to liven up the atmosphere between the two quiet girls. Then she went to sit down next to Megumi Kato. They both worked in the cooking club and seemed to be having a good time chatting. A smile appeared on Megumi Kato's usually expressionless face.

Meanwhile, Miura Yumiko and Ebina Hina went to the kitchen and sat down. Miura Yumiko took a cup of oolong tea and chatted casually with Sakurajima Mai and Uesugi Genshin. As for Ebina Hina, she "played" Hachiman's girlfriend in everyone's eyes, softly saying that she could only drink one cup.

I was only planning to have one drink! Hey!

Komachi and Saki Kawasaki took care of Kyoka Kawasaki, feeding him. The little boy didn't eat any dinner, but instead wanted to eat potato chips like Rumi Tsurumi.

Although sandwiched between two older sisters, Tsurumi Rumi ate her own food carefully, eating the snacks on the table because her older sister Yukinoshita had told her not to eat too much, lest she upset her stomach.

The members of Sweet Bullet chatted with Iroha Isshiki about their past idol careers. One was a "school idol," and the other was an underground idol group. Iroha was quite curious, so they got along very well. The sweet girls exuded the aroma of spices and sugar.

Not just them, the whole room was like that.

Chapter 139: Three Mornings

It was a morning like any other, and Yukino Yukinoshita woke up naturally without being woken by the alarm clock.

She didn't know the time; she only felt that it was just getting light outside the window, somewhat like nighttime at seven o'clock.

So is it six o'clock or five o'clock now?

There used to be a clock in the room, but in the quiet night and empty room, the hands would make a very crisp sound as they turned.

It rings every second, and if you pay too much attention to it, it can actually make you feel uncomfortable.

It was completely different from the clock in her old apartment bedroom, which was silent, just like time itself—that's what a clock does, isn't it?

Reaching for the bedside table, her fingernail brushed against the phone screen as she groped around. She picked it up and held it up to her eyes, using the dim light of the screen to see the time: only 5:30.

However, she didn't intend to sleep any longer. She pulled back the covers to get up, which startled the other person in the bed.

The other person was so sensitive that they suddenly moved, their eyes opening in the next second with panic and wariness. After seeing clearly, their eyes became blurry, they blinked lightly, and tears slid down, wetting the pillow.

It's a sense of security.

"It's okay to sleep a little longer." Yukino Yukinoshita gently ruffled her hair, thinking to herself that this is what it feels like to have a younger sister.

She knew she couldn't be like her older sister. Thanks to her sister as a negative example, she learned how to be a qualified "older sister".

"No." Rumi Tsurumi grabbed Yukino Yukinoshita's hand in a panic, as if she were afraid of being abandoned. She saw Yukino Yukinoshita get up and she remembered.

Awakened by the sudden noise, she was wide awake. The simple truth that a child living under someone else's roof should be obedient was something she was subconsciously following.

"Phew..." Yukino Yukinoshita saw that Rumi was so startled that it would be difficult for her to fall back asleep, so she said, "Alright then, Rumi. Wash up a bit and then go see if your brother is up."

As for why Tsurumi Rumi didn't just stay at Uesugi Genshin's apartment, that was also Uesugi Genshin's original plan.

The main reason was that Yukino Yukinoshita felt it was better not to let the child stay there after seeing the refrigerator full of wine and the empty wine bottles in the trash can she had glanced at yesterday morning.

Just like having an alcoholic father in the family will always have a negative impact on the children.

She knew perfectly well that there was nothing in the trash can before she moved in, and that no one was there during the day, so he must have been drinking it at night. Should she try to persuade him to stop drinking it someday?

"Okay~" Tsurumi Rumi breathed a sigh of relief and lifted the blanket.

Turning on the living room lights didn't seem to wake Hiratsuka-sensei and Shiromai-senpai.

After washing up, the two left their apartment and walked to the apartment across the hall. Yukino Yukinoshita took out the key that was with Mr. Pan's ornament.

Rumi Tsurumi stood behind Yukino Yukinoshita, and couldn't help but shiver in the empty corridor. The spring morning was still quite chilly.

But once I stepped into the quiet apartment and closed the door, I instantly felt much warmer, as if the cold was kept out.

The clean living room made yesterday's hustle and bustle seem like an illusion. After the welcome party, everyone cleaned up their trash before leaving, and the carpet was even vacuumed.

Watching Yukinoshita walk straight towards her brother's bedroom, standing in front of the door without opening it, but instead...

"Are you awake?" Yukino Yukinoshita called softly from the doorway.

There was no sound from inside the door, which made her sigh. It seemed that he had drunk a bit too much yesterday. They had been drinking at the island table until the very end, although in the end he was the only one drinking.

He drank too much and slept too soundly.

She opened the door and quietly went inside. Tsurumi Rumi thought for a moment, then walked over and stood in front of the door to look inside.

"It's morning."

"Hayami?"

"Who is Hayami?"

"No, it's nothing."

A nonsensical conversation.

Before leaving, Yukino Yukinoshita instructed, "Don't sleep anymore."

"Ah."

Leaving Uesugi Genshin alone in bed with his eyes open in a daze, should be alright, right? Yukino Yukinoshita thought to herself.

Back in their apartment, Tsurumi Rumi, who was helping in the kitchen, asked, "Brother, how are we going to eat later?"

“He can do it himself.” Yukino Yukinoshita held the small plate and tasted the miso soup.

"I... I thought Yukinoshita-neechan would cook for my brother."

“I did mention it, but he refused.”

"Hey? Why?"

"He must have his own reasons."

-----------------

"Go ask Genshin if he wants to come over for breakfast?" After setting the table, Sakurajima Mai asked Toyohama Kazuka to go check on the apartment across the street.

“Okay~” Toyohama Kazuka looked at Kasumigaoka Utaha who was cooking in the kitchen and said, “By the way, we didn’t prepare any for that guy, did we?”

"That's why I had to ask," Kasumigaoka Utaha said, turning her head from the kitchen.

I was thinking of going to his apartment to cook for him.

But ultimately, she wasn't anyone to him. An unmarried woman cooking in a man's apartment... what did that mean?

I'll ask next time.

"I'm going out," Toyohama Kazuka said instinctively in the entryway.

There was no careful reply on the way, since I wasn't really going out and would be back soon.

He picked up the key hanging in front of the door, walked to the door of the apartment across the street, inserted the key, and turned it; the door opened with a click.

As the door opened, Feng Bin and Xiang stared blankly at the scene before them. "What are you doing?!"

“I gave you the keys, not so you could come here whenever you want,” Uesugi Genshin said, picking his ear. “I was watching the sunrise.”

"No, no, no." Toyohama Kaori waved her hand, completely disagreeing with the idea. She stepped onto the carpet and ran to Uesugi Genshin, where she squatted down.

Can I touch it?

"Hey! I didn't agree to that." Uesugi Genshin twisted his body, trying to stop him. "Why did you just lay your hands on me?"

But this aroused Toyohama Kazuka's rebellious nature, and she grabbed it directly.

Seeing someone doing the splits in mid-air so early in the morning, especially a man, was incredibly surprising and shocking to her, a girl who could also do the splits.

Wearing only shorts, he sat on two low wooden stools, and a ray of morning sunlight shone through the balcony glass, as if casting a golden glow on his muscles.

"so hard."

"nonsense!"

Uesugi Genshin rolled his eyes, pushed himself up with his hands on the ground, rolled over, and stood up.

"Hehehe..." Feng Bin and Xiang chuckled, withdrawing their hands that had been sticking out in the air and putting them behind their backs as if hiding a tool for committing a crime. "Who told you to strike such a strange pose?"

She also tried to shift the blame to the other party.

"My sister asked if you wanted to come over for dinner."

"I've already eaten." Uesugi Genshin planned to go back to his room to get dressed.

"Oh." Feng Bin and Xiang turned and left without any politeness, since they had the key and could come anytime.

Back in her room, Toyohama Kazuka replied, "That's what he said."

"Phew... I understand." Mai Sakurajima closed her eyes slightly.

-----------------

The boy stood in front of the roadside obstacle and exhaled a deep breath; if white mist appeared, it meant it was cold enough.

He wrapped his coat tighter around himself and turned to his companion, complaining, "It's so cold."