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

And so, a strange silence enveloped the student council room.

Even though it was early spring and not hot at all, they could feel the sweat glands on their scalps gradually opening up.

Yumiko Miura let out a soft "hmm" as if she was enduring something; she didn't want to criticize Hiratsuka-sensei.

As the only adult and teacher at the school, Hiratsuka-sensei's contributions are evident to all.

Yukino Yukinoshita sighed in resignation and pulled her chair back a little. "I see."

With her mouth slightly open, Iroha Isshiki organized her thoughts, "Well... after all, Hiratsuka-sensei is getting on in years."

"Ha, Isshiki, don't say that in front of Hiratsuka-sensei." Yukino Yukinoshita covered her forehead, looking somewhat helpless.

"Yukinoshita-senpai, of course I know." Isshiki Iroha indicated that she wasn't that naive. "But teacher and student, well, that's a bit romantic."

“It’s not like that in modern times.” Yukino Yukinoshita shook her head. In the past, there were instances of aristocratic female students getting engaged to promising young male teachers.

“In manga…” Yui Yuigahama clapped her hands, recalling a scene from a shoujo manga she had read before.

So the conversation quietly veered off course, and they even talked about the old movie "The Garden of Words" with Iroha, until Yui suddenly remembered that she had to hurry downstairs, because Gen should have already found Hiratsuka-sensei.

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

"I feel a little guilty for pushing all the work onto Yukinoshita." Uesugi Genshin shifted gears and the car started moving.

"Hey, then we can just give Yuki something as compensation later, wouldn't that be great?" Yui Yuigahama said with a smile.

"..." But what does Yukinoshita like? Pandas? Or perhaps cats?

He probably only remembered those two.

Chapter 191: Arriving Home

The two cars slowly drove out of Zongwu High School. He already knew the destination and had done his homework on the map. Although it was not close, it would take a winding route to get there.

This is just a deduction based on the situation when Professor Hiratsuka went out half a month ago. Whether he can arrive smoothly afterward depends on the actual situation.

However, apart from the first few days when everyone was running around, they now generally know to hide, so the road conditions shouldn't have changed much.

His own Wrangler was driving in front; with the bumper on, it could clear the way if necessary, if... really necessary.

Behind them was Hiratsuka-sensei's car, with Hachiman sitting in the passenger seat.

He waved to the students standing guard at the intersection to move the obstruction, and the car drove completely out of the safe zone.

When the sun was obscured by dark clouds, the interior of the car instantly darkened.

In the shadows, Uesugi Genshin, his gloved hands gripping the steering wheel, looked out at the brightly lit road while explaining to Yui beside him how to deal with zombies.

"...In short, remember, if there are zombies after we stop, do not open the door. I will go out and deal with them. You stay in the car, keep your body low to the ground, and try not to attract the attention of any passing zombies."

He's mainly worried about the car. Zombies don't feel pain, and if they find someone inside, they'll ram the vehicle with all their might. The Wrangler is just a civilian vehicle; it's not bulletproof or sturdy. If the glass breaks or the door gets dented, he'll be heartbroken.

"I understand," Yui Yuigahama readily agreed. Although she had killed a zombie with her own hands, she was well aware of her limitations. She couldn't handle two or more zombies at once, and avoiding causing trouble was the most important thing.

She didn't see anything wrong with it. Optimistically, she turned her eyes and glanced at Uesugi Genshin's profile as he intently drove, his serious expression particularly alluring. "...So cool~"

Her eyebrows and eyes held a delicate charm, her voice and smile revealed her gentle nature, and she possessed a perfectly proportioned, marble-like body.

"Ok?"

"N-nothing," she quickly waved her hand.

"Hmm." Uesugi Genshin shifted his gaze back to the front, but muttered to himself, "Beautiful as the peach blossoms of spring, pure as the chrysanthemums of autumn."

"what?"

"I'm praising you."

"Huh?" Yui Yuigahama had never seriously studied either verses or waka poems, so she hadn't memorized these ancient-style phrases at all.

So she frantically pleaded, "Say it again."

“…” Suppressing the urge to roll his eyes upward, Uesugi Genshin smiled and said, “No.”

"Eh~" Although she knew she shouldn't disturb him while he was driving, otherwise Yuigahama Yui would have grabbed his clothes, she could still speak, "Say it again, I didn't hear you clearly, ah!!!"

The car lurched violently as zombies blocked its path. Uesugi Genshin adjusted the car's direction and continued driving forward.

Looking in the rearview mirror, Hiratsuka-sensei's car passed through the gaps in the horde of corpses without being obstructed.

He breathed a sigh of relief. "You know it's a compliment on how cute you are, right? Even if I say it again, you still won't remember."

"Eh~" Yui Yuigahama protested softly, pouting, but she was actually quite happy inside.

The car fell silent again. The further inland they went, the more people there were, which meant there were more zombies.

Another problem is the typical urban roads in Japan. Occasionally, you might find a few four-lane roads in both directions, but that's already a definite option. Most roads are two-lane roads in both directions, or even no roads at all, but only one car can barely pass. And there are basically no green belts on both sides of the road.

There are also very few non-motorized vehicle lanes, which is very unfriendly to bicycles.

"Hmm..." Driving on this kind of road is very exhausting, and you have to be on tenterhooks to see if zombies will suddenly jump out from either side.

The principle of taking the main road whenever possible has led to a journey of more than ten kilometers when the straight-line distance is only a few kilometers.

Finally, the Wrangler came to a stop in front of an apartment building. Uesugi Genshin grabbed the knife beside him, turned around, opened the car door, and got out.

Yui Yuigahama unbuckled her seatbelt, squatted down, and squeezed into the space in front of the seat, her soft breasts pressed against her knees, well hidden.

After closing the car door behind him, Uesugi Genshin drew his sword and slashed, killing two zombies before moving on.

Hiratsuka-sensei's car also stopped not far away. Hachiman opened the car door before the car had come to a complete stop, and closed it as soon as the car came to a complete stop.

Holding a baseball bat, he smashed three zombies that charged at him to death, then began to clear the trail of zombies following behind their car.

After the car came to a stop, Hiratsuka-sensei also got out, intending to help Hachiman.

Uesugi Genshin was faster. He held the sword in his backhand and a piece of clothing he had taken from a zombie in his left hand, and walked towards Hachiman and Hirazuka, who had just finished fighting.

"Hiratsuka-sensei, please stay downstairs for now," Uesugi Genshin said to Hiratsuka Shizuka, wiping the blood from the blade.

“Okay,” Hiratsuka Shizuka readily agreed.

"Yui, come with me." Uesugi Genshin opened the trunk, took out another knife, and handed it to Yui Yuigahama, who had just gotten out of the car, for self-defense, saying this.

"Ok!"

“And…” He looked at Hachiman.

"I'll go too," Hachiman said, raising his hand willingly.

"Yes."

I turned my head and glanced at the apartment building, which was more than ten stories high. This one was much bigger than Mai's.

However, judging from the spacing of the windows, the interior units should be smaller, not that big.

Every window was tightly closed, and some even had their curtains drawn, so you couldn't see anything.

With his blood-stained clothes thrown on the ground, Uesugi Genshin twirled the blade, held it upright, and walked towards the back of the building.

The apartment building's entrance is on the inside, not on the side facing the road.

Hachiman followed behind him, while Yui Yuigahama was at the very back.

Passing between the two buildings, I looked to the left and right at the few zombies scattered on the path.

Uesugi Genshin gestured behind him, and Hachiman understood. The two of them then walked to opposite sides, intending to clear out the zombies outside.

Yui Yuigahama awkwardly pulled out the knife and stood there, looking around warily, worried that one of them might jump out from somewhere.

Fortunately, this did not happen; all the zombies in sight were quickly killed by Uesugi Genshin and his companion.

“This is it,” Yui Yuigahama said, pointing to the entrance of the apartment building.

“Okay, let’s go up.” Uesugi Genshin nodded, maintaining the previous formation.

Both apartment buildings are quite interesting. The three units on each side of the building have different layouts than the six units in the middle, and naturally, the prices are also different, giving tenants another option and preventing the building from feeling monotonous.

“My home is on the tenth floor,” Yui Yuigahama said.

Okay, let's just climb the stairs properly.

No one knew what was outside the elevator, and in the confined space, even wielding a knife became difficult.

The stairwell was quiet and there was no danger, because they had a clear objective and didn't care whether there were zombies in the corridors outside the closed doors on each floor.

At least the door is closed, so there's no need to worry about being cut off from your escape route.

The three of them walked very lightly, their breathing barely audible in the quiet stairwell. After all, it was the tenth floor.

Upon reaching the tenth floor, Uesugi Genshin, whose breathing remained calm, did not open the door immediately. Instead, he glanced at Hachiman, who was slightly out of breath.

Silently exhaling, Hachiman returned an "OK" gesture and continued upwards, checking the upper two floors for zombies to avoid being caught off guard by a sudden appearance.

During this time, Uesugi Genshin and Yuigahama Yui smiled at each other. Yuigahama Yui was because she was about to get home, and a complex mix of emotions, including joy, worry, and hesitation, made her clutch the house key in her pocket. Uesugi Genshin's smile was one of comfort.

Soon, Hachiman came down from up there, his expression strange. He walked up to Uesugi Genshin, covered his mouth, and whispered, "The path up there has been blocked by chairs."

Nodding, Uesugi Genshin indicated that he understood.

Perhaps something above is blocking the way, or perhaps someone above is preventing those below from coming up, hence the blockage.

However, their target is the tenth floor, so they'll check this floor first.

He grabbed Yui's hand, pulled her to stand on the steps leading down, pointed downwards, and told her to walk down a little further so that she could escape if there was any danger.

He and Hachiman stood ready at the door, and he reached out and grasped the doorknob.

Then rotate.

The door was not opened.

"..."

"..."

The door was blocked from behind!

Chapter 192: What a Young Mother

The two exchanged a glance. Uesugi Genshin looked at the bolt in the crack of the door and was certain that it was blocked, not locked.

Moreover, it's impossible to tell from the inside whether the door should lock the person outside or the person inside.

He tried to push the door open again with more force, but it didn't budge. The thing inside looked very heavy.

"What should we do?" Hachiman asked in a low voice.

Meanwhile, Yui Yuigahama felt a sinking feeling in her heart and her mouth gaped slightly. She hadn't expected that such a situation would occur when she was almost home.

“Let’s go check out the ninth floor,” Uesugi Genshin suggested after a moment of contemplation.

"Yes." Hachiman nodded in agreement.

The three of them walked down the stairwell, and this time the door opened smoothly.

The corridor stretched out to the end, with all 12 apartments' doors on the right-hand side. This was typical of apartment building layouts; in Japan, there's no concept of individual units.

Traditionally, there are name tags written on the door, so that people can know the surnames of each household.

Reaching the elevator, Hachiman turned to look at Uesugi Genshin, "Want to get on?"

If Xuanxin wants to go, then he will go.

“There is such an option.” Squinting, Uesugi Genshin looked at the elevator buttons, then glanced at where the elevator was stopped—on the second floor.

Logically, since the barrier is blocked from the inside, there should be people inside, so it should be safe and there shouldn't be any zombies inside.

Besides, since everything is blocked anyway, it doesn't really matter which way you go.

With a flourish of his wrist, he held the knife in a reverse grip and pressed the elevator button. Instantly, the faint sound of the elevator moving could be heard from inside.

"Yui, you stand over there first," Uesugi Genshin said to Yui, pointing towards the stairwell.

"Okay." Yui Yuigahama ran over in small steps.

The two then took their weapons and waited quietly for the elevator to arrive.

The elevator was ascending at a moderate pace, going up to the third floor, the fourth floor, and so on.

"Ding"