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

“Ugh, Mom…” Yui Yuigahama puffed out her cheeks and placed her hands on her knees in annoyance.

After they finished eating the rest of their breakfast, Uesugi Genshin planned to go find the caretaker's wife, "There's no time to lose."

“Then I’ll lead the way,” Yuihama’s mother said as she got up from her chair.

“I’ll go with you too.” Hiratsuka Shizuka seemed to have thought of something, raised her eyebrows, and spoke up as well.

Then Uesugi Genshin silently looked at the composed Hachiman, "..."

"..." Hachiman stood up obediently.

"Yui will be looking after the house now." Yuihama's mother clasped her hands together and smiled at her daughter from the entrance hall.

"I see."

The four of them went to the corridor and took the elevator, which was headed to the second floor.

Midway through, Yuihama's mother pointed to the elevator floor panel and introduced the residents on each floor to them. "Mr. Ono works from home, Mrs. Kawashima does housework at home like me, and Mr. Mitarai is on leave to take care of his daughter who has a cold."

"A child?" Hiratsuka Shizuka asked, puzzled.

"Yes, he's in kindergarten now," Yuihama's mother said with a smile. "He's a very cute child. I heard that Mr. Mitarai's wife is currently working overseas, so he's in charge of taking care of the child."

This hit Hachiman's radar. He thought to himself, "Isn't he just one step away from becoming a full-time stay-at-home dad? Why should he go to work when he has such a good reason to take better care of the kids?"

He once thought that marriage was the grave of life.

Married people invariably boast about the benefits of marriage, as if both partners' quality of life has improved.

Although I feel happy to have someone to say "I'm back" or "Seeing my child sleeping makes me feel better the next day."

but!

If I'm still living in my hometown and not living alone, I can still say I'm back.

And being able to see your child sleeping means you've just finished working overtime! Is that really happiness?!

Their eyes, which should have already found happiness, were decaying, just like mine, making them no different from the zombies jumping around on the street!

The sound of the elevator dinging interrupted his philosophical thoughts.

They saw the same caretaker from yesterday again, still looking as meticulous as ever, with lipstick on.

"We're leaving this morning, two cars, three people per car," Uesugi Genshin said bluntly.

"Okay." The caretaker bowed slightly. "My things have been packed."

She pointed to the suitcase and handbag in the living room, "I'll go check on the others later."

“Hmm,” Uesugi Genshin glanced at her luggage, “Please tell them not to bring too much stuff, even the luggage cart for three people is a bit cramped.”

Especially Hiratsuka-sensei's sedan, and his own jeep, which was also carrying more of Yui's things, were not much different.

"I understand." She nodded to indicate that she understood.

"Let Hiratsuka-sensei be in charge of the inspection." With a sigh in his heart, Uesugi Genshin suggested to Hiratsuka Shizuka. He was really worried that someone might be reluctant to part with some items and bring too much, and the car would simply not be able to fit everything.

“Okay, I’ll stay here,” Hiratsuka Shizuka readily agreed.

"Come find me when everything is ready."

Hachiman also decided to stay; there was no need to go up any further. He could just stay here and help his teacher.

Then the teacher asked her to clean up the few conspicuous red claw marks on her car window. She originally wanted to just go down and clean them herself, but she was entrusted with this task. It would be better to leave this to Hachiman.

If other people saw that scene, they would probably be terrified.

"Okay." Nodding helplessly, Hachiman was a witness to those zombies running and breaking down the door. Driving slowly in the narrow street would cause this to happen.

I can only say that I had bad luck.

You can't use drinking water to clean it, and a dry cloth won't get it clean.

“If this is all your stuff, then I’ll help you move it to the car,” Hachiman said to the caretaker’s wife, pointing to the luggage.

“Yes, that’s all,” she said, adding her thanks, “Thank you for your help.”

"No." It was just for their own convenience.

"Then I'll put it in my car," Uesugi Genshin said. "I'll go down with you first."

In the end, only Yuihama's mother went up first, but she also wanted to check on Mrs. Kawashima next door.

Upon meeting, I learned that Mrs. Kawashima had packed her things, and that she hadn't taken much luggage, as I had emphasized that.

Now I can rest easy.

I opened the closed door and went home. The door was still open; Uesugi-kun was coming up later.

I didn't find Yui in the living room, but in front of the washing machine in the bathroom.

The daughter was squatting there, stuffing the last of her clothes inside, intending to wash them clean.

The washing machine has a spin-drying function, which can quickly clean the clothes without leaving them too wet.

"Mom! How did you get here so fast?" Yui Yuigahama exclaimed in surprise when she saw her mother standing at the corner.

"Yui..." Yui's mother wiped her eyes, looking on the verge of tears, "Is this the first time you've voluntarily done housework?"

She used to do most of the work herself, or she would ask her daughter for help.

After watching her daughter frantically stuff a pink and white striped stocking into the washing machine, she abruptly closed the lid and prepared to start it.

Yuihama's mother reached out to stop her, saying, "You can't put socks in the washing machine."

Then, the next second, Yui Yuigahama acted as if she hadn't heard and started the washing machine, saying, "Mom, just leave it alone!"

Chapter 198: The Relationship That Has Indeed Changed

The washing machine rumbled as the marks were completely erased.

The reason for washing them was simply that Yui Hihama wanted to clean them and take them back, even though she had only worn them once.

When Uesugi Genshin returned upstairs, the washing machine had already stopped running.

"It's so slow." The reason I said that was because the clothes were already washed, spun dry, and taken out.

Meanwhile, Yui Yuigahama was stuffing the clothes that were in the bag back into her backpack.

"Hmm, I checked the surroundings again." With his hand habitually resting on the hilt of his sword, Uesugi Genshin stood in the doorway, watching Yui zip up her backpack.

"Okay." She clapped her hands, breathed a sigh of relief, and had a relaxed expression on her face.

“…” Blinking, Uesugi Genshin reminded him, “Check if there’s anything you’ve forgotten.”

"I definitely brought them all!" Yui Yuigahama pouted and waved her fist, as if to say that she wasn't so stupid as to need to be urged and reminded like a child going to school.

"That's good. I really won't be coming back again." That's why he repeated it.

Yui Yuigahama felt a pang of melancholy as she thought about the room she had lived in for over a decade, a room she could never return to.

She looked around her room, familiar with every trace of her daily life; every place was so vivid that even with her eyes closed, it could be vividly recalled in her mind.

"Even so," Uesugi Genshin said with a slight smile, his brows furrowing, "if you want to come back, I will still accompany you."

There were some abandoned cars. When he and Hachiman went downstairs, he also checked and wiped down his own car. He didn't know when, but the paint on the side of the bumper had completely peeled off. Maybe it wasn't just this time.

"I'm not that capricious." Sitting on the bed, swinging her legs cutely, Yui Yuigahama propped herself up on the bed with both hands and looked up at him.

“Yes.” Uesugi Genshin did not refute, “Keep the key safe.”

"understood."

The two sat side by side on the bed, with Uesugi Genshin adjusting the position of his sword to make it easier for him to sit down.

“That…” she suddenly said.

"what?"

"I'm thinking..." she said, kicking her legs playfully, "should I call your name?"

"what?"

"Look, if the child is born in the future, we can't call you Xiao Xuan anymore."

"...Yui, you can actually think that far ahead." Speechless for a moment, Uesugi Genshin didn't know what to say. He had no plans to have children in the near future, nor had he taken any action.

"Waaaah..." Yui Yuigahama hurriedly covered her chest, her mouth slightly open, "When you call my name like that, I feel my heart pounding wildly."

"Yeah, my heart races too. We'll just have to get used to each other."

"Hey hehe~"

He had a very happy expression on his face.

"Well, if you want to change it, then go ahead and change it."

"Then... Xuanxin?"

Why is it an uncertain expression?

"Without realizing it." She clutched her chest with both hands, as if trying to calm the violent thud in her chest, took a deep breath, and then exhaled.

She calls out the nickname so naturally, but when she calls out her real name, she gets incredibly shy. Yui is still too naive.

However, this also suggests that their relationship has indeed changed.

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

When Hiratsuka Shizuka returned, she saw Uesugi Genshin enjoying the breeze on the balcony. The wind was a bit strong on the 10th floor, and the hem of his clothes was blowing so much that it looked just like an open trench coat.

Yui and her mother were sitting on the sofa talking when they saw her return. Yui turned around in surprise and said, "Hiratsuka-sensei, you're back."

Hearing the noise from the balcony, Uesugi Genshin turned around, then opened the glass door and went back to the living room.

"Are you ready?"

"Hmm, all prepared. Ah, it took a little effort." Hiratsuka Shizuka laughed, tilting her head back and puffing out her chest in a carefree manner.

As expected of Hiratsuka-sensei, those moves are so masculine! Hachiman, keep it up!

"Let's go then." Uesugi Genshin helped Yuihama's mother carry her suitcase, while Yui carried the hiking backpack that seemed disproportionate to her height.

"Ah, thank you, Uesugi-kun."

"No, it was quite relaxing."

Because there are wheels underneath, he can easily draw his knife if an emergency occurs. However, carrying a full backpack would hinder his movements, which is why he didn't help Yui carry it.

"Everyone's on the second floor." After getting on the elevator, Hiratsuka Shizuka pressed the button for the second floor.

When they reached the second floor, everyone gathered in the corridor, and after they all got out of the elevator, they all looked at them.

Apart from the man holding the child and gently coaxing his daughter, everyone else remained silent, probably ever since Hiratsuka Shizuka went upstairs.

Upon seeing that the so-called leader was a young man, several people stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

However, there was no objection, nor could there be. Putting aside the knife at his waist, his demeanor was indeed calm and confident, emanating from within. This could be seen from his gait and expression. If someone told him that he was a leader, then there would be no doubt about it.

If it were the other student standing there, they wouldn't be so sure. He was slouching lazily, leaning casually against the wall, and looked just like a delinquent, because of the studded baseball bat he was leaning on.

"Ready? Let's go."

"Where are we going?" a thin man with glasses asked, his cheekbones appearing somewhat high.

"Makuhari Town."

Makuhari-cho is located in Hanamigawa Ward, where there is a villa belonging to the Yukinoshita family, one of their properties. The reason it is located there is because Yukinoshita's company is located there.

In reality, Yukinoshita's family home is in Urayasu City, the same city with Disneyland, located in the lower right corner of Tokyo. It's not really Tokyo, but it was assigned to Chiba.

It seems there's also a Disneyland annual pass in the snow; it shouldn't be a new offer from this year.

That's really extravagant!

Is it safe there?

"At least it's better than waiting to die here. We don't know when the Self-Defense Forces will arrive."

"Self-Defense Forces, huh." The man scoffed, seemingly dissatisfied with the inaction of an army built with taxpayers' money.

After nearly a month of waiting, not a single word has been said. The helicopter sounds that could be heard in the first few days have completely disappeared in the last two weeks.

If the water and electricity are cut off, in this apartment building or this residential area that has almost nothing, we're really just waiting to die.

"So instead of hoping they will go into Chiba house by house to rescue people, it's better for the people of Chiba to save themselves."