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

"Yeah, I really didn't expect Sakayanagi-san to contact me, so to be honest, I was a little startled, but it's okay. It just so happens that I can't go to the student council for some reasons."

With Kamuro gone, her personal safety is no longer guaranteed.

Moreover, the student council's priority has dropped significantly, making it not worthwhile for her to seek protection from others.

"Please come in anyway." Ichinose Honami suddenly realized that they couldn't just talk at the door, so she quickly opened the door wide.

"Okay."

The two walked into the dormitory together. Upon entering the room, Sakayanagi Arisu immediately saw Horikita Manabu's younger sister.

"So this is Horikita-kun." She looked at the other person with a curious gaze. "I heard you were kicked out of the class."

The implication was that they hadn't expected to see him there.

"Hmm," Horikita Suzune replied casually. "Hello."

Originally, I thought the other party would show a prickly attitude, but now Sakayanagi Arisu is somewhat surprised. It seems that this incident has brought about a major change in Horikita-san.

There was another little cutie sitting on the bed, huddled in the corner. As if she were shy, she timidly said "Hello" when she looked over.

This is Sakura Airi, while the other one, Shiranami Chihiro, who looks like a small animal, was dragged away to play by the other classmates.

"Hello, hello," Sakayanagi Arisu replied with a smile.

"Ah, sorry. There was only water." At that moment, Honami Ichinose passed by from behind, holding a water glass and a small plate. "But there are cookies and small cakes."

"It's alright, water will do, after all, it's this time of year." Sakayanagi Arisu sat down at the small table, and the cookies were a pleasant surprise.

"Speaking of which, Ichinose-san, why did you suddenly invite me?" I suddenly received a message on my phone asking if I wanted to come over.

"Why?" Honami Ichinose tilted her head slightly. "Because I haven't gotten to know Sakayanagi-san very well, and I don't have any special plans for today, so I thought I'd just invite you over. Is that alright?"

"Ichinose-san, you're not telling the truth," Sakayanagi Arisu pointed out with a smile. She didn't think that a classmate she had only talked to in the student council would suddenly have the idea to invite her.

"Have we been exposed?" Honami Ichinose smiled wryly. "And I actually invited Sakayanagi-san before, but you refused."

"Because everyone was living in a state of unease back then, no one was in the mood to just come and have fun," Sakayanagi Arisu explained. Actually, she wasn't interested in Ichinose's group at all; the people in Class B were well protected.

They basically trouble Ichinose with everything, and it's always Ichinose who takes the lead. Ichinose is involved in everything related to the outside world, making Ichinose truly the "leader" of Class B.

It's just that their approaches are different, but in fact, she really likes people like Ichinose.

"Let me guess." Sakayanagi Arisu pondered for a moment, placing her hand on the table. "Could it be that someone thinks I'm too pitiful all alone, and wants you to take care of me?"

"Huh? Too pitiful?" Ichinose Honami looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Nobody said anything like that. I've always thought Sakayanagi-san was very smart and capable."

"But now it's not the era where as long as you're smart, there won't be any problems." This is something she has to admit.

Order is on the verge of collapse, and the importance of force is rising sharply. Sometimes, only pure violence is the optimal solution.

She then smiled at Ichinose and said, "And you didn't deny that you were asked to do this by someone."

"Hahaha..." Ichinose Honami laughed lightly. It wasn't something that needed to be kept secret to begin with, and the other party had said that if Sakayanagi found out, he should just tell the truth.

"That man," Sakayanagi Arisu frowned unhappily. Even if Kamuro wasn't by her side, she could stay in the dormitory by herself without any problem.

“That’s precisely because he acknowledges your importance, isn’t it?” Horikita Suzune suddenly spoke up from the side.

“Oh my~” Sakayanagi Arisu discovered something interesting. “You’re actually speaking up for him. Could it be that you’re disappointed with the people in Class D and are planning to start over somewhere else?”

"Yes."

"Does President Horikita know about this?" She talks to Horikita Manabu almost every day, so she knows that the other party is his sister.

"My brother has already agreed."

"I see." Sakayanagi Arisu shut her mouth. This matter was originally none of her business, and she did not intend to express any opinion on it.

"Want some cake?" Ichinose Honami said, beckoning to Sakura on the bed. "Even though it's in a package, hahaha."

Although it has a soft and delicate texture, tasting very much like chiffon cake, its shelf life is only six months, so it can only be classified as a snack.

So Ichinose Honami said regretfully, "If I had the ingredients, I would have made some sweets for everyone."

“Maybe next time,” Sakayanagi Arisu replied. “By the way, I have something I want to ask Ichinose-kun.”

"what?"

She swallowed the cookie in her mouth and placed the remaining half on the plate. "I heard that everyone in Class B is going to Chiba. Is that true?"

"Yes," Honami Ichinose replied without hiding anything.

"Are you really that confident about what's going on over there?" Sakayanagi Arisu asked.

“But I don’t think Uesugi-kun and Yukinoshita-san are bad people,” Ichinose Honami replied after thinking for a moment.

"Your naiveté might get you killed someday." Kindness is a precious yet fragile quality in such an apocalyptic world.

Sakayanagi Arisu looked at Horikita across from her. "What do you think?"

“Ichinose doesn’t just act on gut feeling.” If she were that naive, she wouldn’t be the leader of Class B. Horikita Suzune stared at the small cake in her hand. “She makes decisions based on her own reasons.”

“That’s true.” Sakayanagi Arisu chuckled. “But I prefer to act only after I have a clear understanding of everything.”

Honami Ichinose waved her hand and said, "I think if it's good for everyone, then it's fine."

“There are benefits to both,” Sakayanagi Arisu repeated, then said, “Did Ichinose-san make the decision with the rest of the class? Or did you speak up for them and they just did as they were told?”

"I've managed to get everyone's opinions, and at least most people aren't too opposed to leaving here."

Of course, she didn't quite agree with it either, which is why Kanzaki went to ask Uesugi-kun on behalf of Kanzaki.

"And I also asked Hoshinomiya-sensei."

“I remember she was the homeroom teacher for Class B,” Arisu Sakayanagi said, if she remembered correctly.

The only homeroom teacher for first grade was from Class A, and he died at the very beginning.

This is why Class A was the slowest to react, while the homeroom teachers of the other classes took immediate action. Teachers, compared to students, are the ones who receive the overall information about the school first.

“Yes.” Honami Ichinose nodded. “Hoshinomiya-sensei also said that we should make the decision, and she will support us.”

No, she just wanted to completely let go and ignore it. Sakayanagi Arisu thought, after all, the people in Class B were too well-behaved, even the people in Class D could cause trouble, while the people in Class B completely obeyed the arrangements and stayed obediently in the dormitory.

In addition to spontaneously organizing study sessions and other small activities, they also put themselves in the students' shoes.

The Dragon Garden in Class C that she knew was the other extreme. They actively participated in outdoor activities to get enough food to replenish their energy for exercise, and sometimes they would even seek advice from people who had practiced martial arts.

Longyuan, this man, is completely adapting to the apocalypse.

“Well. That’s precisely why you should consider it so carefully,” Sakayanagi Arisu continued, “because all the students in Class B are following behind you.”

"..." These words silenced Ichinose. She was well aware of the heavy trust placed in her, and she wanted to meet everyone's expectations.

“I see you’ve sent your own men to his side,” Horikita Suzune asked from the side.

“Yes.” Sakayanagi Arisu nodded in agreement. “I still want to confirm it again. I don’t want to win the ‘big prize’. It would be bad if I were really unlucky.”

“Indeed.” Horikita Suzune agreed with her idea. For example, a probability of 90% and a probability of 99% are completely different; the chance of something bad happening is ten times different.

“Ah, I have to think about myself. And those who are willing to follow me, if things are really good over there, then I’ll take them with me, so that we’ll have people to rely on over there.” Sakayanagi Arisu said seriously, her smile gone.

"I've only ever seen you and that guy named Kamuro," Horikita Suzune asked, puzzled. Does anyone still want to follow her?

“They will follow me if I want to, but I have to meet their expectations. Kamuro-kun is different…” At this point, Sakayanagi Arisu stopped talking.

Horikita Suzune keenly sensed a certain emotion hidden within her. Was it friendship?

Because she has no friends, she can only guess.

“I think what Sakayanagi-san said is quite right,” Ichinose Honami finally spoke up. “I have to be responsible for the students in Class B.”

The three people at the table all looked at Ichinose. Sakura Airi already knew that Ichinose was a very nice girl, so gentle that you wanted to touch her, and sometimes she could be very dazzling.

Then, Honami Ichinose explained her decision, "I plan to go to Chiba first. According to Uesugi-kun, we can only leave when the cargo ship returns. Before that, I'll go to Chiba to investigate, and that should solve the problem."

"You're alone?" Horikita Suzune was surprised by her decision, yet felt it made sense, something Ichinose would do.

"Yeah, it's just me." Honami Ichinose resumed her cheerful smile.

"It's good, isn't it?" Sakayanagi Arisu chuckled; this was exactly the situation she had hoped for.

Kamuro followed the man, while Ichinose went to observe Chiba Soubu's situation, so that both sides could have a clear understanding.

That's great.

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

"I heard about it. A bunch of idiots in Class D were easily incited by a girl in the class to gang up on President Horikita's sister."

Downstairs, students from Advanced Nurturing High School were gathered, waiting to collect their ingredients for the day. Among them, the students from Class C were talking loudly as if they were chatting idly.

"No one would be so stupid as to offend the president's sister or be provoked."

"It's said to be a girl named Kikyo in their class who's always smiling at both boys and girls. I never expected her to be such a scheming person."

"No, she's a complete bitch. Did you hear what happened to her in high school? Yeah..."

"Those are all rumors! Kokushida would never do such a thing."

Finally, Haruki Yamauchi from Class D loudly retorted.

"Ah, what an idiot! Being used and still happy about it. Ah, could it be that she still thinks that the way she seems to care about you means she likes you?"

"Hahahaha..." The students from Class C all burst into laughter, while the onlookers whispered among themselves.

This made Haruki Yamauchi even angrier. He was well aware that there was a possibility that Kokushida was lying to him, but if he backed down now, wouldn't that prove that he was an incorrigible fool?

The thought that he was the one who instigated the other boys in the first place made him even more convinced that he had done the right thing.

"Never mind, Yamauchi." But Ike Kanji behind him didn't think so at all. He tugged at his clothes. He saw that there were a lot of people on the other side. Looking around, were there really this many people before?

“Yes, Yamauchi,” the other dormitories echoed.

"How can we just let this go? They're slandering us!" Haruki Yamauchi shouted to his classmates behind him.

"Huh?! Aren't we telling the truth?" Ishizaki Daichi from Class C shouted in all directions as if he wanted everyone around him to hear, "The people from Class D were just used by a girl from their own class, and supposedly she was in middle school..."

He recounted the story of Kikyo Kushida in detail, which aroused even more discussion among those around him, as many of them were hearing it for the first time.

"You bastard!" Haruki Yamauchi rushed up. "I told you not to spread this."

Seeing that more boys had followed behind, the girls collectively took a few steps back, not wanting to get involved, but he had mustered up his courage. After all, there were only two people with him in Class C, so even if a fight broke out, he would have the advantage.

"Why are you grabbing someone from my class by the collar? Are you looking for trouble?"

Suddenly, a ruthless voice came from the crowd.

"Brother Longyuan!" Some of the separated crowd called out, while others simply followed behind Longyuan silently, such as a girl with short blue hair.

At that moment, Haruki Yamauchi vaguely sensed something was wrong. "It was...it was you guys..."

"Hmm?" Long Yuanxiang didn't go over either. Teaching people a lesson was something others could do; all he had to do was satisfy that man's demands.

He laughed dismissively, "Ha~"

If anyone's to blame, it's Class D for messing with the wrong people. They even have Horikita, the student council president. What idiots!

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

"That's enough to take you here." Sakayanagi Arisu opened the door to her dormitory and politely thanked them at the entrance.

"It's nothing." Horikita Suzune shook her head.

"Hehehe, it seems Horikita-kun has really changed a lot," Sakayanagi Arisu said with a smile.

"Change? Maybe." Horikita Suzune remained silent.

"Ah, I might get along well with you now, and who knows, we might even work together in the future. Please take care of me." Sakayanagi Arisu leaned on her cane, tilted her head, and smiled meaningfully.

"Yes, nice to meet you." Horikita Suzune nodded.

Has anything changed?

Indeed, after what happened yesterday, her mindset has undergone a huge change.

She herself was keenly aware that this was not a bad thing, and perhaps her brother also hoped to see this.

All of this was thanks to what Uesugi said.

That was a turning point.