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

"How is that possible?"

How is it possible for one or two people to do all the work for the whole group?!

"Let's invite Uesugi Genshin next time we go out," he suggested again, not referring to going to Newport next time, but just going out.

Hayato Hayama has potential for development. As field personnel, a core group of them could be formed to create another fighting force later on.

"Good idea." Hachiman's current state of mind was purely one of schadenfreude. He had long disliked Hayama and thought, "May all the normal people explode."

"So, where are you taking me?" I asked, watching the few zombies wandering by the roadside, chasing after the thick smell of car exhaust, and then being left far behind.

Just now, I only turned one corner at the intersection, passed two forks, and there's another corner ahead.

"We'll be there soon." Uesugi Genshin looked to his right at the corner. "Yeah, safe."

Hachiman also looked at the road they had just driven onto. The scattered zombies ahead—was this really safe? What was the definition of "safe"?

He hadn't driven far when he stopped the car. Hachiman turned his head and looked at the Mother Moon Cafe store next door.

"Let's get out of the car and clean up the tail first."

"Ah."

After Uesugi Genshin turned off the car, the two got out with baseball bats in hand, and zombies immediately pounced on them from behind.

I'm not scared at all anymore.

Hachiman never imagined he would have such a mindset. You could say he's become numb, but can strength really come from the outside in?

"Be careful, baseball bat, don't break it." Uesugi Genshin carefully instructed from the other side of the car.

"I understand." He knew what Xuanxin was worried about; as long as they had the baseball bat, they were "invincible."

The weapon was damaged from overuse earlier, but why are you worried about the weapon instead of him?

Hachiman couldn't help but smile from the bottom of his heart. This was a different way of doing things from Hiratsuka-sensei's, Genshin.

It seems this is our destination. There are still some zombies in the shop, but the door is open, and Xuanxin took care of them when they ran outside.

Hachiman looked at the elegant building and the coffee shop... If it were him, he would choose Salia, which is cheap, delicious, and filling.

Why did you bring me here?

“As you can see!” Uesugi Genshin walked into the shop and went straight to the kitchen.

Hachiman randomly found a seat, put down his baseball bat, and looked around at the desserts that were either uneaten or completely uneaten. One of them was a puddle of milky substance, which was probably melted ice cream.

A short while later, a shout came from the kitchen: "Come and help!"

"Oh!"

Walking over, I saw that the kitchen counter was full of desserts, which had already been made in the refrigerator. This was a cost-saving measure, but it was understandable.

Even if you get up at 4 a.m. to start preparing desserts, how many kinds can one person prepare? If you hire more people, the business will not be doing well.

Chocolate brownies, chocolate lava cake, chocolate cheesecake, chocolate muffins...

Does this guy really like chocolate that much?

On the contrary, I didn't pick and choose at all, taking a little of each, just drawing a clear dividing line between myself and the black half of the table.

The sound of a coffee machine humming nearby.

"So if we're going to eat, why not go to a restaurant?" Hachiman couldn't help but complain.

"Because I want to eat chocolate, I'm really craving it." The thought of not being able to freely eat sweets after the apocalypse filled Uesugi Genshin with a sense of desolation. Even he couldn't make so many kinds.

As expected! Hachiman guessed correctly.

"Is that the reason?"

"Haha, keep me company for a little while, and bring some back for Komachi when you go back."

Hachiman's expression softened instantly at the mention of his sister. "I just can't do anything with you."

After they placed the food on the table outside, he then said, "Coffee shops don't just sell desserts, what about other food?"

"I've never worked before, I don't know how to do it." Uesugi Genshin could do it, but he couldn't guarantee the quality. So why waste his time and energy here? Wouldn't it be better to just eat what's readily available?

Well, Hachiman himself never worked. When he was a child, his parents were both busy taking care of his younger sister, so they didn't have time. In middle school, there were no places to spend money (sad), so he didn't need to work.

He shook his head and sat down, but Xuanxin across from him comforted him, "Don't worry, you can still get full from eating cake."

The teasing laughter made him laugh too. What kind of Versailles speech was this? Marie Antoinette?

However, the truth is that Queen Mary never said such a thing; it was just a rumor spread by the Republican government to incite public outrage against the royal family.

So Uesugi Genshin said to him, "Wait here for a bit, I'm going out for a bit. Keep an eye on the coffee, I want an iced latte."

Is black coffee not good? Hachiman wondered to himself, since his family never added sugar or milk.

I picked up the fork on the table, took a bite of the cheesecake, savoring its light and fluffy texture and rich milky aroma, and then went to the kitchen. By the time the coffee was served, a wandering zombie was standing at the door.

Where did this come from?

Hachiman held the baseball bat on the table in his hand; his hand, after resting, could grip the weapon again.

Pushing open the door, he knocked the only zombie on the street to death on the asphalt. When he got up, he saw that Xuanxin had already run over from one side of the street.

Where did you go?

"convenience store."

"?"

Looking at the dish of pickles on the table, Hachiman fell into deep thought.

I watched as the person opposite me took a sip of coffee, popped a cupcake into their mouth, and then forked a piece of pickled vegetable to cleanse their palate of the sweetness.

Western desserts are generally very sweet because sugar was expensive at the time, but part of the reason is also because the bitterness of the drinks needed to be neutralized.

"Looks like you've made all the preparations." Hachiman knew that this guy had made up his mind to eat all these cakes as lunch and dinner.

"Of course~"

Hachiman was also prepared to play along, and picked up a fruit tart.

So sour~

The strawberries I bit into at first were so sour, almost to the point of making my teeth ache, but the mangoes and kiwis that followed weren't as intense.

"Would you like to bring some for Yukinoshita as well?" Uesugi Genshin asked.

"Why?" Hachiman tilted his head in confusion.

"He's our partner, he's our comrade-in-arms, after all."

"Then why don't you bring her one too?"

Instead, Xuanxin tilted his head and asked, "Why am I the one leading this?"

The two looked at each other and fell silent.

"There's no need for that, is there?" Hachiman would never do something like that on purpose; the memories that died in middle school were stirring up trouble, wanting to crawl out of their coffins.

“A person’s collapse can happen in an instant. The pressure accumulated in adversity can break down at any time. If someone can show a little kindness at this time, and if you can taste a little sweetness in the bitterness, it should be a comfort like ‘redemption’.” Uesugi Genshin rested his hands on his chin and looked out the window at the street.

That makes sense, but he has no reason to act in this way. Hachiman shook his head. "Gen Shin, something's wrong with you."

Yukino Yukinoshita, a sharp-tongued club president, is someone I've only known for a short time because of Hiratsuka-sensei. She previously said that she and Genshin held the same (inferior) position in her heart, and the reverse is also true; she doesn't think Yukinoshita is any "important" person.

"Is that so?" Uesugi Genshin chuckled, finding himself ridiculous, but also pleased by how similar his personality was to Hachiman's. He wholeheartedly acknowledged their friendship.

The reason he and Hachiman are friends and close friends is because they are very similar, extremely similar, and have excellent compatibility, including their shared talent for scheming.

Hachiman only schemes and plots against things he deems important to him, while ignoring and neglecting things he deems unimportant.

Uesugi Genshin simply knew what should be important, including what didn't seem so important at the moment, and he also calculated his encounter with Kasumigaoka Utaha.

"That's it."

The two ended their conversation and wholeheartedly enjoyed their afternoon tea.

After finishing, watching Genshin stuff chocolate cakes into the bag, Hachiman picked up a matcha cheesecake, thinking he should bring a few for his sister as well; he didn't really need to save any for himself.

Speaking of which, there's a little child in the house, from the Kawasaki family.

......

Let's bring some to Beijing too.

Chapter 41: What's Going On?

After finishing eating, I checked the time on Hachiman's phone; it was already past 4 PM, while my own phone was long dead.

You only replace a phone when the battery is about to give out, usually every 3 to 5 years.

He mostly did so because it contained important content that he couldn't bear to delete, and also because electronic products are updated very quickly, so he figured if he waited a little longer, there might be a better option.

Back at the seafood market, all that remained were corpses lying on the ground.

Uesugi Genshin stopped the car and suggested to Hachiman, "Let's move some of it back first."

This makes it easier to explain things, and if there are any results to show.

"How should we move it? Let's push the car in first, and then push it further away and start it after we're done, how about that?" Hachiman suggested.

He was somewhat worried about the noise, fearing it might attract the zombies from the nearby buildings, even though the area was currently clean.

Uesugi Genshin sighed, "In that case, it would be better not to open it at all."

Hachiman tilted his head, thinking about the many boxes inside, "If we don't open them, how are we going to move all those things back?"

"Well... how's the manpower?" Uesugi Genshin yawned widely and chatted casually.

"It's feasible if it doesn't attract attention from those around you."

"Park the car as far away as possible, then we'll pack the seafood inside and move it to the car outside. How about that?"

"What's the point of this?" Hachiman hunched over in his seat, his head drooping wearily.

Although the essence of armed reconnaissance has not changed—it did indeed involve reconnaissance and even brought "evidence"—it still falls a little short of the ideal outcome.

Thinking about what happened that afternoon, Hachiman complained, "I feel like I've become braver when I'm with you." Genshin always makes it sound so easy.

"Is that so? Wouldn't it be better to adapt sooner?" A true man is one who doesn't even blink when faced with weapons at his side.

The seafood here is just enough to help Zongwu High get through these few days; the important thing is Xinhang.

The warehouses of the factories in Xinhang will always have some finished products piled up, whether it's a few tons or tens of tons. If enough manpower can be organized to move them, the food problem can be solved for a long time.

The two got out of the car and entered the first building, which had already been cleaned. They remained vigilant as they went in, but it was indeed clean.

"Okay, one, two."

The two men loaded the box into the car. The box contained sea bass, a seasonal specialty of Tokyo Bay, and they had chosen the largest fish first.

Because the weather wasn't too hot, and the room was actually air-conditioned, the ice blocks placed under the box...

It hasn't completely melted, but the bottom is definitely full of water.

There were no signs of decay, so the harvest was truly plentiful.

Finally, he and Hachiman loaded a generous amount of seafood into the car, such as grouper, sea bream, and mackerel.

Uesugi Genshin sat in the driver's seat, while Hachiman closed the passenger door with a bang.

"Alright, let's go." With that, he turned the key and started the engine.

Tu Tu Tu

They hadn't paid attention before because they were chatting, but now that they had quieted down and listened carefully, the sound left them speechless. It was so loud! Luckily, they hadn't started it at someone's doorstep, or they probably would have witnessed the usual zombie outbreak.

I shifted into gear, pressed the accelerator, and the car started moving.

Hachiman rested his elbow on the car window and propped his face up with his hand, saying, "Speaking of which, we could have just driven your car over."

"Huh?! Do you want my car to smell like fish all the time?"

"Well~" You expected this situation all along, didn't you?

The distance wasn't far, so it didn't take long; it didn't even take two or three minutes.

Turn right, and you're back in the territory of Soubu High School.