High School Girl Warrior: How to Save an Apocalyptic World - CH 103

Chapter 103 – Secondhand words

Early in the morning of the next day.

With Mr. Takashi’s help, we succeeded in repairing the overturned light truck.

Then, a group of refugees entered the truck, so the first round trip to Miyabigaoka started.

It seems like they’re planning on bringing a bus for the next trip, so everyone should be able to be moved to Miyabigaoka with the next trip.

***

And I haven’t been able to talk to Rinne since then.

She seems to have locked herself in her room.

According to Mr. Takashi, she agreed to move to Miyabigaoka, but… Well, it’s troublesome if things remain like this.

In any case, I was left behind as an escort, so I decided to take a walk around the safety zone under the overpass, where there were far fewer people around, since most of the refugees were seeing off the light truck go away with the first batch of refugees.

“Uhn… Ms. Haku?” I heard a boy talk to me.

I looked in his direction and saw the boy that I first talked to after I arrived at this community. An elementary schooler called Aoyama Ryouji.

“Is something the matter?” I asked him.

Honestly, I’m not used to this Haku nickname.

“If possible…” The boy seemed to be hesitating, but after a few seconds, he continued, “Could you stop bullying the Miss?”

“Bullying…?

“Did Rinne tell you that I was doing that?” I asked him.

“No. I just thought that this was a possible reason behind her recent actions. I have never seen the Miss being this down before.” Ryouji told me.

Even if he says that… It’s not bullying.

Or rather, considering our positions, it would be much more likely for her to bully me than the other way around.

“The Miss is everyone’s idol over here. It was not that uncommon for people to act against her due to jealousy.” Ryouji told me.

Jealousy, huh?

He is very smart for an elementary schooler.

Though well… I guess beautiful women have their own share of worries too.

Even amongst the first groups of people who evacuated to Miyabigaoka, there were some people who caused trouble due to being way too popular, so… I guess I can understand it to some extent.

“I’m not sure about what exactly caused this misunderstanding, but I like Rinne.” I told him.

I’m not lying.

Rinne may have been the person at the center of our class, but she did not tolerate the bullying of the weak.

She was kind to everyone, even to an otaku like me.

“If that’s the case, then it’s fine.” Ryouji put his hand on his chin before continuing, “Actually, I feel like the problem might lie with the Miss this time around.

“She is normally very bright, but when she gets dark, she goes deep within the darkness.”

I sighed. I don’t like where this is going.

“If possible, could you try making up with her, Haku?” Ryouji asked me.

“Ugh…” I groaned.

“For all of our sakes, please. We would like to be able to start a new life without any reason to get overly anxious about the place we’re going to.” Ryouji told me.

“Anxious…” I muttered.

“So, I would appreciate it if you could give some consideration to my request.” He said.

Whoa…

This boy really is way too smart for an elementary schooler.

***

Some time passed after that conversation.

By noon, the bus arrived to pick us up.

“Ah, we ran into a small zombie herd on the way here.” Iroha, said as she chewed on a high-calory chocolate bar.

As she was the one in charge of escorting the bus, she probably took care of the zombies.

“So, what about your friend, sis?” Iroha asked me.

“Friend…? You mean, Rinne…? We aren’t close enough to be called friends…” I muttered.

“Mmm? But you were in the same class, weren’t you?” Iroha asked.

“Well, yes…” I replied.

“Then, you two are friends.” Iroha stated.

… I feel like the hurdle to become Iroha’s friend is a bit too low.

“Rinne… Seems to still be locked up inside her room.” I told Iroha.

“Then, why don’t you call her out?” Iroha asked.

“Me…? Uhn… Can I ask you to do it for me instead, please?” I asked back.

“Why?” Iroha asked.

“I think Rinne might hate me.” I replied.

“Then that’s all the more reason for you to go, sis.” Iroha stated.

I frowned at that comment.

“We can’t sit around in a place like this, you know? We don’t know when the zombies will gather again.

“So, since we need to leave soon, don’t you think it would be much better for you to solve the problem already? This way we can ride the bus together without having any awkward mood between us.” Iroha told me.

She does have a point.

After this apocalypse started, the more I met up with people, the more I realized that dealing with human relationships is much harder than dealing with zombies.

“Alright. I’ll go.” I decided.

It felt strange to be going along with Iroha’s suggestion of all things.

“Before you go, let me give my clumsy sis some words of advice.” Iroha stopped me.

“… What is it?” I asked.

“That person is similar to you, sis.” Iroha told me.

“Similar? Where?” I asked honestly.

Iroha narrowed her eyes, “Neither of you want to involve yourselves with others much.”

Oh…?

… Since when was Iroha this rude?

“Being kind to everyone means you don’t need to care too much about anyone. If you don’t make enemies, then you don’t need allies. Isn’t that how you usually think?” Iroha asked me.

Ugh… Once again, she said some words that were hard for me to refute.

Although… “Well, I must say that… I may have used to be like that, but I don’t think that’s how I feel anymore.” I told Iroha.

Or at the very minimum, this feeling isn’t as strong as it used to be.

“Then, it seems like the problem has already been solved.” Iroha smiled brightly.

Just what is… This?

It feels like our roles have been reversed.

I mean, in the first place, Iroha isn’t supposed to be the kind of person that gives advice to her companions.

This feels like the kind of thing that Kimino Asuka would be saying.

Hold on a second…

“Could be repeating something you heard from somebody else?” I asked Iroha.

After hearing my question, Iroha cutely showed me her tongue, “Only half of it was repeated.”

Damn… To be able to pull off this kind of tehepero move. *

She’s cute, alright.

———————–

* Translator’s Note: It’s a cutesy pose you sometimes see in anime. I don’t know how to explain it any better than “cutely showing her tongue”. You should be able to recognize it if you google for images of “tehepero”.

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