High School Girl Warrior: How to Save an Apocalyptic World - CH 36

Chapter 36 – The Girls’ Talk

“Let’s go, everyone!” Mr. Norio took the lead of our group, just like a teacher would in a school trip. Behind him are me, six other students, and three adult men, totaling eleven people, “And don’t let your guards down.”

When he said that, everyone got tenser… After all, even if most zombies near Captain were cleaned up, we still have no way of knowing how many have come since, or if more will come.

Nonetheless, everyone that came here was aware of the risk. To choose to come here, instead of staying at the school, or going together with the other group that is getting supplies at the Convenience Store near the school, means that they wanted to come to the more dangerous location for the sake of helping out.

And I was the same on that regard. Me, Mr. Norio and Ritsuko all came here to make sure that the other eight people would be able to help out with getting supplies from Captain safely… After all, the outside world was synonym to hell for most of those people now, yet they were still courageous enough to come here… The minimum we could do would be to do our best to keep them safe.

Still… Suddenly thinking that their lives were all on our shoulders was… A bit too much. I think the pressure is starting to make me feel unwell…

“Senpai, you okay?” Just as I thought that, Ritsuko asked me this. She seemed to be worried, so I guess my thoughts were shown on my expression.

“Yeah, I’m alright.” I told her.

“We’re here too, okay? It will be fine. Don’t take it all on yourself.” She tried soothing me… I didn’t want to have her worry about me in this middle of this dangerous mission though.

“Over there!” Mr. Norio interrupted our conversation by saying this and pointing towards Captain.

“Amazing…” Ritsuko said as she saw the pile of dead zombies in front of the market. I hadn’t paid attention yesterday, but I think there are over twenty bodies or so there? I really got quite into it…

Everyone started talking about it once they saw the pile… It felt a bit embarrassing.

“All of this… You did by yourself?” Mr. Norio asked me.

“Yeah…” I replied.

“You’re definitely reliable at killing those monsters…” He told me, “Though they look kinda weird. What are those burn marks?” He then asked.

“Ah, that… I tried burning the corpses, but I wasn’t able to do it right, so it ended up having this half-baked result.” I gave him the response that I prepared in advance, which he seemed to buy… After all, it was far easier to accept that, than to imagine that a Fire Sword cut through the zombies.

“Well, that’s fine, but we still need to properly burn the corpses of the undead. Who knows what kind of plague they’ll spread otherwise.” Mr. Norio told everyone.

“Understood.” We replied.

“Then let’s get this started. On both this, and on getting this annoying thing… Out of the military truck.” Mr. Norio sighed as he said this. He was looking at the zombie that was still stuck to the tire of the truck… The zombie that forced them to make a final stand here… And that made them lose Mr. Kobayakawa.

***

“Senpai, over here!” I was called.

“Got it!” I went there and killed some zombies.

“There are some more over there, Senpai!” I was told.

“I’m on it!” I went to the next location.

“Three zombies over there!” I heard another call.

“No problem!” I killed three more zombies…

“Senpai, senpai, senpai! Th-that way! There were a lot, like, six zombies!” Another distress call…

“I’ll take care of them!” I got rid of another batch…

And like that, quite some time passed. I did have a few minutes of rest in-between the waves of zombies, since they were quite slow, but by the time I could take a proper break, it was already past noon.

“Thanks for the hard work, senpai.” Rika said while giving me a bottle of tea, “Doesn’t it seem like the number of zombie attacks is starting to slow down?” She asked me.

“Yeah, about time… How are things going on your end though?” I asked. Since I wasn’t able to pay much attention to their effort so far.

“We’ve loaded quite a bit of supplies already, but we’re probably going to get a bit more before it ends… Still, I think we’re going home soon.” She told me.

“That’s a relief.” I said, then drank the 500ml of tea in one gulp. Finally relaxing a bit.

“Also… Uhn…” Rika seemed to be having a hard time saying something.

“What is it?” I asked.

“You see… Well…” She was particularly cute when she struggled like this. Probably because she is small and looks fluffy, “It’s just… There’s something I need to talk about with you, senpai…”

“Oh?” Could this finally be the day that my juniors consult with me? Am I finally going to behave like a proper senpai? “But wouldn’t it be better to talk after we go back to school?” I asked her… After all, this area isn’t safe right now, even if there are no zombies in the immediate surroundings, it’s better to be careful.

“N-no, that would be too late… It has to be now, if possible…” She replied… What is it that is so important, that it can’t even wait until we’re at a safe location? “W-what do you think about Kou… S-senpai…?”

“About Kousuke?” I asked just to be sure.

“Yeah… Like… Like that…” She nodded.

“I think he is a good person?” I replied.

“No, not like that, like… A-as a boy.” She explained.

“Huh…?” Wait, is she actually…? “No thank you!” I exclaimed… Never thought I’d have to say this twice in the same day. Goodness…

“I see… I’m glad.” She heaved a sigh of relief.

“But… Why this sudden question?” I couldn’t help asking her.

“It’s just that… Kou’s dad really likes you, and like… If Kou went out with senpai, then the Hibiya family would be safe, so…” She started explaining.

“… Did that stupid old man say something?” I asked. I’m sure she knew I was talking about Norio here.

“Ah, no, it’s just… Kou seems to really look up to senpai…” Then, she suddenly got angry, “Even though I’m doing my best at work! How can he only look at you!? I-I… I may not be able to fight like, you, nor be as reliable as you, but, but still…” Rika now seemed about to cry…

“You’re definitely reliable though? There’s no way I’d be able to properly manage the food like you do. Managing the supplies within the school is a very important task, and I’m very glad you took it upon yourself.” I replied… And I really meant it. I doubt I’d be able to hold myself back if I was the one in charge of the food. I’d just get rid of our stocks in the blink of an eye…

Rika however, just bit her lip at my words, “Plenty of men out there don’t value it as much as you do though…”

… She looks cute when she’s pouting like this. I wanted to stroke her head… But that would be rude, wouldn’t it?

As I thought of that, RIka suddenly grabbed my hands, “Senpai!” she exclaimed.

“Y-yes!?” I replied.

“So uhn… A small while ago… Kou… Kou did… Uhn… Well… He… He… He invited me… Invited me to, to, to… To do it… With him…” She told me.

“Ah…” I was reminded of the time he put a condom on his pocket… How was Rika worried about him going out with me when he just asked her about that…?

“But I… I don’t know what to do…” Rika started crying, “I’m sorry, I…”

“A-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-ah…” I tried thinking of how to calm her down, but I was panicking myself! How am I supposed to give advice in this kind of situation when I have no experience in this kind of matter myself!?

Rika tried to recompose herself and wiped her own tears even without me doing anything… However, her voice was still shaking, “Senpai… What should I do…?”

“Can’t you do what you want to do?” I asked her back.

“But I… I like Kou, but I’m not sure if I’m ready to do that… It’s scary…” Rika told me.

“Ah, yeah, it’s definitely scary…” I replied, but… I’m really not the right person to consult with on this kind of matter… But it’s not like I can tell her that right now either, “Then maybe… Isn’t it better if you decline it? I don’t think you should force yourself to do it…”

“But what if Kou hates me then… He doesn’t dislike senpai, so… So what if this makes him give up on me and go after senpai!? Th-then I…” She started crying even more after saying this… No! How did that idea even come to her! I just said that I wasn’t interested in Kousuke!

I’d rather deal with a hundred zombies than to be caught up in this kind of thing…

But then, “I heard your tale.” Ritsuko appeared, and with gentle eyes that would fit a loving mother, she put a hand on Rika’s shoulder, “It’s alright. Even if things go wrong with Kousuke, you can always stay with other girls instead.”

… Never mind the loving mother. This is just brainwashing a weakened and fragile girl.

Ritsuko then wiped Rika’s tears and said, “You see, in this crazy world, only people of the same gender can truly understand and rely on each other. You understand it, right, senpai?” Don’t pull me into this!

“Eh? Is senpai on the yuri side…?” Rika asked me.

“I’m not.” I instantly replied.

“I see…” Rika blushed as she said that… Why!? I just denied it! Aren’t things somehow just getting more and more complicated!?

“The door to a new world is always open. You can take it easy and relax. Think about it at your own pace.” As Ritsuko said that, she hugged Rika and gently caressed her back.

The usually quiet Ritsuko can get really talkative on this kind of matter, huh? Not to mention how persuasive she can be when she wants to, as even Rika seems to be seriously considering the possibility of going the yuri route… Please stop. You have a boyfriend already.

And in the middle of this extremely confusing girls’ talk, we heard Mr. Norio said, “Alright, everyone! Time to go!”

It’s probably for the best that this was stopped now, before Ritsuko convinced Rika that it was better to break up.

However, as I took my first step towards the truck, my sleeve was pulled by Rika, “Senpai… I’m still not sure about it, but… May I call you ‘sis’ from now on?”

… Give me a break.