Takumi felt the warm water trickling down his body. He faced the showerhead with both his eyelids closed.
The fatigue that had accumulated throughout the previous day was being soothed by the warm embrace of the—
"Takumi-kun. Lunch is almost ready. If you're done bathing, you can head straight to the cafeteria."
Saeko's voice muffled through the closed door, reaching his soaked ears.
"...Okay, I'll be there in a minute."
He replied to the purple-haired girl outside before continuing to bask in the shower's warm water.
His mind returned to washing as he reached for the soap....
...
...
...?
Takumi suddenly whipped his head toward the door.
".....Saeko?..."
"Yes?"
The instant reply made his eyebrows twitch.
"Why are you still here? You already delivered your message, didn't you?"
"I just wanted to keep you company. Is that weird?"
There was a brief silence. Takumi turned off the water and faced the door, waiting for her to continue.
His mouth soon joined his eyebrows, both practicing the art of twitching.
"....That's it? You're sitting outside the door because you wanted to keep me company?"
"Mhm."
Takumi could almost picture a chibi version of her nodding.
"You do know that's somewhat inappropriate, right?" he asked jokingly. He had survived an apocalypse—why would he be embarrassed by something like this?
"It just so happened that society is no longer here to judge me, so I can satisfy my inappropriate urges."
Takumi: ....
---
"Place that over there!"
"No, not that way! The other way!"
"Amane-san has already started collecting the terminal phones. She understands what to do."
The gymnasium was filled with noise. The students who had been sitting around were now bustling about with unmatched energy.
Saya stood alongside Hiratsuka Shizuka, giving instructions to the students with slight difficulty.
"Remember not to make any noise as you move the bodies. We have successfully secured the school, but that doesn't mean we're invincible!"
Yumiko looked at the dashing figure of Hayama Hayato with a complex gaze.
"Miura, we need to finish cleaning this up! We can't keep dragging Takumi-kun into everything!"
Seeing her friend drifting into space, Yui Yuigahama called out to bring her attention back to the task at hand.
"...Yeah...."
Yumiko Miura followed the bunny-haired girl, a slightly gentler light appearing in her eyes.
"Thanks for that, Yui."
Yui offered her a small smile. She had naturally noticed that Miura's attention had been drawn to Hayama—the person who had rejected her.
"That's what friends are for, right?~"
Takumi pulled on his gym clothes.
"Should I be concerned that you knew I had my gym clothes?"
Saeko smiled, playfully swinging her damaged bokken.
"It seems you're still out of it."
She looked at the fully clothed Takumi before continuing.
"You always keep a spare set of gym clothes in your locker, just in case I want to spar with you."
Takumi paused.
[.....When you put it like that, I really do feel stupid... but I can't help it. It's been a long time since I last went to school. I'm afraid I actually forgot my locker combination.... Oh well, Saeko already had that covered.] — Takumi
The heroines: ...
Saya, already covered in sweat from working, had black lines form across her face.
".....Why is Saeko flirting with Takumi? Wasn't she supposed to be making sure he doesn't do anything stupid?!"
Yukino tilted her head, a small question mark practically appearing above it.
Flirting?
How had she not realized that?
Haruno, a cleaning mask covering her face, sighed in exasperation.
"....Do you really believe everything people say?"
Yukino said nothing. She simply continued with her work, ignoring the elder sister who never seemed to tire of teasing her.
After a brief moment, she turned toward Riko Takeru.
"Takeru-san... when exactly are you and Hikigaya-kun planning to leave for your siblings?"
She asked quietly.
Riko Takeru finished preparing the sandwich in her hands before answering.
"I don't know about Hikigaya-san, but I'm planning to head there today."
Yukino nodded as she poured herself a cup of water.
She raised it to her lips for a sip—
Crash!
"Yukino! What's wrong?!"
Haruno, hearing the sound of shattering glass, immediately turned toward her younger sister with a concerned expression.
Yukino stared at Takeru in disbelief.
"Today? Then why are you wasting your time here?! Shouldn't you be getting ready?"
Riko Takeru didn't react. She simply made sure not to cut herself as she calmly picked up the broken shards of glass from the floor.
Yukino crouched down to help alongside the concerned Haruno.
".....You do realize that helping us right now isn't something you should be concerned about, right?"
"If you're serious about reaching ANMS in this situation, you need to dedicate every single moment to preparing."
Haruno nodded in agreement with Yukino.
"...That's right. I only managed to make it here because of luck myself. Regardless of how strong you are, remember that all it takes is one mistake."
Riko listened to their words quietly.
It was strange.
Haruno and Yukino were people she had never interacted with before, yet they were both concerned about her.
*No... They must have been drawn in by the fact that I'm awakened. Especially this woman named Haruno.*
Riko Takeru felt she understood the situation well enough, but she still needed to give them an answer.
Regardless of their intentions, helping someone—even with ulterior motives—was still helping.
And their motives weren't anything inhumane or malicious.
Haruno simply wanted to secure a future for her younger sister.
"Thank you for trying to help me. I understand what you're trying to say, but I still think I'd prefer what I'm doing now."
She gave a small, tired smile as she looked at the two women in front of her, "...but staying now...as well as helping... I feel it's the least I can do..."
She aimed her attention back to her task at making sandwiches, " You said that I should be focused on myself because one mistake might cost me my life?"
She looked at the gleaming light of the knife in her hand, its metallic edge showing her reflection
".....I think exactly the same thing as you do...so if I really do end up dying.... I want to make sure I've helped you once..."
She finished quietly...
....
Haruno looked at the girl in front of her with slightly different eyes, before sighing
The saying that like minded people always seem to meet seemed so real now....
Perhaps she had been the only who had failed to notice what kind of person takumi was
End of chapter 14