"Red bean rice?"
At the breakfast table, Saeko Busujima stared at the special bowl set in front of her, eyes wide with surprise. She glanced up at Shuya, curiosity sparkling in her purple gaze.
"Red bean rice, huh? I'm kinda jealous," Yuriko Takagi said, propping her chin on her hand. Her own purple eyes locked onto Shuya with a half-teasing, half-serious smile. "Any chance you'll make some for your big sister one of these days, little brother?"
In Japan, red bean rice carried a special meaning. It was the dish people cooked to celebrate the big moments—birthdays, graduations, promotions, weddings. The kind of joy worth marking.
Right now, the reason Shuya had made it for Saeko was simple: they had finally become one last night. In Japanese tradition, that counted as one hell of a happy occasion.
Yuriko's comment made her intentions crystal clear. She was either flirting hard… or dead serious about wanting Shuya to claim her the same way so he'd cook it for her too.
Truth was, Shuya had never been a huge fan of Japanese red bean rice. The sticky rice steamed with red beans, then sprinkled with sesame and salted pickles? It came out savory, not sweet, and it just tasted… off to him. But he respected the tradition—specifically, he respected Saeko, the woman he'd sworn himself to for life through their contract.
He'd made a bowl for Rika too, of course. She'd earned it after last night. Problem was, the exhausted sniper was still out cold. She probably wouldn't wake up until lunch… or maybe even dinner.
"So how about you come to my room tonight?" Shuya fired back at Yuriko without missing a beat, a cocky little grin on his face.
Yuriko froze mid-breath.
Maybe it was because of that "I don't like married women" line he'd dropped at the Takagi estate yesterday. She'd been treating him like an immature kid ever since. She'd completely forgotten what he'd spent the early hours doing with Rika in the hallway.
This comeback hit her like a truck. Her breathing hitched. She quickly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and changed the subject like a pro. "Hey, little brother… earlier you asked me how long I thought this zombie crisis was going to last, right?"
"I've observed those creatures you called zombies. Slow movements, sluggish reactions, no eyesight at all—they hunt purely by sound. Aside from that terrifying infection rate, any normal adult with a weapon who's careful not to get bitten or surrounded should be able to handle a few at a time. If every zombie stays at this level, modern technology should wipe them out without too much trouble."
Shuya didn't call her out on dodging the flirt. He actually thought her analysis was solid—logical, even.
She was only missing one tiny detail. Okay, not missing it… she literally couldn't know it.
This was a 2D world. Logic didn't always apply. The "weak" zombies everyone assumed would be handled quickly? They were about to topple entire nations for absolutely no goddamn reason. It was like the whole world's IQ dropped ten thousand points the second the outbreak started.
Shuya looked Yuriko straight in the eye. "What if I told you this crisis is going worldwide… and it's never going to end?"
"That's impossible," Yuriko said, shaking her head.
"Doesn't matter. Just pretend everything I'm about to say is true." He dropped the next bomb without hesitation. "Pretty soon, a nuke is getting detonated over Bedmaster City. The resulting radiation—or electromagnetic pulse—will shut down every piece of machinery in town."
"A nuke?" Yuriko's heart clenched hard.
She believed the government would go nuclear if the outbreak got bad enough. Hearing it out loud still hit different. Every Japanese person carried a little boy inside who still remembered Hiroshima.
She tested him carefully. "Future sight? Can Nen even do that?"
"Just assume I have that kind of ability," Shuya said, not bothering to deny it. Knowing the plot was basically the same thing as prophecy anyway. "But don't worry about supplies. I've been preparing since before the outbreak even started."
"I bought an entire frozen meat warehouse. The stockpile in there is enough for us to eat meat for over a decade. I also infused the backup generator with Nen—if an EMP hits, it'll keep running like nothing happened."
"Vegetables are a little lighter, but once you get past the texture change after freezing and thawing, we've got more than enough for the long haul too."
"And…"
He laid out every single preparation he'd made for the crisis. Yuriko listened with total focus. Saeko kept quietly eating her celebratory red bean rice, watching Shuya with pure admiration in her eyes—like she was thinking, My man is incredible. Shizuka? Head down, scarfing her food, probably hadn't even registered a word he said.
Yuriko finally spoke. "What do you need me to do?"
In her mind, Shuya's preparations were already airtight. Even she couldn't think of anything major to add. But she knew he wasn't telling her all this just to calm her nerves. He could've kept it to himself and everything would've been fine. If he was sharing… he wanted her for something specific.
"Logistics management," Shuya answered plainly.
His thinking was simple. Now that Yuriko had Nen and could protect herself, she could handle all the supply-side details. The frozen warehouse wasn't even that far from the house. He wasn't about to do every single chore himself. The marriage-style vows of his contract went both ways—love, effort, everything. It wasn't a one-man show.
His plan:
- Saeko: full-time zombie hunting and power-leveling.
- Shizuka: teach Rika how to awaken Nen on her own, plus coach Yuriko on some training basics. Later she'd train Rei and Saya too.
- Yuriko: run all logistics and supply management.
- Rei and Saya: once they woke up, they'd start under Yuriko on logistics duty. He'd teach them to cook over time and eventually hand that off to them completely.
He laid the whole arrangement out for the group.
"I object!" Shizuka's ears perked up. She shot her hand in the air like a student.
"Objection overruled," Shuya said instantly, using his one-vote veto.
Shizuka's shoulders slumped. Suddenly her breakfast didn't taste quite as good. She started picking at it half-heartedly.
"What about you two?" Shuya looked at the two purple-haired beauties.
"No objections here," Yuriko answered first. Running a whole family empire had been child's play for her. With Nen sharpening her body and mind even further, this would be nothing.
"Same," Saeko said simply. She had zero reason to complain.
"Perfect." Shuya nodded, satisfied. He turned to Saeko. "Saeko-senpai, soon as we finish breakfast, we're heading out for today's mission."
"Zombie hunting!"