Sup! New chapter!
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Yuriko Takagi
A few hours earlier.
Yuriko sat in the car, gazing through the glass. Right beside her on the leather seat sat Shizuka Marikawa, a quite beautiful woman who also happened to be a medical university student. This gave her immense importance, for with the fall of civilization, people like her—capable of healing wounds and knowing how the human body works—would be as precious as gold, if not more so.
They were a few kilometers away from the city limits, and once they cleared the boundary, the airport itself required several more kilometers of driving, which would take about half an hour.
She hoped they wouldn't cross paths with any mutated zombie—not because they would have a hard time dealing with it, no, but because she simply didn't want to waste too much time handling such matters.
She wanted to finish this mission quickly, return to their temporary base, and then set out with everyone else toward the port to reach the island as fast as possible.
The initial euphoria brought by the effect and sheer magnitude of her powers had faded long ago. With a cold mind, she had come to realize one thing: if zombies had already mutated into such massive monsters just two days into this apocalypse, what would happen in a week? In a few weeks? A month? Because of this, she didn't want to stay within the city limits for too long; the danger was simply too great, and... she feared for her daughter, who did not possess an equally powerful ability and wouldn't be able to protect herself from much stronger mutated zombies.
Yes, Isao and the others were by her side, but Isao could get distracted by something else, or he might not be where he was needed at the right time, and so on. Therefore, she wanted to return immediately after fulfilling the task and just leave, sailing away to the island where they could be in much greater safety, discuss everything, and with time, perhaps even return to Japan rather than being locked up inside a small island.
At some point during her observation of the buildings receding behind them, she felt a piercing gaze upon her and looked in the direction from which she sensed it. As soon as she turned around, she saw Shizuka staring intently at her. Realizing she had been caught staring at another person, the blonde gave a somewhat hesitant smile and, blushing, quickly turned away, making Yuriko chuckle.
"You are Shizuka Marikawa-san, aren't you?" She spoke first, pretending not to know about her, despite the fact that Saya had told her many things after they had their minor argument and reconciled at the mansion. Among those things was how Saya had spoken slightly—just a little bit—harshly about the blonde nurse who had provided them a place to sleep and had previously driven the bus they were all in. Yet, despite Saya's somewhat blunt remarks, she had praised her quite a bit.
She had simply described her as a slightly ditzy woman who doesn't like to think too much, as well as a "busty blonde clinging to Isao-chan!"—words that had given Yuriko a good laugh.
"Um, y-yes, Yuriko-san, that's me." She nodded her head several times, after which she began to scan her once again.
"I see you have questions. If you wish to ask them, go ahead, I won't mind answering you." She looked at her with a smile, noticing how the other woman smiled excitedly.
"Ah, oh, really?" In response to her question, Yuriko nodded, and Shizuka fell into thought before asking her first question. "Would you mind telling me what your power is? W-well, I just have minor regeneration that heals all small and medium-level wounds, like abrasions, slightly deep cuts, and so on, but I can't regenerate broken bones... and my trait is, m-mm~ that I'm quite closely connected to nature!" Once Shizuka finished talking about her own powers, she looked at her with interest, ready to listen.
Hm, the ability to regenerate and a closeness to nature, which could mean absolutely anything. Is it possible that she has chlorokinesis? Is she able to control plants? If so, in how large a radius does her power operate, and is there a limit to what kind of plants she can control?
Though, it was entirely probable that it could be something else entirely, so one could only make guesses without taking them as absolute truth.
"My ability is Detonation. I can imbue any object with my energy and explode it afterward. And the trait... well..." She pulled a coin out of her jacket pocket and began to play with it. The coin literally vanished and reappeared between her fingers until finally, she flipped it up and caught it with two fingers. "I've become incredibly agile."
"Oh!" Shizuka clapped her hands enthusiastically several times, showing just how amazed she was by her tricks, which allowed Yuriko to relax a little. "That was incredible, Yuriko-san!"
There was something pleasant about this woman; around her was an aura of tranquility and gentleness within which it was nice to unwind and not feel tense.
"Heh, compared to what Isao-kun can do, it's nothing." She smiled a bit wryly, recalling how easily Isao created matter out of nothing—metal was matter, after all, and Isao was capable of creating it without any obstacles, displaying an unbelievable level of power. A level so high that he could be considered some kind of God...
"Yes, Isao-kun is incredible..." Shizuka smiled, looking into a void, reminiscing about something personal before turning back to her with a question. "By the way, you said something about some kind of energy?"
"Yes. After awakening my powers, I began to sense a certain energy that I can use to fill an object with."
"Hm, I see." Shizuka narrowed her eyes thoughtfully and sat like that for a few long seconds while Yuriko watched her expectantly, waiting to hear what she would say about it. "To be honest, after awakening my powers, I also started to feel a certain energy. At first, it was completely unnoticeable, but the more I tried to use my power—even though I don't have any wounds—the more tangible it became. Now I can distinctly feel it, but when I want to move it..."
"Move it? Meaning, shift it around?"
"Y-yes! Ugh-h..." She groaned with a bit of embarrassment, lowering her gaze. Then, seemingly gathering her resolve into a fist, she sharply raised her head and looked at her. "Well, do you know Naruto?"
Naruto? She had only vaguely heard of this manga. Frankly, the only few things she knew about it were that her daughter read it, that it was about shinobi, that the publishing house that released this manga and the other works of this author belonged to the Shinomiya Family, and... that was it?
"Ah, honestly, not as much as..." She waved her hand in front of her face with slight disappointment, as if to say no, making Shizuka look at her with a slightly offended expression—as if Yuriko had committed something terrible, or as if she were missing out on an incredible thing, making her feel a bit awkward. "I've only ever heard that this manga is about shinobi..."
"It's not just a manga, it's a whole work of art, Yuriko-san! You are missing out on an unbelievable amount of emotions, knowledge, and even pleasure by not reading it! In Naruto, despite its more humorous nature and action, many things are explored! Starting from what a human being is, all the way to incredibly deep topics like Good and Evil... there... there is an unbelievable amount of different wisdom! And... and..." At some point during her tirade, Shizuka noticed her surprised look and quickly deflated, giggling a bit self-consciously. "I... I meant to say that in Naruto, there is an energy called Chakra, which shinobi could move through special channels to create different techniques and the like. With the help of this energy, one could strengthen their body, walk on walls and water... that's why I mentioned, well... moving this energy inside oneself, in case it's the same thing as Chakra... he-he..." Her words made Yuriko ponder a bit.
Some kind of internal energy that helps strengthen the body and allows walking on walls and water? That would be useful, but the idea that energy from a fictional universe with its own laws could be the same as in real life? That's just absurd...
But what if it isn't? Even if this power doesn't let her walk on walls and water, it could still harden the body and reinforce her. Perhaps it could even make her more resilient and grant a slight regenerative power? That would be quite useful.
"It's worth a try once we find ourselves in a safe place..."
"What's that?" Hm? She looked over toward Shizuka and realized she had spoken out loud.
"Thinking out loud, Shizuka-san. I'm saying it's worth trying to move this internal energy to see if we can reinforce ourselves. After all, right now, any method to become stronger is welcome." She smiled, showing that she hadn't been bothered by her fanatical tirade about the manga. Seeing the other woman relax a bit, she asked another question. "You said that thanks to this... Chakra, shinobi can create different Techniques?"
"Yes! By the way, in Naruto, there was a character whose powers were also related to explosions, although... he could create explosive material with the help of a special clay, and that clay could then be turned into various single-use shikigami... hm..." Both of them fell into thought over this.
A character whose powers were similar to her own? That was actually a bit interesting, but the problem arose from the fact that he apparently created the explosion using his clay, as Shizuka herself said. And not just clay, but clay capable of creating shikigami, which consequently possessed a pseudo-mind and the ability to move independently.
Though to be fair, she didn't care much about that. Her own powers were quite mighty and required no improvements, so she simply shook her head and chose not to clutter her mind with thoughts about this character's abilities.
A comfortable silence settled between her and Shizuka, in which they sat in relaxation, without feeling tense or worrying about anything, until at some point she felt Shizuka's gaze on her again.
"Hm?" She turned to Shizuka questioningly, and the blonde, coughing slightly, looked away from her. "Do you still have questions, Shizuka-san? Don't hesitate to ask them; after all, we still have a long amount of time to drive." If, of course, half an hour counted as a long time to her.
"Ah, oh, no no! I think it's better if I don't ask this question—it would be too improper!" She waved her hand several times, refusing to do it, which piqued Yuriko's interest.
"It's fine, Shizuka-san. You don't know what kind of people I had to work with in the past and how detestable they were, so go ahead and ask. I don't think your question could possibly turn out worse than them." She gave a reassuring smile, after which the blonde sighed and blurted out something in a rush.
"Do-you-now-belong-to-Isao-kun?!" Her words were fast enough that Yuriko couldn't comprehend them on the first try, but not so fast that a few seconds of deliberation wouldn't parse them.
She sighed, shifting her gaze back to the window, watching as they were already approaching the city limits. She then recalled what kind of agreement her husband had arrived at... "everything that belongs to him," right? In the end, a husband belongs to his wife, and a wife to her husband... thus, when he lost that duel, did she automatically become a wife? A woman? A concubine? To Isao-kun, and that troubled her slightly.
After all, he was a very young man compared to her, and despite all her external beauty, she was still a woman approaching her forties. Not that she would be disappointed if he wasn't interested in her, it was just that her insides twisted when she thought that he might actually end up captivated by her looks.
For her daughter was quite interested in him, and as Saya had mentioned, not just her—Rei Miyamoto, and even Shizuka Marikawa herself were showing signs of attention. And Saeko Busujima, as it turns out, had already managed to sleep with him, at least according to Saya. Therefore, she didn't really want to get mixed up in all of this.
The fact that Isao-kun was a rather attractive man made everything much more complicated; after all, she was human too.
"More likely yes than no, Shizuka-san. In the end, my now-ex-husband promised him everything that belonged to him when, in a fit of blind pride, he accepted the terms of the duel."
"Oh..." Shizuka sighed slightly, after which she looked at her with concern. "Are you, mm... are you alright? You aren't upset?"
"Hm?" She looked at her with confusion before smiling, and noticing Shizuka's slightly widened eyes, she laughed out loud. "Ha-ha ah to be honest, you are the first person to ask me about that, Shizuka-san!" She looked at her with a smile, making the blonde blush slightly from embarrassment.
"W-well, you can call me Shizuka, if you don't mind."
"Then call me by my name as well, Shizuka. And... no, fortunately, I'm not offended, nor am I upset. I hold no grudge, neither against Souichiro nor against Isao-kun. After all, what else can I do except accept this decision of my ex-husband? Besides, Isao-kun doesn't strike me as the kind of man who would harass a woman, even if that woman technically belongs to him." She smiled, remembering how Saya spoke of how awkward he could sometimes be at one moment, and yet turn out to be a person without a single drop of shame in his blood the next—heh, it was quite amusing if looked at from another angle.
"Yes, I think so too." Shizuka looked out the window with a calm smile, after which they ran out of topics for conversation and both fell silent in a pleasant hush.
She watched Shizuka out of the corner of her eye for a while and remembered one thing.
This entire mission was arranged purely to rescue Shizuka Marikawa's friend from the airport. Saving the large number of people who would be there was more of a secondary objective, whereas the main task was to get Shizuka's friend out. Therefore, she had already decided one thing for herself in advance.
If people were to resist, she wouldn't voice any objection to leaving them behind. She would calmly do so if some of them proved difficult; after all, she doubted it would be easy to transport over a thousand people—who would likely be there—into the city.
Yes, this might alienate most people from her, but she didn't care, for her daughter would understand her, as would her Master. Perhaps he would even praise how cleanly she executed everything.
At these thoughts, she smiled slightly, after which she drifted off to sleep without noticing it herself.
For an unknown amount of time to her, she remained in a state of semi-sleep, until she felt the car come to a complete halt and sleepily opened her eyes to look out the window.
And outside the window, right before them, was the massive building of the airport. Around it, here and there, lay dozens and hundreds, if not thousands, of zombie corpses that had been gathered into rather large mounds. Most of them were charred, making her realize by what means they had been killed.
She looked toward Shizuka and noticed how she was trembling slightly with anticipation, but Yuriko sharply turned back, catching some sort of glare on the airport roof out of the corner of her eye.
Hm... I see.
"Alright, let's get out and quickly find your friend, along with any people who wish to head to a much safer zone."
"Y-yes, let's." Shizuka hastily opened the door and stepped out. Yuriko repeated the same action and locked eyes with Souichiro, who was more tense than usual; it seemed he had also noticed the armed individuals on the roof.
She showed no sign of her slight tension and walked forward with a smile, toward a man in military uniform who had emerged from the airport and was walking straight toward them.
And... damn, she didn't expect that out of all people, she would meet someone from his men here.
How troublesome.
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