The five of them continued their pace, Kagehiro Shiro carrying the blood-stained baseball bat and another clean one he had picked up from the pavement—one that had been tossed aside early and remained unsoiled.

  Kasumigaoka Utaha let out a long, weary sigh. "Shiro-kun..."

  She stared at the red Aston Martin. Looking at its sleek, aggressive exterior, she had several things she wanted to say, but she bit her tongue for now. However, when Shiro opened the door and she looked inside, even she felt a wave of helplessness.

  "Wait, why is this a two-seater?!" Sawamura Eriri shrieked, looking at Shiro with pure accusation.

  "It's a sports car... they usually only have two seats."

  "No, I mean—why would you drive a two-seater to come rescue people?!"

  "Well..." Shiro hesitated, trying to find a way to expin that he hadn't exactly pnned on a five-person evacuation.

  Eriri realized she had asked a stupid question almost instantly. She flushed red and turned her head away, refusing to look at him.

  "Well, if we squeeze, we can make it work," Shiro said. He reached over and tilted the passenger seat back, sliding it as far as it would go to create as much floor space as possible.

  "Though... about Aki-kun."

  Everyone—Shiro, Utaha, Eriri, and Katou Megumi—turned their gaze toward Aki Tomoya.

  "I have to drive," Shiro noted. "The passenger side can fit two or three girls if they squeeze, but Aki-kun..."

  He couldn't exactly shove the boy in with the three girls.

  "It's fine! I'll just take the trunk," Aki said, surprisingly upbeat. He walked around to the back of the car.

  That had been Shiro's pn all along. As a guy, Aki was the rgest member of the group besides Shiro himself. To save space, the trunk was his only option.

  "Sorry for the trouble," Shiro said.

  The trunk was a tight fit, but with his legs curled up, Aki managed to wedge himself in. He pulled out his phone and adjusted himself into a semi-comfortable position. "I'm fine! I'm going to check those Shuchiin forums like you said."

  Shiro clicked the trunk shut. Now, for the front.

  Utaha, Eriri, and Megumi stood in a silent standoff, looking at the tiny cabin. Shiro thought for a few seconds and made the executive decision. "Katou-san, you go in first. Lie down in the footwell and across the bottom of the seat."

  "Understood," Megumi said obediently. She ducked into the car, smoothed her skirt, and id down.

  "Now Eriri, lie—or rather, crawl—on top of Katou-san."

  "F-fine!" Eriri ducked in too. Despite her petite frame, her movements were a bit clumsy as she wiggled into the car, eventually settling on top of Megumi, using the other girl's chest as a pillow.

  It was an... unexpectedly harmonious sight.

  "Now, Utaha."

  "I'm ready. Get in, Shiro-kun."

  "Mhm." Shiro walked around to the driver's side and sat down, pulling the door shut. He watched as Utaha tried to squeeze into the remaining sliver of space on the passenger side. She grunted as she tried to pull the door closed, but it was physically impossible.

  "Ow! Ow! It's too tight! Kasumigaoka Utaha, you fat cow!" Eriri shrieked from the bottom of the pile.

  "It is quite cramped," Megumi added, her voice muffled.

  "Shut up, Sawamura Eriri!" Utaha snapped, though she was struggling too. "It is too small..."

  To accommodate the powerful engine in the front, the cabin and trunk space had been sacrificed. Even with the seat all the way back, there just wasn't enough room. Excluding Aki, trying to fit three girls into one seat was a losing battle—especially since Utaha's height and figure took up a significant amount of space. Her head was hitting the roof, and her feet were jammed against the dashboard.

  "Sigh... I can't see my mirrors," Shiro compined. He checked his side-view mirror, only to see Utaha's shoulder blocking the entire view. He'd need those mirrors, even if the roads were empty.

  "This won't work," Utaha muttered, trying to wiggle further in.

  "OW! Utaha, what are you doing?!"

  "Uguuu..." Megumi let out a ft, airy groan as the air was squeezed out of her lungs.

  Utaha leaned into the driver's domain, shifting her body weight. As she moved her torso out of the passenger space, things suddenly felt a lot more manageable for the girls below.

  ...Finally, Utaha ended up sitting directly on Shiro's p.

  "That's much better," Utaha summarized, exhaling in relief.

  "You..." Eriri gasped, speechless.

  "Ah, that actually solved it. It's not tight anymore. Sawamura-san and I are fine," Megumi noted.

  "I see. Well... if everyone's happy, then let's go," Shiro said. He didn't have any better ideas. He leaned left and right to check his mirrors; Utaha leaned with him, clearing his line of sight.

  "Kasumigaoka Utaha! Your foot!"

  "Ah, sorry, Eriri. If you're so worried about my shoes touching you, you can take them off for me."

  "Hah! Who wants to smell your stinky feet?!"

  "Actually, Kasumigaoka-senpai's feet don't smell at all," Megumi said. She reached up and slid Utaha's loafers off, pcing them in the center console.

  With her shoes off, Utaha pulled her legs back and adjusted her posture into something more comfortable.

  "H-hey... try not to distract me while I'm driving," Shiro muttered. He felt the tension of the apocalypse being rapidly repced by a different kind of tension. He had been genuinely worried about the dangers of the return trip, but this was making it hard to focus.

  "Don't worry. I won't move an inch," Utaha whispered, leaning her back firmly against Shiro's chest.

  "..."

  Help me, Buddha, Shiro thought.

  The car vibrated as the engine roared to life. Shiro floored the accelerator, and the Aston Martin tore away. The students in the tennis court watched the red sports car vanish, their voices rising in a mix of panic and resentment.

  "What about us?"

  "They just left!"

  "Is anyone coming for us?"

  "The phone lines are still down!"

  "Those guys just took off on their own!"

  "The police! When is the police coming?!"

  There is one very important question," Shiro said as they cleared the school grounds. "Where are we going?"

  "EEEEEHHH?!"

  "Sigh..."

  "Ara..."

  "You're telling us this now?!"

  "It's not too te; we just started. But listen—I can't drive everyone to their individual houses. We have maybe three or four hours of daylight left, and that's not enough time to account for accidents or roadblocks. This car already took a beating on the way here."

  "..."

  "So, Shiro-kun, what was your pn?" Megumi asked.

  "Initially? Just take Utaha back to her pce. But now there are five of us. If we stay at a pce with no security, it's going to be dangerous."

  "How about my house?" Eriri suggested. "My house is a massive estate. There's more than enough room for four more people. It has a yard, high walls, and there aren't many neighbors nearby. It should be very safe."

  Eriri felt a flicker of joy. She had been worried about where she'd end up, but the prospect of going home was a huge relief. Mom, I'm coming home.

  "Works for me. Any objections?"

  "I'm fine with it. I can't reach my family anyway," Megumi said. Her breath tickled the back of Eriri's neck, making the blonde girl squirm.

  "Me too. It sounds like the best option," Utaha added. Her clear voice, traveling through her back into Shiro's chest, felt like a low vibration.

  "Alright, Eriri's house it is." Shiro shifted his weight. He held the wheel with his left hand and reached under Utaha's knees with his right to fish his phone out of his pocket. He unlocked it and tossed it back to Eriri. "Set the navigation."

  Eriri caught the phone. She shot Shiro a cat-like gre before looking at the screen. But then, she saw the wallpaper.

  Whoa... this guy is a total Otaku, Eriri thought, a faint sense of disdainful recognition washing over her.

  It was an image from a game—but she recognized the art style. Back when she was first starting her secret career as an illustrator, she had studied this particur artist.

  Wait! Isn't that artist famous for R-18 titles?!

  She snapped her head around to look at the man driving. Her gaze was a complex mix of "I see you're a degenerate" and "I respect your taste."

  "What?" Shiro asked.

  "N-nothing!"

  "The navigation..."

  "I know, I know!"

  "Kagehiro-kun's wallpaper isn't Kasumigaoka-senpai?" Megumi asked, peering over Eriri's shoulder.

  Shiro blinked. "Why would it be? We aren't dating."

  "..."

  "Oh? Did I misread the situation? I thought you two were in a retionship," Megumi said tonelessly.

  "..." Shiro found it impossible to answer.

  "Fufu... I wonder about that," Utaha teased, giggling softly.

  "By the way, Kagehiro-kun," Megumi continued. She had noticed he excluded himself from the count earlier. "Where are you going after you drop us off?"

  Utaha's ears perked up. She tried her best to remain still so she wouldn't interfere with the steering.

  "I'm going back," Shiro replied simply.

  "Back where?"

  "To my school."

  "School? Oh, Kagehiro-kun is a student too?"

  "Yeah. A second-year at Sobu High in Chiba. My real name is Kagehiro Shiro. Shiro (誠) is just my pen name."

  "Ah... Shiro-kun. Why did you choose that name? Is it because of the Shinsengumi?" Megumi asked. She remembered Shiro mentioned he studied martial arts, and the kanji for his pen name—Makoto (誠 - Sincerity)—was famously embzoned on the banners of the Shinsengumi.

  She remembered a family trip to Kyoto. Her father had bought a light-blue Haori with the mountain-shaped pattern at a stall near Nijo Castle. He had struck a pose, shouting: "Make way! The Shinsengumi are here to keep the peace of Kyoto! By order of the Shogun!"

  ***********************************************

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