Chapter 659

[Editor's note: This chapter has been edited to remove content that breaks our content rules.]

The next morning, Shirou left the school with Shiki Ryougi and set off for downtown Mifune City.

Fujino Asagami followed their instructions and stayed in the dormitory.

The waiting was agonizing, but thinking of Shirou kept her from feeling lonely.

Please come back soon, my love.

Three more days passed. It was now the tenth day since humanity’s extinction began.

The expedition returned.

But although two people had left, only one came back.

And the one who returned was not him.

Shiki Ryougi wore a white, long-sleeved kimono she had acquired somewhere. She looked as elegant as someone returning from a New Year’s shrine visit.

Her equipment had changed, too: the knife in her hand had been replaced by a long sword.

Fujino cared about none of that. There was only one thing she wanted to know.

“...Where’s Shirou?”

“Dead,” Shiki said flatly.

“Stop joking.”

“I’m not joking. He died on the way back.”

Fujino felt as though her legs had vanished below the knees.

Ha-ha. How could Shirou possibly be dead?

He promised me he would come back safely.

He promised we would be together forever.

Her fury was so intense that she could no longer think straight.

Miss Ryougi, why would you make such a horrible joke? Where have you hidden Shirou?!

She was about to demand an answer when Shiki spoke.

“I heard a little about what’s behind this zombie crisis at the shelter.

“Did you know, Asagami? Apparently, the zombies we’ve encountered have some capacity for reason.

“They seem able to distinguish between uninfected humans—between potential ‘companions’ they can assimilate and ‘food’ they can’t.

“That’s why they behave in two different ways: either they tear people apart and eat them, or