His thought registered in the minds of the heroines, making several of them take a pause.
Rei Miyamoto: Guys!? Brother's thoughts! Why are brother's thoughts so....
Saeko Busujima: Specific?
Rei Miyamoto: No! I'm thinking of the word. It's at the tip of my tongue!
Saya Takagi: Just looking at this chat group already made me feel tired.
Saya Takagi: Can we focus on impor—
Rei Miyamoto: Tired! That's the word! Takumi-nii sounds tired. Come to think of it, how long did they survive in his alternate timeline?!
Saya Takagi: .....
Yumiko Miura: I don't remember him mentioning such a thing.
Hiratsuka Shizuka: Who would label a time to something they're thinking? Takumi doesn't know we're listening to his thoughts.
Yukinoshita Yukino: Don't you mean eavesdropping?
Yuki Miku: Does that really matter right now? Or rather, what would you want to do? Tell him you can hear what he's thinking?
Yuki Miku: Takumi-sama came back from what I presume to be a traumatic experience and rushed to help you the first moment he came to.
Yuki Miku: Do you think saying, "Actually, I can hear what you're thinking," would be something you could tell him right now?
Yukinoshita Yukino: So I just have to keep a straight face while his privacy is being invaded by us and possibly multiple other people?
Saya Takagi: WOULD YOU PEOPLE FOCUS ON WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING RIGHT NOW!?
Saya Takagi: Whether we want to tell him about his inner voice isn't important right now.
Yukinoshita Haruno: She's right. Takumi is planning on leaving the school. This is the most important thing right now.
Yumiko Miura: Huh?
Yuigahama Yui: Huh?! Why didn't you mention this earlier?!
Yumiko Miura: Yes! While we knew that some might leave for their families, why the hell are they doing so now?!
---
Saeko shook her head as she put down her phone, pulling the charger out before looking toward the group of people around her.
"Did Takumi really tell you to try and hack into every phone you found? Do you have any idea why?"
Hibara, the same boy who had loudly questioned Takumi earlier, looked at Saeko in slight surprise.
"Saeko-senpai! When did you get here?!"
"You have poor situational awareness, Haibara-san."
Hibara Hondo was a fairly well-known kid in Takumi's grade, with his greatest feat being deleting the footage from the school's previous year's exam video feed.
Though he had almost been expelled, the school principal was someone who appreciated talent and had let him off with a warning.
This was also how Takumi had gotten to know him.
This genius was someone who had held the students who had cheated that day hostage, telling them that if they didn't want to be looking at straight F's, they had to cough it up.
Takumi wasn't someone who struggled academically, but he was absolutely sure that this guy was going to be a legend.
Or at least, that's what he told Saeko most of the time when they were sparring.
Now he's stuck with hacking into the phones of dead people.
How the mighty have fallen.
Saeko quietly remarked in her heart while looking at one of the few male students she remembered Takumi praising.
Speaking of which, that was one of the reasons why Takumi had allowed this guy to talk to him like that in the first place.
Saeko's thoughts, if they could be heard by Takumi, would have left him speechless.
Me? What did I do?!
Haibara had a point. There wasn't any reason to attack him. He wasn't an enemy!
So why, you beautiful crazy girl, do you enjoy vilifying me in your own head?!
"No, but I had my own thoughts. Phones are one of the best ways to communicate, and the school's previous way of luring zombies could also be used."
Saeko nodded.
"That's part of the reason. But these terminal phones have more than just those features, don't they?"
She glanced toward the collection of phones spread across the table.
"Timers with songs for control, calling another device for even more area control, and even setting aside those...."
Saeko and Haibara whipped their heads toward the direction of the voice.
A pair of heterochromatic eyes met their own.
Takumi stood there, his expression relatively calm as he looked over the collection of devices.
"Just entering any electronic store, or even the streets where undead are everywhere, we can just stea—"
He stopped himself.
"...No. I mean take the other electronic devices for personal use and use them for our own safety."
Takumi gestured toward the pile.
"The utility can't even be put into words."
Saeko looked at him for a moment.
"So that's why you wanted every electronic device collected?"
"Among other things."
Takumi picked up one of the phones and turned it over in his hand.
"We don't need to carry everything. We just need to make sure we have enough options."
Haibara looked at the phone in Takumi's hand before glancing toward the piles around him.
"...You're planning something with all of these, aren't you?"
Takumi smiled faintly.
"Obviously."
He placed the phone back down.
"An apocalypse isn't just about killing undead. If you can control where they go, you don't always have to fight them."
Saeko's eyes narrowed slightly.
And just like that, she understood why Takumi had suddenly become so interested in every piece of electronic equipment the school possessed.
[It's sad how long it took is to think outside the box in our previous life, always brute forcing everything. But this time, I'm making absolute sure that we squeeze every advantage we have] - Takumi
"Hibara, some people will be coming to you soon, give them exactly 3 spares that are unlocked and have full battery life"
"Oh - uh understood!"
Takumi nodded at the boy who's age was the same as his before turning to Saeko. "We need to start moving, it's peak day now and I [refer moving in sunlight in these types of scenarios "
Saeko nodded before she bid farewell to the now scrambling hibara
She looked at Takumi's back as he left with slightly serious eyes
'He doesn't look like he needs help though...well he really is good at hiding his thoughts and feelings'
Saeko clenched her fists slightly, 'Who would have known that this Takumi is an 'imposter' with severe PTSD, when he acted exactly like the real one'
'Maybe the inner voice is just a third party making commentary to confuse them'
Saeko shook her head, focusing on the situation
Right now she had only one objection
[ Protect the one who accepted her ]
End of chapter 16
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Exams next week!
Big moment of my life so I'll be taking a break from writing
Sorry 😔 and wish me luck!
PS I have a test today! 😭
It's maths!
😭
So this is your Lazy author's final words
Leave a "J" to show you your support!
...........
Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!