Chapter 29: How Can Someone Be This Audacious?
It was the first period of the afternoon, right after lunch.
The sun still hung high in the sky, tilting ever so slightly toward the west. It benevolently shared its blazing heat with the entirety of Tokonosu City.
Suyan sat in his personal King's Throne at the back of the classroom.
It had been exactly half a month since Shizuka last took a day off. Yet, Suyan still hadn't managed to catch a single glimpse of her so-called best friend, Minami Rika.
According to Shizuka, Rika's line of work was highly specialized, meaning she couldn't just casually resign on a whim. Fortunately, after an entire day of Shizuka relentlessly appealing to her emotions and logic, she had successfully convinced Rika to promise she would resign and return as soon as humanly possible.
Even if her resignation was denied, she would apply for immediate leave. Regardless of how she did it, she guaranteed she would be back for Suyan to meet her before the zombie crisis erupted.
Or at least, that was Shizuka's version of the story.
Suyan accepted it... probably. Honestly, he was heavily leaning toward the theory that the foolish woman had simply been humored and brushed off by her best friend.
Suyan's curiosity regarding this Minami Rika—a woman who existed purely within Shizuka's anecdotes—had reached near-obsessive levels. Over the past year, Shizuka had mentioned her countless times. Yet every single time she was supposedly "on her way back," she would inevitably call and claim she was held up by urgent work.
As for worrying about her safety? He didn't have a shred of concern.
Sure, in close-quarters combat, Rika might not hold a candle to a lifelong Kendo prodigy like Saeko. But when it came to firearms and marksmanship, Suyan suspected you could bundle the entire main cast together and they still wouldn't be enough to take her down.
After all, the drawers in Rika's room back at the house were practically overflowing with trophies and medals from various national shooting competitions. Rumor had it that her marksmanship ranked within the top five in all of Japan.
Therefore, rather than worrying about the safety of a terrifyingly lethal woman like that, he was much better off worrying about that absolute airhead, Marikawa Shizuka.
Suyan's gaze casually drifted out the window.
It seemed Minami Rika wasn't going to make it back before the apocalypse after all. Because down at the school gates, he could already see the chaotic commotion unfolding—the absolute prologue to the anime's main plotline.
Clearly, the zombie outbreak was scheduled for today.
"Let's go," Suyan said calmly, standing up and looking back at Rei.
"Go? Go where?" Rei, who had been diligently taking notes, froze.
Even though she had no idea why Suyan was suddenly saying this, her body moved on its own accord, standing up to follow him.
"You two, where exactly do you think you're going? Class is still in session," the middle-aged teacher at the podium demanded, naturally unwilling to tolerate such blatant truancy right in front of his face.
"Um... actually, I'm feeling a little unwell, so I asked Suyan to..." Rei's brain spun at maximum capacity, desperately trying to fabricate a reasonable excuse to placate the teacher.
After all, she was a top-tier honor student. Since she was repeating a year, the second-year curriculum was entirely optional for her anyway. But the opportunity to skip class with Suyan? That was infinitely more valuable. Even if she had no clue where he was taking her.
However, before the girl could finish her excuse, Suyan, already walking ahead, coldly replied: "A date!"
"Eh?!"
Instantly, the entire classroom inhaled a collective gasp of cold air, followed by a chorus of shocked murmurs. Even the students who had been dozing off snapped awake, their minds clearer than they had ever been in their entire lives.
How had they never noticed they had such an absolute madman in their class?
Fierce. Too fierce! How could a person have this much guts?!
Some of the male students were staring at Suyan with genuine stars in their eyes. The sheer complexity of their awe was no less intense than when Cao Cao personally witnessed Yuan Shao draw his blade against the tyrant Dong Zhuo and declare, "My sword is also sharp!"
Immediately, every single pair of eyes in the room swiveled toward the middle-aged teacher at the podium.
How would the teacher respond to this blatant disrespect?
"Uhh..." Feeling the heavy weight of the students' gazes, the middle-aged teacher felt his scalp tingle. If he mishandled this, he would undoubtedly become the laughingstock of the entire school.
But... the person who said it was Suyan. The teacher genuinely didn't have the courage to actually reprimand him.
Setting aside Suyan's status as the #2 ranked student in the entire grade, he was also the strongest member of the Kendo club, second only to Busujima Saeko. His combat prowess was indisputable.
Most importantly, the kid had the legendary "Todai Buff" protecting him. As Suyan's History teacher, he knew full well that while Suyan maintained a rock-solid #2 overall rank, he had never once passed a History exam. In fact, it was rare for his History score to even break into the double digits.
If he called Suyan out and pissed him off, the kid might actually just walk up and beat the crap out of him, right?
It was just a teaching job; there was no need to risk his life for it.
Having figured out the optimal survival strategy, the middle-aged teacher looked at Suyan and Rei, who were already at the back door. He forced a strained, "warm" smile onto his face.
Completely ignoring Suyan's outrageous declaration, the teacher said, "Ah, so Miyamoto-san isn't feeling well. Then I'll leave it to Suyan-kun to escort her to the infirmary to rest."
Suyan couldn't care less about the teacher's face-saving excuse. Even without the man's permission, there was zero chance he was staying in this room.
Before stepping out, Suyan cast one final glance over the classroom and delivered a cold, flat warning: "By the way, for the sake of us being classmates, here's a piece of advice. Leave the school immediately and go home."
Without waiting for anyone to react, he turned and walked out the door without looking back.
He didn't have any actual bonds with his classmates, and he certainly wasn't some bleeding-heart saint. They couldn't seriously expect a prestigious Todai-bound scholar like him to single-handedly save Japan, right? Offering a fair warning was already an act of extreme generosity.
And his warning was perfectly sound.
Fujimi Academy was a relatively small campus, yet it housed thousands of students and faculty. Once the zombie virus fully permeated the school grounds, it would become an inescapable meat grinder for anyone still trapped inside. If they seized the opportunity to run now, their odds of survival would drastically increase.
Rei kept her head perfectly bowed, gripping the hem of Suyan's shirt as she silently followed him. Her face was flushed bright red; she didn't dare look at the expressions of her classmates.
Yet, beneath the embarrassment, an indescribable thrill electrified her heart.
Skipping class for a date~ Just the thought of it made her brain literally tremble with excitement.
The moment the two of them disappeared, the classroom erupted into absolute chaos. Completely oblivious to the impending apocalypse, the students excitedly gossiped about Suyan and Rei's scandalous exit.
"Silence!"
It took the middle-aged teacher an enormous amount of effort and every ounce of his authority to finally suppress the rioting teenagers.
However, just as he was wiping the nervous sweat from his brow, another sudden voice rang out from the desks.
"Sensei, I'm also feeling a bit unwell. May I request permission to rest in the infirmary as well?"
A surge of nameless rage instantly ignited in the teacher's chest. He whipped his head toward the student who had spoken, fully prepared to unleash his fury. But the moment he saw who it was, it was as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped straight onto his heart. His rage evaporated instantly.
Not only was the student the #1 ranked genius in the entire grade, but her family's political and financial power in Tokonosu City was absolute. The apartment he rented probably wasn't even as big as the guest bathroom in her mansion.
If he couldn't afford to offend Suyan, he definitely couldn't afford to offend this little ancestor.
Such was the tragic helplessness of a middle-aged salaryman.
The teacher wiped another layer of cold sweat from his forehead and offered a sycophantic smile. "Is that so? Takagi-san studies so incredibly hard, it's no wonder you hold the number one rank. You must make sure to take good care of your health."
"Thank you, Sensei."
Having secured permission, the pink-haired girl hurriedly bolted out the door, chasing after the direction Suyan and Rei had taken.
This pink-haired girl was the final female member of the anime's core cast.
Takagi Saya!