章 13: Apocalypse Incoming!
Akito and Saeko picked up food.
A lot of food.
Both of them had two carts filled with canned food, powdered milk, canned vegetables and fruits, beef jerky, etc.
While Saeko also picking up some more canned fruits Akito was torn between Apple juice and Orange juice.
Saeko walked over to him with her cart full of food and looked at him, "Orange juice is better."
"... Really?"
Honestly, he loved them both and usually used a coin flip to decide which one to choose.
"Orange it is then."
Throwing it in his cart he was about to pay the bill with Saeko when the grocery store's door opened and three girls walked in.
They were wearing the same uniform and were happily talking with each other while giggling.
One of them was a girl with short blue hair, she was the first to enter and her eyes immediately widened when she saw Saeko.
Akito and Saeko were walking with carts stuffed with a lot of food. As such, It wasn't hard to spot them.
"S-Saeko senpai!?" She rushed over to them surprising her friends who were momentary confused.
Saeko hearing her name being called turned around and she immediately recognized who had called her, "Rita?"
Rita stopped in front of her and looked at her with happiness, "Senpai! Why haven't you come to the club for so long?" As she asked this question her eyes slightly glanced at Akito who was beside Saeko and a red hue covered her face.
The other two girls also walked over and enthusiastically greeted Saeko, their eyes sparkled with stars when they saw Akito.
Had they caught Saeko Senpai's secret boyfriend!?
"Give me the card, I'll pay while you have a chat with your 'friends'" He playfully emphasized the word "friend" which annoyed Saeko.
She gave him her card and pin after which Akito grabbed both carts and went to pay at the counter.
"I was a bit busy, Rita. How's the kendo club doing?"
"It's fine like always but it feels empty without you," She said with a pout.
Before she could answer, the red-haired girl who had her hair in a ponytail slightly nudged Saeko, "Hehe~ Senpai who is he? Is he your boyfriend? Why don't you introduce him to us?"
Saeko frowned at Akito being called her boyfriend, "He's my friend."
"Eh? No way!"
"Shut up Ayako! Don't annoy Senpai." Rita said while pointing her finger at Ayako.
"Okay okay, no need to yell," Ayako shrugged her shoulders.
"By the way, Senpai... Why are you buying so much stuff." Rita wouldn't be stupid to ask why someone was buying groceries but... but why was there so much canned food?
Saeko looked at her cart and said without thinking, "It's easier to carry around..."
"Huh?"
"Nothing, I like canned food."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Why such a blatant lie!?
The three girls yelled in their minds.
"Hahaha," Rita awkwardly laughed.
"Eh, uh, okay, I see you have... unique taste Senpai." Ayako scratched the back of her head and asked, "When do you plan to come back to school Senpai?"
"Hmm, In three days."
"Really!?" Rita asked excitedly.
Saeko nodded and the three of them glowed with happiness, even the timid girl hiding behind the other two.
After making some more small talk they left while waving at her happily.
A minute later Akito appeared and looked at her with a mischievous smile, "I didn't know you were so popular. They seem to admire you a lot, especially the blue one."
Of course, waiting in line was boring so he would sometimes sneak a peek at Saeko and the other three.
"I'm the Kendo Club's captain." She said while looking at the group of three leaving while still giggling at each other.
Akito nodded and didn't say anything further.
Carrying a large bag each, they both left the grocery store and headed back home.
Along the way, Akito suddenly turned his head towards Saeko, "The three of them would most probably die..."
His words made Saeko turn towards him, It was because those were the most monotonous words she had ever heard him say ever since they met.
His expression was neutral as he quietly waited for her to respond.
"Many will die... The family in the house behind us might die... That couple we just walked past might die... The old lady feeding the pigeons would most likely die..." Saying this she turned and started walking again and continued,
"Too many people will die,"
She didn't directly answer his query but Akito understood the meaning behind her words.
He was glad.
In the anime, the apocalypse came without a warning, devouring humans one by one.
Saeko in the anime didn't go out of her way to save anyone but didn't mind helping people that she 'saw' in trouble.
But the current scenario?
She knew the apocalypse was coming, every person she was interacting with would most likely be walking around like a mindless zombie.
The thought of 'I can save this person.' crossed his mind many times and he knew it was the same for Saeko.
He wondered how her mental state was.
There was a saying, "The more you knew, the more the burden you held."
But it seemed like Saeko wasn't bothered... or rather she had strong principles she obliged to.
Akito admired selfless heroes... yes he admired them... but he knew he couldn't be one.
He couldn't even imagine himself as one.
Akito nodded at her words, "Hmm, I understand."
Both of them didn't say anything else along the way.
***
It was currently 7 pm.
Akito and Saeko were sparring with each other.
Saeko's wooden sword jabbed at Akito. Akito grabbed the sword and strengthed his grip on it, with a swift movement he pulled her towards him.
He threw a palm attack straight at Saeko's chest but Saeko let go of the sword and using the forward momentum she used her toes to jump nimbly and kick his face.
She was too close for Akito to dodge!
Akito moved his head back a bit and turned his head in the opposite direction of the kick to mitigate the damage.
Her foot glided against his cheek but due to his tough skin, there was no damage.
Saeko landed by his side.
"You're very talented." Saeko praised him, the moment she lost her sword was the moment she lost.
Even though she knew how to fight in hand-to-hand combat how could she compare to Akito?
For two days Saeko and Akito had been training in scenarios where Saeko loses her sword mid-battle or doesn't have one.
Though the situation was unlikely.
When Saeko gained Sword Mastery she also received some information regarding it.
Saeko's Sword Mastery came from a world where Sword Proficiency was divided into five stages.
[Sword Novice -> Sword Student -> Sword Master -> Sword Heart -> Sword Perfection]
Saeko's current rank was Sword Master.
"Thanks," He wiped his sweat with a towel and said, "The outcome might be different had you used a real sword." He chuckled and handed her a clean towel.
"Maybe," Saeko slightly smiled and replied vaguely.
She knew that Akito was hiding something, After several fights she could tell something was wrong, she didn't know if it was because of her intuition that was honed by 'Sword Mastery' or something else.
Akito smiled and was about to respond when suddenly both his and Saeko's eyes narrowed.
[Ding!]
[12 Hours Before The Apocalypse Begins!]
クリエイターの想い 
Xertz
Xertz Add this to your library or Saeko will beat you up!
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