A youth story of a passerby at the end of the world

"Where is Amasawa?" Uesugi Genshin shifted his gaze to Amasawa Ichika and asked Ayanokoji Kiyotaka for confirmation.

He can make decisions about the others in the White House, but what about the people right in front of him?

"..." Ayanokouji Kiyotaka remained silent and looked at Amaze. To be honest, he didn't know what Amaze was thinking. Amaze's qualities were a cut above others, and she could live well anywhere.

On the other hand, apart from Yagami, they are all currently outside the group and have better options. Weighing the pros and cons, it seems there's nothing to hesitate about.

"Hmph~" With her hands behind her back and her right foot behind her left, the mischievous Tianze Yixia made an ambiguous sound.

"What are your conditions?" Uesugi Genshin generously extended his palm, while also displaying an air of ease.

With Ayanokoji joining, that was already enough, while Amasawa was just icing on the cake.

“Conditions, conditions, yeah, that makes sense—” Nodding repeatedly, Tianze Yixia poked her chin with her finger, as if pondering a difficult problem.

At this point, you generally have two options: either take the opportunity to fulfill some difficult requests, or pretend to want it but then choose to give up, showing an attitude of "I'm letting you off easy."

Uesugi Genshin, on the other hand, was quite curious about what choice Amasawa would make.

"Me... I look at Uesugi Genshin with my gorgeous, captivating rose-gold eyes and smile charmingly, "I like strong people."

"Then what do you mean by 'strong'?" Uesugi Genshin tilted his head and smiled. "Spirit?"

"No, no, it's the physical strength you possess, senior." She smiled playfully.

"Oh~" Uesugi Genshin shrugged, not quite understanding what she was trying to say, but decided to keep listening anyway.

"You've passed the test in this respect, senior."

"Is that so?" The condition isn't on her side, but on mine?

"Can you cook, senior? Besides strong men, I also like men who can cook." Tianze Yixia tiptoed, spun 90 degrees, and hopped forward two steps, glancing at him sideways.

“I’m very good at Chinese food,” Uesugi Genshin said.

"Hooray~~" With her hands clasped together, Tianze Yixia took two steps closer to him again, "Senior didn't lie."

But it happens to be Chinese cuisine, so even if you're just making things up, you wouldn't stray into that.

"And what about your position, senior?"

He guessed that Amaze Ichika probably wanted to ask about his status in order to assess the state of Soubu High School.

Uesugi Genshin thought for a moment and then introduced himself: "I am now the vice president. The president is nominally an upperclassman, but she doesn't manage anything. I am also the head of the executive department, which has a team of thirty people. The three people who were initially discussing the reconstruction of order were me, the current secretary, and the current accountant."

What are the relationships between Secretary Sang and Accountant Sang and their seniors?

"A trustworthy partner."

"I see." Tianze Yixia nodded in understanding. "Being trusted means you are very reliable, senior."

Instead, she saw Uesugi Genshin's character in this; the fact that they could get along harmoniously as original shareholders with conflicting interests precisely demonstrated this.

"Did you ever think about the future before, senior?" Suddenly, she started talking about the past, which now seems extremely distant, the world before the catastrophe.

"Before the zombies appeared?"

"Hmm, what are your plans for the future? What are your ideals and dreams?"

Would people in the White House still care about this?

"I debuted as a novelist two years ago, and I have tens of millions of yen in my bank account. In the future, I will probably write books while traveling around to find material and have fun."

"Wow, that's amazing. It's great to be a man who achieves financial freedom at a young age." Tianze Yixia intertwined her two small hands to form a triangle, looking up at him with admiration.

Whether it was true or not was hard to say. Uesugi Genshin was very clear-headed and did not let his guard down because of the other party's cute girl appearance.

"Ah, may I ask what kind of girl you like, senior?" Tianze Yixia looked up, revealing a smile that seemed a little shy about her own words.

"Someone like you."

"I'm serious," she said playfully, feigning annoyance.

“I’m serious too,” Uesugi Genshin said, blinking.

"Please tell me what you like about me, senior?" Tianze Yixia pressed him relentlessly to list.

“Um… isn’t the topic getting a little off track?” Kiyotaka Ayanokoji interrupted, raising his right hand.

“Yes.” Looking at Ayanokouji, Uesugi Genshin nodded, then turned his gaze to Amasawa, “Amasawa, what’s your answer?”

"Ah! That was my last question. Besides, you already know my orientation perfectly well, so would it be too despicable to stop right away?" Tianze Yixia used a cunning trick unique to girls, but it wasn't annoying.

Was the previous question about sexual orientation?! No wonder he felt something was off.

“Hmm…” Uesugi Genshin pondered for a moment, then looked Tensawa up and down.

"The red hair is very striking, and the twin ponytails are very cute." Despite her maturity, she exudes a pure and innocent girlish charm.

"Those sparkling eyes are also beautiful." The eyes, shimmering with golden light, are truly stunning.

"I really like the legs because they are slender, have beautiful curves, and are wearing stockings." This is a matter of personal preference.

"Furthermore, Tianze, you are very strong, skilled in both literature and martial arts, and you are also very clean, which is a good thing."

When you get close, you'll smell a faint, fresh fragrance, like the pure, natural state after a bath, without any unnecessary actions.

It's rare to see someone who still pays attention to personal hygiene in today's environment.

"That's all?" Tianze Yixia asked, still wanting more.

"...Tianze, you're so cute, that's enough." After a moment of silence, Uesugi Genshin praised honestly.

“…Alright, I guess you've passed, senpai.” Tianze Yixia hummed a tune, turned her back to the two of them, and walked away into the distance, clearly about to leave. “I will go to your place with Ayanokouji-senpai.”

Finally, she waved behind her, turned back with a sweet smile, and then left gracefully.

"How much of what she said do you think is true?" Uesugi Genshin asked Ayanokouji, wondering if this girl from the White House also wore a heavy mask.

“I don’t know either.” Kiyotaka Ayanokouji shook his head. He continued, “But… just as I long for a peaceful life, it’s probably because of the White House that Amasawa must have thought about that kind of life to some extent.”

“Is that so?” Uesugi Genshin said nothing.

As the two of them passed by the dormitory building, Ayanokouji said that in the afternoon, Horikita Gaku would arrange for someone to distribute the day's seafood ingredients downstairs.

Cooking is done in the dormitory. The school's shopping center sells kitchenware, probably to cater to students who don't want to eat in the cafeteria and want to cook for themselves.

It's hard to say which is cheaper, but the cheapest option is the nutritious meal at the cafeteria.

"You live with other people, right?" Uesugi Genshin asked.

"Well, I mentioned that I knew a little about cooking, and as a result, I ended up being in charge of the entire dorm's kitchen."

Yamauchi and Ike said they had never touched kitchen utensils since birth, so they had no intention of cooking for him at all.

"...Are you just complaining?" Uesugi Genshin found it amusing; it seemed Ayanokouji wasn't entirely without emotions after all.

"However, because there were no seasonings, they didn't eat it at first. So hunger really is the best appetizer. By the way, it would be really delicious if it were grilled over charcoal and salt, but fires are not allowed on campus."

This is Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's only regret.

"Eh~" Uesugi Genshin couldn't help but sigh. Right now, the biggest contribution they could make to the school was simply not to waste energy on pointless activities.

"Over there..." Suddenly, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji stopped and pointed ahead.

Following the direction he pointed, Uesugi Genshin looked and saw four people walking towards him.

A gang leader, a delinquent man, a delinquent woman, and a literary girl.

How strange.

Looking around and seeing no one, Uesugi Genshin asked Ayanokouji, "Looking for you?"

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji denied it, saying, "No, I don't know them. They must be looking for you."

"Don't you know him?"

"The leader is Ryuen from Class C, I don't know the names of the others," Kiyotaka Ayanokouji nodded and said.

Long Yuanxiang, the ruler of Class C in the first year.

He would have used violence and wisdom to establish a dictatorship in Class C, declaring that he would promote all the students in Class C to Class A, and actively and ruthlessly put his plan into action.

According to Ichinose, Ryuen was also a member of the outreach team here.

Uesugi Genshin was very curious about what his purpose was in approaching him.

"Yo!"

The accent of a thug was clearly coming from outside, and his eyes were fierce. Long Yuanxiang raised an arm as a greeting, "Are you the one from outside? What's your name?"

"Uesugi Genshin." Uesugi Genshin stated his name with composure.

"I am Long Yuanxiang." Long Yuanxiang also replied with his name, "I am from Class C, Grade 1."

“Yes, I know.” Uesugi Genshin indicated that he had heard of him.

Long Yuanxiang smiled dismissively, "Then I'll get straight to the point. I heard you're short-staffed?"

"Yes." Having more or less guessed what he was going to say, Uesugi Genshin nodded.

"Then count as one of our Class C students."

As expected, Ryuen Sho's goal was to leave, but Uesugi Genshin shook his head and refused, saying, "I am selective; I don't want everything."

Ryuen Sho, as a staunch advocate of violence, is uncontrollable and, like Kushida Kikyo of Class D, is not very stable.

"Hmph~" Long Yuanxiang shut his mouth and looked at him silently. After a short while, Long Yuan gestured with his head for his subordinates to come forward.

A pair of delinquent men and women approached him and Ayanokouji with ill intentions.

"I think their names were Ishizaki Daichi and Ibuki Mio," Uesugi Genshin recalled the student file.

At the same time, he placed his hand on the hilt of his knife. "Unfortunately, I'm not in the mood to be provoked for no reason. Are you prepared to get slashed?"

Upon hearing these cold words, Ishizaki Daichi and Ibuki Mio paused in their tracks. If their opponent was about to draw his sword, were they still going to fight bare-handed?

Thinking of this, they turned back to look at Long Yuanxiang, at a loss.

Ryuen Sho scanned Uesugi Genshin up and down, his gaze lingering on Uesugi Genshin's sword for a long while. "Is that so? You are...?"

He seemed to recognize him, his eyes showing surprise, and his ruthless gaze softened considerably, which made Uesugi Genshin release his grip.

"Ishizaki and Ibuki, step back. There's no need for the test." Ryuen Sho gave the order, telling his two subordinates to return to their original positions.

He whispered something to the girl next to him, a literature enthusiast named Hiyori Shiina.

"She's wearing stockings too," Ayanokouji Kiyotaka thought to himself, while giving Uesugi a meaningful glance at him beside him.

"It's still gray," Uesugi Genshin noticed Ayanokouji's gaze and rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Um, Uesugi-kun." With a hint of curiosity in her eyes, the gray-haired girl, Hiyori Shiina, stepped forward and smiled warmly. "My name is Hiyori Shiina."

"Hello," Uesugi Genshin nodded in acknowledgment.

"I heard from Ichinose that Uesugi-kun, you have plenty of food and a safe territory where you live, right?" she asked gently. She herself was very approachable, and her quiet and elegant demeanor made people want to listen to her.

No wonder Long Yuan brought her along.

“Yes,” Uesugi Genshin admitted.

"Can we join too?" Shiina Hiyori's fingertips clenched weakly together.

“Ha…” Uesugi Genshin sighed and looked at Ryuen. “I heard you joined an action team that can go out? You shouldn’t have any food shortages.”

Those who fight zombies must have good food to maintain sufficient calories. Ryuen's physical condition is completely different from the other three; he is extremely strong.

“But Class C is different,” Long Yuanxiang said.

"Someone like you wouldn't even care about the class?" That was unexpected.

"Hmph~, after all, I am the leader of the class." He sneered, then remained silent for a while before continuing, "Moreover, because it is the first year, basically everyone except some people from Class A is forgotten in a corner and raised like pigs in a pigsty, no, even worse than that."

Horikita Manabu and Nagumo Masato both valued their classmates highly, while they were indifferent to the first-year students who had just enrolled, as long as they didn't starve.

Because there were many other survivors sharing the meager resources, the strong adult men were assigned to work, and the brave ones were organized to scavenge for supplies outside.

Therefore, first-year students have no jobs, let alone contributions. They just loaf around all day, and good things never come their way.

The social classes have become rigid, and they can never gain any respect or rise in society.