The long night was finally over.
As the sky lightened, I was once again reminded of the horrific events we’d just been through. The windows of the dorm building were broken, and headless zombies were lying everywhere on the grounds.
As Haruka turned off the engine and we opened the car doors, an awful stench of decay hit me.
“…I want to bury these people as soon as possible,” she said. “I feel bad leaving them just lying around…”
“Yeah. We’ll dig a hole somewhere and bury them. I think I saw a shovel in the shed.”
“I’d like to mourn them and plant flowers where we bury them…”
“You have a kind heart, Haruka. We’ll bring them some flowers later.”
So just like that, we decided to bury the zombies we’d killed.
After returning to my room and getting changed, I went out into the yard to dig the huge hole. As soon as I started digging, Tsukishiro came out, hearing the noise.
“Kousaka. Thank you for taking over my watch last night.”
“No problem. Did you get some rest?”
“A bit… I couldn’t sleep at all, but I feel much better after lying there with my eyes closed.”
“I’m glad to hear that. You almost died last night, so it’s no wonder that you couldn’t sleep.”
Tsukishiro blushed, hearing me console her.
“…The main reason I couldn’t sleep was because the person I have a crush on kissed me,” Tsukishiro said, so softly that only I could hear. There was a hint of reproach in her voice.
Lisa and Ichinose eventually joined us in the yard, and all five of us began to bury the bodies. We carried the headless zombies into the hole, being careful not to get any of their bodily fluids on us.
By the time we finished burying the last zombie, more than two hours had passed. I filled in the hole, and we turned to the grave and said a silent prayer.
Tsukishiro was standing next to me, and it was at that point that I noticed something strange was going on with her. Her breathing was labored, and just standing there seemed to be a challenge.
“Tsukishiro…? Are you all right…?”
She crumpled to the ground, and when I touched her hand, it was surprisingly cold.
Had the zombification started happening again…?!
“Kousaka… It hurts…!! Kiss me again—”
I cut Tsukishiro off, pressing my mouth against hers and began giving her my saliva.
Haruka and the others were stunned, but there was no time to explain.
“…Mmm…! …Aaahh…!”
Our breathing came heavy as we continued to kiss deeply.
After a while, her hand started to warm up. I decided to stop kissing Tsukishiro and see how she was doing.
It was only then that my eyes met Haruka’s. She was glaring at me with a horrified look on her face. Her fists were clenched, and her body shook in anger.
“H…hey, what are you doing, cheating on me in broad daylight?!”
“No, you don’t understand…”
I looked around as I tried to plead my case, but Ichinose looked away in embarrassment, and Lisa stared at me in disbelief. They all had completely the wrong idea—not that I could blame them, though. The way they saw it, Tsukishiro and I were an obscene couple who had suddenly started to make out in front of everyone.
I had everyone move to the cafeteria, where I told them everything. I explained that I could turn into a zombie without losing my consciousness as a human and recounted Tsukishiro being bitten the night before.
“—So that’s the whole story. It doesn’t look like the zombie virus in Tsukishiro’s body has died yet, though. Maybe it recovers when the bacteria from my saliva decreases.”
“So, Yuuma, you’re saying you have to kiss Tsukishiro every time she starts turning into a zombie…? And not only that, but you have to French kiss each time, because you have to feed her your saliva…?” said a shocked Haruka.
“Pretty much…”
“It’s incredibly painful when the zombie virus activates, so, Kousaka, I want you to kiss me regularly so the bacteria in my body doesn’t drop below a certain amount…”
“Yeah, that makes sense. The pain flared up again about seven hours after we kissed last night, so one kiss every six hours is probably best.”
Haruka’s eyes widened. “You’re going to kiss her like that four times a day…?!”
Tsukishiro shirked back, feeling responsible for the situation we’d found ourselves in.
“I’m sorry, Kousaka. This is all my fault…”
“Don’t worry about it. You wouldn’t have been bitten in the first place if I’d told you I was a zombie sooner.”
“But I’m sure you don’t feel comfortable kissing me in front of everyone all the time…”
“It’s more like mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, so I don’t think the others mind.”
“No, Yuuma, we do mind,” interjected Haruka.
“You do? Then I’ll make sure Tsukishiro and I are alone when we kiss.”
“Ngh…! I don’t like that, either…”
“Which is it?”
“I don’t want to watch the two of you kissing in front of me, but if you do it where I can’t see you, I’ll end up imagining you getting carried away.”
“We won’t get carried away. I have the zombie virus in my body, and—”
It was at that moment I realized something crucial.
As long as it was with Tsukishiro, I could have sex.
In fact, having the zombie virus in our bodies made it impossible for either of us to do it with anyone else. And on top of that, Tsukishiro had feelings for me…
“……”
I could feel the silent stares of the four girls focused on me. Were they looking at me suspiciously because I’d stopped talking mid-sentence to entertain my sexual fantasies?
“…Let’s get back on track. Kissing once every six hours means we’ll have to be together almost all the time. You’d have to come with me when I go out to get food, sleep in the same room as me, and we’d have to kiss before going to bed and right after we wake up—”
“What are you, a couple who’s just moved in together?!” Haruka complained. But I ignored her, since this was how it had to be.
“For the time being, I think Tsukishiro and I should use a room on the ground floor.”
“I’m sleeping in the same room!” yelled Haruka. “No arguments!”
“We don’t have enough beds, though.”
“I’ll bring one in from another room! There’ll be plenty of space if we remove the rest of the furniture!”
“I guess that’s…not impossible…”
“I think I’ll sleep in your room, too, then,” Lisa said. “We should all be together if something happens like it did last night. It’s really scary being in a room by yourself.”
“…I’d also like to join you, if you don’t mind,” added Ichinose.
They had a point; it was definitely more convenient from a security standpoint for all five of us to sleep in the same room.
“Considering how wide they are, one room should be able to fit three bunk beds, as long as we put our belongings somewhere else.”
And just like that it was decided: Everyone would move in together.
After a quick breakfast, we rearranged the furniture. It didn’t take that long in the end, since all five of us pitched in to disassemble the bunk beds and move things around.
Once we were done, Haruka and I decided to go out to the supermarket to pick up flashlights and other supplies we’d need at night. Of course Tsukishiro would have to come with us.