I was still dreaming when Tsukishiro slipped into my bed, and the movement woke me up. It was before sunrise, but as soon as I was roused in that dark room, it hit me that those peaceful days no longer existed. My chest hurt to think that my friends and family had all turned into zombies.
Still, I forced myself to smile so Tsukishiro wouldn’t see that I was depressed.
“…Kousaka, I’m sorry, but it’s almost four in the morning…,” she said apologetically, her face dimly lit by the indirect lighting next to the bed.
We had kissed and gone to bed at ten the night before, so I had to supply her with more of my saliva right away so she wouldn’t turn into a zombie.
I was about to sit up, but she stopped me.
“…I want to be on top this time.”
“—Huh?!”
“Hee-hee! I thought we might as well try something different while we’re at it,” Tsukishiro said with a bewitching smile, and the next moment, she leaned in and pressed her lips against mine. Her tongue entered through the gap between my teeth and licked away the saliva in my mouth.
…Don’t get me wrong. This was a type of medical treatment. Yet that didn’t change the fact that it was a deep kiss with a beautiful girl who was a year older than me.
“…Kousaka. I feel something hard pressing against me…”
Tsukishiro pulled her lips away from mine and turned her gaze downward.
A part of me that I couldn’t control had reacted.
“S-sorry…!!”
“Are you by any chance getting aroused from kissing me?” Tsukishiro whispered in my ear. She put her arms around me and looked into my eyes. “…Kousaka. What do you want to do now…?”
We’d finished the saliva replenishment, but it didn’t look like she was getting out of my bed.
“Wh-what do you mean ‘what do I want to do’…?”
“I don’t mind. You can do anything you want to me…,” Tsukishiro said as she pulled my hips closer to her body. I could feel something soft against the right side of my stomach.
“…U-um, Tsukishiro… I don’t know how to say this, but…I think you’re pushing your chest against me…”
“…That’s fine. It’s intentional.”
“Oh, it’s intentional…”
That meant it was okay for me to focus on the feeling against my side and enjoy it, right…?!
Wait. I’m sure she’d let me squeeze them if I asked.
But I’m supposed to be Haruka’s boyfriend…
“…Do you not find me attractive…?” Tsukishiro murmured when I hesitated, sounding insecure.
“I-it’s not like that…”
“It’s okay. With the way Hyuuga and Hoshimiya are built, I know I can’t compete with them… That’s clear every time we wear our bathing suits.”
“How they’re built…? That has nothing to do with a woman’s appeal.”
“Really? In that case, why does the amount of time you spend looking at Hyuuga and Hoshimiya increase when we go in the bath?”
“……”
“You’re not a very good liar, Kousaka.”
Tsukishiro stared at me, but so much of what she said hit home that I couldn’t come up with a good explanation.
I can’t believe she’s been calculating how long I look at each of them…
“…Uh, still, I’m not stalling because I don’t find you attractive… I may not have told you this before, but Haruka and I are dating.”
“……”
“So I can’t get involved with you…”
“But you said last night that I was the only one you could have sex with.”
“…Yeah, I did.”
That was an irrefutable fact. I had the zombie virus in my body, so I risked giving it to others if I kissed them or did other stuff. As things stood, Tsukishiro, who also had the zombie virus, was the only person I could share saliva or other bodily fluids with.
To be able to have sex with my girlfriend, Haruka, I would have to unravel the mystery of how humans became zombies and eradicate the zombie virus inside me. That said, no one knew when or even if that would be possible. There was a chance that neither Tsukishiro nor I would ever be able even to kiss another member of the opposite sex…
“I’ve been thinking,” Tsukishiro began. “For the sake of repopulation, we’ll have to consider propagating our lineage at some point.”
“P-propagating our lineage…?”
“Our community currently consists of one man and four women. If we can’t find any other survivors, it’ll be a poor use of this gender balance to stay monogamous.”
“I—I see…”
“Furthermore, right now…I’m the only person who can have sex with you. In which case, don’t you think this is no time to be held back by the thinking of our old world?”
“‘Our old world’…”
“…Besides, if I am to have a child, I’d want it to be with you… No one else,” Tsukishiro said, her face bright red.
That was almost a little too direct a declaration of love. If we hadn’t been living in this world full of zombies, it would’ve practically been a marriage proposal…
But what Tsukishiro said made sense. I don’t know what the situation was like in other prefectures or countries, but if zombies were invading the world, then we needed to start thinking of ways to prevent humans from going extinct.
And true, if the male-to-female ratio was low, it might be necessary to have sex with multiple women…
My eyes met Tsukishiro’s while I was contemplating this, but she quickly looked away. I guess she felt awkward.
…What would it be like to have sex with a pretty girl like her?
“How long are you planning on clinging to each other like that?”
The second I started having those dirty thoughts, Haruka’s voice cut in. She was supposed to be asleep in the bed two away from mine. I immediately turned toward the sound and saw her standing next to my bed, looking down at us like the devil itself.
“Tsukishiro. Shouldn’t you go back to your bed if you’ve finished kissing? It’s important you get enough sleep.”
“…You’re right,” Tsukishiro replied, her tone clearly pushing back the emotions she was feeling. She got to her feet and returned to her bed next to mine.
Haruka got into my bed in her place and whispered in my ear, “Don’t tell me you were thinking of betraying me when I’m right here in the same room.”
“Of course not.”
“Fine,” she replied, although judging from the way she said that, it sounded as if everything was certainly not fine. Then she got on top of me.
“…Haruka?”
“As of today, I’m living in your bed. It’s cramped, so move over.”
“Huh…?”
“I’m occupying seventy percent of the bed, and you can have the rest.”
“That’s so not fair.”
“Do you want me to tell everyone that your real job is being my pet dog?” Haruka asked, grinning like a naughty child.
She was threatening to show the other girls the videos of me answering her command to “shake,” sitting when she told me to sit, wearing a collar around my neck, and being put in a cage. And just like that, I was forced to the edge of my bed.
I curled up in a ball and looked at Haruka, who was smiling.
“Thank you. I’m comfortable now.”
“That’s good. Though now I’m cramped.”
“Next, stroke my head.”
“…Why?”
“Because I’m your girlfriend,” she declared in a don’t-you-dare-defy-me tone of voice.
“It’s not like you’ve done anything that calls for a reward, is it?”
“Don’t you think it’s just great to have a girlfriend?”
“That’s true.”
Now that I thought about it, she was right. Maybe I was just in a weird sort of mood because it was dawn.
Still lying on my back, I reached out for her head.
“…Hee-hee. That feels good.”
I stroked her head a few times, and she giggled like it tickled.
…She’s so cute…
I wanted her to keep smiling forever if that were possible.
“…Hey, Haruka? I want you to do me a favor and try to get along with Tsukishiro.”
“Huh? You don’t have to tell me that.”
“You were being pretty harsh with her just a minute ago.”
“I was only stating the facts.”
“You told her that sleep was important, but aren’t you stopping me from getting my beauty sleep?”
“I’m your girlfriend.”
“Don’t use that as an excuse for everything.”
“That’s strange. I was taught that when you become someone’s girlfriend, they’ll forgive you for anything.”
“Who told you that?”
“My mom.”
“So your home environment is the reason you’re like this…?”