This Device Makes It Rain Pork Bone Broth – Part 02

“You’re unreal, man. Eating with Sera every single day. Why? Why you, of all people?!”

No need to cry over it. Holding back the urge to tear out his spiky hair, I quickly shoved my textbooks into my bag, grabbed Sera’s hand, and made my way out of the classroom.

“Hey, wait up, Aikawa!”

Nope. Not waiting. Zombies hate attention and sunlight more than anything.

“There’s no reason to be in such a hurry, is there?” Sera said.

“Don’t you mind getting stared at like that?”

“Not particularly. I do feel like tearing every one of them apart, though. But reacting will only make things worse.”

She was right. No matter where she went, she’d draw attention. I took a deep breath and ran my hands through my hair, trying to calm my nerves.

“Hey, Sera. Can I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“How long are you planning to stay at my place?”

“Until my mission is complete, of course.”

“I see.”

Right now, my house was a full-on beauty buffet. And honestly, I was enjoying it. I’d even caught myself wishing it could stay that way forever. But how long could it really last?

There was a time when the thought of living together with all of them made me feel anxious and miserable. But like everything, this too would end someday.

Someday, it would all be over.

“Well, considering how Miss Hellscythe’s been acting, it doesn’t look like I’ll be leaving anytime soon.”

Sera looked slightly disappointed, sniffing audibly. Her mission was to have Eu bring her clan’s leader back to life. That’s why she was staying at my house. And the moment Eu decided to go through with it, Sera would return to her ninja village.

If—when—that happened, what would I do?

Like some kind of feudal lord’s procession, or a visiting professor’s inspection, the hallway cleared as students stepped aside. Sera marched through the middle with her usual composure, and I trailed behind her, plodding along.

Then suddenly, a spiky head of hair shot past me like a whirlwind.

“Sera! Long time no see!” Orito greeted with a smile, close enough to touch her.

No reply.

“You’re looking gorgeous as always!”

“…”

Still no response. He kept talking, but no words came back.

“Hey, on that quiz show yesterday—”

“Buzzing insect.”

It was subtle, but that reply hit like a fastball to the face.

“A fly? Where? I’ll swat it for you!”

Yeah, no chance. You’re not built for that. And don’t underestimate the aerial agility of a fly.

Thanks to this overly excited, bespectacled idiot, we were now getting some seriously weird looks.

Sera, of course, didn’t care. She just walked out of the school building at a brisker pace, probably because Orito was getting on her nerves.

Meanwhile, I stood frozen at the shoe lockers, my indoor shoes already tucked away.

The stretch between the school building and the front gate offered zero shade. One step outside, and I risked flopping around like a fish out of water, paralyzed. This was the first major obstacle.

Even if I cleared it, I’d still have to face the real challenge: waiting at a crosswalk under the blazing sun. Honestly, I was already starting to feel faint before even stepping into the sunlight.

I stared up at the sky, wondering what to do.

“Aikawa, we’re leaving you behind!” Orito called out.

Neither of them planned to wait. They were already heading toward the gate.

I had no choice. Sooner or later, I’d have to face it.

I braced myself and dashed out into the sunlight, shielding my head with my hands like a boy charging through a typhoon.

So goddamn hot!

Nope. Not happening. I didn’t even make it through the first obstacle. I collapsed before I reached the gate.

I couldn’t move another step. It felt like four of my organs and two of my guts were screaming in protest.

“What’s wrong, Aikawa?” an ordinary high schooler, unaware of a zombie’s struggles, asked with concern.

The Vampire Ninja, on the other hand, knew exactly how I felt. She grabbed me by the collar and started dragging me like a suitcase.

Hey! Could you not drag me like a corpse in broad daylight?

Nope, can’t. No strength left. My heels scraped loudly across the pavement. Naturally, people were giving me weird looks.

Ah, the sun is so bright.

The direct sunlight I hadn’t felt in so long felt pleasantly warm.

Maybe sunlight wasn’t so bad once in a while.

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Somehow, I made it home. When I woke up, I found myself propped up next to the front door, right beside the chainsaw.

My bag had been tossed aside, with textbooks and the lunchbox scattered everywhere. So she threw me in with the rest of the luggage, huh? I dragged my sluggish body upright and stretched.

Hmm. All right, first things first. I should at least take my bag to my room.

Climbing the stairs felt like a chore. Sunlight could wreck me this badly, huh? It was tough being a zombie.

Once in my room, I pulled the textbooks out of my bag.

Studying could wait. There was no way I could focus like this. After quickly changing clothes, I pulled out my trusty lunchbox and tossed the bag onto my desk.

Haruna’s cooking was never bad. Everyone had different tastes, but somehow, she always managed to hit a flavor that worked for anyone.

So, since she went out of her way to make it, I figured I might as well eat.

Today’s menu was… uh… hijiki seaweed. Just hijiki.^[1]

Just hijiki?!

Come on, at least throw in some konjac or some mix of other ingredients. I’d never seen a hijiki-only meal before. It was so black, I started to lose the will to eat. I would still eat it, though.

But seriously. She had all kinds of crazy patterns—stripes, polka dots—on her underwear, but when it came to food, she went solid monochrome?

Damn it. And of course it tasted good. I didn’t even like hijiki that much. Still, a whole lunchbox full of it was a bit much.

Right. I needed to file a complaint. We weren’t at school anymore. Haruna should be just one door over from mine. Studying could wait till after.

I picked up the hijiki-filled lunchbox and flung open Haruna’s door.

“Haruna!”

Huh? The room was empty.

She usually holed up in here unless it was mealtime or she was plotting something. So maybe she was plotting. Or maybe she was watching TV with Eu and Sera.

When I went to the living room, I found the two of them completely absorbed in a soap opera, like a pair of housewives.

Without even glancing my way, the armored girl picked up a pen with her gauntlet-covered hand and tapped the table twice. When I looked down, I noticed it wasn’t the usual tear-off notepad. She was using a new one, probably something she picked up recently.

“Welcome home.”

The note surprised me. Why, you ask? Because, after living together for about a month, it was the first time she’d ever written that.

It really did feel nice to be greeted like that. It felt just like… yeah. Just like a real family.

I couldn’t help but smile. Greetings really are something special.

Eu sat upright, looking up at me. Her eyelids, which almost never blinked, lowered slowly… then opened again. Her big, blue eyes stayed fixed on me.

Maybe she was waiting for me to reply.

“I’m back. Have you seen Haruna?”

I sat cross-legged and set the lunchbox on the table, flashing Eu my biggest smile. But she turned away from me with a speed I never would’ve imagined from her.

Huh? What was that about?

“If you’re looking for Haruna, she went out,” came a quiet reply from the ponytailed beauty sitting across from me. Sera gave me a brief glance, then brought her index finger to her alluring lips.

“Where to?” I asked.

“I don’t know.” Sera cleared her throat. “By the time I returned, she was already…” She let out a deliberately loud series of coughs, clearly trying to hide something.

What was she trying to cover up?

“What about you, Eu? Did she tell you anything? Great. If I don’t say it now, I’ll probably forget again.”

Her silver hair caught the room’s light. Wait. Was she turning even further away now?

“She did not.”

“I have nyo idea.”

She kept her back to me as she scribbled. It was sad, so I read the message in my head using a cute, bubbly tone.

She tapped the table a couple times, probably thinking I hadn’t read it yet. Why wouldn’t she look at me?

Wait… maybe it was that third phone call earlier. Could it be Haruna was already out by then, and Eu had been the one who answered?

Sera had shown up to deliver the lunch, so that would explain why the call rang forever and then got cut off in silence.

So even though she couldn’t speak, Eu picked up the phone. She really had her dumb moments too, huh?

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1. Hijiki, sometimes called hiziki or tot, is a brown seaweed that grows wild on the rocky coastlines of East Asia. Hijiki has been a part of the Japanese culinary sphere and diet for centuries.