The shock of hearing Allen's words even dried Saya's tears from being reunited with her mother.
'What are you doing?!' Saya screamed in her mind, since the words didn't come out of her mouth, which had fallen open in disbelief.
To her, her father was terrifying, strict, proud, severe, and hot-tempered. Even as his daughter, she always had to be careful when dealing with him. But Allen, being a completely shameless man, was not only not afraid of Soichiro Takagi, but he dared to make such an embarrassing declaration right before him.
Saya felt the urge to jump on Allen and shut his mouth, but she didn't dare act that way in front of her parents. It didn't help either that her mother started laughing at her.
'I want to die!'
Unfortunately for Saya, there was no way to escape everyone's gazes. Some looked amused, others incredulous, and some fearful that Soichiro Takagi might do something crazy like try to cut down the shameless man.
'I didn't agree to anything!'
After a moment, Saya managed to process what had just happened and blushed furiously. She still planned to conquer Allen for herself, so even if she secretly had feelings for him, she wasn't ready for a relationship yet. Despite that, deep down, the girl felt happy about Allen's words — a small smile appeared, betraying her true emotions.
Seeing this, Rei, Saeko, and Yuuki snorted. Shizuka smiled mysteriously with an intense gaze, hiding whatever she was thinking. Kyoko didn't even try to hide her irritation at such a bold declaration.
Teshima slapped his forehead. Hirano, Kazu, and Yamada had shining eyes as they admired how cool their boss/aniki was. You could criticize Allen for many things, but not for lacking confidence.
"Of course, I knew it wouldn't be easy to earn your blessing, so I brought gifts for you," Allen said with a grin, pointing to the crowd behind him. "These are 195 Japanese citizens in perfect condition — well, almost."
"I see..." Soichiro trembled upon hearing Allen's words.
Gift? Bullshit!
Each additional person increased the problems — not only because of how hard it would be to provide food and water, but also because the risk of infection grew exponentially with more people.
"..." Saya opened her mouth but said nothing. She could only look at him with a pale face, praying he wouldn't provoke her father's anger.
In other words, Allen had just brought Soichiro more work, trouble, and worries. Yet, he shamelessly called it a gift. Of course, Soichiro already knew about the survivors, but Allen had tricked Yuriko by saying there would only be a hundred.
Worst of all, as a member of the ultranationalist party, Soichiro was a man who would never turn his back on the proud Japanese people.
"As the current representative of the Japanese people, I thank you for protecting the lives of my compatriots," Soichiro swallowed his displeasure, accepting the "gift."
The stoic man, solid as a mountain, walked past Allen toward the crowd — but just before he did, he heard a comment that nearly made him trip.
"Really?" Allen said with a half-smile and visible relief in his eyes. "Good to know. From now on, I'll send any survivors I find straight here."
When he wanted to, Allen had a legendary talent for irritating people.
"Being able to push Soichiro-san to this limit is impressive," Yuriko teased, unable to hold back her laughter.
"..."
Others also struggled not to laugh but barely managed to keep it in. The man of stone, Soichiro, showed an expression of helplessness.
In the middle of all this, Allen gave Saya a warm smile and a kind look that made her jump.
"...!"
The clever girl understood perfectly what that look meant — "You don't need to be afraid of your father; he's just a man like any other."
Saya's eyes watered for a moment, but she refused to cry. Instead, she forced a smile — the kind only a true tsundere could make — giving a "Hmph" before flashing a beautiful grin.
"That womanizer!" Rei growled, somehow feeling that Saya had beaten her to the punch.
Yuuki turned away, feeling she had no right to be jealous. But then Kyoko placed a hand on her shoulder and whispered something that made her jump.
"Sensei?!"
"Miku-san, this is the apocalypse. The freedom to live however we want is all we have left~" the voluptuous woman said with a teasing smile.
Yuuki had never gotten along with Kyoko — a gyaru and a strict teacher were like oil and water. The girl glanced sideways toward Allen, who was still exchanging meaningful looks with Saya. She may die tomorrow, is it worth hiding her emotions?
Shizuka laughed. "Allen-kun really is a lady-killer, isn't he, Saeko-chan~ ah!"
Shizuka yelped and backed away.
"..." Saeko was suddenly wrapped in a dark aura, her face hidden by her hair.
....
"You've got yourself an interesting boy, Saya," Yuriko said discreetly, chuckling. "It's been years since your father had this much trouble keeping up with a conversation~"
Her mother's words snapped Saya out of her trance. When their eyes met, the girl blushed so hard that steam practically came out of her head, her eyes spinning in circles.
"N-not at all! He and I don't have that kind of relationship!" Saya did her best to deny it, but Allen suddenly appeared behind her and hugged her.
"My apologies for not greeting you sooner, Yuriko-san."
"Hehe, don't worry. We already spoke on the phone, and I must say, I didn't expect the young man who won my daughter's heart to be this impressive."
Yuriko's bright eyes scanned Allen from his physique to his face, from his voice to his personality — everything about him was a magnet... a killer of women.
"I see," Yuriko said, glancing at the jealous girls nearby. "Saya's going to have a hard time~"
Allen didn't respond, pretending not to understand what the beautiful woman meant. Instead, he wondered why Saya had suddenly gone quiet. The answer was simple — the girl in question had overloaded and fainted.
Allen smiled. "Yuriko-san."
The woman brushed her hair behind her ear as she leaned slightly toward him. "Hm?"
"You have a very lovely daughter. And of course, I can see where she gets it from."
Yuriko's eyes widened before she blushed, quickly covering it up with a cough.
....
Deep within the realm of dreams, Saya was reliving her childhood.
Her relationship with her father had always been peculiar.
Saya was a genius — she learned to read and write when other kids were still crawling. She was like a sponge, able to memorize information after seeing it only a few times, a true prodigy.
It's common for gifted children to act differently from normal kids, sometimes maturing faster. But Saya wasn't like that — aside from her IQ, she was a fairly ordinary girl in her tastes and personality. Unfortunately for her, her father was never a very affectionate man, and once he realized his daughter was gifted, he treated her accordingly.
The man always demanded excellence and never settled for less. Soichiro believed Saya would develop better if given freedom — but with clear goals to achieve. One could say it was Soichiro's fault that Saya became arrogant and proud, even though deep down she wished to be treated with affection.
When she opened her eyes, Saya felt someone wiping a tear from her cheek.
"You're awake?" Allen asked from above.
Saya blinked and sat up, only to realize she was lying on Allen's lap under the shade of a tree. Still half-asleep, she couldn't process what was happening and looked around.
She soon noticed that the survivors had already started settling inside the mansion's inner perimeter.
It had been a bit complicated to accommodate so many people. For starters, there weren't enough tents — but Allen had thought ahead and had Teshima and Takashi gather camping supplies beforehand. Thanks to that, they brought everything from small tents to large canopies.
Allen didn't say anything, but Saya looked at him suspiciously, crossing her arms.
"Y-You didn't do anything to me, did you?!"
"For whom do you take me?" Allen snorted indignantly. "If I wanted to do something to you, I'd do it while you're awake."
Saya couldn't take any more of the accumulated embarrassment and raised her hand to slap Allen, but he caught her wrist and pulled her toward him.
"Wa–"
Before she could react, he stole a kiss. Saya resisted weakly for a moment before wrapping her arms around Allen's neck and returning the kiss — a very passionate one at that.
Everyone nearby was left speechless. Had they forgotten that hundreds of people could see them? Wasn't she the daughter of Soichiro Takagi? Wasn't she supposed to be a high-class young lady?
Saya didn't care about anything anymore. She couldn't even think about what she was doing or where she was doing it — she simply lost herself in the pleasure coursing through her body and the melting sensation that came with it.
Minutes passed before someone interrupted them.
Cough
Yuriko cleared her throat, pretending to look troubled. "Ah, my dear daughter has lost all sense of decency."
Saya snapped back to reality, completely paralyzed by the realization of what she'd just done. She wanted to push Allen away, but he pulled her closer into his arms.
"My apologies, Yuriko-san. It seems I really am a bad influence after all."
"If you know that, then let me go!" Saya pushed Allen away and stood up, but when she tried to justify herself, she couldn't even form words. How was she supposed to explain what had just happened?
Yuriko gave her daughter a teasing smile but didn't say anything else — it would be bad if the girl fainted again.
The woman then turned her attention to Allen. Despite his many "qualities" as a person, this young man was beyond impressive. Not only had he protected hundreds of people during a zombie apocalypse, but he'd also done his best to cause them the least amount of trouble possible.
He was respected by his group, a natural-born leader, and a fighter so skilled that even Saeko Busujima, daughter of that man, admired him — and she admitted that she was unable to defeat Allen.
"Allen-kun..." Yuriko paused, as if she wanted to ask for something.
Allen stood up and approached the purple-haired MILF.
"..." Yuriko felt slightly tense as she caught his natural scent.
"What can I do for you, Yuriko-san?" Allen narrowed his eyes slightly with interest.
"Mom, what do you want?!"
Saya rushed to Allen's side and grabbed his arm. Even though she was embarrassed to do it in front of her mother, seeing Yuriko talk to Allen gave her a strange sense of panic for some reason.
Allen stroked Saya's head teasingly. Normally, Saya would have reacted like a cat whose tail had just been stepped on, but this time she smiled coquettishly and playfully instead.
"Allen-kun, can we rest now?"
"..." For a moment, Allen didn't know how to react. Who was this pink-haired succubus, and where did his little lion go?
If Saya had known what Allen was thinking, she would've bitten him on the spot — even with her mother watching.
Yuriko smiled slyly but was secretly grateful that her daughter had intervened. "That's true, Allen-kun. You must all be tired. Please, you and your friends are welcome to stay in the mansion... We'll talk tomorrow~"
"Of course, Yuriko-san"
"Heh~" Yuriko winked at Saya before turning around and walking away. Saya loved her mother, but for some reason, seeing her discreetly sway her hips as she left was deeply irritating.
As if remembering something, Yuriko stopped and looked back over her shoulder. "One more thing — I'm sure you know this already, but raising children during the apocalypse is quite difficult."
"HUH?! MOM!!" Saya nearly fainted from embarrassment.
....
That night, Allen sat on the floor of one of the many luxurious rooms in the Takagi residence. Of course, everyone from his original group — the Fujimi students and teachers — had the chance to sleep in the mansion as well.
Some might think that was a bit unfair. But of course not — all those people now sleeping in tents owed their lives to Allen. It would be shameless to demand more.
Naturally, some complained — and they were the same ones who always demanded things.
Allen chuckled as he remembered a short-haired woman with a typical Karen face and her little entourage. They didn't care that Allen and his group were guests of Soichiro's family or that they had basically saved his daughter. They immediately made a scene, demanding to know why they weren't allowed to stay in the mansion.
When they realized complaining to Soichiro wouldn't get them anywhere, they turned their anger toward Allen — but he simply pulled out Ebony and pointed it at the woman's head. She fell backward and wet herself in fear, something no one wanted to see.
Allen shook his head with a mocking smile. "Everyone's brave until a .45 caliber is pointed at their head."
[Host, intimidating a woman isn't something the girls watching you would approve of.]
"Yeah," Allen said ironically. "But she's not a woman — she's a Karen. That's a completely different species."
[Host, you've just made enemies with every Karen across multiple worlds.]
"Oh please. Do you really think someone like me, who openly has a harem, would ever be liked by Karens? They probably have an altar of hatred with my face on it."
It was true that some people idolized him so much that they even prayed to him. But on the other hand, some would despise him no matter how many times he saved the world.
"But who cares? It's not like they can do anything about it," Allen laughed.
He would continue being an unrestrained, womanizing bastard — a right he'd earned after facing every damn apocalyptic monster that crossed his path.
[I see. Well, they indeed have plenty of reasons to hate you. And tell me, Mr. Walker, are you also aiming for Saya's mother?]
"You know very well I have limits. Married women are one of them," Allen replied, blinking without a trace of malice. Anyone who didn't know him, just by seeing that honest expression, would think he was a man of great character and impeccable morals.
[Mmm, I suppose you didn't notice she wasn't wearing a ring.]
Allen ignored The System and went to take a shower. When he left the room, he ran into Rei — who immediately fell backward in surprise.
"Ouch," the girl muttered, rubbing her backside.
"Wow, aren't you the daughter of the head of the police department? What would your father think if he saw you spying on an innocent man?"
Allen offered his hand to help Rei up.
The girl frowned slightly, a faint blush spreading across her face as she remembered everything this guy had done since they'd arrived at the Takagi mansion.
"You..." Rei looked into Allen's eyes without letting go of his hand. "Are you serious about Saya?"
The girl trembled as she spoke those words, while Allen widened his eyes slightly — then chuckled.
"What's so funny?" Rei felt hurt. Were her feelings a joke? If Saya had won, was it really necessary to mock her?
Allen shook his head slightly before pushing Rei against the wall, pinning both her wrists above her head with one hand and grabbing her chin with the other.
"Of course I'm serious about Saya... and about you too."
"Y-You shameless man!" Rei's eyes widened as she tried to turn her head, but Allen didn't let her.
"I'm well aware you girls have some sort of competition to monopolize me. But what does that have to do with me?" Allen leaned closer to her face. "From the very beginning, my intentions have been the same."
Before she could react, Allen stole her lips. The girl's eyes went wide before she began to respond.
This was witnessed by a woman hiding around the corner, unable to believe that Allen wasn't only after Saya... but now this girl too.
===
A/N: I didn't intend to include Yuriko, butyou guys have corrupted me :(
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