January 20
What the hell was going on this early in the morning?
Had she been buried alive under a mound of packed earth or something?
Her body felt heavy, hot, cramped. She could barely breathe.
It was like something was blocking both her nose and mouth, and at the same time it felt as though two mountains were pressing in on either side of her.
It was unbearable.
Then, like a balloon finally bursting after being pricked by a needle, something reached its limit—and Kyoko jolted awake from her sleep.
This feeling… that's Huaxiu's arm? No, wait—too soft. And it smells good. This is… this is…
Good grief. What is Huaxiu doing? How did she glue herself to me this tightly in her sleep?
And Miranda too—how had someone who was supposed to be in a completely different blanket somehow ended up crowding into Kyoko's side as well?
Kyoko was trapped. One body pressed against her from the left, another from the right.
When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was not warm morning sunlight, but the soft pink-white face of a sleeping girl, part of whose body was resting against something very soft indeed.
The culprit behind her suffocation turned out to be Huaxiu's beautiful golden hair.
Still deeply asleep, Huaxiu had no idea her hair had become a murder weapon. The strands had fallen across Kyoko's face, covering her mouth and nose so thoroughly that she had nearly asphyxiated.
What a ridiculous way to die that would have been. If she'd actually suffocated because of someone's hair, she'd probably have earned a Darwin Award nomination on the spot.
Though whether the organization that gave those out even still existed was another question entirely.
Very gently, very carefully, Kyoko moved Huaxiu's shining hair aside. Only then did she manage to let out a long breath.
She looked around.
The other four were still asleep.
The fire they had kept burning through the night had already gone out. The last of its heat had long since faded, leaving only ashes behind as proof it had ever been there.
Outside, snow was still drifting down lazily. The dim winter sun was nowhere near strong enough to make anyone want to get up.
I really don't want to get out of bed.
That was Kyoko's first thought.
The room was still cold. Dawn was the coldest part of the day. In a place without heating, no sane person would willingly crawl out of a warm blanket.
At this hour, the temperature would not start rising again until the sun had fully come up.
Right now, Kyoko was caught between ice and fire. On one side, the warmth of two girls pressed close against her. On the other, the bitter cold lingering in the air.
Her honest feeling was: I want to lie here and do absolutely nothing.
The blanket was incredibly comfortable, and she had two beautiful girls tucked against her. Out of consideration for the others' sleep, she decided to make a sacrifice—
and continue lying there.
Still, she checked the time.
It was currently 6:40 a.m.
She also checked the system's real-time map. Good. No danger nearby.
In that case, she decided to reward herself with twenty more minutes.
Really, unless someone had no choice, who would willingly abandon this situation?
Students and office workers, maybe. They had no choice. Every year, in every season, they had to crawl out into wind and snow whether they wanted to or not.
These past days, Kyoko had never had such a relaxing, beautiful morning. Every night, infected attacks. Every day, endless accidents and emergencies.
Rest? What was that?
If only mornings like this could last forever.
Bright-eyed and refreshed, Kyoko savored the softness against her sides. Huaxiu was soft. Miranda was warm.
Like the jelly cups and spicy snacks she had secretly eaten the night before, Huaxiu looked almost sweet enough to eat.
Unable to resist, Kyoko carefully extended the tip of her tongue and lightly licked Huaxiu's cheek.
She had to be subtle. One of her hands was still trapped awkwardly under Miranda, after all. If Kyoko hadn't had a body far sturdier than ordinary people, that arm would have gone numb long ago.
Soft, sweet, fragrant—Huaxiu really was like some sort of little cake.
Unfortunately, the person in question seemed less than pleased by the disturbance. Huaxiu slowly opened her eyes.
Hm? …Hm?!
The sensation on her face snapped her instantly awake. The moment she focused, she realized what was happening.
Kyoko was sneaking kisses onto her cheek.
Huaxiu suddenly felt like an electric current had run through her whole body. Her pulse spiked. Her brain went hot.
Of course, they were lovers. Of course she was thrilled.
But it was morning. Broad daylight, almost. And there were still three other people asleep right beside them.
So Huaxiu immediately pretended to be a perfectly innocent girl who had just happened to wake up and definitely had no other thoughts whatsoever.
"Mm… Kyoko… what are you doing?"
Her voice was soft and sleepy, pitched low so only the two of them could hear.
Kyoko wasn't remotely startled. Huaxiu was her girlfriend. What was a kiss supposed to matter?
"You're awake. Lie down a little longer," Kyoko whispered, planting another kiss on her cheek. "It's not even seven yet. We can eat something later and leave at eight. The others are still asleep."
"Mm…"
Then again…
If they were going to stay like this a little longer, then maybe she didn't need to act so innocent after all.
Huaxiu's thoughts shifted.
Kyoko had teased her first.
So really, if anything happened next, that would obviously be Kyoko's fault.
Her fingers began to move.
Very carefully, very quietly, they slid down to the buttons of Kyoko's loose sleepwear. Those buttons did not put up much of a fight.
Kyoko immediately realized what Huaxiu was trying to do.
Her expression changed.
So that's how it is.
All this time, she had been the one holding back, worrying that if she lost control even a little, she might go too far with Huaxiu. Huaxiu had only just started high school. Even if certain things were technically legal, Kyoko had still been restraining herself hard.
And now Huaxiu was going to provoke her like this?
Since you're the one playing with fire, don't blame me if you get burned.
Huaxiu rolled over, climbing halfway onto Kyoko. She had no idea what sort of danger she had just invited.
A moment later, she regretted it.
Kyoko's arms locked around her with sudden force, pinning her firmly in place. To avoid waking Miranda, Kyoko dragged Huaxiu back toward her original position.
Huaxiu tried to make a sound, but Kyoko quickly muffled her, and all that came out was a tiny, broken whimper.
"Keep it down," Kyoko whispered near her ear. "Unless you want the other three to wake up and see this."
Huaxiu, who had thought she was being very clever just moments ago, discovered that she had instead gotten herself thoroughly cornered.
And so, in the narrow space beneath the blankets, the two shared a brief, heated, but carefully contained moment—one that stopped well short of going any further.
A while later, Kyoko finally let her go.
Huaxiu was flushed from head to toe, breathing hard, her face burning red.
Kyoko sat up, started changing clothes, and said dryly, "Still feel like fooling around now?"
Huaxiu, sprawled weakly in the blankets, looked absolutely devastated.
But even then, she was stubborn.
"I'll… do it again next time."
Kyoko pinched her soft cheek. "Really? Fine. Next time I won't be so nice."
"Mm…!"
Huaxiu immediately made a strangled little noise.
Kyoko finally got up and started dressing properly. Since their designated cook had just been rendered temporarily useless, she figured breakfast duty was hers now.
Before leaving, she made a small gesture at Huaxiu, then headed downstairs.
The door clicked shut behind her.
The room fell quiet.
…Or rather, mostly quiet.
Because the truth was, aside from Dorothy, the others had not been quite as asleep as Kyoko believed.
Miranda had woken up very early in the whole affair, mainly because half her body had somehow rolled into Kyoko and Huaxiu's blanket. She had absolutely not dared look directly—
but she had still peeked a few times.
The problem was that Kyoko's body had been so close to hers that even accidental contact had sent jolts through her like electricity. It had been so intense that Miranda had ended up in a miserable state herself, too embarrassed to admit it.
And Brent, though farther away and mostly oblivious, had at least caught on that something strange had happened.
Only Dorothy slept through everything.
Once Kyoko and Huaxiu had both slipped out one after the other, Brent finally sat up and nudged Dorothy awake.
"Wha… what time is it?" Dorothy mumbled.
"Who cares? The sun's up. Time to get up," Brent said, pulling back her blanket.
"I'm getting up!"
And just like that, everyone was awake.
After breakfast, they packed up their things and finally set out again a little after eight.
For some reason, both Miranda and Huaxiu seemed slightly off that morning—faces a little flushed, expressions a bit strange, almost as if they had a slight fever.
But neither of them showed any obvious symptoms, so no one commented on it.
The wind and snow still had not let up. The roads were every bit as slick as before.
The vehicles wound around the mountain roads, heading west. After nearly three hours on the road, just before noon, they reached the first tunnel beneath Mount Kiwada.
"Stay alert," Kyoko said. "If something goes wrong inside a tunnel, it'll be a huge mess."
She switched on the vehicle's high beams, throwing light into the deep dark tunnel ahead.
Everyone prepared themselves for combat.
There were still three tunnels ahead on this route, and the last one—the Onimen Tunnel—was by far the longest, more than twice as long as the other two combined.
Fortunately, perhaps because fate was in a good mood, they got through the first three tunnels without major trouble.
There were only a few scattered infected inside. As for special infected, there were just a handful, and Kyoko flattened them under the armored vehicle.
Only that final, several-kilometer-long tunnel gave them any real trouble.
But with bullets and grenades serving as offerings, the infected were utterly routed.
At last, bright light appeared ahead.
The vehicles burst out of the tunnel toward daylight.
Since there had been no snow inside and only a few obstacles, they had driven faster there than they could outside.
But the instant they emerged, they were confronted by something strange.
Several barricades had been set across the road ahead. Guardrails hemmed in both sides, forcing Kyoko to slam on the brakes.
"What the hell? Survivors set up a blockade here? Damn it…"
Fortunately, she had already lowered her speed before exiting the tunnel, worried about the tires losing traction the moment they hit snow again. Otherwise, they might have crashed outright.
"Kyoko, what do we do?" Huaxiu asked.
"Get your weapons ready and wait for my instructions. We're still safer inside the vehicle."
As the armored vehicle came to a stop, Kyoko focused on the signs propped against the barricades.
There were crooked Japanese words written on them—and below that, Chinese characters too.
There are survivors here.
That was what both versions said.
Was it a cry for help?
At that moment, a figure came running toward them.
They seemed to be shouting something.
But with the vehicle sealed, Kyoko couldn't hear a word.
And the closer that "survivor" got, the more something about them looked… wrong.
Those ears—
were those real?
A big pink fox.
Kyoko immediately climbed up to the gun port and fired a warning shot into the ground in front of the approaching figure.
"Don't come any closer! State your intentions!"
Because she had seen the Chinese writing on the sign, she shouted the warning once in Japanese and once in Chinese.
That, at least, the figure understood.
They stopped dead in their tracks.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 139)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter171)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter100)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter184)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 168
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 156
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 105
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 185
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 160
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 150
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 76
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 97
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 116
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 75
Uma Musume: I Want All 93
I Can Copy Unique Skills 79
Summoning an Evil God, but the 55
Supernatural Multiverse 75
My Harem Is Indescribable 68
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 70
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 66
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 69
Still playing traditional Honk 49
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 53
What Should I Do After Switchi 42
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 50
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 38
Transmigrated as Sukuna 35
Checking In in Demon Slayer 40
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 55
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