— — — — — — —
"Alright! We're home!"
As soon as they arrived, Renzo let out a sigh of relief, releasing the two girls and rubbing his temple with his fingers to ease the fatigue.
This was his first time using long-distance teleportation while carrying others, and the energy consumption was quite high.
"Looks like I really need to get the Flying Thunder God technique from Uchiha Renzo as soon as possible."
He thought to himself.
For such a relatively short distance, the energy depletion was still significant. Psychic teleportation definitely had its limitations.
"Are you okay? That took a lot out of you, didn't it?"
Saeko looked at him with concern, reaching out to gently massage his temples, her voice filled with worry.
"I'm fine! It was my first time using it this way, so it drained me more than expected. I just need to meditate for a bit to recover."
Renzo shook his head slightly, then asked, "By the way, is your father home? Didn't you tell him about my warning to be more cautious these days?"
He had specifically reminded Saeko about this earlier.
"I did," she replied with a small shake of her head. "But you know what my father is like. He never listens to me completely. Yesterday morning, he mentioned that he was heading to the U.S. to deal with some dojo matters, and he won't be back for a while."
In Japan, traditional values of seniority and hierarchy were deeply ingrained, especially in an old and prestigious family like the Busujima clan.
Saeko never had much influence over her father's decisions.
"I see."
Renzo furrowed his brows. "I was planning to head to the U.S. soon anyway. Hopefully, I'll run into him. If not, then there's nothing I can do."
"Yeah." Saeko nodded gently. "It's not your responsibility. Your safety comes first. My father is an adult and the head of the family—he has to take responsibility for his own choices."
It wasn't that she was being cold-hearted, but her relationship with her father had always been distant, especially after her mother passed away.
Not to mention, being a daughter had always put her at a disadvantage.
Her father had always wanted a son to inherit the family's swordsmanship.
Even though Saeko had dedicated years to perfecting her skills and had proven herself to be an outstanding swordswoman, she never truly gained his approval.
Ironically, when she started dating Renzo and he demonstrated remarkable talent in swordsmanship—eventually mastering the Busujima style under her guidance—her father finally acknowledged her, albeit slightly.
At least she had good taste in men.
He even hoped that Saeko could persuade Renzo to marry into the Busujima family.
Of course, Saeko had never brought this up with Renzo.
She knew exactly what kind of genius she had fallen for. She had seen his underground research lab herself.
Renzo was a world-class expert in biotechnology and genetics.
And geniuses like him had their own pride. The idea of marrying into another family was out of the question.
She didn't want her father's stubbornness to ruin what she had with Renzo.
Besides, as someone with a hidden, bloodthirsty side, Saeko enjoyed rebelling against expectations now and then.
This was one of those moments.
"Alright then."
Renzo could only drop the matter.
"By the way, how are you planning to get to the U.S.? The airports must be in chaos by now, right?"
After entering the living room, Saeko grabbed drinks from the fridge for Renzo and Shizuka before asking.
"I'll figure something out. Don't worry about it. I have my reasons for going."
Renzo chuckled and shook his head while thinking "Since this is a mixed-world setting, not everything will follow the exact events of Highschool of the Dead."
"At the very least, the global collapse shouldn't be happening as fast as it did in the anime, where everything fell apart in a single day."
"Okay, just be careful." Saeko nodded, choosing to trust him completely.
As Renzo turned on the TV and switched to the city's news channel, a reporter was broadcasting a live report on the current crisis.
"Citizens, an unknown virus has spread across the city, causing—"
The screen showed disturbing images of the chaos unfolding, including footage from the airport, which was overrun by hordes of the infected.
If not for the fact that the airport was located on an artificial island, and that the military and SAT forces had destroyed one of the bridges leading to it while blocking off the remaining entrance with wrecked cars, the situation would have been even worse.
Even now, things were on the verge of collapsing.
"Wait... That's the airport? Oh no! Rika is still there! Renzo, can we go save her?"
Shizuka looked at him anxiously.
"Are you sure that woman would even want to come with us?" Renzo rolled his eyes.
He knew Rika Minami's personality well. When he first started dating Shizuka, Rika had given him a hard time.
If it weren't for his growth in swordsmanship, she would still be messing with him now.
"Oh… That's true."
Shizuka suddenly realized. "I'll call her first, then!"
She quickly dialed Rika's number.
"Hello? Rika? How are you holding up? Things are getting really bad out here. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. But what about you? Where are you? I'm worried about you." (Rika)
"Oh, don't worry! I'm with Renzo! He just 'zoom-zoomed'us back home in an instant! And his estate is super safe—it's got over two-meter-high concrete walls with fences on top! You should come here too! That way, I won't have to worry about you."
"Hah? You're with that little bastard? Didn't you tell me you broke up with him?" (Rika)
"Hehe… I lied! Renzo is amazing—I could never let him go! Why don't you come too?"
"... 🤬" (Rika)
"Stop messing around. As long as you're with that kid, I know you'll be safe. I don't have time to worry about you right now. Put him on the phone." (Rika)
"Oh…"
Shizuka pouted as she reluctantly handed the phone to Renzo. "Rika wants to talk to you."
"Uh…"
She hesitated before adding, "If she yells at you, don't get mad, okay? You know how she is. She's actually a really good person."
"It's fine, leave it to me."
Renzo chuckled, gently stroking her cheek before taking the phone and stepping aside.
"Are you at the airport? What's the situation there?" He got straight to the point.
He needed to get to the U.S., so he had to know if using the airport was still an option.
"You little brat! So, you really managed to keep Shizuka wrapped around your finger, huh?"
Rika's gritted voice came through the speaker.
"You've always known, haven't you? You just didn't want to admit it. Besides, where else are you going to find a guy better than me for Shizuka?"
Renzo smirked.
He never expected someone as sharp as Rika to be fooled by Shizuka's pranks.
That would be nothing short of a miracle.
.
.
.