LAST NIGHT IN THE ESTATE

All eyes darted toward Shiro.

Shiro stared back at them one by one and crossed his hands in front of his chest. "No way."

"Come on, you're the best in the team anyway." Kohta praised him.

Shiro eyed Kohta, giving him eye signals to take back what he just said but Kohta outright ignored it. Shiro then asked. "So?"

"So, it would be best to have the best lead us." Takashi joined Kohta.

'Ah shit. And here I was, thinking they would be the last to accept this.' Shiro cussed them inside.

"I'm in favor of Shiro being the leader." Hina raised her hand.

Saeko was also standing for it. "That's true." Shiro felt like he had been betrayed. 'Not you too.'

"I'm fine with anyone being the leader of the team." Shizuka spoke as she continued eating. "Yes, Shiro is strong." Alice raised her hand. All she knew was that Shiro was the strongest.

"Takashi should be the leader." Rei objected.

'Thank you. I'm very grateful.' Shiro smiled. He had never felt this happy since the apocalypse started.

Saya nodded, acknowledging Rei's opinion. Shiro's insides were jumping for joy.

"Takashi can lead since he's the only one who knows the road to our destination." Shiro reminded them. That was a lie. The moment Shiro got a new Primary Mission, he received a map that led all the way to their destination.

Takashi shook his head. "If it's about the destination, I can lead us there without…" Shiro began winking at Takashi, telling him to just accept it, but Takashi ignored him. "..being the leader. I just have to direct us all isn't that right?" Takashi asked and all of them nodded.

'He finally did it. I don't want to have to be responsible for the whole team. Is that hard for you to understand? Do I have to say everything with my mouth? Fine.' Shiro was complaining in his head.

Shiro heaved and began explaining his reasons for refusing. "Fuuu… I don't want to be responsible for the whole team. That'll place too much burden on me. I'm ready to come to anyone's rescue in case of an emergency. Being the leader will limit my actions. I don't want to be the leader and Takashi is also refusing the position."

Takashi nodded to confirm that he didn't want to be the leader. If the strongest in the team didn't want to lead, why should he lead?

Shiro then gave another idea. "Rather, things are fine as they are. When there's something that requires a decision, we all can just vote. If things go sideways, then we'll all beat the burden."

Everyone went silent. Suichiro and his wife, Yuriko just watched as the others fell into brief thinking.

"Fine by me." As expected, Hina was the first to agree.

"I don't see a problem." Saeko agreed.

"The men are in favor." Kohta smiled and Takashi nodded.

"Fine." Saya replied and Rei nodded.

Surprisingly, they easily agreed.

Suichiro looked at them one by one and smiled.

"If that's what you kids want, that's fine. I think that's all we have to say about your departure. You'll be leaving through the humvee you came with, right?" He asked.

Saya kept toying with her hair but she answered her father's question. "Matsudo said it's fixed and luckily, it's one of the few vehicles that can function after the E.M.P blast."

"Fine then. Everyone should eat up. This might very well be our last dinner together as one." Yuriko, Saya's mother who was sitting close to her daughter, rubbed Saya's head.

They all continued their meal without anyone saying more words.

*****

Late at night, around 10:30 pm, Shiro was in the room with Kohta.

"Hey, we're leaving tomorrow and you still want to go hunting tonight?" Kohta asked his roommate.

"Well, I don't see why I can't go." Shiro shrugged, walking out of the room.

He sneaked out of the building and headed to the gate he normally used. He escaped through the gate like a veteran thief and bolted away, happy he didn't get caught.

Well, he didn't get caught but someone saw him leave. That person was none other than Suichiro who was awake and sitting on his balcony when he spotted someone sneaking out. A closer look and he knew it was Shiro.

He didn't know why Shiro left or where he was heading so he rose in anger and headed to the gate Shiro had escaped from.

He knew Shiro would return and he would be here, waiting for him.

Shiro went around, hunting undead after undead. As he leveled up, the EXP they gave dropped. Now, each undead human gave 2EXP and the house gave 4EXP. Shiro was getting frustrated at the slow pace. But if there was one thing that brought him joy, it was that he was the strongest person he had met.

With a smile on his face, he sliced through every undead he came across.

After spending over an hour hunting and killing, Shiro was covered in blood. He started singing as he walked back to the estate.

He got to the estate and didn't bother checking this time. He climbed the fence and saw someone sitting on a chair at the gate. "You should come down and get in through the entrance." Suichiro stared at Shiro from the seat on which he was seated.

Suichiro had dismissed the guard on duty and decided to stay on duty just to see Shiro return.

Shiro did as instructed. He jumped down from the fence and walked to the gate but it wasn't open.

"Uhmm… Saya's father…"

"It's Mr. Takagi to you." Suichiro interrupted Shiro.

"Mr. Takagi, the gate's locked." Shiro scratched his head.

"I know. Now tell me, why did you sneak out of the estate this late?" Suichiro asked.

"How do I start?" Shiro asked but he wasn't going to get a reply from the cold Suichiro. He knew he wouldn't get on if he didn't answer Suichiro's question so he began to explain himself.

******************

Hello guys, I'm back and I know you all want me facing one penalty or another. I'm sorry for missing the past few days.

Hope we're cool?