4 days before extraction

(Man, driving inside a big city during a zombie apocalypse is fucking nuts. Half the roads are blocked off, the other half are overrun by corpse parades…)

"Naier, you must take a left turn somewhere. If you want to reach the shore today." Saya speaks up as she keeps looking at the map.

"Yea I know, it's just that all the roads leading to the shore look like friggin crap..." I groan as I glance at the map in Saya's hands...

After leaving the store, we decided to take the longest way around. In other words, going by the coastline. The reason? We still had four days left before extraction. And while this route was the longest one, it was also the 'safest' one. That's because the Humvee is able to drive on sand without any real trouble, which means we can get past any blocked off roads as long as we have a beach next to us. We also know the roads there are, or at least were traversable, as we drove there once before.

"By the way." Saya speaks up again as she presses her finger on the map.

"If you turn at the intersection after the one we're about to reach now, there should be a gas station between us and the coastline" She adds up.

"Hmm, a gas station eh? We could use the fuel." I nod as I keep looking ahead.

"But…" I stop talking as I narrow my eyes. Causing Saya to lift her head from the map and to look at me.

"A gas station is the perfect spot for an ambush. Especially now, if you consider that working cars are as rare as they can get." I say as I keep looking at the road.

"I guess, that's true…" Saya nods slightly and glances back at the map.

"What if we try to siphon fuel from the cars that have been left around? Even if they don't work, the fuel in them should still be usable." She asks after a few seconds.

"Hmm, that could work. But we need to cut the hose in two for that. We can't have water inside it if we want to use it for fuel. Don't want to pull a short one on the car, hell knows we can't repair it." Respond as I tilt my head from left to right.

"Actually, I have a lot of information concerning the Humvee in the textbook, I looked it up while we were in my house, things like checking the oil, and water. Or how to change batteries. Humvees are supposed to have a couple of extras in them, I think under my seat. Or the one behind me, the one Saeko is on." Saya glances at the bag by her feet as she answers.

"We'll still need materials that we have no chance of finding though." I answer as I keep looking at the road.

"Only if you crash the car like an idiot." She responds as she turns to me with a rather smug look.

(Ohh, you're lucky I have both hands on the wheel my dear pinkette.)

"Do you want me to cut the hose in two?" I hear Saeko ask from the back seats.

"Yea, I should have the combat knife in a side pocket in my bag, use that." I nod as I point behind my seat with my thumb, while keeping my eyes on the road ahead.

Saeko did not respond, but judging from the shuffling I started to hear behind me, I'd say she was searching my bag.

"In that case, turn now, or after the next intersection. If you want to avoid the gas station." Saya turns to look back at the map as she starts speaking.

"No, we will pass through it. Maybe we can take a fuel canister or two. The humvee is a gas guzzler, even the lightly armored version, and we have what? Five canisters?" I glanced at the fuel indicator as I spoke.

"And we are a little under half right now. If I remember correctly, a Humvee needs four canisters to fully top up." I add as I look back at the road.

"Five." Saya corrects me with a monotonous voice.

"The road after the gas station, is it 'normal'? Does it have any bridges? Narrow roads?" I ask as I drive past an intersection, swerving lightly around a crashed car.

Saya runs her finger on the map for a couple of seconds…

"Normal, I don't see any rivers interlocking with it." She says as she turns to me.

"Good, we'll head to the gas station then. Pick anything close to us, then leave. I'm not taking any risks. We still have food, gas, and ammo to go around." I glance at Saya and nod, before turning my sight towards the next intersection that was a little further off.

(I know I shouldn't jinx it, but we have yet to run into any hostile survivors ever since the mall, if we count them as hostile. I mean, one dude tried to literally rape Shizuka and we had to choke him in order to make him stop. Don't think a ' Kind sir, would you kindly stap raping my friend' would have done the trick back there.)

With that, I focused on the road. And after teaching a couple of corpses how to fly. Sorry, I meant how to jump good. We reached the next intersection.

I slowed down the Humvee before taking a turn to the left, going over the sidewalk to avoid a pile-up that had overtaken most of the road.

(I don't see smoke coming from the cars, but the place has too many corpses, plus too many blind spots under the cars. Not going to stop here.)

I kept looking at the crashed cars as we drove past them, before looking back ahead at the road.

(Hmm, the road seems to start going uphill from here.)

"If you drive straight from here, there should be a gas station to our right." Saya points at the road ahead as she lifts her head.

"Ok. So, how should we do this…" I nod as I narrow my eyes and start to think.

"We stop the car, exit, and take whatever we find? It's not that hard." Saya raises an eyebrow as she turns to me.

"Treat every moment like you are about to get jumped on Saya, especially in moments like these. No, I will check what we can take from the car, drive up to whatever it is and use the car as a one side shield. You two will get out, I'll keep guard with the gun from the hatch." I shake my head as I keep driving.

"Where should we place what we find?" Saeko asks right after as she leans between the two front seats.

"In the middle of the back seats, on the platform that leads to the trunk." I respond without turning around.

"Very well." Saeko answers as she keeps leaning between the two seats...

And like that, I drove forward…

Several minutes later, Saya pointed ahead and to our right, at a big red platform that was elevated by two pylons.

"That's the one." She says as she keeps pointing at it. I nod slightly and slow down the car…

(I can see a bunch of cars around the station, none of them seem to have crashed, they look abandoned. I also can't see anything of worth around the fuel dispensers. But, I think I can see a couple of red, small containers next to the station's front door.)

"I see a few gas canisters by the station's main building. I'll drive there, be ready." I say as I steer the humvee towards the station and start picking up speed.

Saya nods and leaves the map next to her seat, on the platform that led to the back of the car. While Saeko disappeared in the back.

"And no crazy antics." I add up as Ι let one hand from the wheel and grab the Scar-H that was next to me.

"Says the guy who is more reckless than all of us combined." Saya snickers as she glances at me.

"So I can say out of experience, it ain't a very smart choice to make" I respond as I stop the car next to the front door and turn to Saya, then get up and go through the hatch.

And as the two girls exited the car, I turned the hatch around until the metal lid was behind me, then looked through the dead scope.

"We have corpses inside the building." I say before glancing behind me, the gun still pointed towards the store.

"What?" Saya asks as she brings the first of the three canisters in the car.

"Corpses inside. They heard the car" I said once again.

"Should we go inside?" Saeko asks right after, bringing the second canister over.

"Entrance hallway only, aka the counter to the right and everything on it. Be quick about it" I respond. Saeko nods and moves towards the door as Saya heads to pick up the last canister.

And as Saya brought the final canister in. Saeko opens the door, glances around and heads inside, then stops next to the counter by the entrance and peers over it. After that she turns to me, points towards the counter's other side and makes a 'two' sign with her fingers.

She then turns around and draws her sword as Saya quickly enters the building with her bag. The moment Saya got near Saeko, the later turned to the pink-haired girl and said something, causing Saya to nod and start shoving everything that was on the counter into the bag, I don't think she was even looking at what she was taking.

(Come on, hurry up.)

The corpses in the rest of the building had by now taken notice of the not so ninja duo, and were now steadily stumbling towards them. I turn my aim slightly to the left, towards the oncoming corpses.

(One, three, five, seven of them coming from one direction. I should be able to...)

Yet, before I could even finish that thought, I heard a female shriek. Darting my eyes to the right, I find Saya in a rather weird pose. Sticking her butt out as she was trying to 'pull' herself back while holding her forearm with her other hand. And, there was another hand, one that was not her own, that held her by her wrist as a head slowly reared up from the opposite side of the counter.

(Fucking hell!)

I quickly aim back at Saya, then at the head that was now with its mouth wide open, the hand that I suspect belonged to it trying to tag Saya's hand closer to its gaping mouth. Saeko also quickly turned around. And that's all she managed to do, as a single shot echoed. The corpse that was holding Saya's hand violently jerked it's head to the right, disappearing under the counter it came from.

Without taking a breath, I turn my aim to the seven oncoming corpses.

The first shot was aimed at the closest one, making it topple on a stand that had a couple of bottles on it, the stand going down along with the corpse.

The second shot went right through the shin of a corpse's front foot, causing it to fall flat on the floor, the two corpses behind it tripping on it shortly after.

I was about to fire a third shoot, when I felt something tugging my pants.

"Naier we're in! Go!" Saeko shouts as her face appears in the gap between me and the hatch.

I nod, turn the safety on and climb back inside, then sit on the driver's seat and step on the gas. The Humvee, with short wheel spin, starts picking up speed. Leaving the station behind…

After making some distance, I stop the car and turn to Saya.

"Please tell me you didn't get bit?" I 'ask' as I start staring at the arm she was still holding.

"N, No, I'm fine, just a mild bruise. I just got startled, these things have a tighter grip than I expected is all…" Saya responds in a low tone as she lifts the jacket's sleeve, four red marks visible around her wrist.

"We need to get you some arm guards." I respond as I take off one of my gloves and softly take Saya's hand.

"Does it hurt?" I ask as I keep looking at her hand and lightly press on the bruised spot.

"N,no it's fine…" She replies in the same low tone as I twist her hand slightly, to get a better look at her wrist.

(I'm sure that the virus is only transmitted through saliva. But I'm still glad to see no cuts or blood.)

"Maybe you should stay in the car instead of Naier." Saeko says as she keeps looking at the two of us.

"H, hey! I just told you! I just got startled!" Saya shouts back. Lifting my head, I find her glaring at Saeko with a really, really flustered face. Saeko on the other hand, was with her arms folded and looked as casual as ever…

"Saya." I tug her hand slightly.

"What?!" She shouts as she darts her head back to me.

"Please?" I ask with a calm voice as I tilt my head slightly, tugging her hand again.

Saya blinks at me a couple of times, before she slightly turns her head away, shifting her eyes away from me.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Nobody is good at everything. Being in the frontline isn't the only way you can help, you know that right?" I ask as I stroke her palm with my thumb.

"F, fine…" She answers a few seconds later.

"I don't mean to cut your cuddly moment in two, but we have unwanted guests closing in." Saeko then speaks up, her eyes focused on the window next to her.

I nod and let go of Saya's hand…

"W, what do you mean, c,cuddly?!" Saya blurts out as she darts her head back to Saeko…

(I think this red, is going to be Saya's new permanent face color…)

I hold myself back from chuckling as I press on the gas once again.

"By the way, what did you yoink?" I ask as I glance at Saya.

"Yoink? What are you, a five-year-old?" Saya folds her arms as she turns to me with a frown, the blush still on her face.

"Indeed, I'm a five-year-old that saved a whole estate from the living dead, got high on grass, or whatever that crap was, and most important of all…" I stop talking for a few seconds…

"I'm an overlordy ninja penguin." I add up with the most serious voice I can muster.

"Hmm. So sleeping with two girls at the same time was not a 'feat'?" Saeko asks as she leans between the two front seats once again.

"Now, I can't just call 'that' out, that would be gloating." I say as I finally chuckle.

"Huh, so everything else was not gloating?" Saya asks as she raises an eyebrow.

"Ehh…" I just shrug as I keep my hands on the wheel…

"But. Now that you mention it. I never did thank you, for saving the estate, my parents..." Saya responds with a tad more serious tone as she tightens her folded arms under her chest. Glancing away as she lowers her head.

"You're welcome…" I respond as I nod slightly.

(Truth is, that moment was important in more ways than one. It was the proof I needed, to know that this world ain't on 'rails'.)

Just as that thought passed, I felt a chill run up my spine.

(Saeko falling in love with Takashi, Asami ending with a bullet in her head, Saya probably falling for Kohta, who had to shoot the girl he fell for, aka Asami, the same day he met her. Shido being alive in elementary school pulling his usual shit. All of that, now won't happen. They can't, happen. Well, most of them can't.)

I glance around me as I shake my head. Saya was still looking away while 'hugging' herself. Saeko was looking at the street ahead.

"Wonder where they headed off to after leaving the mansion." I ask.

"I don't know, they didn't tell me. But, if I had to guess. A military installation? Or somewhere by the coastline to have easy access to the sea? They probably scouted a location before leaving. Moving so many people is not something you can do without planning ahead, especially when half of them are as brain dead as the corpses." Saya ends her sentence with a snicker, then picks up the map she left next to her.

(Though, I'm honestly, not really looking forward to meeting you dad again Saya. Especially if he finds out about me you and Saeko, dude's scary enough as it is...)

"Heh, true that. These people probably still call this a 'sickness', and would rather hug a corpse to prove their point…" I respond with a slight chuckle.

"Well, too bad for them if they do." Saeko adds right after.

"Ohh, that's brutal. You don't care that they'll get ripped to shreds?" I 'ask' as I glance behind me. Saeko, stayed silent as she looked away, before turning to look back at me…

"These 'people' would have kicked you out, had you not managed to bring Saya's father back. Forgive me if I don't feel any sympathy for them." She answers with a rather serious tone.

"They were scared. Not going to deny that I would have felt any different though. If one of you was in my place..." I nod slightly as I turn to look back at the road.

"By the way Saya. How far 'in' the landmass are we right now?" I ask as I glance at the pinkette.

"Uhh. About one fifth?" She replies as she keeps looking at the map.

"Hmm, we still got ways to go then. So, what about the stuff we just took?" I ask again.

"What about them?" Saya asks back.

"What did we take?" I raise an eyebrow as I glance at Saya.

"I'll check." Saeko responds as she takes the bag that was next to Saya before she could say anything back, causing her to turn her head towards the back of the car with a pout.

"Saya, I need you on the map in case we find a blocked off roads. Last thing we need is turning towards a dead end." I say, hoping to stop Saya from 'pouting' Saeko to death. She thankfully nods, and turns to focus back on the map…

"How many intersections have you driven past since the gas station?" She asks right after.

"Three." I respond flatly. Saya nods and points her finger on the map.

"Naier? Do you know how to fish?" I hear Saeko ask right after.

"Yea, but only as a hobby." I tilt my head slightly as I answer.

(I used to go fishing with my 'real' father and his zodiac. Never went fishing in this world though.)

"Well, I think your hobby is about to become rather beneficial for us, it seems we picked up a couple of fishing line rolls, along with a box of hooks." Saeko replies as she brings her hand to the front, a spool of monofilament fishing line rolled up on her palm.

"Ohh, nice. I still sort of remember how to tie the hooks on the line, so all we actually need is some bait. And a buttload of patience." I glanced at the fishing line Saeko had extended towards me as I spoke.

"Still, fishing equipment? How far are we till the coastline for a gas station to have fishing equipment?" I ask as I turn my sight back to the uphill road.

"Uhh…" Saya then starts counting, something, on the map.

Yet, before she could finish. The Humvee reached the top of the 'hill'. The new view I had ahead of me, pretty much answering my question.

"Never mind…" I say as I slow down the car to a crawl.

"Huh, why did you ask me if…" Saya lifts her head as she starts to whine, but stops in the middle of her sentence as she looks through the windshield. The sea, was visible from here.

"The road ahead looks clear, but it also doesn't seem to reach the coast, I see buildings 'blocking' it further down." I press on the gas again as I look at the left and right roads of the intersection.

"Hmm, these are also some snacks and sweets here, a couple of batteries, some souvenirs and...uhh..." Saeko stops speaking as I start driving down the road.

"And?" I ask as I tilt my head.

"Umm. These…" Saeko extends her arm forward again. And as I turned to look, the first thing I noticed was Saya's eyes going wide, as her face took a very deep shade of 'red'...

"AAaa! As I told you! I wasn't looking at every little thing I was shoving in the bag!" Saya shouts before I could even speak…

(A small square package, with a round bumb...yea. These are condoms alright...)

I just turn to look back at the road without speaking.

"Well, we can use them for the guns, in case it rains." I respond calmly.

"Y,yea!" Saya starts vigorously nodding multiple times as Saeko giggles and retracts her hand.

"Anything else?" I ask once again.

"Hmm, she picked a couple of different flavors too." Saeko responds, and I swear, she must have been smirking as she said that…

"J, just drop the subject already!" Saya shouts as she darts her head towards the back seats, before quickly turning to 'focus' back on the map, or well, bury her nose into it…

"A couple of pens, three packages of gum, and a few lighters." Saeko then adds with a casual tone.

(I get the feeling that Saeko likes poking Saya more than I do...)

"What about the three canisters? Full? Empty?" I ask as I slow the car down, looking at the oncoming intersection.

"Let me check." Saeko replies, and then goes quiet.

"Saya, next intersection, we need to turn either left or right, which way is better?" I ask as I glance at the map.

Saya does not reply, but starts running her finger on the map nonetheless.

"Go right, the left one has a lot of turns before we can reach the coast." She answers without taking her eyes off the map. I nod and press on the gas again.

"Naier, two are empty, the third one is almost full." Saeko then speaks up again.

"How do they smell? Gasoline?" I ask again.

"Yes." She answers without delay.

"Ok, so all three canisters will be for fuel only, we can use em if we siphon fuel out of another car. Did you cut the hose?" I nod slightly as I slow down the car, and turn to the left…

"Yes, you want me to do something with it?" Saeko asks back.

"Take one and leave it with the canisters. After it's dried up, we'll use it." I respond with a nod.

"You also might wanna turn on the intersection after this one, the road after looks wider on the map." Saya then speaks up. I nod, and keep driving straight.

(Ok, the sea is visible to my left, we can't be too far now. And it's still early in the morning, so if I have the chance, I'd like to stop by the rich folk house if it's on our way. They have normal pillows there, plus some soap, or an extra blanket. Also, we can check the jeep that was there, I have a feeling that it'll be full in the fuel department.)

The moment I reach the intersection Saya mentioned I take a left turn, and instantly hit the brakes, hard…

"Hey! Be careful! Why did you do tha…" Saya raises her head with a frown, but stops speaking the moment she looks through the front windshield...

A giant pile up, not just part of the street, the whole damn section was a no go zone…

(Pinkette's attention span deteriorating at an alarming pace, please send backup.)

"Ughh, should have figured..." Saya groans as she starts looking back at the map...

"Hmm, I don't mean to rush you, but we're about to have…"

Before I could finish my sentence, a lone corpse decided to bump its face on the car…

"Company…" I finish my sentence as I keep staring at the corpse.

"Uhh, keep going straight, check if you can turn on the next road." Saya lifts her head to me, then also starts staring at the corpse…

"When, did 'that' get here…" She asks as she tilts her head and frowns.

"Couple of seconds ago." I say as I glance at Saya, then start driving. Causing said corpse to stumble and fall to the side as the car started to move.

And so, I kept moving forward, until we reached the next intersection. This one, thankfully looked relatively clear. A couple of corpses stumbling on the road, but nothing the Humvee can't 'would you kindly' move out of the way. So, I turned to the left and started going down the road, occasionally pressing on the breaks. No need to pass the car through a wall after all…

(Four days huh. Wonder if we can pay a visit to the 'island' in between, then again, we got nothing there that requires us to visit it. Except for checking if it's really still corpse free. Say we get extracted, we could inform that this place has land free of brain munching idiots. Staying on a ship can last you 'that' long after all. Though, I don't know how good that place would be for building, seeing that it's mostly made of sand. Maybe inside the forest? Or on the small mountain/hill it has…)

"I wonder how Takashi and the rest are doing…" Saya says nonchalantly as she keeps looking at the map.

"They got to the extraction in time, so there is a good chance they got extracted. Overall, they're in a better position than us." I respond as I keep looking at the map.

"You're worried about him?" I ask right after.

"He might be an idiot, but I don't want him to get hurt. Why, are you jealous?" Saya asks as she lifts her head from the map and turns to lean towards me with a smirk.

(Ohh, no you don't.)

"I have no reason to be jealous. If for you, I'm just a temporary replacement until you can get back to him, then being jealous ain't going to change anything." I answer as I keep looking at the street.

"H, hey. I never said that. Don't put words I never said in my mouth." Saya leans back to a normal position before folding her arms with a frown…

"Takashi wasn't the one who kept looking out for me after this whole thing started…" Saya whispers after a few seconds…

"You honestly believe that I would be here right now? If I wanted to be with him?" Saya asks right after.

"Hey, it wouldn't be the first time that I heard of a girl that started hanging out with a guy to make some other guy jealous." I respond with a slight shrug.

"You. Are a friggin idiot, you know that?" Saya shakes her head as she raises both eyebrows...

"So if one of us started hanging with Takashi. It 'would' make you jealous?" I hear Saeko ask right after…

The fact that the question came from Saeko, really bugged me the wrong way to be honest…

"You can 'hang' with Takashi all you want. Now if you started acting in a way to try and make me jealous on purpose…" I stop for a few seconds, and take a breath.

"I'd probably get up and leave. I'd rather not have the people I trust the most make me suffer on purpose." I add up as I keep looking at the road…

(I just hope Saeko's sadistic nature does not mean she gets turned on by causing emotional harm to the ones she is supposed to care for. Yea, it would really not be fun seeing her trying to make me jealous on purpose, succeeding, and then getting so turned on about it that she actually ends up fucking with Takashi because of it…

Then again, so far I have seen that she likes making people she does 'not' like suffer. As she has yet to try and beat the shit out of me for shits and giggles, or Takashi in the anime. Saya's mansion excluded, we were supposed to be training then, and we were not that close at that moment to begin with…

The worst she had done was throw side jabs at Rei in the manga. Or that she was, smirking? When Rei started shouting at Takashi in front of the Police station. But that could have been because, you know. If Rei's and Takashi's relationship deteriorated in the manga. She could then have him all for herself...)

"So, you'd rather run away than face your problems?" Saya asks.

"Cutting ties with the ones that try to hurt me on purpose 'is' facing my problems." I answer as I glance at Saya...

"I, shouldn't have asked something like that. Forgive me." Saeko leans between the two front seats and turns to look at me before lowering her head slightly.

I chuckle and shake my head.

"Don't apologize, you asked a question. You didn't do anything that calls for an apology. I hope…" I respond in a joking manner as I slow down the car and swerve over an abandoned big rig by climbing on the sidewalk.

"I would rather take my own life, than hurt you on purpose Naier." Saeko answers with a serious tone.

"Umm, yeeaa. Try to do, neither of those two actions please." I turn to glance at Saeko as I take one hand off the wheel and point at the roof with my index finger, before looking back at the street…

(God this chat just took a rather fucked up turn, got to find a new...uhh? Wait, is that?)

"I can see the beach." I say as I point forward.

"Hmm, ohh? You're right." Saya leans forward towards the windshield and pushes her glasses with her hand. Not that the beach was all that hard to see from our location. It was in plain sight, at the end of this road.

"You think we can find the house we stayed at before?" I ask as I keep looking at the road.

"If I remember correctly, it was the only building that had a cement path that led to a small dock by the sea. If we drive by the beach, it should be easier to spot." Saeko answers as she also keeps looking through the windshield.

"Alright, you might want to wear your seatbelts then, we're going off-road." I nod as I press on the gas.

"I hope you know what you're doing." Saya responds as she picks her bag from the back and hugs it.

"Please, I do shit like that all of the time. In Gta V." I answer with a chuckle.

"What?! That's a frigging video game you idiAAHHH!" And, Saya didn't even manage to finish her sentence as the car when flying over the stairs that led to the beach…

(So Gta does exist here, and Saya knows about it, interesting…)

With that stupid though in my mind, the car flew past the stairs and landed on the sand a few seconds later. And with a slide, it came to a stop.

"See, all's good." I tilt my head as I turn to Saya, then switch the right gear to 'N' and then the left gear to 'L', before switching the right one back to 'D'.

"Why, do we let you drive…" Saya groans as she fixes her glasses.

"Actually, that's a good question, want to drive?" I ask as I keep looking at her. Saya just blinks at me like a fish without answering back.

"The beach should be relatively safe to drive, and with the gear to 'L' the car can't go very fast. Or well, it shouldn't go very fast, or we will drain our fuel in no time." I add up. Saya just turns to look at the steering wheel without answering.

"Can I try?" Saeko asks as she pops between the two front seats.

"Sure, come to the front." I nod and turn to look outside my door, no fun getting jumped on by a corpse after all.

I then exit the car and enter the back seats, while Saeko climbs to the driver seat from inside the car.

(I also need one of you to be able to drive this, In case something happens to me. Leaving the car behind is not a debatable option.)

After we switched places I leaned between the two front seats.

"Ok, this car is fully automatic, so it should be relatively easy to handle. The basics you want to know are. Always use one foot when you drive, gas and brake. One foot, the other foot does nothing, the reason being that pressing the gas and breaking at the same time is not very good for the car, and you know, good luck finding replacement parts right now." I say as I point at Saeko's feet.

"Now as for the gears. The left one with L,N,H and HL. Think of it as 'H' for driving on normal roads, L for driving off-road at lower top speeds. Hl is for high speed with poor traction? N is for natural, to disengage, I think…" I say as I point at the stick.

"You think? You actually didn't even 'sound' sure about the Hl gear..." Saya 'asks' as she folds her arms.

"I never drove a four by four before, It's a miracle I remember this stuff to begin with." I respond as I look at Saya.

She groans, shakes her head and opens her bag, then pulls out her notebook. She then opens it and starts flipping through the pages.

"Hl for normal roads with bad traction, H for normal roads, N to disengage the gear and switch to L, L is for off-road at low top speeds. You can switch from HL to H while on move, but need to be stopped to switch from and to L. On the second gear, P is for parking, N is again for disengaging the gears to let the wheels spin freely, D uses all the gears so higher top speeds, D2 uses only the first half, more power, less speed. It's for stuff like climbing hills. R is reverse." Saya keeps reading through her notebook, before lifting her head to me, her eyebrows making a straight line as she looks at me..

"If you had all that in the textbook, why didn't you say so?" I ask as I tilt my head.

"Hum, you didn't ask." Saya replies with a huff as she turns to put the textbook back in her bag.

(...Ohh, I so want to squeeze a chundere right now...)

"O...k. So, overall, leave em as is. Just drive slow and keep your eyes on the speedometer, try to not go over twenty-five or thirty." I say as I shake my head slightly and turn to Saeko, then point at the dashboard.

Saeko nods. And with an overdramatically serious face, while gripping the steering wheel with both hands like it was trying to run off. She lightly presses the gas. The car responds, and starts to slowly move forward.

"Relax Saeko, chopping heads off with a sword is actually harder than this." I say with a chuckle as I put my hand on her shoulder.

"I can't help but feel anxious. It's my first time." She replies as she keeps her eyes glued on the road ahead…

(Your first time... Ok, it's official. Anything remotely sexual coming out of Saeko's mouth. Is giving me the wrong friggin idea...)