Utaha never believed that her willpower was weak.
Even when she woke up five days ago to find that she had been abandoned by the world, that she was the only person left alive, she still believed that as long as she stayed alive, she would eventually see the world return to normal.
However, after three days in an uninhabited environment, a subtle change began to occur in her heart.
When she discovered online that there were still other people alive, a surge of immense joy rose within her. After that joy faded, she unexpectedly realized that she still longed for human presence.
If possible, she truly did not want to live alone in this world.
But for various reasons, after the first contact, she never took the initiative to contact that boy again.
She had thought that the other party, given that she was one of only two remaining humans and also a woman, would pursue her relentlessly, hoping to obtain her location so they could leave Japan together for the Eastern Union.
Yet to her surprise, the other party remained silent, not contacting her even as the agreed departure time approached.
This stirred a sense of defiance within her.
I'm not a woman who can't live without someone by my side.
But who could have imagined that a massive earthquake would strike so abruptly, burying her beneath the rubble of her own collapsed home.
She was trapped in a dark, sealed space cut off from all light, filled with suffocating dust. Death slowly crept closer.
As time passed, fear, panic, resentment, and other negative emotions spiraled completely out of control, surging and ravaging her mind, pushing her toward collapse.
And all of that vanished with Haizaki's arrival.
He brought her hope of survival.
She could live. She didn't have to face death directly, enduring physical and psychological torment, slowly walking toward death in pain and suffering.
But afterward, another problem arose in their interactions.
As a woman, she had always harbored worries about Haizaki, a man.
In the end, fortunately, whether due to his principles or perhaps a strategy of restraint, Haizaki did nothing to her.
She had thought everything would end there and that she would turn off the lights and sleep as usual.
But the moment the lights went out, darkness and silence enveloped her.
The pitch-black, suffocating sense of isolation she had felt beneath the ruins resurfaced in her heart, repeatedly assaulting her psyche. The faint smell of dust in the hotel room—left uncleaned for days—constantly stimulated her senses, making her feel as if she were reliving the experience. Her body once again began to feel unwell.
Even with the lights on, after drifting into a hazy sleep, less than half an hour later she jolted awake from an earthquake nightmare, drenched in cold sweat, her mind filled with an inescapable shadow of death.
The long night was agonizing.
After much tossing and turning, she finally made up her mind to go next door and talk to Haizaki.
Once she made that decision, she didn't even think about properly putting on clothes. Throwing on a coat and hugging a pillow, she hurried out.
But to her surprise, Haizaki didn't respond.
Asleep? Sound asleep?
No—he was gone. He had left. She had driven him away.
Once that thought surfaced, she could no longer think of anything else. Alongside panic came deep regret. She shouldn't have treated Haizaki that way. Her words and attitude should have been gentler, more tactful.
It wasn't until Haizaki's voice came from inside the room that she finally felt at ease again.
It had all been her overthinking.
Haizaki hadn't left quietly. That was truly a relief.
But now…
Utaha lifted her gaze, meeting the eyes of the man standing before her wearing only a pair of underwear. She clenched her teeth, unable to say anything.
She didn't even have the courage to deny it. She was afraid—afraid that if she denied it, he would use reverse provocation and force her to spend the night alone.
"I overlooked it. Generally speaking, the severity of these symptoms is proportional to how long the person was exposed to earthquake danger."
Utaha had been rescued after only a few hours. Her physical condition was fine—no blood loss, no injuries, no dehydration or starvation. But Haizaki also understood that psychological issues couldn't be judged solely by time. People were different.
He realized that he had been projecting his fixed impression of Utaha from his previous life onto the girl standing before him now.
That was wrong.
The Utaha he knew in his previous life was nineteen years old, with two more years of life experience and having endured the apocalypse. Her psychological resilience was clearly stronger.
The one before him now was, in essence, still just a high school girl raised in a peaceful environment.
Faced with Haizaki's apologetic words, Utaha was stunned. She had been mentally prepared for Haizaki to scold her, but she never expected him to apologize instead.
"My psychological endurance…"
The moment the words left her mouth, Utaha realized that saying this was essentially an indirect admission.
She hoped Haizaki wouldn't make any excessive demands.
If—if it was just sleeping on the same bed, she could… she could consider it. She couldn't help but make that compromise in her heart.
"Sleeping over there is fine, right?"
"Yes."
In the end, she answered softly with her head lowered.
"Go to sleep early."
Haizaki spoke as he saw the girl get onto the bed.
"You too. Sleep early."
"Mm, I'm going to sleep…"
Haizaki yawned again.
He walked to the bedside, his right index finger resting on the switch.
After Utaha nodded, he pressed it, and the room was plunged into darkness.
Haizaki quickly slipped under the covers.
For someone as exhausted as he was, a soft, comfortable bed was the best place to be.
He closed his eyes. Sleepiness washed over him, and his consciousness gradually sank into slumber.
In the small room, only the faint, steady sounds of their breathing remained.
…