Zombie Boss (P.1) – Chapter 12

"What are you saying? There is no way I'm going back without you. You know what will happen if you stay behind!"

As I felt my heart ache in pain at the thought of leaving Aoi behind, I tried asking for some sort of reason from the girl. But the only response I got was silence. She looked to her side with a pained look on her face before closing her eyes with determination and sadness mixed in them.

"....The reason doesn't matter. You should go on without me."

"No, I won't go anywhere without you!" I sternly looked at her with a determined heart as I responded to her.

"....I'm slowing you down. And you already know that. That's why you should continue without me." Aoi persisted, her voice almost trembling and tears almost filling her eyes.

I couldn't understand why she was acting that way. Was it something that I had done to make her this upset? 

No, that shouldn't be possible. Before we entered the dungeon, I was sure that our relationship was progressing very well.

My heart continued to race with different emotions inside. But once my eyes caught something, I quickly realized what was going on. On her neck, a visible scar could be seen. That was probably made by a zombie.

So that's why she was acting that way. She didn't want me to get infected. And in order to make me leave her behind so I wouldn't see her transform into a zombie. Aoi must have known this already…

Once I made up my mind, I walked toward her, grabbed her by her waist, and pulled her towards me.

"...Huh? W-what are you doing? N-no, wait! S-stay away from me! P-please!"

"..."

She tried to struggle and maintain a distance from me. But my grip was too strong for her, so the only thing she did was look away, unable to get away from me. Her neck was now fully revealed after turning to her side, so I took this chance and took a long lick over her scratch.

"W-wait! H-hyaaa! Hnnn…."

Then, once she let out a small shriek of surprise combined with her sensitive injured scratch, I kissed her wet mouth and cleaned her insides with my tongue, leaving nothing untouched.

After a long minute of us staying connected like that, a string of saliva was left hanging from each of our mouths. I looked into her blushing face, and she looked back at me.

She no longer struggled, and now she was left behind with this cute side of hers. 

"....Why?" She asked, looking on the side with a pained look while still having red cheeks.

"If we die, then we die together. I don't plan on leaving you behind, no matter the cost."

As we locked eyes while I was holding her waist close to mine, her cheeks blushed for a moment before resting her head on my chest.

Even if she were to become a zombie, I would do anything in my power to not abandon her. Even if I had to make a cure for it from scratch.

Once Aoi calmed down, we both sat down somewhere in the next hallway, which would lead us to the next final door. We were sitting next to one another while laying our backs on the wall. We both remained silent for some minutes before Aoi suddenly inquired.

"....Are you sure this is fine?"

"Hm. Probably. The virus should've already shown signs if it would've worked by now."

"...That's not what I'm asking."

I thought that she was still afraid of what was going to happen next to us as we were recharging our stamina. However, for some reason, she was more worried than anxious. 

I figured that she was asking about the fact that she was slowing me down. The fact that she almost died and had to be saved by me must've taken her confidence away.

"This dungeon isn't meant to be something where we can go around and have fun. This is a survival place where we need to complete tasks and puzzles in order to advance even further. And as much as you might think that you are a burden to me, I want you to know that you are more capable than you think you are."

"...But."

"I've been inside this dungeon way too many times, and ever since you arrived here, this was the first time that I've felt... fear."

Aoi looked to my side, her eyes slightly widened in wonder.

"I was scared that I was going to end up alone once again. Afraid that I would continue to live in this cursed land for another thousands of years by myself." I looked at my own knees as I continued talking. "That's why I want to make a selfish request out of you."

"...."

"Please try to become stronger and live for me."

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