Stigmata of Survival [ High School of the Dead / Resident Evil /

"Let's introduce ourselves," said the teacher, trying to add as much joy and fun to her voice as possible.

Ichiro, who was sitting next to his group and saw the impatience in the children's eyes, knew that he would have to try. The blond knew very well that a lot of attention would be paid to him.

Each child introduced himself to the best of his ability. Some tried to hide their embarrassment behind a screen of ostentatious confidence, while others failed to hide their embarrassment and introduced themselves with a slight stutter. Thus, it was Ichiro's turn.

"Ichiro Masuda," the teacher read the blond boy's name.

As soon as Ichiro stood up, all eyes in the class were on the blond boy. Now that the children had the opportunity to observe a child so different from them, they couldn't help but take advantage of this opportunity.

"My name is Ichiro Masuda," the blond began, thinking in his head about what he should say and what he should hide. "I like games and learning. Nice to meet you, I hope we get along."

After which the blond bowed and headed to his seat. Ichiro's performance worked relatively well, or so Ichiro thought.

"Hidetako Miyazaki," the teacher read the next name.

However, Ichiro was no longer listening to the teacher. The blond was more concerned with what he should do next... Ichiro's thoughts were mostly about what needed to be done in order to survive in the future.

— Damn zombie apocalypse.

—= Two years later =—

"Keep your back straight!" Master Ichiro ordered.

At this time, the blond, by his own feelings, had more than ten liters of sweat flowing off him. The blond's muscles tensed up like metal cords trying to take the necessary shape that his trainer demanded.

- Hit!

Ichiro immediately followed his coach's orders. The bokken in the blond's hands descended with incredible speed. The entire dojo was filled with the sound that occurs when a wooden katana collides with a training dummy.

"HA!" Ichiro shouted.

All the tension that was in Ichiro's muscles seemed to evaporate along with the dummy, which broke at the site of the collision.

"Not bad," said Master Busujima.

Ichiro couldn't say anything... The blond felt that if he tried to utter, to anger himself with any number of words, then in that very second he would lie down dead here. For this reason, he only nodded.

"If it weren't for your behavior, I would even say that your development is extremely good," said Master Buduzima.

Busujima-sensei, as Ichiro called him, was a purple-haired man of average, or even below average height, but such height was not a disadvantage, on the contrary. Thanks to his height, Busujima had a much easier time maintaining the desired shape. Busujima's entire body was covered in scars, which was an amazing sight for this era. Scars on well-developed muscles showed that Busujima was an expert in his field.

"Haaa..." Ichiro exhaled.

The blond felt his muscles begin to regenerate. Each such transformation was accompanied by unpleasant sensations, but it was necessary, because in this way Ichiro became stronger.

Busujima saw how his student behaved.

"You may rest for ten minutes," said Master Busujima.

Ichiro nodded and sat down on the tatami to watch Busujima's further lesson.

"Saeko," Master Busujima said, looking at his purple-haired daughter.

"Yes, Oto-san," Saeko said as she stood up and walked into the center of the dojo.

After which Ichiro witnessed a battle of extremely high skill level. Busujima did not stand on ceremony with his daughter and for this reason Saeko had to try to the limits of her abilities. The blond clearly saw that Saeko quite successfully parried, avoided and counterattacked her father.

The battle that took place in one of the most famous dojos in Japan captivated Ichiro completely. Although the blond was not as talented as Saeko, he still had certain skills. It was this developed skill that allowed Ichiro to observe and analyze the duel.

"I'll have to try hard to get to that level," said the blond.

If Master Busujima had heard the blond's words, which were spoken in such a dissatisfied tone, he would have made Ichiro train until he lost his pulse. And on top of that, he would have made him train just as much so that the blond would moderate his appetites.

The blond didn't fully understand what his body was capable of. Thanks to his incredible regeneration, Ichiro was closing the gap between the skills he had with Saeko.

Busujima's daughter trained with a blade from an early age. And that's not even mentioning the genes that played a role. The girl's body was adapted to chopping and using a blade, since all of her ancestors were samurai.

It was all these factors together that allowed Saeko to resist Master Busujima to a certain extent. To resist, but not to win, after all, Master Busujima was the strongest swordsman on this earth. Thanks to his experience, as well as a body that was better developed than his daughter and the blond... Busujima won, knocking the bokken out of his daughter's hands with one precise blow.

"Very well, Saeko," Busujima said, looking at his daughter with undisguised pride in his eyes. "I am very proud of your success."

Saeko blushed slightly. It was clear that the girl liked such praise from her father.

"Thank you, otou-sama," the girl said.

Master Busujima smiled at his daughter's behavior, then looked at Ichiro and said:

- What do you say, Ichiro?

With such a question, Busujima checked what his student had been able to notice. Each such question improved the blond's tactical thinking.

"It was quite colorful," the blond began. "I still have a long way to go to reach that level."

—= After training =—

"You're growing in skills very quickly," Saeko said.

The purple-haired girl became one of Ichiro's close friends. The blond man was not against such a friendship, as in his eyes, Saeko was one of the people who could be useful in the future. However, not only this allowed Saeko to take a certain place in Ichiro's heart, but also the fact that she was close to him in temperament.

"Do you think so?" Ichiro asked Saeko with a slight interest in his eyes.

The girl smiled with the corner of her lips, seeing this very interest in the eyes of her close friend.

"Yes, I'm sure of it, but I'm still unclear as to why you're trying so hard," Saeko said.

Saeko couldn't help but notice that Ichiro's gaze changed slightly after the girl's words. That was the reason why she didn't press him to tell her the reason.

"However, it's not that important," the girl said with a slight smile on her face. "The main thing is that soon you'll be able to show me a good fight!"