29: Uncertain future

It took 30 minutes for the purple-haired woman managed to calm down, time in which Cloud remained silent while thinking about the future.

"Please tell me everything you know" - Yuriko said as she wiped her tears and looked the boy straight in the eyes.

"What do you mean?" - Cloud asked with a frown.

"I managed to get Soichiro to contact a high command of the military who was a good friend of his, and he told us that you had to prepare us and modify everything we can to resist the EMP..." - Yuriko answered seriously - "I don't want more games."

Cloud let out a sigh before shaking his head - "I'm sorry, I can't do it."

"Why!" - Yuriko exclaimed as she slammed her new desk.

"It's not that I don't want to, it's that I simply can't, the moment I do..." - Cloud replied as he frowned.

"I need answers, Cloud, I can't trust you if you're not honest with me" - Yuriko said as she bit her lip - "I'm asking you, you're the only support I have left..."

Cloud was silent as he struggled with the idea of accepting the woman's request, something she was seeing.

A few minutes of internal debate passed before the blond let out a sigh.

"Listen, Yuriko, I really want to tell the truth, but..." - Cloud was about to refuse, when he saw how the purple-haired woman put her gun to her head - "Are you crazy?!"

"No, I'm putting everything on the table" - Yuriko said neutrally - "If you don't answer me, it means that..."

"Ok, ok, say no more" - Cloud said as he frowned and let out a sigh - "Tell me what you want to know..."

Before Yuriko could say anything else, something strange happened, she watched in surprise as a strange pop-up screen appeared in front of her, something that made the words get caught in her throat.

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[Warning! You are about to receive confidential information!]

[Any attempt to receive this information will be considered a serious offense, and there will be cruel consequences...]

[If you wish to proceed, then you must bear in mind that your life could be in danger, be warned].

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Yuriko was silent as she debated on what to do.

She had gained enormous curiosity from the blond's next words, but at the same time she was afraid, that is, she didn't think that something as strange as a screen would appear in front of her.

"I-I... want to know" - Yuriko muttered as she let out a long sigh. Curiosity had been greater than her sense of self-preservation, not to mention that Cloud was the person she trusted the most right now.

Cloud was silent before carefully explaining everything he knew about this world now that he had seen that this woman had decided to press on.

Yuriko remained silent, though her expression slowly changed, ending in skepticism when she heard how she and Soichiro should have died in the next horde of zombies that would appear after the nuclear bombing.

"Are you messing with me?" - that was all Yuriko could say, though her expression changed when she saw a new pop-up screen appear in front of her.

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[Character, Yuriko Takagi, you have not accepted the system's warning and heard something you shouldn't have, initiating security protocol!]

[Character, Yuriko Takagi, has suffered punishment, condemnation, lifespan has been reduced by 90%!]

[Remaining lifespan, 90 days, reason for death, heart failure!]

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Yuriko's expression darkened as she felt a sharp pain in her heart - "Ack!"

"Yuriko!" - Cloud exclaimed as he regretted speaking when he saw the woman fall to the ground and start vomiting blood.

"Ugh..." - Yuriko let out a groan of pain as she continued to squirm on the ground.

"System, tell me if there's any way to fix this!" - Cloud exclaimed as he looked regretfully at the woman.

[There is a chance to save her, although to do so you will have to complete this world, after all, she knows something she shouldn't, that's why the only solution that exists is for you to manage to recruit the character "Yuriko Takagi"...]

Cloud was silent as he let out a sigh as he watched the woman started to struggle to get up - "Are you okay?"

"No, I'm all sore, I guess that weird pop-up was telling me the truth..." - Yuriko said as she laughed mournfully - "I'm going to die in three months..."

"Not if I can do something about it" - Cloud replied with a strange feeling of possession, after all, they had been through a lot together.

"Can you save me?" - Yuriko asked with a frown,

"There is a possibility" - answered Cloud while shaking his head - "But this time I can't talk, because it might cause a shorter time."

Yuriko was silent for a few seconds before nodding as she sighed - "Tell me, is there anything you can tell me?"

"Indeed" - Cloud answered as he grabbed the woman by the jaw and gave her a small kiss.

Yuriko was surprised, after all, this was the first time the blond kissed her so calmly, as if he was trying to convey something, and honestly, this felt good. She was going through the worst time of her life, not only was she cursing herself for being unfaithful, but her husband had died before the two of them could talk about it calmly, though none of that mattered now, not when she could feel this strange feeling of possession that the blond was conveying.

Yuriko knew this was wrong, however, she needed this more than she thought, she wished she could sink into an illusion to get over all the pain she felt.

Slowly, time passed as the two continued to savor each other's lips.

The sadness was behind them, and something new was growing inside Yuriko as she began to breathe irregularly.

"I think we'd better stop here," Cloud muttered as he let out a sigh because he was barely resisting the desire to spend some quality time with Yuriko.

The purple-haired woman reacted when she heard these words, though this made her think analytically again - "What was that?"

"Would you believe me if the way to save you, is to seduce you?" - Cloud asked as he frowned slightly.

Yuriko frowned as well, though she quickly shook her head - "Are you serious?"

"Yes, I'm very serious" - Cloud answered seriously.

Yuriko was silent before she let out a laugh, to the point that a few tears came out of her eyes - "Oh, that's funny, the only way to save me is to seduce me... Thank you, I didn't think I'd be laughing so soon..."

". . ." - Cloud gave her a blank look.

"Oh, you're serious..." - Yuriko said while shaking her head - "I'm sorry, it's just that sounded so ridiculous that even when you said it earlier, I thought you were joking."

With that said, Yuriko fell silent before laughing again because she had to admit that was fucking hilarious, at least to her.

"What do you say?" - Cloud asked as he folded his arms.

Yuriko held her silence for a few seconds before nodding - "I don't understand why, but I have nothing to lose, although if you're lying to me to make me feel better, I guess I won't mind having fun during these last three months, I mean, I'm sure Soichiro won't blame me for doing it before I meet him again in hell."

Cloud shook his head because it was obvious that she didn't trust his words, so he better decided to go ahead with the plan. Whatever the case, this attitude that the woman was showing would help a lot in the recruitment process because she wasn't being reluctant to the idea.

"'Now what? A date?" - Yuriko asked as she cocked her head to the side.

"As much as I would like to, I don't think it's a good idea in this situation, I mean, your husband just died and you starting something with me would create a lot of questions" - Cloud answered seriously.

"You have a point..." - Yuriko muttered with a frown, after all, she didn't want people to start calling Soichiro names for her actions, she wouldn't bear it, and Saya wouldn't forgive her either, not to mention that it would cause people to know about the duo's biggest secret.

"Back to the point, for now we'll act normally, remember the information you sacrificed yourself for" - Cloud said sarcastically, in the process making the purple-haired woman blush with embarrassment - "It's not long until the bomb explodes and everything goes to shit, so we have to prepare everything we can, food, vehicles, create a perfect escape route, and then meet up with my subordinates, who by the way are doing the same thing."

"Where do you want to go?" - Yuriko asked as she folded her arms, after all, it was better to organize all the plans now that they had the time.

Cloud walked to the wall and pulled out a map that contained all the information about the city and pointed to a specific spot - "Here..."

"The shopping city Taiei?" - Yuriko said as a small smile appeared on her lips - "I see, it's perfect, a huge place with lots of supplies, and possibly filled with zombies, which makes it impossible for anyone to loot it..."