Takumi grunted as his feet touched the ground.
[ Damn, it seems I really haven't trained my body when I was going to school. Coming back to a body this weak is really uncomfortable. ] -Takumi
Saeko's eyebrows twitched as she heard Takumi's inner voice.
The hell?!
Takumi!
Lying inside your own head isn't good!
Saeko felt that if not for the current situation demanding she focus on the door,she would have drawn her bokken and done her best to correct his mind.
In the past, Takumi had a strict schedule.
She already knew he was probably not in the right mindset...
But lying in his own head—
She wouldn't let that happen!
Did he think he was Ayanokoji Kiyotaka!?
This is a sign of deep trauma, right?
Right?!
This definitely had nothing to do with the fact that she felt uncomfortable at the thought of being unable to distinguish his thoughts if he lied!
Takumi glanced at the surrounding people and sighed.
"Takumi-kun!? Didn't you not come to school—dude, did you actually get here by yourself now?!"
Hibara Hondo, a boy in Takumi's class, was initially surprised at Takumi's sudden arrival before he remembered that the world was ending.
Takumi glanced at him briefly before focusing on the door being pounded on by the undead.
"It looks like there's no time for rest, huh?" He turned his gaze toward Saya.
"How many of them are left in school?"
Saya pushed up her glasses, a serious expression appearing in her eyes.
Amid the growing growls outside the door, she answered,"Though the number isn't exact, it should range between 400 to 500.
Our school has a population of around 1,000 overall, but most ran away after the panic began—"
Saya began relaying the information she had gathered with Saeko.
This was an instruction given by Takumi while he was in contact with Saeko, and the reason she had gone out with her.
"400 to 500..."
Takumi's expression turned grim. The number of enemies, though smaller, was still astronomical.
He was already tired from the trip here and couldn't even get time to rest before dealing with them.
He took a deep breath before passing his gaze across the terrified students
[ There! ] - Takumi
His eyes landed on a familiar pair of dead fish eyes looking straight at him
"Hikigaya"
His gaze passed him and locked onto the figure standing beside him
She had been standing here the whole time— he had simply overlooked her, unintentionally of course
This was a talent he had picked up from her
"Kato"
Both of them looked at him
Hikigaya had cold sweat dripping down his face while Kato had a somewhat stunned expression
Takumi looked at these two people whose talents would never shine in ordinary life with a hardened expression
"I need your help."
Both widened their eyes somewhat, a subtle understanding of the situation he was imagining already forming in their minds
"Kato, you are the person I feel can move around the school more freely."
Takumi looked at the girl beside him
"Your low presence has always been something I found as a problem but now it seems to be a solution"
He looked at hikigaya
"Hikigaya, though you and I have little interactions, I can confidently say your observation skills are top tier."
He took a deep breath. His eyes carried a sharp light
"Saeko is the only person I trust has the ability to kill the undead, but her strength is finite."
His eyes met the scared students around
"That's why I'm going to be doing so with her"
Their eyes widened
"Hey hey hey! Takumi are you serious?! You look like you barely made it here and you already want to go back into that hell?"
Hibara snapped his head towards Takumi, disbelief crowding his face
Takumi's situation may not have been completely clear to the students but they weren't stupid
He had clearly fought his way to school. The blood red colour sticking to his clothes was proof enough.
The interaction between him and Saya also indicated he had long planned to secure the school
Yet he still planned to go back to school? Was he tired of living?
Takumi ignored the questioning and stunned expressions of the other students and silently looked at the two named people.
Megumi didn't think much before nodding.
"From what I can see, this is the only way to improve the situation without hurting others, right Takumi-kun?"
Takumi nodded silently.
[ It seems that Megumi is still the reliable person I remember in the past. It's too bad that the past one....no, let's not think along this path. ] - Takumi
He looked at Hikigaya.
[ Ugh, this is the real headache. Hikigaya hasn't given a reply...no need to guess. The only reason he isn't accepting is because he's contemplating leaving the school to help his sister, Komachi. ] - Takumi
Saya looked at the dead fish-eyed boy in surprise.
'He's actually contemplating leaving this place to save his sister? This guy is surprisingly courageous.'
Saya wasn't the only one surprised.
Yui, Yumiko, Yukino and the other heroines in the gymnasium looked at him with various expressions ranging from surprise to respect.
Hikigaya felt a chill as he looked at the sudden "perverted" gazes of the surrounding women on him.
The beautiful boy beside him grabbed his sleeve, gaining his attention.
"Hikki, you don't have to do what Takumi-kun says if you're uncomfortable"
Totsuka Saika said quietly, his expression timid and cute.
"I know Takumi. He's not the type to enforce his will on others."
Hikigaya looked at this friend he'd met since the start of school. His eyes, previously wavering, finally became firm.
'He had to protect this Angel! He couldn't abandon him, even if he wasn't born a girl! It doesn't matter!'
He looked at Takumi.
"I understand."
---
Outside, Haruno held a hand to her mouth as she looked at the horde roaming the school gate.
"How the hell am I supposed to get in there?" she muttered, a "borrowed" bat in hand.
She also had another thought in her mind:
'How the hell did Takumi, exhausted, enter this place without trouble?!'
"Is the gap between him and others that big?"
Haruno was confident in her ability to survive the apocalypse, but only in the short term.
Her method was simple:
— Lure the zombies away
— Get where she wants to get and what she wants
— Leave
Not to mention going into populated areas. Going into a horde like this was something she didn't even dare to think.
Just joking.
One bite equals one life!
Who had more than one life?
Not her.
"How the hell am I going to get inside this place?"
Just as Haruno was wondering what to do—
"Will you ensure your freedom?
Are you the prey or are you the hunter?
Cornered, can turn into the Jager."
Haruno froze. Her face twitched as she sensed the wandering undead stirring from the explosive music coming from inside the school.
"Who in the hell is playing _Guren no Yumiya_ right now?!"
Do they want to bury themselves in zombies?!
Haruno's eyes widened as she noticed something: the school gate closing, slowly but surely.
A female student she hadn't noticed stood by the gate, closing it as if there wasn't a horde of zombies passing through.
Haruno noticed something else.
She was covered in blood from head to toe. The zombies didn't so much as glance her way, all moving toward the sound of the music.
The school field!
Haruno understood immediately.
They were luring all the undead inside the school and outside its gates to a single area.
The girl stood there, letting all the zombies pass.
When there were none left in the near proximity, she tapped her phone and started closing the gate.
The music stopped immediately as she did.
Haruno snapped out of her daze and dashed toward the gate.
"Little sister! Little sister! Wait, don't close it yet!"
*End of Chapter 9*