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Chapter 32: Respect the Fate of Others
"You made it, Senior Saeko."
Suyan lifted his clear, bright eyes and greeted her casually.
That is, if one could ignore the incredibly compromising tableau currently taking place in the infirmary.
Rei Miyamoto was sitting on Suyan's lap, while he aimlessly played with the twin strands of flaxen ahoge sprouting from the top of her head.
Although her face was mostly unreadable, the fact that her ahoge looked slightly wilted suggested she wasn't exactly thrilled with the situation.
Standing right behind Suyan was the beautiful, airheaded school nurse, Shizuka Marikawa.
She had her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, pressing her massive, bouncy assets directly onto the top of his head and leaning her entire body weight onto him. Suyan was holding two strands of her blonde hair, playing with them in tandem with Rei's ahoge, thoroughly amusing himself.
Unlike the reluctant Rei, Shizuka had her eyes closed in a blissful smile, clearly enjoying the physical contact.
"Ahem."
Realizing Saeko had arrived, Suyan gave a light cough. He lifted Rei off his lap and set her to the side, then gently pushed away the heavy artillery Shizuka had parked on his head.
Standing up, he glanced at the girl Saeko had dragged in. "Senior Saeko, why did you bring someone else? Is she a friend of yours?"
Isn't that Saya Takagi?
One of the main heroines of the original anime—or was she the third or fourth lead? Suyan couldn't quite remember. Even though she had a lot of screen time, her actual presence in the story felt surprisingly weak. She was arguably less memorable than Shizuka's briefly seen best friend, Rika Minami, or even her own mother, Yuriko Takagi.
"Hmm?"
Saeko blinked, turning to look at Saya.
Seeing how hesitant the girl had been at the door, Saeko had assumed Suyan had called her here.
So they don't know each other?
Realizing her mistake, Saeko didn't bother exposing the misunderstanding.
They were already here, after all.
It was incredibly dangerous outside, with flesh-eating monsters roaming the halls. If she hadn't misunderstood, she probably wouldn't have dragged the girl inside. But now that she had, kicking her back out would be tantamount to murdering her with her own hands.
Saeko wasn't that cruel.
Perhaps this is just fate.
Saeko nodded, taking responsibility. "Yes, she's my friend."
"Is she now?"
Suyan didn't press the issue.
He felt entirely indifferent toward Saya Takagi. She was in the exact same category as the old Rei Miyamoto in his mind.
He disliked Rei because of her annoying behavior in the anime. But his apathy toward Saya stemmed entirely from her father, Soichiro Takagi.
Soichiro Takagi was the leader of Tokonosu City's largest right-wing nationalist group, the Patriotism Society. He was exactly the kind of historical-denying, shrine-worshipping fanatic Suyan despised.
Because of that, even though Saya was in his class, Suyan had never once considered interacting with her.
His abysmal history grades were proof enough of his stance on the matter. As far as Suyan was concerned, the heavily sanitized Japanese history textbooks were worth less than the trashy light novels otakus used as toilet paper.
However, since Saeko claimed Saya was a friend, Suyan wasn't going to kick her out, even if it was a bit unexpected.
He gestured toward the beds. "Alright, go take a seat next to Shizuka."
"Come here, Saeko! Sit next to me!"
Shizuka patted the empty spot on the bed, happily waving Saeko over.
Saeko nodded and led the highly uncomfortable Saya over to the bed.
"Senior Busujima... thank you," Saya whispered, keeping her head bowed.
She had heard the broadcast. She knew something horrific was happening in the school. And if what Saeko said about 'man-eating monsters' was true, then Saeko not kicking her out of the room had undoubtedly saved her life.
Saeko simply patted the back of her hand and offered a gentle, reassuring smile.
That damn sense of security was intoxicating. If Saeko were a man, Saya would have probably fallen head over heels for her right then and there.
Saeko then turned her attention back to Suyan, looking puzzled as he stood by the door with his hand pressed flat against the wood.
"Done."
Suyan pulled his hand away from the perfectly ordinary wooden door.
Just now, he had used a highly specific application of Nen to infuse his aura directly into the door.
It was a technique briefly shown in Hunter x Hunter, though rarely explained. Suyan had only mastered it after countless attempts and failures.
It was first demonstrated during the Heavens Arena arc. Gon had stubbornly used Zetsu during a fight and suffered severe injuries as a result. While he was hospitalized, his teacher, Wing, tied a simple red string around Gon's finger and made a vow forbidding him from using Nen while he recovered. Gon only realized later that the string would have snapped the moment he tried to channel his aura.
The second instance was right before the Greed Island arc. Killua accompanied Gon to his hometown, where Gon retrieved a metal box left by his father, Ging. The box was made of ordinary metal, but it had been infused with a Nen condition similar to Wing's string. Remarkably, even with his raw physical strength exceeding sixteen tons, Killua couldn't pry the box open without using Nen. And that box had been made over a decade prior.
Suyan had just applied that exact same principle to the infirmary door.
Unless they actively used Nen to open it, that door wasn't going anywhere. Someone could hit it with a rocket launcher, and the wall would probably collapse before the door gave way.
This ensured absolutely no one would disturb them.
Don't misunderstand; Suyan wasn't trying to lock them in to do anything nefarious.
He just hated dealing with unnecessary trouble.
And sometimes, humans were far more troublesome than zombies.
For instance, if he went out to clear the zombies right now, he would inevitably end up saving people, even if that wasn't his goal. Those people wouldn't necessarily be grateful. Some might even act completely unhinged, screaming and blaming him for not saving them sooner.
Suyan wouldn't hesitate to cut down anyone who acted like that just as quickly as he'd cut down a zombie, but dealing with them would still sour his mood.
To avoid that headache entirely, Suyan's strategy was simple: gather the people he actually cared about in the infirmary, lock the door, and wait. Once everyone outside was either dead or had fled, leaving only zombies behind, he and Saeko would go out and enjoy the slaughter.
It would be the perfect time to test the sharpness of Saeko's conjured sword, Reizan.
As for everyone else in the school?
Respect the fate of others, and let go of the urge to help.
"Since that's settled, let's get some rest," Suyan said, clapping his hands together.
He plopped down right between Shizuka and Saeko, leaning back until he was lying flat on the infirmary bed.
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