Alrighty, here's the 1st Chapter
Hope you enjoy
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Chapter 1: Beginning of the End
Ren had just left his classroom and was making his way towards the staff office. He was going to deliver his petition to join the kendo team. It was a necessary procedure every student had to follow in order to join a club; in his case, the academy's kendo team.
Lots of things were going through his mind at the moment, mostly a flush of old memories about his days as a kendoka. Yeah, those were the days indeed.
Due to him being distracted, he really wasn't paying attention to what or who was in front of him till he felt someone bump into his chest.
"Whoops, sorry" he said immediately in an apologetic tone while looking down. The person he had bumped with was pretty short. "You ok?"
Then he noticed; that signature pink hair.
Oh boy.
This was going to be fun.
Ren had to hold back from smirking.
What was he being called this time?
"Ugh, watch where you're going you man-beast!" the girl he had bumped into yelled at him aggressively.
Ah, man-beast; heard that one before, one of his favorites.
"Sorry, didn't see you there Sacchan" he replied in a cheerful manner.
"Don't call me that!" she instantly replied. "Seriously, you gotta watch where you're going with that massive body of yours, you dunce!"
He chuckled.
Massive body? Yeah ok, Rentaro was taller and overall bigger than your average Japanese 18-year-old, but he was not 'massive'. There were some dudes from the basketball team that were actually ridiculously big for their age, some even younger than him
But he got it, compared to her, he was massive. He was almost two full heads taller than her. Yeah, Takagi Saya was really tiny.
Rentaro took a good look at her.
Well... in height at least.
don't look don't look don't look
Yes, Takagi Saya; along Takashi and Rei, she was a similar story, with their relationship going way back. He had been in kindergarten with Takashi, and Ren himself also knew her from there despite him being a year older. Her mom and his mom actually used to be friends. He used to look for her a lot when they were little. Man was she an adorable little sweetheart back then.
She was still adorable... in her own weird way. But became really hard to put-up with since she developed a high & mighty and a bit of a stuck-up attitude. Although she could back some of it up, he had to admit; Rentaro was a good student, he was confident in that, but he didn't come close to her; she was the school's top student, always earning the first place during exams – He on the other hand, best he could manage was Top 30 – and overall one of Japan's top students, winning perfect scores left and right. When was the last time she didn't win a perfect score? He was pretty sure last time she failed, it was a 99, and she was fuming because of it.
Well, she was nothing Rentaro couldn't handle though, he was an expert.
Kind of.
"Sorry about it, sorry about it" he continued apologizing with a smirk and a gentle tone while waving his hand. "But you know, since my body is so massive, you should have noticed me. Doesn't that mean you weren't watching where you were going too?"
He could see the exact moment she tensed up at his realization. Yeah, he got her there.
Her face then went back to look like an aggressive puppy real quick though.
"Shut up!"
Of-course. There was no way she was admitting her mistake.
When they were younger he could have easily got her to apologize as well... but present-day Saya was something else.
"Well don't worry about it Sacchan, none of us is really hurt right?" he then placed a hand on top of her head.
She quickly slapped it away.
He did again.
She slapped it again.
Did it again.
Slapped again.
"Don't touch me!"
"Got it, got it" he said while raising both his hands in a defensive manner.
"Also don't call me that!"
"But I have been calling you that since we were kids? I don't see the problem" he replied. "C'mon you can call me Rentaro-nii like you used to".
Saya actually blushed at that.
Rentaro had a huge shit-eating smirk on his face at the moment, by the way.
"Wh-Wha- D-Don't bring that up, you idiot!" she yelled at him, clearly embarrassed.
"Alright, sorry" he said, throwing his hands up, like surrendering, his smirk still present though.
"I swear, I don't know who's worse, you or that brooding idiot by the stairs".
Brooding idiot?
Probably Takashi.
...
Definitely Takashi
"He's at it again?" Ren asked this time in a slightly more serious tone and with genuine concern, relaxing a bit. "Well, no surprise to be honest".
Saya also relaxed a bit.
"Yeah, I don't know what his problem is. Your little crush rejected you because you're an idiot, what about it? Just move on" she said in a lower tone with some annoyance in it too.
"Not that easy Saya".
He was also pretty sure that for Takashi, Rei was more than just a little crush.
"Well, we may not like it or understand it, but we at least have to try to. Best we can do as his childhood friends".
That actually seemed to hit her, since her expression mellowed down.
"Maybe try being a little nicer to him?" he kept talking, with a calm voice.
"I-I just don't like idiots" she replied while crossing her arms under best chest and diverting her gaze.
"Oh sure you don't".
"Takashi is an idiot alright, but also a good guy, and our friend" he replied.
She kept silent, her gaze also lowered a bit.
Well, while it would be nice if she started acting a bit nicer to Takashi – and to everyone – he also wasn't looking to make her feel all guilty about it. He had to change the mood.
A shit-eating grin took over his features again.
He lowered his head a little and brought his free hand near his mouth, like he was about to tell a secret.
"Takashi's feeling really down so maybe you should try to console him. I'd think you'd do a great job"
Her eyes widened at his words.
Saya's face slowly started turning red.
"Here it comes".
Even redder
"Wait for it".
Even redder
"Anytime".
"Idiot!" she shouted at the top of her lungs while stomping her foot on the ground; she then stomped her way out of his sight.
"I was just saying".
"Shut up!"
"See you around!"
"UGH!"
Rentaro chuckled as he watched her disappear out of sight. Man, he loved teasing her.
And yes, he was very aware that Saya had a crush on Takashi, ever since they were little, and he believed she still did despite everything. What a lucky bastard was he, eh?
He continued walking through the halls till he found the stairs and just like Saya said, Takashi was there, leaning against the railing, looking all gloomy and stuff.
Well, before dealing with the 'join the kendo team' stuff, first he had to check on his idiot brooding friend.
He walked down the stairs and gave Takashi a pat on the back.
"Yo' Taka-chin" he greeted in a cheerful tone, like he usually did. Although there was some mockery in it too.
Takashi audibly groaned.
"Don't… call me that" he said in a low tone.
"Alright, sorry" he said with a grin before leaning against the railing too, joining his friend. "Man, what's with my childhood friends not liking my nicknames?" he muttered.
They stood there in silence for a good dozen of seconds.
"So" he began. "What's going on pal?"
"Nothing, just not feeling like being in class right now" Takashi replied.
"Shouldn't be skipping classes bud" Ren added.
Takashi groaned.
"You're here to scold me like Takagi?"
Ren almost chuckled at this, yeah, of-course Saya went all rude mode on poor Takashi.
"I'm just saying; you could end up having to attend extra-classes or even worse, losing the year".
"Don't care right now" Takashi replied, Ren just shook his head. "Besides, aren't you skipping classes too?"
"Similar, but different" Rentaro replied immediately. "You're skipping classes because you're feeling some type of way, I'm skipping classes because I have an important thing to do in the staff room".
Plus, it was Shido Koichi's period and he didn't like that weirdo; he was Ren's Class, 3-A, advisor and the academy's track team coach, also a creep. Not to mention he spent more time glorifying himself, than actually giving classes. He wasn't missing anything important by skipping it. Also, Hirano mentioned he 'felt' that Shido encouraged other students to bully him, which honestly didn't surprise Rentaro, who had known for a long time that the man was as slimy as they come.
"Besides, am doing just fine in terms of grades, so I get to skip classes" he added. "Can you say the same?"
Takashi didn't seem to have a comeback to that.
Maybe he was being a little rude, inconsiderate even considering his friend's mood, but sometimes it was better to be straightforward and right now he was trying to hit Takashi with a reality check. How many weeks had it been since he had been acting like this? He was not trying to get him to forcefully 'get over it', he was just trying to make him get his shit together.
As down as he was feeling, he couldn't and shouldn't let it bring his entire life down.
"I just can't deal with it ok?!" Takashi actually replied, quite harshly.
Ren just stared and listened silently.
"They're always flirting and giggling and stuff in class and I sit right beside them" Takashi commented with annoyance. "Fuck that, am not dealing with that".
Ren just exhaled through his nose.
"Welp, wanna come with me to the staff room to request a change of seat? Maybe class?" he recommended.
"That actually doesn't sound bad" Takashi chuckled, his mood lightening a bit. "By the way, what's that important thing you have to do in the staff room anyway?"
Rentaro didn't lose a beat and with his free hand reached towards his back pocket and pulled out a sheet of paper that was folded in it. He gave it to Takashi who took it and read the content.
Takashi's eyes suddenly widened a bit.
"Really?" he said while turning his head towards Ren.
He then also seemed to notice that Ren had been carrying his bokken – although wrapped in a cloth – the whole time.
"Wow, good for you man" Takashi said, with a genuine happy tone and a smile. "Wondered all this time when you were going back".
"Thanks" Ren said while taking the sheet back and returning it to his back pocket.
"The ace returns huh?"
Ugh
"Don't call me that?"
"Why not, ace?"
"Stop it".
"C'mon ace".
"Shush".
"Why, ace?"
"Just stop".
"Ok ace".
"Ok Taka-chin".
…
"Alright I give up, just don't call me that".
"That's what I thought".
Ren chuckled and was soon joined in by Takashi.
'The Ace'
That's what they called him back in middle-school, when he was the captain of the kendo team and won tournaments for the school left and right.
He used to like it.
Not anymore.
Pretty average if you asked him.
"Well anyway, I'll be going to the staff room now" he announced. "Return to your class, listen to Rentaro-senpai, dear kouhai"
"Shut it".
Rentaro chuckled as he turned around and made his way to go down the stairs.
Or at least he planned to do that, but he stopped dead in his tracks when he heard a rather... metallic sound?
He quickly turned around and joined Takashi, who already had his eyes fixated on the cause of the sound.
Some random person was bumping himself against the school's doors entrance – which they could clearly see from the stairs – over and over and over again.
"Who is that clown?" Ren asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Dunno" his friend responded, clueless.
The man continued smacking himself against the door.
"He really won't stop" Takashi continued, dumbfounded by the situation. "A druggie?"
"Or a drunk-ass" Rentaro chipped in. "If it's a prank, then someone's gotta tell him it's not funny at all" what's funny about some idiot crashing against an iron door for a whole straight minute?
...
Ok maybe it was a bit funny.
They continued watching the guy, both dumfounded, until they noticed a group of professors making their way towards the entrance. To shoo the guy off, obviously.
He recognized despite the distance, the ping-pong club adviser Kyoko and the P.E teacher Tejima, the other two he couldn't recognize.
The female teacher then started talking although he couldn't hear her due to the distance.
The funny thing was that the random didn't stop what he was doing, in fact, he started doing it more aggressively.
He then noticed the P.E teacher approaching the guy, probably got fed-up of that random's bullshit. He proceeded to grab the guy from the collar of his shirt and pull him towards the door harshly, smacking him against it.
At this Ren smirked while throwing his arm around Takashi's shoulders.
"This about to get good" he said slightly chuckling, Takashi on the other hand just kept watching silently.
But then in a quick move both of them barely noticed, the random grabbed the teachers arm and bit it, apparently. Blood came out splashing from the teacher's arm as he screamed in pain, which were followed by the screams of the rest of the teachers.
"W-Wha…" Takashi couldn't even articulate properly.
"The fuck?!" was the only think Ren could say.
What in the hell had they just witnessed?
They both watched in confusion and horror as the teacher wiggled in pain on the ground for the next minute… until he stopped moving all together.
"Wait what?" Ren muttered.
He saw the female teacher kneel down beside him and shake him up, trying to make him react, with the other teachers close to him as well. But the teacher just didn't move.
"He's dead?!" Ren was in shock. "From that wound; a bite?!"
Ok the wound was bad and he had lost a lot of blood, but there was no way in hell a large adult male like Tejima was dying that quick from just that. What was going on?
It was about to get worse.
Next thing they know the supposedly dead teacher was moving again… he then grabbed the teacher, Kyoko, by the collar and bit her in the neck. More blood came out flying while the female teacher screamed in pain and agony.
"Oh, fuck you" Ren muttered under his breath while taking a couple of steps back.
It was already weird, but now? What the fuck was that?
Takashi, who was also staring at the whole thing in shock, suddenly turned around and darted towards the stairs.
"Hey Takashi!" Ren tried to stop his friend but it fell on deaf ears.
He then turned around to look at the scene once again.
The P.E teacher, or more like, what used to be the P.E teacher was still biting the female teacher, who had stopped moving at this point. The rest of the teachers had flown the scene horrified, as expected.
"Shit, shit" Ren reached into his pocket and pulled out his flip-phone and as quick as he could, dialed the police number and brought it to his ear. "C'mon, c'mon!" he waited for a couple of seconds, then…
"This is a recording. You have reached the 110 emergency line. All of our lines are busy at the moment, please be patient or call again later".
His mouth was now slightly opened in shock.
The lines were all busy.
How?
What the hell was going on?
He quickly turned around and went up the stairs, almost entering the school halls. But for a reason, just a feeling, he turned around and what he witnessed chilled him the core. The female teacher that was bitten, was now standing up and slowly making her way towards the school. Same thing had happened with the P.E teacher, but this just confirmed his suspicions. It was just like the movies… the dead were raising.
Fucking zombies? Really?
Someone wake him up. Now.
"Fuck!" he quickly ran away through the halls and came to stop once he noticed the male bathroom. He didn't think twice before entering and entering one of the stalls. He made sure to lock the door before looking through his phone again.
He tried calling the police again, but he was welcomed by the same result.
He then, without thinking about it, instinctively called Rika.
He held his breath and the phone rang.
Once
Twice
Thrice
"Ren! Are you okay?!"
It was Rika's voice.
A sense of relief took over his body momentarily.
But he then quickly remembered what was happening.
And then it hit him.
She picked up the phone and immediately asked if he was okay. What?
"Ren, are you there?!"
"Y-Yeah am here" he managed to mutter.
"Are you ok?"
"Yeah… listen, some really fucked up shit is happening right now at the school".
"I know"
Ok good… wait. She knew?
"Listen Ren, I don't have much time. Only thing I can tell you is that, whatever you saw, it was real… it's just like the movies… this is really happening!".
A part of him already knew it, but it didn't make it less ridiculous after Rika confirmed it to him.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me…"
"I wish I was!" she shouted. "Listen to me Ren!"
He did just that.
"Protect yourself at all cost, go get Shizuka, go home, get the guns from my locker and get safe. Don't worry, don't ask, just do it".
He barely could process all of it.
"Ok" he managed to reply while holding his breath.
"Ok" she replied back while sighing, he then heard some ruckus in the background and Rika talking to someone else which he listened to silently for a couple of seconds. "Listen, I have to go, please Ren, please, take care of yourself" he could hear immense worry in her voice.
"I will" he replied.
"Don't die".
"I will not".
This was really happening.
Holy shit.
"Good" she muttered. "I gotta go now, am sorry… love you Ren".
"Love you too Rika".
The call ended.
Ren brought his hand to his forehead as he exhaled through his mouth. He was sweating bullets at the moment.
Ok, he had to get Shizuka, go home and get the guns? Rika actually gave him a green light to grab and obviously use the guns she had in her room?
Just how bad was the situation?
"Ok, let's just take a moment".
People were biting each other and rising from the dead just like in the movies.
The police phone line was busy in its entirety.
Rika told him to go back home and get the guns she had in her room.
Alright, it was official.
Shit was fucked.
Suddenly, he could hear the school speaker go off.
It was making an announcement to all students, about having to listen to their teachers, keep calm and move out in order. But whoever was making the announcement got roughly cut off.
"No wait! Get away! Get away from me! No! NOO!"
Next thing he heard were a bunch of agonizing screams, screams that belonged to a person that was being murdered in cold blood.
"Oh shit".
Ren knew what was coming and he could only gulp down some saliva and wait in silence before it happened.
Then it did.
The sound of a human stampede.
An explosion of screams that ranged between panic, fear and pain for those who were being trampled to death.
He could literally feel the ground below him shaking. It was something he was never going to forget.
"Fuck's sake" he whispered. A couple of seconds passed and the noise simmered down a bit, but he could still hear it in the distance.
He took a deep breath, rolled up his sleeves a bit and started unwrapping the cloth from around his bokken – he had to be ready – after finishing he took a good look at his now best friend considering the situation. Ren then took a deep breath, before unlocking the door; he slowly opened it, and couldn't help but cringe a little when the door creaked, then slowly started making his way towards the bathroom's exit. He poked his head out for a bit, checking his left and right. All clear.
He took another deep breath, making his mind go through a quick reminder about what he had to do next.
Protect himself at all costs.
Go get Shizuka.
Go home.
Get Rika's guns.
Don't get bitten.
He was going to make sure to follow that plan, but he had to add something else.
Make sure his friends are fine.
Takashi was with him just a couple of minutes ago; if he had to guess he darted towards his classroom to get Rei; Ren hoped that despite the panic Takashi at least stopped to also warn Saya and Hisashi. Now that he thought about it, Hirano was in that very same class. He hoped none of them were caught in the stampede and were safe somewhere. He knew Takashi was able to defend himself, Rei also could too, she was part of the academy's spear club. He also remembered Hisashi commenting to him about having a black belt in karate; he just hoped he wasn't planning on getting up-close and personal with those monsters. Saya on the other hand, although she was part of the swimming club, still was average physically-wise speaking, but also a highly intelligent person, so he was confident that she could figure out a way to get herself safe. Hirano on the other hand he was very worried about, at first sight he was clearly not only very short but very out of shape; unless he somehow got his hands on a gun Ren didn't feel tranquil about his safety. Shizuka on the other hand must have been in the nurse's office and he hoped she was still there, safe. He also remembered Morita and Imamura, same as the rest, he had no idea where they could be. Lastly there was Busujima Saeko; she certainly knew how to take care of herself, but still, he hoped she was doing ok.
Ok, to the nurse's office. That was the plan. Hopefully he could come across one of his friends while on his way there.
As quietly as he could, he exited the bathroom and started moving through the hallways. He still could hear all sorts of screams in the background but so far, not one close to him. As kept on walking he heard more screams, this time closer to him and loud footsteps. He watched as two students appeared from a corner, in full panic mode and ran past him, completely ignoring him.
They were running away from something.
He continued his path and then, after taking a turn, he spotted two figures. A male and a female student… or at least what used to be students. He didn't have to think twice to know that those weren't normal people anymore, but 2 of them now. Both were facing him and slowly making their way toward his direction.
He quickly gripped his bokken with both hands and took a traditional kendo stance.
"Don't fucking try me".
He stared at them for a couple of seconds, preparing himself, until he heard a loud scream. It was coming from the outside and he was sure it was coming from a female. He didn't feel like staring outside through the window of-course, since there were two of them in front of him… who shortly after, decided to ignore him and walked towards the side of the hallway where the windows were at.
…
Wait what?
…
They couldn't see him?
He then watched as they walked or more like, attempted to walk through the windows and kept hitting their heads against them, like they were trying to go towards the origin of the noise. Just after a few seconds the scream died down and the zombies just stood there with their faces against the glass.
Interesting.
While holding his bokken with one hand, with the tip, he hit the ground slightly, creating noise and as soon as it happened, they turned towards him and moved once again.
"I see" he muttered and couldn't help but to smirk a little bit at the important piece of information that he had just discovered about them.
They reacted to sounds.
Now that he remembered, he had learned that hearing was the last sense to go, while in the dying process.
"Alright" he muttered before cracking his neck and rolling his shoulders. "Here we go".
He couldn't stop himself from noticing the adrenaline rush that took over his body.
He darted towards them and in just a second he was right at their front. The female who was slightly ahead of the male one extended her arms towards him but before it could do anything, he had already landed a kick to its gut, sending it back sliding through the ground by a couple of feet. He quickly took a fighting stance back, but now instead of the traditional classic kendo stance, he took one simulating as if he had just sheathed a sword, a bokken in this case. It was an iaido stance, for quick-drawing sword techniques.
"Let's just go for the head".
With a quick move, he struck the zombie right at the side of the head, sending it flying directly towards the wall at his right, which got painted in red shortly after by the blood splattered. Still on alert, he stared at the zombie on the floor for a couple of seconds. There was no response, nor any kind of movement. It was dead… or well, it was dead dead now.
He quickly shifted his attention toward the other zombie that he had kicked, who was still trying to stand from the ground.
"Alright, you and me now" he whispered as he slowly walked towards the zombie, ready to crush its skull.
He tensed after hearing some moaning coming from his right; then he realized, he was now right in front of a door that belonged to a classroom, which was opened, where a zombie emerged from, with his arms extended towards him.
By pure instinct, he grabbed the zombie by the wrist and with all the force he could muster, he drove it right through the window next to him, breaking it in the process and throwing it off the building.
He heard a loud thud – coming from the zombie hitting the ground – but didn't bother to look. He went to pick up his bokken, that he had dropped after all of that.
"Sneaky bastard".
Then he heard more moaning close to him.
He swiftly turned to his side, to catch the remaining zombie, the one he had kicked, lunging itself at him. He quickly jumped back and once again with a strike to the side of the head, he sent the undead flying, this time, to the left, where its head hit a window, cracking it before it fell to the ground.
He stared at it for a couple of seconds and same as the other, no response.
Aiming for the head was the answer, clearly. And he did not plan to try other methods any time soon.
He then heard some more moaning close to him… way to close.
"Oh for fuck sake".
He turned his head around; it was another one coming out through the same door the first one did, and this time, he couldn't react as fast as he wanted. It was way too close. It launched itself towards him and the best way he could react was by raising his bokken with both hands on each of the wooden sword's ends, which stopped the zombie's jaws from reaching him, since it was now biting on the wood.
"Fucking bitch" he muttered under his breath, clearly struggling. It had caught him by surprise, not only the attack, but also the crazy strength and grip the thing had; more surprisingly considering that the zombie was, or more like used to be, a female barely taller than Saya, with a slim build.
Rentaro was a healthy, slightly larger than average 18-year-old, that frequently worked out and had an athletic build; yet right now he was struggling immensely against a much smaller opponent.
It kept biting on his bokken and it was pushing its head forward, towards him, with such force, that it was slowly ripping its cheeks apart against the wooden object. Rentaro gritted his teeth and with all his might twisted the bokken which produced a horrible sound; the zombie's jaw was broken. Rentaro then quickly shoved it off him with a help from a knee to the gut. It slowly tumbled backwards, but before it could even hit the floor, Rentaro had already brought his bokken down, right at the top of its head, finishing it instantly.
As he watched it hit the floor with blood pouring out of its head, he exhaled loudly through his mouth while wiping some sweat from his temple.
"Zombitch" he muttered under his breath.
He had to admit, despite the situation, that that was a good one. He would definitely use it later.
Anyway, that had been crazy.
He was caught off-guard twice; he survived, but still.
"That was not the best of starts" he thought. "Let's try to never end up in this kind of situation ever again".
He then mentally made a quick reminder of what he had learned about them.
They reacted only to noise, seemingly.
Their balance and overall movements were slow and clumsy.
They had a strong grip.
Which meant he had to try and follow some rules.
Make as little noise as possible.
Do not let them get too close nor grab you.
Do not engage in a 'fight' with all of them; walking fast seemed to be enough to leave them behind, also, a push seemed just enough to make them trip out of your way.
They also smelled really bad, and had horrible breath, but not that important. Not surprising since they were dead after all. Undead.
Also quick note to himself; always check your surroundings. He was not dealing with another zombie randomly popping out from a door or corner, again, ever.
Ren then slightly swung his bokken a couple of times while standing still. He still had it in him after 3 years, his moves were more powerful now and even faster, but not as clean or as accurate as in the past, he was a bit rusty after all. He then finally noticed the familiar sensation going through his body, he could feel his heart pumping like crazy and how the blood rushed through his veins. He raised his hand and looked at it while closing and opening it repeatedly.
"Really, now?"
He took a deep breath before he started moving through the halls again, trying to ignore the sensation. He still could hear random screams overall and panic in the distance; also the stench of blood in the air was more heavy now than ever.
But then one of the screams started becoming much clearer as he kept on walking, it was close to him, coming from the direction he was heading towards that had a turn to both the left and right, he also was pretty sure the scream was coming from the right. He sped up and once he reached the corner he peeked his head to catch a glimpse at what was happening.
"Now that I think about it, this is where my classroom is supposed to be".
There were three students and a professor, three of his classmates, and his class counselor, Shido. To Ren's frustration, two of his classmates were already being eaten by zombies, one each, and not moving anymore; meanwhile Shido and another classmate were side by side backing away from another zombie who was approaching them. He managed to identify his remaining classmate, a girl with black hair, pigtails and glasses, her name was Furukawa Nana, the class president.
He was absolutely not going to let her die of-course… there was also Shido whom he didn't give that much of a fuck about, but he was not going to let him die either, as much as he didn't like him, he was not that much of a cold-blooded bastard.
Just as he was about to pop out of the corner, he watched in both horror and disgust at how Shido cowardly pushed his classmate towards the zombie, using her as bait.
"Wait no-!" the girl tried to scream, clearly looking for an explanation. "Why-!" but it was too late, the zombie got a hold on her and sunk its teeth on her neck. Rentaro watched in pure shock as the girl screamed in pain and horror. To add to his disgust, Shido actually stared at the scene with a smug expression, he then fixed his collar and turned around to walk out of there and disappear out of sight after taking a turn, as tranquil as ever.
Ren stared at the scene incredulously. He was wishing for someone to come pinch him on a cheek or something.
"Fucking piece of shit" he muttered under his breath, reacting already too late but still running towards his classmate currently being attacked; but he still had to deal with the other two zombies before that one; as fast as he could he struck the two other zombies in the head while running and finally reaching on the one attacking Nana, with an accurate strike to the back of the head; as soon as he landed it, he grabbed the zombie by the collar and tossed its limp body back, away from him. Nana was about to fall on her back but Rentaro managed to catch her before that by grabbing her by the shoulder and waist, dropping his bokken in the process. He gently laid her down; he watched in horror as he noticed the wound on her neck; her throat had been almost completely ripped apart, it was an extremely gory sight that Rentaro couldn't help but watch silently, in horror. Her eyes were wide open and she was trembling while making slight noises, until she overall stopped moving, Rentaro knew immediately, she was gone.
He just kept staring at her, not exactly knowing how to react at what had just unraveled in front of his eyes. He then heard some footsteps approaching him.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me…"
"Sakata-kun, glad to see you're alive and well!" he heard a voice refer to him, in the fakest relieved voice he had ever heard. He didn't have to look to know who it was… it was a voice that even before this, he already was disgusted by.
"Is that Furukawa-san?" he said as he kneeled down next to him and gasped in shock. "This is horrible... everything is horrible. This is madness… she was so young. If only I could have arrived earlier…" asshole had the nerve to face-palm dramatically as he said this.
Rentaro felt his blood boil even more with each passing second.
"You seem to know to defend yourself, right?" he muttered in a low tone. "Quickly! We must get out of here, we shall work together to survive" he said as he stood up and had the audacity to actually extend his hand towards him, like he was some kind of savior. What a fucking snake.
Not only had he just killed his classmate, walked off like it was nothing and he was pretending he didn't, now he had come back to him, clearly trying to use him as a bodyguard or just a mere tool, after seeing that he took down 3 zombies rapidly; he probably noticed Ren after hearing all the ruckus while being not that far away. He just wanted to use him to save his own sorry-ass now, after he had just used his own student as bait.
But he had done fucked up; because he witnessed it all.
"Are you fucking dim?" Ren muttered.
"Hmm? I couldn't hear you Sakata-kun… anyway, quickly, we must-".
Rentaro was having none of it. He grabbed his bokken and stood up, then stared at Shido, with pure hatred in his eyes, who took a step back after this, noticing the teenager's obvious anger.
"S-Sakata-kun…? Something wro-?"
Before he could even finish, Rentaro grabbed his bokken with both hands, one at each end, and pressed it against Shido's throat, then pushed him back, slamming both his head and back against some hallway lockers that were behind him.
"Do not play with me you bastard" he told Shido angrily, venom in his voice. "I saw everything, you snake piece of shit… she was a good person!" Shido widened his eyes at this, clearly not expecting his slimy acts to backfire at him so quickly. Ren on the other hand did not know why he was saying all of this about her, it's not like Shido cared, he clearly didn't, but his emotions were a mess right now. He was also not lying; Furukawa Nana was a very kind person, always willing to help her classmates and always trying her best to make everyone's school life as enjoyable as possible; best class president one could ask for. And yet this piece of shit had just used her as human bait, her own teacher.
"Sa-Sakata-kun, p-please ca-calm down" Shido somehow managed to mutter, in a very raspy voice, thanks to the pressure on his throat.
"Calm down? I should just fucking kill you" he whispered angrily as he increased the pressure he had on Shido's throat. The man, with a fearful expression and clearly struggling, merely responded by trying to push Rentaro away, with his hands on the teenager's shoulder, but he was failing miserably. There was absolutely no way he could fight back against Rentaro. While Shido was as tall as him, he was built like a tooth-pick.
He continued with the pressure until he heard some moaning and grunts, he glanced to his left and noticed that the two classmates that had been attacked by zombies, were now rising, as part of them now. Rentaro released the pressure and grabbed Shido by the collar of his shirt, then proceeded to throw him aside roughly without any care, which ended up with Shido tripping, due to the force Ren used.
"Don't you fucking move" he warned him.
Ren ignored Shido's whining and prepared himself to deal with the zombies that were approaching him. He made quick work of them, striking each one in the head with his bokken, making them drop instantly to the floor. His eyes widened when he heard loud footsteps behind him. He turned his head around as fast as he could to witness Shido disappearing behind the same turn from before.
Snake ran away.
Ren was about to run after him but stopped dead on his tracks when he noticed the corpse of Nana finally rising. Ren bit his lip at this and readied his bokken; he took a deep breath before vowing his head lightly at the corpse, out of respect for his former classmate and with a quick swing, the corpse was once again, unmoving.
Ren looked at the turn once again, while gritting his teeth, his blood boiling. He hoped that asshole died eventually as soon as possible.
As much as he wanted to chase after him and feed him to them, he needed to move towards the infirmary.
"Next time I see him, he's fucking done".
He also had a very clear thing in mind now.
He not only had to watch himself from the undead from now on… but also from the living. As crazy as it seemed, there were still bigger monsters out there than them… and he had just witnessed one at work.
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ALRIGHTY, THAT WAS CHAPTER 1
And yeah… Shido's an asshole, but don't worry, Ren got his sights on that snake.
Once again hope y'll are enjoying the story so far. See you next time.
Have a good one!