The howling winds whipped the curtains back and forth as the atmosphere in the abandoned classroom was a bit too quiet for Oga's liking. He was standing at the entrance of class 3A also known as- Kanzaki's class. Oga realized that all the classes had no electricity so the fans or the lights could not be switched on.
" Damn it! It's not like I have X-ray vision or something like that. How the hell am I supposed to see what's in every classroom properly without the damn lights?" he thought to himself but he just stepped into class 3A and gagged.
" Eew! What the hell is that pungent and foul smell? I hope somebody didn't mistake this room for an open air toilet," he muttered under his breath but his shoe crunched softly as he tracked through a huge oval of dried blood.
" Bloody hell…" was all Oga could whisper as he gazed upon the few littered corpses of delinquents all whom had been savagely murdered and left to rot as the years rolled by.
Oga ran to one of the corpses who had a familiar face and he ran his head through his tussled black hair as he stared at the merciful face of Shiroyama. He had been eviscerated. His organs, still shimmering with bodily fluid, lay in disarray, as if they had been rummaged through to find a special prize- which might have been the heart ( He could see the half-eaten remains), or perhaps the intestines, which had been cleaved from his abdomen and wound about his head like a crown.
Oga felt the bile rise up his throat and he just vomited at the corner of the classroom, choking and trying to erase the gruesome image of Shiroyama's disemboweled corpse from his mind.
" Who or what could have done such a sadistic and cruel thing? What am I up against?" Oga thought in horror and the possibility of Hilda and Baby Beel surviving seemed to dwindle with each passing moment.
As he got up to leave the classroom, he saw a faint shadow slinking into the classroom and Oga prepared to fight. " Show yourself you demon!" he shouted as his voice echoed in the classroom.
The figure stopped slinking and revealed to be Natsume whose clothes were caked in dried blood. He bore the expression of pain and regret as he glanced down at his fallen friend, Shiroyama.
" Ah, Oga-chan. I would have thought you would be dead by now but at least you made it out alive. Don't tell me that you're the only one left," Natsume asked quietly but Oga shook his head.
" Kanzaki and Himekawa are with me. Each of them took one level to search for survivors to cover more ground and save time. Natsume, what actually happened to the place? Where's everybody?" Oga asked but Natsume just bit his lip and heaved a heavy sigh.
" Dead I'm afraid. If they aren't, they may possibly in the midst of dying or hiding somewhere in this school. How strange how everything can turn 360 degrees in just a blink on an eye. In the morning, we were going about our own business as usual but before you know it, demons and hellhounds start coming in and butchering every delinquent in sight. Oga, here is not the safest of places to be at the moment," Natsume said in distress.
" We have to look for survivors in order to find this guy. We need people, we need a group or else we'll all be killed in a heart beat," Oga said and Natsume gripped his shoulders in despair.
" Oga, you don't understand!" he said raising his voice but Oga just brushed his hands away and looked annoyed at him.
" Of course I don't understand what the hell is going on!" Oga retorted but Natsume just backed away from him.
" The people in this school that aren't dead…they are infected but just sleeping until it is time to feed ," Natsume said in distraught and Oga's eyes widened.
" Oh fucking hell….Kanzaki and Himekawa. Quick, we have to find them before it's too late. Stupid Himekawa suggesting such a dumb and brainless idea," Oga muttered ignoring the fact that he approved of the plan as well.
The two delinquents took the stairs down to the second level to find where Himekawa was before it was too late.
" Geez, I really miss my posse of lackeys right now. I wonder if they are still alive and missing me?" thought Himekawa as he came out of the second classroom.
" Nothing in these damn classrooms except corpses and cobwebs. I guess the murderers really take the leave no one alive policy really seriously. Such a shame I never got to know these people before they got killed. I wonder if the murderer will accept my generous offer to spare me in exchange for a million yen if we run into him," pondered Himekawa as he stepped into the last classroom.
" Hi…hi….himeka…Himekawa-san," coughed one of his lackeys propped up against a chair. Himekawa rushed to his side and pat him on the shoulder.
" Hey there, waiting for me to rescue you guys?" he grinned but the lackey just gave a weak smile and gestured to his left arm that was decapitated. He was slowly bleeding to death and there was nothing Himekawa could do to save him.
" Who did this do you and the others? Which son of a bitch cut off your arm and left you to bleed to death?" Himekawa calmly asked, his voice dangerously angry and menacing.
" Get out of this classroom now Himekawa-san before they do the same to you," the lackey mumbled before he finally succumbed to his injuries and his head dipped.
Himekawa heard a wet tearing sound that made his stomach lurch and he drew his electric baton cautiously and flipped the switch to illuminate the corner of the classroom.
He nearly dropped his baton in fright as he saw a few delinquents feasting and tearing large chunks of flesh from the decapitated lackey's arm. They stopped feasting and slowly looked up at him. Their malevolent yellow eyes riveted onto his face as if they were deciding whether he resembled a juicy steak while their mouths were glistening bright red from fresh arterial blood.
" I'm out of here so please continue enjoying your meal," Himekawa said nervously and inched slowly to the exit of the classroom but the infected delinquents cocked their heads towards him and slowly advanced to him.
The infected delinquents were a split second faster than he was and knocked him to the ground.
One of them grabbed his legs while the other knelt before him and licked his lips in anticipation.
" You don't want to eat me. I'm too rich and handsome to be eaten alive by my own classmates," he panicked but the infected just laughed at each other and traced the outline where his heart was with their long and sharp fingernails.
" Help me! Let me go! I'm telling you fools that you're in for a rude shock if you try to eat me. It will leave a bad taste in your smelly mouths," he warned but the infected student opened his crimson red mouth and gave Himekawa a glimpse of his razor sharp teeth and dived head first to where his heart was.
Himekawa stuck the end of the electrical baton into the infected delinquent's mouth and flipped the switch.
The room flashed bright blue as millions of volts of electricity ran through the infected delinquents head and singed its brain and tongue. The other infected student snarled tried to break the TKKH member's leg but Himekawa kicked the infected student in the groin and killed it with his baton.
Himekawa looked triumphant at the two dead delinquents and dusted himself. " I told you that you'll be sorry," he snickered.
" Himekawa! Answer me if you're still alive!" yelled Oga as he and Natsume searched every classroom for him.
" Shut your pie hole you idiot or else you'll wake the rest of them up. Natsume? Is that really you? I guess one survivor out of a hundred isn't that bad," Himekawa said to Oga sarcastically.
" Come on, we have to find Kanzaki before they get to him," Oga said and the trio rushed to the ground level and started yelling out his name.
" So zombies do exist, huh? Well, that makes it all the better for me now since I don't have to hold back of fear of killing them since they are already dead," Kanzaki grinned and dropped kick another infected delinquent which snapped its neck.
Kanzaki was already worn out from the lack of food, water and rest so the most he could handle were five of them not ten. Unfortunately for him, he was faced with the latter. He had taken down five but five still remained and were hell bent on tearing him form limb to limb.
" Damn it. Since you're all already dead, you guys don't get tired or sleepy," Kanzaki cursed and sent another infected delinquent sprawling with a kick to the chest.
The other delinquents encircled him and pinned him down and prepared to sink their teeth into him before a tall figure clicked his fingers and the infected delinquents slinked back into the shadows.
" Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in. I thought I killed everybody in this dump of school. Oh, well even the best of us make mistakes sometimes," the figure chuckled and Kanzaki spit a thick wad of blood at the figure's face which calmly evaded it and sent Kanzaki crashing into the wall with a shot of demonic energy from his palm.
" You bastard!," Kanzaki muttered as he wiped the blood from his mouth but the figure just look amused at the sherbet colored hair delinquent and sent him sprawling with a uppercut.
" Since I'm about to kill you and not infect you…I might as well tell you who I am since my secret will die with you," he throttled and hovered a few inches above the ground.
The figure stopped hovering and walked out of the shadows and into the light where he represented a lean and tall figure with fair skin, spiky blonde hair and body piercings. He wore slacks and a jacket over a shirt that had a dartboard where his pectoral muscle was. He picked up a crowbar from the ground and began beating Kanzaki with it.
" My name is Yohei Nasu and don't you forget that. Now, I'm actually working with someone else to destroy a certain young contractor called Oga Tatsumi. I'm sure you know him, I mean knew. Oops, I forgot that he probably died in his coma," Nasu laughed maniacally and summoned the infected delinquents once more.
They encircled the bloody and battered Kanzaki and prepared to pounce on him when Oga burst into the room and his eyes narrowed when he saw Nasu.
" You! What the hell are you doing here? Are you the one who is responsible for this whole mess?" Oga roared but Nasu just licked his lips and grinned at him.
" So you are alive after all. And you made it this far with survivors that I should have massacred this morni…..I mean when I had the chance," Nasu purred and Oga charged at him but Nasu merely dodged his rain of blows and sent him reeling with a punch to the stomach.
" Where is Hilda and Baby Beel?! What have you done to them? I swear to God if you lay one fucking hand on them, I'll rip you to pieces!," Oga roared once more and his friends look shocked at him. Oga had never been the one to show his emotions so easily and nobody ever saw the angry side of him.
" Just come and try it, you little punk. I'll be the one mounting your head on my wall as a trophy. As for the blonde maidservant and the green haired Baby, I think you're too late to save them," he chuckled but before he could antagonize Oga some more, Nasu found himself crashing into a row of tables as Oga's fist connected onto his cheek.
" Lucky shot , contractor. I would love to stay and chat and perhaps have the pleasure of decapitating you myself but I guess it's more fun to see you live in suffering as your wife and child are dead!" Nasu laughed and Oga boxed him once more.
" Shut the fuck up you bastard! She's not dead. You're lying. I will never let her be killed by the likes of you and I don't think she'll be so easy to subdue. You're lying just to scare me," Oga said and Nasu wiped the blood from his nose and sniffed.
" You deluded fool. Is this convincing enough?" Nasu snarled and tossed a black glove, the one Hilda wore towards Oga who caught it and inspected it.
" Don't mind the dried blood. I had to hack off her hand because she was getting a bit too frisky with my personnel," Nasu chided Oga who shook his head in disbelief.
" No….no,no,no NO! It can't be. She…..You're lying," Oga convinced himself but Nasu just punched Oga in the face and spiked him to the ground.
" That will teach you to piss me off. I love how Hilda screams when I slowly slit my knife across her neck and the warm blood sprays into my face. So exhilarating. I think her last words were " I love Oga" or something. Who knows? She was practically frothing in the mouth by the time I could hear her," Nasu shrugged and prepared to leave.
" Don't feel too bad. You can avenge her when we meet again and if you even find me," Nasu chuckled. " Please Nasu, please tell me that Hilda isn't dead…..I can't imagine…. That bitch means so much to me its unreal. I love her so much and I don't want to live with the guilt of failing to protect her. Hilda, I love you more than anything else in this world so please don't give up on me, " Oga whispered to himself as tears began rolling down his cheeks but Nasu just clicked his tongue.
" I wish I could but what's the point in lying to you if she's already dead. Well, see you real soon and no hard feelings, eh?" Nasu said and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Oga looked at the note from his pocket and tears began to splash on it and smudging the ink. " Hey Oga, you alright?" said Himekawa genuinely concerned and he gently pat his shoulder.
" Don't worry about that bastard. We'll kill him for sure but I'm sure your blonde wife is safe and sound. He just wants to demoralize you or even drive you to depression as a self-destructing way. I didn't know you loved her that much," he said gently.
" Yeah, you were always mouthing off about her and complaining that she pisses you off and you wished that she was back where she belonged, wherever the hell that is," chimed in Kanzaki who was looting the defeated infected delinquents.
Oga just silently got up and wiped the remaining tears that glistened in his eyes.
" Come on, we have to get out of here before more of them show up," said Oga and the others agreed. The four of them ran out of the school building and didn't turn back as they heard screeching and the sound of the moving of furniture coming from inside the school building.
" I guess its feeding time," Oga told them and Himekawa shuddered while Kanzaki pulled a disgusted face.
" Oga-chan, I forgot to mention this earlier and probably should have but during the chaos that ensued earlier this morning, I saw a blonde figure outside our school in the courtyard. It could have been Hilda," Natsume said and Oga just waved his hand dismissively.
" It's alright Natsume. You don't have to make up stories to get my hopes again because let's face it he probably has killed her already," Oga said as he tried to fight back the tears that were threatening to stream down his muddy face once more.
" Hey Oga, I think you should see this," Kanzaki called out from the courtyard and Oga and Natsume rushed over to him. Kanzaki pointed towards the mud and Oga's eyes widened.
" Hilda, you're still alive. I'm so glad," he whispered as he saw her vague shoe print embedded on the surface of the soft soil.
" I think she wanted you to come here so that she could give you something. It's like a clue you know," Himekawa suggested and Kanzaki nudged him.
" Spot on four-eyes," he grinned as they saw a cream colored enveloped sitting on the ledge of a window slightly above them.
" Oga-chan, I think I may be able to help you retrieve it since I didn't tell you this earlier and because I'm taller than you are," Natsume grinned and Oga propped Natsume until he could reach the window ledge.
" Can you reach it?" Oga called out from the bottom.
" Yes I can. I'll grab it and drop it down to you," Natsume called from above and a few seconds later, the cream colored envelope came dropping down and Kanzaki picked it up.
" Alright Natsume. Thanks for your help and slowly come down from the ledge so I can help you get down," called Oga from below.
As Natsume prepared to stand on Oga's shoulders, he heard a thumping noise from the other side of the window and he narrowed his eyes.
Before he could say anything, a big hand crashed through the window, grabbed his neck and pulled him inside the room. " Hey! Hold on!" shouted Natsume but it was too late as he was pulled into the room where a horde of infected delinquents began tearing him limb from limb and feasting on him.
The trio down below could only hear Nastume's final muffled screams before horrible wet tearing noises were heard from above before being replaced by chewing and gnawing sounds.
" No! Natsume, hold on!" Oga yelled in desperation but there was no answer and he punched the wall in frustration.
" He's gone Oga. There's nothing we can do," Kanzaki growled.
" Fuck! How could I have done that to him? I should have got tat letter myself instead of him doing it. I just killed my friend and the only survivor we had," yelled Oga in frustration and he began punching the wall repeatedly while Himekawa and Kanzaki said a silent prayer for Natsume.
" I guess our efforts were all in vain. It's still the three of us only," Himekawa groaned but Oga snatched the envelope form him and read the letter inside which was in Hilda's handwriting.
Oga, I have deduced who is behind it. It is Yohei Nasu who is working with another accomplice which I fear may be just as twisted and malevolent as he is. I'm not dead yet so please do not worry. Do not come looking for me as they will find out that they had killed the wrong person. Please stay safe and remember that you still mean a lot to the Young Master
Love: Hilda
Oga thanked God silently and he smiled at the last line. " By young master, you mean yourself Hilda. I'm guessing mean a lot is the same as love," Oga grinned.
" Don't worry Hilda, I'll come and find you and defeat Nasu once and for all. I was afraid that I wouldn't have a chance to say goodbye and tell you how much I cared for you," he thought and Himekawa waved a hand in front of his face.
" I hate to disturb your precious little reminiscence but we better get the hell out of here before we become zombie food," he urged and Oga stuffed the letter into his pocket.
" So…where the hell are we going now?" Kanzaki asked Oga as they walked out of the school gates.
Oga just stared into the sunset and narrowed his eyes. " To find the one person who can explain this all to us and help us out."
" The cops? Are you bloody kidding me?" Kanzaki groaned.
Oga shook his head.
" The mayor of Tokyo?" Himekawa guessed but Oga shook his head once more.
" We're going to Saint Ishiyama to find Zenjuro Saotome. He's the best chance we got at taking Nasu down and hopefully, he isn't dead by now," said Oga.
" Saotome sensei? What the hell can he do to help us?" Kanzaki said in disbelief but Oga just snickered.
" He can do a hell of a lot of stuff that I can't and I'm sure he would know who is behind this," Oga replied.
As the trio walked the empty street to the large and majestic building of St. Ishiyama, the sun began to set and Himekawa urged them to hurry up.
They found the school compound littered with the immolated corpses of hell hounds and demons accompanied by the burnt and barren surroundings where all the trees have been turned into ashes, suggesting a conflagration had just visited the school.
" Who the hell is inside that building that is fucking powerful enough to wipe out all these demons and leave such a crater in front of the school?" Kanzaki muttered.
" I sure hope he doesn't do the same to us?" Himekawa coughed nervously as Oga pushed open the door and the sight inside shocked him.
The entire student body was crouching on the ground and closing their eyes in fright. Some were crying, some were praying while some had raised their hands in supplication as a way of seeking forgiveness from the Almighty.
" Now, I'm definitely scared," Himekawa nudged Kanzaki but they just walked through the throngs of students.
Every eye was upon them as they made their way to the teacher's staffroom and suddenly, there was a lot of whispering and murmuring in the hallways.
They burst into the staffroom to find Zenjuro Saotome and the principal having an intense discussion but Saotome looked up and took another puff of his cigarette.
" Well, I'm sure glad as hell those mutts from the demon world didn't snap you up for breakfast yet. You must have gone through hell, you brat," Saotome mused as he saw Oga's tear stained face, bloodied clothes and disheveled hair.
" Ah, survivors. Kanzaki and Himekawa, what a pleasant surprise. Thank your lucky stars for if it wasn't for this idiot, you guys would still be languishing in your hiding place," he continued and the two delinquents rolled their eyes.
" Saotome, we need to talk about what the hell is going on here. Don't tell me today is still the seventh of May," Oga groaned as he saw Saotome glancing at his black Casio watch.
" Why shouldn't it? It's been only a few hours?" he looked surprised and Oga threw his hands up in the air in frustration.
" Nothing makes sense right now. It feels like I've been awake for a damn long time but it never gets dark or changes day. I was in a coma for a month only to discover that I'm still on the day I was ambushed and pre-coma. Suddenly, I find Tokyo a bloody wasteland overrun by demons and ugly creatures from the demon world," Oga ranted but Saotome punched his stomach and he doubled up.
" You should stop ranting and save your energy, kid. Unlike you, I've only been attacked this very morning. Initially, I wasn't troubled but I had to draw out slightly more power to finish them off," he said and continued smoking his cigarette.
" Tell me Oga, who is behind this? I have a strong feeling that Jabberwock is behind this but I also know that he is working with someone else," he said and Kanzaki finally stepped forward.
" Some douchebag named Yohei Nasu who wants to kill Oga," Kanzaki shrugged.
" Hmmm…..since that is his agenda, then his accomplice's agenda must be killing Hilda and Baby Beel right?" Himekawa looked thoughtfully at them.
" I suppose so but why destroy the whole of Tokyo?" Oga asked Saotome who ran his hand through his hair and massaged his temples.
" Obviously has an axe to grind with the citizens themselves. Who knows?" he said and threw his cigarette into an ashtray.
" So brat, where's the woman and the kid? Don't tell me that they already slaughtered them," Saotome said but he didn't press on as he saw Oga's sullen and angry face.
He tossed Saotome the note and the teacher's eyes scanned through the lines but his eyes narrowed and he crumpled up the note.
Oga looked startled and punched Saotome in the ribs. The teacher retaliated by kicking him in the gut and Oga gagged.
" You fool. This wasn't written by her. This is obviously edited to make it sound like her. If she was still alive, why leave all these letters to you. Why not just bring back up from the Demon world, huh? Nasu is one cunning fox. He wants you to step into his trap blindly," Saotome growled at Oga who was clutching his stomach in pain.
" That means they are both dead?" Himekawa asked quietly and Kanzaki bopped him on the head. " Shut the hell up and don't state the obvious," Kanzaki whispered to him.
Oga just buried his face into his hands and he slammed his fist into the wall. " So that means, she is dead?" Oga choked and sobbed.
Saotome just shook his head and lit up another cigarette. " Probably. Unless they decided to keep her as a hostage," he said and Oga stopped crying immediately.
" That's it. The note is a way of telling me that she is alive but being held hostage by Nasu and his accomplice . I should go looking for her and I mean a lot to them. In other words, I'm their main target," Oga said and Saotome gave a small chuckle.
" Then, what are you waiting for? Get your ass off the floor and go rescue your wife and son," he laughed but Oga just scowled at him. " Saotome, you have to come with us. We need you damn powers to kill this guy," Oga said but the bearded spell master just shook his head.
" Love to but I need to protect all the students and teachers here from more of those creepy things. But, I have a replacement for you," he grinned and led them to where a muscular, spiky orange haired guy was drinking a yogurty.
" How the hell did he get one? I want one too," Kanzaki muttered but Oga just glared at him.
" Tojo, since I have to stay here and protect the others, I want you to follow these three fellows and defeat some deranged demon hell bent on killing Oga," Saotome told him and left the room.
Tojo's ears pricked up and he eagerly spun around and cracked his knuckles. "Akumas? Where? I have a score to settle with those bastards," he grinned.
" Hell yeah we have Tojo to fight alongside us. Now, the chances of us getting killed are slimmer," Kanzaki said excitedly.
" Oga, do you even know where Nasu and Hilda are hiding?" Himekawa asked him and Saotome gave a small cough.
" I managed to squeeze that out of an underling before I killed him. Nasu's at Ishiyama Hospital. The place where you were in coma," Saotome said and Oga slapped his forehead.
" That explains why the nurses were butchered just as I woke up," Oga said.
" One more thing. About your whole same day theory. I've come up with a farfetched but possible explanation. We're all in your dream right now. Think about it, you in a coma, everything happens in the same day, Nobody from the outside knows about this, and most importantly, how you have the power to control what you were dreaming of even when you were in a coma which is impossible since your subconscious and mind shut down," Saotome said and everyone grew silent.
" That means that all this is not real? It's just a dream but then what's happened to me in real life?" Oga demanded to know but Himekawa looked pale at him and placed his hand on Oga's shoulder.
" In real life, you're still in a coma."
A/N Chapter 4 is coming up. I hope you guys liked this chapter and don't forget to drop your reviews in. Ps: If you read the manga, Yohei Nasu is a guy who wants to use Baby Beel's power for himself by getting rid of Oga