Self-beta so if anyone finds an error, please do tell me about it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Guilty Crown or any of it's characters and story plot/arcs. What i do own is my ideas if any, that are incorporated into the fic and the few changes that I've made.
I'm starting to think that this story isn't interesting anymore considering the lack of comments/reviews concerning how bad/good a chapter is despite the amount of people actually viewing the chapter. Or perhaps were the changes not to your liking? If so, do comment and tell me about it rather than keep silent... But just to have a sense of accomplishment, I'll post the rest of the chapters just for the sake of it...
Enjoy~ R&R~
Guilty Crown - Sins of an Emperor
Phase 16: Confession
Previously on Guilty Crown – Sins of an Emperor
I was about to retort when Yahiro said, "Don't you think this is what you can do right now?"
I let out a sigh and smiled as I said, "I guess… I don't really have a choice now do I?"
He shook his head and said, "Nope."
I felt a hand grabbing onto mine and I glanced to see Ayase had taken my hand in hers as she looked up and told me. "Don't worry; I'm sure you can be a great leader, Shu."
"Thanks Ayase, I guess I'll give it a shot."
I held her hand as I wondered… would I really be okay as a leader… I have to be… For all our sakes.
Scene: Student Council Room
P.O.V: Shu
After Arisa had made it official that I was to be the Student Council President…and after weeks of duty, Yahiro wanted to show me something and I went with him to the Student Council Room and… right now he is about to show me some plan that he thought of beforehand… He must've been really sure that he could make me leader if he planned in advance…
The projector showed a panel of student pictures and Yahiro began explaining.
"We'll rank all students on a scale of A to F based on their genomic resonance values and you, Shu, will reign over them."
My eyes widened, this is…
"You could call it a Void ranking system…"
The panel then shut down and Yahiro asked, "So, what do you think?"
I narrowed my eyes as I stared him, asking.
"Yahiro… do really think this is necessary? This is basically discrimination you know."
Yahiro shook his head in response. "This is not a plan to discriminate people rather it is one that gives them distinction to show that there is a difference and yes I believe this is necessary, with this plan at the very least there will be a chain of command and due to that, people will work harder to bring results… Finally with this, we'll be able to prioritize those Voids which are evidently stronger."
What! "I admit I didn't find the plan that bad until you pointed out the last part, really Yahiro? Prioritizing a select number of people just because of their Void's strength?"
Yahiro let out a sigh and explained, "We don't really have a choice, in the case of vaccine shortage… We'll at least have to give out the vaccines to those people who have Voids that are far useful with you as the number 1 priority."
I thought about it… in a way when Yahiro puts it that way, in these times, I can't really say that's a bad idea… but still…
I shook my head and told Yahiro, "Give me some time to think this through… I'll give you my answer tomorrow earliest."
Yahiro nodded and gave me a smile as he said, "I know it's hard to make these kinds of decisions but you have to think about our survival… Sometimes not everyone can be saved."
With that parting comment, I went down to the school ground after getting a safety helmet on and looked at the repairs that were being made on the damage that those people with the Endlave last time caused.
I looked around and nodded at the sight of the mini-cranes that we managed to get from a nearby construction site and saw that they were being put to good use when I heard people exclaiming.
"Whoa!"
"That girl's Void is really something!"
I looked to the side just in time to see Hare releasing her Void from a previously broken spotlight… There were quite a lot of people around who watched the scene… The male students near me were watching and one of them commented, "I want her to heal me too…"
I went over and slapped his back as I smiled when he turned enraged only to be surprised to see me, evident when he exclaimed. "Ouma-Kaichou!"
"Shouldn't you to be working?"
They smiled nervously before saying that they had just remembered what they were doing and ran off after saying a frantic goodbye.
I simply shook my head with a smile at their antics but let it go since it wasn't anything serious and it was their first time seeing a Void in action after all…
"Earlier, you also healed my injury completely, thanks a lot!"
I turned back and saw that a female student had just thanked Hare and Hare simply shook her head with a smile and said that it was no problem.
The female student then looked down at her Void and commented, "Compared to you, my Void is just…"
She seemed disappointed at her Void, seeing that I made my way over as I began saying, "What's important is not your Void's strength but how you use it to help out. So don't feel down."
I then smiled as I continued, "Also, please keep up the good work."
I shouted the same line for all the students in the vicinity to here and they all gave positive answers. The female student smiled at me and thanked me before leaving to see if there were any places that she could use her Void.
I looked at her as she went off and thought… I wonder what rank would she be… Yahiro's Void ranking system…
I let out a sigh as I thought about it causing Hare to turn to me concerned, asking. "Shu… are you okay?"
I snapped out of my thoughts and faced her saying, "Yeah, I'm fine… just thinking about something."
She blinked before smiling and said, "Alright, but if you have anything you want to talk about, remember you can always go to Ayase or even me, okay?"
I gave her a nod with a smile before thanking her and with that she left to go repair other objects.
I gave the place one more look around before going off to the next area…
The next day
The following day was even more hectic… Yahiro had suggested and I agreed to have a general Void exam to record down everyone's Void and their possible uses. Yahiro had asked about my decision and I told him that I'll tell him later tonight…
We then had an assembly were I brought up future plans and our objective at the moment which was to gather sufficient vaccine supply and build up a barricade just in case of future attacks along with setting up a security team.
Amongst the people, I chose for the team… two of them were Sudou and Nanba because despite their misgivings, they were actually looking out for the school.
Finally to conclude, I set up groups which would scour the area for possible vaccine supply.
After that was done, I made my way over to the kitchen where I knew Ayase was and helped out…
As people began filling in and taking their meals, I noticed that Souta was kind of depressed for some reason and was about to ask what was wrong when I heard Sudou's voice saying.
"Security training has been so hardcore that it's made me extremely hungry!"
Security training… it was something that Yahiro and I decided to implement to allow the security team to gain more experience in using their Voids to defend themselves and fellow students…
But… I narrowed my eyes as I walked over and said before Tsugumi could retort…
"Sudou… you should know that it isn't good to cut lines despite how hungry you are, everyone has to line up."
He seemed surprised to see me and nervously chuckled as he apologized before moving over to the back of the line.
I let out a sigh as I apologized to the student that was pushed away earlier by Sudou, she said that it was okay and thanked me before I went over to help Ayase gather more plates for the students that were yet to come…
Placing another plate in my hands, I bent down and whispered, "Ayase… do you mind if we talked later on?"
She looked at me blinking for a moment before smiling and giving me a nod… with that we continued with our duties… With Inori placing the rice in bowls, Souta using his Void to open up cans, me helping out wherever I could and Tsugumi giving out the trays after placing the food.
After finishing with our kitchen duties for the day, Ayase and I went over to my room where I decided would be best to talk…
Closing the door behind me, I went over and sat on my bed as Ayase with my help, sat next to me as she asked, " So… What's wrong Shu?"
I closed my eyes as I thought about how I would tell her about the Void ranking system… and eventually decided to just go for it and see what she thought about it.
I explained to her about it and she kept quiet throughout the explanation.
Finishing, I asked. "What do you think? Should that system be enacted?"
She gave it a thought for awhile before answering, "I can understand your view in this… some people will indeed believe this to be discrimination despite what Yahiro says… but he does bring in some important points… I do think that with proper positions, people will have the motivation to work even harder… though there might be some who would dislike this system."
She then looked at me and asked, "What are you going to do, Shu?"
I looked at her for a moment before bringing her into a hug as I softly said, "I don't know… I know the merits of actually enacting this system… but I guess I'm afraid that with it, people will hate me for what I'm doing…"
She placed her arms around me as well as she soothingly told me, "It's okay, whatever you decide to do, I'll support you and don't forget, even if the whole world hates you. I'm still here aren't I?"
I chuckled a bit at that and held her more tightly as I thanked her. With that we spent the rest of the time in that position until I was called for a meeting with Yahiro about our progress. After telling her so, she got back into her wheelchair albeit not needing my help this time as it was close enough to the bed, I smiled at her progress with using her legs before kissing her and saying, "I'll see you later."
She smiled and we both went our separate ways, as I made my way to the Student Council Room, I looked out the window and thought about the wall enclosing this area…
The red line… as we students began calling was easily getting closer and closer to us…we've got to find a solution soon…
Arriving at the room, Yahiro was already there sorting through various documents before giving me our current status report and I grimaced as I read it...
Damn... Our plans aren't even half way done yet we're almost reaching dangerous levels with our vaccine supply... This is bad...
"That's why I told you to implement the Void ranking system..."
I must've thought out loud... I looked at Yahiro and he was looking through the files that we compiled with the information on every student's Void...
Seeing that he had my attention, he continued. "People work twice as hard when there is a clear hierarchy."
I looked back down on to the report in my hands and shook my head as I said, "At this point... I don't think I have a choice do I..."
Yahiro looked at me and I told him, "Alright, Yahiro, we'll go along with your Void ranking system."
He turned from the screen he was looking at and surprise was easily seen on his face as he asked, curious.
"Oh? And could you tell me what made you finally agree to it?"
I let out a sigh as I told him," Like I said, at this rate... I fear for what would happen to us... going on as we are now, we'll be risking not getting our plans finished...Faced with this risk... I'm not naïve enough to think that being stubborn just to sympathize with others while risking of the rest of the students is a good idea."
He seemed surprised at the thought I put into this as he muttered,"I see..."
He then asked once more for confirmation, "So... we'll enact the Void ranking system right away?"
I gave him a nod and with that we began finalizing the ranks for the system... I also thought of tomorrow, where I will be introducing the system to the students...
I just hope no severe incidents will occur...
After all the planning and finalizing of the system, we decided that we did all we could and decided to call it a day…
As we went our separate ways, I remembered that I hadn't eaten dinner yet, thus I changed destinations and headed for the cafeteria.
Upon arriving, I was surprised to see Ayase and my friends who helped out during lunch with the inclusion of Hare, eating by a table, though Souta seems to be missing from the group.
I then recalled that they were also tasked with helping out for dinner, so they were probably just done with that and everyone else had already gone back to bed…
I went over to the counter and grabbed a tray of the food they saved for me before heading over to where they were and sat down as Ayase asked.
"So, how did it go?"
I assumed she meant my meeting with Yahiro, I replied. "It was alright, I've decided to go along with the Void ranking system."
She nodded as she commented, "I see, th-"She was interrupted however when Tsugumi along with Hare asked.
"Void ranking system?"
I explained to them the basis of the system and they were both shocked but Tsugumi got out of hers first as she grinned saying.
"I'm surprised you actually want to go along with it." Hare was still silent up until Tsugumi had finished her comment.
"But Shu… isn't that discrimination?"
I let out a sigh as Inori came back before I began…
"I know that… but I really can't think of any other way, if we want our supplies to last until we eventually escape from this cage… This Void ranking system seems to be the only way until we get our supplies to a safe level…I guess, I'll just have to be cruel and bear with the snide remarks people will say about me during that period of time…"
I played around with my food not really wanting to eat having said what I did, we were all silent until Inori asked, "But Nii-san, this is what you've chosen to do right?"
I looked at her for a moment and gave a nod as I felt a hand over mine…. I turned to see Ayase smiling as she said, "Then we'll support you, even if the whole school hates you."
I looked at all of them and received a nod from a grinning Tsugumi while Hare simply smiled and nodded, Inori placed the pitcher of water onto the table before taking her seat as well and giving me a smile.
I thank god that I have these friends of mine… I wondered what I would ever do without them…
With that we once again began to eat in peaceful silence.
After we ate and washed the dishes, I decided that I wanted to go up to the roof to think while the girls decided to go back to their dorms…
Giving Ayase a kiss and bidding all of them goodnight, I made my way to the roof…
There I looked out at the red line and wondered… Am I really doing the right thing? Would everyone hate me because of what I was going to do? What would Gai do at this time…?
I shook my head as I chuckled, why am I even thinking about this… I've already decided that this was the only thing we could do right now… and no matter who would hate me, as long as I have my friends by my side, I'll get through… Gai is no longer with us and I'm not him, I could never be him anyways…
I gave the ominous red line one more look before heading back to the dorms.
Scene Change: Female dorm's bath
On their way from the cafeteria, the girls eventually decided to take a bath together, with the exception of Inori who decided that she was already tired and went to her room.
After gathering their essentials, Ayase, Tsugumi and Hare headed for the baths, as they entered the spacious room, they set down their things. Tsugumi and Hare went over to Ayase and was about to help her in when she stopped them and showed that she already could walk quite well and she went in on her own.
Surprised by this, Hare asked. "Oh my, Ayase your legs have already healed that well?"
Ayase smiled as she nodded while Hare then asked when did it get so well.
Ayase mentioned that it was just this morning when it was this well which Hare once again asked, "Then, is it already okay for you to stop using the wheelchair?"
Ayase thought about it for a moment, her legs were really getting better and quick… They didn't seem to feel strained any longer and with that in mind, she said.
"I guess it is, though I'm still going to use that chair, just a bit longer."
This caused Hare to be confused, evident when she asked. "But, wouldn't it be good to show Shu that your legs already are mostly healed? He's still probably worried about them."
Before Ayase could give her reasoning on why she wanted to use the wheelchair a bit longer despite not really needing it anymore.
Tsugumi shook her head, as she and Hare sank into the bath as well. "Aya-nee must want to surprise Shu. Maybe she'll sneak behind his back and pat him on the shoulders causing him to turn and be surprised only to receive an even greater shock when she kisses him?"
Finishing with a sly grin causing Ayase to blush before she was about to begin retorting that assumption… Tsugumi's grin grew larger as she said, "Don't deny it, Aya-nee. I'm sure you've thought of doing that to show."
Ayase's mouth just snapped shut as she really couldn't deny such thing so she simply resorted to grumbling about nosy friends and their assumptions, though the blush on her face showed that she didn't really mean it.
Hare watched this interaction with a smile on her face as she addressed Ayase, "I'm glad that you and Shu are happy together…"
That seemed to bring up a topic that Ayase wanted to talk about as she said, "That's right… Hare, you've also mentioned that you liked Shu right?"
That caught Tsugumi's attention as well just as she began applying shampoo on her hair. "What's this? Ayase already has a rival fighting for her man?"
This caused Hare to blush as she shook her head frantically, "No, no, while it's true that I've feelings for Shu, I'm truly glad that he and Ayase got together… I might be a bit sad that I wasn't me but as long as Shu is happy, I truly believe I can move on…"
Hare then took Ayase's hands and held them as she looked her in the eye before saying, "That's why, you'd better remember what I said back then in the classroom, or else."
Ayase gave her a nod and with that Hare smiled while Tsugumi just looked at them confused not knowing what happened.
The night continued on, with Tsugumi asking about what they talked about and so on before they got out and headed to their rooms and feel asleep.
"Shu… No matter what may happen in the future, I won't ever let you go…"
The next day
P.O.V: Shu
First thing I did was go about the school patrolling and checking up on the repairs that were still being done… On my way towards the Student Council Room, I met up with Souta and asked him to walk and talk with me for awhile.
As we made our way to the benches next to the school, I told him about the Void ranking system and wanted to know what he thought about it… His reaction… was expected.
"How could you even think of doing that? That's discrimination, you know!"
I let out a sigh and was thankful that no one was around; I really didn't want rumors to spread before I could announce it officially.
I faced Souta as I told him, "I've got no other choice, Souta… If I don't go along with this… Our vaccine supply won't be able to last and our progress with escaping this cage won't move at all…"
That apparently wasn't enough for Souta as he left while I looked at his back wondering… why he seemed so angry… even if he felt that it was discrimination, I could hear the rage in his voice…
I continued wondering as I once again made my way to the Student Council Room; there I saw Yahiro, Arisa and Kanon sitting by the table looking over stacks of papers.
Yahiro noticed me as I entered and stood up with a worried face as he informed, "Shu, apparently our vaccine supplies were lower than we expected!"
Alarmed, I asked how low they were and how long would they last. The information I received in return wasn't good at all…
With a grim expression on my face, I said, "Alright… I guess we can't really delay it any longer. We'll announce the Void ranking system tonight before dinner."
Yahiro suddenly grabbed a stack of papers and with a serious expression on his face he said, "Before you go ahead with that decision, I want you to take a look at the ranks that were given to each student that had taken part in the Void examination.
I looked through the list and was surprised to see Souta being in Rank F… the rank with the lowest priority… I closed my eyes in resignation and after briefly looking through the rest of the list. I turned to Yahiro and said, "I have no complaints, we'll go ahead with my decision tonight."
With that we worked to prepare for everything and I hoped that Tsugumi, who was tasked with finding out where the Ghost unit's operators were at, will be able to figure it out soon…
After working out the rest of the details such as Yahiro's plan of creating a secret service group that apparently directly listened to my orders… and sorting through the lower ranks into groups that would look around for places with possible vaccine supply or weapons that could be used against the Endlaves… We decided to take a break and headed out of the Student Council Room as the people who were tasked with cleaning the room for the day came in and began their duty.
I decided to go back patrolling for the moment and if I had stayed by a while longer, I would've heard a gasp from the Student Council Room and a girl running out with a stack of papers in her hands.
Scene Change: With the girl amongst a group of people behind the school building.
"This can't be true!"
The girl showing the stack of papers containing the list of members of each rank gave a worried nod saying, "It is! I found it while I was cleaning the Student Council Room."
A gruff male student looked at the list as he commented about why they were worried about this 'list'
"But we're all in the lowest rank! Just what is this Void ranking system?"
Souta, who was currently holding on to the list, clenched his fist as he mumbled, "Shu…"
Scene Change: Back with Shu who was just going down the stairs.
P.O.V: Shu
Thankfully, there weren't any issues at the areas I checked, I finally reached the bottom of the flight of stairs I was descending from and was surprised to hear someone call out my name.
"Shu…"
I faced forward and saw that Souta was in front of a group of student that included two males aside from Souta and two female students.
They all had a solemn expression on their faces which caused me to wonder what had happened… I replied with a tilt of my head.
"Yes? Is there anything wrong?"
Souta seemed to hesitate for a moment, while the rest of the students who were behind him simply looked on worriedly…
After seemingly getting his wits together, Souta finally said, "Listen… We have a favour to ask…"
Oh? "What is it?"
He gave me a serious stare as he proclaimed, "Will you draw out our Voids?"
I wondered what this was about as I narrowed my eyes saying, "What do you need them for?"
Souta stared back unflinchingly as he replied with conviction. "We want to practice."
I couldn't help but be confused as I asked, "Souta, why do all of you want to practice all of a sudden?"
Souta looked to the side as he replied, "My Void was useful when you used it, wasn't it?" He then looked down as he continued, "But when I use it, all I can do is open cans…" He clenched his fists, "With a little practice, I know I can get better."
I frowned… somehow what Souta said seemed as if he wasn't saying everything but It wasn't like I couldn't understand what he was going through…I looked at each and every one of them as I asked, " I assume you all feel that way too?"
Receiving nods and seeing I was taking the time to think, Souta pleaded, "Come on, Shu!" With that, the rest of them also pleaded along with Souta.
I couldn't help but feel as if they seemed a little too desperate to train but eventually let it go and drew each and every one of their Voids...
After handing each of them their Voids, I asked, "Want me to come along? Maybe I could give suggestions"
This seemed to make them uncomfortable which caused me to wonder what they were up to… As Souta said, "Ah, its okay Shu, we want to surprise you when we show our progress later on, right guys?"
The last part was directed to the group accompanying him and they all had worried looks that they were failing to hide as they lamely replied with words of agreement…
Hiding a frown, I gave them a small smile as I said, "I see… in that case, please do be careful and don't overwork yourselves, alright?"
They nodded and thanked me once more before moving on, not noticing that I was staring at them as I grabbed my phone.
"Security team? I want you to monitor the perimeter around the school, just in case."
"President? Is there something wrong?"
I continued on with my patrolling as I answered, "Hopefully not, but just call it a hunch of mine."
"I-I see, understood, I'll relay it to the rest of the team."
"Thank you…"
With that in place, I made my way back to the Student Council Room and once again, people were already in there and as I entered, this time it was Arisa who greeted me.
"Ouma-kun, the backup list for the rankings is missing!"
I noticed Kanon wasn't present and recalled that she had her duties as part of the lookout for any hostiles or any activity from the Endlaves situated by the red line.
I wonder… I turned to Yahiro and asked, "Do you have a list of the people in charge of cleaning this room?"
He quirked a brow as he looked through a few stacks of paper and eventually passed me a piece of paper.
Reading it, I guessed right… one of the girls that were with Souta earlier was also the one in charge of cleaning this room today… Does that mean she's the one who took it? If so, what would.-…!
Souta… that girl… all of them were in Rank F… and they asked me for their Voids… But what were…
"Shu?..."
I was brought out my musing by Yahiro who asked what was wrong, I replied, "I might be wrong, but there might be a chance that the one in charge of cleaning this room today might have taken the-…"
I was interrupted by my phone ringing and as I excused myself for a moment, I answered it… it was Kanon…
"Shu, Souta and a few others just left the school wielding their Voids; I assume that you authorized this?"
What?! "I did not! ask th-" Before I could finish what I was saying, Yahiro's phone rang and he answered it… His face hardened due to whatever he heard which he then relayed to me…
"Shu… Tsugumi just found signatures of a squadron of Endlaves close to the school, near a hospital and that six Genomic signatures were found heading towards the direction of those Endlaves…"
My eyes widened before narrowing and speaking, "Kanon, please contact Ayase, Inori and two members of the Security, Nanba and Sudou and have them meet us by the entrance A.S.A.P!"
"U-Understood!" With that I hung up and turned to see the curious faces of Arisa and Yahiro, I quickly said, "Yahiro, please tell Tsugumi to have Fyu-Neru bring that military vehicle that barged into our school over to the main entrance, I just received news that Souta and a group of students from the F rank just left the school and are currently heading to a location that is filled with Endlaves, they tricked me into giving them their Voids insisting that they wanted to practice."
Yahiro's eyes widened while Arisa's hand went up to her mouth as she gasped, Yahiro wanted to say something but I stopped him with a glare, " I know what you want to say, that they're merely Rank F students, well the system still isn't in place so right now there are no ranks so shove it!"
His mouth snapped shut as he gave a reluctant nod as I began once more, " Alright, Yahiro you know what to do, after you've contacted Tsugumi, I want you to stay here and look out for the school while we head out to save Souta."
He gave a nod once more and I turned to Arisa and said, "Arisa, you're coming with us, we'll need you if we want to save all of them."
"Alright, Ouma-kun."
With that we left the Yahiro there all alone as he began relaying orders to Tsugumi who accepted them quickly and began executing them.
When we reached the main entrance, I was relieve to find that everyone else was there already but was surprised to see Ayase already standing on her own and I was about to ask but she simply shook her head telling me that this wasn't the time.
Knowing that I would get the answer to my question soon enough, I focused on the task at hand as we got into the vehicle that Tsugumi brought over pretty quickly.
When we all got in, Fyu-Neru controlled by Tsugumi, began driving as I turned to face all the others inside the vehicle.
"Alright, here's the situation, as of this moment, Souta and five students are currently heading towards their deaths." This caused quite the reaction but I wasn't done, "Their destination is the hospital that we are currently heading for and what's bad about that is that there is apparently a squad of Endlaves situated there at the moment…" I turned to face Fyu-Neru as I knew Tsugumi was listening as well so I asked, "Tsugumi, how many Endlaves are there?"
"Currently assessing… eig… no nine-… there are at least ten of them!"
As the group in the car let out sounds of surprise I was thinking franticly, why the fuck were there so many Endlaves situated in that particular area!... Don't tell me that someone planned for this to happen…
I shook my head, now is not the time to be thinking about this, I turned back and began speaking once more, " I know the numbers may seem a bit intimidating and there's probably reinforcements as well but don't lose hope, we've still got a way to fight remember? "
With that, after we reached a point that was safe for us to disembark and walk towards where Souta was, I began drawing out all their Voids, Ayase's prosthetic legs or maybe they're just greaves now… Nanba and his gloves that increase his overall strength, Sudou and his electric short sword, Arisa's shield and finally Inori's long sword….
After each of them other than Inori were holding their Voids, I paired them up, Sudou and Inori would go with Arisa to save Souta and his group while Ayase, Nanba and I would take care of the Endlaves, when Inori asked what was she going to use to fight.
Well... I gave her an RPG along with some grenades, she received gobsmacked looks when she lifted the RPG with easy which caused me to chuckle despite the situation, Tsugumi then announced that the Endlaves have fired, I quickly turned to them and gave them nods before we all took off.
When we made it to the area… I was surprised, that the Endlaves would actually go this far… the entire area was covered with bullet holes and cars were on fire… I looked around and shouted, "Souta!"
"Shu?" a voice came from our side and to my relief, the group who was still holding their Voids came out of the building they were hiding in… As we made our way over to them, my phone beeped and I quickly answered it to hear, 'Shu! Missiles are incoming on your spot!"
Hearing that, I quickly shouted, "Arisa! Place your shield and enlarge it in front of us now!"
Quickly doing so, she had just made it as the missiles impacted the shield and dematerializing into particles… Seeing that they had become a bit smarter, they aimed for the surrounding buildings and I quickly turned to them as I ordered, "Move now! Arisa, Sudou and Inori bring Souta and the rest back to the vehicle safely, while Ayase, Nanba and I take care of the Endlaves!"
Going through with my orders hastily, Arisa began herding Souta's group, leading them to where the vehicle was. With that, I turned to the two people who were still with me and said, "Be careful you two, don't do anything reckless."
"Alright, Shu."
"You worry too much, president…"
And with that, we headed into the fray and separated as soon as choppers began raining bullets at us… Nanba's enhanced speed due to wielding his Void allowed him to escape easily while Ayase took to the skies to take care of those choppers and I leaped over to the Endlave in front of me and quickly cleaved it in half.
Nanba's gloves and his enhanced strength and speed allowed him to dispatch an Endlave efficiently though I could see that a few bullets and blade swipes nearly got him. An explosion above me drew my attention and I saw a chopper crashing down to the group and assumed that Ayase took care of that one before I jumped away just as the spot I was standing exploded due to the missiles shot by three Endlaves…
Man… they must really want to kill me… though this isn't time for humorless jokes as I narrowed my eyes, and used the same ability I used back at the school festival to instantly place me over to where the three Endlaves were at and as they turned to point their guns at me, I quickly released a shockwave all around me using Inori's Void, slicing their guns and legs into two before leaping away as the Endlaves exploded.
I eventually took out four more Endlaves and Nanba managed to take out one more while Ayase took care of the remaining Choppers by drop kicking into their propellers causing them to crash.
As we regrouped, we heard a scream and looked at each other for a moment before dashing over to the source of the scream… When we got there… it was horrible, apparently one of the female students had tripped while they were sneaking past an Endlave causing that Endlave to notice and fire at her... Arisa noticed too late and Inori managed to destroy the Endlave before we arrived as the other female member screamed….
The girl that was shot… was being covered by crystals and I was about to shout Hare's name when my eyes widened… I can't believe I forgot to ask Hare to come… A person was dying due some unknown reason causing her to become crystallized faster and the only person whose Void could help was still at school… I didn't think this would happen… I watched in horror as the girl was held by her friend who was crying… the girl raised her hand that was partially covered with crystals and touched her friend's face before saying…
"Sorry…" and she was then totally crystallized… we were all silent as we watched her friend shed even more tears but our eyes widened when the crystal cracked and finally broke into pieces… Ayase went over and hugged the frantic friend who just lost her best friend while we all looked on solemnly… I then remembered where we were and quickly said, "Now's not the place, we've gotta get out of here, we better not risk in seeing whether or not GHQ will send even more Endlaves…"
Quickly realizing the truth in my statement, we all made our way back to the vehicle only to be surprised to see another vehicle right next to it… the door opened and I tensed up before my eyes widened once more as I shouted, seeing the person who stepped out of the car.
"DARYL?!"
And that's that for chapter 16...