Chapter 4: A Future Untold

The world is barren and rocky. The skies are green, illuminated so by the enormous comet approaching the planet with great speed, burning in green flames that foretell doom.

Freeze the world.

Save the world.

I hear its promise of power. To save me with powers of frost untold, that is the crown's promise.

It reaches for my head.

I want it.

However, the memory of what it made me do the last time I gave into that desire has not left my mind for a single second.

The crown nears my head, its flying to me. Still, using all the willpower that I can muster, I take that damnable desire of wearing it, and force it away. The crown shakes, and then falls to the ground, before disappearing into thin air.

Finally, I can allow myself to relax.

Finally, I can–

"—Gunter, no!"

Gunter? What's that? And whose voice is this? Before I can question it any further, darkness of unfathomable depth engulfs my being. The next moment, an intimidating, monstrous laughter echoes from beyond the dark.

My calmed heart, gripped by terror once more. This time, however, it's far greater, far more primal of a fear. It's on a level I've never felt before – as if my very existence is under threat of being undone.

I struggle to move, but to no avail. A force much beyond me has its hold over me. I keep struggling, but even that little resistance is put to a cease the moment it appears.

"It is not long now."

So says the monster, a being made of nothing but bone and dead skin. Having watched various fantasy-themed anime and games of a similar genre, I recognize the creature as an undead being, a lich.

The green flickers within the monster's empty eye sockets, they are of the same dangerous hue as the comet from before.

Is this the crown's purpose? To stop this monster from destroying the world?

I don't understand anything. Or, perhaps, somewhere deep down I do know, and am merely afraid of what it all means?

"I will lead a great and terrible army. We will sail to a billion worlds, until all life has been extinguished."

In an instant the monster reaches me, and grabs hold of my neck.

"!?"

I want to scream, I want to beg for forgiveness, for the creature to spare my life. However, those green flames serving as the creature's eyes, gazing within my own, tell me the truth. No matter what I say, no matter what I do, the creature would not have it any other way.

It wants me dead.

It wants everyone dead.

"Your end is certain, child."

That chilling voice. That aura of absolute certainty. How could some measly crown, no matter its power, stand in this creature's wake? I can't fathom it. Even if I had the power to topple the world under my heel as the crown promises, I can never imagine it.

I want to run away.

Then, there is darkness.

Light returns to my eyes. Looking around, I notice that I have been sleeping on one of the seats in the bus.

(Was I... dreaming of something important just now?)

I can't exactly remember.

Although dreams are usually nothing to fuss over, this one felt different. Like a message for the future, a warning of sorts. I struggle a bit but can't find it in me to remember the details. Only one thing is certain, the dream includes the crown, and untold danger sending shivers down my spine.

"Oh well..."

Turning my gaze to my left, I meet the window. Outside, I see that we are still driving. The sun is still up, meaning I've slept for no longer than an hour or two.

When did I fall asleep, I wonder? All I remember is getting into the bus and driving off at the last possible second. Did fighting the zombies exhaust me so? Perhaps, I did smash a ton of heads that were once those of normal humans. Any teenager having lived a mundane, normal life up till now would meet such mental fatigue eventually.

In any case, I need to assess the situation.

"Mmm... Hikigaya-kun..." a soft voice from my right, mere centimeters from my ear, whispers so in a soft voice.

"Wha-!?"

I turn to my right in shock. What I find there - a girl with long black hair is resting her head on my shoulder, sleeping.

(This is... Yukko, right? What was her family name again?)

It is impolite to call strangers by their first name in Japan. However, the fault here lies with the sleeping girl herself. Sagami had introduced her by her given name alone, and she had not cared to add her surname. However, all of us, with the exception of Iroha-san and Hiratsuka-sensei are classmates, so it is only natural that we would be aware of her full name.

Unfortunately, I had never cared to remember hers. Heck, I had forgotten we were in the same class due to how little I care about my classmates.

Perhaps the fault here lies with me.

In any case, worrying about it now is pointless. It's not as if I plan to stick around this group for longer than necessary.

Also, why is she sleeping next to me?

(Weird.)

I must admit it though, despite being a member of the clique of bitches, she looks rather cute in her sleep. It's been a long day, trying to not wake her up, I softly free my shoulder from beneath her chin.

Is she pouting? Damn, that's cute.

With my shoulder finally freed, I stand up and look around. The girls and most of the guys are all sleeping. The only ones awake now are Hiratsuka-sensei who is too busy driving to notice me, and Yamato and Tobe who are both busy chatting right now.

Not caring for whatever their conversation entails, I move towards Hiratsuka-sensei.

"Hm? Ah, finally awake, I see. Huh, Hikigaya?"

Huuuh? How did she - ah, right, the mirror.

"Yeah. Aren't you tired, too?"

"It's obvious, isn't it? Unfortunately, I'm the most experienced driver here. We can't risk switching roles, and stopping to rest here is too dangerous."

"By the way... where are we exactly?"

Seeing the worry on my face, she responds with a reassuring tone. She ought to have noticed my unease about leaving Chiba, my family is still here after all.

"Don't worry. We're still in Chiba. There's a place I have in mind, but seeing as the main road has been blocked, I had to take a detour. Luckily, the zombies aren't fast or smart enough to stop us. Though we are almost out of gas, it's not that bad of news seeing as we'll soon reach our destination."

I raise a brow at that.

"Destination? Where are we going, sensei? Are you sure it's safe?"

"Wow, wow. Calm down with the questions, kid. Don't worry, it's a place I know very well. At most, we might encounter a dozen of those things, nothing we can't handle with proper preparations."

Even one zombie has me on the edge, and she says a dozen is nothing to worry about?

(Besides... I can't wait that long. I was an idiot to fall asleep. I need to get to Komachi!)

"Sensei, please stop the car."

To say her reaction was calm would be a lie. She looked at me as though I had grown a second head.

"Are you an idiot? Why would we stop here? We are yet to reach safety!"

"I already messed up by falling asleep earlier. I need to get home to my sister as soon as possible."

"Hikigaya, listen-!"

"—No! There's nothing you can say to change my mind! Either you stop the car right now and let me out of here, or I will stop it myself!"

I've wasted too much time as is! My little sister is alone at home with a cold, while there are literal zombies roaming around everywhere! What if they break into the house and find her!?

She'll be completely defenseless!

"You fool! How do you expect to get to her by yourself!? If you haven't noticed, the world is now full of zombies! What will you if you encounter a swarm of those things!"

"G, guys! Calm down!"

Running to us, Yamato and Tobe urge us to calm down. Turning around, I see that our argument has awoken the rest of the group as well.

As they question what is going on, Hiratsuka-sensei drops the bombshell.

"Hikigaya wants to leave the bus."

"What!?"

"You crazy?"

"What are you thinking, sempai!?"

In the face of those shouts, I remain unmoved. The one person that has always had my back, I am not about to lose her!

"Shut up. I'm going. Sensei, my threat still stands. Do you want this to get ugly?"

She looks me dead in the eye. Faced with my unwavering conviction, she clicks her tongue.

"Tch. As you wish."

"Senpai!?"

"Hikigaya-kun!?"

The two girls that exclaim this, they're Iroha and Yukko. I ignore them.

Once the bus stops and I confirm that there are no zombies outside, sensei opens the door.

"Hikigaya... are you sure about this?"

Rushing out of the bus, without turning back, I answer with an iron will.

"Absolutely."

Senpai.

I do not know anything about him. Looking back, I've seen him around a couple of times during my first semester before summer break. However, besides thinking of him as some creep, I've never spared much more though to him.

Until today came.

I was on my way to the student council room to check some things with the president of the student council, Meguri-senpai, concerning the soccer club I work as a manager for, when out of nowhere, a boy covered in blood and bite marks attacked me. At first I thought it was some dumb prank, but then the growls and lifeless eyes came, and it clicket.

It was a zombie.

I desperately tried to fight it off, but to no success.

As I was about to get bitten, senpai arrived and saved my life.

Honestly, to say my heart skipped a beat would be an understatement. However, even more than that, I realize now that I owe him a debt.

And now that senpai is running away, to what surely amounts to certain death.

Honestly, we don't even know each other, like, at all! So, why... why did I do such a thing!?

"Iroha!?" I leave Hiratsuka-sensei's voice behind as I run with all the strength I can muster.

Before I know it, my legs take me out of the bus, and now I am running after senpai.

Only one thought shoots through my mind right now.

(What am I doing!?)