CHAPTER 6: “You’re being mean.”
“Masaomi!”
The spider monster that flew towards my face was shot down by a stone that Kazuki threw.
The hard sound of the spider falling to the ground brought me back to my senses.
The spider splattered its contents and fell to the ground, but it wasn’t fatally wounded, showing its torn belly and struggling desperately.
The sight of the eight-legged creature attempting to grasp the air was simply nauseating.
“Masaomi, let’s take this chance and leave!”
Kazuki’s voice sounds like a voice of salvation.
“O, Okay!”
I lined up next to Kazuki, looking at the struggling spider and the fallen teacher covered in blood.
“Hey! Wait a minute!”
Mutsuki-san ran into the school building chasing Sato, a member of the broadcasting club who ran away first.
“Please hurry! It’s getting crowded behind.”
The student council president followed the two while shouting disgusting insults.
“Masaomi, please lend me a hand.”
“Wi, with what?”
I was feeling fearful inside, thinking that the spider might get up and jump at me.
I want to run away right this instant.
Like Sato, the member of the broadcasting club, I want to run away first for my own safety.
Therefore, everyone who was here probably knew that my words just now were mixed with displeasure.
Kazuki sees through me and raises his voice.
“Mizuno-san is injured! We can run, but Mizuno-san…”
Mizuno-san pulls the sleeves of Kazuki who is furious.
“Uh, excuse me, I’m really okay! As you can see, I’m almost healed, see? “
She throws down her crutches and shows us a trot. Beads of sweat form on her forehead.
“Mizuno-san……”
I was seriously reflecting on myself.
When I looked at Kazuki, his anger had already subsided and he nodded at me.
“I’m sorry, Mizuno-san.”
I stand in front of Mizuno-san.
“Eh, eh?”
Mizuno-san doesn’t seem to understand anything, as she stares at me with wide eyes. Leaving Mizuno-san’s thoughts behind, I kneel in front of her with my back facing her.
“Quick, get on!”
“What, no way! I…… Masaomi-kun, that, getting piggybacked……such qualification……”
She covers her reddened face with both hands.
Kazuki was picking up her crutches.
“Mizuno-san, you should give up and get on quickly. Let’s escape quickly.”
“”If you’re not getting on then I will.”
Kana, who had been silent until now, suddenly stood behind Mizuno-san and whispers into her ear.
“Kana, shut up.”
I decisively cut her off.
“Only Mizuno-san, not fair. I want to ride on Masaomi’s back too. I want you to give me a piggyback ride, too.”
Kana easily cuts the thread of tension that had been tense until just now.
“Kana, if you’re fine with me――”
“No.”
Kazuki’s invitation was also cut off easily.
“And so, if Mizuno-san isn’t getting on then I’ll――”
“Mizuno Natsumi. I’m getting on.”
Mizuno-san declares loudly with clenched fists.
She’s red all the way to the base of her ears.
“Mizuno-san, are you okay? Doesn’t it hurt?”
“Ye, yes. I’m very happy!”
Mizuno-san leans closely against my back.
“I, I see. Then it’s fine.”
I’m confused by the unintended answer but, I put my strength into both feet and firmly take the first step.
“‘Lucky break’…… isn’t a phrase that should be said in this situation, is it?”
“Yes? Did you say anything?”
“No. It’s nothing.”
She laughs a little happily.
I knew that she was laughing from her breath.
In a situation where reality is dominated by fear, it made me regain my composure just like Kazuki’s scolding.
“Uh……This is”
On the other hand, something else then blew at me after the calmness. Come to think of it, thin arms are wrapped around my neck, and Mizuno-san’s small face is by my ear.
If I listen carefully, I can hear Mizuno-san breathing, and if I breathe IN, I will smell a sweet scent.
The many proofs that she’s a woman is making my chest spontaneously tightens.
“U, uhm, am I heavy? If so, I’ll get off.”
“You’re not heavy at all.”
I said, trying not to let her realize how blissful I am right now.
My head was already spinning at the warmth and softness that could be felt even through the uniform.
“…Um, which one is heavier, Kana-san or me?”
“I haven’t piggybacked Kana before so I don’t know.”
“I, I see.”
I leave the gymnasium and try to enter the school building.
“……So that’s how it is. You’ve made it, Natsumi.”
Mizuno-san releases her arm around my neck and gives a small fist pump.
“Huh?”
“It’s nothing. I’m just talking to myself. Just myself.”
Mizuno-san seemed happy after all.
Unable to understand why Mizuno-san seemed so happy, I desperately followed Kazuki and Kana who were ahead of me.
“……Excuse me, can’t you, hear a weird sound?”
Just as I was about to enter the school building, I heard a strange sound coming from behind me.
Mizuno-san seemed to have noticed that too, and timidly whispered into my ear.
“It’s true…… I can hear it too.”
I got a bad feeling so without looking back, I tried to hurriedly enter the school building in the meantime.
I look only at the entrance of the school building.
Without looking at anything else.
“It’s coming……”
Mizuno-san, who I’m carrying on my back, muttered something with a profound meaning.
“It’s chasing us……”
“Masaomi, let’s hurry!”
Kazuki, who was in front of me, got behind me and pushed Mizuno-san and me.
I endured the fact that I was about to fall forward, and headed for the school building with all my strength without knowing why.
“Hurry! Masaomi, it’ll catch up!”
Kana arrived at the school building first and is ready to close the door immediately.
I was made to run without being given the chance to fix my hold on Mizuno-san, my supporting hands feel like they’re gonna slip.
If that happens, I’m going to end up dropping her.
“Kh……!”
My arms are in severe pain.
Even when I said that Mizuno-san isn’t heavy, the vigorous up-and-down movement while on my back is terrible for someone like me, who doesn’t usually exercise.
“Masaomi――！”
Kana screams.
Kazuki pushes us with all his strength as if in a last spurt.
“Kana, close it!”
I heard Kazuki’s voice behind me, and Mizuno-san and I jumped into the school building while rolling.
Immediately after, there was a loud sound of a door being closed.
The spider from earlier was glued to the glass of the door, and its abdomen became a close-up shot.
It chased us all the way here, with its entrails scattered all over the place. Its vitality is extraordinary.
“Tha, that was close…”
Breathing with my whole body, I’m lying face down in the hallway.
“I’m sorry……. Because I couldn’t run……”
“No, you have no choice. But, everyone was saved in the end. Let’s look at it positively.”
I held my hand out to Mizuno-san. Albeit slightly confused, she took my hand tightly.
“You’re mistaken, Masaomi.”
Kana looks at me with a soft smile.
“Kazuki was sacrificed, so that’s wrong.”
“……What?”
I look around. Kazuki, who was pushing me and Mizuno-san from behind, is nowhere to be seen.
“You’re lying, right?”
“I’m not. The fact that he’s not here is the proof, right?”
As if she’s talking about someone who was late for a meet up, Kana boldly says the truth.
My anger surges toward Kana, who shows no sign of grief.
“Kana…… You, why did you close the door!”
I grab Kana’s collar and tighten it.
“Masaomi, I can’t breathe……”
“I’m asking why you closed the door! You knew that Kazuki hadn’t made it yet, didn’t you!”
“I…… only did…… what Kazuki said……”
“Masaomi-kun, stop it!”
Unable to get up due to her leg injury, she pleads while still crawling on the floor.
“That’s why you closed it!? Just because, Kazuki said, to close it, you abandoned him just because he said so!?”
“Please…… stop……Masaomi-kun!”
Even though Mizuno-san’s cries entered my ears, I had no intention to listen.
That’s how much I couldn’t forgive Kana for abandoning Kazuki.
“Do you understand what you’ve done!? Isn’t Kazuki a friend that you were always together with!?”
“……I……. towards Masaomi……”
Even though it must be painful, Kana’s eyes stick with me tightly and don’t let go.
Her eyes show the affection that says she will forgive the violence I’m doing to her.
“Please…… stop it! Masaomi-kun, you shouldn’t do something like this……!”
With Kana’s eyes and Mizuno-san’s crying and clinging to my feet, I finally regained control of myself. I manage to hold back the anger that’s still boiling over me and release Kana. Kana collapsed on the spot and coughed.
“Kazuki……”
I can’t look out the window. Because there might be Kazuki being overrun by a spider monster.
There was the sound of glass breaking in the distance. Had a spider invaded?
“I never…… thought that, I’d lose Kazuki……”
My legs lose their strength and I just sit there.
I never thought about losing anyone who is close to me. The numerous deaths shown on television seemed somehow unrealistic, all of them seeming like fiction. However, now I have come to realize the reality of death. The teacher who harbored the spider is probably no longer in this world.
There was no way I could believe such a thing so suddenly.
“To think that Kazuki is dead…… I can’t believe it.”
I hold my head.
As I scratched my hair, it grew unkempt and fell one by one into the hallway.
“Kazuki is……”
The inner corners of my eyes are getting hot. I’m gonna start crying now, aren’t I? I couldn’t help finding it mysterious how I could rationally think about it. Can humans, even in times like this, remain calm? I was frustrated at myself for being like that.
Still, I must overcome my sadness and face the threat that looms ahead.
The sound of glass breaking is the previous notice.
“Kazuki……. I will, along with your part.”
I must live strong.
