July 20, Saturday, Kouiku. It had once been the most famous university in Neon, but after today... it wouldn't be anymore. Because... the zombie virus broke out on this day. The apocalypse... had arrived!
"Haah, haah...!"
On the streets of Kouiku, Ying pulled Ichinose along as they sprinted.
"Ichinose! Can you still run?" Ying glanced back at Ichinose, who was flushed and gasping as she trailed behind him.
"I'm... I'm fine!"
Ying slowed down and said, "Don't push yourself! There aren't any infected around here yet. We can save our strength for now!"
"Mm... Byakuya-kun... you're right!" Ichinose replied between gasps.
"Ying! Watch out!" Hearing the shout, Ying hurriedly turned around. A zombie was lunging at him, jaws snapping.
Ying instinctively used the backpack on his back to fend it off. The zombie bit down on the bag, its hands flailing in the air.
"Ying! Ichinose! Are you okay?" Shibata came running over with a wooden stick in his hand.
"Shibata-kun! Hurry and help Byakuya-kun!" Ichinose cried when she saw him.
"Ying! Hang on! I'm coming to help!" Shibata swung his stick at the zombie, but missed.
"Sata! Are you trying to hit me or the zombie?" If Ying hadn't dodged at the last second, the stick would've hit him.
"Hah!" Ying shoved hard, sending the backpack and the zombie flying ten meters backward. The zombie fell to the ground, then slowly got back up. They all realized the heartbreaking truth.
"I-Is that Watanabe-kun?" Ichinose covered her mouth and cried out.
Ying and Shibata looked equally devastated.
"Ichinose, Watanabe's already..." Shibata said sadly.
"There's no time to mourn! Run!" Ying shouted as Watanabe's zombie lunged toward them.
"I know a place where some Class B students are hiding! We can take shelter there and wait for the government to rescue us!" Shibata said, then ran to the front.
"Ichinose, what are you running from?" Following the voice, Ichinose spotted Himeno Yuki resting on a bench by the road.
"Himeno! Run!" Ying shouted. Shibata and Ichinose also yelled for Himeno to run. But Himeno didn't budge. She simply stood up and looked at them in confusion.
"Waaah!"
The Watanabe zombie behind Himeno tackled her to the ground.
"Ahhhhh!"
The scene was gruesome. Blood splashed onto the ground in front of them.
"Himeno!"
Ichinose shouted and started to rush over, but Ying grabbed her.
"Ichinose! Don't do anything stupid. We can barely save ourselves right now!"
Ying and Shibata then dragged Ichinose along as they fled. They encountered a few more zombies along the way, but Ying beat them back with his superb staff skills.
"We're here! It's in the Special Teaching Building up ahead!" Shibata shouted.
When they reached the Special Teaching Building, the students inside recognized Ying and the others and hurriedly unlocked the tightly shut doors. Once they were in, the students locked them again.
"Ichinose, are you okay?" Ying asked once they had settled down.
Ichinose looked around and saw nearly thirty Class B students. Her anxious heart began to calm, and she started to make sense of what was happening.
But the more she thought about it, the more hopeless everything seemed.
"It's okay, Ichinose. Don't think too much about it." Seeing how pale Ichinose looked, Ying tried to comfort her.
"Ying, maybe..." Hamaguchi, one of the survivors, had noticed Ichinose's condition too and started to say something.
"Yaaah!"
At the sound of the scream, their hearts, which had just begun to relax, tensed up again.
"Th-That's terrible! Amikura's been bitten by a zombie!" Shiroba cried.
"N-No! I haven't been bitten!" Amikura said, covering her left hand as if trying to hide something.
"It's all right, Amikura's still able to think clearly. Let me examine the wound first," Kanzaki said, stepping in front of Amikura and asking her to show the injury.
Ichinose, Ying, and the others came closer to get a look. The wound was horrifying. The bite marks looked like two rusty iron clamps had been pressed into her skin. The edges were torn into jagged strips, and dark purple scabs mixed with fresh blood to form sticky, hardened clumps around the wound.
"Kanzaki! Watch out!" Ying shouted.
Before Kanzaki could react, Amikura bit down on his right hand.
The Class B students scattered in all directions. Ying grabbed Ichinose, and he and Shibata led the others deeper into the Special Teaching Building.
They entered a classroom, where the decorations left them at a loss for words.
Warm yellow string lights were wrapped around the classroom's floor-to-ceiling windows, bathing the whole space in a soft glow. A corner of the cream-colored curtains fluttered gently in the breeze. The fading light outside mingled with the warm glow within, illuminating the pink, pale blue, and pale yellow balloons floating beneath the ceiling.
"This place really doesn't suit the situation," Beppu remarked.
"But today happens to be Ichinose's birthday," Ying said, picking up a card that had fallen on the floor. It read, "Happy Birthday."
"Yeah. The reason so many Class B students are here today is that we were getting ready to throw Ichinose a birthday party. But I guess you really never know what life has in store," Hamaguchi said.
"Everyone, don't lose heart. There has to be a way to save everyone!" Ichinose said, as if she had accepted the situation and steeled herself.
"Hahaha! If Ichinose can say that, what do the rest of us guys have to be afraid of?" Shibata said, sounding relieved.
"Th-This is bad. You—you guys have to go!" Beppu suddenly said.
They looked at Beppu in confusion. He was clutching his right foot, where a clear bite mark had appeared.
"No! Ryota! You have to hang on!" Ying rushed over and slid to a stop on his knees in front of Beppu.
"What are you doing, Ying? Baka yarou! Hurry and go! While I'm still conscious, get out of this room. Then I'll lock myself inside!" Beppu said through his pain.
"Are you kidding me?! What kind of stupid thing is that to say? How could I ever abandon my brother?!" Ying shouted, wiping away his tears.
"Ying! Hurry up!" Shibata dragged him toward the door, while Hamaguchi and Ichinose stood ready to shut it.
"I don't regret making you my brother in this life," Beppu said with a relieved smile.
"What do you mean, 'this life' and 'next life'?! I'm going to save you!" Ying refused to give up.
"The reason you topped the Abstract Ranking was because I secretly posted your embarrassing videos on the campus network."
"Huh?"
"And the reason you had so many cockroaches in your room was because I secretly put rotten fruit under your bed."
"Wait, that's not how the script goes, is it?"
"I also ate all the gummy candy you hid in your desk."
"A person like this deserves to die!" Ying said in a fit of anger, then locked Beppu in the room.
"Hey! Why'd you actually lock the door?! I was joking!"
"You're turning into a zombie. We'll let you out once we find a way to cure you. Just wait patiently in there, hehehe~" Ying said, then left with the others, ignoring Beppu as he pounded on the door.
A zombie staggered down the hallway toward them.
"That's... Kanzaki's zombie!" Ying cried.
"Wait, ahhhhh! My head hurts!" Ying suddenly clutched his head and crouched down. When he stood back up, his eyes had turned a striking azure blue.
"I can see..."
"Ying! What's wrong?" Shibata asked anxiously.
"I can feel some kind of strange power inside me now, as if I can do anything. I can see a yellow clump in Kanzaki's abdomen, and my instincts tell me it's Zombie Energy. If I can use the power inside me to neutralize that energy, Kanzaki should return to normal."
After saying that, Ying rushed toward Kanzaki at an unusual speed and pressed his hand against Kanzaki's abdomen.
"Mm... go easy..." Kanzaki said softly.
"Sorry. I did that on purpose," Ying replied in a whisper.
"Euaaagh!"
Kanzaki let out a scream and crouched down in front of everyone. In reality, he was wiping his face with a wet tissue...
"What... happened to me?" When Kanzaki stood up again, his face had regained its healthy color.
"Welcome back, Kanzaki." Ying said, giving Kanzaki a hug.
They continued down the hallway, and another zombie staggered toward them.
"Hehahaha! I've awakened too!" Hamaguchi said, covering his right eye.
"Let me take a look. What?! Amikura's Zombie Energy is... in her chest!"
At Hamaguchi's words, Ying elbowed him.
"Byakuya-kun, I think I've awakened that power you were talking about too," Ichinose said.
Everyone: ???
"Is the Zombie Energy you mentioned a yellow clump?" Ichinose asked.
"I-I can't believe even Ichinose has awakened! Just like you said, that green clump is Zombie Energy," Ying said, folding his arms and trying to look calm.
"It's yellow," Hamaguchi quietly reminded him.
"Then, could I try turning our classmates back too?" Ichinose asked.
"Of course! Let's become the saviors of Kouiku for a day, and rescue our classmates from danger!" Though we were the ones who put them in danger in the first place. Ying thought to himself.
And so, the Savior Squad began its adventure... and rescue mission throughout the Special Teaching Building. Their numbers grew along the way. In the end, all the Class B students returned to normal.
Ichinose had already begun to suspect a few days ago that the Class B students were hiding something from her and preparing a birthday party. She was very happy, though she regretted finding out so early.
What she hadn't expected was such a huge surprise! If she hadn't realized that all the zombies and everyone who'd been bitten were Class B students, Ying and the others might really have fooled her.
Not wanting all the Class B students' efforts to go to waste, she had to pretend she knew nothing. Now it was finally over.
"Awesome! Let's celebrate the rebirth of the world and Ichinose's birthday together!" Ying announced loudly. The Class B students had gathered in the room where Beppu was locked up, and the birthday celebration was officially underway.
Everyone in Class B chatted merrily, and those with talents put on performances.
"The Class B Boys Group is back for a limited-time encore! Woohoo!" Hamaguchi produced a microphone from who knew where and started singing.
"Welcome to the show, 'First-Person View: Fighting Off a Deranged Stalker'!" Ying played the video he had recorded that day. After the incident was over, he'd uploaded it to the campus network, and it had unexpectedly become a hit.
"Come watch the Savior Squad in action!" Beppu, meanwhile, promoted the footage he'd secretly taken of the zombies surrounding the school.
Watching everyone, Ichinose felt her nose sting, and tears of gratitude streamed down her face.
I love everyone in Class B so much! I'll make sure we all graduate from Class A together!
Before you continue