Okkotsu did not even see the path of the blade. All he saw was a flash of silver before his eyes, and the strange creatures charging toward them were sliced apart.
Okkotsu stared at Maki's back as she spun the naginata once in her hand, then rested it on her shoulder.
"That was amazing..."
Maki pushed up her glasses.
"All right, let's go."
"Where?"
Maki kept walking.
"Where else?"
She pointed at the school building.
"Inside the school building. Don't tell me you got so scared you forgot the mission."
Okkotsu turned his head stiffly toward the school building, which looked especially sinister in the dim light beneath the Curtain. A sudden shiver ran through him.
Then he hurried after Maki.
"Zenin, wait for me-"
His footsteps pattered rapidly across the pale gray concrete.
Inside the school building, the hallway was dark.
Maki walked ahead, her steps as steady and composed as they had been outside. Her gaze swept from one end of the hallway to the other, from a half-open door to a tightly shut one. She examined everything carefully-every corner, every crack, every patch of shadow that might conceal something. She missed nothing.
Okkotsu followed behind her, hugging himself with both arms. Cold sweat streamed down his forehead as he nervously scanned their surroundings.
"Zenin-"
He looked at Maki ahead of him.
"Aren't you scared?"
Maki stopped at his question. The naginata swayed slightly on her left shoulder, then she tightened her grip on the shaft and lifted it off her shoulder, slamming its tip hard against the floor tiles.
Thud-!
The sound made the already frightened Okkotsu jump.
"Wh-what is it, Zenin?"
Maki turned and pointed at him.
"Hey! You're a guy-" She glanced over his cowering figure and frowned. "Can't you show a little backbone?"
"We're