Chapter 01: Escaping the School

Day 002 – 06:38

"The sun has risen and our vision now is bright and clear," said a young man named Asagami Roku as he looked at the sky in the east.

"It's time to go then."

"Yeah," he said as he looked to his friend, Kawamura Hachi. Roku's partner and best friend. He had a yellow hair fixed upward and like him, he wore the school uniform issued for boys, which consisted of a black blazer and pants. They have slept in this place so they hadn't had the chance to change clothes.

Still facing that direction, Roku noticed something behind his friend and he kept starting at it.

"…Hmmmm, what's wrong?" asked Hachi as he looked behind as well, noticing the behavior of Roku. "…A-ahahaha..."

There was a silhouette of a human behind the glass part of the door and it was banging against it. It kept slamming its hand, producing a loud series of sounds. The two knew what kind of creature was behind that door and they looked nervously at each other.

Roku stood from his sitting position and Hachi did the same. They both grabbed their weapons, which were metal pipes.

"They are probably not many," Roku whispered to his friend who was gulping with anxiety. "We should take them out at once."

"Yeah," Hachi replied in the same low voice. "After that? We proceed to escape the school immediately?"

"Yeah. We were just planning to do that after all." Roku closed his eyes and opened then once again. He stared at the door and firmly said, "Soon after we kill it, we move."

Hachi agreed with Roku as gave a nod. "We have to think about our next destination though."

"We gotta get out of this rooftop first. Then we head out to your house?"

"Okay then. My house it is." Hachi was also staring at the door as he asked a question. "But why my house?"

"It is closer than mine and you live alone. There shouldn't be any problem, right?" He gave Hachi a doubtful glace. "Or, maybe, you have some girl living with you?"

"…Wha—No, I don't have anyone like that."

"Oh, I see. I thought it was that girl. You know, that girl."

Hachi's face became red and he denied instantly. "No! Anyway, my house is the destination. That's it."

With Hachi closing the topic and Roku satisfied with his friend's reaction, the two then walked towards the door. Without even talking about the actions they are going to take, Roku held the knob, and Hachi waited behind him.

The creature behind the door slammed its hand again. And when it was about to do it again, Roku shouted as he twisted the knob and suddenly pulled the door.

"Now!"

Hachi immediately took a big step forward and at the same time, he swung his metal pipe as hard as he could.

"Eat this!"

The pipe struck the creature's head causing it to fall down. Its body convulsed for a few moments before it completely stopped.

"You think that killed it?" Hachi asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Roku replied as he glanced at the creature they killed. "Well, it was dead to begin with."

"This is really disgusting. They are dead but still walking—what was that show called again?"

"Walking Alive."

Hearing his friend's response, Hachi laughed. "Hahaha, what the hell man. 'Walking alive,' those are humans, you know."

Roku cracked a laugh as well. "Yeah, my bad. They aren't alive, exactly like we saw just now. This creature that you killed here, is a zombie."

"A dead zombie, you mean."

"Hey Hachi, wouldn't that mean that you just killed, a LIVING ZOMBIE?!"

It took a second for Hachi to get what Roku mean, and when he did, he laughed once again. Seeing this, Roku joined laughing as well.

"Hey Roku, you're gonna kill the next zombie that'll appear next. Then it will be fair." He said while still grinning.

Roku just stared at him for a bit and he smiled. "Sure. But next time, you'll take this position, deal?"

"Deal."

They walked to the stairs leading down the building and soon they encountered two zombies with a considerable distance between them on the stairway.

Roku silently approached the zombie's side and then he hit the back of girl's head vertically with his own metal pipe. The dead was knocked down on the stairway in a position where its head was in the direction of the stairs leading up. After the zombie hit the stair upon impact, Roku immediately stepped down on it so that it would stay in that position, which will prevent the corpse from rolling down.

Zombies couldn't see. Their sense of sight was no longer functioning. That's why Roku was able to flank the girl zombie.

Hachi walked a bit further down and did the same action like what Roku had done.

The two stopped on walking when they were near on reaching the end of the stairs, which would mean that they were close to the hallways.

"The plan is to leave this school and head to your house," Roku started.

"Yeah."

"But there are many unexpected things that we may encounter, so I suggest that we might as well grab some food and water in the cafeteria and a few more weapons in the storage room… How about it?"

"…I guess you're right. Yes, we should do that."

"But still, our priority is our safety, got it?"

"Yeah yeah, I know that much. You can't do anything when you're dead after all." Hachi peeked in the hallway for bit to see a zombie. He smiled as he looked back at his friend. "And I don't wanna be like them."

And with that, the two slowly walked down until they completely left the stairs and step in the hallway. They headed towards the ground floor where the cafeteria and storage room could be found. But to do that, they have to pass several hallways and stairways.

The zombies lost their sense of sight. This was proven by how they act. Most likely, the other senses were also not working, except the sense of hearing.

Since the sense of hearing was only the functioning sense that the zombies could use to track humans, the two kept doing things quietly. So long as the zombies could not hear them or any noise near them, they could keep just weave through the horde of zombies or kill the few that could not be evaded.

"Good thing there wasn't a place where they are really crowded, right?" Hachi finally said when they reached the ground floor. They were currently hiding in the stairs corners before the hallway again.

"Yeah. I just hope nothing of that sort happens though."

"Now where do we head first? The storage room, or the cafeteria?"

The two target locations were in the opposite directions. The cafeteria on the west, and the storage room in the east. Roku saw that the hallway to the cafeteria had more zombies roaming so he made the suggestion that they head to the storage room first. The zombies might also scatter by the time they head to the cafeteria, which would be easier for them.

They passed classrooms with broken windows and chairs scattered all around. There were blood and pieces of flesh on the floor as well. It was just yesterday when this zombie apocalypse started and so far, other than himself and Hachi, Roku knew of only one more survivor.

One zombie fell on the floor again when Hachi struck the head. Seeing that it was dead, he shifted his gaze to Roku, who was looking at the corpse beside his feet with distaste. It was another girl zombie.

"Ughh… This is really nasty. Anyone who committed something this cruel isn't human," Roku said with a sympathetic face as he kept on eyeing the corpse, whose neck was severed by a machete that was still stuck into it.

"You're the one who did that!" Hachi retorted as he recalled how Roku killed that zombie yesterday.

"Yeah. Ah why was I forced to kill such a beauty?"

"She isn't beautiful, you know. Zombies aren't beautiful."

"…Nah, she was a beauty."

Hachi frowned as he looked at him. He stayed silent. Meanwhile, Roku turned around and stared at the open door of the storage room.

After he peeked inside to confirm that there were no zombies, they proceeded inside and closed the door. They were talking casually outside the room earlier because the zombies are quite far from them and they are slow at walking. However, since they might take a bit long inside, it was better to close the door.

Roku looked around the room and he saw Hachi's face in the process. He was sympathetic. "Roku, I won't judge your tastes. It's okay, I understand you. As a man, we have our own fetishes and actually, I have a feet fetish."

"…What the hell are you talking about?"

"Our fetishes…?"

This time, it was Roku who frowned.

"You know, I already knew that you have a feet fetish. Did you think I wouldn't notice you staring intently at the model's feet in the magazines?"

"I was doing that!?" Hachi asked. He probably could not believe it.

"Yeah, there was even a time when you drooling for those feet."

"Really, I did that!?"

"The drool was a joke."

"…What the hell, man!" Hachi retorted. "At least now I know that I'm staring intently doing that. I'll try not to be too obvious next time."

"Yeah, good luck on that," Roku said as he resumed examining the storage room. Inside, there were different things ranging from building materials and tools of different kinds. The metal pipe that they were holding were from this place as well.

"By the way, you said 'Our fetishes,' what fetish of mine are you talking about? Roku asked as they started looking for things and stuffs that may be useful to them.

Hachi had a big smirk plastered on his face as he said the next words with a disgusting way of speaking.

"Zombie fetish."

"…Huh?"

"Well well, don't worry. I understand"

"I don't have that fetish you idiot."

"He-he. Feet fetish is absolutely better than yours—Oh, how about this wrench?"

"Hey wa-wait!" Roku managed to catch the wrench that Hachi threw at him. "That's dangerous!"

"I knew you could catch it." Hachi had a confident look and Roku frowned at him. "And this hammer?"

"Just take whatever you think we need, as long as it won't slow us down too much."

There were many things inside but they weren't all useful and could be conveniently carried around. Roku equipped a pair of gloves that he found and threw another pair to his friend, which he caught and immediately wore them. They also found a shoulder bag where they put the different kinds of tools they found like the wrench mentioned before.

"Roku, I can't find it!"

"Same here," Roku replied as he rummaged through the piles of tools.

"To think that our school doesn't have a nail gun."

"There might be, and there might be none. However, it is a fact that we didn't find it. Shall we go to the cafeteria now?"

Hachi carried the bag and then they went out the room as cautiously as they went in. There were already few of them near the door but the two easily killed them. They walked towards the cafeteria with pace faster than a casual walk. If one would continue to head east, pass the storage room and take a few turns, they would eventually arrive at the school main entrance. That place was most likely to have a large number of undead walking around and could be a dangerous route to take.

In contrary, when one would head west to the cafeteria, they could escape using through the back of the school. It wouldn't be far from that place. Once they passed the library, a separated building after the cafeteria, they would reach the two metered tall wall. All needed after that was to climb it. There would be zombies as well but Roku thought that would have less zombies than the main entrance.

It was at some point when they passed an intersection of hallways, they noticed that there were dead zombies along the way to the cafeteria. In fact, there no longer moving zombies, it seemed that they were all killed.

"What do you think, Roku?"

"A survivor like us, most likely. Are they heading to the cafeteria as well?"

"I think we'll find out soon enough. First, we need to be careful," Hachi said and Roku agreed in his mind.

Having another survivor other than them might be a good thing, however, it could be bad as well. They neared the place with more cautious than before. With the path wiped clean from the undead, two immediately arrived after taking some turns in the hallway.

Soon when they entered the cafeteria, they found the place empty. There were dead lying everywhere, zombies or humans that fortunately or maybe unfortunately didn't became one. They closed the sliding glass door after they came in, and the other one in the opposite side was originally closed too. No zombie would go inside if they don't hear a sound so they can relax for a bit.

Hachi still examined the place while Roku checked the escape route that they were going to take through the transparent glass walls of the cafeteria. There were still considerable amount of zombies but it was what Roku was expecting. The distance between one undead to the other undead were more than wide enough for the two to escape the school without fighting.

"So Hachi, how about it?" Confirming that escaping would not be a problem, Roku returned to survey the cafeteria's interior while throwing a question to his partner.

"They aren't any sign of movement for now. If there are survivors, they are probably behind the counter or inside the kitchen."

"They might have also left this place already." Roku whispered, "But well… I'll go first, follow me."

They slowly and silently walked to the counter with Hachi in the front, his weapon clutched in his hands.

There wasn't anyone in behind the counter.

They immediately changed their attention to the kitchen. The door was a double swing door, Roku pushed it slowly and the door shifted a little, which meant that it was not locked. And as if it was like lightning, what happened immediately after was a fast movement of the two. Roku swung the door on the left side open, while Hachi did the other side, both readying their weapons to strike anytime.

"...…"

"...…"

But what they saw inside was a surprise.

There was a human facing them in stance ready for battle—that much was within their expectations. However, they did not foresaw this human to be here. It was a girl that they both knew.

She wore a yellowish-white jacket with a hoodie. Worn below were shorts and black socks that covered her legs from below the knee, which were partnered with shoes in the same color.

Her red hair was cut short with bangs covering her eyebrows. Her beautiful piercing eyes has a striking amber irises. She also possess a face that that was beautiful enough to be a model or an idol. And surprisingly, within those beautiful features, she had black circles on her eyes.

The girl mentioned removed her guard when she saw and identified the two of them.

She had changed clothes from the uniform that she wore when they last saw her but she still carried her baseball bat, the same weapon she used yesterday. It was undeniably her, the other survivor, Natsuki Namie.

"Nana-san!" The two unconsciously blurted out loud.

Natsuki Namie, who the two called "Nana" from the first syllables of her first name and surname, was subtly surprised from the sudden exclamation of the pair. However, she was still the same as ever and soon after, her usual words were heard.

"Shut up, you fools. Saying my name at the same time is disgusting. And did you even thought that you might attract those goddamned monsters?" She lashed at the two with words not fitting from her pretty appearance.

However, the two were already used to her talking like this and Roku was thinking, 'You're louder than us.'

"Nana-san, why did you came back. You were able to escape from this school right?"

"That's obvious, she came for those food." Hachi pointed at the opened food storage, and the backpack laid beside it, which was almost full with bread.

"…Melon Bread. Ha-ha, she sure love this stuff."

Namie's brow twitched. "Yes, I came back for them. Do you have a problem?"

Hachi was looking at the bread stocks. There were still huge amount of them. "Nana-san, we came here to get our provisions as well. You won't take it all, right?"

"Who do you take me for? I'm not some pig, you piglet."

Right after that, the three heard a rumbling sound. It was coming from Roku's stomach as the person himself was scratching his head. Namie peered at him with a gloating smile.

"Ha! Your partner is a piglet. You're both pigs! "

"What are you doing, Roku? You're proving her right!"

"I can't help it. You took my lunch yesterday!"

Roku immediately started packing breads one after another into their shoulder bag, and Hachi helped him. Namie moved fast as well and did the same to her backpack as if she was competing with them. The pair picked variety breads, on the other hand, what the red haired girl took were only melon breads.

"Ugh… even if I really love those things, I will surely get tired of the taste with that amount."

"I agree."

Roku was imitating a vomiting act, and Hachi just nodded. Meanwhile, Namie closed and slung her backpack, full with melon breads, over her shoulder. "Idiots, you won't get tired of something you really love."

"Oh really? I really loved Grasses VS. Zombies but after completing it 5 times, I got sick of it." Roku stated with a smug look.

"Don't compare that game to my melon bread!" She sound offended. "The difference is like heaven and earth, like you and me."

"...Well, yeah. I admit that." Roku was indeed irritated but shrugged his shoulder instead. Then he added confidently. "That is only in terms of eating though, you pig."

"What was that, asshole!?"

"Roku, What the hell are you doing!?"

Namie had a nasty glare that looked like it would swallow the whole of Roku, who just insulted her. Hachi was surprised and could not help but exclaim at the ongoing situation. He immediately went in between them, trying to mediate.

"Oy Roku, apologize. Hurry!"

Roku knew that she never tolerates insult towards her and she often goes overboard with things. Even if he was hesitant on apologizing, he soon lowered his head. "...Sorry, Nana-san."

"It doesn't matter anymore. I forgive you." Her face remain the same, contrary to her words. She gripped the bat tightly. She tilted her head a bit and smiled. "Make sure to accept my handshake, okay?"

A swoosh of wind soon followed.

Instantly, Roku dodged by stepping back. The bat, or the "handshake" in Namie's terms, hit the nothing but the air. Sweat dripped down his face as he positioned his metal pipe in front of him.

"Oh my, why did you evade, Roku-kun? You need to properly accept it this time." Namie still had her threatening smile. "I won't stop until we shook hands."

"Hachi, I'll leave our bag to you," Roku shouted as he dashed outside the kitchen. He run through the cafeteria's dining area and then he stopped when he reached the aisle. He faced his back and saw the girl stopped as well. There were three meters between them. In worse case, they might really fight here.

"Nana-san, stop this. I'm really sorry." Roku tried apologizing one more time. Moreover, he tried convincing her to stop. "You know that they are attracted to sounds, if we fight, we might create a loud noises and they will swarm here."

"That's right, Nana-san. You can beat him after we find a safe place," Hachi spoke from a distance behind Namie.

Namie glanced back to Hachi before turning again to Roku. "…Just so you know, I don't mind beating you here and right now. I'll deal with those fuckers when it comes to it. So, what do you say, piglet?" Namie asked, still with the same gaze.

"Y-yeah, you can punch or kick me by then. Or beat me with that bat." He said, submissively.

"Just one question then."

"Ask anything, Milady."

Roku knelt down. Hachi, who was surprised by the actions of his partner, looked at him with a hint of pity in his eyes.

'Stop it, Hachi, don't look at me like that!' Roku internally shouted. As he was feeling the shame, the voice of Namie entered his ears.

"What is the most delicious bread then?" Nana asked with her devilish grin.

"Melon Bread!"

Roku did not hesitate even for a millisecond.

Even Namie who was looking at him mockingly was shocked that her expression only reverted after a few seconds had passed. She locked eyes with him and then shrugs as she lowered her bat. "Fine, I'll take your word. Be prepared by then."

'I said "you can", but I didn't said I will let you.' Roku grinned inwardly and victoriously. He had escaped his current predicament.

"So, what's the plan?" she asked.

"We're going to escape by climbing that wall." Hachi pointed at the school fence seen through the glass. "That's the nearest exit from here. Good thing there wasn't a zombie that heard our voices earlier."

"I suppose."

"So, shall we move?"

With Roku's suggestion, Hachi merely nodded, and Namie said just looked at his eyes and said nothing. They went through the double sliding door, which was the exit for the school's backyard. They walked for the school fence with light and fast steps but something unexpected happened soon.

There were students coming out from the library. They numbered nine and three of them had weapons. Most of them were looking at Roku and the others and their expression were showing uncertainty and fear. However, there was a boy who was holding one of the weapons, his look was filled with determination. He kept staring before he nodded to trio, and then he started walking towards the wall. The others followed after him.

"That leader-looking guy just nodded at us, right?"

"He probably wanted to cooperate with us."

"Yeah, those bastards matched their escape time soon after we started walking."

Roku and Namie gave their insights in response to Hachi's question.

Roku was glad that there were survivors but he was uneasy at the same time. Looking at the Hachi, who was carefully watching the group, and Namie, who have her sharp gaze towards them, they were probably feeling the same. Even so, their feet didn't stop heading to the walls, evading zombies. If their pace continue as it was, they would soon merge with the slow walking group of survivors.

The trio were walking one after the other almost forming a line. Roku in the front, Hachi, and then Namie at the back. Although they were walking one after the other, their formation wasn't as bad like the group of students. The group was walking in a line, which was considerably long since they were consisted nine people. They could not walked all the same time with the zombies scattered everywhere the place. Moreover, they were slow.

It was at that time when Roku was just several meters before reaching them. There was a girl student in the middle of the line who stumbled, and she fell forward. In the process, she tried grabbing the shirt of the person before her to prevent falling but they both fell instead.

Tang!

A sound of metal resounded in the area. The weapon of the boy student who fell coincidentally hit a rock on the ground.

A cold sweat ran down into Roku's spine. He had an ominous feeling. His fear was proven the next moment.

A student shouted.

"What did you do!!?"

"Stop it, they'll hear us—Eek!"

Followed by the last student who screamed, the other students gasped as well when they saw the zombies facing at their direction. Ultimately, probably understanding the situation, the assumed leader shouted.

"Run! Run towards the wall!"

Roku quickly turned around and saw his two companions with serious expression. Namie first moved to ran back to the cafeteria, the pair followed just as fast. It was still far to the wall, and there were zombies before that. The trio would probably not make it since they were already the group before them who would potentially block their way albeit not on purpose. They would also need to fight the zombies that the group passed, they could not follow without interruption.

It would be a hard escape but some might be able to climb the wall. However, they didn't consider the possibility of more zombies in the other side, especially since there were already loud sounds that were created.

That's why Roku and the two turned back. And soon after they closed the glass door, screams of pain and fear was heard from the students. There were some who continue running and fighting, there is one petrified in place, and some being eaten.

"Help us!!! It h—it hurts!!"

It was a very loud scream that permeated through the cafeteria. It echoed. From the trio who was watching the scene, Roku moved to the other exit first where they originally came from. The hallway here halfway to the storage room had no zombies since they were all killed. At least, even if there were some still alive, they would be few in numbers.

He immediately opened the door, the other were just behind him. And then they trotted.

"Nana-san, what route did you take to the cafeteria?"

In response to Roku who spoke without looking back, Namie said naturally. "I came from the school gate and then took some detour on the way".

He frowned. "Detour? Not the direct route to the cafeteria? Why?"

"Shut up. Why do I need to answer that, piglet?"

"Were there a lot of zombie there?" Hachi asked.

"It was easy for me evading those freaks. But yeah, there were a lot of them."

Roku felt the tension raise when he heard Namie's answer. Nonetheless, they had no choice but to escape to that route. They took few turns and when they were near the intersection, there were already zombies walking in their direction.

"I slaughtered all those fuckers that I passed in the hallway when I headed to the cafeteria and they are here again. Tsk, persistent freaks." Namie said in a disgusted tone.

"It echoed this far? Roku, we should just dodge them again." In fact, they could still manage to hear the screams of the survivors.

"Yeah, we need to escape as fast as possible."

The two didn't have a problem weaving around them. They had trained dodging from zombie's movement after all. However, when it was Namie's turn, a blunt sound came from behind. Surprised, the partners glanced backward, and saw the zombie falling down, which was probably killed by Namie. She then stared at the two.

"You two are men, aren't you? You should at least kill these small fries. Or is your gender a fraud, haa?"

They didn't reply because they were thinking that it would be better to evade those that could be evaded, which caused Namie's brows to twitch, she scowled. "Fine, I'll take the lead, follow after me, cowards."

She walked forward, passed Roku and Hachi, and headed to the next zombie. They just followed after her without saying anything. It was because they knew the capability of the person before them. So instead to objecting, they internally supported her.

Namie held her bat sideways with just her right hand, and when she was in range, she immediately swung it horizontally with an unbelievable force to the zombie's head and crushed it without losing almost any momentum to her walking speed. The next zombie and the next after that were killed in the same style. She was continuously pushing her way forward and smashing the obstacles in her way.

"As expected of Nana-san. This sight never fails to amaze me."

"Yeah."

Hachi commented and Roku was in the same opinion. Their pace virtually hadn't slow downed even when there were zombies in the way. The zombies' number thickened but Namie still had no trouble so long as they weren't compressed.

They soon arrived at the front of the storage room and in that moment, they heard another loud scream, and it was getting louder.

The trio glanced behind them.

It wasn't from the survivors earlier. It came from a lone male student shouting while running toward the trio. "Please help me!!"

The sight of the boy looked like a harbinger of death when they saw zombies following after him from the corner where he appeared. If this situation continued, they would be sandwiched in both sides, and if they were to run to their side, that student would probably follow after them. Hallways have limited space and zombies could easily fill it, leaving the group with no way to evade.

The student was desperate. Roku was the same, and the first thing he saw at the time was…

The hallway past the storage room had zombies growing in number and they were heading in their direction, attracted by the student's voice. Still, Roku walked two steps forward. Seeing that, the two were surprised.

"You idiot, come back! It's this way!" Hachi was probably suggesting the hallway in their side.

"You've got a death wish or something?" Namie held his shoulder, and Roku didn't mind it and he crouched down just before the girl zombie that he killed yesterday with a machete.

He held the severed head laid on the floor with his right hand. "I will never forget how you greeted me every morning."

"ROKU! This isn't the time for your fetish!"

"Fe—what!?"

Without minding the two, he stood up and turned around, facing the running boy, as he positioned the head aloft behind him. Aiming at the boy nearing them, he gripped the head tightly that his arm trembled.

"Sorry, Youko-san. Goodbye."

With a silent whisper, and then with all his might, Roku hurled the head.

The boy had a shocked expression—then his face was hit by the head, knocking him down.

Roku ran past the two, who had a dumbfounded face and headed to the aforementioned hallway while shouting firmly.

"Now, let's go!"

The sound of the undead nearing filled the place yet there were other sounds as well: the continuous footsteps of the three, the sound of skulls crushed, and the student screaming, pleading and cursing that they left behind.

"Aaaahhh!!! H-help me! Noooooooo!!"

They ran. Ignoring the screams of the student who served as their scapegoat, they ran desperately, evading and smashing zombies along their way. They passed the classrooms, then the locker room, and finally the gate.

Roku could remember how fast they were running but not all the things they did registered in his mind. His legs was aching and his breathing was ragged. But all his current condition was being overwhelmed by the emotions welling inside, swirling. He was feeling relief, sadness, hatred, fear, and most of all, guilt.

"I will haunt you forever."

That was the last words of that person. He remembered those as he was sitting just after the entrance of the house that they took refuge in.

"Ha-ha… If I haven't did that, it was us who would die," Roku uttered in a self-depreciating tone. "I don't have a choice, do I…?"

And then he felt a cold sensation in his cheeks. Namie had pushed a canned drink to his face, looking at him with a sympathetic look.

"Thanks..."

"Roku, that was the right thing to do. Maybe he didn't realize that he was throwing danger at us, but it is all the same. It was his fault and we are in the right. I won't say that you shouldn't feel guilt, because I am feeling it too. However, you shouldn't let it crush you. We could have died there if it weren't for you. For that, you have my gratitude." She then walked away further inside the house, but Roku heard her voice one more time. "If you have a chance again, I suggest that you bury that girl properly."

"...Youko-san..." He muttered, taking the liberty of using her first name.

Roku wasn't really friends with the girl named Fukase Youko and maybe she doesn't even know his name. They came to knew each other when they were late for school at the same time. Since then, Youko would always greet at him when he was alone and he would return the courtesy. For some reason, she never greeted Roku when he had a company like Hachi or Namie.

He learned the girl's name just yesterday, and the first time he actually said it, was just earlier.

They were just acquaintances. Still, it was lonely thinking that you could no longer see them alive. Moreover, Roku threw her head and that was utterly disrespectful. He would surely come back to bury her corpse someday as a means of apologizing, hoping that he would be forgiven even for a little.

"Yeah. Let's come back someday." Hachi spoke just behind him.

"...Thank you Hachi, Nana-san." He drank the content of the can in one go and then his stomach growled immediately as if waiting for its cue.

Roku looked behind him to face Hachi and Namie. "Hahaha… I forgot that I was hungry."

Another rumbling sound came and then one more. Roku was sure it isn't him this time. He then realized that it came from the other two.

Hachi had a surprised look and then he scratched his head this time. Meanwhile, Namie had a slight red in her cheeks as her eyes widened too. The trio stared at each other for a few seconds before they laughed.

She took two breads from her bag and offered one to Roku.

"Melon Bread... Thanks."

Roku accepted the bread and stuffed it in his mouth while Hachi took a bread from their bag.

There would be more encounters and dangers that they would likely to confront. But in the meantime, they ate the breads that they packed.