Escape from the death (2)  

Their numbers seem to keep growing! If this continues, it will be challenging for Emi to reach the corridor door and escape this building. She keeps swinging her bat tirelessly, trying to land a solid hit on their heads. According to Ryuji and Kobayashi-san, that's their weakness. Sweat drips down her temples countless times, flowing down to her chin and falling onto the floor of this death-filled corridor.

Emi is startled when one of them manages to grab her bat, holding it firmly so she can't move it. A moment later, the creature ferociously tries to bite her. Emi uses the bat she's been having to keep some distance between herself and this ugly creature. However...

"Aagh..."

A small cry escapes Emi as she falls to the cold floor. She collapses, unable to withstand the force of the creature's push, causing the bat she's been using to hold it back to slip from her hands and fall to the ground.

Emi panics when she sees her only weapon slip away. But a fraction of a second later, she regains her senses and jerks back as two creatures above her are just inches away from sinking their teeth into her body. When Emi closes her eyes reflexively out of shock, a loud noise suddenly snaps her back to reality.

The sound is almost like a whip crack she heard earlier. When Emi feels nothing touching her, she opens her eyes to assess the situation. The first thing she sees is... the two creatures lying not far in front of her, their heads drenched in blood.

"Hurry, Emi!"

For the second time, Emi hears a very familiar voice. Looking up, she sees Aya-sensei reaching out her hand to help her up. Emi quickly grabs the bat that had fallen nearby, takes Aya-sensei's hand and swiftly gets back on her feet. It turns out that Aya-sensei was the one who saved her, using her wooden sword to take down the two hideous creatures.

However, when Emi glances to the side, the group is already far from where she's standing. The incident has caused them to become separated. Although the distance wasn't too great, Ryuji had warned them not to break formation, as it would be dangerous for everyone. And he was right. Emi sees them successfully grab Mina's hand!

'Oh no!' Emi screams in her heart. She immediately runs as fast as she can to help Mina, struggling to break free from their grasp. But she feels like she won't make it—she feels like she'll be too late. Their teeth are just inches away from piercing Mina's skin.

"Kobayashi-san...!" Emi shouts as she runs toward her, her hand reaching out desperately. Her face tenses up the moment their teeth sink into something. Yes... something. In the next second, Emi realizes that what they bit into is a blood-stained baseball bat resting on Mina's arm.

"R-Ryuji..." Emi murmurs, her gaze blank as she looks at her blond-haired friend, who is now staring at the two undead creatures trying to harm Mina.

"I won't... I'll never let you hurt my friends!"

A moment after Ryuji says this, he swings his bat with all his might, sending the two creatures flying backwards.

"Emi...!"

Ryuji calls out to Emi after knocking down the two undead creatures trying to attack Mina. Emi, who is only three steps away from her original position, quickly returns and swings her bat at the head of another creature about to attack Mina again.

Emi's deadly strikes send the creatures flying, blood spurting from their mouths. Seeing that Emi and Aya-sensei have returned to formation, Ryuji quickly returns to his position, which he had temporarily left. 

Takeshi looks exhausted from taking over Ryuji's position earlier and trying to protect Daiki on the left flank. Guarding two positions at once has left him gasping for breath. 

'I... I've never been able to surpass them...' Emi thinks as she watches Ryuji and Takeshi still fighting desperately to protect their team members. 

Emi has always chased after them. She has always tried to keep up with their pace, but no matter how many times she tries, she still fails. She can't match them in many ways. She's always just behind them. They always protect her, but she has never been able to protect them.

She doesn't know why she can't do it. Is it because she's weak? Is she still the same weak Emi who can't protect them? But something reminds her—Ryuji's smile brings her back to her senses. He once told her, 'You're not weak, Emi. You'll become stronger than anyone when you strive to protect someone who means a lot to you.' 

Protecting someone who means a lot to her. And they are the ones who are most precious to her now! Emi stops crying. She roughly wipes away the tears that had fallen, and her eyes, once filled with despair, now burn with determination. 

'I must rise and become even stronger! Strong enough to protect those who mean everything to me!' Emi though. 

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A young man leans against the wall in a dark and stuffy room. Beside him sits a beautiful girl, still faithfully seated on the floor. Her physical limitations prevent her from doing much at the moment. 

The moonlight filters through small holes in the ventilation shafts, illuminating her beautiful face, which has grown dimmer over time. Despite this, she refuses to cry or lament her fate with the young man trapped in this room. She won't do it—she'll never do it—because she believes that crying won't help them escape this place. 

"It seems... the ones at the door are getting fewer." Riku breaks the silence after a long while. His assumption is based on the weakening sounds of wood scraping against wood. 

"Maybe they're tired, or maybe they've forgotten what they're chasing. Because we've been hiding and staying quiet in here," he explains. 

He smiles at Nao, the girl curled up on the floor. The young man is trying to give her a glimmer of hope, to lift her spirits, that they may be able to get out of here soon. Yes... just a sliver of hope. Even so, Nao returns Riku's smile. 

Though she knows their chances of escaping are slim. And even if they do, what's their next plan? Everything still feels bleak in Nao's mind. 

But she remains confident that they'll be free because she always remembers the words of the young man who saved her from a hell called loneliness. 

'As long as there's hope, no matter how small, never give up on making it a reality...' 

Those were his words that always echo in Nao's mind, from the young man who could drown her in calmness. When she needs to believe, yes, she believes in his words. For a moment, she closes her beautiful eyes. 

 'I believe... Ryuji-kun. I believe...' 

As she murmurs in her heart, Nao hears faint noises. When she opens her eyes, she wears a confused expression. She asks the young man in front of her in a soft voice. 

"Riku... what are you doing?" 

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A group of young men and women can be seen running through the intersection between the main building of Koryo High School and the extracurricular building. The group is Ryuji's team, who have successfully escaped the extracurricular building. With the bat he carries, Ryuji delivers hard swings to the heads of the undead, blocking their path. Takeshi and Emi are equally busy fending off attacks from the sides, with Aya-sensei guarding them from behind. 

"That's it, we're close!" Ryuji points toward the Koryo High School parking lot, which is now within reach. 

"Grwaahh..." 

But before they can take another step, Ryuji is startled by a woman grabbing his black uniform. Her swift movements almost bite him, but a loud thud sends her flying forward. 

A dark red splatter of blood lands on Ryuji's neck. His shocked expression hasn't faded when a bat swings past his shoulder, coming dangerously close to his neck. The bat belongs to Takeshi, who saved Ryuji from the aggressive woman's bite. 

"...Tch!" 

Ryuji lets out a short click of his tongue, met with a slight grin from Takeshi. After all, Takeshi's help almost endangered him too. 

Ryuji should be thankful for his quick reflexes as he tilted his head slightly to the right just in time. The tip of Takeshi's bat came extremely close to his neck during the swing. It could have broken his neck if Ryuji hadn't had such good reflexes. 

Takeshi resumes his task without a hint of guilt, crushing the creatures' brains. Ryuji also starts running again, heading toward the minibus that is now in sight. 

"Everyone! Get in quickly," he says as he reaches the minibus and opens its door. 

Seeing Ryuji holding the door open, the others quickly enter the school's private vehicle. Everyone except Takeshi, Emi, and Aya-sensei still hold their ground to prevent the undead from swarming in. 

"Takeshi, Emi, Aya-sensei. Hurry up and get in!" Ryuji shouts while striking down one of the remaining undead near the bus, leaving it lifeless on the ground. 

"Hai... Nakamura-kun," Aya replies, quickly boarding the bus, followed by Emi and Takeshi. 

Daiki is already in the driver's seat, starting the minibus's engine. His actions confuse Mina, who furrows her brows. 

"Daiki, why are you sitting there?!" Mina asks sharply, glaring at Daiki, who now holds the steering wheel. 

"Ehehe... umm... because I want to," he answers casually, putting on an innocent face as he looks at Mina. 

"You! This isn't the time to mess around, Daiki." 

"Enough, it's fine. As long as we can get out of here quickly," Aya interjects calmly, patting Mina's shoulder. Since her teacher says so, Mina reluctantly stays quiet and obeys. 

Just as Ryuji is about to board the minibus, he suddenly stops, his hand gripping the door hinge. His expression hardens, and the sound of his teeth grinding is audible. 

"Let's go, Matsumoto-san," Aya-sensei says. 

"Wait! Ryuji is still outside—" 

"You all go ahead..." 

Emi's sentence is cut off by the young man she's referring to. The others are shocked by Ryuji's words, including Emi, who stands frozen. She tries to process what the blond boy just said. 

"Takeshi... guide them," Ryuji says, smiling as he looks at Takeshi. 

The person addressed only furrowed his brows in confusion at Ryuji's words. He understood what Ryuji had just said, but he didn't understand what this friend was planning to do. Emi, who had been silent until now, finally understood the direction of Ryuji's words. 

"What are you saying, you idiot?! Get in now, or I'll beat you up!" Emi snapped, taking heavy steps toward Ryuji, who was still outside. But suddenly, Takeshi pulled her arm back as if stopping her from stepping out to approach Ryuji. Emi was shocked by Takeshi's action. 

"Let me go, Takeshi-kun!" she said, struggling to break free from Takeshi's tight grip on her arm, but to no avail. Takeshi's grip was too firm for her. 

"Fifteen more minutes..." Ryuji said, still looking at Takeshi with a small smile. Those were the last words to come out of Ryuji's mouth. With that, he quickly closed the bus door tightly and took two steps back, giving the bus room to leave him behind. 

"Let's go, Daiki," Takeshi said. 

"B-But—" Daiki tried to protest but was immediately cut off by Takeshi. 

"Hurry... we don't have much time," Takeshi replied coldly, confusing the others even more. Daiki immediately stepped on the gas, leaving Ryuji outside as he watched his friends drive away. 

"W-Wait! Stop, Daiki...!" Emi screamed in a panicked voice. 

But before she could say anything else, the bus they were on crashed through the school parking gate, which had been closed but was now easily broken through by Daiki. The impact nearly sent Emi tumbling backwards, but fortunately, Takeshi caught her. 

The minibus sped forward, ploughing through a few undead blocking the road. They had all successfully escaped the school of death but without Ryuji. Mina looked panicked but tried her best to stay as calm as possible. 

Still, she couldn't make sense of Ryuji's actions, which she found utterly irrational. Her gaze was on the school, more precisely, on the now-open gate. As time passed, the gate grew smaller and smaller as the distance between them and Koryo High School increased. 

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