Journey of The Dead (1)

Ryuji observed every contour of the face of a girl who was now fast asleep on his left shoulder. Deep down, Ryuji could breathe a sigh of relief after everything he had been through—he had still managed to save someone who meant a lot to him. It wasn't just anyone; Nao was someone who could be said to have experienced a past almost similar to Ryuji's. Both had suffered back then, forcing them to struggle through the storm of despair. 

The look in Nao's eyes when they first met also showed the same expression—one of loneliness. What's the point of living in luxury if there's no one to play with or keep you company? Not even to acknowledge your existence? Can you imagine how that feels? How do you keep your heart strong enough to endure it? 

Ryuji had come to see Nao as a part of himself, a fragment that had also experienced the emptiness of this world. Ryuji didn't want Nao to feel that way again; he truly didn't want it to happen again. Ryuji realized that Nao's suffering was far heavier than his own because Nao was born with a severe imperfection. 

Having paralyzed legs was both a physical and mental burden for Nao. When she was sad, she couldn't freely go to the places she loved, unlike Ryuji, who could go wherever he wanted when he felt lonely. Yes, Ryuji wanted to be close to Nao to dispel that loneliness. 

"Ng..." A soft groan came from the girl near Ryuji. Slowly, she blinked her beautiful eyes open to gaze at the sunlight streaming through the bus window, causing her to blink again. But when she tilted her pretty face slightly upward, she saw someone looking at her with a small smile. 

Though her vision was still blurry from just waking up, and the figure was slightly backlit by the dim morning light, she couldn't quite make out who it was. 

"Good morning," the figure said softly, causing Nao's eyes to widen as she recognized the voice. It was a voice very familiar to her ears, paired with spiky blond hair. Nao was shocked when she realized who it was, causing her to sit up abruptly in a flustered manner. 

"S-sorry..." she whispered, though it was still audible to the other passengers on the bus. Her face turned bright red as she realized she had been sleeping on the young man's shoulder all this time. However, the young man only let out a small chuckle. A moment later, he gently patted the top of Nao's head, making her face turn even redder from his gesture. 

"It's fine..." Ryuji said softly, smiling warmly at Nao. Quickly, Nao turned her face away, not wanting to meet his gaze for too long. A look of displeasure was clearly visible on Riku and Mina's faces as they watched the scene from not far away. Especially Mina, who was glaring intensely at the two of them out of the corner of her eye. 

"Ahem... It seems there's a gas station not far from here. We can stop there for a bit to refuel," Mina said, trying to interrupt their moment. Meanwhile, Emi, noticing Mina's jealousy, couldn't help but giggle softly. 

Ryuji, who had heard Mina's words, slowly withdrew his hand from Nao's head. The girl remained blushing, sitting quietly in her seat. The other women on the minibus had woken up two minutes ago, minus Nao, who had just emerged from her dreams. 

"Alright then, let's stop there for a bit and look for some food we can eat. The worms in my stomach have been screaming since earlier..." Ryuji said, clutching his stomach with a pitiful expression. 

"Alright, let's stop here for now. Hey, Ryuji, hurry and find some food over there. And if possible, grab me some potato chips," Daiki said, flashing a grin as he pointed toward a store next to the gas station. 

"Hahhh... You. All you ever think about is potato chips," Mina said, glaring at Daiki. Meanwhile, Aya chuckled softly, amused by her students' antics. In times like these, she was glad she could still laugh amidst the destruction of the city, which could easily fill anyone with overwhelming anxiety. 

"Alright," Ryuji replied lazily. He got up from his seat and headed toward the bus door. 

"It seems the area is still safe. I haven't seen any of them since earlier," Takeshi remarked with his usual flat expression, scanning the surroundings through the bus window. 

"Maybe they're still watching that hentai video of Takeshi versus Daiki..." Ryuji quipped, letting out a small chuckle, followed by Aya, who also laughed lightly at Ryuji's joke. Takeshi's eyebrow twitched as his ears clearly caught that sentence. Emi and Mina sighed tiredly at Ryuji's behavior once again. At the same time, Nao kept her eyes on Ryuji with an unreadable expression. 

"I'll go with you, Nakamura-kun..." Aya-sensei suddenly spoke, now standing right next to Ryuji's ear, blowing a soft breath toward it. 

"W-what?!" 

Ryuji jumped, startled to find Aya-sensei so close to him. The sensual breath she blew toward his ear made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. 

"Alright... Ryuji and I will look for food we can eat at the store over there. Meanwhile, Kageyama and Kuroda will stay here to keep watch. Matsumoto-san, turn off the engine and start refueling," Aya said firmly, her tone commanding with every word. All the students immediately stood up from their seats except for Ryuji, who had already opened the bus door. However, just as Ryuji was about to step off the bus, a hand suddenly grabbed his. 

"Ryuji... Be careful," Emi said, looking at Ryuji with an indescribable expression. Emi felt worried seeing Ryuji without any weapon at the moment. It was only natural for her to be concerned about one of her remaining childhood friends. She didn't want what happened to Karin to happen to Ryuji too. But a grin on Ryuji's face surprised her slightly. 

"Don't worry... Aya-sensei is with me," he replied, flashing a peace sign at Emi. 

"That's right, Yamaguchi-san... and could you let go of his hand now?" 

Aya suddenly appeared behind Ryuji, holding his shoulders while giving Emi a sidelong glance. Both of them jumped, startled by Aya's sudden closeness, especially Emi, who awkwardly let go of Ryuji's wrist. Takeshi, who had been watching quietly, remained silent. He didn't feel jealous, but he could understand what Emi was feeling—after all, Ryuji was still one of his childhood friends. 

"L-let's hurry up..." Ryuji stammered, pointing toward the store they were heading to, as he could clearly feel something soft pressing against his back. Mina puffed out her cheeks, annoyed by her teacher's flirtatious behavior. At the same time, Nao looked at Ryuji and Aya-sensei with a disappointed expression. 

"Na... Nao-chan, wait here, okay?" Riku said, now standing beside Nao. However, Nao completely ignored him—or rather, didn't even hear what Riku had said. Her gaze was locked on the figure of the young man walking further away from the bus toward the store ahead. Riku, feeling ignored, tried calling out to Nao again, who seemed lost in thought. 

"Hey... Nao-chan—" 

"Eh?! S-sorry... sorry, Riku, I didn't hear you earlier," Nao quickly interrupted Riku's sentence. 

"...Alright... I'll go outside to keep watch," Riku replied, pointing toward the bus door before walking away, leaving Nao to ponder something once again. 

. 

. 

. 

The soft sound of footsteps accompanied the caution of the two people slowly walking through a dimly lit store and its lights turned off. Their eyes scanned the entire room, trying to determine if any of those ferocious creatures were present. 

With careful steps and a tight grip on the wooden sword she had been carrying, Aya-sensei walked ahead of the young man behind her, just in case something attacked suddenly from the front. After all, the young man wasn't holding anything to use as a weapon. Ryuji, the young man, also stepped very cautiously, constantly keeping a watchful eye on his surroundings. 

"Alright, Nakamura-kun, quickly grab some items we can use," Aya-sensei whispered to Ryuji. Ryuji immediately picked up two large plastic bags from the cashier's counter and carefully took several canned foods from the refrigerated shelves. He also remembered to grab some snacks Daiki had requested. 

"It's so quiet..." Ryuji murmured softly, breaking the silence. Aya, who wasn't far from Ryuji, could hear him clearly. 

"Do you... like this kind of atmosphere?" Aya-sensei asked, whispering close to Ryuji's ear. Once again, she appeared suddenly beside Ryuji, startling the young man as he noticed her mischievous gaze. 

"N-no, sensei, that's not—" 

"Shhh... Lower your voice, Nakamura-kun. I see something over there." 

. 

. 

. 

"This is so... strange," Takeshi muttered, looking around. His sharp eyes hadn't spotted a single one of those creatures. The eerie silence made him feel that something was off, especially since last night, their minibus had hit several of those creatures multiple times. And now, look—the city felt like a ghost town. 

Mina, who accidentally overheard Takeshi's muttering, also glanced down the street. Leaning against the bus door, she scanned the buildings not far away, but her eyes caught no signs of life. 

"Like you said... I also feel like something's off," Mina said, her eyes closed, addressing the young Kageyama. Takeshi, hearing Mina speak, gave the bangs-wearing girl a sarcastic look. 

"Are you done yet, Daiki?" 

Riku asked the chubby young man beside him, but all he got was a small shake of the head. Riku was starting to feel bored from waiting so long for the refueling process. However, something caught his attention, startling him. 

"That's..." 

. 

. 

. 

Aya walked slowly toward something moving behind a door leading to another room. With small, careful steps, she approached the figure. Ryuji stood silently, watching the alluring teacher slowly move away from him. The heavy silence made the dark place even more chilling. 

As she got closer to the figure, Aya positioned herself slightly to the left to see what the crouching figure on the floor was doing. But she was shocked when she clearly saw what the figure was up to—it was a small child, crouching and eating flesh from a corpse lying stiff in front of them. 

The child was thoroughly enjoying every inch of flesh it tore apart with its teeth. Aya could also see how the child roughly pulled out the intestines from the corpse with its hands and devoured them savagely. Blood soaked every inch of the child's lips, occasionally dripping down its chin. It was a truly tragic sight for Aya, who was witnessing it right in front of her. 

Ryuji, standing at the intersection of the snack aisle, was still busy watching Aya-sensei's movements from a distance, completely unaware that someone was approaching him from the right. The figure moved slowly, but upon spotting an uninfected human, it instantly charged at Ryuji. When Ryuji sensed something approaching, he turned his head to the side, and his eyes widened as he saw a wild creature running toward him. 

'Crap!' he screamed internally, realizing the creature was just two steps away from reaching him. Thanks to reflexes honed during yesterday's battles at school, Ryuji moved his body as if dodging a bullet aimed at his chest. 

His dodge was successful, but the creature kept lunging and only managed to grab the plastic bag in Ryuji's left hand, causing it to stumble and fall to the floor, its blood-soaked legs making the floor slippery. 

The loud crash on the floor, accompanied by the clattering of cans, made Aya turn her head toward Ryuji. But this distraction left her defenses down, and she failed to notice the small child in the room also turning its head and spotting fresh meat not far away. The child quickly stood up and lunged at Aya, who saw it coming but didn't have time to strike or dodge. 

Ryuji immediately turned toward the source of the noise, and a second later, his eyes widened again as he saw Aya pinned to the floor, using her wooden sword to hold back the teeth of the small girl. His heart pounded violently, sending a surge of adrenaline rushing to his brain, forcing him to think quickly. 

As if everything slowed down, Ryuji picked up a can of instant fruit juice rolling near his feet with his left hand and prepared to throw it. Without realizing it, a mental image formed in his mind—a throwing trajectory that would aim for the head of the small girl 9 meters away, accounting for the can's weight of 440g and zero wind resistance. Ryuji could estimate the force and angle needed for the throw. 

As the can left his hand, everything became crystal clear in his mind. The creature behind Ryuji, which had fallen earlier, was slowly getting back up. 

The can Ryuji threw sped through the air, spinning rapidly toward the small girl. Unfortunately, this time, Ryuji's throw missed, failing to hit the girl's head. The failure left Ryuji in disbelief, his mouth hanging open as he watched the spinning can pass just 6cm above the girl's head. 

However, what Ryuji didn't expect was that they could continue to fly, hitting the wall beside the girl and bouncing back, striking her squarely and sending her crashing to the floor. Ryuji's gloomy expression instantly brightened as he realized his failed throw had ultimately hit its mark, splattering blood onto Aya-sensei's beautiful face. 

But his cheerful expression didn't last long when he felt someone grab his shoulders from behind. Ryuji knew exactly who was gripping him, sending him into a panic as the creature viciously tried to bite him. 

…