4:40 PM

I stood in the classroom, alone with only Yuki sitting at a table close to me. Behind me was the large whiteboard with the words “Makeup Test, Japanese" down the middle.

“Bye Sakura-sensei!” Shoujouji-san called out from the hallway

“Bye!” Another voice followed.

As they both made their way down the room, Shoujouji leaned over towards her friend.

“Megu-nee sure has it rough" Shoujouji whispered in amusement, almost ignorant that I could hear her. Her friend giggled in response.

I looked over back at the table, noticing Yuki staring at me with her hands resting on the paper.

“What is it?” I asked with a soft voice, prompting Yuki to look down ashamedly, “Is it hard to focus with me standing here?”

Yuki shook her head, with her pink hair and hat waving as well.

“I just don’t like tests,” Yuki said while keeping her head down, “But I don’t mind being with you, Megu-nee”.

I smiled, pulling a nearby chair close to Yuki’s table.

“Let’s get this over with"

Yuki looked at me with a smile, before looking down at her test paper. I didn’t mind breaking the basic protocol of not helping students with a test, especially since I could say that this ‘test’ didn’t count.

After about 40 minutes, Yuki had made quite some progress despite the pace we were at. The afternoon light had set into the classroom, almost making me ignore having to turn on the class lights for the time being.

Going through each question, I popped down hint after hint to help push Yuki closer to the answer, while trying to prevent it from being obvious. With this simple strategy, I managed to make some progress.

As I watched Yuki finish up on her second last question, I felt someone looking over at me from the hallway.

Turning over, I noticed Kurumi peeking over at the door, still in her track and field uniform. She did a quick wave, before walking off.

It seemed urgent. I didn’t want to leave Yuki in the classroom. However, her current performance and overall innocence made me think otherwise.

“I’ll be right back, okay Yuki-chan?”

“Eh?” Yuki looked at me with her adorable yet disappointed face"

“If you have questions, I’ll be outside in the hall"

“I’m hungry…” Yuki said, speaking in a childish voice.

“Once your test’s over, okay?” I responded, backpedaling back to keep my sights on Yuki until I left the hallway.

I turned over, seeing Kurumi sit on a nearby wooden platform staring at the ground. Instead of the usual school uniform, she wore her track-and-field uniform which consisted of shorts and a white shirt

“What’s wrong, Ebisuzawa-san?” I asked, “Isn’t the track-and-field club running outside?”

“Um…” Kurumi fiddled with her words, “Well… sorry if I interrupted you during the make-up test, but… you’re the only one I can talk to about this, Megu-nee"

I sat down on the platform next to Kurumi.

“Don’t call me Megu-nee” I responded, “It’s Sakura-sensei"

Kurumi nonetheless ignored it.

“I just don’t understand… Why do I feel the way I do when he’s around"

Oh.

Regardless of it being a few months since I had started directly talking with Kurumi, I didn’t know she had any actual romantic interest with anyone. However, looking back at my interactions with her in the field, it was easier than I thought.

“Ah, one of the track-and-field guys who graduated this year. It’s not so hard to figure out, really"

Kurumi looked at me, her violet eyes briefly widening.

“Yea… I’ve been wanting to go out with him and tomorrow’s my opportunity. But, I can’t get this thing off my chest"

“Ah I get it now… you’re in love, Ebisuzawa-san"

Her face turned red out of embarrassment.

“I-I’m not… I mean…” Kurumi stammered with her words, before looking down, revealing her red cheeks, “Maybe… I guess I am…”

“Isn’t that a good thing?” I said, continuing to smile.

“Yeah," Kurumi nodded. “It’s good that I’ve gotten that off my chest…”

“I don’t know why you’re the only one I can talk to, but… I’m glad that you’re here, Megu-nee” Kurumi looked at me happily, with her usual confidence reigniting.

“Thank you Ebisuzawa-san” I responded, “what are you planning to do now? If you don’t mind answering"

“First… I’ll go ask him out…"

“That’s a wonderful idea, Ebisuzawa-san"

“Wish me luck" Kurumi stood up, approaching the flight of stairs with a prideful stride. As she got close to the end, she turned over towards me.

“Thanks for everything!” Kurumi gave a small wave, prompting me to follow with it.

As Kurumi continued down the stairs, I continued my wave until she was out of my sight. A sudden rush of footsteps followed.

Maybe I’m not suited to being a teacher. But… I’m suited to being a friend.

“All right!” I whispered loudly to myself out of pride.

Yuki stared outside at the glass, with her pen in her hand lowered, as I made my merry entry into the classroom.

“What took you so long?” Yuki turned over to me.

“Sorry"

“I’m done with the test" Yuki leaned back onto her chair, crossing her arms with a prideful smile over her face.

“Good job Yuki-chan" I collected the test paper.

“Finally…” Yuki mumbled, before almost planting her face onto the table out of tiredness, “I’m super tired Megu-nee”

“Like I said, it’s Sakura-sensei"

My phone rang briefly.

“Let’s go buy ice cream! I’m exhausted!”

“You shouldn’t stuff yourself full of sweets on the way home" I responded patiently while pulling the phone out of my dress’ pockets, amused at her child-like behavior.

My eyes widened as I scanned through the messages on my phone. All from Mom, with the subjects ranging from ‘Are you okay?’ to ‘Urgent’. I pressed my thumb onto the ‘urgent’ message, clicking on the News link attached.

Massive Traffic Accident in Megurigaoka.

Wow… that’s close by…

I swiped my thumb again, looking through the other emails my Mom sent to me earlier.

Another link. This time from a social media platform.

Footage of people fleeing in terror out of the mall, followed by screams. Several clips of people, all hunched back similar to the news footage earlier this morning, were wandering across the road.

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One thing lurked in my mind. Were some of the students who I had overheard their plans to visit the Tron Mall alright? It was easy to say they ran out, yet something told me it was different.

“Hey Megu-nee, talk to me” Yuki poked her head out, looking over at my phone curiously as her hat obscured my view.

She sounded almost annoyed, as if she had been calling my name multiple times yet I hadn’t responded.

“What are you looking at?” Yuki continued looking over.

“Don’t do that! It’s bad manners to look at other people’s phones" I said while keeping my phone still to see what was happening.

“Boo…” Yuki muttered, “I’m going home!”

I can’t let her leave. It wasn’t because trains were being stopped, but rather a question of what could happen to her on the way. I couldn’t find a reason to stop her, yet she was one of the easiest people to convince.

“Takeya-san” I called out, “I don’t think the trains are running, so why don’t you stay here?”

“They’re not?”

I continued to stare at her blankly, attempting to formulate an excuse.

“Okay, but I’m hungry…” Yuki muttered, “How about we go over to the roof? They have cherry tomatoes"

It’s remarkable how easy it was to convince Yuki. Yet this time it was for a good reason.

“Yes, but they’re not ours to eat. The roof is off limits anyways"

“We can go check up on the Horticulture Club!” Yuki smiled, “Doesn’t that work?”

“I guess so…” I responded, almost unable to find a way to keep Yuki without letting her run the risk of the delays.

“Yay!”

Yuki grabbed onto her bag, walking quickly towards the stairway while I followed closely to keep an eye on her. Looking outside the classroom, I started to notice the presence of helicopters hovering across the main city.

As we reached the rooftop, I pressed my hand onto the door, swinging it open instantly to my surprise.

“The door’s unlocked," Yuki muttered.

“Oh sorry, I forgot about the door” A girl with a watering can, wearing a cardigan with her school uniform, turned over towards me, “Could you lock it for me?”

I pressed my hand onto the lock, clicking it in place. Yuki ran over towards the garden, her widened eyes looking across the garden with awe.

“Oh wow! Are you from the Horticulture Club?”

“That’s what this can’s for” The girl raised her watering can, “Did you come to see the garden?”

“Yup! The tomatoes look delicious!”

“Would you like one?” The girl asked.

“May I?” Yuki extended her hand towards one of the tomatoes, tempted to grab onto it.

“If you’re willing to give a hand, sure!”

“Okay!”

In the meantime, I pulled out my phone, staring at the videos sent to me earlier. It seemed weird, having the trains shut down almost instantaneously.

“What’s your name?” Yuki looked at the girl while tipping the watering can.

“Yuuri. What’s yours?”

“Yuki"

“Nice to meet you Yuki-san” Yuuri gave a polite smile, before turning around to tend to the garden.

I tapped on my Mom’s phone number, pressing it onto my ear while waiting for a response.

Nothing yet.

“Do you tend to the garden alone, Yuuri-san?”

“No. I wonder where the others are”

An automated message followed on my phone.

“Why isn’t Mom answering the phone?” I mumbled to myself.

A phone call instantly appeared on my screen, with a white rose as the picture. I picked it up, placing it over my ear.

“Hello-”

“Are you okay?” A panicked voice came through, her breath almost out, “Where are you, Sakura-san?”

A sudden bang came at the door, causing all of us to look at it.

“Who’s that?” Yuki looked over.

“Someone from my club, maybe?”

“You’re on the roof?” Kamiyama shouted, “Lock the door! Don’t let anyone through, no matter what! The staff room–”

Glass shattered across the room, followed by screams of terror. Voices continued across the room. The call abruptly ended, making me skip a heartbeat in the moment.

“Coming! I’ll open it!” Yuki ran over to the door.

“Wait!” I shouted.

“Megu-nee?” Yuki looked at me skeptically, “We can’t just leave them there”.

I looked at Yuki, unable to respond to her. It was easy to let whoever in, yet Kamiyama’s instructions seemed as if it was some sort of life-or-death situation.

“Please!” A familiar voice came through the door, followed by more banging.

I couldn’t help but run over to the door, pressing my ear through it as a way to try and know who it was.

“Please! Open it!” The voice continued, making me realize who it was behind it.

I switched the lock off and opened the door, with light illuminating the stairway to reveal Kurumi and a boy who had her arm wrapped over her shoulders with his face covered by blood and his hair.

“Ebisuzawa-san?”

“Quickly, lock the door!” Kurumi crouched down, placing the boy close to the ground while Yuuri ran over to tend to him.

“How bad is it?” Yuuri looked at the boy’s wound.

“What happened?” I looked over, desperately looking for a way to tend to him despite the lack of available resources.

“Sakura-sensei. We have to take him to the nurse’s office!”

“We can’t go down there!” Kurumi shouted, “Not now…”

“What’s… happening?”

I noticed Yuki looking over the railing, her face almost in pure shock while staring into the vast field. As I looked over the railing, I immediately gasped in shock.

Some of the students who were wearing their track and field uniforms were being attacked by multiple others who had their backs slouched or sitting on lifeless bodies.

A student was swarmed by multiple others, who proceeded to scratch and mutilate his body brutally. Others were fleeing for their lives, before falling down and being attacked by a nearby student.

From afar, it looked as if it was some sort of harmless prank despite the blood and flesh coming out of each body being surrounded by the students.

“It was so sudden,” Kurumi mumbled, resting her head on the railway, “People just lost their minds… the Track and Field team were among the first… And then he was–”

The boy lurched forward in pain, desperately trying to keep silent while pressing his free hand over the wound at his shoulder.

“Hang in there!” Kurumi shouted.

As Kurumi tried to tend to the boy, I pulled out my phone again, dialing 119 in the process with no response.

“We have to get him outside and call an ambulance" Yuuri looked over, trying to ease his pain.

“I’ve been trying to call them, but I’m not getting through," I said while an automated voice continued on my phone.

An explosion erupted across the suburbs, almost causing Yuki to lose her balance. Looking over, plumes of smoke emerged out of multiple houses, followed by distant buildings.

“What is all this… Why is this happening?” Yuki said with a shaky voice backing away from the railing as she stared at the chaos that engulfed the city.

A knock came across the door, followed by a bang. As we all turned over, the rapid banging continued, followed by a sudden slam as if someone tried to kick it down.

“Open up Wakasa-san! I know you’re out there!” A male voice came through, with his loud panting piercing through the door.

I looked over in terror, almost unwilling to open it due to Kamiyama’s instructions. Yet at the same time, it felt as if I needed to let whoever that was in.

“I don’t have time! Please! Open up!”

We all stared at the door, completely paralyzed in fear. It was easy to let Kurumi in, yet it was almost as if our instinct believed whoever was out there could be trusted.

“Hey! I can see…” The voice turned quieter, before another loud bang followed at the door, almost rumbling as if the hinges were about to fall off.

I looked at Yuuri, who slowly approached the door with her legs trembling, almost hesitant to open up.

“Sakura-sensei! I can see you through the window. It’s me! Ryu Tanaka!”

Hearing the name, I ran over, unlocked the door, and swung it open.

Ryu instantly fell over, his leg raised as if he tried to kick the door down again out of desperation before losing his balance and falling face-first onto the ground. He dropped the shovel he had in his hand, letting it slide across the floor close to Kurumi. I instantly shut the door, relocking it.

“Are you okay Ryu-kun?” Yuki ran over to him.

“Hold on!” I extended my hand over, stopping her instantly.

Ryu twitched for a moment, before extending his hand out to give a thumbs-up. He placed his hand over his head, groaning. I slowly backed away, before he gasped for breath.

Another bang came at the door, followed by shuffling. We all stopped, looking over the door. I walked over, stopping out of reluctance. My heart was pounding at the moment. Could it be another student? Or one of them?

After another wave of banging, several hands burst through the glass, all desperately trying to reach for us. I covered my mouth with my hand, stopping any scream that could come out through my throat. It was impossible to discern what I was witnessing.

Their faces were filled with blood and torn-off flesh, yet their mouths were wide open with the sound of groans being constantly emitted. Through the decomposing skins, I could vaguely recognize who they were.

I wished it was all a prank or some form of nightmare that I could wake up and get over it. The surrealness of what was happening, there was no way it was happening.

It all didn’t make sense.