Chapter 50
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: 6.2 Escape
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The blade falls.
The blade that killed Shuji. The blade that killed me once.
It falls to kill me again.
"Eek!"
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Yuuki.
I'm sorry.
Goodbye.
-Clang!
But.
All I heard was the sound of metal clashing against metal.
No pain came.
"...Fuck."
A small voice spat out under his breath.
I cautiously opened my eyes.
Naibusu's face was right in front of me.
His head was bowed, so I couldn't see his eyes.
Am... I still alive?
Why?
-Shing.
Naibusu sheathed his sword.
Then, suddenly, he started smashing the lab equipment.
-Bang! Thud, thud! Boom! Crack!
Was he venting his rage instead of killing me?
Every loud crash made my body twitch and tremble.
What? Why is he doing that? Wasn't he going to kill me?
Or is he trying to scare me by showing what he'll do to me next?
Hmph. If that's the case, mission accomplished. Can't you see me shaking like a leaf?
I'm terrified right now. Scared out of my mind. Impressive.
But those sarcastic words just swirled around in my head.
I couldn't say a thing out loud.
Because it felt like the moment Naibusu's eyes turned back to me, that would be it.
I don't want to die.
Like a herbivore avoiding the gaze of a predator.
I squeezed my eyes shut, gritted my teeth, clenched my fists.
I prayed that violence wouldn't turn toward me.
With the single-minded wish not to die, I waited for the storm to pass.
"Haaah..."
...Naibusu stopped.
He let out a long sigh, as if expelling the heat built up inside him.
The lab was a wreck.
Sturdy stone pillars were shattered, metal equipment crumpled like paper.
It looked like a dinosaur had rampaged through.
And then, just one sentence.
"──Apologize to her yourself. With your own mouth."
Naibusu spat that out.
Without even glancing my way.
...Apologize? You mean to Yuuki?
Does that mean... he's letting me live?
"Naibusu!!"
And into that brutal lab scene, someone burst in calling Naibusu's name.
...Why is she here?
Our homeroom teacher, Naiad Winzer.
She's our homeroom teacher, but also Naibusu's older sister.
She must have rushed here, breathing heavily.
"Eek?!"
Blood splattered on the floor. A decapitated corpse. A charred body.
And what used to be Shuji, now just a lump of meat.
Naiad looked at them one by one, then turned to Naibusu.
"Naibusu! Are you okay? Hurt anywhere?"
"I'm fine."
Naibusu replied curtly and left the lab without a care.
As he passed, another person entered.
It was Senior Sinozaki, captain of the Student Council President's guard.
"What... happened here...?"
Like the teacher, she blankly surveyed the destroyed lab.
Naibusu, Naiad-sensei, and the guard captain?
I couldn't even imagine how this group came together.
But whatever the reason, it didn't matter to me right now.
"Naibusu! Wait up!"
Naiad-sensei chased after Naibusu, who had left indifferently.
I had to stop her.
Naiad-sensei was the only one here who might help me.
"T-Teacher! Naiad-sensei!"
Seizing the moment Naibusu was gone.
I mustered my courage and called out to her from where I was huddled.
"...Tsukimiya?"
Naiad-sensei turned to me, eyes widening.
No wonder she was shocked to see a dead person up and fine.
"Tsukimiya! Are you okay?!"
Seeing her rush over, I finally relaxed.
Aah. I'm alive.
I don't have to die. I don't have to go back to that darkness.
I survived.
...Why didn't Naibusu kill me?
* * *
The place I'd been was apparently a lab in the quarantine zone.
Sensei unlocked my handcuffs, and afterward, we all went to the Student Council President's office.
I'd thrown on a doctor's coat from the lab, but in the council office, I changed into a spare uniform that fit me perfectly. Lucky.
...What is Naibusu thinking right now?
He seemed to have lost interest in me.
He hadn't said a word the whole way back. Hadn't even looked at me. Treated me like I didn't exist.
Just moments ago, he was trying to kill me. Smashing everything in a frenzy.
I still didn't know why he spared me in the first place.
...I can't figure out what Naibusu is thinking.
"Then, Tsukimiya, why don't you stay at my place for a while?"
Sensei suggested after hearing my story.
She seemed to pity me, sold off by my parents with nowhere to go.
"What? Sis, are you serious?!"
Naibusu jumped up at that.
Since he and Sensei are siblings living together, staying at her place meant living with him too. No wonder he objected.
"No way. Bringing a full-grown girl into the house?"
"Why not?"
"Why? Obviously not! What if something happens?!"
"Something like what? Naibusu, you planning to do something to Tsukimiya?"
"Argh! Don't say stupid stuff! It's not me, it's Akane! What if she burns the house down?!"
Naibusu jumped again at Sensei's teasing question.
He'd ignored me like air until now, but suddenly he was treating me like an arsonist.
Hmph. Hate me that much? I hate you too. I'd rather sleep on the streets than live with you.
...I was too scared to say it outright, though.
"Oh? Then how about I take her?"
The president, who'd been listening, showed interest.
"I'm curious about the mechanism that brings the dead back to life. And it's not just me. Any doctor or scientist would kill for a sample like Miss Tsukimiya. I could connect you with people in those fields if you want."
The president's lips curled cruelly.
'Sample'. The word the mad scientist used for me.
Student Council President Mizuki Kyoko was kind to her subordinates but merciless to enemies. They called her the 'Iron-Blooded President' for good reason—no blood, no tears.
Connections in medicine and science from someone like her?
What would they do with me?
Vivisection? Turn me into a monster like Shuji?
...No. Scary. I don't want to go there.
But begging and crying wouldn't change my fate.
They'd probably just shove me off as a nuisance.
Right now, all I could do was wait quietly for the verdict.
My fingers trembled as I waited.
...Please. Don't abandon me.
"Sure. Do that. Just dispose of her somewhere I won't know about."
"Eek...!"
My fingers twitched.
...Dispose of me.
I thought he'd taken pity since he spared me.
I was the fool for trusting Naibusu. He was just as ruthless.
"Naibusu!"
Sensei scolded him sharply.
Naibusu clicked his tongue lightly.
Sensei turned to President Mizuki with a resolute expression.
"President. I'll take Tsukimiya Akane. As her homeroom teacher, I have a duty to protect my student."
Sensei's kind words made me truly happy.
She was the only one here purely trying to help me.
I couldn't help but want to rely on her.
"Hah. That's funny, Teacher Naiad Winzer."
But the president mocked her.
She crossed her legs arrogantly. The haughty pose suited her perfectly.
"Your student, Tsukimiya Akane, is already dead, right? What's here is 'something wearing Tsukimiya Akane's skin', not 'Tsukimiya Akane'."
"...Tsukimiya Akane is Tsukimiya Akane. She's my student."
Am I... really Tsukimiya Akane?
My consciousness is definitely Tsukimiya Akane's.
But can I swear that I'm not 'something else that inherited Tsukimiya Akane's memories'? Can the dead really come back to life?
...What the hell am I?
"Even if it's the same person, Tsukimiya Akane has a criminal record. What if she burns your house down like Naibusu said? Stabs you in your sleep? Bites you and turns you into a zombie? Are you prepared to take responsibility for all that?"
"Th-That’s..."
Sensei was at a loss for words.
...Yeah, figures. No one can trust a criminal like me 100%.
──But.
If Yuuki were here.
Yuuki would trust me completely, say she'd take responsibility even if things went wrong.
...Right.
I'll go to Yuuki.
Yuuki will protect me, find a safe way to recharge my magic power.
Yuuki can do anything.
"──You can't protect a student with naive faith like 'my student wouldn't do anything bad', putting your family at risk, right, Teacher? What if your family dies──"
"President. That's enough."
The argument was heating up.
The president pressing Sensei, Naibusu cutting her off.
I'm the one they're talking about.
But no one here cared about me.
"Hah. Sorry, I got a bit heated there."
"Um."
I couldn't listen anymore.
I steeled myself and spoke up.
"Thank you for your concern. But I'm fine. I have somewhere to go."
Yeah.
I have a place to go. Someone who'll take me in.
Even if my parents abandoned me, even if Sensei doesn't trust me.
I have Yuuki.
"...Akane. You don't mean you're going to Yuuki, do you?"
"None of your business, Naibusu."
"You really think Yuuki will forgive you?"
Forgive? There's nothing to forgive in the first place.
Yuuki must be regretting and grieving my death right now, so when the supposedly dead me shows up alive, she'll cry tears of joy.
"Of course. Yuuki's not like you."
But maybe I should apologize for appearances?
You make up after fights and get even closer—that's what friends do, right?
"Hah..."
Naibusu sighed in disbelief.
The one in disbelief is me. What do you know about Yuuki?
...No.
I couldn't waste time bickering with Naibusu.
I had to hurry.
My magic power was really running low now.
"Well, I'll be going then. Thank you for helping."
I bowed and left the council office.
Of course, no one tried to stop me.
A small voice came from inside the door.
-Naibusu. Aren't you going after her? She's your first love, isn't she, Miss Tsukimiya?
That was President Mizuki's voice.
...I'm Naibusu's first...?
...Ridiculous.
I ignored it and hurried down the stairs.
It was raining outside the building.