5 Shirogane Aya - News Of His Death

"Hurry, board up the windows, carry the food boxes into the storage shelter and use the cages to block the doors!"

Shirogane Aya was currently in the academy's gymnasium with more than sixty people huddled together, made up of her classmates, the discipline committee and from other classes.

Some were groaning in pain, others weeping in sorrow, unable to endure the situation.

'This cannot hold for long... we have too little food, and the people are too mentally fragile.'

She thought, carrying heavy objects and lugging them into the black cages used to store balls and props for physical education.

*Clang*

When she tried her hardest to pull the two cages tied to the main doors with steel chains, her muscles only felt pain and could not move them.

"Phew..."

"Aya, some people complained the floor is rough to sit on..." Shinji stood behind her stepping into her comfort zone, her left fist nearly crushing his jaw as it shot out by reflex.

The blood from her dead classmates covered her fingers as she stopped at the last moment. "Don't stand behind me!"

Right now, she was on edge.

Her heart was equally filled with sorrow as she watched many friends and acquaintances die before her eyes.

'All I could do was kill them for some damn points...'

[Current Points: 1250]

"What did our teacher, Mr Kazuya say?" She replied, seeing the slightly bitter look and fear in his eyes.

It seemed that Shinji had a hero complex.

He often tried to jump out to help someone, only for his strength not to be enough. Or he would mess up and cause the person to get bitten during a stupid dialogue.

Now that blame seemed to be passed onto her head, as Aya was much stronger than before, not just the system but able to sharpen her blade and make it vibrate easily, cutting the flesh and steel that blocked their way many times.

"He is in the upstairs staffroom with Miss Nagoya..."

"Haa... I see." Her eyes looked towards the distant storage room and saw a huge pile of thick jumping mats used when the gymnasts were practising risky manoeuvres, and she got an idea to help them stop complaining.

"Then go speak with the people and tell them, for now, this is all we have; if they want comfort, have them help drag all the mats out and line them up side by side."

"That way, they can forget their sorrows and make the entire floor soft and cushioned."

Aya began to move, wanting to speak to the teachers and get adult guidance.

She might be mature for her age but could acknowledge she lacked the life skills and experience to lead this many people without practice.

Her current role was the blade that protected them, as some had been whispering in the shadows—their shield to stop them from being bitten or dying.

The moment she started leaving, Shinji behind her showed a dark look, seeming to dislike how she asked him to do this.

But then his dark look became a smirk as he began to speak.

"By the way, Aya. It seems that bastard is already dead, haha."

'Eh... Who?'

Aya stopped her right foot stepping forward as she almost slipped on the slightly wet ground, her beautiful uniform filled with dirt and blood.

Her face turned back to look at Shinji with a confused face.

Right now, all that was on her mind was survival and helping them recover as soon as possible, so it was like when he mentioned someone had died. 'Oh, another person is dead. Well, the world did turn to shit.'

Without thinking but slowly...

A stabbing pain followed by panic, her breathing accelerated while feeling tightness in her chest as she did her best to hold these feelings back.

'I cannot show weakness.'

'They are all on the brink of mental breakdown. If I am selfish and begin acting emotionally, panic will take over!'

"Haa..."

Aya began taking deep, long breaths, a calming technique from her father's school named the tranquil swan.

In seconds, her posture became sharp, her shoulders tall, and her chest puffed out as her feet parted, no longer out of balance.

"Who is dead, Shinji? Is it really important right now? We must finish the defensive circle and set up a ration system for the food."

'Please don't be him.'

The technique's power couldn't change her heart and worries.

She felt the faces of her father, mother, and younger sister flash in her mind as the chaos they saw from the second-floor window.

Then 'his' face flashed, and her technique almost failed instantly.

'Please don't say his name...'

"Ah, that prick. Kuragane--"

The sound seemed to disappear from her ears as Shinji continued to talk; all Aya could hear was white noise.

No matter how lofty she acted towards him. Ryu was her first and only man; her family's old-fashioned ways were still something she believed in, even if she liked to go out drinking and smoking during the weekends.

"I see... Ok."

Her words were empty, but the idiot Shinji thought these were her true feeling as she almost stumbled up the stairs, her hand tightly gripping the steel railing, twisting it into a warped mess from the power used.

'It's not true...'

Slowly trying to fill her mind with other thoughts, she approached the thick double doors of the office before the sound of a male and female speaking reached her ears, and an unpleasant but familiar scent reached her nose.

"N-no... Kazuya, we can't... the students are waiting... Nnn...!" A sweet female's voice sounded along with the rustling of clothes and flesh pressing against flesh.

"Hmm, the world is fucked anyway; your husband is already a limp dick, so just enjoy it."

"That damn Shirogane can keep the students focused for now."

"Come on... you're body isn't saying no."

"Nnnnm... it's not good. Use a condom, at least!"

Aya stood silently, grasping her sword and biting her lips until the tooth tore her flesh.

Her head was filled with sounds and words she didn't wish to hear while her heart was flooded with pain, even with the tranquil swan active.

Yet, she still couldn't cry, nor could she break down.

The reason was simple.

'I'm a monster, so I don't have the right.'

Thus, Aya pushed open the door, a faint smile on her face and a blank expression in her eyes.

The lock warped and snapped with her power as the male and female pushed over a desk, all the paper and stationary rolling around his hips still moving while Miss Nagoya looked at her with a horrified face.

"A-Aya... this, this isn't what it looks like."

The man grinned as he wiped his mouth, "Oh, it's exactly what it looks like."

His smiling figure infuriated her, but she did nothing, turning to the teacher.

"The students need a teacher to calm them; once you are done, please see to it that you do."

Miss Nagoya bit her lip, nodding, and Aya left the room, her hands shaking while she ignored the student's worried and concerned gazes, before climbing onto the rafters, able to see the huge windows from the gym's second floor. She wanted to see the current state of the school and city, but the moment her eyes saw the outside, she regretted it.

There was nothing but death, destruction, and the living dead chasing people and eating them alive.

'Damn it! What do I do!?'

She sat on the rafters, closing her eyes and leaning her head against the white wall, hidden away from the other students and two lustful teachers.

'Think, Aya. Think... there is a way to resolve this. There has to be.'

"Such a fool; why are you thinking of saving everyone? Just save yourself and come to me."

"Ryu!?"

"What's the point? Even if you somehow save them, the world is ending; the humans are dying. Why bother?"

'Shut up! I won't die, and neither will anyone else!'

"You can't stop the apocalypse, Aya."

'Watch me, Kurogane Ryu!'

"..."

'Why aren't you saying anything, bastard!'

...

"No... that's not what I wanted to say... come back... speak again, I'll be good, I won't fight..."

Covering her eyes with her palm, tears gently slipped down her cheeks as the rumour of his passing finally sank in after feeling the disappointment in her two teachers.

"I won't fight..."

'Hehe, a monster shouldn't cry.'

Yet the tears continued to slip past, and she felt herself smiling.

"Ryu..."

"Ryu!"