POV Takashi Komuro, aka Isao's Kohai
Isao was one of the last to get off the bus, and he was right next to him, watching as he created iron handcuffs out of nothing and put them on Tsunoda, who was still unconscious. Creating another pair, he started fastening them to his legs.
"Can I ask why you're doing that?" He watched all this with interest while the other students waited for them outside.
"So this piss-pants—fuuuck, shit, what's that smell—doesn't steal our bus. We'll still need the bus, and we didn't stop at this store just to stay here for several hours." Finally fastening them, he stood up to his full height. Even after knowing Isao for over 4 years, he was still surprised by his height, as he'd been taller than everyone even in middle school.
"Well, why then?"
"To go in, gather supplies. Better to get more canned goods, bottled water, condoms, toilet paper... basically, everything people need." Takashi tried not to blush when he heard about condoms, he already was seventeen, why would he?!
"Okay, look, let his buddy," He kicked Tsunoda in the ass. "Stay outside, along with Hirano, Rei, and Saeko. They need to watch him. And let everyone else, including you, except for the girls, go into the store." He looked at the medium-sized building with broken glass and wide-open doors. "Carefully check the whole store for zombies, and in the meantime, I'll clear the seats in the back of the bus here to make room for all the supplies."
"Hm, okay." He watched for a few more seconds as Isao calmly lifted Tsunoda and carried him to the front of the bus, and then created iron claws and started ripping out the seats, throwing them outside under his astonished gaze.
"Are you just going to stand there or are you going to work?" Isao glanced at him, while he was still watching, mesmerized, as his iron claws calmly and easily did their work of roughly dismantling the seats. "Okay, wait, I forgot to give you one important thing. Or rather, several important things." He held out his hands, palms up, and right at a distance from the bend of his arm, iron bats began to appear. "There are about 6-8 here. Give them all to the guys, and if all the guys get one and there are extras, give them to the girls. At least they'll have something to defend themselves with." All this time, his claws were floating behind his back, calmly doing their job.
"Yeah, hang on." He got a better grip on his own bat and, with some caution, took the new ones from Isao's outstretched hands. "Alright then, I'm going."
"Uh-huh…" Isao looked at the empty space that had appeared where the seats used to be.
His body trembled slightly under the weight of all these iron? Steel? Or aluminum bats, but he still managed to calmly exit the bus with them in his arms and called all the guys over.
First was Hisashi, but he already had his own. After him was Takuzo; he also had a bat in his hands, which he was playing with, twirling it back and forth.
Kohta had his Nail Gun, and besides, he was going to stay outside, so the line moved to Takuzo's friends, who were holding broken pieces of wood.
"Here, take these, guys." Instead of Takuzo, Miura started to approach him but stopped immediately when he saw the look directed his way. "I wasn't calling you, Miura. You, Kokuto, Kirigaya, take one each and wait there by the entrance. Hisashi, Takuzo, you guys wait there too."
It was clear Hisashi wanted to argue with him, and he even puffed up his chest, but then he looked behind him, where he most likely saw Isao working, and deflated, following Takuzo who was already on his way to the entrance.
After Kirigaya and Kokuto, it was the turn of those who were with Shido. Five guys and four girls had gotten on the bus with him, along with Kyoko-sensei. Miura wasn't to be trusted, so he wouldn't get a bat, just like Tsunoda, who was currently lying there drooling. And so, he first called over the one who had exposed both Tsunoda and Shido.
"What's your name?" He called him over and, after asking his name, started handing him a bat.
"Oegi Kamikawa, you can just call me Kamikawa." His gaze on him was empty, but as soon as this dude looked behind him, respect, admiration, and another spectrum of emotions instantly appeared in his eyes. Mh-m, the main thing is that they don't start praying to Isao, not because they'll start deifying him, but because Isao might get pissed as hell. "Okay, Kamikawa, here, take one and go to the entrance. Wait for me and tell the others not to rush."
The guy nodded and walked to the entrance with an inscrutable face.
"You two!" He motioned with his eyes to two guys who had also come from the bus stop with Shido. One of them had ordinary brown hair with a short haircut, and the second had long dark hair down to his ears, with dark circles around his eyes. "Here, take these, and stand over there too." They did as he said and went to the entrance."
"Okay, I don't get why you're ordering everyone around, Komuro!" Saya walked up to him, with Rei, Saeko, and both senseis next to her.
"What?" He looked at her in amazement, still holding two new bats, and without thinking long, handed them to the two teachers. "Here, take these, Hayashi-sensei, Marikawa-sensei."
"Oh, thank you, Takashi-kun." Marikawa-sensei smiled at him, the kind of smile that didn't reach her eyes, making him smile back a little awkwardly.
"Thank you, Takashi-kun." Hayashi-sensei, however, thanked him quite warmly, though her face didn't show it, only her voice.
"Why are you ignoring me, Takashi Komuro! I'm standing right in front of you and I asked you a question!" She angrily pointed a finger at him. "How dare you ignore me and not answer my questions! The only ones allowed to do that are my parents and Isao Tsumugi, since he…" She blushed a little, but then continued. "Saved my life, unlike you!"
"Saya…"
"It's Takagi-san to you."
"Takagi-san, sorry, but I was just following Isao's orders. He told me to get started while he clears space on the bus for supplies."
"Supplies?" Rei asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, he said we stopped here just to get supplies, discuss a plan of action, and that's it, so we needed to do everything quickly." Saya looked at him in confusion, and then, apologizing, walked away from them, muttering something about how "she would have been more useful…"
"Why is she acting like such a bitch?" Kotobuki, Isao's sister, a year younger, appeared next to them. She asked such a rude question with such an innocent look. Now he had no doubt and was sure that she and Isao were siblings, as they both had the same rude tongue, but Kotobuki showed it far less often than Isao.
"Language, young lady!" Marikawa-sensei looked at Kotobuki in shock.
"What? I'm not lying. She called Kohta a lard-ass, fat-ass, and other hurtful names, yelled at Takashi for no reason, and now she's sulking for some reason." Kotobuki looked at all of them with slightly furrowed brows. "Like we all owe her something."
"It's most likely because everyone around her is used to following her orders. I've seen many boys and girls like her at competitions, and many of them were spoiled children. But deep down, Takagi-san is a good person, I'm sure of it." The always proper and beautiful Saeko voiced her opinion about Takagi, and then looked at him. "Did Isao-kun say anything about us?"
"Ah, right, he said that you, Kohta, and Rei should watch everyone, especially that guy, Miura, since he represents an unknown danger." Saeko looked at him intently, then nodded and walked over to Marikawa and Hayashi-senseis, who were already near the other girls, talking to them.
For a moment, he was left alone with Rei, and he looked at her, remembering Isao's words, his words about how she might still love him. But looking at her eyes, filled with conflicting emotions, he realized that his feelings were his and his alone, and that Rei no longer felt anything for him except friendly feelings.
This… saddened him, but in Isao's words, "Not everything ends when you make a mistake. There's still time to fix the mistakes you've made. Of course, they won't go back to how they were before, but it's still something."
Overall, he understood the gist of his words, although Isao should probably work on his conversation skills so that people who haven't known him for more than a year could understand him more easily.
"Rei, I'm trusting you. Watch over everyone." He smiled at her, and she nodded, returning the smile.
"Ahem…" Slightly to her right was Kohta. Hearing his cough, they both blushed. "Should I stay here and watch everyone too?" His voice was flat, as was the gaze he fixed on him.
"Uh, yeah, yeah! I better go, the guys are probably already waiting for me!"
And with a quick step, he headed for the store entrance.
POV Takuzo Shiyuki, Isao's loyal subject.
When he woke up today, he didn't think everything would suddenly get this bad, but Thank Kami, he managed to survive along with his girlfriend and some of his acquaintances when the school filled with the living dead.
At first, he was nervous, and even nearly died when he was running away from the gym with Naomi. On the way, he grabbed a bat from a locker, barely managing to open it, but right after that, he killed his first deadman.
When that corpse ran out through the door, he froze for a split second, but then his body, driven by concern for his girlfriend and adrenaline, moved on its own, and he hit the deadman in the face with all his might. It took several more hits to subdue that living corpse, not to mention trying to calm down the panicking Naomi afterward.
But as he said, Thank Kami, if they exist, that he managed to keep both her and himself sane. After that, everything got easier. He met his acquaintances in the hallway as they were tiptoeing towards the stairs.
Happy to meet them, he joined them and also went with them to the stairs to escape this place. It was then that they didn't expect to be surrounded there.
His anxiety level shot up to an insane level then. He thought this was it, he would die here, but at least next to the girl he loved. But then Isao Tsumugi appeared out of nowhere and saved them all, killing the deadmen as easy as pie.
He had heard a lot about Isao Tsumugi, and it was always bad things, but he hadn't paid it any mind since he hadn't heard Isao Tsumugi's own side of the story, and people hadn't given two things their due: his physique and how heroic he was.
He was like a hero from some manga. Serious, sometimes a bit rude, but honest, and also caring and someone you could trust, because he took his responsibilities far more seriously than even some adults.
That's when his mind labeled Isao as the "Leader," someone you could follow anywhere and know he wouldn't betray them.
And he turned out to be right. Isao killed Shido Koichi to protect his loved ones from his future attacks, and he would never call him a murderer, because Shido deserved it.
Isao killed a person to protect his loved ones, stained his hands with another's blood so that bastard wouldn't commit any more crimes, and hearing Tsunoda's words only strengthened his belief in this.
And now, he looked with pity at one of Shido's victims, standing next to the guys at the store entrance, waiting for Takashi, who was saying something to Rei Miyamoto and Kohta Hirano.
He stood up from his crouch, noticing Takashi walking towards them.
"So what do we need to do?" Hisashi Igou asked Takashi. They were both friends, but Hisashi had broken the bro code, which said not to date your bro's ex, so he didn't feel much respect for him.
"Isao told us to check the store for hostiles. By the time we finish, he should be here himself." Hearing Takashi's words, he nodded, then looked at the guys next to him who sighed.
"Yeah, what are you guys sighing for? Think about how much free candy we can get!" He smiled at them, noticing how their mood lifted at least a little, and was glad for the work he'd done.
"Guys, we should all split into pairs. Miura brothers together, me with Hisashi, and you, Takuzo, with Oegi, and you two…" He pointed his finger at Yamada and Kurokami.
"Their names are Yamada and Kurokawa, Takashi-san." He helped Takashi by supplying their names. Having done so, he glanced at his partner for the next half hour, if not hour, and after quickly sizing him up, returned his gaze to Takashi.
"Yamada and Kurokawa, you're together." He nodded and got a better grip on his bloody bat. "Be careful, check every corner and dark spot, and it's better not to go into the restroom. We'll check the store, that'll be enough, and then we should barricade the bathroom doors, so if there are zombies in there, they can't get out, since we don't need the extra risk." Takashi moved, and Hisashi followed him.
"Yeah, stay safe, guys." He nodded to the remaining guys and followed Takashi, feeling Oegi walking behind him.
POV Rei Miyamoto
"So, you don't care that your brother killed Shido?" She looked intently at Kotobuki, who didn't even flinch at her words, continuing to watch her brother, who was still doing something inside the bus and nodding, looking at his work.
"Yeah, why should I worry about the death of someone who tried to molest me?" Kotobuki's voice was cold. "Brother hated him, and then he started to hate himself because he couldn't beat him up or even spit on him because of that bastard's father." She sighed. "He probably could have gone and killed that bastard as the very first thing after getting his power, but he didn't. Instead, according to him, he sent Takashi for you and Hisashi, and ran to me himself."
"Hm, how do you know when he got his powers?" She looked at Kotobuki's sister in surprise.
"Hmph…" She pouted resentfully. "Aniki didn't have any chains, earrings, or bracelets in the morning, but when we were upstairs with you guys, he had them. He told me then that he'd bought them, and I believed him easily!" She pouted even more and frowned. "And then he revealed his power in the bloodiest way possible, filling the entire parking lot with the blood of the deadmen and that bastard with his iron saws."
"O-oh…" She listened to Kotobuki with her mouth wide open.
"So he got his powers in the period between lunch and the time when he and Takashi noticed something wrong at the gates. And since he didn't have time to experiment with his powers while the events at the gates were happening, it means he got his powers right after lunch when I left."
"Well… that means he could have stopped all this…" She looked at Kotobuki.
"Yeah, he didn't. Even though he could have easily created his saws and killed the very first infected with them. But his first thought was to save me and you guys."
"Us?" She thought for a moment.
"Yeah, you guys. You, Takashi, and Hisashi. My brother might seem like an asshole sometimes, but he's a really caring person and senses very easily when the atmosphere in a room changes." Kotobuki nodded at her, making her blush.
Isao's first thought was to save me and his sister… she had, of course, known Isao Tsumugi since middle school, but back then she was sometimes afraid of him and didn't get too close, although she remembered how no one dared to hit on her.
And she realized that he had been protecting her and Takashi since those times, until she started dating Takashi and he stopped doing it, probably thinking she was his responsibility now and leaving the matter alone.
And then she remembered one day, the day she'd gotten into another fight with Takashi because he wanted to spend time with his friends, even though he kept promising her they would hang out together, and how she was crying on the third floor in an empty classroom.
She tried to cry quietly, she was just so hurt that Takashi didn't keep his word, even though he kept promising her such things, and she felt a touch on her shoulder.
She abruptly composed herself and stood up as if nothing had happened, and looked in the direction she felt the touch from, and saw Isao, who was already very tall back then.
"So, what are you crying about, Rei?" His voice was quiet and calming; she had never heard such a calm voice from him before.
"I-it's Takashi, Isao-sempai! He ditched me again and went to hang out with Morita!" She started crying again, but this time tears just flowed from her squeezed-shut eyes while she sniffled.
"It's okay, Rei-chan, you're a smart girl, smarter than that idiot Takashi." He put his hand on her hair and began to stroke it. "Tell him how much he hurt you, and if he doesn't listen then… hit him, that idiot only understands things like that." He continued to stroke her hair, but this time she clung to his blazer and started wiping her snot on it—blushing deeply at the memory—but he didn't push her away or even say 'ew,' he just put an arm around her shoulders. "But the most important thing, Rei, is that you have to know how to forgive. Not for others, but for yourself, because there's no point in holding a grudge against idiots who won't even understand how magnanimous and kind you were."
"Y-yes… Isao-sempai…"
"Alright then, don't cry. Come on, I'll buy you a juice." He smiled sweetly at her, and it was the first time she had seen such a smile on his face.
"O-okay… Isao-sempai…" She sniffled a few times but followed Isao-sempai, holding his hand.
She remembered this and just froze. Her heart began to beat very fast, and her mind recalled another moment.
That moment when neither Hisashi nor Takashi could reach her in time when three deadmen attacked her at once, but Isao-sempai, he saved her again and helped her.
And when she thought about it, she felt so warm inside…
"…ei! Rei! Hello-o!" She blinked and realized she was looking at Kotobuki's face, which was only a few inches from hers. "Why'd you freeze up staring at my brother like that? Just know, I'm not giving him to you. I already barely share his love with Mom, hmph…" she pouted again.
"Ah, what the hell are you talking about, Kotobuki!"