Chapter 78 - Chapter 76: A Story About Doing Anything
It was a blizzard outside, but Yuko, who decided to talk to the boy, went outside with resolve. As soon as Yuko came out from the dormitory entrance, the remaining students began rebuilding the barricade behind her. It would result in Yuko having no place to flee even if she were attacked, but it was something Yuko herself ordered the students to do. As a teacher, she must protect the lives of the students.
Wearing white rubber boots for janitors, she stepped on the snow that had accumulated to the height of her ankles. While the snow and cold wind were blowing, the boy remained standing outside the dormitory. However, both hands, which were raised earlier, were lowered, and his right hand was placed on his waist. Looking closely, she understood that he was in a posture where he could pull the handgun stored in the holster on his thigh at any time.
Yuko stopped at a distance of several meters from the boy and observed his body intently. He wore white ski wear on top, and over that, he wore a vest with several pouches for magazines of rifles and submachine guns. The bottom was camouflage, but Yuko intuited that it was not a casual type but an authentic military-use one used by the JSDF or armies. Pads are sewn into the parts that hit the knees. It's likely to prevent hurting the knees with pebbles rolling on the ground when suddenly kneeling to shoot.
What he was wearing were also not stylish ones, but rugged lace-up boots. If he wasn't wearing ski wear, he had a clothing that she would have believed even if told he was a JSDF member.
"I'm sorry for suddenly coming late at night. I'm sorry it's so sudden, but could you let me stay here for a while?"
The boy named himself, and he was the one who started the conversation first. "Late at night," she hadn't heard that for many months. It was a gap for the boy in a strange clothing holding guns to utter such words, but it wasn't a situation to laugh. If the boy felt like it, Yuko would be turned into a corpse in an instant.
The rifle and submachine gun the boy was hanging from his shoulders looked real no matter how she saw them. She didn't think there was a person who would carry around model guns in this situation, but still, the scene of a boy younger than herself holding guns as if it were natural was, for Yuko who is a teacher, in a sense a shocking event. She felt as if the fact that the world has changed was thrust before her eyes.
"Of course I won't cause trouble. I can provide my own food and water. Just somewhere I can avoid snow and wind, even a storage room is fine. Could you let me stay here until the blizzard settles and the snow melts enough for the car to run? Of course, during that time, I'll do anything I can help with."
The boy had let go of the holster before she knew it, but still, Yuko thought she couldn't completely trust him. What kind of action would he take if he knew they didn't have any decent weapons?
His face is smiling, but his eyes are not. In the eyes visible behind the scar running above and below his right eye, she couldn't find any emotion. The words he utters also sound chillingly heartless. A well-made voice software is uttering input words as they are, or a robot is speaking. She received such an impression.
"Um, are you alone? Any other friends or comrades?"
When the word comrade came out, his expression seemed to sway for just a moment. However, the words "No, I'm all alone" were returned immediately, and Yuko thought it was a misunderstanding. Certainly no other human figure is visible around the boy, but what about inside the car parked outside the school gate? Or are comrades holding their breath in the forest, watching for the timing to attack?
——————No, let's believe him here. The news reported only dark things like riots and murders, but it doesn't mean all humans have become like that. He purely came here seeking a safe place. Yuko tried to think so. She still didn't want to believe the fact that the world has changed greatly.
Besides, the current them needed the information the boy had. They don't know what has happened outside, having been holed up in this academy for these 9 months.
And the educational philosophy of this Sayuri Girls' Academy is "Trust and Friendship." To trust the other party first in everything. Yuko herself had been told this word so much during her school days that she thought her ears would grow calluses, but she thinks this philosophy is correct. If you don't trust the other party, nothing starts.
"I understand. For now, I'll permit your stay for tonight only. Whether to permit your stay from tomorrow onward, please let me discuss with the others."
"Thank you. By the way, how many people are living here?"
She hesitated whether to answer honestly, but decided to say it. Either way, if the boy is up for it, everyone would be killed in an instant.
"Including me, 11 people."
"...With that many people living, it's a wonder supplies were enough."
"Since it's a school facility, emergency food and such were stockpiled so it could become a shelter in case of disaster."
In addition to that, in March this year, a large amount of new preserved food was brought in to replace emergency food whose expiration date was near. Because the pandemic occurred just before disposing of the food whose expiration date was near, the result was that twice the usual amount of emergency food remained in the academy. In addition to that, fresh foods that were in the cafeteria's refrigerator were quite left over due to the students' sudden temporary return home. If they salted or sun-dried them before the electricity stopped at Aoi's suggestion, it became enough food for 11 people to live easily for over half a year.
The academy has a greenhouse used by the gardening club, and they are growing vegetables and fruits there now. It's a negligible amount, but it's precious food.
"Please use the school building. I'll have blankets brought later."
"No, don't worry about it. I have my own bedding prepared."
"And, I'd like you to refrain from bringing in weapons."
Yuko didn't miss that the boy momentarily made the face of a hunter appraising prey. At Yuko's words to leave the weapons in the car, the boy made a troubled face.
"Is that... even handguns?"
"If possible, I'd like you to refrain from bringing any weapons, even a single knife, into the school building."
"You might think it's presumptuous of me in a position to be allowed to stay, but I can't accept that. It's not that I doubt you who went out of your way to welcome a stranger like me, but I've also been through a lot of terrible things until now."
"It's safe here. We've never been attacked even once until now."
"By the infected, right? I've almost been killed by the same humans many times. I don't want to think you are such people, but now is an era where you don't know what will happen. I'm sorry, but please allow me to carry weapons."
"What if I don't permit it?"
The boy's eyes narrowed thinly. Silence was his answer.
After a few seconds of staring at each other, the boy was the one who opened his mouth first.
"Then, at least a handgun and a knife. I'll keep the rifle and submachine gun strictly stored in the car."
"...I understand. But, only that, okay?"
"It's okay. Unless someone attacks me, the turn for the gun won't come."
Rather, the fact that the boy might do something using a gun was more terrifying, but Yuko hoped he wouldn't do such a thing. With a gun and a bow and arrow, there's no way it would be a match. If he starts running wild, they have no way to deal with him.
And it would also be bad for a boy to be alone in an environment with only women. Yuko is a person who believes in the innate goodness of humans, but still, the words a friend said long ago that all men are beasts somehow don't leave her head. Especially under this situation where the police are not functioning.
However, there was also a feeling that it would be reassuring if the boy became an ally. The current Yuko and the others don't accurately grasp what happened outside, and what is happening. Now that TV and radio cannot be used, they have no choice but to confirm directly by themselves, or rely on hearsay. She wanted to ask the boy for accurate information about the current outside world.
And if the outside of the academy has become a lawless area as reported on TV and radio, then weapons will be needed. It was taught throughout her time at the academy that conflict is not a good thing, but still, a time might come when she must fight to protect herself or the students. If that happens, the boy's gun would be reassuring.
After all, a boy the same age as her students is holding a gun. Even if they don't go as far as mohawks and shoulder pads, if there are rioters, there is a high possibility they also have guns. Mop handles and Japanese bows won't be a match.
The boy didn't know what he was thinking, but if he had no hostility, she wanted to ask him to stay in the academy. However, there will surely be students who oppose that. Yuko interacted with men during her university days so she's not so much, but there are those who grew up in girls' schools from middle to high school and have no immunity to boys. It's also a natural thing in a sense to feel fear toward a boy they haven't interacted with usually. Among them, there should be those who oppose the boy's stay due to such androphobia.
First, it's necessary to see if the boy is friendly, or at least a person who doesn't hold malice. And if he's a person who seems likely to help Yuko and the others, then let's try asking him to stay in the academy. While slightly terrified by the boy's eyes where no emotion could be gathered as usual, Yuko continued to face the boy as the oldest person so as not to show fear.
Even so, to think they haven't gone outside even once during these 9 months. The boy, who received permission from Yuko to drive the car into the premises, thought while brushing off the snow accumulated on the windshield. Surely those holed up in this academy don't know the misery of the outside.
Thinking so, he felt they were enviable, and also felt jealous. Even when I was losing everything and having a hard time, they were living comfortably until now in a fulfilling facility. While playing a peaceful school game with friends, they must have been waiting in vain for a rescue that won't come.
The boy also realizes that this is a selfish thought. They were just "lucky." And I didn't have that, that's all. When he divided it that way, feelings like jealousy and anger toward Yuko and the others rapidly disappeared. He understood when he lost his comrades that it's important to divide everything as "luck."
Already the snow had accumulated to a height that seemed likely to enter the boots. The snow, far from stopping, is increasing in intensity. At this rate, staying in the academy won't end in just one day. He has no choice but to wait here until the snow melts.
When Yuko said she wouldn't permit bringing in weapons, he intended to take the final measure. If she didn't tolerate even bringing in a handgun, the boy would have shot Yuko on the spot. He had vaguely noticed that the people in this academy didn't have any decent weapons. Killing 11 people who are almost barehanded is like twisting a baby's hand. The boy thought that putting oneself in the place of unknown people without even holding a weapon is an act as suicidal as walking through a minefield blindfolded.
He slid the heavy gate, and somehow drove the sluggish wagon to under the porch provided at the entrance hall of the school building. If the car is buried in snow, the luggage inside the car won't be able to be taken out. To prevent that, a place with a roof that could avoid snow was needed.
When he stopped the car under the porch and got out of the car after unlocking, Yuko, who was waiting, caught her breath.
"...Are these all real?"
What she pointed at were the guns and ammunition the boy had worked hard to collect. Most are shotguns or rifles for hunting, but it's probably the first time for Yuko to see a real gun itself.
"They're real, what of it?"
Yuko said nothing. As promised, he must leave the automatic rifle and submachine gun in the car. The boy took a metal chain that was tossed in the corner of the back seat and started passing it through the trigger guards of the lined-up guns.
It was a measure to prevent them from stealing the guns in case they changed their minds. Usually, he doesn't lock the guns so they can be used at any time, but now the situation is what it is. To prevent useless conflict, the boy decided to follow Yuko's instructions. Either way, if the opponent doesn't have a gun, he can sufficiently suppress them with just a handgun.
After applying theft prevention measures to the guns with the chain and covering them with a blue sheet, he lowered a large backpack containing a sleeping bag and food from the car and closed the door. The reason the backpack is heavily weighted is because what's inside is not just a set of daily necessities.
The boy strictly only said he wouldn't bring in "rifles and submachine guns," and he hasn't mentioned "shotguns." If Yuko heard it, she might get angry saying "That's not what we talked about," but he couldn't be careless. In case of emergency, it's necessary to keep high-firepower weapons close at hand. A handgun might be enough, but it's better to be safe than sorry.
Inside the backpack, a sawed-off shotgun and a JSDF 9mm handgun are in one each. The sawed-off shotgun, whose barrels were cut down to the limit, has become short enough to be sufficiently hidden in the backpack. If the people of the academy become a threat to the boy, the time to rely on this will come.
However, Yuko, perhaps not noticing that, exposed her defenseless back to the boy and immediately started guidance.
First, he must confirm whether the people in this academy are hostile or not, and whether they are useful people. If they are hostile and there's a sign of launching an attack, then it goes without saying. Even if they are friendly, if they are not useful people... then that's that.