Chapter 79 - Chapter 77: I'm 18, a High School Student. (T/N: Reference to a meme)
The classroom the boy was guided to by Yuko had desks and chairs lined up as they were. It's a scene that looks exactly the same as before the world completely changed, as if classes would be held as usual when morning comes.
It doesn't seem to have been left abandoned all along. Dust is not accumulated on the desks and chairs, and the floor is clean. Did Yuko and the others really do the cleaning of classrooms they don't use every day?
"That's right? Cleaning is important, isn't it?"
Yuko said, as if it were a natural thing. Did they continue to turn their eyes away from the reality outside by repeating the usual actions, or did they simply have the leeway to continue doing useless things? Looking at Yuko's state, the boy thought it was the latter. They don't accurately understand the tragedy of the outside world. If they knew the miserable state of the outside world, they would stop cleaning which only becomes a waste of physical strength.
Saying she would talk to the other comrades, Yuko left the classroom assigned to the boy. Looking around the empty, dim classroom, the boy sighed. To let himself be free in this situation, are they fools or good-natured? But neither can survive in the current world. Fools go without saying, and good-natured people are just killed after being used.
"Even so, it's truly a young ladies' school."
Muttering so, he sat on a nearby desk. It was clear that both the chairs and desks were incomparably better than the ones used in the prefectural high school the boy attended. The material of the top board used is different to begin with.
However, since they only get in the way, he moved them to somehow create a space where he could lie down. To be honest, desks and such only seem useful for building barricades, but it would be bad to break things or handle them messily without permission. Dragging the heavy desks and chairs, he spreads the sleeping bag he brought in the empty space.
Just when the boy finished the preparation for sleeping, Yuko returned to the classroom with a lantern.
"From now on, I'll have you come to the dormitory with me. There are many girls who want to know the state outside, so I'd appreciate it if you could talk to them."
After knowing the boy is younger, Yuko's tone became that of a teacher facing a student. For the boy, if the price for being allowed to stay is just talking, he welcomes it greatly, but he doesn't know if the survivors will welcome him. While checking his weapons so Yuko wouldn't notice just in case, he followed her and left the classroom.
He also brought the backpack with the sawed-off. Yuko, who looked at the handgun and axe around his waist, perhaps not knowing the boy also brought in a shotgun, said with a sigh.
"I'd like you to leave the weapons because everyone will be scared... but it's useless, isn't it?"
"Rather, after hearing my story, everyone might start wanting to have weapons."
He doesn't know about elsewhere, but as far as the boy knows, both the police and JSDF are already not functioning. If no one protects you, you must take weapons in your own hands and fight to survive. Refusing to fight and not taking weapons is equivalent to saying you want to die.
The wind occasionally strengthened, and a dull sound of snow hitting the window echoed. When he looked outside, the footprints and tire marks the boy left in the schoolyard were almost being buried in snow. With this, he won't be able to move from here for the time being. Although since neither infected nor survivors would be able to move in this snowfall, it's a safe zone unless the 11 people holed up in this academy attack him.
The school building and the dormitory were connected by a covered walkway, and he could go to the dormitory without going outside on purpose. As soon as he entered the dormitory, a girl with a displeased face welcomed the boy. That girl, who named herself Sakuma, is said to be a student of this academy. Even for the boy who is not good at reading the subtleties of the human heart, he understood that she did not welcome him.
In the common room on the first floor, all the people remaining in this academy are gathered. When the boy talked with Yuko, he had witnessed human figures wriggling beyond the barricade blocking the entrance. However, the fact that they were all girls about the same age as himself or younger was, to be honest, shocking.
Now even for adults with guns it's difficult to survive, yet as many as 10 girls who are almost non-combatants have survived. Although there is one adult named Yuko, the boy envied their good luck.
Expectation, anxiety, fear——————the eyes of the girls, where various emotions were mixed, stared at the boy. Guided to the sofa in the very back, the boy, while feeling like he was about to lose his tension at its softness which was incomparable to a car seat, first named his own name.
"I'm 18. If high school had continued, I would be a third-year and right in the middle of entrance exam study now."
When the boy said so, surprised voices were raised from among the girls. Voices like "The same age as me...?" "You're lying, right?" were heard here and there. It might be unbelievable that a person about their age was acting alone in such a place with weapons.
He himself still couldn't believe the fact that he was 18. It feels like he has aged several years all at once in these 9 months. There are no wrinkles on his face and white hair hasn't grown yet, but still, he is made to realize every morning in the mirror that his facial expression has completely changed compared to 9 months ago.
The peaceful era feels like it was a long time ago. It hasn't even been a year since the pandemic, but the boy felt as if it were decades ago. He has experienced various things during these 9 months to that extent.
"So, who among you knows what the outside is like?"
When the boy said so, the girls looked at each other, and several raised their hands fearfully. He nominated Aki, the girl who tied her black hair behind her neck.
"Um, I saw on TV the story that people infected with a disease are attacking normal people and it's a panic everywhere..."
Along with those words, Aki's gaze turned to the TV beside the boy. Since radio waves don't come in, the TV is just an ornament. It seems this academy has small windmills and solar panels, so it can be used for playing videos. Still, it's no longer possible to get information from the TV.
"Correct, but the panic has already settled. The infected attack humans and eat them to death. Most humans have already become infected or died; it's faster to count the living humans."
"My parents' home is in Tokyo, do you know what Tokyo is like now?"
When one said so, they asked one after another, "What about Shikoku?" "Kyoto?" "How is Aomori?" Sakuma told them to be quiet, but the girls asked about the current state of their hometowns with anxious faces.
Even if they were living a peaceful life, they must have been full of fear and anxiety in their hearts. Communication with the outside is cut off, and they don't know what the world has become. Especially since this Sayuri Girls' Academy is a full-boarding school, students gathered from all over the country, Yuko said. It's a natural thing as a human to worry about the safety of family and friends.
"I don't know clearly what Tokyo or Shikoku have become. Before the details were known, both TV and radio became unusable. But I think the possibility of them being safe is close to zero. The government seems to have left Tokyo and placed a temporary capital in Tohoku or further north, but how that is..."
"But, the police and JSDF were dispatched. There should be some safe place."
Because Aki said so, the boy pulled a handgun from his waist. One girl's eyes sparkled at "H&K USP, where did you get it!?", but the other girls all screamed and moved away from the boy.
"It's okay, I have no intention of starting a shootout in this place, nor of threatening you. So, a question. Who are the people who can hold handguns in Japan?"
"JSDF members, USFJ soldiers and their base guards, police officers, Coast Guard officers, customs officers, narcotics agents of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and those related to the Immigration Bureau, and also shooting athletes should have had them although the number is quite small. Oh, I'm Sugishita Aoi, a second-year."
The girl named Aoi, who had black hair grown to her shoulders, said fluently as if she had memorized it. Apparently she is a military enthusiast, the boy realized. A normal high school girl, and a student of a young ladies' school at that, wouldn't know the names or manufacturers of handguns. Even the boy didn't know even the name of this handgun until he was taught. She, who knows that and can answer all the professions permitted to possess handguns, must be familiar with military-related matters.
"Yes. So, do you know which of those organizations adopted this handgun?"
"The police SAT; there's also a story that it's used by the JSDF Special Forces Group. Oh, come to think of it, the MP5 earlier is also used by the police."
"Yes. And the fact that I, a civilian, have such a gun means the police are already in a state of collapse, and corpses of police officers holding guns are rolling everywhere. No matter which police station you go to, there are no officers. The JSDF also, I think only a small part is acting while maintaining control as a unit. At least during these 9 months, I haven't seen a living police officer or JSDF member."
I encountered several police officers, but since those guys tried to kill me, I can exclude them. The boy, who thought so, dared not mention the police officers who attacked him.
"Then that hunting gun..."
"That's also something I obtained for self-defense. Now, just because they are the same humans, I can't easily trust them anymore."
"Why? Since law and order are gone, people who do whatever they want might appear, but if everyone cooperates..."
The boy almost laughed at the words of the first-year girl. Cooperate? No way. Now for the boy, humans can only be divided into two types: enemies or existences that can be used. How can he cooperate when he doesn't know when he'll be betrayed?
"It's precisely because of a time like this that we can't cooperate. If this were an earthquake or a typhoon, everyone would unite and cooperate. Because rescue will come from somewhere in Japan if we wait for a few days. But now the government practically doesn't exist, and the JSDF and police who are reliable in such a situation are in a state of collapse. No rescue or aid will come from anywhere in Japan——————no, from anywhere in the world."
The boy talked about how difficult it is to obtain supplies outside.
"Even if you go to a supermarket, fresh products are no longer lined up. There are no truck drivers to carry products, nor workers to sort them at warehouses. On the contrary, even the producers of products are probably dead. Unless you're doing agriculture, food is only what's available now. If you share it, it will disappear in an instant. That's why the only way to survive is to get everything for yourself even by stepping over others."
"That's... then it's just like hell."
"It is hell, this world. Didn't you even know that?"
This time Sakuma opened her mouth. Sakuma, who seems to have had a bad impression of the boy ever since he came to this academy, frowned even more after hearing the boy's story. Even though she'd be cute if she smiled, the boy thought somehow. He just thought so.
"I understand that the outside of the academy is a lawless area. Then, have you ever hurt or killed people until now? If you are a murderer, we cannot trust you."
He hesitated a little whether to answer that question honestly. If he obediently answers yes, he might be told to leave here right now. Even if he answers no, they will continue to doubt him. However, the boy's position is that if told to leave, he has no choice but to stay even by using force, and he has both the ability and will to execute that. The boy judged that there is no hindrance even if he answers obediently.
"I have, many. Or rather, most of the guns I have are things I snatched from opponents I killed."
"——————!"
"I just want to say one thing: the reason I killed people was strictly to protect myself. It's not that I went to attack someone or killed them trying to snatch supplies. I want you to remember that; I'm not a thrill killer. As long as you don't attack me, I have no intention of killing you at all."
In the first place, if infected are included in humans, more than half of the survivors would end up being murderers.
If possible, he wanted to avoid useless conflict, but he couldn't stay quiet when the opponent is trying to harm him. If you don't resist, you'll be killed; if you don't fight, you can't survive.
If it was to protect his own life, the boy thought he wouldn't mind killing all other humans. What should be prioritized above all else is his own life; no matter how many other people's lives are piled up, they don't balance. He is prepared to kill even women and children to survive, and he has actually done it.
"Outside is hell. Even if you're in trouble, no one helps you. A comrade who was together until yesterday is dead or has become an infected today. Sometimes you have to kill a close person with your own hands. That's the world now."
There was no longer anyone who opened their mouth. When Sakuma said "...Thank you for the story," the girls left the common room unsteadily. Some glared at the boy as they left, and some were sobbing.
They seem to be blaming me, the boy felt somehow. The reason they could live carefree until now is not just that they were lucky. They probably thought a peaceful life would continue by continuing to turn their eyes away from what's happening outside and pretending not to know. Everyone understood in the bottom of their hearts that the peaceful world until now has collapsed, but they tried not to notice that and tried to continue the life they had until now.
But they can't continue pretending not to know forever, so they tried to ask the boy about the state outside. And the boy has thrust reality before them. That their peaceful life was just a make-believe. That the world they know has already disappeared outside.
The family and friends left in their hometowns might have all died already. The dreams they wanted to fulfill in the future might have been crushed. What the boy presented to them was "reality," and at the same time, "despair." Because only despair remains in this world anymore.
But it was none of the boy's business what happened to them after they opened Pandora's box. Coming here was a coincidence, and moreover, he only plans to stay until the snow melts. He doesn't hold any special feelings for the girls, and it didn't matter to the boy what they were thinking.
But the possibility of hope remaining in the opened Pandora's box would be extremely low. Just as he once was, even if you hold hope, this world ruthlessly takes it away. Precious things are all lost.
Hope doesn't exist anywhere, and there is only despair. Not teaching that directly to the girls was the boy's own way of showing courtesy to them who permitted his stay.
I'm waiting for your opinions and impressions.