Capítulo 222: Kei Karuizawa
At this moment, in a nearby super convenience store not far from Fujimi Academy, five figures sat resting on the ground, leaning against the shelves.
They were none other than Takashi Komuro, Rei Miyamoto, Taiyo Oga, along with the wiry young man and the proud young lady, all having managed to escape from Fujimi Academy.
Yesterday, when Takashi Komuro and Rei Miyamoto took Hisashi Igou to the rooftop, they arrived just as the Reincarnators were dragging tables and chairs to block the rooftop entrance.
They were fortunate to reach the rooftop when they did; a few minutes later, they might have been shut out completely.
The sudden arrival of Takashi and the others did not prompt Taiyo Oga and the others to drive them away. However, they quickly noticed something was wrong with Hisashi Igou.
Upon learning he had been bitten by a corpse, everyone's expressions changed, and they clamored to deal with the danger, not wanting the risk of having someone who might turn into a corpse at any moment.
Takashi and Rei Miyamoto tried to stop them, but Hisashi inevitably turned into a corpse, ultimately falling to the group's combined assault. This saddened Rei Miyamoto for a moment before she fell into Takashi's arms.
They stayed on the rooftop the entire day, but no rescue ever came.
One day without food or water, and they were nearing their breaking point.
Fortunately, the school gates had been breached by Shizuka Marikawa when she drove the school bus through them, causing many corpses to leave the school. This lowered the number of corpses significantly.
So they decided to leave the school, or else they would simply starve to death on the rooftop.
Though the number of corpses was several times fewer than the day before, there were still many left, especially near the school building and entrance. Walking out of the school on foot was highly dangerous, and any misstep could lead to a complete wipeout.
They had no other choice. Although several cars were parked in the lot, without keys, there was no way to use them.
Perhaps they could try searching the corpses of their former teachers for keys, but that would be even more difficult than simply running out of the school.
Before leaving, they went to the student cafeteria to find food and drink, knowing that they wouldn't have the energy to escape without something to eat.
Eventually, they made it to the cafeteria, but a swarm of corpses ambushed them along the way, costing them three members: a gyaru and two random Reincarnators.
The remaining members were luckier. Since it had been afternoon when the apocalypse broke out, the cafeteria was nearly empty, with only a few corpses wandering inside.
After clearing out the corpses, they rested there for a while, eating the leftover food from the previous day's lunch.
Once they regained some strength, they made a run for it, escaping the school grounds.
It took them two hours to finally reach the convenience store where they now rested. As they neared the school gates, Makoto Ito had been grabbed by several corpses and torn to pieces on the spot, dying in a gruesome fashion.
The scruffy man with them, horrified by the sight, had stepped back, only to be bitten on the shoulder by a corpse sneaking up from behind.
Though he quickly killed the corpse that bit him, the bite marked him as doomed.
Of the original ten, only five remained.
Because the proud young lady had been saved by the wiry young man multiple times, they now seemed to be forming a close bond.
So now, Rei Miyamoto leaned into Takashi Komuro's embrace, while the young lady leaned on the wiry young man's shoulder, leaving Taiyo Oga sitting alone.
This contrast only fueled his resentment. Both Rei Miyamoto and the young lady were attractive girls, especially Rei, with her... generous assets.
Yet neither girl was interested in him. At that moment, he felt utterly superfluous.
This reminded him of Yukino, whom he hadn't seen in nearly two days. Although her figure was not on par with Rei Miyamoto or the young lady, Yukino's beauty and grace far exceeded theirs.
But remembering her attitude toward him filled him with irritation once more.
…
"Eriri, Yukino, I'm back!"
About an hour later, Akino returned to the High School of the Dead world.
An hour had been more than enough to reassure her sister and her parents. Explaining Yukino's current situation had taken just a bit longer.
"Welcome back, Akino." Eriri reached out and hugged Akino as she rushed toward her, nuzzling her affectionately.
The sight made Yukino uncomfortable, for she and Akino looked identical. Watching the two nuzzle each other felt like observing herself in an affectionate embrace with Eriri from a third-person perspective.
Currently, only Eriri, Yukino, and Kei Karuizawa were in the living room, as everyone else had gone off to do their own thing.
Alice Maresato, being an obedient and thoughtful child, was well-liked by everyone and was now using binoculars with Kouta Hirano on the balcony to monitor events on the Bridge.
Once Eriri and Akino separated, Yukino finally spoke. "Akino, everything's okay with Sister Haruno and Mother and Father?"
"Of course! With me around, they're perfectly fine. It's daytime over there, so they've all gone back to work now."
Akino took a seat on the sofa with Eriri, either intentionally or unintentionally positioning Eriri between her and Yukino, creating a scene of the sisters flanking Eriri on either side.
Today, Akino was dressed not in her usual attire but in the uniform of Sobu High School, making her and Yukino identical in every detail, from hairstyle to outfit.
Though their shoulders were practically touching, Yukino showed no intention of moving away from Eriri's side, finding herself unexpectedly unbothered by the physical closeness.
Even the intimate way Eriri had touched her before, though embarrassing, had stirred no feelings of resentment.
"So… when did the two of you get together? How is it that I had no idea?"
"Well, you see, I have a system, and thanks to it, I can explore other worlds from time to time. When I leave for another world, the system pauses time in our world. You can probably figure out the rest, right?"
"I see, that explains it." Yukino nodded, finally understanding why she was unaware of so many things.
Pausing, Yukino moved on to another question. "But I still don't get it. You've been to other worlds, which should have taken a lot of time, right? Why hasn't your appearance changed drastically?"
This was something she had wondered about for a long time. At their age, especially when they were even younger, even a few extra months would bring noticeable changes in one's appearance and body. Yet Akino had always looked exactly like her.
"Why else? It's the system's doing!" Akino lifted her chin proudly, as if boasting about her own accomplishment.
"Alright, then how strong are you now?" Yukino asked her final question.
"Hmm… if I went all out, I could probably destroy the entire surface of the Earth?" Akino replied vaguely after some thought.
In truth, she had never gone all out and had no real sense of the extent of her own destructive power. But according to Miss System, her full power could indeed wipe out the Earth's surface.
Akino's answer left Yukino stunned. She knew powerful Reincarnators could be even stronger than Akino, but hearing her sister had undergone such a drastic transformation was shocking nonetheless.
Kei Karuizawa's reaction was no different; she looked at Akino with envy. If she had such strength, certain past events might have gone very differently.
Thinking back to the incident from middle school, Kei's face darkened, and the scar on her left side began to throb with phantom pain.
Yukino turned her head and noticed Kei's unusual expression, her brows furrowing in concern.
"Are you alright, Kei?" she asked gently.
"Oh… it's nothing."
Yukino's voice snapped Kei out of her memories, and she quickly hid her troubled feelings, lifting her head to give Yukino a bright smile, though it looked slightly strained.
At that moment, Eriri spoke up. "Kei, keeping certain things bottled up can have serious consequences on both your mental and physical health."
Her words made Kei's face change, though she forced herself to appear indifferent.
"What are you talking about, Sawamura? I have no idea what you mean."
Eriri didn't respond directly. Instead, she crossed her legs and said, "I can remove that scar on your side, if you want."
"Really?"
Eriri's offer excited Kei immensely. A moment later, though, she felt a twinge of embarrassment at her reaction.
She couldn't help it. The scar on her left side was her least favorite feature. Every time she saw it, she was reminded of the bullying she had endured in middle school.
It was her deepest psychological scar and the reason she lived in fear of being bullied again.
Kei realized there was no point in hiding the truth, so with a nervous tone, she repeated, "You can really get rid of it?"
She didn't ask how Eriri knew about it. Removing the scar was far more important to her.
"Of course. Come here," Eriri said, beckoning Kei over with a finger.
Taking a deep breath, Kei stood up and slowly walked over to Eriri.
Eriri then slipped her right hand into Kei's uniform, her fingers gliding across her warm, smooth abdomen until they found the exact location of the scar.
Kei blushed at Eriri's touch.
Yukino, observing from the side, furrowed her brow at Eriri's actions, feeling a hint of annoyance, though she knew Eriri's intentions.
What she didn't know was that Eriri could have removed the scar with a simple wave of her hand. There was no need to touch it directly.
In other words, Eriri just wanted an excuse to touch her.
Akino, meanwhile, looked on with an expression that suggested she'd seen through everything, but she made no move to stop Eriri.
Eriri didn't take long, and after about ten seconds, she withdrew her hand from Kei's abdomen.
"Alright, your scar is gone now."
Hearing this, Kei's face lit up, and she immediately ran to a nearby room to check.
A minute later, she returned to the living room with a lightness in her step, her entire demeanor transformed.
"Thank you, Eriri-sama." She stood before Eriri, expressing her gratitude with utmost sincerity, having upgraded her form of address from a casual, classmate-like tone to the more respectful "Eriri-sama."
"Hmm." Eriri nodded, accepting her thanks calmly.
Then her tone shifted. "But this is only a temporary fix. If you want to completely overcome your past and avoid repeating it, you need to gain enough strength to protect yourself."
Kei knew precisely what Eriri meant, but her only path to power had been through becoming a high-level Reincarnator, which she could not pursue.
If she hadn't stayed close to Yukino, she might have died in this world already.
So after Eriri had removed her Reincarnator status, Kei felt nothing but relief and joy.
However, now she looked at Eriri, realizing that even Akino, capable of destroying the Earth's surface, had needed Eriri's help to find Yukino. This confirmed that Eriri was far stronger.
She bowed deeply, lifting her head to look at Eriri with a pleading expression. "Please, Eriri-sama, help me!"
Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder