Hiroshi looked up to stare at Tatsuya. her of them had the ahe other wanted. It didn’t make any sense. They knew her, Sakura Maruyama. She attehe same junih school a way back for Hiroshi. Even though she was in a different css, they were still in the same high school as well. It was someohat Hiroshi could rely oe their history.

  “What the hell is going on here?” yelled Hiroshi louder than he should. He seemed to o shout just to make it feel like he had some grasp oy still, because it was clear that the world had finally lost touch with it. His hands sho to keep his body from venting on whatever was the arget.

  Tatsuya didn’t have any words. He knew her well enough from the times he saw the two of them talking. She shouldn’t want to attack either of them. They weren’t close friends, but nothing happeo incite her.

  Stepping out in front of Tatsuya, Hiroshi forced him to see only him. “You’re sure Sakura was the oag us?”

  “She was on the roof. I don’t want to believe it anymore than you, man. There has to be a reason for this.”

  “Of course there is! We’re taking her with us!”

  “Got a pn?”

  “Not so much a pn right now. She’s got answers and we’ve got questions. So we’re leaving for now. It’s not safe here.”

  The thought of what happeo those UN soldiers resurfaced in his mind. Students attacked and killed them. None of what happened made sense. Tatsuya would just be gd to be away from it all. Hiding really was the best strategy. “Right. You want the legs or arms?” He bent down to start lifting Sakura up. Unscious they could only carry her off.

  Chapter 316 – Shattered Hopes

  Carrying around an unscious girl was awkward enough. Their homes weren’t an option. And sihe school was already out as well, they ran out of pces to take Sakura. So they wandered around the neighborho to figure out a pce that would be safe. If it had been any other day, they would have had cops on them almost immediately. Now no one cared about anything that happened. Even if someone did call, it was just as likely to be ignored by the polibsp; They had bigger things going on with the UN deployment and monsters roaming. A sad truth that they were thankful for sirying to expin themselves would have been impossible.

  All they could really do was find another roof. Sitting out in the open or even some alley just was too much of a risk. They didn’t want anyone actally stumbling across them. It really was more questions than they wao answer.

  Staring at Sakura, they waited for her to wake up. She didn’t look too worse for wear from what Tatsuya did. More scuffed up than any real visible injuries. Hiroshi gnced over at Tatsuya. “She’s taking a long time to wake up.”

  “What’s with that look, man? I was just following the pn.”

  “Whivolved perf a suplex on a girl?”

  “Hey, I’ve only watched Saki do it. I don’t know if I did it right or not.”

  “So you may have killed her with that move!”

  “I didn’t and you know she’s still alive! We checked her pulse. She’s just knocked out, I ’t kill someone you know that.”

  “Yeah, sorry man. This whole situation is just too messed up.”

  Tatsuya looked back at Sakura hoping that she would wake up. They needed answers and yelling at each other did nothing. But he picked up on something that had been b him for a while. “What’s with the biform? Ours is blue, but this looks like ours.”

  “I don’t know. Someone dying uniforms now?”

  “Someone’s got a bored hobby.”

  Long hours passed until it was night. There was nothing they could do but wait. It took too long, but Sakura finally started to move. She slowly opened her eyes. Both Hiroshi and Tatsuya leaned in to che her. However, a streak of light shot betweehat they narrowly dodged out of the way. Only the movement of her arm gave them time to react.

  They jumped back to get a little more distanbsp; “Woah, woah! Sakura, it’s me! Hiroshi Kuroda! We’re aren’t going to hurt you!”

  Tatsuya however saw the attaing for Hiroshi specifically. He jumped in the way trying to pull Hiroshi down, but he wasn’t fast enough. The light sliced through his forearm shooting blood up and over Hiroshi’s face.

  “Tatsuya!” Hiroshi grabbed him staggering ba shobsp; He could see something was wrong with Sakura. The look in her eyes didn’t seem right. She couldn’t tell it was him. “Sakura! What’s wrong?! Please tell me!”

  “Hi…roshi…” muttered Tatsuya through the pain. He remembered too well the sort of pain. The day that ged everything taught him ain was. This barely came close to the levels he experienced, but it didn’t ge how much it hurt him. He pulled Hiroshi over to get him out of the way of the attabsp; As the light blew through the roof, he used his good arm to finish the job. Cracks jumped around the roof dropping them down into the fourth floor of the building that they tried to escape troubling people.

  Unfortunately, they didn’t fall very far, as it was a ste room. They nded only half a meter or so down on top of the shelves. Their weight crushed the boxes they dropped upon. Of greater was their friend, Sakura. She stalked over to the hole in the roof. The emergency light in the room was all the real illuminatio other than the moon. It painted dark shadows over her fabsp; A menag preseood before them.

  It wasn’t Sakura.

  Grabbing Hiroshi by his shirt, Tatsuya dragged them down to the floor to escape an easy shot. A smart decision since she followed up with ation. The shelves they id on a moment before were riddled with holes.

  “Damn…Hiroshi, snap out of it!” He spped Hiroshi as they huddled up against the wall.

  Clutg his cheek in stinging pain, Hiroshi stared at him snapped out of his shobsp; “Tatsuya…”

  “Get it together, Sakura’s trying to kill you!”

  “Why?”

  “Hell if I know! But it’s clear now, she wants only to kill.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense!”

  “This is just the reality of our situation, man! I ’t expin it to you!”

  Hiroshi stood up looking towards the ceiling where Sakura stood. “This must be a mistake. A bad dream…” Light shot through the ceiling at them. Without any clue to their location, the attacks were blind. Not that they were poorly estimated. It only missed Hiroshi’s foot by a few timeters. He staggered babsp; “…Sakura…why?”

  “Run! Hiroshi!” Tatsuya pushed Hiroshi down just as the attack came in. As she seemed to lo to them, it was signifitly more accurate. If Hiroshi hadn’t been pushed down by Tatsuya it would have run him through the head. Instead, it went through Tatsuya’s shoulder, throwing him back as Hiroshi dropped to the floor.

  He turned over to see Tatsuya pressed against the wall with blood dripping down his shirt and the wall. “Tatsuya!”

  C up the wound as much as possible, Tatsuya ground his teeth through the pain. “You o stop her, man. She’s going to kill us!”

  “Tatsuya!”

  “Stop shouting my name and do something!”

  Hiroshi tilted back towards the roof. She there somewhere. He stared at the bnk ceiling. It started to develop more cracks from Sakura’s recklessness. He charged forward ging a lethal blow into a grazing wound on his upper arm. “…Sakura…”

  He kept running forward towards the rger hole, the osuya created. He jumped up to the shelf and threw himself out of the hole. The damage and his weight finally ehe life of the metal shelf. It colpsed in a pile of boxes half torn apart.

  Tatsuya stared up at the hole w how he was doing. He could hear them, but it was all sounds that he wasn’t familiar with. So he couldn’t judge it. However, he did see lights shoot through the roof again. Which meant that Sakura was still moving around. Dirt and dust rained down harder with each of the sounds. Larger pieces started to break free until it became clear that the whole thing was going to colpse soon.

  He forced himself to staing to the nearby door. Trying to move his arm was too much of a pain. “Damn it,” he cursed, staring at his body. All he had left was his legs that still worked fine. One kick put his foot pletely through the metal door rather than actually knog it down. “This isn’t like the movies…” He leaned on the door with his back to break through the rest of the way.

  Just as he did, the roof finally lost what little iy it had. The walls broke apart from the weight of the roof breaking apart. Most of the fourth floor became exposed to the night sky. But more important was the fate of Hiroshi. Tatsuya couldn’t see very well through the now darkened room and smoke filled air. “Hiroshi! Are you still alive, man?”

  Coughing, Hiroshi’s shadow surfaced from the debris. “Yeah, somehow. Argh, damn…”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing! Just get out of here!”

  “I’m not leaving you!”

  “That’s all well and good, but I’d rather hear those lines from a girl.”

  The smoke finally cleared along with his eyes adjusting to the dark once more. Tatsuya saw through the haze to find Hiroshi staring down Sakura. However, he could see blood all over his body. It had only been a minute on the roof, but he looked even worse than himself. Tatsuya tried to get free of the door to help Hiroshi. “Hang in there, man!”

  “Stop talking a out of here!” Hiroshi charged at Sakura only for areak of light to shoot through. His right arm went flying pletely severed. But he rammed into Sakura pushihrough the shelves and wall into the room with Tatsuya.

  Buried amongst the debris and boxes, Hiroshi sat on Sakura pinnio the floor. “Stop it, Sakura! Whatever is going on I’ll five you! Just end this!”

  Anht shihrough. Tatsuya had finally freed himself and tried to jump for Hiroshi, but it was too te. It oint bnk attabsp; “Hiroshi!”

  “Stay back!” he shouted at Tatsuya. The light shook as it became clear that it had missed its intearget. Blood dripped down the bde of light as it took on shape. A bare bde with no guard or hilt, just all bde rested in Sakura’s hand. A bde of light, which Hiroshi gripped in his bare hand. It cut deep and already cleaved one finger and worked on the as he struggled. “Sakura stop it!”

  Struggling with the light, Hiroshi’s hand tightened more over the bde. Blood flowed faster until cracks started to appear along the length. A mome shattered, particles raining down around them. “Sakura!”

  A new bde formed, this time smaller as she moved with her other hand. It came in from his right side with no prote. He used what little remained of his upper arm to take the bde, but she pushed through. The bde was going for his heart.

  She wanted him dead.

  Hiroshi’s eyes shook in shobsp; He k before, but it was before him now with nothiween them. She wao kill him. It was all over her fabsp; “Sakura! Stop it now! Don’t!”

  “Hiroshi!” Tatsuya threw him a broken pipe from the wall.

  It fell down at his side staring at him to be used. He looked back at Sakura. The pletely cold aionless eyes that just wanted death. He didn’t know her. “Why, Sakura?!”

  “Protect yourself!”

  “I ’t!”

  “Hiroshi! Yoing to die! She wants to kill you!”

  “Sakura!”

  “Hiroshi!”

  “Damn it!” Hiroshi picked up the pipe with what remained of his hand. Her bde came closer and closer to him. It started to draw up blood. He couldn’t hold her back for long with his arm. “Sakura!” Tears fell down his face staring at her. “Don’t make me!” He lifted up the pipe threatenio stop.

  “Do it!”

  “Sakura!” The bde broke through his ribs. It plunged deeper. He was going to die. Hiroshi threw down his arm swiftly. The pipe rammed through her chest and broke through the floor. Blood coughed up from her mouth over his fabsp; Her light disappeared, freeing his heart i moment.

  Hiroshi leaned over staring at Sakura as her empty eyes only seemed to bee darker. Tears flowed freely without restraint. He dropped his forehead against hers, uo say any words to his departing friend.

  She was dead.

  His friend was dead.

  The dream was reality.