HOTD: Tōshiro Nagi - Chapter 1: Prologue: Stoic Presence

(A/N: Is that a Power Stone I’m sensing? You should leave it here for safekeeping. Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of it.)

Word Count: 2459

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Location: Fujimi Academy; Archery Club

The morning sun shone brilliantly over the bustling streets of the city, casting a golden hue on everything below. A gentle breeze carried the sweet fragrance of cherry blossoms, as they fell delicately from the trees, creating a floral carpet on the pavement.

Birds chirped joyfully in the trees, while students chatted and laughed, on their way to school. Inside the school’s Archery Club, our protagonist, a young man with silver hair and black strands at the back, stood with a bow and arrow in hand. His sharp orange eyes focused intently on his target, while a lollipop rested comfortably in his mouth.

The serene atmosphere was broken by the sudden sound of an arrow hitting the target with pinpoint accuracy. The young man’s precision was a testament to his skill, and his movements were both fluid and graceful, in perfect harmony with the environment around him.

The cherry blossoms continued to fall, adding to the beauty of the moment, while the bustling city outside faded into the background. As he lined up for another shot, he was fully immersed in the art of archery, at one with his equipment and his surroundings.

As the boy continued to shoot, he felt a sense of wonder wash over him. ‘This is really peaceful,’ he thought, his momentum unbroken by the sudden realization. This was his third year of high school, and he had been practicing archery for two.

What had initially begun as a way for him to avoid cleaning duties at school had evolved into something he enjoyed. As he continued firing off arrows, the bell rang, interrupting his focus causing him to miss his target.

With a sigh, he set down his bow and arrows before heading towards the lockers to take a shower and change. As he walked inside, he opened his locker and grabbed his towel and bathing products.

Suddenly, a voice called out to him, “Hey, Nagi, school is starting already. You might want to just use some body spray instead. Remember the last time you were late?”

Nagi turned towards the direction of the voice and responded in his typical monotone voice, “No, it’s alright. Besides, I don’t like the sticky feeling of sweat. It’s uncomfortable.”

The boy hummed in response and nodded before closing his locker and heading off to class, leaving Nagi standing there alone. Nagi tilted his head and wore a confused expression as he thought, ‘Who was he again?’

Forgetting about it, Nagi went off to the showers.

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After finishing his shower, Nagi stepped out and wrapped himself in a fluffy towel. He realized that he was already late for class and headed back into the locker room to change into his school uniform.

The uniform resembled a military-style gakuran, with a black long-sleeved jacket, matching pants, and a plain white t-shirt underneath the jacket. After changing into his uniform, Nagi grabbed his belongings and was about to leave the locker room when he heard the announcement speakers.

A sudden announcement blared through the school speaker, startling Nagi. “This announcement is for all the students. An emergency situation is taking place inside the school right now,” the man said before taking a deep breath to recover himself. “All students must follow your teacher’s instructions and evacuate.”

The announcement continued, “I repeat, a violent incident has occurred on the school grounds—” but was abruptly interrupted by growling sounds in the background. Nagi could hear the sound of something falling, and the speaker’s voice became distorted. “Argh! Get away from me, get back!” he grunted.

The announcement resumed, “I repeat, a violent incident has occurred on the school grounds—” but suddenly the speaker’s voice was drowned out by a piercing scream. The terrified scream created a wave of fear that most young teenagers had never felt before.

The essence of a person begging to be spared before death arrived loomed in their young hearts and invaded their minds. “Help! Heeeeellllpppp!!! Heee—AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!”

For a moment, the entire school was silent, as if no one was actually there. Only the chirping of birds could be heard from the surroundings. But then:

Chaos.

The school was filled with screams and shouts that echoed from every corner. The sounds of desks and chairs being forcibly pushed or thrown could be heard, along with the confirmation of kicking, punching, and something being trampled.

In the midst of the chaos, Nagi grabbed his bow and a quiver of arrows, slinging it over his shoulder. He had a total of 24 arrows, and although he didn’t know whether he would need to use them or not, it was better safe than sorry.

The Archery Club was in its own corner of the premises away from the main building and gate, meaning there were fewer people there. Sliding open the door, he was met with the usual silence if you exclude the screaming from the distance of course.

Nagi stepped outside of the Archery Club and headed towards the outside gym area, his expression stoic as always. However, what he saw was beyond his expectations. The school ground was littered with body parts and puddles of blood. The distant cries for help and the shattering of glass indicated the severity of the situation.

As he walked further, Nagi observed the mangled corpses of students and faculty members, some of which had bite marks, while others were trampled. The blood and entrails smeared across the pavement made the area appear like a scene from a horror movie.

The unsettling sight caused Nagi to widen his eyes in surprise, but he remained composed and continued to navigate through the carnage. He couldn’t help but feel confused about what had caused such a massacre.

Nagi’s mind raced with possible scenarios that could have caused the chaos he witnessed. However, the most probable one was that it was a zombie outbreak. The idea seemed far-fetched, but it was the only explanation that made sense. Otherwise, why would there be an evacuation when students would be safe in their classrooms?

The bite marks on the corpses’ bodies also supported his theory. The bite marks were small and dull, which didn’t match any animal that could have caused them. Frowning, Nagi stood up from his crouch and peered farther into the school grounds, trying to find any evidence that could support or disprove his theory.

That’s when he saw them. The zombies were wandering aimlessly, their eyes vacant, and their bodies decaying. They were oblivious to their surroundings, except for the occasional twitch and groan that emanated from their mouths. It was like a scene straight out of a horror movie, and Nagi couldn’t help but feel a chill run down his spine.

Nagi quickly made a decision to prepare for both present and future problems. Sprinting towards the cafeteria, he left the gruesome scene behind before the corpses could rise from the dead and before any other dangers could spot him.

Nagi couldn’t be certain if the undead had retained all their senses, so he needed to be cautious and avoid drawing their attention. There were still a few other important things that he needed to jot down, but experimenting could wait.

His focus was on finding food, water, and weapons to help him survive in this new and dangerous environment. As he ran, his mind raced with possibilities and plans. He needed to think strategically to outsmart the zombies and find a way to escape.

Nagi murmured to himself, feeling a slight headache coming on. “Thinking can be such a nuisance at times…” He let out a sigh of resignation as he finally arrived at the cafeteria. Carefully opening the door, he surveyed his surroundings before proceeding.

“There doesn’t seem to be anything or anyone here,” Nagi stated, satisfied with his luck so far. He retrieved his bow and an arrow from his quiver, keeping them at the ready just in case.

Moving through the entrance hall, Nagi opened one of the many cafeteria doors and peered inside.

Nagi grumbled in a monotone voice, “Of course, my luck couldn’t hold out forever.” Inside the cafeteria, sixteen zombies lurked about, some of them former students and lunch staff. Nagi observed as a few of them feasted on the remains of a young man, his entrails spilled out on the floor.

Despite the gruesome scene, Nagi recognized the rare opportunity to conduct experiments he had been contemplating. As zombies are dead, he wondered if their senses were still functioning. Could they smell the living? Could they see or hear? Nagi was curious to find out the answers to his questions.

After picking up a nearby shoe, Nagi cautiously opened the door and peered inside. Seeing that the zombies were still in the same position, he threw the shoe at the window, causing a loud thud to reverberate throughout the room.

Nagi observed as the zombies’ heads swiveled toward the noise and their slow movement towards it, their previous activity forgotten in their search for new prey. From this, Nagi deduced two things.

Firstly, the zombies still possessed their hearing, meaning that he could potentially control the horde if necessary. Secondly, they had lost their sight, as evidenced by their stumbling over chairs and tables in their path toward the noise.

However, for the second observation, Nagi couldn’t be certain if it was purely sight or if their bodies were mutated to detect thermal heat radiating from the living. Nonetheless, he realized he wouldn’t be able to find out if he remained hidden.

Nagi opened the door slowly and shut it softly behind him as he walked inside. There weren’t many bodies inside as the cafeteria was at a moderate distance from the main building, which Nagi considered lucky.

Approaching a zombie that had stumbled to the ground, Nagi delivered a swift kick that sent it back a few steps without generating too much noise.

However, to his surprise, the zombie immediately got back up and charged toward him. Sidestepping the attack, Nagi tripped the zombie, causing it to fall to the ground once again.

‘Two out of five dead senses, immune to pain, and generally clumsy. Attracted to noise and could be somewhat controlled if careful. It’s not too quick, and I don’t know if it’s stronger due to its limiters being broken now. Though I’d rather not test it,’ Nagi deduced.

He knew that since zombies no longer had a functioning nervous system and brain, there was a possibility of them gaining enhanced physical capabilities. Their bodies were no longer constrained by conscious thoughts and could operate at peak efficiency.

Nagi raised his leg and slammed his foot down on the zombie’s head, causing it to cave in. The impact created noise within the cafeteria, and now there were only fifteen zombies left to fight, with Nagi as the sole combatant.

“You know what? I like those odds,” Nagi joked as he readied his bow and arrow, taking aim at the zombie before him. With a steady hand, he let go of the bowstring, the arrow piercing the creature’s forehead and causing it to collapse lifelessly to the ground.

As the zombies passed by their fallen comrade without sparing a glance and charged toward Nagi, he continued his onslaught. Nagi loaded his bow with two arrows and swiftly released them, taking down two more zombies.

Nagi’s thoughts were methodical as he continued to fire his bow, taking down another zombie. He noted the dwindling numbers, “Twelve more left, huh?” The cafeteria provided a secure location with ample food and water, making it an ideal spot for defense.

However, the shattered windows posed a threat, and the doors required a key to lock, which Nagi did not possess. Unfortunately, only the janitors had the keys, but they were nowhere to be found. Nagi needed to find a way to escape the school.

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As the final arrow whistled through the air and penetrated the skull of the last zombie, Nagi took a moment to reflect as he stepped off the table, letting out a contented sigh.

The fight had been relatively easy, and he had been able to maneuver around the tables and chairs to evade the zombies and take them out with ease. But more importantly, the fight had also allowed him to glean some new details.

Firstly, the zombies didn’t seem to have any other mutations, such as regaining sight or gaining incredible abilities like leaping tall buildings in a single bound. However, this could be due to the young age of the virus.

Secondly, he discovered that as long as he stayed quiet, the zombies wouldn’t detect him. And lastly, while not completely accurate he had a rough guess on how long it took for a normal person who got bitten to turn into a zombie.

When Nagi arrived inside the cafeteria, he noticed the corpse the zombies were munching on. There was dry blood on the floor and the victim’s clothes. The spread of the virus had not even been going on for an hour yet, and Nagi estimated that it took around 10-45 minutes for the infected to turn into zombies, depending on where the bite occurred.

Nagi was also troubled by the fact that the outbreak began inside a private school, and he couldn’t be certain of the situation outside the school, but he was certain that it was not good. He realized that if the virus wasn’t contained immediately, it could spread rapidly worldwide.

After retrieving his arrows from the zombies’ skulls, Nagi walked towards the serving area and leaned over the countertop, his bow and arrow at the ready in case there were any stragglers. Finding none, he made his way toward the pantry where all the food and beverages were stored.

As Nagi opened the door to the pantry, he was greeted with a sight that made his mouth water. “Damn, I just realized… I didn’t eat breakfast,” he muttered to himself. His stomach rumbled in agreement as if reminding him of its empty state.

Nagi shook his head and grabbed the insulated bag from the door hook. He began packing it with long-lasting food items like peanut butter and granola bars, prioritizing them over perishable items like fruits and vegetables.

As he was about to leave, he spotted a candy jar filled with lollipops on the counter out of the corner of his eye. Quickly snatching it, he made his way out the back door of the cafeteria and towards the main building.

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Author Words:

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