An Unexpected Meet-Up

Relying on his instincts, Kazuichi picked up Amaya in an instant, retreating towards the staff room nearby before the figure down the hallway made its way to the open area. Kazuichi slinked like a lion hunting for his prey, and even though it only took him precisely three seconds to flee from the scene, he barely made a noise.

The figure staggered towards the abandoned mall's open area, barely hearing a slight tip-tap which caused it to turn its head towards the staff room. However, it wasn't that much of a stimulus, so the figure wasn't alerted by the sound. Kazuichi heaved a sigh of relief as he let go of his grip on Amaya's hand.

Slowly, Kazuichi turned the doorknob before lightly applying force on the door. Once there was a gap between the door large, Kazuichi pressed his face closer, trying to get a glimpse of the monster walking towards the open area of the abandoned mall.

Amaya had no idea what was going on. Even then, she remained calm, not letting out an exhale when Kazuichi dragged her to the staff room. She leaned in closer, trying to get a good look at the monster that Kazuichi was wary of.

Despite their considerable distance from the infected, Kazuichi and Amaya could still smell its horrid rotten stench. Its sheer size surprised Kazuichi the most. Almost standing nine feet tall, the infected had to stoop down so it would fit inside the hallways. It had spikes growing from its back and glowing a faint green color. Its skin was rock-hard, almost as if it fused with the ground— or so that's what Kazuichi concluded upon seeing its texture. Its mouth was shut tight, but Kazuichi could tell that its mouth extended from its ear to another.

"What was that? Is that an infected?" Kazuichi muttered under his breath. He was careful not to make any noise since the weird-looking infected seemed to be especially drawn to sounds.

Krkrkrkrrrk~

Krrkrrkkrk~

At first, Kazuichi thought that the scratching sound was coming from the infected's throat... but when he got a better look at it, he realized that it was dragging something— its arm. The infected's arm didn't look like an arm at all but rather a deformed lump of flesh with spikes sticking out of it. It looked more like an oversized hammer/club than an arm.

"What was that?"

Suddenly, Kazuichi felt a sting behind his neck. In a split of a second, he used his innate ability as a hybrid and turned around, pouncing on the mysterious figure that was looking at both him and Amaya. He couldn't believe that someone could easily sneak up on them like that— he even had his heightened sense active all this time.

Without hesitation, Kazuichi extended his hand, not giving the figure a chance to put his guard up. Whoever it was, Kazuichi decided not to waste any time disposing of him.

Kazuichi's movements resembled that of a well-oiled machine, smooth and without an ounce of error. Before the figure knew what was happening, he was grabbed by the neck. Kazuichi pressed him to the floor with a thud.

"Aghk~!" The guy screamed as he choked on himself.

"Who are— " Kazuichi stopped short when he recognized who the guy was. Despite looking a tad bit older and taller compared to a few years ago, Kazuichi immediately identified him, and he instantly let go of his hold on his neck. "Sano? Izanagi Sano? What are you doing here?"

"Cough~ cough~" Sano coughed as he gasped for air. He knew about the existence of the weird-looking infected outside. That's why he tried to reduce the noise that came out of his mouth. "I'm sorry... should I know you?"

"I guess not. I'm sorry for grabbing you like that. What are you doing here? Are you all right? How about your sister? Is everyone in the orphanage all right?" Kazuichi bombarded him with questions before he even recovered from the surprise attack he had suffered.

"How do you know my siste— you know about the orphanage? Did you also come from that orphanage, mister?" Sano asked.

Just then, a pair of hands appeared out of nowhere, pulling Sano away from Kazuichi. In that instant, Kazuichi immediately recognized that the hands belonged to Izanagi Lina, Sano's sister.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Lina asked as her eyes turned a mesmerizing shade of dark red.

From that, Kazuichi was already aware that the two of them had already been infected. They were lucky enough to turn into hybrids, however. "You guys..."

"Relax, Lina. It was my fault for sneaking up on him. He came from the orphanage. That's why he recognized the two of us."

"I see... but I don't recognize him. Is he really..." Lina trailed off. However, before she could say another word, another figure appeared from behind the shadows, whacking them in the head.

"You fools! How dare you speak so disrespectfully like that to our benefactor?!" The third figure belonged to Yoshiyuki, the third member of their party. He spoke with clear indignance when he gave them a good whack on their heads. He then grabbed the two and forced them to bow down toward Kazuichi.

"We're sorry, big brother. Sano and Lina were too disrespectful; I hope you'll forgive us." Yoshiyuki called out.

Meanwhile, Lina and Sano still had yet to learn why Yoshiyuki acted so weird. He even called Kazuichi their benefactor. As far as Lina and Sano were concerned, this was the first time they met Kazuichi.

"Yoshiyuki, what's wrong with you?" Sano cluelessly asked. With their strength as hybrids, it would've been easy for him to escape Yoshiyuki. But since he didn't know what was happening, he decided to stay still.

"You guys.... this is our big brother, Takemi Kazuichi," Yoshiyuki repeated. "If it weren't for him, we'd have starved to death long ago. Didn't you know who he was? Even the caretakers know who he is! He's our leading sponsor."

"Our leading sponsor?" Lina asked.

"You mean... that guy who sends a hefty sum every month?! Really?!" Sano exclaimed.

"Shh! Not too loud!" Yoshiyuki warned him, giving him another whack on the head.