Jealousy
While Takashi thought something stupid, Isao thought of the reason why some of those "things" moved so fast, and while some moved slowly, the only explanation he could get was all due to show the protagonist group's cool side when they fought together.
Still, when Isao came to a useless conclusion, one girl in the group of five quickly thanked him.
"Th-Thank—"
"Don't be so loud. Those "things" move based on the sound. If you are too loud, they will notice and target us like before."
Hearing his explanation, they quickly shut their mouths, afraid for those "things" to notice them.
As for doubting Isao?
Isao was their savior, the one who had helped them during their crisis, so why should they doubt him?
Moreover, due to his handsome appearance and gallant act, he quickly gained their good favors, as if picking up an ice cream at the convenience store. "Do any of you get bitten?"
"No, no!"
The girl took the lead to answer him.
Isao looked at the three guys, who were still in shock, feeling helpless as they led the girl to handle this problem, but well, it wasn't like a man could be so strong from the beginning. They were strong because of their upbringing, experience, and will to change.
It was like him, who was forced to become a bad guy and snapped due to his environment.
Yet, for those who hadn't realized that they had to change, Isao didn't care since their lives were their responsibilities. He wasn't their parents, and he couldn't babysit them forever.
Even eagles let their babies compete with each other, letting them kill each other, so they could become strong.
Isao knew that instead of babying them, he had to be tough so they wouldn't become a burden for him.
After the girl answered the question, Saeko and the others also came to Isao and heard Isao, who invited them, "We're going to go out from here by bus. Do you want to follow us?"
"Yes!"
They answered without hesitation since they knew that following Isao was the only answer.
"Good." Isao nodded but didn't immediately leave to get into the bus. Instead, he had to explain what he planned to do so they wouldn't cause trouble during this journey. "But before I let you join, I have to remind you something so we can go out all in safe and know our destination. If you are not fine with it, then I won't force you to join."
First, he had to explain to them what he knew about those "things" and what they needed to watch out for so they could be careful.
No one said anything, and they listened to his explanation carefully, afraid to miss his explanation.
"...they won't notice us if we keep quiet?"
"Yup." Isao nodded.
"....." Everyone.
"Then, should we go now?"
Anyway, with Isao's explanation, they felt like they could go anywhere. Still, due to how excited by their newfound knowledge, they forgot about one thing.
"Oh, before we leave, I will give you another explanation about our destination. Once again, if you can't accept it, you don't have to join us."
"Eh?"
Ignoring their reactions, Isao gave another explanation since he didn't want them to make a noise when they were on the journey later. Frankly, if it was before, he wouldn't bother to explain, but as he had become a good person, he had decided to tell them beforehand what his group planned to do, considering he wanted to avoid a conflict.
Nevertheless, he had to say that being a good guy was somewhat troublesome, but then why should he become one?
Was it because he was interested in the two girls within this group of five?
That wasn't the case since the females in his group were much, much better.
Still, as he had made up his mind to become a good person, he would stick to this principle even though it was quite troublesome.
"Takagi-san's house?"
The group of five looked at Saya, who was in silence within the group. Frankly, they wanted to meet their family, but... they also knew that they lacked the confidence to go out alone without Isao's help.
"Why do we go to her house?"
Among all of their destinations, why did they have to go to Saya's house?
"Her parents are politicians, and her family is rich. Her family also has a group of bodyguards and weapons to protect everyone. Her house is also huge, like a fortress that can protect us from those "things." While I know that you are all worried about your family, I think that calming down for a day to understand everything before is much better than going to our family in our current unstable state."
While Saya was speechless because Isao's explanation about her house was exaggerated, she didn't say anything because she also knew that uniting everyone's thoughts was necessary to stay alive in this situation.
"We agree."
Hearing Isao's explanation, they discussed it for a while before they agreed. Naturally, the ones who made the decision were the girls, as the boys were rather... submissive.
"Okay, then, but since you have joined us, I hope that you can all listen to me so all of us can get out of this place."
"Yes."
They quietly answered him.
While Isao might be the youngest among them, it was easy to accept him as a leader, considering how different he was. The others were all panicked and showed pathetic expressions during this type of situation, yet he was just there, standing relaxed as he talked calmly, explaining everything to them and soothing their tense emotions. Moreover, as someone who had the experience of being a leader among a group of bad guys, he had this aura that made people follow his orders subconsciously.
Lastly, due to his ability, the confidence and aura that he emitted had become much more special. It was like... he was a different being than the rest of them.
Frankly, as a teacher, whether Kyoko or Shizuka felt a bit embarrassed since they left everything to Isao, but what could they do? He was just reliable, after all.
However, before they started their move, Isao looked at one guy with a long stick and said, "You, that one."
"Ah, me-me?" The boy was startled when Isao pointed to him.
"Yes, you. When you walk down, try to be careful. Point your stick upward instead of sideward so the stick won't hit the metal handrail."
The boy agreed, but some weren't in the same opinion as Isao.
"You are too much," Takashi said with a frown, thinking that Isao was too careful.
Isao glanced at Takashi with a frown, realizing that this guy had a negative thought toward him. Still, he didn't say anything and just stared at Takashi in silence.
However, due to his silent stare toward Takashi, everyone suddenly became nervous.
Even Takashi somehow felt his legs were weak and moved back slightly due to the pressure emitted by Isao.
The thought of Isao smashing all those "things" singlehandedly with his baton appeared in their minds, and they knew if they fought, Takashi would be as good as die.
"I-I am sorry for him, Iinuma-kun. He might be a little too tense." Rei quickly stood in front of Takashi, prevented something big from happening, and cursed Takashi for causing a lot of trouble inside her mind.
Isao looked at Rei, who was looking at him nervously, yet her face still showed a gentle smile toward him. He took a deep breath and said calmly, "I just want everyone to get out here alive, and it is better to be careful than sorry, but if you think differently and want us to face those "things" yourselves, then go ahead. I won't stop you."
Isao didn't move and just stayed in silence, yawning and feeling bored.
Yet, from this point, it was easy to tell that Isao didn't want to lead them anymore.
Takashi suddenly felt everyone's gaze on him, and he felt a silent pressure on him. Even worse, his childhood friend, whom he had promised to marry during their childhood, also said, "Takashi, you should apologize to him..."
*Snap!*
Due to this, something snapped within Takashi.
"Even if you are not there, I can get out of here!"
Takashi then took the lead and left the group directly.
"Takashi!"
Yet, when Takashi left, an accident occurred. The baseball bat on his hand knocked the metal handrail, causing a ding sound to echo throughout the school.
*Ding!*
At that moment, they knew that all of them fucked up.