Chapter 56
It took a while for them to get to Ryota's apartment, about an hour and a half exactly; having to go through hordes of insane people, some Monokumas and rubble, it wasn't an easy trek but Zenkichi and his companions would rather take it than having to go through another underground facility.
The Flask facility floors were awesome, but the narrowed space, exploding cyborg, machine gun wielding teddy bears coming in swarms, the threat of death always hanging over their heads, and the constantly shifting labyrinth floor was just... yeah, they were not going underground any time soon.
"... So that's it?" Zenkichi quietly asked, using the binoculars to scout the buildings ahead of them. What he was seeing was a two story apartment, mostly made out of wood. It seemed to be in good condition, with no signs of damage or invasion.
"Yeah, that's my place," Ryota himself confirmed, holding his own binoculars and looking towards the same direction. "But... I'm getting a bad feeling. This is way too easy."
Zenkichi nodded grimly, feeling the same unease. For the entire city to be in chaos and yet his apartment remained untouched was too much of a coincidence.
"Stay alert guys," Naze said, pulling out the only weapon she had— the military knife that she stuck to her forehead, "we don't know what's waiting for us in there."
"... Seriously, I really wanna know how you did that trick." Zenkichi turned towards her with a serious expression.
"Hm? What trick?" Naze tilted her head.
"Y'know, that knife to the forehead thing?"
"Huh?"
"..." They stared at each other in contemplative silence.
Ultimately, Naze turned her head away. "I really have no idea what you're talking about, now c'mon. The path is clear to head in."
".....I count that as a win." Zenkichi whispered to an utterly baffled Ryota.
Slowly and cautiously, they made their way towards the apartment, keeping their eyes peeled for any traps or dangers. But to their surprise, the apartment remained quiet and still.
As they walked up to the second floor, the first thing that caught their attention was the silence. Everything was quiet, too quiet. There was no sound of any human presence or movement... it was like the apartment itself was abandoned.
"This is weird," Naze muttered, her hand holding the knife instinctively twitched.
Zenkichi nodded, his eyes scanning the area, "Ryota, which one's yours?"
Ryota pointed towards one of the doors, one specifically with a silver plating engraved with numbers—6969.
"Over there."
"... Seriously?" Zenkichi incredulously stared at him.
Ryota blushed, "I-It was already there when I moved in alright! The other rooms are already inhabited."
"Alright. Naze, you stay with him. I'll scout ahead and make sure it's safe, in case someone booby trapped his place," Zenkichi ordered, Naze reluctantly nodded. Ryota then gave him the key.
He made his way towards the door, putting the key in, expecting some kind of trap, he activated The Iron and charged in with a solemn expression.
Only, there wasn't anyone or anything suspicious inside. After walking inside and checking every inch of the place, which was six meters square wide and looked like a stereotypical otaku home, there wasn't anything off.
'I really don't like this, it just seems too easy.' He thought as he double checked everything and released a sigh when, again, he found nothing threatening lurking around.
'Maybe I'm just being... no! I shouldn't jinx myself here!'
"Clear! I don't see anything that looks remotely similar to a trap, so you guys can come in now." Zenkichi said as he popped his head out of the door and the two immediately entered, afraid of being seen.
"Finally! Oh, my sweet, sweet home! I've missed you all so much!" Immediately as he entered his apartment room, Ryota nose dived onto his bed with a blissful expression, rolling around on his bed like a child.
Zenkichi didn't judge his behavior, if their situations were switched he would've done the same as well. God, he missed sleeping on his bed right now. This whole situation was stressing him out. But he was more worried for his mother, as with the signal down he couldn't contact her. If it weren't for the fact that his home was several miles away from where they emerged out of the forest, he would've gone there with the rest as a 'shortcut' before heading here.
For now, he was banking on that small chance that she didn't get infected and was surviving somewhere safe while helping people out.
"....It's smaller than I expected," Naze commented, inspecting the room. "I always wonder why some of the Thirteen Party and Ultimates live in crappy homes, even though they get paid annually by the school via scholarship."
Ryota froze, cold sweat rolling down his face.
"Oh, how much are they getting paid?" Zenkichi asked, curious.
"At least 10 million yen a month, 30 million if they do well in certain tests, besides the exams of course."
".....You know, if you went with that approach first on recruiting me I would've said yes, instantly."
"Noted." Naze replied, deadpanned.
Zenkichi's expression turned serious, turning towards the Ultimate Animator, "Okay Ryota, you can cuddle with your bed and body pillows later on. Go find those rare 'hope' parts that you have and start making that Hope Video, you have a world to save."
"Y-Yes!" Ryota promptly sat up straight and nodded, determination in his eyes. "I won't let you guys down!"
As Ryota scrambled around his room, Zenkichi huffed and went to sit down on the former's bed, taking out his phone and tried to contact his mother again, hoping for some good news. But once again, there was no response.
"Damn it," he muttered, clenching his fists.
Naze raised an eyebrow, coming to sit beside him. "First time?"
"Naze, I am not in the mood right now." Zenkichi narrowed his eyes and practically hissed. His fingernails digging into his palms to the point it pierced its skin. After getting this far, he was ready to snap out and throw a raging fit.
He was reaching his limits.
He could take hits like a tank and attack like one, but his mind was still that of a young adult that witnessed death, destruction, his childhood friend succumbed to despair and attacking him, and thousands of people doing insane acts for Despair.
Zenkichi was just....exhausted. Knowing that this whole Tragedy was about to end and he was in a safe place, he began to relax and started to let his guard down. But now, with his mother and his friends safety still uncertain, he felt like he was being pulled back into the chaos and despair.
"Hmm. And here I thought it was going to be either me or Ryota that would break down first, you've surprised me once more, Zenkichi Hitoyoshi."
"Like I give a damn on what you think, Naze."
"Hmm. Already to the second stage of grief I see," Naze calmly replied, ignoring the growl that escaped his lips and the warning side glare that she was getting, she pinched his chin and pulled his face towards her. "Y'know, anger really does suit your face. Being serious all the time was starting to get boring."
"Let go of me," Zenkichi grumbled, trying to pull away.
Naze released him with a smirk, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone that you were about to cry."
"I was not about to cry." Zenkichi rolled his eyes, crossing his arms.
"Sure you weren't." Naze wiggled her eyebrows.
Letting out a snort, Zenkichi decided to get a little payback by pinching her incredibly soft and curvy behind, eliciting a flinch from Naze. A smug smile of satisfaction appeared on his lips.
"Jokes on you I'm into this shit." Only for Naze's sultry words to enter his ear, leaning on him. A teasing glint in her red eyes.
.....He was not going to give her the sort of satisfaction she was hoping to get. Nope. Nuh-uh. So he blankly faced the wall in front of him filled with anime girls, all the while ignoring the incessant snickering beside him.
Still, he couldn't help but feel a small weight lifted off his shoulders, even for just a moment.
Ryota, who was completely oblivious of the flirtatious actions of the two on his bed, was hyper and energized, and got rare "Hope" materials, which was a strange pen with glowing green lines and customized equipments needed for creating an animated video. Finding out that those were the so-called "Hope" needed for his video made both Zenkichi and Naze to strangely stare at him, but they couldn't scold him since he was busily making the cure for the Despair.
As time passed, the three of them fell into a comfortable silence, with only the sounds of Ryota's hurried pants as he moved his strange pen against the digital drawing screen and the occasional sound of an electronic device echoing in the room. His eyes unexpectedly
Just as they thought they were finally safe and on the brink of winning this, the silence was broken by an earth-shaking explosion, coming from outside.
"What the hell is that?" Zenkichi stood up, quickly activating The Iron and walking towards the door. He peeped through the peephole and saw nothing unusual, wanting to keep this place safe, he decided to open it up and take a proper look outside.
"W-What.....in the hell is that?!" His eyes widened in shock and terror as a towering black pillar, alongside large mecha Monokumas surrounding it, appeared in the middle of the city.
....
AN: The story is back! And with two chapters! I appreciate you all still sticking with me on this. I hope you all are doing fine this day, afternoon or night on whatever part of the world you all are right now. Peace!
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