Null Life: Last Day

Chapter 1

Today was graduation day. The very class of twenty o'six. Hori figured that finally leaving all of this behind for the road ahead was something good after all. Asahi, on the other hand, seemed depressed about it. She couldn't blame him at all. They were entering a new stage in their lives, leaving behind stong memories any reluctant student would want to experience again and again just for a blissful nostalgia. But Hori was more than stoked for earning Yen from being an idol.

At the same time, she ensured that Asahi maintained his confidence and broadened his horizons as he'd definitely need those things to attain whatever the goal is. They, and the faculty, spent a few long hours arranging the ceremony. Everything was set up in tidy fashion in front of the School's small Shrine the students were all going to pray at after going through with accepting the graduation awards. But that was all for later into the night which was in another few hours.

All of the classroom's cheerful chatting, including her own with Asahi, was interrupted by the headmaster speaking through the PA system. The way he talked made everyone shiver almost immediately, as normal words turned into shaking breaths. The slight echo could still somehow be heard reverberating outside of the classroom, and this added onto Hori's abrupt unease. The head master's voice became corse, raspy even, and for a moment, he chuckled, until he started gasping in pain. Someone slammed his office door shut, which could be heard even from the hallway. "My dear youthful academics... do not leave the premises until you are permitted by the authorities!"
Nothing but a constant idle feedback followed immediately after his message. An eerie silence filled the room. Hori could only look down at her flip phone in confusion as everyone else whispered amongst each other. Some gave each other humorous jokes about the headmaster, while some seemed to be fiddling with their belongings. She looked at Asahi, who was now pressing the buttons on his own phone feverishly.

He noticed her gaze, but didn't need to turn back. Hori knew that look in his eyes anyday and he only showed it exclusively to her. It was that all too familiar look of confusion, fear and the dreadful assumptions again. "Everything is alright, don't worry." She gave him a soft smile. He nodded and smiled back. Without a thought he moved his desk next to Hori and sat right up close. Asahi suddenly held her in, his hands were cold and shaking until she held them together. This was the soothing embrace she needed to also calm down.

The whereabouts of their Sensei, Hina Fukuoka, was unknown. Despite knowing she was just leaving the class to acquire something.
A sudden yell that would be discerned as a animal's growling came from the PA system and frightened the souls out of everyone. Strange sounds like flesh being hacked into with a blade or axe followed shortly after until the system was switched off.

Asahi held Hori tight, he knew she would start shaking from the fear. It was then that Hori noticed something rather peculiar outside, in the far distance. There was a small girl in a black dress, seemingly floating along the track field. Her lower body was difficult to identify. Even further behind her, was the odd sight of people running along the road, cars crashing and SWAT forces shooting at something or someone as they were moving away from whatever it was. The gunfire was loud, yet no one seemed to pay any mind to it. The strange figure in the black dress looked like she turned to look at the situation behind her. But, that was when she turned back and faced the school, as if she sensed Hori was looking in her direction. At the same time, Hina finally returned, opening and closing the door in a sure hurry.

Her state made all the class gasp in terror. Part of her face was covered in blood, her hands were more crimson than the colour red itself, and in them, she held a butcher knife in one hand, and the head master's severed head in the other. "Class is dismissed," Hina breathed heavily. The blood on her clothing caught Hori's attention before the grisly thing she could almost see in the corner of her eye that Hina was holding in her hand. Before everyone else even panicked and tried to run, she spoke again, making them stop in their tracks.