Invisible Hollow Incident | A Zenless Zone Zero Fan Story

Chapter 6: Promise Almost Broken

Getting up and stretching, Anby is feeling the effects of falling asleep while sitting on the couch, glancing down she sees Cyrus fast asleep in a bed across the room, his phone next to him buzzing with an alarm that had failed to wake him up. Pulling out her own phone, Anby comes to the conclusion that he was going to be at least somewhat late for school. She walks over than stops, debating whether it was worth trying to get him up or better to let him rest as her mind wanders back to the night previous.

Anby was in the Playstore car, looking for a tape that they discovered had gone missing from the batch that she had picked up earlier in the day. Having no luck looking in the store so far, she had gone outside to make sure it hadn't been dropped while transporting it in which would eventually lead to checking the car. Looking under a seat, she finally finds the tape and is about to get out and take it in when she notices the door open and Cyrus come out. Confused, Anby observes him as he sits on the front steps for a bit before he gets up and slips over the metal gate as Belle comes out and rushes over. Opening the car door, Anby notices the panicked expression on her face.

"I found the tape, is something wrong?"

"Oh, you found the tape? Good, we can- no, stop, that's not what's important right now. Wise is contacting the rest of the Cunning Hares, there's a kid that's been reported as missing and some unstable hollow entrance has suddenly opened up near the repair shop. We think they may have stumbled into it and there isn't going to be any reliable Public Security officers that can arrive for a while."

Quickly, Anby follows Belle back inside, placing the tape on the front counter before heading into the back room, Cyrus pushed to the back of her mind. Wise gives her a run down on the hollow the entrance leads to.

"You'll have to be careful, most of what I'm picking up seems standard, but there's a few areas that appear to have an especially high concentration of Etheric activity, at a guess there's a few nasty ones scattered about somewhere in there."

"I'm sure I can handle it."

"I'm sure you can as well, now you better get outside, the other Cunning Hares will be there any minute now."

Anby heads out to the hollow entrance to wait for the others and, true to Wise's word, they don't take long to arrive. Nichole wasting no time taking charge of the situation.

"Alright everyone, this is a search and rescue so we are going to be splitting up. Nekomata, you and me will start to the right, Billy, you and Anby take the left, Pheathon will be using Eous to sneak down the middle. If you find the kid, worry about getting them to safety first before trying to contact everyone."

"You got it boss!"
Billy checks both his revolvers and his pack to make sure he's compeltely loaded as Nichole and Nekomata step through the hollow entrance.

"It's good to see you again Anby."

"Billy, it's only been three days."

"I know, but it still feels strange not having you around all the time, you know? Oh! That reminds me, you've gotta introduce me to the kid when we have the time."

"It's two in the morning Billy, he wouldn't be awake right-"
In a flash, the moment of seeing Cyrus run out returns to Anby's mind.
"...now"
She looks back in the direction she saw Cyrus turn when he ran out, hesitancy crossing her mind for a second before she wipes it away, there was something more important to worry about right now.

"Everything good?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, let's go."

Running through the hollow entrance, Anby and Billy immediately start the search, trying to be as fast they as can while still ensuring to cover everywhere which was made particularly hard with just how much junk and rubble that was present.