Invisible Hollow Incident | A Zenless Zone Zero Fan Story

Chapter 7: Moment Before The Storm

A weary Cyrus slowly makes his way up stairs, every step feeling like an effort as he yawns, some part of him wishing he had stayed home instead of rushing to school. He quickly pushes that thought aside as he makes it to the top of the stairs and remembers why he considers school so important to him right now, behind this door was currently seemingly his only shot at being able to create some connections again. Opening the door he finds the rest of the group had already arrived at the rooftop.

"... I still can't believe you hadn't heard of it, it's all over every social platform."

"Come on, you know I don't check that often... oh, hey Cyrus."

"Hey Ellen..."

"Well aren't-"
Ellen stops and frowns for a second, finally having looked up from whatever someone from the group had been trying to show her and properly seeing Cyrus.
"Are you okay? You look like you're going to pass out where you're standing."

"I'm... fine... just a bad sleep."

"If you say so."

Cyrus decides to try and turn the conversation away from himself.
"What were you all talking about earlier?"

The person who had shoved the phone in front of Ellen also turns to Cyrus.
"Not you too, huhhhh... it's only rumours right now, but there's a story making the rounds that there's been a lot of unstable Hollow entrances appearing everywhere and last night some kid stumbled into one of them. Apparently a full public security squadron was even sent out."

Cyrus finds somewhere to sit, starting to regret his attempt to change the conversation.
"R-really?"

"Yeah. It's really a crazy time we are going through right now, first the whole 'Invisible Hollow' thing and how this, if you ask me I think they've gotta be related. Hey, you work at Random Play don't you? Apparently the last opening was around that Sixth Street area. Have you heard anything about it?"

"No... I haven't... I'll make sure to ask when I get there."

"Oh, okay than."

The conversation then turns to normal school related subjects, what assignments were up coming (and how far behind everyone was with them.) Much to Cyrus' relief, the topic of the hollows did not come up again as eventually the bell rang signaling the end of the break. As he stands up his head suddenly starts swimming, sound become muffled and his vision blurs, to keep from falling over he leans against the railing.

"Be careful doing that... it doesn't... look stable..."

Cyrus blinks hard a few times to try and clear his vision to no avail, only just being able to make out the figure of Corin who he had been sitting next to during the rooftop chat.  Some part of him registering this had been the first time he'd really heard her speak before returning back to trying to figure out what was happening and praying it was just lack of sleep.
"Sorry just... give me a second."

"Are... are you feeling okay? You look really pale."

Cyrus suddenly registers a slight pressure on his forehead before realising it is Corin who had just placed her hand there.

"Corin... what are you..?"

"I'M SO SORRY I SHOULD HAVE ASKED FIRST!!!"

Stepping back, Corin takes a couple of deep breaths.

"You looked very pale so I wanted to check to see if you were sick I'm sorry I wasn't thinking I..."

"It's fine."

Ellen approaches the two.
"Does he have one?"

"Huh? O-oh, yes, he has a high temperature."

"Alright, Corin you better hurry so you don't end up late for your next class."

"But, what about you Mi- uhh... Ellen?"

"I'm going to take this dumb ass to the sick bay."

"I'm right here you know."

"And you clearly shouldn't be. I would just tell you to go to the sick bay but I already know you won't so I'm taking you there myself, come on, can you walk?"

Cyrus stands himself up, his senses clearing a little as he finds his balance.

"I think so."

"You think so?"

"Look, I'm not normally up until 3 in the morning."

"What were you doing up that late?"

"... trying to catch up on school work."

"Right, sure. Come on, let's go."

Reluctantly, Cyrus begins following Ellen down to the sick bay room, trying his best to not show his reliance of having to lean on the hand rails when they got to the stairs. They are almost there when Ellen suddenly stops.

"It's Friday today, isn't it?"

"It is, why is something meant to be happening?"

"The school nurse isn't in on Fridays or Mondays."

"Soooo... just heading to class than?"

"No, you... Ughhh."

Ellen pulls Cyrus into a class that isn't being used.

"What's going on?"

"What do you mean what's going on?"

"Oh, I don't know, there's reports about some hollow entrance appearing on Sixth Street which happens to be where you work, then you show up the next day like this, the fact you even showed up at all, you should have stayed in bed to recover from whatever happened."

"They were just rumours and like I said, I was just up late because of school work."

"What were you working on?"

"... it... it was the-"

"See, you can't even give me an immediate answer. You shouldn't have to think about it."

Cyrus has no response.

"I don't know what's going on with you or what you're trying to hide but I can promise it's not worth doing this to yourself. You have your phone, call someone to pick you up. School can wait."

"Fine..."

Grabbing out his phone, Cyrus sends a message to Anby, having gotten her contact details after the events of the night before. It doesn't take very long for him to get a response.

Anby: Wait out the front, I'll be there shortly.

"There, I have someone coming to pick me up."

"Good, I'll help you grab your stuff."

Not having the energy to bother arguing against it, Cyrus and Ellen head to his locker where they make sure he has everything he needs to take in his bag before heading out to the front entrance of the school. Ellen only leaving to get to her class once Cyrus tells her that the person coming to pick him up had arrived and he started to head towards the car. Finally getting over he practically collapses in the front seat.

"Hey Anby..."

"You don't look well."

"I've been told... apparently I have a temperature."

"That's not good, if you need anything just let me know."

"Okay."

The rest of the way back was filled with silence right up until Cyrus is back in his room, passed out in his bed.