The Hunter
"Shimazu…"
Yūsuke Shimazu was leaning against the door of the classroom of "3-5". His whole body was stained red, as if he had been painted with a spray can. Miyuki Izumi, who was lying beside him as if cuddling up to him, showed no external injuries other than a crimson rose blooming on her chest and had the gentle look of a sleeping princess.
"Shimazu and Izumi…"
"Why. I can no longer grieve or hate anything..."
"I guess we've become empty inside our heart. Just like a machine that works only for itself."
I was wobbling and shaking on the spot.
"I’m afraid of myself. Even if we survive this experiment…"
"What's waiting for you is total loneliness, you say? Don’t worry. We are with you."
Kazuhiro's words made me feel as if the sun had shone into my heart, which was as cold as a snow-covered mountain.
"Anyway, aren’t there too many deaths? If any one of them had seen someone who opposed the parents or clones get killed, they would normally stop fighting back to avoid a repeat there. Well, some of them seem to have succeeded in killing their own parents. Oh, man, this is a lot of work for an undertaker."
Kazuhiro's gaze fell on a middle-aged woman with wide-open eyes and a fork stuck in her neck.
"I feel like a bit strange of this situation…"
"The way they are killed, right?"
"Yes. Parents and clones usually only have fatal stab wounds in the chest, neck, abdomen or back. Some students have only one puncture wound, similarly. However, others, like Yūsuke, have enough stab wounds and cuts to stain their entire body red."
"That means they are not killed by the parents or clones whose heads got manipulated and programmed to focus on efficiency. The clones and their parents, as we saw earlier, were smart enough to stab in one place that would be fatal. Do they killed by normal humans?"
"You say that in a situation like this, it's not hard to understand why they want to kill each other."
Here I finally began to understand Kazuhiro's thoughts.
"Well, but still. We cannot find it. The head or the living people."
"Maybe they all ran downstairs."
"Let's check everything and go downstairs."
"Creak!"
Suddenly one of the classrooms' door opened roughly.
"Hurry!"
"Bang!"
"Yes, we locked them."
I recognized who it belongs to, and my voice rose in relief.
"Hey, you guys are safe!"
"Huh? Oh, it’s you Kazuhiro and Shūhei."
We ran to the "3-2" classroom where Keisuke and others were.
"Good, have you found the head?"
"No. We couldn’t find it anywhere."
Minami muttered in a smaller voice than usual.
"Where else aren't you looking for?"
"Beyond this classroom…"
Minami turned her face down and pointed to the hallway. There is only one room beyond the hallway.
"I knew it. Okay, let’s go."
"Is it the clone inside this classroom?"
Kazuhiro knocked on the door, which was blocked by chairs and desks.
"Yes. Keisuke’s…"
"Also, my mother."
"I see."
Kazuhiro's face showed a bit of a smile.
"We are back again."
That is the suspicious broadcast room.
"Alright, let’s go."
Inside, there was nothing different from when we came in the second experiment.
"Hey. I found it."
Kazuhiro opened the secret room.
"Does anyone have a plastic bag? I’m okay if no one has."
We all looked around and searched in our own pockets.
"No."
"I’m sorry."
"No worries."
Kazuhiro said so, grabbing the guard by the hair.
"Oh…"
Minami let out a small moan and covered her mouth.
"Okay, let’s go."
We left the broadcast room and headed for the stairs leading to the fourth floor, or in other words the rooftop.
"Do the experiment still continue?"
"Well, I guess it continues until we all die out."
Risa replied coldly.
"No way."
"Smash!"
We all looked in the direction of the explosion at once.
"That is…"
"Wow. He got out of that classroom by sheer force alone."
"What are you impressed with? Run!"
It was Keisuke's mother who quickly sensed our escape.
"That is the head! Take it back! Kei-chan!"
"Hey, mom! Sure, he looks like me, but I have more emotions!"
Keisuke shouted as he ran.
"Damn! He came!"
Keisuke's clone chased us with great speed.
"Oh my god! Why does he run faster than me!"
"Here he is!"
The clone was already several meters behind Minami.
"Damn!"
After Keisuke clicked his tongue, he opened a nearby cleaning tool container and took out a mop inside.
"You guys go! If you put the head on the roof, mom will stop, right?"
Keisuke used the mop like a spear and poked the oncoming clone as hard as he could.
"Keisuke!"
Minami cried out.
"Don’t worry. This isn’t a weapon, so I won’t get killed."
With these words as the last, I moved my halted legs and ran after Kazuhiro, who was running at full speed several dozen meters ahead of me.
Behind me was Risa, who was staring at me with a demon-like expression, and further behind her was Minami, who was showing her pale face.
"Everyone, pace yourself. Don’t push yourself too much."
After I said that, I just followed Kazuhiro's back.
