Change: New World

Abrupt Encounter

The Baldie moved forward. His rather hard to look at face grew cold and impassive, while the glare in his eyes intensified. He raised the metal bat up to his shoulders, gripped the handle tightly, and made a rather threatening pose.

I inwardly cursed as I quickly ducked down and gripped Efhermet at the ready.

The people next to the Baldie noticed his abrupt change in atmosphere. They each shot quizzical glances towards one another, before finally, one of the others - the Brown haired kid, spoke out, “Oi, Ryuuji, what’s wrong?”

Baldie - Ryuuji didn’t bother answering, instead opting to point at the infirmary by jutting out his chin.

This motion shifted the other three’s attention over to our current hideout. Glancing at the infirmary window, then at themselves, it might be due to fear or experience, but they quickly caught on. They gripped their weapons, as each of them moved to follow the Baldie.

“What is it?”

“A monster?”

“Was it those Bastards from the cafeteria!?”

As they muttered amongst themselves, I shifted my focus towards the two next to me.

“Fuu….” Cielle had a barely noticeable, one second scowl flash before her face as she turned to me. She didn’t say anything, but her eyes were clearly saying, ‘What do we do?’

As if to voice out her sister’s thoughts, Hina whispered, “What do we do?”

After thinking for a bit, I replied back. “For now…. we’ll wait and see what they do. We won’t make the first move, but if they attack… If they attack…” I let my words trail off, implying that we would obviously retaliate, if it ever came to that.

The sisters correctly interpreted my intentions as the both tensely gulped.

“M-maybe we can talk things out with them?” Hina quickly suggested. From her facial expression, I guess it was a bit more discerning to have actual people as our enemies, rather than monsters. Plus, considering Hina’s own earlier eagerness about survivors, this situation might be a bit too much for her.

Before I could reply, unexpectedly, it was Cielle who responded. She took a quick breath, before saying, “...Enemies...there dangerous… probably….”

Her speech sounded choppy and broken, mostly because she spoke in such a soft and quiet voice that even with my increased hearing, it was hard to make out. Despite that, Both Hina and I fully understood what she meant.

“Just like Cielle said, it’s best to be cautious… plus, I don’t think those four are the most friendly of people.”

Hina unconsciously nodded at my assessment, but her face still showed signs of hesitation.

Before I could say any words of encouragement, an abrupt voice from out the hallway suddenly called out.

“Oi! You in there! Bastard, there’s no use hiding, I saw you!”

The heavy set voice indicated it was Ryuuji, the Bald guy with the large build. The hostility in his voice was clearly evident, but at the same time, I could make out a feeling of anxiety interlayered between his words.

Without bothering to respond, I turned back towards the girls.

“From what I can tell, it seems like he only saw me, so for now, you two stay here. Prepare your magic just in case, but unless it looks like my life is in danger, don’t use it. You might -”

I abruptly cut off my quick set of orders at this point. What I was about to say was something along the lines of, “You might accidentally kill them,” but for some reason the words caught on my throat.

“We might what?” Hina asked worriedly, her eyebrows knitted together.

“... No, it’s nothing… For now, just stay still, wait for my orders.”

After parting with those words, I abruptly shot out from underneath the window, and glared at the four of them from within the room. My sudden appearance caused their eyes to bulge out in surprise. Even Ryuuji, who knew I was in here, couldn’t help but stagger back in slight astonishment..

I took a moment to appreciate their reactions. From what I could tell, the four in front of me seemed to have had a bad day. Their faces were hagard, their skin rather red in anger, and their eyes had the bloodshot glare of a cornered animal. Rather than a bad day… it would have been more accurate to say these four had a bad week…

After regaining their senses, the group quickly donned on their previous “intimidating” glares, as they resumed the earlier atmosphere from before. The Baldie scowled, clearly angry with himself, before once again gripping his metal bat and shooting a glare at me. Although the man was naturally ugly and had a face that would scare any child to tears, he contorted his already ugly face to make an expression that truly brought out his hideous aesthetics. He swaggered closer, taking two steps forward, he yelled, “Oi, get out here!”

I didn’t move at first. It wasn’t like this person scared me. His intimidation wasn’t all that intimidating, in fact, I played with the thought of just staying in here, purely as a means of annoying him. In the end, I decided against that. I quietly moving across the room, I kept my eyes firmly on the four outside as I opened the door and took a step out into the hallway.

I wasn’t really complying to the Baldie’s demands, but more that I wanted to keep Cielle and Hina concealed. In the case that the mob in front of me ended up being stronger than expected, surprise attacks would be rather convenient.

Closing the infirmary door behind me, I took a small step forward. My left hand was firmly held behind me, grasping Efhermet tightly.

The four of them began to encircle me, their weapons raised and pointed. The hostility was quite evident, and not at all one sided. I exchanged hostile glares with each of them.

After a moment of silent intimidation, The group of four were the first to break the quiet.

“You, what the hell are you doing here? You Cafeteria trash should know that this whole area is BOSS’s territory!” Ryuuji glared menacingly.

Next to him, the Brown haired kid tilted his head in suspicion. “Oi, Ryuuji, I don’t recognize this guy…” Upon saying that he glared at me aswell, and took another step forward, as if to get a better look.

Ryuuji also stepped forward. “...You’re right.. I didn’t see anybody that looked like this guy 4 days ago….”

“Agh! Who gives a fuck! He’s obviously with the Cafeteria Bastards!” The girl with the scissors shrieked. From up close, I could fully see how erratic the girl was. Her bloodshot eyes twitched randomly, and her shoulders constantly shook. She didn’t even seem to notice the blood that had collected on her hands.

“Ah, oi Cher…” Ryuuji cautioned at the girl, attempting to keep her calm.

“Why are you here?” The Slanted eyed student asked, ignoring the commotion between the other two. He was the furthest one back, and from my perspective, was probably the most cautious of the bunch. He had one leg pointed towards a corridor to the left, ready to sprint away at a moment’s notice.

I didn’t bother answering, instead I discreetly used [Identify] on the four of them. In between glares, 4 blue window panels floated up from over their heads.