(Months without Yuuno : 1)

Today was the day before the annual club display, the event where Luha continued to show her Mechs off. That was what her plan was this year as well. They were planning on making commercial level vehicles. 'Buggiez' I believed they call it.

The other clubs were rather busy too. When the Mech club stepped up their game, the others followed suit.

I- being in the volunteering club had not a lot to do. After all, our job was helping people out for compensation. So I was just sitting in the class with the 3 or so other classmates who were practically jobless. The people who quit their club halfway and decided to focus on studying.

The class seemed rather lonely without Luha here.

The teacher didn't bother teaching because of the underpopulated class. It was subtle and quiet inside but right outside the window, I could see people running about getting their stuff together.

It felt like the ideal schooling experience. Something that I was clearly missing. Our year was the last one the kids got to mess around in. The next year everyone would be hell-bent on learning the ropes to nobility or picking up skills for high school.

'Should I just volunteer to help clubs out?'

'Hell, nah.'

For a second I wondered if my club would ever put a display on. But it was already the second last year of my primary schooling and we had never done a display so far. So I highly doubted that something like that would ever happen. I mean, what would our club even showcase? The goods the old man got from having us slave away?

Putting the thought aside I crossed my finger tightly as I hit the 10x crystal button on the gacha I was playing for. The pull rates were actual shit. But that never stopped a rich gambler like myself. If it was for a hot waifu png I would spend an entire fortune. And I was right on track for doing just that.

It was frightening how much money I had spent on someone who would be very weak in battle.

But her looks made up for it. Something about military uniforms on toned muscular girls. Oof.

The gacha rolled before coming to a stop and the screen went white. And the grand reveal...

"SHIT!" I shouted.

"Mao, language!" The teacher put her phone down. She was the same large black haired woman from the first year. Apparently teachers stuck throughout your primary years. "Did you roll a 3 star again?"

"You bet I did."

"Lol that is pretty shit. But you shouldn't shout it out that loud." She got a lot more chill as the years passed.

"I'll tryyy." I couldn't ensure that I would censor my profanity. I was really close to the guarantee pity pull.

Anxiously, I hit the 10x button again.

AND YET AGAIN-

"SON OF A FUDGING PEPPERONI BITCH!"

"Mao! There's no point in saying 'fudge' if you're going to say bitch anyway!"

"I spent 200 flipping crystals on this tra-UGHHH! Just give me the big titty goth fighter!" The one thing I wanted. The one thing I longed for. I had seen videos of other streamers getting her, and I had never been so envious before.

"And now you're straight up acting horny in class." The teacher said.

"Who said that I'm horny? I'm a proud demon who has no need for sex! I just think that big boobies are great things in a motherly and aesthetic sense." I had been raised while getting breastfed with my sanity intact after all. I would obviously develop quite a liking towards bigger breasts.

I just don't express it on real women.

"Who taught you that demons don't ha-"

"Shhh! I'm pulling here! This time for sure!"

I hit the 10x button and then all of a sudden-

BGGGOOOOOOOM!!!

There was a large sound from outside. The ground shook. And the brightness in the window was almost blinding. A window cracked a little and a slight wind swept through the classroom.

It was an explosion.

Did a mech go off? I mean we had safety measures for just that but-

The crowd started to scatter.

"What happened? Is it one of the science clubs again?" The teacher got up to check outside.

"That was a little too loud."

The next second the situation immediately became clear as I put my phone in my pocket.

Dhu Dhu Dhu Dhu! BGGGOOOOOOOM!!!

Gunshots. Plenty of them. There was no malfunction. That explosion was a grenade.

Everyone in the class seemed to have understood that. It was the moment before panic. The moment right between realisation and disbelief.

It made sense. The gunfire made sense.

Just because it was peaceful for 9 years didn't mean that the world was at peace. We weren't living in a secluded region because we wanted to be here. We were living here to remain safe. Safe from the people who were firing outside.

The students, the teachers- everyone was complacent! We overlooked something obvious.

None of this was out of the blue. It was just that we were so immersed in red that we forgot blue even existed. Times changed fast and the mirage of the blissful and peaceful life I had, shattered in a moment.

My mind ran through all the possibilities as I saw the teacher's face turn pale. Even time seemed to have slowed down. I could see her turning around to face the kids and issue orders.

I could feel my own mouth open.

"KIDS GET TO THE GYM!" The teacher shouted. But my legs were already moving towards another place.

"I'M GETTING LUHA!"

She was the only one from our class in the Mech's Club. I couldn't leave her safety up to chance! If the hostiles wanted to cause damage their first step would be the Mech's Club, right?!

"MAO STO-" I heard her shout but my body was already in motion.

I strengthened my legs. I didn't care about keeping my body weak. Over the years, I had gotten used to managing my strengths in bursts so that I didn't become over powered again. Only when the feet landed on the ground did the top of my toes get strengthened.

The hallways were empty. I didn't know how far the hostiles had infiltrated. I didn't even know who the hostiles were.

'THIS WAS GREAT! FUGG! Of all the years they could have come, they picked the one in which Yuuno wasn't there!'

Or did they pick this year specifically because she wasn't here?

What were the authorities doing letting the location out?

Did someone snitch? That was the only way. But that made very little sense too. Considering that the one who snitched should have to have known the location. Which was hard to do in and off itself.

It meant that they actively went out of their way to map the entire place.

Or did they know before the fact?

From what I could gather from the 9 years of traveling was that we were towards the east. But then again I wasn't paying all that much attention.

I started running even faster. Ideally I didn't want to come across any hosti-

Just as I said that a fully suited man presented himself across the corner. I ducked and slid to stop myself and hid behind a classroom door.

"Just my luck." I muttered under my breath.

Wait, I didn't even know where Luha was in the first place. Was she still in the hangar, or did she hear the shots? I needed more intel.

Clearly, I was slightly over the edge.

'I just hope Luha is okay.'

I activated my lens and called Yuuno before sneaking into a classroom.

"Why did you call me? I'm sort of bu-"

"Yuuno… Listen very carefully." I didn't quite have the time to banter.

"You sound seri-"

"There are terrorists here."

"Are you lying?"

"No. I want you to get the military over here immediately. I also want you to track Luha's location through the cams and keep me updated."

"Are you not with her?!"

"She was with her club."

"Shit!"

"Now hurry and keep this call running. If you can send me the live feeds of all the security cameras."

"What are you going to do though? You should just find a place to hide… You can't survive a shot with that weak body of yours! But you also need to find Luha and get her to safety... URGHH!" Yuuno started ranting. "That's why I told you to get stronger!"

"Stop. We don't have time for hypothetical situations. I only have 2 objectives- delivering Luha to the gym where I believe the refugees are and then heading home to protect JiiJii, Obaa-chan and Clintarou."

"The rest of the ki-" She was panicked.

"I can't worry about them. I have my hands full with just this much." I sighed. "Can you get the military here?" I asked Yuuno.

"I can. I just told Mom and Dad."

"Cool."

"Can you get into the school's system?" If I were to go solo I needed that information. Leaving our lives to luck was stupid. Especially when my luck was like this today.

"I can't." Yuuno replied honestly.

"I see. Then hand the call over to Rune. And you try getting here as quickly as you can." My mind was starting to calm down and my battle instincts started to take over.

Giving and taking charge. Knowing when to do those was the quality of a great military leader.

"OKAY!"

I heard the sound of the call bleep on the other side.

It was time to start this rabbit chase.