If earlier, Yuki had thought that a volatile solvent leaking into the air, which could poison everyone nearby, was bad enough, he was now in for a rude awakening. It felt as if Murphy's Law was working against him. First, there was the unexpected explosion that forced everyone to evacuate more than 20 ters from their original spot, causing panic among the crowd. Now, with Kato suddenly disappearing from sight, it was as if a bunch of butterflies were summoned inside his stomach and dancing mockingly at him.
"Sugawara-san, Kato-san isn't here! I will go back and find her. You stay here and make sure everyone is in order!" he shouted amidst the chaos.
Hearing this, Arina Sugawara's eyes widened in shock, and all color seed to drain from her face. "Not here?! What do you an?! I swear I held her hand the whole ti!" Gone was the calm and elegance usually present on her face, replaced by the panic that took over her feeling right now.
"I don't know. It must have happened during the explosion while we were evacuating further. Just stay here and follow the instructions of those in charge. I will try to find her!" said the bespectacled boy, rushing back into the crowd without wasting another mont.
As he made his way back to the original evacuation zone, the sound of an ambulance siren could be heard in the distance. Although the arrival of professional paradics was reassuring, Yuki didn't dare to stop running. His eyes kept scanning the area around there in search of his friend.
"Oi, kid, go back! The fire is worse over there!"
"Don't go that way! There could be a second explosion!"
"Kid! Save your life!"
As he ventured deeper, the warnings from those around him grew louder. Yuki knew they were right; he shouldn't be here in the first place. However, that thought was the least of his concerns. Right now, he was on a mission: to find his friend's whereabouts.
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Fortunately, when Yuki returned to the evacuation spot they had been in earlier, he found what he was looking for. His eyes landed on a girl with glasses lying on the ground, her expression a mix of helplessness and tension. He let out a deep, relieved sigh. It seed Kato felt the sa way, as color rushed back to her face.
"Yuki-kun! You're finally here!" she exclaid, relief washing over her features.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm here. Anyway, what happened? Are you injured? And where's our mask?" Yuki frowned, bombarding her with questions.
"I think I sprained my leg when you were distributing masks to the others before. I didn't realize it in the chaos, but now that things have settled, I see I didn't get a mask from you." She explained briefly.
Yuki groaned when he heard that. The situation had indeed been chaotic, with not only the Tsunemori students, but the workers who hadn't received masks also surrounding him. Still, he felt guilty; despite all his efforts, he had forgotten the most important person to give a mask to.
"Don't worry, it's not that bad," Kato said, noticing his distress. "I didn't dare to move with the others since it would be dangerous in my state. If I fell, people would literally step over , and I didn't know how I would survive that. So, I decided to wait here, hoping you would notice my disappearance."
Yuki grimaced at the potential scenarios that could have happened to Kato. "Good thinking. If you move around, it would be impossible for to find you. Wait a second—here, use my mask. Just make sure you don't inhale too much of whatever this stuff is without covering your face." He handed her his mask.
It wasn't just a heroic gesture with him trying to sacrifice himself like in any action movie. After giving her his mask, he quickly took off his uniform, using it as an ergency mask. While it might have been worse than a regular one, at least it provided so protection for his respiratory area.
"Co on, hold on tight! We need to get out of here soon!" he urged.
"Um," Kato nodded quickly. Without hesitation, Yuki picked up the girl and placed her on his back. Luckily, she wasn't too heavy, making it relatively easy for him.
With his upper body exposed while carrying her, the two of them, who were shy by nature, would have blushed furiously if the situation had been normal. However, they didn't have the luxury of ti to think about that, as they only had one thing inside their mind right now, which was to leave their spot as soon as possible.
Even though the distance between the first evacuation spot and the current one was only 20 ters, it felt like the longest 20 ters Yuki had ever run. His vision was clouded by smoke, and he began to cough heavily as the mask made from his uniform didn't provide as much protection as he had hoped. He also had to navigate around debris and fire caused by the earlier explosion, turning the situation into a hellish ordeal.
By this ti, only a few people remained trapped in the smoke. In the distance, the sound of fire extinguishers being operated could be heard, montarily relieving Yuki. This indicated that people outside were doing their best to put out the fire.
However, it seed Lady Luck was not on his side today. Just when he was about to escape the hellhole, soone shouted loudly from afar, "BRACE YOURSELF! THE SECOND EXPLOSION IS COMING!"
In that instant, Yuki was grateful to whatever deity had suddenly enhanced his brain's ability to process information. As soon as the words registered, he reacted with such speed that, even after months of volleyball training, he wouldn't have believed he had it in him. He turned to face the explosion directly, doing his best to protect his friend on his back.
As a result…
BAM!
When the second explosion occurred, Yuki was thrown several ters away, and before he could comprehend what had happened, he lost consciousness instantly.
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