- warning -
Implied injuries and death; no blood

"Finally, first week of school, done," Netto sighed, staggering out of the classroom. The last class of the day had just ended, and he was desperate to leave the school walls to outside freedom.

Meiru looked at him from her seat, still packing up her bag. "It wasn't that bad," she said, finding his zombie-like mannerisms overly dramatic.

"Not bad? We have homework for the weekend already." Dekao grumbled as he shoved some loose papers into his school bag.

"We have homework...?" Netto asked, hoping it wasn't the case His sister sighed, slinging her bag over her shoulder.

"Yes. You would have heard if you weren't asleep during class," she said. Netto avoided eye contact, adjusting his headband as he made an annoyed grunt.

Miyu packed up her bag and listened to the chatter. Netto always seemed to be sleeping during class or doing something not school related. It was a wonder how he passed. He also seemed to be the center of the group; he was one who had some sort connection to everyone, save for Miyu herself. Netto was Nori's brother, Dekao's friend, and somehow even knew someone like Yaito. What she was unsure about was the relationship between him and Meiru.

True, they were friends, but they obviously had a soft spot for each other. Miyu suspected both of them having a crush on each other, but neither seemed to make a move. Miyu wasn't the only one who noticed this, either. She saw the occasional eyebrow raise Nori gave her brother when he sat just a little closer to Meiru, the nudges and grins he got from Dekao, and Yaito's childish grin when Meiru would suddenly get nervous around Netto at certain points. Miyu could only wonder how the two's feelings could be so obvious to everyone but them.

"Miyu, what do you think?" Nori asked. Miyu blinked, her eyes shifting to the green-eyed girl.

"Sorry?"

"Oh, you didn't hear me?My bad, Meiru, Yaito, and I were wondering if you wanted to hang out with us," she said. "We were going to do a bit of shopping and maybe grab a bite."

Miyu brightened, the offer gaining her full attention. A chance to hang out with her classmates and grow friendships with them was too good to pass up.

"Of course," she replied, hoping it didn't sound too eager. "That sounds like fun." She smiled, trying to hide her giddiness. The sound of Netto's heavy sigh redirected her attention to him and Dekao, shaking their heads.

"Not gonna invite us?" Dekao asked, clearly offended. Netto crossed his arms.

"Yeah! We got feelings too, ya know," he stated. Yaito flicked one of her braids behind her, placing a hand on her waist in her usual sassy manner.

"Obviously, this is a girl's outting," she sniffed. "It would be ruined by you and Dekao." Netto and Dekao glanced at each other.

"Oh woe," Netto sighed again, dramatically falling into Dekao's arms, his eyelashes fluttering as he theatrically held the back of his hand to his forehead. "We have been rejected... treated like mere scum..."

Dekao shook his head, fake tears pricking the corner of his eye. "This always happens man... come on... we won't let these gals ruin our day. We'll just have a guys night." He insisted.

(Lan, Dekao)

(Yaito, Miyu, Nori, Meiru)

Miyu giggled at the display, finding the dramatic acting humorous. Meiru rolled her eyes at it pretending to be annoyed, but a smile tugged at the corner of her lips. Nori shook her head, a slight smile on her face.

"Let's head out now so we can catch the nearest train," she said, not commenting on Netto or Dekao. "See you later, Netto. Have a good weekend Dekao" She waved to them both, leaving the classroom.

"See you tomorrow," Meiru said to Netto before waving goodbye, rushing out of the classroom.

Miyu waved goodbye to the boys, curious about what Meiru had meant by that. She pushed it aside, deciding it wasn't her business.

"Where first?" Nori asked the group. They had made it to the city, but hadn't decided on what to do first. Unsure, Miyu shrugged her shoulders. She didn't have anything she wanted to shop for. Even if she did, her spending balance had been completely used up.

"Let's just do some window shopping for now," Meiru suggested. "Oh, but I did want to look for some nice clothes."

"Oo, that sounds fun," Miyu said, failing to hide a giddy smile. Even if she couldn't buy anything, she'd love to browse through some outfits and get some inspiration. Or just gush over some clothes.

"Let's start at a clothes shop then..." Nori looked around. "Here, this way." She said as she started down the sidewalk. Miyu and Meiru began following her, but quickly stopped when they realized Yaito wasn't following.

"Yaito?" Meiru asked. "We're heading over now." Miyu looked at the blonde, who was eyeing the window of a nearby convenience store.

"Hold on, I really want some strawberry milk," she said, walking the opposite direction to the store. Miyu glanced nervously at Meiru, who groaned slightly.

"Yaito!" Meiru yelled out slightly, following her. "Let us at least get Nori first!" She said, chasing after the younger girl.

"Ah, wait-!" Miyu called out to them. She began following Meiru but stopped, looking behind her to see Nori slowly disappearing in the crowd. Looking back at forth between Meiru and Nori while trying to avoid blocking the flow of people walking, she gave a bit of a frustrated huff before turning to Nori's direction. She pushed through a few people, as she tried to catch up before finally reaching Nori and grabbing her sleeve. Nori whipped her head around, looking confused.

"Sorry," Miyu said quickly. "But Meiru and Yaito separated from us," she explained. Nori looked behind Miyu, noticing the absence of her other two friends.

"I didn't even notice," Nori sighed. "Okay, where did they go? We'll regroup there."

Miyu pointed behind her to the convenience store in the distance. "Back there. I think Yaito was headed for the convenience store." Miyu tried clarifying after Nori's confused look. "She mentioned something about strawberry milk."

"Ah, of course," Nori said, changing her route to make her way to the store.

"Is it her favorite drink?" Miyu asked, following her.

"'Is it'," Nori repeated dryly. "I can't remember a time she's ever had water. What I can remember are the bathroom issues she had because she drank so much strawberry milk." She remarked with a bit of a chuckle.

"Seriously?" Miyu giggled as Nori nodded her head. "Now that you mention it, she does have it during lunch all the time."

"Mhm. By the way, you make your lunches, right?" Nori asked curiously. "That's what I remember you saying when you shared some with me. Which, thanks for doing.

Miyu nodded, fixing her bangs. "Yeah, no problem. I do. Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering," Nori shrugged. "I cook a lot too so I thought it was neat. Though personally I prefer baking."

"Really?" Miyu turned her head to look at her companion. "I never knew that. That's really cool, Nori." They smiled at each other, reaching the entrance of the store.

"Thanks, Miyu," Nori said before taking a look inside the store. Yaito and Meiru were nowhere to be seen, so she headed inside. A small smile stayed on Miyu's lips as she followed Nori inside, taking a look around the store to see if she could spot her classmates. They couldn't be seen in any of the aisles nearby, so the two girls walked further in to check the rest of the store. While passing one of the aisles, they spotted Meiru looking at some snacks. Miyu released a small sigh, happy to know that she and Nori hadn't been separated from the others for long.

"Meiru," Miyu said with relief. "There you are. Where's Yaito?" Meiru drew her attention away from the selection of chips she was looking at, smiling when she realized Miyu and Nori were approaching her.

"She's looking for some strawberry milk," the red-haired girl replied. "We didn't see any, but she's refusing to give up just yet."

"Sounds like Yaito," Nori said. "I'm gonna help so we can go shop for clothes like we planned." With that, she continued walking to the other end of the aisle, down where the drinks could be found, and turned the corner.

Miyu took a look at the snacks Meiru had been browsing before. It was mostly to help kill time while she waited for Yaito to accomplish her goal, rather than looking for anything to actually purchase.

"How are you enjoying school here?" Meiru asked. Miyu looked at Meiru, not having expected a question.

"I'm enjoying it alright," she answered. "Mostly thanks to you and everyone else," she added. It was true; school wouldn't be nearly as bearable if it weren't for the company Meiru's group of friends gave her.

Meiru smiled, happy to hear Miyu's answer. "If you have questions about anything, we're all happy to help you Miyu."

"Thank you..." Miyu said, though something else was now on her mind. "Actually Meiru, I was wondering something."

"Really? Feel free to ask," she replied, tilting her head.

"Sorry if it's a personal question," she hesitated, fidgeting with her side bangs. "I was just wondering what your relationship with Netto was." Meiru seemed to have a reaction to the question, her face flushing a light pink.

"What? Why?" She stammered.

"Oh, no reason," Miyu said, casually fiddling with her hair. Meiru's reaction confirmed Miyu's theory, and she couldn't help but smile. "You two just seem close. It's really cute." Meiru bit her lip slightly, blushing still. She turned away from Miyu somewhat, tucking a lock of hair behind her ears.

"Well... we're not anything, really," she started. Miyu waited, wanting her to say more. She was always eager to hear little romantic stories. "But he asked me to hang out with him this weekend, and I..."

"Found it!" Yelled a voice somewhere in the store. Both girls lifted their heads to look in the direction it came from before taking a glance at each other.

"Sounds like Yaito actually managed to find some," Meiru said quickly, turning and walking out of the aisle to the entrance of the shop. Left in the aisle, Miyu groaned slightly, frustrated by the interruption. She wouldn't make it awkward or uncomfortable by proding more when Meiru was obviously avoiding the topic, but she was deathly curious. She looked behind her when she heard a pair of footsteps.

"Sorry about that," said Yaito as she approached. "I just had get some strawberry milk."

"I guess it was no harm overall," Nori said beside Yaito. "Where's Meiru?"

"She's waiting for us out front." Miyu gestured to the entrance. "Let's pay for the drink and head out."

"I'll do it, you guys can wait out front too," said Yaito as she walked out of aisle, heading to the cashier. Miyu looked at Nori and shrugged, heading to the entrance.

When she reached the door, she expected to see Meiru. Instead, she could only see people passing by outside. Looking around for Meiru, she quickly grew worried. She could have sworn this was where Meiru was heading, but her classmate was nowhere to be seen.

"What are you looking for?" Asked Nori when she came up behind her. Miyu stepped outside of the convenience store, looking around still.

"Meiru," she answered frantically. "Meiru's gone."

"Let's not get too worried yet," Nori said, though the look of worry was clear on her face. "Maybe she decided to look around the store some more."

"I didn't see her come back though..." Miyu said, sensing something was off. "She couldn't have come back in. She went over here."

"What's going on?" Asked Yaito, who had just joined the two.

"Meiru's gone," Miyu finally turned to her classmates. "She was just here.Apparently everyone likes to run off today," she said with a hint of sarcasm. Nori and Yaito glanced at each other, worried about her tone.

"Don't get upset, Miyu," Nori said. "We can always contact her through our PETs if we need to. I'm sure she's just around the corner somewhere." Miyu sighed as she turned to her left to look down the street, hoping to catch a glimpse of Meiru.

Instead, she had turned just in time to watch the wall of an office building explode.

Miyu stared in shock, almost unable to comprehend what she was witnessing. Scrap and rubble fell out of the gaping hole of the building, falling down onto the sidewalk, onto the people underneath...People began to notice the danger upon them. Screams filled the streets, and the stampede scrambling away from the burning building shook the ground harder than the explosion had. Heavy plumes of smoke were billowing from the damaged wall, and it was clear there was a large fire inside.

Miyu didn't snap back to her senses until she was pushed back by the crowd. She gasped, nearly getting knocked off her feet. She tried to move back to Yaito and Nori but felt herself getting swept away. She couldn't see her classmates through the bodies of the crowd. She tried calling out for them. It was no use; her voice was lost in the chaos. The crowd had swept her away, dragging her from Yaito and Nori. She tried to push back, but was knocked off her feet as someone ran into her. They didn't even look back as she fell to the ground. Caught off guard, she couldn't stop her fall.

A wave of pain rushed across the back of her head, and stars danced across her vision. Blinking in an attempt to clear her sight, she groaned as she lifted her head off the hard pavement and placed her hand on her forehead, which was throbbing in pain. The noise around her was muffled, but she could hear the fast racing of her heart. She lifted her eyes, seeing bodies still running in her direction. Panic set in, overriding the sensation of pain in her head. She was about to be trampled over. She sat up as fast she could but it was too late for her to stand up again. Just lifting her body upright made her feel nauseous and dizzy. Dazed but desperate, she curled her body up as much as she could and covered her head. She buried her face in her knees, tears starting to fall down her face from pain and confusion.

Another explosion rocked the city, and she heard screams get louder as more glass shattered and concrete fell. She sobbed more, shaking in fear in her curled-up ball. What was going on? Why were buildings exploding? Where were her classmates?

Was she going to die here?

- Author's Note -
Okay!!! I actually did it! A nice length chapter 10, drama, and art! Woooo!!!
I hope yall like this chapter, let me know!! And the art to hehe
I do plan to change the outfits of the main cast, since they are in high school years now, but for the sake of recognition and simplicity I just used their old outfits and changed their physical look.

Thats about it! Thanks for reading, have a good day!

Also take some warm up sketches