Chapter 32: Night-In

"Now that I think about it... it's that time of the month, right?" Kazuichi muttered as he sat with the group, referring to the day wherein he'd send his monthly donations to the orphanage. Even though he was a shut-in, he didn't feel the least bit excluded from the group.

"What are you doing here, mister? You're a long way away from the city." Yoshiyuki asked, wondering why they met with someone like him on the other side of the country.

Since Kazuichi didn't feel uncomfortable with the group and he somehow knew who they were, he decided to tell them what had happened. He started his story when they went out to check on their water source up to the present. After all, he figured out that they won't be interested if he were to tell them that he was a shut-in.

As for the Izanagi Siblings and Yoshiyuki, they managed to contact a formidable stronghold and were invited in. They were on the way to that stronghold when they came across the Undeground Action.

"Which Stronghold are you referring to?" Kazuichi asked out of curiosity.

"The Scarlet Blood Stronghold," Yoshiyuki responded. "We were on our way there when we happened to see this abandoned mall. We figured we could gather some supplies... but now we're trapped in here." Yoshiyuki continued, clicking his tongue as he did so.

"You mean... because of that... thing?" Kazuichi asked.

"An aberrant. They are stronger compared to regular infected, and they have a little sentience in them. It would've been easy to escape here if there's just one... but as it turned out... this is a nest." Yoshiyuki continued.

Since the room was not lit, the others barely saw Kazuichi's furrowed brows as he wondered what the problem was. He knew that the entrance to the abandoned mall was only a couple of feet away from the staff room. Even if the aberrants were alerted of their presence, they'd still be able to escape out of there. "You can just make a run for it, no?" Kazuichi asked. In retrospect, he and Amaya managed to get to the staff room without alerting one aberrant. Vice versa should've worked as well.

"It's... complicated." Sano heaved a sigh. "If we wanted, we would've gotten out by now. But now, we can't. Once we attempted an escape, the aberrants would try to chase us. We can't afford to lead them outside, especially when the Undeground Stronghold is nearby."

Lina nodded in agreement. "Besides, we can just sneak through the backdoors and get some supplies. We can stay here for an indefinite amount of time.

"But don't you need to go to the Scarlet Blood Stronghold?" Kazuichi continued.

"If you've seen how those aberrants hunt, young sir, you'd know just how scary it is to encounter one, let alone a group of them." Yoshiyuki continued.

Unbeknownst to Kazuichi, the only reason they could infiltrate the abandoned mall successfully was all thanks to Amaya. She was the sole reason why no aberrants were present when they entered.

And in addition to that, Kazuichi didn't know that the aberrants were already aware of their presence despite his cautiousness when sneaking in. If it weren't for Amaya, Kazuichi would've experienced hell before he could even get to the staff room.

Growl~

Grooowl~

Before anyone could continue their discussion about the Aberrants outside, Amaya's stomach started growling. Kazuichi realized that he hadn't eaten for quite some time, and his stomach started grumbling. He blushed, clutching onto his stomach as he stared at Sano and the others.

"Let's eat for now and then hit the sack. We have quite the day ahead of us tomorrow." Sano pointed out as he went to the far side of the staff room where their stock of canned goods was stored.

"Sorry, we can't build a fire in here. It would've been better if we could at least heat up our meals." Lina apologetically said as she handed Amaya a can of tuna flakes and oil. "Here you go."

Amaya nodded and muttered a soft thank you before she handed the can to Kazuichi. She figured that as her benefactor, Kazuichi should be the one to eat first. It was her way of expressing her gratitude towards Kazuichi since he took her out of that hellhole of a place at the end of the day.

Her gesture was misunderstood by Kazuichi, however. Thinking that Amaya needed someone to open the can, Kazuichi unhesitantly grabbed the can from her hand and opened it. Handing it back to her. "Here you go,"

With conviction, Amaya vehemently shook her head as she gently pushed the canned good towards Kazuichi. "You can eat first, mister. I'm not that hungry."

Growl~

This time, Amaya blushed after her stomach growled for a second time, begging for food when she smelled the aroma of the savory canned tuna. She pouted her lips in slight frustration while everyone chuckled silently under their breaths.

"Take it. I can open my own." Kazuichi gently said, handing the can back to Amaya before taking one for himself.

"Once you're done eating, you can get mattresses on that side," Sano said as he opened a canned good for himself. Before they knew it, the entire group was heartily eating their fair share of cold canned goods.

"I'll hit the sack first. We'll try to escape tomorrow, right?" Yoshiyuki asked out of nowhere.

"Right, we need to get out of here next morning. If we can't, we have to spend another night here." Sano heaved a dejected sigh. While the place was comfortable, they knew they couldn't stay here forever. Then again, if they were really pushed into a corner, they'd be able to stay in such a cramped space for an indeterminate amount of time. However, hygiene would be an unthinkable problem since there are no restrooms inside the staff room.

Kazuichi also thought of the same problem, but he didn't bring it up since it was apparent enough.

"I guess we can't really risk escaping during the night. We'll have to wait until the morning." Kazuichi muttered, still not convinced that the aberrant outside posed such a huge threat.