Chat Group: Anime Girls are Moist-Chapter 370: Kuhoin Arisa

"...Huh?"

Rei Ao stood at the back of the auditorium, looking amusedly at Ouma Shu.

At that moment, the auditorium was crowded with people.

They all seemed to be listening intently to the blonde-haired young woman at the front, who was giving a speech, apparently about food supplies and such.

"... ..."

Ouma Shu, who'd been so confident that "no one was there," was now thoroughly embarrassed.

"Uh... I skipped class, so I had no idea they were having this event today."

What an awkward moment.

In the group chat:

Yukinoshita Yukino: "Why do the students at this school seem so listless?"

She noticed that none of them had much energy, let alone bickering or playing around.

Kasuga Hijiri: "Right, from the look of it they all seem somewhat malnourished."

Yomogawa Ayame: "Could it be poverty?"

Busujima Saeko: "This place doesn't look impoverished at all, though."

Rei Ao: "Something happened here. You can consider it like an outbreak of a virus in this world. This entire area has been cut off from the outside world, supplies are scarce."

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Stella: "I see. Just how dangerous is this virus that they'd completely seal off an entire city?"

Rei Ao: "The Apocalypse Virus, also called the 'Lost Christmas' virus. More specifically..."

Rei Ao's eyes shifted toward the front, narrowing slightly.

"A perfect example is right over there."

On the stage:

The speaker was one Kuhoin Arisa, student council president of Tennouzu First High and future heiress to the Kuhouin Group.

She was reassuring the students that the Kuhouin Group's supplies would be arriving soon.

Suddenly her vision blurred.

"Ugh!"

Pressing her right hand to her forehead, her sight grew hazy, and under the stunned gazes of everyone around, Kuhoin Arisa trembled and collapsed.

"Ha...ha!"

She clutched at her chest, breathing rapidly and having obvious trouble drawing breath.

"President?!"

The students recoiled in alarm, about to rush up to help her when—

Someone called out:

"She's infected with the virus!"

Silence!

The air seemed to freeze. All the students' expressions changed drastically.

A virus... The Apocalypse Virus?

Who wouldn't be afraid of that, known for how terrifying it was? Everyone knew that this entire quarantined zone had been sealed off because of it.

In a flash, their faces filled with fright, and those who'd been edging closer began backing away.

"I-I heard the Apocalypse Virus can be spread through the air..."

No one knew who said that, but:

"Eek!!!"

Immediately, one especially fearful girl let out a screech and bolted for the exit, causing a chain reaction of panic as a bunch of others fled too. Nobody wanted to remain where there might be an infectious source. Nobody wanted to get infected.

Even Ouma Shu—who wasn't yet the so-called "Void King," just a confused boy—went weak in the knees and shuffled backward. But with Rei Ao right there, he didn't dare run.

Rei Ao glanced at him and said in a flat tone, "If you want to run, go ahead. I don't need you anymore."

The current uproar partly stemmed from the first simple statement he'd made: that Kuhoin Arisa had been infected. The rest—like rumors of airborne transmission—had nothing to do with him.

"S-seriously?"

Ouma Shu's expression showed doubt, but also a glimmer of relief—he was free to go?

He asked, then realized Rei Ao really didn't care about him. Rei Ao just walked off with the people at his side, heading for the stage. Shu immediately took to his heels and ran off.

At that point, practically everyone in the auditorium was fleeing. Likely that mention of "airborne transmission" had caused full-blown hysteria.

In fact, it wasn't that simple for the virus to spread through the air. Its main mechanism required contact with the "original rock," letting the virus enter the body.

As infection progressed, it grew more severe, or in other cases, unvaccinated carriers could experience a genetic resonance inside the quarantine zone, leading to viral proliferation.

While everyone else escaped, only one brown-haired girl with pigtails rushed onto the stage, anxiously trying to give first aid to Kuhoin Arisa, who was gasping for breath. But all by herself, she clearly couldn't manage.

When she tried calling for help, her eyes happened to meet Ouma Shu's as he fled; her face lit up with hope, but seeing that he only glanced at her once and then followed the crowd out of the auditorium...

"... ..."

She felt a pang of disappointment and sadness, yet pressed on with trying to help Kuhoin Arisa.

"Kuhoin-san, hang in there!"

"You can't save her like that if she's infected with the Apocalypse Virus."

At that moment, Rei Ao appeared, having temporarily left Yuzuriha Inori with Futaba and Rio to support her. His voice caught the pigtails girl by surprise.

"And who are you?" the goodhearted girl asked with confusion, raising her head.

"Rei Ao, that's my name."

He crouched down and, right in front of her, tore open Kuhoin Arisa's clothes rather crudely—chest area included.

But the exposed body didn't arouse any desire. Instead, on her pale skin, clusters of purple crystals had already grown.

"Th-this...!"

The pigtails girl covered her mouth in shock.

Because Kuhoin Arisa's crystalline growth was visibly spreading. A hallmark of the Apocalypse Virus—crystallization akin to purple crystal amassing both on and inside the body.

The more serious the infection, the more pervasive this crystalline spread. Sometimes the process was gradual; other times it was sudden. And right now, Arisa was experiencing the latter.

Rei Ao was also surprised by this turn of events.

"Hah~"

Kuhoin Arisa's throat was already sprouting crystals, nearly blocking her airway. She panted desperately, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes. Shaking, she reached out and clutched the leg of Rei Ao's trousers.

He glanced at her and asked, "Listen, I can save you, but you may have to give up everything in return. Do you want my help?"

Though Kuhoin Arisa couldn't speak, she could still hear. She didn't want to die. She wanted to live. Right now, she had no other options. She nodded with difficulty. No matter what, she clung to that shred of hope.

"Oh, just don't regret it afterwards."

Rei Ao's mouth curled into a cryptic smile. With a casual wave of his hand, the auditorium's doors and windows all closed and were blocked from view.

He placed his hand squarely over the biggest intact area near her heart. Kuhoin Arisa's body shuddered.

Next second—

Crack!

The crystals abruptly shattered, dissolving in midair until not even dust remained.

"?"

The kindly girl who'd been trying to help had no idea how that was possible.

She looked back at Kuhoin Arisa and saw that her body had reverted to normal, and beyond that, she looked... quite disordered.

"Ugh!"

The girl quickly turned her head, embarrassed.

At that moment, Kuhoin Arisa's breathing returned to normal. She abruptly sat upright, her eyes still filled with lingering terror from that brush with death.

~~~

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