This is a Zombie AU fic, but there really isn't anything gory. The rating is just because of Hiyori's language. I'm thinking about making little prequels/sequels to it, so let me know what you think!

Human Contact

The dead started walking at least a year and a half ago. Hiyori wasn't really sure anymore. She used to keep track on a calendar in her old bunk, crossing off the days that passed. Once that 'safe haven' was over run, she simply counted the number of days that went by. But even that disappeared after she watched the man who was by her side from the beginning vanish in a mass of the dead.

Now, she figured it's been more than a year simply because of the heat. The virus had spread during the coldest time of the year, and at that moment, Hiyori was just trying to stay in the coolest position possible.

Of course, she could easily go back inside, where it didn't feel like her skin was about to melt off her bones. It probably smelled better than the rotting flesh the biters five stories below were giving off. Yet that would mean having to be around the small group that would undoubtedly be waiting for her. Hiyori wouldn't be able to deal with the significant looks Lisa would throw at her and Shinji, one perfect eyebrow raised. Or the way Marshiro would be talking just a little too loud to be considered whispering in Kensei's ear. And there was no way in hell she'd be able to look at Shinji right now. Not after the scene she had just caused, and what had accidently slipped from her stupid mouth.

Shinji… used to be Hiyori's best friend. They had met when the apocalypse had started. They were roommates in that good for nothing 'safe haven'. When that had been taken over, she'd spent hours searching for the man. Hours running and hacking through biters until her strength ran out, and the other survivors had to carry her away from the site.

What a blow it had been to find him alive and fighting off some of the dead ones during a raiding party. Obviously, she had saved him beat the living shit out of him and followed him to where the rest of his small group of six were waiting. They six of the most randomly put together individuals in the history of ever, but all knew how to yield a sword, and at least half were decent with a gun. During the winter, the gang had holed up in a deserted middle school. They were still there because of the security from before. But Hiyori's bag was still packed and ready to go, just in case.

Hiyori thought of that bag, which was half tucked underneath the bed she had made. It would take her exactly 17 seconds to enter the room, grab the bag and her weapons, and leave. She knew, she timed herself each day.

Nonetheless, Shinji never seemed to care that everything in his possession was scattered around his makeshift room, no matter how many times she explained. The blonde man's answer to her constant pestering was to shrug and smile and say, "It's not the end of the world if I can still make a shitty place like this a home."

'That is the stupidest thing to have ever come out of your mouth,' was her usual retort.

But today had been different.

Really, it was Hiyori's own fault for starting the conversation in the common room where everyone was. In her defense, she had thought the corner was a pretty safe place; everyone had dubbed it has Shinji's and Hiyori's only. Something in her brain snapped when she saw the ends of his mouth twitching up to form that stupid smile that brushed away all her worries like they were nothing.

"Maybe if you were at least a little bit more prepared, we would never have gotten separated to begin with, you idiot! Have ya ever thought of that? Or did you just smile and shrug then too, already thinking about the next place you could claim was a home, or the next group you could make a family?!"

Shinji's surprised face transformed into a blank mask as soon as the last sentence had flown from her mouth. Hiyori watched as he clenched his jaw, and couldn't bring herself to look into his eyes, so scared that she would be able to see past his barricade, and decipher the emotions they held.

"Hiyori, we've–"

"Discussed this? No, idiot, we haven't. You make a shitty ass excuse, and I'm the one up every night tormented by the what ifs. But you don't give a damn do you? As long as –" she stopped herself, breathing hard. The two blondes stared at each other for a few more seconds before Hiyori stood up and stalked to the door. She stopped with one foot out the door, not giving a damn about the audience that had gathered to witness their little fight, and confessed in a soft voice something she has wanted to scream in is face since she found him again. "Don't you know that a home isn't where you throw your shit? It's where the people you love are. It's where the people who love you are. Can't you see that I just want you safe?" Without sparing a glance at her best friend, Hiyori made her dramatic exit, leaving the door rattling in its frame.

And that is why she is currently roasting to death on a rooftop of an old school, with undead walking around mindlessly just a few stories below.

Of course, Shinji seemed to think that it was completely fine for him to waltz over and plop down beside her like nothing had happened. Honestly, Hiyori wasn't really surprised. But that didn't mean she was just going to wait around for the dumbass to start his stupid speech he probably wrote on his palm.

"I don't want to hear it."

"Maybe I wasn't plannin' on sayin' anything."

"You always have something to say, Baldy. And as a warnin', if you do, I will throw you off this roof."
Shinji snorted, leaning back against his elbows; Hiyori picked at her nails. They sat in tentative silence for a while, and Hiyori stored the moment away in her mind, a good memory for a shitty day.

Soon, the blonde man stood up and stretched a hand down towards her. She immediately pushed it away, mumbling about not wanting to get up yet. The hand came back, hovering a few inches from her nose. With a sigh and an eye roll that stated just how she felt about having to move, she accepted his hand.

But when he heaved her up, he didn't stop pulling until she collided with his torso. Then, he wrapped his arms around her and held on. The fight never came, however because of Hiyori's current brain freeze. They were both disgustingly sweaty and grimy and she knew she didn't smell like roses. Yet, this... this is what she needed. What she had been craving for for so long. And Shinji, being the idiotic genius that he is, knew it.

A hand started to stroke the back of her head in calming sweeps, and just like that, she was hugging back. She buried her head into his chest and wrapped her small hands into the material of his worn t-shirt. Hiyori loved it. There was safety in his strong embrace that she hadn't felt in so long.

They stood like that, comforting each other with their presence, and murmuring sweet nothings every now and then.

The spell broke when Hiyori's stomach rumbled and Shinji laughed so hard not even a kick to the shin could shut him up.

Before he allowed her to go downstairs, he gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and said, "you can always come to me. Whether it's to talk or hug or whatever. I'm here," and placed a feather light kiss on her forehead.

No one batted an eye at the shiner he was nursing when they finally came down from the roof.

AN: Hello everyone! Wow, it's been awhile. I'm super sorry about that, but I was closed off from my account for a very long time. I had forgotten about how awesome all of you are, and all the people who supported me on this website. So thank you, thank you, thank you! Hopefully some of you guys will see this, and forgive me, but here! a really short, probably badly written, fluffy ShiYori!