Two weeks ago, They attacked. Hundreds of thousands of people were wiped out in a matter of a few hours. Not many people survived, less than a thousand all across Japan.
Takashi always wondered why he was one of them, and why he had to lead the others.
The others and himself had fought hard for two solid weeks against Them. They decided he was the leader without his decision in the matter whatsoever. It baffles him what he has to offer that makes him so special.
The others had their own backstories and things they did during Z-Day and before it, and after
Takagi was simply a nerdy straight-A student before, she learned to fight on Z-Day, and now she was their smart strategist who got them out of many situations with Them.
Hirano was a chubbier kid with a lot of bullying problems. He let his true colors with firearms out on Z-Day and fought with them ever since, proving invaluable with weapons.
Everyone had a story to them, what was his?
Some teenager who was heartbroken and depressed, so he threw his life to shit by not doing anything important. On Z-Day he realized what happened and lived, what was so special?
Nothing, that's why he never understood why people followed him.
Why Rei abandoned him and came back after he killed the man she abandoned him for.
Why everything happened in the first place.
And even though he knew even if he thought about it for eternity, he wouldn't figure out the answer to any of his questions, but he could not help himself but to do it.
"Takashi? You alive over there?" Takagi said to him.
"He's deep in thought, you can tell." Saeko said. Saeko was another story to compare to himself, but he still couldn't help but admire her. She was talented and none of the Dead has ever been able to ever get close to hurting her. She truly was amazing, both in skill, and personality.
It made him think back to that night he had with her in that temple. When she told him the darkness of her past, what she had done. The guilt ate away at her for so long, she believed she couldn't love anyone and didn't deserve to be normal, to be human.
Takashi had listened to her then, he didn't believe she had to be the way she was because of a darkness in her heart, he had reached out and grabbed her hand in hopes of snapping her out of it, but then she looked at him.
He didn't think to do it before, it was the moment, he looked at her, and she looked at him. He didn't know what sparked the flame of that very moment, but he had kissed her then.
She kissed back, almost longing for that feeling of it. He laid down with her, unable to stop, they kissed for what seemed like eternity, until she stopped, and pressed up against him before mumbling those words into Takashi's chest before falling asleep.
"I love you."
But then... that was a week and a half ago, and nothing has changed.
Thinking about it, made his mind drift to other thoughts.
"Saeko, we should talk next time we stop." Takashi looked over and said.
She looked at him, he could already tell what she was asking silently, he could see the question in her eyes.
'Takashi, is it about the temple?'
He nodded a little at her, confirming her thoughts exactly.
Takagi looked at the two, what were they hiding?
"Onee-Chan! Kota says we need to get gas! We're pulling up now!" Alisa said.
"Thank you little sis." He said smiling, then looking up and giving a small nod before the two got out and walked to the curb while Kota and sensei filled up the gas.
"Well, I don't know what to say." She said, starting first.
"Well, what we did, that's easily explainable, we wouldn't have done it without emotions for each other, so we clearly have those kinds of feelings towards each other." He said, with her nodding in agreement, cause what else could it be really?
"But, you also said something before you fell asleep that night that also proves my point." He said, vividly remember the words and the way she... confessed, he supposed.
"... I didn't think you would hear that." She said, he looked at her, does that mean she actually...
"But Takashi, we both know I have feelings for you, and you for me, but when I said that... I didn't know what I was doing." She said, which made sense, it was in the heat of the moment.
"So then how do we proceed? We can't ignore it now." Takashi said.
"But what about your friend Rei? didn't she confess and say she wouldn't stop loving you?" She asked, more afraid of her emotions than anything at that moment.
He looked her dead in the eyes.
"I loved her... once, she left me for my best friend and when I confessed, she broke my heart and couldn't care less. She only came crawling back after he died and I didn't. She had her chance, I have other interests now." He said to her.
He had realized something at that moment, Saeko wasn't like Rei, she didn't need to be protected and pampered like a girl, like Rei. Saeko was dependable, strong and compassionate all at once, she was admirable and brought out the best in Takashi.
He wasn't lying, he really was interested in anything but Rei at that given moment.
"Takashi, I... we should... acknowledge how we feel before moving forward." She said with blush on her cheeks.
"Fine then Saeko, I like you, a lot." He said firmly, looking into her eyes as he took one had and entwined his fingers with hers.
"I like you a lot Takashi, very much so, that, I will stand by you in that way... if that's what you want." She said, squeezing his hand, looking at him.
He decided that in that moment, with someone like Saeko, he decided actions would be more impactful than words.
Also, he didn't really care what judgment he would get from it.
He took her other hand and kissed her, right there in plain view.
She kissed back, she was happy that Takashi decided to be brave and Show his feelings, rather than tell her.
He pulled away,
"So, should I call you girlfriend now? Or is that a little much?" He joked with a smile.
"Saeko works just fine." She says kissing his cheek with a small laugh, before she began walking back to the humvee.
When they got there, Kota just finished pumping all the gas in and was getting into the turret again, while sensei took the wheel. The two walked in and Saeko sat right next to Takashi, while takagi pushed off a sleeping Rei off her shoulder.
"I saw what you two did, I won't tell her, don't worry," she said gesturing towards Rei with a smirk, as much as she was attracted to Takashi and wanted him, if he was happy with Saeko, she would back him up.
"Thank you, but I do not care if she knows." Takashi said with a small grin, Saeko never intended to hide it to begin with, and placed her head on Takashi's lap and she fell asleep.
...
"It's Them!" Kota shouted at the others before blasting his turret gun.
Rei and Saeko woke up with a start, Takashi stood up and got into the turret next to Kota, and surveyed the area.
There were about 50 or so Dead up ahead, and Kota could only aim so well while the Humvee hit things and bounced all over the road, going at about 50 miles an hour in an effort to run them down.
They approached and slammed through them, watching as the dead went flying or went under and got crushed underneath the Humvee.
They bashed through the horde and got through, speeding ahead so they could get away from Them as fast as possible.
Takashi went back down, and so did Kota, who were immediately looked at for any injuries or if any of the Infected blood entered them through the eyes or mouth.
When they were assured they were clean, everyone sat down and Sensei slowed down again, they were finally able to rest.
"Takashi, come onto the roof of the car with me," Saeko said, climbing up onto the turret, and laying down on the roof.
Takashi followed her up and laid next to her, they went through an orchard, leaves and blossoms fell all around them.
They just laid in silence, for a while.
"It's beautiful isn't it?" Saeko said smiling.
"Yeah, it really is." Takashi agreed.
"Takashi, do you like me?... or do you love me?" She said turning to face him, he was stunned for a moment.
"Sorry for being so sudden, but I wanted to know." She said to him.
He wanted to immediately say he just really liked her for now.
But he almost felt that if he did, he would be lying.
He sat up, and Saeko did the same.
He took her face in his hand, she looked at him, and he slowly, gently kissed her tenderly. "I love you Saeko."
"As do I to you, Takashi." She said before they kissed again.
They both stopped and pressed foreheads with each other, smiling.
Then he noticed Rei looking at them with her head through the turret, with the most hurt look on her face that he had ever seen.
He was about to say something, anything. But then he remembered what he told himself and Saeko earlier, that he had moved on. He wouldn't let her affect his decision about Saeko, he loved her now, he wasn't changing his mind.
"Can I help you?" He asked her.
"Why? Why are you kissing her? We promised when we were young we would be together! We promised-" Rei tried to say, but Takashi cut her off.
"You mean before you abandoned me? Before you broke that promise so you could date my best friend?" He voice rose a little, but still quiet to not attract unwanted attention, "before I told you how I felt and you stomped on my heart? Yeah, id say that promise was broken long ago. All bets are off now, I'll do as I want now, and Saeko is what I want." He said firmly to her, holding his ground.
Saeko knew that the only way to get it through her head was to show her.
She took takashis hands and kissed him again, just so Rei could see it. She widened her eyes and tears began to fall.
"No, Takashi, stop it! Stop kissing her! Stop I-" she tried to yell before takagi pulled her back into the humvee.
"Listen here Rei! You had your chance and you blew it! Don't blame him or Saeko for moving on when you left him behind! Blame only yourself!" She said, holding her down until she stopped trying to escape her, Rei stopped struggling and began to cry into Takagi's shoulder.
Takagi made her point clear, so she held Rei, and alisa chan came up and hugged her.
Takashi sighed on the roof upon hearing her sobs.
"You sure you made the right decision?" Saeko asked him.
"I stand by my promises, she broke all of hers, I haven't broken ours yet Saeko, so I'll do whatever I need to to stand by the promises we made to each other. I will stand by you no matter what I need to do." Takashi said.
"And then you wonder why we made you leader." She laughed softly before hugging him tightly.
She could have a loving heart now, thanks to Takashi, he took her in and not only accepted her darkness and sins, he embraced her. She couldn't love anyone else, not even the dead will take him, not under her watch, she wouldn't lose him.
And he wouldn't lose her either.
...
They got back in, and everyone in the car knew about him and Saeko now, he didn't care.
But everyone except for Rei approved of it.
Rei Simply glared at Saeko until they stopped into a large garage, which they all barricaded, and blocked all windows and entrances, keeping quiet.
They started a fire in a large bucket they found, and passed around cans of food and ate, and sat on some blankets they brought with them. Saeko didn't care what anyone else thought, she went right next to Takashi and placed her head on his shoulder, he ate with her as everyone talked quietly and shared a few laughs. It made Everyone happy how food in their stomachs and safe place to sleep made such a positive impact.
Rei sat and talked with Alisa and ate there, but still glared at Saeko.
Saeko usually had a lot of patience, but she had enough of the nasty stares, she didn't deserve that.
"Glaring won't change a thing, I hope you know that." Saeko said, looking up at Rei.
"Fuck yourself" Rei said from across the room.
"Come on guys..." Kota started
"Shut up Hirano! You don't deserve Takashi, Saeko!" She said, getting as close to yelling as she could without being detected.
"And you do? With what you did? I haven't done anything, so that's pretty condescending to think you're on some high moral ground here." Saeko replied, taking another bite.
Takashi wanted to step in, but this was their fight, not his, he knew Saeko would prefer it if he stayed out of it.
"Excuse me bitch!? I love hi-"
"Yes Rei! You love him! I get it, cause I love him too!"
A hush fell over the room.
"But I'm not letting this slip past me cause you feel guilty now!" Saeko responded.
Rei stares at her with pure hate.
"Don't think I'm letting you get away with this."
Saeko simply smirked.
"That's too bad, cause I already did."
Rei walked back over and laid down on her blanket and turned away from everyone else. She was more angry than she had ever been.
Saeko was satisfied, knowing she won that argument and ultimately assured her dominace out of the two, both in physical ability, and mentally as well.
Everyone smirked a little, as bad as they felt for Rei, she had been acting like a whiny little immature bitch, and Saeko put her in her place.
It was a bit harsh, but she got what she deserved.
Everyone finished eating, takagi doused the fire, and everyone fell asleep, right as Saeko was about to pass out, she felt takashis arms come up from behind her, and wrap around her waist.
She smiled, turned around, and placed her head on his chest, with her arms on his chest as well.
"I love you Takashi."
"I love you too Saeko, more than most."
Then they fell asleep.