Christmas gift for queen-sheep. Her prompt this year was reflections. I took it a step further and added zombies. This is actually shorter than I wanted it to be because I ran out of time. Oh well.
Summary: He just looks older, Tsuna decides, running a hand over his crowbar, counting the dents and bumps on it methodically. Everyone does.
Characters: Tsuna. Hibari, Yamamoto. Kusakabe.
Warnings: Violence and gore typical to a zombie AU. Swearing.
"Shit, shit, shit," Tsuna swears quietly, ducking into one of the empty apartments. The door was open, so it's not like it's any safer than out in the hall, but he hasn't heard the tell tale shuffle of feet and he doesn't pick up the feeling of cold, so it's better than nothing. He closes the door behind him, locks it just as he hears foot steps on the stairs, soft thuds against broken, gritty tiles, echoing in the empty hall.
He would barricade the door, but it would be quieter, safer, just to leave at this point.
Tsuna runs over to the windows of the apartment silently, regretting that he didn't have the time to search the place for supplies. He peers through the window, minding the broken glass still on the window ledge. At least he wouldn't have to struggle to open it quietly, he thinks with a wry twist to his lips.
There's a moan outside of the door. Tsuna glances back, but it doesn't look like he's been found yet, so he glances back down at the alley below him.
It's completely empty, filled with trash and broken bits of machines. It's not too far away from where Tsuna stands. Not an impossible jump to make. Only two stories.
Tsuna gulps, the hair on the back of his neck standing up when he hears another moan, a shuffle of feet. He pulls his leather gloves on tighter.
- X -
The end of the world starts with a cold.
Well, more like a pandemic.
It came from the West and spread around the globe quickly, far too fast for anyone to anticipate, until all corners of the world are coughing, shaking apart, and ultimately, dying.
Three months later, people start becoming violent. Riots are held on the streets of quarantined cities, anti-government groups pop up, and rumors start being spread about the fu.
There are people who died from the flu, the rumors say. People who died and came back from the dead to attack other people.
Cannibals, others whisper. Madmen.
They are the minority.
The majority say zombies.
- X -
"Hello?" Tsuna hears. It's whispered quietly, but all too loud in the empty street, too full of fear and hope. It sounds almost like a prayer, like a curse.
Tsuna is already dragging himself up onto the garden walls.
He exhales when he's up there, careful to keep his balance and stay quiet. He takes a look around, spots a way onto the roof of a nearby house from where he is. Carefully, he crawls over, making sure to stay quiet.
There's a strangled yelp further down the street, not far from where Tsuna is perched. Tsuna knows he's safe as long as he stays up and out of the way. Zombies aren't good climbers and they had terrible senses. Unless Tsuna did something stupid, they wouldn't notice him.
The downside is that, for all their terrible senses, half-blind and unable to smell, zombies are persistent when they find you.
It's a good thing that Tsuna can run faster and climb higher, otherwise he'd have been dead long ago.
Tsuna hears feet slamming against pavement before he sees anything. A man turns the corner, running fast and hard. His heart clenches when he catches the expression on the man's face. Tsuna looks away, feeling guilty, and tries not to listen to the terrified screams or the hoard of zombies that chase after the man.
Maybe in another situation, Tsuna might have helped that man. Maybe another world.
As it is, Tsuna couldn't afford to. He needed to find his family.
- X -
Tsuna drops down from the air vent, landing with a thud on the carpet. He moves to stand up, but as soon as he straightens himself, he's grabbed by the collar of his shirt and thrown into the wall behind him, pinned there, and has a tonfa heading straight for his wind pipe.
"Hibari!" Tsuna yelps, and the tonfa stops a centimeter away from his throat. His beanie is wrenched off his head, his goggles pushed up a second later. Tsuna stares, wide-eyed and a bit scared, into Hibari's dark eyes. There's a moment before Hibari finally lets Tsuna go.
Tsuna slumps in relief, sliding down to the floor. He casts a glance at his beanie, with a small frown. He had forgotten to take it off earlier. Hibari must not have recognised him. Must have thought he was another survivor trying to sneak his way into the safe house.
He sighs, massaging his throat a bit, before snatching up his beanie and standing up. Hibari is already glaring at him, his signal to leave the room, so he slinks out.
The halls of Namimori Middle have changed drastically since the Infection spread. They are no longer pristine. There's dirt everywhere and trash tucked into odd corners. Desks and chairs have been pushed against walls and all the windows are boarded up. One half of the school is out of bounds because the Disciplinary Committee couldn't lock it down before the Infected came, but the other half is still running. Fifty odd people are using it as a base of operations now.
The only safe and dependable entrance in and out of the school is through the vents. Few people venture out, regardless.
Funnily enough, Useless-Tsuna is one of those few.
- X -
Tsuna is at school when Japan is struck cripplingly, permanently, by the Infection.
It starts in Tokyo, and within six hours, the city is shut down and quarantined. In seven hours, Yokohama is struck down as well. Eight hours in, Osaka and Kyoto. Nine, Sapporo, Hiroshima, Chiba.
Ten hours, with barely any time to prepare, the Infection comes to Namimori.
- X -
Tsuna makes his way to the check up, following the hallway. There's only one way to go in this hall, after you manage to get into the school. The hall leads straight past a classroom that has been transformed into something like a clinic. There, people are checked for Infection- bites, mainly. They're the only way someone can get Infected, from what they know.
Only after you have been checked are you allowed to go to the common areas, and that's if you pass inspection.
If you don't, well.
Tsuna knocks on the door frame politely before heading in. Two Disciplinary Committee members are on duty right now, and they quickly shepherd Tsuna into the curtained off section of the room. Tsuna is still unused to seeing them with short, choppy hairstyles. They had given up maintaining their pompadours and had gone for practicality instead awhile back.
Their leader hasn't changed much in comparison. The only change Tsuna can see from Hibari is how his hair is a bit longer, his clothes are different. Frankly, it's scary if Tsuna spends too much time thinking about it.
His backpack is taken by one of them to be searched. The other one gives Tsuna an apologetic look upon noticing the way Tsuna's eyes track his backpack before it disappears behind the curtains. It doesn't stop him from firmly telling Tsuna to strip.
The inspection goes normally. He is poked and prodded a bit, his yellow and purple bruises frowned at, the scar on his right forearm inspected carefully, but not touched directly. Then he is allowed to put his clothes back on and is given his backpack. It's a bit lighter than when he came in, but Tsuna expected that.
"We've taken the first aid kit you've found and the food," one of them says. The taller one, with tired, brown eyes- Tsuna is pretty sure his name is Morita.
Tsuna nods, adjusting the straps of his backpack. He's just about to head out to his bunk when he's called back.
"Tsuna-san," the other one, Saru, he thinks, says. "There's another message for you. We found it wedged in the grate of the air vents this time."
Tsuna blinks, "Another?" He repeats needlessly. He says it like he's trying to ground himself with the word, stares at the pink Happy Birthday card held in Saru's outstretched hand. TSUNA, it read in bright red ink on the cover.
He takes the message from Saru, amused despite himself. Whoever his benefactor is, they seem to be running out of paper for their messages.
He tucks the card into his pocket without looking inside, ignoring the looks of disappointment the two give him.
He'll read it in private later.
- X -
Tsuna,
I have come across another clue to your mother's whereabouts. Another survivor has told me about a safe house in the country-side, at least fifty miles south of Tokyo. It would take you at least a week to reach it from Namimori.
A vague map.
I do not recommend trying to make the journey at this point. Winter is almost here. If you go now, especially without anyone to help you, you would die.
Wait until spring.
A friend.
- X -
"Another letter?" Yamamoto says, not quite a question, more an observation. Tsuna looks up from his cot, tucking the letter away under his pillow in his next breath, even as he nods, a slight smile on his lips. The smiles is stiff, even to him.
Yamamoto returns the smile, kind of like he's trying to say he understands why Tsuna doesn't want to talk about it. Tsuna doesn't care much for having people understand him, not like he did in the past, not when survival is the better of the two. So, he looks away and starts his nightly ritual, checking his supplies and weapons while Yamamoto does the same.
Tsuna usually tries not to notice how much Yamamoto has changed, but today he had to beat the head in of a little boy who tried to take a bite out of his thigh. He still feels sick about it, can feel his hands trembling as he runs them over his supplies, checks for tears in his backpack, so he lets his mind drift.
Yamamoto looks different from how Tsuna remembers him. What is it that makes him so different, Tsuna wonders as he inspects a small hole in his jacket, debating whether or not to patch it up tonight.
His eyes, maybe. They look colder, more focused than before. Or maybe it's the corded muscles on his body- an athlete's body turned into a survivor's tool. Or, no, it's his smile. There's a harder edge to it that makes his smiles look less kind, less genuine. Or maybe more genuine.
Yamamoto himself is a bit quieter, too, a bit sharper around the edges. He's more likely to tell a person what he thinks, or refuse someone outright- but everyone has learned to do that. Everyone alive that is.
He just looks older, Tsuna decides, running a hand over his crowbar, counting the dents and bumps on it methodically. Everyone does.
- X -
Since the start of the spread of the Infection starts during school hours, students are kept inside.
The government is quick to issue a state of emergency: all work offices are closed, and so are schools. However, schools and community centers are to be used as places for people to evacuate to, so Tsuna and the majority of Namimori Middle stay and prepare. Windows are boarded up, gates and entrances are locked and the school grounds are secured. Supplies are already being brought in by generous people or delivered by store owners. (Hibari was very convincing.)
Nami-Middle is the safest place until the eleventh hour.
Tsuna is right in the midst of it. He's waiting for his mother to come to the school, volunteering with the rest of his classmates by handing out water bottles to the people who had gathered inside the gym. He looks up to see a flash of movement in the masses, hears quiet coughs under the dull roar of worried voices.
He tries to peer through the throng of people, curious and with a heavy feeling in his gut. Whatever he had seen gave him an odd feeling, this cold, numb feeling that he would get before his heart started beating double the amount of times it would beat in a minute. Usually, he took it as a warning. That feeling had never led him wrong before.
There is a break in the crowd and Tsuna's insides freeze, the bottle in his hand slipping from his grip. Tsuna sees a young man, skin clammy and pale, with dark blood dripping down his chin. The man's eyes are glazed over, unseeing. Tsuna watches as the man brings up his hand to wipe away the blood on his chin, and from where stands Tsuna can see the wound on his wrist that looks like a bite mark.
This happens all in a minute.
Then, the man lunges for the teenage girl next to him.
"Zombie!" Someone screams, a second too late. "Zombie!"
- X -
There's a mirror in the bathrooms. Tsuna usually avoids looking into it, but he feels terrible. A bit lost, a bit guilty, a bit like he's going to die, a bit like he needs to be reminded about something. Tsuna thinks he needs a distraction.
So he looks into the mirror.
- X -
The sun is just about to set when Tsuna swings his crowbar hard, hitting a limping woman- a zombie, he reminds himself- square in the head. He makes a face at the soft squelch he hears, but he's used to this now. He's not going to stumble away and vomit, not like he had when this was all so new.
Strange, how quickly someone can get used to killing to survive.
There's a shuffle of feet behind him. Tsuna whirls around, holding his crowbar in front of him warningly, but it's only Hibari.
He's almost surprised. Hibari usually doesn't venture out of the school, even for patrols around the school grounds. The patrols are usually left to people like the Disciplinary Committee, or people who dare to make their way outside like Tsuna.
"Hibari," Tsuna greets, relaxing his stance so that his crowbar is by his side instead. Not quite threatening, but still there. It'd be stupid to put it away when they're out in the open. Stupider still when he has the feeling in his gut again, the cold, numb one.
Hibari nods his own greeting to Tsuna, eyes narrowed. His tonfas are out, stained with gore. It looks recent, and Tsuna feels a sense of despair when he realises that he can tell.
Hibari takes a look at the zombie at Tsuna's feet, face impassive, then he starts to walk past Tsuna. Bad idea, Tsuna thinks. Something is going on- they needed to get back to school.
"Hibari, wait!" Tsuna manages to get out, hating the lump in his throat. Hibari stops, but he has this impatient look on his face so Tsuna presses on quickly.
He gulps. "I-I've got a bad feeling," he shares, and it's possibly the most stupidest thing he's said. "I think we should head back to the school."
Hibari, thankfully, chooses not to fight Tsuna on this.
- X -
HIbari is the one to save Tsuna.
That's one way of saying it. The other way goes more like this:
"Zombie!" Someone screams, and Tsuna can't move from his spot, limbs locked in place. Heads swivel to the commotion, then other people start screaming, then people start running.
It's a stampede.
Tsuna, frozen in his spot, is easily pushed to the ground by people bumping into him and pushing him out of the way. Suddenly, no one cares for anyone but themselves. Survival of the fittest at its finest.
Tsuna drops the bottles of water he's carrying to protect his body from the feet of what feels like hundreds, crying out in pain when he's stepped on. There's another break in the crowd, and Tsuna peers through it to see woman fall to the ground, sobbing as she clutched her bleeding side.
What about Mom? Tsuna thinks. Where's Mom? I need to find Mom-
Tsuna gets up the same time the sobbing woman grabs for the man next to her.
Tsuna thinks he's going to be sick.
He looks away, letting the flow of the people lead him, too shaky to try and make his own way in the screaming crowd. He trips, but is caught by the collar of his shirt before he faceplants. The hand around his collar drags him up until he's standing, then pushes him back into the crowd. Tsuna doesn't run at first. He looks back to see who had helped him, mind strangely quiet.
Hibari stares back at Tsuna, tonfas out and a livid look on his face.
"Run," he tells Tsuna, and Tsuna does.
When Tsuna risks looking back again, it's in time to see Hibari throw a person- zombie- across the room, away from the people.
- X -
When they're close enough to the school, they can hear screaming, can see the people making their way out of the school, some with supplies, others with weapons. Everyone's face, however, is twisted with grief and fear.
Kusakabe is outside, along with most of the Disciplinary Committee members and Yamamoto. They watch with solemn faces as people struggle out of the air vent, the entrance in and out of the school, wriggling out onto the sport shed before jumping down to the ground, where everyone else has gathered. There's less than half of their numbers outside.
"Kyouya-san," Kusakabe says, the same time Yamamoto perks up, mouthing Tsuna's name silently. "I'm sorry, si-"
"How?" Hibari grinds out, eyes on the school. There are still people inside, screaming. Tsuna gulps, hands shaking the slightest bit. Yamamoto comes to stand beside him, putting a hand on Tsuna's shoulder. For whose reassurance, Tsuna does not know.
"There were survivors on the West side hall. They- they gained a lot of attention and got desperate. They broke the lock on the door and forced their way in."
"The West hall- Morita?"
"Dead."
"I see." Hibari says, quieter. There's a moment of silence. The screaming inside has stopped.
A beat. Then, "There's a safe house a week or so away from here." Tsuna says. Whispers, almost. The silence is thick and heavy, people are already mourning. As much as Tsuna wants to let them mourn, night is coming and they need a plan fast.
"I have a map to the place, but it's- it's inside."
Hibari looks at him, eyes piercing, but it's Yamamoto who speaks. "You were planning to go there before this happened, weren't you?"
His silence is enough of an answer.
- X -
There's a mirror in the bathrooms.
Tsuna is tired, bloody, and wants nothing more than to be told that everything will be okay. It's a strange thing to think of when Tsuna just wants to get rid of the blood underneath his fingernails, but he thinks it anyway. There's a mirror, and there's nothing else you can do with mirrors other than look into them.
In the mirror, Tsuna looks different. He has bags under his eyes, a small scar on his chin. His messy brown hair is a tangled mess, dirty, and he thinks of cutting it short.
His eyes look harder, he looks less forgiving, he looks so little like he did before everything started. But he still looks like his mother- and that kills him. Does his mother have bags under her eyes? Does she no longer smile?
She's not here, hadn't made it before the Infection got to the school. There's still a chance that she's out there, fighting tooth and nail to stay alive and meet her son again. There's a chance that she looks just as old and haggard as Tsuna is.
He feels a wave of desperation. Tsuna needs to find her. And if it means facing those people- zombies, he reminds himself- then so be it.
He just wants his Mom.