'I could barely sleep at all last night. For the past month, my mother...has been fatally ill. Two months ago she learned during a simple check up that she had breast cancer. Having passed from his own form of cancer, liver cancer to be exact, my father died the month before that. Our families source of income had disappeared. So much money spent on my dads treatment, and even more on my mother, it just all disappeared. And as my mother's condition slowly progressed, I couldn't afford to pay for her to stay at the cancer treatment center anymore. I was a high school second year student. My numerous part time jobs only earned me so much. All I could afford was for a few nurses from the downtown hospital to come and treat my mother while I was at school. I was only eighteen, and I had already became a full fledged adult. I had my mother to look after, and my little sister, Hanako as well. Losing her father, and watching her mother be as ill as she is, she has been through a lot. And she's only nine years old. I guess that's why I couldn't sleep last night. My father was dead, my mother was dying, and I still had Hanako to look after.'

"Big brother! Big brother! Yukoto!" little Hanako shook her brother awake. It was about six in the morning, and the sun was just coming out. Yukuto smiled at his sister, who matched his expression. She wore a school uniform, a black button up blouse with a red bow at the collar, and a white skirt that cut off at her knee.

"Ohayō, little one." he patted the top of her head, rolling over afterwards to stand up and get ready for the day. He usually didn't wake up this early, but he had to start matching his schedule with his sisters. He had to drop her off at school, and pick her up afterwards, day in and day out. Because of this, he didn't really have his own time to take to make friends. He was a notorious loner at Fujimi Academy, the school that he attended. Taking a quick minute to straighten out his hygiene situation, he combs his hair, brushed his teeth, etc. Changing into his all black school uniform, he grabs the set of keys on his nightstand. "Come now, Hanako, let's tell mother that we're leaving."

"Hai!" with natural energy she beat him to their mothers room, shaking the handle that happened to be locked.

"Mama? It's Yukoto and Hanako, I just wanted to tell you that were leaving for school, do you need anything before we go?" he didn't receive any response but a muffled moan and a few exhaspersted gasps. He silently assured himself that she must've been sleeping, so he led Hanako back to the main room. Not saying a word he stepped outside, locking the door after the young one went through.

"Yukoto hurry! I'm going to be late!" he grunted when he looked at his watch, realizing that he had about ten minutes to spare. The siblings both threw themselves into Yukoto's car before he sped off.

"Have a good day at school, Hanako. I'll see you afterwards okay?"

"You! Get the hell out of here!" a police officer approached Yukoto's rolled down window, shouting rather loudly.

"What for? My little sister goes to school here."

"This building is under lockdown. You're going to have to take your sister wherever your going."

"Lockdown? What could've happened at an elementary school?"

"I don't get paid enough to know that, but whatever it is, two people are already dead. So do your little sister a favor and stick with her, okay?"

"H-Hai...arigatō." the officer stepped away from the car, allowing them to leave. Two people were dead in there? It's a grade school, so what could've possibly happened? Now he had no choice but to take his sister to school with him. Indeed, this day would turn out to be very strenuous.

"Yukoto, what's going on? Did something bad happen?" she grabbed the cuff of his jacket, tugging on it lightly. He shook his head, silent as he looked onto the front doors of the school. The officer had spoken as if he was trying to downplay the situation, seeing how he urged him to bring Hanako with him rather than leaving her here. Trying to let it escape his mind, he drove away a headed towards his own school. About a half mile down the road he could see the black gates of the campus in the distance. Speeding up to catch the gate before it closed, Yukoto's gaze fixated upon a man who was walking down the road, body swaying as if he were sleepwalking.

"Yukiko. I see you're late yet again. And who's this here with you?" the teacher of the class berated Yukoto and his tardiness, but couldn't help but take interest in the girl who accompanied him.

"Ano...gomen, there was a problem at my little sisters school and-"

"It's fine, it's fine. But you really shouldn't be late during the beginning of the first semester, it'll negatively reflect on your record." he bowed to his teacher, with Hanako playfully mirroring him.

The day had gone by eerily slow. No-one gave him any troubles. No boys bullied him. No girls flirted with him. Everyone seemed disconnected. In all of his classes so far random female students would approach him about his sister, who seemed to enjoy meeting them all. But overall Yukoto was actually rather enjoying his sisters unexpected company. She might've been the only person he talked to besides their mother. You might even be able to classify their bond as the best friend type.

"Hey, Yukoto...Mmmmmmmn"

"What is it Hanako? The teacher is in a middle of a lecture."

"Ano...I'm thirsty."

"Go ahead." the gruff voice of the teacher let himself in to their conversation. Standing up quickly, Yukoto bowed before leading his sister outside. The nearest restrooms and fountains were upstairs, so they headed for the nearest stairwell. Yukoto walked slowly, with Hanako skipping while keeping her grip on his hand firm. As they came close to a stairwell exit, a very angry looking girl with pink hair tied in twintails walked past them. She muttered a 'hey',recognizing him form the current class they were in, but kept walking. Pushing through the metal door, Yukoto chokes a bit when he sees another student standing next to the rail overlooking the school gates. He stared on with a sense of disbelief, almost shaking when he glanced at Yukoto.

"Komuro?" Yokuto recognized his junior high friend, smiling while the latter couldn't manage to. He muttered a spine tingling hello, turning back to watch whatever had been horrifying him. Yukoto moved next to him, his expression turning sour to see what the two wanted to believe wasn't happening. A man was holding a female teacher by the collar, biting and gnawing at her neck, blood gushing everywhere as her cries of agony filled the area.

"Takashi-Kun! Do you remember me! Hanako?!" the small girl couldn't help herself, latching onto the boy like a belt. Her mood settled his scared one, but also brought him unto seriousness.

"It's been awhile. I wish we had more time to talk, but you saw what happened there, didn't you...Yukoto?" he hoped that he wasn't just imagining things, that he wasn't the only one who saw what had conspired down there.

"He just– what the hell..."

"C'mon! We have to warn the others!" the boy grabbed Yukoto by the wrists, pulling him and Hanako back into the main building.

Yukoto and Hanako followed Komuro, who just so happened to sprint back to the classroom they were just in. "Takashi whats's going on!?"

"Just wait here! I'll be back." Takashi walked into the classroom, emerging after a short five minutes with two other people.

"Who's this? And what's up with their hair?" an orange haired girl pointed at Yukoto and Hanako, who pressed both of their palms on their heads. Her insult stung a little bit, but it was ultimately understandable. The siblings both had bright white hair and crimson eyes, which were two shades of color that many had not obtained without the uses of contacts or hair dyes.

"He's a friend, and this is his little sister. But seriously, we have to get out now!"

"Are you telling the truth?" the boy next to the girl questioned Takashi with good reason. Not caring that he didn't know them Yukoto confirmed what Takashi had seen outside, and that was good enough for them. "If what you're saying is true, then we'll need some weapons."

"Weapons? In the school. While I do agree with you this isn't exactly an armory, Hisashi."

"Well...let's just look around and gather what we can."

"It's a shot. Fine. Let's go." Takashi started running behind Hisashi, until Yukoto had stopped him in his tracks.

"Wait! My bag!" he ran back upstairs leaving Hanako with the others while he went to retrieve his item. The two friends of Takashi had eyed the little girl with blank faces while she clutched onto the boys leg. Two minutes pass, and Yukoto finally makes it back, noticing that Hanako was now alone. "Komuro! He just left her here!"

"No! It wasn't Takashi-Sama's fault! It was that girls! She was impatient!"

"Then did they say anything at all? Where they'd be going by any chance?"

"No! They didn't tell me anything! What's going on Yukoto!

"I don't know, hey lets-"

The crackling of the school's intercom had silenced him mid-sentence. A man started speaking of an emergency taking place within school walls, although everything seemed so calm. He then went on to panicky order all of the students to follow their teachers to evacuate all of the school. That was the icing on the cake for Yukoto, who started to run downstairs, leading Hanako back to his car outside. As they ran and ran, the intercom continued to project. The man started screaming at someone or something to get away, his pleas then turning into screams and moans and cries for help. Now on the ground floor of the school, the screams of terrified students and teachers echoed from the upper floors as they stampeded towards the exits.

Ramming through the doors leading into the schools lot Yukoto saw a mass of people outside as well. They walked in what seemed like packs, moaning as they took each slow step. Most of their clothing was tattered and torn, bloodstains aplenty. Their eyes were a cloudy white, a beady black pupil in the middle, their skin a pale and clammy grey.

"What the heck is going on?" even in the situation he avoiding from using a curse word around his sister, who hugged his leg out of fear. The two had just watch 'them' bumrush a girl, pinning her down only to bite and tear at the poor things flesh with their teeth and bare hands. Just watching 'them' kill her slowy, painfully, was an extremely traumatizing experience. Is this what was happening? Was this the fabled emergency that was warned of mere moments ago? As the ravenous beings pulled away from their meal, the former being had reduced to a replica of a squirrel run over by a semi truck. Face unrecognizable, skin gone, limbs gone, she never stood a chance.

"Yukoto...that girl...she..." Hanako started crying, a blast of her vocals echoing through the empty lobby. Yukoto flinched when one of the creatures outside, a former student, turned its head in their direction, it's cloudy eyes locked on the booming little morsal. It starts to limp towards her with it's jaw hanging open beacause of the clearly unending hunger it possessed. Mere feet away, Yukoto muted his sister by covering her mouth, backing away to a corner of the room. As the thing stood were they once were, it stopped. Then, it looked straight at them again only to turn around a walk back out the door. "It...it didn't see us."

"But it heard you that doesn't make any sense, and it...was human. What happened that was clearly a human being, all of them are!" as he rambled insanely out of fear the sounds of frantic students could be heard coming ever closer. A few short seconds later the masses started pouring into the lobby and out the door only to be caught by one of 'them'. It was gut wrenching. Watching on as friends holding one-anothers hand, only to abandon the latter as soon as they were caught. It was a horid sight. People abandoning their morals just to live for a few more precious seconds.

"Yukoto! Hanako!" a familiar face burst through the river of students. It was a girl with long black hair that hung down the sides of her face, with a ponytail that pointed upwards before dropping down. In her hands she held a metal javelin, broken in half to be made smaller, and it was dripping with blood. Her uniform was also splattered with the dark liquid, and she was clearly terrified of what she had done.

"Otome-Chan! You're okay!" Hanako vaulted towards the girl, who aceepted her embrace with pleasure. Ishida Otome was an aquaintance of the Yukiko family, since Yukoto often hired her to babysit his sister while he was at work, which was very often. So obviously the young girl had grown quite fond of the teenager. "Yukoto-Nii San, can she come with us!?"

"Hanako, we can't just...I'm sure that she would like to get home to her-"

"Shite kudasai!" Otome interrupted him, making him jump with surprise. She was bowing before him, knees shaking as she repeated herself over and over.

"F-Fine! Come, we have to get to the car before it gets too crowded!" Yukoto hoisted a metal chair over his head, using it to smash open a window since the door was crowded with frantic people. The shattering glass attracted 'them' which prompted the three to run to his car. Cramming into the three person front seat, everyone felt comfort to be safe for the moment. Slamming his keys into the ignition, Yukoto slammed his foot on the gas pedal, ramming the former people in his path. Bursting out of the gates, he stopped the car about a quarter mike down the road. "We...we can't just leave. We're going back."

Reaching into his backpack, he pulls out two M-9 pistols, along with two extra ammunition clips. The two girls look at him quizically, not thinking he was the gun-toting type of person.

"Where did you get those?" Otome questioned him as he mentally prepared himself to go back.

"They're my fathers. I was going to try and sell them afterschool, to pay for some of my mothers medical expenses. I'll be back. I'm going to try and help who I can." stepping out, Hanako grabbed him by the wrist, tears in her eyes as she silently begged him not to depart.

"Yukoto...please come back okay."

"Of course. I promise."

"Hey! Over here!" Yukoto had fought his way back into the school, and was now back on the second floor. The insides of the building were more gruesome than everything he had seen outside so far. Corpses littering the floor, blood staining the walls, while screams bounced off of every surface. He had yelled out to a couple running up the stairs, but not loud enough to reach their ears. Running after them, he finds them at the top of the next floor, being eaten alive. There was nothing he could do now. He had been inside the center of action long enough to know that once one of 'them' bites you, then you're already dead. "Son of a bitch!"

The formers jumped up as his noisemaking, lunging at him with turtle like speed. No hesitation in his being whatsoever he sticks his weapons barrels into the two monsters mouths before splattering their brains all over the floor. As he moves through the hallway he can't avoid reflecting on what kind of person he was becoming. Of monster in its own light that must rely on violence just to live another day. It was a saddening feeling, even more so when he thought of his little sister. She would have to see him like this, and even turn into that kind of person herself.

"Oi! Oi! Yukiko-San! Help! Help me please!" seeing that he had firearms, a girl cried for his assistance from the other end of the hall, wrestling with a corpse that kept inching itself closer with its superior strength. Gasping at how close it was getting he went into a sprint, rushing the thing before pistol whipping it's skull in. "Arigatō, arigatō, you saved me! You saved me!"

'Ive never seen this girl before. Yet, it warms me to see how appreciated she is.'

"Gomen, but I don't know you. Have we met?"

*SMACK* "Nani! You don't remember me! Nakashima Youko!? I used to...you know..."

"Hey! You're that kid who bullied me in the sixth and seventh grade!"

"That was a long time ago!"

"Hmph...still happened...meinu."

"What was that?"

"N-Nothing! Seeya!" he readied his weapons once again, stepping past her to move further down the hall. A few steps away, and the girl decides to latch onto his arm. He turns around, gritting his teeth in annoyance. But her face was enough to calm him. She was quivering all over, still shaken up from being so close to death. "Hey, let go, I have people waiting for me!"

"Please! Take me with you! I-I've done things...and I'm sorry! Don't leave me!" her short red hair hung over her eyes, but Yukoto could still see the tears rolling down her cheeks. Holding on to his morals and humanity he offered her his hand, directing her as he continued to run through the hall.

"You didn't get bit by one of those things, did you?"

"N-No...why?"

"Once you get bit...you'll die, and come back as one of them a few seconds later."

"That's why...all of my friends...they.."

"C'mon don't think like that! I need you to pay attention! Here, take one of these. If one gets close to you, hit it or shoot it in the head. It's the only way to bring them down." he handed her one of his pistols, along with a extra magazine and a few stray bullets. She hesitated at first, but the will to live pushed her forward. Taking the weapon in stride, she broke away from his grip to assert her independence. "Try not to shoot as often unless you have to. They use their hearing, not their eyes."

"What the fuck are these things?"

"People. They're damn people..."

Yukoto and Youko continued fighting through the halls, moving downstairs after helping whomever they could. Not finding anyone else who would be willing to come along with them, Yukoto abandoned his mission to bring the new survivor back to his car before things got any worse. By the time they had reached the outside courtyard, they had both ran out of bullets. Taking weapons they found on the bodies of dead students, they beat their way through whatever got in their way.

"Come on! There's my car!" the two ran faster then had before, reaching the vehicle in a matter of seconds. The girl threw herself in the backseat, Yukoto going into the drivers seat only to immediately slam his foot on the gas pedal. Halfway down the stret he sees a huge bus ram though one of the school gates, drifting as it tried to stay upright. Going even faster the towering vehicle sped past them, going the opposite direction. For a split second, Yukoto could see the face of Komuro through the dark windows.

"Otome-Chan!? Thank goodness, you made it out!" Youko had finally noticed the other girl in the front seat, exstatic to see a friend who wasn't trying to eat her alive.

"Thanks to Yukiko-Kun, yea."

"Hiya!" Youko jumps back when Hanako's head pops out from behind the seat. "Are you another of Yukoto-Sama's friends?"

"Hai, and judging by your eyes and hair you must be his...sister?"

"That's right! I've got the best brother in the world!"

"So, Yukoto. Where are we going now?"

"I have to go home."

'Mother. This morning...those moans... she couldn't have? Could she?'