When the outbreak started, Noiz was the first to notice, thanks to his vantage point on top of the roofs. If someone had asked him what he was doing up there, he wouldn't have said anything like "I was watching the streets", or "I was spying on certain people". He would just shrug and say the roofs were the best place to work in peace. But when he saw those two odd silhouettes dressed in rags, and the way they caught and attacked the two young guys, keeping at it even after they had been shot by one of the young men… Well, at that given moment his first thought was: Something weird and dangerous is happening. And his second thought was the main person he used to watch from the roofs.

He stood and followed the figures along some streets. The same aggressive and pointless behaviour happened again, leaving screams, blood and fallen bodies in their wake. Soon a small group of teenagers confronted them: it was the usual clique of colourful haircuts, tattoos and leather jackets. A rhyme gang, most surely, Noiz thought, although he didn't recognise the members. The ragged pair didn't stop for them, and the guys, after a small hesitation, started to beat them hard. After a while, they were just a bloody lump, covered in torn tatters. But, when the boys were still recovering their breath, a hand reached out from the lump all of a sudden, and then the rest of the broken bodies seemed to reassemble and stood up. The clique watched them, mesmerized, until their leader stepped forward and hit one of the creatures. The broken, bloody shape of the man recoiled, but didn't fall down, and then he stretched his arms and grasped the leader's neck, firmly, strongly, until the guy dropped to his knees. When the other creature started to walk towards the group, the boys ran away, shouting. Noiz spat, disgusted. He left that roof and moved southwards, to the other side of the neighbourhood.

Again, he wouldn't have said he was going right to Aoba's street, but he was moving definitely in that direction, and every time he saw another small group of those freaks, he went faster. In the end he was almost running, and had to stop to calm down his heartbeats and breathe deeply when he arrived in front to the Seragaki household. The street was dark and empty, thanks heaven, and Noiz supposed Aoba and his granny were having dinner, or perhaps watching tv. He climbed the closest building, feeling safer and more comfortable on high. And he knew the exact spot where he could sit down with a perfect view of Aoba's bedroom. Said room was dark now, but Noiz could wait. He made himself comfortable on a wide window ledge and opened his coil again.

Nobody would ask him why he was spying on Aoba, really. And if someone would, Noiz could always improvise an answer, or shrug it off. To himself he said that he did it because he was expecting a chance to open again a rhyme field and have his rematch. And it was a valid reason, wasn't it? Only that it had been two months already since their first rhyme game, and although Noiz knew by heart Aoba's whole schedule and habits by now, he hadn't made a move. Watching Aoba coming home from work, reading and listening to music, relaxing on his bed with his eyes closed while petting that old-fashioned all-mate of his… had become a habit on itself.

While he waited for the lights on the main floor to go off and his target to come up his room, Noiz looked for answers to what was happening in Midorijima that night. Meanwhile, he kept glancing at the street from time to time, afraid of seeing again a small group of ragged creatures hobbling along. Although the main social webs had been closed down some years ago, Midorijima had developed something similar to Tweeter to make do; and said social space was bubbling with activity that night. Those "zombies" were everywhere in the island, it seemed, even inside Platinum Jail. They had started to break into the houses in some areas downtown and well, it was evident where all the police was concentrating, wasn't it? This is so Midorijima, Noiz thought, grinding his teeth, all the protection for the wealthy, and the rest can be damned. So they would have to protect themselves: that wasn't news for Noiz. He was used to fight for himself, no problem there. The only novelty could be…

Noiz' thoughts derailed when the light of the bedroom some feet in front and slightly below him was turned on. A young man with long blue hair appeared at the door, yawning, and Noiz' heart started pumping madly. Aoba seemed tired, was it that late? A quick look to his coil confirmed that, indeed, it was already one a.m. His eyes came back to the young male, who was stripping in the dim light and putting some pyjama pants on, leaving his jeans and dark shirt on the floor. Noiz grinned mischievously. He wasn't usually so lucky in his surveillance, although it was too dark to see many details. A loud noise in the street, which suddenly seemed remote as a faraway dream, made him come back to reality.

They were there. The… creatures. Zombies, for lack of a better word. And there were dozens of them, it would seem they were concentrating on the zone. Noiz fisted his hands, feeling on edge. He wished he had a firearm, or at least a weapon, any kind of it. Some people started to rouse due to the noise, and soon many windows were opening, shocked faces peering through them. Nobody dared to move, though. Noiz checked on Aoba again: he had turned the light off, and he was usually a heavy sleeper. Good. Noiz moved to the front side of the building, to get a better view of what was happening in the street. Someone from a window shouted abuse at the zombies, and they answered with a growl, but kept advancing. Noiz wondered where the hell they were going. If they had a concrete destination, that is, because perhaps they only wanted to scare the population, showing off their ugly faces and rotten bodies. Then he saw something that made him straighten up: A window in Aoba's house opened, and his grandma appeared in the frame, shaking a fist and shouting at the strangers. When they barely seemed to notice her (to Noiz' relief), the old woman started to throw objects to them. Then a large group of zombies stopped, right in front of Aoba's grandma, and raised their heads to look at her, grunting aloud. Noiz could have screamed then. What is that idiotic woman doing?, he thought. He opened his coil and started sending messages to his rhyme group, to alert them. If things got ugly, he needed weapons, and some help.

In the street, the bulk of people were joining the grandma, throwing the zombies everything they could spare and shouting them to leave the neighbourhood alone. And then, exactly what Noiz was dreading since all of this began started to happen at once: the zombies, grouped in fours or more, broke down some doors and raided inside the houses. As soon as some of them approached Aoba's frontal door, Noiz ran, took impulse and jumped the short distance that separated him from Aoba's balcony. He landed on all fours, succeeded in awakening the young man, and stood up in a nanosecond.

"Who…? What…?" Aoba was so shocked and half asleep that he didn't seem to be able to finish a question.

"No time for this", Noiz said. He marvelled at how his own voice was as calm and monotonous as always. "They are attacking your house, where's your grandma?"

Aoba clutched the duvet towards his naked chest, blinking in surprise.

"They? Who are 'they'?"

Clucking his tongue in exasperation, Noiz grabbed the boy's arm and pulled him out of his bed.

"Put something on and walk", he asked.

Aoba took his discarded t-shirt from the floor and put it on, frowning. When Noiz opened the bedroom door, the creatures' noises downstairs, bumping into the furniture and breaking things, were already so audible that Aoba lost that upset and asleep look in his face and turned immediately alert. He crossed the corridor swift and silent as a cat, and pushed a door at the other end of the corridor, facing the street. Noiz' heart jumped when he saw the scene in front of his eyes: not only were the zombies breaking through the street door, but they had also climbed up the house façade, and were now entering the woman's bedroom through her window. But she didn't scream. The old woman kept throwing things at them, and then kicking at their shins and stomping on their feet. Aoba rushed to help her with that. Noiz opted by grabbing one creature and then the other and pushing them through the window and out to the street again, where they landed with a loud 'bump'. Then he took Aoba's hand and started to run towards the other bedroom again.

"Follow us, grandma! We can go out through Aoba's balcony!"

The old woman faltered when she heard the loud noises from downstairs: they were destroying her house. But, tough as he knew she was, she recovered quickly and, without a question, the woman followed them to Aoba's bedroom. When he signalled the way out, though, she looked at it with sadness.

"Son, there's no chance of me jumping that distance."

"I'll stay with you, then!" Aoba said at once.

Noiz bit his lower lip. That wouldn't do. Aoba was in danger, and if he wanted to keep him safe, he had to take care of his grandma, too.

"OK, listen to me. We only have a moment before those beasts come upstairs. Aoba, help me to tie your bedding. I'll jump with the sheets and then you only have to pass to the other side holding to them. Can you do that?"

Before she nodded, Aoba was already taking the sheets off his bed. They had a bedding rope made in no time, strong and secure. He ran to take impulse and jumped again to the next building, climbing a bit to reach the roof. He held the rope tight while Aoba held the other end, and the old woman started to cross. She looked unsure, but she still didn't hesitate or stopped for a second. She was almost there when the zombies arrived to Aoba's bedroom. No. NO. Noiz noticed he was sweating. He reached out and pulled the woman up towards him, and without a second thought he jumped again to the other building, still holding the rope. Two of those rotten bodies were on top of Aoba, who was doing surprisingly ok despite of being below them, throwing kicks and punches and meanwhile trying to throttle one of the monsters. Noiz broke a chair on the head of the almost-throttled one, who fell down like a potato sack, and then recoiled to avoid a bite from the other one. Aoba used the distraction to kick him hard on his stomach, effectively knocking him out. The boy smiled, exhausted, and Noiz reached out to help him up. He was still on edge, because he knew those two would be up too, and kicking again, in no more than a minute. So they should escape fast. Besides, were there only two of them inside the house?

"We must join your grandma right now".

Aoba nodded, and stepped back to have a run towards the balcony. But he was stopped in his tracks by two arms grabbing him from behind. Noiz wanted to scream, but just opened his mouth in disbelief: there were three zombies more at the door, and one of them had just taken hold of Aoba, and his ugly huge mouth, full of brown and smelly teeth, was approaching Aoba's neck as if he was about to bite him. NO. Not if I am here.

Without time to think further, he ran fast towards them, head first, and noticed with delight that he had run over the main attacker and pushed the others behind him. They might be unable to die, but they weren't strong; that was something. Aoba had freed himself and was kicking the three creatures, hard and viciously. Noiz almost smiled: he knew from the start that Aoba had that in him, he was a tough bastard if needed. That sweet smile of him was… charming, but Noiz knew there was more in Aoba that what met the eye; that was obvious after watching him playing rhyme.

The two unconscious zombies started to rouse, to Noiz' dismay. He had to take the chance to get rid of them while they were still… how to say it? Reassembling their pieces?

"Aoba, help me here!"

Between the two of them, they grabbed the two fallen zombies and pushed them down the balcony, down to the alley some twenty feet below them. Some gun shots could be heard, coming from the main street, and Noiz wondered if his rhyme mates were already there, or if the Midorijima's inhabitants had dusted their few firearms and had put them to good use. Either way, he felt slightly relieved. At his back, the three blood stained zombies still lied down, quiet, and his crush was by his side, looking at him in awe, so close his shoulders were touching in the narrow balcony.

"Come on, let's jump and join your grandma."

"Wait a moment."

Noiz shot a questioning look to the hand grasping his arm.

"Who are you?"

Noiz blinked in disbelief.

"You already know my name."

"Well, I know they call you 'Noiz', but I doubt is your real name, and that you are a rhyme obsessed brat, and that you have been following me lately. Not the best of the acquaintance with someone, I would say."

Aoba watched the street events, pulling some blue strands of hair out of his face. Noiz was a hundred per cent aware of their situation, but still a part of him wanted nothing more than reaching out and holding that slim waist towards him.

"And?" he asked instead.

"And suddenly you break into my house…"

"There was a good reason for it!"

"… and wake me up and help me fight those… things, risking your life, when you barely know me…"

"That's not true", Noiz whispered softly.

But Aoba didn't seem to hear him, because he kept on rambling, gesticulating with his pale long hands.

"…And I can't understand! Shut up, you ugly monster!" With that, Aoba threw a flowerpot from the balcony to one of the zombies, who was starting to stand up, with so good aim that hit him exactly in the middle of his forehead and fell down again, on top of his mates. "So, before we go joining my grandma and try to find out what the hell is happening in Midorijima, I need to clear things up and find out what is happening here."

Noiz looked around him.

"Here? Well, we have just gotten rid of five zombies, or whatever they are…"

Aoba puffed, frustrated, and looked him in the eye.

"Don't be such a prick, I mean what you are doing here in my room!"

"Saving what is mine, obviously", Noiz answered with a calm voice.

Since the moment required it, he did hold Aoba's waist with both hands and leaned in for a short kiss. Aoba's lips were soft and his body was trembling, and Noiz felt all his blood huddling up his brain, clouding his mind. He definitely wanted more, more of Aoba's warmth, more of his skin, more of his sweet closeness.

He released him, reluctant, to watch his reaction. Aoba's mouth was a tight line, and Noiz couldn't read his expression, which was frustrating. But then the boy made out his mind and said simply:

"Right. We will… will talk later, ok?" And there was uncertainty in his voice, but not plain rejection, and Noiz felt like shouting for joy. He kept his mouth shout, though. "Let's join my grandma and make sure she is safe."

He took the bedding rope from the floor and got ready to jump.

"And then?"

Aoba turned to look again at him with a small crooked grin.

"Then? Then we go kicking some zombie asses, of course!"