Fanfiction I've been working on for a while now. I'm sorry if it's a little OOC but I really hope you like it!
"Mako-chan! Mako-chaaaan! Take the pillow off your face! You're missing the best part of the movie!" Nagisa exclaimed, pouncing on the larger teen and wrenching the pillow from his grasp, forcing him to see the gruesome deaths of the movie characters as the zombies attacked.
"Gah!" Makoto yelped, having looked up and seen a zombie gorging on someone's intestines. He snatched the pillow away from Nagisa and then buried himself behind Haruka, who stoically watched the screen but gently rubbed circles into Makoto's arm to calm him down.
Rei glanced up to the TV before going back to reading the article he'd pulled up on his laptop. "A possible mutation in the rabies virus could indeed cause what would be referred to as a 'zombie virus'," the article read. He'd begun reading the article as soon as Nagisa had popped in a zombie movie for the boys to watch since they were all spending the night at Haru's house as a sort of celebratory "It's Spring Break" sort of thing and also since most of their families were in Tokyo trying to sign the boys up for Spring tryouts to be on the Japanese Olympic swim team. Rei liked watching movies, but he always found these zombie ones a bit far-fetched, that's why he'd begun doing a quick research on whether there could ever be a possibility for an outbreak to actually occur. Most of the articles said the same thing - there'd need to be some sort of mutation in the rabies virus which would cause a hunger for living flesh and would also reanimate a dead body. There was a possibility that this virus could mutate and become what Hollywood called a "Zombie Apocalypse" but it was a very remote possibility. However, according to a German scientist, the virus was getting upsettingly close to mutating and could possibly morph into something zombie-like alarmingly fast. But his opinion was just one in hundreds, so there really wasn't anything to worry about.
Rei closed the window of the article and shut off his laptop after having checked the time. 12:43AM, mildly late, especially for them who'd woken up early that morning for their last day of school before break and then had an exhausting joint practice with Samezuka in the afternoon. Rin and Nitori had also been invited to come over, something which Rin was now used to but an invitation which had made Nitori very happy since it was Rin himself who'd thrown his arm around Nitori and told him to come along with the group. The Iwatobi boys had been more than happy with bringing Nitori along, since he'd pretty much become a part of the group when he'd made friends with Rin. Rei pushed up his glasses and rubbed the sleep from his eyes before fixing them and looking around the room. Said aforementioned boys were sitting on another couch, Nitori already asleep, head on Rin's shoulder, snoring softly. Rin had obviously noticed that he was already asleep, but he didn't do anything to push his friend off him, opting for allowing the younger boy to sleep. Nagisa was still watching the movie completely engrossed in the final moments of the film, Haru was watching dispassionately, continuing to soothe Makoto, who was still avoiding the TV screen. The credits began rolling and Rei stood up and stretched, stifling a yawn. It was a good thing that all the boys had decided on changing into their pajamas before the movie began.
"That was such a good ending! Don't you agree, Rei-chan?" Nagisa gushed, turning and grinning at Rei.
"Yeaaaaaaaah," Rei's answer got drawn out by a yawn. He wiped a hand across his face to try and dispel some of his sleepiness, "I agree, Nagisa-kun. It was very selfless of the hero to urge his friends forward without him once he'd gotten hurt."
"It was really sad though," Makoto added, peeking out from behind Haru. He hadn't watched most of the movie, but he'd heard the entire thing.
Haru nodded in agreement before getting up and helping Makoto off the couch. He turned to the group and asked quietly, "Are you all sure you'll be okay staying in the living room?"
"Haru, stop worrying about us," Rin said, getting up off the couch before leaning over and picking up Nitori to lay him down on the sofa more comfortably. Aiichiro gave a small content sigh before he curled up and began snoring again. Rin straightened himself, stretching and yawning. "We'll be fiiiine," he drawled with a yawn, "we go through this every time we come over. You and Makoto go, scurry along, and go to bed. Ryugazaki and I will get things set down here."
"Hey! I'm still here too, RinRin!" Nagisa exclaimed, eyes shooting open after he'd begun to doze off on the couch, slightly offended that Rin hadn't said that he'd help fix things in the living room too.
Rei just laughed, "Nagisa-kun, look at yourself. You're already half-asleep. Rin and I will take care of things."
Nagisa huffed, but did what he was told, because he really was tired. He crashed on the couch and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the cushions.
"I'll be back with a few blankets," Haru said, going off into the hall in search of the closet.
Makoto went upstairs and came back with two sleeping mats and pillows. They pushed the coffee table out from the center of the living room and had set up the mats when Haru came back in with a stack of blankets. He handed them over to Rin before he and Makoto began heading up the stairs.
"Good night," Makoto called as he turned off the light.
"Good night," the other boys responded. Rin threw two blankets at Rei, one for himself and the other to be given to Nagisa. Rei got up from sitting cross-legged on his mat and went to tuck Nagisa in, something that Rin was doing with Aiichiro. They then grabbed their own blankets and pillows and settled in for the night.
"'Night," Rin yawned, from somewhere on Rei's left.
Rei sat up and took off his glasses, setting them on the small corner table. "Good night," he replied, lying down.
It took a few minutes before sleep descended upon him once more, but it was enough time for Rin to have already fallen asleep. He could feel himself in that zone between being awake and being asleep, when a small, quiet voice brought him back into wakefulness.
"Good night, Rei-chan," Nagisa whispered.
Rei smiled sleepily, "Good night, Nagisa-kun." Then sleep finally pulled him under.
Upstairs, Makoto and Haruka were also close to falling asleep. Makoto had his own mat set up beside Haruka's bed and they'd talked for a while before finally falling asleep. It was around 2 in the morning when Makoto bolted upright with a strangled yelp.
"Ah!" Makoto shouted before quickly clamping a hand over his mouth to keep from waking up the others. He took a shaky breath before running a hand through his hair trying to calm himself.
He felt someone touch his shoulder and jumped, startled, before his eyes adjusted and he realized it was just Haru. "Makoto, what's wrong?" Haru whispered as he got down from the bed and sat beside his taller friend.
Makoto wiped the tears from his eyes and answered, "It's nothing, Haru, it was only a nightmare." He took a deep breath, "Did I wake you?"
Haruka shook his head, "I've been hearing you whimpering for a while now and then you started muttering names in your sleep. I was just about to wake you when you'd said my name but then you just woke up on your own." Haru put a hand on Makoto's shoulder once again, a gentle, reassuring touch, "Are you sure it's nothing?"
It wasn't nothing, but Makoto didn't want Haru to get worried. He'd been dreaming that they were getting attacked by monsters and that Haruka hadn't gotten away in order for the others to escape. Makoto had seen dream-Haru torn apart right before him. He'd seen the light go out of those piercing blue eyes. He began to feel tears start to fall again and he knew Haru could see them so he answered truthfully, "I had a dream you died." He closed his eyes, trying to regain control of his emotions, "I guess that movie really did bother me."
"Don't worry, Makoto, I'm right here," Haruka assured him. He gently pushed Makoto back onto the mat so that he was lying down, and soothingly began to stroke his hair, knowing that's what Makoto's mom always used to do for him whenever he cried, "Go to sleep." Satisfied that Makoto had calmed down enough, he got up and crawled underneath the covers of his bed again. It wasn't until he was cocooned in the warm blankets that he asked, "Makoto, are you still scared?" Makoto's back was to him, but he could see the other boy nod. Haruka sighed and sat up in bed before leaning over and grabbing his friend's arm. "Come here," he said.
Makoto obediently complied and came to sit on Haru's bed. He was wondering why Haru had called him over when he felt Haruka throw the blankets over both of them and then tug Makoto to lie down beside him. "Eh, Haruka?" Makoto asked as Haru fixed the blankets so that neither of them would be cold.
"You're sleeping with me tonight," was Haru's blunt reply.
"But, Haru," Makoto began nervously.
"Makoto, you're sleeping here and that's final," Haru mumbled turning to look at Makoto, "That way you won't be afraid, because I'll be right here."
"Thank you, Haru," Makoto said, smiling tenderly.
"Don't say such embarrassing things, Makoto," Haru answered, face burning after having seen Mako smile so warmly. Still blushing furiously, he turned away from Makoto to face the wall. He'd been getting like that a lot for a while now around Makoto. Makoto would do something really nice or sweet or would smile or just laugh and Haru's stomach would do some sort of somersault and make him feel all fluttery inside. Those feelings got a whole lot more insistent when high school began. At first, he'd thought he was just coming down with some sort of flu, but he'd been feeling like that for almost two years already. He knew it had something to do with the feelings he was harboring for Makoto, but he just couldn't allow himself to face them – he didn't want to ruin the amazing friendship that they shared. So he just kept his emotions out of the way and tried his hardest to not be too obvious about how he felt. He did, however, love having Makoto so close, especially if it made Makoto feel safe and okay. And, even though Haru wouldn't admit to it, he, too, felt much safer having Makoto at his side. So, feeling secure and content, Haruka began drifting off to sleep. "Good night, Makoto," Haru whispered sleepily.
"Good night, Haruka," Makoto smiled, feeling much more at ease now that he was with Haruka. Haru and he were very close – closer than most people would say you should be to your friends. But that was all Haru and he were: friends. He sometimes questioned the fluttering feeling he got every time he was around Haru, but had just put it down to them being best friends. He'd been feeling like that ever since he could remember, so he just associated the feeling with Haruka. He did enjoy hanging out with Haru more than he did with his other friends, and he sometimes wished that they could spend more time together, but that didn't mean he felt anything more than friendly feelings for Haru, right? Right.
Who was Makoto kidding? He'd been struggling with those emotions for a very long time. He wasn't sure if he would ever come to terms with having feelings for his best friend. However, he'd never want to risk his friendship with Haruka. He was just happy that Haruka was his best friend and that he actually cared about him too.
Those were his last thoughts before he finally fell into a peaceful sleep.
Sunlight had begun streaming in through the blinds by the time Makoto started to get roused from sleep. It was too early to be up though, so he just snuggled up to the warm, soft pillow he was hugging and went back to sleep, confused as to why his bed mat was suddenly softer than he'd remembered and as to why he felt as if his pillow snuggled back.
About half an hour later, Haru also felt himself waking up, slowly exiting dream world and entering reality. However, he wanted to stay nice and safe in his imagination for a while longer. He cuddled closer to the warm blanket that was wrapped around him and heard it give a content sigh. It smelled really nice, a very familiar scent, though he couldn't quite place where the scent came from. He felt so comfortable, so warm and secure; he couldn't help but begin to fall asleep again.
His eyes shot open.
He heard his blanket give a content sigh.
He put his hand up to his waist to the first place that radiated heat and realized that the warmth was caused by a hand, which was attached to an arm, which was attached to a body, which belonged to Makoto. He had to suppress the blush that was threatening to redden his face as he wracked his brain for the events which had led to Makoto sleeping with him. Makoto was sharing a bed with him. He knew nothing could have possibly happened between them, but he couldn't help but harbor a small amount of hope that maybe something did happen. Then he remembered: Makoto had had a really bad nightmare, one where Haru had died, and had been afraid to fall asleep again, so Haru had invited him up so that they could sleep together. It had been a completely friendly gesture, done to help his best friend sleep peacefully. They had probably gotten close throughout the night, whilst they slept.
Haruka wanted to know how close they were and decided to squirm a little bit to get a feel of his own limbs. He felt himself grow stiff when he realized exactly how close they were. Makoto had his arms around Haru's waist, and was pressed up against Haruka's back. Haruka could feel Mako's warm breath fanning against the back of his neck as he slowly inhaled and exhaled, causing Haru's own breath to hitch in his throat. His and Makoto's legs were tangled together beneath the blanket. The more awake he got, the more aware he became of the body beside him. Then it hit him. Makoto and he were spooning.
Makoto was the big spoon.
He was the little spoon.
By now he knew he couldn't hide the blush that was surely coloring his face scarlet.
"Makoto," he whispered hoarsely. No answer. He cleared his throat slightly, "Makoto," he tried again, a little louder. Still no answer. He turned around slowly so he was now facing Makoto. He was about to try waking him up again when Makoto moved in his sleep and pulled Haru closer. "Nhg," Haru grunted as Makoto readjusted himself and Haru. Makoto was still hugging Haru, but had now slotted Haruka beneath his chin. Haru's face was at the crook of his neck, and Haru couldn't help but think that this was where he belonged. He was sorely tempted in going right back to sleep, screw everything and just staying nice and warm in Makoto's arms, but then a small voice at the back of his head brought him back to reality. He couldn't just stay like that; he had to wake Makoto up. Makoto wasn't aware of the situation or of what he'd been doing in his sleep, and if Makoto were awake he'd, unfortunately, never be acting like this. With a heavy heart, Haru began prodding Makoto's side to try and get him up. "Makoto," he said, louder than the other two times.
Makoto slowly began to stir. "Mmm," he hummed.
Haru prodded him a bit more, "Makoto."
He finally began opening his eyes. Makoto instinctively flexed his muscles and so tightened his grip on Haru, bringing Haru even closer to him. He took one hand away from Haru's waist and rubbed his eyes sleepily, "What's wrong, Haru?"
Haruka allowed Makoto to become aware of their situation on his own. He blinked a few times before he finally began to realize where he was, and who he was holding. His eyes widened comically when he looked down at Haru and saw how he was holding him.
"Gah," he yelped, falling off the bed as he tried to scramble away from Haru and their compromising position. He stood up, red faced, and began apologizing, "Haru, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to, I'm so-"
"Makoto, it's okay," Haruka said, sitting up and stretching, feeling pink tinging his features as well, but choosing to ignore it in order to dispel the awkwardness. Haru swung his legs over the side of the bed, "Don't worry so much."
Rubbing the back of his neck, Makoto smiled sheepishly at Haruka, "I just hope I didn't make you uncomfortable."
"You didn't," Haru replied, a little too quickly, so he added a nonchalant yawn to the end of his admission to mask how he'd actually felt, not noticing that Makoto was also similarly struggling with not being able to admit he enjoyed sleeping together, too. It seemed like Makoto was just about to say something when the door to their room was thrown open.
"Did something happen? Are you both okay? We heard a loud noise," Nagisa quickly explained, dragging a still groggy Rei behind him.
Both teens looked slightly uncomfortable about answering the question, but Makoto stepped up and fixed the situation, "Sorry I scared you guys, it's just that I accidently knocked down one of Haru's textbooks." He pointed at a precariously stacked pile of textbooks sitting at the edge of Haru's desk.
"See, Nagisa-kun? I told you nothing bad had occurred," Rei said, fixing his glasses. He then turned to Haru and Makoto, "I'm sorry for waking you. It's just that last night, there were a few strange noises outside. Nagisa-kun was just worried that maybe something had happened."
Nagisa still looked a little unsure, as if he wanted to ask some more, or maybe add on to what Rei had said, but decided to drop it. He then grabbed Rei's arm again and began dragging him down the stairs, announcing, "Rei-chan and I will make breakfast!"
Haruka turned to Makoto, eyes full of unsaid words. Makoto read a Thank you in them, even though there were a few more there that he wasn't sure how to read, even though some part deep inside him apparently understood. "You're welcome," Makoto answered back, smiling warmly.
Both boys then began looking for clean clothes to change into in order to discard their pajamas. When they finally made their way downstairs, they saw that the other four had done the same and were already crowded at the small dining room table eating scrambled eggs and bacon. Makoto and Haruka served themselves and sat down to begin eating, Makoto eagerly and Haru slightly grouchy for having to change his regular morning breakfast of mackerel for a more mundane morning food.
Once they were finished, Haruka and Makoto began cleaning up the kitchen whilst Nagisa, Rei, Rin, and Aiichiro cleaned up the living room. At first, no one heard the frantic knock at the door, but as it grew more insistent, Aiichiro was the one who called out, "Someone's at the door!"
The other boys were still bustling about cleaning up so Makoto just called out, "Can you get that, please?"
Aiichiro went to the door and opened it up to find a slightly panicked blonde pizza delivery man on the other side. "Hello," Aiichiro chirped.
"Hey, kid," the man answered, looking around at what he could see of the inside of the house before stepping back regarding the outside as if making sure he had the right place. He then turned back to Aiichiro and asked, "Does Nanase Haruka live here?"
Aiichiro nodded and was about to call Haruka over when Rin appeared over his shoulder and exclaimed, "Coach Sasabe!"
"Rin, my boy!" the man, Coach Sasabe, beamed, throwing an arm around Rin who'd already stepped out the door.
They both then turned to Aiichiro and Rin explained, "This is our old swim coach, from when we were a part of the Iwatobi Swim Club." Aiichiro nodded his understanding, so Rin turned back to Coach Sasabe and asked, "What're you doing here?"
Goro Sasabe's face visibly darkened, as if remembering a particularly troubling piece of news. "Look, ah," he stammered, "can I come inside?" Rin and Aiichiro ushered him inside, where he said his hellos to Rei ("Hello, Coach Sasabe.") and Nagisa ("Coach Sasabe!") before greeting Makoto and Haruka when they came in from the kitchen. When they were all gathered in the living room, Goro looked around as if expecting more teenagers to pop up and join them. "There's no more of you?"
"No, it's only us, Coach," Makoto supplied before inquiring, "Why've you come around here?"
Coach Sasabe ran a trembling hand through his hair before asking, "Have you boys watched the news?" They all shook their heads. He swore under his breath, "Well, we've been ordered to evacuate to Tokyo."
"What!?" the shrill cry rang around the room, "Why!?"
Goro looked extremely upset about what he was going to say next but he knew he had to say it, "Apparently, there's a new virus going around…"
Rei felt his blood run cold as the other boys looked at each other confused, trying to see if anyone found any special meaning to Sasabe's words.
"Rei-chan, are you okay? You look sick," Nagisa whispered, poking Rei's side.
Not noticing how the boys were reacting, Coach Sasabe carried on, "…there's been a…mutation in an existing virus-"
"Rabies," Rei choked out the word.
"Yes, that's the one," Coach Sasabe looked mildly impressed that someone kind-of knew what was going on. "There have already been a few cases of people who have turned, and a few more that have been infected through their wounds, and, well, boys we have to get going as fast as we can, it's not safe here in town anymore, we have to get your families and leave now."
Rin stood up, voicing what was on most of the other boys' minds, "Coach, but rabies can't be that bad, can it? All we need are a few shots and we'll be as good as-"
Rei looked up at Rin, looking terrified, "Rin-san, we aren't just merely dealing with a rabies epidemic." He turned miserably towards Goro, who knew he was the one who had to confirm Rei's suspicions and tell the rest of the boys what was going on.
Coach Sasabe looked grimly at the boys, feeling as if he were about to deliver a death sentence. "This is going to sound crazy boys, but they're calling this a zombie apocalypse."
So, how was that for the prologue? I know that there's not blood or action yet but don't worry, it'll get there. I'm thinking about uploading a chapter a month, but if I see a lot of interest I'll try my hardest to pump out chapters sooner. Hope you enjoyed it and thank you for reading!
