It was brisk autumn day, and the coach had just pulled up outside the art museum, the high school students inside starting to chatter and grow restless as their teacher stood at the front as he spoke the students under his care.
"Now, class, please remember." he started, making sure all eyes were on him. "When we get inside there is to be absolutely no touching the exhibits and definitely no photographs. Remember to stay in your groups and do make sure you've answered the sheets of questions before the end of the day. Am I understood?"
A chorus of "Yes, Sir!" called back to the teacher as he moved to get off the bus, the students at the front moving to get off as a teen with shaggy, rusty orange, shoulder length hair turned to nudge his friend awake as he spoke.
"Come on Kichi. We're here." The orange haired boy said softly, the skinny brown haired teen he was trying to wake up gave a large yawn as he sat up; absentmindedly patting a hand against the satchel bag he was still wearing to ensure it was there still as he looked to his friend.
"Alright Takayu, I'm up, I'm up." The young man named Kichi replied as he slowly stood up. His voice had a nervous tone through it which Takayu had gotten used to hearing whenever the shy brunette spoke. With his rucksack in tow, Takayu let out a light laugh and moved to make his way off the coach, Kichi soon following behind as the redhead spoke again.
"This should be fun considering we're in the same group."
"Yeah…" Kichi replied with a small smile he always enjoyed drawing and figured the whole trip would be able to help him with how he drew his own pictures. That and Takayu was always fun to be around. Truth be told, Kichi felt slightly envious of the redhead's ease around people. He raised a hand to cover his emerald green eyes as they adjusted to the sun, stepping off the bus and looked around to see if he recognised anything around them.
Both teens were dressed in what was expected of the school uniform, which consisted of only black slacks and a white short sleeved shirt with a red tie. That's where the similarities in there clothing ended. Takayu wore a black sleeveless hooded jacket on top of his with a pair of circular framed goggles hanging around his neck and a pair of black boots on his feet. With that sort of jacket, Kichi often wondered if Takayu might be better fitted as some sort of anime hero, or if he was making up in his own way for their school not wearing the more traditional Japanese school Gakuran.
Kichi himself had a slightly baggy black and white horizontal striped jumper under his shirt which covered his hands, a blue body warmer which was open on top and a pair of black and red sneakers on his feet. If there was one thing Kichi couldn't complain about this school for, it was their lax attitude to the use of the uniform. They didn't even have to wear the standard blazer which bore the school emblem on it. Though, looking ahead, a few of the more prim and proper students did wear the uniform "correctly". Blazer button up, shirt and tie pressed, and a pair of plain black shoes with their slacks. Thanks, but no thanks, both teens were more than happy to retain their individuality.
The pair started to walk after the class, Takayu easily noticeable as the taller of the two at five foot eight inches, while Kichi was two inches shorter. However, Kichi's spiky brown hair seemed to diminish the difference slightly as it all spiked towards his crown aside from the two bangs that fell down to his eyebrows.
"Who else is in our group?" Kichi asked curiously, Takayu looking through the sheets for a moment as he spoke with a gulp, pushing the sheets into Kichi's hands.
"Erm… You're not going to like this…" he replied with a nervous laugh in his voice.
...
Kichi sighed sadly as he walked near the back of his group as he now understood why Takayu had said he wouldn't like it. The two girls that were apart of their group had always questioned why Takayu hung around with Kichi and had been cruel to the brunette several times, trying to get him to leave the more popular redhead alone.
Takayu gave a checking glance back to Kichi before one of them drew the redhead's attention away from his friend as the other gave Kichi a dark sneer, a shiver running down his spine as his gaze lingered on a unusual mannequin which was dressed in some sort of cricket outfit and was holding a bat in its gloved hands, a straw hat atop of his head and a piece of celery being used as some sort of decoration on the long coat.
'Odd…' he thought, taking another moment to look over the mannequin as he turned to see Takayu and the two girls head out of the room, hurrying to catch up with them as he gripped his satchel to avoid it falling off his shoulder.
Meanwhile, outside the museum, the curator took a deep breathe of air in an attempt to calm himself. He disliked the idea of letting the teens into the building as he knew they couldn't appreciate art like adults could.
'At least it's only for one day.' the curator told himself as he noticed a group of unsavoury people staggering towards him, his brow furrowing at their scruffy apparel as they seemed to continue towards the entrance, leaving the curator with no choice but to step into their way.
"I'm afraid you can't enter as you are." he spoke with a posh accent, his eyebrow twitching as they seemed to ignore him or not even see him until the lead one was stopped by his outstretched hand.
"Didn't you…." the curator started, getting cut off as the lead person lunged at him with mouth open wide, biting down on his neck as the curator shouted in pain which alerted the pair of security guards just inside.
Both guards rushed outside to see what was going on, confusion easily told on there faces as they moved to remove the biting man from the curator before the others behind the attacking one dove onto the curator.
Looking at the group of attackers, their faces were deathly pale and their eyes hollow. The very scene seemed something out of a Zombie movie as one of the few that hadn't attacked the curator chomped down on the nearer of the two guard's arm causing his loud cry of pain to attract the others as the remaining guard managing to fight off the biter before pulling his fellow guard inside, closing and locking the doors before they could enter, falling on his backside as he wondered what to do now as he looked to his injured colleague.
...
Back inside, Takayu and Kichi, ignorant of the commotion outside, waited for the pair of girls to come back from the bathroom as they sat on a bench as they joked around.
"Come on Kichi you must like someone from our year?" Takayu asked as Kichi shook his head embarrassed, hoping for the subject to be changed, as he answered
"No one…"
Takayu smirked, catching wind quickly of how embarrassed his friend was getting, and nudged Kichi as he spoke "One of these days, you'll be fighting off the girls and I'm just going to watch and laugh."
"The world will end before that happens" Kichi retorted offhandedly as Takayu gave him an odd look and a cocked eyebrow.
"What? Don't be so pessimistic…" He was cut off by a loud scream, both rushing to see what had happened.
A blonde haired teenager had started to back away from the bloody guard who was stumbling towards her while the other was currently chewing on the teacher. She was dressed black knee length skirt, a white shirt with a blue tie which covered up the top button of her shirt which was undone, the blazer atop of it all was navy blue and had three buttons which only the middle one was fastened. Her eyes were glued onto the stumbling guard as Takayu rushed into the room followed by Kichi, the redhead taking a moment to get a handle on the situation before instinctively rushing to grab the cricket bat from the exhibit Kichi had remarked as odd while Kichi just watched on in shock.
Takayu charged with the bat in hand as he swung it towards the head of the stalking guard, it being turned 180 before the body collapsed to the floor, turning to find Kichi had grabbed a broom from the cleaning cart and was holding back the other.
"Little help!" Kichi stuttered as Takayu tightened his grip on the cricket bat before charging to help his friend, smashing open the head of that guard before sighing in relief.
"Are you alright?" Takayu asked, Kichi nodded as his fingers wringing the broom in his hands as his scared eyes roamed the two guards that lay on the floor before focusing on the scared girl, blushing as he turned his head away from her.
"How about you Kayo-san?" Takayu asked, Kayo looking confused at Kichi as she nodded slightly unsure.
"I'm fine…I think"
"What happened to them?" Kichi asked as he kept his distance from the corpses as Takayu looked over them for a moment before answering
"Donno… It's something like out of a Zombie movie." Kichi shuddered at that answer, he didn't like horror movies so the very thought made him feel like he was stuck in a nightmare as he kept his eyes moving around the room.
"Grow up both of you…Zombies don't exist" Kayo spoke placing her hands on her hips as she looked at them both, her serious look faltering slightly as she replayed what had happened before in her mind before adding a quiet
"I think…"
"Let's go see who else is around here, all right?" Takayu spoke signalling for the pair to follow, Kichi's grip tightening on his broom as he asked nervously.
"What if there are more of them?"
"Yeah…" Kayo spoke up in agreement as Takayu turned around to face them as he spoke, his voice almost frantic as he tried to wrestle his nerves around the situation for everyone else's sake.
"Well we're armed…well two of us are…we'll be fine"
"Oh! So a Cricket Bat and a Broom is considered armed?" Kayo asked annoyed as she raised her eyebrow to the redhead who shrugged as he looked around the room as he replied.
"Well find something to defend yourself with then… But I'm sure Kichi won't mind protecting you… Isn't that right, Kichirou-kun?" Takayu teased, and Kichi blushed despite himself as he looked to the ground, Kayo looking over to him with slightly red cheeks before turning her gaze to the rest of the room for something to use, her eyes falling on an umbrella which was apart of another exhibit.
"Go on then…fearless leader!" Kayo spoke as Takayu waiting for Kichi and her to catch up before taking up the lead position as they walked, Kichi sticking near the back to avoid anything possibly sneaking up behind them, his shakes noticeable by Kayo.
"Are you alright, Kichi-san?"
Kichi jumped slightly as he looked at her as he answered nervously "Yeah…I just can't believe what's going on…"
Kayo nodded in agreement, she was still doubtful about what was going on around them as she turned her focus onto Takayu as he spoke "Don't worry, we'll be fine as long as we stay alert."
Five minutes passed by quickly as the trio took a break in an empty room of the museum, Takayu and Kayo sitting down to try and figure out what to do while Kichi wandered around the room, with broom still in hand. Takayu wasn't showing it, but it was starting to bug the redhead that there weren't more screams or signs of struggle from his classmates.
'Surely Kichi had noticed this too, right?' the goggle-boy asked himself.
They heard a bump, Kichi stiffening as he turned towards the open doorway which they had come from, Takayu and Kayo quick to get up and grab there own makeshift weapons. Kichi nervously headed to look through to the next room, a look of confusion on his face as he saw nobody there.
'Weird…' Kichi thought as he moved to have a closer look as Takayu spoke up.
"Don't go too far, Kichi…its best we stick together. We won't fall for any of the classic tropes that way, all right?"
"All right, Takayu." Kichi replied with a nod, his ears pricking up upon hearing the sigh of relief before a teenage girl, about five foot five tall, came out from behind the door.
Kichi stumbled back as he took in the sight of this girl: She had white hair which was split into two braids that reached halfway down her back; blue eyes looked shyly towards him from behind a pair of slim square framed glasses. She was dressed in the same uniform as Kayo, a sign that she was from their school, although she wore a grey cardigan under her blazer and seemed to be perfectly clean aside from the slight blood stains which came from the dripping axe blade which she held in both her hands.
"Hey!" Takayu called happily upon seeing the new girl. It was good to see another living face. He thought he should be curious about where she found an axe, but, they had more pressing issues, and it seemed better to presume that she simply broke it from behind safety glass at a fire exit. Kayo on the other hand felt glad that she was not the only girl amongst the group now as Takayu called to the newcomer again.
"What's your name?" he asked, his brow furrowing at her nervous response.
"Yotsuba…Momoka" the new girl replied shyly, looking to the ground at her feet, drips of blood falling from the axe to pool around them.
"I'm Takayu Syaoran! Nice to meet you! This is Kichi Tendo and Kayo Shuza." Takayu signalled to Kichi and then Kayo, introducing each of them as he went, Yotsuba loosening her hold on her axe slightly as she relaxed.
"Have you seen anyone else around?" Takayu asked, Yotsuba about to reply as the whir of an engine cut through the quiet air. The quartet perked up immediately to the engine's roar, quickly grabbing their weapons and following the noise instinctively and curiously, expecting to find someone who would need their help, only to be surprised at what they saw.
Time seemed to slow down for the two boys as they watched a five foot eight, pink haired teenage girl spin on the spot, decapitating the trio of undead around her with the chainsaw in her hand, stopping so that she faced them as blood exploded off behind her before the corpses slumped onto the floor with a thud. The chainsaw continuing to roar as the girl flicked her pink hair behind her.
Her pink hair was styled in a Hime-cut which framed her green eyes. She wore the same uniform as the two girls although the top few buttons of her shirt was open along with her blazer; her tie was tucked between her ample breasts and lead up to the choker around her neck which had a ruby jewel at the centre. Her skirt stopped just above her knees and rather then the small heeled shoes that Yotsuba wore she wore boots which stopped before reaching her knees and between her boots and skirt black stockings could be seen.
"Wow…" Kichi spoke in awe, his face bright red while his brain was in a jumbled mess. Takayu grinned upon noticing his friend's distracted nature as the pink haired athletic girl started to walk over to them while shutting off her chainsaw.
Takayu nudged Kichi, bringing him back to his senses as he noticed the pinkette giving him a smile, turning his gaze to the floor as she spoke "It's nice to see others survived… I'm Megumi Saotome"
"Takayu Syaoran and this is Kichi Tendo" Takayu introduced signalling to the embarrassed and nervous Kichi next to him as Kayo and Yotsuba introduced themselves still slightly in awe at what Megumi had just done as she still held the chainsaw in her hand.
"So, what is the next move?" Megumi asked, turning her gaze to Takayu who in her mind seemed to be the group's leader as Takayu spoke up.
"We oughtta find somewhere safe to regroup… We've been lucky enough so far to find you and Yostuba, but who knows what our next encounter will be." He said, looking to the pile of decapitated zombie classmates at their feet. He sighed, his heart morose. "Is there anywhere like an office or something?" The others thought about it for a moment as Yotsuba spoke up
"Y-Yeah… It should be at the back of the building" Yotsuba commented, Megumi nodding in agreement as she replied.
"I think I've seen it as I looked around"
"Let's get going then." Kayo interjected, tightening her grip on her umbrella as Takayu smiled.
"Lead the way ladies." Takayu said, outstretching his arm in an 'after you' fashion. Kayo rolled her eyes as Megumi smiled as she started at the front, Yotsuba and Kayo walking in the middle of the group as Kichi looked to Takayu confused as he hung back slightly
"What's wrong?" Kichi asked, Takayu smiling as he jokingly answered.
"You know I'm blaming you for all this, right Kichirou?"
"What…? How can I be responsible for all this?" Kichi refuted, his voice raising a few octaves in confusion. A few beats passed, and Takayu broke out laughing as Kichi's response, the trio of girls looked back to them as Takayu replied jokingly
"You're the one who said that the world would end before you get a girlfriend… Well where's your girlfriend?"
Kichi sighed, his cheeks red as he tried to come up with a comeback as Takayu patted him on the back as he noticed Yotsuba's cheeks redden, Megumi giggling as Kayo spoke up with a groan and a sigh. "Come on let's get moving!"
"Yeah…" Kichi spoke as he followed after Kayo and Yotsuba leaving Megumi and Takayu to talk with one another.
"Trying to keep his spirit up?" Megumi asked, Takayu nodding with a sigh as he ran a hand through his hair as they followed the trio.
"Yeah… Kichi's always been pessimistic about himself, and with all this I'm not sure he'll cope very well considering what's going on…" he answered as they followed, soon finding the room, Kichi giving it a checking jostle to try and open it.
"It's locked." Takayu stated as Kayo rolled her eyes as she retorted.
"Thank you, Captain Obvious!" she quipped, Kichi giving a small smile at the blonde's comment as Megumi moved to knock on the door.
"Anyone in there…?" Megumi called out in the hopes of alerting whomever was inside to there presence, shuffling being heard on the other side before it opened a crack for a brown eye to look out at them, surprised before the door was flung open and the young woman hugged the nearest one of the teens. Kichi.
The woman looked to be about early twenties and stood at five foot six with brown hair which looked to be a bowl cut aside from the two long bangs on either side of her face. She was wearing a secretary suit which consisted of a large collared white shirt which had the top button open, a black suit jacket on top of that which had all three buttons closed. She also wore a black knee length pencil skirt with brown tights underneath and flat heeled black shoes.
"I'm so glad to finally see someone who's not changed into one of those things!" she cried, Takayu managing to contain his laughter at seeing his friend stuck in a death hug, Kichi's face having been pulled into her chest.
"What's your name?" Kayo asked as the older woman looked over to her before realising what she was doing and let go of Kichi, who took in a much needed deep breath, blushing embarrassed as she spoke with a nervous tone.
"Fai… Fai Setsuna" The rest of the introductions were covered before they all went into the room to plan what they should do next. Each of them were stood around the desk that was in the room, their impromptu weapons all left on a small coffee table of to the side of the room.
"We need to find somewhere safe to stay with supplies." Megumi spoke calmly as Takayu and Kayo nodded in agreement.
"How are we going to get there or find it?" Kichi asked, looking to the others for answers that deep down he knew nobody actually had. Fai took a moment to think before she spoke.
"Oh! The curator's car is out in the parking lot! If only we had the keys though." Fai's expression faltered along with her idea, but she was perked back up by Kayo.
"Maybe he left them in his desk?" the blonde suggested, turning to see Yotsuba already rummaging through the drawers along with Kichi.
"Any luck?" Takayu asked moving to help them as Yotsuba tried to open the bottom drawer before realising it was locked as Kichi spoke up.
"Not yet…Excuse me…Yotsuba-san." She moved back to see Kichi pull out the draw above it setting it on the floor behind him as he stuck his arm into it rummaging around for a few moments before pulling out a bunch of keys which he set onto the table.
"Success!" declared Kichi proudly, Takayu beaming.
"Sweet!" Takayu said with a relieved laugh.
"Let's grab our stuff and go see what's waiting outside." he continued as Kichi pulled himself back to his feet, brushing down his slacks for a moment.
...
The group made their way cautiously through the museum, Kichi walking nervously near the front with Megumi, Takayu walking at the rear with Yotsuba. Kayo and Fai walked in the middle of the group, the latter having put on the knee and elbow pads that she used when she cycled to work. They'd decided to use the loading bay to try and avoid any more of 'them' that were about.
They stopped at the door that leads into the bay, Megumi and Takayu ready to rush in as Kayo prepared to open the door, Kichi and Yotsuba looking around to avoid being snuck up on as Fai spoke "Do we have to kill them…? Its not like they can control what they're doing…"
Megumi looked back to her as she spoke "It's better that they're taken out otherwise they might sneak up on us later."
"Megumi's right… less of them means we've got a better chance of surviving." Takayu added as Kayo nodded in agreement as Fai sighed realising that they were right.
"Ready?" Takayu asked, Megumi nodding as she put her free hand onto the pull cord of her chainsaw.
Kayo opened the door as Takayu rushed in first looking around to find five of them stumbling around the room, Megumi walking in as Takayu made a move to take out the first one with his cricket bat, the corpse's head cracking around as it caved, turning as he saw Megumi decapitate another two of them with her chainsaw. Kayo hurried to push one off with her open umbrella before Yotsuba swung her axe at its head. Kichi jumped in front of Fai as he used his broom to keep it away from them, slipping on something slippery on the floor as he realised that the broom was all that was keeping the zombie from biting him until it was hit on the head with a crowbar. Kichi sighed in relief as he pushed the unmoving corpse off him.
"Are you alright Kichi-kun?" Fai asked as she helped him to his feet, the others looking towards them as he nodded with a sigh of relief.
"Thanks to you I am, Setsuna-san." he replied, Fai smiled, her cheeks reddening upon realising that she was still holding Kichi's hand, letting go with a surprised squeak.
"Sorry…"
"Come on let's get moving!" Megumi called as she charged towards one of the few approaching as she swung at it, taking off half of its head, the rest of the group quickly hurrying up behind her as they took out some of the others that approached because of the whirring of the chainsaw.
She shut off the chainsaw as they reached the door to head outside, Kichi taking a cautious look outside as he opened the door as he heard Takayu's whisper behind him "So…what's it look like out there?"
Kichi noticing none of 'them' were outside along with spotting the car just over the other side as he whispered back "Quiet…too quiet"
"Wait… there's none of them outside?" Takayu asked surprised as Kichi pulled his head back inside, nodding as he spoke.
"Nothing…maybe they went off somewhere?"
"They probably got distracted by the cars or something…" Kayo added as Yotsuba nodded in agreement as she continued. "They do seem to be attracted to sound."
"Let's just go before they come back." Megumi spoke as they each nodded in agreement, Takayu taking the lead as he looked around expecting to see at least one of them as he took a few steps out as he looked around the car park, waving towards the others to signal that it was clear as they rushed out and over towards the small three door car which was a small blue Mini.
"So… How are we all going to fit into this now?" Kayo asked as Takayu thought about it for a moment, pulling his goggles onto his head as he looked around the group while Fai quickly opened the doors.
"Yotsuba, Kichi, Kayo you three take the back, Setsuna-san can drive and me and Megumi will just have to share the front seat…that way if we have to unload quickly we can hold them off while you three get out." Takayu explained, flicking the goggles on his head. Megumi gave him an amused look as the three moved to sit in the back seats, the brown haired boy sat between the two girls before they moved the seats back into place.
"Don't enjoy yourself… too much." Megumi spoke with a small smile as Takayu sat down before she sat down atop of his lap, placing her chainsaw down in the foot well next to the cricket bat. The broom, umbrella and axe were set at the back trio's feet as Fai sat in the driving seat.
"Wouldn't dream of it." replied Takayu with a grin as Fai fumbled with the keys before starting the car.
...
Author's Notes
Something come up by me and my friend ChainALM who helped me with tweaking it and coming up with the female characters and Takayu.
