A/N: Woot! My second fanfic in a day! Although to be fair this was sitting 3/4's complete on my computer for years. It really isn't the fic I should be working on, but if anyone cares I am in the process of rewriting To Protect.
Anyway this is a crossover with Resident Evil. I'm not sure why it happened but it did. The ending is pretty open ended. I may at some point write a sequel, but for now you can consider this complete.
Disclaimer: I don't own CCS or Resident Evil. I know. I was shocked too. :D
June 13th 2051
Hong Kong, China witnesses a devastating B.O.W. outbreak. The city is evacuated and declared unlivable. Refugees flee to all parts of Asia.
March 4th 2052
Kinomoto Nadeshiko dies.
April 1st 2069 (present day)
Syaoran sighed.
It had only been a couple hours into his new job and he was already bored. Absently he flicked his gaze to the wall full monitors. He could see the scientists going about their business with their white lab coats fluttering behind them as they scuttled from cubicle to lab to hallway.
They sure look like they're doing something.
He swiveled the chair he was sitting around in quick circle. Stone and McKay had been very brief. They told him to become acquainted with the layout of the facility and where each of the monitors corresponded to.
Anti-Viral Solutions International or AVSI was a company devoted to finding a cure for the T-virus and all its many incarnations. They were also leading the industry in vaccine production. By necessity they were very secretive. The locations of their bases were not available to the general public to avoid terrorists and extremist human rights activists. The amount of confidentiality contracts he had to sign in order to work there was headache inducing.
AVSI Japan where he was currently was comprised of five levels. Level One was really just a long shaft with many levels of doors. They were there to keep certain people out. Level Two was where the security and general offices were located. It looked like any other office building except it was a quarter mile under ground. Level Three was where the dormitories and common areas were located. They were necessary since most AVSI locations were very remote. There was also a couple of small stores located on this floor. Level Four was by far the largest floor and was where all the laboratories were. Level Five was filled with cells for the current test subjects. The reason for the attention of human rights supporters.
Syaoran frowned. If they were stupid enough to volunteer he would not pity them.
After all AVSI was on the up and up. They certainly wouldn't experiment on someone who was any less than willing.
After briefly looking at that monitors again to find nothing of interest he idly scanned the floor plans of the various levels. Each floor was divided up into a grid. Hallways running north to south were labeled with letters while hallways running from east to west were label with numbers. However some of the rooms weren't squares so it turned out to be somewhat of a maze. He figured it would be a while before he would be able to find his way around without a map.
Slumping in his chair he glanced at the clock. Stone and McKay had been gone for a whole hour.
Must be some meeting.
He wanted to do something, but McKay had said that all the rounds were already covered and there wasn't anything he had to do yet.
"Just get a feel for the layout and keep and eye on the monitors for us," Stones said smiled. His eyes twinkled with good humor and the lines around his mouth suggested he laughed a lot.
"Who knows? Maybe when get back we'll have a fire drill to liven things up.. Nothing ever happens around here," McKay pouted. Where Stone was big, McKay was lithe. His smile seemed easy, but his eyes were guarded.
Syaoran just nodded. These two seemed to like to talk. Syaoran really didn't like it that much.
The facility, despite being a place where scientists routinely combated what had become the greatest threat to humanity, was pretty dull.
"So what?" he mumbled aloud. "The pay's good and that's why you're here."
He had taken a lot of time to put his, in his mind, excessive martial arts training to use. He didn't even try to make swordsmanship useful.
Or his magic.
Because he was certain there was no use for that.
His family had been forced to leave the ancestral home when they fled Hong Kong 18 years prior, but that was about all they left. All his life he was trained to be some warrior. It suited him well enough, but there was hardly any Li's left to lead. He really didn't see the point in working so hard to uphold an old, outdated and dying legacy.
Of course his mom would just say that was because of the negative influence of him growing up in Japan with their not-Chinese notions. Like there was a China or any other Asian country left for him to uphold the values off. After the T-virus swept the Asian continent no cities were spared, much less the countries they resided in.
The world was shrinking to places where refugees fled to and the defiant schemed.
"Hello, you must be the new guy."
Startled, Syaoran jumped to his feet to confront…
…a smiling girl about his age with wide curious green eyes.
"A bit jumpy, aren't you?" She commented cheerfully her smile widening even more.
Her smile was almost blinding. He thought she might be on drugs. "You surprised me. Who are you?"
She chuckled and her eyes glinted mysteriously. "I'm Kinomoto Sakura. My dad is a scientist here. You could say I help him out."
Syaoran relaxed. "So you're his assistant."
She laughed. "Something like that."
Her joy was infectious and he found himself a smiling a bit in return. "Seems awfully casual for a place like this. I don't think I can even tell my shadow what I'm doing."
She shrugged. "Well, I grew up here. My dad's been working here all my life. It's home."
"Sounds kind of boring and lonely. Don't you ever want to be out in the world?"
Her eyes seemed to dim. "Well I'm working on that. Dad thinks it's too dangerous."
Syaoran gave what he hoped was an encouraging look. "I'm sure you'll convince him. It would be cruel to keep you cooped up here all your life."
She beamed. "You really think so? It's nice to find someone who agrees. Hey, do you want me to show you around? I know all the most interesting places. I know of places not even you security people know about. There are secret rooms everywhere." She vibrated with excitement and he actually found himself wanting to go, but he was working after all.
"Sorry, but I have to watch these monitors. Someone might spill their coffee or something," he said in a mock serious tone.
Kinomoto was unmoved however. "Pssh, nothing's going to happen. As long as I've been here nothing has ever happened. Please. My dad's pretty important. I won't let you get in trouble. Besides look at Howard and Ron. That's not a meeting. They and the other guards are just drinking and telling war stories." She gestured to a monitors were Stone, McKay and number of other men he couldn't identify were sitting around. While they were talking, now that he looked, it was obvious that they were drinking and weren't actually conducting any sort of business.
"But why-"
She rolled her eyes. "You're the new guy."
He muttered an oath. He scrutinized the monitors one more time before turning toward her and nodding. "Fine. Show me around. I need to get a hold of the layout anyway. It's technically not not working," he said with an uncharacteristic recklessness. But obviously this place wasn't as uptight as it seemed and technically this day was just for training.
"Yes. You're going to play with me?"
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you sure you're an adult?"
"Of course," she chirped playfully, stalking up to him. "I know things beyond your comprehension."
He laughed even though her words struck him as strange. "You'd be surprised," he muttered under his breath. After being trained in magic not much was all that mystifying.
Her smile became impish. "I'll show you." She grabbed his hand and dragged him out the door of the camera room. "This going to be so fun. There aren't that many people our age here."
Syaoran grunted in sympathy. It was probably really lonely for her with no one her age to hangout with especially when she was younger.
"So what exactly does your father do?"
"He tries and predict what the virus' next mutation will be. Not only does this allow AVSI to try and find an antidote, but it helps us further understand how the virus works."
"Sounds complicated. He must be very dedicated to his work."
Kinomoto had her head half turned towards him so he saw her expression still for a moment. "You have no idea. Hoe. Someone's coming!" Quicker than he could react she pulled him into some sort of utility closet.
"Hoe?" But really he was wondering why they were hiding in the closet. Being secluded in a dark closet with pretty girl caused odd thoughts to drift through his mind.
He could feel her shrug their bodies were pressed so close together. "It's just a sound I make. Do you think it's cute?"
"Uh, um," he stuttered out as he fiercely reasoned with himself that she couldn't possibly know in the dark that he was blushing.
"Are you blushing?" She was impossibly closer. He feel her breath on his neck and scent of her shampoo swamped his senses. Strawberry.
"Er."
He felt her hands grope along his arms and neck, then holding his face. "Li-kun's face is very hot. He must be blushing!"
"Am not!"
"Lying's bad Li-kun!"
"Uh, well," he managed.
'Brilliant.' His sarcastic thought did little to alleviate his embarrassment.
"It's okay. I'll forgive you this time, but don't ever lie to me again. Promise?" Her voice, the inflection, it was like a four year making a pact to be best friends forever. Which didn't in the least explain the cold feeling in his stomach.
"If that's what you want," was his eventual reply.
"Yay! I hate liars and I don't want to hate you."
He could feel that uncomfortablely bright smile beaming at him again. "Great, uh, can we leave this closet now?"
"Sure. I don't like the dark very much."
"Really?" She didn't seem very scared. "You seemed to manage it okay."
The hall seemed very bright and open compared to the shadowy confines of the closet. He blinked hard to help his eyes readjust.
"That's because I was with you. When I'm alone the dark closes in on me." The words held so much honest fear that he almost wanted to hug her or something.
"Oh."
"Don't worry Li-kun. I'm planning on never being alone in the dark again."
"Is that so?" He had no real rejoinder to such a proclamation. A thought occurred to him like blast of cold air. "How do you know my name?"
Kinomoto giggled. "Li-kun is wearing a name tag."
He too had to smile a little at his own ridiculousness. "Heh. I knew that." Stone had given him the name tag shortly after introducing himself. Li was written over a metal plate in crisp black lines.
"Li-kun can be a bit silly, ne?"
He laughed outright then. "Not if you ask my sisters." Or anyone else he knew. "Why were we hiding in that closet anyway?" Said closet was already out of sight as they started down the hallway at brisk pace.
"I just didn't want to talk to the person walking by."
Syaoran frowned. "Why not? Who were they? And how did you know it was them?"
Kinomoto giggled. "So Li-kun is curious too, ne?" He opened his mouth to deny her statement, but she continued. "He was Nakamoto-san. He one of the main reasons...my father won't let me leave this place."
"Oh. But how did you know it was him?"
"Can you hear how our footsteps echo?"
Syaoran focus his ears on the sound he feet made when they met the tiled floor and how that sound bounced off the wall back into his ears. "I get it. You recognized his footsteps. I guess after living here so long you probably recognize most everyone from how they walk."
Kinomoto just smiled.
Their footsteps really did echo down the empty hallways. There didn't seem to be many offices on this side of floor two and the ones they did see seemed empty. Which wasn't too strange considering most of the workers were in the lab or back at the dorms for lunch.
Despite his rationalization he still would have expected more people. "Hey, are the halls always this empty?"
"Sometimes." Her voice, her sweet voice, was as cheerful as ever, but cryptic. For a second his instincts flared. But he could discern no danger to him or Kinomoto. It was quiet, yes, but that wasn't necessarily bad. With a shake of his head he shook off the irrational foreboding and ignored the tiny ice cube of dread sitting in his stomach.
"We're here!"
Her cheery announcement burst through his dread and he found himself blinking in confusion. "Huh?"
"My father's office. I have to get something."
"Okay." How was he supposed to know? She'd never actually mentioned where they were going.
The door was locked with an electronic key pad, but Kinomoto was quick to press the appropriate numbers. "My mother's birthday," she whispered conspiratorially as she held the door open for him.
The office was cluttered. The walls were lined with crammed book shelves leaving just enough room for a medium sized desk, two chairs and a love seat. On the desk next to the computer a framed photo of woman with long gray hair and Kinomoto's green eyes smiled happily at him. In her arms she held a small black haired boy. There were many more photos of the boy in various stages of his life.
There were none of the sparkling girl busily rummaging through a drawer.. It baffled him because her smile was certainly more pleasant than the boy's seemingly perpetual scowl.
"That's my mother and my brother Touya." He swiveled his attention to her to find her gaze unfocused and looking a little sad.
"Why aren't there any photos of you?"
She blinked and shook off her daze on a laugh. "Silly, Li-kun. Mother is dead and Touya is in the military, but Father can see me whenever he wants. He doesn't need photos."
He didn't know what it was, but he was certain she was lying to him.
"We should get going. You've haven't seen anything yet."
He nodded to be agreeable as he trailed her out of the office, but wondered what she meant. What could there really be to see? It was just a research facility. Granted a top secret research facility that he couldn't talk about to anyone, but still.
"So where are you taking me?"
"To the zoo. Is that alright?"
"Um, I like zoos, but I didn't know there was one here."
"There isn't." She stopped in front of the door marked stairs. "It's what I call it." She opened the door and started down the stairs.
"Call what?" Syaoran asked, puzzled as he followed her down the stairs.
"Level 5. It's were they keep the-"
"-experiments. I know. But I don't have clearance to go there." He stopped where he was, halfway down the stair case.
Kinomoto turned around at the bottom and stared at him. Maybe it was the lighting, but her green eyes seemed almost mysterious for a second, but then she smiled and her expression was like the sun. "Well, me neither, but it's the most interesting thing to do here. Besides, they say the most interesting things."
"Huh? I didn't know those affected by the virus retained enough cognitive function to talk."
She shrugged. "Most don't. So are you in? It'll be fun. You do like to have fun right?"
He swallowed nervously. It wasn't that he didn't like doing fun things; it was just that he never had time for them. He, personally, preferred to stick on the safe side and was never one to do anything even remotely against the rules. His sisters were always asking him how he could be so boring all the time. "Hn."
"Then you'll come with me, Li-kun?"
She looked so hopeful he was hard pressed to see what harm there was in looking. "I'll come, but we better not get caught. It took me forever to get this job."
She laughed. "Everything'll be fine! Last one to the bottom is a rotten egg!" And she was already hurtling down the stairs.
He stood there momentarily frozen before he heard her shout, "Li-kun is a slowpoke!"
It was childish really but his pride twitched in annoyance. No one called him slow. "You're going to eat your words. I was just giving you a handicap!" Two, three four stairs at a time and he was glimpsing Kinomoto's form as it disappear down a another level. He could sense the bottom of the stairwell approaching, though, and he didn't have enough time to pass her unless-
A second later he vaulted over the railing and fell through the center of the stairwell. It was probably something like a three story fall, but a little magic and over two decades of training allowed for smooth and soft landing.
"Take that Kinomoto!" he taunted smugly.
He heard her still. He guessed she still had like two more floors to go. "Li-kun! That's cheating!"
He smirked even though she couldn't see him. "You never said I had to run the whole way."
She growled in annoyance. "Fine, whatever, but you better catch me."
"Catch you?" But then he saw her jump over the railing. "Wait a-"
"Whoo! This is fun!"
Luckily Syaoran managed to position himself quickly enough to catch her.
He frowned at her. "That was stupid. What if I hadn't caught you!"
She just shrugged. "I knew you would catch me." After a pause she asked, "Are you going to set me down now?"
Syaoran blushed as he set her down. "Sorry."
She waved away his words as she approached the door. "It wasn't so bad. Being in your arms."
His face only got redder, but fortunately Kinomoto then turned her attention to the door. "Hmm. Oh here it is!" She reached into her pocket and extracted a card before inserting it into a slot that was nearly invisible. She then tapped a small section of the door in some sort of pattern. A small beep sounded and the lock disengaged with a hiss. She turned and winked at him. "Invisible key pad. The buttons are heat sensitive. C'mon." She grabbed his hand and pulled him through the door.
The door shut with a loud click that echoed door the narrow hallway they were in. The silence would have been oppressive if Kinomoto had given him a chance to appreciate it, but she was pulling him down the hall too quickly for that. Though their loud echoing footsteps were not enough to drown out the sound of the veritable living dead whose moans grew louder as the reached another door at the end of the hall. Unlike the door in the stairwell this door looked impressive. It was like a door made to withstand explosions. It was nearly a foot thick and had three separate key pads.
However, the door was cracked open, and Kinomoto just reached her hands in and pried the door open. She must have activated some sort of mechanism because the door was too heavy for someone as petite as Kinomoto to open.
She moved to go in, but he grabbed her wrist. "Kinomoto, I don't think that this is such a good idea. This door has obviously been compromised. We could have a B.O.W. outbreak in the making here."
Kinomoto looked around curiously. "You think so. I don't know, Li-kun. If one of the experiments had broken out there would be alarms sounding everywhere. The door is probably just broken. We can tell the others later. Nothing ever happens here Li-kun. We're perfectly safe."
"There are still protocols to follow. I'll probably get fired for being down here, but lives could be in danger," Syaoran explained before he took the radio off his belt to contact the others. However he found himself scowling in disgust. "Those idiots they gave me a broken radio. I don't know what happened to it, but there are five puncture holes on this radio, four on the left and one on the right. The circuitry has been ruined." For a moment he envisioned someone plunging their fingers through the sides of his radio, but immediately shock off the silly notion. The radio was made out of a special plastic that was virtually indestructible. "Damn, okay, Kinomoto we're going to head back up the stairs."
"But Li-kun-"
"I'm sorry, but we can do something fun another day, okay?" Provided they weren't killed today.
Her face took on a militant cast, but then she sighed. "Fine, Li-kun can be such a meanie."
He sighed internally. Well she was bound to find out eventually. "Hn."
Kinomoto sulked as they headed back towards the staircase. Somehow he didn't see them racing back up the stairs near as joyfully as they'd come down.
He tried the door, but it would budge. The back of his neck started to itch "Kinomoto can you enter the code or whatever to open the door?"
"Hoe?" Surprise seemed to snap Kinomoto out of her pout. "This door doesn't lock on this side. It should open."
He tried the door again with the same results. "Well, it seems we're going to the 'zoo' after all. There other ways to get off this floor, right?"
Kinomoto nodded. "Ah-huh. There's two elevators on the other side. One has restricted access, but the other one should be usable."
"Alright well let's go."
The silence back down the hall was different quality. It was slightly nervous. They both stopped in front of the mostly open door, before Kinomoto stepped through the door and smiled at him. "I'm sure everything is fine. It always is."
"Right." Now if only the dread slithering in his stomach could believe that. "Follow me." He took the lead and suddenly they're were surrounded by the living, breathing, moaning dead.
"Oh, look they have some new ones!" He jerked his attention from what some might consider a 'normal' zombie, to cell Kinomoto was pointing at. The zombies had long arms like orangutans, but their teeth were so large they couldn't close their mouths. "They get stranger and stranger."
"They're disturbing, not strange," Syaoran muttered as the continued down the hall.
Kinomoto laughed. "They're entertaining."
He turned and glared at her. "They're people, Kinomoto. If anything this is sad." This was what so much of their world had become. It was their evitable doom screaming, hissing in their face.
"Heh, but you mean were don't you? They're not people anymore." She tilted her head puzzled.
"No. I mean are. They're still people. They're sick, they're victims."
She returned her gaze to one of the cells. "Li-kun believes those affected by the virus are still people. I think they would be very grateful to hear that."
He sighed. "If they could understand me."
She hummed. "Yeah if they could. We should get going. Li-kun is right, this isn't a zoo."
The they were silent again except for the occasional direction from Kinomoto.
Fifteen minutes later she said, "The elevator is just at the end of this hall."
He just nodded fighting the urge to heave a sigh of relief. The moans, growls and hisses surrounding them were putting him on edge.
But the relief evaporated as they turned down the hall Kinomoto had indicated.
The lights were flickering and it smelt unpleasantly of rotting meat, but it was the lump of flesh, that only vaguely resembled a scientist, that made the temperature drop below freezing.
"Oh, I see, lit-tle Sa-Ku-Ra brought a lit-tle friend. A lit-tle boyfriend," a rough voice sounded out from the shadowy confines of a nearby cell, the words enunciated with inordinate care.
Syaoran shoved Kinomoto behind him and place his hand over his sword medallion. In the dim light he could only make out a hunched over figure, but at least they didn't seem to be moving towards him.
"Hello, Ray-san. This is Li Syaoran-kun. He's from Hong Kong," Kinomoto chirped cheerfully as if there weren't zombies on the loose. Her friend 'Ray,' he too seemed entirely too calm. Since he was down there he should have long ago sounded an alarm. There was sure to be one in the vicinity.
And how did she know he was from Hong Kong? He didn't have an accent.
Ray's unhealthy sounding cackles broke through his confused thoughts. "Lit-tle Sa-Ku-Ra. Did you bring your lit-tle friend to see me? He seems so nice. So nice. He seems like a nice boy."
Syaoran frowned. Something was not right with Ray. He had the not entirely inexplicable urge to stab him then and ask later. "Why didn't you sound the alarm?"
Ray wheezed in what Syaoran assumed to be ill-conceived amusement. "Sound the alarm? Ha! Sound the alarm! He really is a nice boy Sa-Ku-Ra. So nice. So trusting. Sound the alarm. Ha. Yes."
"Kinomoto, I think something is wrong with your friend Ray."
Kinomoto bell like laugh sent chills down his spine. "Of, course Li-kun. Ray-san's been infected with the T-virus for over a decade."
He activated his sword and tried to calm his jumping nerves. His gut was screaming to run, but he couldn't just go screaming into the dark. "He's infected? Why didn't you mention that?"
"Ray-san is my friend. He won't hurt us."
Syaoran slid a glance to the extremely fresh corpse lying not two feet from them. "What about other people?"
He could feel her shrug behind him. "Everyone has to eat."
He frowned on one hand he felt the situation he found himself in seemed to require more thought. But he didn't have time to sit and think. These situations were decided in minutes, seconds. He simply didn't have time to be properly thorough.
"Kinomoto, let's proceed to the elevator. We're going to have to leave your friend."
"Hai!" Kinomoto returned brightly. "Bye Ray-san." Then she scampered to catch up to him for he hadn't even waited for a response from Ray. He figured Ray wasn't acting like a threat and he needed to save his energy for truly dangerous B.O.W.s.
"Bye-Bye, lit-tle Sa-Ku-Ra. Bye-Bye. It's like hap-pi-ly ever after. But who will save the prince I wonder? Who? Who? Bye-Bye."
Syaoran gritted his teeth at the creatures taunting. If there anyone prepared to deal with an infected it was him. Martial arts. Swordmanship. Those were useful in the face of the walking dead.
Kinomoto would not be harmed on his watch.
Kinomoto's friend wasn't the only escapee and by the time they reached the service elevator he counted seven empty cells and eleven dead scientists. To make matters worse Kinomoto said that they were passing through the section where the most dangerous of the infected were kept. It also seemed like none of the alarms were working. Not even the fire alarm.
"Someone must have disabled them," the still cheerful girl pointed out. She did not seem worried. Which was probably for the best. The situation would be hard enough to deal with without having a panicked civilian on his hands. Although he did find her general demeanor somewhat unnerving.
"Why would anyone do that?" he demanded confused.
But she only shrugged in response.
However, aside from Ray he had yet to see any sign of the infected. Fortunately, the dead scientist hadn't been dead long enough to rise again, but it was probably best to evacuate the level they were on as soon as possible.
The service elevator seemed to be in working order though and was threat free. He heaved a small sigh of relief as the thick doors closed on level five.
His relief was short lived as not a minute later the elevator jerked to stop and the lights cut out. The shrill ring of an alarm ricocheted in the confined space. At least one of the alarms worked somewhere. Unfortunately, that meant that the outbreak had spread to other floors.
A few minutes later the alarm abruptly cut off, but the lights remained off.
"We should sit down Li-kun."
And without giving him a choice Kinomoto pulled both of them to the floor. The both sat with their legs stretched in front of them. Her right leg just touching his left. Her arms clutched around his right arm.
He shrugged. He might as well sit while he decided his next plan of action.
Kinomoto's hold on him bordered on painful, but he remembered how she said she was afraid of the dark. If losing feeling in his arm was the price for her feeling better it wasn't a horrible price.
He could leave Kinomoto in the elevator. It was fairly secure. He could then exit through the top of the elevator and find help.
"Was the B.O.W. outbreak in Hong Kong like this, Li-kun?"
"I don't really remember. I was two. How- how did you know I'm from Hong Kong?" She mentioned it earlier to her friend Ray, but he had forgotten. He'd never told her and even Stone and McKay probably hadn't known. Most personal information wa skept confidential for security reasons. How on Earth did she know? It wasn't really that big of a deal, surely. There was no real reason to feel nervous.
Kinomoto giggled. "Don't worry about that Li-kun. It's kinda like you having magic, a secret."
He swallowed. A secret she apparently knew about. "But how did you-" She leaned, half her body was pressed against his, her breath whispered against his ear-Not this again-his heart was going crazy, this girl was driving him mad, he had to- "Shh, Li-kun. It's nothing."
"But-"
"Do you hear that?" Kinomoto asked breathlessly, her voice shaking with excitement.
"Hear what?" All he could hear was his heart pounding, something about Kinomoto-
And then he heard it. The moans. The sound of death walking.
Shit. This outbreak was getting worse all the time.
"Li-kun, does that sound like infected to you?"
"Possibly," he muttered noncommittally. Maybe it was just the lack of lighting or the confined space of the elevator, but, for a girl who was only 'something like' an assistant to a scientist, she didn't seem very alarmed by the notion of the walking dead. But that didn't mean he could lose his head. This was his job.
Slowly and with resolute calm even as the moans got louder he lifted his radio only to remember that it didn't work. "Damn." Normally defunct equipment was an annoyance, but this misfortune could mean the difference between life and death.
"Don't worry Li-kun. Can't you just use your magic?"
He shook his head. "Magic doesn't affect zombies because they're just animated corpses. At least not very well. There is something about them that deters magic from acting on them, but my sword should work well enough."
Kinomoto squealed. Or at least that what he likened the noise to. "What?"
She shrugged a little sheepishly. "I think it's kinda cool you have a sword. And a little sexy."
"Uh." Great. He was embarrassed all over again. He could practically hear his sisters chanting 'Xiao Lang has a crush!' They would be on him about just how ka-wai-i it was.
"Li-kun your so cute!" He ground his teeth. It looked like he was going to have to take her with him. With the infected so close, there was no guarantee how long the elevator would remain safe.
It took hardly any time to pop the ventilation grate from the top of the elevator. The car seemed to have stopped halfway between levels four and five. After five, level four was probably the most dangerous, but he didn't have much of a choice. He doubted Kinomoto could follow him in climbing the elevator cable to safety.
Luckily, the hallway the elevator opened into was clear of all life. Although he could hear the sound of moaning getting closer.
Kinomoto on her part decided to hold his hand that wasn't busy holding his sword. She didn't seem afraid though. And it wasn't too long before she revealed her motivation had nothing to do with their current situation. "This is the best date ever, Li-kun."
He didn't really know what to say to that. He guessed she might have no previous dates to compare their 'outing' to. To be fair he didn't either.
It wasn't long before the started encountering bodies, but they still hadn't been confronted with any B.O.W.s.
As if summoned by his thoughts a huge obviously mutated infected lumbered into their path. The lab coat draping in tatters across its massive shoulders indicating it used to be a scientist, but as deformed as the face was he recognized it. It was the man who he had seen in Kinomoto's office. The man who had appeared with his wife and son in an almost complete family portrait.
Kinomoto herself cleared away any doubts when she said, "Father." The shock of finding her father in such a state leaving her voice cold and sharp.
Her father seemed to recognize her, but any affection the man had held for his daughter seemed to be swept away in the madness induced by the virus. If anything her presence seemed to agitate him.
After a long moment Kinomoto lunged with his face twisted in a rabid snarl.
He kicked him in the gut and sent him flying back ten feet. Turning to the girl who had been his tour guide he asked, "What do you want me to do Kinomoto? I can merely render him unconscious, but there's no telling how much damage he'll do before this outbreak can be contained."
"The employees here sign a clause in their contracts for situations such as these. Leaving him alive would be unnecessarily dangerous."
He nodded. He had just finished his paperwork. There was no way to contain her father so he would have to be terminated. It was still something he was reluctant to do without consulting her first.
Her father was already back on his feet and stalking back in their direction.
Syaoran decided quickly removing the head would be the safest method of dispatching him, but when his sword met the flesh of his neck it met a hug amount of resistance like Kinomoto had become a statue. It shocked him enough that he was unable to completely dodge the man's enraged back hand to the face.
Syaoran shook off his slight daze before trying to find a weak spot. Unfortunately, his heart, lungs and stomach all proved equally impenetrable. Kinomoto clearly wasn't infected with a normal strain of the T-Virus. Had this whole incident occurred when one of this man's projects became uncontrollable?
"Kinomoto, you need to run. I'll hold him off so you can get help." There didn't seem to much chance of him defeating this brute. Not with the tools he had on hand. Not with having no knowledge as to the nature of his infection.
Kinomoto took his moment of distraction as an opportunity to smash his body into a wall. He probably wouldn't be able to hold off much longer. He had to try though. What chance did Sakura have against an abnormally infected man?
He tried to break the monster's hold on him only to be pressed harder into the wall. He could feel his ribs creak under to the pressure. The would give any moment and puncture his heart and lungs. He vision was narrowing.
The last thing he saw was Sakura walking towards his position rather than away. He wanted to scream at her to run. He wanted to ask why she was smiling like that.
He didn't particularly want to die in front of her.
The world went black.
Syaoran-kun I've been waiting for you.
He woke up in a hospital.
He woke up in a hospital because apparently he wasn't dead. The light was bright and hurt his eyes. There was a blue haired man he'd never met sitting next to him.
"Ah, Kinomoto-san, I think he's awake."
He jerked upright. "Sakura!" But quick scan of the room revealed only the blue haired man sitting next to him and the scowling boy he'd seen in Kinomoto's office.
The dark haired man's eyes narrowed. "Wrong flower. I'm Sergeant Kinomoto Touya."
It was her brother. The one in the military.
"We found you nearly dead on the fourth floor of a AVSI compound. You're the only one of the guards that seemed to even attempt to contain the outbreak that started between 10:35AM and 11:12AM. Why is that?"
Syaoran knew he should mention the man's sister, but instead he simply said, "I was watching the monitors." For some reason he wanted to keep her involvement a secret. The weird dream he'd been having really didn't help.
I've been dreaming about you for a long time. Did you know that Syaoran-kun?
The blue haired man nodded as if confirming his story. "The other guards confirmed that."
Kinomoto Touya gritted his teeth. "Hn. And why did you then confront the situation without sounding an alarm or calling for help?"
"The alarms didn't work," on level five, "And the radio I was given was broken."
The blue haired man nodded. It was starting to irritate Syaoran how this appeared to be some sort of interrogation.
Sergeant Kinomoto seemed to deflate slight with a sigh. He ran a frustrated hand over his face. "Another dead end." He turned to the blue haired man, "Hiiragizawa. Finish up in here. I have to go explain to the Commander why no one knows anything." And the he swept out of the room.
Hiiragizawa just turned to him with what had to be the world's most annoying smile. "Can you describe the infected you encountered and how you planned to disable it. No weapons were found on your person and the guards said you didn't yet have access to the armory."
Syaoran eyes widened. No weapons? That meant his sword-
Here Syaoran-kun. This will be a secret between you and me. Sounds fun, ne?
At sidelong glance at the table beside him revealed the location of his medallion. How had she been able to transform his sword?
"Li-san?"
He blinked as his attention returned to the man next to him. "Uh, I guess I was just going to use my fists. I have martial arts training. His flesh was strange though. It had no give." He couldn't cut it with his sword.
Hiiragizawa made a note on his official looking tablet. It was irritating. He hated bureaucracy and politics. He could practically feel their desire to somehow blame him for this incident.
Don't worry, Syaoran-kun. We're going to make this world burn.
"I see. We were unable to recover any other survivors from levels four and five. Did you see anyone else down there? Someone who seemed out of place? We have to consider this was a deliberate attack."
Well I'm working on that. Dad thinks it's too dangerous.
"Not really." Just Kinomoto Sakura. Why had no one mentioned her? The sergeant hadn't even commented on her name. Wasn't he worried be about his sister? Maybe she had just been a figment of his imagination. But she had seemed so real. He could remember how her hand felt in his and how her hair smelled like strawberries and how her smile was beautiful. "I didn't notice anything. Aside from the expected chaos of course."
Hiiragizawa nodded. "Of course. Well thank you for your cooperation Li-san. It seems you handed yourself well in this unfortunate tragedy. I hope you consider training to be a first responder. We need more level heads like yours among our ranks. One more question? Who was this Sakura you were asking for when you woke up?"
The world seemed to freeze, but Hiiragizawa didn't mean anything by it. He already powered down his tablet. It was a throw away question. An afterthought.
He blushed slightly. "She's a girl I met recently. I wanted- I wanted to see her." All technically true.
This is the best date ever, Li-kun.
Hiiragizawa's ever present smile widened, but after that he left taking his annoying smile with him.
He idly bounced his gaze around the room. He really should have told them about Sakura. He knew she was responsible for the outbreak. But he just couldn't. Telling them would feel like a betrayal.
At first it will be scary, but don't worry it's not so bad. Father didn't realize what he was doing, but it is truly amazing. The virus doesn't affect us the same way it affects them. Not the one my father created. You'll see. We'll have so much fun.
Absently he rubbed at a bandage at the base of his neck. It was amazing he wasn't dead. He had been so sure he was about to die. Sakura must have stopped him somehow.
Why had she stopped him?
Everything always turns out alright. At least, now it will. I know together we can do anything.
Dread gripped his heart, but a small part of him was curious. A small part of him was almost eager.
And that small part was growing.
Syaoran-kun I've been waiting for you.
March 4th 2052
Kinomoto Nadeshiko dies.
May 13th 2052
Kinomoto Sakura dies.
April 1st 2069
Li Syaoran doesn't die during a B.O.W. outbreak.