A/N: Let me apologize in advance for any other game references. Ayumi X Yoshiki is going to be a bit different; I will try to keep them as much in character. For those that are confused, italics are soft noises or authors notes, depending on if I put the A/N: tag before them Bold is for loud or strong sounds, and just so you know the title of the chapter, I'm putting the title in underlines at the beginning.
Finding Hope
BVVVVV BVV…
BVVVVV BVV…
Yoshiki woke to the familiar sound of his phone on vibrate. He picked it up, trying to remember what happened before he was unconscious. He picked it up to see Satoshi calling him, sighing and answering the phone.
"HELLO! Yoshiki, are you alright?" Satoshi asked frantically over the phone.
"Yeah, my head hurts a little though…" Yoshiki responded trying to recall events before he was unconscious.
"Dude, have you not noticed, the worlds gone to shit!" Satoshi yelled, reminding Yoshiki about what had happened. Some type of government collapse that Yoshiki didn't really understand happened, causing total anarchy, with what little government was left hoarding the people that kept their sanity in sorts of vaults. Most people went insane, a large amount killed them, and he was out too long to know what else had happened. Yoshiki had a run in with some new gang that had formed, Kizami's Khans, they called themselves. Their leader had knocked him out, telling him to 'Spread the message'.
"Yeah I've been out for a while" Looking at his clock to see about a week had past, "so who's in the vault with you" Yoshiki hoped that Satoshi was with Naomi, Yuka, and Ayumi, immediately feeling a warm rush of euphoria when he thought of Ayumi 'I love her so much'.
"Just Mrs. Shinozaki, Hinoe Shinozaki, Naomi, Yuka, and I" Satoshi responded.
"Where's Shinozaki?!" Yoshiki spat out.
"We haven't seen her yet, Naomi managed to contact her, but only for a little bit, she's holed up in her house, probably having a panic attack." Satoshi explained.
"I'll go get her and get her to the vault, wait which one are you in?"
"North Vault." Satoshi responded, much to Yoshiki's dismay. North Vault was the furthest.
"Why didn't you go to East?"
"North Vault is the only one that hasn't met their limit, and there is only a few other people here, should I tell Shinozaki that you're coming?"
"No, it'll only scare her."
"Okay, be careful, most survivors have lost their minds, forming small clans of cannibals, or gangs of bandits, speaking of which, watch out for the Khans. Good Luck."
Yoshiki hung up, thinking about how scared Ayumi must be. He gathered his coat and a spare change of warm clothes 'In case Ayumi needs something clean to wear' he thought. Heading out of his apartment complex, he looked around taking in the full effect of the apocalypse. There were bodies hanging from the buildings, some were fresh, others looked dried and crusty. Yoshiki hid behind a dumpster, trying to avoid the bandits. He felt something fall on him, he looked to see a body that had been hung, and skinned, all skin was removed, and the rope around its neck was bloody, the neck was stretched out from hanging under its weight. He almost let out a shocked shout, but held it in until the people that were raiding some store left.
He continued, but at a heightened pace, trying to get to Ayumi's house before anyone could lay a hand on her. Just the thought of some sick bastard like the Khans or some cannibal finding her first scared him and angered him, causing his heart to beat faster, he could hear it clouding out his hearing, and could feel the pulsing motions all over his body, heightening his pace to a silent run, he noticed something catching his attention, a Fish and Game store.
Catching a quick stop, he entered the small store, to find most everything was either burned or missing. He looked around, eventually finding a hatchet, with a flat smashing end and a sharp cutting edge, and a few bullets, but nothing else. Knowing that the world was now much more dangerous, he stuffed the hatchet and bullets in his jacket pockets, the tip on the hatchet's safety sheath rubbing uncomfortably against his stomach. Running once again, he made short distance to Ayumi's house. Arriving completely tired, yet not the least discouraged.
Upon trying to open Ayumi's house, he found the house to be locked tight. He took the smashing hammer side of the hatchet, and made short work of the door knob and lock, opening the door to look for Ayumi.
Ayumi was holed up in her room, deep in thought of what was happening. She had tried communing with spirits to get advice, but nothing had happened. Her thoughts drifted to and argues that of Satoshi, Yoshiki, her dear sister, and Heavenly Host. 'Hinoe said that the spirits told me that I shouldn't pass up the best person in my life, but she never told me who it was…It must be Satoshi, it has to be…' she thought, but soon her thoughts drifted 'Yoshiki, he protected me… but he's a delinquent, he was probably trying to get in my pants, or trying to take advantage of me, he's so bad…but he helped me, yet he's still a delinquent and cannot be trusted' Thinking of Heavenly Host next 'I wish that I had been stuck with Satoshi, he's trustworthy and brave, he would defend me' She finally thought about Satoshi 'Satoshi is so nice, and he's the only one that would be loyal, and he will save me…unless Nakashima nabs him first, she probably has…but he's a good friend, and he'll come save me.'. Her door to her room few open, she shrieked and closed her eyes huddling in a corner, fear ran through her body as she felt large hands touch her arm, then she heard her assaulter speak.
"It's okay, you're safe now…" She looked up to see Yoshiki, light glaring in from her window surrounded him, almost silhouetting him, making him look like a Guardian or Savoir. She fell in love with the appearance, feeling safe, but only for a second, realizing where she was.
"Kishinuma" "What the hell are you doing here!" "Where's Mochida?" "Don't you know that you scared me half to death!" "Why did you break and enter!" Yoshiki smiled to himself, he listened to her ranting then thinking to himself 'Good she's alright and sane.'
"I came here to help you; we have to get to the vaults." He said, the smile disappearing, and a deep look of sternness cast upon him.
"Like hell I'm going with you! Go get Mochida!" She snapped angrily at him, and upon hearing his best friend's name, Yoshiki's expression changed from one of sternness to one of shocked anger.
"Pack what you need; I brought you a spare change of warm water-proof clothes if you need them." He said, offering the clothes to her. She bitterly took them to change in the bathroom. SLAM "Why the hell do you have clothes in my size! Are you some type of pervert!"
"You know I have a little sister, those are just extra clothes for her when she comes and visits." He responded. It must be a satisfactory response, since she stopped complaining about it.
"Okay, how do I look?" She stepped out of her bathroom, the small water-tight hoody barely limping off her, and the pants clinging slightly to her legs.
'So cute' he thought, "Cute to say the least" he replied, "Why?"
"You pervert, I just want to know if Satoshi will like this…" She snapped, biting her thumb nail as she looked down at the floor mentioning her fading crush.
'He's been dating Nakashima for months, when are you going to except that!' He yelled in his thoughts, but only muttered, "Oh…" letting a single tear run down his nose and drip onto the floor at the mention of her idea of a perfect person. "Well, get everything you need." He shot her a look of sudden seriousness.
"I thought I told you, I will not go with someone like you…get Mochida" She bit sternly at him.
"And I thought that I told you that he's not coming, he's in the north vault with your family." He snapped, starting to get flustered, but upon seeing her start to get upset. "Why are you separated from your family?"
"We were going to the vault and some people came and dragged me away and I managed to get away but I couldn't find my way to the vault and I came here and I was stuck here and and…" She was ranting on, starting a panic attack, Yoshiki saw this, and wrapped his arms around her.
"It's going to be alright, don't worry." He kept her close to him until she calmed down.
"Get off me!" She finally returned to the real world.
"Ha, okay, but you seriously need to pack; I'm the only one who knows you're here AND can get to you." He said, trying to win her favor with logic.
"Fine." Sighing and giving in. She packed her backpack with her sketch book, her sprit book, her IDs, just in case, and several other miscellaneous items that she felt she needed.
"You should bring a knife or gun, some type of weapon, the gangs are unrelenting." He said as he started to leave. Hearing this, Ayumi grabbed a small, but sharp military-grade spade that her dad left when he left the family, tucking it into a belt loop originally made for a hammer, but the spade fit well. She jogged for a short bit to catch up with her protector, staying close but not too close, trying to remain sane and straight-minded. She felt like a vice was surrounding her in the awkward silence.
"Sooo…what are you going to do once you reach the vault…" She queried, trying to break the silence.
"I don't know, but right now all I know is that I have to protect you…" He stated, trying to gain her trust, smiling slightly at her with closed eyes, trying to lighten the gloomy mood as they walked through the neighborhood. The sky was overcast, darkening the light that managed to get through, and the dark building that had grayed and were destroyed from the apocalypse, the figures were darkened as they moved, anyone looking from a distance of more than three meters would only see silhouettes, one large protective one and a smaller feeble one.
Ayumi wanted to be mad, but felt very sad instead, a cross between the somber world, the memories of all the times he had saved her, how bad she was to him and all the rationality and friends that Heavenly Host had taken from them. She wept silently, 'I want to trust him, tell him I'm sorry…but what if he just sees that as an opening, and he exploits me' she thought, not noticing him take note of her crying, and moving closer to her, to wipe away her tears.
"It's going to be okay" He said, towering over her, giving her a reassuring smile. She moved away after he wiped away her tears, still walking, she didn't want to lose her train of thought and forget something so important. At this point, she wanted to feel his reassuring embrace, still wishing Satoshi was with her, and not the delinquent, even though she considered both her friends.
He didn't want the embrace to stop; it was so warm in such cold weather. When she pulled out, he knew that she was trying to keep her mind on top of things. He so wished for her trust at the minimum, at least then he would stand a chance against her love for Satoshi, 'Despite the fact that he has been dating Nakashima ever since we got out of that school.' He thought to himself.
On the way to the country side, they stopped at another Fish and Game store, looking around to find nothing but a tinder kit. Collecting the tinder kit, Yoshiki noticed a small opening in the floor, pulling back the rug to reveal a small box in a crevice in the floor, with a gun within. He took the gun, quickly pulling Ayumi over to tuff it in her pocket, with the safety on. Neither new a lot about guns, but he had heard enough to figure out how a simple handgun worked, but he wanted to make sure Ayumi was safe.
They trekked to the tree line that divided them and the country-side. They agreed to pitch camp there, in the brush tree line. They enjoyed a small dinner of a shared can of beans. Ending up sleeping next to each other, under the safety of a pine tree; concealing that they were even there.