I've decided that I'm not gonna include my very embarrassing 'prologue' here. (Kind of a crossover with The Last of Us. Simple apocalypse stuff, a dystopian future and such sheer originality wow.)

Anyways, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1

Kidou wiped an annoying bead of perspiration running down his forehead. It was an exercise in futility, really, because his entire face was rolling with sweat droplets anyway. He blinked strenuously, trying to force his tired eyes to focus on the dark forest path in front of him.

The air was eerily still and undisturbed, seemingly suffocating due to the dense trees surrounding him, with only the continuous chirp of forest crickets serving as a semblance of company. Fudou would roll his eyes if he was with him right now. He could even mentally hear Fudou chiding him to 'suck it up and deal with it like a man', a shitty saying which Fudou seemed to overuse these days. Kidou thought it was utter horseshit.

Speaking of Fudou, the guy had once again surpassed Kidou's expectations of the limit of human stupidity.

Honestly, who in their right mind would sneak out of a high-security quarantine zone after curfew?

Fudou would, of course. He doesn't have a single care in the world for his own safety.

Still, what could possibly be so pressing and urgent that Fudou would do such a thing? Kidou knew, although he would never admit it verbally, that Fudou was not a completely dense person. Sure, he did some idiotic things from time to time, but he was also outstandingly intelligent in times of need, and knew when the right time to be serious was. Kidou gritted his teeth, feeling the ugly claws of trepidation broiling from the pits of his stomach. If something had happened to Fudou...

Kidou finally spotted him at the end of the forest, sitting on the edge of a sharp cliff with his gangly legs dangling off. Kidou, relieved beyond words, pushed through the thick shrubs that blocked his way, and Fudou alertly turned at the noise.

"What the hell? Didn't expect to see you here," Fudou quirked an amused eyebrow, an electrifying glint in his green eyes as the corner of his lips curled into a smirk. "Did you actually—"

Kidou was decidedly not amused, stalking over angrily and giving the other boy a hard smack on the head before he could complete his sentence. Fudou groaned in an exaggerated fashion, shooting him an indignant glare as he rubbed the sore spot.

"Don't you have any sense at all?"

"Jesus Christ— No one asked you to look for me!"

"Would you rather I leave you alone next time? With the possibility that a walker, or worse, a soldier finds and kills you?"

Fudou rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. I can look after myself."

Kidou clicked his tongue in blatant irritation. He really should continue admonishing Fudou for being so utterly illogical and reckless, but there was something about his expression that made Kidou hesitate.

Kidou had never seen him with such a... gentle face. Normally, his face would be scrunched up with either anger or malice, with the sole intention to intimidate anyone who dared to step up to him. Kidou understood that Fudou's hard front was to protect himself, but he so rarely witnessed Fudou's raw emotions that it was almost foreign to see him in one of his most vulnerable moments. The soft gleam of moonlight that fell onto his porcelain-white skin only seemed to fuel this, dusting him with an imperturbable ethereal tenderness.

"You came here to look at the stars?" Kidou pried, noticing that he was gazing at the night sky again, his glassy eyes reflecting the gorgeous glint of the millions of starlight above them.

Fudou made a face. "Well now that you've said it out loud, it sounds fucking stupid."

"I'm not judging you or anything," Kidou said, suppressing a slight chuckle. He settled down beside his friend and threw a glance at the sky, marvelling at the sheer beauty of the massive stretch of booming stars; at the millions of bright starlight dotting the dark cerulean.

It was extraordinarily impressive, to say the least. The panorama was easily a thousand times more mesmerising than it was from the quarantine zone, and Kidou suddenly realised Fudou's unspoken intentions. He had wanted a place where he could be himself.

It was blindingly obvious that Fudou would never discuss subjects such as his feelings and personal problems to anyone, having decided that displaying any kind of emotion would express his alleged weakness to those around him. Fudou loathed being viewed as 'weak', but still, perhaps he is weak sometimes. He can't always hide behind the façade that he puts up for a reputation, and he can't always suppress the burning feelings that manifest within his soul, constantly fighting for an output. Perhaps, this was his output.

"I'll come here with you if you want," Kidou blurted out embarrassingly without prior contemplation.

Fudou was completely caught off guard for a brief moment, wiping the deer-in-the-headlights expression from his face and promptly replacing it with a hard frown.

Oh god, what was he even saying?

"I mean— I meant that your mother would want me to come, you know. Because it's dangerous and— and stuff."

"In the first place, weren't you super against me coming here because it's dangerous? What's going on with you?"

Fudou extended a hand and slapped it onto Kidou's forehead, his frown coming back twice-fold when the other boy shifted uncomfortably under his touch.

"Your face is red. Are you alright?" Fudou teased in a patronising voice, a predatory grin forming on his face as Kidou indignantly swatted his hand away, an infuriated glare in his eyes.

"You—!"

"Alright then," Fudou cut him off, not really in the mood to sit through another lecture session. "You can come with me next time, but just make sure you don't slow me down."

"Hmph. I could say the exact same thing to you."