Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended.
Day 0
Midori Dojo
Sango was closing her dojo for the day when the high pitched wail of the emergency signal filled the cavernous room. She fished her phone out of her back pocket to check the message and turn off the sound. While she expected it to be a test, as it usually was, her phone was flashing red and that was not normal for a test. A frown formed on her face as she tapped the screen to see the emergency message. It was from Timeless Palace. Kagome's grandfather had founded the organization to improve Japan after World War II.
"What the…?"
Looking towards Miroku, who had been waiting for her to close, Sango felt fear try to take root. Her fiancé only looked confused and a little concerned, but that was enough for her.
"An infection?" She questioned as her phone returned to normal. The emergency message persisted in a banner across the top of the screen.
"What does that mean?" Miroku asked her as he crossed the dojo to stand next to her. It was only a few seconds before both of their phones pinged again, this time for an incoming email. Sango opened it without hesitation.
"It's from Kagome." She told him while scanning the contents. It was a forwarded message from her grandfather. Each sentence only made Sango's earlier fear grow and her blood chill. Whatever had set off the emergency alert was connected to an infection in Akihabara. It killed victims by wearing the body down through excessive adrenaline, then reanimated it into something worse. Sango almost rolled her eyes. It sounded like a plot straight out of a movie, but it might be real. If it was real, and if Daikaku was telling the truth, these infected individuals were dangerous.
"Sango. We need to get back to the apartment, and get in contact with the others." Miroku told her while wrapping one of his hands around hers. It was comforting, like it always was, and calmed the panic rising into her throat. She could deal with this. She had Miroku with her and nothing had ever been impossible for them before.
"Yeah… Yeah. Okay. We need to make sure we get supplies on the way home if we can. Just in case. We might have to stay there for a while." She told Miroku, who only smiled at how quick she bounced back, though she would thank him for that. Going to grab her bag she noticed a bokken on the wall that she had used today for practice with a student. It was worn, the polish merging with the wood at the edges of scars from heavy use. Picking it up, she admired the weight like she did every time and felt some courage come back to her. If there were dangerous people out there, alive or dead, then she needed to be able to protect herself. Miroku noticed her action and picked up a bo staff she'd taught him to use some time ago. He looked uncomfortable with a weapon in his hands.
Sango slung her bag over one shoulder and went to look out the front windows. It was almost disturbing how calm it was on the street considering the news that they had received. This area had always been a little quiet, hence why she liked it, but this was too quiet. There were no people on the streets. If she focused enough she could hear faint shouting, but it had to be at least two blocks away. Her grip on the bokken tightened. She could feel Miroku standing behind her and she knew she had to move forward.
"Myoga-san's store might still be open." Miroku told her softly as she pushed one of the doors open with a gentle touch. It was noiseless. Sango looked both ways down the street, but didn't see anything. They were alone.
"Yeah, he might be. Stubborn enough. We need to get food and water, since that's what's most important right now. If you see anything else that might be useful, grab it last." She instructed him as they slipped out the door and started walking towards Myoga's convenience store. The owner may have been old, but he was rather tenacious when it came to his livelihood.
It was silent during their trip, but the closer they got to the store the more Sango noticed the little signs of what was happening. Doors hanging wide open, as if someone left in a hurry. Curtains closing as they walked by. Broken windows in abandoned stores. She could even see some people running down the street parallel to theirs when they passed alleyways. It appeared that the neighborhood was either locking itself up or had already left. It didn't surprise her that she'd missed most of it. With her last class of the day only having two students she'd been completely focused on them.
She prayed that Myoga hadn't locked up shop and left, even though she felt awful for it.
It only took about ten minutes to reach the intersection where Myoga's store was. When they turned the corner Sango had to stop herself from gasping. The windows had been busted, leaving glass shards scattered across the pavement. The lights were still on, but she didn't hear anything from where she was. Tensing up, she slowly made her way to the door with Miroku at her back.
It was a mess on the inside. Whoever had broken the windows had smashed a cooler of juice that had spread across the floor. The magazine rack was also knocked over, resting against one of the shelves filled with chips. Stepping carefully through shattered glass door Sango stopped for a second to listen. The only sound was the fizzling of the fluorescent bulbs overhead. Miroku walked around her to check the cashier area where Myoga always sat with his crosswords. She was perusing the destroyed store when Miroku caught her attention.
"Myoga-san!"
She spun to follow him only to see Myoga on the ground, collapsed in a corner of the cashier area. One hand pressing against his dark red abdomen. He weakly opened his eyes and a small smile touched his face.
"Sango-chan. Miroku-chan. It's good to see you lovebirds again." Myoga said with a gasping breath. It was the same way he always greeted them, no matter how long it had been since their last meeting, but the blood coating his lips made it darker than usual. Miroku placed a hand on the old man's forehead and frowned.
"What happened Myoga-san?" Miroku asked with a gentle tone as Sango looked out the front door to watch in case other people came by. Anyone else who came to harass Myoga would have her to deal with.
"Some idiots came in and demanded money and smokes. Told em' to get lost and they shot me." He explained in a whisper, a stark contrast to his harsh words. Sango looked over to see his eyelids fluttering with effort while Miroku did his usual EMT check. Looking around she found a first aid kit stashed under the counter and put down her bokken to pull it out. She went to hand it to Miroku, but he pushed it away and shook his head. She could feel tears gathering in her eyes for a moment, but got herself under control.
"Don't worry about me, kiddos. Not gonna make it anyway. Just...take what you need and tell that brat I was always proud of him, okay?" Myoga said as he took another shuddering breath. Miroku nodded and gripped the old man's free hand.
"We'll find him and let him know." Miroku said as she crouched down next to him. Myoga smiled. They stayed there, hidden behind the cashier counter, and watched an old friend take his last few breaths.
–
North ARK Offices
Totsuka stopped to catch his breath for a moment as the door closed. The sound echoed in the stairwell and he hoped no one was there to hear it. He'd barely been able to sneak past the crazed group that had been fighting in the lobby. His arms hurt and he carefully shifted his precious cargo to get the blood flowing through them again. Anna tightened her hold on his neck.
"It's alright Anna. We'll be alright." He told the little girl in a soothing manner before making his way up the stairs of the office building. They needed to find a place to hole up for a bit. It was absolute insanity outside.
When he'd first seen the fog creep around the streets towards the park he hadn't thought. He'd picked up Anna and ran in the opposite direction. Most people seemed to be trying to get home or hide in stores, but he had kept running. The bar was hours away on foot, especially with carrying Anna, and his apartment was even farther away. He had to find a place for them to stay, but with the panic he didn't want Anna being around other people. There was already looting, so who knew what else was happening. Only when he'd gotten weary of running did he stop to look around. There had been an office building nearby and he'd made a beeline for it.
Now he needed to find a level that was safe. As he walked up the stairs he stopped to peer through the door windows on each level. He decided on the fourth floor, mostly because the lights were out. Pushing the door open slowly he stopped to listen. It was silent. They couldn't even hear the group on the ground floor, and he hoped that was because of the distance. The only light for the level came from the floor to ceiling windows that stretched across the entire right side of the office and it was dim at best. Still, he was able to see that the level looked to be in the middle of some renovations as most of the cubicles were empty.
"Anna? I'm going to put you down, okay?" Totsuka told her. She nodded while untangling her arms from around his neck. He rolled his shoulders and shook his arms as Anna looked around the office. It was open for the most part, but there were a couple rooms closed off from the rest. One looked like it was a manager's office.
"Let's go over there." He whispered to Anna as he gestured towards the room. She nodded and follow him closely, on hand clenched tight in the hem of his shirt. The door was unlocked and when he pushed it open there wasn't a single squeak. Whoever worked in this office had most likely left when the emergency message went out. There were files scattered everywhere and behind them all stood a picture of a young man with a pretty girl. Totsuka hoped they had found each other.
Leading Anna in he set her on the rolling chair in front of the desk. There were two other doors in the office. One led to a small bathroom, with only a toilet and a sink. The other was an even smaller closet, but it had a few snacks, a pillow, and a blanket. This guy must have been a big shot despite being so young. Pulling out the pillow and the blanket Totsuka turned to set it up on the floor for Anna in a space farthest from the door. She watched him quietly and he wondered how she was dealing with this. She would tell Mikoto if he were here, but he doubted she'd be willing to tell him. She had only been living with them for a year and in that time had only opened up to their leader. Totsuka smiled and tried his best to seem cheery and positive.
"Okay. Anna, I'm going to go check the rest of this floor for anything we can use. Can you stay here?" He asked her. Anna nodded and pulled her feet up onto the chair. Totsuka tried not to frown at how quiet she was being, considering she wasn't ever a really chatty kid, but it was a bit concerning. Patting her on the head with a sigh he turned to leave and search the office.
It was difficult to see very far in the dim light, but with how crazy people were acting outside he was unwilling to turn on the overhead lights. No need to broadcast where they were. Luckily, as he was checking cubicles he found a tool bag with a small flashlight inside. There was a bigger one, but it would cast more light than made him comfortable. Using the flashlight he was able to find the break area tucked away in a corner near the stairwell door. There was only a small case of bottled water and a few small bags of chips in the cabinets. There was a vending machine, but without a key the only way to open it would be to break the window and that would be loud. He was going to have to go out tomorrow to find them more food and supplies.
He hoped Mikoto or Kusanagi found them soon. They would know what to do. He hoped this would all be over with soon. After all, it was Timeless Palace that had sent out the emergency message. They had to be working on it, right?
Hearing a crash and arguing coming from the stairwell Totsuka ducked behind a cubicle and clicked off the flashlight. Peeking around the edge of the cubicle wall he looked towards the manager's office where Anna was. He couldn't see her from where he was, but he hoped she wasn't scared. Averting his gaze to the stairwell entrance he watched it carefully. The arguing got closer and he watched as whoever it was ran past their floor. A second shadow following immediately after. They were both yelling something that he couldn't hear very well. He stayed in the cubicle for a few more minutes before going back to Anna. When he entered she wasn't in the seat, but hiding under the desk. Despite keeping her usual neutral expression he could tell she was scared, her hands trembling as she clutched her knees.
"It's okay, Anna. They passed us." He told her gently. She only pulled her knees closer to her chest. With a smile he collected the pillow and blanket and arranged them under the desk before turning on the little flashlight.
"Why don't you get some sleep?"
Anna moved to lay down and he covered her with the blanket. It was a bit thin, but her dress was thick enough that with both she should be warm for the night. She kept the flashlight next to her, the pale beam illuminating the underside of the desk. Totsuka made a mental note to look for batteries in the morning. Walking back to the door, he wondered if he should search the other levels right now while it was dark or wait until morning. Standing by the door he looked out the windows. He could see the sparkling lights of Tokyo that he had been fondly recording for the past two weeks. It was almost like nothing had changed.
Then a shadow passed over the windows, quickly followed by a faint, but sickening, thud.
Totsuka closed the door and tried not to cry.
–
Higurashi Shrine
It was getting late and Sota was getting nervous. It had been a few hours since he had heard from Kagome, and he had thought she would be here by now. Yata and Fushimi shifted on the couch and Sota was glad they were here. They'd been about to split at the arcade when the signal had gone out and he'd gotten his grandfather's message. Once his phone had returned to normal he'd immediately gotten a call from Kagome. In that moment it had calmed his rising panic.
'Sota. Go to the shrine. Stay in the house. Don't let anyone in.'
That's what she'd said. She sounded so calm in that moment and he knew she was already in survival mode. It made him feel better to know that his big sister was out there and she would find him. She'd survived stranger conditions before. He'd barely had time to tell her that Yata and Fushimi were with him before the call got dropped. He had tried to call her back, but hadn't been able to raise her again.
Still, it was Kagome. After everything she'd endured this would be easy. She would get to the shrine and when she did everything would be fine. She would know what to do.
He had to believe that.
With a sigh he looked over at Fushimi and Yata. They both seemed worn out and he could definitely sympathize. The arcade had been close to the shrine, but it had taken almost half an hour to get back and they had run the entire distance. While his grandfather's email had said there were infected individuals in the city they hadn't seen any. There were only regular people, but everyone was in a panic and more than one person had tried to stop them. It had been disturbing to see families running together, mothers and fathers keeping their children between them. It made him think of his mother in Okinawa.
He had tried to call her, but her cell phone had been out of range. Then they had called Yata's family who had gone to Hokkaido for a week long vacation. There hadn't been anything on that end. He and Yata had to convince Fushimi to call his mother, who had recently told her friends she had no son, but she had rejected the call. He hadn't seemed too bothered. They had both received several messages from other members of the gang they were a part of. He knew they were concerned for certain members of the group. The three of them had been nervously moving around the house for the past two hours in an attempt to call people they knew.
Sota sighed and rubbed his eyes to wake himself up. He'd never had a more tiring day in his entire life.
"You guys want something to drink?" He asked as he got up and made a beeline for the kitchen. Some tea would wake him up, or some coffee. He heard both of his friends follow him as he pulled out the coffee and tea, debating internally on which he wanted.
"Got any coffee?" Fushimi asked before looking through the cupboards, as was his way. Yata went straight for the fridge and started to pull out various ingredients.
"I'll make us something to eat." Yata said as he cleared a space on the counter and set up a cutting board and knife.
Suddenly the kitchen was filled with all kinds of sounds. Fushimi was opening a box of cookies, the cellophane crackling loudly. Sota flipping on the coffee brewer and listening to the water heat up. Yata mixing things together and turning on the stove. It felt right. Normal. It could have been a morning at Yata and Fushimi's apartment, and that made Sota smile.
This was much better than having the TV on. They'd turned it on earlier to watch the news and it had been nothing but chaos. Tokyo was the largest metropolis in the world and its entire population was going insane. There was already looting taking place, people attacking each other in the streets, homes being broken into. There were only two news stations still broadcasting and both had locked themselves up after their reporters in the field were attacked on air. They were lucky to be at the shrine. It had been closed when everything happened and no one was going to run to a shrine out in the open when things went to hell. There was nothing here to help them, as far as they knew.
Sota watched the coffee brew, slowly filling the small glass pot, and enjoyed the noise in his home. All he needed now was for Kagome to arrive and help them figure out what they should do. She'd want tea, though. She had always been a tea drinker, never coffee. With that thought he went to fill the kettle with water and put it on the stove.
"Ya think Kagome'll be back soon?" Yata asked as he let something simmer over the stove. It smelled good and Sota was glad that Kagome had gotten Yata his job as a part-time line cook at a fancy restaurant. He had always been the only one between the three of them that could cook anything vaguely edible, but his experience in an actual restaurant had made it better.
"Of course she will, idiot." Fushimi responded while pouring the coffee into three mugs. Yata turned away from the food with a frown, ready to yell at their friend. Sota tried not to sigh and was about to open his mouth and stop their budding fight when the trill of the landline filled the kitchen. Sota stared at the phone on the wall for a second, wondering if it was a fluke, when another ring echoed through the air. He was across the room and picking it up before the sound died.
"Kagome?!"
Some part of him knew, even as he shouted her name desperately into the receiver, that it wasn't her. Kagome wouldn't waste her time with a call if she was already on her way. Not to mention, she would try each of their cellphones first. Still, the voice that answered him was more than welcome.
"Sota? Where's Kagome?"
It was Sango. Dependable, tough Sango. If he ever lost Kagome he knew the first person he could go to was Sango. She was his sister's best friend and he would trust her with his life if she asked him. Having Sango around was like having a second big sister. It was good to hear from her.
"Sango? I-I'm glad you're alright. Where's Miroku?" Sota asked, knowing they had to be together. Yata and Fushimi abandoned their food to crowd around the phone. He pulled the phone away from his ear a bit so their could hear both sides of the conversation. They'd never met Sango or Miroku, but he had told them about his sister's childhood friends.
"Miroku's fine, he's with me. We're at our apartment right now. Where's Kagome?"
She sounded desperate, and he wished he could tell her good news. Sango and his sister cared for each other as if they were twins sometimes.
"I don't know. She called and told me to go to the shrine. She said not to let anyone in." He told her, once again thinking of his sister's orders. It was quiet on the other side and for a moment Sota thought he'd lost her. He heard a shuddering breath on the other side.
"Okay. We'll ju-zzzz." The sudden static crackled between them and made all three jump.
"Sango?! Are you there?!" Sota shouted into the phone, hoping that the interference would be temporary and abate quickly. All he heard on the other line was white noise before the dial tone picked up again. The call had been dropped.
"She okay?" Yata asked, still staring at the phone in his hand. Sota could only nod in response. Hanging up the phone he turned to his best friends. It was quiet again.
–
Iyashi Apartments
There was scratching at the door. Kikyo was a light sleeper, so she heard it first. To be honest, she was surprised that she had been able to fall asleep at all. After the emergency signal and Kagome's email she and Inuyasha had been on edge trying to figure out what they should do. Their area was a bit quiet, because it was an apartment block and a majority of the tenants were at work when it happened.
Looking over at Inuyasha she saw that he was out cold, his cast tapping the edge of the bed frame with every deep breath. His painkillers must have been strong to still be working. He had taken them before the signal to help with his wrist, and they had made him very sleepy. He snored softly and she couldn't stop herself from smiling. It was like any other morning.
A clicking noise echoed down the silent hallway to their bedroom and Kikyo froze. She knew that sound. That was sound of the door handle turning. Someone was coming into the apartment. Had she forgotten to lock it? Was she really that distracted? That tired? She had spent hours trying to call their friends and family and hadn't even bothered to lock the door? This wasn't a safe neighborhood anymore.
Keeping quiet, she tried to shake Inuyasha awake but it was no use. Unless she started yelling, which would surely call her unannounced visitor to their bedroom, her boyfriend was not going to be waking up anytime soon.
Shuffling off their bed as softly as she could, Kikyo found herself hoping it was someone trying to find a place to stay. With everything falling apart like it was she would try to find somewhere to stay hidden from it for a while too. Yet she still opened their closet to see if there was anything inside she could defend herself with. Unfortunately, Inuyasha's baseball bat must have been in the hall closet with the rest of his sports equipment for a change because she couldn't find it. The only thing she could find was her old bow from her time as captain of the archery team in high school, accompanied by a small quiver of arrows. The bow was hardly useful in such a cramped space as her apartment.
She picked up an arrow and frowned. It was old and she hadn't sharpened the tip in a long time. It was hardly an intimidating weapon meant to frighten off unwanted visitors, but it would keep them at bay at least. Maybe if she threatened to stab them with it they would leave her alone. She hoped that it didn't come to that.
There was shuffling in the living room, but nothing was being knocked over or broken. So the intruder wasn't looking for something specific? That ruled out looters. She hoped her original idea that they were looking for shelter was true. That had to be it. Right?
Gently opening the door to the hallway she poked her head out. She couldn't see the living room from here, so she couldn't see who was there and she wished that she could. It would give her a better idea of how to approach them. For a moment she considered calling out to them, but decided against it. What if they were dangerous? What if they had a weapon? The news had been nothing but atrocities being committed left and right.
Slipping through the small opening, Kikyo kept her back pressed against the wall as she crept down the hallway. She stopped halfway to the living room as she felt nervousness creep up on her. There was a reason she was a nurse. She wasn't a fighter, and she never had been. Her grip tightened on the arrow, keeping the point out in front of her. She thought of Inuyasha, asleep and vulnerable, and her resolve hardened.
She turned the corner to look into her living room and stopped in her tracks. Whatever she had been expecting to see, this wasn't it. Daikaku's email to Kagome had been helpful, but there was no way it could have even remotely prepared her for this.
The woman in her living room didn't look dead or infected, but she must have only been in the first stage of the infection. Daikaku had told Kagome it burned a body out through sheer adrenaline overload and unbridled rage, killing the person through exhaustion alone. Then it brought them back. This person in her home hadn't burned out yet. Her hair was pristine and her skin had the illusion of a healthy glow to it. The only things out of place were her blood stained hands and her coal black eyes.
Kikyo stared and the medical part of her brain supplied reasoning by dilated pupils. But another part of her, a religious part she hadn't listened to in a long time, said it was a demon. There was a demon in her living room.
She took a step back and the woman stilled unnaturally, not even a light sway in her body, before turning in a quick, jittery movement. Her limbs twitched oddly, almost too fast to see sometimes, and Kikyo felt fear wash over her.
In that moment the woman moved, far too fast for Kikyo to comprehend. Before she knew it she was laid out in the hallway with the woman hovering over her. Fear taking over, Kikyo let out a scream. In that moment it felt like everything slowed down to a crawl. The woman was trying to attack her, snapping her teeth audibly and attempting to scratch her through her sweater. Kikyo tried to push her away, but only managed to keep her at bay. Then, the woman reared back and opened her mouth unnaturally wide. Eyes widening in fear Kikyo pulled her arrow back up, holding it out in front of her face.
When the woman came rushing back to bite her the arrow immediately pierced her eye. It sunk in easily and because of the woman's strength there was enough force that it pushed through the socket and into the skull. Blood spattered her neck and Kikyo kept screaming and crying. The woman ceased her attack and collapsed, placing her entire body weight on the nurse she had tried to kill. With the woman no longer moving Kikyo went quiet.
"Kikyo?!" Inuyasha's yell carried through the apartment and Kikyo started breathing heavily. She pushed at the body on top of her and it barely moved. Her hands were shaking and the fletching of the arrow brushed gently against her cheek. Panic started to set in again that she was trapped, but then the body was hauled off her. Inuyasha pulled the woman away, one hand gripping the back of her blouse, and Kikyo was up and in the hallway bathroom before he even turned to face her. She closed the door immediately, pressing her body against the door and locking it.
Outside she could hear Inuyasha closing the front door with the corpse on the other side. Inside the bathroom she could only hear her labored, panicky breathing. The handle jiggled and for a moment she jumped and thought it was another one, but then there was a soft knocking on the door.
"Kikyo? Are you alright?" His voice sounded shaky and half awake and while it still gave her a measure of comfort to know he was there it hardly abated her fear. With her whole body shaking she turned the faucet and grabbed her custom first aid kit. Running her hands under the water she saw two long red cuts along her forearm. Blood oozed out of them and the water stung the wounds as she cried silently.
"Kikyo?"
She wasn't alright.
–
Nokori Hotel
He had never used a knife before. The handle felt strange in his hand and the blood on the blade's edge was disturbing to look at. It had saved his life, and Kusanagi's, more than once today, but he didn't like keeping it around. Mikoto had always ended fights using his own physical strength, and his hands were littered with scars to prove it. Still, he was willing to use the knife if it kept them alive long enough to find Anna and Totsuka.
Putting the knife down on the bed beside him Mikoto sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Everything had been chaos since the emergency signal went out. He'd seen people stealing from stores, shoving others into danger, and even killing each other over nothing. Never in his life had he seen so many people running and screaming. Then there were the infected, running loose and killing everyone nearby. They would tear into people for no reason and splash blood all over the streets. Right now he could only hope that Totsuka and Anna were somewhere safe. He hoped they hadn't tried to go back to the bar.
Grabbing his phone Mikoto turned it on to check his messages, even though he knew nothing had changed. There were a few messages from members of HOMRA asking about him and the others. He'd told them all to keep an eye out for Totsuka and Anna, but hadn't heard anything from them after that. From the beginning they had been unable to contact Totsuka, but that hadn't stopped him from calling a couple dozen times. His friend wasn't even responding to text messages. As he scrolled through his messages he came to the one that had immediately followed the emergency signal.
Kagome's message.
Who would have thought that when the world ended she would be the one to save his life? Her message was a list of precautions and information about the infection. It had prepared him and Kusanagi more than he might be willing to admit. While it had been shocking to come across the infected the first time it was dulled by her information. It was surprisingly easy to kill them, even though they still appeared to be human, when he knew that he had Kagome's approval. He was never as glad that he had kept her number the morning after they met as he was today.
'Stay safe.'
It was tacked on at the end, but he knew it was genuine. That was simply the kind of person she was. Kagome was kind and thoughtful to everyone she met and had a smile that made you want to open up to her. It was because of her nature that he wondered if she was alright. There was something about her, something she had never shared with him, that lent her a hard edge and a spine of steel. She was observant and careful, but he wondered if that would be enough for her. She wasn't exactly a physically intimidating woman. It would be easy for the infected to overpower her.
'Are you safe?'
Mikoto typed out the message and hit send even though his signal was pitifully weak. A circle next to it spun merrily as his phone attempted to send his message and in the stark quiet of the room it almost seemed loud.
The door to the bathroom opened and steam poured out in the warm glow of the bathroom light. It made the room seem even darker than it already was. Kusanagi turned the light off and went to collapse on the other bed. They had been lucky to find this room for the night. Most of the doors in the hotel were closed and required a key card to open, but this one had been propped open by a stray luggage bag. The door was heavy and impossible for the infected to open with all the locks engaged, not that many had tried. Kusanagi had suggested keeping the lights off and being quiet to avoid drawing attention to themselves or the hotel.
"Heard anything?" Kusanagi asked as he checked his own phone before putting it on the nightstand. His keys were there too and Mikoto wondered why he was still carrying them around. They had abandoned the van not far from the bar. At first they had driven because the park was couple hours away, but with panicked crowds of people everywhere it had been difficult to move.
"Nothing." Mikoto said as he laid back on the bed to look at the ceiling. He could barely see the tiles from the limited lighting coming through the window from the stores outside. Most of it was likely automated or had been on all day. "Have you heard from your lieutenant?"
Kusanagi laid back on his bed quietly for a moment.
"No. But I know she's okay. She's Seri..." Kusanagi trailed off and Mikoto glanced over to see his friend staring out the window. He wondered what Kusanagi was thinking about. Mikoto knew the SCEPTER4 lieutenant had come to the bar before all this began and had seemed worried. For his friend's sake, he hoped she had gotten back to the barracks before the emergency signal had gone out.
Everything was quiet for a moment. Even the ambient noise of the city was missing after everyone had evacuated the area. It was unnerving, but it was much better than the screams from earlier.
"We'll find them, Mikoto." Kusanagi said suddenly, breaking the silence between them. Mikoto glanced over again, but his friend was fishing a cigarette out of his pack and clicking on his lighter. He tossed the pack onto Mikoto's bed, who immediately sat up to grab one before pulling out his own lighter. The flame lit up the area for a moment as he burned the end of the cigarette and inhaled deeply.
"Yeah..." Mikoto said as the tendrils of smoke curled around him. He hoped Totsuka and Anna were somewhere safe for the night. Tokyo was a dangerous city tonight, more so than usual. There was no telling whether or not either of them would know what to do in the situation. He had forwarded Kagome's message to Totsuka, but predictably there had been no response.
The atmosphere in the city was unnerving right now and he honestly wondered if he could sleep, even for a few hours. It was far too quiet for him.
The doorknob jiggled for a second and Mikoto's hand immediately wrapped around the handle of the knife. It was far too comfortable in his hand. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Kusanagi catch his gaze and shake his head. It was difficult to put the knife down as he watched the door and tensed at the light scratching on the wood.
He definitely wasn't sleeping tonight.
–
Higurashi Shrine
The water was cold, but it would have to do. With her jacket sleeves pushed up to her elbows Kagome doused both arms in water. She scrubbed at her skin in an attempt to get the blood off. Warm water and soap would work better, but she didn't want to walk inside the house with blood covering her hands. She didn't need the boys seeing something like that.
"Kagome?"
The whisper made her jump for a moment before she recognized the voice.
"It's me, Fushimi." She told the teenager, turning a bit to see him standing in the halo of the patio light. She wasn't surprised that he was only one to hear her out here. It was a bit after midnight and she expected the three boys to be asleep. Fushimi had a blanket draped over his shoulders, but his eyes were alert. She smiled at the normal sight.
"Where have you been?" He asked as he left the safety of the light to stand next to her. He sounded almost accusatory and she tried to wash the blood off faster so he wouldn't see. Hopefully, the lack of light would work in her favor.
"Public transportation was down. I had to walk here." She said while rubbing her hands together to get some heat generated. There was only the blood left in her fingernails now, but it was difficult to remove without soap.
"Well get inside. You can wash your hands in there." Fushimi told her while nudging her with his foot. Kagome looked up, a little surprised that he knew what she was doing out here, and he nodded towards the door. She smiled, turned off the outside faucet, and grabbed her bag lying on the ground. "Yata made omurice for us. Yours is in the microwave."
He disappeared inside the house and Kagome followed him, relief flooding her system. Yata and Sota were asleep on the couch.
"Thanks, Fushimi." She told him as he closed the door behind them.
He only grumbled quietly to himself as she followed him into the kitchen.
–
Keibi Apartments
It was really dark and his daddy wasn't home yet. The door was locked like it was always supposed to be, but he could still hear strange sounds outside. Sometimes people came by and asked him to open the door, but he didn't recognize any of them so he hadn't answered. He'd tried calling his daddy, his teacher, and the neighbor, but no one had responded. He pulled out one of the prepackaged lunches his dad had gotten him and ate one when it had gotten late. The TV was on, but he had muted it a long time ago, not that it played much anymore.
With a whimper Shippo pulled the blanket and pillow off his bed and shoved them under it. He would be safe there.
