Danganronpa: Outbreak

by Shawn45

Makoto survived the killing school game with his friends, both hopeful and fearful of what the world would be like once he escaped. Unfortunately, it was far worse than he could ever have imagined. Now with only each other to rely on, Makoto and the survivors of Hope's Peak Academy must make their way through this new world of horror, trying to survive in any way they can.

4. Cruelty

Chapter Four

Cruelty

While the sun was still far too warm for her liking, Aoi was enjoying the change of scenery as they walked along the road they were on now. Instead of the highway, where cars were all over the place and they had to spend the entire day going slow and climbing over the wreckage, now they could walk rather leisurely. Occasionally they would run into a car crash, and see a few corpses out and about, and they would even occasionally run into some of the monsters, but it wasn't the norm like it was on the highway.

This road was going through a large field – there were houses off in the distance, and there was a power line trailing right alongside the road, but other than that, it was pretty peaceful. They could even hear birds – the first time they have heard the chirping since escaping the Academy almost a week ago. She was just so glad they decided to take this detour two days ago, and she often contemplated just going up to Makoto and kissing him for convincing Byakuya and Kyoko to adjust their path.

Exaggerations aside, she felt content, well… for the most part anyway. There was still the whole issue about the world – at the very least Japan – being overrun by the monsters, but when she was out in the sun, heard birds chirping, and saw green grass and trees nearby, it was just so easy to forget about it. Her bow was currently on her back, and for the moment, as far as she could see, there weren't any of the creatures about, so she didn't have to worry about using it anytime soon.

The only downside to everything was the fact that her backpack was becoming lighter and lighter as the days passed, and that was beginning to concern her. They have passed through a few town, but in each town, they only managed to stock up on a day or two worth of rations, nothing substantial that would last them a while. They at least have passed by a few streams, so they didn't really have to worry about rationing water quite as much, but they were still quite worried about food.

"There's a gas station up ahead," Byakuya announced, "I suggest we check inside to see if we can find any supplies." He stopped the group, "Hina, I want you to go in first and take out any of the monsters you see, Makoto, back her up. The rest of us will wait for you two."

Aoi nodded, "Roger," She mumbled sarcastically, still hating the fact that he was pretty much becoming their leader. Kyoko still stood up to him occasionally, but for the most part, Byakuya was more often than not calling the shots. Still, she had to agree that sending her in was a good idea, since her weapon was long ranged and was, for the most part, silent.

"Hold on," Kyoko stopped walking, and the rest of the group slowed down as a result, "I see figures moving."

"W – Well of course you do, its p – probably the m – monsters." Toko replied, back to her original persona, "That's w – why we're having Hina and M – Makoto go in."

"No," Kyoko shook her head, "They're moving too quickly to be the undead." She narrowed her eyes, "Get down!" She led the group over to the side of the road where there were a few trees and bushes for them to take cover in. She peeked around the tree, and frowned, "Yes, they're definitely human."

"Y – You mean people like us?!" Makoto cried, a smile immediately crossing his face, "Thank god! It's so good to hear that there's others! Come on, let's go greet them!" He was about to leave cover when he felt Kyoko suddenly grip his shoulder, "Huh?"

"We don't know their intentions, it's not wise to go confront them without more observation." She explained.

"What?" Aoi asked in surprise, "You think they might hurt us if we go over there? But there are those monsters around! They can't afford to fight against us! Shouldn't we unite against the undead?"

Byakuya sneered at her, "How naïve! Didn't the killing game teach you anything? You can't trust people so willingly. I agree with Kyoko, we must assume they're enemies first, and if they don't show any signs of fighting us, then we'll go confront them."

"How can we determine if they're friendly if we don't confront them?" Yasuhiro asked, "I mean, Aoi is right, isn't she? Why would people fight each other when the world is like this?"

"Fools," Byakuya breathed under his breath, "It's as if you've forgotten everything!" He glared at Makoto, Yasuhiro, and then Aoi. Makoto and Yasuhiro were cowed by it, but Aoi glared just at intently back at him.

"Then if you're so worried about it, how about we split up, Makoto and I will go confront them, and the rest of you can wait here! That was the original plan anyway, wasn't it?" She asked Byakuya, "You wanted us to clear it of the undead."

Byakuya let out a strained sigh, "You know what? I don't care. If you want to go risk your lives, then please, be my guest!"

"I know you're upset with how Byakuya is saying it," Kyoko spoke up, looking at Makoto and Aoi evenly, "But he's right. It's a big risk to confront others, and I think it would be best to just wait until they leave."

Makoto looked uncertain for a little bit, looking out towards the gas station where the figures were still moving, and then towards Aoi, and finally back at Kyoko. He took a deep breath, and said, "Aoi and I will investigate, if it's as bad as you and Byakuya fear it might be, then please come and help us…" He saw Kyoko's eyes flash with worry, and he gave her a forced smile, "hey, I'm the ultimate hope, remember? I have to do this sort of thing!"

Everyone's eyes were glued onto Kyoko, and after a few seconds of silence, where she closed her eyes as if to think on it, she finally nodded. "Very well, Makoto. We'll watch over you and make sure to help you if things go wrong."

"They won't," Makoto assured her, "But thank you." He turned to look at Aoi, "Ready?"

She nodded enthusiastically, "Yes!" She was with Makoto when it came to this – they were living, breathing human beings! They finally found others, and hopefully they would be able to help each other in some way. She grinned happily, and got up, and started making her way down the road with Makoto beside her.

"This is idiotic," Byakua grumbled from the bushes, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the pistol he got from the father's corpse a while ago, "They're going to force me to use this."

Yasuhiro looked at the gun and then back to Byakuya, "Come on… Maybe they're right? Maybe they are friendly?"

"For their sake, I hope they are." Byakuya stated, and then he turned his attention back to the gas station further ahead on the road.

Aoi hated to admit it, but she was beginning to feel nervous as they went closer to the gas station, and she had an urge to just run. However, she steeled her resolve, since she was the one who practically forced Makoto into doing this, so she took a quick breath, trying to calm down. She still had her bow if things got too bad, and Makoto's sword was within reach as well. She looked at the figures, and noticed that they stopped, clearly noticing those walking down the road towards them.

"Hello," Makoto called when they got closer. The gas station had a few run down cars at it, and some of the pumps looked busted, with the nozzles on the ground. The store itself had the windows smashed in, and he could see some movement inside, and he wondered just how many survivors were here. Off in the distance, he could see the undead walking slowly towards them, though they weren't that big of a threat.

Two of the figures approached them, and Aoi realized that both of them were thuggish looking guys – one was wearing a black leather jacket, a torn up white T-shirt, and jeans that were ripped all over the place, and the one beside him wasn't wearing any shirts, and just had on some pants that were just as badly torn as his companions. They were smiling though, so that was a positive sign at least.

"Heh, hello there." The leather jacket wearing one greeted, "It's rare to see other survivors out now, what are you doing here?" His fingers crept towards his pocket, and Aoi felt herself tensing up – both men were taller than she and Makoto, and alarm bells were ringing in her head. Prior to the outbreak these were the type of people she'd want to avoid, and it was no different now. Maybe listening to Byakuya and Kyoko was a better idea after all…

Oblivious to her thoughts, Makoto held out his hand, "Hey, I'm Makoto, we're just heading towards my home. It's actually not that far from here." He smiled softly, "I recognize this place from my childhood."

Aoi's eyes lit up at that – why in the world didn't Makoto say anything to them about that? She thought about it, and came to one conclusion, and that was because he didn't want to make the rest remember their own families or childhood. She was a bit crossed at that, but stayed silent, allowing Makoto to continue the conversation. Afterwards though, oh, she was going to have a few words with him!

"Local, eh?" The leather-bound one muttered, though he reached forth and shook Makoto's hand, "You're not going to find much here."

"Really?" He asked, his expression falling, "There's no fort or anything for survivors here?" He asked, and Aoi felt a stab of pain in her heart – he knew it was a futile hope, but he had kept that hope alive regardless.

"Heh, are you new out here or something?" The thuggish man asked, "For the first few months stuff like that was common, but there were too many people who were bitten, pretending that they were fine, and that killed off a lot of the resistance."

"What about the military?" Makoto asked, "What about the evacuation zones? Are any of those still operational?" He figured that he could get as much information out of these guys as possible, since that was something Byakuya would do.

"The cities are all fucked up," The man said, "No one goes there unless if they have a death wish. It's easier to just live out in the country side, you don't run into as many of the zombies that way." He covered his eyes as he looked up towards the sky, "How about you two come in the gas station for a bit? I'm burning up out here."

"We'll treat you," The shirtless one said, talking for the first time with a low gravelly voice, "It's just us two, but we try to make it homely."

Alarm bells went off in Makoto's head, "It's just the two of you?" He asked, his eyes narrowing a smidgen, "I could have sworn I saw someone else inside the gas station." He looked towards Aoi hesitantly.

"Nope," The leather-clad one stated, "It's just us." He chuckled, "Are you always this paranoid?"

Makoto again looked at Aoi, and she realized that he was leaving the choice up to him. Though with him so hesitant on it, she was beginning to grow paranoid as well. The two men were nice at least, but she didn't fully trust them… Whether that was due to the 'game' they participated in, or due to their appearance, she didn't know, so she took a deep breath, and decided to ignore the warnings in her head, and she nodded, "It can't be too bad, right?" she asked Makoto, who studied her a little longer.

"Yeah… I guess so." He replied slowly. He looked back towards them, "Alright, we'll come in." He followed the men, and he asked, "So what are your names?"

"Call me Takeshi," The leather-wearing one said, "My friend here is Jin." He stepped inside the gas station and held the doors open for his companions.

Makoto took one more look, trying to see if he could spot anyone else in the store, and when he couldn't, he stepped inside. The moment he stepped through the threshold, he knew something was wrong, but before he could react, he felt something slam into the back of his head, and he fell to the ground, a sharp pain burning on the back of his head. "Agh!" He cried out, feeling incredibly disoriented.

"MAKOTO!" Aoi screamed, and she was about to kneel down next to him, but she looked up, and spotted two new men, one of them pointing a knife right at her, and the other had a wooden board, which she immediately identified as the weapon that they knocked Makoto down with, "What are you doing?!" She cried angrily.

"Just welcoming our new guests, didn't we tell you?" Takeshi replied, a throaty laugh emitted from his mouth, "You wouldn't believe how many people fall for this! Now, I wonder what in those bags of yours! We've been running low on food, and this gas station doesn't have anything!"

Aoi looked around – the man who used the board stood above Makoto, who was still on the ground moving around, but clearly out of it for the moment. She stood in the doorway of the gas station, with a man holding a knife out to her. Takeshi meanwhile pressed a foot into Makoto's back, and started digging through the boy's backpack. Meanwhile, Jin was wandering through the aisles of the small station, trying to find some other supplies.

"She's a pretty one, ain't she?" The man with the knife said with a lustful smile spreading across his face, and he licked his chapped lips, "It has been a long time since we've found a girl like her."

"D – Don't you dare touch her!" Makoto tried to get lift himself up from the ground, but the man using the wooden board as a weapon slamming down on his head again, "Ack!" He cried, as he faced was slammed into the ground, and Aoi felt tears coming to her eyes as she noticed blood.

"Stop hurting him!" She cried, "Just take what you want, leave us alone!"

"No can do, missy." Takeshi replied, pulling out some canned food and smiling, "You two came here and gave us a nice amount of supplies, the least we can do is, heh, give you a place to stay, don't you think?" He leered over at her, and Aoi wish so badly that she had put her jacket on before coming over. She felt almost naked standing in just her tank top and shorts, and she unconsciously tried to cover herself up with her hands.

"How old are you, little girl?" The man holding the knife to her asked. When she stayed quiet, he stepped forward, and the knife was within an inch of her throat, "Talk." He demanded.

"I – I'm…" She closed her eyes trying to think. She wanted to say fifteen, because that was the last memory she remembered before going to the academy, but if she stayed there for two years, and then the added weeks now, she knew she was older than that, "S – Seventeen, I think."

Takeshi let out a whistle, "Seventeen eh? No wonder you look so good. Maybe later me and the boys can teach you a thing or two about being a woman."

She paled considerably, and shook her head, "N – No!"

"Hm… You seem to like this boy here, right?" Takeshi lifted up Makoto's head by his hair, "I think we could kill him if we hit his head hard enough a few more times, don't you think?"

"No!" She shouted, "Don't kill him! Please!"

"Then I'll make you a deal," Takeshi stood up, now with Makoto's sword in hand, "You let us… heh, 'instruct' you on how to be a woman, and we'll let him live." He walked over, and leaned his face close to hers, "One wrong move, and he's dead, do you understand?"

She wanted to spit in his face, kick him hard in the groin, anything, but she knew that he would probably order Makoto's death if she did anything like that, so with gritted teeth she nodded, "F – Fine…"

"Hina, no!" Makoto shouted, "Don't do that!" Again he tried to get up, and the man holding the board stepped on his back hard, preventing him from getting to his feet. "Hina, it's not worth it, I don't want these monsters to violate you!"

"Monsters?" Takeshi repeated in surprise, "Us? If you're not aware kid, the real monsters are out there. We're just trying to survive!"

Despite the foot holding him down, Makoto managed to maneuver himself, so that he was looking at Takeshi. Hina let out a soft gasp, seeing blood dripping from a cut lip he had, and a trail of blood was also leaving his nose. "Those things out there… They don't know any better, they just do what their instincts tell them… You… You're killing innocent people…"

"Hah! None of us are innocent boy!" He looked to the man with the board, "Now if you don't know what's good for you, you'll keep talking, and I'll have my buddy there smash your brains in, you got that?"

Makoto gritted his teeth, and was about to yell out something, but time seemed to slow for Aoi as she realized that he was willing to die to try and prevent her from being violated by these men. She couldn't have that – she wouldn't have that. She screamed, getting all of their attention onto her, "DO IT NOW!"

"Do what now?" Takeshi asked, and even Makoto looked confused.

"I – I mean… You said you wouldn't hurt Makoto if you – you…" She couldn't bear to say it, she didn't want these monsters touching her, but she didn't want Makoto to die either. Given the choice, she'd gladly give her body up rather than allowing Makoto to die.

"Heh, your boyfriend here sure is lucky," He leaned his face forward, and she felt his breath tickling her ear, and she tried to hold back her tears as his hand gripped her breast, "Hm… This will be fun…" She felt one of his hands begin to snake its way down her body, feeling her up, and she felt absolutely revolted.

Makoto watched with a mixture of disgust and horror, but below all of that, he felt rage. The last time he ever felt this angry was when Monokuma forged Sakura's suicide note and nearly got Aoi to kill them all as a result. His vision was beginning to go red, and he let out a primal roar, "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HER YOU MONSTER!" He shouted so loud that his throat hurt afterwards.

Takeshi let go of Aoi, and took a few steps away, "I warned you boy! Your girlfriend was trying to save you, but now…" Aoi let out a scream, not wanting it to happen, but before any of that could happen, an extremely loud 'BANG' garnered all of their attention, and it was deafening to everyone in the gas station. It came from outside, and all looked over, except for Takeshi, who stood still for a moment, before he collapsed to the ground, a small hole in the back of his head.

"T – Takeshi!" The man with the knife cried, shocked to see his leader go down, but just seconds after, the deafening sound happened again, and the man collapsed. Jin and the one holding the board witnessed a pink haired girl standing outside, a gun in her hands, and a murderous look on her face.

Aoi knew that Kyoko was capable of expressing emotions, that much she was sure due to their talk at the hotel a few days ago, but she never had seen her face twisted into such a hateful look of fury. It was as if all of her emotions were spiraling out of control, and she was incapable of maintaining it behind her façade anymore. She pointed the gun at the man standing atop of Makoto, and Aoi let out a surprised shout as Kyoko remorselessly pulled the trigger, killing him as well.

"K – Kyoko?" Makoto whispered in shock, seemingly just as surprised as Aoi was. He slowly got to his feet, and coughed, a few droplets of blood dripping from his cut lip, "Are you ok?"

"Am I ok?" Kyoko spat out, her glare turning immediately towards him, "Are you an idiot, Makoto? Do you not understand how scared we were for you?! Did you just forget that we were out here?! Why did you keep talking when they were threatening to kill you? Is your brain rotten?!"

Yasuhiro, and Byakuya walked inside, trying their best not to look at the freshly killed bodies, and Yasuhiro went to help Makoto back to his feet. "Are you alright, man?" He asked, giving the boy a concerned look.

"I'm fine…" He muttered, though his attention was on Kyoko, "I'm sorry…" He whispered to her. Kyoko just completely ignored him, and instead walked with Byakuya over to the last remaining thug.

Jin cowered back, since both of the kids had guns trailed on him, and they both were standing far enough back to where he couldn't reach out and try to wrestle it from their hands. Even if he did try to do that, the other would just kill him. "What do you want?" He asked, his voice quivering.

"Do you know of any locations where survivors were gathering?" Byakuya asked.

"Other than the evacuation zones, I don't know. I just heard that the cities have been overrun – I don't even know if that's true though!" He slapped his hands together and bowed slightly, "Please, I swear that's all I know!"

"How many people have you killed like this?" Kyoko asked next, causing Byakuya to glance at her warily. She ignored his look, and she was able to hide her emotions again, and her calm demeanor seemed to also make the man in front of her less afraid, "Tell me, please."

"I don't know… We've been doing this for nearly a year now…" He muttered, "B – But it's for survival, don't you understand? You guys had food on you, and we were running out!"

"They foolishly decide to come here because they thought you could help each other. Knowing how idiotic Makoto is, he would have shared some of his supplies with you, forcing us all to do so as well," Byakuya replied darkly, "And yet you still do this, and pray tell, how does raping women count as survival?"

"O – Only Takeshi does that, I'm innocent!" He cried, sweat going down his head in bullets. "I – I respect woman, honest! I would never violate them like that!"

Kyoko nodded slowly, "Very well…" She began to lower her gun, making the man relax, but then he gasped as it discharged, the loud noise deafening him for a second, and he looked down to his leg, where a bullet had gone clean through. His eyes widened, and he let out a blood curling scream.

"AHHHHH!" He shouted, falling to the ground, "Damn you!" He shouted, glaring at her, "Why would you do this to me you bitch! Fuck you! I swear to god once I get up, I will fucking kill you, and then I'll fuck your corpse!" He shouted obscenities, though none of them made Kyoko flinch.

"Shall we go?" Byakuya asked Kyoko, walking away from the man who suddenly paled.

"W – wait! You can't leave me here! How am I going to survive? DON'T LEAVE ME!" He shouted, trying to get up, but the wound in his leg made him fall down again, "Please! Don't leave!"

"Let's go," Kyoko told Aoi, Makoto, and Yasuhiro, who were all in the front of the store. Toko was still outside, not wanting to witness more death. "His screaming will attract the monsters that heard the gunshots away from us."

Makoto looked sick as he realized her plan, and both Aoi and Yasuhiro didn't look much better. Even Byakuya raised a brow at her, "That's surprisingly… Cruel." He finally stated, putting his pistol back in his pocket, "I wouldn't have expected it from you."

"Kyoko…" Makoto muttered, though again, the girl completely ignored him and walked out of the store. Yasuhiro and Aoi both helped him up, and they looked back at the man writhing around on the ground screaming for his life.

"Come on," Aoi finally stated, "They… They deserve it."

Makoto frowned, and shook his head, "No…" He unsheathed his sword, and walked over to the man, who suddenly smiled upon seeing him come over. Before he could say another word or anything however, Makoto slammed his blade into his skull, killing him instantly. He turned around, his expression clouded as he walked out of the store.

Yasuhiro looked ready to throw up, while Aoi felt tears coming in – it was all her fault… She made this happen. It was painfully quiet as they got out of the gas station and walked on, no one bringing up the fact that Makoto just mercy killed the man, nor did anyone bring up the fact that Kyoko was willing to let him die in such a horrible manner. Not even Byakuya was willing to say anything, and he just led the group onward, allowing the silence to reign.

As night fell, they walked into a neighborhood, with Kyoko leading the group now, Byakuya was beside her, his eyes scanning around, and he was making sure they were safe from the monsters as well as from other people. Fortunately, as they walked in the middle of the street, they were easily able to avoid the zombies around them, and soon they stopped in a driveway when the sun was beginning to set. They picked this house out of all the other ones due to the fact that it didn't look quite as ruined, and Kyoko led them in.

They walked up to the front door, and were glad to see that it was still working properly, and they were more thrilled that it was unlocked. The house itself was only two stories tall, and most of the windows were fortunately still intact. Kyoko took hold on the door handle, and looked towards the rest of the group, "Yasuhiro and I will go scout it out to make sure there's none of them inside, Byakuya, you and Toko wait here and make sure none of the monsters get close to the building."

She went in before Makoto or Aoi could say anything, and instead, they just looked towards the ground, either at the pavement they were standing on, or at the grass that was withered due to not being watered in the summer heat. "She's still mad at us, huh?" Aoi muttered.

"Y – Yeah," Toko nodded, "She's really upset."

Makoto let out a soft sigh, "She has a good reason to be upset with us though…"

"Indeed." Byakuya replied, turning around to look at the two of them, "We told you over and over again about how foolish it would be to go confront them, but you insisted, and nearly got yourselves killed. If I had to guess, Kyoko is not only upset with you, but I believe she's also upset that she was practically forced to take their lives to save you." He sighed, "Idiots…"

"Wh – What? We didn't force her to do anything!" Aoi claimed, finding her voice after a few seconds.

"Oh? So tell me, what would have happened if she walking up with the gun pointed at them and didn't shoot? With both of you in their grasps, they'd have human shields, and could potentially bargain their way out of it."

Aoi's face fell, "Oh… I didn't think of it like that."

"Kyoko isn't an idiot, unlike the rest of you," He growled out, apparently he was incapable of compliments if they weren't paired up with an insult, "She knew that the highest chances of getting you two out alive was to kill them."

Makoto bit his bottom lip, "I'm sorry…" He finally mumbled, "I guess I just couldn't imagine people being like that…"

"Why are you apologizing to me?" Byakuya asked, raising an eyebrow inquiringly, "I could hardly care if you died, Makoto. Kyoko is the one who risked her life to save you. The moment she saw you being beaten, she snapped."

"S – She did?" He asked, his eyes widening.

"Yes. I've never seen her lose her composure like that before, I suppose for some bizarre reason, you're very important to her." He saw Makoto blush, "Oh come off it, don't you remember what she said before we left the Academy?" He asked.

"She… She said that she would be willing to face everything with me, right?" He asked, his shoulders slumping, "Do I really mean that much to her?" He asked quietly.

Byakuya sighed again, "Idiot." That was all he said as he stepped away and started to survey the yard. There wasn't very much to see, but he apparently still thought it was necessary, or he just wanted to get away from Makoto, either one worked well enough.

Aoi was unable to even look at Makoto – she cared about him a lot, and she nearly got him killed… It was her insistence that led to him going with her to meet them, and it was because of her that he got beat so bad, because he didn't want those men – no, those monsters – to touch her. Added onto all of that, she felt so awful for Kyoko, who even admitted to liking Makoto to her… What if she did get Makoto killed, what would happen then?

Well, she supposed it wasn't rocket science. If Makoto died, Kyoko would probably snap, given her severe reaction to him being in danger. That would inevitably lead to Kyoko dying, and Aoi wasn't sure how well she would be able to hold it together. Despite saying that she would step aside for Kyoko, she found herself regretting saying that so much. Makoto was willing to do so much for her… She felt awful about it, but now, she was almost willing to fight Kyoko for him…

But given how she endangered him, would Makoto even talk to her anymore? He'd probably hate her now, she forced him into that position – it was because of her that he very well could have died. She led the group into danger, it was all her fault… Maybe it would be best if she just left the group?

"The house is now clear," Kyoko's calm voice broke Aoi from her thoughts, and she looked up at the girl with Yasuhiro standing right behind her. She noticed that he had his knives out, and several of them were bloodied, so there must have been some of the undead within the house. "There's three bedrooms upstairs that we can make use of, though the door leading to the backyard is smashed apart, so I'd feel safer if we took turns keeping watch tonight."

"I'll do first watch," Yasuhiro volunteered, "That way I can get sleep without it being disturbed!" He explained, trying to lighten the mood, but it was no use.

"I'll go second," Aoi raised her hand hesitantly, "I don't think I'll sleep much tonight anyway…"

"I'll go third," Byakuya replied smoothly, "I think that should be enough them. Everyone can watch for three hours, and then we'll switch, is that acceptable?" Everyone nodded, and then he stepped inside the house. Kyoko followed quickly, still ignoring Makoto and Aoi, and then Toko went in after to chase after Byakuya.

"So…" Yasuhiro looked at the two of them, "Well…At least we're all ok, right?" He pat their shoulders, but that did nothing to lift their spirits, and they both went into the house without a word. Yasuhiro scratched his hair and finally shrugged, "Well… I'm sure it'll all work itself out eventually…"

And so the group settled for the night, Yasuhiro stood watch downstairs, his knives ready just in case if the undead or something else might try to get through the smashed doors. Everyone else was upstairs, eating their rations and resting. For some though, rest proved to be quite elusive, and Makoto stayed up, just staring at the ceiling as Toko sat beside him, a wet cloth in her hand as she wiped the blood off of his face.

"So… Why are you in here again? I can do this myself, you know." He asked, looking at the girl sitting beside him. He was on the only bed in the room, while Toko had a chair pulled up beside it. There was a dresser in the room, though the drawers were torn out and emptied, and there was a ceiling fan, though that was clearly not operational. On the wall just next to the bed, there was a window showing the moon out, providing them with just enough light.

"Byakuya told me to do this," She stated, "H – he said that since Hina is avoiding you, Kyoko is ignoring you, Hiro is busy downstairs, and he doesn't want to, it fell to me to treat your wounds and m – make sure they don't get infected."

Makoto sighed, "I see… Hina's avoiding me?"

"Y – Yes." Toko nodded, "You didn't notice?" She pressed the cloth to his split lip, and for a second there was some pain, but it quickly faded away.

"No, I guess not… I was worried about talking to Kyoko that I didn't even notice." He replied.

"Your observational s – skills leave a lot to be desired," She stuttered, "Haven't y – you noticed how Hina keeps looking away from you?"

"Why would she do that?" He asked, "It's because of me that we were in that situation… If I wasn't so optimistic, then none of that would have happened…"

"I'm not a mind reader," Toko replied, wiping away the dried blood with ease, "But if I had t – to guess, I'd say she feels guilty…"

"Guilty? There's no reason for her to feel guilty!" He exclaimed.

Toko face lit up with anger, "A – Are you saying t – that I'm wrong?!" She twisted the cloth in her hands, forcing the liquid out of it, "Y – You're the idiot who d – doesn't notice these things!"

"H – Hey… I mean, I'm not saying you're wrong? Ok?" He tried to calm her down, and he let out a sigh as Toko calmed down slightly. "So… What should I do then?"

"I don't know, w – why are you asking me?" She asked, grimacing as she set the cloth with blood in it aside.

"Well, you're a friend, right? In addition to that, you're a girl." He saw her roll her eyes at that, "What?"

"How am I supposed to know how to confront them? H – Hina is a barbarian, and Kyoko I – is scary." She shrugged, "B- but… I suppose, a – as your friend…" She seem to soften very slightly at that – only slightly – and she looked towards the ceiling, "I suppose Hina would be easier to confront. Just talk to her tonight while she's on watch, she can't walk away from you then."

"And what about Kyoko?" He pressed onward.

"Wait for her to cool off in a few days I guess," She shrugged, "She was like this once before I – in the Academy, right?" She saw Makoto nod, "And she cooled off there after a few days."

"But that was because she figured out why I couldn't tell her my secret then…" She saw Toko look a little confused, and he waved it off, "Anyway, I don't know if that will work this time."

"W – Well!" Toko looked about ready to yell again, but she calmed down, realizing the danger of doing something like that, and she instead just stated, "Kyoko is smart, very smart, I – I'm sure she'll come around soon. I – If you don't f – fear for your life, I guess you could just try talking to her when we're going to your house t – tomorrow."

"Yeah," He nodded, "I might do that." He smiled at her, "Thanks, you were actually a big help."

Her eyes widened, as if she were surprised that he thanked her, and she looked away, "Y – You're just m – making fun of me, aren't you!" She gritted her teeth, "You're horrible!"

"No, I'm serious!" He replied, sitting up, "Thank you for giving me advice, and for cleaning the cut."

Toko eyed him a little longer, before she nodded slowly, "You're… welcome, I guess." She slowly stood up, and crossed her arms, "Well, just get some rest for now, you need to heal that up soon! We don't want it to get infected."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll do that." He waved off, "I'll rest for a few hours and then wake up to talk to Hina!" He balled up his fists, glad to have a plan set, "If she's honestly feeling guilty, then we really need to clear that up, and then I can talk to Kyoko!"

"Yeah," Toko mumbled, "You have fun with that." A glint appeared in her eyes, and a smile crossed her face, "I in the meantime am going to go visit Byakuya!" She blushed bright red just imagining it, and Makoto watched her practically skip out of the room.

"I still don't understand what she sees in him," He mumbled, watching her leave his room, shutting the door behind her. He shook his head, deciding it was probably not worth thinking about, and he leaned back onto the bed, crossing his arms behind his head so he could prop it up, and he just thought about things. He did try to get to sleep, but what must have been an hour or so, he got up, and decided to head downstairs.

He secretly hoped Aoi would be there, but he felt disappointed as he spotted Yasuhiro sitting at the kitchen table, his eyes glued to the destroyed patio door. The kitchen, unlike the rooms upstairs, was a complete mess. The smell of rotten food was prominent, and all the drawers were opened, with kitchen knives and ever some blood scattered around. Makoto averted his eyes, and instead went to sit on the opposite side of the table.

"Makoto?" Yasuhiro glanced up and saw him, "What's up? What are you doin here?"

Makoto weighed his options, wondering whether to be straight forward or evasive, and finally he sighed, deciding that since Yasuhiro was a friend, he'd be honest. "I'm waiting for Hina, she's supposed to watch after you, right?"

Yasuhiro nodded, "Yeah, but what are you – wait, are you two…?"

"Are we…" He suddenly blushed, and shook his head rapidly, "N – No! Nothing like that!"

"Oh, ok." Yasuhiro sighed, "Cause, you know, I'd prefer it if you two did something like that when you're not watching the door, you know?"

"We're not together like that at all! We haven't d – done that!" Makoto exclaimed, his blush getting even brighter as his thoughts lingered on it, much to his distress.

"Oh, ok," Yasuhiro nodded, "Coulda fooled me." He chuckled as Makoto again started sputtering, and he waved his hands, "I'm kidding, it was a joke, calm down!"

Makoto coughed into his hand, trying to recompose himself and finally he looked back up, and noticed that while Yasuhiro was chuckling, he was still looking out the back door. He looked as well, and asked, "So… Have any tried to come in?"

"Nah," Yasuhiro shook his head, "I think I saw a few wandering out there, but none have come to investigate." He yawned, "And thank god for that, I don't really feel like dealing with them this late at night."

"I don't really feel like dealing with them ever," Makoto shot back, causing Yasuhiro to nod in agreement.

"That's true." He chuckled, "So, you said you came down to see Hina right? What's that about?"

"Oh," His mood dropping a bit as he recalled what Toko told him, "Toko told me that she was avoiding me and that she apparently felt guilty for what happened."

Yasuhiro nodded, "Ah, I see. She feels responsible for what happened then?" At Makoto's nod, Yasuhiro sighed, "Yeah, Byakuya and Kyoko both seemed to think that. When we were waiting for you guys, Byakuya kept saying how bad of an idea it was, and how he was pissed that Hina forced you to do it."

"What?" Makoto shook his head, "No, Hina didn't make me do anything!"

"Well…" Yasuhiro paused, and said slowly, "Actually… You seemed ready to back out when Kyoko was sayin it was bad, you know?" He saw Makoto nod, and he continued, "But then Hina backed you up, and after that you went."

"So you're saying that it is Hina's fault?" Makoto asked, his eyes narrowing, "I'm not an idiot you know, I went because I wanted to, not because Hina forced me to!"

Yasuhiro waved his hands in front of him, "H – Hold on, don't get mad at me! I'm just saying what I heard Byakuya and Kyoko saying, alright? I have nothing against you or Hina!"

Makoto calmed down, and leaned back in his seat, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you."

Yasuhiro shrugged, "Eh, after everything we've faced over the last week, I think you're allowed to snap once or twice…" He paused, "I think you should really talk to Kyoko though, man."

"What?" Makoto blinked in surprise, "I want to, but why do you think so?"

Yasuhiro looked down to the table at his fingers, and tried to figure out how best to articulate it, and finally settled on, "I think she's been…" He paused, "Yeah, I think she's bottling up everything inside, you know?" He saw Makoto nod, "When she snapped yesterday, that wasn't normal – most people wouldn't just suddenly... do that to others."

"Well, Hina and I were in trouble." Makoto reminded him.

"I know that, but you had to have noticed that she went for kill shots each time – All of those men died because of her…" Yasuhiro saw Makoto nod again, "That wasn't necessary, and she did it because she was really angry." He shook his head, "No, extremely angry! I thought I was watching a demon!"

Makoto frowned, "But… Byakuya was telling us earlier that she had to kill them."

Yasuhiro averted his eyes and shrugged, "Maybe, but it was just how she was acting. I think the bottle she kept her emotions in just exploded, and it all came rushing out as one hateful torrent… That can't be healthy, man."

Makoto nodded, "Yeah, to tell you the truth, I've suspected as much already."

"Oh, really?" Yasuhiro asked curiously.

"Yeah, I thought it would be alright to leave alone for now though, because I didn't think she'd want to talk about it, but…" He groaned, burying his face in his hands, "I'm such an idiot, I should have said something."

"We all make mistakes, man, and we're all just lucky to be alive." He stood up and stretched, "Anyway, my time's about up, I'll go get Hina for you now." He chuckled at Makoto's red face, and as he left he stopped, "But really, you should talk to Kyoko soon, I don't know how she'll handle having what she did today on her conscious."

With that, he left, leaving Makoto there to brood on it. It wasn't like he didn't want to talk to Kyoko, but she was just so intimidating to approach at times. He cursed to himself for his cowardice however, and leaned back in his chair angrily, and looked out the smashed door, making sure none of the zombies were coming near.

"Makoto?" Aoi voice's echoed in the empty room, "Hiro said someone was waiting for me down here… I wasn't expecting it to be you though."

"Who were you expecting?" Makoto asked, unable to hide his curiosity.

She sat down in the seat Yasuhiro vacated, and gave a non-committal shrug, "I dunno, I guess either Kyoko or Byakuya."

"Huh? Why them?" He asked. Well, come to think of it, he could name a few reasons he supposed, especially when it came to earlier that day.

"About how I screwed up earlier…" She mumbled, her voice cracking as she said it, "Is that why you're here then?"

"Well…" He paused, watching her wipe her eyes, "Yeah, I am." He decided to come clean again.

"Ah… Have you come to yell at me?" She whimpered quietly.

"If I yelled, wouldn't that attract the zombies to us?" She shrugged, still looking downtrodden, so he continued, "But no, that's not why I'm here, I'm not mad at all, actually."

"You're not?" She looked up now, and it pained Makoto to see such a surprised expression so clearly visible on her face.

"No, why would I be?" He asked, "I thought it was you who would be mad at me!"

"What?" A look of pure confusion was on her face, "B – But you nearly died! If I didn't make you go, then none of that would have happened!"

"I didn't die though," He pointed out the obvious first, "And Hina… You honestly thought I would be mad at you? I went out of my own will! Sure, you might have pushed me to do it a little, but I'm responsible for my own actions!"

"But – but!" she cried, "If it weren't for me… It's all my fault!" She lowered her head onto the table, covering her eyes with her hands.

"It's my fault." He insisted, causing her to look up, "I was the one who made the call to follow them into the gas station – it was because of that you almost were…" He gritted his teeth – the mere idea of those men getting their dirty hands over her body nearly set him over the edge.

"But you made that call because of me, didn't you? I saw you looking towards me! If I said we couldn't go, then that would have been it!" She claimed, tears falling down from her eyes now.

He paused, watching her begin to cry – did she really think it was her fault? She was carrying this inside of her all day, and she didn't even bother to try talking to him or anyone else about it? "Hina… No one blames you for it. It's not your fault, so please stop crying." For now, he pushed his concerns for Kyoko to the back of his mind as he focused on Aoi in front of him, "I thought you'd be mad at me, personally."

"Well I'm not," She shook her head, "How could I? I feel so guilty for nearly getting you kill, and for forcing Kyoko to do what she had to do… It's burning me up on the inside…" She placed a hand over her heart, "I'm so sorry… It's my fault…"

Makoto wondered if he should go over and hug her, or just do something. She looked so small and lonely by herself on that side of the table, blaming herself for everything. "I already told you that I don't blame you for it, Hina," He tried again, "Please believe me."

"Y – You really don't hate me?" It was so quiet that he barely heard it, but he could understand the under tone of fear and desperation under it. It was distressing to suddenly realize that you could completely ruin a person by saying the wrong words, and Makoto realized that Aoi was walking along a very thin line.

"No, I don't." He replied, "How could I? We're friends, and I never blamed you for it in the first place."

"I – I was planning on running," She admitted softly, "After what Byakuya told us earlier, I – I felt worthless. I nearly got you killed, and I forced Kyoko to kill all of those people… I figured you guys would be better off without me… I'm just a burden."

Makoto's jaw nearly dropped, "WHAT?" He cried, his voice echoing in the room, "Are you an idiot Hina?!"

"No! I thought about this a lot! Byakuya hates me, Toko doesn't like me, and now Kyoko hates me too! I thought you hated me, but… you're different!" She shook her head, "If I ran, I – I thought no one would care!"

"You can't go!" Makoto shook in his seat, and abruptly stood, his chair nearly falling to the ground, "I refuse to allow you to go! We have to stick together! You're far too valuable to us to go, you really are stupid aren't you!"

Now Aoi was the one to be surprised to see tears beginning to flow down his face, and she asked quietly, "Y – You really mean all of that?"

"Yes! I really do!" He cried, "If you left, I wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing you're out there alone with those monsters! I'd force the group to come find you!" He said it with so much conviction, that Aoi felt her heart beat hard for a second, and her cheeks colored. "Why do you feel that way? Is it because I didn't talk to you? I'm sorry, I was just thinking about how I would apologize to Kyoko! Please don't go… I'm begging you…"

"I – I won't…" She muttered, looking out the door they were supposed to be watching to make sure that all the noise they made didn't attract any unwanted attention. When she was sure they didn't, she turned her attention back to him, "I – I just thought…"

"You were wrong!" He exclaimed, shaking his head, "I could never hate you or anyone! I can't hate Byakuya, even if he can be kind of an asshole sometimes!" He was gasping for breath, realizing belatedly that by getting so distressed that his body started pumping him up with adrenaline. He sat back down in his chair, his arms still shaking.

Despite her tears, she couldn't help but smile – Makoto didn't hate her, and he felt so strongly about wanting her to stay too! "T – Thank you…" She muttered through her tears, "I think I really needed to hear that…"

He let out a sigh, "Just… Please… Never make impulse decision like that. If you had just talked to anyone of us, even Kyoko or Byakuya, they would have told you not to go."

"I don't know about Byakuya…" She mumbled.

"No, even he wouldn't want you to go." He replied, sounding utterly convinced, "Are you forgetting about how you can kill those monsters so easily with your bow, or that you're the most physically fit of us all? If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have gotten this far at all. In the city none of us would have had a bow, and we would have to fight the monsters up close or use the guns."

"I – I guess so." She murmured, her eyes looking away from him evasively, "I never really thought of that."

He sighed, she still didn't sound convinced at all. Did this mean that she was still planning to run? She said she wouldn't, but he didn't know if he could trust her in this state. Standing back up, he walked around the table to her, and he ignored her confused stare as he wrapped his arms around her rather awkwardly. "It's all true, everything I've said." He whispered into her ear.

The hug alone made her blush, but what he said afterwards – how the air tickled her ear slightly, how he seemed so compassionate about it, she couldn't help but feel her entire body turn warm. Honestly, when she came down, she didn't expect this – she expected to be yelled at by an angry Byakuya, or scolded by Kyoko, not confront Makoto, who was so worried that he was willing to go to this length to prove to her how much he wanted her to stay. She finally lifted her own arms up, and wrapped them around him as well, closing her eyes as she leaned her head against his shoulder.

She didn't really know how long they stayed like that, nor did she really care. It just felt so nice to feel wanted by someone. She felt so lost earlier, but now… Her worries were all baseless, and she couldn't help but feel a bit foolish herself. While she was blaming herself the entire time, Makoto was doing the exact same thing… If only they had talked earlier, before she made her decision to leave… If he hadn't been down here waiting, she would have made a terrible mistake.

She felt him loosening his grip after a little bit, and hesitantly she did the same, letting go of him, allowing him to move. Briefly, their faces were mere inches from one another, the mood was right for intimacy – she was more than willing to go through with it – but then he pulled away, and the moment passed. She felt her heart beating rapidly, and her face was incredibly red as she suddenly realized that she truly did love him…

"Sorry about that…" He muttered rubbing the back of his head, "I guess I got a bit too emotional there…" He looked aside, and both of them quickly glanced at the smashed door, glad to see no monsters coming in through it.

"It's all right," She replied back to him, feeling very awkward all of the sudden, "I – uh – I think I might have needed that." She felt a lot calmer, and the emotional turmoil within herself was finally settling down.

"Heh… Well… Um…" He sat down back in the seat on the other side of the table, and awkwardly began to play around with his fingers. He didn't say anything else, and just stared down at his hands, feeling awkward.

"Um… Earlier today," Aoi tried to change the subject, not wanting the awkward atmosphere to last, "You mentioned something about recognizing this area?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, I guess I did say something about that." He remembered, scratching his cheek sheepishly, "What about it?"

"Why didn't you mention it to us?" She asked.

"I don't know," He shrugged, "I guess I just didn't think it was important." She noticed how he looked away, though she still caught the painful expression on his face.

"You're lying," She deduced immediately, "It's because you didn't want to remind us of our own families and home again, isn't it?"

He blinked in surprise, "How did you figure that out?"

"Because it always comes up when you talk about something related to your home. You're pretty predictable." She replied, "Next time, try not to hide something like that, alright? We seriously don't mind. You can trust us."

He nodded, "Yeah… Ok."

"So… This looked like it was once a pretty nice neighborhood, is your home like this?" She asked, changing the subject slightly. She watched him light up as he explained his home to her, and like that night a few days before, they began to talk about all sorts of different things. She smiled, glad to see him in such a good mood, and she kept the topics going.

Makoto meanwhile, was glad that Aoi was doing fine, but there were still two very important lingering thoughts in his head. First, he needed to confront Kyoko, hopefully tomorrow would present itself with an opportunity to do so, and secondly, he couldn't stop dreading the fact that tomorrow, he would be home after two long years.

XxXxXxX

A'N - I just want to address something briefly: I know this story has a very heavy Aoi/Makoto focus right now, but it'll lighten up and the other characters will get their time to shine soon. Even as I was writing it, I was noticing how I was neglecting the other four characters, so I made sure to fix it in future chapters.

Thank you for reading!