To Moonsoul121: Remember! Logging in allows me to respond to your review! About the Martial Arts quest, that is my mistake. Having read all the SAO novel and shorts that are currently translated, thanks to Kirini LJ for those, I was thinking the story where Kirito got the information from Argo was in the beta-test, I realized it was not, but I decided to leave it like I had written it.

I do not own Sword Art Online, Highschool of the DEAD or their characters.

Chapter 7

Floor Three: one month, 16 days

"I am already getting sick of lizards!" Saya roared as she brought her sword down on an iguana looking creature that was trying to slap her with its tail.

"Four more on the right!" Takashi called as he and Morita covered her back.

"There it is!" Kohta called out. "That's got to be the quest boss!" He was pointing at a lizard about a meter and a half in length that was changing color like a chameleon as it maneuvered around trying to strike at Saya.

"Oh no you don't!" the girl cried out as it hissed at her. She activated her sword skill and struck it in a three hit 'sharp nail' combo. To her surprise the monster burst into data almost at once.

The rest of the lizards' derezzed when the boss was killed.

"That was a lot easier than I thought it would be," Takashi said as he walked over.

"Well Argo said it was really not that hard of a quest," the pink-haired girl said as she checked the drops. "Ah! Here it is! A crystal of weapon change!" In her hand was what did look like a plain lump of iron except it shone slightly and was eight sided."Huh, looks like a lump of iron to me."

"Well that only took a couple of hours," Rika said. "I'm eager to get back to town and see what that thing really does."

"Me too," agreed Saya. "Let's head back."

The group left Shizuka, Alice and Zeke back at their new headquarters in the main town. Everyone was surprised when the second floor had been cleared in only ten days. Once the third floor was open, there was a flurry of activity as everyone tried to find and complete the quest that allowed the formation of guilds; that had happened a few days before. Now guilds were open to everyone.

Takashi and company had not gotten involved in fighting the second floor field or floor bosses. Instead, they concentrated on the 'Martial Arts' extra skill quest the Beater Kirito had told Takashi about.

More than half the grouphad completed the quest. Saya, Kohta and the others decided they would not.

They had also learned the secret behind Argo the Rat's painted whiskers. When you started, the Kung-Fu Master painted them on your face and you were told they would not come off until you finished the quest. Of course Alice wanted a set for herself, but since they knew she would tire of them quickly, Shizuka convinced the child to let her paint them on instead, though the little girl claimed her's were a set of wolf whiskers.

A thirty minute jog and they were in front of the blacksmith shop. They went in and after Saya presented the smith with the crystal, he asked her what she would like to look at in the way of other weapons. He seemed confused when she went to give up her sword for the new crossbow.

"That Rat!" Saya exclaimed a few minutes later as she came out of the store with sword and crossbow. "The crystal doesn't just allow you to change weapons, it opens more weapon slots so you can carry and use more! That's what she meant about a surprise she would not tell me!"

"I wish to do this quest myself," Saeko said. "I would like to pick up a long bow as well."

"I wouldn't mind some daggers or throwing spikes," Takashi said.

"I think we could all benefit from it," Rika chimed in.

"I wonder if you can gain the crystal and then give it to someone else," Kohta said.

"What are you thinking?" Saya asked the boy.

"Alice. I saw a pistol style hand crossbow while we were in the shop. It would be just right for her little hands."

Saya thought about this; the child could be a holy terror with her little sword. With Zeke at her side, horned rabbits had learned to quake in fear when she was around. "Let me contact the Rat," she said finally. "It may cost me a little col, but she might know and we would not have to waste time to try it." She typed the message and was surprised to get an almost instant reply.

"So how much did that cost you?" Takashi asked with a grin.

Saya snorted, with a half amused look, "Since it was for Alice, only twenty col. A little fee for a little girl she said."

"She's practically giving it away!" Rika said with a laugh.

"For her that is giving it away!" Rei quipped.

"But what did she say?" Kohta asked.

"You can give the crystal away. The quest is actually finished when you acquire the crystal, not when you give it to the blacksmith, which I should have known, because the xp and col showed up for me when I killed the chameleon thing. So if someone does the quest and doesn't want the crystal, they could give it to Alice."

"I'll do it," the chubby boy said. "I'm a ranged man so I don't need a second weapon."

"Hold on, cowboy," Rika said, holding up her hand. "Let's talk to Shizuka first. She might do it and give Shorty the prize because she really doesn't want to fight at all. Plus you really do need a backup like a knife or mace just in case."

"I know there are no healers in this game, but it sure is nice to have someone standing by with a potion in hand when you get hit in one of these fights," Hisashi said. "And with these new healing crystals showing up, that makes it an even better idea."

The others nodded in agreement since they had seen this in action. Several players in field fights had died because they could not get to their healing potion fast enough. In one case the player took the potion, but died anyway because of the pause before the potion started to work. Another disadvantage was the potions had a 'cool down' period that had to count off before the player could take another one. It also might take two or three potions to heal you depending on what level they were, and if you got hit again while waiting, it was a disaster. The new crystals were instantaneous. All that had to be done was press the peach colored block to the wounded player and say, "heal". The crystal would activate and instantly restore all hit points, vitality and stamina. Potions only restored HP, but both types of healing would regrow limbs if they had been cut off. Potions just took a lot longer.

Saya didn't want too, but she had to agree with Hisashi. She was still not happy with the couple, but they did do their share of the work so she really couldn't complain.

"The quest resets every three days," Saya said. "So for all of us it will take twenty seven days. We also have to get here before any other players or lose our place in line, which would delay us further. Main thing is what will we do in the down time?" the pink-haired girl asked.

"We skipped quests on the first and second floors to get here early," Takashi said. "We can go back and do them while we wait. There is 'Cows counter attack' and 'Secret Medicine of the Forest' to do on one."

"The second floor is very thin on quests," Saya said as she scanned through her notes.

"Probably why it only took a few days to blow through it," Kohta said. "I was thinking about learning to be a blacksmith. That way I could defer the cost of our armor and weapon maintenance as well as make us better equipment later on."

Saya paused for a second before she did some more things in her menus. Finally closing them she spoke, "Okay then, you have to go back inside and ask the smith to apprentice. Once he accepts you, you will have to complete a series of tasks to earn the different smithing skills. Once you hit a certain level, he will tell you he has nothing more to teach you. It should take about a week to reach that point."

Kohta blinked, a little surprised that Saya knew about how to do what he wanted, "Th…thank you, Saya-san. I'm glad you already knew how to do this!"

The girl simply nodded and blushed as she saw Saeko focusing on her with a smirk.

Kohta went back into the smithy and a few minutes later returned with a grin. "I start tomorrow," he said.

"I wonder how many others have started support skills?" Saya said.

"Don't know, but I heard there was a player smith on the sidelines of the second floor field boss battle. He sharpened up everyone's gear before the fight," Rika said.

"I wonder who finished that one?" Takashi asked.

Rika smirked, "You know him. I was told that he and his chestnut-haired girlfriend were fighting the wind wasps and the boss fight got out of control. They stepped in and settled the issue, but a wind wasp attacked and knocked his drop, which was a sword, over a cliff where he could not retrieve it. A lot of the front-line party was happy to see this because he had promised not to interfere in the boss fight."

"Ouch," the dark-haired boy said. "I wonder if he found it later?"

"That's the odd thing. The person telling the story said he just shrugged his shoulders and took his girlfriend to dinner."

"I wonder why?" Saya muttered as she thought about the information. "And by the way, how did you come by this info?"

The police woman grinned broadly, "There is a reason Boobzilla and I sit with the boys in the local inn at night. She reels them in and I pump them for info while she hypnotizes them."

Saya frowned, "And I kept wondering why she acted like she got drunk on plain old juice!"

"Use the assets you have at your disposal. Plus the non-alcoholic sake ain't too bad!"

They had learned once the second floor was opened, the drinks in the bars changed and where at first you could only get the unidentifiable 'juice', the full range of known beers, ales, wines, whiskies and sakes had opened up, all non-alcoholic of course.

"Let's get back home," Rika said. "I'm ready for a bath."

"It helps that Sensei has excessive assets," Morita muttered to Takashi as the other boy smirked and nodded.

Saya and Saeko lagged behind as they started out, walking slightly slower than the rest.

"Something you wish to say, Senpai?" the pink-haired girl murmured to the samurai.

"I was just wondering how much col it cost to get the Blacksmith skill information from Argo-san," Saeko stated.

Saya reddened and ducked her head. "Two hundred," she replied. "Was it that obvious?"

"Maybe not to the others, but I'm sure Kohta-kun suspects," Saeko told her. "Do you like him, Saya-chan?"

The heiress glanced at the boy a few meters ahead of them listening, to the conversation between Morita and Takashi. She sighed, "I…I don't dislike him. He's…stalwart, I guess you would say."

Saeko nodded, "I agree and I feel he would be a good match for you. He is not un-intelligent and to be honest, rather cute in his own way." The swordswoman smirked again, "And I am quite certain he likes you."

Saya reddened further under her friend's teasing. She glanced up at the boy in question who was going through his menus. "Doesn't matter whether he does or does not," she said. "I'm not looking for anything like that when I still have high school to finish."

"Is that so…" Saeko said smugly.

Suddenly Kohta slowed up and fell back to where they were walking. "Umm, Saya-san, could you accompany me somewhere for a bit?" he asked. "I heard some information about a special shop where I would like you to use your appraisal skill."

"What kind of special shop?" she asked.

"Specialty food items," he replied. "I heard a rumor you might could get some supplies there that have increased flavor."

The girl frowned, but could not think of a reason to decline. "Alright," she said. "Saeko would you like to go with us?"

"No. I think I want to get an early bath and relax," the other girl said. "Go ahead and do your investigation. I would love to get ahold of new spices and seasonings for our cooking. I'll tell the others you went shopping."

"O…okay," Saya said as Kohta nodded his head to the samurai. With that Kohta led her off toward the town square.

"Ehhh? This place is somewhere else?" she asked as they arrived at the teleport gate.

"Ah! I'm sorry, Saya-san! It's down on the second floor in Urbus. It's not far after that."

"Well I guess it doesn't hurt," the girl said as they stepped into the gate and Kohta said, "Teleport: Urbus!"

Exiting the second floor gate, they proceeded northward a ways then turned to the right. A block or two further they turned left into a narrow lane where they found the shop on the right.

"This kind of looks like a bad area," Saya said as Kohta opened the door for her. "Plus the sign says bar."

They entered and she was surprised to find a nice looking little café inside. The NPC waitress seated them and handed them menus with the promise to be back in a minute.

"Kohta, what is this about?" Saya asked. "This is definitely not a shop that sells food supplies."

The boy blushed and looked sheepish, "I'm sorry, Saya-san, but I lied to you just a little bit." He lowered his head, "I know what you did earlier and I just wanted to pay you back. Please let me buy you a meal in thanks for the information about becoming a blacksmith."

The girl looked surprised at first and then slowly reddened with embarrassment. At first she didn't know what to say, but she finally spoke, "I…well…alright but don't pull anything like this again. How did you know what I did?"

"I've gotten used to how you work with your info brokering. I was sure you messaged Argo-san and asked her for the info."

Saya sighed, "I guess I'm not as good at hiding things as I thought I was. Saeko figured it out also." She looked at the menu for a minute before nodding, "Alright, I'll allow it this time. Did your source tell you what was best here?"

"If you will allow me to order for you…" the boy said as she nodded.

000

Thirty minutes later they had indulged themselves on salad, stew and delicious bread with a barley tasting tea. The piece-de-resistance though was when the waitress brought Saya a dessert called 'Tremble Shortcake'.

Saya's eyes widened as she took in the decadent looking cake. Just the smell itself almost made her swoon. "Kohta what is this!?" she asked as she stared at her plate.

"According to Argo-san, this may be the most delicious confection that can be had in the game," he told her. "It's made from tremble cow milk and over a liter of cream."

"Those huge monsters we had to fight? I knew they dropped meat, but it was tough and not very pleasing to eat. I wonder how they milk the cow…you know what, I don't care and don't want to know. Let's try this!" With that she took her fork and pulled off a section. Her eyes rolled back into her head after she placed it in her mouth, "Oh, Kohta; you have to try this!"

"Eh…that's alright…this is for you after all," he said embarrassed.

"Nope! Not happening!" she declared as she pulled a second fork from the service stand on the table. Handing it to him she pointed at the cake. "Now taste it or feel my wrath!"

He chuckled and did as she bid. She was right; it was like a piece of heaven on his pallet.

They slowly finished it together, Kohta made sure Saya got more, and sat back sipping tea as they smiled.

"Thank you, Kohta," the girl said. "I really enjoyed this. It made me forget about our problems for a while."

He nodded, "You're welcome, Saya. Er, I mean a…ah…" He stopped speaking and kind of drew in on himself. "Thank you for having dinner with me, Takagi-san. It was a pleasure to be in your company."

She just sat and blinked at him for a minute before nodding, "I think we better go back now," she said.

Kohta paid the bill and then escorted her out the door. They were quiet on the way back to the portal and when they got to the square, Kohta got closer to Saya's side, keeping himself between her and other players that were running around.

"Sorry," he said. "I don't mean to crowd you, but I don't want to run the chance of us getting separated."

"Then we will do this," she said as she reached out and took his hand in hers. At first she thought the boy was going to have a heart attack right there, but he calmed down quickly. He beamed a smile, led her to the portal and called to go back to the third floor.

Once they arrived, Kohta thought Saya would let go since the square was not as crowded, but she hung on until they reached their front door.

She stopped and turned toward him. She looked thoughtful for a minute before she spoke, "Thank you again, Kohta. It was a very nice…date."

His eyes widened as shock crossed his face, "D…date!? Saya did you say this was a date!?"

She snorted, "Of course it was a date, baka. And I enjoyed it. We'll do it again sometime." She giggled and reached up to pinch him lightly on the cheek before going into the house before him.

The boy stood there for a bit before shaking himself and following her inside, a huge grin on his face.

000

Floor Three: one month, 24 days

"Congratulations!" everyone cheered as they raised their drinks to toast Kohta.

"Th…thanks everyone," the embarrassed boy said as he blushed and rubbed the back of his head.

He had finished his 'apprenticeship' in seven days. The smith gave him a portable anvil and forge, and showed him how to make his first hammer. Saya had slipped around and found the one item every new shop keeper needed, a "Vendor's Carpet'.

This was a magical item that was about two tatami mats in size. It could be used to carry a large amount of items, foods, etc. It was an indispensable tool for merchants, because other players cannot steal from a Vendor's Carpet, as objects placed on the carpet cannot be moved by anyone but the merchant.

The Vendor's Carpet also had a storage mode, allowing everything on the carpet to be rolled up into a cylinder about 1.5 meters long and 10 centimeters in diameter. Since it was a magic carpet, it stayed the same weight regardless of the amount of materials stored within it.

The carpet only worked in the area of towns and villages and it could not be stored in a player's inventory: thus needing to be carried around by hand.

In the meantime Saeko and Rika had both finished the 'weapon change' quest and it was planned for Shizuka to start it in the morning.

"So what's wrong with you?" Rika asked as she sat down next to Takashi, who was looking down into his mug of ale.

"Just wishing this had a lot more kick to it," he replied.

"Can't say I don't agree. I'm going to throw an epic bender when we get out of here!" She watched him for a minute more before speaking again, "But, there's something else eating at you, so what is it?"

Takashi shook his head, "Just tired I guess."

"Well you have a lot on you," she said. "You took on the role of leader and then had a bunch of shit dumped on your head. I wouldn't blame you if you ran screaming."

"Could I do that?" he asked. "Could I run away? It might be better if I just go off on my own."

"You could, but can you just walk away from them?" she asked. "Look I know how hard it is to lead, Takashi, but I think you have what it takes."

"You could do better."

She shook her head, "No, I don't understand games like you do. Yeah I know tactics and can even learn how to use a sword, but this game doesn't work like the real world. It's people like you that understand the mechanics of it that will be the ones that get us out of here."

He shrugged his shoulders, "I guess. I just wish it didn't have to be me."

She sighed; she didn't know what else to tell him. "Well what are our plans for now? What's next?"

"Keep moving on," he answered. "The clearers are working on the next floor and hope to have it finished in a week. We'll stay here until everyone that wants to do this quest has done it and then move on to the next thing."

She nodded and lit one of her cigars.

000

Floor eight: three months, 18 days

Quest: Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky!

"Who would have thought they made a quest based on a line from a rock and roll song!" Rika called out as she watched Takashi, Saeko and Alice climb the last few branches to the top of the tree.

The group was taking the individual quest because it increased your agility stat by 15%. The eighth floor was heavily forested with huge trees, but the floor itself was covered in water of unknown depth. All travel on that level had to be done by means of suspended paths and walkways. If you fell, you had an even chance to survive by landing in the water, but then you had to find a tree with a ladder…and there were things in the water you didn't want to have to fight while swimming.

The quest they were on made you climb to the top of one of the large trees and actually touch the bottom of the ninth floor above you. While the climb was not bad in itself, a slip would send you down almost seventy meters into the water and that would kill you.

"Keep a watch on your safety rope!" Saya called up as she and Kohta watched the foursome from a limb a few meters below.

Takashi went up first, then Saeko and Rika, pressing their hands on the bottom of the floor above. Little Alice was tied in between them and they watched carefully as she finished her climb and touched blue sky like they had. Laughing loudly she climbed down to hug Rika waiting on the next limb.

"That was fun!" the girl declared as the police woman swung the child onto her back.

"Yeah well right now be sure to hang on to me," the woman told her. "I've got you tied off, but let's be safe so you're onee-chan will not have a heart attack."

"Why did I ever let you talk me into this!" the pink-haired girl raged as she beat on Kohta's shoulder.

"Calm down, Saya! She's tied off to three people!" the boy said as he endured the abuse while watching the foursome descend.

The requirements of the quest said you had to climb to the top of the tree and touch the ceiling without being attached to the tree with anything other than your hands and feet. It did not say you could not tie yourself off to another person though. Once you 'touched the sky' the quest was finished and you then could use safety equipment on the trip down.

"Wee! This would be really fun if we had some bungee cords!" Shizuka shouted as she leaned over looking down at a distraught little wolf on the platform fifty meters below.

"Come on, Sensei, it's our turn," Kohta said as Rika and the others lowered themselves to the same level limbs.

"We're right behind you," Morita called out as he, Hisashi and Rei started up after the trio.

It had been decided they would go up in groups, Takashi, Saeko and Rika helping Alice, since Rika had climbing experience due to her SAT training. Saya, Kohta and Shizuka tied together, followed by Morita, Hisashi and Rei as the last group.

Thirty minutes later they were done and down.

"What's wrong?" Rika asked Saeko as she saw the girl staring at her menu screen.

"I am not sure," the samurai said. "It seems I have gained an extra skill for some reason."

"Huh?" Saya said as she stepped closer. "Let me see, please."

Saeko shared her screen with the pink-haired girl and they looked it over together.

They knew about, and had earned, the extra skills, 'martial arts' and 'meditation'. A week ago Saeko unlocked the extra skill 'Katana' when her 'curved sword' skill reached a certain level. This gave her access to a number of different sword skills others like Morita and Hisashi did not have.

"Saeko this is not just an extra skill," Saya said as she read the description. "According to this it is a 'Unique' skill, but I'm not sure what makes it that or what it means." She dug further and her eyes widened as she found something. She looked up at the dark-haired girl and smiled broadly, "I found it! A 'Unique' skill is a one of a kind skill that only one player in the game can use!"

"What is it?" Kohta asked.

"Battōjutsu," the tall girl replied. "It is the art of drawing out the sword. If I remember correctly, it was taught in the Matsumata-ryū, founded in 1750 by Matsumata Keisuke during the Edo period. Let me try something." She stepped away from the others and leaned into her sword drawing stance. They were all surprised when she suddenly drew and sliced in a blinding flash of white light.

"Whoa!" Takashi said. "That's a lot faster than you were before!"

The girl nodded as she replaced her blade and tried it again using a different strike once her blade was free of the sheath.

"Wow, your first strike ability just went through the roof!" Kohta declared.

"Let's be careful and not let anyone know it's a one-of-a-kind skill," Rika said. "If other players find out you have it, they would be hounding you about how you got it. Also if there is only one player that can have it, if you get killed, it would be open to someone else acquiring it. If anyone asks, just say you think it came from the 'Katana' skill set. Don't use the real name, call it 'quick draw' or something."

"That is sound advice," the girl said as she nodded to the policewoman.

"Let's go back to our place," Saya said. "I'm tired, hungry and I want a bath."

Even though the front lines had reached the twenty-fifth floor, the group kept their lodgings on the third floor. Because Saya and crew had spent so much time on individual and side quests, the front-liners stormed ahead faster than anyone expected, spreading hope that the game would be cleared in a few months.

It had also been realized that the best strategy was to be ten levels higher than the floor number you were currently grinding on. A level twenty-five, should have no problem with monsters on the fifteenth floor unless you got swarmed or ambushed. That did not include the field and floor bosses.

Saya, Shizuka and Alice were all lagging behind the others as far as levels. Everyone else was in their mid-thirties while they were only mid-twenties with Saya being the highest at twenty eight. Kohta was also beginning to fall behind the rest since he started blacksmithing. He would go hunting with them several days a week, but at least three days he tended shop and watched over Saya, Shizuka and Alice.

The boy was doing well with his smithing business. Players had started to hunt him out for his sharping and repair services. He was even getting a few orders for custom swords when players brought him the materials to make them. He was known to be fair and honest in his dealings and had few upgrade failures. It didn't hurt that the beautiful Saya was always nearby helping and offering info services when she could.

There were other player blacksmiths around, but there had also been some problems with crooks and scam artists. One well known scam involved the smith in question distracting the players as he started their sword upgrade, and then switched their weapon for an inferior one that shattered, once he reached a certain point in the process. This allowed him to either sell them a different weapon or go through the process of upgrading a backup weapon instead. After the player had left, he would do the upgrade on the original weapon and then sell or trade it for a high price. Once he had been caught in the scam, and the information had gotten out through Argo the Rat, he had to close up shop and go back to grinding levels like everyone else.

Kohta and the others were currently working the twenty-fourth floor, which was mostly covered with water. The main settlement was called Panareze, a man-made island in the middle of a large lake. He would set up shop in the square along with Saya, Alice and Zeke. Shizuka would sometimes stay with them, but normally followed the others off to the hunting grounds as they worked on their leveling.

This way of thinking, along with his reputation, had led a lot of front line fighters to seek him out before and after entering the dungeon on the next floors.

Saya had made a schedule for what days the shop would be open, that she got printed up at one of the NPC shops. She would hand this out to everyone that did business with them and update it when they moved to another floor. Customers had started taking extras to give to friends.

The group entered the gate on eight and stepped out of the one on three. They had not even crossed the square heading home when a blue light washed across everything. Players hanging around cheered as the gate system rang a bell two times and started to speak.

'New Information! New Information! The teleport gate to floor twenty-six is now open! Repeat, the teleport gate to floor twenty-six is now open!"

"They did it, they won again," Saya said as everyone smiled at the people celebrating, just as her personal message notice rang. Opening the screen, her face changed to a look of horror as she read.

"Saya what's wrong!?" Kohta asked as she closed the message and covered her mouth with her hand.

She took a breath as she faced the others. "That was Argo," she said. "The clearers opened the twenty-sixth floor, but at a terrible price. Over a third of the front-liners were killed in the fighting. That means there are at least sixty or more dead.

Everyone stood in shock as the gate activated and people began to stumble out of it.

One of them was Agil the axe fighter. He was plodding along with six others that all looked beaten down.

Saeko, followed by the rest, jogged over to the man. "Agil-san, are you alright? Were you at the boss fight?" she asked.

It took him a second to focus on the girl before he nodded. "Ah…Saeko-san…yeah, we were there. It was…bad…really bad."

"Right now I just want some food, I'm wasted," the scruffy looking man with a red bandanna next to him said.

"Hey I know who you are!" Takashi said. ""You're…Klein, Kirito's friend aren't you?"

Klein looked at Takashi for a moment before speaking, "Do I know you?"

Takashi nodded, "In a way. I stopped you on the first night and asked you where your friend was going. You're the one that told us to get ahead of the player mob and head to the next town.

Klein's eyes widened, "Oh yeah! I remember now!"

Saeko whispered to Saya and Rika, who both nodded before she turned back to the other group. "Gentlemen, please let us invite you our residence and allow us to cook a meal for you."

All the men perked up slightly as this.

"You mean you…you girls…are willing to cook food for us!?" Klein asked as he and the five with him stood in shock.

Agil just chuckled and nodded, "I'm in."

"Yes Klein-san," Saeko replied. "You have done a man's job today. The least we can do is prepare a supper for you in thanks."

"Klein if you say no I will stab you in the back!" one of the others told him.

"Are you crazy!? Do you really think I would say no!?" He turned back to Saeko and bowed, "Thank you! We will happily accept!"

Saya spoke up, "Takashi, take everyone to the house. We'll pick a few more supplies and be right behind you."

The boy nodded and waved for the front-liners to follow him. Shizuka, Alice, Zeke, Hisashi and Rei went with them while the rest went to the market place.

A/N: Currently working on chapter 12! Please Review, Favorite and Follow

EN: 1st posted 1/3/15