I'm back fellow grills,

Did you know 78% of Fanfictioners are female? According to this study conducted in 2010 anyways. Link in NOTES. Kinda explains the amount of gay shit on this website lol. (ProTip: Say this when Yaoi is your guilty pleasure and you're trying to play it off cool).

If you a dude leave a comment saying just that. I'll write whatever you want as the title of the next chapter. Make it as stupid as possible- (Legit, I'll write whatever- dont get me banned tho). Male privilege at its finest . No cheating. I wanna see if I can catch one of the elusive 22%. ch8 will go unnamed until I find one. (I've found one)

Aight. So this chapter is boring asf lol. I'm back on regular schedule. Ch8 is pretty much done. Once I write Ch9 it goes live. Easy lab this week. I have time to write.

I said I'd explain some stuff in last week in 'Ch 7', but last chapter was so long I didn't even want to edit it lol. We're not writing 8k word chapters anymore. I'll address the stuff when it's convenient - prob before ch 10. Hang tight.

Real Talk: There is no real talk. There are only memes. ThE mEmEs JaCk!

JK. Kyo much more straightforward than Iori. Cuz yanno... he's not insane . He's also a good deal smarter since he has attention to spare. Lori is always babysitting and doesn't have time to deal with the real world. (awww noo. Im sure Iori's smart too. He's just a little special ok?)

Leona a fangirl. Kyo's a thermometer.


#Kojima4lyfe

I've found a maan!*witch laugh* tbh I expected to name ch8 "Peanut Butter" or "HOMOLUST". Instead we get something relatively tame. Thanks TigerKing.


BEEEEP BEEEEP BEEEEP BEEE- *crash*

A small digital alarm clock lay on the floor against the far wall. It's power cord had been yanked free of its socket. The numbers 7:30 faded from the clock's shattered face. An arm dropped from the bedside table to hang down off the mattress. Kyo snorted and cracked open an eye to glare at the broken device.

Damn alarm...

The damn alarm had woken him from the most fitful sleep of his life. He groaned into the pillow and flopped onto his back to stare at the ceiling through half-lidded eyes. Misty sunlight filtered through the blinds on his right. Daylight drew horizontal lines across the white walls. A low hum emitted from a vent on the floor as it blasted cold air. The room was small and sparsely decorated - the only items in the room were a bed, a table and a reading lamp. Kyo rolled into the pile of pillows to go back to sleep.

I swear the hotel pictures were better… why are there so many pillows?

The sheets were coloured dark grey and smelled somewhat familiar. The scent wasn't bad, but it caused bile to rise in Kyo's throat.

I'll ask them to clean the sheets when I go down to the lobby… anyways, what kind of hotel sets their alarm clocks...

His arm jerked. A bug bite on his neck began to itch.

Wait! What kind of hotel sets their alarm clocks!?

Kyo jolted awake and scrambled out of the bed. The sudden action sent adrenaline rushing to his brain. His flailing had knocked over the reading lamp, shattered the bulb and left glass shards embedded in the carpet. He hunched over, staring down at them as he waited for his heart to slow and his dizziness to subside.

This… is definitely not the hotel. Where?

His vision focused. Kyo stood upright and looked about - rapidly taking in his surroundings. Besides for the low droning of the air conditioner, everything was silent. Too silent for 7AM in the city. Kyo climbed onto the bed to access the blinds. He lifted them and squinted out into the street.

Why is it so empty?… oh.

Oh. That's right. There was a fucking zombie apocalypse in SouthTown. He had miraculously chosen the worst place to come for a summer vacation. Bad timing too! If he had booked his ticket just one day later, the flight would've been cancelled. Just his luck… why didn't he go to New York or something? Ah. Nevermind that. He'd mope later. Where was this place? How did he get here?

Wait. Mac's… Mac's Bar right? Yeah and there were those two zombies… and Yagami…. Yagami came to pick me up? Why would he do that? Nevermind. What then?

Then he had freaked out and punched his rival in the face for running somebody over. They had fought?…. No, they didn't fight. Ah yeah, the asshole had… had shouted at a wall for half an hour… did he get confused or something?

While he was doing that, I fell asleep in the car... So that means right now I'm in the psycho's apartment... Shit.

Kyo quickly checked that all his limbs were still attached. He half-expected to be missing a finger or two. He breathed a sigh of relief when everything was in order - Yagami had always threatened to carve bits off him, and Kyo never doubted his intentions.

Lucky. Guy kept his promise.

Kyo climbed back off the bed, then rubbed the bridge of his nose. It ached as if he had been hit by a tennis ball or… thrown face-first into the mattress. He was fully dressed too, except for one shoe which was shoved in the doorway. He opened the door and kneeled to retrieve it, then rose to stand between the bedroom into the living area. He leaned against the doorframe, closed his eyes and tilted his head back.

he's here… but … at least a few blocks away… yeah, at least.

Kyo always knew when Iori was around. Something in him reacted to the Orochi. Probably a familial thing, a vestige from 600 years of battling the demon. A distinctive heat rose in his bones when the Orochi clan - or hybrids thereof- were in the vicinity. When his blood boiled Kyo knew his stalker was looking for him. The burning was so reliable he had come to count on it for detection purposes.

The first time it happened, Kyo thought he was having an allergic reaction and rushed to hospital with his rival in tow. The medical personnel had assumed he and Iori were friends and sat the red-haired man down to assure him that 'your buddy will be just fine'. Needless to say it had been a profoundly awkward experience for both of them.

They wouldn't even let him leave until they finished my blood tests… his face when they finally let us out… fucking priceless.

Kyo scoffed and opened his eyes.

Of course he also burned with Leona and the Hakkesshu - but Leona was never around and the Heavenly Kings were dead. There was only one person with Orochi blood who ever came after him. Burning veins meant the idiot was nearby and wanted to fight.

The only time we met and I didn't feel it was few years back. He bumped into me on the street at like 2 am- scared me shitless. Was completely hammered and didn't even recognize me. Even apologized.

The sense had been helpful to him when they both lived in Japan. Not because he feared an ambush- there was an unspoken rule between them that required they fight head on. No, the burning had become a signal for him. A signal to either finish up whatever he was doing and find a suitable alley, or hop into a taxi and clear the area.

Glad he found a better hobby… It was getting pretty old.

Kyo kneeled to put his shoe on. The living room just as spartan as the bedroom: consisting of only a TV, an old couch, a coffee table and a folding chair. Tossed haphazardly on the table was a set of maps, which lay under a pile of bloody tissues, gauze and tape. To his right was a large window which overlooked the nearby rooftops. A guitar case and music sheets were scattered in the corner. An amplifier sat on the folding chair. To his left was a small ill-kept kitchen and the front entrance. His duffel bag had been placed on the counter.

Is he running from the law or something? Why is this place so shitty? Guy's not poor, Leona kept posting selfies at his touring concerts last year. They were so packed you could hardly tell what was going on… I still can't believe she managed to go to all of his shows…

Kyo finished tying his shoe before warily approaching the front door. He leveled an eye to the spyhole and squinted out. There was nobody outside, just swirling white dust. The door opposite to his had been sealed shut. The doorknob had been melted off and it looked like the hinges had been welded together. A broken bottle lay on the welcome mat. Kyo turned his head and pressed a cheek against the wood to catch a glimpse of the iron gate and the staircase.

Nobody at the fence.

The hinges squealed as Kyo opened the door and stepped into the small courtyard. It was hot and humid, the sun was beginning to break through the clouds. A car alarm sounded from a few blocks over. A dog was howling from somewhere else. Water droplets hung from the edge of the roof and the canopy that covered the staircase. It had rained last night.

Where is everyone? The infected should be out by now… wait.

Kyo kicked aside the bottle as he approached the neighbor's door. He wanted to make sure the seal was strong enough to prevent any infected inside from coming out. He didn't want to risk an ambush.

A single scratch… That's all it takes.

He braced a shoulder against it and gave it a good shove - the door held, but the impact caused the odor of rotting flesh to leak out.

Ugh. Yeah… It's strong enough.

Kyo quickly turned aside and walked back to the gate.

Metal bars were bolted ceiling to floor, and formed a sort of cage over the courtyard. A portion of the cage was cut out and welded to the gate that led down to the staircase. As he approached the smell of burnt charcoal filled his nostrils. The same white dust that covered the floor powdered the staircase and the streets as well. It lifted and swirled about his feet as the wind blew. Is this… ash?

Kyo raised his head to look out through the gate. He leaned into it, searching for figures in the street.

There.

There were only two. One was a young boy with his ankle cauterized off, he would have bled to death if the wound wasn't burned closed. The other was charred black and unrecognizable - he… or she - had no legs at all. It was a wonder the person beneath was still alive. They were a good ways away but slowly dragged themselves in his direction.

Kyo scowled and involuntarily stepped back. Something cracked beneath his heel. He lifted it. It was a tooth, charred and blackened. Bile rose in his throat.

Yagami you sick motherf-... ugh.

Kyo cupped a hand over his mouth and squeezed his eyes shut. He strung his other arm through the cage and pressed his forehead against the bars. He took a moment to test his blood - Yagami was still far off… Good. Go get yourself killed. After a moment he relaxed and continued to stare at the two crawling figures.

Only two… there could've been a fifty… no, a hundred easy.

Iori had killed everyone and Kyo was going to benefit from it. He hated it. He would rather be the injured party. But he couldn't deny that Iori's murder spree was going to make his life a lot easier. It was already hard enough to procure a vehicle and get out of this labyrinthe city whilst avoiding military helicopters. Adding zomb- 'infected people' to the equation…would make things difficult. Very difficult.

They're people Kyo. Living, breathing, thinking people. Don't forget that.

He shook the gate by its bars to check it's stability then examined the clasp before returning inside. The mustang was still parked against the curb, it seemed to beckon at him.

Yeah. I'll just take the car. Yagami can stay here with all the people he's killed... He's probably infected already.

Kyo walked back inside, closing the door behind him. He looked around until he found a set of car keys hanging from a key rack in the kitchen. They were branded 'Ford'. He pocketed them.

Wash up and get going...

He opened every door in sight until he found a bathroom. It was likewise small and undecorated, walled with cold white tiles. There was a bucket of bloody water on the shower floor, a white shirt floated there. A few red fingerprints stained the porcelain sink-top and water fixtures. He dug through the bathroom cabinet - knocking a large collection of hair products onto the floor - until he found a travel toothbrush pack. Thank God.

He wanted to get out of the apartment as soon as possible. The two infected were slowly closing on on him. If they reached the staircase before he did, he might have to kill them to get through to the car.

And he didn't want to kill anyone. Especially not where Yagami had done just the same.

Of course he might need to. Times were dire and he was the only sane person left in the city. Everybody else was either controlled by a mysterious zombie infection or by murderous insanity. In any case, he wasn't going to die for his attacker's sake - even if they were innocent people. If he needed to, he would kill. Yesterday's ordeal was just too much, Kyo was in no hurry to repeat it. He was going to have to be crueler than usual.

But if he could avoid killing with minimal risk to himself, he was more than happy to do so.

Kyo finished up the the bathroom and went over to the coffee table and maps. He flicked a tongue of flame at the mess of bloody bandages. They burned to ash and revealed the maps underneath. Kyo sat on the couch, leaning over the table to study them.

Then almost burned them too as he realized all of them were written in English. He leaned back and stared at the ceiling. Then shut his eyes. Couldn't anything lean in his favor? The maps just has to be in English right? Why didn't this guy keep anything in Japanese? Do you have to always make my life hard Yagami? Can't you give me a break? Can't you just die and leave me in peace.

To make matters worse, he didn't even know what part of the city he was in… He would be hard pressed to orient himself even if he could read the maps fluently. He tossed them aside. Should he just choose a random direction and risk it? He had a car now - travel would be much faster. But the military was here too, and they probably had helicopters. Could he afford to just go roaring down the streets in a bright red car?

Kyo let out a long breath as he deliberated.

It's that, or find the crazy murderer and convince him to help me. Yeah, No. He's probably infected now anyways… why else would he still be out?... Where is he?...Yeah, still far away...

Kyo stood. He really didn't have a choice. He couldn't just hunker down and wait this out. Eventually the infected would spread out and repopulate this area. He needed to get out of the city. What direction should he go? What directions had Iori given him when he was at Mac's? Left was it for… fifty miles? And… where was he now in relation to Mac's? Shit. I slept in the car. Don't remember a thingnow what?

Kyo sighed and picked the maps back up.

Southtown was a located on America's east coast right? So travelling west would get him out of the city. If he hit water, he would just have to follow the coastline until he was out. The sun rose from the east, and he would chase it across the sky. Hopefully the army didn't spot him - or if they did, they would ignore him.

Why would the army be going after survivors? And what is the communication jam for? Did the US tell the rest of the world there is nobody left alive here? This better not be some conspiracy shit.

Kyo shook his head. There was no use thinking about these things. He had a single goal, and that was to get out of this damn city as quickly as possible. Once he got out, all his problems would be solved. Terry had said to avoid military, so he would. Terry had always proven trustworthy, and now wasn't the time to test his words.

Kyo rose from the old couch with a grunt and went to the kitchen. His duffel bag sat on the counter, he unzipped it and began searching through it. He found and pocketed his wallet and passport, they caused the keys in his pocket to jingle. He tossed his dead phone into the bag, then removed most of the bacon-n-beans from to replace them with a few beers and protein shakes he found in the fridge. He briefly considered leaving the cigarettes in case his rival survived and came back here, but decided against it.

He turned off the air conditioning and left the apartment.


NOTES:

* FF Demographic study: (lol link wont post. just google Fanfiction 2010 demographic study)

* Dust does not swirl around unless it's dry out. But it just finished raining, there's still drops on the roof. So yeah. 0/10 realism, 2/10 Dramatic effect.

*Orochi's actually not a demon. He's just an environmentalist. A very violent one lol. He's all like, "Humans are disturbing the balance of nature, we gotta killem." Kyo, Iori and Chizuru are defending our right to drive deisel cars and dump nuclear waste in the ocean. Thanks guys *3*

* You really can't seal a wooden door by melting the hinges.Kyo would definatly have busted through. I thought a long while about how to seal that door - but I've come up with nothing realistic. sry.

* In America we young peeps have some weird phrases. For example, "Yeah no" Means No. and "No yeah" Means yes. Yeah... sorry lol.

* Conspircy shit reeeee

*FyI, Hakkesshu = The dudes who wanna bring Orochi back. ie) Chris, shermie Yashiro goetniz vice, mature and Yamakazi(except not really for Yama. His insanity is so strong he just straight up ignores Oro lol.) also Leona's dad apparently - like her biological dad(dead), not heidern.

*Also Ford Mustang. Brand and Make.

* Learn from Kyo. next time you wake up in your crazy stalker's house break everything. Make a mess and steal thier car. (there have been so many Yaoi fanfics based on this exact premise. but I don't think any of them ended in grandtheftauto lol)

*If I emphsize something ad nauseum, it means it's important for future chapters. Just bear with it for now. I don't want to pull refrences three chapters down the line from like a single line of text and expect you guys to remember it lol.

*Next chapter = detectivve Kusagani