Devil. May. Fucking. Cry. 5!
After a decade of official silence about a sequel, we finally get a trailer for DMC5! To that, all I can say is this: Fuck yes!
The new aesthetic of the series thanks to the RE Engine they're using (same one used to make Resident Evil 7) really took me off guard at first, made me think it was a different game until I saw Nero and the Devil May Cry sign on the side of the van. I will admit that Nero's new look along with Dante's did catch me off guard and I've seen plenty of comments on Youtube already hating on it, but personally I'm cool with it and can even see the reasons behind it from characters' perspective.
In Nero's case, as laidback as he's shown to be, is still more serious about things than Dante. Wouldn't surprise me if he got his hair cut if it started to really get in his way or something. The darker clothes he has could be a sign of him trying to blend in a bit more with the general populace. Oh, and that new Devil Breaker of his? That is awesome, like seriously just crazy awesome. That it can function like the Devil Bringer but with a few more tricks to it is just amazing for a cybernetic, even if Nero's innate power is the one powering it.
As for Dante, his new look as far as his face goes seems like a cross between his DMC4 self and DMC2 design, especially the length and general style of his hair now. Makes me wonder just where exactly DMC5 falls in the timeline between 4 and 2. Well, regardless of the answer, I'm just happy to have him back.
I actually enjoyed the DmC: Devil May Cry game but having the original Dante back along with Nero is just awesome beyond belief.
That said, I do admit too that his new beard is a little weird. Combined with his smile and messy hair, he looks vaguely like Jeff Bridges to me, ha ha! Hope he gets rid of the beard over the course of the game; it does make him look older than he really is, but once he shaves it off and trims his hair a bit, he'll look almost exactly like his DMC2 self – a little gaunt, but still youthful.
Heh, well my fanboying aside, glad the last chapter was enjoyed by you guys. And to TheDarkHollow, glad you found the previous tree monster cool/scary! Means I'm doing a decent job at making these monsters actually look/sound intimidating. Hope future monsters will live up to expectations!
Now then, onto the chapter!
Chapter 7
Takashi could only watch as the small crew of men got to work cordoning off the area without trying to make it seem too obvious.
Fatigue was hitting him hard now, the shock of what he saw adding so much to what he already felt that his eyes were feeling seriously droopy now. It was only through sheer willpower that he hadn't simply fallen back, asleep to the world. Not like he'd stay asleep for long anyways, but he'd rather avoid the indignity of collapsing.
Of course, it helped that he was now being guided to an entirely different room now, away from that room.
Taken inside the room by one of the men, Takashi saw the room to be a study room… of some kind. There were plenty of books to indicate it was a study room, but there were also what he assumed were trophies and awards and other antiques that made him think of a trophy room too. Felt weird to see such a combination here, but he opted to focus on the two people that had already been waiting inside for him.
He recognized Yuriko right off the bat, the elegant woman sitting in the seat behind the massive desk there. As fairly tall as the woman was, she looked positively tiny behind the desk like that.
But then, Takashi assumed that was because the desk was suited for the man standing by the sole window of the room nearby.
He was tall, easily the tallest person Takashi has ever met and very well built even under the black uniform he wore. With sharp and stern facial features and piercing eyes, he turned and eyed Takashi as if meaning to pierce his soul.
To his own credit, Takashi took the stare without so much as flinching and merely returned it, albeit respectfully before nodding to the man.
Again, he's really only seen the guy once back when he was a kid, but he couldn't not recognize him.
Souichirou Takagi, Saya's father.
"Takagi-san," he said respectfully to the man.
Souichirou merely nodded. "Take a seat."
Takashi complied and turned to face him still. "When did you get back?" he couldn't help but ask, having been unaware of the man returning.
"Just a while ago," Souichirou answered. "I'd gone personally to check on a few comrades of mine located well across the city. Much like my wife and I, they possess a significant amount of resources. I'd gone to not only check on their health but to also negotiate with them into providing further aid to survivors."
Takashi nodded. "Makes sense…" He trailed off and sighed, tired beyond words.
"What happened?" the man of the house then asked of him. "When I returned, I hadn't been expecting to see some of my men cleaning up a murder scene before the sun has even risen."
Takashi flinched in amazement. Had it really already been that long? The sun may not be rising just yet, seriously, had the night gone by that fast?
His thoughts aside, he proceeded to explain what had gone on to both of Saya's parents. Of how he felt something off and came running to see, coming across what had remained of those two girls. Of how afterwards he dashed off and found some of the guys that had initially been working lounging around on the first floor, upon which they'd swiftly rounded up a few more guys to go see the scene for themselves.
"…After that, they started going around getting stuff to clean up the mess a bit and section off that whole area from the rest of the mansion," Takashi finished up. "That way when the others start to wake up, they won't be panicking."
Souichirou nodded and folded his arms across his muscular chest. "I see. You did the right thing by going to our men rather than to other survivors – a panic would've only led to chaos and injury."
"Yeah, sounds like the last thing we need here since this is pretty much the only safe haven we've got for now," Takashi mumbled, unable to find it in himself to speak more formally. Yuriko may have found his casual manner of talk amusing, but he wasn't sure if the same could be said of Souichirou here. Again, he was just too drained to care much for that right now.
"Indeed." He seemed to be in luck – the guy didn't mind at all, assuming he wasn't simply focusing that much on this current issue. "That said, this is still cause for alarm. That someone or something was able to get in here and kill those two girls…"
Souichirou looked to his wife, who seemed to know exactly what he wanted to say.
"I've already spoken with the men on watch. They say they saw nothing out of the ordinary at all – the undead have yet to approach the streets outside thanks to the decoys and stereos we've been using and there has yet to be a sign of any of those creatures approaching either."
Ah, so that's why he hadn't seen the matriarch of the Takagis around until now, Takashi surmised. Then again, he had sort of just been standing around in a daze, so who knows anymore, right?
Souichirou nodded grimly. "Which is to say, we've now truly come across something out of the ordinary."
At that, Takashi quirked an eyebrow. "Uh, sir, I'm pretty sure this whole zombie apocalypse thing is out of the ordinary. Monsters included."
The man's mouth twitched upwards and Yuriko chuckled. "True. But what we meant is that up until now, we've been dealing with things that we could see and physically handle like anything else, even if some of the monsters take up a truly ridiculous amount of ammunition and resources to put down."
"…So," Takashi said after a minute, trying to read in between the lines here. "You mean something like… like what, a ghost-like creature now? Something intangible?"
Souichirou nodded. "Of a sort, yes. A ridiculous thing of me to say, I know, but with the entire world falling prey to this calamity, an open mind is needed. Trains of thought that had never been pursued must now be explored. The illogical and unexplained must now be considered in lieu of what we all had once considered to be natural and common." He paused and let out a sigh. "I can readily admit I had never been a strong believer in the supernatural, but as leader of all these fine men and women, I cannot afford to let my own preconceived notions cloud my judgement nor my actions. If the people of this country are to survive and if I am to help make this happen, then I must be willing to think outside the box. The same applies for everyone else here."
Souichirou looked Takashi in the eyes as he said that last statement and Takashi momentarily felt his fatigue disappearing as shock overtook him.
The man's speech just now resonated with him in ways he couldn't quite describe at all. The one thing he became sure of in this moment, however, is that Saya's dad truly was someone who could be trusted.
Leaning forward in his chair, Takashi eyed the married couple. "Can I bring something up?"
Both nodded.
"The sensation I got before the murders happened… it's one I felt the other night, when the others and I had been staying at our sensei's suite. I think whatever triggered this sensation in me is the same one that got those two girls," Takashi explained.
The mood in the room, already rather grim, got much tenser. "Truly?" Yuriko asked. "…Do the others know of this? Have you told them?"
Takashi shook his head. "They don't. Despite what led up to us being at the penthouse suit… I couldn't help but feel instinctively that they were all trying to process what was going on in the world. Telling them would've just made them snort in disbelief or something… that was the sort of feeling I had at the time. Though after the 'tree' monster fight just yesterday, I'm pretty sure they'd believe just about anything now."
Yuriko hummed at that. Souichirou grumbled in thought.
Takashi sat there and patiently waited for a response.
"So, we three are the only ones aware of this, right now," Souichirou eventually said. He eyed Takashi thoughtfully. "You say both times, you felt a sensation?"
"Yeah."
"So, you can somehow sense this thing then… interesting. Any way of pinpointing how far away it is from you?"
"No. I just seem to know it's in the area…" Takashi tried not to sound frustrated with himself at that.
Souichirou placed a hand on his shoulder. "No self-pity, boy," he said with a surprising gentleness. "You sensed something wrong and acted. That the scene was so fresh when you got to it means you must've only missed the creature by mere minutes at most… and even if you had caught it in the act, would you really have been able to do anything to it?"
Takashi opened his mouth, an automatic 'yes' on the tip of his tongue, only to catch himself. He had no idea if he'd have been able to do anything at all against whatever caused those two girls' deaths. If it had been of a comparable strength level to one of the zombies, then probably yeah, he could've killed or restrained it. But if not… he could've simply been added to the body count.
Souichirou seemed to realize the direction his thoughts were going in and gave his shoulder a firm squeeze. "We know now of this thing's existence. That counts for far more than you know. Be proud, you could've just prevented a killing spree."
"I sure hope so," Takashi responded, taking comfort in the man's words, but still reeling away, tired. "I know life isn't meant to go everyone's way or anything, but it'd be nice to just catch a break for a while."
"We certainly know the feeling. In any case, I believe this will do for now," Souichirou said. "Go and rest, boy. You need it."
Takashi smiled wanly. "I'll try, but no promises. Sleep isn't something I get a lot of nowadays."
He stood up and started to take his leave, but not before nodding appreciatively to both Takagis. However, just before he fully exited the room, Yuriko called out to him.
"Komuro-kun," she began. "Just one last question – did you recognize either of the two girls?"
Takashi looked back and shrugged. "Not really. But one of them was named Hanuichi or something like that."
"I see. Thank you."
And with that, Takashi left. Not to try and rest – he's pretty much given up on sleep now – but rather to go eat. Amazingly enough, the events of yesterday and last night have really worked up an appetite for him.
Time to go satiate it, if possible.
Shizuka woke up surprisingly early, just as the sun was rising. She let out a yawn as she did so and stretched, a motion that made her breasts nearly burst free of the tank-top she'd been given as sleepwear.
Despite the events of yesterday, she'd slept pretty well, much to her own surprise, though that could've been because of how tired she felt. She hoped the others could say the same.
Now, that said… "Hungry," she whined cutely as her stomach proceeded to growl.
Getting up whilst trying not to disturb Kyouko-chan who lied in the other bed this room had, Shizuka put on some clothes, consisting of white jeans that clung well to her long legs and a purple sleeveless turtleneck that emphasized her bust greatly. She grumbled once more as her stomach growled again, just as she finished changing and putting on some sandals.
Taking one brief glance at Kyouko-chan, who still slept blissfully, Shizuka smiled and exited the room, careful not to close the door too loudly, a minor thing that she took great pride in – contrary to what most probably thought of her, she was not a ditz all the time, just most of the time. There was a difference, darn it!
Making her way downstairs to where the dining hall was at, she was happy to see that some other survivors already up and waiting in a line to be served food, actual food, cooked to perfection if the smell was anything to go by. That most of the survivors were looking far more relaxed than yesterday only made the sight that much more gratifying. It signified that this place really was safe.
Getting in line and making small talk with some of the others until she was served her food, Shizuka then walked off in search of a comfortable place to sit, which wasn't that hard to do given the sheer size of this place and the number of sofas around and stuff.
However, as she walked, she spotted a familiar head and she enthusiastically walked over to where he sat. "Komuro-kun~ good morning!"
The boy, dressed in his school uniform's pants and a red shirt, nearly jumped at her loud callout to him, but recovered after looking to see who it was.
"Oh, morning," he said coolly after calming down, a small smile on his face.
Shizuka, after sitting down, surveyed the teen next to her with an analytic eye. "Komuro-kun, have you gotten any sleep?"
"Nah, not really. Is it that obvious now?" he replied.
It was, at least to her. As a registered nurse, she knew what to look for well in advance of any signs becoming too obvious. She could see the slightest discolorations under his eyes, the small formations of lines on his face. To anyone else, Komuro-kun likely would've looked the same as always, but she could see that his fatigue was really taking a toll on him now.
Not wishing to say anything about it though, Shizuka merely took a few bites of her delicious breakfast – scrambled eggs and sausages – moaning in delight at the test of the latter.
Hmm? How odd, Komuro-kun's face was suddenly turning red! He didn't seem to have a fever though…
"Enjoying that meal, eh?" he muttered as the redness started going away. Eh, had he been embarrassed? By what?
"Yep!" she answered back.
"Yeah, I bet," he muttered. "…The others still sleeping?"
"Looks that way. Wouldn't surprise me if they sleep for another few hours – yesterday had been pretty…"
"Yeah, I know. Must be nice to sleep so well," Komuro-kun said in good humor.
Shizuka, on her part, couldn't help but smile somewhat awkwardly in agreement. Call her overly sensitive but hearing him mention sleep like that when he clearly wasn't getting any made her feel very concerned for the boy.
"So how long have you been up?" she decided to ask innocently.
"All night," he answered casually before taking another bite of his own food.
The answer nearly made Shizuka sputter in surprise. Her concern for him grew. From what little she knew, Komuro-kun hadn't gotten much sleep back at Kyouko-chan's penthouse suite and when they'd slept outside the other night, his watch shift had been the longest of the group's by a significant margin. She and the others had likely gotten more sleep last night than Komuro-kun has in days.
"That's not good, you know!" she suddenly started to say, a lecture spewing forth from her lips before she even knew what to truly say. "Sleep's essential for a growing boy! Especially now with all the constant moving around!"
The teen winced. "I know, but that's easier said than done. Sleep doesn't come easy anymore to me. And when I even do sleep…"
She didn't like the way he trailed off.
"What is it? Please, tell me what's wrong," she said, the more professional side of her taking over. Aside from dealing with injuries and stuff back at Fujimi, she also had to deal with students who simply needed someone to talk to about things. She was by no means a licensed therapist, but Shizuka liked to do her best to help others out in this regard too.
And it was starting to become clear that Komuro-kun wasn't suffering from a simple case of insomnia. Something else appeared to the cause.
This wouldn't do. Even though she and him haven't exactly talked much before, being part of the same group for the past few days had shown her the sort of person Komuro-kun really was and it amazed her. To think a teen like him could go through with another's request to be mercy killed, and his own friend at that too… not to mention acting as vanguard and something of a leader on their journey here, even drawing away most of the zombies… this boy sitting before her really was admirable and the least she could do was help him sort out his mental baggage.
That said, just because she asked him to tell her what's wrong didn't mean he was going to suddenly open up to her. The way his facial muscles tensed said it all. "I… there's really nothing to tell, Shizuka-san. Just started having trouble sleeping recently."
And wasn't that the truth? The sad thing though is that it was a vague truth.
"But surely there's something more to it than just that," she said softly, her food temporarily forgotten about. She turned around in her spot so that she was directly facing him. "Come on. You can tell me what's wrong."
Komuro-kun turned to look at her, hesitation clear in his eyes as he had a mental debate with himself that last a solid minute. But eventually, he relented.
"I've been having nightmares recently," he said softly, looking away from her and picking at the food on his plate. "Can never remember what they're about though. The only thing I do remember is just how intense they are, jolting me awake after only minutes of sleep… though there had been times where I could sleep for about an hour or two before waking up. Even then, barely felt like minutes to me."
Shizuka listened to this most thoughtfully, carefully digesting what he'd just said and picking it apart. Nightmares, huh? So intense as to keep him from sleeping… she's heard of similar cases before, but never to this degree if he'd been inflicted with insomnia for days.
"How long has this been going on?" she asked.
"A few weeks now. Maybe even longer," Komuro-kun replied.
Shizuka nearly jolted at the answer. If he'd been going through this for that long and had subsequently only getting what felt like minutes' worth of sleep for just as long…
God above, just how has he even been functioning until now?! By all rights, he should be staggering around and moaning like those zombies outside!
"And there's a bit more too, Shizuka-san…" he began, making her blink in surprise. It seemed having someone to actually talk with about this has prompted him to give up some more info willingly. "…I've been feeling a small case of déjà vu here."
"Déjà vu?" she repeated.
"The monsters we've seen so far… hell, even the zombies to some extent… they feel-." He suddenly stopped as though embarrassed by what he was going to say. Either that or he felt like he might actually be crazy. "They feel familiar to me."
Those words were as straightforward as could be yet Shizuka could only stare at the teen blankly, her mind trying to comprehend whatever implications the words had.
Familiar? Those monsters out there and even the zombies? How so? Did Komuro-kun have prophetic abilities or something? Given how crazy things were now, Shizuka honestly wouldn't be surprised if that was somehow the case; not like there hadn't been plenty of unnatural sightings or macabre foreshadowing statements made in the past.
Feeling much more interested than before, Shizuka tried to think of what to say in response to this.
But just as she was about to speak again-.
"Marikawa-sensei? Is that you?"
Someone interrupted them.
At the exact same time, she and Komuro-kun turned to see who'd spoken. Both were equally surprised to see who the speaker was.
"S-Shido-sensei?" Shizuka stuttered out slightly.
Sure enough, the glasses-wearing man of Fujimi's teaching staff was standing just several feet away from her now, a plate of food in his hands. He eyed her intently in what appeared to be disbelief, yet Shizuka shivered nonetheless under his gaze.
Something felt off about him.
"My word, you're alive!" the man said, sounding positively relieved. "And here I thought it was only Hayashi-sensei who made it out alive from my fellow staff."
At that, Shizuka nearly flinched. Kyouko-chan had actually mentioned to her last night about Shido-sensei being alive but seeing was believing after all. Not to mention that the unnerving vibe he gave off simply didn't do Kyouko-chan's description of the man now justice.
Before, the teacher had given off a weird vibe to her, not enough to warrant suspicion or anything, but enough for her to realize something was up. But now though… the wrongness was more pronounced somehow, as if Shido-sensei had undergone some sort of change. Crisis has a way of doing that to people, for better or worse… and right now, she was getting the feeling that Shido-sensei's change fell into the latter category somehow. So much so that merely his presence gave it away to her.
"I-I'm glad to see you're doing well too," Shizuka managed to say with a sincere enough expression. "Did anyone else make here?"
Shido nodded. "A good number of students, yes. We'd managed to escape on a bus and drive close enough to here to be escorted by some of the men… though not without casualties up until that point." He looked off in the distance at that.
Shizuka knew the look was meant to be one of sadness but there was a slight gleam in the eyes that made it look so very false to her.
"That's great to hear!" she said now, this time feeling genuinely happy. Shido aside, she was glad other students had made it out alive. She was surprised she hadn't seen any of them around though but then again she had gone to sleep early yesterday, presumably after they'd arrived here.
Shido nodded in agreement before looking afflicted by something. "I'd love to talk some more, but I'm actually taking this plate to one of the students – although not serious, he'd been hurt badly enough to stay in bed this morning despite already being up. I offered to bring him a meal. Hmm, come to think of it, do you think you can come with me to check on the young man? He's already been treated, but I'd like a second opinion, if possible."
Shizuka, at those words, paused ever so slightly. As a nurse, tending to others was her way of life. By all rights, she should accept this offer. But with it coming from Shido of all people…
"Actually, she's already agreed to look after someone else," Komuro-kun suddenly spoke up. "We found a young girl on our own travel here and she's taken some nasty hits. She'll survive, but Shizuka-san here wants to be near her just in case the wounds worsen somehow. She's just taking a break for some food real quick."
Shido turned to look at the teen in surprise, as if only now noticing him. "Oh?" There was a hint of challenge there.
A challenge that Shizuka now more than eagerly met. "That's right!" she exclaimed. "Komuro-kun and I were both looking over the girl since she's developed an attachment to him. We're just eating for now before returning to watching over her since she's resting still."
Shido looked back at her. "I… I see. How admirable of you, Marikawa-sensei. Though if possible, once the girl is better, can you…?"
"Of course," Shizuka answered readily.
Shido smiled. By all rights, the smile should look charming, but to her it was as if looking at a sneering snake. "Then I shall leave you to it. May we get a chance to talk later," he said before bowing slightly and walking off…
…Though not before shooting Komuro-kun a quick glance in the process, one that did little to hide his distaste.
The two of them waited until the man was out of sight before Shizuka suddenly exhaled. "T-That had been kind of scary~!" She looked to the teen gratefully. "Nice save, Komuro-kun!"
He smiled lightly. "He kind of rubbed me the wrong way too, so…" He shrugged unapologetically, which got a light giggle out of the busty nurse.
However, with their previous conversation cut off and the mood ruined, Shizuka now found it hard to start it up again and so all she could do was silently lament Shido's appearance. That man had a way of squirming his way into things, it seemed.
A long minute of comfortable silence then passes by, the two of them left with no choice but to resume eating-.
Until yet another interruption occurred, this one grabbing the attention of everyone else around too.
It came in the form of a loud smack from upstairs, which had been preceded by a brief yell. And the voice was one the two of them immediately recognized.
Komuro-kun in particular looked worried upon hearing the voice.
"Rei!"
When Rei had woken up several minutes ago, it had been to a pretty damn good sunrise if she was being honest with her herself – the cream Shizuka had put on her back really helped numb the pain and her having all but collapsed from exhaustion ensured she got caught up on all the sleep she'd desperately needed.
Having then spotted a peaceful looking Alice sleeping in the other bed in the room with Zeke comically hanging off the bed whilst asleep too had further bolstered her mood, enough for her to get up, put on some clothes that had been left for her and had intended to go and get something to eat – she'd awakened with a hell of an appetite.
However, as soon as she had changed and opened the door to her room, it had been to a most unexpected sight and one that made her freeze in place, like a fucking deer before headlights.
There, right there coming down the hallway, was none other than Koiichi Shido-.
-The one whose crooked politician father had been investigated by her dad. The one who was just as slimy a son of a bitch as said politician dad… and the one who'd taken out his anger on her by rigging her grades so that she had to repeat the year over. He'd even gloated about it to her afterwards.
…And now here that fucker was, walking like his shit didn't stink.
By the time he seemed to spot and recognize her, her shock had already given way to pure anger that threatened to spill forth. It took all she had to keep from shaking in rage.
But her attempt to do that was immediately threatened when he came to a pause just a foot or two away from her.
The bastard even let out an exaggerated sigh, as if seeing her again reminded him of some comically bad times.
"Well, well," he began as a sneer formed on his face. "I guess you're one of the ones who survived alongside Hayashi-sensei and Marikawa-sensei. Well, I certainly hope your stupidity didn't cause them any troubles – you did have to repeat a year, after all."
He then chuckled at his own comment.
And that was when Rei lost it.
She wouldn't lie – she could be pretty whiny and loud. But this time, she was so fucking angry that any words she'd initially intended to yell out just went flying out the window and she instead just let out a yell of absolute fury and lashed out physically instead.
Oh, the way her hand connected with the side of his face was wonderful. As was the expression that had been on his face just a split second prior to impact. It caught him so off guard that the bastard actually went falling onto the floor, dropping the tray that Rei only just now noticed him carrying.
Food spilled everywhere, but she couldn't care less. Anger running the show in her mind now, she stomped out of her room and up to the downed sniveling teacher, intending on doing much more to him.
But just before she could get close to him…
"Hey, the fuck you doing, bitch?!"
Having raised her hand in order to hit him again, Rei found it in a vice grip. She was then suddenly spun around and all she could do was look in surprise at the delinquent Tsunoda before he shoved her against the wall.
Rei nearly cried out, hitting it backfirst hard, but she kept the cry in. Not in front of this punk and that rat bastard. She wouldn't dare show them any tears, no matter how much that hurt.
She glared at Tsunoda who simply glared back while a few other people came running down the hall to help Shido up. Rei only vaguely recognized them as classmates from Fujimi.
How the hell did they get here? With Shido? Why were they looking so worried over him when they hadn't been particularly close to him before all this shit?
None of these questions really mattered to her right now, though – she just wanted to get her hands on Shido again, especially now that he was shooting her an indignant glare, as if he really was a victim.
Tsunoda blocked her path, however. "Hey, didn't you hear what I said, cunt?! Back the fuck off Shido-sensei or I'll shove you again… and I won't be as gentle!"
She paid no heed to his threats. "Move! Him and I have a score to settle here!" She tried to make it past him, but she was still hurt and Tsunoda was stronger than her anyways, so he held her back without too much issue though she sure as hell wasn't making it easy for him to keep her pinned. "Get up, you bastard! You have a lot to answer for!"
She tried to fight her way past Tsunoda when her yells went unanswered and struck him with her elbow in his ribs. All this did was just make him lose it and the next thing she knew, he punched her in the stomach.
Spittle flew from her mouth as did all the air in her lungs and this time, she did collapse to the floor.
Tsunoda roared and was clearly raring to hit her again, no doubt feeling slighted. But just before he could do anything more, they were all interrupted.
"HEY!"
Louder than she's ever heard before, Rei heard Takashi let out that one word, filled with energy and rage that defied the usual fatigued and semi-quiet demeanor he had as he came charging in like a mad bull.
Tsunoda didn't even get the time to look up before Takashi came in swinging, his left fist slamming against the side of the delinquent's jaw so hard that it immediately drew blood, even knocked a tooth out. But Takashi didn't let up after the one hit and swung his other arm, striking his target in the gut.
Tsunoda was literally lifted off his feet by a few inches for just a second before landing. But as soon as his feet touched the floor again, he all but collapsed to his knees and held his gut, his eyes practically bulging out of their sockets.
"You… mother fu-!" Tsunoda started, wheezing the words out, only to get cut off when Takashi kicked him hard in the face, hard enough to send him tumbling back a bit.
As soon as Tsunoda was knocked away, Takashi looked back to Rei now and she looked back at him in genuine shock. Just where had that come from? She'd never seen him that mad before nor that violent!
"You alright?!" he asked as he helped her up.
"A-Ah…" She could only stutter, her mind trying to process what had happened just now. And she'd thought she'd been mad just now, but seriously, the gleam in his eyes as he attacked Tsunoda… it was honestly terrifying. "I'm okay… though I'll probably have another bruise or two now."
Takashi looked her over just as Shizuka came running finally. Apparently, Takashi had just been that much faster to respond.
"What is going on here?" uttered a voice Rei only vaguely recognized from her youth.
She and the others there whipped their heads around to see none other than Souichirou Takagi approach them all with Saya swiftly coming up behind him, the tall and powerfully built man eyeing them all so intensely that even the hotheaded Tsunoda shut the hell up.
"Well?" spoke the man of the house. "I've asked you lot a question… and I'm expecting answers now."
When Saya had awakened half an hour ago, it had been to the familiar sight of her room, which had felt like a surreal experience to her considering the events leading up to today. But it'd been a most pleasant sense of surrealism and she'd wasted no time in getting up, getting dressed and seeking out her mother.
And to her pleasant surprise, when she'd found her mom, she found her dad as well. Apparently, the man had returned during the late night. The pinkette had then taken the time of reconnecting with her parents after the nightmarish events of this apocalypse so far and all had felt right in the world for her…
…Until something inevitably had to ruin it.
And that 'something' had been none other than Rei screaming followed by a loud smack that undoubtedly drew a lot of attention. It definitely had gotten her attention along with that of her father's, more so when they heard a quick but genuine scuffle break out not long afterwards, which had prompted the two of them to rush and check it out while her mother stayed behind to take care of other matters.
This resulted in the current situation, which her father was quick to address after demanding answers from the people involved.
Saya had to say, she was surprised to see Shido here, along with some other teens that she recognized as students from her school. She was not surprised, however, to see Takashi and Rei there in the thick of it, having looked angry at the mere sight of the teacher and the others.
She may not know what exactly went down here, but she knew the teacher was a smug man, wicked and cunning though nowhere near the extent he'd like to think. As such, she was most pleased when he tried to offer an explanation that obviously painted him and his little posse there in a good light whilst casting Takashi and Rei as savages, only for him to get all but told to be quiet by her dad.
"He's offered his side of the story… now to hear yours," he said to Takashi and Rei. "Preferably, away from others' eyes and ears."
In the next instant, Saya could hear multiple other people not so subtly scuffling out of the area, save for Shizuka, who she and her dad passed by to get here.
"That means you too, Shido," her dad said to the man just as he was about to speak again. "As well as your wards."
Shido opened and closed his mouth a few times while Tsunoda finally regained that usual fire of his, looking ready to fight… only for Shido to finally get a hold of himself and mutter for him to stand down.
They all then watched in silence as Shido and the others retreated. The sight of them leaving like battered hounds with tails between the legs was simultaneously pleasing and mildly saddening to see; Saya would've genuinely liked to see Tsunoda get smacked around a bit by her dad.
Oh well.
"Now then," Souichirou began after making sure they were alone here. He spoke lowly, nonetheless to avoid being overheard. "I assume that man was at fault for whatever happened."
Rei's indignant expression was answer enough for him, it seemed.
"I see. I've had the displeasure of dealing with his father before in various political meetings and events. That man was a spineless piece of filth, eager to take advantage of those he thought below him, but never having what it took to truly confront those that were his equals and betters… I can tell that the apple didn't fall far from the tree there." Souichirou eyed the direction Shido walked away in with a grim expression. "I don't know what exactly happened here, but I'm sure you were justified in some way. Just know that this likely won't be the end of it – you'd caught him off guard this time, but that man will likely be scheming against you now."
"Then why not throw him out?" Rei asked harshly, fixing the wrinkles on the blouse and athletic pants that had been provided for her. "Let him fend for himself out there with the zombies and monsters. Let's see if he actually is more than just another shitbag in this world."
Souichirou huffed at the words in mild amusement before schooling his expression once more. "As much as I'd like to do so, I've made an oath to be there for the people should a crisis ever occur and I'd rather die than break my code of honor. If I did that, I'd be no better than most other politicians out there in the world, circumstances now notwithstanding." He paused and held up a hand to Rei just when she'd been about to speak again. "Make no mistake, however. Should that man stir up trouble here, I will take action against him. Regardless if the threat is external or internal, I will allow no one to threaten the people of this country."
"…Fair enough," Rei muttered before sighing. "Sorry for the trouble, by the way."
Saya watched as her dad merely shook his head. "Conflict such as this was inevitable, I suppose. All we can do is respond as swiftly as possible and put an end to it. Now then, if you shall excuse me…" He turned to leave, but not before looking to her. "Saya, I believe that we can catch up more a little later. After all, you have your own matters to take care of today, yes?"
He didn't wait for an answer – not that one was needed – before walking off.
The others there eyed her in mild confusion. "W-What did he mean by that?" Shizuka asked hesitantly.
Saya took off her glasses for a second to rub the spot in between her eyes, feeling tired now.
So much for waking up in a good mood.
Putting her glasses back on, she looked them all in the eyes before issuing an order that she'd tolerate no backtalk for.
"Go get the others. We all need to have a talk."
Kohta had been sleeping very well, at least until Komuro had come and woken him up. And not gently either – the taller and much more fit teen had physically dragged him out of the large and comfortable bed when the subtler methods had failed to rouse him much.
Thoroughly annoyed, Kohta had gotten dressed and grabbed himself a plate of food before following Komuro to a large rec room that Takagi-san had apparently forbade anyone barring a select few from entering.
Said 'select few' were none other than those that he'd travelled with from the school to here and upon noticing this fact, Kohta's annoyance upped and vanished, confusion and mild uncertainty filling him now as Komuro silently ushered him into a comfy seat near the center of the room.
Kohta couldn't help but feel slightly out of place here, seeing Busujima, Rei, Hayashi-sensei, Shizuka-san, and Alice looking all well dressed while he and Komuro were the only ones dressed in more casual clothes. And of course, Takagi-san's manner of dress went without saying since this was her house, after all. No doubt, it'd been her who'd given the best clothing she and her mom had available to the other girls here.
And speaking of the girl…
"Good," Takagi-san muttered as she folded her arms under her large breasts, huffing as she took stock of them. "Gathering you all up didn't take as long as I thought it would."
"U-Uhm…" Kohta couldn't help but speak up, setting his plate of food aside for the moment. "We all didn't somehow screw something up, right?"
Damn it, he knew he shouldn't have snuck a few of the guards' guns away for his own use. B-But how could he not?! Seriously, they had shotguns! Assault rifles! Even magnums! All of them the newest and most advanced ones too, with semi-auto options and more!
"No, porker," Takagi-san said flatly.
Kohta tried not to sight in relief too obviously.
"Is this about what we briefly discussed yesterday?" Busujima then asked.
"Exactly that," answered Takagi-san.
"What did you two even…?" Miyamoto muttered.
Takagi-san turned in her direction. "What our individual plans are from here on out," she stated. "I'll be really blunt here, but the whole point of our little group was to check on our parents – mine, yours, and Mr. reckless over here-," she motioned to Komuro, "-but as we all can clearly attest to, my parents are fine and more than that, my home has been well fortified and serves as a shelter for others."
"Yeah, easy to see that," Miyamoto mumbled. "The point?"
"With the situation being what it is now, what need do any of us have in going with you and Takashi to check on your parents." Takagi-san said this so flatly that it took a few seconds for the words to fully sink in for everyone.
And when that happened, all of them bustled about, even Kohta.
"H-Hey-!" Miyamoto started, only to be cut off by the pinkette.
"Look, I'm not trying to sound cold or anything, but I'm back with my parents and our workers – I've, at least, fulfilled my part of the objective. So what obligation do I have that would be enough for me to leave my family behind to help you locate yours? Especially with phonelines still down and survivors dwindling outside my property thanks to the zombies and monsters?" She then spread her arms out to the rest of them. "What about everyone else? Busujima still doesn't seem keen on looking for her father any time soon and the others here have no one out there to really look for. It's only the two of you that have people to search for."
Kohta couldn't help but flinch at the angry tone Takagi-san's voice took, especially when he saw the words impacted Miyamoto. Sadly, the glasses wearing girl made a good point; none of them had any real reason to help Miyamoto and Komuro find their families now that they were here within a veritable fortress.
Sure, it would be the right thing to do, but in this fucked up mess? Doing the right thing was so hard to do, anyone attempting it would likely die before accomplishing anything. Hell, if Takagi-san's mom and their men hadn't shown up when they had, their little group would've likely died in very short order against that 'tree' monster and the undead.
"Even after what happened?"
Kohta perked up, surprised by how calmly Komuro seemed to be taking this and also by what he'd just asked.
Komuro sat there, close to Miyamoto, leaning forward so that his elbows rested on his knees. The tired teen eyed the pinkette clinically. "Saya… I'm sure your dad must have told you about last night."
The pinkette was almost eerily silent in the face of that remark. It was a good few seconds before Takagi-san sighed. "Papa informed me of what happened." She looked to the rest of the group before speaking. "…Two people were killed last night. Students from our school. This idiot was the one to stumble across the scene."
Kohta, having been about to pick up his plate to eat, nearly dropped it from the shock. The others didn't hold up as well as he did though, Hayashi-sensei recoiling as if struck while the nurse looked like a bunch of puppies just got butchered before her eyes. Busujima's entire form seemed to still instantly and Miyamoto nearly fell out of her chair. Alice looked ready to cry and even Zeke whined as the dog picked up on the mood.
Komuro, on the other hand, didn't react much to this and proceeded to speak. "I get the point you're trying make here, Saya… and I won't be upset or anything if anyone here decides to stay. But I just want this to be out in the open – this place may not be as safe as advertised."
"And I will concede to that point, but as far as my papa says after his talk with you, it seems like it's just the one monster and one that relies on sneaking rather than more brute force methods. Not exactly something to write off, I know, but compared to the other ones we've seen so far, it's tame. If we can find a way to neutralize it or at least drive it off, my home will return to being safe again. In which case, my point still stands – we need to decide here and now what's going to become of our little group. Will we remain together or is this where we'll be parting ways?" Takagi-san placed her hands on her shapely hips – Kohta tried not to stare at those curvaceous hips, really, he tried not to – and eyed Komuro fiercely. "You can't expect just one monster to run us all out of here, dummy."
"I'm not. I'm just saying that even if anyone here does want to stay behind when Rei and I finally leave to find our families, they need to keep an eye out is all. I mean, it's not like any place on the planet is completely free of danger if these monsters and zombies really are everywhere now," Komuro said.
"Fair enough," Takagi-san said with a grimace. She made a grand motion with her right hand. "Well then, everyone. Despite how sudden this all was, you have just been given the gist of things. What's your decision?"
Kohta shuffled about in place, his food forgotten about for now. So did everyone else.
"W-Well…" Hayashi-sensei began, only to trail off.
"U-Uhm, this is just a bit too sudden," Shizuka stated feebly.
"Do we really have to split up?" asked a sorrowful Alice, Zeke staying protectively by her feet, though even the dog looked upset. "I mean, we all just met and now…"
Even the temperamental Takagi-san eyed the girl softly. "This isn't exactly something I like either… but it has to be done. We all have different goals and that means we won't always agree on what should be done next." She paused and sighed. "I know this is out of nowhere for most of you, especially with everything else still going on, but the sooner a decision is made, the better for us all in the long run."
"I'm going to find my parents," Miyamoto immediately proclaimed. She looked troubled by the bombshell Komuro and Takagi-san had just dropped on them all, but her eyes burned with resolve. "As soon as I'm sure my back isn't going to slow me down much, I intend to leave."
"…My parents and I may not be close, but I'm in the same boat as Rei," Komuro then said. "At the very least, I can help her find her parents first before worrying about my own problems. So whenever she's ready to go, I'll be going too."
"Then I intend to stay here. My family is here and I could do more here than I ever could otherwise," declared Takagi-san, not wavering one bit in the face of her friends' words.
Kohta could only look back and forth between his three fellow teens, amazed by how swiftly they'd made their decisions. It only made it that much harder for him to make his own decision, however.
Although he wanted to remain with Takagi-san, Komuro and Miyamoto had done their part in keeping them all alive up until now. He owed them, even if his own views on the only other male in their group remained uncertain given Komuro's oddities.
The others looked to be in the same boat too, unable to come up with their own decisions. Even Busujima, who Kohta had expected to give an immediate reply based on her personality, looked uncharacteristically meek right now.
"…Well, I figured as much," said Takagi-san. She glared at no one in particular and without any real heat. "Take some time to think on this. Just try not to take too long or else something will happen to make the decision for you guys."
"So… what about the monster then?" Shizuka asked worriedly.
"Who exactly died too?" Hayashi-sensei chipped in. "Anyone we may all know?"
"I think one of the girls was Hanuichi. Not sure about the other one," Komuro answered. "Both of them… they hadn't been left fully recognizable."
Well, that sure made things tenser. Absolute no extra pressure put on them at all, nope, not at all.
But seriously, Kohta was feeling unnerved now. If it wasn't one thing, it was another. And although Takagi-san seemed somewhat dismissive of this monster, he sure as hell wasn't. If anything, this new monster was scaring him more than the others. At least, the other ones had been up in their faces.
A monster that apparently was capable of intelligent enough thought to sneak in and kill two people… that meant simply keeping an eye out wasn't going to work as well as it should.
And this was a point he felt really had to be brought up. "A-Ah, Takagi-san, but what about the monster then? If it's still around here somewhere, then this place really isn't as safe as it could be, like Komuro said. Any preventative measures in place yet?"
"My parents are trying to come up with something, but since they've no idea what exactly this monster can do, all that can be done is simply tightening security around all entry points to the sleeping quarters. That said-," she explained before pointing at Komuro. "This guy can apparently feel when it's nearby."
All eyes rounded on Komuro and the tired teen twitched at having the attention shift to him so suddenly.
"Seriously?" Kohta couldn't help but ask.
"Well, it's not like I can tell exactly where the damned thing is, just that it was nearby," Komuro answered.
At that, a thought occurred to Kohta. "…Were you able to sense those other monsters we encountered? Is that why you acted so cautious at those times?"
Komuro's facial expression was completely blank as he undoubtedly tried to think of something to say. But a few seconds later, the teen grimaced, his expression now one of resignation. "…Somewhat. I got a feeling they were nearby just before they attacked, but it wasn't as if I knew for sure they were there or when they'd jump us."
But even then, just the fact he could pick up on them at all… talk about odd. Was Komuro psychic or something? Kohta had never really been one to seriously consider the existence of such abilities, but with zombies and monsters around now, he was willing to consider anything now.
Hmm, well, trouble with decisions aside, this was definitely something interesting to think about. Was this sixth sense of Komuro's something that could potentially be focused and improved? What was the range of this sense right now? What about the zombies, could Komuro sense them?
A gun geek he may be, but this was also really something fun to geek out over.
He was halfway tempted to change topics here and ask his fellow teen more about this sensing ability of his -.
-Only to stop before he could even speak when the lights in the room suddenly flickered and shut off.
Given that the rec room had a few windows and that the morning wasn't even close to over yet, there was still plenty of light in the room courtesy of the sun. Nonetheless, the lights going out was a worrying thing.
A sentiment shared by everyone.
"The hell?" Takagi-san muttered.
"Power generator blew out, perhaps?" Busujima said after what seemed like a lifetime of silence from her.
"No. No, it's not that…" Takagi-san said, sounding a little agitated now, distracted.
"So, we lost electricity, big deal," Miyamoto said with an eye roll. "I'm sure your workers will get it working again soon somehow."
The look the pinkette shot the other girl would've made flowers wilt and die instantly. "The power is out."
"We can tell."
Wow, both statements had been said so dryly, Kohta could've sworn this room became like a desert for an instant there.
"Haven't you noticed it, damn it?!" Takagi-san seemed to have lost whatever patience she had. She pointed in what seemed like a random direction. "Listen!"
"There's nothing," Hayashi-sensei mumbled. Then her eyes immediately widened. "T-There's nothing," she repeated, this time with a hint of real shock and fear.
And when the teacher pointed that out, Kohta and the others began to understand.
The men here liked to play stereos in the surrounding areas to mask whatever noise they made as they shuffled around.
Said stereos seemed to be played around the clock, with the volume being adjusted accordingly depending on what had to be done at any given moment. None of the survivors, them included, hadn't cared much for the noise since they'd simply been too tired and happy to be alive and safe to care.
And now those same stereos were silent.
Kohta shivered as he realized this.
The lights going out was one thing, but the stereos were another matter entirely and not just because they acted as wards against the zombies. From what he could tell, those stereos were all powered by small and personal generators, meaning they weren't connected to any power lines here. If electricity truly had gone out, then the stereos shouldn't have been affected at all.
So just what the hell happened?!
A few minutes ago…
Near the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, there was a ship. Heavily armored and fortified, it was more akin to a floating castle than an actual ship, but a ship nonetheless.
It also carried nuclear warheads.
And just moments ago, the people aboard the ship had rebelled against all standards and procedures in place to fire several of these warheads.
By all rights, this was an act of treason… or it would have been considered such, if anyone back on the mainland were still alive and in a position to do something about this.
Alas, none weren't, at least as far as the crew knew, who've been trying to make contact for the past day with anyone, only to turn up empty.
The crew knew not what was going on back on the mainland nor in the rest of the world, but they were at the very least aware that the situation throughout the world was apocalyptic… and that may actually be putting things mildly.
That said, without any contact from anyone, the crew aboard the ship didn't have the authority to launch those warheads and certainly not any reasons to ever do so…
Until most recently.
The ship had been drifting aimlessly along the path that the crew had long since charted for it when they'd picked something up on radar that had all but literally given them heart attacks.
They knew not what it was exactly, but they could tell that the thing was very much alive and ever so slowly moving, so slowly in fact that it took several minutes to even notice the movements.
In any case, the damned thing was shifting ever so slightly towards them… and the crew knew that the inevitable collision was one that the ship wouldn't survive.
To be expected, considering the monstrosity was more than 5,000 kilometers long. Its width, while not as absurd, still had to be measured in the hundreds of kilometers.
Despite the creature being still a good distance away from them, the very discovery of such a thing instilled in the crew a fear unlike anything they'd ever felt before, its ridiculous size mitigated only marginally by its ridiculously slow movement speed.
Whatever logic and common sense and rules and discipline they'd possessed before vanished in the moments after this discovery had been made. And with this shift in the entire crew's mentality came the decision to ignore whatever procedures had been in place to launch an attack against that creature before it could do anything to them or to any of the continents.
Hence the launching of several nuclear warheads.
The crew had watched with an all-consuming fervor as the warheads neared the center mass of monstrosity, their fear growing as the closeness between them and the target was now enough for the thing's very breaths to cause large tidal waves.
The warheads all struck true, exploding with all the force to be expected of them.
The crew, waiting to see what damage was done, cared not for the nuclear fallout, their fear so great now that all they could do was simply remain rooted in place. Until they see the results of their actions, not a single person budged an inch, not even a centimeter.
As the collective explosion of the warheads began to swiftly subside, one crew member looked to the radar and saw that the monster had come to a complete stop.
For just an instant, this crew member felt hope blossom in his heart.
Only for this hope to be crushed immediately thereafter when the monster, for lack of a better way to put it, let out a pulse.
The pulse crossed the entire ocean and even across the rest of the world in a matter of seconds, not that the crew knew this, for the instant it washed over them, everything on the ship simply ceased to function – radar, engines, communication equipment, everything.
The pulse had been not unlike an EMP, only far more powerful, clearly capable of affecting things that weren't electronic.
The crew came to this realization in a manner of seconds after the pulse passed them over.
It was the last thing they got to do before the entire mass of the creature shifted course and at a speed that nothing of its size had a right to.
None of them even had a chance to scream before the monster smashed through the ship, wiping them all out with such an immense show of force that the motion gave rise to a massive tsunami that would then go onto to flood the entire eastern seaboard of the United States, the water traveling well inland until it reached just slightly into the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and North and South Dakota.
Unmindful of the massive shift in the sea level it had caused as well as the devastation it had indirectly caused to North America, the massive monstrosity proceeded to slowly return to its previously docile state.
Completely unharmed by the strike dealt against it, the monstrosity slowly fell asleep again, uncaring of the small movements that its body would make as it slept.
"Just what the hell had that been?" mumbled a still angry but now confused Tsunoda.
"Shido-sensei, you have any idea what's going on?" asked another student nearby.
Koiichi Shido paid the two little mind, instead opting to focus on nursing the side of his face that had been struck. Despite the fact it's been more than twenty minutes since Rei Miyamoto had struck him, his face still hurt.
The little bitch sure packs a surprising amount of strength. He'll grant her that much, but nothing more.
And if he absolutely had to be honest, if only with himself, that strike had been a wake-up call for him.
In the immediate aftermath of the attack on the school, taking charge aboard the bus had been easy since the students had naturally been in a panicked state of mind. Having then all but taught himself how to drive the bus on the spot in order to escape the school after that monster and most of the zombies had left the grounds had endeared him that much more to the students once they'd been relatively calmed.
Having then manipulated most of the students into thinking they were special – they really weren't, these poor deluded fools – Shido had spent the journey here basking in their praise and near-worship of him, whatever savior-like image they had of him being reinforced at his behest by way of kicking a few students off the bus along the way, the ones that didn't quite buy into his machinations. That said 'sacrifices' had ended up serving as great distractions during the more dangerous parts of the drive to this place had merely been a nice bonus.
Yes, he'd swiftly grown complacent with how the remaining students aboard the bus continued to stroke his ego but then Miyamoto's actions had now snapped him out of it.
He'd thought it'd be easy to manipulate his way into a position of authority here and take charge and make the survivors here work for his own benefit in this mad new world, but now he could tell that achieving this wasn't going to be as effortless as he'd thought.
He'd have to plan things out carefully.
Thankfully…
"This isn't so bad at all…"
"Eh? Shido-sensei, you say something?!" Tsunoda asked in that annoyingly loud voice of his.
This time, Shido didn't ignore him. He fixed a stern glare on the teen and was most pleased to see the normally unruly delinquent flinch and step back under his gaze. Went to show how tamed even Tsunoda had become on their journey here.
"Merely thinking aloud to myself, Tsunoda-san." Shido removed his hand from his face and looked into a small mirror one of the female students quickly pulled out for him to use. He hissed slightly in mild bemusement.
That red mark wouldn't be fading for a while, it'd seem. Oh well.
"Now then, it'd be best to try and stay quiet, everyone. Or else it'll get some unwanted attention," he told the others there.
"What do you mean, Shido-sensei?"
Ah, there was Miku, Fujimi's resident slut. While not into teens, Shido could certainly see why people of both genders would be attracted to the girl – she had an impressive figure and wasn't afraid to use it. Perhaps this whelp will be more useful than the others with some of his future plans.
"Listen, everyone… do you hear anything?" It was a rhetorical question, but everyone there paused to listen carefully. Beyond most of the other people awake mumbling to one another over what was going on, there was hardly much noise.
And to his mildly pleasant surprise, Miku caught onto what this meant. "The stereos…!"
Shido nodded, trying not to smile but instead fake a concerned expression. "I don't know what just happened, but we just lost the one line of defense that had been working so well against those things outside of this estate's grounds. I believe you all know what that means."
Everyone there gulped in worry.
The zombies hunted by sound. Without the stereos covering up most of the noise that comes from here, it wouldn't be much of a surprise if soon enough the undead start banging on the massive gate to this safe haven.
"W-What are we gonna do?!" another student whispered urgently, as if speaking at anything above that in volume would immediately summon a horde of zombies into this needlessly large library.
"For now, we must remain calm," Shido started off as he stood, gesturing for his followers to crowd around him. "Letting our fears get the better of us will only bring disaster. So please, take a deep breath all of you… now let it out… good, good."
He tried not to sneer. This was starting to feel too easy despite his concerns from mere minutes ago.
"Now then, it's important to try and find out what exactly is going on now and to then help devise and implement a solution – just like when dealing with any other problem we've dealt with so far." Like how they'd kicked out the disobedient students for the sake of their own survival… well, maybe not quite like that, but the most basic principle still applied, he supposed.
"Students, listen to me carefully – this is your chance!" he declared strongly. "Back on the bus, I told you all that you were special, the very fact you've survived the hell that had occurred at our great school being proof of your innate greatness! But in order for you to have realized that, a trial had been needed… and this is yet another trial meant to test you."
Hook, line and sinker. He'd had them in the palm of his hands before, but now he may very well truly be God to them. What a wonderful thought that was – it certainly beat having tried to impress his bastard of a father any day of the week.
"Then what do we do, sensei?" asked one of the hapless students, a feeble looking boy whose eyes were practically glazed over from the awe the speech had instilled in him. "Please, you've helped us so much already, so please tell us – how best to overcome this trial!"
Several others around him quietly whooped and hollered in agreement.
"Integrate yourself into the workforce here. If there's meals to be prepared or clothes to be cleaned and passed out or items to be accounted for and then allocated, do it," Shido said, this time unable to hide his dark smirk, which went ignored by his followers. "Build up a trust with the others here and keep your ears and eyes open. Watch for anything of interest and listen for any useful gossip – anything that could tell us all of the state of affairs here, such as what the current leadership has in mind for the people under its care."
What he was now doing was really quite simple – trying to directly work his way to the top here would be most difficult with Miyamoto and her pathetic group no doubt planning to keep a close eye on him. That the man of this house, Souichirou Takagi, already looked down on him in clear disdain wasn't going to help either.
In which case, if he was to take over, it'd have to be an outright coup, done not through sheer physical force, but instead through a display of overwhelming influence. To do that, he needed information, as much as he could get. Then he'd need a public display between him and the Takagis, where he laid any and all their dirty little secrets out for the others here to see. He needed to get them all on his side… only then could he demand they step down, even in spite of this place being their home, in order for him to take over.
Obviously, going around gathering intel on his own wouldn't do, so his students were just going to have to do it for him. Even if that little bitch and the others tried to keep watch of his group, there's no way they could keep tabs on all of them.
It may take a while to play out, but it'd be his win. He was sure of it.
He merely had to be patient.
Eyeing his students and seeing them eat up his words with every fiber of their beings, he decided to finish up his little speech with one final statement.
"There's no time to waste, my dear students," he began. "Quickly! While everyone else is still confused, go forth and do what you know must be done. Only then can this new trial be overcome!"
As his students swiftly obeyed his words and filed out, Shido tried not to laugh aloud.
Soon, this place would be his.
But first…
"Miku-san, Tsunoda-san… stay behind a moment, please," he requested of his two most notorious students. "I feel you two can play a much bigger role in all this… please hear me out."
As the two eagerly came up to him and he outlined what he wanted of them, Shido really couldn't keep his sinister grin off his face this time.
Who knew so much fun could be found in this hellish new world?
A world that would one day become his… starting first with this place.
I'm well aware that the storage and usage of nukes don't work the way presented in this chapter, but for the sake of fic, it had to happen this way. Hope you guys will understand.
Now then, about Shido – he's the type of character that I'm most certain no one likes at all. Naturally, I'm amongst those that hates his guts, but what I didn't like too about him was that he felt kind of underused in the canon story. Sure, the manga was about teens surviving zombies and getting into all sorts of ecchi situations, but even then, there were only a relatively few times where other humans would directly come into conflict with them. And the times this did happen, it never lasted long at all.
So, it's on this note that Shido will become more of an active threat against Takashi and the others, relying more on his cunning to fuck them over rather than trying to confront physically or pulling a gun or whatever. Now whether or not Shido will be an effective threat despite his more active state in this fic is still up for debate, ha ha. Not that I plan to have him fail easily or soon though.
Whelp, as this chapter shows, shit just keeps on hitting the fan without taking a break. And trust me, it's only going to get much worse before things start getting better.
Hope you'll look forward to what else will be coming their way!
Until next time, everyone. Take care!
