Fayerjiff: This was intended to be a HonoMaki story, but when thinking about it, having the romance be a main plot of the story didn't make sense. There will be pairings, because I can't avoid them completely, but they'll just be in the background of all the main action.

AnimeGrim: Riko is in the shelter with Aqours instead of Muse for the same reason Eri is in Japan instead of Russia. Her family went on vacation, even with the warning of the storm looming, and had to leave her in that shelter for her safety. (Or in all honesty, she had to be put with Aqours because they wouldn't be Aqours without her.)

Instajolteon: I'm doing my best to keep to my schedule of an update every 2~3 days. But sometimes things get in the way (such as math tests...ugh…), so please understand if a chapter is a day late. :)

Resta U: I'm not sure how deer survived the storm, or how the other people Muse found did either. I just lack the creativity to create new species, or any explanation, so I apologize for that. I still need to get a better understanding of the characters in Sunshine besides the second years-the first years I don't feel confident in writing besides Ruby and I can only kinda do Dia out of the third years-before I write anything too detailed about them.

chi2lyn: The world never needs to worry with school idols running the next generation. As funny as it would be to have their trains crash into each other, there would be way too many injuries if I want to keep it realistic. (What am I even talking about? Realism? They figured out how to use weapons on their own, know how to apply medication without any instruction, and restarted trains that have been in disuse for a decade. Totally realistic.)


"Honoka, I don't mean to alarm you, but there is another train headed right for us!" Honoka sprung into action, nearly tripping over the control panel. If she had, she would have ended outside the train, which really wasn't a good position to be in. Eri caught her, anchoring her to the train floor until Honoka regained her balance. They had been traveling for quite a while with nothing to do so she had been hanging out the back of the train, holding only onto the door. But there was no mistaking it, a grime-covered train was headed right for them.

"Stop the train!" Ruby cried, cowering in the back of the train car. Chika looked at the flashing buttons.

"Which one do I push?!"

"Just press the red one!" Umi shouted, reaching past Honoka to slam her palm down onto the button. There was a loud screeching noise as the brakes were applied on both trains.

"We're still going to crash!"

"Look out!" The rest of the girls dove for cover, or what little cover there was in the small space. Only Honoka and Chika stood their ground, staring out of the front window at the other girl operating the train in front of them. A shudder ran through the car as the trains came to a stop mere centimeters from each other.

"Honoka, where are you going?" Umi asked as their leader slid the door on the side of the train open. She looked down at the ground, ignoring Umi's question. There would be a short drop, but she would be able to make it.

Chika backed up to the other side of the train from the door. With a running start, she leapt from the train amidst shocked cries from her friends. She hit the ground and immediately went into a somersault to lessen the impact the landing had on her legs. Standing up, she turned to see that the girl she had seen through the window of the other train had had the same idea she did.

Honoka's hand rested on the hilt of her katana as she stared quietly at the other girl. They were around the same height-and probably the same age-but after their run-in with other survivors at the school, Honoka didn't want to risk being taken by surprise.

Chika fingered the sub-machine gun that was strapped to her back, waiting for the other girl to make the first move. She would be at a disadvantage if she took too long to bring the weapon into her hands, especially if the other girl decided to make the fight close-combat. They weren't the first survivors outside their bunker that she had met, though they were the first with weaponry on equal terms with her own.

Honoka glanced up at the other train. The other girl's friends, she assumed, were already aiming at her through the window and the open doors. Charging her would not be an option; she would be killed if she so much as made a move to get close.

Chika saw that the other girl was looking upwards and did the same. Most of that girl's friends, she supposed, were aiming at her friends. Only two of them were aiming their guns at her.

The silent standoff continued for a few minutes, with Honoka and Chika eyeing each other warily and their friends still in the trains, aiming their weapons at each other. There must be a better way to end their standoff than breaking out into a fight.

"So...where are you from?" Chika blinked, not expecting a question. The other girl had taken her hand off of the katana for the time being, though she could see that her body was still tensed up. Any sign of danger and the other girl would react to it. She supposed she could play nice for now.

"Numazu City. Where are you from?" Numazu City...wasn't that the place that she and her friends were headed to? The girls on the other train obviously came from a bunker, judging by their appearance and their weapons; perhaps they weren't the only group to have survived by living underground.

"Tokyo. My name is Kousaka Honoka. What's yours?" Another city, with another bunker? The possiblitiy was there. The train came from father inland, where Chika and her friends were headed. If they could work together, then they would be able to get the fresh water that their bunker needed.

"Takami Chika." Silence fell once again as the conversation, that had started awkwardly, ended on another awkward note. There really was nothing else Honoka could think of to ask Chika, to continue their conversation. "How do you write your name? What kanji do you use?" Glad she didn't have to come up with another topic, she watched as Chika neared her.

Honoka did nothing as Chika approached, though movement from the train above them alerted her to the fact that more guns were being aimed at her now. She lifted both her hands to show that she wouldn't try to do anything at such close quarters.

When Chika came near, Honoka unsheathed her katana, as she had nothing else she could use to scribble her name onto the dirt below. She was not aiming at Chika, keeping the tip of the blade close to the ground. The unmistakable sound of a gunshot was heard as Honoka started on the first stroke of her name and the blade jumped out of her hand as the bullet pierced her arm.

"Don't hit anyone!" Umi shouted, aiming her rifle at the other train. She purposely missed, the bullet ricocheting off the metal ceiling. It had the effect she wanted; the girls dove.

"They shot at Honoka!" Maki retorted, furious. "Can't I just graze one?!"

"No, Honoka's orders are to not cause unnecessary bloodshed." Eri said calmly, taking the redhead away from the front of the train and pinning her arms so she would not be able to fire her pistols. Maki huffed, unhappy, but didn't fight against Eri.

Chika stared, horrified, at Honoka as the ginger bent down to pick up her dropped katana. The girl's face was contorted with pain but she sheathed her weapon. "I'm sorry, I didn't think my friends would-"

"Just go. Take your friends-get away before mine get the idea that you're our enemies. And don't come back." Honoka shoved Chika away from her, pushing her towards the train she had come from. The other teenager ran back to her train and climbed in with the aid of her friends. The door slammed shut behind her and the train holding the girls from Numazu City retreated, heading back in the direction they came. Honoka looked at her arm; blood was still oozing from a spot just below her shoulder. She was going to need help getting back into the train.

"Okay, which one of you did it?" Chika asked, now that they were on their way back to the bunker. "Which one of you shot her?"

"I-I'm sorry...I overreacted-I thought you were in danger so…" Ruby looked down, apologetically.

"In Ruby's defense, that girl did pull out her weapon and you didn't." Dia said, covering for her younger sister immediately.

"I asked her to show me how her name was written. She wasn't even planning to attack me." Chika sighed, sitting down on the floor of the train. "We probably could have become friends with them. But now they probably hate us."

"If I ever see them again, I'll make them pay for hurting you." Maki grumbled. The floor of the train was not the ideal location for taking care of Honoka's bullet wound, but given their location far from their bunker, they didn't have much choice. She had already extracted the metal shell and was bandaging the wound.

"No bloodshed." Honoka warned her. The redhead rolled her eyes and put the extra bandage away in her pack. She sat up, testing her arm. It still hurt, and would probably continue to do so until it healed enough. "Where are we?"

"Close to the station. You need to rest for a while. No more adventures until that wound heals." Honoka pouted at Umi's orders. Everyone knew how much Honoka hated sitting still now that the entire world had been opened to them. "Where do you want to go anyway? We'll plan that out once you've healed."

"Isn't it obvious? We still didn't make it to the beach! To Numazu City!"

"We'll run into them again! They came from that city!"

"No worries! They didn't seem like bad people, and it's not like we'd go for very long without getting injured. Numazu City is our destination and that's that!"


I made Ruby shoot Honoka. I'm sorry.