A/N: Well… this took a while to make. Exams are coming up and it would probably be another long while 'till I post another chapter. I am truly sorry for this.

Weesah (Guest): I'm glad you find the guys to be compatible with Muse. Yeah, I've been trying to not rush the story but as you can see, I think I'm failing but I am trying my best to do so. Well you got the pairings right so you can suggest anything and I will do it. Trying to work on that as well, might take some time though. I thank you for telling me. Frozen maybe? I'm not good in seeing references.

Dash24zappshift: Sorry to say but this chapter isn't filled with action. The next one will be though. Oh come on Nico, don't be like that.

ChronoStory: Sorry to disappoint but I won't be using those ships if I'm going to go down the route I'm going on. The OCs is essential since… Sorry but that would be spoilers.

Rena Bodewig: They appeared in the whole flashback. The ones who helped Maki and Kei.

"Where is it?" Eri asked her sister.

"It's somewhere downtown." Arisa replied. "It's another school that has been barricaded… they say."

"Who said it then Ayase-san?" Marcos asked.

"We overheard it from people who passed by the house without entering it." Yukiho replied. "We saw that they were well armed… they wore a white suit and a black suit."

"That sounds… strangely familiar." Kei muttered as he turned his gaze to Maki who nodded.

"Do you think it's a good idea to believe what they say?" Umi asked as she looked at her fellow group members. "I mean, they might be lying."

Honoka looked at her friend with a smile. "Or, they might not be lying. It won't hurt to try Umi-chan! This is our only shot in the dark."

Umi looked at Honoka then back at the group whose majority agreed with Honoka. "Fine but if I sense even a little bit of trouble… We're leaving."

Honoka let out a bright smile and nodded. "You got it! Well, what are we waiting for?" Honoka asked. "Let's go!"

Nozomi walked over to Honoka and looked at her with worried eyes. "Are you alright Honoka-chan?"

"Huh? Of course I am!" Honoka replied, continuing her smile.

"No, you're not." Umi said, looking Honoka straight into the eyes. "Why are you so eager to go?"

"Because I want to get there as soon as possible." Honoka replied. "If there are survivors there then we'll be able to survive longer!"

"Honoka-chan…" Kotori started but she didn't continue, only looking at the others to help her.

"You just want to escape reality don't you?" Marcos asked, leaving any considerations for her feelings. "The death of your parents… It is stored within these walls now. Every inch of this house reminds you of them. You want to leave, run away…" He then stared at Honoka, his gold eyes piercing through her. The latter couldn't take her eyes off of him for some reason although she was starting to tear up. "There is no escape Kosaka. Everywhere you go, it will follow you… the ghost of the memories… unless you accept it."

"Ibarra…" Silver looked at the blue haired man and then sighed. He looked at Kei who just nodded. The two understood. If they're going to go through this alive, they must experience emotional breakdown and get over it.

"W-What are you talking about?" Honoka asked, tears forming but still not falling. "I'm not ru-"

"There you are again!" Marcos shouted as he stood up, the chair falling to the ground which surprised everyone. "You're denying your own feelings! You can never survive like that!" He scolded, his voice embedded with anger.

This made Honoka yelp and tears started flowing down. "But I don't know what you mean!"

Marcos walked over to Honoka and grabbed her by the collar of her shirt. Umi and Kotori was about to lunge at him to prevent him from doing anything to their childhood friend but Silver and Kei held them down.

"But he's…" Umi was cut off by Silver's stare. She saw that he didn't want to see this either but this was needed.

"Dammit Honoka!" Marcos exclaimed, his glare hardening. The other girls stood up to stop him but the two guys managed to convince them to do nothing. They had this. If Marcos ever does anything to harm her, they would do something… but for now, they should stay put. "Can't you see?" His eyes softened for moment before hardening again. "You just want to run away. You don't want to be reminded of your parents' death! So you want to escape it! If you keep on running, how will you truly forget it?"

Honoka's eyes suddenly grew angry. "What do you know of death?" She asked as she pushed him off of her. "Your parents didn't die did they?"

Marcos stumbled back and looked at Honoka. "My parents didn't die? They didn't die!?" He repeated in complete anger. "I didn't even know them! They died before I could even remember them!"

Honoka became silent and her eyes mellowed down against Marcos's hard glare. After a moment or two of silence, Honoka spoke up. "So you didn't go through it…" Her previous anger building up again in her voice and her glare. "Then you don't know how it feels to lose someone close to you!" She exclaimed, walking to Marcos and grabbed his shirt. He was taller than her so she had to look up. "You don't know…" Her tears flowing down faster now as she buried her face on his chest. "It hurts… It hurts to live without them…"

Marcos's glare softened as he rubbed her back with his right hand. "That's right. Let your feelings out."

Honoka made a small nod. "I miss them…"

"I know you do… but they're dead. You have to accept that." Marcos said. "You think you can stay the night?"

"Yeah… and I know…" Honoka said, her grip loosening. "I just can't-" Honoka fainted suddenly and Marcos managed to catch her.

Marcos smiled. "Mission Accomplished." He said before carrying her bridal style. "We're going to spend the night here. I'll take her to her room, come on." Marcos said and the girls nodded as they all started to calm down and headed for their respective rooms.

"How did you know that Honoka would be able to move on?" Nozomi asked as she walked towards Marcos who was sitting at the sofa in the living room. The other girls slept upstairs. Muse was inside Honoka's room and Arisa and Yuiho slept on the latter's room. The Master's Bedroom remained untouched and so were the corpses there. The guys slept on the living room, on the chairs that were there. Silver and Kei were fast asleep on their chairs. Marcos was restless though and so was Nozomi.

"A small psychological trick. You just need to push them through their emotional barriers, make them break through it." Marcos replied and gestured Nozomi to sit down beside him which the violet haired girl did. "But I wasn't sure if she could break it… but I kind of believed in her. Besides, every single one must go through it. We can't have someone having an emotional breakdown at a bad time."

Nozomi nodded. "That is a good point." She looked in front of her as she leaned back. "At least you managed to keep your cool, nice act."

"I wasn't acting." Marcos replied bluntly and quickly. "Everything I said were true. Although I did manage to stop myself from completely getting angry."

"That wasn't your true anger?" Nozomi asked looking at the blue haired boy. "I wouldn't want to see it then." She said with a smile.

Marcos let out a small smile. "No one has seen it… not even me." He continued, closing his eyes. "I want to be honest with you Toujou-san…" He was cut off when Nozomi spoke up.

"Nozomi… Call me Nozomi." She said. Marcos opened his eyes and looked over at her.

"Nozomi…" He tested it out before continuing. "As I was saying, I need to be honest with you. I never liked the idea of traveling in such a huge group." Marcos sighed. "But I was mistaken. Every single moment with you guys have been thrilling… thrilling in a bad way but… I don't know why but I'm opting to stay with you all than going in a three man group as we originally planned."

"Well Maki-chan was originally against the idea too since you are guys and well…" Nozomi trailed off.

"I understand." Marcos said. "It is hard to gain trust these days… especially in these kinds of situations where one might go crazy and slaughter the entire group."

"But no one will do that right?" Nozomi asked with a raised eyebrow.

"As far as I know, we are all mentally stable." Marcos replied. "Unless something snaps, now that's a different story."

"I bet no one would break…" Nozomi started to yawn and she held her hand in front of her mouth.

"You tired?" Marcos asked as he looked at Nozomi. "Why don't you sleep?"

"Don't mind if I do then…" Nozomi said as she leaned on Marcos and just like that, she managed to sleep.

Marcos shook his head slightly. "I was expecting you to go to your room but maybe you're just that tired." He said before putting his glasses down and then closing his eyes as well.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" Eri asked as she looked over to the two sleeping people on the sofa.

Silver rubbed his eyes as he walked towards where Eri was. "I…" He yawned and shook his head. "Excuse me… I heard them talking last night."

"So they fell asleep while talking?" Eri asked once more as she still looked at the two.

Silver nodded before looking at the door. "Well, I'm going to patrol outside to see if we need to move or not. Stay here alright?"

"Sure, be careful." Eri said as Silver walked out of the house and into the streets of Tokyo which have been littered with zombies.

Eri sat down on the chair where Silver slept since it was the only chair available for now that could watch over the door. She looked over at Kei who was still curled up on the chair asleep. He looked a bit uncomfortable in the position but at least he managed to sleep. She then looked over at Nozomi and Marcos who were sleeping on the couch, looking so peaceful.

She sighed as she thought of everything that happened in the past few days. What started as a beautiful morning turned out to be a disaster. She wondered if any of the other students were alive. She wished it to be true but the chances are very slim considering most were already zombies by the time they escaped.

"Asano…" Kei called out in his sleep and Eri looked over at him. "Where…" He mumbled the rest. Eri could see that he held a pained expression on his face.

She walked over to Kei and rubbed his back as he started sobbing in his sleep. "It'll be alright…" She muttered. Kei started to calm down, the tears slowing down to a stop and then his expression turned peaceful once more. Eri smiled as he calmed down and stood up.

"Wow, you could be a mother." Silver commented as he entered the house, his sword still sheathed. He closed the door soon after.

"It helps to have a younger sister. Nightmares tend to occur very frequently when Arisa was a child." Eri replied as she walked to Silver's seat and sat down. She looked over at Kei. "I wonder who Asano is."

"Probably a best friend because I know Kei is an only child." Silver said.

"How do you know?" Eri asked as she looked at the silver haired boy with eyes gleaming with curiosity.

"We lived inside his house when the outbreak started remember?" Silver replied. "There was a picture there of Kei's whole family and he was the only child there."

Eri then nodded. "I see. He must miss her so much then. He began crying." She said.

"Probably." Silver agreed. "So, you want some coffee?" He asked the blonde.

"Yeah and thanks." Eri said as she found a comfortable way to sit down.

Silver started making the coffee and then headed back with two cups in his hands. He gave one to Eri before taking out a map he managed to bring from Kei's house. "So, where do you think this safe house is?"

"Probably a big house or building… an apartment complex maybe?" Eri suggested.

Silver nodded and took out a red marker and encircled all the apartment complexes in downtown Tokyo. "There's a lot obviously." He said.

"I know." Eri said as she put her hand on her chin as she started thinking. "Although, it should be big. Some of those are actually smaller when you look at it."

"So maybe we can cross those out." Silver said as he put a cross mark on some of the encircled buildings. There were just five apartments remaining and they were quite distant with each other.

"So now we should just need to discuss it with the others and then we van go." Eri said with a smile as she leaned back on the chair, sighing in contentment. "Finally, we can stay somewhere without the fear of getting eaten by zombies."

"Maybe." Silver said as he sighed. "We can't be too sure that they'll be nice to us."

"Don't look at the negative side Ryotaru." Eri said. "Now, what should I do while I wait?"

"I don't know… sleep?"

"I already did."

"Sing?"

"Where did you get that idea?" Eri asked as she looked unsurely at Silver.

"I don't know." He shrugged. "Maybe it's because of the fact that you are part of a school idol group."

"Well, I'm not in the mood to sing right now." Eri said. "What else?"

"Rest." Silver replied as he yawned. "I want to rest, that's for sure."

"Oh…" She realized that she was sitting on the chair that Silver was sleeping in so Silver couldn't find a place to rest. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize earlier." She said as she stood up only to meet Silver's smile.

"No worries. You can sit there." Silver said. "I thought of something else I could do."

"Really? What?"

"Cook."