Okay…. Here we go. It' s been a while. Sjeeeeeesj. Mainly due to reasons that will be explained in the outro. For now, please try to enjoy this. It's probably the worst chapter as of yet, since I took so many breaks with writing it. Those breaks were long too so I forgot what I was planning. Anyways, Yamucha is back on the tracks bebeh!

I do not own highschool of the dead, all rights belong to its original author and animators. I do own all characters that are newly added to the show, even if only temporarily. Well…me, or the person that came up with his/her own OC.

Act 13:

"Good morning, Takashi-kun." A kind voice spoke, before walking away with light footsteps. Saeko disappeared from the room, and was about to go to her business, leaving behind her battered, cute and above all else, brave boyfriend. Right now she felt as if he would lead them through all of this, but deep inside she knew that he was just as vulnerable as any of them. And there was no doubt, that that very weakness would come out in due time. However, when it would come, she'd be ready to defend him at all costs. Even her own life would be thrown away without a moment's thought.

Not long after, the tired yet rested guy opened his eyes as well. This was the day he would have to get back in the daily routine of surviving. His body was still aching, but at the very least he could sit up and stand without torturing himself too much. Scouring the room with his dark eyes he found himself to be rather disappointed by it. The gloomy light which illuminated his cabin wasn't as light as he expected it to be. But then again, it might just have been his imagination. The thing that disappointed him more than that was that there was nobody to be found nor heard. He heard some vague sounds of activity coming from the door and the occasional cough, but not a single voice came to his ears. Even the "person" that had been in the bed at the other side of the cabin was gone, yet his pants still lay there. Whatever it was, the boy did not really pay that much attention to it as he rubbed his fingers through his hair, yawned and redid his shirt. "Strange people, here I come, as promised." He spoke, and followed up with quite a violent cough and gurgle. Going bare feet he found that the floor was quite chilly, but nothing he couldn't get used to. He made his way through the door, rubbed his eyes and walked straight through it. What he saw wasn't really what he had expected. In his mind he had shaped a small sailing boat, with a living room in the centre. Instead he found himself in a hallway you see in the movies. White steel doors, in an iron corridor that peeped and squeaked with every step he took. Yet at the end of the hall the corridor narrowed, showing that it didn't go on. Behind him, the hallway did the same, which meant the staircase was behind one of these doors, as well as the kitchen, living room, and the remaining bedrooms. In total there were 12 rooms, at least, there were 12 doors. It'd be logical if they were all equally big as the room in which he and Saeko had slept, which would be just fine.

"Great…" He really did try to listen and see if he could hear voices, but not a single noise safe for the squeaky metal reached his mind. That was, until a cough reached his ears, followed by some soft whispering. "All right.. it seems to come from there." As Takashi made his way to the door his thoughts were indeed confirmed. Before he could even push the already slightly opened door open he was greeted by a somewhat low voice.

"Who's there?!"

Not sure of what to say or think, Takashi simply replied: "me, Takashi."

"Takashi? Haha, feeling better already?"

Komuro heard some scrambling sounds and opened the door entirely now. This was the living room all right, and it might have just been his nose playing tricks on him but a certain odor reached his nose.

As the young leader entered the room he was greeted by that same voice. It was at this point that he remembered him. It was the tall guy, the giant, the… smoker?

"I hope you don't mind?" The guy asked as he inhaled that certain smell which had come to Takashi's attention when he entered the room.

"No, I don't." Takashi felt rather uncomfortable. Not because of the smoking, but because he knew he couldn't talk normal Japanese with these guys and had to dumb himself down.

He scanned the room and noticed that it was in fact almost twice as big as his room from before. That most likely meant the room next to this one contained a boiler, or a staircase. As he made his way towards the Tall yet tired looking Dutch guy he noticed the fine red curtains, the artistic table and the strange floor pattern that resembled some sort of roman mosaic.

"Yet you are frowning. Is something the matter?" The guy asked. "Something besides this whole outbreak I mean."

"No, I'm just tired. But it's good to see you, Jasper-san wasn't it?"

"Aren't we all…, yeah, it's good to see you back on two legs as well. That thing battered you up pretty badly." If Takashi's eyes weren't fooling him he could swear he saw a faint chuckle come from the giant.

"That's what I'm here for, Saeko-san told me that you and… uhm, Singh-san, helped me out back there. Is that true?" He scratched his arms before grabbing a chair and sitting down in front of the guy whom seemed to be occupied with the clip between his lips.

"Hmm, yeah, we did. Though anyone of your, and my group would have done the same. So no thanks is needed." He closed his eyes and leaned back. Something changed about his visage but Takashi didn't know him good enough to tell the difference. Did his eyes become more tired? Or did his beard grow out a bit? Either way, it didn't matter.

Takashi thought about his words. "Maybe… either way, I owe you my life. I just want to say thanks." Something made him feel uncomfortable being alone with these new people. The boy felt a sudden kick against his shins from underneath the table, followed by some chuckling. "Jasper-san?"

"bah… no need to be so formal Takashi. Or do you really want me to say Takashi-kun? We're all in this together aren't we…" As he placed his torch between his lips once more Takashi saw all too well that he was looking at him. Then the inevitable question came.

"You want one as well?" Jasper asked.

Simply staring at the stick in between the giant's fingers he groaned and thought of an answer. He only smoked weed, at least he guessed it was weed, once before. And this wasn't really the time to be getting stoned right?

Right?

"Uhm… if that's no problem." He coughed. At least he'd get to know the guy better.

"Keke, of course not. See it as a repayment for me saving your butt back there." The guy went for his backpack, took a crusher in the form of a skull and began doing what he did best. An awkward silence came across the two, only broken when the door behind them opened and the all too familiar voice of Saya reached Takashi's ears.

"KORUMO?!"

It's been a while since he had felt a shiver go though his spine out of fear. Busted….

"What on earth is this stench?! Are you?!" Saya yelled in a more than evident angry voice, before storming in and throwing the three small round windows open and almost sprinting back out of the room. Coughing and refitting her glasses she gave Takashi her back. "Komuro… tsk… have you seen Hirano-kun?"

"Hirano?" Takashi asked, whilst blinking his eyes. Since when did Saya call him Hirano as well?

"YES Hirano… have you seen him?"

Whilst those two were having their conversation, the guy that was with them simple stared from to Takashi to Saya over and over again before he suddenly burst out in somewhat girly giggling.

"Is it that funny?! Ter Horst-san?!" Saya threw back, only to see Takashi's disapproving face, indirectly forcing her to apologize.

"Kekeke, no… no it's not. Hirano is in the engine room, trying to get the emergency generator going… Have fun you two!" The last few words were spoken on a girly tone, more than obviously hinting at a flirt between Saya and Kohta. That became even more evident when Saya threw the heavy door shut, most likely alarming the entire boat of her rage.

Even when the door was closed and the heavy –BOING- sound faded, the tall bloke could not stop laughing.

"D…did I miss something?" Takashi whispered out, not really expecting the answer that he got.

"I doubt it… but the click between those two is so obvious…" He took a heavy inhalation and finished his preparation before handing Takashi his freshly made stick. "Voila, un petard pour monsieur Takashi."

"Was that French? " Takashi wondered as he stretched his arm and accepted the joint with a smile and a nod.

"As French as it gets my friend. Now… talking about obvious things. You have two girlfriends or what?"

With the lightened joint between his fingers the younger and smaller boy didn't really know what to say. Yet as soon as he took a puff he thought back at his time with Morita and the others. They smoked a lot… he never really had the money so he pretended he didn't like the smell.

"Two ? No… Saeko-san is my girlfriend."

"Yet you want Rei to be your girlfriend? Or.." The tired looking pothead quickly reworded his lines as he saw a frown appearing on his new buddy. "It's none of my business… I get it."

"Sorry…" Takashi whispered, before yet another silence conquered the room. This time however, it was broken by the giant.

"So what's the deal with Anton and your girlfriend then?" Jasper asked rather straightforward, and as time passed, the both of them got slower and more blunt and direct.

"I honestly don't know, old friends I guess… I haven't yet had the time to ask her."

"Well I did… but I got distracted."

"Distracted?" Takashi asked quickly.

"Yeah, you're not the only with love interests haha. Little Kaname needed my help, so I helped."

"Ah…, our new cook right? Along with Saeko-san."

"yeah, I guess you could call her that." Jasper replied. "But that girl's at the edge… and to be honest…" He stopped talking and took a last puff. Due to sounds from upstairs this conversation was never finished, yet somehow a small sort of friendship began to exist between these two brave teenagers.

"Was that screaming?" Jasper asked and stood up in a hurry. Takashi followed his example, yet was quicker at the door.

"Yes… and it did not sound good. Come on, let's go." Takashi spoke in a serious and almost angry tone. He had just gotten out of bed, was still in pain, had just begun making a new friend and already problems were beginning?! This day promised nothing good…

The young leader waited for the giant to pass him by and lead the way. Following him closely without saying a word it wasn't long before they found their way to the staircase that would lead them up. As Takashi placed his bare feet on the cold steel he shivered. As soon as he put his other feet on the stair as well he shivered once more. This time not of the cold though, this time because of yet another scream. He didn't recognize it so it must have been one of the new girls. And that meant either Kaori, whom had been in his room yesterday, or the smaller one. Kaname was the name if he remembered right. And judging by what he had seen from Kaori the day before, he didn't see her as the kind of girl that would scream her lungs out for anything. Adding to his confirmation of the screamer was the fact that he heard Jasper curse in front of him as the guy suddenly sprinted upwards and basically smashed straight through the door. The sudden explosion of white light blinded Takashi, it almost hurt as he tumbled on his knees. Clutching to the healing wound he grunted before standing up and making his way outside. Having his eyes closed he only opened them when he heard voices coming from behind him. Some were directed at him, others faded away in the sun. As soon as he opened his eyes he saw the color blue. Literally. The sky was as blue as Saeko's eyes, not even beginning to talk about the endless waves of water.

"Woa…" was the only sound he produced as he shivered due to a cold breeze that blew his hair in his eyes. As his hand wanted to clear his eyes of hair he brushed his cheek, only to feel stubbles. "It's really been this long…" He never had much of a beard, and only had a slight stubble after at the very least 4 days. Yet this wasn't the time to think about that, even though he did want to. A beard would suit him though, he thought. But then again, thoughts would remain thoughts for now. Not long afterwards he came to the conclusion that he'd most likely look like thug whom was about to mug you around the very first corner.

Yet poor Takashi couldn't think much longer about his beard for he remembered why he came up in the first place. The girly screams? He scrambled his composure back together as his heavy eyes scanned the deck he was on. The weather was as good as it would get at this time of the year. In fact, he immediately noticed the scantily clad ladies, whom would become an oh so jolly distraction in a bit. For the time being however he made a few quick steps towards the girl called kaname. She had long since stumbled backwards and fell on her hineys whilst currently being comforted by Jasper's hands on her shoulder. That reminded Takashi to search out Saeko and greet her as well, yet she was a faster thinker than he and had already taken her position next to him. It were Rei, Kaori and Anton that were staring over the railings of the floating and moving vessel.

It was also Rei whom spoke to Takashi upon seeing him. "Takashi… you've got to see this." The girl spoke with a low and shivering voice. "It's horrifying."

Her leader raised an eyebrow at first. Not sure why, but Kaname seemed like an easily startled girl, just as Rei herself was. His face turned to his girlfriend whose lips tried to comfort him by smiling, but he obviously saw a form of disappointment in her oceanic eyes as well. Can it really be this bad? He thought as he walked forwards to stare at the events that were happening in the sprinkling water. He felt slowed down by the puffs he had taken with Jasper, yet it did not hinder him to gasp as he as well looked over the railing. However cold it may sound, but he wasn't even shocked anymore by seeing a body. That body being an middle aged male in swim trunks. What made him lose his composure were the fish. There were no flesh eating fish as far as his maritime knowledge went in his sight right now. In fact, he was pretty sure that those fish were plain and simple salmons.

The stain on this visage however, was the fact that dozens of fish were chewing on the floating corpse. Their gnarly little teeth sunk in the by now torn open guts of the man whom appeared to be around his mid thirties. His eye sockets and most of his lower jaw had already been morphed into an unrecognizable mess of red gore cleaned by the salty sea water. Takashi felt his hands clench the steel railing as he simply watched. The other three equally flabbergasted younglings stared equally amazed. Rei covered her mouth and hissed some feint whimpers, without even thinking about it Takashi wrapped his arm around her waist as he whispered a few comforting words. For a change she didn't get the wrong idea either, for her posture did not change one bit. As he looked to his right he saw the stubbed face of Anton almost drooling. His eyes were filled not as much with fear, but with disappointment and anger. Did they know the guy? Even Kaori, whom Takashi thought would be unshakable, looked away. Eventually she grasped Anton's hand and pulled him away from the sight. Soon after Takashi followed, as he let go of Rei after pulling her away from the railing. Takashi's chestnut eyes fell on the smallest of all girls. She clasped her hand and seemed to be sniffing. "Is she crying? It wouldn't surprise me but… wait.. her hand?!" Takashi gasped once more as he almost choked on his own breath.

"Is she bi-?"

"No." He was quickly interrupted by Anton, whom was now leaning against the rear of the cabin that lead inside the boat. Kaori, whom was nowhere to be seen probably went back inside. Either to check on the others, to comfort herself, or to simply do something within her own agenda. It turned out to be a bad choice, for Anton lacked a counterbalance at this time. "Don't even mention that… Animals cannot be infected."

"But…" The red haired female replied as she tugged her unbuttoned white summer blouse.

"I said no. End of discussion." The big Russian youngster grunted out of his lips as his fist hit the white steel of the cabin. The loud bang shook them all awake, but not in the same way. Anton remained angry and clueless as to how he could have let this happen. Saeko stayed silent and tightened the belt with which she held her katana. Rei squealed and Takashi frowned discontent. Jasper seemed too preoccupied with bandaging the bleeding hand and sweet talking the little girl away from her thoughts.

"It's nothing, little one. I'm sure…." He whispered loud enough for the rest to hear it. The blue haired sixteen year old sobbed on and cringed in anguish as the giant tightened his makeshift bandage around her arm. Takashi noticed that it was the black bandana the guy had wrapped around his arm before. It was obvious that it was dear to him.

"I'm going to die now, am I not?' She whispered back after a few silent minutes.

"Don't be crazy… it's just a fishbite… just a fishbite."

"It was infected…Jasper-sa-."

"I said it's going to be okay!' The guy yelled as he too hit the steel cabin.

"Don't scream Jasper… you're not making things any better." Anton added annoyed.

"Oh shut it… this whole fishing idea was your idea… If not for you… if not for you then…"

"Don't you even dare to put the blame on me…" He roared out from behind his lips as he stood up and made his way towards the guy only to be stopped by a small hand. Saeko's hand. She'd placed her hand on his chest and pushed him backwards without using any strength or whatsoever. She simply glared, shook her head and Anton followed. The Russian guy spit on the floor before making his way towards the door as well. Before he left their presence he swallowed his anger, looked at Saeko before regaining himself. "I'll tell the others."

"Tell them what?!" Jasper screamed without ever getting an answer. He gritted his teeth as he lifted up the little girl and made his way towards the cabins as well, leaving only Rei, Saeko and Takashi for the time being.

Both Takashi and miss Busujima had noticed the little gestures the other person had made. Takashi comforting Rei and she being way to comfortable with Anton, yet this was hardly the time for petty jealousy.

It was Takashi whom broke the ice.

"What happened… ? I mean, I know the big story. That much was obvious but wha-" he was stopped in his tracks as Rei interrupted.

"Getting food. She had a bite, pulled the fish in and now. And now we have an infected girl on board." She spoke both with pity and rage. It amazed the boy how straightforward his ex was being about all of this. It felt out of place, yet he did not complain. At least he now knew what happened. He noticed Saeko staring in his eyes with her arms crossed. "Something wrong, Saeko-san?" He asked after a while, a bit uncomfortable and lost in her eyes.

"No." The girl replied coldly.

"Takashi?! We have to do something…" Rei started. "It's obvious what's going to happen now isn't it?' She rubbed her eyes with her long fingers before taking a more confident posture. Takashi gazed at her with his back bent inwards and hands in his pockets. Saeko on the other hand merely looked at her from the corner of her eyes. It was a shame however, that all three of them knew exactly what was going to happen. She'd come closer and closer to turning, nobody would dare to act, and they'd have one of Them running amok amongst them once more. All in all, it was a gloomy atmosphere. No matter how merrily the sun shone down on their battered skins, they felt only cold.

"I'll do it." Takashi spoke, but he did not quite get the reaction he expected.

"Do what?" Rei asked.

"Talk to Anton, and Jasper… and get it over with. Those fish were obviously infected, and she was bitten… surely they are able by now to make hard decisions." The boy spoke. Rei stared down at his bare feet and seemed to focus on his blue pinky toe. Did he bump it?

"No." A softer voice spoke.

Takashi quickly looked at her after that remark "Saeko-san?"

"We can't interfere." She added before making another statement. "They'd start to hate us and we'll have inner turmoil within no time. The best stratagem for this situation is to look at the things that are long away as close by, and the matter at hand as far away." She too changed her posture as she carried on. "Though taking steps may sound as the most clever plan. I think patience should be used here. The girl still has plenty of time left… let her live her last few moments."

"S-saeko-san…?" Takashi muttered as he stared at the girl and her way of saying those things. It was unlike her strangely enough.

"She is right though…" Rei added. " Hastiness rarely rewards I guess." In a sudden moment she lifted her head and smiled. " At least we're still alive!" She happily exclaimed. Almost too happily.

"yeah… we are." Takashi added as he returned a feint but genuine smile. It was a stupid thought, but he'd trade any number of them just to safe one of his own. It would have happened to whomever would have caught the first fish. Sadly though… the young and innocent always fall first.

The engine room –

"Oh come on… show me some strength at least." Saya yelled on an annoyed tone at both Alice and Kohta as they tried badly to turn the wheel that would open the water circulation, and possibly give them a usable engine again.

"I'm trying!" The little girl squeaked out before finally succumbing due to her own tiredness. She took a few steps backwards and almost fell due to the with water overflowing engine room.

"ugh… I'll do it myself then, you go upstairs and warm the others that we may have movement any minute now. " The pink haired genius spoke without even trying to mask her annoyance at little Alice. Even though all three of them knew she had been doing her best, the little girl simply did not have enough strength currently to even lift up the smallest of pipes that were laying here. If even Saya and Kohta together had difficulty with lifting those, what chance did she have? It was because of that that she silently complied and made her way through the knee deep water , up the staircase and towards the lower cabins. It was here that she came across both Sergio and Ilya, both whom were playing cards all the while trying to forget about kaname. The incident which all of them were now aware of except Kohta and Saya. The latter two were now pulling the red iron wheel with all their force and still without any results.

As he panted quite badly Kohta too, almost slipped. Resulting in yet another snarl coming from Saya. The truth was however, that their relationship had entered a whole new level in the days that Takashi was knocked out. Finding little solace in the new people, the rest of team Takashi sat together mostly. On the first night after Takashi got hurt it was Kohta whom talked to her the most. He had always done that already, she knew that. But it was at that night that she truly appreciated it. The pink haired girl thought about day one. Where Kohta asked her about whether or not she liked Takashi. Back then, even though she'd like to deny it with all her tsundere might, she might have had romantic feelings for the guy. But as their misadventures went on and on those feelings turned into a mutual trust and friendship. But sadly not in more love. That divine favor had been reserved for Saeko and maybe even Rei. She hated it, being the one left out. Not having somebody to love, whilst the others lived in a fairy world of harems and love triangles. Kohta back then, was simply not an option. She only started to take a liking towards the chubby crackshot after the incident with her father back at the manor. And now, since last week… she truly felt something for him. It weren't his looks nor his bravery. Maybe it really was only his persistence and silliness at expressing himself. Nevertheless, a smile appeared on her lips more often. At times even a jolly sparkle in her eyes. Did she love him? No. Did she have feelings for him? That was the current question. If only. –

"Saya?! Are you all right?!" She suddenly heard somebody yell as she was shaken awake. She was not hurt, only… wet. Did she fall in the water? As soon as she looked down a bit the answer was a big yes. At first she wanted to scold him. He had probably knocked her over as the wheel suddenly gave in. yet nothing seemed to recall that memory. She was lost in thoughts about the fat nerd when suddenly…

"saya!?" he yelled again.

Wait a minute,… wasn't she wearing a white blouse, just like Rei?"

"Are you okay?! Takagi-san?!"

"I already told you that it's Saya…"

Didn't that mean that her white blouse would be completely drenched and thus…

"Kohta-kun… is this water?" She asked sarcastically as she already felt her teeth grinding over each other. She sat up, and upon receiving no answer she first gawked him in his eyes through his pair of glasses. Then at her own shirt. She tucked it, and that's when it struck her.

No bra… For real Saya? The girl thought in herself before blinking in a confused way and once more staring at Kohta. It became painfully clear that he had noticed it as well for his jaw was wide open and silly noises came from his mouth.

It also became painfully clear for Hirano that their relationship wasn't as big yet that she would let him see her breasts. So in a fit of embarrassment and fury she jumped up, hid her ample bosom with her arms and yelled whilst kicking some water towards the stunned guy.

"Kohta?! LOOK AWAY!"

"I..I… love…. Y…. turtles?!"He stuttered out as he tried to shield himself from the cold water.

" Like hell you love turtles!" She screamed. The shame became a tad too much for the tsundere girl and her face turned bright red. "Drop dead!" Her shriek voice exclaimed.

And really, if he had to die whilst seeing this. It was probably worth it. At least, that's exactly how desperate his thoughts were becoming.

"F-fine… Saya-san… I'll die… hihihiekekeke" He giggled whilst still not controlling his eyes. His senses only came back to him when all in the sudden the girl jumped up with an iron bar in hands. Immediately he made himself small, covered his head and only saw that she didn't mean it when after a few minutes she still didn't hit him.

"S-Saya-san?" He whispered as he looked up at the girl. Was she blushing? Yes! Yes, she was blushing. Somewhere in the back of his otaku head he felt joy coming up. Did he have some hope after all? "is everything okay?" He asked in a soft voice. And the answer he got was even better for his ego.

Saya replied, hugging her arms and blushing brightly "Y-yeah… it wasn't really a problem anyways… just… just drop dead."

Well that's it for now. I don't really know what to say besides that I want to write different stories to. The main mistake I made was that I did not need a break, I needed something else to get my mind flowing again. So expect other stories, and along with that more regular updates of this one as well. Uhhuh.

I don't expect you all to read the others haha. Since warhammer40k, and dark souls won't have as many readers anyways. But I definitely want to write something for those universes as well.

Hmm… Oh yeah. I have some big plans for this story! One more "lame" chapter will come up, and then shit gets real. For shizzle!

I needed to mention one more thing… uhmm…. Oh yeah! I'll be on holidays with my friends for 1 week. So this week does not count with uploading! grrrr

3 love you all.

Yours sincerely,

Yamucha-san