Chapter 36 change of plans pt.2
"Well then...let's get going!" Saeko said, The others got there things and rain gear on as they went outside. The group had on camouflage rain gear minus Kaz that wore his dead space suit since it was water proof, As well as Saeko who had an umbrella with her, And Ross who had a black trench coat over his metal gear solid sneaking suit that had red tribal symbols on it. They all walked down the road as they spotted one of 'Them'.
Rei stabbed it in the head with her bayonet as she then kicked it to the ground, Takashi then ran forward and shot the undead monster in the face. Saeko looked over at Ross "May I love?" She asked, Ross nodded at her "Of course my dear" he said. Saeko kissed him on the cheek as she walked forward.
"I will take the lead" she said, Takashi and Rei just looked at her.
"But we're close to our homes. You don't know this area as well as we do" Takashi said to her, Saeko nodded at him "That's exactly why" she said as she unsheathed her katana "The victims we encounter...may be former neighbors of yours...".
"Are you asking if we can kill our own families?" Takashi said "I think if it came to that, We'd...". Saeko quickly interrupted him "Friends and family are two different things" she said. Takashi sighed as he allowed her to go ahead of the team, "Takashi, Just to confirm, Who are we looking for?" Saeko asked.
"Rei's mom. That's it, Saeko" he said, "Takashi, What about the Itos?" Rei said. "If we find them, Then we find them. Otherwise.." That's when they all heard a horde of 'Them' come after them.
"There are a number of them at the intersection behind us!" Kaz said as he pulled out the heavy pulse rifle "There are three, Four...they're increasing!", Ross walked forward standing next to Saeko "They're ahead of us as well" he said.
"Where the hell did they come from!?" Takashi said.
"This is a residential area! They were here the whole time!" Saya said.
The undead kept advancing toward them, Ross and Saeko ran forward with their swords at the ready.
"This is such a bother!" Saeko said, "Agreed, What a waste of a wonderful stroll through the rain!" Ross said. As the three were taking care of 'Them' Takashi saw something that caught his eye.
"Huh?" He said as he ran back, "Takashi!? What are you doing!? Where are you going!?" Rei said. Takashi ran over to a gate as he opened it up "Don't you remember!? This is where old lady Tanaka lived!" He said.
He then ran into the yard as he spotted a boarded up fence.
"There it is!" He said as he pulled it down, The others followed him as they closed the gate behind them. "I remember I broke the fence playing tag when I was in elementary school, But she said that it was already broken so she didn't get mad at me".
"When she died there was dispute over who'd inherent the house, So it was abandoned for a long time" Rei said, Ross glanced over the fence "We can't enter so carelessly! There might be more of 'Them' behind the hedge" he said. "We're just sitting ducks if we just stay here!" Saya said "We should climb on a wall or the roof so we can get a better view.
Alice then road her bike the other way.
"L'll go check it out!" She said, She road her bike on the other side of the house "There are two in the yard! There are some in the house too!" She said. That's when her bike started to skid on the wet ground as she lost control and fell making the two undead come after her.
"Ouch..." She said, That's when she saw 'Them' coming after her. Zeke stood in front of her to defend her.
"Munchkin!" Saya yelled as she ran through the open hole in the fence ripping her poncho in the process.
"Saya!" Alice cried.
Saya aimed her MP5 as she looked through the scope, "Oh right! The dot sights dead..." She said "Munchkin close your eyes!".
Saya then pulled the trigger as the bullet wen through the undead females breasts, Saya gritted her teeth in frustration.
"Stupid sexist bullet!" She said as she then got on the ground and took aim again, The others watched her. Saya then took another shoot as she got the zombie in the leg, She took another shot and got it in the arm.
"Shit..." She said, Kaz then ran forward as he aimed his heavy pulse rifle. However, Saya stopped him.
"Don't even bother helping me! I'll get it with my next shot!" She said, Kaz nodded at her "I know you will, You're a genius Saya!" He said.
Saya smirked.
"Damn right, I'm...THE SMARTEST GENIUS EVER!" She said as she fired again killing it, Saya smiled as Saeko and Ross took over.
"That's my little genius" Ross said, Saeko then threw her umbrella into the air as her and Ross slashed down the other undead together. Ross then caught the umbrella as he glanced at Saeko.
"Perfect" he said, Saeko grinned at him "As always" she said. Kohta and Asami walked over to Saya "That was awesome!" Asami said.
"Maybe, but now I'm soaking wet! If I get sick I'm gonna be so mad!" She said, Ross then took off his trench coat and wrapped around her.
"Here" he said.
Saya looked at him as a small blush came on her face.
"Ross wait, You'll get wet!" She said, Ross smiled at her "I don't really mind" he said "I don't want my little genius to be sick, So you don't have to worry about me". Saya just looked at him until she wrapped the trench coat around here body.
"Alright..." She said, Alice then ran up to her "Saya a-". That 's when Saya hit Alice in the head.
"Ow" Alice said.
"I appreciate you trying to help out! But that's no excuse for carelessness! Always plan two steps ahead!" She said, Alice had a few tears come down her face "But I wanted to be like you and angel. I wanted to help everyone" she said.
Saya smiled at her as she held her arms out to her, Alice ran into Saya's arms. "I'm sorry" Saya said, Ross walked over to them as he placed his hand on Alice's head.
"Alice, just be more careful from now on ok?" He said as he smiled at her, Alice smiled back at Ross "okay!" She said.
Ross and Saya looked at each other.
"Maybe we should be a little more strict with her" Saya said, Ross smiled at her "Maybe" he said. Shizuka then spoke up.
"No! Making pointless restrictions doesn't protect children at all! If an older person doesn't understand and decides they don't like it, That's no reason to deny others the right to do it! Restricting freedom does nothing but show how low a person really is!" She said, Everyone just looked at her.
"Anyway..." Saeko said "what should we do about the interior?", Takashi walked over to her "Let's forget about this place, But Saeko...you were right. Neither Rei or I could do anything" he said in an upset tone. Saeko smiled at him "That's good. That means I can judge a man's character better than I previously thought" she said.
The group then made there way over the house.
"We can get through the Arakis house" Takashi said, That's when he saw some of 'Them' in the yard "Or not...".
"Crap, Guess we're taking the street then" Ross said "Let's go!". The others followed him as they reached the streets.
"Once we get out of here, Let's head left and keep going straight past the cross-shaped intersection until we come to the T intersection where we should turn right. I think it's about 200 meters distance" Rei said.
"The gun still makes noise even with the suppressor so I thought they'd be swarming us by now" Saya said to Kohta, "The sound is only audible from the front and the rain muffles it even more. Smart assassins use the rain to their advantage" he said.
"So what should we do now Ross?" Saeko asked as she placed her umbrella on the side of the fence.
Ross glanced down the road "We'll make our way down, But we'll use the rain to silence our footsteps. Don't make any loud sounds if you can't help it" he said. Everyone nodded as they went down the street. They made sure to be as quite as possible as they kept moving, "Just a little further...we're almost there!" Ross said.
Just then.
"You bastards!".
The group stopped as they heard someone yell.
"Was that...my mom!?" Rei said, The group came to the T section of the street as they looked both ways, To there right they saw a huge barricade blocking the road and a woman standing next to it.
"Look we said no!" A voice came from the barricade, The woman yelled even louder.
"You make me go out and get the things you need, And now you refuse to let me back in!? You'll rue the day you crossed Kiriko Miyamoto!" Kiriko said. The others just looked at her.
"I'm glad to see she seems to be okay at least" Takashi said.
Ross, Saeko, And Kaz looked at him.
"Is that who we're looking for?" The three said in unison, Takashi nodded at them.
"Yup! She's-" that's when they saw someone from the barricade aim a shotgun at Kiriko.
"I don't care! Get out of here! Or I swear to you, I'll shoot!" The man said, Kiriko gritted her teeth as she saw the shotgun aimed at her.
"Freaking slime balls!" She said, However that's when Ross ran to her as he grabbed the shotgun barrel and sent a volt of lightning down the weapon like a lightning rod, The man quickly released his grip on the weapon.
"Ah! The-the hell are you!?" He said as he retreated back into the barricade, Kiriko glanced at Ross.
"My my, That was something" she said "But now I'm curious as well, Just how did you do that?". Ross rubbed his head "Heh, Well...you see-".
"Mom!".
Kiriko turned to see Rei as she hugged her.
"Mom!" Rei said as she cried, Kiriko smiled brightly to see her daughter "Rei!" She said, The others came over to them.
"Oh! Takashi too?" Kiriko said, The others bowed to her.
"Hello" Saeko and Kaz said.
"Oh my, So polite" Kiriko said, Rei just looked at her mother "What's going on here? What happened to our emotional reunion?" She said. Kiriko looked back at her daughter "Hehe, Sorry" she said.
"You know yelling will attract them right?" Rei said, Kiriko sighed "I was so mad I couldn't help it. I left to get food and some other things for our neighbors and now they won't let me back in. We were getting along really well at first. But everything went down the tubes after we lost power. Neighbors my ass" she said.
Ross then let a bit of his lightning surge.
"Well, Maybe I should make them let you in by force!" He said as his eyes went bright yellow, Kiriko just looked at him.
"That also reminds me, Just how in the world are you doing that!?" She asked him, Rei then held onto Ross's arm.
"Ross calm down, You don't have to hurt anyone" she said calmly, Kiriko blinked at them. "Wait a minute, Ross? As in Ross Hikatori, You're him?!" She said, Ross nodded at her "Yes ma'am, That would be me" He said.
That's when Kiriko grabbed him and hugged him tightly.
"Oh my god! I have wanted to met you so much!" Kiriko said "My daughter has told me so much about you! And I finally get to meet you at last!". She then released her grip on him as he caught his breath.
"W-wait! Rei has told you about me!?" Ross said, Kiriko nodded at him "Oh heavens yes! She always talked about you non stop. How cute you were, How kind you are, And many many other things" she said, Ross blushed as he glanced at Rei who was also blushing.
"Well, Thank you" he said.
Kiriko smiled "Don't mention it, But she never told me that you could do that lightning thing" she said, That's when Ross looked at the ground.
"Hm? What's wrong?" Kiriko asked him, Ross kept looking at the ground as he swallowed hard.
"About that...it's...it's a long story" he said, Kiriko then placed her hand on his shoulder as he looked up at her "Well I'm not going to Judge you. So you can tell me, I'm more than happy to listen" she said. "But can I ask one thing".
Ross nodded at her.
"Sure thing" he said.
Kiriko smirked at him.
"Why does my daughter have a wedding ring on her finger" she said "In fact, I see four other wedding rings as well. Care to explain hm?", Ross gulped when she said that, Rei then came to his defense.
"Mom, About that. You know when I told you about Ross so much?" Rei said.
Kiriko nodded at her daughter.
"Yes?".
"Well, The reason for that was...I fell in love with him. I really liked him even when we first met. And I wanted to be with him, But my friends also fell in love with him as well. We had a huge argument about it and we all decided that we would share him since we knew that he wouldn't like having to choose one of us only to have the rest of us broken-hearted. Ross really loves all of us, And he's trying his best to be there for us" Rei said as she smiled at him "It was his choice to marry us, He wants to be there for us no matter what. And we'll always be by his side".
Kiriko smiled at her daughter as she then looked at Ross "Is this true Hikatori?" She asked him.
Ross nodded at her "Yes ma'am, This is all true. I truly do love your daughter, As well as the others. And I gave them their wedding rings as a sign of my trust and undying love" he said. Kiriko then placed her hand on his head.
"You're a good man" she said "I know you'll make my daughter happy". Ross nodded at her.
"I always will" he said, That's when Kiriko smiled brightly at him. "Soo, Since your my son in law now, I hope to see some grandkids in the future" she said with a smirk. The girls as well as Ross had huge sweat drops on the side of there faces.
"M-mom!" Rei said.
Kiriko just laughed "Hehehe, Oh I'm just teasing...or am I?" She said, The group just sighed. That's when Kiriko had a serious look on her face.
"But I do have to ask, Where are you going?" She said, Ross then had a serious expression as well "Well, We would like for you to come with us" he said. "L'll go with you, But...if you don't have a clear idea of where we're headed then there's no point. We've got more than survival to worry about! Do you have any ideas?" Kiriko asked him.
"The afternoon of the day after tomorrow" Saya said "The SDF is initiating some kind of evacuation from Shintoko third elementary school. We saw at the east police station that there's a J-alert going on right now. I think that'll be our first and last chance at evacuation". Kiriko nodded at Saya.
"Ok, Then what will you do after that?" She said.
"After we get to third elementary school, We'll stay there for a while. Then will go and look for Tsumetai Hikatori" Ross said, Kiriko just looked looked at him with disbelief.
"What's wrong?" He asked her.
Kiriko just kept looking at him.
"Tsumetai Hikatori, What does she have to play in all of this?" Kiriko said, Ross raised an eyebrow at her "You know of my mother?" He asked. Kiriko now placed her hand on her hip "Your mother..." She said.
That's when she put two and two together.
"Wait! You're...her son".
Ross looked away from Kiriko "Second son, My older brother Reikokuna is the first son" he said. Kiriko just lifted his chin up to her face "Well, You sure don't look like her son" she said "In fact, You look just like someone else I used to know. Someone who's a very close friend of mine".
Ross blinked at her "Someone you used to know?" He said, Kiriko nodded at him "Yeah, He was my best friend. And he always looked out for me and my husband, He put us first and his own life second. But we never saw him again for a very long time, Not until he came back some time ago. And with a baby no less".
"Was his name, Koukennin?" Ross said.
Kiriko's face started to light up.
"Yes! That's him! You know him?" She said, Ross nodded "Yup, He's my father".
"Your father, Well well. I never knew that Koukennin would even fall for a bitch like Tsunami, Do you know where Koukennin is?" She asked him. Ross then looked away "He's dead" he said.
Hearing this made Kiriko's heart break.
"What...but how, I mean...how did he-", Ross quickly interrupted her "My brother killed him" he said. Kiriko was utterly heartbroken to hear that her best friend had been killed.
"But why would your brother-".
"My mother fucked up his mind to think that my father hated him, But he loved us just as equally. But my brother didn't see that, And not only that. My mother is behind all of this". Kiriko then tightened her left fist.
"So...that bitch is behind all of this" she said, Ross crossed his arms "Yeah, And we're gonna stop her" he said.
"Wait, Do you have any idea where she might be?" Kiriko said, "No, Not even my father knew. But we're gonna find her no matter what! My father made a cure to counter all this, And we need to find her so we can get it!".
Kiriko nodded at him.
"I see..." She said "Then can I ask a favor?".
"Sure thing" Ross said.
Kiriko looked at the others "Go after her" she said, The others were shocked "Wait but mom!" Rei said. Kiriko stopped her daughter "Rei, I'll be fine" she said "You don't need to worry about me, But we need that cure. If it's the only thing that will put an end to all of this. Then we'll need that more than ever!". The others just looked at her.
"Are you sure?" Takashi said, Kiriko smiled at him "Of course" she said "I can handle myself, I'm not that old". The others nodded at her as Rei hugged her mother.
"Please be safe mom!" She said, Kiriko smiled as she hugged her daughter "I will, You be safe as well. All of you" she said "Now get going! I'll head over to the school!".
That's when Yuuki saw 'Them' coming down the road.
"There's a number of 'Them' behind us! Estimated distance, 60!" She said. Ross sighed as his eyes went bright yellow "Alright! We're heading out. We can't see well in the rain so don't run! Don't shoot until I say so!" He said.
"Time for us to find Tsumetai Hikatori!".