AN: Its been just over 9 months since the last chapter and it is finally ready. Yes, I am alive in case anyone was wondering. This would have come out sooner however, I changed my mind on how this chapter was going to progress and in the initial planning phase this chapter would have been 'a lot' shorter.
As a result this chapter just kept going on and on and become the longest chapter length to date. I hope the quantity of the chapter did not sacrifice the quality of writing. Speaking of which, this story as I have probably mentioned previously has been upped to 'M' rating. Going forwards, I hope that rating change will become justified.
But enough about me, here is the new chapter.
As usual, I do not own H.O.T.D or any of its characters, except any OC's. They are mine, all mine.
"Why does 'She' have to go with him?" a certain pinkette scoffed.
A young man with dark black hair who was crouched behind a car looking down the highway turned back to the young girl.
"It makes sense Saya-san. They are our two best fighters and you saw how they worked together at your place. They are our best chance at driving them away and clearing a path for us." Kohta explained.
"That's not what I meant, idiot." Saya belittled with a slightly red mist descending on her face.
"Calm down Saya-san, we all agreed to do things this way. Now we need to head for our meetup point where we can rest for the night." a brown haired boy of the same age told her.
"Besides, Saeko-sempai gave you quite the look when you 'tried' to suggest going instead." the boy continued, giving the pinkette's mist a deeper shade of red.
"What about our parents, Takashi? When will we look for them?" the boy's girlfriend stepped up and asked.
Takashi placed his hand on the girl's shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile.
"Once we meet back up with James-san and Saeko-sempai and gather supplies, we will look for them, Rei." Takashi said softly.
The arburned haired girl seems to have calmed after hearing those words.
"Ok Takashi, we're right behind you." Rei hugged his arm in response.
The young leader then walked forward and ushered his group with an appropriate hand signal to start moving.
"Everyone, we're going to the mall." Takashi called out and the group all followed suit in his movement.
"Yay, I love shopping!" a certain blonde bombshell exclaimed.
(Flashback)
"Why is it like this?" Takashi growled from his driving position of the ATV.
The group had reached the highway and instantly grinded to a halt. The highway itself was infested with the undead horde heading in their direction.
"That will be on me, the explosions I caused earlier would have attracted more of them to this area." James admitted causing the group to look at him.
"So even you get things wrong?" Saya huffed as she pushed her glasses up her nose.
James shrugged his shoulders at the comment before giving his response.
"There was likely a lot around to begin with. With all the commotion caused by us leaving the estate, I wouldn't be surprised if clusters of them started forming. Either way, this would have happened eventually." the young man explained.
"But there's too many for us to try and get through as a group, not without a fair risk of one or more of us getting into trouble even with the ATV." James continued.
"So what some of us split off and cause a diversion?" Saya suggested on a whim which got the attention of the group.
"To be honest Saya, I was going to suggest that myself." the young man agreed with the Pinkette.
The group then looked at each other before their leader stepped forward with his arm aloft.
"I'll go." Takashi broke the silence.
"Takashi-kun, no!" Rei gasped grabbing his arm.
James turned to face them and held up his hand to stop them and they both quieten down.
"I would not recommend it. As we're getting closer to your neighborhood, your knowledge of the area will become invaluable." James spoke, he kept his hand raised as Takashi tried to argue his case.
"Whilst I know you can argue that point in going and with your relationship as it is, we cannot as a group risk splitting you and Rei up in case anything happens." James continued.
The brown haired leader looked down in defeat for a moment, knowing what he said was the truth, he looked at Rei who was still clinging to his arm, her face posture gave a clear signal that she did not want him to go and neither did she want to go herself. He turned back and replied.
"What do you propose?"
"Its simple, I take the ATV and divert them away giving you all a chance to proceed on foot. I will then link up with you in a designated place as it is starting to get dark and travelling during the night in these conditions will be lethal for any of us." James suggested.
It was at this moment, Saeko stepped forward.
"Then I'm going with you." She spoke with confidence.
"I suppose you won't back down from this?" James asked.
Saeko unclicked her sword from its holster on her waist before smiling at the young man.
"Not on your life." she coldly replied.
"Hold it…"
The two turned back to find the group already looking at a certain pinkette who had spoke out. Saya drew a breath before breaking the awkward silence.
"Why you Saeko-san? Surely it would be better to be with us so that we don't become stuck if we need to fight." Saya questioned the movements of her sword wielding comrade.
The pinkette then noticed the steeled look coming from the purple haired girl as her sword was getting further out of its holster. The young man next to her sighed before giving his response.
"Because I gave her my word the last time I went off on my own, if you don't remember. Besides who would go in her stead if I let anyone else join me. I would move too fast for Kohta to keep up with his current arsenal. I cannot split up Takashi and Rei because of their relationship. Shizuka, Alice and Zeke are non-combatants and you? Well, you need to stay with the main group to be their adviser in my stead so the only choice is Saeko." James explained.
Saya heard the young man speak and sighed in defeat, knowing that once again he was right.
"And another thing, if that sword reached the end of its holster then I'd have to hold Saeko back from hurting you." James noticed the tightening grip of the young girl next to him gripping her sword tightly.
"Okay I get it. Go." Saya moaned out whilst gesturing her hand to them to usher them away.
"Good." James acknowledged before Takashi spoke up.
"Where are we meeting then?" he asked.
"Well we need supplies, I doubt I'll be bringing this back as it'll cause too much attention once we hit the suburbs in your neighborhood. There is a mall nearby from what memory serves me." James suggested, gesturing to the ATV beside them.
"Oh I know the place, the Taiei shopping town right?" Rei piped up.
"That's the one. There should be a place in there that everyone can hold themselves up in for the night if it has not been completely ransacked yet." James agreed.
With everyone in agreement, James and Saeko hopped into the ATV and with a quick burst of revs to the engine, the duo surged away leaving the group planning the safest route to the shopping mall.
(End of Flashback)
The ATV carrying the two young adults slalomed its way through the horde of undead on the carriageway. The driver using a low gear with maximum revs as the engine would give in order to generate the maximum amount of noise to force the horde to give chase, effectively luring them away from their comrades.
The passenger of the vehicle reached out and tapped the driver's shoulder to get his attention.
"How are we going to lose them, James-san?" Saeko asked as she looked behind them to see the ever growing number of undead forming a cluster giving chase to them.
"Since we have less weight now, we could lose them in the river. Just float with no engine. Trying to lose them on land might see us getting cornered with how many I'm bringing along with us." James spoke as they left the freeway.
"I don't suppose you plan to get me wet then?" the young girl smirked.
"Oh you'd like that wouldn't you?" James waved her off and pointed to something in the river up ahead.
"There's a small land mound in the river below us. We can go there for a bit until they disperse. Then we find somewhere to stay for the night." James pointed out causing the young girl to look in the direction he was pointing.
The young man eventually came to a stop at the top of the bank overlooking the river. Getting a nod from Saeko signalling she was ready, he rolled up to the edge slowly enough to draw the horde close enough to hear the imminent noise and just before the vehicle went over, he switched the engine off to allow the ATV to go down the slope on its own weight. The vehicle picked up speed as gravity carried it down and the young man grabbed Saeko with his left arm and pressed her down as they braced for when the vehicle reached the bottom of the slope. Fortunately, the ATV had enough ground clearance with its fat and numerous tires to avoid the change of ground to hit the chassis and rock the vehicle, in fact it carried on its momentum until it gracefully entered the water causing only a small amount of water to splash up in which James took the brunt of it.
He then let go of the young girl who had an arm wrapped around him and they both turned around to see the sight before them. The pair watched as the undead who had gotten close enough to hear the vehicle go down the slope and hit the water, went over the edge of the slope and instantly losing balance and were sent tumbling to the bottom of the incline in front of them.
"Hmm, apparently they cannot go down inclines." Saeko pointed out.
"Humans can control their own balance when on unstable ground, but these things aren't human and are affected by their own weight and center of gravity. Its no surprise they can't walk on steep hills." James explained.
The two watched as the last of the undead fell to the bottom of the hill. All of the lying corpses then twitched before slowly rising to their feet.
"Tch, that didn't do anything." Saeko ticked off in annoyance.
James then flipped the switch activating the propeller and with a small burst of power slowly moved away from the shoreline causing little noise.
"There's the island over there, we can stop there and gather our bearings and let the horde move away." James spoke out to her.
Saeko nodded in response, she still had one of her arms wrapped around the young man's waist after the entry into the river. It seemed to her that the young man was not bothered by the contact they were making whilst he was driving the ATV towards the small mound. In fact, she kept her arm there even when they reached the mound and James switched off the engine. He then turned to her and gave her a quick smile before saying…
"Would you mind letting go a sec? I need to check a few things." James asked looking into the young swordswoman's eyes.
Saeko finally realising that maybe she kept her arm there way too long awkwardly yanked her arm away and held it whilst going red in the cheeks.
James however, got up and jumped out of the ATV, noticing a jerry can that was conveniently left on the vehicle, he took it out of its holster and found that it was empty. He then moved to the cover that was protecting the vehicles petrol tank and removed the cover revealing the petrol filler cap. Saeko, who was watching the young man in all of this leant over to his side of the vehicle to get a better look.
"What are you up to?" She asked.
"I'm going to check the fuel tank. See if I can't siphon a bit of it to use later." James responded.
Saeko looked on as the young man took one of the last remaining crossbow bolts that was left in the ATV and watched him dismantle it by removing the arrow's flights with his wristblade and the nock being removed to leave just the arrowhead and the metal shaft left, he then inserted the shaft end into the fuel nozzle after removing the filler cap and withdrew it after a couple of seconds, looking at the shaft, the young man made a mental note of how large the tank was from how deep the arrow went in and the amount of fuel it had in there from the dry line that had marked the arrow.
"So they filled it to the brim huh?" James asked himself.
"What does that mean?" Saeko wondered trying to grasp what the young man was thinking.
"Its means, I estimate we'd get around 25-30 miles out of this thing before refueling. However, in a built up area like this with an extremely high population density, I wouldn't use this type of vehicle unless I was making a break for the docks or the countryside. Too much noise from the engine." James explained.
The young man made a small hole in the fuel below the fuel line about half way down and placed the jerry can against it and the fuel flowed out. James listed to the sound of the fluid moving into the jerry can. He knew it wasn't going to fill the can much as it was an industrial sized can which can carry a few gallons of fuel easily. Soon the sounds halted, the young man then took the nock from the arrow he dismantled earlier to fashion himself a plug and took the jerry can away and placed the newly fashioned plug into the hole.
"That'll do for now." James placed the now slightly filled jerry can back into the ATV.
"What will taking that fuel do for us?" Saeko asked.
"A lot of things, barter for items, light fires for warmth and cooking. Fuel is quite essential now there is no electricity." James replied and he took a spot next to her in the vehicle.
That was when the swordswoman noticed something.
"Whats this?" she leant forward to grab the item.
The item in question was a thin black night top that was obviously designed for women. Naturally this would be quite revealing to any girl or woman alike who would wear it.
"Must have been left there by Shizuka or something. You can use it tonight as nightwear." James pointed out.
"Oh you would like to see me in this would you?" Saeko smiled as she held the top up to her chest.
"What you do with it is your own. I know you ladies pride on looking your best and I assume you don't want your current clothing to smell from being in your school clothes all day." James brushed her off to her disappointment.
"Always the practical man, aren't you?" she sighed.
James turned around to look at the bank they came from earlier and noticed the lack of undead horde now on its shoreline.
"I think it's time we made tracks, I think we have less an hour of light left at best." James got up and moved to the drivers position.
Saeko noticing their situation herself rose herself to join the young man at the front of the ATV as the two made their move back on the mainland.
20 minutes later
"What's in the backpack, Saeko?" James called out to his passenger as they turned a corner in the suburbs.
The said passenger grabbed the bag next to them and open the zip with one hand whilst holding the vehicles frame with the other. With her left arm, she rummaged through the bag taking note of what she could see.
"A small box, food, duct tape and some water." she called out.
The driver took a moment to process this information as the pair turned into a park, and drove down the steps to park next to a fountain.
"Take the duct tape and water out and give them to me." James commanded as he jumped out and grabbed the jerry can and placed it at the side of the vehicle.
The young man rushed towards a nearby tree and with a few well placed hacks of his blade. Managed to chop a big enough branch to drag back to the ATV.
"What's the plan?" Saeko asked, handing both the tape and the bottle over and placing the backpack next to the young man.
"Same as the estate, create a massive diversion, leave with little trouble. Can you hold off anything that comes near for a couple of minutes for me?" James quickly explained the plan as he took the items.
The young woman looked at him and smiled.
"For you James-san, anything." She turned and rushed forward towards the nearest undead and with a quick slash its head rolled off and landed on the floor.
For the young man however, he grabbed the water bottle and drained it of its contents. He then moved the jerry can and with some difficulty due to the weight of the can versus a small bottle. He decanted some of the fuel into the bottle and put the almost full bottle into the backpack. After that he chopped the large branch into two pieces, he then wedged one of the pieces onto the ATV's brake pedal, using some of the duct tape to hold it in place, then he did the same to the accelerator pedal.
*Roar*
Came from the engine of the vehicle, James then went to the fuel tank and took the wedged stopper on the tank he placed earlier and the fuel dripped out of the container. After that, he grabbed the backpack and the jerry can and started to pour fuel from it around the vehicle and then forming a trail back to the swordswoman.
"Follow me and keep holding them off." he called to her as he saw about ten or so bodies now lying around her, he noticed a stark smile appeared on her face. It took a second or two but she eventually acknowledged the order and made her way over to the young man and rushed past him carving a way for him to make a longer fuel trail.
It didn't take long for the fuel to go dry to which the young man threw the jerry can away into some nearby pushed and got out the crossbow and its final arrow which had already been prepared with a woolen end to it from back at the estate.
"Saeko, I'm ready." James called out not looking behind him.
*No response*
"Saeko?" James turned in her direction.
What he saw was the young woman appearing to be readying a strike but had somewhat frozen. James quickly noticed that in front of her were two undead children shuffling towards her.
"Shit…" James was all came out of his mouth in pure English as he dashed towards her and managed to reach her before they got within striking distance of her and all but knocked her away as he reached for his M1911 he double tapped both undead members. With a quick glance at her, he put his pistol away, got out a match and lit the arrow before firing towards the trail.
*Whoosh*
As the arrow went and landed in the trail but slightly further than what the young man was aiming for. The fuel, like back at the estate, lit in the same manner it quickly spread to the still roaring ATV. The young man who fired the arrow, moved to the still downed young woman next to him.
*SLAP*
"You will keep up! Do you understand me?" James barked.
The young woman gasped as she went wide eyed, as if to snap her out of trance. Raising a hand to where she was struck, her attention turned to the ATV.
*BOOM!*
The remaining contents of the petrol tank in the vehicle ignited all at once in a large explosion, incinerating the undead which had now gathered around the vehicle. At this moment, James all but yanked Saeko to her feet, something she felt some pain in her shoulder and had to quickly keep up with the young man as he started running very quickly whilst still holding onto her arm.
The young man in question wasted little time getting up to speed, with only one arm to use for fighting, he threw the crossbow itself at the nearest undead, hitting it squarely in the head, knocking it off its feet. He then drew his M1911, he double tapped two more undead before managing to clear a path for them to escape the park.
15 minutes later
Darkness had now descended on the city as both James and Saeko entered what appeared to be a shrine on top of a hill. The young man, who was still holding onto the young woman's wrist let go and she almost fell to her knees instantly panting from having to keep up for so long and clutching her shoulder which by now was giving her considerable pain. The young though turned to her after taking a quick look around.
"Stay here, I will check and clear the other buildings next to this one. Afterwards, we can rest and I can attend to your shoulder." James spoke to her.
The young man noticed a candle on the nearest shelf and lit it, giving some light to their surroundings. He placed it next to Saeko and carefully exited the building.
James returned 5 minutes later to find the young woman still in the same stance facing away from the door. The shrines buildings were almost completely deserted save for one undead priest and two corpses. He assumed that the priest defended himself from them successfully with the shrine's katana but had got bitten in the process. James quickly dealt with him and picked up the katana sword and its scabbard. The sword itself seemed in fairly good condition, however upon further inspection he noticed that it was not built with the proper materials meaning it would break under continued stress on the blade. Deciding not to take it, he placed the sword back in its holster and placed both of them on top of the priest where he fell in a sign of respect and covered it and the corpses with a cloth before checking the other building. The other building was devoid of life save for a large piece of cloth to use as a sort of floor rug and bedding which he grabbed and returned to the main building where he left the young swordswoman.
Saeko watched as the young man dropped the items he was carrying to the ground, he took the cloth and laid it on the floor to create the rug, then he took the candle and placed it in the middle of the piece of cloth and gestured for the young woman to sit on it, which after a second of realising what he meant by it she shuffled onto the cloth next to the candle and continued to watch as James walked up to what looked like two panel walls, he took one and moved it to the back of the shrine and put the bedding behind it, he then took the other one and put it on the other side of the shrine to the corner nearest the door, he then disappeared behind it and re-emerged from it and took his place on the cloth opposite Saeko.
"Bedding behind that one, and then the other one holds the toilet." James pointed to each panel walls in turn.
"So then that small box was…?" Saeko asked although she already knew the answer.
"A small portable toilet, yes." James admitted getting somewhat of a giggle out of the young woman.
James then started to remove his clothing, taking off his coat and then his weighted clothes, exposing his now bare chest, getting a stare from the young woman next to him. He adjusted the weights back to zero and placed them behind him. Saeko placed her arm down and winced when she put her weight on it, forgetting this was the same arm James was using to drag her around earlier. She grabbed her shoulder and turned away from the young man to now look at his reaction.
"Let me deal with that." the young man approached her back and sat down behind her, moving the candle to light that side of her better, he touched her back, hearing a gasp once he finally touched her, she eventually let go of her shoulder so that the young man could get a better look at it.
After some careful inspection and listening for any jolts of pain, he quickly summarised the issue.
"We were lucky that you're not injured, just a minor pull to your muscles so you might be sore for a couple of days. I will make it feel better for now with some quick massaging." James explained as he now placed both hands on her right shoulder and began making movements in an attempt to relax her shoulder and soothe the pain.
At first the massage that the young man was doing was causing considerable pain and the young woman was trying to not let out any noise of pain but eventually the sensation of pain quickly went away as the young man went to work. After a short while, it started to feel good and the young woman let out a slight moan before leaning back into the young man's arms.
"That better." James looked down on her with a smile on his face.
The girl in question turned around to that she was facing the young man in front of her. She placed her right arm onto his chest and began tracing a finger around the muscle that defined him.
"How do you do it?" Saeko asked with a soft voice.
"Do what?" James asked in return although he somewhat knew already what she was referring to.
"How do you slaughter all of "them" without any kind of emotion? How do you stay calm throughout all of this? How are you this strong?" Saeko continued looking at the young man directly in the eye.
"It's what I was trained to do." James simply answered much to Saeko's disappointment.
"Do not give me that line, I have trained for most of my life and yet I cannot control myself at times." Saeko turned away.
"Is this why you froze earlier?" James queried.
Saeko sighed at this. Knowing herself that the young man would eventually query what happened at the park. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she looked back at the young man before speaking.
"Four years ago, I was attacked by a man, I had my bokken with me, so naturally I did not lose. I came out unharmed but he suffered a broken shoulder blade and a femur. Once the police arrived, they took me into custody and under the circumstances they sent me home." Saeko explained.
It was now that the young man in front of her raised his hand…
"I already know what happened that night four years ago." James admitted to the young girl's shock.
"You knew…?" she gasped.
"Of course I knew, you think with everything you've seen of me, everything I have told you about myself that I wouldn't have known. Dad gave me you and your father's records before I even arrived here and the police report was amongst your profile." the young man explained himself.
Saeko looked down at the floor as he was explaining himself. She was ashamed to be in his presence at this point.
"However…" the young man spoke.
Saeko looked up to see the young man still looking at her, wondering what he was about to say.
"A fourteen year old girl would not be able to hide a bokken like you do with your school skirt. So if its on show, why would anyone attack you?" James wondered. Saeko on the other hand, knew that he was on the brink of something.
"You lured him didn't you?" James asked in a more serious tone.
Saeko clenched her fists at the revelation but kept her silence.
"Oh you lured him with your beauty didn't you? It would not be hard to attract the attention of someone who thought they could get away with it. Especially if you appeared that you wanted it to happen as you would be of legal age of consent in this country and when he got a hold of you and his guard dropped completely, you struck. Did you like it…?" James went on, leaning forwards.
"Yes I liked it!" Saeko admitted as she grabbed the young man's shoulders losing her composure in front of him brandishing her own sadistic smile.
"It felt good to make him suffer. Knowing that I had complete control over him, I attacked without hesitation, the feeling was exhilarating, a feeling which I had not felt my entire life." she continued as she moved one hand from James' shoulder to her own breast.
"That is the real me, James-san. I get crazy and lose control when I have the upper hand and I pretend to be young and innocent. I lust for power over my opponents physically." Saeko took the hand that moved previously and grabbed James' right hand and placed it on her own breast.
"But you are different. You are the first man besides my own father who I cannot gain such an advantage over. I have been waiting for such a person who can satisfy my lust without submitting." Saeko started undoing her school top's buttons revealing a black laced bra and her modest cleavage for the young man to see.
"So take me, James-san. Take me!" Saeko all but shrieked.
*SLAP*
*SLAM*
The next thing the young woman knew, she was pinned to the ground whilst a stinging sensation was coming from her left cheek, once that feeling reached her, she went wide eyed and placed her left hand on her cheek to feel where she was struck.
"Do you even listen to yourself? Since when did Saeko Busujima become this weak?" James hissed at her. The distance between their faces was only a few inches.
The young woman, who was tearing up at this point was released by the young man, and got on her hands and knees.
"I do not deserve love... I am nothing but a whore for power... So I had hoped you would send me to heaven with pleasure before I fall into the depths of hell where I belong." she sobbed.
"Do you honestly believe that? Tell me something, what do you really fight for?" James asked resuming his sitting position.
The sudden question sparked a small realisation for the young swords-woman in question.
'Why do I fight? To see my father again, I know he is safe and I saw him myself back at the mansion. To keep my word to him, no, James-san can handle himself. For my comrades, they are not here right now and are likely safe. So why do I fight? What is my reason to survive?' Saeko thought to herself always looking at the floor.
"You froze earlier because of your training and your own moral code. I'm sure your father taught you to keep your blade from the innocent. Children are the embodiment of innocence and so your moral code kicked in and stopped you." James explained causing the young woman opposite him to gasp and think about herself.
"What you lack is a definitive reason to survive. To get stronger? Every being on this planet that hasn't turned yet is striving for that. You need to fight for something, more than your survival." James continued.
Saeko thought about this for a brief moment before coming to her conclusion.
"There is nothing?" Saeko softly spoke out as tears started to well up in her eyes.
James sighed before making his next move...
*Shuffle*
*Grab*
Saeko gasped as two hands wrapped around her, one went around her waist, the other groped her left breast.
"I thought…." Saeko all could get out as she gasped once more from the sudden action.
"You wanted me to take you right?" James whispered in her ear in a seductive voice unheard of by the young swordswoman.
The voice sent shivers all over Saeko body, she quickly nodded although in her mind she wanted to scream it out.
"Then let me give you something to fight for. Our family has strict rules on who we date, who we marry and... Who. We. Sleep. With." James breathed into Saeko's ear making sure to sound even more seductive with the last bit squeezing both of his hands that were still wrapped around the young woman.
"Ohhh!" came a slight moan of pleasure that the touch and sounds were giving the purple haired girl.
"You want me? You have to earn that right. You want to be by my side, don't you?" James dropped the seductive voice to bring Saeko back into reality.
"Yes. I want to be by your side. For me to be called your woman." Saeko admitted getting quite red at this point.
"So you have something to fight for then?" James asked.
The young woman turned to face the young man in front of her, she shuffled away slightly before bowing her head in a formal manner.
"I now have a reason to fight James-san. I fight for the opportunity to be by your side once I am deemed worthy enough to be there." Saeko declared.
"Rise and I'll sweeten the deal..." James crawled forward towards the young woman.
Saeko rose her head to find a hand cup her chin and a pair of lips met hers. The act took her by surprise before responding to the action.
'My first kiss…' was all she thought before she wrapped her arms around the young man.
For what seemed like forever to the young woman was only a few seconds. James taking the initiative, he brought his tongue to her lips wanting entrance. It only took a couple of seconds before Saeko opened her mouth and the battle for dominance began. In reality, Saeko melted in his arms as she had now wrapped her legs around his waist and began to drag the both of them down which the young man responded by slowly pushing her down to the floor as Saeko's resistance had faded which left James to explore her mouth for a short time before breaking the kiss much to the woman's dismay.
"Wow…" was all Saeko could muster as she let go of the young man and lay on the ground reflecting on what just happened.
"If you need courage or a reminder of what it is you're fighting for then ask me." James rolled away.
"I think I can used to this…" Saeko smiled as she replayed the last couple of minutes, again and again in her mind.
"Don't let it go to your head, you are not the only one perusing me." James admitted as he moved back to the other side of the mat.
Saeko heard this and rose to a seated position.
"So there are others? Or previous girlfriends?" Saeko asked.
"In my position, loads of women your age from countries around the world send their requests to be considered as 'partners'. I've had several requests since turning legal marriage age back home. All of whom were turned down in some way or another." James explained.
"Did you date any of them?" Saeko asked once more.
"I had a girlfriend for quite some time during my teenage years, she was approved by the family and I wasn't far away from beginning the proceedings of marriage but something happened and that relationship ended." James replied.
Saeko looked down at her lap before deciding to press it further.
"Can I ask what happened?"
The young man considered her request, his mind went back to that day and the aftermath that occurred before coming to his conclusion.
"Sure. I would have ended up telling you at some point anyway and after earlier, you deserve something at least." James took a deep breath.
Saeko herself had rose to a seated position so she could properly listen to his story.
"This happened around year ago..."
(Flashback)
In England, eleven months earlier…
A slightly younger James Carter exited from the family training area. A bruised but physically fine Lee Carter followed him out.
"Birthday beatings huh?" James mocked with a large grin on his face.
"Oh shut up, it's your birthday today so I let you have this one." Lee shaved off as the duo walked towards the main part of the family estate.
Today marked the day of James' 18th birthday and such it became an annual event where the two brothers would engage in a birthday spar on their respective birthdays. Over the years it had changed from being one sided in the older brothers favour to being more in favour of the younger brothers who's speed and skill had begun to surpass Lee's current ability.
"So the three spars before that were, what? More freebies." James sarcastically questioned.
It was almost as if a visible tick went in the older brother's forehead.
"Aren't you supposed to being lovey dovey with your little girlfriend tonight?" Lee fired back quickly changing the subject.
"With Jessica? She was meant to be coming over soon. I'll check." James replied.
The younger brother took out his phone and discovered no new messages had been received. He scrolled to his girlfriend's name and proceeded to type a message to send to her.
'Just checking if you wanted to come over to celebrate my 18th birthday like we planned xx.' James typed out and sent it.
At the moment the time was late afternoon. The plan that the couple planned to make was they would spend the evening and night together.
"Are you 'actually' going to sleep with her tonight? You're both now old enough to begin the path to marriage after you've been together for god knows how long." Lee asked as the two approached the back entrance to the main house.
"We've known each other for about four years now and been officially going out for half that. Besides, unlike you I don't have half a dozen women to serve as 'booty' calls so you don't have to comply with family orders." James responded.
"Hey, no woman has yet to satisfy me so who says I can't taste the water when I feel like it." Lee shrugged.
*BUZZ*
James checked his phone to find that a new message was received.
'I know we planned this for your 18th but something has come up and I need to be with my family tonight. I will make this up to you. I promise xxx' was the message that read out from Jessica.
"Huh?" James spoke.
"She not coming then?" Lee asked.
"Seems not." James admitted.
The older brother put his arm around the younger brother.
"Oh well, I know how about I get one of my girls to take your v-card away?" Lee nudged his elbow into the younger brothers chest.
"Knock it off Lee, I'm just gonna check to see if she's at home." James lightly pushed his brother away and activated an app on his phone.
'It seems weird that she would bail like that. Even if it was for family issues, she could ask for my help or support. Although, I've seen her less and less these past few months and I know that family, they treat me like I was her husband already.' James thought.
The app loaded and James hit the button on it, the screen changed into a map of the UK with the words 'scanning' placed across the screen.
"Wait is that…" Lee began to realise what the app was trying to do.
'Signal found'
A dot appeared on what appeared to be a map of the United Kingdom, the map zoomed in until it eventually highlighted a building.
"Huh?" James frowned at this response.
"Is that where she is right now?" Lee asked whilst pointing at the mobile device.
James nodded in response. The older brother grabbed the mobile and looked at the screen.
"Ok, so you put a tracker on your girlfriend?" Lee raised his eyebrow in concern.
"I think a bigger question is why is she in Birmingham and not at home?" James answered back with a slightly raised voice.
"Wait, I've been there. It's the 101 Nightclub in the city center. Doesn't your girlfriend live in a quiet village not five miles away?" Lee pointed out.
"Indeed and if she said she's at home with family, why is she clubbing in Birmingham?" James replied.
Lee handed the phone back to his younger brother and sped up his walking.
"I'm not the best at these kinda of relationship issues James. That's why I stick with the whole no strings deal but this is raising too many issues. However, I feel like we need to know what's really going on here." Lee turned and placed a hand on James' shoulder.
"Ok, lets go. You drive, I'll call it in to Mom and Dad as they're both out on calls in London." James took the lead as the two turned and headed for the garage.
"What are they out for anyway?" Lee queried.
"Some Korean dictator is launching missiles and most of the world is kicking off about it. Something like that." James brushed off.
Later
'I approve in looking into it as this is concerning to say the least. I am flying over in the helicopter as your Mother can deal with this minor issue on her own. Just don't do anything stupid when you find her.- CC'
Was all the text message read from James' father as the brothers arrived in Birmingham. The message was received around three quarters of an hour ago which was the amount of time it had got them from the family garage to Birmingham city center.
"I'll drop you out here next to this train station whilst I look for a place to park up. Go on ahead and I'll catch up with you in a few minutes." Lee planned as the vehicle came to a stop outside Moor Street station.
James quickly got out and the car sped away towards the nearest car park. The young man turned and started walking through the subway tunnel which connected the two main train stations in the city as it was the fastest way to the nightclub. It only took him a few minutes to reach the side of the nightclub to which he slipped down the nearest alleyway and began to climb up the building using the metal pipes which were used for heating. Since he was only wearing his training gear with the exception of a hoodie which he had the hood over his head. Once he reached the top of the building, he pulled out his phone and checked the tracker once more. The location still read the nightclub underneath him. Then he pulled up his contacts and rang his brother.
"I'm in position above the nightclub." he spoke into the receiver.
"I'll post myself across the street so I can see the entrance. I wouldn't recommend on entering. The bouncers have a dress code policy and we don't fit. We'd rather not cause a scene." Lee explained as the younger brother watched as the older brother slipped into another alleyway across the street concealing himself.
"So we're just gonna wait?" James asked as he checked his watch.
Night had fallen by this point but it was still a few hours before nightclubs would shut. The watch had only read 11:00pm.
"Well she's been in there for at least an hour at this point. Most groups would go from one area to the next and there's several drinking spots in this area." Lee responded.
*Beep* *Beep*
"Hold on, Dad's trying to call, I'll turn it into a conference call." James pressed a button causing the call to merge into a three way call.
"I suppose you're around the place now I presume?" Chris asked.
"We are." Lee simply answered.
"I've landed at the nearest helipad and I have a car to take me to your position. I'll be over there in a few minutes so act with discretion boys." Chris ordered as the sound of a car unlocking was made.
"Hang on, I think I see her." Lee interrupted.
James heard this and peered over to look at the entrance from his elevated position. Sure enough, he spotted his girlfriend Jessica down below. He instantly frowned as she wasn't alone. In fact, she was being escorted by three men what looked like in their early twenties, one of which was holding her waist as they walked down the street.
"Following the target, going dark…" James coldly spoke.
"James, wait…" was all that was heard from his father as the youngest son ended his section of the call.
Thanks to the closely knit buildings, James could make way from roof to roof as he following the group. He did not have to follow long before the man who had his arm wrapped around Jessica whisked her down the nearest alleyway. Fortunately, this alleyway was right underneath James' position so he slid down the roof slightly so he can hear the conversation going on amongst the group.
"Brad, why are we going down here?" Jessica wondered.
"Come on babe, I cannot wait until I get you to my place. I want you now." the man named Brad backed her against the wall, placing kisses on her neck.
"I can't, what if my boyfriend finds out?" the young girl moaned out as the kisses were starting to take effect on her senses.
"Your boyfriend is some spoiled rich kid who won't satisfy you. Besides, you've already slept with me several times and found out the pleasures of my dick." Brad confidently began moving his hands around her body, starting with her face making his way down.
"I will admit it, you were amazing in bed but why out here?." Jessica admitted.
"I know I'm the best and they say doing it outside, provides a different kind of stimulation." Brad breathed in her ear causing the young girl to moan louder.
"Yes Brad, I want it." the young girl moaned as the man's fingers disappeared underneath her waistline.
The man named Brad leant his head back and turned to his two friends who were watching the pair at the time.
"Make sure no-one disturbs us." Brad commanded as the movements of his fingers became more vigorous which in turn increase the frequency of moans as the girl was practically squirming at this point.
The two friends turned away chuckling to themselves as they took their places at the end of the alleyway effectively posting them as guards. The couple on the other hand had switch positions so that Jessica had her front against the wall puffing the lower half of her body to the male behind her. Jessica was wearing quite tight skinny jeans which showed her supple legs and curves, Brad had already undone the button holding the waistline up earlier and was about to pull her Jeans down…
*Tap* *Tap*
"Who's there?" Brad called out and Jessica hurriedly fixed herself up.
The sound came from feet hitting the ground a few feet away. The feet belonging to a figure whose hood and the darkness surrounded them hid his face from view. The figure rose to its feet.
"You take what doesn't belong to you!" the figure barked as two figures closed in from behind.
"How did he get by you two? Deal with him now!" Brad angrily demanded.
The two friends closed in on the figure who let them get within an arm's length before dodging the first's attempt to grab him and nailing a punch to the second in the abdomen causing him to kneel over in pain. The first, turned around and aimed a punch aimed for the figures neck which was expertly caught in the figure's hand. The figure landed a punch straight to the shoulder joint.
*POP*
"Ahh!" came the friends cries as pain shot throughout his body from his now dislocated shoulder.
The figure then grabbed him and flung him head first into the nearest wall, effectively silence him as cracking noise could be heard as the skull buckled from the forces, the friend fell to the floor out cold and the figure responded by driving his foot onto his throat as he lay there with blood seeping out of his mouth.
*SNAP*
Was all that could be heard of veins and arteries snapping and the neck almost breaking in two from the sheer force of the attack. The figure turned to the other man who had recovered from his blow and had begun to charge at the figure. The following attack was dodged by the figure who landed another blow to the abdomen which caused the man to fall to his knees again. However, he was caught and a quick blow to the face knocked him clean out before the figure wrapped his arms around his neck and with a quick jerk of movement.
*SNAP*
The man fell to the ground. In what seemed like minutes to those who were witnesses but in reality it was only a dozen seconds and two lives were extinguished.
"You…." growled Brad.
The figure turned to face the couple.
"You killed my friends!" the man angrily growled.
The figure took a step forward over the now two lying corpses on the ground.
"You took something from me, it's only fair I take something from you." the figure fired back.
"What? The only thing I have is…" Brad spoke as he turned to the young woman next to him.
"Oh I see, well tell that spoiled brat on your deathbed that this one is mine now." Brad grabbed Jessica by the wrist in a protective stance.
The man produced a knife which was in his trouser pocket and brandished it to the figure.
"Tell him yourself." the figure removed his hood revealing himself.
"James!" came a cry from Jessica at the revelation.
"Run Brad, he's too strong for you, I'll deal with him." Jessica tried to push the man away but her attempts were of little effect.
"Nonsense. I'll end this now and prove that I am the one for you and avenge my friends..." Brad walked forwards.
Brad quicken his pace as he surged forwards, he prepared his arm that was wielding the knife to stab his opponent in his chest. James on the other hand, stood there and waited, at the perfect time, he kicked the arm wielding the knife which flew from Brad's hand into the air, then landed another kick to push Brad away, his noticed the knife coming down from earlier which he caught and with one quick spinning motion he drove the knife deep into Brad's chest where his heart was. James floored the man vigorously and stood above him as the man was bleeding out.
"Enjoy your life in hell, Prick." James growled in anger as he watched the life of Brad end in front of him.
James' attention then turned to the now crying form of Jessica who had slumped to the floor with her hands over her face not wanting to see the sight in front of her. The young man approached her and without hesitation, grabbed her by the throat and yanked her to her feet.
"I could end you right now. Give me one reason why I shouldn't?" James commanded as he pushed her against the wall.
"Please James...spare me…I'll do anything..." pleaded the young woman as she slowly being raised off her feet. Her hands trying and failing to force the young man's hand away from her.
It was then James saw complete red.
"Not good enough. By the power I have under the Carter name, I hereby sentence you to death. Enjoy hell, whore." James coldly spoke.
"NO PLEASE!" came the screams of the young woman in front of him.
*Whoosh* *Stab*
James dropped the girl instantly and his went to his neck to which he removed a dart with now empty insides.
"Heh...Dad." was all he said before he blacked out.
(End Flashback)
(Present day - Back at the shrine)
"So what happened?" Saeko who had lent forward as the young man in front of her recounted the events spoke.
"I woke up at home and was ordered to spend two months alone in the Bymarka woodland in Norway with little equipment for that little stunt. That taught me a lot." James replied.
"Taught you what exactly?" Saeko questioned.
"It taught me that actions have consequences. That just because I was born into this life does not allow me to do as I please. That I am not some superhuman killing machine, I am a human being and I should act like one." James explained but then suddenly rose to his feet.
"Now then, I think it's best we get some rest, we have a long day ahead of us." James ushered the young woman off the cloth to which picked it off the floor after moving the candle.
"So where am I going to sleep?" Saeko wondered as the young man moved to the bedding area.
James turned back to the young woman and smirked.
"Next to me of course…" was all he said before he disappeared behind the wooden border.
Saeko processed what he meant by that as images of the two coursed through her mind. Letting a small amount of excitement show, she moved to the bag to grab the black top before going behind the border herself to sleep for the night.
A couple of hours later…
"They should be asleep by now, let's do this." a voice in the darkness reached the top of the stairs leading to a familiar shrine called out.
"We've been tailing them ever since that explosion in the park. You sure we can take them." a feminine voice responded.
"This was what Sensei wanted when he released us. This was our mission." the leader answered.
"But Yamada-kun, this is Carter-san and Busujima-sempai we're talking about. We don't stand a chance against both of them." another masculine voice replied.
The apparent leader stopped and turned to face the other three.
"That's why we waited until night to strike, they will be asleep by now so we can catch them by surprise. Miura-san, Takuzo-san and Naomi-san, we can take down Carter-san before he gets the chance to react and submit Busujima-sempai with sheer numbers." Yamada rallied his small group.
The group in question were equipped with baseball bats for the three men and metal pole for Naomi. The group was given these by Shido as they left the bus as they were leftover equipment gathered as the groups left Fujimi Academy. All of that seemed long ago…
The group reached the top of the stairs leading to the shrine, they then broke up into groups of two as they checked the left and right buildings for any sign of their targets, upon failing to find them, they regrouped in the main courtyard.
"They must be in the main shrine then." Miura noted as the group had all come to the same conclusion.
The group moved towards the main shrine when Yamada placed has hand on the door and began to slide it open.
Meanwhile...
*Distant sounds*
Eyes flew open and James rose with a start. The young man took a moment to focus on where the sounds were coming and noticed that those sounds could be signs of life heading towards them. He got out of the bedding although he noticed a certain purple haired girl turn over having being awoken by the sudden movement. James quickly placed a finger on her mouth.
"Stay here. Do not come out unless I tell you to." James whispered in her ear, the seriousness in his tone was all but telling of the situation.
Saeko read the words she was told and nodded in response and as the young man pulled away, she turned and grabbed her sword. She then noticed that James left behind his own sword and guns. She wondered how James was going to defend himself without his main arsenal.
James on the other hand moved silently to the left side of the shrine which was under the cloud of darkness, it would be a perfect hiding spot for those who could not see. He lowered his breathing to reduce the sound even more.
'Saeko cannot be involved. She needs more time before I can let her be in combat again.' James thought.
*Slide*
James immediately drew his attention to the door of the shrine sliding open and four figures entering the building, the moonlight illuminating them as the group entered the room.
'Three men, one woman, bats and poles as weapons, no tactical entrance. Too easy.' James thought as he moved being careful not to walk into the light as he would reveal himself.
Of course, James did not leave the bedding empty handed. The young man left his wrist blades on during the night and thus felt he had the sufficient tools necessary to take care of the situation.
He noticed the leader of the group point to the two borders, one which housed the toilet and the other where Saeko was. Knowing that neither of them had used the toilet yet, there would be no lingering smell which would deter them from checking so they would need to check it themselves. The leader pointed to the woman and her apparent boyfriend and then pointed to the toilet, the couple moved towards the border whereas the other two turned their backs and walked towards the other border.
Now was the time to move. James moved quickly and quietly across the illuminated area of the shrine as all of the group had their backs to the door and the young man was now behind the couple. The male took the lead as the female watched on in case anything happened. As soon as they were out of arm's reach, James struck the female, driving his right blade into her neck and his left blade into the other side, he threw her to the floor and before the boyfriend could react, he rushed him and drove his left blade into his neck and proceeded to push him and against the wall and cut his throat, he then removed the blade and rolled away back into the darkness, letting the male's body fall to the floor.
*Thud* *Thud*
The resounding sound of the bodies hitting the floor, alerted the other two who were only a couple of feet away from the border which housed the lone swordswoman. The two looked at each other as they took defensive stances with their wooden bats, they moved closely together towards the light from the door so they could see any incoming attacks, making sure to be back to back to cover their blind spots. James however had grabbed the pole which the girl had dropped earlier. The weapon itself was still in the dark so this went unnoticed by the two. James lined himself up so that he was level with them and threw the pole like a javelin with such force. With the short distance it needed to travel the pole reached its mark as it stabbed through the abdomen of one of the males, knocking the other to the ground losing his bat in the process.
*Gasp*
"Miura-san…" the leader called out as he managed to turn around to see his comrade kneeling with the pole still stuck inside him, trying to remove it with his hands.
Yamada, looked around and could not find his bat as it had rolled all the way into the darker parts of the shrine. He then reverted to mankind's basic instinct. He rose to his feet and dashed for the exit only for him to be stopped as he ran into what felt like a brick wall. He took a step back and it hit him.
*PAIN*
He looked down to see his white shirt stained red. His blood. He looked up to see a figure who had his right hand lazily held at waist height with a blade drawn, he ran right into it. The pain took hold of him and he fell to his knees, looking around once more he saw the lifeless forms of his comrades. The figure moved in close and whispered.
"I hope you find your peace in the next life..."
*Stab*
One blade to the left neck, another to the chest where the heart lay. James withdrew both blades and let the now lifeless corpse fall backwards. The young man looked at each of the figures now scattered around the shrine and then outside to see if there was anyone else around, the moonlight from the door revealed the face of the apparent leader.
"Damn…" the young man cursed.
"James-san…" a voice spoke out.
James whipped his head around to see Saeko who had emerged from behind the border, clutching her sword in concern. The young woman noticed the look on his face, one of no remorse despite his actions in the last couple of minutes. Granted, she did it back at the school but that was a mercy killing and she was content with that. This however, no mercy was given, just straight violence in the most effective and ruthless fashion and in truth. The thought of it excited her.
"This one was on the bus with us with Shido's lot." James pointed out.
Saeko looked at the corpse the young man pointed to. Recognising the face of Yamada, a slight gasp escaped her lips. This was someone she knew from her time at the academy so a slight remorse was felt by her.
"I assume the other three were on that bus as well…" James looked at the rest of the corpses.
"Why did they leave Shido-sensei though?" Saeko asked.
"Oh they didn't leave, they were sent here." James replied.
"You mean…" the young woman gasped.
"It's clear, they were sent here to kill me at least. Although I don't think Shido had much faith in them to give them the weapons picked up from the school's sports closet. I reckon they followed us from the park and waited till we went to sleep before trying to make their move." James explained.
"But why though? What does Shido-sensei gain from killing you?" Saeko queried.
"I'm unsure. He obviously sees me as a threat to his plans. As for what they are I do not know." James shrugged.
James then moved to the corpses.
"I need to move them and clean myself up. Go back to bed, I will join you when I'm done." James told her as he began dragging Yamada's corpse by his legs. The moonlight revealed a trail of blood as the corpse moved along the floor.
"Let me help." Saeko asked, moving towards the young man.
"No Saeko, it's my kills so my customs. So I give them their burial rights. Alone." he commanded.
Saeko watched he left the shrine and went out of sight, slowly she moved back behind the border to the bedding area.
Twenty minutes later...
James returned to the bedding area after removing all four corpses from the shrine. Since he had no means to dig holes, he brought them to a small clearing outside surrounded by bushes. He found another layer of cloth and covered them all. He made sure beforehand to place their weapons next to them and place the apparent couple of the group next to each other. After that, he cut down four branches from the nearest tree to act as grave markers. Finally he discovered that this clearing housed a pond full of water. The fish had long since perished but it served as a means of cleaning his arms and blades of the blood of the four lives he took earlier.
The young man then returned to Saeko who was sitting in a kneeling position waiting for his return.
"Something wrong?" James asked.
The young woman then bent over with her head touching the floor.
"Please James-san. Teach me." Saeko asked, her head still on the floor.
"Why?" the young man replied.
"I wish to become stronger, to take my place by your side. By being your student, I will become strong enough to achieve my goals." Saeko admitted.
James knelt down and placed his hands on the girl's shoulders and pulled her up to face him at eye level.
"I can't." James refused.
Saeko wanted to plead more but the young man placed a finger on her lips to silence her.
"It's not that I don't want to, but you have not yet finished your own training with your father. To take you under my wing at this time would bring dishonor to him as a Master. Once we make it to England, finish your training with him, then ask me again." James explained.
The young woman listened to his words, interpreting them as that it was not a straight 'No' but a 'I will when you are ready' she nodded and instead slid underneath the covers as the two resume their positions before they woke up so they could resume their sleep. That was until…
*Shiver*
James looked to his left and noticed Saeko had curled up into a ball.
"You cold?" he asked.
The young woman turned over to find that the young man had opened up his left arm and was gesturing to her to move closer to him. She found herself feeling warm around the cheeks before slowly sliding herself over to him. She felt his arm wrap around her shoulders once she got close enough. Saeko felt his warmth instantly and soon all nerves and shivers left her and she found herself snuggling in to a spot she found comfortable and the two let sleep take them.
That morning…
The doors to the shrine opened revealing the two as the sun shone into the shrine revealing the blood trails from the previous night. Saeko, who had just adjusted her skirt to better accommodate her sword attached to her hip, looked at the young man and asked…
"How long is it from here to the shopping town?"
"Should be around half an hour at most, providing that we don't…" James answered but was cut off.
*Groan*
The two looked to the stairs leading to the shrine and found a small group of undead slowly making their way towards them. It was half a dozen in number but still pose a threat to the duo.
"Must have been after the explosion yesterday. The horde that gathered there afterwards must have spread out finally." James pointed out as he gripped the hilt of his swords.
It was then Saeko stepped forwards.
"Let me take these, James-san." Saeko requested.
"You going to be alright now?" James asked, a hand still gripped tightly to his sword.
Saeko smiled at him before responding.
"You said it yourself. If I want to stand by your side, I cannot disappoint you anymore, that is my reason to fight." Saeko admitted before turning back to the undead group.
James released his grip on his sword and instead leant back onto the shrine's wall as if to watch the coming moments. He chuckled to himself before saying…
"Knock yourself out Saeko."
That was all she needed to hear…
In what seemed like seconds for the young man as he was observing the young woman slice and dice her way through the small group felt like an eternity to the purple haired girl.
'This feels great…' she moaned in her head as she sliced the throat of one of the undead, spinning around, she mirrored the exact same action onto another member of the undead to her right.
'This is it…' she stabbed another undead through its eye socket.
Saeko then pushed the final member of the undead onto the floor with her sword and driving her heel through its head, finishing it off. Her emotions finally breaking through her walls…
'I'm getting wet…' she exclaimed in her mind.
She turned back to the young man who had been watching her all this time.
"So how was that…?" She asked.
The young man pushed himself and walked two paces to his left.
"That was good but…" he said.
The young man suddenly turned and with quick movements with both of his arms, slashed with his wrist blades in an overlapping manner, once he finished the maneuver he stopped moving with his arms outstretched. Saeko moved so she could see why he made that movement.
*Thud*
The sound came when an undead member fell to the ground in front of him. The young man turned to face Saeko with a smile on his face.
"...you missed one."
"I could have gotten that one too." Saeko pouted.
"You were having fun, in fact too much fun." James noticed a small trickle of liquid making its way down Saeko's leg, its source could not be seen by the young man but he had a hunch on what it was.
"I could keep going you know." the young woman boasted as she examined her blade.
"Focus Saeko. We have to reunite with the rest of the group." James commented.
The young man walked up to her and patted her on the head. Beckoning her to follow, he made his way to the stairs. The young woman sheathed her sword before following herself.
Later…
"There's the shopping town." the young woman pointed at as the building came into view.
"Saeko, a moment." James grabbed her wrist and she whipped around getting her attention.
"Look, about yesterday. If I hurt you at all, I apologise." James looked her in the eyes with a serious tone in his voice.
Saeko responded to the look he gave her in kind. She placed her hand on his cheek.
"It's okay. Besides..." She spoke.
She then stepped forwards and pecked James' lips, she pulled back with a smirk on her face.
"You'll take responsibility right, James-kun?" Saeko pulled away from the young man's grip and started walking down the street towards the mall.
James brought a hand to his lips and stood there for a moment only to chuckle to himself.
"Sometimes, I really don't understand Women." James began to follow the purple haired girl to their destination.
(Chapter End)
AN: Well that's another one.
From this point on, I will not be using anime stopping points for obvious reasons. Instead, I will be starting and stopping chapters at appropriately planned points in accordance to the manga.
As usual, rate, review, comment etc. and I'll see you when the next one drops.
