One and a half months ago...

"Here goes nothing…"

Takashi prepared himself momentarily. He was right outside of the cafetaria. Today had been Miku's first day back at school since the attack. They had agreed to meet at the school entrance fifteen minutes before the bell rang at 7 a.m. She had come with a fresh school uniform and tie, and had given the semblance of a smile. Takashi had been planning to quiz her on what to say to the students, to the teachers, and how to act in groups. But the words did not come to him. Standing by Miku's side, he held her hand and she held his. They had stayed there as long as they could.

They had the same homeroom. They were seated at opposite sides of the room, but that could not be helped. Nor could Takashi change the fact that they were in different classes afterward. He managed to steal glances at her during homeroom and as they were leaving. He felt some relief that she had a good poker face.

He had sat through three more classes before the time came for lunch. He'd seldom had ease in following lessons in the past, and this was compounded by the thought of how Miku was taking things.

He sighed again and pushed the door aside. He maneuvered between tables and tuned out the chatter of the students who were sitting at them. Finally, he found Miku sitting at an otherwise empty table on the side of the room. The tables closest to her had a few students shooting glances at her and muttering under their breath. They were undoubtedly talking about Miku's rape. Word was already spreading. Takashi bit his lip as he came to the table, and Miku looked up at him. Before either of them could speak, a third party entered their space.

"Hey there!"

Takashi whipped around to see Tsunoda, who was standing a full head over him and finishing off a Coke can. He coughed and tossed it on the floor. Takashi had heard tales about Tsunoda. They included getting into fights and shoplifting, amongst other things. Although he would be inclined to side with a fellow delinquent, Takashi could not help but notice an unsettling quality of Tsunoda's demeanor. The eyes were dark, looking as if they reflected no light. They did not match his smile, which was full of teeth.

"What do you need?"

Tsunoda chuckled, ran a hand through his short hair. "Who says I'm talking to you?" He pointed at Miku. "Better buckle up, Yuuki. We're still having track today, and Shido-sensei wanted me to tell you…" he assumed a false falsetto, "that he's just so delighted you'll be back. You can ask me anything you need to ask about what's been going on." He smirked. "I can...fill you in." Then he turned on his heels and left.

Takashi began to scoff, but froze when he turned back to Miku. She was slouched forward, holding herself, shaking. Takashi looked back to the other door of the cafetaria, which was just starting to close after Tsunoda had barged past it. He looked back to Miku, who by now had her forehead pressed to the tabletop and was shaking even harder. Takashi wanted to hug her. But he looked back to the door. And ran to it.

He looked immediately to his right. Tsunoda was talking to a shorter, thinner fellow. Takashi dimly recognized him as someone named Yamada. Both of them turned to look at the new face. They saw that Takashi's face was red and that sweat was running down it. He slowly raised one finger at Tsunoda.

"Were...were you one of them?" His voice was so low he could barely hear it himself. But he could see Tsunoda's smirk and shrug.

"They said she was the best piece of ass around, but...wow!" He chuckled. "Wow!"

He said something else, but Takashi found he could not hear another word coming out of Tsunoda's mouth anymore. His head was numb. He walked forward. Focused squarely on the other boy's face, he could not see what was coming. Tsunoda's amateurishly telegraphed punch, something that could be dodged in any other circumstance, took him in the stomach. Takashi doubled over, then fell to his knees.

He could suddenly hear noise again. It was Tsunoda stepping closer to Yamada and letting out a whisper.

"Anyone asks, he hit first. Right, Yamada?"

"Y-yes, Tsunoda…"

The white sedan maneuvered between crashed vehicles and debris as it drove into the villa district of Tokonosu. In the driver's seat, Jo Maresato flexed his fingers on the wheel, moving steadily forward even as he fought the pit of anxiety in his stomach. The nurse, Shizuka, was taking a nap in the passenger's seat. Alice was following suit in the back. The weapons that had been found at the house, and a couple cases of supplies, were stored in the trunk.

Jo swerved to avoid a corpse that was stretched out over a handcart. They were odd corpses ahead, and he moved out of their way, too. He shook his head. He had seen more than he ever knew he could have signed up for when he had started studying journalism all those years ago.

He turned at another intersection, and he saw three more bodies on the left side of the road, their heads lying in pools of blood. His eyes flickered, recognizing the pattern. He quickly pulled his cellphone off the dashboard. The screen was cracked, but he could see from the coordinates provided in the text that he was close.

Another two turns, and he found two figures waiting in front of a burnt residence. It was a boy and a girl, the latter of which was holding a long wooden pole with a spike on one end. They were both wearing dirty school uniforms. They watched as he pulled up and rolled down the window.

"Rei Miyamoto? Hisashi Igou?" He saw them nod in hesitation. He belatedly remembered there was no way they would trust a stranger and so leaned back in his chair so they could see Shizuka. He extended a hand towards her, but the boy Hisashi shook his head.

"Don't bother. We can come in."

Jo watched in the mirror as Alice scooted off to the side while the newcomers joined her in the backseat. Hisashi gave her a tight smile before turning his attention back to Jo.

"Thanks for the ride."

"Think nothing of it."

Jo realized that Rei was staring at the back of his seat, still holding her pole tightly.

"Was there any word about...you haven't met, but… was there any word about someone named Takashi?"

Jo grimaced. "Kohta said that he tried to send a couple signals. We just have to hope everything's okay."

Story idea by CRed1988 and writing by Jerviss.