Takashi blinked as he found himself in the real world again. He knew he must have dreamt something, but what, he did not know. All he knew was that he was lying face-up on the futon, still dressed in a shirt and pair of sweatpants that he had been loaned.

He also knew that Miku was beside him, still asleep, her arm around his waist. Breathing a little shallower now, he reached across and began to rub her cheek lightly. It had been a week since she had gotten into his bed. A routine had followed. After each day of helping reinforce the wall or chop wood or any of the number of tasks there was to do that day, Takashi would retire to his allotted room, and Miku would join him so they could sleep next to each other.

It had taken Takashi until the night before to finally inquire about last week when she had tried to take his shorts off. When he had popped that question, Miku had spent a solid minute biting her lip before finally saying anything.

"I guess...I wanted to….no, it's not as simple as that….I can't help the fact that so many people or dead, or that there are monsters everywhere, or that...that happened to me. But...I felt at least that could choose to...to…" She had trailed off.

Takashi had said nothing more. He had pulled her into an embrace, and she had held him into return, and they had nodded off together.

Presently, Takashi pondered if he should wake Miku up. Then he smiled, shook his head, and wrapped his own arm around her.

"You may stop!"

Kohta bent over and grabbed his knees. Sweat poured from his forehead, and even now he could feel how wet his undershirt and shorts were. He huffed and puffed, now only half-aware of the figure standing behind him.

Saeko smiled. Kohta had just finished running paces around the Takagi house. The other survivors had gotten used to him by now. Kohta had his share of gawkers for the first couple days of exercise. Those walking between tents or leaving the house would pause to watch him jump loops or lift weights in the open. Today, his running along had barely earned him a glance.

Saeko got on one knee, offering Kohta a water bottle. He took it gratefully and practically inhaled half of it in one gulp before putting it on the grassy earth and closing his eyes.

"This one seems to be doing better."

Kohta opened his eyes and looked up to stare into the face of none other than Souichiro Takagi, patriarch of the Takagi family and the de-facto leader of the compound community. He seemed even taller close-up than when the group had seen him from afar when they first arrived. His stance was firm, his uniform impeccable, and his right hand hung casually from the hilt of the sword on his belt. Even in a state of exhaustion, Kohta could already estimate it would take him a third of a second to draw his weapon and strike down whatever needed to be struck down. The man's face was taut, and the eyes were narrowed.

"I'll say."

Saeko's voice snapped Kohta out of his paralyzed state. She was actually standing next to Souichiro now, smiling.

"It pains him, but he's kept up with every task I've assigned for him. He's just finished the equivalent of two miles by running around the home."

Souichiro actually smiled. A small turn at the corner of the mouth, but it was enough to bring a small ray of hope and warmth to Kohta's heart.

"Perhaps he can manage four miles next time."

Kohta's own half-formed smile promptly fell off his face as Saeko reached into her pocket for a measuring tape.

"Can you stand up, please?"

Unable to resist Saeko's tone of voice, Kohta ignored his fatigue and stood up on both legs. He stood up straight.

"Shirt, please."

Kohta begrudgingly raised his stained shirt high enough for Saeko to wrap the tape around his midsection. He let her lift it over her head.

"You've slimmed down quite a notch...I would estimate we're on track to losing about ten percent of your body weight."

"Huh?"

Kohta took a hand and slid it down the front of his body. It...was true. He felt a touch sleeker….no wonder exercises seemed different nowadays.

"But it would be even better if we make it to twenty percent."

From afar, next to the gate, Hisashi Igou leaned back against the wall as he watched Kohta, Souichiro, and Kohta discuss something or other before the latter slapped his arms against his sides in exaggerated defeat. He walked forward until he was right in front of the gate. He surveyed the field of survivors across from him, cleaning, cooking, and training. Normal things. Like normal people in a normal place. He looked to his side at the mesh gate, satisfied to see that there were no zombies on the other side. He took a deep breath.

Security at last. If ever there would be a moment where he felt as though he could taste a word, this would be it.

Speaking of which...

He looked down at the chocolate bar in his hand and smiled. He had managed to trade for it after helping reshingle part of the house's roof. All it had cost him was a roll of tape he had found on the job.

His smile grew wider. It would do Rei good to have a taste of Meiji for the first time in a while.

Hisashi looked up again at the gate, and froze. If he had looked behind him at that moment, he would have seen the other survivors freeze where they were and stare.

The space behind the mesh was now dominated by yellow. School bus yellow. And a bespectacled man in a dark pinstripe suit stepped directly in front of the gate. He brushed hair out of his face and put on the smile the same way a man might put on a hat.

"Nice to see you again, Igou-kun. May we come in?"

Story idea by CRed1988 and writing by Jerviss.