Chapter 12: Little Detour

FEW HOURS LATER, AT A NEARBY GAS STATION ON THE HIGHWAY…

"Is Kato-kun still on the humvee? I'm scared that something might happen if he stays out there too long…" Shizuka whimpered, asking Saya to check on Kiri while organizing the team's current medical supplies.

"Well, he seems alright to me," Saya replies, looking back with a smile to see him sitting on the back part of the humvee with Takashi.

Another day passes, and after the tiring ordeal from the Takagi Mansion's estate, the team safely left the neighborhood and decided to camp out in an abandoned gas station that still kept some fuel in stock. With only a few of 'them' in sight that are lurking around the area, the girls take this time to rest or to relax for the night, while the three boys, Saeko, Saya, and Shizuka are still up and busy. At the moment, Saeko and Kohta took the resting shift with Kiri and Takashi to stay up and watch for the night.

"Kiri, dude, why are you holding and counting cash?" Takashi asks out of curiosity while being equipped with his Ithaca shotgun.

"In case we had to deal with some annoying self-servicing gas stations. The only way to get fuel out of 'em," Kiri briefly answered as he finished counting the money, equipped with only his crowbar after using most of his crossbow bolts and didn't craft any makeshift arrows. "Huh, only 10000 yen and a pair of 500 yen coins. Seems aight for the road."

"Oh, right..." Takashi awkwardly trails off, recalling being in a similar situation from a long time ago.

"Something bothering you?" Kiri asks, putting a rubber band around the bundle of cash before keeping it in his satchel.

"Huh? No, nothing," Takashi partially lied, glancing back for a glimpse of Rei resting with Alice and Misaki inside the humvee.

"You think?" Kiri deadpans with a smile before connecting the dots in his mind. "You sure you don't have a problem, at all?"

"Yeah, I'm serious," Takashi assures.

"...Dude, c'mon, just tell me what happened between you and Miyamoto?" Kiri asks out of genuine concern.

"...look, it's a long story. But… to simply cut it short, we kinda um, used to be together," Takashi confesses before pausing from the gravitating weight of the painful memory seeing Rei locking arms with Hisashi. "...but that's all behind me. That got nothing on me now."

"I don't see that to be the case. And with Busujima-senpai around, she is always on her guard, and to be honest, there's no telling what she might do later on," Kiri confesses. "Well, at least that's not much worse compared to what I've been through…"

"Really? Sounds like you've been through the same pain, man," Takashi wonders.

"Well, not exactly in a romantic sense. But with that bastard Tsunoda…" Kiri replies, clutching his fists tightly as his anger slowly broils inside of him. "I was a huge blown idiot for trusting him. And one-by-one, before I knew it, everyone else I knew who I thought were my buds, deserted me. Then eventually, I ended up on juvie defending myself against my good-for-nothing friends."

"Sounds like hell alright," Takashi sighs in response.

"Only a handful of people, aside from those in the orphanage, were totally looking out for a guy like me, and I just only realized it a bit later," Kiri depressingly adds.

"Does that somehow include Marikawa-sensei?" Takashi asks, getting a nod from him in response before smiling with intent. "How did you come across Marikawa-sensei again?"

"Easy, I went to the infirmary as Imamura recommended to me," Kiri quickly answers.

"Wait, you know Imamura?" Takashi asks.

"Heck yeah, he was quite brave, but sometimes dumb. However, I can see that he's cool, and I trust him," Kiri replied.

"I see," Takashi sighed, depressed after quickly recalling having seen Imamura turn into one of 'them'.

"To be honest, in my first meeting, I was at extremely nervous at how she'd react…" Kiri trails off, relaying his first meeting with Shizuka.

SOMEWHERE ABOUT A YEAR AGO…

'Is this really okay? He better not screw with me,' Kiri groaned while standing at the door with bruises on his face and his hands, getting a few nervous stares from some students passing by the infirmary before gulping down his fears and sliding the door to enter. "Excuse me?"

"Oh goodie! Another patient! Please come i—"

Sitting by the infirmary desk in a modest lab coat and a black pencil skirt was the cool and kindhearted school doctor Marikawa Shizuka, who froze with worry written all over her face.

'Aw great, here it comes,' Kiri nervously thought.

"Oh dear! Where did you get all these bruises?!" Shizuka cried, going over to gently inspect his bruised face and hands. "This is no good! You need to treat them quickly or they'll get worse! Please rest in that bed for the meantime!"

BACK TO THE PRESENT…

"Whoa, well, knowing Sensei, it sounds like her alright," Takashi shrugs, reclining on the humvee.

"Heh, yeah, it felt totally unreal at that time. Girls would usually scream, cry, or accuse me for some nasty stuff I never did. Sensei was truly an angel in human form, next to the people in the orphanage," Kiri huffed, staring at the road being clear of 'them'.

"Do you like her?" Takashi straightforwardly asked.

"Kinda. Hey waitaminute…?!" Kiri yelps with his face turning red from caressly answering, making Takashi smirk in response.

"Kiri, you better tell her, won't you?" Takashi encourages.

"Takashi… I don't even know if she even likes me. What if she is just a really nice person? Won't that backfire on me?" Kiri deadpans, noticing Takashi trying to hold his laughter. "Okay, now you're just being a douche."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I don't mean anything bad. It's just— well, you and Sensei are unusually close by far among the group, and everyone could see that," Takashi points out.

"Wait, you serious?" Kiri asks, looking surprised from his question.

INSIDE THE HUMVEE…

'Is what Komuro-kun said was true?' Shizuka whispered, making Saya facepalm and rub her nose bridge from her airheaded response.

'Yeah, and it's clear as day that that delinquent sees you as a woman rather than as a teacher. Granted that he was obviously too shy to admit it, but he clearly shows some form of affection or infatuation towards you,' Saya quietly explains.

'R-Really…?' Shizuka whimpers before looking at Kiri chatting with Takashi outside.

OUTSIDE THE HUMVEE…

"I dunno, man. I need to think a little longer on that. But… whatever the lady wants— she gets," Kiri shrugs.

"Glad you think that way. You're quite mature for a delinquent who came out of juvie," Takashi comments, patting Kiri's hind shoulder.

"You know, I think Busujima-senpai would think the same towards you," Kiri points out, catching Takashi off his guard upon mentioning Saeko.

"W-What? Wait, hang on—"

"Don't lie your way around this. I know from the way she looks at you, and how she calls you Takashi a lot. The two of you sound close, and I have no problem with that," Kiri shrugs before picking up his crowbar.

"Have you two finished?"

Suddenly appearing and startling the two boys off the humvee from their left was none other than the stoic swordswoman Saeko, with her katana at her side.

"Hirano and I have finished resting and are ready to stay up and watch. You two should rest now," Saeko replied.

"Yeah, sure, will do!" Takashi gladly replies before slapping himself in the cheek once to snap out, confusing Saeko and making Kiri chuckle in response.

"Thank you, but um, Kato-kun, would you mind waking Hirano up for me? He should still be dreaming by the konbini's entrance," Saeko requested before sitting on the humvee's back where Takashi sat.

From there, the two boys went to the konbini to wake Kohta up for his shift…

'Bwegheheheh, Takagi-chan,' Kohta mumbles while clutching onto his sniper rifle, making it hard for Takashi and Kiri to hold their laughter.

"So this is what she meant by dreaming," Takashi laughed.

"Oi, okiro," Kiri callously rouses him while nooging the sides of his head to painfully wake him up.

"Bwaghogh! Ow! Agghhh. What time is it?" Kohta asks, realigning his glasses and wiping off the drool on his face.

"…probably two or three hours from dawn," Kiri replied while looking at the sky.

"Oh, huaaaagh, I see. Yosh," Kohta then limbers up to prepare to stay on guard with everyone else and goes out to sit beside Saeko on the back of the humvee.

"Welp, g'night, agghhh," Kiri bade as he quickly dozed off, resting his head on an empty cardboard box.

"Yeah, goodnight," Takashi bade in return, finding another empty cardboard box to rest his head on.

FEW HOURS LATER AND DAWN APPROACHES…

After a good night's rest with danger at the minimum, the team immediately drives out on the highway again as morning rises. From a distance as they parked the humvee somewhere inside a motorshop's garage for the meantime…

"This is perfect. We could hang around here for a while," Misaki gleefully thought out loud, exploring around the garage.

"Yeah, fortunately, the place is empty with none of 'them' lurking around," Saya points out. "So boys, how far do you think we are from uptown?"

"We are… close to some shopping center called Taiei Shopping Town, probably about a mile away from what I recall," Kiri replied, scouting outside through a pair of binoculars and noticing the shopping center to be somewhat crowded with the undead.

"If that's the case, then we should try stocking on some supplies while we're here. Let's head inside there and hopefully get all that we can, is everyone good with that?" Takashi suggested.

"Sounds like a good game plan. I'm in," Kiri agrees and wears his bandana on his head before getting his satchel and his crossbow along with his bolts-in-quiver.

"Oh yeah…!" Kohta smirks, preparing his sniper rifle for combat and wearing the bullet proof vest that carries his ammunition.

"Wait, I don't think it's a good idea to just go in there with guns blazing," Saya advises. "For all we know, there could be survivors holed up in the place. I think we should go there with the least dangerous one, namely the crossbow."

"What?!" Kohta screams in horror, staggering and turning pale as drops his sniper rifle from Saya's suggestion.

"Here, Hirano, you should keep this one with you for the meantime. I don't plan on using this yet and you're the better gunman among the rest of us," Takashi lends him the revolver, loaded with six rounds of bullets and three more extra rounds.

"Kuhhhh, fine, thanks," Kohta moped, taking the revolver and the extra rounds.

"Oh, but we could keep the shotgun with us. It's a normal thing to keep nowadays and it can be a great way to make other hostiles back off. When I mean hostiles, I'm referring to other psychos like Shido and his students," Saya blatantly adds.

"Soooo, want the shotgun?" Takashi nervously lends Kohta his Ithaca shotgun and their shells.

"Guess this means I should leave this one here then," Rei thought out loud as she put her rifle bayonet in the humvee and then went to find a light metal pole and a heavy screwdriver before getting a roll of duct tape on the table to craft a makeshift spear.

"…Huh? Uhh Kiri, what are you doing?" Misaki asks, watching him quietly spray red paint over the windows before wearing a rubber glove and making red falling handprints on the small windows.

"Hey, we don't know if there would be other survivors coming by, so we gotta trick 'em if we're leaving our stuff in this garage," Kiri shrugs, quietly putting down the sprayer and the glove away.

"Ohhh, nice fast thinking," Saya agrees with a thumbs up.

"We're wasting time here, let's just move out and quickly head into the mall. They might have some food and water inside, and we haven't got any breakfast lately," Rei nervously groans, equipped with her new makeshift spear beside Alice, who's holding her grumbling stomach.

"Alright, guess things are settled then," Takashi nods.

"Here bro," Kiri lends Takashi his crowbar.

"Wait, what about you? What are you going to use to fight?" Takashi asks, taking the crowbar after giving his shotgun to Kohta.

There, Kiri left with only his crossbow-and-bolts, scrounges for some cardboard and then binds them around his forearms with duct tape and wears the rubber glove on his right hand.

" 'They' can't bite through cardboard or rubber, right?" Kiri asks, pounding his fists together with lightweight makeshift armor.

"Mmm yeah, just make sure you know what you're doing," Saya shrugs.

From there, the team mobilizes and leaves through the motorshop's entrance, with the melee fighters namely Takashi, Rei, Saeko, and Kiri on the frontlines; Kohta behind them giving range support; and following behind them were the five others Misaki, Shizuka, Saya, Alice and Zeke. They dash their way down the parking lot with only a few infected that were easily dealt with until the entrance was at their reach.

"Hurry! Inside!" Takashi orders, letting the five behind them along with Kohta enter the building first while staying outside with the other fighters. "Is everyone inside?"

"Yeah, c'mon," Kiri replies, letting the two female fighters and Takashi get inside before entering last and then shut the glass door, locking the two lever locks on the bottom and top of the door. "Well, the door's secure, somehow."

INSIDE THE SHOPPING CENTER…

"Whoa, this place is huge," Takashi awed, looking at the mall interiors of the building.

"Of course, this is a shopping mall, it has to be big," Saya arrogantly adds.

"Well, it sure looks like we ain't the last ones coming here," Kiri points out, noticing dry footprints on the floor beside a wet floor sign.

"Seems too fresh. They must be around somewhere," Saya supposes, inspecting the footprint.

"Oh dear…" Shizuka whimpers as she clutches and embraces Alice close, carelessly letting her heavy bosom become a heavy burden over her small head.

"…huh?" Rei flinches from accidentally tipping over a PVC mop shaft, making a loud sound echo around the place. "Oops!"

"Hey! Who's there!?"

"Here we go again," Kiri deadpans, wielding his crossbow and loads a bolt before aiming towards the direction of the voice beside Kohta, armed and pointing his shotgun.

Coming to their position from afar was a pair of men that were armed with a knife and a golf club. As they got closer, they both froze in the face of Kiri and Kohta, who were equipped with a shotgun and a crossbow.

"Whoa, I mean, whoa," the bigger man gulped, nervously putting his knife back in its holster.

"We come in peace!" The scrawnier man screamed, raising his golf club up high in fear, indicating his surrender.

"Hmph," Kiri grunts, getting his bolt and then disengaging his crossbow before wearing it on his back by its strap, with Kohta laying down his shotgun.

"Shimada-san! What are you doing?! What's going on behind Asa—I mean— my knowing!?"

Suddenly, clumsily running behind the two men was a dirty blond-haired policewoman in uniform. When she notices the team of high school students She comes out to the front and quickly bows to the team as an act of apologizing.

"Asami's sorry! I mean— I'm sorry! I didn't know there were survivors coming by! Please! Enjoy staying and helping yourselves right here!" The policewoman named Asami, apologizes desperately and unintentionally makes the team feel like they're the ones in the wrong.

"Umm, look officer, we mean no harm. We just wanna come and stock up on supplies, or even rest here for a moment. Is that alright with you?" Takashi negotiates.

"Oh! That is fine with Asa— I mean, that's fine with me! Help yourselves!" Asami permits, welcoming them into the shopping center.

ONE HOUR LATER, ON KIRI'S SIDE…

Not long after the awkward meeting, the team slowly explores the mall for anything that they could use and take with them for the journey later on. Some of whom seem to have fun making the most out of the situation…

"Whahahaha! Faster! Faster!" Alice cheers, riding down the golden brown halls on a scooter as Kiri's passenger.

"Bow bow!" Zeke cheerfully barked, hanging onto Kiri's collar and resting on his chest.

"Hey, shh! Don't be so loud, there might be some of 'them' lurking around," Kiri sternly urged while driving the scooter and looking around the mall.

"Oh! Oops!" Alice covers her mouth while hanging tight onto the handlebars.

"Hmmm, not bad for a place to crash, if I do say so myself," Kiri comments as he stops the scooter beside the wall near an entrance to a sporting goods store. "Wanna check the place out?"

"Yes!" Alice eagerly nods with Zeke.

"Alright, just make sure to stay behind me," Kiri urges as he cracks his knuckles.

As Kiri first enters the store full of sporting equipment, he vigilantly sees some broken glass by the entrance and purposely steps on them to make some noise, hoping that it would lure any of 'them' out of their hiding places. He then steps further inside and feels a drop of blood trickling from above, making him slowly look up and notice a 'crawler' holding onto one of the huge lights.

'Well shit,' Kiri nervously deadpans internally, seeing the 'crawler' growl furiously at him.

The 'crawler' swiftly pounces onto Kiri, but fails to infect him as it only bites the cardboard brace of his left arm and struggles fighting against him. Fearing that Alice might get caught up in the mess….

"Alice! Stay outta this! I'll be back in a bit! Go!" Kiri orders before being able to turn the tables as he sits on top of its back and keeps the 'crawler' down on the floor.

He spots a nearby ice axe for hiking hanging on the mounted hook and reaches for it while trying to keep the 'crawler' down until it almost overpowers him as soon as he gets off its waist. As the axe is now within hands' reach, Kiri grabs it and uses it to instantly kill the 'crawler' with a strong overhead puncture with the ice axe's serrated hooked end. After he pulls the axe back and then pushes the infected away from him, he spots Alice with Takashi, Saya, and Kohta coming to him with a pushcart full of supplies in tow.

"Kiri! Whoa…" Takashi stammered, seeing the messy store and then spotting Kiri reclining onto the lower shelf. "Man, you okay? Are you bit anywhere?"

"Only here, is this fine?" Kiri shows his damaged cardboard brace, relieving Saya and Kohta when they see no bite marks on his forearm.

"You big dumb idiot! How are we supposed to tell everyone if you get infected in a safezone like this!? Geez, and look, now even Alice is petrified!" Saya scolds. 'I bet even I couldn't explain to Sensei if you do turn…'

"Saya-chan! It's fine! I am fine! See?" Alice assures before being cluelessly confused as she notices Saya glaring at her and walking up to her. "Ummmm, Saya-chan?"

"...Who are you calling -chan, huh!? I told you— to address me with -san!" Saya scolds, pinching and pulling Alice's cheeks while lecturing her.

"...You did well, protecting Alice, and finding a place full of great stuff," Takashi compliments, helping Kiri stand back up and noticing his ice axe. "I knew that there might be few of 'them' that are probably still inside. Nice new weapon by the way."

"Huh? Oh this? It was out of desperation, but it's pretty handy and durable. I just wonder if it could hold my weight. It's great for climbing," Kiri replies, deciding to hang the ice axe on a belt string as his weapon.

"Hey guys! I found some bags we could use to take more stuff with us!" Kohta points out, coming out of the storage shed with Zeke.

"Nothing for my bow or crossbow, is there?" Kiri asked, patting blood and dust off his school jacket and sleeves.

"Dunno, lemme check," Kohta responds and shrugs as he goes back inside to check.

"A-Anyways, we're glad that the two of you are alright," Takashi replies before noticing Zeke barking at both Takashi and Kiri. "Hahaha, alright, make that three."

"Yeah, thanks. So, what did you guys find?" Kiri wonders.

"Well, we managed to find some juices, water bottles, crackers, cereals, instant ramen, dry food, you know. The others that relied on fridges are out of the question. Too risky to keep," Takashi answers. "Although, we did have some trouble with one of the big guys that were already in that small community, and he does not seem friendly at all."

"Yeah, 'specially if he's already armed," Kiri adds and nods in agreement with him.

"Hey! I actually found some arrows! But no bolts for your crossbow, sorry Kiri," Kohta replied, walking out of the storage room with a quiver of twenty more arrows while holding three empty mountaineering bags.

"Aw sweet! We could carry lots more supplies with those bags," Kiri points out, taking one of the big bug out bags and straps the quiver onto its side pouch for the meantime before laying it on the shopping cart and putting the food supplies inside.

"Hey! What do you think you're… oh! Great finds, fatty, now we're in business!" Saya commends with a thumbs up, diverting her attention away from disciplining Alice before taking her hand. "Oh! And while you guys are at it, take those bags with you and fill 'em with the supplies we could take. Me and the munchkin gotta do some "girl business" and get some new clothes after the long icky rides. Hop to it!"

FEW MINUTES LATER…

"Man, we're technically hoarding stuff," Takashi deadpans, looking at their pushcart holding the bug out bags that are filled with some food and medical supplies from nearby stores and pharmacies.

"Well, we're making the most of things while we're here. We can't stick around too long," Kohta adds.

"You got that right. It's hard to protect this place and being around people like that gangster guy," Kiri points out, keeping the scooter at his side.

"Uhh, no offense bro, but you kinda resemble that guy to a minimum, but it's just by your looks, I swear!" Kohta panics, nervous to incur Kiri's fury but only gets a chuckle as his response.

"I know, it's the very reason why others think I'm scary," Kiri agrees, scratching and stretching his neck.

"Well, we see the good that you could do in these bad times. It's more than enough to tell that you're not what others think you are— or "were" ," Takashi nervously replies.

"Hmph, you are becoming strange as Kohta was," Kiri huffed and smirked.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean, huh?!" Takashi barks as he slapps Kiri's hind shoulder, only to feel the pain return to his hand. "Oghh, ow! Geez, have you been working out or something behind our back?!"

"Nah, I just became strong back in my old days," Kiri answered with a smirk.

"Waitaminute guys, the policewoman does not seem like a bad person. I think she could listen to reason, but she seemed a bit mentally weak, just a bit…" Kohta nervously points out.

"The officer? Well yeah, and those people hanging around here are just being deadweight to her, letting her take all the burden and blame. She's better off either without them— or with us," Kiri bluntly suggests.

"Hmmm, we'll need to talk to the rest about that. Hopefully we can make a decision after further discussion," Takashi suggests.

"Sounds good, I'm in," Kiri agrees.

"Me too!" Kohta gleefully replies.

"Me three!" Misaki screamed gleefully, startling both Kiri and Kohta.

Jumping up behind Kohta and Kiri out of nowhere were three of the girls, Saeko, Rei and Misaki, who were overhearing the boys' conversation and plans for later.

"S-Saeko! Rei! Kawamoto! Uhh, so you heard it all, right?" Takashi nervously asks.

"Uh huh, loud and clear," Rei deadpans with a hint of anger, intimidating the usually dense-minded Takashi.

"Just call us or text us whenever you want. We shall meet by the central bench immediately," Saeko suggests.

"Sure! No prob!" Takashi nods, still uneasy from Rei's response towards him.

'Pst. Um, Komuro, give the girl some space. Even I am scared of being around her as of now,' Misaki whispers before being startled by Rei glaring at her and then shrinks behind Kiri.

"HOW MUCH LONGER DO WE HAVE TO STAY HERE!?"

Suddenly, a loud screaming was heard, faintly resounding throughout the shopping center and a certain storage room.

"Wow, what a nice community they sure are," Kiri deadpans, putting his hands on his waist.

"We'll go and check things out over there. You stay and try searching for whatever else is needed to fill up the bags," Takashi orders, following the source of the noise.

"We'll see you guys in a bit!" Kohta assures, wearing the shotgun to his side for just-in-case.

"Great, now I'm back to do the heavy lifting, solo," Kiri grunts as he goes to move the pushcart before feeling a hand touching his pinky finger. "Hm?"

"Not anymore!" Misaki smiles, putting her hands on the pushcart's handlebars.

"You have found quite the nice mode of transportation to travel around inside," Saeko commends, touching and caressing the scooter.

"I just found it lying around and then thought: "why not?" Am I right?" Kiri playfully replied, making Misaki slightly laugh. "Tried having fun with Alice around the place so— yeah."

"Hey guys!" Alice calls from afar with Zeke and Saya in new looks.

Now, Alice wears a modest blue checkered shirt and a black t-shirt underneath while wearing jeans and rubber sneakers; Zeke is outfitted with just a red scarf around his small neck; and Saya wears a brown crop top with a strap to keep her dark green shorts on while wearing some glamorous leather shoes with an ankle knot on her left ankle.

'Whoo hoo man, if only Kohta could see her now,' Kiri thought to himself.

SOMEWHERE NEAR THE MEETING AREA…

"Bwaaghchoo!" Kohta sneezes and tilts his glasses from the blow.

"Excuse you," Takashi chuckles.

"Thanksh," Kohta sniffed, realigning his glasses.

BACK TO KIRI WITH THE GIRLS…

"I can read what you're probably thinking you know. I'm smart enough to tell that Kohta might enjoy this much eye candy," Saya arrogantly deadpans.

'Crap, she's a monster!' Kiri screams internally before being glared at by Saya.

"You think I'm scary, huh?!" Saya barked.

"Saya-chan! Saya-chan!" Alice calls for her attention while tugging her arm.

"Little munchkin… I already told you…! Address me… with -san!" Saya calmly scolds as she pinches and pulls her cheeks.

"Owoaagh! Bwut, where'sh Shizuka-nee-chan?" Alice whimpers.

"…Oh no, Kato!" Rei calls for him to calm down, only to see him nowhere to be found. "Where did he go?!"

"The answer is obvious," Saeko smiles and shrugs her shoulders, watching him bolt quickly to the escalators with haste on the scooter.

IN THE BEDDING SECTION OF THE DEPARTMENT STORE…

"Hey c'mon, just this once…!" The man named Shimada kindly requests with malicious intent.

"No! I-I'm afraid I can't do that! C-Can we talk about this?" Shizuka whimpered, backing away from him.

"Aw why? With you sleeping around like that out here, it's like an invitation you know?" Shimada slyly points out.

"No! I-I just wanted to find a place to rest, I'm not thinking of anything like tha—"

"Shut yer trap, whore! I ain't gonna find another chance like this, so like hell I'm gonna waste this!" Shimada barked back as he brandished his knife before feeling a tug on the back of his collar. "Huh?"

"…What did you call her…!"

From there, he was pulled back forcefully to the floor and dropped his knife upon impact before facing an angry Kiri, panting with heavy sweat while exuding an aura of murderous intent.

"Kiri-kun!" Shizuka calls out of relief before noticing the same menacing look in his eyes back in his incident with Shido. 'Kiri-kun…?'

"Say that again, buddy?" Kiri angrily growls, walking up to the intimidated Shimada as he immediately reaches for his knife to slash him.

However, he fails to cut Kiri as he shields with the cardboard brace of his right arm. He then flings and parries the knife away before doing a left hook to Shimada's face and pulls him down by his shoulders to do a heavy knee kick to his gut, making him grunt and vomit his spit from the sheer pain. Kiri slams him by his nape with his fists clasped to slam him down and just before he could do Shimada in further…

"Kiri-kun!" Shizuka cries with tears in her eyes, accidentally distracting Kiri at that moment as he gazes back at her fearful look.

With that, Shimada quickly gets the knife that was within arm's reach and lands a blunt dazing blow to Kiri's right cheek with a backhand attack while using the knife's flat side, scaring Shizuka from her own mistake.

"Tch. Couldn't even graze you," Shimada clicks his tongue as he gets back up on his knees and faces the downed Kiri who spat out some blood and saliva on the floor. "Whatever, I still get to kill ya— for interruptin' my good time!"

"Shimada-san! Stop!"

Before Kiri could stand back up, the both of them were caught off guard by the policewoman Asami, holding a gun in her hand and pointing it at Shimada.

"Took you guys long enough," Kiri pants, wiping blood off his lips with his sleeve.

"Kiri!" Misaki cries and rushes over to help him.

"I'm fine, this is… nothing," Kiri assures, cracking and stretching his stiffened neck.

"Step away from them and drop your weapon now! Or I shall be forced to shoot!" Asami orders while being armed and pointing her gun.

"...Okay then, shoot me," Shimada taunts the trembling policewoman.

"I swear I'll shoot! Asami is—I mean I am a police officer! I've been properly trained for this!" Asami nervously replies, barely keeping her hands stable while holding and pointing her gun at Shimada, with her legs trembling from the fear and pressure.

"Really? Please, you're already shaking so much. You ain't scared of missin' me and hurting somebody else?" Shimada jeers with a grin, not noticing Kohta sneaking up on him from behind. "So what, are you even gonna shoot?!"

"No… she does not have to," Kiri grunts.

As Shimada's not being clearly aware of his surroundings due to his own cockiness and attention being a distraction, Kohta manages to wrap a piece of cut wire around his neck tightly and maintains a good constricting hold as he chokes him tightly.

"I wouldn't struggle now if I were you. The wire's digging deep into your skin, so it's useless to get it off," Kohta sneered, tightening the wire's choking hold on Shimada's neck that he almost foamed in his mouth.

"Kohta, leave him alone," Kiri urged, surprising and confusing everyone in the team from his response.

"Are you serious, bro!? You kidding?! This guy nearly raped Sensei and almost gutted you in the process!?" Kohta angrily barks.

"Trust me on this one, you've done enough by saving me already," Kiri calmly explained before staring back at Shizuka's fearful appearance and then avoiding eye contact with her.

Before Shimada could faint, Kohta listens to Kiri and releases his hold on him. As he gasps for air on his paralyzed knees, he looks up to see Kiri walking up to him with a menacing stare and taking his knife, closing his eyes as he is scared shitless on the floor waiting for what's gonna come to him. Everyone then brace themselves for the moment, with Saya forcefully blocking Alice's vision from the possible horror. However, as he grunts and holds his breath in fear, Kiri kneels down to forcefully unclip and take the knife's belt holster, catching him off guard and making him back away to the cabinet.

'Kiri-kun…' Shizuka whimpered from what could possibly be going around in his mind, but felt relieved that Kiri wouldn't do the same thing he did to Shido.

"W-What…!?" Shimada pants in a panicking tone.

"I like your knife, I'm keepin' it," Kiri plainly replied as he clips the holster securely on his belt and then holsters the knife in.

"No! Why didn't you just—you know!?" Shimada barks in fear with tears, snot and drool going down on his face before being startled from Kiri looking at him but no longer with a menacing glare.

"...What you did… is obviously unforgivable, and I could easily take you down. But… I just don't… I don't want to see Sensei making that 'face', looking at me like…" Kiri trails off.

'Kiri…' Misaki anxiously thought, watching him from afar.

"Agh, whatever. I'm gonna let this slide, and I'm keeping your weapon. Besides, there is plenty to go around in here, and I could still take you down, but the second time...will be your last time," Kiri calmly scolds, looking straight into Shimada's eyes. "You get me?"

TEN MINUTES LATER...

Not long after Shimada promises to not piss off Kiri or any of his friends, Kiri helps Shizuka carefully get off the mattress and regroups with the rest of the team before heading to a nearby food court— all the while pushing the pushcart that's handling their readied supplies.

"Hey um, you alright, bro?" Kohta asks out of concern.

"Yeah, never better. And by the way, nice ambush hat trick," Kiri commented with a smirk, playfully nudging his shoulder while pushing the cart and then parking it beside a nearby pillar.

"Really!? I mean, I was actually kinda nervous since he is actually bigger than me, but my own reflexes got the better end, ehehehe," Kohta stuttered with a nervous laugh.

"Quit the modest nice guy act! I knew you could be better, and you did all that!" Kiri playfully catches Kohta into a noogie. "That was pretty awesome, comin' from you of all people!"

Watching the team from afar with infatuated eyes, the policewoman Asami stalks Kohta from behind a pillar before jumping and leaving them alone as soon as Saya spotted her with a simple glare. Not only that, Shizuka seems slightly dazed after what had happened as she does not respond to anyone while sitting and slouching on a chair while looking at Kiri from a distance, but avoids making eye contact with him.

'Awwwgh well, this… is gonna be a looong stay…' Takashi nervously thought and sighed to himself and facepalmed. 'We might need to put our trip on hold…'

—To be continued

A/N:

Heyo guys! Thanks for sticking by to read!

Hope you guys are still healthy,

Be careful out there,

Look forward to more things later on!

Peace! XD