Disclaimer: I do not own High School of the Dead.

Note: Will follow the anime loosely with some influence of the manga and there will be some canon changes.. I won't be rewriting everything, just the stuff the new guy is present for or that massively changes, if you don't see it rewritten then it's the same as before.

Spring of the Dead

"Has Takagi-san always been a tsundere?" Scott asked as he leaned against the same railing that Takashi was. While technically this was his first week in Fujimi academy as an exchange student, Scott had been in living with the Miku family since September. The added time in Tokonosu allowed him to absorb the Japanese language to the point he didn't sound like a moron fumbling through formal speech patterns. He wasn't quite as fluent with idioms and slang as a teen normally should be, but he wasn't a complete embarrassment. The American had struck up a conversation with Takashi purely because the two of them were skipping fifth period for the same reason: girl problems. There were a number of differences, like he wasn't dating the girl that was giving him issues and it wasn't the talk of the Academy yet.

"Yeah. Believe it or not, but she has been improving over the years." Takashi Korumo wasn't sure why the American exchange student had joined him in the stairwell or why he tolerated the larger boy's presence. Takashi was more confused about why he opened up to the guy about what had been upsetting him. It wasn't something he normally did. "So, back to our conversation, you think I might have driven Rei-chan away?"

"Not exactly." Scott shrugged as he shifted the shoulder strap on the athletic bag he was carrying. The six foot three inch American was built like a strong man competitor, well muscled but with a layer of fat over those muscles. His brown hair was cut short and his hazel eyes were set in a kind face that was distinctly Caucasian. This had the effect of making him strangely popular with a small percentage of the Fujimi girls. "According to Yuuki-hime, you kept hesitating when you should have made a move. Miyamoto-san probably thinks you aren't interested in her that way. So she settled for the bastard."

"Hey, Hisashi is one of my friends." Takashi countered immediately. Loyalty was a defining trait in his psyche. He didn't just cut ties with people, even when they wronged him.

"He's still a bastard. He broke the Bro-Code big time." Scott shrugged. "She breaks up with you and is dating him within a week? That's suspect on his part. Especially since he's friends with both of you. A cynical person would think he was working the pair of you. After all she probably complained about how distant you were a number of times. Did he ever tell you that she was unhappy?"

"No. I got blindsided by it when the break-up happened." Takashi admitted softly even as he was staring at the front gates. "Oh God, do you think he was just waiting for us to self-destruct?"

"That would be my assumption. I mean if my best-friend's girl was telling me what a rotten boyfriend he is, I would tell him he needs to man up and be a better partner." Scott stated simply. Seeing the smaller man's shoulder's slump a little, he decided to temper what he was implying. "Although maybe he's thinking that people rarely get together with the girl they date in High School in the real world and is biting the bullet for your future happiness."

"Pfft, that's not Hisashi's style." Takashi scoffed at the idea that his former best friend, and yes he was going to use the term former now, was taking one for the team. Now that he knew, Takashi quickly demoted Hisashi from best friend to just friend. He couldn't cut him out completely, as at least Hisashi had the decency to look guilty anytime Takashi saw him with Rei. "He was playing both of us. I wouldn't have put it all together if not for…What the hell is happening at the gate?"

Scott tore his gaze away from the sky just in time to see Teshima-sensei thrashing on the ground as a pool of blood spread beneath him. As he watched the man stilled and then seemingly died Hayashi-sensei fretted over his corpse. "Fuck, was he stabbed?"

"No. The bastard at the gate bit his arm." Takashi corrected his new friend. "How the fuck did he die from that?"

"Looks like he bled out, lots of adrenalin will spike the blood pressure, a vicious enough bite could open a few arteries and… Jesus Christ!" Scott had been in the middle of explaining how someone could pass out or die from a bite wound, when Teshima lurched up and bite into Hayashi Sensei's neck. The woman was flailing around as Teshima shoved her away and then attacked one of the other teachers. "What the actual fuck?" The pair watched in horror as Hayashi stopped convulsing and then leapt at the remaining shocked teacher. "It's spreading."

"I've got to get Rei!" Takami half-shouted before he pushed away from the railing. "You coming?"

"I need to get Yuuki." Scott shook his head. "Meet me in the west stairwell. Once the panic hits the others will be crowded with panicked idiots."

"Understood." Takashi nodded before he bolted through the door at breakneck speed.

Scott wasn't far behind him and for a few moments their paths were the same, but when Takashi had to turn left, Scott continued straight. Despite being so large and bulky, Scott was fast when he got steam going. That hadn't always been the case. In fact, just three years prior Scott was morbidly obese and running was out of the question. That was before he joined the Society for Creative Anachronism to hone his combat skills when he decided to become a survivalist. Unlike the more modern war reenactor troupes he belonged to, physical fitness was a key component of being able to fight like a Knight. Going from just plain fat to what some of his friends called strong fat, wasn't easy. He didn't body-build, Scott strength trained by doing the heaviest manual labor he could get paid for, be it bailing hay, mason tending, trench digging, or lumber harvesting. In the end this meant he was strong, damned fast for his size, and had endurance to spare. So when he burst into Shido-sensei's class to fetch Yuuki Miku, he wasn't winded.

"Anderson-san! I would appreciate it if you would refrain from disturbing my class in your downward spiral into mediocrity." Koichi Shido was more than a little perturbed to have his class on Trigonometry interrupted by the exchange student. Despite his normally kind and caring persona, he couldn't seem to maintain it when speaking to Scott. This was likely due to the fact that on the first day, the American had corrected him three times and generally seemed unfazed by this authority.

"And I would appreciate it if you completed your David Hamilton impersonation." Scott fired back without even looking at the man. Instead of paying attention to anything else he walked up to Yuuki Miku, the rumored Tramp of Fujimi, and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Yuuki-hime, we gotta go… now."

"Why are you touching my girl, gaijin?" Tsunoda Takei snarled as he reached out to grab Scott free arm. The burly teen was larger than most of his classmates, standing six feet and weighing a respectable one hundred eighty pounds. His success in the hammer throw and shot-put made him believe he was one of the top dogs in Fujimi Academy, and he was likely correct. He was used to being able to bully nearly any boy in the Academy, the only exceptions had been Takashi and Hisashi. Unfortunately for the dye-job blonde punk, Scott was not the list bit cowed by him. The American caught the boy's wrist and applied just a bit of pressure. "Fuck! Don't break it!"

"What the hell are you doing Scott-kun? I need a good grade in this class to graduate and you know I suck at math." Yuuki Miku wasn't half as irate with Scott as she sounded. First of all, she was struggling to keep up with the class, something Shido-sensei seemed to enjoy because that meant he had to get close to personally tutor her. The man made her skin crawl even before she started having self respect enough not to trade favors. Second, she was tired of Tsunoda-baka making passes at her and scaring off any other boy that tried to speak to her. A year ago she would have thought both men were expressing love for her. That's how her father treated her mother after all, by being possessive, controlling, and making her trade favors for anything she wanted. It was only after she met Scott after both of them moved into her Uncle's house that she realized how messed up that idea was. Of course the damage to her reputation for years of trading sex for what she needed was irrevocable. "And let go of Tsunoda-baka, God knows where he's been."

"People are dying at the front gate and I don't think it's going to stay contained." Scott stated simply as he pushed Tsunoda back into his seat. "Come on, we're meeting Takashi and Rei." He knew that would motivate Yuuki. Ever since he had introduced her to his hobbies, Yuuki had developed a pair of girl crushes. One was on the captain of the Kendo Club, Saeko Bujushima and the other was on the vice-captain of the Sojutsu Club, Rei Miyamoto. "And I finished your birthday gift."

"We are? You did?" Yuuki was up in a flash. "What are we waiting for? Let's go."

The class was treated to the comical sight of tiny Yuuki Miku who was all of five foot three and a hundred ten pounds pulling Scott out of the classroom. The fact that it didn't look like the American moved under his own power made it all the more amusing.

"Oh my Gawd! She's gorgeous! How did you get the steel to look like gold?" Yuuki Miku was gushing over her gift: a thirty inch flanged mace that Scott had made himself. Unlike the standard mace the flanges were not round, triangle, or rhomboid, they were half hearts expertly welded spring steel haft making it look like eight hearts were embedded in the head point first. The grip was comfortably padded and large enough she could grip the weapon comfortably with one hand or two. "It's just what I wanted."

"The gold is what took so long. So many layers of paint to apply and kiln dry." Scott griped as he fished out his weapon from his athletic bag. Compared to Yuuki's golden mace, the blued steel battle axe seemed tame even if the back end was a maul head that gave Scott two choices when it came to doing damage. Scott would admit he'd been partially inspired by Stormbreaker, but the head looked more Viking rather than futuristic and the haft was hexagonal rod that he'd twisted in a spiral. "Okay, now you remember we aren't looking for trouble. These aren't a reason to chase down the guys who've used you."

Yuuki rolled eyes theatrically. Ever since she had begged Scott to teach her how to fight, he'd been hammering that point into her head. She hadn't even thought of using any of the skills to harm others. She just liked the idea of getting into the cosplay and mock battles part of SCA. She'd even commissioned two sets of chainmail, one was the very revealing bikini type, while the other was a serviceable hauberk, though the links were made from aluminum. "I'm more interested in how you are carrying two deadly weapons around in a school, Scott-kun."

"Try five. I had your mace, my axe-hammer, a three foot kanabo, the collapsible spear, and kukri machete." Scott corrected her with a shrug. He would have suggested they start moving, but they were waiting in the west stair well waiting for Takashi and Rei. "I convinced the Kimura-sensei they were all harmless replicas used for cosplay and I was just using the facilities and techniques taught in the club to finish them."

"And he bought that?" Yuuki snorted in disbelief. Metal Shop Club was not as popular as some of the other clubs, but the school was rather prestigious and refused to supply the organization with anything but the best equipment. "Then again, my Baby is a bit odd for a mace…"

Before Scott could respond the stairwell door burst open allowing Takashi Komuro, Rei Miyamoto, and Hisashi Igou in. Takashi being ever mindful of what could be following them soon, pushed the door closed with his free hand. Scott instinctively looked the three over and noted they armed themselves, and their weapons are bloodied. Not only that, but Hisashi had a bandage on left arm.

"Tell me that's a stab wound." Scott said as he pointed the blood soaked cloth on Hisashi's arm. When the three of them shake their head, he rolled his eyes. "Did he get bit when he dropped his weapon?"

"I'm a Black Belt, I don't need a weapon." Hisashi asserted himself to the larger and lethally armed man. It hadn't escaped his attention the man had an axe. Or that Yuki was brandishing a mace of all things. "Wakisaka-sensei just got a lucky bite in. It hurts like hell, but I can still fight."

"You remember what happened at the gate?" Scott turned to Takashi for a moment, his face grim as he recalled those events. "Can you do what's necessary?"

"Yeah…" Takashi nodded after a moment. He knew exactly what Scott was asking. It had been on his mind since Hisashi got bit. "If it becomes necessary, I can."

"Good man. Hand the bat to him, I got something better for you." Scott smile was a bit grim as he reached into his bag to pull out a cherry red painted Kanabo that was roughly baseball bat sized. "It's a heavier than the aluminum bat, but trust me it will work better. Yuuki-hime, why don't you give Miyamoto-san the spear?"

"Sure thing." Yuuki chirped happily as she set her mace down and rummaged in the athletic bag for a moment before pulling out a black carrying case. Unzipping the case the redhead quickly assembled a five foot spear from three threaded sections. "That's a traditional Boar spear head if I remember correctly." When Scott nodded that Yuuki was indeed correct, she handed the weapon over to Rei. "Maybe you could teach me how to use this sometime. Scott only knows European spear techniques."

"Sure…" Rei Miyamoto was still a little shaken from the incident with the obviously dead Wakisaka. On autopilot she took the proffered spear from Yuuki and instantly felt the difference. The mop handle was serviceable in a pinch, but this spear would be much stronger and had the perfect head for doing a great deal of damage. She resisted the urge to show off in the cramped stairwell, but just having a real weapon in her hands had snapped her out of her fugue. "I think I could do that. Us girls need to stick together, right?"

"I don't need the bat. I have my black belt." Hisashi tried to refuse the bat again, his pride in his hard earned skills seeing the weapon as an insult.

"Well, I am trained in pankration and boxing, you won't be seeing me trying to punch those bastards when I have the option of a weapon. Not after what I saw at the gate, and definitely not after what we heard on the PA." Scott shot down the argument with a huff. "And I outweigh you by fifty pounds and have four inches more reach. You already got bit once, are you trying to get turned?"

"Hisashi-kun please, just take the bat." Rei finally said as she saw her boyfriend become a stubborn ass for sake of his pride. She loved him, but he was being dense. "We're headed to the roof."

Takashi and Hisashi didn't even bother to see if Scott and Yuuki would agree with the plan. They were charging up the stairs as fast as they could take them with weapons in hand. Rei was following suit with her new spear and Yuuki was hot on her heels. Scott shouldered the athletic bag and followed them up thinking he had a great view up his house-mate's skirt to see her red and black lace thong.

"It's happening everywhere." Hisashi stated as the group came a stop at the edge of the roof. It wasn't hard to see what the young man meant by that. They were facing towards Tokonosu City. The first thing that anyone would notice was plumes of smoke from no less than three high-rises. Then there was the jam packed highway where it looked like some people were abandoning their cars out of fear. As the five teens stood mesmerized by the sight of such chaos, the wind picked up the skirts of the girls. The sound of helicopter rotors beating the air echoed in their ears. Four Blackhawks were making their way towards the city.

"Blackhawks?" Scott shook his head. "With Self Defense Force markings."

"HEY! OVER HERE!" Rei and Yuuki screamed out as they waved at the craft.

"Don't bother, they're not here on a rescue mission." Takashi stated tersely with a disgusted shake of his head. "They're on a mission. I doubt any of us rates a rescue force. Hell, I doubt Saya rates one from JSDF. Her father might send some of his security..."

"You can't know that." Rei argued with her ex-boyfriend, not out of habit but because she didn't want to hear such pessimism.

"He's right." Hisashi stated. "They aren't here for us. Hell, they aren't even doing anything about all of that." He pointed out to courtyard. From the rooftop it was easy to see the carnage happening all around the school. Scores of the infected were attacking students, sometimes singly and sometimes a dozen on one. Everywhere they look the dead were biting and mauling their schoolmates. Almost every case resulted in tragic end, with one exception.

"*Move quietly. They can't see us. Only hear us.*" Toshimi Niki signed to her life-long friend, Misuzu. The pair were almost literally tiptoeing through the courtyard among the dead and dying. Why they hadn't been caught was entirely due to the fact that they had both learned sign language when Toshimi's little sister had been born deaf. "*We just need some place to hide.*"

"*Head for the bus. I can see that the door is open.*" Misuzu Ichijou signed back as she literally stepped over a dying student. The only reason she could keep calm at all was the fact that she was with Toshimi. They had often made a game of seeing who would break first watching scary movies. "*We'll just have to wait for a distraction to close the door.*"

"I wonder why they don't notice those two…" Scott mused as he watched the pair make their way through the courtyard.

"We have more pressing concerns, Big Guy." Takashi interrupted Scott's though processes. "We're not alone on the roof."

Scott turned away from show below to see his new friend was understating things a bit. As his eyes scanned over the shambling corpses, Scott was doing a head count. "Fifty three of them. Not the best odds."

"We head to the observatory. We can block off the stairwell with the tables and chairs there." Hisashi pointed to the far side of the roof. "We'll have a vantage point to plan from."

"Sounds like a plan." Yuuki agreed as she readied her mace for the run. "Just hit and run, don't bother stopping until were at the top of the stairs."

"That I can do." Rei replied as she readied her spear. "Let's go!"

The five of them were off like a shot, Scott with his long legs was in the lead until he took a moment to cleave one of the dead in half and kick another in the knee. His stop was only a second, but it was enough he fell to the back of the pack. Takashi was using his Kanabo knock over any of the dead he came close to. Rei danced through the dead, striking arms and legs the butt of her spear in order to slow them down. Hisahsi seemed to be struggling as he ran, the bat limply carried in one hand. Yuuki for her part didn't strike until she had to, but the result was impressive as the dead woman's head exploded from the impact. Despite the number of dead in the way they made it to the stairs easily. Takashi was first up, half carrying the now weakened Hisashi. After him was Yuuki and then Rei. Scott was last one up the stairs by virtue that he'd had to take a moment cripple two more of the dead that were too close.

"Scott, you're the strongest of us. Just keep bashing them down the stairs while we get the tables." Takashi called out the order as he helped Hisashi to sit down by the railing. "Girls, help me get the table. ASAP."

"You know. It's funny. Everyone was worried about Global Warming and Nuclear War." Hisashi chuckled darkly. "But those won't be the end of the world. Nope. It's going to be the undead. You can see it happening in the courtyard. They come and attack us. They bite us and we become one of the undead." Hisashi coughed a few times before puking some blood. "Just one bite. Is all it takes."

As he was speaking Scott performed a Sparta Kick sending an obese one of the undead tumbling clearing the stairs for a few minutes as several of the undead were tangled in a pile at the bottom. This was just in time as the girls had brought one table, while Takashi had the second. Standing them on their ends, the large American was holding them in place as the rest scrambled for the other tables.

"Yeah, it's real fucking funny." Scott said with absolutely no humor in his voice. "So are you going to do the right thing, or make Takashi-san kill you?"

"If he's going to protect Rei-chan, he's going to have to… gack." Hisashi started to say but was interrupted by coughing up more blood. "Takashi… I need a favor… I'm changing. You gotta do it."

"What's he talking about?" Rei asked as she set down her end of the table just in time for Scott to manhandle it into place.

"Hisashi-san wants me to kill him, rather than let him turn." Takashi stated simply as he sat the table he was carrying down. There was a lot of pain in the boy's voice as he spoke. "It's the same thing I'd want him or Scott-san to do for me if I was bit."

"You can't. He's still alive!" Rei cried out as she ran past Takashi and grabbed her spear. "I won't let you do it. I won't let you murder your best friend."

"Dammit, girl, if he doesn't do it, then Hisashi will turn and we'll still have to kill him." Scott tempered his impulse to yet at the girl. The tables might have been set up in an effective barricade for the moment, but that was just the moment. He needed some of the chains to lash it together.

"Rei-san, I understand how you feel. If Scott-kun was bitten I don't think I could kill him. If someone wasn't around, I'd probably die when he turns and then attacked me." Yuuki admitted softly. "And he's just a good friend. It can imagine it's so much worse that it's your boyfriend. But do you really want to remember him as one of those things?"

"But he's not turning. Look, he's stopped coughing." Rei pointed with her spear to the mostly still form of Hisashi. She wasn't registering the fact that he wasn't breathing or that his head was hanging limply. "He's relaxed now."

"Fuck." Scott swore as he looked to the form of Hisashi just as the head jerked. The skin was already grey and his eyes looked completely glazed. Thinking quickly he reached out and grabbed the spear in Rei's hands and jerked her away from the body. Unfortunately doing that caused Rei to stumble into Yuuki who stumbled into him, and the three of them went down in a pile with Scott on the bottom.

For the first time in his life, Takashi did not hesitate. Instead he moved forward, grabbing the bat that Hisashi had leaned against the railing. A moment later Hisashi's cranium exploded under the assault unleashed by Takashi. The animated body of the man who had been dating Rei Miyamoto collapsed in a heap as it died for a second time.

"How could you do that?" Rei finally spoke after half an hour. Her voice was soft but thankfully free of the sobs that had dominated the first fifteen minutes after Hisashi's second death. The sojutsu specialist was practically curled up upon herself as she leaned against the wall around the completely on the other side of the observatory deck from the barricade. "How could you just kill him?"

"It was no longer him. He became one of the undead bastards." Takashi stated bluntly. "He was a threat to you. Those don't get to continue existing in this new world."

"You must have hated him. Hated him because…" Rei snapped at Takashi as he abandoned her grief for anger. She was lashing out because she was tired of hurting.

"A little. He knew how much I love you." Takashi admitted to his mild hatred. "I still wouldn't have hurt him because it would make you sad. I hate seeing you cry, but I'd rather you cry than seeing you dead or one of Them. If you hate me for saving the woman I love, so be it." Takashi wasn't sure where all that was coming from. He did not normally share his emotions. He bottled them up inside to maintain the tough guy image. He waited for Rei's response for five whole minutes, counting the seconds in his head, before standing and heading towards the barricade they had made.

"Where do you think you're going?" Rei finally gathered her wits after Takashi's confession. He'd never once said he loved her. Not in all the years they'd been friends and then together. She'd actually come to believe that he didn't see her the way she saw him. That was why she had ended it under Hiashi's suggestion of the whole If love something, let it go. Only now did she see what a huge mistake she made. Takashi had loved her all along and she'd been a fool. As he started to walk away she lunged after him, grabbing his arm. "I said where are you going?"

"Well, since you obviously don't want me here, I'm going down to bust some heads." Takashi spat out fully intending to wrench his arm out Rei's hands, but he just couldn't.

"No! You don't get to confess something like that and then just walk away! Damn it, Takashi!" Rei shouted as she pulled on his arm causing him to stumble against her. She'd been prepared to catch him though. "I do want you around. There is nothing I wanted more, even when…" With that Rei just broke down is a fresh bout of sobbing and tears. "Just don't leave me, please."

'Talk about emotional whiplash.' Takashi couldn't help the mental observation as he wrapped his arms around Rei and hugged her close. As she cried it out, he let himself shed a few tears for the friend he'd lost, but also for the emotional release he'd finally allowed himself. "I won't, Rei-chan. I won't."

"And we're over here playing guard, why?" Yuuki Miku wasn't exactly thrilled with where she was. It was too visibly exposed to the undead, unlike the far side of the observatory. Now that the adrenalin had worn off she realized just how close she came to death several times on the rooftop alone. Such thoughts made her subconsciously rub her belly.

"Takashi-san and Miyamoto-san have a few issues they need to work out." Scott Anderson replied to his housemate even as he was studying the actions of Them. The way they shambled about was confusing him. It was as if they couldn't see properly. They stumbled over objects laying on the ground like they couldn't quite perceive them, but managed not to collide with each other or stumble over stairs. He knew he was missing something about their behavior, but couldn't put his finger on it. "We're giving them a little privacy."

"Ah, yeah, that drama." Yuuki sighed heavily. "Not sure what she ever saw in Iguo-san. The boy was a Playa with a capital P. He just had a sense of discretion." Shaking her head a bit sadly, she continued. "Everyone thought he was loyal to Komuro-san, but he proved that one wrong."

"So you and he dated?" Scott asked. He agreed with Yuuki on one aspect, Hisashi hadn't been as loyal to his best friend as much as he should have been.

"You could say that." Yuuki cringed a bit as she answered. "That was while I was still living with my Father." She spat the last word out like a curse. "He was one the better ones. He never just dragged me to the Love Hotels. We actually went out on dates. Now that I think about it, he was probably using me to practice."

"Ah." Scott just nodded in understanding. "You don't need to worry that my opinion of you will change, Yuuki-hime. I already know your rep and you're still one of the most beautiful women I've met." He continued on. "Inside and out."

"Aww, you do luv me!" Yuuki proclaimed in a cutesy squeal that was completely over the top. Despite her not putting much power into her voice, it still carried. Every one of Them on the roof turned to face Yuuki and then started towards the observatory stair well. Yuuki was clueless to this as she had glomped onto her American friend and hugged him tight. "You're the best, Scott-kun... I wish you were the father."

Rei was finally cried out again. As she calmed down to only a few sniffles, she slowly pulled away from Takashi. She didn't want to. If she had her way she'd remain in his arms for a few more hours. However there was another man she needed to speak to. She needed to know if her Father was alright. "Takashi-kun, can I… can I use your phone again? I want to…"

"Call your Dad?" Takashi completed her sentence even as he was fishing his phone out of his pocket. "110 is probably still too busy."

"He gave me a direct number and made me promise not to use it unless it was an emergency." Rei explained as she took the phone and typed in the number. In moments there was the ringing tone followed by the sound of it being picked up. "Daddy, are you okay? Something is happening at the school?"

"Takashi-kun? Is that you? Did Rei-chan give you this number?" The voice on the line answered through heavy static distortion.

"Daddy, it's me. Can't you hear me?" Rei cried out as she realized that her father had to check the connection to even know whose phone was calling him. "Please tell me you can hear me."

"Rei! I can't really hear you over the distortion." Tadashi Miyamoto answered after he managed to hear a few syllables. "Listen. The city is in full Panic Mode. You need to get out of here. The city is in full Panic Mode. Don't come looking for me. Find your mother and head…" The line went dead in a burst of static.

"No! Daddy!" Rei shouted before redialing the number, only to hear the out of service message. "Out of service, but I just called him."

"Fuck. I knew that third plume was too close to my carrier." Takashi cursed under his breath before speaking up. "You're Father is with the Prefectoral Police force. Those Blackhawks we saw earlier were headed towards the Headquarters. He'll be fine. We just have to worry about your Mom at the East Police Station."

"What about your parents?" Rei was doing her best to keep calm, but the day was certainly not cooperating.

"My father is at the main office in Tokyo, so we don't have a shot at reaching him. Mom, is at work today, but her school is on edge of the suburbs. There's a chance They won't even go there." Takashi explained. "It is pretty isolated and the government did build it to serve as an emergency evacuation center. I'd call her, but this is a new phone and I'd only entered your number in it before I got… Well, I just don't have her numbers memorized is all."

"Oh, Takashi-kun." Rei hugged him again, this time not for her needs to be reassured, but for his.

"Glad to see you two pulled your heads out of your asses," Yuuki interrupted the tender moment with a touch of humor, the joke being funny because it was very much the truth. "We're in a bit of trouble. They know we're up here and eventually that barricade is going to bust like a cheap condom."

End Spring of the Dead.

Author Notes:

Let me know what you think of the changes. If this generates enough interest it will join Xander DxD as primary stories.

Oh, let me head off the Gary Stu comments. Scott is not good at everything. In a sword fight Saeko would mop the floor with him. In a spear fight he'd barely hold his own against Rei and that would only because he's so much stronger and faster. He's not a specialist, he's a generalist, able to pick up any melee weapon and use it with expert but not master level skill. He can shoot decently, but won't be the all around marksman Kohta is. He's smart, probably smarter than everyone in the group except Saya and Shizuka. He can drive, but not nearly as well as Shizuka can given the stunts we see her pull off. He's not going to be the leader, like Saya he's going to provide knowledge that Takashi needs to effectively make decisions. After all, the boy is a prepper/survivalist with an interest in SCA and Historical Reenactment.

Yuuki is vastly transformed from canon. I gave her a background that would have explained why she fell in with Shido's manipulations. Except in this, she has had seven months exposure to a guy who treats her like a Princess despite the fact she isn't dating him. As such she is starting to gain a lot of self-respect. She's also enamored with the idea of the SCA and begged Scott to teach her how to fight with a Mace and Shield, something she has a lot of raw talent for.

Oh, if you do review, please tell me what pairings you would like to see aside from Takashi/Rei as that is carved in stone.