Hello everyone, hope y'll doing great

Here's Chapter 5, hope you enjoy

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Chapter 5: A First Step for Survival

Sakata Rentaro sighed as he looked at his front and surroundings. He and his group were still inside the bus, stuck in traffic and with the pace not changing, even getting slower. Ren looked to his right to take a look at the long line of people that were currently on the sidewalks, all survivors, evacuating; people from all ages, carrying bags and different stuff while guided by whatever police or officials were around, reminding them to keep calm. There didn't seem to be any of them around at least, with the police and riot control squad doing a pretty competent job at keeping them away, for now.

His mind then flashed to what he and his group had decided yesterday that their next step was going to be.

After dealing with Tsunoda and his group yesterday – who were now as quiet as ever while still sitting at the back –, Ren and his friends had a talk about their next move; they still planned to look for their families but also kept in mind that they weren't really that much prepared at all to travel through a city flooded with them; that's when Ren suggested them that they all could go to his home, which was big enough to keep all of them comfortable for a while, also had plenty of food they could take with them and last but not least, guns. Yeah, he, or more like Rika, had guns in her room. He had always been aware of this, since Rika didn't really keep any secrets from him, but he also never really took that much interest in them aside from some mild curiosity, especially since he always kept in mind that in the future he was most-likely going to work with guns, as an officer, that looked to join the Special Assault Team eventually; at least in yesterday's future… present day future? He wasn't so sure about it anymore. He also remembered that Rika somehow had gotten herself a Humvee and that it was currently parked next to the residence, fortunately; an armored mini-tank on wheels would certainly help him and his group, a lot. Worth mentioning that Ren almost had a heart-attack once he realized he had left his house keys inside his briefcase back at the school, but thankfully, Shizuka also had her own copy with her at the moment, much to his relief.

And while he really didn't mention it, he was also dead worried about his dog Guts, who had been alone since yesterday's morning. Poor boy was probably feeling extremely nervous at this point, not to mention hungry.

After mentioning the guns, everybody seemed to be on board with his suggestion – especially Hirano –, all thinking the same: Actual guns? In this New World? The armored car and provisions they could also get were the cherry on the top. With all agreeing, Ren suggested that they should move when the sun rose again, since moving during the night while it was dark was clearly not the best of ideas. Without any protests, all agreed to this in the end and decided to patiently wait till there was some daylight again.

Rentaro was currently standing right next to Shizuka, who was still in the driver's seat. He wasn't really optimistic about the bus moving to a good spot where they all could take their leave, and while they moved quite slow, their current spot right now wasn't so bad, it wouldn't take them that long to reach the house on feet.

"I think this is as far as we'll get" Ren said, grabbing Shizuka's attention. "We should all get ready".

Shizuka nodded at this with a smile.

"Finally!" she said cheerfully under her breath while stretching her arms and back. "My cheeks were starting to get really sore".

Ren chuckled at this, knowing full well she wasn't talking about the ones on her face. He was used to Shizuka's usual innocent, yet also at the same time shameless comments after all.

While Shizuka removed her seatbelt, he turned around and came face to face with Saeko, who had seemingly been standing behind him silently the whole time, also looking at their surroundings.

"It's time" he muttered.

She merely nodded at him, not saying anything.

He then approached Saya and Hirano, who were having a chat apparently. Right as he stood beside their seats, he heard Hirano's voice very clearly.

"Takagi-san, you really like Komuro don't you?" Hirano said while facing the window, looking quite dejected.

Ren instinctively looked towards Takashi's direction slightly, and noticed that he was on the same seat as yesterday's, having a seemingly really friendly chat with Rei, worth mentioning.

"Those two are all over each other again, like back in the day" he thought as he smiled a bit, since that was good news. In this 'New World', it was probably going to be very important to find a special someone in the end, for many different reasons, and while the departure of Hisashi was still fresh, since it happened just yesterday, in today's world, tidying to the past and not letting it go was going to be more irrelevant now than ever before. While thinking about this, he couldn't help but to look towards Saeko's direction for a bit, before turning to look towards Saya and Hirano again.

Takashi clearly hadn't heard Hirano's, much to Saya's fortune. Ren eyed Saya once again, who still hadn't noticed him and who, as expected, face turned as red as a tomato instantly.

"Wha-! What?! Don't be stupid-!" just as she was shouting at Hirano, she seemed to realize that Ren had been looking at them and heard that, as well as Saeko and Shizuka, who were standing next to him, all with teasing smirks on; Shizuka even brought a hand to his lips while giggling. At this, her face somehow got even redder.

"Let's help her out a bit" Ren thought, while trying to not chuckle. "I also really like Takashi, we've been together since we were kids after all. Right Saya?"

She seemed a bit taken aback by his words, but after a few seconds smiled nervously. "R-Right!"

"You guys are childhood friends?" Hirano asked, with genuine curiosity, not looking as dejected anymore.

"Yep" Ren replied instantly, cheerfully. "Takashi, Rei and I grew up in the same neighborhood and we've known Saya since we were in kindergarten together. Although me and Rei were always a year ahead of them, that still didn't stop us from getting along".

This was all true, although he tried to avoid the fact that he and Rei didn't share the same classroom anymore and now she was in the same year as Takashi and Saya, or well, was… school-life was probably not going to be a thing anymore, at least for a very long time.

"I didn't know that" Hirano commented, a bit surprised by the news.

"Neither" Saeko added.

"I did!" Shizuka chipped in cheerfully. "But I never really got to meet Komuro-kun, Miyamoto-san or Takagi-san properly".

"Marikawa-sensei, did you know Ren even before this?" Hirano asked this time, curious by Shizuka's choice of words, which kind of gave away that they did.

"Yes!" she replied in the same manner.

Hirano raised both eyebrows at this, a bit surprised by the information; even Saya raised one as well. Now that he thought about it, despite being childhood friends, none of them knew about his relationship with Shizuka. All three knew he was now living with his cousin, Rika, who was like a big sister to him, although they also never really got to meet her; but they didn't really know that he also knew Shizuka since a long time ago as well, and that he considered her as somewhat of a big sister too.

"Yes" he confirmed as well, while aiming to take over the conversation and answering himself. Shizuka after all could be a bit of an airhead, most of the time, so he was cautious about her saying something weird that could lead to a misunderstanding. "Shizuka's best friends with my cousin, who I live with; I've known her since I was a kid as well, so you could say she's also like a big sister to me" he revealed. "that acts and I look for, like she was a little sis".

"Mhm!" Shizuka hummed cheerfully, then brought a hand near her mouth, like she was telling a secret. "Did you know? Ren-kun used to call me 'Shizu-nee' when he was younger!" she revealed, while giggling childishly.

Ren sighed a bit before bringing a hand to his temples, looking to massage them, although he chuckled nonetheless. He really didn't know how to deal with her sometimes; still adored her though. He then lifted his gaze to look at everyone's reaction; Hirano was looking at him like he was the luckiest man in the world, while Saya seemed to be holding back a giggle and right now held a teasing smirk in her features, lastly Saeko was smiling a bit, seemingly amused by his reaction.

"It was so cute!" Shizuka continued, but dropped her eyes a little bit, looking disappointed. "But he won't call me that anymore…"

Ren chuckled a bit more at her mood swing; she did sometimes insist that he should call her like that again, but much to her disappointment, he avoided it; he stopped calling her that, since entering highschool.

"You never struck me as the siscon type, Sakata" Saya teased him with a sly smirk.

And much to Saya's nervousness, Ren returned the sly smirk almost immediately, and she seemed to finally realize her mistake.

"Like you're one to talk" he began, and could see Saya clearly tensing up; at this, his smirk grew even wider. "Didn't you use to call me Rentaro-nii back in the day?"

Saya opened her mouth, looking for anything to say, but words never really came out and her whole face blushed from embarrassment. He also noticed that Hirano also had his mouth wide open now, while looking at him with shock. Saeko on the other hand, now had a raised eyebrow and didn't look as amused as before… weird. The only one who seemed to still be as cheerful as ever was Shizuka, who was currently once again giggling like a little girl; how quickly her mood could change was pretty impressive.

"I told you to never bring that up!" Saya finally said, while in a mix of annoyance and embarrassment.

"I-I didn't know you guys were that c-close…" Hirano muttered while fidgeting with his fingers, once again looking dejected.

Rentaro exhaled through his nose at this; while he wasn't some love expert, he could tell when a person liked someone. After all, he had learned and witnessed this type of behavior first hand since both of his female childhood friends, Rei and Saya, had been crushing on Takashi since kindergarten. Thank God he never fell for any of those two – he always thought – that would have been extremely awkward and well, disappointing for him. So, for him, it was as clear as day that Hirano liked Saya, and he didn't really feel like making his friend all nervous and insecure about it; he already had enough with Saya apparently still crushing on Takashi, he thought so.

There was also Saeko's reaction, now that was interesting for him.

"We are childhood friends after all" Rentaro began, looking to simmer down whatever misunderstanding that might have been bubbling in the air. "My mom and hers used to be good friends even, so I was always looking out for her when we were younger, especially when she was dropped in our neighborhood for visit, so she could spend time and play with Takashi, Rei and I" he stated, and that still didn't seem to do the trick from what he saw. "And yes, you could say I do consider her like a little sister and that we're like siblings… right Saya?".

He eyed her and she didn't seem that embarrassed anymore, although a bit taken aback by him referring to her like that at the last part. She looked towards the window at her right then, diverting her gaze from him.

"Y-Yeah, you could say that…" she agreed, much to his satisfaction, since he also felt like he needed her confirmation. "His mom was like an aunt to me after all… I don't really like him that much though".

Rentaro chuckled at this, knowing full well that she was most likely going to say something like that. Although all that he had said was very true, though. His mom and hers used to be the best of friends, and he did see Saya as a little sister; in reality, they had known each other since they were babies actually, so between her, Takashi and Rei, he had known her for the longest; although he felt that it wasn't worth mentioning. – He also saw Takashi and Rei in a sibling-like-light as well –. Ren was also deeply aware of how much his mom used to adore Saya, while also knowing that Saya adored her back as well.

He noticed Hirano visibly relaxing and even sighing a bit, mentioning the words 'little sister' and 'siblings' doing the trick seemingly and also… Saeko as well? He noticed when she raised both eyebrows at his words and her face relaxed a bit.

Ren then noticed Takashi and Rei making their way towards him and the rest.

Good.

"What you guys talking about?" Rei asked with a smile.

"Not much, just about all four of us knowing each other since we were kids" Ren himself replied instantly. "And before we continue…" he immediately followed, cutting off anyone else before they could add something to the conversation. "I believe we should be on the move, now".

The air and everyone's faces turned serious again due to his words.

"Any objection?" he asked genuinely.

"If that's your call, then it's fine for me" Saeko responded.

That seemed to get the whole group going.

"I think it's best as well" Takashi added.

"Me too" Rei followed.

"No protest here" Saya commented.

Hirano and Shizuka just nodded.

"Alright, we shall prepare ourselves then".

Everyone nodded at this, and went to pick their weapons, or anything else that they had brought in bags and could be useful.

Ren stood in place while looking at everyone, his eyes then landing on Shizuka who was getting her bag full of medical supplies, which was next to the driver's seat. He then felt a slight tap on his shoulder and turned his head to face Saeko who was once again standing next to him.

"Here, Ren" she said and then smiled. Ren noticed that she was now holding two bokkens in each hand, and offering him to take the one that was his. Ren took it without saying a word, his hand dangerously close to hers, even grazing a little. After this, he merely smiled at her, which she returned.

"Thanks, Saeko"

And they just kept looking at each other, both with smiles on their faces… God, isn't this just like how Hisashi and Rei used to do and he disliked so much and he felt like puking when they did? Minus the fact that they weren't an actual couple, of course.

"I never knew you too were this close" he heard Saya comment. She had stood up from her seat and was holding a bag now with her shoulder, while looking at them with a slight sly smirk.

Ren raised an eyebrow at this and before he couldn't even respond himself, he heard Saeko's giggle, quickly followed by her response.

"Well, we had been classmates since we were freshman, so it's no surprise" Saeko responded, her tone gentle and sincere.

"True that" Ren added.

"We also have known each other for longer, not like him and you three since you were kids, but since around middle-school" Saeko continued. "We didn't share a class or even the same school, but we did share the podium several times in kendo tournaments back then, when we both emerged victorious, in the male and female categories each, respectively".

"Also that" Ren added once again.

"So I believe there's nothing rare about our… friendship" Saeko finished, with a smile. "I also did say that I would have his back".

"She did say that" Ren thought, memories of what happened yesterday and her 'warning' to Tsunoda's group flashing through his mind again.

"H-Heh…" Saya muttered, clearly taken aback by Saeko's sincerity and immediate explanation. "D-Don't you have family members you're worried about, instead of being all over him?".

Ren almost felt like laughing a bit at Saya's constant remarks, clearly looking to tease them as much as they could. Thankfully and much to his amusement, she was failing miserably. Ren was more than capable of handling some slight teasing – he could thank Rika for that – and rarely gets flustered or embarrassed. Saeko on the other hand seemed to handle it just as well and acted very mature.

"I am worried undoubtedly" Saeko responded immediately without any hint of being affected by Saya's comments. "But my only family is my father and he's in a dojo overseas. In other words, the only priorities I have are my vow with Ren and staying alive".

"Vow…?" Ren thought, a bit taken aback by her statement. He was aware that she had stated in front of everyone that she was going to have his back, but he never thought or expected she was this serious about it. "Does that mean she's not leaving my side?"

It legit almost sounded like a confession.

"And my father taught me to value vows and promises I've made as much as my own life" Saeko finished her statement, with a gentle smile and as calm as ever, like what she just said couldn't be highly misinterpreted or wasn't a big deal at all.

Saya seemed to finally give up about the teasing and diverted her eyes from her, while blushing now more than ever, clearly caught by surprise by Saeko's sincerity and straightforwardness. Even Ren felt a little taken aback by her words and merely scratched the back of his head in silence. A somewhat awkward silence followed, for a few seconds.

"Where do you guys live by the way?" Shizuka stepped-in with the question, ending the awkwardness.

"My house is in the same area as Komuro, on the other side of the Obetsu Bridge" Saya replied.

"Wouldn't exactly call it a house…" Ren thought, while holding back a chuckle. He had seen and even been in the Takagi State before, although the last time was several years ago; it was definitely not just a 'house', a fortress would be more accurate.

"W-Well my parents aren't home right now so…" Hirano followed, standing up from his seat finally. "S-So I'll just stay by Takagi-san's side".

Rentaro and Saeko chuckled and giggled at the boy's straightforwardness, while Saya as expected, got caught off-guard by this and even blushed a bit while backing up a bit.

"Were you living by yourself?" Ren asked, curious.

"Where is your family right now, Hirano-kun?" Saeko followed, asking politely.

"M-My dad is in the jewelry business so he's in Holland right now" he revealed while scratching the back of his head. "And my mom's a fashion designer so she's always in Paris".

"Sounds like you're a rich kiddo" Ren said, caught off-guard and a bit surprised by these revelations.

"Are you a manga character?!" Saya also asked, a bit sarcastically, also caught off-guard by this.

"No, if he was a manga character his dad would be the captain of a cruise-ship" Shizuka added while giggling.

"T-That was actually my grandpa… and my grandma was a violinist" Hirano replied with a somewhat nervous smile, showing a bit of embarrassment, while scratching the back of his head and once again surprising everyone.

"I-It's too perfect…" Saya muttered under his breath, now completely dumbfounded.

This time Rentaro laughed a bit out loud at all the sudden revelations of Hirano's now apparently, pretty outstanding family. While he had befriended and had been talking with Hirano for several weeks now, a conversation about their parents was never brought up; also from Ren's perspective, it explained a lot, especially the fact that Hirano was personally trained in the U.S by a Delta Force Captain. He never really thought that much about it, but realistically is not just anyone that receives such an opportunity, so Hirano's parents' lines of work explained and gave away that they must have had enough 'power' or 'money' to get their son involved in such a crazy thing.

Although Ren was amused by it, he still noticed Hirano's nervousness and the fact he was trying to show with his demeanor that he wasn't worried. But Ren knew better, and he was pretty sure the rest had also realized it; the boy must be dead-worried right now, since they already had found out that this was happening not only here, but everywhere else; no one was safe, so Hirano's parent's safety was a mystery right now. But obviously, none decided to comment about it.

"What about you Marikawa-sensei?" Saya asked, now looking at her.

"Well… both my parents died years ago and the rest of my relatives I wasn't really close with, plus they all live far away" Shizuka replied as nonchalantly as ever. "So…"

Ren eyed at her suspiciously, almost knowing full well what was coming next. Shizuka's face then beamed cheerfully before she lunged herself at him and hugged him tightly, while resting her head on his shoulder.

"The only family once I have is my dear Ren-kun here!" she said cheerfully while giggling and rubbing her cheeks against his shoulder.

Ren exhaled through his nose before raising his hand to place it on top of Shizuka's head; while he wasn't very keen or comfortable about Shizuka's constant affection, he never really had the heart to reject or stop her. His eyes then searched for the group's reaction, with Saya seemingly having second hand embarrassment and Hirano looking at him with jealousy – he almost chuckled at that – Takashi and Rei had once again returned to the group after they had been a few feet away, at the back, preparing themselves and having a chat, both with confused expressions on their faces. At last, Saeko stared at them with a genuine calm and gentle smile.

"Thank God" Rentaro thought for whatever reason, after seeing her reaction.

"Also Rika!" Shizuka added, while breaking the hug, although she still had her arms wrapped around Ren's own arm with her bosom pressed against it. Thankfully Rentaro was more than used to this; took him a while to reach that though.

"Rika?" Hirano asked.

"My cousin" Ren replied immediately. "She and Shizuka are besties".

"Forever" Shizuka followed cheerfully, while giggling.

"Like Takashi and I" Ren added, with a straight face.

"Shut up" Takashi joined in, although he still chuckled at the comment.

"What about you guys?" Shizuka asked while facing Takashi and Rei.

"Uh… my dad is somewhere on business, and my mom works in an elementary school" Takashi asked as nonchalantly as possible.

"My mom stays at home, so she must be in our neighborhood" Rei followed. "And my dad is a police detective".

Ren couldn't stop himself from worrying about his friend's parents. While he isn't exactly that close to them, he has known them since he was a kid after all and got along very well with them, especially with their moms, who used to look out for him when he was younger when he visited their houses, not to mention that they were friends with his own mom as well. There were also Saya's parents; he knew that Saya's father was somewhat of a badass since he had trained under Saeko's father, alongside Ren's own sensei; that Ren had heard from his former sensei himself since they apparently had trained together and there was also Saya's mom; if both were in the Takagi State during the outbreak, there was a huge chance they were fine currently, since it was pretty much a fortress and they must have had a bunch of bodyguards around.

"What about you Ren?" Hirano asked, innocently.

Much to Hirano's confusion, his question earned him an elbow to the ribs from Saya. Ren witnessed how the whole group – excluding Saeko and Hirano – expressions turned a bit gloomy and dejected. After all, they knew about his… family's situation… or lack of it. While Hirano still looked as confused as ever, Saeko had apparently managed to quickly pick up the change of mood and now had a worried expression on.

"Really? C'mon now" Ren thought, while raising an eyebrow at all of them. "Yeah, it is sad and everything, but it was years ago, and it's not like I'm some poor miserable soul". He actually considered himself to be very fortunate even. Still, Rentaro brought himself to smile at Hirano, knowing full well the boy didn't mean no harm; he still had to answer him as well.

"Both my parents are gone" he revealed, as calm as ever, earning a slight gasp from Hirano and widened eyes from Saeko; did he choose his words incorrectly? Maybe. "My dad died when I was little and my mom died a bit over three years ago".

That seemed to relax both Saeko and Hirano a bit, thankfully. Easy to misinterpret those words during their current situation. Fortunately – in a way – his parents had died under totally natural causes; they weren't and were never going to be part of them.

"S-Sorry Ren, I didn't-" Hirano began.

"Stop it" Ren immediately cut him off. "Don't worry about it".

"What about your cousin?" Takashi asked.

"Rika? Well, believe me when I say that she's a bit of a badass, so she's most likely doing ok" he replied.

And yeah, he knew very well that Rika knew more than well enough how to take care of herself, but that didn't really stop him from being worried, especially because there was a chance that she might be in the front-lines against them. Still, his hopes were high.

"Nobody else?" Hirano followed, which earned him another elbow from Saya.

"Stop being so nosy fatso!"

Ren nonetheless, chuckled at this, still as calm as ever.

"Well…" he muttered, before pointing his thumb towards a specific direction. Everyone's head turned around to look at Shizuka, who was now smiling cutely while waving her hand at the rest of the group.

Ren then changed his thumb for his index then proceeded to point at the rest of the group. Everyone seemed taken a little aback by this.

"The rest of the people I care about are right here, currently" he commented, as calm as ever. "So yeah… you know".

"There's also my dog".

Aside from Shizuka, who giggled cheerfully, everyone still seemed a bit taken aback and even a little embarrassed due to his statement. Ren chuckled at this. A bit of an awkward silence followed for a few seconds, nobody daring to say anything.

"Well, anyway" Ren broke the ice. "Everyone's ready?"

For the next few seconds, the group looked at each other and nodded; it was official then, they were leaving the bus. With that clear, Ren and Takashi looked at each other one last time before nodding, and the latter walked towards the door since he was the closest one to it and opened, with the rest following him.

"W-What are you guys doing?!"

Ren and his group stopped their movements altogether, all mentally facepalming as they all looked towards the back of the bus, where the other group was now staring at them. Of-course they couldn't just leave without them saying anything.

"I think that's pretty obvious" Ren answered to whoever had asked the question, though he was pretty sure it had been a male voice.

"B-But…!" he saw a slim looking male student stand up from his seat, apparently being the same one that had asked the question.

"You can't just leave!" Miku now was the one standing up.

"Yes we absolutely can!" Saya responded immediately, with a smirk even. "We've got our own goals in mind. This is no field trip so we have no obligation to stay with you guys!".

And she was absolutely right; during the talk his group had about their next goal and destination, the group decided themselves about several things, one of those being that they wanted nothing to do with the back group and that there was absolutely no way they were bringing any of them along. They had already done quite enough for them, from bailing them out of school to bringing them towards a whole evacuation caravan, protected by police.

With everyone having that in mind very clearly, they kept moving, Takashi and Rei being the first ones to hop out of the bus, with the rest intending to follow after.

"W-Wait!" Miku once again said. "What are we going to do then?! Who's gonna drive the bus?!"

"You mean slowly move the bus? There's no real driving involved in this traffic, pretty sure you guys can handle it" Ren replied nonchalantly.

"B-But-!"

"You can always hop out and join the rest" Ren cut-off, as he pointed with his thumb towards the huge line of people on the sidewalks.

Tsunoda, who had been silently witnessing the whole exchange, apparently had heard enough at this point and stood up from his seat next to Miku. It's worth mentioning that he had a pretty bad bruise that extended from his nose towards under his eyes while nose had a very weird shape, which almost made Ren smirk. He did hit him pretty hard yesterday, and it was fully deserved.

"You fuckin-!" he began shouting like a madman and Ren was already readying his bokken, fully expecting that he once again might had to deal with the guy, who just didn't learn his lesson; but then Ren heard a dry sound that came from behind him, and immediately after, he barely noticed the very small object flying towards Tsunoda's direction, which ended up colliding against the bus back window, creating a small crack.

While the rest of the back group and even some of his own group gasped in surprise or shock, Tsunoda stood at the same spot, taken aback by what had just happened, before a small drop of blood started making its way down his cheek. Ren immediately knew what had just happened. Hirano had just shot his nail-gun at Tsunoda's direction and had barely grazed him on the cheek.

The guy even ended up bringing his hand to his cheek, before plumbing back into his seat; his legs giving up due to the surprise apparently. Ren on the other hand, turned his head to look back, and the whole group shortly after was also doing the same, staring at Hirano, who still had his gun pointed at Tsunoda, and had a very angry expression on.

"I didn't miss" he muttered, but loud enough so everyone could hear him. "You're just lucky I wasn't trying to hit".

Tsunoda and the rest of his group just kept staring at Hirano, now fear in their eyes.

"Do you know how many of them I killed back at school?!" he shouted, surprising both groups. "You used to bully me so much back at school, remember? I was upset, so upset…" and then, Hirano exploded. "But I held it in! I always kept it bottled up! I wanted to live a normal life so I always held my anger in!"

The whole group just kept staring at Hirano, who was now panting heavily, but then his face turned into a more serious one instead of the furious one he had before.

"But I don't need it anymore… 'normal' doesn't mean anything anymore!"

Ren could feel how those words immediately got carved inside his mind.

"I can kill now… and I will kill you if necessary… even if you're still alive" Hirano muttered, now as calm as ever, determination on both his face and tone; he was indeed very serious.

Ren could tell Tsunoda and overall the whole back group get frozen to the core thanks to Hirano's statement. Just in case they needed to learn the lesson one last time, this had definitely done the trick now.

"You guys can go ahead; I will cover you guys!" Hirano announced to his group, before once again aiming his gun towards the back group.

"I'll have his back; you guys go first" Ren muttered to the rest of the group as he placed a hand on Hirano's shoulder. Saeko nodded at this before finally reaching the door, she then turned her head around to face them, specifically at Hirano.

"Hirano-kun, you're a real man!"

And with that, she finally hopped out of the bus followed by Saya and Shizuka, while Takashi and Rei waited for them outside.

"Go ahead brother" Ren muttered to Hirano, who nodded and followed the rest of the group out. After seeing this, he also proceeded to make his exit, but once again he found himself stopping dead on his tracks one last time, after hearing someone else speak from the back.

"P-Please Sakata…"

Ren turned his head to look at Miku, who was now looking at him with her best take on the puppy eyes, he guessed.

"Wasn't I supposed to be a murderer?".

"Weren't they trying to throw me out of the bus?"

"What are we supposed to do?" she asked, almost desperately.

Ren looked at everyone's face from the back; now they weren't looking at him with hate or disgust, their faces now were full of begging and fear, like they just totally forgot that they were supposed to hate him. He had to admit that despite the fact that they were literally trying to get rid-off him, he could get where they were coming from, and also, despite the fact that they were surrounded by the living, in a big evacuating caravan from the city, Rentaro's most human side could also get where that fear was coming from. Where were they going exactly? Was there really a safe place? What was going to happen next? All of that, he could get it. But still… he couldn't bring himself to really care about them at all; realistically, despite their obvious distaste towards him, he only despised the trash that is Tsunoda, although he also disliked Miku, but the rest? Not really, yet still, he didn't care. The most surprising part for him was that thinking like this didn't bother him, not in the slightest. His most human and kindest side hoped that they didn't just die and they could survive, but at the end of the day, either if they were to live or die, it meant nor did nothing for him, not one bit.

"What's going to happen to us?" she questioned again, her eyes, as well as the rest of the group's eyes completely on him. Hell, even Tsunoda was also looking at him all concerned.

"I don't give a shit" he muttered before exiting the bus, not bothering to look at the back group's reactions or faces one last time.

Ren finally hopped out of the bus as well and closed the door behind him right after. His group was right in front of him, with Saeko and Hirano being the closest ones to the door, who had been waiting for his exit.

He looked around, making sure everyone was out one last time and checking if they were fine, before signaling them to move. They walked for a few minutes before they found themselves near a riverbank. Now away from the traffic and without anyone seemingly following them, they made a quick stop to catch their breath and go through a quick reminder about their next moves.

"By the way… way to go Hirano!" Ren said before giving his friend a 'friendly' slap on the back… with apparently a bit too much force, because Hirano slightly stumbled forward.

"Whoops, sorry" Ren muttered. "I really need to stop doing that".

Hirano quickly recomposed himself while nervously chuckling before he turned to look at Ren.

"Kohta" he muttered.

"Hmm?" Ren raised his eyebrow at this.

"You can call me Kohta, Ren" he said while smiling a bit.

Ren looked at his friend for a brief moment before smiling. "Sure thing; way to go Kohta" he said before placing a hand on the boy's shoulder.

He then turned to look at the rest of the group.

"Everyone's alright?"

The group confirmed this by nodding while others verbally announced that everything was ok.

"So, how far is your home again?" Takashi asked, not knowing at all. It was weird that his best friend didn't know where his home was, but it was a reality. Takashi never once visited his house after he moved, being only Ren that visited the other's house during the past 3 years, and it had only been a handful of times; they mostly hung out outside, at the school, or in the city.

"Short walking distance from here" he revealed, not feeling like giving an exact timing.

"Thank God. I am so tired… and also dying to take a bath" Saya said while stretching her arm upwards, making her bosom a bit more noticeable, which gathered the attention from the males of the group for a bit, specifically from Kohta who wasn't even trying to hide the fact at all that he was staring. It didn't take Saya long enough to notice this before she turned around and landed a kick on the poor boy's bottom.

"You leecher!"

Ren and the rest of the group chuckled at this, except for Kohta, who was now rubbing his rear in pain.

"Well, I'll lead the way" Rentaro announced. "We should arrive there comfortably before the night arrives; also while they don't seem to be around for now, we never know, so we better keep our eyes open".

Everyone nodded at this before readying themselves. Rentaro did a couple of stretch exercises before cracking his neck and fingers, he then started to move towards his place's direction, followed by the rest.

"Remember, stick close".

XXXXX

They had finally reached his place. Ren and his whole group stared at the residence in front of them, all sighing in relief and satisfaction at the fact that they had finally reached their destination.

While the group silently gazed at the maisonette, Hirano on the other hand was gawping at the car that was parked outside, next to the residence.

"It's a Humvee, it's really a Humvee!" he said cheerfully.

"Told you so" Ren muttered to him while smirking.

"Just who exactly is your cousin?" Saya asked, taken aback by this. He had already mentioned it, but confirming it with their own eyes was something completely different.

"A chief in the prefectural police" Ren replied instantly. "And a Special Assault Team member".

"That explains a lot…" that was Saya.

"Wow really?!" that was Hirano.

Rei, who had been quietly checking the residence's surroundings, smiled after noticing something.

"I don't think they will be able to get over the wall here, so we should be able to rest without concerning" she said.

"It will look way better from the inside though" Ren said before starting to stretch for a bit once again, which the rest of the group noticed and took it as a signal to prepare themselves.

They had to deal with the zombies infesting around the building after all.

And so they did.

They did not back down or shy away.

Just yesterday they were normal highschool teenagers or a normal highschool nurse in Shizuka's case. But now, they were fighting for survival, they knew what they had to do, and they did it without hesitation.

At the back of his head, not only Rentaro, but everyone thought that maybe they were adapting to this world a bit too fast, which was for the best when it came to their peace of mind when it came to dealing with threats and their desire of survival… but for their heart? They weren't so sure; one thing they were definitely all sure about, was that they would never be the same again… not them, not the world, nothing, ever again.

Ren groaned slightly as he took one of them down by crushing its skull with his bokken; as its limb body fell to the ground, he noticed a large male zombie slowly making his way towards him. He smirked at this, in fact, he had been smirking for a while now, something neither him or his group had noticed. Something he had noticed, was the now more intense than ever adrenaline rush he was so familiar with.

The zombie lunged itself towards him and Ren's smirk grew even wider, while he excitedly exhaled through his nose.

"Keep 'em coming".

Never once he stopped and questioned himself, not at all.

He had not only grown accustomed to this new world a little too fast… before he even noticed, he was even starting to enjoy himself.

He hated this world, he couldn't comprehend it, and much worse, he would never get back the friends and everything he had already lost or could lose in the future; but at the same time… he might be starting to like this new world.

Also one more thing was as clear as ever for him since all of this began.

Life was not going boring for him from now on, not one bit.

XXX

XXX

XXX

That was Chap. 5. I hope you guys enjoyed it.

The chapter was much longer than I initially thought; am aware that the 'bus scene' was a bit longer than expected; hopefully it gave you guys a bit more depth about how close Ren is to the rest of the group. I mostly try to write the story from a somewhat 3rd Person POV by Rentaro, so it's mostly focused on his thought process and thought pattern.

And yeah, there were some changes; with Shido out of the picture that means Takashi and Rei never left the bus and were with the group the whole time. Also in this story they group arrived much earlier to the house compared to the OG story.

Also yeah, we can see Ren slowly losing himself in this new world; I believe his thoughts and him downright stating that he was into violence should have been a clear enough hint that it was heading toward this direction. I also took a few pages (even more lmao) from the manga, where Takashi's inner monologue and narration are more clear and he himself said he was starting to like this new world (on the gas station scene with Rei) also just in case you guys are curious about the thug from the gas station, Takashi and Rei never encountered him since they never left the bus, but if I had to say, then yeah, he would die eventually no matter what, so yeah, consider him out of the picture as well.

Hope you guys enjoyed it and of course, next one is the group's stay at the house. Maybe something interesting will happen? Stay tuned!

See you guys on the next one

And have a good one!