A slight wind breeze blows the white translucent curtains aside, allowing the scenery of the sunlit ocean to make its appearance from the opened windows. The day was at its early start, letting the morning air sweep through the noses of those who were awake to bask in it.

Cooling sand made its way between the toes of a very patient girl waiting by the sea side. A smile was brought to her lips as her sleeping beauty had finally awoken.

Riko wiped her eyes, yawning out in exhaustion, as her sight adjusted before her. She had just woken up by the large opened windows, allowing her to see not only the light of a new day but the girl with her back towards her outside. The curly grey locks wafting in the wind were a give away of who stood by the shorelines.

Riko got up, pulling up the falling robe around her shoulders as she kept her eyes on You. She did nothing yet her stance stood strong, nothing like how she had been recently.

Though the wind was slow, it still blew loose strands around Riko's vision.

Her feet met the sand, slowly going forward. There was no weight to her steps, only the action of moving. No pain either, just the feeling of being free. Hearing her come closer, You turned around to greet Riko.

A soft smile from the girl she loved was all it took for Riko to realize just how comforting an action could be.

"Hey, there you are, sleepy head."

Riko had so many things to ask. However, her throat was parched and it felt as if she had to force every syllable, but she had to get the words out,

"What are you doing out here?"

You took a step forward, bringing her hand up to pull back Riko's loose hairs from her face,

"I've been waiting for you."

As Riko could see You without anything in her way, the young girl looked entirely at peace with everything around her. Yet, where she was wasn't where Riko wanted her. Not when there was a creeping reality of the fluorescent lit aquarium lingering in the back of her mind.

Grabbing at the hand stroking her cheek, Riko held it close to herself. Her voice wavered out,

"I'm sorry, You. I don't mean to keep you here forever. I'm trying as fast as I can to get you home but, I-I don't know if I can do it anymore."

You only smiled at Riko. Her presence felt nothing but gentle and as she raised her other hand to wipe the tear cascading down Riko's face, she lightly laughed out,

"Hey, don't worry about me, okay? I'm fine. Just take care of yourself first."

The playful laugh at the end of You's words made the young girl's heart race. She could feel the reality of life coming back. Weight began to push itself down upon her. Struggling, Riko tried to keep the world from falling apart,

"No! I don't want to lose you. I-I can't, not when I've come so far."

You's smile never broke from her face. Perhaps it was a way of letting her love know she was happy where she was.

"People are never really gone if you still hold onto so many memories of them."

Gasp

Riko shot up from her desk, hands flying at the surface as she tried to grasp onto what was going on. Her senses all came back in a flash, letting her back pain, as well as eyestrain, be known from her late nights working.

Riko's eyes scanned just where she was at, only to be met with pure white. Grabbing the paper stuck to her forehead, Riko took in a breath of air to calm herself.

She had been up until the crack of dawn working out new formulas for so long that she couldn't even recall deciding to rest. Time was of an essence.

As Riko adjusted the things around her, she took a look at her journal centered before her.

She knew what the date was, but if she dwelt on it, it would only hurt more. The only thing that fell from her lips though was a barely audible,

"Day 18."

Getting up, Riko glanced over to see You still sat on the bed as she did the night before. Ever since she had become much calmer, Riko had allowed her to freely roam. Ironically, she did not do so often even though she tried escaping the room as soon as she could open a door. No, rather You stayed by Riko's side through every night and every morning.

The thought of just what went on in You's head was always something Riko questioned. She would stare for hours at just about anything. The chipping walls couldn't be that entertaining.

At the current moment though You's eyes rested closed as she had dozed off sometime during the night, possibly morning. Riko didn't glance very far past her desk when she was working so she could only guess.

Getting up from her seat, Riko walked over towards You. The soft rise and fall of her chest let her know You was enjoying her slumber, however the day had to start. Shaking her shoulder, Riko attempted to wake You. Eyes fluttering open, blue eyes met with a honey hue.

"Hey, sleepy head."

Riko smiled as she patted You's bed head. You only groaned out though as she faced away from Riko. Rather than bothering her more, Riko started her morning.

Her routine went into play as it usually did each day. Her feet brought her all across the aquarium halls, letting her fingers run across its slowly chipping surface. Riko went around, picking up anything out of place that You might've bumped into while she was wandering around.

It never takes long to check the building as Riko soon found herself outside with You following closely behind. Without the squeaking of You's shoes to warn her where she was, they tended to bump into each other often when the young girl would turn around. Of course, You never cared but Riko did when she's carrying their daily food.

As they went about their time, Riko tended to whatever she could. She grabbed any rainfall buckets that might've filled throughout the night as well as any animals trapped in the nearby cages.

Though it was springtime, the local animals hadn't been visiting Riko often. Perhaps it was due to the fact that if they were to walk into her home, they would be signing their death certificate.

Riko could only feel disappointment creep up her spine as lately she had been walking back nearly empty handed each day. Her backup food storage was only lasting so long and You was in no shape or condition to go hunting. Meaning she'd have to go out soon. Not exciting at all, especially if she had to leave You on her own.

Riko trailed her way inside, mentally planning her day. It was day 18. The longer she held off on implementing more test antidotes, the faster she was going to lose You. Every second was a wasted moment.

Yet, there was always a cost to rushing into things before they were ready.

Riko focused intensely on the tasks she had set out for her day. In her mind ran twenty different things she needed to do. First thing, try a new trial.

Riko made her way into the office, looking at a couple of the petri dishes she had left out the night before. She could already see which ones were a failure already, however one stood out. Though most of the containers had black blood still in their dish, one was a crisp red.

Stepping forward, Riko grabbed it, already making her way towards her desk where her microscope resided.

As she put it under the light, she could see the black cells that once ate at You's humanity had disappeared. Now all that was left was the healthy bloodstream.

Riko wanted to cry, no, she wanted to scream. This was the first thing to just about ever go right in a long time. The previous trials just made You's current blood withstand the virus, never fighting back. Now she was at a game changer.

Pushing herself from her desk, Riko went where the missing container was, grabbing the name that was stuck right in front of it. 'Azul' was scribbled onto the torn apart tape. Riko had named each trial after something related to You, usually matching the color blue since her eyes were always the one thing that stood out the most to Riko.

Swooping her supplies into her hands, Riko grabbed at everything she used to recreate the formula one more time.

It was her only light in the dark and she knew she had to take it.

Riko put down everything at her desk, organizing it by the order she mixed the ingredients before. Her supplies were running beyond short, but she had just enough to manage one minor dosage, if she was lucky that's all it would take.

With the stirs of everything going on, You only watched from the bed. Though at first it would seem she was zoning out in Riko direction, through her crystal blue eyes they could begin to focus. No longer did You see the blurs of faces, but rather she could recognize the soft red hairs flowing in front of Riko's face as she focused on measuring the liquids.

'Riko'

Something in You wanted to get up, push the hair in front of Riko's face away, but all she could do was stare. The numbness in her body still kept her entranced, yet the urge to be near Riko grew each day.

There was no single moment You could remember seeing Riko, just a slow awakening that brought her into light each day.

As Riko finally put the test tube into the vortex mixer, allowing the machine to mix the vial of liquids, the young girl got out the last syringe she had left. She only took three syringes from the last hospital she had been to, as before everything that had happened she believed You would have been by her side for another supply pickup.

Luckily Riko didn't have to worry about You fighting back like the first time. Though Riko wasn't entirely sure what she had given You in the first dosage, whatever it was calmed her down tremendously. She thanked whoever was writing in the journal first that discovered how to calm the anger down in the infected. If she didn't have that, goodness knows where she would be now.

As Riko set down everything she needed on her desk, it would take but a few minutes for the antidote to be prepared. Enough time to talk You down. Though she never showed it, Riko knew deep down You wasn't the biggest fan of needles. It was never the puncture part, as it was just a prick to the skin, but rather the pain that followed when being injected. As You always described it, it was as if you could feel the medicine enter your body, flowing through your bloodstream and seeping into your muscle. Though it's supposed to help, it always hurts like hell the next day.

Riko got up, walking towards You as her blue eyes followed Riko's every movement. Riko sat down next to You, both of them leaning back against the wall, before grabbing her wrist to bring her hand near her but also discreetly checking her pulse for any signs of panic.

A strange fact Riko had learned about the infected was that they weren't truly dead, but in fact still had a pulse. Or perhaps it was just You considering she was at a half-alive half-dead situation. Of course no one would find out as no one dared to get near any of the infected, but it did leave a damper on Riko's heart if that was the fact. No matter how clouded their vision was of reality, there was still a person inside them.

With just a slightly elevated pulse, most likely from You seeing the syringe being unwrapped, Riko wrapped her fingers around You's hand.

They were rough, yet comforting.

"Hey, it's fine. I'm just going to give you a little shot. If I did everything right, it should be the last one, okay?"

Riko kept her hands stroking You's as she said her words.

The last treatment she gave You was so rushed it barely had any exceptional results, besides You's speech being barely repaired and her ability to take orders better. Past that though, there was still something missing.

As Riko glanced at her watch, she saw the time was up.

Getting up, Riko went for the antidote as she made her way back to her desk.

Carefully observing the tube for any unmixed contents, the results looked safe. Riko's syringe went into the top, taking the small amount of liquid in as she hoped for the best. There was no use in praying, if that worked then You wouldn't be in this situation now.

As Riko brought the syringe over towards You, the young girl's eyes followed the sharp needle closely.

Riko sat down in her previous spot, flicking the bubbles upwards to push them out of the needle.

Placing her hand on You's shoulder, Riko could feel how tense she was.

"It's okay. I know it's scary, but I need to do this. I just want you back to normal, like how we used to be."

Riko's fingers massaged at You's tense shoulder, feeling it slowly relax into her touch. Though You's face pleaded to stop, Riko couldn't give in.

"Turn the other way, I'm going to do it quickly."

You closed her eyes, facing forwards as she tilted her head to expose her shoulder.

Riko had been injecting every trial into the wound at where You was initially bit at, as she didn't want to erupt anymore blood vessels.

Pulling aside the white shirt that rested on her shoulder, Riko took a look at the wound. It was near its healing point, meaning that despite how unsanitary conditions were, You was lucky at keeping healthy. It was mainly dried blood and other substances surrounding it. Its opening was still there though, just wide enough to insert her syringe. Pushing You's wavy hair aside, Riko realized it was getting a bit long. Never did You like it even slightly past her shoulders.

'I'll cut it when she's back.'

Promising herself that, Riko inserted the syringe, quickly pushing in the antidote before placing her finger over the opened skin.

Of course You whined at the shot, as she did with the others, but her sounds of displeasure soon dragged on as her face contorted in pain.

You pushed Riko's hand aside, placing her own over her shoulder, as if to shield it, as her head fell downwards.

Before Riko could see what was wrong, the young girl pulled her feet inwards, hunching over her knees, as her whines started to grow louder.

Riko's heart started to race with how fast their situation was turning at the blink of an eye. She hadn't thought of any possible side effects to happen but now that she was seeing it she almost felt like an idiot for not thinking of it first. It was no doubt You was already days into turning, that was why nothing happened in the first couple trials as she was still more human than not. Things were different now.

Scooting closer to You, Riko moved aside her messy hair from her face to gauge her pain levels based off of her reaction. The young girl's face was entirely red as her eyes squeezed shut, only small tears to be seen from the sides of her eyes. Her face read nothing but displeasure.

You's hands moved from her shoulder though, down to hug her body as she let her head rest on her knees. There wasn't a way for You to truly get out anything as the only thing to escape from her lips were gasps of air that felt like a stab to the lung each time.

No longer could she hold herself up as You leaned into Riko, letting her head drop to her lap.

Riko placed her hands on You's forehead, gauging her temperature only to realize it was far higher than she had ever felt. Most days You was cold as ice, a far contrast to the burning rooms they were in each summer day. With how hot she was getting now, Riko almost preferred their old ways.

Pressing firmly on the parts You held closest to herself, Riko tried speaking to her,

"T-Tell me where it hurts, I think I can work from that if you talk to me, You."

Riko pleaded but You continued her groans of agony with every press at Riko's hands. Riko's eyes began to tear up as she lifted her hands away from You, stopping the more pain she was bringing her,

"Come on, You. I can help you, I-I just need you to talk to me. Say something, anything."

You only let out more whines as she turned more into Riko's lap, clenching her fingernails into her own skin to distract herself from the pain. Riko could feel the heat rising in You much more as her body wasn't handling the dosage as well as she had predicted.

Riko could see the pain You was in. Her blue eyes were shut off from the world as her soft whimpers hid in the lap of her lover, but Riko couldn't do anything. If anything, it was entirely her fault for putting You through that, through everything in general.

Riko slouched over, resting her head on You's fluffy hair as her words started the choke in her throat,

"I'm so sorry. I should have waited, I should have tested it more but all I'm doing is rushing into things. And now, I don't even know how to fix this."

Riko ran her fingers through her You's hair. The comfort of being there was all Riko could provide. The aching girl turned up to face Riko, and though her face was painted red, You attempted to speak,

"K-Ko."

Riko looked down upon You as she said her words. Lightly giggling out, Riko let her tears begin their decent,

"Yoshiko and the others left, remember?"

You only shook her head though. Reaching her finger up, slightly shaking from pain, You gently placed it into Riko's cheek,

"R-Ri. Ri..ko"

Riko stared in confusion, and though it took a moment, her eyes widened. You wasn't mumbling out nonsense, she was saying her name. Something she hadn't heard fall from her lips in such a long time. The overflow of emotions brought giggles bursting through Riko's chest and as her eyesight was filled with tears, Riko whispered back,

"Yeah, that's me. I-I'm Riko."

Running her fingers through You's hair once more, You closed her eyes.

It was a long journey through the night that Riko stayed awake for. You didn't fall asleep for a while. Constantly through the night You would groan in pain, shifting her position or simply grabbing onto parts of her body that were in the most pain.

Riko could do nothing but apologize every moment she could. There were far too many regrets after seeing what she had done.

She had put You through possibly the worst time of her life, and the tortured girl knew it was Riko doing it.

Sighing out, Riko laid her head back against the wall behind her. You's breathing had become stable yet her body still burned beneath her fingertips.

Riko closed her eyes tightly, repeating her words from earlier in the day,

"Day 18."

Gulping, her voice cracked,

"April 17th. Happy birthday, You."

"Tah-dah! Happy birthday, Riko!"

You stood before Riko holding out a pocket knife with a badly wrapped leaf tied into a bow on top of it. They were in their room, as well as Riko's office, as You finally came in after being out the entire day. She knew Riko needed her space from time to time and You did enjoy wandering the halls to pass time.

They had just barely begun living in their new home at the aquarium for a couple months since hell broke out around the world. Their appearances had changed a bit from not living their lives as before. You's hair had grown past her shoulders while Riko's hair was still as long as ever. Tying it in a bun was her best option each day.

Riko looked at You as her excitement radiated off of her before glancing down at her own gift. Riko tried her hardest to smile but it was difficult.

It wasn't You to cause her inner turmoil but rather Riko wasn't very fond of what You was trying to give her. Riko had told You many times that she didn't want any weapons, as all they did was destroy, but with how many scavengers were still around, it was any wonder why You thought of the idea.

Grabbing at the gift, Riko eyed it a bit more, taking a look at it in finer detail. It was a blade sharpened to the touch. At its base was a carved in music note, revined to ensure no splinters damaged the holder's hands. You bounced up and down as she eyed Riko's reaction.

Knowing it was coming eventually, Riko stood up before wrapping her arms around You as she rested her head on her shoulder,

"Thank you so much, You. I'll be sure to bring it along when we go on more outings."

Before stepping back, Riko was sure to place a quick kiss onto You's lips before eyeing the pocket knife more. It was made with love, and if You gave it to her then she was going to love it.

You, however, slipped it from Riko's fingers as she flicked it open.

"There are plenty of uses for it besides battle! Like you can cut food with it, or even cut your hair!"

With that, You grabbed at her longer hair and slit through it with one slice. It cut through like butter however Riko couldn't help but giggle. The extremely smug You now had a lopsided haircut sloping from short to long. Grabbing the pocket knife from her hand, Riko changed their positions as she sat You in the chair now.

"I think I'll keep using the scissors for our hair, but very nice example, You."

Grabbing at the pair of scissors from her cup where she kept her pens at, Riko went by and began evening out You's impulsive haircut. She never did like long hair so cutting it whenever she got tired of it was pretty common. The first time Riko had seen You do that she nearly screamed in terror, now it was almost a tradition.

"I guess we were due for a haircut soon, don't you think?"

You hummed in agreement as Riko went by and began to slowly measure out and snip off the longer pieces. With You no longer swimming in her free time, it gave her hair its chance to restore itself, leaving soft curls in its place over rough ones.

With it back to its short length once more, Riko took a step back as she admired her masterpiece, looking just like how it did before everything. She should've been a hairdresser. Fluffing up You's hair, Riko cheerfully announced,

"There you go! I think I did a good job."

You grabbed at the ends of her hair, seeing it was back to its old length once more. However, an appreciation didn't slip from her lips,

"I'm sorry I don't have a good gift, Riko."

You's voice rang sadly in Riko's ears. Ideally, many things weren't right around the world, but it didn't matter if she still had You by her side.

Reaching her arms around her, Riko laid her head atop of You's,

"Hey, don't be sorry. You're already the greatest gift I could ever think of."

You turned around, eyeing Riko to see if there were any lies to her words but she only smiled at You.

Riko's hands ran up the curves of You's arms, stopping at just behind her ears as she pulled You into a kiss. Humming in surprise, You placed her fingers over Riko's as they drummed against her slowly heating skin.

Rather than stopping there, You stood up from the chair. Slowly pushing Riko backwards, they haphazardly stumbled back to their bed.

The destination wasn't far but it felt like an eternity to finally hit the edge with their feet. Though the landing was anything but graceful, both girls were not focused on that, but rather how long it had been since they felt each other on their skin. What better way to remember than with a special day?

You's hands moved down Riko's body as the young girl began to claw at You's clothing, trying to find a way to get it off faster.

The only thing to fill the room were clothing being tossed around as well as the panting breaths of one another sounding as if they were running a marathon. No words needed to be said, in that moment it was up to their actions to convey how they felt.

With You's lips moving down Riko's neck, as well as her own hands reaching to where Riko needed her the most, the young girl was sure to whisper out one last time for the night against her lover's heated skin,

"Happy birthday, Riko."