Wolves of the Death

by Dantegrey

[AU] Since a childhood incident, Takashi Komuro has been dealing with a maddenning extra baggage. The average teenager is not capable of punching trought concrete, recognize a person by the smell at a mille away or overun a motorbike. With a recently broken heart, Takashi is trying to make the best of it, and then Them make their appearance...and the shit just got real.

5. Together as one

Takashi blinked.

Then blinked again, trying to made heads or tails about what the fuck has happened.

"Wait, did I just got laid?" questioned himself.

Then, she felt a warm and soft body moving at his side and when he turned his gaze down to see whats going on, he found himself smiling like and idiot to the sleeping face of Saeko, as she snuggled into his side, hugging his naked chest with one of her arms and mumbling something about cold and cuddling. The poor teenager boy could only think about how bloody lucky he was and if he could turn the cuteness of Saeko into a weapon of mass destruction, seriously, she was cute as hell, and he was on the verge of taking her here, right and now, almost unable to contain himself.

Using all his force of will, Takashi untangled himself from the sleeping beauty, covering her with a blanket; so she would not catch a cold by sleeping on the nude; for a second Takashi considered a crime hiding the gorgeous body of Saeko from sight, he could be watching his mate all day.

"Wait a bloody second; mate?, what on earth?" shook his head Takashi, this sudden slips of his inner beast were starting to get annoying, although, Takashi would gladly take responsibility about what just happened, and truth to be told, he was delighted to have a woman like Saeko at his side. She was all that a poor sod like him could ever dream off.

Leaving the sleeping samurai-woman covered in blankets, and kissing her forehead as a goodbye, something that made her smile and giggles in her sleep, Takashi rose off the bed, realizing that he was as naked as Saeko. Grumbling under his breath Takashi start looking for his boxers and pants, he could endure being shirtless but not without pants, he was not a flasher, and the last thing he needed right now was to keep flashing his pack; somehow he had the nagging suspicion that Yuuki and perhaps Hayashi-sensei would not protest very much about it, but Takashi was pragmatical enough to realize that fighting Them in the bare was a very bad idea.

After searching around the room, Takashi finally found his ragged pants in a corner, along with his boxers; that really needed a cleaning up, between the sweat, the blood and other fluids from Them that he preferred not to think about; picking up a towel from the dresser, Takashi sighed and exited the room in silence, determined to wash his clothes; he deserved, at last, a pair of clean pants, it was basic human rights.

Still, he was realizing the difficulty of keeping his clothes relatively clean and in one piece, every time he had to fight Them. Takashi fight close and personal, claws capable of rending steel plus his inhuman strength; an efficient combo; but he always ended covered from head to toe in blood and gore pieces, and despite his inhuman resistance to all kind of harm, walking around like a butchery will overload his senses and made his pack open up for an ambush or a sudden appearance of a horde of Them.

His senses are a very nice advantage that he would not like to lose; kind of ironic, considering how those same senses made his school and personal life a nightmare. Now, he was fighting to keep those same senses as sharp as he could, so he could protect his pack form any harm that could come their way. And the little extra fact that he had a big pack now, his friends and senseis. As sure as he was that very little things could present a challenge to him, his pack was not as invulnerable as him, and a single bite would fuck them up badly. Takashi shuddered at the idea of having to kill any of his friends with his own hands, and he had to contain the bile at his throat at the next line of thoughts; what if Saeko was the one bitten?.

Perishing the thoughts with a soft growl, Takashi exited the room, and found himself in the hall of Rikas house; the friend of Marikawa-sensei had some nice digs, but his pack has practically filled the entire place. He smiled when he saw Morita and Kohta snoring on the couches; all of the girls and Igou took the rooms, so the boys had to sleep on the couches; a very nice couches by the way; passing near them, he moved to the room where he remembered Kohta has told him there was a washing machine, with a little luck, he would find some clothes of Magnus and could borrow them from the older Therianthrope, anything was better than walk around half naked.

With a click, the door opened and Takashi looked into the little cleaning room. There it was the washing machine, a dryer machine and a lot of cleaning products placed on the shelves, filling the space inside the room; he needed nothing more, so he entered, eyed the washing machine for a couple of moments; it was different brand than the one he had at home; familiarizing himself with the buttons and the system. It was clear that the rest of the pack had already used it, judging the basket of clean student clothes that he saw near the corner of the room, someone has even managed to stitch a couple of patches into his damaged jacket; Takashi blessed the kind one that has done him that favor, he really would prefer to keep a jacket instead of going shirtless all around. Even if he was pretty sure that Yuuki and Saeko would be delighted.

Taking the soap, he put all of his clothes into the machine and switched it to a rapid program, he was not sure if they would not have to make a run if a horde of them suddenly surrounded the building, Takashi had already cleaned the surrounding streets, but Them are like a dammed plague, you killed one and a dozen took its place; it was like fighting a tide, he would have to kill the entire population of Tokonosu to get a respite of all this madness, and he was sure there could be near a million or more people making a living in the city; possible more than eighty percent of them would already become part of Them or will become one of Them in the next few days. It would be a herculean task, that's for sure, so the best for his pack was to make a beeline out of the damned city, into the outskirts or islands that surrounded the coast.

Cleaning out an island would be far more easier than cleaning out the entire city, perhaps they could make themselves a living in the old castles that surrounded the mountains of the city, product of the civil wars of a bygone era but sturdy and big enough to maintain his pack safe and with a piece of land where they could make a living.

Takashi surprised himself following that line of thought, he was still basking in the afterglow of getting laid with one of the most beautiful women he has ever meet, and had his mental defenses a little low, after all, the beast seems to be pleased with him after bedding Saeko; but this line of thought about killing entire cities was a new twist in the subtle manipulation that the beast was always trying on him. Not that he cared two shits about anyone that was not his pack, but he was not a massive murderer, a killer?, sadly yes; his hands were drenched with the back blood of all Them that he had killed during the day and before Them, he butchered the mercs that kidnapped Saya, so he was not entirely innocent of the accusation of killing someone; even if the could argue about not being in his sane state of mind. The Beast took control in that one, and you can always expect bloody and violent results when that occurs.

And for his eternal surprise, he was okay with it; he felt no guilt, nor depression, nothing, just the cold logic that all predators possessed. "You are prey, you have to die so I can live" kind of reasoning, more proper of a predatory beast than a human, but Takashi wasn't exactly the prime model of humankind right now. His claws, fangs and slowly growing short fur on his back and shoulders were already more than enough to distance him from the average human; not to mention his inhumane resilience, strength and healing capabilities. He was grateful for them, otherwise his entire pack would be dead by now, bitten and eaten alive by those stumbling things out there, turned into moaning and putrid parodies of who they were. That was something that enraged Takashi, the mere idea of losing Saeko or any other of his pack by the rotten teeth of Them was something that froze the blood of Takashi.

Dress with nothing but a towel and still smiling like and idiot, Takashi exited the cleaning room, searching for something to eat, he was starving, between the fight, the healing and the wonderful sex he was in need of some grub and not so sure about booze; he was not a drinker, especially after seeing that his body treated alcohol as a poison and erase it from his system asap; getting buzzed was a very arduous task for Takashi, who need to drink ten times the usual amount to get a tingling sensation. Takashi was not sure to count it as a bless or as a curse, although, at this point, anything that kept him sharp was a blessing; his senses dulled could spell damnation to his pack, in case of an ambush of Them or another survivalist with a gun and the mind broken by the horror of the situation.

Takashi found his share of the dinner that the girls made after their baths, and it was a big share, something that he was immensely grateful for it, his body demanded food and with gusto, he proceed to wolf down everything in front of him and with a couple of other extra bites, he chewed down like an entire box of cereal. Minami-san would have killed him if he would have done it in front of the tanned woman; following the cereal he chew down a lot of fruits that they will probably not take with them when they left; in an apocalypse like this, fruits and fresh foods like meat and vegetables must be consumed quickly, otherwise they will spoil very quick as there are few chances to conservation of your food in freezers or similar devices.

The young Therianthrope did have an appetite and now that he was more relaxed than he has been the entire week, he enjoyed his dinner. His senses were already telling him that everything was ok, the pack was safe and sound; despite the lingering smell of tears of Alice, but he could nothing about it for the moment; tomorrow morning he would console the girl as much as he could, before taking her with them. Takashi feel that he own the deceased Maresato-san so much, if only for all the times that the journalist treat him like a person and filled his promise of never publish the tale of the savage night of Takashi, the one on when he lost his virginity, became infamous with all the gangs of the city and, if the rumors were true, be the protagonist of a porno movie.

Since then, Takashi swore on all that was sacred to him, to never, ever, use another hard drug; the consequences could be dangerous, and now he had a pack to take care of, the last thing they need is a Therianthrope high on drugs, especially if that Therianthrope was still a teenager and having some serious issues trying to keep his instincts under control as much as he could.

Well, he did not hate how Saeko has managed to slip past his defenses and appear in front of him with nothing but a clingy towel that did nothing but show her gorgeous figure or how he just jump out the bath, kiss her senseless and then proceed to made love to her; to "love her", nice and cute euphemism for fuck her silly; until she couldn't take it anymore and faint due a mix of exhaustion and orgasmic bliss. Takashi felt guilty, even after the girl did her best; and Takashi was in cloud nine, still tasting her delicious lips on his own; even when she rode him like a wild bronco, he only cum a couple of times, meanwhile, Saeko was having multiple orgasms. It was unfair, for the simple reason that Takashi had enhanced stamina, and he could be, at it, for hours even after all the shit he had to deal with during all the day.

It was unfair for the sword mistress and Takashi would love to be able to do something about it, however, he was not sure about how to bring the topic into a conversation with Magnus, it was not like he could just sit at the side of the older Therianthrope and just ask how to be a better or lesser lover depending on the point of view. Takashi snorted, that could be a very funny conversation, he started to imagine it.

"Ey, Magnus, I had just fuck into unconsciousness my mate and I am still horny as hell, what can I do?".

"So...Busujima-san and you are an item now?" asked Kohta voice from somewhere at Takashi's right side and the young Therianthrope just nodded with a dreamy smile before his brain stopped in his tracks with a screeching sound, derailing his thoughts and making almost choke on the piece of meat he was chewing.

Coughing and whizzing at the same time he was trying to make a coherent response to the words of Kohta, Takashi lost his breath for a second, with worry in his eyes, Kohta slapped the back of Takashi, helping him to recover his breath for the sudden choking. Frankly speaking, the chubby boy didn't expect this reaction to his question, it was just a phrase to break the ice after all the shit they have been dealing with, all day long. Deep inside, Kohta was partly exulting for all this, it was one of the few scenarios on where his shooting skills could be of any use, and he could shot people without consequence and even better, be praised for it; mind you, what good it is to have a perfect accuracy and you couldn't shot a weapon without going to jail?.

"Goddammit" coughed Takashi "Kohta, buddy, you almost killed me, please next time, do not surprise me like that" wheezed Takashi.

Kohta deadpanned and dryly replied, "how, in sanity´s name, did I managed to surprise a man with enhanced senses?".

Takashi just stopped coughing and stared back at Kohta.

"Uh, yeah, sorry, I was distracted" recovered his breath Takashi, sitting in one of the chairs of the kitchen "it has been a long day and I had a lot on my head".

Kohta turned his head to the bedroom where Takashi and Saeko have been sweet loving each other for the past...with a quick glance to his wristwatch he looked at the hour, seven or so hours, it was seven and half in the morning, the usual waking hour for Kohta.

"Yes, I can see" commented with a faint smirk.

"Smartass" snorted Takashi without malice.

Kohta was a valuable member of his pack; he was a friend even before Them made their appearance, and so far, the chubby boy has demonstrated to be a solid and trustworthy ally in all this debacle, covering his back and taking care of the rest of the pack, along Saeko, when he had to jump the gun; or better said the truck; to save Reis ass this morning. Now that Kohta had a real weapon in his hands, Takashi knew that he had the perfect sniper to cover his flanks when he will have to charge into another horde of Them to dismember all those rotten things before they could threaten his pack

"I am happy for you two" smiled the boy "no, really" nodded at the surprised a little confused expression of Takashi "both of you have been tip-toeing around each other before all this shit happens; it is good that you both finally acknowledged your feeling...although I must confess, I am a bit envious and a bit scared of whats going to happen now".

"Kohta" sighed Takashi "you lost me".

Kohta stared at Takashi, not entirely sure if he had ear the boy right, well, he couldn't be so oblivious no?, with his senses and all, he should have already picked up the signals of the girls, Kohta did it, and he was a short-sighted boy; unless Takashi was voluntarily not seeing what was going on around him, and Kohta could not entirely blame his friend for it. Kohta could empathize up to a point with Takashi, how, suddenly, everyone and his mother depended on him to survive another day, and if wasn't for the guns that Marikawa-senseis had in the house, Kohta knew that he would be more a liability than the asset Takashi believed he was.

"Well, I thought you knew" muttered Kohta a bit embarrassed "I mean, Miku-san has not been precisely discrete about her attraction to you, if what Morita told us about what happened in the kitchen was an indicator, and your crush for Hayashi-sensei is the worst keep secret I have never seen".

"Kohta, my friend, are you saying that I have some kind of a harem after my sorry, lame, ass?" laughed Takashi considering the idea completely absurd, he was not like that, he was dangerous, a monster, Saeko...well, he has no idea of what to do about that, so much was true, but he was not some kind of playboy. His inner beast had another different opinion, but the beast seems to get his kicks with the denial of Takashi.

"Yes" deadpanned Kohta with a voice that sounded like the hammer of a judge, just about to pronounce sentence on the case.

Takashi stopped half bite and raise his head to look at Kohta, that stared him back with all seriousness.

"Oh, shit" finally said Takashi; realizing that Kohta was right; he had the skeleton of a harem, starting with Saeko as Alpha female and… "wait a second" thought Takashi "what was that about alpha female?" the beast inside of him snorted in amusement and just let Takashi reach his own conclusions about what will be his relationship with the sword woman and the rest of the females that were after his bones.

"I..." started Takashi to speak "I am lost about what to do" confessed the golden-eyed boy "you know me Kohta, when did I became an eligible partner?, I am freaking dangerous, you know it better than anyone, you saw me when I slapped Tsu...whatever his name was, into a wall, I could have broken his bloody neck, and do not make me start on what happened when Saya was kidnapped".

"Yeah, right, because I am Doctor Love, uh?" the sarcasm in Kohta voice made Takashi pause and smiled sheepishly to Kohta, Takashi had forgot that Kohta had a crush the size of the city over Saya, much like Morita, but the latter was more in love with her boobs than anything else; his friend was not precisely the Casanova of Fujimi Academy.

"Sorry Kohta" apologized Takashi "is just…, well, we are not experts in all this, and frankly and a bit terrified; I love her? yes, I do, like you wouldn't believe, I personally blame my Therianthrope side for, anything about her and I am like an animal in heat".

"Ah, young love, how charming" the strong and sarcastic voice that echoed at their side made Kohta almost jump to the ceiling like a scared cat, Takashi, however, knew perfectly well who was the owner of that voice and if it wasn't for the fact that he knew that the man would punch him back, Takashi would have punched him through the wall; after some questioning of course.

"What the fuck?!" whined Kohta backpedaling and raising his rifle looking for enemies, only to see the big dog of Marikawa-sensei lazily strolling down the stairs with his tongue hanging and a canine smirk in his fangs. Kohta blinked a couple of times and lowered his rifle, looking alternatively between Takashi; who was eating like nothing was going on; and the big dog, who pass at his side and entered into the cleaning room, skillfully raising over his back legs and pushing the knob of the door with his front pawns.

"Takashi" called Kohta to his friend "did the dog just talk?".

"Yes" simply stated Takashi, gulping down the food with a bottle of water.

"Ah, good to know" nodded Kohta, before freaking out and walk up and down the entrance of the house, mumbling to himself, Takashi tuned out the mumbling, leaving the boy set his head straight after how his world crumbled in front of him; Takashi had to admit that he freaked out a little too, the first time that Magnus spoke to him, although he was surrounded by corpses and going down from one of his fade to red moments, a very bad one and a very good one, truth to be told.

Takashi's awakening as Therianthrope was a traumatic one, he finally achieved what he should have been since the beginning when a bunch of Them tore his flesh apart and infect him with whatever the hell they carried on their putrid veins and teeth. His healing powers entered in an overload mode, healing him completely from everything that was going wrong, that means, he recovered from the traumatic wounds that he suffered as a child when another Therianthrope tried to stole his powers and instead left him almost crippled and with his powers completely messed up. Years of suffering and migraines, until finally, everything was set right. He only had to die to discover how much he wanted to live.

Thing is, that Magnus was waiting for him after he awoke from his rage, when everything went red and he did things that he could not remember by his dear life; the older Therianthrope found him and showing that he could change between animal and human, he gave him a quick rundown of what he was. He would have asked a dozen more things, but with Them crowding the school, Takashi's pack safety was his first priority and when he joined the rest of his pack, there was always a possible witness; Magnus was acting as if was nothing but a big dog, Marikawa-senseis favorite pet, and secret bodyguard, for what Takashi could deduct, the man was already in a relationship with Rika Minami, Marikawa-senseis roommate and dear friend, whose house was not resting in.

Magnus loved the woman, and Takashi had not the valor to broke his cover, not to mention that Takashi had the nagging sensation that the older Theriantrope could kick his ass ten ways to Sunday, blindfolded and with an arm tied to his back. Mind you that Takashi was happy to have Magnus around, even if he was not part of his pack, he would protect Marikawa-sensei at all cost, and by doing so, he will by default, protect those that the nurse was attached to, Takashi was one of her favorite students, a boy that she had helped a lot in the past, and Takashi was taking a little advantage over that fact, to keep the nurse on his pack and by doing so, keeping the powerful Theriantrope as an extra weapon; just in case everything went pear shaped and Takashi failed.

Takashi was a realist; he was not invincible, he was not almighty, far from it; even if he could easily slaughter any human or any of Them in his way, a bullet to the head was as deadly for him as for anybody else, just harder to achieve and with his enhanced bones, it would be needed a high caliber bullet to punch trough his cranium but it is not impossible. A shotgun to the face and he was dead meat, leaving his pack and Saeko abandoned to their luck, something that is not going to happen, never under his watch.

A couple of minutes later, the human form of Magnus exited the cleaning room with a humongous unbuttoned shirt and a pair of short jeans; Takashi just thought how hilarious it would be for him to have a Hawaiian shirt, give him a pair of sandals and he would be a hilarious sight.

"Not in my bloody life" snorted Magnus, taking a seat near Takashi at the kitchen table, serving himself a cold beer.

"I beg your pardon?" asked Takashi.

"You were imagining me with a Hawaiian shirt and sandals" deadpanned Magnus, taking a sip from his beer.

"How?" spluttered Takashi almost choking with his rice.

"Rika had the same expression as you when she saw me in a button shirt and short jeans, the day later she bought me a dozen of those accursed things" explained Magnus with a sigh "she forced me to wear one; each time we had outdoor sex, she forced me to have one of those abominations on, she considered it kinky; fortunately, she got so wild in those little rumps that the shirts ended up torn apart".

"Magnus" sighed Takashi swallowing the lump of rice in his throat and emptying a glass of water in one.

"Aye lad?" answered the tall man.

"Too much information" concluded Takashi looking at him with a neutral expression.

"Lad, you are a teenager Therianthrope of superb lineage that had just got laid with his mate, the Alpha female of his pack" explained Magnus with a hint of amusement in his voice "you are not going to be capable of getting your hands out of each other, believe me, I know, Rika and I were the same when we meet each other".

"I hate you" glared Takashi at the older man.

"I bask in your hate" chuckled back Magnus chugging down his beer and taking another.

"Excuse me" intervened Kohta in the conversation, now that he had calm a little "but who the hell are you?".

"Magnus" presented himself offering a hand to Kohta who was about to shake it when the man caught him by the forearm instead of the usual hand shake "another Theriantrope".

"Ah!" pointed out Kohta to Takashi "so he was the one that told you about your status as Therianthrope," said Kohta, finally realizing the last piece of the puzzle that he has been munching on, after Takashi told them his story, not long after they reached the house of Rika.

"Well, this member of your pack is more clever than the rest give him credit for" nodded Magnus impressed "and yes, I was the one that explained to him what he was when he finally cure himself of his crippled state".

"Why the hell not before? Takashi had to pass a bloody hell, he surely would have loved to have someone to explain it to him, why the hell was he so different" asked Kohta, sitting in another chair and gulping down a beer.

Fuck being underage, he was trying to not freak out and start screaming about how bloody senseless this was, and then he realized that he starting to being rude to an eight feet tall man who could strangle an elephant with arms the size of barrels, Kohta thought that perhaps he should tone down the speech a little; Kohta has survived Them, he was not eager to die by pummeling under the ham sized fist of this Magnus fellow.

But Magnus was not angered, in fact, he was happy to see that Takashi had a good partner; a friend that worries about him even after discovering how different Takashi was from the rest of his pack. The older Therianthrope had already seen more than once how people close to them, even family members, turn their back to other Therianthropes; especially in zones where Christianity still had an iron grip over society and morals, back in the days of the Spanish Inquisition, entire villages burned to the ground when one asshole denounced his own family and kill them all with fire.

Takashi, on the other hand, was happy to see that his friend has his back, that Kohta understood how fucked up were a lot of things for Takashi, that had to put an extra effort in everyday matters or he would snap and tear apart anyone who dared to even look at Takashi funnily. Anger issues were the basis of all the problems that Takashi had in the past, very much like a wounded animal will snap to anything that annoyed him, it was the everyday occurrence with Takashi; always in control, always holding back, fearing that he would severely hurt anyone in his path, if he was not careful enough. He didn't have proof but he was pretty sure, it was one of the reasons why Rei broke with him; the constant need of being extremely cautious around her would probably send her the wrong message.

Well, that was something he could do nothing about now, he had to think what is safe for the pack, and he was with Saeko now, he was not going to be a two timing bastard; mind you that he had no fucking idea about what to do with his feelings for Hayashi-sensei or how physically attracted was to the seductive Yuuki. That would be opening an entirely new can of worms and he was not ready to deal with right now, not to mention how he was pretty much convinced that it would fuck up all the cohesion of the pack, if he started to act like a bloody Casanova, dicking around with all the females that he was attracted to.

And, unfortunately for Takashi, it was quite a long list; even if he had done his best to hide his desires under a grumbling and hardcore facade, truth to be told, he need all his willpower not to get back with Saeko in the bed and plow her until she hated her own vagina, or to go chasing the gorgeous milf redhead that was Hayashi-sensei and show her the power of youth until she couldn't walk, or look out for Yuuki and let her show how good she was with a man with unlimited stamina. And those were only the girls that he was sure he was attracted to; not even make him start on what a mess was how he feels about Rei and Saya, those two were different; the former was his ex, with a very bad break up, and the latter was practically his sister in all but blood.

So, in resume, Takashi love life was a nightmare; he didn't regret, not even for a second, what happened with the gorgeous purplenette, the girl dig her nails in his back strong enough to leave some serious marks that his healing factor easily took care of, but even if the woman had the best orgasms of his life, Takashi didn't. This was something that could open a very bad breach between the two of them, even if Takashi didn't know the kendoka for more than a week, and that being generous, he already deducted that Saeko was a bit of a perfectionist and not being able to satisfy him was going to be a big blow for the ego of the woman. Would Takashi think less of her for it?, not in a million years, Saeko was the most exceptional woman Takashi has met in his entire life, everything on her was perfect, he was the one at bloody fault, it was simply unfair for her. Saeko was a very healthy teenager with a body that several supermodels would sell their moms souls for, however, she was a virgin girl until some hours ago and her first time was with a superhuman boy that had enhanced stamina and the libido of a horny beast.

"And that's is way I couldn't just appear in his life and throw him this curve ball" interrupted the voice of Magnus, the mussings of Takashi about his sex life, as Magnus ended to explain Kohta why had he not just appear one night in front of Takashi and explain him a few things.

"I could see why" nodded Kohta with a beer in his hands "wounded and confused as he was, you can only help him in the sidelines by standing at his side and somehow calming his inner beast as much as you could, by letting him know that he was not alone and there was a bigger, badder wolf nearby".

"Good resume" said Magnus drinking from his can "the inner beast sensed me, noticed that I was a top predator too, and we respected each other, as soon as I would have revealed myself as a Theriantrope, his inner beast would have reacted with fear and panic, instinctively suspecting another attack like the one that left him with the scars on his back and his powers in a complete mess".

"But why did you not help him heal?" ask Kohta "It would have been something easier than been bitten to the death by all of Them".

"Healing for a Therianthrope is a unique thing; as any other human would do when they are wounded or sick, the body fights back" explained Magnus "but if the will and the desire of the Therianthrope is strong, he can force his body to heal; even the most grievous wounds can be nothing but minor nuisances, you have already felt that lad" turn his head Magnus to Takashi.

"When they kidnapped Saya" whispered Takashi, leaving his chopsticks over the empty bowl, losing himself a little in the blurry and fuzzy memories.

"Ah, yeah" said Kohta "she did told us how she saw you shot like a trillion of times and then rammed by a van and still here you are, peachy as always" the alcohol was loosing a little, the chubby boys tongue but there was no malice in his tone, just playful fun and mockery with a friend.

"If I recall correctly" added Magnus his own two cents "a hundred of bullets, run over by a heavy van, twice, and then run for quite a distance until he reached the warehouse where the mercs were hiding and kill all of them".

"Please do not remind me" pleaded Takashi with a hint of blush in his cheeks and a shadow of gilt in his eyes.

"Lad, you did well," said Magnus, all jokes out of his tone "they were going to kill a member of your pack, your inner beast saw it and reacted in consequence, no piety, no mercy; the strength of the Therianthropes is not on themselves, but on their packs".

"But you are alone" replied Takashi, who didn't precisely wanted to discuss the carnage he did in the warehouse, he was like a rabid beast, and that was something that scared him immensely.

"Nay, lad" smirked Magnus "I am not alone, I have Rika, I have Shizuka and I now I have a stubborn pup that has barely grow his teeth and is already chastising himself like he was some kind of monster, when is quite the opposite".

"Shut up" grumbled Takashi, now that the older man had a human speech to use against him, he was even more insufferable than when he was a grumpy dog.

"Takashi, lad" sighed Magnus "honesty, you should stop doing this to yourself, just bloody ask your pack what do they think about all this shit, well, at last, the part that you actually cared about, isn't that right, lads?"

"Wait, lads?" asked Takashi, who was starting to see that his senses were as fine as his concentration, that means that if he keeps brooding around, anyone could blindside him as he was not paying attention to his surroundings.

"Hiya" saluted Morita, taking a seat around the little kitchen table and taking a beer from the hands of Kohta with thanks for the offering "so...sorry but, what the fuck did I miss?" raised an eyebrow Morita at the presence of Magnus.

At this point of the time, Morita was already over all the weirdness that seems to surround Takashi, and just roll it, Takashi was a bud and one did not leave his pals in the corner when they need a hand, even if he didn't understand half the shit that he was telling them.

"Ah, Morita, Magnus, Magnus, Morita" presented Kohta shrugging and grabbing another beer, he was going to be a little buzz, but right now, being a little buzz was a very welcome change of peace, something that would help him to digest all the news and the reality of whats happening around.

"Hello" waved Morita to the man, going with the flow "so, back to the important things, pal?" look Morita at Takashi.

"Yes?" asked the teenager.

"Congratulations for getting laid" deadpanned Morita "but for fuck's sake, next time, do not make her scream like a bloody banshee!".

Takashi almost choked on his own drink at the laughter of the rest of his friends.

The air was foul, the smell of putrid flesh, sickness, charred flesh and buildings, gasoline, chemicals of all kinds and the smells of a lot of body fluids that Takashi did not know of his existence until now assaulted his senses, as the Teenager run from roof to roof, scouting ahead of the pack that traveled in the big Humvee of Rika Minami. Considering the size of the pack, Takashi had to run along the vehicle, they were too many to fit in comfortably; although the glares that almost all the females threw at him were an indicator that he was more than welcome to "fit" something long, big and juicy into their little secret places.

Don't ask him how does she know, with mind blowing precision, what he has done the previous night and Yuuki kept teasing Saeko, although the samurai-woman did not seem to hold any grudge against Yuuki and just blushed and giggled at the teasing of the orange haired bombshell.

As impossible as it sounds, somehow, both of them seems to have reached some kind of common ground; Takashi did not flatter himself by believing it was around his relationship and attraction to both of them, even if he had already performed the deed with Saeko, he was more mentally mature to believe that they had become closer by being his lovers. Anyhow, it was a good thing that both had reached an agreement, if not a friendship. For what Takashi saw when they flashed him in the kitchen, jealousy could be a time bomb for his pack, killing all of them in the worst appropriate of the moments.

Alas, what Takashi did not expect was how easy they had become something akin to friends and how Saeko dressed that morning. Mini-skirt, combat boots...yeah, Takashi needed all his force of will to do not jump at her, right there and make love to her until she couldn't take anymore, and then do the same to Yuuki, as he somehow suspected that it was her idea.

Mini-skirt, leaving all her creamy tights open to the sight and the string of a very tempting black lace tong, god dammit, it was unfair, Saoko was beauty incarnated.

Takashi eyed the shop that he smelt for a mile away when the Humvee took exit form the flat of Rika and moved into the streets ramming a lot of Them that had reunited once again, guided by the noises and fires that the disaster of the evacuation left in the bridge on the opposite side of the river. This was the seven-store he raid, killing anything inside that was not alive and filling his backpack with all the medicines and other basic necessities that Marikawa-sensei and Saya asked him to collect as they moved through the streets, looking for a way into the district on where Saya, Rei, Takashi, and Igo lived before all this disaster.

The nose of Takashi soon pick up the putrid smell of Them filling the store, judging from the smell and the sound, there should be a dozen of those thing shuffling around the store, drenching the place in their stench and making very hard to get some fresh supplies, although, Takashi was pretty sure than in a week or so, all electrical commodities are going to be a pleasant dream, he was enough tech-savy to know how hard is to maintain a proper electrical supply, not to mention how it would be more than possible than the Power stations would be by now, filled to the brim with a lot of Them, possible the former personnel that did not made it in time and fell at the teeth of their own colleagues or hordes of Them attracted by the sound of the machines, the only ones working in the city.

Takashi suspected that he was going to like a lot the new city, now that practically all the population was going to be one of Them or would be on his merry way and be evacuated God knows where, the entire city was silent, like a graveyard; only the occasional moan and shuffle of a bunch of Them or the buildings collapsing by the wild fires that spread around the city; products of crashing cars, battles among survivors and Them and all kind of things like that. He had found a lot of those things in his way to the stores, but he had steeled his heart and ignore most of it, he had a pack to take care of and he, not a bleeding messiah that would save everyone in his way. Enough already was on his plate to deal with that shit, no thanks, his pack was his first and foremost priority, fuck everybody else for the moment.

It was a good thing that his parents were out of the city, or at last, that was Takashi believed, his mother was along his father in a little escapade both of them planned sometime ago but only now that Takashi has show improvement in his condition, did they took the chance and made the travel they always wanted, it was a bless and a curse at the same time, as Takashi knew that the travels between nations are going to be nonexistent in a couple of days tops; as soon as the evacuations ended and the Vips are out of the nation and safe and sound in who know what kind of secret bunkers and other shits like that.

The rest of his pack was in a similar situation and he should have asked them about what they think they should do about their parents and familiars, he knew about the situation of Rei, Igo, and Morita, Kohta was very much like him; in the sense that his parents were out of the country; Yuuki was an unknown, Alice was alone now, Marikawa-sensei had Magnus and Rika; speaking of the nurse friends, how would be Doctor Morgan faring against all this mess?, Takashi really owned the man a lot for helping him with that herb concoction of him, that calmed his worst seizures, it would be a bloody pity if the brilliant man became one of Them.

Taking impulse in the edge of the corner of the roof where Takashi stood to look at his next objective, he sniffed the air once, inhaling deeply and focusing in the one and only smell that he couldn't forget or lost no matter what; the soft, silky yet steely smell of Saeko always made him smile. Since they bedded together, the connection that Takashi felt with the samurai-woman has become deeper, now Takashi could say without fear of being wrong that he could pinpoint the location of Saeko as long as both are in the same continent and the other has not taken painstaking measures to cover her smell. The teenager Therianthrope took strength from the smell, the smell of his mate made him focus back into his mission, forgetting any mussing and lost thoughts, now he was back into his beast mind with the mission of cleaning that store of anything that his pack could consider value.

And condoms.

He was carrying two boxes of fifty units and he was sure that was going to last for more than two weeks at the pace that his libido was demanding him to bed Saeko, in fact, Takashi took mental note of asking Magnus if there is a way for them to tone down a little these sex carvings of him; it was dangerous and energy consuming, the last thing he need was Saeko being unable to escape from Them because he has left her bowlegged after a very intense lovemaking session.

That would be an embarrassing death and Takashi will rip his own head off as soon as such a thing happened. Without Saeko he was going to be nothing but a bloody beast, trying to appease his suffering by killing anything else in his way; that was the impression that his beast was sending him each time he even had a passing thought of losing Saeko at the hands of Them or any other trouble that got in his pack way. He was fiercely protective of his pack, even before he knew about all of this Theriantrope thing, he always has been protective of those he cared about; the few that Takashi actually considered as precious to them. Unfortunately, or fortunately considering the circumstances, it was not a long list.

Long before all this mess, Takashi was mostly a lonely child, his uncontrollable strength, his anger issues and the fact that he could cause a lot of harm if he was not cautious about what he did, soon marked him as a pariah, one that did not fit in the strict and stern parameters and appearances of the Japanese society. In part bless, in part curse; Takashi was too different from his peers as a child that he had very little childhood friends, Rei and Igou topping that list and everybody knows how well did that go.

Using a broken metal beam as a support for an acrobatic landing, Takashi landed, boots front, over the face of one of Them, slamming the moaning walking corpse into the ground and smashing his head into a bloody pulp; Takashi did not lose a second and run inside, trying to win as much space as he could, before the sound of the splattered head called the attention of the dozen or so of Them inside the store and they try to overwhelm him in the restraining space inside the building.

Takashi didn't lose any time in checking around the place, instead he focused on dealing with Them, killing them as quickly and fatally as he could; after what the pack had experienced with Them, only blowing their heads off or completely rending them to pieces was an effective way to deal with them; otherwise they would still keep moving and trying to attack them, even if they are bisected by their middle half or lost a good chunk of their torsos or even part of their heads, only the complete removal of the brain means their second; and this time definitive; death.

Once again, Takashi had to pray in thanks for his claws, the three inches nails were more than enough to produce copious amounts of damage on their bodies, most of them just dress in normal clothes; a lot among them with their clothes torn from the attacks that infected them in the first place; that provided with little to none protection against his claws or his fist and feet when Takashi punched and kicked them into walls and ceilings. It sounded like something out of an anime, but Takashi was strong enough to uppercut a grown up man several meters into the sky, and if he manages to accurately hit the under chin of his victim, he has already check how he could rip the head off Them with a solid uppercut, vaporizing their heads in an explosion of blood, flesh, bone and brain matter.

It sounded nasty and violent, and it was, but Takashi has already promised himself that it was for the best of his pack, he would butcher anything in his path before any of his pack could suffer any possible damage.

It didn't take much for the teenager boy to clean the place, leaving a lot of body pieces laying around in puddles of their own black and smelly blood. Takashi has soon learned to block the smell of the blood of Them, it was pungent and piercing, his nose cringed each time he caught a sniff of that accursed thing. After running some ideas with Saya and Marikawa-sensei in the morning; after they finished the breakfast and move out of the house of Rika; they pretty much assured him that the blood was as rotten as the rest of the body, so it would be for the best of everybody if that blood was left untouched, or even better, torched and destroyed, just in case it falls into food or drinks and contaminated them.

Mind you, that Takashi was not a survivalist, he was playing by the ear, doing what he considered best for the survival of his pack, but he was far from being an expert in the matter, that was the rest of the pack was for; to cover each other weaknesses and made the pack stronger. Saya and Marikawa-sensei were the brains of the team, even if the former was a tsundere of epic proportions and the latter an airhead, they were knowledgeable and had foresight enough to know what could the pack need in the future. Takashi was more than happy to get his hands dirty and scourge any store or warehouse he could find for what they had told him to get; it was something he could apart of keeping the Humvee working. The car may be an impressive piece of mechanics but in essence was a more complex car, and Takashi knew a lot of mechanics. The consequence of all the time past tinkering with his bike.

Moving his backpack in front of him, Takashi started to look around the shelves and the floor, looking for the elements that figure in the list, it didn't take him long to get the backpack full with all kind of basic products and things that would be very hard to find in the future and would be essential for their survival. Even if a single bite of Them was lethal, medicine and antibiotics could be more valuable than gold as the days pass and the survivors of the first attacks tried to make a living in this Zombie apocalypse world.

Adjusting the backpack on his back, Takashi exited the store, punching in the face another of Them, that has come closer to the place, attracted by the sounds he has made when he was cleaning up the store and had ripped all of Them that were inside into tiny pieces. Raising his head, Takashi eyed the sky, it was a very clear day, with white clouds and blue sky, perfect for a walk in the park or a picnic in the mountains. With a snort Takashi started to climb the facade of the building, raising from the street level; slowly being filled with packs of Them; to the roofs, that he has been using to jump around, dodging entire hordes of Them.

It was surprisingly easy for someone like him, to jump from roof to roof; a little run to gain momentum and with a jump, he could cover more than ten meters easily; even if he wanted to force himself, he was pretty sure that he would be capable of covering thirty meters long jumps, if he had enough inertia gained to made it. These physical inhumane skills are a blessing, although he has been paying a harsh toll all these years for them, it was not until he was in the verge of dying that his powers get an extra push and corrected themselves.

On a side note, Takashi took good note of asking Magnus about that Fade to Red that he had from time to time, specially when the Beast took over and he was nothing but a rage machine, hell bent in torn apart anything in his way. As useful as it could be to deal with an incoming horde of Them, losing control like that means that he could leave his pack behind him, or even worst, being him the one that causes damage to his pack.

That was totally unacceptable.

His claws easily pierce the concrete of the facade, allowing him to climb very fast, reaching the roof of the building were the store was placed in a very short of time and showing him a very "nice" view of the surroundings and how the city was going to hell in a basket. The picture was devastating, a smoking nightmare chorused by an occasional explosion and the moans and groans of hordes of Them loitering the streets like a living tide of putrid flesh, waiting and lazying around until the next prey show itself and could mob it, biting it and spreading whatever they carry on their veins.

Takashi would have loved to analyze what the hell was those things, unfortunately, it was more a pipe dream that a real possibility, without proper equipment and a lot of time to decipher the mess, it was almost impossible to even begin to scratch the mystery of this zombie plague. Not to mention that Takashi had his own shit to deal with, after all, he was a Therianthrope, and for what Magnus told him, one of very good lineage; how it can possibly be?, frankly, Takashi had no idea of how it can be. Considering that he knew of his family, he didn't have the slightest idea of from whose side of the family comes the Theriantrope powers, none of the relatives he knew showed the slightest hint of being something else and if it were the case, his Beast would have reacted to them, much like he did with Magnus, although the older and more powerful Theriantrope was a soothing presence, not an invading one, helping him to deal with the emotion rampage that was his powers and instincts.

Puberty could be hell for a teenager, but add to that, the emotions and instincts of a Theriantrope, top it with inhumane physical capabilities and you had the recipe for a nightmare. In a sense, Takashi was slightly grateful for all this zombie outbreak, after all, his powers were cool and all that, but they were not precisely useful in a modern society unless he pretended to do career in the criminal world or in the Army were it would be more than probable that they would have caged him and open it with sharp knives to see what made him thick.

In the middle of all this bullshit, he could be as brutal and violent as he desired, using his powers to the full without worry of being caught by some undesired witnesses or being recorded and uploaded to Youtube; his crazy night did not count, being an amateur pornstar didn't happen, nop, Takashi would forever deny any accusation about that topic and possibly burn every single copy of the video he could put his hands on. His beast pointed out that perhaps it was good thing, his massive orgy could be an appetizer for his harem; Takashi grunted and pretty much ignored the remark; he was with Saeko now and that was final, he did not have a bloody harem like some kind of Sultan of Arabia or something as silly as that. He was loyal to Saeko.

And the beast, an asshole as he was, made him remember the picture of Saeko, Yuuki, and Hayashi-sensei almost naked and with their bodies wet from yesterdays bath.

No need to mention, how the brain of Takashi made a screeching sound and freeze as he walked in one of the roofs, trying to deny the arousal he was experimenting or the drool that was starting to dangerously form in the corners of his lips.

Takashi really hated when his beast was such an asshole and a smartass at the same time; unfortunately, he couldn't deny the attraction that he felt for both women; the former because her open sexuality, openly and shamelessly flirting with him and offering a tsunami of pleasure and unbridled lust and the latter because Takashi always had a crush the size of the Tokyo tower on the red head sensei. Takashi would never tell about Saeko how the red hair was one of his multiple and recently discovered fetishes, he had always liked the sensei, and not because her gorgeous appearance; as the woman was quite attractive even in her middle thirties; but for her beautiful voice, her calm demeanor and how she always treated him like a person and not like a menace, like pretty much the rest of the world with few notable exceptions.

Putting the backpack on his chest for a second, Takashi look for something inside the backpack for a second; it has been an unexpected stroke of good luck, but he found his favorite cigar brand into one of the stores that he looted since this morning, and now that he has a second to enjoy the views; irony was strong in that statement; Takashi pick up a cigar and lighten it up with a brand new lighter. The strong taste of the cigar filled his nostrils and mouth, it has been a while since he could enjoy his little vice.

After all the changes he had to suffer, he still had the necessity from time to time, to indulge in his smoking vice; he would never do it in front of the pack of course, he was sure that Saeko and Saya would not approve of it, not to mention Marikawa-sensei would give him a very long and stern lecture about why smoking was a very bad idea, even with his regenerating lungs and all that jazz about his healing factor. He would never disappoint any of them, he loved them too much to ever thing about failing them in any way, he was not sure about his Fade to Red moments but even then, something tells him that he would never harm any of his pack voluntarily, not unless there were some strange circumstances around that decision.

The pack was stronger as the members on it are conscious about how each one of them is part of the whole; a divided pack is a dead pack.

Takashi was not so arrogant to believe that he was the top dog of the broken city, any jack out there could put an end to his life with a lucky shot of a shotgun, healing factor be dammed; if his head was blown off his body, there was no way that he was going to recover from that, perhaps Magnus could, but the older Theriantrope has been walking this valley of tears for Kami knows how many years. As he explained to him, Therianthropes are like an old wine, time only makes them better.

Anyhow, his pack was on the move onto the streets where the house of Saya was, she had insisted on moving there first; as much as she clashed heads with her papa, she knew very well that her father and mother will not stand idly in the middle of this apocalypse. They were very strong-willed people, so much Takashi was more than sure, however, there was a nagging sensation in the back of his mind about Saya's father, the man always treated him respectfully, so much was true, however there was always a hint of tension on him, each time he played with Saya, it was under the careful watch of one of the men of Souichiro.

Could it be that the man knew what he was and was afraid of what he could do to Saya?, no, that could not be the reason, if the man had enemies that hired a professional team of mercs to kidnap his daughter, that means that the man was more than capable of pulling such a stunt himself if it was needed; following that line of thought, Takashi concluded that if Souichiro saw him as a menace, he would have already dealt with him, be it at his own hands or sending one of his multiple goons to kill him when Takashi was at his weakest. He was a childhood friend of Saya, if Takagi father saw him as a menace, he would have never allowed his only daughter to play with such a dangerous person.

With a grunt and a lot of smoke being exhaled into the morning, Takashi snorted, he was procrastinating a lot this morning, thinking too much about a lot of things over that he had little power or none at all. The Beast snorted in synchrony with him, there was little to gain in all this mussing, once the pack reached Takagi's manor, then he will worry about what will happen in the future, for the moment, Takashi concentrated in keeping his pack as safe as he could.

Takashi froze, the Beast froze.

The cigar fell to the floor of the roof, but before the cinders of the tip of the cigar could even reach the black cover of the concrete floor, Takashi was already on the move, crossing the distance between him and the edge of the roof in a blink and jumping with all his might over the concrete and plastic border of the roof; his steps broke the concrete under his feet, his teeth were already growing into the fangs of a predator.

Saeko, danger, fear, PACK IS IN DANGER!.

More than words, the Beast was communicating with Takashi in images and feelings, sharing his concern and worry about his mate and the Pack. Takashi was so focused on running to his pack that he let the mate remark slip, after all, they were together now and he loved Saeko with all his bestial heart. He knew that his pack was in danger and berated himself for not being there. What good could be in being a monster if you can at least protect what you cared for? his pack was one of the few things that keep him sane, and now he sensed how his pack was in danger.

The only smell that he could not block, not that he would ever block it, was the smell of Saeko; the usual silky and welcoming smell carried a tint of panic and a lot of adrenaline, along with the acrid taste of fear and the strong savor of rage and cruelty. Only Saeko could be like the Katanas she loved, a dangerous weapon and a visage of beauty all in one; Takashi loved her for it, he would never understand what could have seen a goddess like her in a feral monster like him, but he was going to tear apart anything that would dare to even toss a mean glance at her.

The smell had hit him like a train, igniting all his instincts and making his body move as fast as he could, running with all his might to his pack, they needed him, his pack was under attack.

Beast and man working together were a sight to behold, nothing could stand in his way, as he clawed his pass through a metal fence like it was nothing but wet cardboard and stomped, sometimes literally, any of Them in their way, leaving nothing but rubble and pieces of torn bodies in their wake.

One of Them tried to bite him as he runs past a block of buildings and Takashi split him in half with a side swing of his left claw, sending he body to the nearest wall and smashing it against the graffiti that covered the surface, giving the street art a new set of colors and innards splattered over the bright colored graffiti.

Takashi didn't even register it, it was just another nuisance out of the way back to his pack, everything that came close to him, he tore it apart, be it flesh or concrete, it matters little to Takashi as he continued running with desperation hidden in his feral expression. Takashi was not conscious of how his face was slowly turning into one of a beast, his eyes were turning into the golden orbs of a wolf, his hair was growing, covering his back and arms in a coat of black fur, echo of his own black hair, his nails were becoming dangerous claws and his teeth were now fangs; more proper to a predator than a human being.

With this physical changes it did came an extra power to his step, his body was reacting to his emotions; Magnus had already explained to him that emotions were powerful weapons for Therianthropes, that they could extract power from the emotions they felt, for example, when they heal from all kind of wounds, as stronger is the will to live of the Therianthrope, faster and more efficient will be the healing. It works on practically all the powers of a Therianthrope, using your emotions as fuel for your actions, making you stronger, faster, more resistant, healing at impossible rates...and somehow Takashi knew that he was barely scratching the surface of his powers.

Leaving behind a trail of destruction, Takashi ran over the streets of Tokonusu, his steps leaving craters in the street and calling for all the surrounding hordes of Them, but in his state of mind, Takashi ripped his way through them like a hot knife through butter, sending body chunks all over the place. Takashi did not register it at all, he was too focused on his task at hand that he didn't pay any attention to what was on his surroundings, beyond the point of dodging any rubble of wreckage, it was easier to jump over it than smash his way through it. He already discovered that he could lift a ton with little effort when he moved the police car when Rei and he were alone in the city, but losing time was something that did not even considerate, he was in a hurry.

It took less than five minutes for him to reach the spot where his pack was making a desperate stand against a horde of Them.

As soon as he arrived at the location, he saw how the Humvee was stack on some cords, cords that prevented that any of Them could pass to the other side of the improvised fence, however, in this case, it stopped the Humvee that had lost all his traction thanks to the corpses that covered its wheels in a cape of blood and gory chunks, the wheels were trying to move but they were only slipping over the torn corpses.

Igo and Saya were moving Alice to the other side of the fence, as the crying girl was shouting that she did not want to be alone again, Morita with a shotgun and Rei with her lance were covering the sides of Saeko as she dealt with the horde face on and Kohta was standing over the roof of the car, shooting in the head of any of Them that came close to the car. Inside the car, Takashi could see Marikawa-sensei trying to move the car as Hayashi-sensei was picking up all the supplies, meanwhile Yuuki was passing clips of ammo to Kohta so the chubby boy can keep firing anything that came close to them.

Takashi felt proud of his pack, they were doing their best and were acting like a group, covering each other and never leaving anyone behind, even Igo and Rei, people whom he did not trust entirely, not after how they betrayed him; Takashi was a teenager, even under the blessing of the Therianthrope blood and by so, he was prone to emotional burst and irrationality; but now they were collaborating, being part of his pack.

Takashi roared in defiance, a deep, echoing howl that made the nearby windows tremble in their holds, calling the attention of the horde of Them, several hundreds of Them, his pack raised their heads and despite the distance, Takashi could see the hope reappearing in their faces. They were screwed, yes, there was a bloody horde of Them between them and even if Takashi managed to kill them all, it would take a lot of time, time that he was not sure he had, his pack was not immune to whatever these things carried in their veins and about the time he finally reach them, they could be already death.

"Cross the fence!" howled Takashi "I will call their attention but do not let them bite you get to the other side of the metal wires, Now!" ordered Takashi in almost a roar.

As his pack moved to obey his orders, Saeko, Morita, and Kohta covering the retreat of the rest of the presents near the Humvee, as they climbed the metal wires.

With a loud roar, Takashi charged into the mass of stumbling corpses, tearing apart everything in his way with wide swings of his sharp claws, nothing stood in his way, flesh and bones were clawed with equal facility, however, the impulse of his charge was soon stop as the mass of the bodies start to converge on him, dozens of dozens of Them started to grab his body as their teeth tried to bite his body, as a living tide of piranhas they surrounded him, corpses over corpses, pressing down on him like the dead weight they were.

With a powerful jump, Takashi broke the dog pile they were doing in him, ripping bodies in pieces in the process and landing over another of Them, breaking his neck and chest in a shower of gore and bone pieces; never stopping Takashi jumped again, clawing off the head of the nearest one and covering five meters in a high jump, landing over the head of the stumbling corpse of a girl with half the head bitten into hanging pieces. The soils of the sneakers of the body pressed down and once the rest of the corpse head contacted the floor, it exploded like a melon under a jackhammer.

Takashi kicked the one in front of him, sending him flying against a bunch of Them, gaining some necessary breathing space, this things swarmed him like overgrow hyenas after a tasty meat, clearing a couple of meters around him, Takashi suddenly noticed how his pack was being helped by a strange group of person with fire bombers suits; they were using a big hose to flood any of Them that went close to the metal wires that act as improvised trap/fence, blocking the road, however, Takashi; as he beheaded another of Them with a lazy uppercut; noted that Magnus was not around and that put the teenager a little on alert.

If the Therianthrope was not there, means that he found something that required his attention, something that has forced the older Therianthrope to leave Marikawa-sensei in the care of Takashi pack, Takashi knew that Magnus would not have left Marikawa-sensei like that unless it was really important, although, it was a trust exercise too, Magnus was trusting Takashi's pack with the safety of one of his mates, someone that was truly important for someone like him. It was an honor and a terrible burden at the same time. Takashi preferred not to think about what could have forced the Therianthrope to left one of his mates behind, Takashi was not ready to face such a shit storm, or what could be worst, another, older, stronger Therianthrope that could see his pack as juicy prey.

The rage that awoke inside of him after this thought flooded his mind and made him charge against the nearest bunch of Them in his way to the rest of the pack; Takashi saw all red and simply torn them to pieces in a display of savagery and brute force, but his Beast was more cunning than that, and soon realized that they were severely outnumbered, that stood there and fight was a complete idiocy. The Beast was clever enough to focus the raging mind of Takashi into the smell of Saeko; the only thing that could always pierce the rage mist of the Therianthrope, the smell of its mate.

Worry, hope, love, the emotions that filled Saeko were now reaching Takashi, breaking his rage state and allowing him to put together his thoughts and made a run for her.

Saeko had run to one of the stairs at the side of the road was the Humvee and the rest of the pack were being attended by the firemen; with an impressed smile, Takashi saw how one of the firemen was none other than Saya's mother, Yuriko Takagi, one hell of a woman who Takashi had the maximum respect for. Cleaving a way in the middle of the mass of Them, Takashi ran to the side of the road, easily jumping the distance that separated him from Saeko, landing in a crouch over the rail of the stairs, as she deals with the bunch of Them that had followed her into the stairs.

Saeko smiled warmly at him when she saw him land near her, easily crushing the head of another of Them with her bokken, the wooden weapon was about to crack after so many killing hits, it was not designed to suffer such a constant abuse, neither to be used to crack skulls open like Saeko has been using the blunt weapon for.

"Bakashi!" screamed Saya over the wires "we will be waiting for you at my home, don't be late!".

Takashi laughed loudly, it has been a while since she called him that, but it was good, it means that she was still his good childhood friend; Takashi felt prouder of his pack than ever, and answered Saya with a humorous roar that called the attention of the increasing horde of Them from the wire fence, lessening the pressure over the barrier and allowing his pack and the firemen to retreat safely. On the other hand, it only increased the enemies for both him and Saeko, still, the maniacal smile in the beautiful face of his mate told Takashi that it was not a problem in Saeko's book.

Together, they made short work of the dozen or so of Them that escalated the stairs first, as Takashi torn them in so many pieces that all the stairs became covered in blood and other human fluids, making the place slippery, to say the least, and Them were not precisely the most dextrous things there is; if it wasn't for how dangerous they were, seeing waves of Them tried to trek up the blood-covered stairs and falling comically each time would be quite humorous. However, Takashi knew that in time, they will finally reach the upper side of the stairs, trekking over the rest of the living corpses, if anything else, they always had the numerical advantage, and that was a powerful advantage.

Takashi and Saeko retreated too, as soon as the senses of Takashi told them that their pack was already safe and moving to the Takagi manor, not his first choice of refugee, but beggars can´t be choosers and despite all the tension between him and Don Takagi, he will protect his only daughter friends; in fact Yuriko would be delighted to have her daughter around and know more about whom does she pass her school and free time with. It was not a hidden secret between Saya and the rest of her few friends that she did not see eye to eye with her parents ideas and motivations; after what happened in the warehouse, that resentment doubled, as she blamed her father for how she was kidnapped and how Takashi almost died during her bloody rescue.

Together the couple ran into the streets, leaving behind the stumbling mass of Them, Saeko soon noticed how wounded Takashi was and how, despite being able to see how the wounds closed at an amazing rate, he was slowing down, allowing her to match his speed and run together into the nearest safe place they could find. A corner of the mind of Saeko snarled, she was not a bloody princess, she could hold her ground very well, however a more rational one, remember her that Takashi was capable of run faster than a car and could jump several meters in one single jump, leaving her behind and practically at the mercy of those things. Saeko grumbled in her mind, but keep running at the side of her boyfriend.

Boyfriend, Saeko was not entirely sure if that was the case, their relationship, as short as it was, was far deeper than that; she couldn't explain it, but she felt that way, that was was something deep that connected both. A bond that she couldn't explain but can feel perfectly well, like a presence that is always at your side, the warm feeling of having his godly body always close to her was something that made her smile, but there was another thing, she could feel when was he stressed or fearful, a pang in her heart that echoed each time Takashi feel any negative emotions. It was true too, that she could feel whenever Takashi was losing control of himself and his anger was taking the best of him.

She noticed her cheeks blush at the remembrance, his anger, his rage, his strength, and wrath was something that turned her on immensely, a beautiful echo of her own darkness, her desire to cut and maim, his lust for battle and kill all of Them as she could. She sobered quickly, as she remembered that Takashi did not know what she truly was, how utterly despicable her inner and hidden face was; how she was nothing but a rabid dog, looking for blood and pain; at least, she took console in the fact that perhaps Takashi could be the one that could understand her the most, as a person that shared a deep thirst for violence.

Saeko couldn't believe that Yuuki was the one that pushed her into making their relationship a lot more intimate than they have, the orange haired girl was far more knowledgeable and rational than any of them give them credit for, she had a reputation for being...slutty to say the least, that she changed boyfriends like the rest of the girls changed panties every morning. Saeko has discovered that it was not entirely the case, true she was promiscuous, but one thing was to openly enjoy the joy of sex and other was to open her legs to any male in the vicinity; Yuuki was not like that, far from it, it has been quite the revelation for Saeko, to see the girl whom she had any relation with, discuss their common crush on the Therianthrope teenager in such a civilized way, and whats more important how Yuuki had nailed Saeko's emotions and desires. When all of this was over and If she had survived, Saeko would advise Yuuki to act as a counselor and therapist, she did had the talent to dig out the emotions of the people and made them realize what they really want.

Although the sex part of the talk could have been in a lesser tone, Saeko did not know how deep and varied the topic was, no pun intended, Yuuki was very, very knowledgeable in the topic, giving her pointers and how to made her first time a superb one. Saeko thought that both Takashi and her were virgins, however, Yuuki said that Takashi was famous in the streets for kicking the shit out of half the bands in the zone and somehow, starred a porn movie, the best amateur video of the week in a lot of adult video channels on the internet. Saeko at the beginning called bullshit on that, then Yuuki smiled and show her a video on her phone, it was clear that Takashi was the one that was making a woman cry for the heavens in orgasmic bliss.

Not an hour later, it was Saeko the one that was screaming for the high heavens, as Takashi filled her in ways that she believed only happened in the movies; good thing Yuuki found the stash of condoms of Rika Minami, the roommate of Marikawa-Sensei; and she enjoyed every single moment of it. The first time was supposed to be painful, as the penis broke the hymen in the first penetration, however, Saeko broke her hymen during training, alas, her first time was a bit uncomfortable for the sudden entrance of the big penis of Takashi inside of her tight folds, but it soon became unbearable pleasure; although there was a shadow over their fantastic first night together as lovers, Saeko lost count of how many orgasms did she had, but Takashi only cum twice; the sex has been absolutely amazing, but she had a nagging sensation in the back of her mind that she has been not enough, that it was unfair for the boy to please her so much and so little himself.

That line of thought ended with her, going back into the problem that she did not confess the boy about who really Saeko Busujima was, what a monster she truly was, and she felt like shit for it, for betraying his trust like that, the boy has been nothing but good to her and here she was, hiding something from him.

"Saeko?" she raised her face to see Takashi's worried beautiful golden eyes on him "are you ok?".

"He is worried about me," she thought "I must have spaced out or too far behind, it is hard to follow his pace, it is fucking unfair" she protested inside her mind and smiled at her lover.

"I´m okay" she smiled at him "just a little off, the adrenalin is wearing off after we outrun the biggest horde" she excused and berated herself when she noticed how Takashi slumped, it was clear for her that he was blaming himself for not thinking about her.

Takashi was a lonely child, Saeko could deduct that for what he ear in the school and for what he told her and the rest of the group in the bus, Rikas house and in the morning; he was not accustomed to having a partner, until now, no one accompany him, and it was not because they do not want, it was simply because they can not follow his pace. Takashi was superhuman, hands down on that, his strength and speed were off the charts, so trying to follow him was almost impossible for any human, except for another Therianthrope.

"Perhaps we should look out for a vehicle?, I do remember a bike shop nearby, two streets down here," said Takashi eying the Takagi manor in the distance.

It was a very clear sight on the horizon, but his nose was telling him that they were practically surrounded by Them, they were everywhere and even if he could easily leave them behind, Saeko was not that fortunate, and her wooden sword was practically about to break any second now, judging from how many cracks and dents had all over its surface.

Saeko would have loved to protest, to say to her lover that she was not a dead weight, but sighing, she recognized that it was impossible for her to keep up, if Takashi started to run at a speed that would leave behind a damn car, not to mention it would a good opportunity to have a moment with him and perhaps she would finally tell him what she really was.

"Its a good idea Takashi-kun" smiled Saeko, following her lover into the streets as they clear out any little group of Them they found on their way, it was something that Saeko loved, to share the battlefield with Takashi, even if she had to admit that her weapon was starting to become a nuisance more than a real weapon.

It didn't take much for the young couple to see the bikes on the entrance of the shop and the blood that smeared the walls and the floor near the entrance of the shop, still, the senses of Takashi were telling him that the place was clear, there was none of Them inside, only the artificial smell of the bodywork of the bikes, along a dozen other smells of plastic, partial leather, metal, gasoline, diverse chemicals; for the nose of Takashi, it did smell a little like his own garage; with all the homey smells of his tools and pieces for his bike. Poor ride was trampled over by those assholes that kidnap Saya, Takashi still mourns the loss of his precious bike, it was not a state of the art bike, but he practically made it from scratch and he was damn proud of it, it was a bloody pity that the bike was completely wrecked during all that crazy night, but there was little he could do about it for the moment.

Takashi entered the shop, soon followed by Saeko who kept an eye on the surroundings just in case; and the teenager smiled like a child on Christmas, this was exactly what they need to reach Takagi manor and to put a solution for a little thing that was nagging in the back of the mind of Takashi. Since yesterday, Takashi has been in anything but his ragged pants, his school jacket and nothing else, and even if he knew that as a Therianthrope his skin and growing hair was more than enough to keep him warm and protected, he still wanted clothes, being around in the nude is something that he was entirely accustomed yet.

"Well, let's see what we have here" smiled Takashi walking around the bikes and the other products that the shop offered, as part of a big company group like Yamaha, there were a lot more things in the shop that just bikes, especially clothes and tools.

"You know how to drive a bike Takashi-kun?" asked Saeko curious as she walked to the broken snack and drink machines in the shop and took one of the fallen drinks that have not exploded when whoever broke them, let roll all over the floor. She was thirsty after all the fighting and running around they have done during the day.

"Yeah" nodded Takashi eying the clothes that there were on display and the tools that were loitering the ground, it was clear that Them had been inside or some other ravagers have been on the shop, but they didn't have time for looting, as practically all the shelves were full.

"For what my license says, I am not allowed to drive most of the bikes present but, if you don't say anything, neither will I" smiled Takashi to Saeko that smiled warmly at him and took a sip from her can of sports drink, before she looked at one of the posters on the walls and smile widely.

"I will be quiet, so we could have proper date?" pointed her to the poster in question as Takashi raised his head with an eyebrow raised for the sudden question, until he followed the finger of Saeko and noticed the poster on where a couple was kissing under the dusk, with a very nice bike in the middle of picture.

"Oh, totally" commented Takashi, hiding his blushing face under the shelves as he looked up for a good pair of boots, he had to blurt it out, he felt his arousal raise as he imagined himself and Saeko instead of the couple and in a much more raunchy kiss.

He could not see it but Saeko indeed blushed like a tomato at the comment of Takashi, even if they have already gone directly to fourth base, skipping all the intermediate bases, Saeko had to admit that she would have loved to date the feral boy in a more traditional way; they were going against all what society told, but considering that the entire world was going to hell bite by bite and her little, dark and twisted secret, she could care less about it. Takashi made her feel special and warm and that was something that she needed now.

Saeko wandered a little, she was not particularly interested in the bikes, but perhaps a tool could temporarily substitute her poor bokken, the weapon had seen better days and she hadn't the time to look for another or perhaps a real blade; as much as Kohta loved his guns, she had little to none idea of how to use them, apart of the respect that she had, they were dangerous weapons, after all, even the moist clumsy person could kill another with a gun, even if it was by dumb luck. Chewing on a protein bar from the vending machine, Saeko took one of the crowbars of the shop, laying in a pile with a lot of other tools needed to deal with the bodywork of the machines and other reparations, and with a grimace she immediately realized that her idea was impossible, this things were not balanced, weighted a ton more than her own bokken, some of them even more than the katana her father give to her for her advanced training.

She lifted a metallic wench, swinging it a couple of times before leaving it where she had found it, sighing for the inadequacy of the weapon. If things went this way for long, she was going to have a problem, she was a very good fighter with a blade, but without a blade she was not as good as she would like; not to mention that going mano a mano with Them was the recipe for suicide, as they feel practically no pain and could overwhelm you in a blink. She need a replacement for her bokken and asap; hopefully, the Takagi would have a real blade she could use until she could get to her home and grab her own katana, although, this latter thought was a little of willful wishing on her part.

Wandering aimlessly on the shop, always paying attention to her surroundings, just in case one of Them was crawling on the floor or waiting behind a close door waiting for a new victim, she looked in the direction of Takashi; that was filling his backpack to the brim, even when it was already full with a lot of things that Saya and Marikawa-sensei asked him before they went separate ways in the morning; smiling at the boy, she saw from the corner of her eye, how one of the doors of the far side of the shop was slightly open.

Guided by curiosity, she cautiously opened the door, they were not safe despite not seeing any of Them nearby, and lighten up the lights of the little room, just to found a very strange car, well, it was not a car, it was something akin to a jeep but smaller, like of those forest jeeps that some forest guards used but it had no driving wheel and instead it was a bike handle with some extra buttons and pulls. The machine was completely black in color and had six heavy wheels, the size that she had only seen in trucks and vehicles of the sort. Curious by what exactly was this vehicle, Saeko eyed the panel of instructions nearby, over a works desk where pieces and tools were laying around.

For what she understood it was some kind of amphibian vehicle, capable of moving on earth and not too deep waters with equal easiness, very used in places with a lot of rives and mountains, like Canada or Alaska, were a machine like this would allow the people that lived there to transport supplies to the more distant communities without problems. She could see the advantages of such a vehicle in that class of terrain but here in Tokonusu, she didn't see the utility of the vehicle; well, perhaps one of the forest guards of the nearby mountains bought it and they were performing maintenance here. In any case, it was a curious machine and Saeko was sure that Takashi would love to see it.

She exited the room, walking to where she saw Takashi for the last time and smiled at seeing the boy duck under a desk, leaving some extra supplies over the desk, at the side of the already full to the brim backpack, her beloved was a man of his word and if Saya or Marikawa-sensei asked him something, he would remove heaven and earth to get it done. She experimented a pang of anger at it, Takashi was hers, period; but the anger soon faded as she realized that she had nothing to fear from either woman, Saya was like a sister to Takashi, and Marikawa-sensei has been the only one; apart from his family; that helped him to deal with his unique situation. And even If she didn't want to even think about it, despite all the wonderful sex they had and how they were an item now, Saeko feared that once Takashi knew about how she truly was, he would reject her.

Takashi would call himself a monster, but Saeko had already meet far more vicious and ugly monsters than Takashi, in the form of the man that tried to take advantage of her and she almost kill with her practice sword, even today, the dark rush she felt at the beating she gave to that pitiful excuse of a man, excited and shamed her in equal measure. Takashi, on the other hand, has been nothing but a gentleman with her and all the ladies of the group; except when he became a beast in the bed, something that she loved with all her heart; he worried about them, he fought armies of Them for them, suffered grave injuries for that little arrogant and foolish Miyamoto, saved Alice against all odds, staying on guard and cleaning the entire street so they could have a night of rest.

In resume, if all the monster of the world were half like Takashi, the world would be a much better place.

"Takashi-kun" called Saeko to the occupied teenager " I found something you should see," said her.

Takashi rose his head from under the desk and with a nod, raise up and walked to her side.

Saeko giggled and started to drool with a dreamy expression in her eyes, as soon as she saw him get out of the desk where he has been looting all he considered useful.

There is a very widespread and false cliché about how girls liked bad boys better, more concretely, how they liked bad boys that had a tender side just for their favorite girls and pampered them like a princess. For Saeko it was happening in reverse order, first, she has been pampered like a princess and now she was seeing the bad boy in all his studly glory, and girl, mama Saeko loved what she was seeing.

Takashi had a black gym shirt over his chest; expanding at each step he gave, showing his muscles; over that, he was wearing an unzipped black leather biker jacket with red and gold stripes; he was wearing baggy biker jeans and brown biker boots with metal reinforcement on the toes. Classic bad boy, just for her to enough eye candy to became diabetical.

"Yes, Saeko?" reached Takashi his mate "what did you fouuumph?!" before Takashi could see anything else, Saeko grab her by the neck of the leather jacket and bring him down into a frenzied kiss.

This was not your average kiss, this was a kiss with a very liberal application of tongue, as she explored and tasted every single milometer of his mouth and lips, this was an I-am-going-to-screw-you-senseless foreplay kiss.

Takashi and the Beast inside of him raised a mental eyebrow at the same time but shrugged it off a second later and just enjoy the show of affection of his alpha mate, returning the kiss with equal ferocity, determined to satisfy whatever need she could have at the moment. He has no idea why Saeko has acted like this, but hell, at the moment she jumped at her with that mini-skirt of hers showing her perfect legs and the shadow of her shapely buttocks, he was sold for a make-out session; she was his alpha female, and she will get whatever she wants, whenever she wanted it.

Before he could even think about it, Takashi had his hands on her firm ass, raising her without a problem, as she surrounded his waist with her stocking and long boots clad legs, putting her arms over his shoulders and dragging his head more into the passionate kiss they were sharing. For a minute, they lost themselves in the lust of the kiss, desiring anything but the taste of their beloved and the sensation of the other body glued to them. Unfortunately, they still had to breath and at some point, they separated their lips, tongues still hanging out of their mouths and a thick line of saliva interconnecting them, but were panting and had a misty look in their eyes, as they look at each other eyes, trying to express a thousand emotions into a single moment.

"Wow" whispered Takashi "I love you, Saeko," said the young Therianthrope without thinking, just saying what was on his mind.

For his eternal surprise and not too little arousal, Saeko emitted a very, very cute squeal and hide her embarrassed and blushing a storm face into the crook of his neck; still, she did not lose chance to let her hands roam over the tight and powerful muscles of his chest, feeling like she had hit the bloody jackpot of the lottery, in the love department.

"Once again, I repeat, if we could weaponize Saeko's cuteness, this war would be already over" nodded to himself Takashi as he surrounded her perfect form with his arms, not entirely sure about what the hell was going on; neither the Beast for what matters, as he was only urging to take Saeko here and now; but the kiss has been amazing and this post make-out cuddling session was welcomed after all the shit they had to deal with on the last two days.

Takashi said nothing and just keep Saeko in his arms, his head resting on hers, cuddling, nothing else; even if he right now only wanted to bend Saeko over a desk and pounding her like no tomorrow; they had to get out of the shop, so far there has been no problems, but after the horde of Them that was in the road of the wires and how they dispersed in such an erratic manner, they would not be safe until they reach Takagi manor. Then, they could indulge in their carnal desires till they were satisfied; good thing Takashi had the foresee to get a big box of condoms, something tells him that he is going to use all of them, very fast.

"It is unfair, Takashi-kun" she eeped from the crook of his neck "what you are dressing now, is making me hot and bothered" pouted adorably, raising her blushing face, to look at the amused and wolfish grin of Takashi.

"Saeko" chuckled Takashi "believe me, the sensation is mutual, your temptress mini-skirt and stockings combo drives me mad, but we have to wait until we are back with the rest" sighed Takashi "even if I am trying with all my force of will to do not jump at your bones, right here, right now and have an intense rehearsal with extras of yesterday night".

Saeko giggled and softly kissed him in the lips, she understood what Takashi was trying to say, she would love nothing more than hide with him in a dark and comfy room with a big bed and made love to each other until all the fears and worries just vanish; but they had to get back to the rest, the group depended on them and Saeko loved Takashi more, knowing that he was as loyal and responsible as she hoped he will be. A dark cloud appeared over her mind, she still has not revealed the truth to her beloved, and that was slowly eating her.

"Why the change of clothes?" asked Saeko trying to bury that previous line of thoughts off her mind "don't get me wrong, it suits you amazingly but is far from anything that anybody had ever see you wearing".

"Pragmatism" shrugged Takashi "I don't have your mesmerizing skills with a blade or the accuracy of Kohta with a gun, but I am strong, I have claws more than capable of rending steel like wet paper and the endurance to keep fighting for a lot of time; however that means that I got to get close and personal, meaning I am going to get a lot of injuries, even with my sturdy skin".

"This clothes" raise his arms to show Saeko the jacket "are reinforced clothes, the ones that bikers used to prevent as many injuries as they could in an accident, it is relatively armored without restraining the movement much, just exactly what I need".

"You are dashing on them" complimented Saeko with an approving glare to his lover attire.

"So you do, love" replied Takashi with a suggestive glare to the stockings and mini-skirt that she wore, that left little to the imagination "so you do" huskily whispered Takashi in her ear, softly nibbling in the fleshy lobe, making Saeko giggle and moan slowly.

It didn't take long for the couple to put the vehicle on the road, once Takashi saw that it was pretty much like a big, four-wheeled motorbike, it was easy to drive it into the streets and take a route to the Takagi manor. The only problem the machine had, was his rumbling motor, it produced a lot of noise and it attracted all of Them in the nearby, the city was practically silent after the previous day and after the disaster of the bridge; now totally overrun by hundreds of Them; that means that the noise of the amphibian bike would attract a lot of Them.

On the bright side of things, the machine has enough speed to left them behind quite easily, specially if Takashi step up a little and accelerate when he hit an avenue where she could get a higher speed of the bike, his senses were already picking how Saeko was enjoying the ride, feeling the wind on her body as her hair wildly waved behind her; Takashi didn't need to look back to notice the exhilaration of his lover; it was the first time that they do something together; leaving apart the battles they had fought in the last two days and how they bed together not twelve hours before.

Takashi knew that they relationship was odd as hell, any sane person would say that relationship doesn't work that way, that they were too fast, too quick, to direct; they barely know each other, they had been together less than a day and they have already broken some serious bedlympics records. Yet it has happened, be it odd and rare as hell, be it as impossible as any could argue, they were together and may the gods have mercy of any poor soul that dared to stand in their way. Love was irrational and blind sometimes, and of course, it has nothing to do with the crap that movies and books tried to convey as the image of the correct love; that was bullshit, love was far more organic and changing that all that mess, humans are imperfect creatures that were driven by their emotions and Therianthropes are even more extreme than that.

As much as he suspected that his feelings for Saeko were nothing normal, Takashi could stop feeling that way, so, he will enjoy the ride as much as he could, knowing that the world will always manage to found a way to fuck his day; he only hoped that this time, the world would take his sweet ass time in throwing some more shit in his way, after all the years he has pass submerged in migraines and all kind of pains, Takashi liked to think that he deserved to be thrown a bone.

And the Beast sighed at that horrible pun, it was so easy to make dog puns being a Therianthrope that it was not funny.

At some point Takashi frowned and Saeko noticed his change of demeanor; once they got the car, Takashi was pretty much convinced that it was going to be a quick ride to the Takagi manor, however, they have been driving around for hours, dodging hordes of Them that loitered the streets, trying to make a beeline into another of the blockades of the Takagi neighborhood, but so far it was a frustrating effort; all the ways that Takashi knew were blocked by Them, it was very annoying, and the noise of the car only attracted more of Them.

Suddenly Takashi had an inspiration, and with a sudden change of direction, he took route into the river; remembering what his parents told him about the little earth island in the middle of the river that crossed the city, and how it would be perfect for playing the waiting game; driving down a hill and humorously watching how Them stumbled and feel down the stairs like drunkards, unfortunately, they quickly raise from the fall. It was one of the problems with Them, they do not stop at all, crippling injuries that would leave anybody else on the floor calling for his mommy, only made Them slower, and even if they were slipped in half by the waist, they would still be able to crawl and bite or grab anything within their reach. As ridiculous as it could sound, seeing zombie flicks resulted in some useful knowledge about what Not do in this situation and to pay attention to your surroundings.

With a smile to Saeko; who eyed him with a raised eyebrow a little confused but had the common sense of increase the strength of her hold over the bars of the strange car they were riding; he twirled the car, sending one of the closest of Them flying into a bloody heap and set course into the waters of the river, Saeko gasped as she noticed how the practically fly over the terrain and landed into the cold waters of the river with a loud splash and a wave; as loud the entrance into the current was, it managed to accomplish the objective of setting some distance between them and Them, as confused as the term could be sometimes. Takashi had to admit that Igou was right on calling Them, it would lessen the impact of being in a frigging zombie apocalypse, however, when Takashi became a Therianthrope, or properly said, he revealed the rest of his pack what he was...well, any semblance of normality fly off the window and once it landed, it was torched with extreme prejudice.

Takashi drove some meters into the waters, so the bunch of Them around the place would not be able to follow him and Saeko into the river without being drag by the current and turn his head around to take a look at his passenger, keeping a grip on the handle, so he could keep course into the little patch of earth in the middle of the river. As soon as his brain registered what he was seeing, Takashi's mind; both human and Beast, made a loud and appreciate mental whistle; the waters have completely damped the school uniform of Saeko and being a white blouse, now that she was drenched in water it has become a see-through cloth that revealed the perfect and bouncy breast of Saeko, clad in a black lace bra that only made Takashi drools at the sight.

"Takashi-kun" she smiled and Takashi gulped, there was something wrong with him if a commanding and pissing off Saeko turned him on "I suppose that this was not intentional?".

"No" confessed Takashi and the Beast betrayed him "although I regret nothing" cursing his Beast, that snickered in the back of his mind, Takashi keep driving with his eyes looking at the piece of land like it was a cauldron of gold and said nothing more.

It didn't take long for them to reach the aforementioned piece of land, it was big enough to hold the car and still left enough solid soil to walk around and stretch their legs after the bumpy ride and the fact that they had not taken a break since very early in the morning, between the scavenging Takashi done in the Combini stores and how Saeko had to fight a horde of Them and then run at Takashi pace, a very impressing feat that few would make, only stopping for a little in the bike shop where they had found the amphibian bike and had a quick lunch from the food that Takashi carried around in his backpack. Now that they were relatively safe, perhaps they could grab another bite and have a little of peace and tranquility, it was not good for any of them to be always tense as strings, that would only weaken them as the time passes and her body got tired of the mental strain.

Both teenagers felt for a break, even they are not precisely running on their fumes; most in the case of Saeko as Takashi was the one with enhanced stamina; the constant streets of the survival, especially in such young minds was not something to be scoffed off. In the movies, people always seem to have an inexhaustible pool of willpower and luck, everything happens so fast that it barely had time to settle in, but for the two teenagers, and they were truly one of a kind, all of the shit was something so surreal that they had not entirely sunk it in.

Leaving apart the notion of Takashi being something akin to a werewolf, powerful as one, hairy as one and bestial as one; however, the boy has been showing remarkable control for one that should be supposedly a beast in human skin, as the old tales told the werewolves and other of a similar kind were. Magnus has already explained to him that all of that was pure bullshit, that the legends were nothing but what the humans believed should be, not what it truly was; especially Christianity, that bunch of gits has done a lot of harm to the Theriantrope and whats worst is that none of them got it right, all their sacred texts and tomes about the Theriantrope were a shitload of bullshit about the mark of the beast and silver bullets, that could work in some of them but is was not a universal flaw, not even in a million years.

Theriantropes are truly one of a kind, however Takashi did not have all the information he would like to have, especially about his powers, it was mostly a trial and error kind of procedure that grated Takashi nerves, as he didn't really know what his limits were or if he can even push beyond them in a desperate situation like adrenalin does with humans; as Theriantrope he did share a lot with humanity but at the same time, they were completely different, and he barely had any idea about what to expect or how to react when the situation would call for it.

So far it has been mostly a passive issue; claws, healing, strength, it did not require a lot of him, just instincts and force of will, but as Magnus has insinuated more than once, he was barely scratching the surface, Whats more was into his powers? just the basic package was a very nice deal, he was strong, fast and hard as steel, added the claws and the rage and he would decimate anything in his path. But there has to be more, if Magnus was so insistent in his subtle claims that there is a lot more for Takashi to discover about him and his powers, not to mention how he spoke that morning with Morita and Kohta about what entrails to be part of the pack; it was a conversation that Takashi only hear by passing as he prepared to get what Saya and Marikawa-sensei told him to get.

A sudden sneeze behind Takashi called his attention and he turned off his thoughts to face Saeko and with a mental facepalm, repair in how the girl was covered in nothing but a very dampened; and incredible arousing; white blouse, meanwhile he was covered head to toe in biker clothes that do a very good job of keeping the cold out.

Without a word, Takashi took his jacket and his shirt off, helping Saeko to get her wet clothes of her too and wrapping her in the biker clothes; he keep the girl in a hug, trying to share his body heat with her, last thing he needed was for her to catch a cold because his idiotic stunt with his new mechanical toy.

Saeko was not a defenseless girl, far from it, but being pampered like that and hugged in the powerful arms of Takashi...well, the swordsmistress allow her lover to be such a softy just for her, they had a moment to rest and passing the time in the arms of Takashi, enjoying the slow fall of the night was something very romantic. Zombie apocalypse non-withstanding.

For the teenager girl, Takashi has been nothing but a perfect lover; great as hell in the shack, very, very easy to the eyes, caring, tender, devoted to her; so far he was the complete package. Even with all that Therianthrope crap that the poor boy has to deal with, he has done all he could to make the best of it, and Saeko had to admit that being the lover of a Therianthrope had some very nice perks, if all Therianthropes are half as good as Takashi, still, she suspected that perhaps that was the flaws of being with a Therianthrope, they are so good that they ended with many women, much like an Alpha predator like lions or tigers do. Saeko had already seen how Hayashi-sensei longed for Takashi, how that cretin of Miyamoto tried to reconnect with Takashi; even after what she has done; or how Yuuki flirted with the boy so shamelessly.

Takashi was incredibly popular with the women, and Saeko could understand why, however, that doesn't mean that she had to like it, although, truth to be told, she owned the other two women how she was with Takashi now as an item, like the rest of the school liked to call the couples around. Who would have thought that Yuuki was so insightful about the matters of the heart? or how she was the one that chose the clothes she wore now with a mix of fashion and pragmatism; being aesthetically pleasing and at the same time, giving her freedom of movement during combat, something that considering her style was a must.

Yuuki and Hayashi-sensei had ended being more than meets the eye and Saeko was grateful for being able to meet the two other women even if they were practically competing from the attention of the boy that was hugging her right now, caressing her hair in silence, just standing there for her to have an anchor into this absolute mess. Saeko berated herself, she should confess Takashi what she really was, what she was hiding under the visage of Saeko Busujima, how he was not the true monster of the two of them.

"Something on your mind, Saeko?" called Takashi to Saeko, getting her out of her thoughts; the Therianthrope has noted the subtle changes in her smell and posture and the Beast has snorted, ready to tear apart anything that could have hurt his mate. The Beast was not a patient or subtle being; anything that bothered him was swiftly and bloodily dispatched in the most efficient and gruesome manner possible.

"Nothing Takashi-kun" she smiled to her lover, burying herself into his broad and powerful chest, enjoying the warmth that he was offering to her, the cold waters of the river were nothing but a memory for her now "just enjoying the moment, considering the last two days, I am starting to think that these respites are going to be scarce and short".

Takashi snorted, totally agreeing with his purple-haired goddess; the universe has an ax to grind with Takashi, and this little respite was something that he was more than happy to enjoy as it lasts; who knows when they are going to have a little time for themselves, there was nothing for granted in the future and so far, the future does seem to be quite bleak, with hordes of Them roaming around and his powers still surrounded in mystery and bullshit than in real facts.

Especially now that Magnus has left to do who knows what, Takashi still had a shit ton of questions to the man, even after the talk they had in Rikas house, about what kind of changes had Takashi to expect from now on that he had a Pack and an alpha mate; Magnus had already advised him that he was going to have difficulties to keep his hands out of Saeko and how she was going to be more open to the idea of a pack hierarchy and how she was going to soon establish herself as the Alpha female in the pack.

Rika didn't need to do it, because both she and Magnus loved the clumsy Marikawa-sensei; she was still out of the loop about Magnus true nature, both Rika and Magnus didn't want to scare the shit out of the woman, but now that Takashi has entered in her life like a thunder, the man was just biding his time, until he had Rika back with them to reveal everything to Marikawa-sensei. For the conversations he had with Magnus and Marikawa-sensei, Rika truly loved her roommate, Magnus was already fallen in love with both women and would do anything to protect them; once again, Takashi was not entirely sure how Magnus was going to react at how Marikawa-sensei loved Takashi's pack, not only as her students but as her children during all this mess. She was kind as that, a person too good for this rotten world.

The last thing Takashi need was to provoke the wrath of the older Therianthrope, even with all his new found powers, Magnus was bigger, stronger and possibly faster than him, with unknown tricks under his sleeve, not to mention how he was way more skilled than Takashi at claw to claw combat. Takashi was painfully aware that he had barely any notion of how to fight, not because he did not try but because he was afraid of his own strength and could accidentally kill whoever was he fighting or training with at the moment. Point is, that he could not train in any common gym, not because he believed that he was invincible, any professional out there could have kicked his ass ten ways to Sunday, but because he can not control his anger, his strength and lastly his claws; that would be a nightmare of his own, if he suddenly grow claws and disemboweled his last training partner.

Takashi would have loved to actually know how to fight beyond ripping apart anything in his path, Saeko has already told him that despite his amazing strength, there was no technique on him, and that could spell disaster for him if he was battling something out there that could put together two brains cells. Them are not the only thing they had to be careful for, another packs, survivalist and all kind of broken people will be trying to survive too, and judging by what he experimented when he saved Rei from being trampled by a bus, it was more than probable that all of them would be hostile.

Something stirred in Takashi, there was a smell in the air, something that should not be there, something dangerous, his Beast rise his head inside his mind, he has sensed it too.

Saeko noticed how Takashi suddenly stiffened, covering her body with his arms like he was protecting her from something and raise her head to look into the eyes of her lover, she immediately picked up the alertness in those golden orbs that she loved so much, the danger was clear in his eyes, he has picked up something that has sent alarms into his mind and Saeko shuddered at the thought, what could cause fear, to a boy that can rip steel with his bare hands?.

The answer didn't take much to present itself, when the water behind them exploded outwards and an abomination jumped from the waters, broken and rotten jaws widely open into a crushing bite.

Before she could even register the horror, she suddenly feel a push to the left, her entire body followed the push and got out of the brutal bite, however, her mind was far more concerned with how; after pushing her out of harm; the body of Takashi was left open for those nasty fangs.

The jaw close and the blood jumped into the cold air of the night of Tokonusu.