It was astonishing how quickly has Takashi become insensitive about violence.
In the last two or three days, he has bathed himself in blood, several times. Frankly, it was hard to kept track of something as irrelevant as the time when you are fighting, fangs and claws, to kept your pack as safe as you can. Especially when Them made their appearance and turn the city in a massive slaughterhouse, when even a bloody accidental bite could turn anyone into another moaning corpse, looking for the next fresh meal.
Claws and fangs.
Those were the weapons that Takashi had, and to be honest, he did not need anything else. Sure, a gun could be handy for long distances, however, and Takashi was demonstrating it right now, the ripped heads of Them were perfect throwing stones. A human head, tossed with enough force to shatter concrete, leaves a serious mess wherever it hits and it was a two birds one stone kind of strategy.
The experience was almost surreal, feeling everything, sensing everything, the entire world naked in front of him, yet, it was under a red haze, a red haze that demands blood, that demands the flesh and bones of whoever was stupid enough to fight him, to be shredded to pieces.
With a powerful swipe of his left claw, Takashi cleaved two of Them, sending the broken remains of the walking corpses, fumbling into the air like broken rag dolls; even crash dummies ended in best state that those of Them that fall under the claws and fangs of Takashi.
On a side note, it was a very good thing that Takashi was not feeling anything beyond the imperious need of butchering all of Them, otherwise, he would have realized that he has been chewing putrid flesh, mangling anything at the reach of his brutal jaws.
Each bite was like a steel trap, crushing flesh and bones like it were nothing and reducing organs into squashed meat, that would need a professional forensic examiner to determine that it once belonged to a human being.
Together, Takashi and Magnus were defending the gate of the Takagi´s manor, and thanks to the loud carnage that they are unleashing, the horde that has stomped the metal fence of the manor have soon surrounded them and tried to overcome them by sheer numbers and tenacity.
In any other circumstances, it could have work. Against humans, well armed or not, it would have work like a charm. Bullets would have run out, or the shooters would have been overwhelmed by the sheer number of targets around them, but against two beasts like Takashi and Magnus? no, it was not going to work.
The average human is a sturdy specimen; the human body is capable of surprisingly enough punishment. Them are humans turned into walking chewing machines that fell nothing but the need of eating more flesh, they feel no pain, they lack any restraint, so they are capable of enduring a hell of a lot more punishment than even the sturdiest human.
Therianthropes are not human.
Is something that lots of people, allies and enemies, forgot about them. Therianthropes are very humane, they feel emotions harder than humans, they tend to be more emotional and determined than humans, but at the same time they are not humans, they could become beasts, in the most literal of the senses, and unleash hell over whatever has been idiotic enough to provoke their fury.
Human limits are funny jokes for the average Therianthrope and Takashi comes from a very powerful bloodline, and Magnus is a bloody category on its own; so when the Beast and Takashi finally saw each other in the mirror, Takashi understood that only his belief in his own humanity was holding him back.
Quickly, almost instinctively, Takashi made some calculations in his head.
Them are attacking the manor, Them are going to kill people, Them are going to hurt Pack, Them are going to hurt Saeko.
That thought was like the reviving of a powerful engine, it started it and made it roar; quite literally considering how Takashi turned into a monster and charged Them, sharp claws and fangs out and ready to reduce Them to gory chunks.
The bottom line of the equation that turned Takashi into a furred meat grinder?.
Them are going to die, simple as that.
There were No doubts, no second thoughts, no philosophical debates, or morality ethics getting in the way. Pure and unadulterated survival of the fittest. It was usually like that with the Therianthropes and one of the reasons for their survival and damnation at the same time.
Their law of the jungle approach to all kind of matters is counterproductive in certain societies, more concerned with demagogy and popularity contests that real politics, and one of the reasons why they had to hide and kept it that way. Humanity would never be understood what is different from them, heck, they hunted each other for silly reasons, imagine what will they do if they knew of the existence of things like Therianthropes. In the past, people were open-minded about the possibility of something out there and humanity reacted with extreme violence. Not that Therianthropes are better, they are half human after all.
Luckily, in the zombie apocalypse situation that they are living, the law of the jungle methods are way more effective and pragmatic than any other. With the humanity as a buffer against the worse traits of the beast like instincts inside all Therianthropes.
Of course, right now, Takashi´s more humane side was on vacation and the more dangerous instincts are very busy ripping Them apart like they were made of wet paper. For the young Therianthrope´s perspective, they could be very well made of wet paper, his claws were rending flesh and bones like they were not even there, it was almost insulting, but even in the middle of a red haze, Takashi´s survival instincts were operating at 100% percent, knowing full well that despite the physical difference, Takashi was far from being immortal or invulnerable.
The battle in the river has already demonstrated Takashi, in the most efficient and direct way possible, that he could die as well as anybody else. It was a good thing that even before the two brushes with the death that Takashi had; one his first transformation and the other the battle against the abomination of the river; was already very conscious about his own mortality.
It was one of the things that Magnus has already insinuated a lot of times during the few moments that Takashi has talked with the older, more powerful, Therianthrope; Magnus confirmed the idea that a lot of Therianthropes had died in the past, deluded by the idea of their own immortality. Sure, the amazing healing factor and the natural sturdiness of the bodies of the Therianthropes, especially in the "battle form", for giving it a name, that Takashi had now, were a powerful advantage. Bullets and blades were as lethal for the Therianthrope but on a bigger scale.
Ironically enough, Takashi seems to be part of a bloodline that lacked the legendary weakness to the silver of the most famous of the Therianthrope breeds. The "Werewolf" legend was an old one, it existed way back in the past but that was just the tip of the iceberg of the Therianthrope breeds. Takashi was not knowledgeable enough about his own race to say how many different kinds of breeds of Therianthrope were in the world. Magnus was the only other sane Therianthrope and he was capable of changing into a big dog and a bear-man with identical easiness.
Several stings pierced Takashi´s mental haze of fury, telling him that some of Them had managed to pierce his resilient hide and fur and draw blood. Blood that turned all of Them in the surroundings into a more frenzied version of themselves, they were threatening Takashi with burying him under a mountain of biting, scratching and clawing walking corpses.
With a powerful roar, Takashi eviscerated a dozen of Them in a brutal swing of his claws and send all the corpses around him to the skies. It was a very gruesome spectacle, to see the mangled remains of several humans, being tossed around like confetti. That was just the aperitif of the fight and with another loud roar, Takashi jumped against the next batch of them.
Meanwhile, the pack had problems of their own.
Despite Takashi´s and Magnus´s efforts, several of Them managed to bypass the broken fence of the manor and stumble against the tents and survivors that loitered the yard of the Takagi´s. The pack was surrounding the tent where Marikawa-sensei was doing all she could to save the life of Hayashi-sensei. The poor redhead woman had the bad luck of being in the way of that bastard of Shido when he and his little minions were making a run out of manor with anything that they could steal.
When Shido and his little cult moved out of the manor, they did in quite the spectacular way. The dozen or so idiots that accompanied Shido; now three fewer thanks to Takashi and Saeko; had looted anything that was not nailed to the ground, put all that loot into the school bus that all of them used to escape the first day of his nightmare and drive out of the manor. In their way out, a trio of those assholes found Hayashi-sensei and bashed her head with one of the statues of the manor, perhaps as an act of revenge against Miku for stabbing Shido in the gut.
Saeko has left one of that trio alive, severely broken and crying for his mommy but alive, and later they will have words with him about why and what did Shido pretend with all these. But first comes first and when the explosion shocked the skies and the electricity went to hell, Them made their appearance in massive numbers and all the people in the manor had to focus in fighting for their survival.
The pack was busy covering the tent where Hayashi-sensei was being treated by Marikawa-sensei. The blonde nurse was treating the head wound of the redhead teacher as good as she could, but she knew that they have to move into the manor and into the infirmary of the manor, asap.
In cold facts, what Takashi and Saeko did was one of those moments on where the pack loyalty and mentality worked against them. The infirmary of the manor was way better prepared to deal with the nasty wound of Hayashi-sensei than the medical tent that the Takagi´s set up in the yard. However, anyone on the pack will, one hundred percent of the times, go for Marikawa-sensei in case of medical attention. Pack first, and that was a weakness and strength at the same time.
On a not that positive note, in this particular case, it was a good thing that Takashi has moved Hayashi-sensei to where Marikawa-sensei was, as the infirmary has been raided by Shido and his little cult, not to mention that the doctor on guard had his own wound to took care off.
"You know", commented Morita blasting one of Them with his shotgun, "I am kind of not entirely surprised about how well are we taking all this shit". The mohawk blonde boy started to reload his shotgun, knowing, without even the need to see it, that Saeko and Kohta were covering him. "I mean, Takashi´s new form is quite something; don't take me wrong, but it looks something out of a nightmare, and do not make me start of Magnus, oh boy, that is a seriously freaking scary monster".
"Its a surprise for all of us, I agree", replied Kohta, targeting another of Them that was gaining momentum against the tent and shooting its head off.
"Right now, I am grateful for it", added Saeko cleaving one of Them.
She will admit that the katana that the Lord of the Manor has given to her was truly a blessing. She never felt all that good with the sword that she has taken from the temple, insensate and chaotic as this times are, Saeko still felt that taking that sword from the temple was not all that right. Quite the moral surprise, to say the least, considering her inner demons and what she is ready to do to protect her pack and the love of her life.
Anyhow, she continued slashing any of Them that came close to the tent, before Marikawa-sensei ended her first-aid treatment to the wound of Hayashi-sensei, then, the pack would retreat to the manor and keep all of Them that came close to the gates out of the house. It was a plan that depended on the incredible capacity of slaughtering of the two Therianthropes that were holding the main part of the horde at the fence.
The pack had to confess that they are as freaked out as the rest of the people when Takashi and Magnus transformed themselves into to eight feet tall, bipedal, creatures that were slaughtering Them with impressive easiness. They look like a hybrid between a man and a wolf and a bear, respectively. Magnus was a couple feet taller than Takashi and wider, with long claws, but the massive bear-man moved slowly, trusting in his massive size and claws to tear to shreds anything that came close to him.
Takashi´s form was no less impressive, standing about the eight feet tall, Takashi was the perfect picture of a werewolf. A hybrid of wolf and man of black fur, devastating fangs and sharp claws that was butchering anything that came close to him with his claws and jaws. Flesh and bone were nothing against the might of his natural weapons and it was not that difficult to realize that wood and concrete would not fare much better against the kind of primal power that the Therianthropes were displaying.
It was actually a good thing that there was a lot of Them to kept everyone; that was not of the pack; busy, otherwise, it would be a safe assumption to say that the guards of the Takagi would have opened fire over the two Therianthropes defending the gates. Not that the guards were idiots or anything of the sort, but guided by the fear that the two monsters exuded just with their mere presence. For anyone that was not part of the pack; the presence of the Therianthropes was akin to stand in front of a vicious predator, the sensation, the oppressive feeling in the back of the brain; the instinctual part; for making a run or kill the menace.
The more willed of the guards made a gesture to point their weapons at Takashi and Magnus, but Them did not give many chances to shoot. Not that they would have inflicted any serious damage; although, maybe one of the guards could have made a lucky shot and put a bullet in the eye of any of the two Therianthropes. That could have disastrous for everyone, but luckily, before the guards had the chance, Takagi senior and his wife put order in the troops and commanded to ignore the two monsters; who were actually fighting to save all their lives by the way, as "politely" pointed out Saya; and focus on the bloody zombies that they had on their noses.
Slowly, almost methodically and guided by instincts that they didn't know they possessed but welcomed nonetheless, the pack of Takashi; along Marikawa-sensei and Hayashi-sensei in a stretcher; moved back to the manor, taking position on the stairs that guided to the main door and joining the guards of the Takagi´s in their effort to contain the clusters of Them that filtered through the slaughter that the Therianthropes were making on the entrance.
In the first seconds, a guard almost rejected them, considering the teenagers and the women part of the same category of the two monsters on the entrance, but Takagi sir barked an order and the guard folded like paper. Soichiro lacked the same bonds with his men as the packs did, but they were exceptionally well trained by Soichiro himself and he will be dammed if his men acted like scared civilians. Enough of those he already had inside his own home to have more of them among his own men.
Soichiro was happy that the only ones with real weapons around where his men and the members of Takashi´s pack; begrudgingly, but Soichiro will admit that the members of the pack of his daughter were something to behold. As an individual that had experience with packs; from an outsider perspective; Soichiro observed some commonalities among the packs. One of the biggest things was how the strength of the Alpha couple determine the strength of the pack. With a weak Alphas, the pack will soon break apart, and as much as Soichiro would have loved to be otherwise, with Takashi and Saeko as Alphas, this pack will be something to not be trifled with.
It also helps that Magnus is around, Soichiro did not understand what on earth was doing the old bastard here. Leaving apart the excuse that Magnus had found another mate in the figure of Reika Minami, a very talented police officer if Soichiro remembered well.
Taking the stretcher out of the hands of the ones that had carried the wounded redhead woman; something that happened under Soichiro watch and that only fueled Soichiro´s desire to tear Shido a new one; Soichiro ordered the two guards to carry the wounded woman to infirmary and to triple checks that none of the civilians inside had bites or one of Them has managed to slip past the battle and into the side wings or something along those lines.
It was a bit risky to take soldiers out of the battle right now, but the stairs were already overcrowded and the last thing any of them wanted was to fight in two fronts because one of the idiots inside transformed in the middle of the mob and started a riot inside the house. Enough problem had all of them already.
Soichiro and Yuriko traded a glance and the woman nodded; she started to command some of the guards on the stairs to swept the sides of the manor, taking off some of the pressure that the clusters of Them that had escaped the carnage of the main door were pushing on the stairs defenders.
Yuriko knew that the pack of Takashi was going to defend the place to the last of them. It could be a point of debate between the two Therianthropes but Marikawa-sensei has taken quite the liking to the teenagers that were the friends of Yuriko´s daughter and maybe she has not realized yet but she was marked as the mate of Magnus, the former Alpha of Yuriko´s pack in the states.
Quickly thinking of those days, Yuriko will admit that having a pack like Takashi´s around was a nice feeling. She could see the tight bonds that they were forming and how they are already acting like a veteran pack without even three days since they become pack in the most open-minded sense of the word. Packs were a complicated thing and even Yuriko found herself missing that sensation from time to time. She had a family and quite a bunch of underlings, but they were not the same, although a good substitute.
The battle progressed for a bit, as the Therianthropes started to thin the horde through extreme violence and savagery, they could be, at it for a long time, but alas, there are more bastards than hands and a lot of "small" clusters of Them managed to prevent the main pair of walking carnages and attack the idiots that try to made a run out of the manor of the defenders of the manor.
After the first hundred of Them down, Saeko and the rest of his pack were starting to lose steam, adrenaline could only get you so far and ammo was starting to run low. No one expected a bloody battle and considering the population around the city, Them are to be counted in the thousands. The guards started to take casualties, tiredness being the greatest enemy here, especially fighting against an enemy that would relentlessly continue attacking you with all they have.
After a while, Saeko had to retire to the upper stairs, breathing in a gasp. She was in top shape, but her style was a very exhausting one, requiring a lot of strength and accuracy in each strike; great for quick kills, but a killer in one´s stamina; after swinging her weapon for so long, despite all her more than sated blood-lust, the weapon was slippery from all the black and nauseating blood that covered the edge of the weapon. Also, the poor blade already showed a couple of nicks, despite the exceptional craftsmanship of the blade, human bones are hard things and Saeko has cut down a lot of them, cutting through the unnaturally resilient skin and bones of Them.
Along with her, Kohta was reloading his gun, observing his last clip with a frown. Kohta marksmanship was top notch, but without bullets, he was in a severe disadvantage in this situation. Morita, even if the boy was barely standing through sheer stubbornness, swung his spiked baseball bat with all he had, crushing heads left and right and taunting Them with loud and imaginative insults, distracting them from the guards that still had some ammo left in their firearms.
Finally, the number of Them started to reduce to numbers that the well-trained guards of the Takagi manor could handle with relative easiness, allowing the ones that had endured the worst of the assault to catch a breath and try to pick up their second wind if they were even able to stand. It has been quite the exhausting ordeal, but the worst of it was the aftermath, especially when all the electric appliances of the country had gone to hell.
One of the effects of a nuke; and they should be really counting their lucky stars that the bomb has exploded so high in the atmosphere that they have only experimented the secondary effects, dangerous as they are on their own; is a massive EMP, an electromagnetic pulse that has fried all the non-protected appliances in the city. The vast majority of the systems, appliances, and items in the city, from cars to computers, were fried by the bomb.
If survival was already a nightmare, welcome to a nuclear fallout nightmare.
Takashi was breathing raggedly over a mountain of corpses, or what's left of them, puking his guts out when the taste of Them reached his brain and practically overloaded his sense of taste with the rancid and disgusting taste of rotten flesh and even worse rotten inner fluids of the bodies that he snapped in two with his jaws. Taking mental note; between gags and spits; of never, ever, chew Them again, Takashi adopted a more animal-like stance, resting his claws in the ground and trying to discern if there was any of Them left.
With his senses crying a river due to the atrocious smell and taste of Them, Takashi had to trust his eyes; watery from the smell, by the way; and his ears that were still catching the movements of Them in the surrounding streets and the aftermath of the clusters that had split from the main horde and attack the manor. Even in his disarray, Takashi could still felt the lingering scent of Saeko; metal, blood; not her own; and sweat mostly. She must be really tired, despite all her natural athleticism, Saeko was only human and she has been fighting in a war that none of them were prepared for.
All this situation was a horrid mess and Takashi was sure that somehow, the majority of the cretins that have been smooching the Takagi´s yard will blame them. Also, Takashi´s "war form" was not precisely arguing in their favor. Standing tall and savage, Takashi was a real-life monster out of a werewolf flick, although, bigger than life itself. Add to his already infamy the presence of a gigantic bear-man; somewhere near him, if Takashi´s ears were not mistaken; that was even more animal and primal in appearance than Takashi, and you had the recipe of a disaster.
Takashi slowly recovered from the horrid stench of Them in his mouth, he would have loved to be back at the Manor and clean his teeth with all the mouthwash he could find, but stepping into the manor right now; still in these form, would be inviting the disaster with any of the guards of the manor, that were already a bunch of grumpy cretins the best of days, especially after the event that started all this disaster.
Honestly, it was the worst series of bad luck strokes ever.
Shido appeared with his minions, Yuuki stabbed that bastard before he could try to "convince her to see the error of her ways", Shido and his minions looted all that was not nailed to the ground, almost killed Hayashi-sensei and made a run with their bus, that they ended up driving into one of the blockades when the whatever in the atmosphere went boom and that lead to the horde of Them that almost overwhelmed the Takagi´s land.
With the explosion, the accident with the bus and the screams of the people, it was akin to ringing the dinner bell for Them, that came in spades. Takashi preferred not to count, but he was pretty sure that he has butchered Them by the hundreds, at this rate, he would have killed more than a thousand of former humans in less than a week. That must be something akin to a new record no?.
Humor against the bleak situation was one of the few tools that Takashi had left to face this horrible scenario and he pretended to use it as much as he could. It was better than surrounding to bitterness, become a wolf, made a run for the mountains, dig a hole there and hole himself there for the next millennia more or less. Now that he could spare a thought or two, what could have happened to the Therianthrope that wounded him in the first place and made a mess out of his powers?. Well, that was a mystery for another time, right now, he had a shit more thing to worry about, starting from his pack.
Slowly, breathing in and out, Takashi started to change back into his human appearance, then he realized two little details that seem to have escaped his attention.
One, all the gory chunks, blood, and other residues did not disappear when he transformed, and the blood of Them was cold and disgusting over bare skin.
Second, he was naked.
Standing in the middle of the carnage, Takashi observed his nakedness, sighed and started to massage the bridge of his nose. He really should have know better, the original transformation took out his clothes, there was no reason to believe that his clothes would magically reappear over him. For fuck´s sake, Takashi really need a shower and brushing his teeth after all this, but right now, Takashi took a look around; Magnus was nowhere to be seen, but worrying about the older Therianthrope was an exercise in futility; and look for a big enough piece of surviving cloth to at last, do not walk back into the manor completely naked.
The road that leads to the Takagi state was a bloody disaster.
Between the mutilated corpses and the broken pieces of the urban scenario, it was something out of war flick about a battle that has taken the lives of way too many soldiers. Not really wanting to count; there were six left arms over a particularly big mound of disemboweled corpses; Takashi just assumed that he has ripped out a new one to a lot of Them and went with the flow.
Not being at war with the Beast was a novel sensation, although, the Beast and he were one and the same, so he has been at war with himself since day one. Pondering that a little, trying to recover his breath and bearing after the carnage that Takashi has unleashed, Takashi thought about if it would be possible that all Therianthropes are not all that right in the head. Sure, the constant struggle with the beast, until they accept it, and the more animal-like instincts and actions should be a problem in a modern society that is not all that accustomed to free spirits of any kind.
As a Japanese boy, Takashi wondered how did other Japanese Therianthropes fare in his same situation. There must be other, between the abomination of the river and the one that tried to fuck him up as a child; along Magnus, although Takashi was not sure about the distinction between Therianthropes of what kind; Takashi knew that there were others like him. Magnus has already insinuated that Takashi was of exceptional lineage something that surprised Takashi, as none of his parents carried precisely a brilliant pedigree.
Struggling with a fat corpse for a bit, Takashi ripped the corpse in two; more blood or grime was inconsequential at this point and took out the ragged pants and belt, those would be enough to make something wearable, at last until he could found some new clothes in the manor. That or Takashi would have to accustom to walk around in the buff, sure Saeko and some of the other girls would be delighted, but the rest of the pack would surely disagree and Takashi did not want to traumatize Alice, the little girl had more enough on her plate already.
Well, if anything, Takashi was happy to be such a wonderful breed Therianthrope.
Speaking of which, for what he knew, his parents were out of this particular nightmare; not sure where but Takashi would like to thought that they were safe, and the rest of his pack was in a more or less similar state. Kohta parents were overseas, Saeko´s father was the same, Morita was a ward of the state, Yuuki snorted at the idea of her parents, Alice lost hers in all this mess, Rei´s parents were alive and Igou´s were with Takashi´s parents for what they know. Saya´s parents were alive and well in the state, surely trying to set some semblance of order after the attack.
Uh, it was quite fortunate; up to a point, of course; that most of their families were safe or didn't really matter at the moment. For what Takashi could recall of the survivors that were on the yard of the Takagi´s most of them were small families with a few children here and there. Most civilians that were collaborating with the Takagis in all they could; of course, there were several leeches and idiots that have not yet realized the kind of horror that has befallen upon the city, and the rest of the country by now, and that ended up annoying everyone more than helping.
After this disaster, Takashi was sure that his pack will have to pack and leave, before anyone; be it the guards or the survivor; started to have any ideas and decided to adopt a "shoot first ask question never" policy. Tensions are high in the state long before Takashi appeared. The presence of the young Therianthrope only made the people realize even further how fucked up things really are and that has broken down a lot of minds around the state.
Now, Takashi would have loved to be confident in the idea of some kind of government rescue, but to be honest; leaving apart the copters that he saw the first day; only some broken news and the vague information of Minami-san before everything went to hell, has reached the chaotic city and none of the news spoke of anything resembling an organized rescue. If Takashi was right, there was supposedly a safe post somewhere in the center of the city. Nothing was sure and with the destruction of anything electronic that, that blasting thing in the sky has produced, the news will be even more scarce.
Takashi built for himself something akin to a ragged pants, just enough to not be naked and could back inside the manor without being shot; well, not more shot, Takashi was convinced that some of the guards would shot him and excuse themselves that Takashi was about to attack them or some shit along those lines. On a base level, Takashi could understand the guards, a monster like him was scary and the furthest it could be from them, the better. Fear was one of the most common emotions of humanity, fear was something that kept them alive but made them incredibly stupid at the same time.
With the responsibility of his pack over his shoulders and scared shitless of losing Hayashi-sensei, Takashi could understand how fear was a very powerful motivator; unfortunately, fear was working against him and that was something that only added more fuel to Takashi´s incoming stress migraine.
Sighing loudly, Takashi focused on Saeko´s scent, she was tired, so much Takashi could felt, but she was alive and relatively well. Her scent carried the traces of worry that Takashi shared along the same tense musk of barely hiding tension. Saeko was a dangerous woman; one of the reasons why Takashi loved her with all he had; and the last thing anyone needed is a furious Saeko slashing her way through anyone stupid enough to provoke her.
The pack was nervous, even at this distance, Takashi could felt it. The attack on Hayashi-sensei and the desperate defense of the state from a massive horde of Them had pushed them all to the limit. On a more positive note, it was clear that the pack was not going to relax and lost their edge, the situation was tense before, but now it was directly a disaster.
The biggest worries that Takashi had were the safety of his pack and the situation with Saya.
The pack could not be in the Takagi state, that was already on the air before any of this happened, with the transformation of Takashi and Magnus, it was clear that even if the Takagi´s knew and understood what was going on, the rest of the people around will not. The worst outcome would possible be violence, and that was something that Takashi would prefer Not to do, much less against Saya´s dad or mother, they were good people and part of the former pack of Magnus if what Saeko told Takashi was true.
Takashi frowned and stomp over way too many corpses, kicking pieces of them to the side of the road; this was going to be a nightmare to clean; there were hundreds of Them sprawled in pieces all over the road that leads to the Takagi´s and Takashi was sorry for a second about the mess that he has left on the doorsteps of the Takagi. Well, it was that or being chewed and become another more of Them, so the violence and slaughter were more than justified.
With a passing interest, Takashi observed the kind of wounds that his claws and bites left on the bodies.
After puking his guts out when the red haze passed over, Takashi swore that never again will he bite any of Them, the taste was impossible to describe, and what worse, it destroyed his sense of taste and smell, the latter being one of his biggest assets to always be on alert about possible dangers and the status of his pack.
The claws ripped Them like they were made of wet cardboard and the big and mangled chunks of body pieces would be what´s left of Takashi´s bite whenever one of Them was at the reach of his mandibles. That were some nasty natural weapons alright. Takashi knew of the dangers of his claws, but in his "war form" so to speak, when he was in the form of a humongous hybrid of man and wolf, his claws become an entirely new weapon of mass slaughtering. Also, there were an awful lot of corpses with vicious bite marks, tearing Them apart with easiness. Takashi´s fangs were another dangerous weapon, so Takashi took good note of do not even joke about biting Saeko in the throes of passion.
On a private note, Saeko was the one with the dangerous nails, if it wasn't for his healing factor, Takashi was sure that his back would be covered in scratch marks.
Takashi pushed some of the corpses out of the main entrance of the state; between Magnus and Takashi, they have forced a choke point in the metallic fence and there was a mountain of corpses on there; and managed step into the open yard of the Takagi state. Automatically, his eyes went to where his senses where picking up Saeko and she felt a wave of relief all over his body when Takashi saw Saeko leaning on the door of the state.
She was leaning on the door of the state, all her body language spoke of tiredness and her weapon was bloodied and nicked in several parts, but she was more beautiful that Takashi has ever seen her. She raised her head as soon as Takashi stepped into the yard and when she saw him she smiled, from her point of view, Takashi must look like a crazy hobo covered in blood, grime, and chunks of flesh that Takashi preferred not to think about.
Kohta was sitting on the stairs, his rifle near him, and the poor body looked as if he has run a bloody marathon, breathing jaggedly but with a savage smile in his face; Morita was sprawled on the base of the stairs, laughing between wheezes, surrounded by several corpses of Them with their heads bashed as if a spiked jackhammer had played whack-a-mole with their brains.
All around the stairs and the open yard, the picture was no less horrible. Despite the efforts of the two Therianthropes blocking all of the entrance that they could, big clusters of Them managed to slip inside and attack the tents of the survivors and the guards over the stairs to the state. The guards and Takashi´s pack had done all they could to prevent the invasion, stopping waves of Them with whatever they had at hand and they have been successful, but not without a big cost. Several guards were bitten or ripped apart by Them.
It was a bloody miracle that none of Takashi pack has fallen under the onslaught, especially in the cases of Saeko and Morita that have been on close combat with Them. The loss of a member of the pack would be devastating for the young Therianthrope that, like the rest of his pack, was still stressed about what has happened with Hayashi-sensei.
Somehow, during the first moments of the attack, the blonde bombshell of a nurse that was Marikawa-sensei, has managed to treat the head wound of Hayashi-sensei, put her on a stretcher and made a relative run to the safety of the infirmary of the state. That was the latest news that any of them had about what happened to the redhead woman, that has been attacked by the minions of that bastard of Shido.
It was supposition more than anything else, but it was more than possible that Shido hurt Hayashi-sensei as payback for the stab wound that he received from Yuuki. Yuuki was hardly a violent girl, and for her to react like that, means that something really shitty happened between her and the usual cronies of Shido. Well, it was an old rumor that the football team under Shido had done a lot of things that have been swept under the rug; all in order to keep the pristine appearance of the school intact and in the top of the country academies, or try to ignore them as childish tantrums and teenager idiocies.
None of Takashi´s pack was part of the "popular" crew precisely, the closest thing would be Saeko and she was the star of the female Kendo team, meaning that she lacked any contact with the other sports team and did have a natural dislike of Shido. It was something that the entire pack shared way before they were pack, Shido, formerly sensei, was a very slimy person way before all this zombie apocalypse befalls upon them.
"Yo", wheezed Morita from the floor. "Welcome back, bro".
"Happy to be back", smiled Takashi, extending a hand and helping the boy to get up. Tiredness was clearly visible on the body language of the mohawk-haired teenager.
Kohta was doing all he could to catch his second breath; for a chubby boy like him, all his physical exercise was quite the ordeal. In three days Kohta has already started to adopt a more healthy and physically oriented mindset, knowing full well that being fat and slow would be disastrous for the pack. In peace times, it could be permitted, in this zombie apocalypse, however, Kohta knew, with cold and pragmatic logic, that he was one of the biggest candidates to be chased and chewed down due to his own lack of stamina.
With a wave, Kohta leaned on the stone of the stairs and recovered his breath, checking how much ammo he had left and how was the rifle that he took from Rika´s apartment. Later, he would check Morita´s shotgun, but at this pace, Kohta would have to take the crossbow, something that Kohta was not all that happy about.
Takashi would have loved to embrace Saeko here and there, but covered in black blood and with chunks of flesh still hanging from his hair and shoulders, Takashi knew that right now he was as dangerous as Them. First thing was to pick up a hose and clean himself spotless. Resistant Takashi may be, tempting fate was never a good idea.
Saeko smiled, she was as tired as the others, but between the Alphas of the pack, there was the time that no words were needed, she understood and nodded. On a corner of her mind, she took a good note of how deliciously ripped her beloved was and later, clean and rested, she promised herself to enjoy another intimate session with her beloved.
That line of thought made Saeko realize something and through a fast series of thoughts piling one after another; being the Alpha of the pack was a series of responsibilities one after another; Saeko frowned, and Takashi unconsciously imitated her gesture in synchrony; before speaking with a visibly tired tone.
"Hayashi-sensei", she said to Takashi. "She was not in good condition".
"Shit", simply swore Takashi. "You well?". It was a bit of an absurd question, Takashi could pick up Saeko´s state of being from a dozen blocks away, but the gesture of being vocal; even showing that he would have loved to hug her, despite the walking risk of infection that he was known; was a method of showing care and love to his mate.
"Tired", sighed Saeko, not only speaking about physical tiredness, "angry and worried". That was a very good resume of how Takashi; and by extension, the rest of the pack; felt.
"Same with me", nodded Takashi and with a last glance, Takashi moved to the spot on the yard where a hose was located for the gardener.
Surely, he could have helped with the cleaning tasks, Takashi was one of the few, not to say the only one, that could clean the mess of corpses; in relative safety. The resistance of the Therianthropes to whatever created Them, be it a virus or a curse; at this point, Takashi believed in Santa Claus; made him the perfect candidate to move around infected zones without risk of becoming one of Them or even an unknown carrier of the whatever is in the black blood of Them.
As Takashi showered himself in cold water; good thing that the water was still running in the house, although not for much longer as the systems to replenish the water deposits were fried; the rest of his pack on the yard where recovering their breaths and preparing for the very awkward aftermath of their battle for survival.
"Another thing that is awesome but scares the shit out of me", said Morita to Saeko, as Morita helped Kohta to stand up, with his bat still at hand. The reinforced wooden bat was covered in chunks and blood.
"Hum?", raised an eyebrow Saeko.
"The telepathy like that you two share", tapped his head Morita, "lady, if a woman like you had access to my thoughts; I will be running for the hills seventy percent of the time or humping her like a rabbit", deadpanned Morita. "Especially, if she paraded around in a criminal combo of black lace thong and a white apron".
"Idiot", chuckled Kohta weakly punching Morita on the top of the head.
Saeko gasped, chuckled, blushed and wanted to protest all in one motion, but she just sighed and weakly karate chopped Morita on the top of the head, joining Kohta in his idiot comment.
Humor against the darkness. Not always works, but sometimes it helps.
The rest of the pack, those that were not combatants at all, were not, sharing that humor and after what they have discovered in a different manner, they were not entirely sure that they have anything called a sense of humor left.
Saya wanted to join the battle for the state, but she was useless with a gun or a melee weapon and she hated herself for it. Saya had coordinated all the efforts of the different groups inside of the manor, to clean up any possible infected or bunch of Them that had walked to the side wings or through windows of whatever could have happened, at the same time that made sure that none of the civilians huddling in the entrance have been bitten or had a weapon and stupid ideas.
Before all this mess, Saya and her mother had another of their "shouting matches", it was clear that they were mother and daughter and that both were stubborn and bloody geniuses. None of them wanted to admit that the situation was way over their heads and everything that they could think about was a temporary fix at best. That didn't have into consideration the bloody EMP that has screwed the entire electronics of the country, with that bullshit added to the equation, they have been practically tossed into the stone age in a blink.
With time, patience and lot of duct tape, it would be possible to recover technology, reforging boards and circuitry, perhaps in military bases; protected against such things; would be possible to recover tech, but trying to move the number of people that they had in the house into a military base was a dangerous move on its own.
Food, water, medicine, an interminable list of supplies were needed and the existences of the manor were already running dangerously low; without working freezers, food was going to spoil and fast.
Saya knew that she and his pack would soon be forced to take a decision, a decision that put her in a tremendous conundrum.
After Takashi´s transformation, something that made Saya gasp and observes astonished how Takashi and Magnus turned into animal hybrids that proceed to butcher anything at the reach of their claws. After a second of astonishment, Saya smiled savagely and shouted a deep Yes!, rip and tear, you wonderful bastards! at the top of her lungs, scaring the hell out of any of the guards and terrorized civilians that were on the verge of a breakdown at the visage of Takashi and Magnus.
Takashi; and logically, his pack will follow; would be forced to go out of the state, none of the idiots that surrounded Saya would want nothing to do with the powerful teenager, terrified to a primal level of the young Therianthrope. If she was not part of the pack, Saya will admit that she would have been as terrified that the others, but she was pack and even if she was not, those same monsters are the ones that have saved their collective asses.
If it wasn't for how they have blockaded the majority of the horde of Them in the metallic fence of the yard, the horde of Them would have overrun the guards of the stairs and chew all of them into butchered meat. Only thanks to the savage defense of Takashi and Magnus, has the state managed to survive a day more.
Saya was conscious of the origin of all this disaster; EMP non-withstanding; on his hurry to loot, payback, hit and run; Shido and his mongrels stamped the bus against one of the concrete blockades that surrounded the main access to the state. The crashed bus was a big focus of sound, expanding for miles thanks to the sudden silence that the absence of electronics has provoked in the city.
It would be the equivalent of dinging the dinner bell for all of Them in miles around.
That was only the tip of the bullshit that Shido has pulled on them all, he and his little boot-lickers had looted the infirmary, taking with them all the medicines that they could and making a run with all of it to the bus. Saya was unable to check what the heck has happened at the end with Shido, but what she knew was that Marikawa-sensei was seriously stressed.
The only other real doctor on the state was wounded as well. Knocked down in a similar manner as Hayashi-sensei, but in a lesser level, he had a nasty wound on his head but not as life-threatening as the one that Hayashi-sensei had. What was worse, was that Marikawa-sensei had nothing but what she carried with herself when they made a run from the school and Takashi raided all the pharmacies that he could when they separated the first day.
No machine in the infirmary worked thanks to the EMP, so Marikawa-sensei was forced to work only with what she had and without some of the medicines that Shido has stolen, she was not entirely convinced that she could save the life or Hayashi-sensei. The redhead professor had a cracked skull. Unfortunately, it has opened her skull and Marikawa-sensei has done all she could to clean the wound and bandage it as best as she could, but without any magnetic resonance to check up and without anything that was not common painkillers and antibiotics, she was unable to offer any guarantees that Hayashi-sensei could survive. It was a first aid treatment at best, something way far than the hospitalization that such a trauma needed, but it was all that Marikawa-sensei could do in the present circumstances.
The situation was not pretty.
Along Marikawa-sensei, Yuuki, Alice, and Zeke were in the infirmary. The woman and the dog did not want to be with the rest of the people, they felt that the pack was suffering in a sense and being together helped a bit. Shizuka was happy to have the two other and the small puppy around, with the sudden, disappear of Plushie, her beloved dog, she needed some companionship, especially when she felt that she has failed to the woman in the infirmary bed.
Alice was hugging Shizuka and Zeke was whining and rubbing the legs of Shizuka, trying to cheer the blonde woman. Yuuki, on the other hand, was torn between guilt and worry.
Yuuki blamed herself for all that has happened.
She was the one that has stabbed that bastard of Shido and because of that, Shido has taken revenge on Hayashi-sensei. That was something that was eating Yuuki on the inside. She was not a fighter, never was, but Shido deserved that stab and Yuuki would have liked to kill the bastard, not just injure him. Sadly, Yuuki missed and Hayashi-sensei has paid the price.
The orange haired teenager stood on the side of the infirmary, still keeping the knife in a leather pouch that Magnus has borrowed her to do walk around with a knife in the had constantly. She had taken the knife in the house of Rika Minami, contrary to Saeko or Miyamoto, Yuuki lacked anything resembling combat abilities. Yuuki has helped around the Takagi's with her sewing skills, she was a very good seamstress, mostly thanks to the absolute lack of anything resembling a positive parental trait and having to look out for herself since she was born practically.
Guilt exuded from her practice in waves, she kept herself a bit apart from Alice, Shizuka, and Zeke, observing the unconscious redhead professor.
Yuuki, Saeko, and the unconscious professor were in love; if she dared to say that word; with the young Therianthrope that saved their lives at the school and that has been doing nothing but constantly protecting them from Them. Saya was also sending some mixed signals, showing attraction to Takashi, but at the same time, keeping it at a family/sibling level.
Perhaps, Yuuki would admit, that in her case, her attraction to Takashi was a very physical one. Takashi was the kind of bad boy that she dreamed about, in fact, she never confessed that she had a copy of his spectacular amateur adult video that has granted her so many fantasies. Yuuki always thought that one of those days she was going to confront the strange boy around the school about it, but she always put it on the back of her mind and when the shit hit the fan, it loses all importance.
Then Takashi becomes a freaking werewolf of some sort, a perfect male specimen that treated her with consideration and that blushed at her flirting. Heck, Takashi was bloody perfect for Yuuki, he ticked all her boxes. And then she went and fucked it up, royally, but stabbing Shido and igniting the fuse that ended up in the attack on Hayashi-sensei and the attack of that fucking horde of Them over the manor.
The attack over manor has left her with some confusing emotions rolling inside of her. Contrary to the rest of the people around, well, except Saya that shouted at the top of her lungs her support over the two furred savior monsters that had appeared in front of the horde of Them, roaring at Them and cleaving a bloody path among Them like it was nothing.
The primal power that Takashi show, the bestial, powerful and domination roar of Takashi shocked her and she will admit that the black fur of Takashi was a treat on its own. In truth, Yuuki did not want to ponder very much on the idea of being deliciously taken by the werewolf-like she was his favorite bitch. That position, by the way, was taken by Saeko. The purple haired woman was Takashi´s number one, that was an absolute truth, they were fucking adorable and Yuuki had no problems in helping Saeko to give the first step and turn them into the bloody item that they were since day much, as much as they liked to beat around the bush.
Being, possibly, the most open-minded of the women that longed for Takashi, Yuuki had no problem in sharing Takashi. Not that it was all that uncommon; dozens of important men of business and politics had wives and mistress, as much as they would like to appear otherwise, all the papers of the country loved to tear them apart when one of those scandals peeked its head over. In Japan such things were highly frowned upon and the more discretely those businesses were conducted, the best for all of them,
Also, Yuuki was the most sexually experienced of the women after Takashi and with just a glance at his demigod like body; and the screams of unbridled pleasure of Saeko during the night they passed on Marikawa-sensei home; and the video that she treasured and Yuuki was certain that Takashi had steam enough for all of them and some more. With kind of inhuman stamina that a monster; in the good sense; like Takashi could possess, unless one of the lasses after him become superhuman as well, one woman is Not going to be enough.
Still, Yuuki feared that she has screwed her chances and now she was no longer part of the pack. That a thought that scared a lot more than she thought at the beginning. The pack was a very comfortable and nice sensation, the sensation and absolute knowledge that you are part of something bigger than you, that no matter what you are never alone and someone will always have your back. For most of her life, Yuuki has been kind of alone, her parents were disastrous and she becomes a bit of a bitch to survive, but within the three days that she has been part of Takashi´s pack, her entire worldview changed.
That and the zombie apocalypse at the doors, that also helped to change the tune, and fast.
The door of the infirmary opened and Takashi entered the room, calling the attention of all inside.
"Takashi-nii!", shouted Alice smiling at him, and running to him to hug him.
"Ey, Alice, you okay?", asked Takashi hugging the small child, but looking over her shoulder to Shizuka and Yuuki, sending that same message to them but without vocalizing it.
Both Shizuka and Yuuki nodded, answering the unasked question, but Takashi did notice that Yuuki did avert her gaze, she did look stressed and Takashi would have asked her what´s going on, but he had Alice in his arms. Raising the girl, but petting Zeke for a bit before; that puppy was way more clever than people gave him credit for; Takashi carried Alice to where Hayashi-sensei was resting on a stretcher. She did not look all that bad, in all, she did look as if she was sleeping, but the bandages in her head spoke of a completely different picture.
"Marikawa-sensei?" called Takashi to the blonde woman. "Please tell me, what´s the problem with Hayashi-sensei?"
Shizuka sighed and moved at the side of Takashi, pointing to the head of the unconscious woman.
Behind them, Zeke was nibbling on Yuuki shoes trying to gain the attention of the stressed teenager that already knew of the status of the redhead teacher on the infirmary bed. Zeke could feel the stress in Yuuki; and the barely contained cold rage of Takashi, but the dog knew that he was safe from that, however, the cretins that had poked the sleeping dragon were dog shit, perhaps literally.
"The impact on her head fractured her skull", resumed Shizuka, trying to hide her emotions. Right now, she would have loved to have Fluffy around, he was always wonderful support.
"I have cleaned, treated and bandaged the wound, but with all the machines fried and only with the supplies that I carried with me, I can guarantee that she is going to be okay", sighed Marikawa-sensei. "She needs rest and something stronger than the basic painkillers and soft medicines that I have given to her".
Takashi put a hand over the shoulder of the blonde bombshell, she can be an airhead sometimes, but from time to time, she shined brightly, this was one of those occasions. Takashi could understand why Magnus loved the blonde nurse and Takashi knew very well, that she was a treasure in this apocalyptic times. Not only for her medical knowledge, something that was going to be seriously scarce from then on but for her naturally cheerful and upbeat attitude.
"You have done all you could sensei", smiled Takashi to the woman. "I am very grateful for it".
"What are you going to do Takashi?", said Yuuki, weakly wrestling the small pup from her shoes, the little beast has been chewing the sides of her sneakers and those are a good pair of shoes, she did not have others around precisely. The question was a bit deeper than it looks, but Takashi was a bit focused right now in the redhead woman and did not analyze it too much.
"I am going to hunt whoever did this and made them suffer", simply stated Takashi, covering Alice ears with his hands. The girl did not need to know the kind of monster that he was going to become. Let her be as innocent as she could during all this disaster.
"Takashi-kun", softly said Shizuka and Takashi smiled at the woman.
Shizuka did not like that, that smile was very similar to the ones that Rika had from time to time when a situation on her work become a complete clusterfuck and she had to see something innocent paying the price. It was the same smile that Rika had when she had to shut down a dangerous criminal, hiding the mixture of guilt for taking a life and the pleasure of taking down a bloody bastard for good.
Was Takashi a monster?.
NO. For Shizuka that was the obvious answer. The nurse knew the boy way before all this, seeing a notable young man with a very bad luck in his life, trying to make a living in an environment that was all but hostile for someone like him. And when the situation reversed and the environment was perfect for Takashi to survive and to thrive, free of the burdens that society had put on him; Takashi did save all of the people he could, even if that only granted him more headaches.
Shizuka did not understand much about Therianthropes and all that, so far, the only Therianthrope she knew was a wonderful teenager that was trying his best to endure the responsibilities of keeping his friends and lover as safe as he could, even worrying about their safety and; if what see at the entrance of the state was true; Takashi even abandoned his humanity to become a monster and took the entire avalanche of Them on his own and that other bear-man.
The nurse did not know Magnus and Fluffy were the same people, for what she knew, Magnus was another guard of the Takagi, but she was grateful nonetheless to the recently appeared new Therianthrope that has fought with Takashi and possibly saved their lives. Shizuka, thought of seeking the man later for thanking him, but Hayashi-sensei need all her attention and she could not distract her from the wounded woman.
Takashi passed Alice to Shizuka, even if Alice was not much in the mood to abandon the arms of her big brother, however, Takashi whispered sweet nothings to the little girl, assuring her that he was not going anywhere and that he will be back with medicine for Hayashi-sensei. The small girl was not all that convinced but Takashi was determined to save the redhead woman.
Shikuka and Alice stood in the infirmary; Zeke jumping at Alice to distract her with his puppy antics; keeping guard over the wounded Hayashi-sensei. Takashi exited the room accompanied by Yuuki, but the orangette teenager stood a couple of steps at his back, showing a peculiarly odd demure attitude. Yuuki was a bold girl, seeing her like this was not her usual mood and even Takashi, who was particularly weak to her teasing, raised an eyebrow at the girl.
"Something on your mind, Miku?", Takashi had not all with himself about how to deal with the orange haired girl.
Although, Takashi was one of those that understood very well, how shitty college rumors were. Still, Takashi knew that the woman was a very bold and sexually open girl, in those days where Takashi could smell everything in a hundred miles, Takashi could smell male musk on her, usually the similar as that Tsuwhoever that had taken a possessive mind over the beautiful lass.
"This is all my fault", Miku whispered. "This is all because I acted like a crazy bitch and stabbed Shido, Hayashi-sensei, and all that died outside were my fault".
"Bullshit", simply stated Takashi, thundering his neck, his transformations are something that he had not mastered yet and he couldn't but feel a bit stiff and uncomfortable whenever he altered his entire physical structure and anatomy. How in blazes managed Magnus to do it that easily baffled Takashi.
Yuuki blinked a pair of times, giving time to Takashi to turn around and walk in front of her, raising her chin; she was smaller than him and looking at her in the eyes. Yuuki´s brain made some side notes about how Takashi was an absolute stud and had the most beautiful brown-golden eyes that she had ever seen.
"Get that idea out of your pretty head", speak in clear and warm voice Takashi to Yuuki and Takashi should have realized that Yuuki was almost melting in his hand.
"Shido´s stabbing at your hand was nothing but years of your inner emotions about the man finally getting a way out".
To be honest, Takashi did not give a fuck about Shido and his little minions, they all could die and Takashi would not even raise an eyebrow. Shido was infamous way before all this begun and the little cult that he has built around his persona and how all the instincts of Takashi told him that, that was up to no good, made Takashi unconsciously distrust the man.
That and the fact that he did not lose a chance to let his minions pick up on Kohta and pretty much harass whoever the hell they wanted, in the name of academic excellence.
"I am sure that Kohta, Saya or even Rei would have cheered you", chuckled Takashi, "but even if you attacked him, what he did when he attacked Hayashi-sensei, looted anything that was not bolted to the ground and screw the blockade outside of the state, do speak ill of the fucker and now, I had a very, very, good reason to hunt the man and tear him a new one".
Takashi felt Yuuki´s hands around his face and before he could continue talking, Yuuki has forced his head down and has claimed his lips with a frenzied kiss with a liberal application of tongue. There was hunger in the kiss of Yuuki, she was pushing her tongue inside his mouth, exploring him and playfully licking his tongue with her own, as she hugged Takashi and fondled the muscled of his back with desire written all over it.
Distracted by the sudden action of Yuuki, Takashi reacted by instincts and hugged the girl back; squeezing her bubble butt to her delight; and kissing back, easily overpowering her tongue and becoming the one that applied a liberal application of tongue into the delicious task of making out, quite heavily, with the orange haired teenager.
For a minute, they just enjoy each other, letting the lust of hormonal teenager to take control and let her forget about the horrid world around, and just on the vicious kiss of their partner. Biology cut short their passion, they still need to breath after all, and a thick string of saliva connected their mouths. For a bit none of them were able to say a thing, still dazed by the wonderful sensations that they have felt in the passionate kiss.
"Oh, that has been...", Takashi was at a loss of words.
"Just the beginning", huskily whispered Yuuki at Takashi, licking his chin, and softly biting his ear at the time that she massaged the eight-pack of Takashi. "I don't care that you are an item with Saeko, you and I are going to tango, hard, long and without lube".
Takashi simply kissed her again, making Yuuki moan in approval, but much to her displeasure, Takashi cut the making out session short.
"Yuuki, you are sin made flesh", admitted Takashi, "but as much as I want, really, really, want to make love with you, I have to save Hayashi-sensei first".
"Go get them Wolfie", smiled Yuuki, kissing Takashi one last time with real tenderness and not just passion. "Saeko and I need to talk anyway".
Takashi felt a bit scared after hearing that before he started to walk to where the rest of the pack were to inform of his hunting of Shido; not only for vengeance but for all the supplies that Takashi could carry back; and to give time to the Takagi to make their heads about the pack.
That was a conversation that Takashi was not all that eager to have.
The Takagi knew what a pack is and with the EMP frying the electronic systems of the city, thing are going to get even worse, and with the pack around, it was clear that lots of the survivors are going to feel second guesses about what to do and why do they have to live with monsters like Takashi around.
The very same monsters that have saved their lives, but that was something that did not seem to land on their hands. Fear, rage, and anger are way more comfortable, Takashi could understand that up to a point, as Therianthrope his rage was quite overwhelming and a sensation that provided him with focus and a very empowering sensation.
Quite the opposite about the incoming conversation between Yuuki and Saeko, that was something that froze his blood. Two women like that having a discussion about him, that could only go well; irony heavily intended.
Heaven or hell, that seems to be Takashi´s life on these days.