Riddle story of zombies?

Note: Time to remake this whole mess! Isuke x Haruki, Sumireko x Banba. They do not know eachother yet, they are all adults. Technically I believe in the show Isuke and Haruki are adults already, but considering this will be dealing with death and zombies Sumireko and Banba will be aged up. There will be no nsfw in this story although it is rated M. The only reason for the mature rating is due to horror and potentially graphic descriptions of violence or light gore and angst.

I'm not comfy writing nsfw with characters who are canonically minors, regardless of them aged up so if you expect this story to go there go elsewhere. Anyways, Haruki is 20, Isuke 21 Sumireko 19 Banba 18. BTW I will not be writing Hitsugi Kirigaya bcuz im deeply uncomfortable with the trope she represents of the 'l*li character' and i hate it with my entire being. As i grew older this series aged like spoiled milk, I'll keep the small parts that I liked and aren't painfully questionable and weird and throw the rest out ty.

Oh and here's my quick headcanons and own interpretation of these characters and how I decided to write them:

Haruki: Butch lesbian she/they (20 y/o)

Isuke: Femme lesbian She/Her (21 y/o)

Sumireko: Femme lesbian She/They (19 y/o)

Mahiru: Sapphic (unprecise label) She/They (18 y/o)

Shin'ya: Butch lesbian He/They (19 y/o, although the body is 18)

If y'all are confused about pronouns, educate yourselves! Peace.

Time: ~6pm | Date: 2025/09/13

"A strange virus seems to be spreading at a rapid pace across the country, please make sure to stay inside. The virus has reports of turning people violent, it would be best to barricade your house and wait until the army arri-" The news reporter's voice was cut short as the woman watching the TV quickly turned it off. Had it not been for the man shouting as if lacking any sort of volume control, maybe she would have listened further.

"OY! Sagae! C'm'here now! What do you think you're doing slacking off? Get out there and help people" the staff sergeant of the squad was known to be ruthless and quite the dick, but what else would you expect? At least he hadn't decided to make her do some stupid workout as punishment for catching up with the new's channel, too much going on at the moment to worry about that it seems. Something she could understand.

"Yes Sir, right away, Sir!" Although she was bothered by the way he spoke to her, she straightened her shoulders and followed orders. She knew better than to give attitude at this point in her life.

Now, when it comes to context for who exactly this woman is, her name is Sagae Haruki. Her decision to work in the army wasn't one of freewill, as you'd find is the case for a lot of people working the army. You see, her family consists of multiple siblings and a very sick mother whose medicine is quite expensive. As the oldest, she found it her responsibility to take care of her family. Barely at 10 she was already finding work in any way she could. Raking leaves, babysitting, delivering journals. As she grew older, she even looked into shadier places that allowed very young workers under the table. Although, as hard as she worked, she would find that her efforts were near fruitless. Money was hard to come by and went as soon as it came on every essentials she had to afford. That's when it happened, 2 years ago to be exact. The army was recruiting and promising countless scholarships and money. Considering she hadn't been in school due to working, work was getting increasingly hard to find and serving the army seemed like the best option. Money, schooling, experience on your CV.

Army became a bitter savior, or so she thought. Being away from her family and leaving it in the care of her sibling Natsu was a horribly difficult decision, but it had to be made. Or so she felt.

"Then get prepared already! The virus' been said to make people lose it and go as far as to kill one another. Though I know you 'nuff to say this; If I say retreat, you retreat. Don't care if ya think you can save these people my men aren't goin' on a suicide mission, got it?"

"Yes sir!" She wasted no time in repeating herself, he seemed in a bad mood just knowing he was dealing with her so she wasn't gonna make it harder on him. The sergeant wasted no time leaving the room to let her change. Once Haruki heard the door click, she changed out of her black tank top to instead put on a fresh white one. She then grabbed a hair tie, grasping at whatever hair she could to put it up. It wasn't much, but it was still quite a lot for someone in the army. She knew she'd have to cut it short again soon. Better than when she had shaved it the first time joining, not that she minds short hair. She actually ended up quite enjoying it.

Finishing dressing up and putting on her iron cap boots, she quickly grabbed a box of pocky and her trusty combat gloves. On her way out, she glanced into the mirror if only for a few seconds.

I hope mom's okay.
I hope everyone is.

On that thought, she left the room.

"Ok shit-loads! Some of you all will be assigned areas to protect! Now, some man by the name of Inukai has some business with us and has requested personal protection." Once again, volume control was out of the question. Mr. Sergeant just seemed to love screaming, or so Haruki started to assume after working under him for so long.

Yeah... business my ass. This has got to be some rich bastard who can buy his own fucking personal guard. Shit's not fair. People without money will have less chance of surviving... At least my family's... safe. Or I guess they should be. Can I trust what the upper guys told me?

!*!*!*!*!

"Tch This sound like a joke" the voice speaking sounds arrogant, filled with obvious disregard for the situation that seems to be causing havoc to the rest of the world. The voice comes from this woman laying on the couch, her hand extended above her head as she stares at her nail polish drying.

Her name? Inukai Isuke. Unknown to most that she is Inukai Eisuke's daughter, or well adopted daughter. She is spoiled rotten, with very little care of how she gets what she wants. To her, the expensiveness of something she desires can easily be determined by the way it comes to the expense of an actual person. Adds to the worth, she says.

After all, money is just money, she already has all she could want. It only feels satisfying if she gets to have it instead of someone else, or to prove herself.

"I wonder when Papa and Mama will be back from work, with all this joke about the apocalypse Isuke is a little worried.." Speaking in third person isn't unusual for Isuke, who often tends to detach herself from expressing more vulnerable emotions. You'll catch her talk in third person when worried, or truly upset, or sincerely bored. Other than when she's acting out this selfish appearance.

Looking back at the TV, a frown found its way to her face.

"Mmm~ It has to be fine! It all sounds like a poor joke anyways! They talk about it like it's a zombie apocalypse..."

Her attention goes back to her nails, and noticing her nails finally dried off she decides to go into her room. Although, as she makes her way there, her phone starts to ring.
The caller ID shows 'Mama', and that's all it takes for her to answer with excitement.

But, before she could speak, Eisuke started going on a tangent

-Isuke, stay home. Mama called someone to come and keep you safe. What you saw on the news is real. A person from the army will be there to protect you. I asked for one of the best soldiers. Stay safe. Mama will be back for you soon!-

Isuke didn't even get a chance to speak, her mama had hung up.

Ding Dong... Ding- ding- di-di-di d-d-d-dd-d-d-d-d-

"Shut the hell up! Unless you want Isuke to cut your head off!" Frustrated and overwhelmed in the worst ways, Isuke storms towards the front door and looks through the small window. The mosaic that she usually loves the aesthetic of so much for the first time in her life becomes nothing but an annoying bother.
Who the hell was behind that door?
Then it clicked, it's probably that one soldier guy or whatever. So, with a groan, Isuke opens the door.

"Yo." Haruki spoke with a pocky in her mouth that threatened to fall right on the ground, which honestly made Isuke cringe with displeasure. There better not be crumbs on the floor once she steps in.

What kind of 'best' is this? This girl looked like an idiot, a poor one at that. Not only did she look like she was put through boy's scouts, the one ounce of femininity on her was the plain, chipped, and cheap looking nail polish that didn't even fit her one bit.

Ew.
As much as she tried very hard to think so, something deep inside her head couldn't deny that apart from those horribly done nails, she was fairly attractive.

"the name is Sagae Haruki, been put on duty to protect you durin' this whole uh... apocalyptic shitfest.. if you can call it that" an awkward kick of her foot, to which Isuke immediately freaks out.

"No boots indoors, you're gonna put dirt everywhere! Do you want Isuke to kill you?" Isuke's smile quickly turned threatening, not one ounce of kindness hid in there. Only the icy promise of likely getting stabbed if you took one wrong step.

How could her parents hire such a... dirty.. Ugh. She couldn't even find the right words to describe the horrid mess of a person she now had to deal with.

"I don't believe it! How could they! Argh!" she's incredibly irritated with her mama and papa, now apparently throwing a fit.

The sight didn't impress Haruki, who honestly didn't expect much better from some rich asshole. Of course she'd be looking after some spoiled rich girl who throws fits over a little bit of mud.
People are out there dying but nooo the mud on the stupid little carpet is what matters.

With a scoff, she makes her way into the house and completely ignores the tantrum.
This upsets Isuke greatly, who's used to having the attention she desires. Especially if she's being a brat about it.

"Are you serious!? So you're just going to stay there and watch me?" Why did mama even think she needs a stupid body guard!? She doesn't want this random weirdo in the house.

Ignoring the endless complaints, Haruki speaks her own thoughts while walking around.

"Damn you must have lotsa money huh, fancy lookin' place you got there."

Oh now money was a topic Isuke couldn't get enough of.

"Isuke loves money~ Isuke would also like it if you'd stop looking at everything! What's your deal!? Never seen a damn painting like this before?!" Her annoyance comes back fairly quickly as she notices Haruki looking at every furniture and decoration laying around

"Yeah.. I guess that's pretty much it."

Haruki didn't see the point in lying about it, she'd never seen such big paintings and especially not so many fancy looking decorations. Was there even a point to all this stuff being around? As Haruki reaches to touch a sculpture, Isuke interrupts her with a harsh snappy tone.

"Don't you dare touch this with your dirty poor hands."

"Wow. Just wow. Alright then oh grand Isuke-Sama." Even with all these years spent in the army, Haruki still finds herself struggling to watch her mouth sometimes. It was almost second nature to give Isuke back the same vibes she was giving.

"You're really starting to irritate me~" Once more, the smile on Isuke's face didn't hold warmth, it was venom. One that would make Haruki google how much time she has left.
Yet, that thrilled her some.
She just couldn't help it.

"Ok then Isuke-sama What should we do, because as far as I know, you're stuck with me for a while so we might as well get along, dontchya think" The words were spoken with the faintest amount of smugness woven into them.

It pissed Isuke off.
But she also found herself drawn to it.
Felt challenged by it.

"Nothing. We do nothing." she answers back, letting herself fall back onto the couch and crossing her legs.

Nothing.
It was a test, of sorts.
How long would it take for Haruki to break the game.

Haruki understood it, even if no words about it being a game were said.
An unspoken tension, a secret game.
Who would fold first?

"Alright, nothing it is."

With that, she let herself fall back next to Isuke on the couch- much to Isuke's discontent.

Nothing.
What a luxury doing nothing is, something the both of them would soon realize.