Author Notes: As before, I have no claim to either Fallout: New Vegas, or High School of the Dead. As before, a big thanks to Drgyen and Inconspicuous Llama for their beta work!
Saeko stood over the bleeding man, and felt deeply confused. The blade of her katana had cut through the cheap steel of her opponent's machete far easier than the bones of the suddenly unarmed man's limbs. She'd had to put a substantial amount of force behind her last two swings, severing her enemy's left and right arms. As he had fallen at her feet, trying to staunch the bleeding from his right forearm with his left stump while frantically attempting to scramble away from her, Saeko had felt a wave of arousal so strong that she'd nearly collapsed. She hadn't felt so good since the morning at the shrine, when Takeshi had accepted her vicious nature, proving her attractiveness to her even while encouraging her desire for blood. But, that morning had left her glowing, full of self-confidence and strength; this latest encounter should have been at least as good, as it was her first time killing a real human, not to mention successfully defending her friends and companion! Instead, her joy turned sour as she saw the disgust on Kohta's face, and the fear. Her smile disappeared, and with it, the sexual and physical pleasure of inflicting pain on the foe.
She looked back down at her victim; he'd stopped trying to move away, and his breathing was beginning to slow. His skin began to turn pale even as she watched. Saeko sighed. Her father had taught her a warrior's code of honor, and the man at her foot had once been a warrior. Readjusting her hold on the katana's grip, she reached down and grabbed the lower rim of the motorcycle helmet that covered her enemy's head. Without paying any heed to the choking scream of pain he made, the last Busujima yanked her foe to his knees, before throwing his head back down towards the asphalt. The kneeling man moaned one last time in pain, before her sword detached his head from his neck, sending the freed skull still in its helm bouncing across the Mojave sands.
"He hadn't even washed his neck. How vulgar." Saeko calmly mused to herself.
Turning away from the mutilated corpse, Saeko was unsurprised to find the strange woman behind her. She'd clearly been watching for some time, and had seen the beheading. "Can I help you?" Saeko asked politely, in her accented English.
The strange American woman smiled. "Ah, so Kohta isn't the only English speaker! I thought you were paying too much attention to our conversations!" Her toothy grin revealed teeth stained by tobacco. Without any sort of change in her expression, the Courier abruptly changed the topic "Very nice sword-work there. You got right under his guard before he even realized you were moving."
The brief respectful nod, the nod of a craftsman recognizing a skilled act of labor, which the other woman gave her, further confused Saeko. Carefully schooling her face to display no sign of her internal distress, Saeko maintained the smooth self-assured exterior that her honor demanded as she contemplated the woman's words. Was she simply complementing her skill, one warrior to another? Or, had she seen the same glee that had sickened Kohta so? With another toothy grin, the Courier wandered away from the swordswoman, gently ambling towards the boy-soldier, who was crouched over his first kill, desperately trying to not throw up.
As Saeko watched the Courier raise Kohta to his feet, and rebuild his shattered self-image, she pondered Min Farshaw. She had shot first, and had forced the entire group into a potentially deadly situation; on the other hand, she had also prevented the not-THEM from overwhelming the puny defenses that her comrades had erected. She had also given them valuable information, and even now was helping Rei get medical care by transporting the injured girl back to whatever passed for civilization in this baking hellhole.
As Saya and Kohta embraced one another, Saeko thought about the desire, the fundamental need of humanity to not be alone. As she thanked the Courier graciously for a bottle of water, she recalled the feeling of separation that had cloaked her during her last year of school. All the other students, scurrying like so many insects, all ignorant of her true nature! She felt so much greater than all the puny boys and girls that surrounded her, for none could have stood against her had she decided to drop the mask of stoicism! Yet, like a leper, she had stood alone, apart from the teeming herd of humanity that had swarmed through the school halls before disappearing down the torn throats of THEM. Only Takeshi had ever approached her, an irregularity in that world. This world, however, was different. If even a tenth of those who clawed survival from the post-apocalyptic maw that the Mojave seemed to be had the same attitude as Min, then she, Saeko, no longer stood alone! And, if even a fiftieth part of the world had the same bloody skill, the same lust for battle as the Courier, then she, far from being alone, stood amongst her peers!
Her comrades, aside from Kohta, didn't have the same understanding of the world that she did. While the rest of the school sat paralyzed with dread as they listened to THEM feed via intercom, Saeko had stood calmly, and felt a rising euphoria in her soul as she retrieved her training weapon from her locker in the dojo. The End of Days had broken her chains, in a way that nobody in her group could possibly understand. Kohta had an inkling of the true bliss of power, but he was too frightened of it. "I'm weak too…" She muttered as she trudged along the road towards Novac. Up ahead, she saw a pair of rough looking men lounging against a battered fence, bantering with a woman wearing a straw hat and bloodstained shirt. Seeing the pistols hanging from their belts, Saeko checked her sword, making sure that it could emerge at a moment's notice, to once more taste blood.
As she grasped the hilt of her sword, she noticed the Courier shaking her head and glaring at her. Saeko exhaled heavily, before stepping back and releasing her weapon. Min walked out in front of the group, past the fuming swordswoman, with her arms at her sides, far away from the hatchet on her belt and the repeater on her back. Fortunately, neither were necessary; the men greeted her, and the woman began to talk to the Courier, apparently about prices. Did these people truly use bottlecaps as currency? "Apparently" Saeko thought, as Min counted out a number of shiny bits of metal, the bulk of which she gave to the woman, who apparently was the doctor they'd come to see. Her bloodstained garb didn't fill Saeko with confidence, but no better option had presented itself.
The Courier and the doctor shook hands, before walking away from one another, the doctor away into town, Min back towards the group. The two leather-clad men followed her, and took over litter duty from the visibly relieved bearers. Their gentle walk and firm grip of the metallic stretcher betrayed great familiarity with orderly work, suggesting that the doctor had no shortage of business.
"All right, Kohta and Saeko," Min began. "You are the only two English speakers in this group, which means that one of you needs to go with Rei, while the other needs to come with me."
Saeko wondered why it was necessary to split up. "Min-san, what advantage is there in dividing into two groups? Rei is our comrade; wouldn't it be proper for us all to be with her?"
Min seemed to have been expecting that question. "I'm glad you asked! I paid the doctor for the use of one of her rooms, as well as for Rei's treatment. However, her hired room is not large enough for all of you to stay there. So, two of you, including one English speaker, are going to go, to keep an eye on Rei, and to be there if she wakes up. Everybody else is going to come with me to the hotel by the dinosaur, where we can rent another room. So, who's going where?"
Takeshi turned to Saeko "Saeko-san, I'd like you to go with Min-san. While I trust her, I don't trust the people in this town. I think that you'd be better in closer spaces like a hotel than Kohta would be." Turning to Kohta, the young leader continued. "I don't mean to slight you, Kohta, but I'd like you to help me keep watch over Rei."
Kohta assured Takeshi that he'd be happy to keep watch over Rei, and Takeshi accepted his agreement at face value; Saeko noticed the reluctant tone of his consent, and smiled as Kohta's eyes drifted towards Saya, who was pretending not to notice him. Kohta's eyes snapped back to Takeshi. "We need more ammunition." Kohta noted in a professional tone. "If Saeko-san is going with Min-san, please make sure to bring that to her attention."
Saeko nodded, and with that, the group split apart. Takeshi and Kohta followed the litter, weapons slung over shoulders, while Saeko, Saya, Shizuka, and Alice followed Min as she hiked towards the dinosaur statue that towered over the small town.
As the small group approached the run-down motel that formed the nucleus of the settlement, Saeko caught up to the Courier, having to jog briefly to match the quick strider. "Min-san, is there any place in town where I can purchase ammunition for my comrades' weapons?"
Farshaw slowed, to Saeko's relief. "Yeah, in the belly of yon great lizard, there's a small general store run by a man named Cliff Barscoe; he should have more than enough ammunition for even Kohta. Tell you what: While I'm securing lodging, how about you go and deal with Mr. Barscoe?" Saeko nodded, informed the rest of the group about the change in plan, and asked her comrades to follow Min until she returned.
Crossing the courtyard as her allies disappeared into the motel's office, Saeko took a moment to look up at the sky. The once-vibrant blue had begun to darken as the hours had passed, and the sun now hung above the western horizon. The eastern sky had already begun to molt into indigo, and the one cloud still hanging in the south had acquired a vibrant orange corona. Despite the six o'clock hour, the sun's heat still beat down remorselessly on the parched desert, slamming into Saeko's still-tender skin. Looking down at the jangling bag full of bottle caps that Min had thrown at her as she walked away, Saeko wondered if there'd be enough money to buy a hat, or some clothing better suited to the arid wastes.
She walked up the rickety wooden stairs, and opened the door into the dinosaur. As music wafted out from the interior, Saeko stepped through the frame, and stood for a moment to let her eyes adjust to the dim light. As she stood in the daylight, staring into the dingy room, an overly cheerful voice boomed out from behind a barely visible counter. "Hey, welcome! You're just in time to buy a t-rex! You got here at an excellent time; they're going fast!"
Frowning, Saeko's eyes finally revealed a black man standing behind a now-visible counter, wearing the manic smile of a merchant desperate to make a sale. Remembering the lessons her father had taught her about dealing with those who buy and sell, Saeko strode forward, with her most aristocratic expression on display and each step a claim on the territory she occupied. "Mr. Barscoe? I have not come to buy a 't-rex', unless such an object can be discharged from a firearm. I am here to acquire supplies for my comrades, specifically ammunition and clothing. Do you stock such items, in addition to clutter?"
As the powerful young woman strode forward, the merchant backed away slightly, as if pushed by an undeniable pressure. His hollow smile still pulled at his lips, but it seemed almost completely detached from the hunted expression that the rest of his face had adopted. "Well, yeah, I have plenty of ammunition of all types, but I don't have any clothing for sale, except for a hat a traveler left here by accident. You can have it for… Five caps?"
Saeko lifted an eyebrow. "Three" she stated, in her most bored voice, as if such a price was an incontrovertible fact. She accompanied her warm-up offer with an icy look that cowed the shopkeeper.
"Ah, sure! Here you go!" Cliff gently pushed a battered grey billed cap with attached goggles across the counter. Without bothering to hand over the caps, Saeko decided to begin bargaining in earnest.
"What caliber ammunition do you have in stock?"
"Well…" The proprietor of the converted gift shop pulled a grubby, much annotated, inventory from his shirt pocket "take a look."
Saeko gazed at the somewhat greasy sheet of paper in her hand, and gently unfolded it. The word "AMMO" was written in ink across the top of the paper, with two columns of numbers beneath it. The first was the type of ammunition, called "TYPE", and the second was the attendant prices, noted as "CAPS". Scanning down the list, she found the 12-gauge ammunition that Takeshi used with his Ithaca shotgun as well as the 9mm rounds that Saya's Lugar used, but not the 7.62 mm rounds that Rei used and Kohta needed. "Do you stock any 7.62 ammunition?" Saeko asked, looking up at Cliff through her bangs. He relaxed slightly. "No, sorry, they're almost completely unheard of in the Mojave." Saeko nodded absently, and looked back down at the prices. The 9mm rounds were cheap, only two caps per bullet, but the 12-gauge was much more expensive, at twelve caps per shell. Min had only given her a limited number of caps.
"How much longer will you be open?" inquired Saeko.
"I close up at nine-thirty. Come back whenever!"
Saeko left the dinosaur statue with her new hat pulled firmly down over her long purple hair, three caps the lighter, and walked back down the wooden stairs. Saya was standing on the second floor balcony of the hotel, and waved down at Saeko, before entering the room directly behind her. Saeko soon followed her comrade into the motel.
Two beds occupied most of the space in the rundown space, and a variety of chairs and a table took up much of the rest. From the bathroom at the far end of the room, Shizuka's poor singing could be heard. Alice lay on the most distant bed, dead to the world. Saya paced across the room, clearly irritated about something. 'Perhaps she's worried about Kohta-kun's virtue?' a laughing voice echoed through Saeko's mind, drawing a slight smile to her lips. Min, the one paying for the room, was sitting on the least disreputable of the chairs by the table; in front of her, two disassembled pistols lay, their components spread across the scarred wood.
"Oh, hi Saeko!" Min greeted her without looking up from her examination of the pistols' innards. "You're back just in time. I think that Saya was about to explode from having nobody to talk to." The Courier laughed, before looking up at the swordswoman. "Nice hat, by the way."
"Why, thank you, Min-san. My skin isn't used to this much sun; I felt like more protection was in order."
The Courier smiled at the pink sunburns across the younger woman's cheekbones and nose. "Well, at least your ridiculously long hair protected the back of your neck just fine!"
"My hair is not overly long! Just because my hair isn't boyishly short doesn't make it ridiculous."
Min visibly suppressed her amusement. "Anyway, I don't see you carrying any munitions. Did Cliff not have any to sell to poor little you?"
Saeko shook her head "He had plenty of ammunition, but not the type that Kohta needs. And the ammunition that Takeshi uses is going to be expensive." A slight frown marred her still-pale brow. "On the topic of finances, what do you want in exchange for the money you have given us so far? I appreciate your generosity, but it isn't right to take advantage of your hospitality."
The Courier grinned at that last bit. "Oh, Saeko, you are going to become a great friend of mine! For example, tomorrow you and I are going out gecko hunting!"
For lack of a better response, Saeko nodded. Min turned away, and reassembled the two pistols with amazing speed.
Turning back to the swordswoman, Min pointed at the smaller of the two. "This is a 9mm pistol I took off the coyote-wearing man back out in the desert; I have seventeen bullets for it. The other is a 10mm pistol, which came from the legionnaire you so helpfully disarmed." Min waited for a moment, waiting for something; Saeko stared back patiently. Heaving a sigh of annoyance, Min continued. "I only have three bullets for it. The 9mm uses the same load as Saya's pistol. I'm going to give the 9mm pistol to Kohta the next time we meet. The 10mm pistol, I'm giving to you to sell, along with the ammunition. Along with your share of the profit of tomorrow's hunt, the money I gave you, and whatever other money we can make, you'll have enough to reequip your group. After that, Saeko, you will be helping me, as I have helped you."
The Courier's light demeanor fell away like a clay mask, leaving behind a steely visage, solid with determination "I helped you and yours survive; you and yours shall help me with my revenge in exchange."
As Saeko looked at Min's face, a face that promised an inexorable and bloody vengeance, she felt a slight warmth between her legs, and for a brief moment, screams echoed in her ears. The Courier turned away, and the moment disappeared.
As the battered clock hanging from the wall ticked its way toward 8:52, Saeko set out again from the motel. As she approached the stairs to the gift shop, her fighter's instincts began to tingle. Swiftly moving to the side and turning around, she nearly ran into a man who had been walking nearly silently behind her. From the crimson beret on his head to the scuffed combat boots on his feet, everything about the man indicated both a great ability and ready capacity for extreme violence. As he passed her, the man briefly looked at her, but his brief glare seemed to penetrate deep into her eyes. The two stood for a moment, like two unfamiliar predators sizing each other up. The moment passed after a timeless moment; the man turned his back, and climbed the crumbling stairs and disappeared inside the dinosaur.
Saeko waited for a moment, before following the man inside, and closing the door behind her.