Author's note: Again, I'll be skipping some parts, particularly the happenings on the bridge during this chapter, since they will play out the same in the manga/anime. Also, someone mae a good point; I've fogotten to put the pairings up...sorry bout that~
Pairings: TakashixSaeko, KaedexRei and KoutaxSaya, more may be added later.
Chapter 3: In the DEAD of Night
"Because of the alarming rate at which the 'killer disease' has spread, many of the world's governments are beginning to collapse. Just before we lost contact with the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church in Vatican City, he made a statement denying that this is divine punishment, however, many maintain that this indeed the case. The leaders of Islamic countries are putting up a strong resistance..."
The news reports droned on over the sounds of a struggle in the main bedroom; Shizuka had mentioned that there was a safe there so, while all the girls were taking a bath, Takashi, Kouta and Kaede were tying to get it open. They had gotten one open to find a small stockpile of ammunition, telling Kouta and Kaede what was in the other half of the safe. The sounds of the girls wafted up through the house as well, drowning out the reports from the t.v at some points.
"...the researchers of the Ministry of Public Welfare Development who were investigating the killer disease made a statement saying they were abandoining the government facilities in Tokyo. Over two million people have contracted the disease throughout the country. The rapid spread to the ten million people worldwide has brought society to a standstill..."
"Whoa, sensei...they really are humongous..." Rei couldn't help but comment, looking across the bath at Shizuka's massive breasts.
"You can say that again..." Shizuka said as she lifted her breasts slightly out of the water.
"Urk...you're pretty full of yourself..." Rei replied with a mischievous grin; there was some splashing before Rei finally caught Shizuka, squeezing her breasts playfully from behind. "Whoa! They're soft too!"
"Due to the large number of victims to the killer disease, we are unable to continue broadcasting from this studio. It has been decided that we will resume broadcasting once we are out at sea. We will not be airing the scheduled programming for the hour. Goodbye everyone, and good luck!"
"It sounds like an h-game over there..." Saya muttered as she washed her hair beside Saeko, the splashing, giggling and even moaning starting to get on her nerves. "Why do we have to all take a bath together anyways?"
"You know know the answer already, don't you, Takasgi-san?" Saeko replied; she, unlike Saya, was happy to see Rei and Shizuka in such good moods even after what they've been through so far.
With a passive smile on her face, Saeko switched the water to cold and sprayed Saya down the back with the hose, getting a cute cry from Saya.
"...your voice is cuter than I thought." Saeko said, giggling softly not realizing Saya was already preparing her retaliation, sneakily filling a pan with cold water.
When it was full, Saya likewise poured the cold water down Saeko's back, the purple haired girl quickly hugging her knees to try and get away, only a few gasps and moans escaping her lips. She looked up at Saya when it was over with a triumphant look in her eyes and sighed.
"Gah! I didn't get much of a reaction out of you..." Saya growled, her hands cleaching around the pan.
"Sounds like their having fun..." Takashi muttered as he took a break, Kaede and Kouta working on prying the safe open with the crowbar Takashi had used earlier.
"Wanna see if there's anything they need protection from in there?" Kaede said with a sly smirk, he and Kouta taking a small breather.
"I don't wanna die just yet..." Takashi sighed, looking back at the two and noticed the door of the safe had given away slightly; he walked over to the safe again and grabbed hold of the crowbar again. "Alright, once more with all we've got!"
There were mumbles of agreement before the three teens pulled back against the crowbar hard; the door started giving away, and shot open, all three teens falling on the ground in a panting heap, Takashi being the first to recover.
"Damn, that hurt..." he muttered, sitting up and looking into the safe that they just pried open. "Uh...hey, Hirano..."
Almost instantly, Kouta was on his feet, looking into the locker as well; there were four guns, two shotguns and two rifles.
"Just as I thought..." Kouta said with a sadistic grin.
"This is Shizuka-sensei's friend's house..." Takashi muttered as Kaede likewise stood, looking into the safe with a surprised look. "...just what kinda of friends does she have?"
With little hesitation, Kouta grabbed the first gun on the left, pulling back the slide and checking the chamber before pressing it against his shoulder and checking the sights.
"A Springfield M1A1 Super Match, huh? But it's only semi-auto..." Kouta mumbled to himself as he checked other aspects of the gun. "Well, the M14 series is full auto. This is less wasteful when it comes to ammunition..."
"Uh, Hirano...?" Takashi tried speaking to him, but Kaede put his hand on his shoulder, stopping him and offered no explanation other than a mumbled 'gun nuts and their guns are best left alone...' from Kaede.
"This is a twenty round magazine! This is illegal in Japan. Illegal! Heh heh..." Kouta continued, Takashi giving up and accepting that Kouta was in his own world now; he watched as Kouta set the gun down and grabbed the next rifle. "A Knight's SR equipped with a scope...no...you can't get that kind of thing in Japan, so it must be an AR-10 that's been modified from top to bottom!"
"There's a crossbow in the locker still too"" Kaede muttered as he grabbed one of the shotguns from the locker, Takashi grabbing the other. "A Barnett Wildcat C5; a hunting crossbow made in England, if I'm not mistaken and this..."
Kaede looked at the shotgun he had just picked up, drawing Kouta's attention; the gun outaku was about to speak, but Kaede beat him to it.
"A modified Remington M870 MK1, with an extended ammo hold, bayonet house, and ammo holders on the stalk..." Kaede said, holding the gun to his shoulder and checking the sights. "...this one's mine."
"B-but-!" Kouta started to interject, but Kaede turned the barrel on Kouta; even if it was empty, Kouta still ducked, his hands over his head. "H-hey! Don't point that thing at what you're not intending to shoot!"
"Alright, but it's still mine" Kaede said, leaning the shotgun on his shoulder and looked at Takashi. "Ah, that's-"
"An Ithica M35 riot shotgun!" Kouta finished for him, stars in his eyes. "It was designed by an American. It's one bad-ass shotgun, used in the Vietnam war!"
"I-I see...?" Takashi muttered, looking at the shortgun in his hand before likewise pointing it at Kouta, who again jumped and ducked.
"D-damnit! What did I just tell Himoura-san!" Kouta yelled, a serious look suddenly dawning on his face. "The only one's you can point it at are..."
"Them. That's the best way to use these..." Takashi said gravely, then chuckled. "It's still funny to see your reaction, Hirano..."
"Please, call me Kouta, both of you." he replied, looking at Takashi and Kaede before walking back to the safe, grabbing a few boxes of ammo and sitting on the ground. "Come give me a hand with the ammo; it's pretty tough to get these bullets in..."
"Same here then; call me Kaede...or Kei, wichever you perfer" Kaede said, adding the second part after some thought, sitting as well and setting his gun down, grabbing a box of shells to start to load the shotgun he claimed as his own.
"Yeah, me too; Takashi's fine from now on" Takashi said, sitting down as well as Kouta handed him a magazine, pushing a box of ammo to him and showed him how to load the bullets one by one. "So, did you two learn this stuff from just airsoft guns?"
"Hell no" was their responce that came at the same time; Kaede and Kouta blinked, looking at each other, the oddity of the two saying the samething at the same time surprising Takashi more than their responses the fact that they've handled real guns before.
"You first..." Keade said with a light grin. "...Kouta-san."
"Ah...well, when I was in America, I went through army training...a Blackwater instructor took me under his wing and taught me for a month" Kouta said with a light grin before nodding to Kaede. "Your turn."
"I was born in America, and lived there till I was thirteen; my dad taught me how to use a gun when I turned nine...four years of gun training doesn't wear off one bit after another four years, it seems..." Kaede explained to Takashi and Kouta like he had Rei the night before.
"W-wow...this is almost too perfect..." Takashi muttered in amazment at the two. "Even more amazing though is this friend of Shizuka-sensei's...just what kind of person is she?"
"Well, she's defiantly not a regular citizen...I'm guessing S.A.T., though, normally unmarried police would been living in special housing dorms. Looking at this place though, I'm guessing she comes from a rich family." Kouta replied with a yawn as he set another filled clip aside and began filling another one. "Unless you boyfriend's loaded, or she's crooked."
The three's thoughts were interrupted by yet another squeal from the bathroom and muffled words from the girls inside, leaving what was going on to the boy's imagination, Kaede and Kouta giving each other the 'I wanna peek' look and looked over at Takashi to see if he agreed, but the teen in question only shook his head with a sigh as he stood and walked out onto the balcony were he could just make out the bridge.
"They've...gotten pretty loud though..." Kaede said, at least trying to make up some excuse to interrupt the girl's bath, watching as Kouta got up as well, following Takashi out with a pair of binoculars in his hand after they finished loading the clips. "They are attracked to sound so..."
"We're fine" Takashi replied, gravely, having accepted the binoculars from Kouta and took a better look at the bridge, still not seeing much, but a good bit. "Hey, Kaede, turn on the t.v..."
"Yeah..." Kaede mummbled, pressing the on button to the t.v. and watched it flicker to life, a local news broadcast already playing, much to Kaede's suprise. "Nice call..."
"I can see the news vans from here" Takashi replied as he handed the binoculars back to Kouta so he could take a look as well, the news report droning on in the background.
"This is a satellite broadcast for the Tokonosu area only. The Tonkonosu police's west branch's blockade is still in effect, preventing free movement across the bridge by civillians." the news caster announced, on scene at the bridge that Takashi could barely see, not that they needed to now; the news broadcast giving them a perfect veiw of what was going on, including the blockade of police cars and even bulldozers blocking the bridge off from any vehicals. "The killer disease has spread throughout Japan, and even the entire world. Because of this, people around the globe are in protest over how the situation is being handled. Further more, According to reports we've been receiving, many are fleeing to the ocean until this issue is resolved. I repeat, this is a satellite broadcast; only televisions in the Tokonosu area are receiving this signal..."
"This is too much like a movie..." Takashi muttered, listening to the broadcast from the balcony while Kouta moved along it's leingth, trying to get a better veiw of the bridge with the binoculars.
"I'm going down stairs" Kaede sighed and stood, leaving the t.v. on; Takashi shot him a look, but he waved it off as he left the room, leaving the Remington 870 he claimed as his own leaning against the bed along with his sword. "To get something to drink, jeez.."
"It looks like something outta an apocalypse movie...hey, what's that over there...?" Kouta said, not noticing Kaede even left, from the opposite side of the balcony, able to see a group of people, just barely, but he could tell they were holding up signs of some sort. "Protesters?"
"The police will pay for this opression! We are the people! This is all the fault of our government and of America!" what seemed to be a construction worker yelled in the background of the news report, answering Kouta's thoughts. "It's because of their new weapon development! They're responible for the spread of the killer disease! We will bring down this establishment!"
"I'm back, and the police still have the bridge barricaded. It seems that a group of people has began to protest; they're speaking out against the police! We are still unclear as to the extent of their organization..."
"Is he saying they are the result of colaberation between the Japanese and American governments to develop a new weapon...?" Takashi growled, haivng taken over watching the news program while Kaede was gone. "That's crazy! It a phenomenon that dead bodies are staring to walk and attack the living! There's no scientific explaination for it!"
"They're just trying to cause hysteria to get more followers..." Kouta sighed, walking back into the room and offering Takashi the binoculars, who refused, then set them down on the bed. "Maybe it's one of the effects of that disease? They're left-wing radicals, right?"
"They're defanatly left-wingers...making everyone try and turn on the government and America, even though their in the same conditon as us" Takashi replied with a frown, watching the t.v. as the reporter tried interveiwing the leader of the protesting group, only for him to sprout more of his political opinions not noticing Kouta's expression as if he just realized something. "They're no different from right-wing fascists; it's such a horrible disease..."
"Doesn't that mean you'd be the same way, Takashi?" Kouta asked with a moching grin.
"My mom's co-works must be doing the something simmilar right now, but not me." Takashi said with a shake of his head and a frown at Kouta's poking at his parents. "It's horrible; they don't do anything to stop bullying at school but they go out of their way to speak against war."
"What does your mom do anyways?" Kouta asked as he sat on the ground again, working with the guns again, checking everything once more.
"She's an elementary school teacher; she teaches a first grade class at Onbetsu Elementary on the other side of the river" Takashi explained as Takashi walked over and sat beside Kouta, leaning against the bed as he picked up the Ithica and looked it over. "Her students propbably haven't been able to escape...they're human after all...you're gonna have to teach me how to use this, by the way"
"Right...so, is your mom a left-winger?" Kouta asked, nodding as he watched Takashi examine the shotgun, not letting Takashi change the subject so easily. "Is she in the Communist party or something?"
"No way! My mom? She's still pretty young." Takashi said, Kouta readying to ask another question before a gunshot echoed through the night, sounding on the new report shortly after, drawing Takashi's attention to the t.v. and Kouta's to the balcony again.
On the news report, it was reveiled that the police had opened fire on the apporching undead, this broadcast not cutting off when they showed the bodies dropping this time. Kouta had taken up the binoculars again and was out on the balcony, watching what he could from there. The report centered on several of them limping towards the police and the police fireing, the bodies dropping to the ground; shortly after, a woman with a child in her arms, stained in blood, tried approching the police.
"Please! Don't shoot! We're alive!" the woman yelled as she neared the police; the girl in her arms suddently twitched and her head shot up, biting the woman in the neck and tearing a chuck of flesh away, stunning every body but the protesters.
"This is because of the acursed establishment! And we as citizens will rise against this!" the leader shouted to his followers, pumping them up against the 'evils' commited by the government.
"Please stop this needless savagery!" the protesters chanted in their corner of the bridge; with a word form the reporter, the camer panned to a police officer approching the group of protesters, focusing on him as he stopped infront of the leader.
The words that the office spoke were drowned out by the surrounding noise, however, the protest's leader's reply wasn't.
"Leave? Ha! You guys are just trying to trick us! You're just trying to cover up the conspiracy involving the government and America!" the man bit back at the officer, his followers agreeing and even going as far as saying that it was the police that should leave; the officer said something else, but it was again unheard through the news report.
However, it was obvious from the protester's reply that the officer asked them to leave once more, only to be met with refusal; without hesitation, the officer drew his gun, and fired, shooting the leader straight through the head, all on camera. There was a bit of the following panic shown, hower, the broadcast was shortly cut off, changing to a picture of some house, comepletly irrelevant to the situation.
"...they immediately changed the broadcast to something else..." Kouta muttered, looking over at Takashi with an akward smile, wondering how the media could be so selective about these kind of things.
As Kouta looked over at Takashi, he squeaked in suprise and fell back as hands came from the shadows around Takashi's head; Takashi noticed Kouta's odd reaction, but not the hands, and gave him an odd look before the hands suddently wrapped around his neck..and pulled him back into a familar pair of soft breasts.
"Komuro-kun~" Shizuka's slurred voice rang out as she hugged Takashi to her chest, kissing his cheeck and her hand seemed to go straight for Takashi's crotch.
"S-sensei? Are you drunk?" Takashi ask, squirming out from Shizuka's hold, only blushing when he saw she was only wrapped in a damp towel, be hair and body likewise wet.
"Just a teensy weensy bit...fufuu~" she giggles softly, before her attention was turned on Kouta. "Ah hah~! Kouta-chaaan"
"C-chan? Er, uh..." Kouta seemed too dazled to notice Shizuka jumping at him next, hugging him and kissing him, Kouta nearly fainting from the rush of blood to his face if it weren't for Takashi drawning Shizuka's attention from him.
"Don't speak so loudly, sensei; tone it down a notch!" Takashi wispered loudly to enphasise his point as Shizuka turned to him, letting Kouta go, who simply fell in a heap on the ground.
"Whaat? No way! It's so quite outside it's scary, so I'm gonna talk like this!" Shizuka pouted, raising her voice slightly as she jumped up and down a bit like a child, which made Takashi blush none the less, the way her body bounced with the tantrum anything but childish or innocent.
"Kouta, go be a lookout. As for you..." Takashi muttered, looking at Shizuka before he picked her up onto his his back, the drunk blond leaning on his shoulder, giggling softly as Takashi got a better hold on her, his hand falling on Shizuka's bare backside; he veagly noticed Kouta stand up, his glasses nearly falling off his face, and float over to the balcony.
"Hyan~! You're touching my butt~" Shizuka whined softly, smiling at Takashi and ruffled his hair as he sighed and carried her out of the room. "You're just a little pervert, Komuro-kun~"
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying it..." Takashi muttered with a dreamy smile on his face and a light blush, turning his head to her slightly.
"Enjoying what, exactly?" Rei's voice suddently cut in; she was standing at the stair landing, Takashi noticing Kaede sitting on the second landing between the second floor and the ground floor.
Like Shizuka, Rei's hair was still damp, and she was only dressed in a light blue tanktop and a pair of panties, which were pretty visable. As if it were normal, Rei stepped up to Takashi in such reveiling clothes, and eyed him dangerously, the silence only broken by Shizuka's drunken giggling.
"U-uhh...nothing..." Takashi replied nerviously as he shifted Shizuka on his back, her giggles and calling Takashi a pervert once more not helping much.
"Ahh, I see two Takashi's..." Rei suddently said, the previous mood seemingly forgotten as Rei wavered, and fell on her butt.
"Have...you been drinking too?" Takashi asked as he looked down at Rei, who was in the middle of a giggle fit now, much like Shizuka.
"Yeah...I was tired, and so much has happened today...and my dad..." Rei's mood suddenly took a change for the worse as she recalled the short, unhappy conversation with her dad at the school.
As Rei started to tear up, Takashi looked away gravly, not much he could do to compfort her with a naked nurse, now passed out, on his back. Remebering Kaede, he looked over to the black haired teen hopfully. The teen in question sighed and shrugged slightly before standing up and walking up the stairs; when he was halfway up to the landing, Takashi began heading down the stairs as well.
"Maybe I should take Shizuka-sensei...?" Kaede wispered to Takashi, the smell of alcohol on his breath as well; this striked Takashi as odd, but now wasn't the time to ask about Kaede and Rei's rumored relationship.
Takashi continued down the stairs, passing Kaede's small pile of beer cans sitting on the steps were he had just been, and continued down into the living room to lay Shizuka down while Kaede calmed Rei down the best he could. As Takashi covered Shizuka up on a futon already layed out, he noticed Saya already alseep as well on a couch, and blushed; Saya may not have been as well endowed as Shizuka, nor was Rei, for that matter, but the two girls still had their sex apeal, which they seemed to be flaunting quite a bit tonight.
Saya wore a short tanktop and a pair of insainly short shorts and, with the way she was sleeping and were Takashi was standing, he had a near perfect veiw straight down Saya's shirt, and a good veiw of her curves; she, like the other two girls, was still somewhat wet from the bath. Takashi's eyes followed a bead of water trailing between her breasts, his concentration broken by a soft, now familar voice
"Is that Komuro-kun over there?" Saeko asked from the kitchen, drawing Takashi's eyes to her. "Dinner will be done soon, and I'm also preparing lunch for tomarrow too."
"You're a real life-saver, senpai." Takashi muttered as he walked over to join Saeko in the kitchen. "It's tough now that...E-EHHH!"
"Hm? What's wrong?" Saeko asked, looking over her shoulder at Takashi as she readied to sample the curry she was making for dinner.
"N-nothing! Nothing at all!" Takashi stuttered; the sight of Saeko Busuijima in nothing but an apron and black thong panties usually calling for much more of a reaction, but Takashi was a bit worn out by now.
"Oh, this...there weren't any clothes that fit me." Saeko said, noticing Takashi's blush and putting two and two together, looking down at the apron and running her thumbs along the sides, giving Takashi a bit more of a look at her breasts than normally available. "I'll only be wearing this until the laundry finishes...this is truly shameful; I apologize."
"N-no, that's not it." Takashi replied, recovering quickly and lightly smiling at Saeko. "I-I'm just worried about them getting inside, that's all..."
You, Hirano and Himoura are so cautious. All of the checking and evaluating you three have done has given me a lot of confidence" Saeko said with a smile. "Were is Hirano and Himoura anyways? I thought Himoura was sitting on the stairs..."
"He is; he's further up, with Rei now." Takashi replied; for some reason, it was rather easy for Takashi to say that, Kaede and Rei together, even if he had a crush on her for so long, maybe her period with Hishashi deteriated that love he hand for her?
"Good. Girls can be weak at time and just need to get it out..." Saeko said, inturpting Takashi's thoughts as he gazed up at the stair well, the two unseen at his current spot.
"Even you, senpai?" Takashi askedwithout really expecing an answer out of her.
"We're friends now, so call me Saeko" she replied, not answering his question, but giving him something else to think about.
"S-Sa..." Takashi stuttered, blushing lightly at the offer.
"Practice saying it some other time, but now, you eat" Saeko said with a smile as she fixed Takashi a plate and setting it on the island table in the kitchen, motioning Takashi to sit.
"Alright...itadakimas" Takashi muttered as he sat, taking one last look up the stairs as the a question passed through his mind before he started eating; what were his feeling towards Rei, and why did he feel perfectly fine with leaving her to Kaede?
Meanwhile, back on the landing, Rei was laying her head on Kaede's shoulder, having calmed down from her earlier outburst over her father, and even Hishashi, her ex boyfriend; none the less, Kaede had snapped back on Rei about that matter, which backfired on him initally. With a few words, Kaede was able to calm her down, and now they were just sitting in their own thoughts.
"Neh, Kaede...why didn't we ever become a couple...?" Rei asked after a few moments of silence, Kaede blinking at such an unrelevant question before sighing.
"That's something I should ask you...heh, I asked you out twice after you broke up with Hishashi..." Kaede replied, the words leaving his mouth before he could stop them, looking at Rei, hoping he wouldn't spark another outbrust from Rei; all she did was shift into a more comfortable position.
"Oh yeah. I turned you down both times...what about us now?" she said, asking her question after a slight pause, clairifying her question before Kaede got the wrong idea. "I mean all of us? What do you think will happen...?"
What the question had started out like had suprised Kaede, but after Rei's clairification, Kaede frowned.
"I...don't know, Rei...I really don't know." Kaede said as he stood up suddenly, his face hardening along with his resolve as Rei looked up at him after his answer and suddn movment. "But one thing's for sure; we're still alive, and we're going to stay alive, no matter what!"
"Kaede..." Rei said softly, looking up at him in amazment for a moment before placing her hand on his shoulder, easing him back down onto the stairs, and moved closer to him; she took him by suprise, and pressed her lips to his.
The kiss took Kaede by suprise, his eyes wide before he faded into the kiss, his eyes drifting closed as he felt Rei's body press close to his, her heat...Kaede's hands went to Rei's shoulders and gently pushed her away, even if a kiss was one of the thing he had been wanting from Rei for some time now. Rei looked at him confused for a second and Kaede quickly turned his gaze away from him.
"I-it would be bad if we continued..." Kaede said, hoping Rei would leave it at that; with a sideways galnce, however, it was confirmed Rei already knew.
"You've gotta stiffy~" Rei teased with a smile, however, something else drew her attention away. "Is...that barking?"
"S-shit! That mean's their close!" Kaede growled, sliding out from under Rei just as Takashi's feet could be heared rushing up the stairs.
Rei looked to Takashi then to Kaede unsure of what to do in this situation, and neither of the two men offered any directions, both rushing to the room were Kouta was without a word. As they entered, they saw Kouta at the balcony, with a vest of pockets on and Takashi rushed over to him; Kaede took a second, grabbing the M1 that had been propped next to the Remington, opting the rifle with a sight over the shotgun for now and joined the other two at the baclony, noticing Takashi had the Ithica in hand.
"This is bad..." Kouta said, the sounds of groaning and the fence rattling filling Kaede and Takashi's ears before either of them even stepped out onto the balcony.
Just below them, the fence surrounding the apartment were surrounded with them,more flooding the streets from the direction of the bridge, a dog barking somewere near the by. Takashi staring, disbelievingly, at the hordes of undead spilling into the city now, some passing and some sticking around the gates of the apartment; neither Kouta or Kaede wanted to accept the sight either, but ignoring it would cost the group their lives, their hands tight on the rifles.
'That's right. That was the second night. That was the night it really began...'
Chapter 3, end