Authors notes: I'll be skipping the part where Souichiro gives Saeko the Murata katana, and the part where Saya, Kouta and Takashi go to convince the other survivors to trust Souichiro and his men, because they'll happen the exact same way, and I have other things to focus on really. Oh, and I have a link to a picture of Kaede up on my profile, so check it out if you were curious of what I pictured him to look like; it's not the HOTD style, but meh. It's how I want him to look, basically.
Chapter 8: DEAD Calm before the Storm
Less than two hours had passes since Kaede's victory in the sparing match with Souichiro and so much had already changed; after a private talk with her father, Saya had been given the task of gaining the trust of the other survivors for the Don and his men, there being a crucial need for it for the mansion to keep running properly with the survivors in tow. It had ultimately turned out as a favor from the smaller group, as Takashi and Kouta insisted on joining her.
As for Alice and Saeko, Yuriko had taken Alice off to give a 'present' to Zeke to keep the girl out of the way, and Souichiro had requested Saeko's company to talk something over; Rei and Kaede were both under the medical care of Shizuka, so they were kept bedridden until Kaede was properly bandaged, and Rei more or less there for as long as Shizuka saw fit.
The nurse had Kaede stay in the same room as Rei for the time being to properly dress his wounds; after cleaning the cut on his cheek and placing a large bandage upon it, she had Kaede remove his shirt, which was now stained with blood to bandage his arm. The removal of his shirt was really unnecessary, but Shizuka was playing the match maker, noticing Rei peeking over at Kaede every minute or so as she bandaged his wounds, even feeling a few jealous glances aimed to her.
As Shizuka tugged the shirt off Kaede's body with some resistance from him, Rei gulped, watching as his muscled form was shown; the two girls gasped as something else became apparent. A huge nasty bruise had formed across Kaede's upper back.
"Using the...uh, that technique did this, isn't it?" Shizuka asked, having forgotten the name of the final attack Kaede used just hours before. "This is..."
"Yeah. The style was originally meant for people with large builds..." Kaede started, looking to see Shizuka's clueless face. "Er, it's very taxing on a person who hasn't mastered it yet, in simpler words."
"Well, as the nurse, I cannot allow you to use it ever again! It's a wonder you didn't tear any muscles...you didn't, right? You don't look like you're in too much pain." Shizuka muttered, looking closer at the bruise to no avail, having to feel to determine it herself but the bruise looked tender.
"No, I didn't Shizuka-sensei, and don't worry; I doubt I'll have to fight anyone but them for awhile...plus, I don't have a katana anymore." Kaede replied and rolled his shoulders, bringing Shizuka's attention back to the wound on Kaede's arm; he had washed away the blood before coming into the room, so his arm was no longer covered in red, but there were still a few trickles running down his arm.
Shizuka cleaned the blood away and wrapped a few strips of gauze around his arm with a bit of medical ointment to hep along with the heeling; as she reached for the same oil she used for Rei's back, Kaede was already standing and pulling the kimono up for the first time.
"Ah, Himoura-kun, your back!" Shizuka protested, feeling a spike of malice from Rei's direction.
"If anyone, I'll apply the oil to Kaede's back!" Rei suddenly yelled before she realized what she said, her voice heavy with jealousy; realization dawned on her as Kaede looked back at her with mild surprise, and Shizuka giggled. "Er, I mean...s-she enjoys that kinda stuff to much! You know that too!"
Kaede's look only became more odd at her words, and Rei decided to just shut up.
"Um, maybe later. I need to go see Takagi-sama..." Kaede said with a light smile before looking to Shizuka. "Thanks for wrapping me up, Shizuka-sensei."
"I'm glad to help" Shizuka replied, cheerily smiling to Kaede, making Rei grind her teeth as she glared at Shizuka.
With a nervous look, Kaede quickly made his get away, sighing as he walked down the hall. He made a quick stop at his room to change out of the kimono and hamaka, opting for another t-shirt and a jumpsuit like Kouta had been wearing that they had been loaned from one of the family's vassals; much like what he did with the kimono, Kaede left the upper half off, tying the sleeves at the waist and rolling the pant legs up a bit, since they were a bit long. After changing, Kaede noticed that the Ithaca nor the AR-10 had been returned to the room, but the M1 had been, and his M870 laying on the bed where he had left it; he shrugged, guessing Takashi and Kaede were out carrying their guns, and picked up his own.
Almost like a katana, they had earned the right to walk around with the guns, so why not? He strapped it across his chest and left the room, walking down the hall as his mind drifted back to the happenings in the room, and even he and Rei's relationship before the Outbreak; after Rei and Hishashi had broken up, Kaede became one of Rei's closer friends, being a sort of shoulder to cry on since he had known her since middle school. He knew in all reality, Takashi had more of a right to do it, but he had asked Rei out; he was declined, Rei saying it was too soon.
Kaede more or less left it at that, remaining Rei's friend either way; apparently, people got the wrong impression and said they were together. Two days before the Outbreak, they had a fight; Rei had heard the rumors that she and Kaede were apparently together, and Rei assumed Kaede was the one spreading them for whatever reason. Kaede tried making up with her, but it didn't quite work out, but now, after the Outbreak, Rei was showing signs of liking him, such as the night at Shizuka's friend's house, and that night in the humvee when she slept on him, and now, she was showing obvious signs of jealousy just from Shizuka doing her job, as impure as her intentions may have been.
"Women are so confusing..." Kaede muttered to no one in particular.
"Had a tough time in there?" a voice said, making Kaede look up to see Saeko, a new katana in her hand that he could even tell was very well made; Saeko noticed his gaze to the blade, and looked down at it herself. "A fine blade, Don Takagi-sama insisted I take it in place of my father. A Murata forged blade."
"Murata, huh? Impressive" Kaede said, his eyes raising; he wasn't too knowledgeable about swords and blacksmiths, but he was familiar with the general's infamous name. "He's pretty generous when you're on his good side, neh? Where is he right now, anyways? He wanted to see me after my injuries were tended to."
"Indeed..." Saeko replied with a nod, smiling softly to Kaede. "He was in the courtyard last. He spoke of you when he gave me this; he is quite pleased with your skill, so it would be safe to say to expect better gifts than this..."
"Honestly, I don't think I can accept a katana like that." Kaede said, waving his hand with a light chuckle. "It would be a waste, honestly; I'm not one to appreciate swords, for I know nothing about fine blades, I've only heard the general's name mentioned and am going on what I've heard when it came to that sword."
Kaede motioned to the katana in her hand, a look of surprise on her face as he admitted to such a thing.
"I see...well, he is very persuasive, I must say..." Saeko said with a chuckle as she began walking again, passing Kaede. "Good luck trying to decline anything from that man..."
"Heh...thanks for the warning..." Kaede muttered as he likewise started walking down the hall in the direction Saeko came, the two disappearing from the halls.
"Pay attention to the recoil..." Takashi repeated to himself, raising the shotgun to his shoulder, holding it firmly against his shoulder and aiming at a knot in the wall. "Aim just above the chest, and bang..."
Takashi lowered the Ithaca with a sigh; he was in his room, which was separate from Kouta and Kaede's, after finishing up the task with no real results, other than being chewed out by arrogant adults. He was practicing with the Ithaca, as much as he could without firing and using up the limited ammo when the familiar beep sounded; his cell phone was done charging, even if he wasn't getting many calls on it now now a days, he still kept it charged and running.
With a frown, he set the shotgun down and picked it up, dialing a familiar number; his house phone. It rang and rang with no answer, so he flipped it closed with a sigh.
"Guess it really is hopeless..." he muttered, putting his cell into his pocket and plopped down on the bed, his mind drifting to the battle only a few hours ago, and Kaede's proclamation, and Saya's re-establishment of it while they were out. "Leader huh...? That's not true, is it? Hell, even Kaede himself would be a better leader...why was it him who mentioned it in the first place...?"
There was a knock on the door that drew Takashi from his thoughts and looked over to it as the handle turned, and Rei slipped in, fully dressed in her uniform with the straps and pads on; she looked like she was straining slightly, making Takashi frown.
"If you push yourself like this, it'll only get worse..." Takashi commented as Rei invited herself in, walking over to the bed and sitting beside him.
"You shouldn't push yourself too hard either" Rei retorted with a small smile, looking over to the Ithaca. "You were just practicing with the gun just now, weren't you? That's good though..."
"Yeah, good. Right." Takashi replied shortly, looking away from Rei.
"You don't like being intruded on, do you?" Rei asked with a light sigh, shaking her head with a 'it can't be helped' attitude.
"I just don't like how tiresome things are. I mean, Kaede put us in a bit of a better position, but, I'm not talking about us..." Takashi replied, staring off out the window. "I mean like even after trying to reason with them, that group of people wouldn't budge; they won't even accept the truth that's out there...becoming like that would be the one thing I'd hate the most."
"And you don't agree with people like Takagi's dad either?" Rei asked calmly.
"His principles are different. He'll do anything for survival, even for just his footmen. He's really a great person, don't get me wrong..." Takashi said. "Just, his methods are..."
Takashi trailed off for a moment before sighing.
"But I...only care about making sure my family's okay. What kind of leader is that?" Takashi finished, bringing up how Saya and Kaede appointed him leader seemingly over night.
"But everyone depends on you, and you have plenty of courage." Rei replied with a smile that told Takashi she also accepted Kaede appointing Takashi the leader earlier. "That's how it was at the school, and other times too."
"Don't give me that. I'm nothing." Takashi bit back, sighing softly as he looked up at the ceiling. "The ones good at fighting are you and Kouta and Saeko-san, and Kaede, and...Saya's a good thinker and Shizuka-sensei's a physician. Alice-chan..."
As he spoke, the members of the group passed through his mind, only in little versions, dressed as RPG characters; Rei as a pole arm-user, Kouta as an archer of some sort, Saeko a samurai, Kaede a ronin, Saya a wizard, Shizuka a priest, and then Alice...
"Alice-chan?" Rei asked with a smile, Takashi stuck on the little girl; he knew she was just as important, but couldn't really label her anything.
"Alice-chan...is just Alice-chan..." Takashi replied with a sigh, making Rei giggle softly.
"And you, our fearless leader" Rei added suddenly with a smile, making Takashi shake his head, but stood and started for the door before Takashi could reply. "In any case, please consider our feelings too...we need a leader, even if his intentions are 'selfish'..."
Rei gave a sad smile over her shoulder to Takashi as she stepped out of the room, leaving Takashi with even more to think about, concerning both the group he had been put in charge of, as well as his feelings for Rei, and came face to face with Saeko, who was holding a new katana and smiling softly.
"I knew you were in there, so I waited for you. I didn't hear anything you said." Saeko said reassuringly; indeed she was standing away from the door with no intentions of listening in on their conversation.
Rei's eyes narrowed slightly at the sight of Saeko, but sighed, no longer having the right to call Saeko her rival; all her feelings for Takashi in terms of love and wanting him gone, and only a love that could be described with their long lasting friendship. She was sure Takashi hadn't recognized it yet, but Rei was sure he felt the same; even if he hadn't, she knew the way Takashi looked at Saeko, his love interest on the woman standing before her.
"It's alright, we weren't talking about anything important; I'm sure he'd be happier talking to you..." Rei said as she started walking by, catching Saeko's eyes. "Take good care of him for me, senpai."
"Of course." Saeko replied after a pause brought by the surprise from the words and started for the door; when Rei was a few steps passed, Saeko's head turned ever so slightly to Rei. "By the way..."
Saeko's tone made Rei stop for a second.
"Could you stop calling me senpai? If it were true, we..." Saeko said with a cold tone, Rei stopping her from finishing.
"Don't talk about that." Rei hissed and began walking down the hall. "That's something I'd like to forget..."
Kaede followed the tip Saeko gave him, walking out into the courtyard after slipping the pair of Vans he had arrived in on and looked around for Souichiro; he was able to easily spot the towering man, overseeing the fortifications of one of the buses. He began walking towards him without an after thought.
"Good day, Takagi-sama." Kaede muttered softly, mockingly taking up a similar stance as Souichiro beside him, crossing his arms as he looked at the buses, impressed himself with how they were turning out, more like rugged APVs* now than buses. "You wanted to see me?"
"Indeed, Himoura-kun. Come with me" Souichiro said, the terms of the battle showing as Souichiro acknowledged Kaede's surname, and turned, heading back towards the house again.
Kaede followed, noticing the Don was carrying a new katana and sighed, remembering how he asked for his own ruined katana to be destroyed by any means available after the battle, his wishes granted but in a way Kaede did not know. As they approached the house, Souichiro took a turn to the far side of the house; he walked for awhile with Kaede following, both silent, their destination becoming clear as they approached a cellar entrance, guarded by two vassals.
Kaede's interest was peaked as they neared the two, and with a nod from the Don, watched as they opened the cellar doors, and Souichiro lead them down; Kaede wasn't suspicious of Souichiro, but being lead into a cellar did put him on guard a bit, but the fact that he had his M870 on his back soothed him. Souichiro may be good with a sword, but Kaede was better with a gun...
Kaede's eyes widened a bit at the room the stairs lead into; it was a small armory with multiple racks of katanas on both sides of the room, and old guns from World War II adorning the walls, from every both sides. As Kaede looked at them in awe, some of them familiar, Souichiro went towards one of the katana racks that was obviously meant for special katanas, the swords stored horizontally instead of vertically and having their own separate shelves, instead of being bundled up. As Souichiro began looking down the row of katanas and reached for one, Kaede spoke up before Souichiro could turn and offer the sword.
"Sorry, but I can't accept a katana from you, even if it's twice as rare as the one you gave to Busujima-san; it would only be a waste" Kaede said, making Souichiro's hand hesitate, then pull back as the man turned his sharp gaze on Kaede. "Such beautiful blades should be given to someone who can appreciate it's beauty and power, neh?"
With that simple statement, Souichiro understood, but did not loose any of the respect that he had formed for the Himoura child, not having expected anything much in the first place. He was about to speak, but was beat to the punch, so to say.
"If I may make a suggestion, dear husband..." the soothing voice of Yuriko sounded out, followed by the sound of her high heels on the stone floor as she walked into the room and to her husband, waiting for his nod before continuing. "Give him something beautiful he can appreciate."
Yuriko's eyes flickered over to the collection of guns, Kaede and Souichiro's eyes following; Kaede's heart skipped a beat as Souichiro agreed.
"Very well; I'll leave the decision up to you then, sine you are much more knowledgeable about firearms dear." he replied in the softer voice he reserved for only his wife; Yuriko nodded and walked away from her husband, eying the WWII weapons as she passed them.
"They are quite nice, but I'd think you'd want something a bit more...modern." Yuriko said, looking at Kaede as she passed the racks of guns to where there where various crates piled up, no doubt ammunition and guns that were stored away.
Yuriko opened one crate and took only a second to find what she had in mind to give to Kaede and brought it to him, setting it on a raised table in the center of the room. She motioned Kaede over, who sheepishly followed her silent order, and the Don looming over him. With shaky hands, he reached out and popped the locks open, not even noticing that Yuriko had again returned to the crates. He lifted the lid of the case, and if he had been a weaker man(or Kouta), he would have fainted.
"A WA2000...? Second generation too. W-wow...I never thought I'd see one in person..." Kaede muttered in amazement as he looked down at the rare and beautiful sniper rifle with it's standard scope, perfectly outlined by black foam and three clips; however, they were not the ordinary six round clip, but a extended, slightly curved twenty round magazine. "This...this is unbelievable..."
"And it's yours, if you'll take it." Yuriko said with a teasing smile as she set down a smaller ammo case with 'WA2000' marked on it with '7.62x51mm NATO' underneath it. "Here's some extra ammo and more of the 20-round magazines; I doubt you want any of the 6-round ones...and, if my husband would allow it, I'd like to send some more ammunition for you and your group, if that would be okay."
She was mostly looking at her husband as she spoke, who nodded once at the silent question.
"I...I thank you then, on behalf of my group" Kaede said, taking a deep breath before continuing, the excitement of being given the gun overbearing the need for politeness. "And I'll humbly accept this gift; this is more than anything I could ask for...thank you."
"No thanks needed; you showed me a technique I never thought actually existed. I should be thanking you." Souichiro said, bowing lightly to Kaede, who quickly returned the bow much deeper. "Now, I'm sure there are things you can busy yourself with; I'll have someone bring up the ammunition to your room shortly."
"Thank you again." Kaede said, only to have Souichiro motion to the two cases; Kaede closed the top to the WA2000 and locked it, taking it and the ammo case and disappearing up the stairs to ground level, Souichiro and Yuriko following shortly after making the arrangements with how much ammunition should be given to the group of teens, telling the vassal to take it to their room as soon as possible.
Kaede walked with a spring in his step all the way to the room; those who saw him looked at him with some confusion, but their looks were completely ignored. As Kaede arrived at the room he and Kouta shared, he noticed Rei walking down the hall, and waved to her.
"Wow, you're in a good mood..." Rei commented with a light chuckle as Kaede nodded, noticing the cases in his hand. "What're those?"
"Ammo and a gift" Kaede said with a grin as he opened the door, Rei following him in; the first thing he noticed was the M1 left against Kouta's bed and an idea formed in his mind. "Hey, Rei, ready to start learning how to use that properly?"
After having returned to the mansion after speaking with the arrogant survivors, Saya had returned to her room with nothing much better to do and much on her mind; she plopped herself on her bed, falling deep into her thoughts. Time flew for the self-proclaimed genius as she pondered the situations her group was in; indeed, they were favorable, but what would happen in their near future? Or tomorrow even? In this new world, no one living can be sure about tomorrow.
Before long, Saya's thoughts returned to the conversation with her father.
"Dammit...don't even think about it!" Saya growled at her runaway thoughts, jumping off her bed and sighed frustratedly as she left her room to look for something to busy her mind with; anything to keep her mind from wondering there...
Unfortunately for her, there wasn't much that she could do, rather, what she wanted to do, and ended up simply wandering the hallways, once again being left to her thoughts as much as she didn't want to think them...
Flashback
With the match over and the vassals dispersing, Takashi, Saeko, Saya and Kouta where at a loss of what to do now; they assumed Souichiro had accepted the terms of the match, and they had been granted, but didn't know for sure if he would want to speak with them or not afterward. The end result was the four wandering off in different directions, Saya and Kouta towards the garage to see how the repairs on the humvee were going after Kouta gave Takashi the Ithaca, and Saeko and Takashi sticking around to see the end results of the match, or, at least, the stage being packed up for the second time that day, since both combatants had left.
Takashi vaguely wondered where Souichiro had gone, and looked around, easily spotting him among the crowd, a towering figure...heading straight for he and Saeko. Despite himself, Takashi gulped, hard, while Saeko kept calm, noticing the Don approaching them as well; Takagi Souichiro was soon standing before the two, looming high above them both, quite the intimidating figure to behold.
"Komuro Takashi-kun...You must be happy for Himoura-kun's victory, no? I can assure you, Kaede's terms have been granted; you and your group will be generally acknowledged as your own group, and you may keep your guns." Souichiro spoke in his booming voice, but he was detracted; he watched one of the vassals pass by, and there was something in his voice that told Takashi he had something more on his mind. "Tell me...have you seen where my daughter went?"
"Thank you, sir..." Takashi replied with a nod as he noticed that there must be something else Souichiro wanted; needless to say, he was a bit shocked over what it was, and became curious as to why, but, like Saeko, he didn't ask. "Y-yeah...she went to the garage to check on the humvee repairs with Ko-Hirano-san."
"I see. Thank you" Souichiro said, already turning and walking away, leaving Saeko and Takashi confused; Souichiro paused, and looked over his shoulder at Saeko. "Busujima-kun...I would like to talk to you in a bit, so please don't go far..."
With that, Souichiro walked away, the two waiting until he was out of sight; with an unspoken agreement, they followed at a distance as Souichiro arrived at the garage. They watched him enter, and looked at each other with a look of curiosity.
Souichiro walked calmly to the garage where his daughter had been, trying to collect his thoughts; he knew he had to apologize personally to his daughter, even though her mother and his wife had tried apologizing for him; it just wasn't the same and he knew it for such a thing, a personal apology from both parents were necessary. As he neared the garage, he gathered his thoughts, and his wits, before entering the garage, seeing Saya, Kouta, and the mechanic, Matsudo, inspecting the humvee; as soon as they noticed him, Matsudo bowed deeply, Saya glared coldly at him, and Kouta cowered before him. That boy always knew how to make people feel better about themselves...
"Saya, I wish to speak to you..." Souichiro started, his eyes turning on Matsudo and Kouta. "Alone."
Almost instantly, the vassal bowed and pulled Kouta, who nearly fell to his knees after such a fierce gaze, out of the room, leaving the Don and his daughter alone. Souichiro watched as the two left, stalling as much as he hated to admit it, delaying what had to be done. As Matsudo closed the door behind he and Kouta, Souichiro had no choice but to look back at his daughter, who was still glaring at him fiercely, but he could see a curiosity behind the glare.
"What do you want to talk to me about, Papa?" Saya asked harshly as she crossed her arms; she was surprised to see Souichiro silent for a moment, before bowing deeply.
"My daughter...I am truly sorry...for losing hope for your survival. I assumed, since you where at school..." Souichiro started, not once raising himself, and stopped for a moment before continuing. "No...there is no excuse. I am sorry with all my soul; can you forgive this old man?"
Souichiro looked up after a moment of silence, expecting nothing from Saya and only a sincerity behind his sharp eyes; Saya was frozen stiff at her father's sudden apology, tears suddenly welling in her eyes as she choked on her words, taking a step back.
"I-I..." Saya stammered, fighting back her tears with all her willpower, but they still came, running down her cheeks. "I don't know, Papa..."
"It's alright." Souichiro replied with a light sigh and straightened up. "You don't have to; I will understand. But please, trust that I am truly sorry and...and I'm happy you are alive and well."
Saya chocked back a sob and turned on her heel, away from her father as she tried wiping away the tears; just in time too, as Takashi, alerted by the muffled sobs that had shouldered through the thin door, threw it open and stood at the threshold, regretting it instantly as the Don's will-shattering gaze was brought upon him.
"Urk...s-sorry..." Takashi muttered, backing up just as he saw Saya's shoulder's heaving as she silently tried to keep herself from crying; this made Takashi stand his ground and look past Souichiro. "Saya, are you okay?"
"Y-yeah, of course!" Saya said, turning and acting like nothing had happened, despite her still teary eyes; so like Saya. "It's not polite to interrupt other's conversations, you know, Komuro!"
"It's alright, I was done anyways." Souichiro but in, turning to his daughter as his eyes softened some for a split second. "Just...think about what I said..."
Saya only nodded strongly to her father before his eyes returned to normal and he turned fully to Saya.
"Very well now. I wish to ask you a favor than, survivor group to survivor group." Souichiro said, looking at Takashi as well. "There is unease among the survivors I have taken in..."
As Kouta walked away from the shared room he and Kaede used after dropping off the M1 there, keeping his AR-10 across his back, he recalled how he ended up going with Takashi and Saya; Takashi, who was acknowledged as the leader, was a given, and Saya was too, being the most persuasive and trusted of the group by Souichiro, but Saeko had originally volunteered. Souichiro had other plans for her, however, so she had gone off with the Don, and he appointed Kouta to replace her.
It was troublesome, but there was no way Kouta could deny Souichiro, and ended up going around with Takashi and Saya; much good that did, since the adults had referred to them as 'high off violence' because he was carrying the AR-10 and the M1 while Takashi kept a hold of the Ithaca. All in all, it had been a pointless task, and only made Kouta hungry; he wondered when dinner would be served as he wandered the mansion's halls, having a sort of navigational sense now after having traversed these halls many times now.
As he turned a corner, he saw Saya standing a bit away, and decided to ask her about getting some food in his stomach, even if it would probably turn out to be his ass getting chewed for being a 'fat-ass', as Saya liked to call him when Alice wasn't around. As Kouta approached Saya, he saw she was leaning against the wall, facing it with her head resting on her arm she was supporting herself on and he could tell something was up, so he didn't say anything until he was closer.
"Hey, Takagi-san-"
"Call me by my first name, dammit!" Saya yelled as she whipped on Kouta, her glasses held in her hand and her face tear streaked.
"Ta...S-Saya...san..." Kouta had a bit of a hard time saying it, but managed; it being unimportant after seeing the state Saya was in. "W-what happened!"
Without warning, Saya rushed the short distance to Kouta, shoving her face into his...squishy chest, and started bawling her eyes out on him. Without knowing what else to do, Kouta nervously placed his hands on Saya's shoulder; when she actually hugged him back, crying even harder into his chest, Kouta held her tighter, protectively as he looked off into the distance, his manly instinct taking over and let Saya cry it out, while letting her know he would be there to protect her.
Saya's sobs didn't stop until several minutes later; she started calming herself down before stopping completely, staying like that with Kouta for a moment, before pulling back. Reverting back to his usual self, Kouta quickly let go of Saya and backed up slightly, watching her nervously as she wiped away the leftover tears, hiccuping slightly. She put her glasses on and composed herself before looking up at Kouta with sharp eyes, making Kouta cower.
"You...you tell anyone about this, and I sweat to God I'll kill you!" Saya hissed at Kouta, who cowered in fear and nodded quickly.
"Y-yes, of course! Not a word to anyone, Taka-" the glare from Saya intensified, and Kouta quickly corrected himself. "S-Saya...sama?"
Saya smirked smugly, feeling much better after that now, seeing Kouta in a new lightly; the moment was ruined however, by Kouta's stomach growling noisily. Go figure.
"Fat-ass..." Saya muttered before giggling. "I guess it is around dinner time...let's go look for everyone else."
"Okay!" Kouta said with a nod, liking the way Saya was treating him now, and followed her through the mansion.
It didn't take the two long before they found Rei and Kaede; as soon as they were outside, all they had to do was follow the gunshots, and the small crowd of off-duty vassals, watching a sniping ace teaching a novice, who actually had some skills. The ace sniper was really Kaede, who was using his new WA2000 given to him by Souichiro, and the trainee was Rei, who was catching on fast how to use the M1 as a gun, not just a spear, and was getting much closer with Kaede through the 'training'.
As the two approached, Kouta found it weird for Kaede to be teaching, especially with to boards nailed to a tree several yards away; as far as he knew, Kaede only had the M870 shotgun. When they got near however, Kouta nearly pissed himself in excitement.
"Oh my go, oh my god, oh my go~d!" Kouta shrieked out as he saw the rifle in Kaede's hand. A WA2000, serious! There's only 176 of those in existence; how did you get something like that, Kaede!"
"Oh, Kouta...Saya, what's up?" Kaede said, looking back after Kouta's initial squeal, smirking down at the rifle in his hands. "Oh, this? It's a little something Saya's father gave me. Neat, huh?"
Of course, he was teasing Kouta with the 'I've got a rarer gun than you~' attitude. As the two gun nerds ogled over Kaede's new gun, as Saya addressed them when Kaede was included, since she had more respect for him than Kouta, and it was a little less insulting than gun otakus, Saya went over to Rei, who raised her rifle against her shoulder, her finger resting along the trigger guard as Kaede taught her.
"I see you're learning to use that thing properly; that's good" Saya commented, mildly interested as she looked at Rei, the brunette having a sort of new confidence. "How are you coming along?"
"Pretty good, Kaede and everyone else says; I still can't hit the target directly yet, but I'm getting close!" Rei said with a cheerful look before turning her attention to Kouta and Kaede, Saya also looking soon after; the two had started arguing because Kaede teasingly refused to let Kouta use the gun, and Kouta had used the 'it's not what you got, it's how you use it' saying.
Without hesitation, the two raised their rifles, and the two shot round after round into the bulls-eye of the target; Rei also pressed the gun to her shoulder and lined up a shot. After a moment, twice as long as Kaede and Kouta needed to aim, she fired, the hole appearing slightly higher than the bulls-eye. Rei sighed, taking her finger off the rifle and lowered it.
"Kaede tells me to aim a bit lower, but I think it's just the recoil..." Rei whined softly, Saya thinking for a second.
"It could be both...try aiming lower until your use to handling the recoil; I don't know much about guns, but that sound like a reasonable solution, right? If the bullet hits higher than it's suppose to, than you should aim lower until you can make the bullet hit right..." Saya said, helpfully; Rei nodded and tired it, surprised to see that she hit the target, along with Kouta and Kaede.
They both stopped and looked at Rei, who smiled at them; they both smiled back, and Kaede gave Rei the a thumbs up.
"Nice shot Rei!" he said with a grin, Rei jumping in success at the praise, unknowing that a familiar bus full of familiar students lead by a hated teacher was making it's way to the barricades surrounding the Takagi manor...
Saeko watched as Rei left down the hall, the words of their little conversation ringing in her head.
"Take care of him for me..."
Did Rei know about her and Takashi's growing relationship? She had too, because she wouldn't say things like that. Plus, she herself could tell there was something going on with Kaede and Rei, having never really heard the rumors about the two going out, so it may be the same with her. She could tell they were childhood friends though, just by the way they interacted; really good friends, in the very least, so maybe something had started developing between her and Takashi?
Saeko sighed softly to herself and shook her head; she thought of things that weren't important anymore; all that mattered was the here and now, and that included getting acceptance, and even a request from Rei over her and Takashi's relationship. With that decided, Saeko walked up to the door Takashi was behind, realizing she had been standing there for three minutes or so.
She lightly knocked, waiting for a second for the gruff 'come in' from Takashi before opening the door, and stepping inside. Takashi was standing there, and had started practicing with the shotgun again, and was holding it loosely in his hand as he looked over, his eyes widening slightly as he blushed.
"Oh, Saeko-san..." he muttered, looking at her again and noticing the unfamiliar katana in her hands. "That's...?"
"Oh, Takagi-sama gave it to me, as a gift in place of my father; he insisted I take it, but I think he should have allowed me to give it to my father when...if I see him again..." Saeko hesitated, her father being over seas, so there was no way to tell if he was alive or not. "It's a truly beautiful blade, Komuro-kun; a sword forged by the general Murata himself during the Meiji era."
"I..see..." Takashi said, slightly lost as he listened, plopping down on the bed and setting his shotgun aside; he knew nothing of swords and that was fine with Saeko, who giggled and seemed to glide elegantly over to the bed, sitting next to Takashi with the sword across her lap.
Without waiting for a word of invitation, Saeko leaned her head on Takashi's shoulder; he felt him tense slightly, but relaxed quickly as the warm weight. They stayed like that for awhile, not having had much time together, alone, since the night at the shrine when they were separated; how Saeko had longed for a chance to be alone with the man who accepted her for who she was, and how cruel she could be fighting them. Recalling the night in the shrine, Saeko slid closer to Takashi, and before he knew it, she reached up and stole a kiss from him, the second they've shared together; Takashi was surprised for a second before melting into it, placing his hand on Saeko's cheek.
He may have been confused over his feeling for Saeko and Rei, but there was no denying what was in front of him, and frankly, his feelings for Rei weren't the same anymore. His crush had faded at some point, when exactly Takashi didn't know, but it had been turned on the purple haired senor. As he felt Saeko's tongue start prodding his lips, Takashi hesitated before opening them, his own reaching out to meet Saeko's; their kiss at the shrine was nowhere near as intament as this, but Takashi went with it, wanting to know the animal Saeko could become even more.
Next thing Takashi knew, he had pushed Saeko on her back, taking charge a bit more, kissing her harder and loosing himself in Saeko's sweet taste, as Saeko did with his; they were brought back by the sound of Saeko's katana hitting the ground softly when it rolled off the bed. They broke the kiss, and Takashi looked down at Saeko, panting; he blushed as he noticed the top half of her kimono had come loose and had fallen off her shoulder, reveling the top part of her lush breasts.
"S-sorry..." Takashi muttered, sitting up with a dark blush, breathing a bit heavy.
Saeko lightly giggled and sat up, fixing her kimono and swooping down to retrieve her katana.
"Don't be; you're a man after all, and I kissed you first..." Saeko replied with a smile. "You know...I would have let you continue..."
Takashi blushed at the suggestiveness in Saeko's voice, and let Saeko's words hang around for awhile, Saeko letting them die off and they sat in silence for awhile.
"I..." Takashi started; Saeko looked to Takashi almost hopefully, but saw his face was serious and what he was about to say completely unrelated to the sensual act they were just engulfed into. "I've been thinking...since you guys have made me your leader, I've been thinking of a plan..."
Takashi looked over to see Saeko listening intently, nodding softly to show she too acknowledged him as the leader.
"It's safe here, with Don Takagi, but Rei, Kaede and I still need to look for our parents." Takashi continued, looking at the wall. "I...I want you, Kouta, Shizuka Saya and Alice to stay with him. I'll talk to Takagi-sama soon, and ask for some sort of extra vehicles, so you all can keep the humvee and go with Takagi-sama if need be; we'll try and be back before they leave, so..."
"I'll go with you." Saeko said, firmly, and stopped Takashi from cutting in. "You're going into the city, right? You'll need as much of a fighting force as you can get..."
"No, Saeko-san." Takashi said, just as firmly. If...if we don't make it back, I want you to take care of the group with Kouta. I can't risk loosing you too; you're very valuable to the group."
Saeko was about to say something else, but Takashi stood and picked up his shotgun again.
"It's final; I'm going to go talk to Takagi-sama, then find Rei and Kaede to talk to them about it too." Takashi said as he walked towards the door, leaving Saeko alone in the room.
Sitting there for a moment, Saeko's grip on the katana tighten and she stood, leaving the room to head for her own, which was likewise separate from the other girl's, there being no more room for her there, with her mind made up; she was going with Takashi, whether her liked it or not, and Saeko was sure the rest of the group wouldn't let them go either with just the tree of them alone. They were a group, and they weren't splitting up that easily.
Takashi walked away from the mansion, his first guess to find Rei and Kaede was to follow the gunshots; however, they had stopped moments ago, so Takashi kept walking in that direction anyways. He had just finished talking to the Don about his pans, and basicly been told to do as he pleased; he even offered to supply a form of transportation and sent Matsudo the mechanic out to find something they Takashi and Kaede could drive, but also something they could afford to give up to them.
As he neared the point of the gunshots, he found Rei and Kaede, as well as Saya and Kouta, even Alice and Shizuka. He gulped; it was better to talk to all of them and get it over with, but it still would be difficult to do. Alice noticed him first, waving with a cry of 'Onii-chan', drawing everyone's attention to him; he noticed Kaede holding a new gun and Rei with the M1, guessing that he and Kouta had been teaching Rei to shoot.
As he neared, Alice run up to hug him, Rei instantly confirming his guesses as she told him how Kaede was teaching her to shoot and how she was a natural.
"That's great, Rei..." Takashi said with a small smile before falling silent and, before he knew it, everyone's attention was on him. "Well, I have something to talk to you guys about...Rei, Kaede and I will be leaving...to look for our parents. The rest of you, I want you to stay with Don Takagi-sama, and hopefully we'll make it back before they move out in two days."
The group was silent as Takashi spoke, avoiding holding anyone's gazes; Kaede and Rei's attitude's became serious as they where reminded of their parents, the rest of the group hearing out Takashi, their leader, before stating their complaints; Saya was first.
"Certainly, that's a better idea; here we can have our safety guaranteed...I'm assuming you talked with my father about this?" Saya asked, looking at it from Takashi's perspective; with the whole group, there would be too many chances to loose someone in an essentially quick mission.
"Yeah; he says to do as I wish, and he'll provide us with transportation..." Takashi said; Saya was about to state a counter argument, just as Matsudo approached them, panting; he had ran to the group as soon as he found vehicles for their mission.
"Komuro-kun, I found something you can use" Matsudo said as he caught his breath and motioned Takashi to follow; he motioned Rei and Kaede to come along as well, but the whole group ended up following him with Matsudo to the garage on the other side of the courtyard.
Takashi took this time to address Kaede's new rifle.
"Ah, you haven't seen it yet; Souichiro-sama gave it to me for winning earlier." Kaede explained. "Oh, and he'll be giving us some extra ammunition too."
Takashi nodded, only knowing that the ammunition part was good, their original stock running dangerously low. As they followed Matsudo, save for the short conversation about the guns and ammo, the group was quiet, debating Takashi's plan in their heads; Alice wanted to stay with Takashi, of course, but with such a serious attitude, she was putting aside her selfish wants and was waiting for the final decision to be made.
As the approached the garage, they could see it was open, and there being two dark green ATVs sitting out, with the humvee inside the garage, it's repairs near complete. Takashi raised an eyebrow as the two vehicles as they walked up to them and stopped.
"I could only find two that were working, unfortunately..." Matsudo started.
"Don't worry, I can ride with Kaede." Rei piped in before she realized what she had said; Shizuka was giving her a sly look, but Takashi was as passive as ever, since it was her choice to begin with, and he didn't really care she rode with Kaede to begin with.
"These are perfect then" Takashi said, giving Matsudo a nod, as Rei suddenly made a sound in her throat, looking off towards the mansion; walking towards them was Saeko, fully dressed with the addition of black elbow pads and black armor covering her shins from her knees to her ankles, along with a new pair of shoes, matching the amour with plates on the shoes themselves.
Along with that, she now wore two katanas; the Murata sword and the katana she sound in the shrine, the shrine katana being considerably longer than the Murata katana.
"Saeko-onee-chan...wow!" Alice said in awe as Saeko approached, seeming like some heroine from an anime to the young girl, making her momentarily forget her worries.
"Can you even use two swords?" Rei asked bitterly, having been easily out done by Saeko once again.
"No, not really, but I have tried using my left hand as my main during training recently..." Saeko replied, not hearing the harmless malice in Rei's voice.
"Isn't a bit early to get ready like that?" Takashi asked, his eyes narrowing; Saeko brushed his glare off.
"I said I was going with you, no matter what." Saeko replied coolly, and looked at the ATVs. "So, are those what we're using? Not much space your your parents..."
"They're only temporary; we'll look for a bigger car, if need be..." Takashi replied, already having thought of that.
"In that case, why not just take the humvee?" Saya added with a small smirk. It's as Saeko-chan said; we're going with you, no matter what."
"What?" Takashi gasped, turning away from Saeko to the group as they overruled his decision, all of them nodding in agreement of them all going.
"We're a group, and we're not separating so easily, Takashi." Kouta added, manly mode active and his voice strong, Shizuka and Alice nodding along with what he and Saya were saying.
Takashi was at a bit of a standstill before sighing and smiling.
"Fine, I got it I got it...we'll all go; I'll talk to Takagi-sama as soon as I can..." Takashi finally gave in, and the group rejoiced; Rei however, was no longer paying attention, her face contorted in anger.
"What's wrong Rei...?" Kaede asked, he and Takashi following Rei's gaze, soon along with everyone else, seeing a familiar micro bus with a familiar man in a black suit stepping out to meet the vassal near the gate the bus had just rolled through.
"No way...!" Takashi gasped; without warning and her hands holding the M1 tightly, Rei dashed off towards the gate.
"It's him!" Kaede heard her growl, following after her quickly with his own rifle shouldered, Rei using the same malice in her face when they referred to the undead...
Chapter 8, end
Author's notes: Another long chapter...meh, oh well; and I got rid of that thing, the amphibious vehicle or whatever, cause I plain don't like it. And yes, I'll be keeping the humvee in action for awhile longer. If you haven't figured it out yet, Google Image the guns if you don't know about them, though certain ones, like Kaede's Remington M870 MK1, I'll be uploading a picture of, cause it's a specific one that took me awhile to find. Also, I'll have more character art for other OCs in the future when thy appear; if you haven't seen it yet, make sure to check out the link for Kaede's. As you may guess, he's shown with weapons not yet acquired in the story.
On another note, I'd like to thank the reviewers, especially Dante-SonofSparda-EX21 for his review on chapter seven; thanks a lot, it was very encouraging, man. Ronin's fine, if you wanna refer to me at all for whatever. I'm only using your full user-name because there's another reviewer with the same name. Anyways, the next chapter should be out soon, so look forward to it~