Forward Unto Dawn Chapter 10: What if the Storm Ends?, a Naruto + Highschool of the Dead Crossover fanfic

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Highschool of the Dead.

Note: There is a long AN at the bottom. So don't go too crazy. This chapter content wise is about 7000-7500 words.

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Seven Hours Later

"What do you mean you just let them go!" Rei yelled in a panic as the group was gathered in the official bedroom of the house. The group was spread out effectively across the room, but there was a tense silence that unified everyone.

Saito for once had closed his laptop, even though it remained in his lap. He had positioned himself at the head of the bed, a calculating gaze being shot to the outside balcony.

Shido and the girl that had been assisting him downstairs were sitting at the foot of the bed. In front of the duo was Shizuka, who had opted to sit in a chair backwards as she applied and and all medical knowledge she could to the former teacher's wounds. Although in light of the man's neglect, she seriously wished she had a cold enough heart to simply neglect a person that was injured.

Ayane leaned against the closed glass door that lead out to the balcony. Her eyes were closed as she gently turned her head every so often as if she was hearing a far away, or very quiet noise.

Miku had situated herself in the corner of the room in a new set of clothes that she undoubtedly "borrowed without asking" under "Rika's hospitality". It was a bit excessive considering everyone was able to get their clothes washed. She apparently just didn't appreciate her school uniform.

She sat with one leg over the other in a very short black skirt that put that school regulations skirt to shame. She had opted for wearing tight fancy red top as well, that seemed to match the under garments she was far too keen to show off earlier. She sat with a confident air about her as her skirt rose up high on her leg letting her bask in her sex appeal, silently enjoying the few glances she would raise from Saito, Takashi, and the shorter boy Kohta. That wasn't to say that she personally would have gotten with either of them if the opportunity arose. However she... just like anyone else... had her needs.

"Rei calm down, she didn't have much of a choice." Takashi tried to reason with his friend as he put a calming hand on the girl's shoulder. An action that she dutifully ignored.

"Of course she had a choice! She should have stopped him! She should have stopped both of them, but she just let them leave!" Rei yelled, causing many in the group to be thankful that the doors and windows of the house were closed. It was also a bit painful to watch Rei's outbursts for everyone as a group. Two members of their group were missing, and evidently two members Rei cared about. It was a bit of a stressful reminder of what many may encounter upon reaching their own houses.

"What would you have done then!" Saeko said loudly, raising her wooden blade at Rei from her position at the stairs. "Pressed on against an armed opponent? He aimed a crossbow at me. Would you have joined him, and followed them both? Abandon everyone here Miyamoto-san?" Saeko said coldly, a fierce gaze in her eyes.

Rei clenched her jaw and her fists on that note. She knew the truth. The truth was that only an idiot would try and do either of those things. Run away from the larger more secure group? Run away from the group with guns for whatever reason. But that was simply the truth for the average person.

Rei on the other hand? She put up a convincing lie, "No I wouldn't..." she said through her teeth. Although she honestly didn't know what she would have done.

Saya sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose before pushing up her glasses. "We have been at this for over an hour. Arguing isn't going to bring Homura or Uzumaki back." she said bitterly before turning to Shizuka.

"Shizuka-sensei, did you try and call your friend yet?" Saya asked pointedly as she gazed toward the doctor working on the injured Shido.

"Oh no I have been busy with Shido-san." she said quietly, suddenly wondering if that was the wrong thing to focus on at this given time. She wasn't much of a leader, she could only focus on one thing at a time.

"If she is military or whatever like you say, it would be best to get in contact with her now. My house is close by just on the other side of the river. You should tell her we will be going there." Saya said trying her best to assert herself as some form of leader amongst the chaos that was the group. Shizuka however didn't need to be told twice to follow a direction as she promptly went into another room, presumably to get a phone.

In her opinion, Rei and Saeko had been at each other's throats the entire morning since they woke up. Shizuka had been wrapped up with Shido the entire morning, however she seriously doubted the blonde medic could even take the lead if she wanted to. Nana had huddled herself up with Kohta since the short gun freak was arguably the safest and the most dangerous person in the house, particularly since Saeko was in an argument.

Rei and Saeko were still stuck in a deadly stare off. Rei had since drawn a small familiar metal pipe from a rather hidden pocket on the Anbu uniform to match against Saeko's wooden blade.

Saya shook her head before glancing over to Takashi. He had a hand on Rei's shoulder, looking as if he was trying to calm the girl down. However Saya knew Takashi better than that. She had observed the boy since they were childhood friends. Only to take an even greater interest in the last year after his fallout with Jin and his situation with Rei blowing up in his face.

No. While she was trying to calm the girl down, he had a distant look in his eyes that just told her the boy's heart wasn't fully in his actions. Not like how it used to be with the brown haired teen.

Saya idly looked over through the glass door to the balcony as she recalled the wall of dead zombies she had witnessed when she had woken up. The blonde must have killed and stacked at least a hundred zombies into a wall, completely blocking side of the street east of them from the dead. And given the fact that most were coming from the bridge to the east of them, and not from the west? It made their house pretty safe. She probably would have commended the blonde if he were around.

But it wasn't the wall that was bothering Takashi. No that thought was ridiculous. She knew Ryo personally, the boy's family was his life. She knew that Ryo's death had effected Takashi quite a deal more than he would even care to admit. The boy had died and came back only to be killed again by Takashi's hand. The fact that the boy was part of the foundations of the wall outside, the fact that he couldn't get a proper burial? That was likely what weighed on Takashi's mind.

Saya stuck up her nose at that. If everyone was going to break down into chaos around her, she wasn't going to become a part of it.

"Saito, Uzumaki and Homura left a note before they left addressed to you. It had an address on it, and said they would be back by night time tonight. Do you know where they went? Can we see if they are close by?" Saya asked, gently removing her glasses to clean them lightly on her shirt.

Saito seemed to straighten up at the fact that he was addressed. He often kept to himself and took care of his own personal business and things on his computer. He didn't like being in the spotlight, so naturally being called upon wasn't something he was entirely fond of. "They are too far away," he said simply. "They are on the other side of the bridge we crossed the other day, poorer areas of town."

Rei seemed to perk up at that before anyone before quickly become dejected as she weighed the words of the entire statement. She had a feeling she knew where they went. But now knowing how far they were from them... she was in a pretty poor mood.

Oddly enough to most that had been observing, Miku also seemed to perk up a bit at that. "Hey Map Quest, are they around the Sevenson, Bar, and Gas station?" Miku asked rudely, not caring about her given nickname for the rather nerdy teen.

Saito quickly shot a glare to the short haired beauty. 'Her beauty is only skin deep' he told himself silently. "No." he said bluntly not really thinking all that much about what the girl asked.

Miku narrowed her eyes before huffing and falling back into her seat with her arms crossed over her ample chest.

Saya shook her head as she observed the group, allowing her own thoughts to flow through her at a rapid pace. To say the entire matter with Uzumaki and Homura was strange would be an understatement. They had been in that area across the bridge just the other day, why hadn't they stopped? "Then given their distance, I think this would be a good time to evaluate what we should do as a group. I don't believe staying her any longer is in our best interests." Saya said attracting the attention of others in the room. She shrugged her shoulders lightly and continued, "I think it should also be worth noting that I don't feel Uzumaki is currently in the best state of mind to lead the group." Saya said, adjusting her glasses.

Miku snorted, "And you are pinky?" she muttered to herself as she rolled her eyes.

Saya shot the girl a glare at the comment, but continued none the less with the attention on her. "Many of us witnessed Uzumaki's actions last night. Whether they be downstairs, on the balcony, or even when he attacked Komuro. I just can't honestly say he has our best interests or safety at heart." Saya said confidently letting the statement sink in with everyone.

Saito shook his head from his seated position, "I don't understand why you intend to bring this up now Takagi-san. This was brought up just last night as to why we decided to stay here. We all decided to follow Naruto."

Saya got an irritated look, "Yes we decided to follow the blonde, and now look? Where is he? He ditched us with Homura, and ran off to do god knows what. Homura even threatened Busujima-san!"

Saito frowned at that note. He trusted the blonde who saved his life, and frankly he owed the blonde his life. However that wouldn't win him any points when trying to make an argument to continue to follow the blonde.

"The note says that they will be back later tonight. The entire night before got blown way out of proportion because no one was on the same page, and wanted to do their own thing. Perhaps we should actually just listen to directions for once?" Saito tried to reason, realizing he had quickly become the one man party in defense of the blonde in his absence.

Saya rolled her eyes, but bit her tongue on an insult on her opinion of the boy's intelligence. "Every second we wait here, is a second that our family members could be dying out there." she spat out, a hint of worry in her voice.

"I get that, I do." Saito began with a shake of his head, removing his laptop from his lap. "But what would you have us do? Take the car and leave Naruto and Jin to die if they get back? Who would hold the group together? If we leave here early and disorganized, not comfortably under a single leader? We could all die." Saito said firmly, a tone that he rarely used as he hated being in the spotlight.

Before Saya could speak up, Miku seemed to want to cut in and add some salt to the wound. "Not to mention Komuro and Pinky junior would have died last night if it weren't for that suicidal blonde. Or the fact that Nana would have had to put up with her terrible fun and exciting experience in full if the blonde hadn't stepped in." Miku said with a wicked smirk.

Nana who was formerly sitting silently beside Kohta seemed to tense heavily at that thought. "Excuse me..." she said softly as her face turned relatively pale before she quickly removed herself from the room and down the stairs, a hand clenching her stomach.

Miku's action seemed to stop any and all conflict that was going about the room, and focused all of the frustration on the girl. However no one said a word for a good few moments as the stood there in silence.

The sound of a door closing then resounded throughout the house.

"What the hell is your problem?" Kohta said in a harsh whisper as he sprung up and stood tall from his position.

"Miku-san that was uncalled for." Saeko followed up having completely dropped her argument with Rei.

Miku snorted at that, "Uncalled for? I just decided to speak the truth once while you all bicker over nothing. Why look at me? The guy that let it all happen is right there." she said nodding her head towards Shido.

It was then that the room fell into a tense silence as their disapproving gazes turned from the short haired beauty and laid upon the former teacher. Not many in the room really liked the man before last night. However given the circumstances of everything that unfolded recently surrounding him, it was safe to say that no one in the room really liked him. At least besides the young brunette that seemed to cater to the young teacher a great deal.

And it was with that thought that a single thought flooded through everyone's mind. 'Why was this man here?'

Naruto...

Naruto was the only person that really gave the man a chance. Although who could really blame the blonde? Whether people liked the man or not, Shido was a living breathing person. Problems that people had with him weren't necessarily over things he had done in the group. Sure people may not like his character, or they may not like him for things that he had done in the past. Yet... it was a new world they were in now. Would it be safe to say it is a fresh start? Or should people cling to ideas that they had about the wold only days before the 'Z-day' happened?

However luckily the tension in the room seemed to diffuse as Takashi regained his composure and said calmly, "I understand why you may want us to leave Takagi... just as I understand why Saito-san wants us to stay. However we already have been through a lot in the past couple days. People have died... I nearly died because I didn't listen to directions, and I was ill prepared for the circumstances. Truthfully... we keep trying to do what we want to do instead of acting as a team. The only time we actually listened to Naruto-san, and did what he asked was on the walk over here. I believe we should give him a chance." Takashi admitted, which seemed to sway any fluctating votes silently in favor of his own opinion.

Saya sighed heavily at that and shook her head. She truthfully doubted she would ever understand what was going through everyone's heads at this moment. She knew for a fact that at least three of them had family on the other side of the river. Potentially even more people. Why everyone seemed content with following Naruto after he seemingly abandoned the group, she would have no idea.

"Alright. Then I propose we at least get the Hum Vee ready to go so if we need to, we can leave as soon as possible, and then spend the day here searching this house, and the house across the street for anything we can use. If Uzumaki spent all night building that wall, we might as well use the protection it gives to scavenge for things we may be able to use." Saya said trying to find some middle ground with the group, making them at least think of leaving the apartment.

She only proceeded to give a contented sigh when it appeared everyone agreed.

XXXXXXXX

A purple haired woman lay flat on the roof of a bus near an airport landing strip with a confident yet concentrated look in her eyes.

Beside her sat her loyal partner, squadmate, friend, and brother.

"So the rules from home base still apply right? You miss a shot, I get to massage your breasts?" the man asked with a cheeky grin.

"You know I'm not going to miss." The woman quipped in amusement. 'Okay... a very perverted brother.'

"Perhaps god will grant me a blessing, Rika." the man said in teasing tone as he wagged his eyebrows a bit to emphasize how 'Serious' he was about the statement.

Rika gave a single laugh at that, as she stared down the scope of her trusted sniper rifle. "Please, don't start that bullshit with me. You even told me your an atheist." she said rolling her eyes before focusing once again on the scope.

The man gave a grin as he rubbed his hand before his mouth to mask his laugh. "Well... I figured with the world going to shit... I might as well go with a more 'As needed' basis of worship.

Rika gave another chuckle at that as she scoped out her targets, "If you keep making me laugh, I may miss. And why am I doing your job?" she asked in amusement.

"Good, my plan is working. And I figured if you had more to do, the more likely you'll miss." he said light heartedly as he looked off into the distance, ignoring his own equipment.

Rika snorted and muttered a "Not likely..." under her breath. She knew her partner heard her as well by the way he chuckled at her comment.

She fired off a single shot that pierced straight through the skull of a zombie. It slammed right between the monster's eyes, shattering his expensive glasses in two halves. Rika turned around, removing her eyes from the scope to give a rather confident look at her partner.

The man merely shrugged his shoulders and held up his hands in defense, "Yeah... yeah... I know. You're hot shit." he said with a small grin.

Rika's look of confidence turned to one of amused arrogance as she wagged her eyebrows once at her partner. She turned back to the scope quickly, and then with unfound precision let of shot after shot of her rifle. And quickly the numbers of walking dead turned into numbers of laying dead.

She stood up after that, having not missed a single shot. She turned to her partner, stetching her arms above her head accentuating her breasts. "Oh... I'd say that was better then just hot shit." she said with a cheeky grin.

Rather comically, her partner looked up to the sky before shaking his head. He grabbed his hat and threw it down to the roof of the car before stepping on it. "OOHHHH! Fuckin' horse shit! See I told you this faith thing was crap, this proves it!"

Rika laughed freely at that. Partially because of the statement, but more so because of her partners conviction behind it. Not to mention she really doubted that of all the things in the world, 'God' would be trying to make a random guy win a bet. "Hey Tajima..." Rika said calmly as she finished stretching and proceeded to massage her breasts.

"Hm?" he prompted as he gave her a careful look.

"I just want you to know that..." she gave her breasts an exagerated squeeze, that actually hurt a bit, but was more than worth her partner's reaction. "You are the reason I'm the only woman on trial as a Seal."

Tajima snorted at that, "Yep completely just because of me. Definitely not the whole female PoW's getting sexually abused. Or the psychological rage that gets induced in men upon seeing a wounded female comrade prompting lack of communication in teams." he listed off things from the top of his head.

Rika shook her head as she unstrapped part of her chest piece. "It's all you." she said gravely tone.

Tajima rolled his eyes. "Right..." he drawled. He took a pause as he watched other zombies on the landing strip slowly but surely make their way in to the airport from the landing zone. He shrugged his shoulders lightly as he played over the purple haired woman's statement. "Alright whatever. We come out here every day. Chances you will miss are high."

Rika smiled lightly, "These targets? My eyes? Not likely." she said confidently as she rolled her head lightly getting a few kinks out.

Tajima scoffed as if suddenly remembering a crucial detail on a field assignment. "Twenty - Eight vision... Rika I want you to know. I've told you before, but that is just disgusting. What were you a test tube baby? Did your parents feed you correctional lenses instead of baby food when you were younger? Thats test subject status. You know a fucking hawk is like twenty - two or something like that right?" he said going off into a bit of a rant that he had been on before.

Rika shook her head with a small smile as she lay back down flat down on the bus. She didn't really need to respond. It was a conversation they had been through already. She was very lucky, and gifted to be born with the eyes, and physical capability to be able to perform at the level needed for her position. So instead of talking about it, she simply opted to wait for a new wave of zombies to be attracted to the sound from her rifle.

However it was then that the phone in her butt pocket began to burst into song.

Tajima gave a cheeky grin as his partner began to sing quietly as she reached behind for her back pocket.

"I'm not askin' for you to fall in love... or some great romance... just be with me... till the feeling's gone..."

"I can get that for you." Tajima said with a grin.

Rika had since closed her eyes while mumbling her ringtone. She cracked one eye open as the notes repeated before rolling her eyes at her partner, "Alright then quickly..."

Tajima looked for a second as if he had just struck gold. However that look quickly turned into one of the realization that it was fool's gold. "Oh that's... that's cold." he said as her sat down beside his partner and reached a hand into the woman's back pocket, and withdrawing it with a simple squeeze.

Rika fought down her own laugh at the fact that Tajima having after already removed the phone, opted to reinsert his hand in her back pocket, and palmed her ass. "Nice..." she said with a laugh at how ridiculously bold and ballsy that move was.

Tajima gave a grin, but promptly looked at the phone's screen. "It's a Shizuka Marikawa... or Marikawa Shizuka. I don't know, shit is ass backwards here for me." however to his surprise, before he even completely finished his statement, his partner rapidly scrambled for the phone and opened it with more genuine emotion he had seen in months of being stationed here.

"Shizu-chan?" she exclaimed brightly, and hopefully.

"Ahhh Rika-chan! You're alive!" exclaimed Shizuka on the other end of the line. "Me too!" Rike grinned lightly at that 'Of course you're alive you dummy, you're talking to me.' Rika shook her head as she listened to her friend, while gently pushing the button on the phone for speaker so her comrade could hear the conversation.

"We've been through an awful lot." Shizuka finished her statement over the line.

Tajima raised an eyebrow at that before gently mouthing to his friend, 'Oh! So you do have friends.' before giving a large grin. An action that only garnered the finger in response.

"Where are you now? My place?" Rika asked as she held her phone in the palm of her hand, and spoke loudly.

"Yeah... We all are," Shizuka said in a slow tone. "Oh but Hirano-kun borrowed some of your weapons."

"What!" both Rika and Tajima yelled in unison.

"Oh my Rika-chan you have company? Hello Rika's friend!" Shizuka said cheerfully on the other end of the line.

"Shizu-chan! You have to get the guns back from this Hirano-kun. Those guns aren't toys, he could seriously get hurt." Rika said quickly.

"I suggest you tell her of a safe place to put them, or teach her how to dismantle them so they can't be fired." Tajima said quietly from over Rika's shoulder.

"Oh don't worry Rika-chan. Hirano-kun knows what he is doing." Shizuka replied light heartedly with a small laugh.

Rika gave a surprised look at that before glancing at her comrade with a tight frown on her lips.

"Are you sure?" Tajima said loudly, cutting in on the conversation.

"Yup!" she proclaimed with her same cheer. "He helped Komuro-kun and Uzumaki-kun rescue Alice-chan on the street below from your balcony with... umm what was it... Shotgun... no no..." Shizuka began to mumble to herself on her end of the line.

Tajima gave Rika a look that plainly asked 'Are you fucking kidding me?'

Rika waved her hand dismissively, "Probably my SR-25..." she said quietly, which garnered a surprised glance from her partner. Rika then proceeded to pinch the bridge of her nose with a sigh at that train of thought. "This Hirano... he didn't waste all of my," she paused on the tip of her tongue as she was about to say 'rounds' but opted for simply terms with her friend, "bullets did he?"

Shizuka mulled over her answer as to what would be considered a waste of bullets. "Well Hirano-kun didn't miss." she said on the other end of the line with a finger to her lip.

Rika's eyes went wide at that before turning to her partner.

"Couldn't have been more then a few shots then." Tajima reasoned in a quiet whisper that only Rika would hear.

However Rika on the other hand was brought back to when she was younger and was practicing nearly non-stop with firearms as a child. A key note that she never opted to mention to anyone that couldn't demand the information from her. "How many times did he fire the gun then Shizu-chan?" Rika asked over the line, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Ummm... I lost count after twenty something..." Shizuka said on the other end of the line lost in thought.

Rika however was in a world of her own, no misses over the course of firing that many rounds was impressive... almost disturbingly so. "Oh, how old is Hirano-kun?" Rika asked, suddenly an interest in whatever male companion she was traveling with. Perhaps it was a police officer or former officer. Or maybe some form of gang member. She hoped it wasn't the later though, she didn't particularly want her friend to be in any form of danger.

"Ummm fifteen I think." she said trying to recall what year the boy had said he was in.

Tajima seemed to choke on that number, and gave Rika's butt a good squeeze in the process. Whether that was from the choking, or the good measure... Rika would never know. "That can't be right. Guns are like impossible to get out here. He would never know how to fire one that accurately."

Rika said nothing in response as she pursed her lips at that revelation. "Well how are you doing Shizu-chan? Who are you traveling with?" she asked trying to get her mind off the disturbingly accurate kid.

"A bunch of students from the highschool that I told you that I got a job for as a school nurse." Shizuka said with a bit of pride in her voice. "It's too bad all of this happened..." she said ending her happy moment with a rather sad note.

Rika smiled sadly at that. Tajima only frowned upon seeing the expression on the purple haired woman's face. That wasn't an expression she wore... ever.

"First was Busujima-san, and she saved me in my room. She even ripped my skirt you bought me!" you could tell the blonde woman was rather put out about that fact. Rika only proceeded to smile at her friend's rather innocent heart. "We then met up with Komuro-kun, Hirano-kun, Saya-chan, Rei-chan, Ayane-chan, and Uzumaki-kun." she said fondly.

Rika turned to her partner, and gave a sad smile as she gently removed his hand from her butt pocket before she sat up on the bus. She was thankful that there was no smart ass comment or complaint from her friend on the matter. He merely sat next to her, and listened to the blonde's story.

"So then we eventually escaped from the school. We met up with another group... but... they didn't make it to the bus..." Shizuka said quietly as she recalled the memory of the girl sacrificing herself to be with her highschool boyfriend. "Another group came along when we were getting ready to leave. However one student nearly died in that group as well. However Uzumaki-kun ran out and saved him!" Shizuka exclaimed proudly as she recalled the memory of her blonde leader.

Unbeknowst to everyone. On Shizuka's end of the line, everyone slowly but surely filed their way into the makeshift bedroom Shizuka decided to talk to her friend in, and they quietly listened in on the conversation.

"Shortly after we left, Uzumaki-kun and Rei-san got separated from the group. However we were going to meet up at the bridge. So I drove the bus for almost a full day, but the bridge was blocked off. However luckily, Uzumaki-kun and Rei-san came back. Uzumaki-kun who was voted the leader earlier then lead us off the bus, and lead us to your house."

Rika pursed her lips, and gently turned her head to her partner, and said out loud, "Do you see a pattern here?" her voice carried across the phone.

"Oh what?" Shizuka said in confusion across the line, not realizing it wasn't her being addressed.

"Yeah," Tajima said with a nod. "Shizuka-san? Who exactly is this 'Uzumaki-kun'? Is he another student from the school?"

"Yea-" Shizuka almost replied automatically considering where she had encountered the blonde. However then she quickly chose to correct, "Actually no. He sort of just showed up actually. I don't know why he was there... or why he decided to help us." Shizuka said slowly as she let that thought sink in.

Around the room however there were many eyes locking with one another, all thinking along the same page.

Tajima snorted at that, "Real fuckin war hero." he said a bit dryly.

Rika shot her partner a pointed gaze, "Sounds like the Chief is more like it." she said with a smile. A comment which also gained a smile from Tajima.

"So Rika-chan, are you going to come see me?" Shizuka asked cheerfully as if she was inviting a friend over for dinner.

Rika opened her mouth for a moment before she took a pause, which Tajima noted, "I really want to... and I will Shizu-chan. It's just right now I-"

Rika didn't notice out of the corner of her eye until it was too late. Her partner had since stood up, and his last action was ripping the phone from her hand, and cupping it in his palm and bringing it to his mouth like he was speaking into a radio.

"Hey!" Rika cried out, something which Tajima dutifully ignored.

"Shizuka-san? Don't you worry. I'll make sure that I get Rika to you safe and in time for dinner. You can count on me for that."

Rika was quickly launching herself up to grab the phone. However, Tajima had a bit of a height advantage on her.

"Oh really?" Shizuka's voice cried through the air as Tajima deftly played 'keep away' with his purple haired partner. "That's great! I can't wait to see you Rika-chan! I'll go put your couches back in place!" Shizuka exclaimed happily over the phone, before quickly hanging up to no doubt make sure the couches were all in order.

"Oouf!" Tajima cried out as the phone hung up, and he received a quick jab to the stomach that caused the man to fall over.

Rika gave an annoyed gaze toward her partner on his hands and knees before her. "Now give me my phone you asshole." she said bitterly, now realizing she was going to have to let her no doubt eccentric friend down completely now.

"Thanks for it not being the crotch this time." Tajima said with a laugh, as he rolled back to simply sitting up straight on his knees as he looked towards Rika, squinting his eyes from the sun.

"It can be arranged." Rika quickly said as she opened up her palm for her phone.

Tajima smiled weakly as he gently lifted the phone from his grasp before he looked the woman in the eye. He then grinned and said, "Small price to pay." before violently chucking the phone off the side of the bus, into the now quickly forming group of zombies in the distance.

"What the fuck!" Rika yelled as she followed the phone with her far beyond perfect vision as it sailed through the air before impacting on the ground in two halves.

Rika however was very quick to recover from her shattered phone as she grabbed the front of her partners shift and delivered an impressive right hook to his jaw. "Why the hell did you do that?" now a small deal of panic bleeding into her voice realizing that action could be the undoing of any safety Shizuka may have had. What if she opted to stay at her house while everyone she was traveling with left, and then when Rika would undoubtedly never arrive... Shizuka would be alone.

A cold rage suddenly grew within her as she gazed down on her brother that she had on her grasp. However what only served to make that rage grow brighter was the laughing that Tajima was doing. "What is even funny about this Tajima! This is serious!"

"I know it is!" Tajima said between a small fit of laughter despite the pain in his face, "That is why your face right now! It's so funny!" Tajima said with tears coming into his eyes.

Rika gripped at her brother harder now suddenly for the first time in her life questioning how deep this brotherhood went. "You were a brother, you are supposed to have my back. How could you do that to me?" Rika said not quite believing what her long time friend had just done to her.

"Rika... shut up..." Tajima said, for once with a serious tone to his voice.

Rika closed her mouth at that rare seriousness in her partner's voice. However it didn't make her any less upset with the situation.

"I'm gonna take you to her." Tajima said as he lightly pried off the female's fingers from the front of his shirt.

Rika's eyes went wide at that simple thought that she had overlooked. A thought that had never occurred to her. She had always been taught to serve her country above all else. The idea that she or anyone else in her Seal team would even consider going against that... for anything.

"Oh don't look at me like that." Tajima said with a bit of disgust in his voice as he picked himself up off the floor. "That fucking mopey look doesn't suit you." he said bluntly as he picked up his own rifle he had set down earlier in the day.

"I don't get it... why?" Rika said slowly, now feeling quite guilty as she watched her brother nurse his jaw.

Tajima scoffed at that. "Rika, as much as I have always wanted to fuck you?" he began bluntly, "I care about your happiness more than that. Our team? We're a bunch of no names that got nothin'. All we've ever had on this damn team was each other. But family? Friends? That type of shit is our shoreline. When all other shit goes to hell, when all else fails? That is what guides you home. And trust me, as a person that has had that? You're always tryin' to get home."

Rika stood frozen in place, slightly in awe of the serious and slightly emotional display her brother was showing her.

"We don't got shit." he said honestly. "Just a bunch of fuckin' orphans. We make the perfect team because none of us have anything waiting at home for us. Or anything we did have? We lost. And I don't know how you did it, and frankly I don't care." he said slowly as he picked up his hat, and dusted it off on his leg from when it had been under his boot.

"You have something here... And the world has gone to shit. You'll never forgive yourself if you let this go just because of some fuckin' work. And you know what? More importantly... I'd never forgive you either." Tajima took a deep breath as he looked over the now gathered sea of zombies.

"The Chief says our brotherhood..." he began as he took a look at Rei before saying, "And our little sister. It is all based on family. The only reason it works is because i-"

"If you're not willing to give up everything for it... you've already lost." Rika finished sadly remembering her leader's words.

Tajima's lips turned into a thin line as he nodded his head. "The Chief doesn't tell the story much, and frankly your rather new, so I doubt you ever heard it. That concept the Chief made? A brotherhood? He was on a mission in '05. I'm sure you have heard of it... not many SEAL missions go horribly wrong like Operation Blood Feathers."

Rika went wide eyed at that, "There was only one survivor..." Rika muttered under her breath. "Was that the Chief?" she asked quietly, utterly surprised at the revelation. That mission was the worst losses the SEALS had ever faced. One team on the ground was ambushed and outnumbered heavily, with the enemies having superior cover advantage. An entire team was rapidly cut down, except for one member. Air support attempted to aid the team, and another full team of SEALS and Night Stalkers were taken out in a copter via rocket.

Tajima nodded tensely in the silence of the day. "The Chief's comrades died not only for what they believed in, but they died in order to attempt to save each other, to save their family. He doesn't ever go into detail on the things that happened during the firefight. However you can see it in his eyes that there is nothing that he holds above family. He was the sole survivor of his team. He has no intention of having to write home to families again about the deaths of his brothers."

Rika stood in silence at the revelation of their team leader. "Then you should know I can't go Tajima. If anything, the Chief needs us now more than ever." Rika said as she adjusted her rifle in her grip.

Tajima laughed a bit at that, "I believe I know the Chief better than you do Rika." he said in an amused tone as he looked at his purple haired partner. "You are only an hour out of the city Rika, from family. If you think for a second me or even the Chief are going to let you drag your ass back to the terminal knowing that? You are dumber than blonde. There is a military grade copter just beyond that building." he said with a gesture of the hand. "I'ma ask you to come with me, and I hope your stubborn ass would strap yourself in willingly. I'd hate to have to knock you out, and carry you on my shoulder. That would pain." he said with a grin as he massaged his shoulder.

Rika tightened her jaw, to keep herself from letting a tear loose. She had always considered her team the family she never had. However it was always their job being put before their lives back home. The fact that Tajima, someone else... the fact that he was putting his work, his life behind him? Just so she could have some sembelance of one with the people she cared about?

Rika shook her head as she leaned forward and gave her brother a hug. "Thank you." she muttered, a tear threatening to spill from her eye.

"Oh cryin' on me now eh Rika? You know if you wanted to give me an unbelievable story to tell the rest of the boys? The least you could have done was let me have sex with you." Tajima said with a laugh.

Rika gently pinched her team member in the side, causing him to jump a bit with a hiss. "Shut up..." Rika said quietly as she closed her eyes, and hugged her partner. "You're ruining the moment."

Tajima snorted, "Moment?" he asked, "You're not going soft and emotional on me now are you Rika? No pregnant women on military copter's, its policy."

Rika fought down a laugh, as she gave a light jab to her friend's ribs.

Tajima winced, but only proceeded to roll his eyes. "If you are going to be getting my shirt all wet, I damn well better at least be getting to second base." he said as he promptly palmed his partners ass with a hand, while holding her close with another.

Rika shook her head with a sigh, not willing to try and hurt her comrade further. "You're an asshole." she said quietly, savoring whatever was left of the small moment she had with her partner.

Tajima smiled and ran a hand into the woman's hair before giving her a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Huh..." he commented quietly. "And here I thought I was your cornerstone?" he finished with a smile.

Rika smiled lightly at her older partner. "You're both." she corrected as she relaxed in her partner's hold.

XXXXXXXXXXX

This is a long AN. It answers questions. Asks others. You don't have to read it if you don't want to. I just don't want to hear QQ over it's length after I have given you the option to simply skip past it. It just explains my reasoning for things lately such as the OCs, some insight into how Takashi will develop, some insight into Shido, Rika's change in occupation. I will Bold the topics for people who just want to read a certain subject.

Been just trying to relax so this chapter is a bit late as far as I'm concerned. However I will probably start posting slower as I start to analyze how to go about this story.

So first off Rika. I am simply going to say I changed her occupation. (From SAT to Navy Seal). Why? Because her character archetype doesn't really change. However I know more about the Navy Seals where as I know nothing about SAT. And considering there isn't much about her character in the first place? I'm pretty much free to do what I want with her. All will be explained in time.

Some people liked the brief surface bit you got to see of Jin. However at the same time quite a few people did not. So I don't really know how I am going to approach the chapter in the near future. I decided to split this chapter in half once again, and probably will have more dragged out chapters in the future. A lot of people were annoyed at how I was putting focus on OCs more so than the original cast. So I have gone back and looked over that once again to try and decide how I want to go about doing things.

As for the OCs more specifically though as some people aren't entirely understanding this(even PMing me about it). The "OCs" are all secondary characters from the actual series.

Jin= Tsunoda. In regards to him specifically since a everyone has seen a fair bit of him? The reason he seems so close to the cast is because whenever I take a character, if they have pre-existing qualities? I force myself to expand on them. So you will see that. And you actually have seen that as well. He seems to outright hate Komuro on the bus, to the point of not wanting to be anywhere around him. However that isn't explained in the series, and it is doubtful that any of them were crazy at that point. So I went ahead and worked with that and tried my best to make him a very real character. I do believe most people have been in a situation where the liked a girl or a guy quite a bit, but they only saw you as a friend.

Yuuki Miku

Kawamoto= Nana

Saito obviously the unnamed student left for dead.

The only OC prevalent in the story is Ayane.

Figured I'd clear that up.

Anyways I suppose there is one thing I feel that from a writers standpoint really needs to be said to everyone reading. And it pertains to a large reason why Highschool of the Dead characters aren't being touched on as much at present point. Aside from what I've mentioned(They all get expanded on later). The reason almost every character in Highschool of the Dead got expanded on in the actual series was through the presence of Takashi. The protagonist of the story.

And that brings me to the issue.

Takashi has virtually no character when you really look at him. However it is really hard to realize that until you look at him objectively. He is by all means just a teenager. There is nothing really special about him. He is supposed to be the proxy to the audience, the character whose shoes the reader fills. As such you will note that Takashi has very little problems as a character aside from a leader role being thrusted upon him. He doesn't have any special skills like any of the rest of the cast. He just has guts. You can note how the story was almost turning into a harem situation for Takashi with him having not only Rei wrapped around his finger, but Saeko as well. Even Saya was wrapped up in him, although that started to wane off at the mall/police station arc.

So now that everything is essentially not seen through Takashi's eyes? I have to essentially build his character from the ground up on what I already know about him. Then by extension those close to him can be built upon, ex: Saya, or Rei, or arguably even Saeko. However right now Takashi is one of my main focuses on developing into a full character before proceeding forward. This doesn't necessarily mean that it is always going to be directly conventional story telling. (Perhaps its Naruto's perspective, or Rei's, or Jin's, or Saya's. Perhaps I may even use Morita, Takashi's friend from school in a flashback. However it has yet to be Takashi himself.)

Anyways enough trying to justify what I'm doing. I am merely trying to give some insight while at the same time trying to understand what exactly I want to do in the next few chapters(outside of the directly plot related actions that need to happen.)

Now a couple question replies.

"Naruto seems overly cruel..."

Perhaps a bit. He is more frustrated than anything. Imagine yourself in his shoes. Back home everyone he has ever loved and cared about is potentially dying. His family, his friends, everyone. Then he finds himself saddled with Ayane, which he is willing to deal with, but then he finds a group in help. Naturally he could have just left them, but he didn't upon seeing Shido's actions. So now he feels like he is obligated to help these people. However he is frustrated. He will tell them not to do something, and they will go out of their way to ignore him when he is just trying to help. By all means if he simply didn't care, he could just up and leave and let them do it themselves.

For example if you told a person not to jump off a bridge because they may hurt themselves, they ignore you and do it anyway, would you really want to help them when the person is essentially a stranger? Perhaps you may. However that may get crushed under the fact that you feel they are complete idiots and specifically didn't listen to you to spite you. That is Naruto's situation.

"Absence of Likeable characters - Character being Naive."

This essentially summed up Highschool of the Dead in most cases though. A running theme with the series is they are a group of people thrown into an adult situation, but they are actually teenagers. So you have Saeko on one hand trying to make an adult decision by saying they don't have the means to help people. Yet then you have Takashi with his teenage spirit wanting to do the right thing. You have Saya saying that it would be logical for their group to split up, and gave reasons as to why. Then you have Takashi give a rather emotional speech as to why they should stick together. Even if it isn't the most logical thing to do at the time.

They are likable at times, and not at other times. They are naive at times and knowledgable at others. They are teenagers that are forced to become adults. They are logical at times, and passionate, willful and headstrong at others.

That is Highschool of the Dead. (And it applies to any and all characters in this story, OC or not).

"Teenage fucking romance... I thought the OCs would be interesting but now there is no point..."

Is this seriously an issue or a surprise given the series? The entire series is based upon borderline romantic interactions between the characters while trying to survive...

"I find it disturbing you find redeeming qualities in Shido..." "Keeping Shido alive makes the story inconsistent."

I didn't say I found redeeming qualities. If I did? Wrong choice of words. I meant to say Shido is one of the most complete characters in the series, and you know why he does what he does. He is essentially Anko of the Highschool of the Dead series... just a bit more twisted.

He was a child always trying to please his father, and wanted to take up the family business. However one day his father cast him out and turned his back on him opting to give his half brother the throne to all of his Father's riches. Something he strived for his entire life. So he grew bitter and cold, and followed his father from that point on only to one day strike at him from the shadows for his betrayal. He became twisted(encouraging boys to bully kids like Hirano), manipulative(Holding Rei back a year on the whim of his father, and how he treats the students on the bus), and cold(kills a student in cold blood during their escape from the school instead of trying to help him).

I'd dare anyone to find a more complete character from the series.

As for consistency? Shido was having sexual interaction with a willing participant. Jin was having sex with a willing participant. Nana was being raped.

Naruto by no means likes Shido. However it was obvious who was most in the wrong at that moment in his eyes. Can you say Shido's inaction was wrong as well? Sure. However you don't bring a rapist in court alongside someone who may or may not have noticed someone being raped and proceed to judge them equally as rapists. You just don't do that. Shido is by all means walking on thin ice. And Naruto doesn't like him. He beat the man up pretty bad. However bottom line there is really more pressing matters to deal with than someones questionable morale compass.

Naruto has been thinking of killing Shido on three conditions. If Shido was trying to kill him. Or if Shido was trying to become leader and rise up and gain control. Or finally if Shido was trying to get someone else killed. He has told himself this, and he will honor this. However Shido's very questionable ethics never come into play with that train of thought. Is someone being a bad person grounds for executing them? For example, Hitler is dubbed as a charismatic man, and in most areas of the world looked upon as "Evil". However people that served under Hitler said he was just like an everyday man. He had his good points and his bad points.

Saeko: See a lot of people like to overlook this when looking on the series. Shido was cruel we know this. However Saeko nearly beat a man to death, while she knew she was already superiorly armed and skilled. Then to top that all off, she enjoyed it. Are we to give Saeko a free pass on her darkness because she is a woman? Because she is hot? Saeko was willing to leave people outside to fend for themselves, and died. Women and children fall under this category. Shall we put Saeko to death as well?

"Well thats different..."

Not much.