Alright! I'm back in black…..and white pixels. My apologies to you, my readers. This chapter was easy enough to start, just a pain once I got past the first thousand or so words for some reason. Writer's block is a pain.
That being said, enjoy this new installment of Coming To Japan!
Chapter 8
Z-Day + 4 9:57 a.m.
Takagi Estate
The group had seen as the man, who identified himself as Souichiro Takagi, walked in front of the fountain. He waited while his men unloaded a cage from one the SUVs. Screams and shouts had begun to rise from the crowd outside. Raijin even saw Saya and Takashi, who were closet to the window, tense up.
'What's in there?', Rai thought as he moved beside Masaaki, nearer to the window to see clearly. His eyes widened at the sight. There was one of Them in the cage! 'What is he doing with one of Them?!', Raijin thought hurriedly as he clenched his hands. The entire group only watched in silence as Souichiro Takagi made a short speech and then ordered the creature to be released. Only to have it charge at Souichiro who decapitated it with his katana, much to the horror of the people gathered there as deducted by their collective gasps.
The group, grown accustomed to the gore when they were making their way to safety, weren't as repulsed by it. Raijin, Takashi, Rei, Kohta, and Saeko had killed enough of Them to land themselves various consecutive life sentences with no chance in hell of parole. Saya still stood a chance of parole, while the nurse and kids would have to undergo a psych evaluation before being released into the general public once more, if they got lucky.
Of course, all of that would've happened in the pre-outbreak world. Now the only thing the group would really gain apart from nightmares would be experience towards becoming a better killing machine. The group was brought back to reality by Kohta mumbling something, causing everyone to look at him.
"Japanese swords are ineffective against Them. A sword's structural integrity would diminish after going through enough of Them and eventually break.", Kohta said solemnly.
"But Hirano, that also depends on the wielder. A trained warrior could substantially increase a sword's functionality and maximize it's potential as a weapon. A single sword could last countless battles that way.", Saeko put in calmly. Rai took note of Saeko's words.
'Maybe she can teach me a bit as well.', Raijin thought. 'My swords breaking would essentially leave me defenseless without a backup. And dodging and weaving through Them will only get me so far.'
"But the blood and grease on the sword would make it dull and cause it to break!", Kohta attacked Saeko's calm explanation hotly.
"It's the same as cooking. A good cook will never leave unnecessary grease on a good kitchen knife.", Saeko stated calmly once more as she turned her gaze towards Kohta. Then Takashi put his hand on Kohta's shoulder.
"She's right, you know.", Takashi began, only to be cut off by Kohta.
"What the hell do you know!? Like I'm going to listen to someone who doesn't even know how to properly fire a gun!", Kohta shouted at Takashi as he gathered his guns and ran out the door, leaving everyone in the room stunned. No one had expected Kohta to get so upset over a simple debate. The two youngest members of the group were holding onto Rei's skirt in fear.
Rai wondered what had happened to the gun otaku to cause that outburst. Normally the younger chubby teen was pretty laid back. Hell, he had just practically worshipped the breakfast he and Saeko had fashioned minutes before.
'Eh, I've got bigger things to worry about. Like finding a quick escape route out of here.', Rai thought as he walked over to Masaaki. Upon reaching his brother, Raijin knelt down on one knee and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey, don't worry about it.", Raijin said as he nodded to the door, referencing Kohta's outburst. He was going to try to explain it but had no clue why the otaku acted out. "I'll be wandering the grounds, checking this place out. Wanna come with me? Or play with your new friend?", Raijin asked Masaaki.
"I'll stay here and play with Alice. Okay Rai?", Masaaki replied happily, immediately changing from scared to happy. Raijin simply smiled and nodded to his response and walked out the door.
Z-Day + 4 10:07 a.m.
"Too high.", Raijin muttered out loud to nobody in particular as he looked at the walls surrounding the Estate. The walls were a bit over 3 meters high and about 30 centimeters thick. The wall wouldn't be hard for Rai, Takashi, Saeko, and maybe Rei to climb up and over. The rest could be given boosts although it would take more time than simply running out the front gate, but there had to be another way. Jumping the wall was risky, seeing as how the other side of the walls would be crawling with Them. The group could climb atop and then what? Jump into the Horde? No, there had to be another way.
Raijin then looked around. The walls ran the whole perimeter of the Estate, except for the main gate. The gate itself was a weak point, and seeing as how it was the only way into the Estate, it would likely be crawling with Them when They finally broke in. He had still to find the smaller gate Saeko mentioned during their talk earlier that morning, but he still hadn't checked the wall behind the mansion.
'The secondary gate should be free of Them according to Saeko. Maybe that's the best route to take. If only I could find it.', Raijin thought as he walked towards the back of the mansion. Said gate came into view as he rounded the corner of the mansion. The gate looked the same as the front, the only difference was the size. Where as the front was wide enough for three or four cars to pass side by side, the back gate was barely wide enough for two cars to pass side by side. Also, the back gate didn't have supports beams welded onto it like the front, making it far more flimsy.
'Yep, that'll do.', Raijin thought as he looked the gate over. It exited into an alleyway about two car lanes wide, one side had faded lines. "Must have been a parking area for the staff before the Outbreak.", Raijin surmised. He then poked his head through the bars to see the ends of the alleyway. Both of the ends were barricaded rather well. There was an even flimsier gate at each end, each accompanied by cement road blocks, converting each end into crude checkpoints. This could easily serve as a secondary escape route should the front gate be too risky.
Satisfied with the escape plan formed in his head, Raijin started walking towards the mansion with the intent to meet with Takashi and discuss further steps.
Z-Day + 4 10:13 a.m.
"Good boy!", Masaaki said as he pet the puppy's head. Said pet had retrieved a stick that Masaaki had thrown. Masaaki and Alice had wandered the grounds looking for something to do and had settled for playing beside one the handful of ponds on the property. They were having fun just playing with the puppy. Anyone watching the children play wouldn't have thought that beyond the walls were hundreds if not thousands of undead.
"Let's see how far you can throw it, Alice.", Masaaki said as he offered the stick to her.
"Okay!", Alice said as she grabbed the stick by its end. She then took a few steps back and held it behind her. Then she ran those few steps forward and threw the stick to have it land about 7 meters away next to another pond. The puppy took off after the stick immediately, barking happily. The two children laughed as the puppy jumped and overshot his landing only to fall in the pond. But sure enough, it came back soaking wet but with the stick nonetheless.
"Good boy!", Alice said petting his head. She was about to throw the stick again when Masaaki spoke.
"Um, what his name?", Masaaki asked looking at the dog in question. Alice looked surprised for a couple of seconds.
"I don't know, my daddy only gave him to me a few days ago, the day before we lost mommy.", Alice said starting to tear up a bit as she remembered. Masaaki, alarmed, started thinking of ways to comfort her and settled with putting a hand on her shoulder.
"It's okay. We're here for you, we'll be your family, Alice.", Masaaki said, succeeding in Alice's tears lessening. "We'll protect each other because that's what families do."
Z-Day + 4 10:23 a.m.
"So the rear gate is a go. Do you have a plan as to what to do once we leave?", Raijin asked Takashi. Both teens were situated in Saya's bedroom still, occupying themselves with planning the group's movements once they left the Estate. Takashi combed his fingers through his hair as he thought about the group's next moves.
"Well, Rei and I still want to find our parents. So we'll set about doing that as soon as we're able to, we would have to head further along the highway that runs along the river and then make a straight shot to our homes.", Takashi explained. "After that, I don't know.", he added as he looked out over the balcony towards the main gate of the Estate. Raijin looked towards the gate with a sullen expression.
"I guess we'll make it up as we go, at least we know what to do for the immediate future." Raijin offered as he walked toward the door. "I'll be around the ponds.", Rai stated as he had seen Masaaki playing there with Alice.
Z-Day + 4 10:49 a.m.
Saeko walked toward the ponds, seemingly the only quiet place on the Estate. Everywhere else was loud or full of refugees, not that Saeko and the group themselves were any different, but being crowded with people you don't know could lead to problems, especially if those people were scared. As Saeko neared the corner of the mansion, she heard the voices of Alice and Masaaki, along with the barking of the puppy Alice had with her.
'Wasn't exactly the peace and quiet I had hoped for,', Saeko thought as she rounded the corner and the pond came into view. She saw Alice and Masaaki throwing a stick between themselves and the puppy chasing after it, essentially playing Monkey In The Middle, or Dog In The Middle. The puppy barked happily as the stick flew over its head towards Alice. Saeko smiled slightly at the sight before her.
"So are you just going to stand there or come sit here with me?", Raijin suddenly said, spooking Saeko a bit. She looked to her left and down and saw Raijin smiling at her, sitting on the ground with his feet extended and back against the brick walls of the mansion. He had his backpack and swords on the ground to his right, only wearing his pads and gloves over his clothes. Beside him was his brother's backpack and a red dinosaur plush doll next to it.
"Don't mind if I do.", Saeko replied as she sat beside him seiza style.
"That can't be comfortable.", Raijin commented on her choice of sitting position. Saeko continued facing toward the playing children.
"Years of sitting down like this in the dojo has greatly increased my tolerance for this position. I can now sit like this for hours.", Saeko explained. Raijin then turned to watch the children play as well.
"So, a dojo?", he asked.
"Yes, my father is the head of the dojo and I trained there since I was old enough to walk.", Saeko said with her ever present light smile.
"How was the training?", Rai asked as he watched Masaaki chase the dog, shouting at it to give him back his shoe. The innocence of the scene brought a warm smile to his face.
"It was excruciating. Our Dojo had the lowest retention rate for its students in the region. As many as 80% of hopefuls would quit within two weeks. Claiming that the teachers were slave drivers and those who could endure weren't human.", Saeko recalled as her smile grew slightly larger with pride. Then her smile turned a bit sorrowful. "I wonder how many of them are still alive."
Raijin noticed her change in attitude. "Well if they posses even a tenth of your skill, I'm pretty sure they're all okay.", He said reassuringly as he turned toward her. "I mean, come on, I'm sure out of all of the people in this compound, you would have the least trouble out there."
"I'm sure you're right.", she said, and then she turned to face him. "And thank you, but I myself wouldn't be able to survive in this world. We need to work together or else no one will survive this ordeal. We have only survived thus far because we have each other."
"True enough.", Raijin said. "I'm pretty sure Masaaki and I would've been dead already if we hadn't joined you guys."
"And us as well if we hadn't met you two.", Saeko replied evenly as she turned towards the children playing, and saw Alice chasing after Masaaki with the puppy chasing after her. A comfortable silence passed between the two teens just watching the children play for about ten minutes,
"So,", Raijin said, breaking the silence, "any relatives besides your father?"
"My only family is my father and he was overseas, you could say that I only have to worry about our group.", Saeko explained with a smile. "But I wonder if our group will stay together after this."
"It probably will.", he answered. "Takashi and Rei still have to look for their parents and want to do so right away. And while the rest of us don't really have a reason to stay with them, I doubt anyone of us wants to separate from the group."
"Yes, I suppose none of us would feel comfortable if we went our separate ways.", Saeko replied. "We've only been together in this for a few days but it feels like much longer than that, doesn't it?".
Raijin in turn sighed as he replied, "That it does, Saeko, that it does."
The two teens then remained in a comfortable silence just watching the children play until Saeko spoke up once more.
"So…..you think I'm beautiful do you?"
Z-Day + 4 12:32 p.m.
Raijin walked down the stairs from the second floor of the Estate and into the grand entrance room. He had just come from the room where their supplies had been taken to in order to add a couple more things to his backpack, one compartment was tightly packed with a couple rolls of bandages, a bottle of rubbing alcohol, a box of tissue, and a couple rolls of toilet paper, at the very bottom of that compartment lay a dark green tank top folded just in case. Raijin had also changed the pair of jeans he had on for a pair of dark grey cargo pants, he felt he could make use of the greater number of pockets that the cargo pants offered.
The second compartment had the map, two cans of canned fruit, two granola bars, couple of energy shots, and five energy drinks. Hanging on the outer pocket originally meant for a water bottle was the second wakizashi, Raijin suspected that it would fall but a few jumps in place showed that while the sword hung loosely from the strap, it was also secure.
Raijin had also filled Masaaki's backpack. The very bottom of his backpack had a pair of navy blue cargo pants, maroon shirt, and black hoodie. On top of that were three cans of sliced fruit, two candy bars, and three water bottles. All of Masaaki's supplies originated from their grandparents' cupboards, having survived Shizuka's crazy driving and being transported by the guards. And on the very top was the handgun he had given to Masaaki.
'This food has survived longer than most people outside these walls.', Raijin had mused as he packed it into Masaaki's backpack. 'I think this is enough for him. Wouldn't want to over pack it and make him fall on his butt as soon as he put it on.', Raijin thought with a chuckle as he imagined Masaaki falling flat on his butt from a heavy backpack.
As Raijin exited the mansion via the front entrance, he wondered back to his chat with Saeko as they watched Alice and Masaaki play with the pup. 'We talked about everything and nothing at the same time, I hadn't laughed so much in a while. And, if I'm reading the signals right, it seems that she's interested in me just as I am in her,', a slight blush accompanied that thought. Apocalypse or not, getting the attention of a girl as beautiful as Saeko was a win.
'It almost made me forget about the situation we're in right now.', Raijin finished that thought glumly as he recalled the past few days. 'People dying and reanimating to prey on those still living…..having to bash my own grandparents' heads in. They didn't like us and we didn't like them but still, it's a messed up thing what I had to do to. And have had to do since then just to stay alive.', Raijin thought as he recalled all the undead he killed without a second thought at the time. 'It hasn't even been a week and I had no trouble killing Them to survive whatsoever. Within days, Takashi, Kohta, Rei, Saeko, and I have racked up body counts that would gain us respect if not envy from the most mass murderers short of dictators and warlords. I wonder-'
Raijin couldn't finish that thought as he saw Saya, Takashi, and Kohta coming from the refugee tents set up across from the Mansion. Takashi and Kohta looked pensive while Saya was fuming and looked ready to snap at anyone.
"What happened?", he asked as they came within hearing distance. Saya was the first to answer.
"Those idiots choose to ignore the situation happening around them. We tried to tell them about the Them not being sick like the government says. We told them that They are dead, and instead this one bitch started raving about how fellow Asians were suffering and that we were just some gun crazy brats that are trying to control them with violence!", Saya fumed as she tried to calm herself with deep breaths. Takashi and Kohta nodded in agreement.
"That pretty much sums it up.", Takashi added.
"Yep, but I guess we can't really blame them….', Kohta said, causing Saya's anger to flare up again.
"Are you trying to pick a fight with me fatass?!", she shouted as Raijin and Takashi held her back, preventing her from causing bodily harm to Kohta.
"No, that's not it!", he offered in a panic. "I'm just saying that in situations like this, people don't see what they don't want to see. They'll try to live their lives as if everything was normal, or going back to normal." That simple answer caused all three to freeze up a bit. "Think about it, how else do you think we would've gotten through high school?"
Raijin remembered going to school the first few days after his parents' burial, before he and Masaaki had to relocate to live with their paternal grandparents. He would wake up and get Masaaki and himself ready for school, walk Masaaki to the bus stop and then walk towards school, meeting up with his friends along the way. His friends would maintain a respectful silence, which he would try to break by joking around with them as if nothing had happened. As if his parents weren't dead, but his father was on an offshore oil rig for a few days and his mother had left for work earlier as she would sometimes. He tried acting as he normally would those few days, trying to joke with his friends and to make his teachers go off on a tangent. He remembered seeing the looks of pity on their faces and ignoring them, convincing himself that they were looking at someone else, not him.
'He's right.', Raijin thought as he returned from his little flashback, rapidly putting on a mask of simple realization instead of letting his sadness show through. Before anyone could notice, Takashi spoke up.
"I see, well that's interesting.", this earned a knowing look from Saya, Raijin, and Kohta directed at Takashi. "What? Something I said", he asked, rubbing his chin.
"I told you he should be the one didn't I, Kohta?", Saya said almost happily.
"Yep! That settles it wouldn't you say Rai?", Kohta asked him with a knowing smile.
"I've been trying to tell him, but I think he needs to hear it from all of us."
"Hear what?", Takashi asked. Saya would provide the answer to his question.
"That you should be the one to lead us!"
"Wait…..what?"
Z-Day + 4 6:08 p.m.
"He's not even worth killing", Rei said as she walked away from Shido, leaving him with a long thin cut along his chin.
"I'm not even worth killing!? How dare you say that to me!?", Shido exclaimed as he was 'escorted' off the Takagi property. After a few seconds of kicking and screaming, Shido straightened himself and walked himself towards the bus in which he came.
"What's that guy's deal? Does he want to get himself killed?", Raijin asked to no one in particular as he watched Shido climb back into the bus he came in. Saeko, Raijin, Kohta, and Saya had regrouped to the mansion's front door as soon as they heard Rei yelling at Shido.
"Shido's a nutcase.", Saya said offhandedly. "But he's actually smart enough to hide his intentions from most until it's too late."
"What do you mean?"
"When this whole mess started, we escaped the school on that very bus with him and his followers.", Kohta put in. "But then Rei and Takashi got separated and we set up a place to regroup with them. But it was near the bridges."
"You remember that mess, don't you? How traffic to cross over the river backed up for kilometers? Well, we were in that jam and got tired of waiting and decided to go on foot.", Saya said.
"Yeah, but before we left we saw him already perverting his students. Making them believe that they were safe is one thing, to make them borderline worship you is another thing altogether. That, coupled with the lack of progress made us leave, we could see where that was going."
"But when we tried to leave, he demanded that we leave Shizuka behind because his little cult needed a medic. And he and his students seemed ready to fight us for her."
"But wasn't Saeko with you guys? I'm pretty sure she could've taken care of them easily had they tried anything.", Raijin stated as he looked towards the girl in question.
"I'm flattered, I am. But it wouldn't have been a smart move. The people in the cars around us were shaky as it was, if they saw a fight break out, they would've likely joined in. The last thing we needed was to get detained by the police, we had a rendezvous after all.", Saeko explained.
"Hmm, so how did you get off the bus without leaving Shizuka behind?", Rai asked.
"Fatty came through. This guy held them at bay with his nail gun while we left, even gave off a warning shot that caused that small scar on Shido's cheek.", Saya said somewhat appraisingly as she put her hand on Kohta's shoulder, thus inciting a blush to appear on his face.
"It was nothing.", he said shyly, only to change into his alter ego right after. "You should've let me kill him though, he's causing trouble for us again." However, a quick and rather painful looking 'pat' on the back from Saya brought Kohta back.
"No, what Rei said is true. He isn't worth it.", she said. "This all happened a few hours before we met you that day, you met us at the rendezvous while we were being overrun.", Saya added, answering Raijin's question before he vocalized it.
"I see, but don't you think he'll cause trouble again? He seems to be out for Rei now that she declared him not worth killing. Didn't you see the look of absolute rage on him?", Raijin asked somewhat worriedly. "I mean, If They are out to get every living being seems bad enough. What about another living person out to get us? And not to mention he has his handful of followers that probably worship that very ground he steps on." Saya then dismissed his worry with a wave of her hand.
"Even if he did, we're in here and he's out there, not to mention the weapons we have at our disposal."
"You mean the same weapons your dad's guards seem to think should belong to them?", Kohta asked in a grim mood, clutching all of the guns he had on him as he did so. Kohta looked like a mercenary with the shotgun Raijin had acquired slung over his back, his rifle in his hands, and the Magnum strapped to a holster on his hip. Saya, Saeko, and Raijin each looked quizzically at him. Saya was the one to ask the question on everyone's minds.
"What do you mean?"
"The guards around here have been eyeballing our guns since the second we stepped through that gate. They obviously want them, but they've yet to say anything about me handing them over." This earned a confused look from Saya.
"Why wouldn't you hand them over to them? They are in charge of our safety after all!", Saya looked ready to punch Kohta for his, in her eyes, insolence.
"Because we don't plan on staying here.", was the simple replay offered by Raijin. "Also, the shotgun and Magnum he has aren't his to give away. I entrusted them to him because he knows how to utilize them best out of all of us, probably even better than those guards. I haven't given my consent to those guards to seize my weapons from Kohta anyway. Hell, even Masaaki still has the gun I gave him."
"What?!", Saya screamed at Raijin. "What do you mean you don't plan on staying here?! Are you seriously thinking of going back out there!? Do you honestly think that you're better off out there alone?!" at this Raijin smirked.
"Who said I was going out there alone?"
"What?"
"Takashi and Saeko are already on board. Takashi and Rei still want to look for their parents anyway." Saya looked over at Saeko with barely contained fury.
"Are you really planning on going out there as well?"
"Yes, this Estate may seem like an impenetrable fortress, but it's anything but. These walls aren't built to withstand mobs trying to push them down. Also, from what Raijin said about the condition beyond the barricade set around the Estate, it seems that a single rush of Them from any direction will overwhelm the defenders." Saya's eyebrow twitched as she once again turned toward Raijin.
"How bad is it?", She spat at Raijin, causing his anger to flare at her rudeness.
"Over a thousand of Them. Within. A. Single. Square. Kilometer.", Raijin said pointedly at Saya, mentally enjoying the surprised look on her face. 'Ah, so you do realize the danger we are in now, don't you?', Raijin thought with a mental smirk. Saya's mouth was agape.
"Hearing that, I'm in as well.", Kohta said, gaining everyone's attention. "I'd rather be out there as far away from this place than be here when They break through." Saya seemed even more shocked at Kohta's decision to leave.
"I thought of all of us, you would value this place's tactical location.", Saya yelled, not sounding so sure of herself as she poke. "I mean, we're on elevated ground, we have guns, and a barricade and a wall surrounding us.", then the moment when realization dawned on her was noticeable. "But we are also surrounded by Them on all sides, essentially boxed in. The barricades also aren't designed to withstand mobs. We have a finite supply of ammo, against an enemy that consists of almost the entire former population…", Saya then dropped to her knees looking aimlessly towards the front gates of the Estate, prompting Kohta to rush to her side and put an arm over her shoulders. "I thought we could have gotten away from Them. That we could be safe and escape this nightmare, but it's not going to happen is it?", Saya blabbered to no one in particular.
"Come on Saya, we'll get out of this. We'll find a safe haven, it's just not here. We have to keep looking.", Kohta said to her in a surprisingly calm voice.
Raijin just looked on before he felt a hand in his, and looking down he saw that Saeko had taken a hold of his hand. When he turned to look at her, she smiled gently with a blush.
"Same goes for you, we'll find a place where your little brother can grow up without the danger of Them.", Saeko said as she squeezed his hand a bit. Raijin ignored the part of his mind that told him that what she promised couldn't be achieved. That the chances of finding a true safe haven were remote to none. For that moment he threw away all reasoning and the evidence that would most likely prove her wrong and he smiled back before intertwining their fingers together with his own blush on his face.
"Thank you, Saeko.", Raijin said, surprised at himself because he actually found himself believing her, before turning to look towards the gates as well.
However, the peaceful silence was not to last.
"Hey guys, Shizuka remembered her friends number. Come on! She says she works for the government and maybe she knows what's going on.", Rei called the four teens from inside the mansion. Ushering the other teens inside in time to hear a bit of Shizuka's conversation with her friend.
"We borrowed some of your weapons and things.", Shizuka spoke into the cell phone energetically. The person on the other end of the line could be heard for a couple of seconds before Shizuka held the phone, which had sparks now flying out of it, away from her ear with a confused expression. Raijin cocked an eyebrow at the sparking phone before remembering something his father had drilled into him when he was younger.
'If electronic equipment starts shooting sparks for no known reason and dies out, look up to the sky. Chances are an EMP went off somewhere nearby, usually the result of a nuclear weapon detonating somewhere close, but not close enough to kill you. An EMP is usually a telltale sign that we are under attack. Then proceed to take your mother and brother to….', the voice of Raijin's father died out as he recalled the things his father had taught him of what to expect if tensions between the U.S. and China boiled over and war made its way to the West Coast. Raijin had thought the lessons to be fairly redundant because of their proximity to San Francisco back home. Any strike on Sacramento would probably also lead to a strike on Fairfield and Concord due to the military bases there. Both towns were close enough to their own that they would be caught in the kill zone from a nuclear warhead destined to take out the bases.
Meanwhile, the group was trying to figure out why the phone had died. They hadn't realized the sudden silence that came over the entire camp. The perpetual background noise of far off gunfire and car and store alarms had died out. There was only utter silence, broken by the murmurs of the confused people. Raijin then looked up to the sky before speaking.
"And now the nights will truly be dark."
What's up people! I am back! I apologize for leaving you for almost a year. Just two or three days short of a year actually. Depends on when the site actually loads my chapter. The main thing that got me into writing again was school believe it or not. I didn't really touch my computer during the year long break I took form school.
But now I'm back and typing up schoolwork on a weekly basis. So continuing this seemed logical. And now that I'm back in school you can expect updates every two to three weeks or so. And I should be able to keep that schedule until late April to early May when the semester is supposed to end and when finals will royally kick my ass. But then it'll be back with more updates during summer. I actually have ideas for a few more stories now. Maybe I'll post them up, just trying to get about five chapters in before I start posting them this time.
That review button's back. Says it misses you and wants you back. I don't know. Seems very sincere to me. Show it some love!
Deuces.