Chapter Five
Family
Makoto's entire body shook as he opened the front door of his home, and stepped slowly inside. Out of pure habit he took his shoes off at the foyer, and then stepped up onto a wooden floor. He looked around – there were still picture frames hanging on the wall, and to his left he could see the living room where the video from the first motive was. As it was in the video, the couch was completely torn up, the windows behind it were cracked, and in some instances smashed. The drapes over the windows were similarly torn, and there was no sign of his family still.
He stepped into the living room, not even caring as the others stood back, watching him walk around his family's house. His eyes were wide as he looked around, trying to find a note or anything left by his family. Seeing the room empty, he stepped into the next room, which was the kitchen. Like the room before, it was completely ruined, and he let shook his head, leaving the kitchen and going back into the hall where they walked in.
He went to the room on the right this time, it was a sitting room, by the looks of it, though the bookshelves were all knocked over, the chairs were ripped, torn, and thrown around, and everything was in ruins. This went on for every room downstairs, he didn't find a single sign of his family anywhere, so he again returned to the main hall, and went up the stairs, where their bedrooms were. He visited his sister's room first, and saw that her bed was flipped over, and everything was tossed around, even the collection of dolls she treasured so much were carelessly on the floor, a layer of dust coating them.
His panicked steps ran to the next door – his parent's room, and just like his sister's room before it, it was completely trashed. The bed was ripped apart, their dressers were completely empty, and everything was knocked over. Looking over to his mother's vanity, it was the same situation, though the entire piece of furniture itself was knocked down and destroyed. He swallowed the hard lump of despair gripping him, and he went to the last door – his own room, and he tried to open it, except the door was locked.
He recalled where his key was always hidden though, and after fetching it from a secret hole in the wall near the floor, he opened up the door to his room. Unlike every room in his house, his room wasn't destroyed, though there was still a fine layer of dust everything. His bed still had sheets on, his dresser was undisturbed, his collection of comics was still neatly organized in his bookshelf, but there was still no sign of his family, there wasn't even a single note.
Defeated, he sat down on his bed, and placed his head in his hands. He knew it was a long shot, but he had hoped that maybe he was wrong. Maybe his family would still be here, and he could introduce all of my friends to them. Then they could have a nice warm shower and stay over… Anything was better than this reality.
"Makoto…" Aoi muttered, stepping into his room, her eyes widened at the condition it was all in, "Wow… I've almost forgotten what a clean room looks like."
"They probably kept it locked so it would be undisturbed for when I eventually came home. Though I think mom probably came in here to change the sheets occasionally." He shook his head, "They kept it locked this whole time… I guess that kept it safe from the looters…"
Aoi averted her eyes. She couldn't say she knew exactly how he felt, since he now had confirmation that his home was just like the rest of the places they visited, but she had a good idea of how he felt. Letting out a soft breath, she sat beside him, and gently touched his shoulder, "Are you ok?"
Byakuya already left the room along with Toko, probably aware that Makoto needed space, and that it would be best if they weren't around. Yasuhiro looked concerned, but after a few seconds, he too left. Kyoko was the only one still standing in the doorway, and she watched Aoi sit beside Makoto with a strange feeling in her chest. She couldn't say she exactly liked it, but she knew that Aoi could handle this alone. So crushing her jealously, Kyoko left the room, not before giving a short nod to Aoi, who returned it with one of her own.
"This was pointless after all," Makoto murmured, "They didn't leave a note or anything, and everything's ruined."
"It wasn't all pointless!" Aoi pointed out, trying to be upbeat and positive, since Makoto's optimism was evidently gone, "A – At least you know…"
He stiffly nodded, "I guess… I don't really know if it's really any consolation to know that they're probably dead, just like everyone else."
She looked away, unable to bear seeing him so depressed, so she instead looked around the room, her eyes wandering the walls, which were clean of almost all sorts of wall decorations. She would have at least figured that he would have a calendar hanging, or maybe a few posters. "Well… We knew this was the most likely outcome…" She muttered, feeling awful for bringing it up.
"Yeah, but like I said, I just hoped…" He sighed, "No, I was just being stupid. It… It just hurts. I wanted to escape Monokuma's game so badly so I could come help my family, they meant so much to me… And now I think… I've finally come to realize that I'll never see them again."
She noticed the tears welling up in his eyes, and she politely looked away, giving him a little bit of privacy. Honestly though, seeing his home like this, and knowing that her parents lived in a big city… It was also eye opening to her. "I'm sorry…" She mumbled, reaching up and wiping her own tears away.
He was so excited to come here, but under all of that excitement was always this underlying fear, and now that it was realized, he just couldn't stop crying… He felt like an idiot, crying about something where the result was so obvious, but he did so anyway. He covered his eyes with his hands, and leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. "Damn it…" He mumbled, "Damn it…"
They allowed the silence to thicken, and they both just sat there, tears falling for the loss of family, and for the realization of that loss. There was nothing Aoi could do for him, and so she only set his hand on his shoulder, just staying there with him as he cried for his loss. She had to be strong right now – Makoto helped her before, so it was only right that she help him through this.
Her throat was dry, but she forced words to form, "You know…" She whispered so quietly that Makoto didn't even hear her, so she was forced to speak a little louder, "M – Makoto…" Now she had his attention, and seeing his tearful eyes, she lost what she was about to say.
"What?" He asked, his voice shaky, "I – I'll be fine, if that's what you're asking… Just give me a little while. I just… I need to be alone."
A stab of pain went through her – did he not like her presence? Was she just making things worse? She sighed, and knew it wasn't that – the poor boy was just mourning his family, and he wanted to be alone. If she were in his position, she undoubtedly would want the same. She let go of his shoulder, and got off her feet, and walked over to the door. "We'll be downstairs, Makoto. Take your time."
"Yeah…" Was the only reply, his form not moving an inch.
Aoi was about to leave the room, but she stopped, and she turned back to look at him. If she didn't say this now, she wouldn't have the courage to ever say it, so she opened her mouth again, "M – Makoto!" She called, and he looked up at her, "I know it hurts a lot… But… We're your family too, right? We all love you too." Her cheeks were bright red, and even he looked surprised, "I – I mean… L – Love as in family… We need each other, like you said yesterday."
He still looked surprised, but at least his tears momentarily stopped, and despite his pain and sadness, she was glad to see a glimmer of a smile return to his face. "Th – Thanks, Hina." He replied.
"You're welcome." She answered, and then she left the room, her face incredibly red. She couldn't believe she just told him that she loved him! Though, she did chicken out and say it was as 'family', but still, it seemed to really make him happy! Despite their circumstance, Aoi felt better about things as she walked down the stairs, and into the living room, where everyone else was currently waiting.
All of them had their backpacks taken off, and were just standing around. Byakuya looked impatient as he leaned against the wall, though he once again surprised Aoi by not even asking her when Makoto would be ready to leave. Maybe he did have a sliver of emotion within him after all. Yasuhiro was sitting on the couch, looking down at the ground sadly, while Toko was sitting beside him, also in a similar state. Kyoko was looking out the window into the neighborhood, and slowly turned to look at her as she approached.
"How is he?" Kyoko asked quietly, keeping her voice low so it was only between the two of them.
"He's sad about it, but he'll be ok." She replied confidently, "He just needs a little bit of time to himself. I told him to take as much time as he wanted, then we can leave afterwards."
Kyoko nodded approvingly, "Good." She then turned back to looking out the window, as if she were oblivious to them all again.
"Um, Kyoko…" She mumbled, getting the girl's attention again, "Can we talk? I've been meaning to talk to you since yesterday, when…" She frowned, the memory still stung, and she hated recalling it, "When that happened."
Kyoko turned back towards her, and stared at her for the longest time, before she gave the tiniest of nods, "Yes. I suppose so. I've been meaning to talk to Makoto about it, but I suppose I can talk to you if you wish."
"Good," Aoi sighed, glad to see that Kyoko wasn't doing her silent treatment again, "Then… Can we talk in the kitchen? I don't want others to hear us…"
Again, Kyoko gave her another long stare, but she nodded after a little bit, "I suppose we can do so."
Aoi led them through the ruined living room into the kitchen, spotting Byakuya glancing towards them. Seeing Kyoko following her, he seemed to understand, and looked back forward. She led Kyoko into the kitchen, and then both leaned against the counters, trying to ignore the smell of rotten food coming from the fridge.
"What do you wish to talk about?" Kyoko asked as she leaned against the counter, looking straight at Aoi, "you said it was in regards to yesterday, right?"
Aoi nodded, "Yes… I just wanted to say that I'm so sorry for not listening to you." She bowed her head low, "Please forgive me…"
"Lift your head, Hina," Kyoko sighed, and Aoi looked up to see a very weary expression on the girl's face, "You don't need my forgiveness, you did nothing wrong."
Aoi blinked in surprise, "You know, you're a lot like Makoto, he said the same thing to me." She saw a ghost of a smile flash on Kyoko's face, but it was gone almost the second it appeared, and soon her weariness was apparent once again. "Kyoko… Are you ok? You don't really look so good."
"I'm sorry," Kyoko muttered, "I'm just tired…" She took a deep breath, and as if her emotions were never there, her façade was firmly in place once more. If Aoi wasn't aware that she was hiding her emotions, she would have thought the girl to be completely emotionless. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."
"No, you won't be…" Aoi shook her head, "Kyoko, it can't be healthy to do that. You always hide your emotions, and never let anyone know how you really feel."
"What point would that serve?" Kyoko asked, "Perhaps with the exception of Byakuya, you all look for me to get encouragement… If I show fear, that will only harm us as a group. I can't show my emotions for that purpose."
"But if you keep this up, you're going to crash." Aoi exclaimed, "We're not weak, Kyoko, we can handle it. We're friends, we should be able to express how we feel to each other!"
"Now who's the one sounding like Makoto?" Kyoko asked, causing the girl to blush.
"You're avoiding the issue," Aoi accused, giving Kyoko a glare, "Don't change the subject."
"You say we're friends, but are we really? Prior to escaping Hope's Peak Academy, we never really talked that much, and we've only been out for just a week, and we're supposed to be friends?" She gave Aoi a questioning look, "I don't see you claiming Byakuya is your friend, since you seem to dislike him very much."
Aoi frowned, "Kyoko… After all we've been through, you don't consider us friends? Remember when we were inside? That was our driving force – we refused to kill each other because we were friends… Did that not mean anything to you?"
Kyoko looked away, and shook her head, "I… I spoke harshly, I apologize." She rubbed her brow with her gloved hand, "I've just been really… stressed these past few days."
"You can talk to me," Aoi repeated, "it's not healthy for you to be like this."
The weary expression returned again as Kyoko dropped her façade once more, and she just looked to the ground, "I'm just tired… I wish we could just rest and not have to worry about the monsters outside, or about moving every day."
"Maybe we can just spend a day here?" Aoi suggested, "We can barricade the doors and just stay inside! Makoto has a really neat manga collection that we can read!" she desperately thought of things to say to try and make her feel better, but Kyoko's expression never changed.
"We have to keep moving, our rations dwindle more and more every day. We have maybe four days of food left now… At this rate we may want to start only eating once a day to try and conserve our food even more." She grimaced as she said that, and Aoi wasn't too keen on the idea either.
"Well…" Aoi paused, trying to think of something to say, "Maybe you can just step down from being the leader for a while?"
"I've been doing that," Kyoko claimed, "Surely you've notice that I've allowed Byakuya to lead us more often now. He was born for that kind of role after all." She rolled her eyes, and Aoi was just surprised to see Kyoko express displeasure towards him with the eye roll – seeing Kyoko even do that was kind of a novelty.
"I see…" Aoi muttered, "I'm sorry I haven't noticed… None of us have. You're a good leader though, we all trust you to guide us. It was you who ended up saving us all in the Academy, so I guess it was just natural for us to follow your lead after that."
"And I accepted that role blindly, but that was before all of this," She spread her arms out, gesturing to the ruined room, "I didn't know the world was like this at all… Junko didn't really give us a good idea of what to expect, and I suspect she didn't tell us this much because she knew our despair at learning about this situation for ourselves would outweigh our knowledge of it when we were still safely inside."
"Yeah… I guess that's true." She narrowed her eyes hateful at the mere thought of Junko, if there was one person Aoi could honestly say she hated, it would be her.
"In a way I'm glad she didn't reveal it though," Kyoko muttered, "If I had known before, I don't know if I would have chosen to save Makoto…" She looked to the ground, her face twisting into one of self-loathing and sadness, "I'm not as strong as you think I am…"
Aoi was alarmed to see her like that, so she walked over and wrapped her arms around her without even thinking, "That's not true Kyoko! You are stronger than all of us!"
"Even though I just admitted to you my weakness?" She asked, sounding confused, "I like Makoto, and I just admitted that I might have actually considered killing him so we could stay inside of that Academy forever… So we could have food, power, water, a safe place to sleep…" She listed off, "Doesn't that make me a bad person?"
"If Makoto were here, I know he would disagree with you. It's human nature to want to be away from danger, isn't it?" Aoi replied, still hugging Kyoko, "And we can't really know for sure what we would have picked back then if we knew what we know now – it's no use thinking about it." She gently knocked Kyoko on the back of the head, "Has that been bothering you this entire time?"
Kyoko shakily grabbed Aoi, and hugged her back, "I'm… Not very familiar with doing things like this." She whispered quietly, "I don't have much experience with friends… Well, that I can recall anyway." She closed her eyes, "Thank you."
"It's no problem!" Aoi responded, feeling like she was finally connecting with Kyoko. Sure they've been traveling together, but they never really talked this much before. "If you ever have any problems, you can always talk to me! I guess you could talk to Makoto too if you wanted, but I'll always be here to talk to you if you need another girl to talk to!"
Kyoko nodded, letting go of Aoi, somehow feeling a bit… refreshed, she supposed. She felt a small smile working its way onto her face, "I suppose it is a bit foolish for me to think about how I would have reacted after all this time. You're right, thinking about 'what ifs' won't get me anywhere."
"Exactly!" Aoi nodded enthusiastically, leaning on the counter right beside Kyoko now. She just felt a lot better now – she managed to get Makoto to cheer up a little, and now she was comforting Kyoko too! Despite the loss of family, she felt like she was gaining something else in return – something with her friends that she didn't have before.
"M – May I ask you something, then?" Kyoko stuttered, averting her eyes, "I couldn't help but notice that you and Makoto seem a bit… closer now."
Aoi's eyes widened, and she remembered her promise to Kyoko, to step aside if that is what Kyoko wanted. "Yeah… We talked a lot recently." She mumbled, "I – I think I might like him too…" She revealed, her cheeks heating a tad bit.
If Kyoko was surprised, she didn't show it, instead she just nodded. "I've noticed. What occurred between you two last night?" She asked, "I mean…" She realized she was sounding like an interrogator, "You don't need to tell me, I suppose, if you don't want to."
Aoi chuckled, glad to see Kyoko doing her best to be a friend, and she looked towards the ceiling, "Well, after what happened yesterday, I was feeling really guilty, and I was kind of in a dark place mentally…" She saw Kyoko give her a curious eye, "I mean… I thought everyone hated me because of what happened… I felt like I forced you to k – kill those men, I felt like I forced Makoto into that position…"
Kyoko's eyes darkened immediately upon the mention of the men she murdered, and she looked away, "Please don't mention that…" She muttered, "I'd rather not think about it…"
Aoi nodded, "I'm sorry… But anyway, due to all of that, I thought I was a burden to the group, and I planned to run away."
Kyoko's eyes widened, and she looked over to Aoi in alarm, "What? Are you serious?" Her normally calm voice cracked, and she looked very worried.
"I'm not leaving, don't worry!" She answered, letting out an internal sigh as Kyoko calmed down, "But that is what I thought yesterday. If I hadn't talked to Makoto last night, I probably would have gone through with it too."
"It's good he was there," Kyoko muttered, "If you left, I would have taken control of the group away from Byakuya and went to get you back, there's no way we would let you wander out there alone!" She actually glared at Aoi, "That was a stupid thought."
Aoi actually let out an undignified laugh, and covered her mouth as her cheeks turned red, "Um, sorry, but Makoto said something almost exactly like that to me yesterday."
Kyoko allowed another small smile on her face, "Good. I would expect nothing else from him."
"Yeah… He just sat there, and we talked for a little while, and it really helped me calm down…" She wondered if she should mention their almost-kiss, but she decided to omit it out of embarrassment, "And… He was just so nice… I think I understand how you feel about him now…"
Kyoko looked troubled, "So you…" She turned red, "L – Love him too?" She couldn't look Aoi in the face as she said it aloud, though Aoi was also bright red, and looked down to the floor.
"Y – Yeah…" She admitted, "I know I told you that I wouldn't get in your way, but… Now I don't know if I can do that…"
Kyoko sighed, "Well…" She looked at Aoi again – her friend, her rival, her companion, and at the moment, she was all the family she had. She let out another sigh, and tried to go through her feelings. "I'm… jealous… Of how close you two have gotten."
"I know… Earlier when we were in his room, you were looking at me for a little bit before leaving." Aoi replied, "I could tell you were then."
"Yes, I was, but I could tell that you were having a good effect being there with him, so I let you stay…" She groaned, "I don't know what I'm supposed to do in this kind of situation… I've never been in l – love with anyone before, and I haven't had a friend like you either… I don't want to lose either of you…"
"Well, we don't have to be rivals, I guess, if that's what you mean." Aoi muttered, "With how the world is right now, we have a lot more things to worry about. I don't want to fight you for Makoto either…"
Kyoko smiled, glad to know that Aoi was at least similarly conflicted, "Then in that case, I guess we could share?" She blushed, "I mean, I get too spend a little time with him, and then you can, and we just keep switching."
Aoi smiled at the smile solution, "That sounds good!" Then she frowned however as she thought more on it, "But… What if one of us eventually starts to get romantically involved or something?" Her face was again red at bringing up such an embarrassing topic.
"Then I guess we'll stop doing that…" Kyoko replied, looking a bit saddened at the thought. "I don't want to jeopardize our friendship, no matter how strongly I feel about Makoto, and I don't want to create distance with him due to my jealousy either…"
Aoi nodded, "Yeah… That sounds fair."
The two smiled at each other, and Kyoko felt glad to know that there was an understanding between them now. She was worried about many things, and she still was, but at least the whole situation with Makoto was settled for now. With that weight off her shoulder, she felt a little more relaxed, and closed her eyes, waiting for Makoto to come down from his room.
Another few hours passed before Byakuya finally heard footsteps on the stairs, and he glanced over to see Makoto walking over, wiping his eyes on the sleeves of his sweatshirt. "Welcome back," He muttered, "Are you ready to go now?"
Makoto nodded, "Yeah… I'm sorry for wasting so much time."
He expected Byakuya to say something snide, but he didn't expect him to shake his head and reply, "I understand." He left it at that, and walked towards his backpack, "Go get the others and tell them you're ready to go. We still have a few more hours we can use to travel."
Makoto stared wide eyes at Byakuya, but shook it off, and did as he was told. Soon, all six of them were gathered at the front door, and Makoto was staring wistfully back, his eyes beginning to get a little watery once again. He knew that this was the last time he would ever step foot here, his childhood home would be left to the ravages of time. Though his lips trembled, he let out a shaky breath, and led the group out of the building.
The rest of the day was relatively quiet, with only a few chances of small talk here and there. Aoi led the group for now, using her arrows to pick off any of the undead well before they got close to them, though she would occasionally glance towards Makoto to make sure he was doing ok, despite the fact that every time her attention shifted from her job leading the group through the undead, Byakuya would give her a cold glare.
After talking to Kyoko and Makoto, Aoi's thoughts have been turning slowly towards Byakuya – she didn't like him at all, that much was clear. She thought he was a stuck up bastard who had no regard for anyone's feelings but his own. However, Makoto seemed to disagree, and because of that, she supposed she would be willing to try talking to him eventually… Makoto was right in that they needed to rely on each other, and she wasn't sure if she could trust him.
While Aoi was thinking of that, Makoto's thoughts kept turning towards Kyoko. He had promised himself that he would talk to her, and thankfully she seemed to stop giving him the cold shoulder after what happened at his home. Still, he couldn't let it rest, he had to speak to her eventually, so he worked up his courage, and slowed down, so he was near the back of the group where Kyoko was walking alone.
Kyoko immediately noticed him slowing down, and though she initially thought he was lost in thought, the moment he looked at her, she realized it was intentional. She nodded curtly towards him, "Is there something you wanted to say, Makoto?" She didn't smile – when they were out in the open, traveling on the street with the undead lurking about, she could hardly afford to express her true feelings.
"I wanted to talk to you about yesterday," He admitted, "And I wanted to apologize."
She held up her hand, stopping him from continuing, "Don't worry about it. Aoi and I have talked about this already, and I told her that it's alright. I don't blame you two for what you did."
He blinked in surprise, and he glanced forward to look at Aoi, who was busy lining up a shot with her bow. "Oh…" He mumbled, his gaze turning back to Kyoko, "Well, that's good, but there's something else I wanted to talk to you about too."
"Hm?" She stopped along with the rest of the group, his senses heightened as they stood still, waiting for Aoi to clear the road ahead of them.
"It's about what you did yesterday…" He muttered, not wanting to directly refer to the event, "How you… reacted."
Her eyes hardened, any shine that was in them disappeared, and she looked towards the ground, "Don't talk about that…" She mumbled, telling him the same thing she told Aoi, "I don't want to talk about it."
He wanted to back off and let that be the end of it. He wished he could back off, and not feel like he was forcing his way into her issues, but he let out a sigh. Life wasn't always easy, and doing what you thought was right would occasionally mean going against what your friends wanted. "I – I think you should talk about it, get it off your chest."
She ignored him as she looked off into the distance. They were still in a rural area, homes all around them, the sun was still providing enough light for them to travel, and the road was clear for the most part. She turned her attention back to Makoto, "No. I forgive you, and that's that." She replied, "There's no need to go over it again."
"But… Everyone's worried about you." He muttered, "Me, Hina, and Hiro all feel like you're bottling things up. Doesn't it bother you what you did? You can confide in me…" He wished so badly that she would just agree to talk, but she shook her head.
"I – I don't want to." Her voice cracked, though her emotionless façade never faded. She took a deep breath, and then her voice was even again, "Trust me, Makoto, like you did back then in the Academy." She stared right into his eyes, "I'm fine."
Makoto wished he didn't nod, but he felt like that if he pushed her anymore, she would begin to lash out, and right here wasn't a good place to do that. Though he was far from done when it came to her, he gave her a little space, and proceeded to look around the area, the place he used to call home. It was difficult, seeing it in ruins, but in a way he supposed it was necessary. Now that he saw this, he wouldn't hold anything back to protect his friends – his new family.
"Stop!" Aoi whispered urgently, bringing the entire group to a halt, and Makoto looked towards her questioningly. They were at a four way, and Aoi pressed herself again the wall nearby that was surrounding a house at one of the four corners. Makoto felt his instincts telling him to mimic her, and within seconds, the entire group was doing the same thing she was.
"What's the meaning of this?" Byakuya asked, though his hand was in his pocket where Makoto knew he kept the pistol.
"Survivors are just around the corner," She whispered, "Take a look!"
Makoto tensed as she said the words, and his hand went over his shoulder and firmly grasped the hilt of his sword, ready to unsheathe it within a second if the need for it came. Kyoko also tensed up, and like Byakuya, her hand dipped into her pocket. Toko looked ready to panic, but she forced herself to calm down with a few quick breaths, and Yasuhiro gripped the handle of the survival knife closer to himself.
"Let me see," Byakuya ordered, and Aoi complied, moving away from her spot on the edge so Byakua could occupy it. His back firmly against the wall now, Byakuya peeked his head around the corner to assess the situation. "There's only two of them, a boy and a girl, and I can't see them holding any weaponry." He announced, "I suggest we avoid them."
"Given what happened yesterday, I agree." Kyoko replied, giving Makoto a very long stare.
"Y – Yeah…" He stuttered, his feelings in array. He so wanted to trust these people – one of them was a girl this time – but given how their last meeting went, he wasn't too keen on meeting new people. He hated that fact, but it was true. Aoi likewise made no objections, and Toko obviously didn't object, since Byakuya wanted to avoid them.
"Are you sure?" Yasuhiro asked, the only one who raised his voice, "M – Maybe we can get some food off of them or something? Or they can lead us to shelter for the night?"
"Have you forgotten our last meeting?" Kyoko asked sharply, earning her the stares of everyone but Byakuya, "How can you want to confront them after that?"
"We may not have a choice," Byakuya grumbled, "They're walking down this way." He now fully took the pistol out his pocket, and gripped it tightly in both hands, and Makoto took his sword out, both hands gripping the handle so tightly that he was beginning to sweat. Makoto turned to look at Kyoko, and she looked almost pale… His worries were momentarily replaced for those of Kyoko.
"Kyoko…" He whispered, "Calm down, we outnumber them, we'll be fine!"
She gave a curt nod, her gun in her hand, though her face didn't pale any less, and Makoto had to wonder if she had a fear of strangers now, due to what happened yesterday. He felt a stab of guilt yet again, but he turned his attention back to Byakuya, who suddenly stepped out from around the corner, his gun held high.
"Stop right there." He demanded in a loud and clear voice.
"Oh shit! He has a gun!" The boy cried. He must have been no older than thirteen, and like them his clothes were ragged, his hair was a complete mess, and he had cuts all over him, "We don't want to fight ok?"
The woman on the other hand looked to be a lot older, at least in her forties, and she showed no fear as she placed her hand on her companion's shoulder and locked eyes with Byakuya, "What is it you want from us?" She asked. Her eyes were a dull blue, and her hair was cut short, just above her ears.
"How many of you are there?" Byakuya asked, "I refuse to acknowledge that it's just the two of you!"
"It's just us," The woman replied, "There were three of us, but…" She looked to the side, pain evident in her eyes. "My son and I were just trying to escape…"
Son? Her reaction to the third person was sadness, and Makoto connected the dots – his eyes widened, and he looked to the ground as he still hid from view of the woman and child, allowing Byakuya to do all of the talking. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and saw Yasuhiro give him a nod. Makoto smiled at the support, and returned the nod.
"Escape what?" Byakuya asked, venom still in his voice, and his gun refused to be lowered. "The monsters you mean?"
She nodded, "We were traveling here to try and find food and shelter, but we were attacked by those monsters when we went into a house. My husband died defending us, and we ran out before we could get hurt ourselves…" Her eyes looked down towards her son quickly, but then looked back up to Byakuya.
Unfortunately for her, Byakuya noticed her look, and he looked towards her son yet again. He did another glance ovver, and noticed blood seeping from the child's ankle. "Your son was bit." He stated, the woman's face contorting in pain at the mere words.
The boy gritted his teeth, and looked down to the ground, "N – No I wasn't… I'll be fine…"
Byakuya let out a sigh, but still held the gun up, "You realize he'll turn, right?"
The child tried protesting, but the mother covered his mouth, and shook her head, "No, he won't. I'm sure of it." A sort of twisted smile crossed her face, and Byakuya grimaced, realizing that after losing her husband, and soon losing her son was having its toll on her mental health.
Both of them were in pure denial over what was happening, and Byakuya could no longer feel any true malice towards them. He knew that if he were bit, he'd be in denial over it as well, though he'd at least hope he'd have enough dignity to let his friends shoot him regardless. Letting out a sigh, he asked softly, "Do you want… Do you want me to shoot you?" He asked.
Aoi's eyes widened, amazed that Byakuya would make an offer like that, and even Makoto's mouth dropped open. Feeling that any danger they posed was non-existent, Byakuya motioned for his team to come out of cover. The woman's eyes widened at their group, and her son gripped her tightly, fearfully looking at them all.
"You guys go ahead," Byakuya stated, "I'll catch up."
"Wh - What are you going to do?" Toko asked, her eyes looking over to the family they ran across, "You're not really going to…"
"Toko. Leave." He stated, his voice firm, "Kyoko, I trust you know where to go?"
Kyoko's eyes still lingered on the family, her mistrustfulness was apparent, but soon she nodded, "Yes." She nodded, giving a simple answer. With that, she started to move onward. At first, Makoto didn't know what to do, but one more look from Byakuya, and he felt the strength to keep going. Toko was the only one who lingered a little longer, looking worriedly at Byakuya.
"Go… Toko." He mumbled.
"I – I'll wait here." She stated firmly.
A long silence ensued with Byakuya glaring at her, but finally he nodded, "Fine… If you wish to stay, so be it."
The family they ran into looked at them fearfully, though they were more focused on the gun. "Just let us go!" The child cried, though that led into a coughing fit, where he even coughed up a little blood.
Byakuya's face softened ever so slightly, and he spoke, "In a few hours, your son will be dead. That's the reality of this situation. I told my group – my friends – that if I was ever in that position, I wanted them to take me out. So again, I offer you the same deal. I'll put you out of your misery… It'll be instant, and you won't feel a thing."
"NO!" The woman shouted, "I won't allow you to harm my child! How DARE you even say something like that!" She looked ready to pounce when suddenly her child's hand tugged on her ragged shirt.
"Mom…" He mumbled, tears beginning to fall from his eyes, "I – I don't want to become one of them…"
"You won't," She assured him, "You really won't."
Up ahead, Kyoko stopped leading the group after they walked a few blocks, and they waited. She again leaned on a wall with her arms crossed, and Makoto slid down into a sitting position beside her. Yasuhiro looked conflicted, while Aoi looked around, "Hey… Where's Toko?" She asked.
"Eh?" Yasuhiro mumbled, "She's not here?"
Makoto's eyes widened, "Wait, did she stay with –"
BOOM
They all stopped, looking in the direction the noise came from. Kyoko's emotion didn't change, but everyone else looked to the ground… Aoi was just surprised that Byakuya could show any compassion at all, and she was actually kind of glad that he had the strength to go through with that. She didn't know if she would be able to kill a child, even if he was infected…
BOOM
"A second shot?" Makoto asked, "Why was there a second one?"
"Should we go investigate it?" Yasuhiro asked, looking concerned.
"No, Byakuya can explain the situation once he gets here." Kyoko replied, "Just wait, we're not too far."
Aoi looked around nervously however, "Do you hear that? The zombies heard the gunshots…" As she said, there was a very loud moaning, and they could see several of the zombies starting walking down the street towards them.
"Makoto, Hiro, Aoi, hold them off long enough for Byakuya and Toko to get back here!" Kyoko ordered, "Be careful! Aoi, make sure not to lose any of your arrows!"
There were at least a dozen of the monsters coming towards them, and Makoto held his sword out, ready to fight. He and Yasuhiro just stood back as Aoi picked off a couple of them with arrows, and then when they were close enough, they got into a melee brawl, being very careful not to get bit. Makoto didn't have to worry about it too much, since his sword provided him with a bit of range, but Yasuhiro had to focus on getting jabs in and then quickly backing out.
Kyoko watched the situation unfold, hating the fact that she didn't have a weapon that was useful for a situation like this. Instead, she kept her eyes peeled just in case if they got flanked. Fortunately, five minutes barely passed when she saw Byakuya round a corner, and though she was initially happy to see that, her heart fell when she noticed that he was holding up a wounded Toko.
"What happened?" She asked, her eyes landing on Toko, "She wasn't bit was she?"
"No," He replied, "She was stabbed." Kyoko's eyes widened, and she looked at the girl again, and found the source of the blood on her dress to be from a stab wound in what looked to be her right shoulder. Her face paled considerably, and Byakuya couldn't help but grimace upon seeing that – he thought the wound was bad, but he hoped he was wrong.
"We need to get her to lie down now." Kyoko replied, "A wound like that may potentially be very bad if we don't treat it! We need to examine it to make sure it didn't go into the socket – if it did, then even with a hospital around, it would be bad… With just us though…"She let it hang, and Byakuya bit back a curse. "We need medical supplies!"
"Maybe one of these houses nearby have something?" Byakuya asked, looking around, though he spotted the other three busy fighting the undead, "Shit… How many did the gunshots attract? In fact, where were they all hiding?! These streets were clear last time I remembered! They truly are like cockroaches!"
"Um… Kyoko!" Aoi cried, "They aren't stopping!" She run forward and made sure to collect as many arrows as she could, but some of the farther bodies she couldn't reach due to the horde, and she regretfully had to leave them behind.
Makoto stabbed one in the eye, and kicked it down to the ground, where it lay dead once more. He then turned his attention to Kyoko, and his eyes spotted Byakuya, but before he could truly smile, he noticed he was holding up Toko, "What happened?" He cried, rushing over, "Toko! Are ok?"
Amazingly, Toko was still conscious, but she didn't speak, she only nodded. She then tried to talk, "I'm… Fine…" She coughed, and some droplets of blood ran down her lips. That did absolutely nothing to reassure Makoto, whose eyes widened.
"Toko!" he cried, "Shit, Byakuya! What did you do?!"
"I didn't do this!" He cried, "Why would I hurt her? She's proven to be far too useful to just dispose of like that!" He gritted his teeth, "That stupid woman attacked us when her son volunteered to die… She tried to stab me, but Toko tackled her down and ended up getting stabbed…"
"Then that second gunshot…?" Makoto muttered.
"Suffice to say, she has been dealt with." He replied, "That's not important now, we need to help Toko!" Makoto didn't think he had ever seen Byakuya panic, so seeing him look at Toko with such a worried glance, and wanting to help her so bad was almost a surreal experience.
"Makoto, snap out of it." Kyoko replied, "Now's not the time to space out!" She looked towards Yasuhiro and Aoi, "Hina, Hiro, come on, we're getting out of here!"
Yasuhiro buried his survival knife into the skull of a zombie, and with a bit of a tug, he pulled it out, watching at the zombie fell to the ground and impeded those behind it. "Good." He muttered, and looked up, gasping for breath, "I don't think I coulda kept that up much longer!"
As Yasuhiro and Aoi ran towards the group, they noticed Toko, and before they could voice their concerns and questions, Kyoko spoke up, "I know you're concerned for Toko, we all are, but we have to get out of here first! Makoto, help Byakuya carry Toko!" Makoto wasted no time in going to Toko's other side and slung her arm over his shoulder. "Aoi, Yasuhiro, keep the monsters away from us, we're going to run through a few homes to try and lose them!"
Kyoko led the group, opening the fence leading to the nearest house and booking it inside. She held the door open for everyone, and then she slammed it shut, and made sure to lock it, figuring that it might impede the monster's progress a tad bit. They ran through the house, not looking at anything at all, and then left through the back. They did this several times, until they were sure that the undead horde lost track of them.
In the fifth house, Kyoko again locked the front door, and then looked around, "Byakuya, Makoto, find a bedroom now and put Toko down. Yasuhiro, barricade the house and make sure that there's no entrances. Aoi, scout around and make sure we're alone in here. I'll go look for some medicine!" With their tasks assigned, everyone ran to do just that.
Makoto and Byakuya felt that the stairs would be too difficult to climb, and could potentially worsen Toko's condition, so they settled on using one of the downstairs bedrooms. The room was a disaster, but the bed, aside from a few cut open bits was relatively undamaged. They set her down, and she let out a loud groan, using her left arm to touch her shoulder.
"I'm going to go help Kyoko," Makoto replied, getting to his feet, "You stay here with Toko and call us if she gets any worse!"
If the situation was any less dire, Byakuya would have been pissed that Makoto was giving him orders. As it was though, his attention was focused solely on Toko – the girl who risked her life to save him. HIM! He was a Togami! He was excellence! He shouldn't have to have anyone save him… Yet he needed help, and she was there for him. He bit back his frustrated growls, and instead just sat there watching her, feeling useless for the first time since he escaped the Academy.
"Kyoko!" Makoto ran into the girl digging through the bathroom, and he noticed that right above the sink, there was a mirror that opened up, and inside were all sorts of pills. "What should I do?"
She looked up, and suddenly handed him a container of pills, "Those aren't as strong as pain killers, but given that we lack any access to that or morphine, it'll have to do." She replied, "Make sure she takes two of them." Makoto rushed out of the room right when she was done instructing him, and she was just glad that this house wasn't fully looted, or the idiots just didn't think to check the bathroom mirror. She grabbed some bandages she found, and soon she went to the room where Toko was.
"I gave her the medicine like you asked," Makoto replied.
"Good," Kyoko muttered, sitting down at Toko's side, "She was stabbed in the shoulder, which fortunately means that none of her vitals were damaged. However, we need to make sure that the tendon or shoulder joint is undamaged. The worst case scenario is that she loses the ability to lift her arm above her waist… I don't think this is life threatening, at the very least."
Makoto let out a sigh of relief, and even Byakuya looked pleased. "Then what should we do?" Byakuya asked.
"I'll need to remove her top so I can get a closer look at it," She noticed Makoto blush suddenly, "Makoto, Byakuya, if you both could leave and provide us with some privacy…"
"No,:" Toko shook her head, "I want Byakuya to stay."
"Stupid woman," He mumbled, "What do you expect me to do?"
"I – I'll feel better if you stay…" She admitted, her face heating up.
Byakuya should have snapped, should have just got up and left – he should have if he was the same person he was in the Academy. However, though it was ever so slightly, he changed, so he slowly nodded. "Very well… This happened because of me after all…"
Makoto left the room, presumably to go assist the other two in their jobs, and Kyoko got to work. She and Byakuya helped Toko take off her dress, and an ever so slightly red Byakuya got some of the torn sheets in the room to cover her up below the waist, since he called it 'un-womanly' to be exposed like that.
With the wound visible, Kyoko went about examining it. She reached for the pile of supplies she brought into the room, and got a cotton swab, "I would normally use my fingers to do this," She explained, "But I don't want to raise the risk of infection." She inspected the wound with the swab, and after a bit, she pulled it out.
"Well?" Byakuya asked impatiently, tapping his legs, "Is it bad?"
"No," Kyoko replied, "It could have been significantly worse. Her joint is fine, and her tendon, as far as I can tell, is undamaged. She'll have a difficult time using her shoulder though, but that shouldn't inhibit her ability to move her elbow. We should create a sling though, so it heals properly." She grabbed some bandages, and tied a knot in it, before wrapping it around her shoulder, and then slinging her arm through it.
Overall, it took her about a half hour to do all of that, and Kyoko leaned back and let out a sigh when she was finished. "Ok… She should be fine now." Kyoko mumbled, "Though we should avoid traveling for the rest of the day and just let her rest."
"Very well." Byakuya replied, "I'll stay here for a little longer, I'm sure the rest of those fools want to know how she's doing, so I'll leave that to you."
Kyoko nodded, and stepped out into the hall, where – as Byakuya expected – everyone else was waiting impatiently, sitting on the floor leaning against the wall. Upon seeing Kyoko walk out, Aoi shot to her feet and asked, "Is she alright?"
Kyoko nodded, "Yes. She'll be fine. I cleaned the wound to the best of my ability, and bandaged it too." She stood aside, "You're free to go talk to her if you like. Since this happened though, we'll have to cut short our travel time today."
"That's fine!" Yasuhiro exclaimed, "As long as Toko is alright, I don't really care what we do!" He let out a laugh, relief clearly etched on his face, "Oh thank god…"
Kyoko watched as both Aoi and Yasuhiro both went into the room, though Makoto stayed out there and watched her. "What is it?" She asked, feeling a little self-conscious as he just stared at her.
He blinked one, then twice, and then he shook his head, a blush forming, "Oh! Ah! Well, I was just thinking …" He averted his eyes finally, and scratched his cheek, "You know… You're pretty amazing…"
Now it was Kyoko's turn to blush, and she looked away as well, "It's just what I've learned when I was younger. There's nothing to it."
He chuckled, "Maybe, but you're really good at it regardless." He looked towards the door, "I'm going to go check on her real quick, if that's all right with you."
"By all means, please do so." Kyoko replied, and she watched him go into the room. With everyone gone, she let out a sigh, and leaned against the wall, closing her eyes and sliding down. She was so worried that it could have been worse, and to have her fears unfounded was such a huge relief. She was glad that Toko didn't die… She was part of their odd little family, and losing her – even though they didn't really talk much – would have been awful.
While the rest were distracted, Kyoko went out and explored the house a bit more, making sure it was secure. She was aware that Aoi did this earlier, but she wouldn't put it pass the girl to do a poor job, due to the distress of one of their companions being injured. Once she looked around and was satisfied with the security of the place, she went back to the room where Toko was.
A few hours passed, and Toko opened her eyes groggily, and she sat up slightly, only to feel a sharp pain on her shoulder. She looked down to the left, and blinked a few times, wondering why she was in a sling, and then the second thing she noticed was that she wasn't wearing her glasses. She was about to start panicking, but then she heard a soft cough come from beside her, and she looked over to see Byakuya sitting beside her bed.
"It appears that you're awake," He stated, "I figured you would have slept through the night."
She looked pass him briefly out the window, and saw that the sun was just starting to set, creating an orange hue that shone through the torn drapes of the windows, splattering the wall with its color. She looked back to him and softly asked, "What happened?"
"You don't recall?" He asked questioningly, "You were lucid when Kyoko was treating you though." She watch his facial feature crease with worry, "Perhaps I should go get her again."
"No," She shook her head, "Stay… My head just feels fuzzy." She tried to think – and then it all came back to her. "Oh… That woman stabbed me." She muttered softly, "That's why my shoulder hurts."
"Ah, good, you remember." He sighed, straightening back up and adjusting his glasses, trying to appear as if he wasn't too worried. "Good. Truthfully, I was afraid your other personality would awaken instead. I wasn't looking forward to explaining what happened to you to her."
Toko grimaced at the mention of her alternate self, but forced herself to calm down as she looked over to him, "Why are you in here?" It may have been because she was still drowsy, or maybe she felt a bit embolden by his continued presence, but she felt she could ask that without him retaliating as he usually did.
"You saved me," He mumbled, "She would have killed me if you didn't stay behind."
She nodded, remembering the scene perfectly well, "Yeah… I remember. You shot her son, and then she went ballistic…" A large frown crossed her face, and she closed her eyes, pressing back tears at the memory, "Why did you do that? You killed the child without any warning whatsoever…"
He blinked in surprise, wondering if doing that had actually damaged his image in her eyes. He leaned back in the chair he was sitting in, and closed his eyes, recalling the memory, "That child was doomed to die, and his mother refused to accept that. If I let them go, that kid would have turned, killing his mother, and then wandered around as one of the undead we keep fighting."
"Is that really justifiable?" She questioned, staring at the ceiling, "If I were in that mother's position… I don't know if I would have accepted it either. Her husband died, and then her son was doomed to die… In that position, I think I would have acted just the same."
"You would have let your son meet that cruel fate, just because you couldn't accept it?" He asked, his face contorting in anger, "If that's the case, why did you save me? You seem to think that I was not justified, so why not just let me die?"
She glanced over at him, "I couldn't do that," She mumbled, "I love you… Why would I want you to die?"
He scoffed at that, "Love? How in the world can you possibly love me? I've done nothing but show disdain towards you! I haven't treated you any kinder than any of the rest – I never cared about your presence, and I always found you to be a nuisance."
"Yeah…" She mumbled, "I know…"
"Then why?" He asked, "Why did you save me despite all of that?"
"For the same reason that woman tried to kill you. You're all I have left in my life… I like the rest too, but you mean the most to me. If you died, then I might as well die too." She explained, giving him a small smile at the end.
"You assisted me for such a misguided reason?" He asked, looking at her incredulously, "Because I'm all you have left?"
"You, Kyoko, and all the rest are like a family too me." She explained, "If any of you died, I don't know how I would react, but I think it would be similar to that woman… I think I would be willing to let my other self out to kill, if that happened."
"We're family…" He muttered slowly. He did notice that he was slowly growing fonder of the idiots he traveled with, but he certainly wouldn't call them family! Though… If he really thought on it… "I think I might understand what you mean," He finally said at last, "We're the only ones you can rely on now, given that the world is like this. That's what you mean, isn't it."
She nodded, "Yes… Though…" she yawned, interrupting herself.
"You ought to rest," He stated, "I just wanted to know why you saved me, is all." He stood up, and looked around the room, specifically at the windows. "If any danger occurs at all, just call for us. We'll be nearby." He then pointed to the side of her bed, where her dress, multiple scissors, and backpack were stored, "I suggest you eat while you're awake, because we're leaving early tomorrow to make up for time lost today."
As Byakuya walked out of the room, Toko couldn't help but smile – he did care about her, though he tried to hide it. "I really do love you, you know…" She whispered quietly. She slowly sat up, and did as Byakuya asked, eating her food, getting plenty of water to drink, and then laying back down on her bed to sleep.
Tomorrow they would resume their journey towards the coastal town, where they would hopefully be saved.