Chapter 9:

Country: Japan

Population: 127 Million

Infected: 74%

Date: Monday • May 23 • 2017

Point of View: Ouran Group

This was very, very risky.

But, what choice did they have?

They had no more food, almost no more water.

And it wasn't like the authorities were on their way to help them.

They needed to do something.

Even if that something was risky.

Haruhi was visibly exhausted now, though she didn't show any symptoms of her condition. Including the fact that she was imply not showing, at all.

"I'll help if you need it, Haru. Just ask."

Haruhi directed a grateful smile at Hikari.

"Thank you."

"So, where should we go?"

The students looked over a map, Hikari eventually raising her phone triumphantly.

"My brother has gone back to our home, and it seems secure. It'll take a day due to us needing to walk. But I already let him know, and everyone there is waiting for us if we decide to go there."

Someone else raised their hand.

"Since it'll take a day, should we set up camp for the night? Just to gather extra food and water?"

Nobody spoke in opposition.

After that, the plan was formulated.

They would leave in three hours, stop once it got dark in a place that had food and water, and then make it to the Hitachiin home.

For Hikari and Haruhi, this was also their first step in running away together.

"Okay, everyone. I got news."

Honey, Mori, and a quiet Kyoya looked up.

They'd left while Tamaki was asleep, and wouldn't have been surprised if Ranka was invited over to talk the situation over.

Well, they weren't going to involve themselves in that, anymore.

Even with the tolerance of his presence, Kyoya somewhat regretted going with them.

"They just left the school. They're going to stop at a distribution center for the night, and then they'll make the rest of the trip tomorrow. Be ready, there's a lot of people in the group."

Honey beamed.

"That's fine, Kao-Chan! I'm happy a lot of them are still okay!"

Kaoru nodded in agreement, not hiding his relief.

"So we should expect them tomorrow afternoon?"

"Yeah."

"What are you doing?"

Ayanokoji glanced at Renge as she wrapped her arms, having additionally torn the skirt of the dress into a long shirt.

"I don't know if bites cause this or not. I figured I could be more safe. The skirt was too long to not be an issue, anyway."

Renge hummed, looking at her skirt and trying to rip it.

It wasn't working.

She seemed annoyed by this, and opted to going to the costume closet.

She was able to identify one of the costumes she got to wear.

It was when they had a fantasy theme.

Renge changed into her pair of deep purple pants that frilled out at the calves. And a thin, long sleeved, lavender shirt that had a violet empire waistline.

Then, she put her hair up in the bun that additionally went with the look, and wrapped her arms.

Well, she tried to.

She was able to wrap her arms properly while Ayanokoji gave her a braided bun.

"Heading out soon!"

Ayanokoji glanced at where the input had come from, before putting focus back into the bun. Having taken something else from the props room.

"Ready to pick a fight?"

Renge's face went red. Suddenly embarrassed by her picking out a costume to wear, instead of simply hemming up her skirt, or tearing it like Ayanokoji had.

"I think so. I don't want to be lazy."

She couldn't see Ayanokoji's visible reaction to that.

"I wasn't implying that your outfit was bad. It's hot out, so it's good that it's made of a thin material. Infected people won't be the only thing we encounter."

Renge could feel her shrug.

"Besides, what if the authorities find us? If we look less dirty, less, I dunno, less like we've been rotting in here, we won't be easily mistaken for infected."

Renge let her mouth fall open slightly. She hadn't thought about it that way.

She was just thinking: "No skirt, and I'm uncomfortable in just tights".

No reply came, Ayanokoji tightening the bun and finishing it.

One final tug signaled that something else was added.

Ayanokoji surprised her by leaning in close, whispering to her to avoid being heard.

"I'm sorry I still haven't responded. But I know my answer. You can make the final decision."

Then, the biggest surprise in the whole exchange.

Seika leaned forward, gently pecking Renge on the cheek before pulling away.

Renge looked at her bun the moment she had the space to. Surprised to find two fake flowers in it.

The big one was a pastel pink lotus.

She was named after the lotus flower, but, once she'd joined the club and seen the rose pattern, had opted to use her own color to join in more.

She chose pink. As it symbolized hope and love.

So the fact that Seika had decorated her hair with a pink lotus...

It was easy to figure out what she was trying to say.

The second caught her off guard. She smelled it before she saw it.

A thin stalk of lavender.

A flower that represented complete faithfulness.

Seika had given her answer.

And Renge knew hers.

The group left around twenty minutes later. Breaking up into smaller groups so they were less suspicious.

Nekozawa took his group. Ayanokoji took hers, as she'd recently become the unspoken leader of the group.

The first group had taken to moving through school grounds first, they were the ones who wanted to go the long route and pick up supplies.

They were the smaller group—only about three students, initially—so Hikari, Haruhi, Kanako, and Toru went with them. The remaining nine followed Ayanokoji. Now sporting a gold dahlia in her bun—curtesy of Renge.

"Through here. I see one, but I can take them. You all find a spot to hide."

Ayanokoji rushed forward, kicking off of the wall of the alleyway and slamming her blunt object against the head of the infected, additionally pushing them into the wall so that she could finish the job easier.

All it took was two hits before it was down. Plus an extra hard hit to make sure it was dead.

Then, she peered around the corner, there were two more that she needed to take out. Motioning for them to proceed forward while she did so.

Maybe it was because Haruhi was used to it...

But it took her a few hours of walking to realize how long she'd been lying about being fine, when she wasn't.

There was an unbearable pain in her midsection. It wasn't bad at first, but it had gotten to the point where she was doubling over.

Hikari noticed.

"Haru? Is everything okay?"

Haruhi shook her head, leaning on her girlfriend as she let out a whimper.

It felt as if something was squeezing an inner organ of hers tight. It seemed similar to monthly cramps—which were extra bad for her, but because of the suspicion, she couldn't get the medication to make it better.

"Wait, you don't think...?"

Haruhi couldn't even show her panic through the pain. Closing her eyes tight and nodding weakly.

"Guys!"

"Oh, great..."

Honey looked at Kaoru.

"What?"

"Ranka's calling us, now."

Kyoya rubbed his temples tiredly.

"What for now...?"

Kaoru shrugged.

"Should I answer?"

For once, Honey nodded with a sadistic glint in his eyes.

"Put it on speaker, too, but don't tell them."

Kaoru did exactly that. Accepting the call and putting it on speaker.

"Ranka? What are you calling for?"

"I wanted to know if you have any updates from Haruhi. I don't know what's going on or where she is."

Kaoru thought back to the text his sister had sent him.

Just like when they spoke, Hikari had given him another message. One that he knew he was supposed to keep a secret.

Well, between the trusted individuals, that is.

"Oh, she's at the school. Her classmates and her have been huddled up in the clubroom for months. They've kinda given up on being found by the authorities."

"What?! How can months go by with nobody looking for them?! What if something happens to them?!"

Kaoru winced.

The clear concern in his voice almost made him feel guilty for lying to him.

But, this was Haruhi's choice. Not his.

"I don't know. Maybe the concern is that they're already infected. It's been a while since they tried reaching out, after all."

That wasn't just a guess.

It had already been confirmed when Kyoya reached out.

Everything within that general perimeter had been fully quarantined. Nobody was to leave the area under any circumstances.

Now—

A thud of a thought seemed to fall on all of them.

If they took in the students, the rest of Kaoru and Hikari's family would also be quarantined.

And depending on how serious the virus got...

Kaoru moved his head away from the phone.

"Contact the two groups and tell them to stay in the distribution center."

Mori and Honey were on it immediately. One calling Renge, the other calling Hikari.

"Hika-Chan?"

Hikari barely noticed her phone buzzing, and only picked it up when Haruhi told her to.

"Honey?"

"Hika-Chan, we just found out that the quarantine area will expand if you make the whole trip. Could you guys stay in the distribution center? Kao-Chan, Takashi, Kyo-Chan, and I will walk there, too with supplies."

Hikari nodded. Wincing as a squeeze came to her hand.

"Yeah, it's just—we're in the middle of something..."

"What?"

Hika grimaced, knowing full well that Honey had just heard Haruhi's rather loud moan of pain.

"S—Somebody's—We'll tell you all when you get here!"

Honey had no other option other than to take that and end the conversation.

Leaving the group to go back to their focus on Haruhi.

Kanako and Toru were elsewhere, but they couldn't be heard.

"So, we'll need to stay here."

This wasn't met with as much backlash as was expected.

"Alright. I was actually about to say that this center seems exeptionally secure."

Haruhi could only nod in agreement, instead forced to primarily focus on the pain.

The rest of the group was given the message quickly and had arrived after needing to turn around.

Haruhi—despite knowing that noise wasn't much of an issue—tried her absolute hardest not to scream. Perhaps it was a habit carried over from the six months where noise was her worst enemy.

Suddenly, however, everything started to become blurry.

Minutes blurred into hours.

There no longer seemed to be breaks in between the waves of pain. Simply less pain blurring into more of it.

To the point where Haruhi barely heard anything aside from an incessant ringing.

She couldn't see because her eyes were closed, and even if she could, the images were too blurry to make out.

Perhaps that was also curtesy of the tears.

She didn't hear much of a commotion anymore—if that was what the sound was—but the pain didn't leave.

She instead tried to open her eyes, a fuzzy image of Hika holding her hand and trying to say something.

But she couldn't hear it, not at first.

"—aruhi? Haruhi?"

She had to put all of her focus into understanding what was being said.

"Hika?"

Now she could feel Hika holding her hand tight. And she could make out the hazel eyes.

"It's over, Yuri's alright."

Only then did Haruhi recall what all of that pain was about, eyes lighting up.

Seeing as how neither of them were as fixated on gender—gender norms especially—they wanted the child to have a flexible name.

Right away, Haruhi liked the name "Yuri".

So, regardless of the—initial—gender, their name would be Yuri.

"Healthy?"

Hika nodded, holding Haruhi close as her vision blurred and darkened again.

"Haruhi?"

She went limp.

"Haruhi!"

There was a banging sound, someone running over and checking through the peephole.

Then, the sound of a door opening.

Then, her brother's voice.

"Hikari!"