"No." I deny almost immediately, which causes his ever present frown to deepen.

"...Are you an idiot, or something? This is the best chance we have got, and you're willing to just throw it away?" …Remember Saki, punching idiots while very satisfying, solves absolutely nothing. "Don't you have siblings too?" Though, even idiots make sense at times.

"I don't need you lecturing me on my priorities, moron." My family would always be my first priority, but as long as Mom was with them, I had nothing to worry about. "Especially, if you were to look at yourself right now. You're pale, have bags under your eyes, and your eyes look lifeless. If I didn't know any better, I would have assumed you were a walker and smashed your head open already."

"One of those things, I can't control." He glares, obviously annoyed.

"And the other two?" I ask, allowing a smug grin to appear on my face.

"Tsk. Just hand me my bag."

"Do it yourself."

Again, he clicks his teeth at me, but this time he shuts up. Walking back to the bedroom side of the room, I sit down with my back against the wall. 'Maybe now he'll understand.'

Thud!

Immediately on alarm, I reach for my…anything to defend myself with. 'Damnit! Were we too loud?!' Weaponless, I stare at the door by this apartment's kitchen, waiting for another bang on the door.

Though, my caution and fear is quickly replaced by irritation as I look back at the idiot I'm now responsible for, laying face first on the ground.

Rushing…No, speed walking to his side, I tap…No, kick his side. "You still alive? Or did you finally join your brothers and sisters outside?"

"...Shut up." He responds, though it is muffled.

Running through all the thoughts in my head, I let out a sigh, most of my annoyance leaving with the breath escaping my lips. "God, you're irritating." Crouching down next to him, I pull him up by the arm.

"I was just about to say that…" He says, as I help him sit on the couch.

"Yeah? Then say it, you ass." I reply, expecting another argument to start.

But it doesn't, he just looks away, obviously embarrassed after what just happened. 'Serves you right, dumba-'

"Hikigaya."

'Huh?' The confusion on my face must have been obvious, as he continues talking.

"That's my family name." He clarifies, and I can't help but smile at his newfound maturity. "That way, you don't have to continue calling me an ass, and my sister doesn't hear it."

"Sis-con." I immediately insult him, as any budding respect for him dissipates.

"Screw you, woman."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you, creep?"

"I'd rather not take care of someone else's kid, so go bother someo…Ugh." Holding his head in pain, I just sigh.

"Sit still, dumbass. I'll see if there's anything for us to eat."

Heading to the hallway entrance, which also contained the kitchen, I crouch down next to the mini-fridge and scan its contents inside.

Before I can even check the fridges contents, a horrible smell reaches my nose, and I finally notice it. Instead of a wave of fresh, cool air hitting me, the same warm air lingers ahead of me.

Closing the refrigerator door, I stand back up and approach the closest light switch.

Flick.

Nothing. 'When? …Last night? …Most likely. Damn it all.' With the sun setting in the next few hours, I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"...M-My bag." I hear Hikigaya say, staring at me with a pained look. "Protein bars…" Holding his head in pain, I can't help but…No, I don't pity him, he only has himself to blame.

Reaching down, I bring his bag to him. "Here."

"Hmn." Opening it, he digs past those disgusting sugary drinks and pulls out a few energy bars.

I can only enviously watch as he eats through his supply like a starving animal. My supply of food and drink had already run out during our stay in the pharmacy. With a despondent exhale, I sit myself back down. '...I wonder how everyone is fari-'

Feeling something hit my legs, I immediately glare at the one responsible. "What's your pro-"

"Eat. You're…hungry too, no?" He says, unfazed by my glare.

Two energy bars were at my feet, both of which were chocolate chip. "You're an idiot." I insult, trying not to feel thankful to an idiot who would help others before himself.

"I'm going to have to rely on you to keep me safe once we leave, so I can't have you going hungry. If anything, I'm a genius." He says, without his previous pained expression.

"A genius among his zombie brethren, maybe." I respond, unimpressed by his logic.

"...A genius is still a genius." He tries to refute, but I'm only further unimpressed.

I don't bother entertaining this conversation any further, and instead begin to eat the offered food. Taking another bite, I find my eyes unwillingly falling on his form once more. 'Despite his disheveled look and sick look, he's not so bad on the eyes, if you ignore his own eyes…'

'...What? What the hell am I thinking?' Shaking those stupid thoughts out of my head, I find my face heating up from emba-anger, yeah, anger.

Finishing my small meal quickly, I get off the ground and make my way to the laid out futon. I wasn't really tired physically speaking, but dealing with Hikigaya was mentally draining.

The Morning After

Hachiman

Getting off of Kawasaki's shoulder, I lean onto the nearby wall, breathing heavily.

"We can't stay here for muc-"

"I…I kn-know…" I say between breaths. Even with the pain killers, my face was still flushed and I had issues moving. 'Sh-Shit.'

It also didn't help that Kawasaki had a bad case of being heavy. As in, she was weighed down by both of our bags, and also had to help me walk…I don't know how she's doing it, and I wasn't going to ask.

Catching my breath, I face her and find cold eyes staring into my own. "Get a hold of yourself, you look like an idiot right now."

Pushing myself off the wall, I stand on weak legs. Stabilizing my balance, I continue on the way to my home.

My arm is suddenly grabbed, and put on their shoulder. "Good. We're not too far from your place, just another twenty."

If I wasn't really sick right now, I imagine my face would have been really red by such close proximity. To a girl no less, maybe things are finally looking up for me.

'…What the hell? She just said something really creepy, and my first thought is about how I might get lucky with her?' I scowl at the stupid thought from my delirium.

Walking forward with her support, I honestly don't feel like my situation has gotten better. The pounding headache, weakness in the knees, the cold feeling…

Thump!

'When did it…get…so cold?'

Neighborhood Streets

'Shit! Shit! Shit! SHIT!' Dragging the unconscious loner away, the distance between Kawasaki and the infected only shortened the more she dragged him.

Glaring at the approaching infected, Kawasaki berates herself in my mind. 'How the hell could I have left both my bat and the spear at the pharmacy?! It's only three walkers, and yet here I am, running away. Fuck!'

The infected would soon reach the two and there was nothing Kawasaki could do without an actual weapon in her hand. As she dragged him, Saki looked down at the unconscious Hikigaya. '…I'm sorry about this.' With a pained look in her eyes, she lets go of him, and faces the infected. Pulling the heaviest bag off her back, she holds it by the straps. "Come and ge-"

"Hyah!"

Shink! Thud! Thud!

It was…a blonde girl, shorter than her, who just knocked over the three adult infected with a…knife on a broomstick, one very similar to that of the loner in her care. "Hah! I got you!" The blonde cheers, as the infected had a hard time getting up from over each other. Finally turning her way, the blonde gasps in surprise. "Hikio!"

Sprinting over to them, Yumiko crouches down and pulls Hachiman close to her. "Hikio! Hikio, wake up!"

'...Okay, what the hell just happened?' Despite the massive amounts of confusion circulating in her mind, Kawasaki takes notice of the recovering infected. "Damnit." With a click of her teeth, she slings the bag back onto her back and grabs the loner by the arm. "Help me lift him, will ya?"

"You're…" Yumiko begins, the distrust clear in her voice.

"Doesn't matter. Hurry up, unless you want to die."

Hikigaya Household, Miura Yumiko

Locking the door shut behind us, I watch as Hikio's stalker sits him against the wall. "Huff…Damn it." She curses, falling beside him while releasing both bags on her back. "That…was too close." She says between breaths.

Leaning against the door, I let myself slide down onto the floor as I released a sigh of relief. I had been outside for basically the whole day looking for these two, and by some miracle, I did.

"Thanks, by the way. You really saved our asses." She thanked me, now having caught her breath, but she still looked like a truck hit her.

"Hm." I hum, more concerned for the still unconscious Hikio.

"Yumiko-chan?" I hear Komachi-chan from upstairs. "Did you…" Standing at the top of the stairs was Komachi, looking down at "Onii-chan!"

???

"Haru-san…I…I don't want to…" I can only look on as my friend breathes one last time. A horrified look in her eyes.

"I…I'm sorry!" I cry, unable to hold back the sobs or tears.

To Be Continued…

This chapter has a lot of scene changes at the end, I'm well aware.

I fucked up having Saki and Hachiman bunker up in another enclosed space. Somehow, someway, their relationship moved forward and they can be considered friends. No. Semi-friends? Sorta.

…It's complicated. And since they're such loners they wouldn't give a good answers eeither.

I don't want to promise anything, but expect some BIG things in the next chapter. Also, it will probably be the longest one yet.

Other than that? Review Time.

jarjarhead says: woo update

I say: woo review

G0dz1lle x says: These two are such tsunderes and i love it. And that omake you really knew what you were doing author san. Three dialogs of pure fanservice... *slowly slides 20 dollars under the table* good job...! Also, watch out for the lines when komachi is calling her dear onii-chan, autocorrect turned it into "gomi-chan" on the walkie part

I say: I know right? It's cute though. Takes the twenty. Pleasure doing business with you. Duly noted.

Hachiman fan says: Thanks for the chapter buddy. Talk about group and apartmen, remind me to few games like zombie life, zombie retreat - MC got bitten by the zombie, lose cunscious for a while, hiding with mother and sister, find other people and investigate the zombie out break, while using his big gun to satisfied the female with him, yeah, it's h-game story. Also, the part when he wake up, that remind me to doom video game movie, Karl urban wake up during climax scene and start shooting the monster, the rock as his leader who became the last monster boss, save his sister, and back to earth. Oh yeah, the part where you said saki and yumiko with hachiman, i got a big smile on my face, smile from ear to ear. Until next time, stay healthy and stay safe.

I say: Thanks. Thumbs up.

That's it for now, peace.