Author's Note:

Been a while, thanks for the reviews. I am glad people like the story

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11th of August, 1996

It never got better…

No matter what he did, they always won. Sometimes it was only him that suffered, those were the merciful cycles. More often though, someone else suffered with him. How many hundreds of times had he watched Ozaki be tortured to death? How many times had he watched Ookawa be gunned down by Seishirou? He had even involved his teacher, Mr Hirosawa a dozen times and rewarded him with death each time.

No matter how he improved himself, it was never enough. He had learned to drive with Ritsuko and by joy riding with his family car. He could drift the mountain passes as if he were the lead in a western movie. He could control a vehicle even as bodies rolled underneath it on the fields of Sotoba but such a skill got him no closer to his goal.

He could prepare a pitfall or snare trap just as well as any hunter could. Where he would trap one hellhound, another inevitably found its way through his net of defences. If he stole a veteran's firearm to remove the hound threat, Seishirou would shoot him. If he removed Seishirou as well, he would be torn apart by Tatsumi and Yoshie.

He had tried luring in the enemy time and time again, solving how he died each time and uncovering another dozen ways to fail in turn. Whether it be Ozaki's clinic with half a dozen grown men at his side or alone in the forest surrounded by traps, he always failed. That was the thing about fighting other people, they would adapt, change their plans and kill him another way.

Now it was time to flip the table, spit the dummy, and throw the kitchen sink at the problem. It was about time he stopped being on the defensive. The flaw with being defensive each cycle, was that he gave the infection momentum, bodies with which to overwhelm him. He needed to be aggressive and pull out the weed, root and stem.

It was time to be proactive and take the fight to the enemy.

This was the thought that had his family sedan rolling into a gentle park outside the cabins of Yamairi. The log walls that had housed him in his final days stood strong in the dark canopy that the forest drowned them all in.

Time to brighten the place up a bit

The hatch of the boot popped and groaned as the worn hinges were lifted to reveal two old jerry cans sitting on the carpeted interior. Tohru set about his task briskly with a whistle, soaking the walls and tossing the remains of the cans through the spray-painted windows of the cabins. His parents may not have smoked but every car came with a coil heated cigarette lighter, perfect for sparking an inferno.

With a casual flick of the wrist as he pulled back onto the road, Yamairi went up in a blaze.

Good riddance

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He's doing it again…

Tohru watched his friend stare out the window of their classroom for what felt like the millionth time since he moved to town, although he felt he could be excused this one time. Natsuno was not brooding as his gaze was glued to the window, nor was he alone. The entire class were out of their seats scrambling for a better view outside, despite Mr Hirosawa's calls for calm and focus. Even Megumi was staring mouth agape at the flaming hellscape that spread through the north eastern portion of the Sotoba forest.

Huh, I finally managed to stop her from going to Kanemasa. Who'd have thought?

Everyone rambled even more when three more fire engines sped past the school from Mizobe to fight the blaze. Without the confusion of the civil war or Ozaki's faction slowing down emergency responders the fire shouldn't reach the village, with any luck a decent portion of the forest will burn to the ground limiting the undead movements to the remaining forests to the north and west.

That will also make it less likely Natsuno, or my family is attacked since we live to the east

Overall, it was a job well done. This should force the Kirishiki family to store their newborns in Kanemasa or expand elsewhere in Sotoba where they will be more likely to be discovered. If only he could repeat this at their castle, but he would never be able to get close enough for long enough to deal any significant damage and get out again.

And now we wait…

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15th of August, 1996

Is this girl cursed or what?

"So, I want you all to support Miss Shimizu when she returns from her father's funeral tomorrow, but please don't crowd her." Mr Hirosawa adjusted his blue and white striped tie as he gestured to Megumi's empty seat, "Be sure to keep up good hand washing habits, kids. The summer cold is particularly nasty this year."

Tohru stifled a scoff at that as Masao slinked over, his arms curled ahead of him like a dead spider. "Gosh, I hope Shimizu is okay. I can't imagine what it's like to lose your father so suddenly." The words oozed out of the wiry teens' quirked mouth, "Hey Tohru, why don't we stop by her house and tell her we are there for her?"

With an internal sigh he turned to his kind-of-but-not-really friend with his hands up in surrender, "Why don't we leave her to grieve for the night?" He offered, hoping he didn't ignite the stick thin teen's anger. "We can support her tomorrow like Mr Hirosawa said, right?"

Masao's lip curled to reveal teeth as his eyes flashed briefly before he loudly sighed, shoulders drooping with disappointment, face morphing back to sorrow. "Fine, I guess you're right." His beady eyes turned to Natsuno, quietly scratching away with a pen in his textbook, "And what do you have to say about her pain, huh, Natsuno?"

Here we go again…

Crossing one leg over the other as he leaned back, Natsuno linked his hands above his head and stretched his back. "Not much at all really, everyone dies eventually." He continued his stretch before leaning his head on his hand as he faced the older teen. "Anything else, or can I go back to my work?"

Snarling, with his over-large lips curled back again, Masao made no effort to hide his nature as he made himself taller and loomed over the morose boy. "You can't talk to me like that," he screeched like nails over a chalkboard causing the class to go silent. "I am older than you, you should show the proper respect."

"And I am older than you Murasako," cut in Mr Hirosawa from the front of the room, hands on his hips with a stern glare at the menace of his class. "So, you can show the proper respect to me and your classmates by returning to your seat and allowing us all to continue with our day."

The pest recoiled away from the younger boy, pale as a sheet before scurrying to the back of the class like a cockroach. "Sorry, Mr Hirosawa. It won't happen again, I promise."

With a nod the teacher began the same lesson Tohru had heard dozens of times over. The mitochondria were the powerhouse of the cell, very important stuff that will absolutely be useful in his future.

Time for a nap…

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18th of August, 1996

The poster swayed lightly in the warm breeze from the wooden power pole it was nailed to by the bus stop near his house. Pink eyes crinkled in delight as she struck a victory pose, Megumi Shimizu beamed proudly at Tohru from a missing persons poster as he and Natsuno stepped off the bus after school.

"The poor dear must have run away from home," gossiped one of the grey-haired trio upon their park bench nearby. "I hope she comes back soon."

The solitary man of the group threw his hands in the air in disgust, "I can't believe she would pull a stunt like this now; her mother is sick at home and now she has to worry about a no-good runaway as well?" He shook his head slowly, "Kids these days have no sense of responsibility."

"I heard she got pregnant with that outsider family boy's child," the last one piped in with a hand to her cheek. "The current generation has no caution, no appreciation for tradition. I blame the Yuuki family, or should I say Koide family for corrupting the poor girl."

Natsuno's shoulders were tense, the muscles tight beneath his loose school shirt, knuckles white as he struggled to keep walking past the gossiping ancients. Tohru could almost hear his teeth grinding together.

"Don't mind them, man." He hated it when the people turned on his friend, especially over something so foolish as his parent's marital status. "They just don't know you yet." The boy's tenseness never left; he had a feeling he was only making his frustration worse. Dozens of cycles of experience had taught him that there really wasn't anything he could say to comfort him. There were times when he stood up to the old ones, but Natsuno would turn on him after that. Would simply cut him off until one of them was in danger, then he would always come back. Other times, he would try too hard to comfort or distract him but that would end up with the cold shoulder as well. After a while, he learned that his best friend preferred it when he didn't intervene at all. Just let him know that he was there for him but leave him to handle it himself.

My boy is all grown up and independent, he don't need me no more…

Wiping an imaginary tear from his eye and slapping the grouch on the back he thought about Megumi's poster, the image of her smiling clashing against the bold black MISSING text above.

Megumi was gone, her father was gone, and her mother was on the way out judging by the gossip. Odds are he will have a week before she comes back for Natsuno then. It wouldn't do him any good ambushing her in his friend's yard, her slaying would tip the rest of the leeches off about him, as well as paint a target on the grouch's back. No, he would need to track her down before she started stalking her prey again.

The only problem is he didn't know where they would keep her now that he'd gone and burned Yamairi to the ground. There haven't been enough deaths to warrant their own clinic without arousing suspicion yet, they would never get away with it. The proud, traditional denizens of Sotoba only allowed their dead to be tended by outsiders due to the overflowing workload that had swamped the Ozaki clinic and the temple funeral service.

Without Yamairi or the clinic, that left either Kanemasa itself or the drainage system. Not enough time had passed that the drains would be needed to house the newborns just yet, so that just left their stronghold as the only remaining option.

Kanemasa was literally a fortress. Back in the day it was the castle of Lord Kanemasa, who repelled a force of two thousand men from its walls. While the Kirishiki's absolutely gave it a makeover, the castle was still a functional bastion with curtain walls and murder holes to shoot or drop grenades from.

No hope of storming that by force...

With no grave to dig up, Megumi would be safe to transform without interference and she could begin her reign of terror again. No other bloodsucker had infected nearly as many people as her, no other had the same repressed rage to unleash on the village either.

I can't lose the initiative now that I have it, how do I keep up the pressure?

Megumi was a lost cause, there was nothing to be done about her until she started hunting Natsuno again. There was another fanged monster that caused havoc among the populace who could still be saved.

Ookawa Atsushi, no matter the side he joined, was always a hinge factor. When he joined the dead, out from under the thumb of his father he would relish his freedom and strike out with Chizuru. However, if kept alive he was a strong defender of the village. It wouldn't be long before Chizuru would make her move on him.

"Hey man, want to watch a movie at my place tonight?"

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"You don't have to walk me home, Tohru." Natsuno growled, his hands stuffed into his pockets as they walked in the dark. "I'm not some damsel in distress."

The blonde kept his eyes on the darkness abyss just off the paved path. "Of course I do, what kind of date would I be if I kicked you to the curb after I'd had my way?" He laughed, his hands linked behind his back, brushing the kitchen knife tucked under his shirt.

The grumpkin clicked his tongue and tossed his head aside to watch the stream flow past, "don't be an ass, it's not like you."

"How do you mean?" he asked, curious what his friend meant.

The teen took his time to think on his reply as they crossed the cobblestone bridge, colour long since bleached and eroded from the stone by sun and rain.

"Come on, before I die of old age," he encouraged with a smirk. Old age, what a joke. He'd be a teenager for eternity at this rate.

"I dunno how to put it, you've just... changed." Natsuno sighed as he scratched his neck. "Most of the time you seem normal but it almost seems forced or something?"

"What do you mean?"

"You go quiet for ages sometimes, and you seem to remember where you are and it's like you are trying to act normal after that." The front light from the purple haired teen's porch lit their way before he turned to face Tohru, "are you okay? You look like you haven't slept in years, you are clearly unhappy and you seem almost..." he pauses to think, swaying his hands in circles as he fights for the word, "bitter?"

The cicadas chirping pierced his ears as the blonde tried to formulate a response. Had he fazed out that often? He knew he wasn't happy with his life if you could call it that but to be called bitter about it seemed far fetched. He had the chance to save-

"See?!" Natsuno burst out pointing at him, "this is exactly what I'm talking about. You just stand there with this look on your face like you've been stabbed and pretend like you are fine!"

If only you knew how many times I have been stabbed...

He smiled and held my hands up, "hey man, relax. Everything will be fine, I am just going through something at the moment"

His friend let his back rest against his front door before letting the back of his head thud against it, "I know I'm not the most approachable person but you can talk to me if you are having problems, you know?"

"I know..." he replied, knowing that he could never truly lean on his best friend. Too many lives were at risk if Natsuno went on his war path again. "I'll be fine, really. I just need to sort some things out, that's all."

Suspicious grey orbs narrowed as they took in his disarming smile before he scoffed and opened the door, "sure, whatever. Get some sleep, will you?" The door closed behind him, leaving the guardian of Sotoba alone on the porch surrounded by darkness.

Sorry buddy...

He turned on his heel to face the darkness before marching into it once more

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The striped carpet awning of the florist was comfortable to lay on as he staked out the Ookawa liquor store deep into the night. It felt like he was resting on a cloud, surrounded by the scent of flowers which made staying awake all the more challenging.

Shame this is the only place to hide properly

High ground, flowers to mask his scent and the perfect mix of light and dark to mess with the monster's night vision made this the perfect ambush position. He had been up here for hours since he escorted his friend home. The moon was high overhead when a sound had him clenching his knife until his knuckles popped.

Quiet laughter echoed from across the street, hushed and almost... breathless? As if somebody had just finished jogging before someone told them a joke that they shouldn't laugh at.

Chizuru

His brown eyes scanned the darkness beyond the liquor store, searching for the seductress dancing through the fields in the moonlight.

Where are you?

Another hushed giggle pierced the silence when a glimmer of light opened up from the upstairs back door from the liquor store.

She's already made it inside!

He started to push himself off his stomach when he saw something that stopped his heart and sent his blood cold.

A woman was sneaking out of the Ookawa house, giggling quietly. Her cheeks were flushed, sweat glistening across her brow like diamonds shining from across the road. She stepped out onto the stairs with a slight wobble before Atsushi stuck his head out to pepper her face with soft kisses. She continued to giggle before clapping her hands on both his cheeks and pulling him in for a scorching union of their lips before sneaking down the street and out of sight.

The hulking man leaned against the wooden railing, smoking a cigarette with a content smile on his face while Tohru's world fell apart.

Ritsuko?

Authors Note:

I'm sure I'll be crucified for this one

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, sorry it's been so long. I think I peaked on the holiday loop and I've been tearing my hair out for years on how to follow it up. Finally decided to just get on with it and start writing again even if I'll never do as good a job.

Below is an omake, a scene that may or may not have happened in a loop at some point. Just little side stories that add nothing but are there if you want them

Enjoy

Omake:

The water felt cool on his skin as it lapped about his shoulders, slowly rising. He had never thought about what the ocean looked from inside a submarine, but he had a feeling he had a good idea now. The sun reflecting off the stream's surface above him was beautiful, sending colourful diffused light across the hood of his parents submerged car. Tohru closed his eyes and leaned back in the driver's seat as the water rose above his nose.

Lesson learned, cars fall engine first when you try to jump them across the stream

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Gravity seemed to stop as the car slid off the cliff for a brief moment, the world seemed so peaceful up in the mountains where you could see the village and forests below.

Lesson learned, don't hit the accelerator to early when trying to drift

Physics proceeded to treat him like a brick in a clothes dryer for the next few minutes.

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Blood ran up his neck, up his face and stained his hair before finally dripping onto the roof of the car. Red eyes loomed outside, some contorted in rage and others in pain.

Mr Hirosawa's limp form dangled from the seatbelt beside Tohru as gravity roughly reacquainted his face with the ground after disconnecting his own.

Loud cracks echoed from the darkness outside as different leeches' bones realigned within their bodies, contorting their forms back to their normal states.

Lesson learned, human bodies are better at flipping cars than road bumps are.

The windshield shattered as a size nine boot kicked through it, before someone dragged him out into the cool night's air.

Tatsumi lifted him from his feet by his bloodstained shirt with a grin, "Hiya, buddy."