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"Naegi, quick!" A feminine voice screamed, over the noise and chaos around them.The squeaking of shoes against the wet cement floor, desperate for traction, slipping and trying for dear life, were drowned out by the melody of an ultimate downpour of sparks and mechanical malfunction.A blood-curtling scream emitted behind him, and the brunette braced to look over his shoulder briefly, as the creature pulled itself out of the pile of rubble it'd previously fell into.His shoe sliding out from under him, as he attempted to desperately gain speed, his entire body fell forward and into the puddle in front of him."Yo, Naegi!" Scrambling to get up, he barely caught the next command, from another familiar male's voice. "Duck!"He immediately threw his body back onto the wet ground, making a splash as he shielded his head.Just after, a thunderous BANG echoed throughout the cold walls. The creature screamed louder, the sound of pain- the sound of something worse than death.Naegi scrambled to his feet, grabbing his shoe in one hand and racing for dear life, until he reached his hand upward. The ledge got closer in every step, and he was moving faster than he felt he ever could've before, I'm fear for his own life- and fear for the lives of the few people who were waiting for him just ahead.Naegi's breath came in heaves, neaely hyperventilating as he heard the creature clawing itself back into action. He heard the deafening popping of its bones, the sound of the swishing puddles and water, as it also scrambled back into action.The sound of gargling, of screaming, a sound so sickening it still made the hair on the back of his neck stand, he felt the creator of such a noise just behind him. His entire being shook from adrenalin and more so, panic.Just as the bite of the ghoul readied to grab him, the boy braced himself to leap, grasping immediately onto the hand of another."Ah, I got you buddy, don't let go!" The creature cried out, and he felt a sickly hand grab onto his foot, squeezing his ankle amd digging sharp nails into it.The brunette let out a scream, "Pull me up, pull me up!!" Just as another girl rushed to grab him, he threw the other tennis shoe as hard as he could, and while it didn't do much, it made the creature let go. He used the opportunity to kick it directly in the skull, which did much more.Naegi threw his other arm up, which the girl grabbed onto, and the both of them pulled him up with all of their might."H-Hey, I think that we need to get out of here, dude!""Yeah, c'mon-" The brunette urged on, immediately attempting to get up, to which his ankle failed him, and he slipped once more.The girl, immediately at the ready, caught the boy with ease, while the other boy looked to his ankle."Shit," His eyes widened, as he halted to look over their teammate's leg. "Fuck, it got you good-""W-We don't have time to sit here!" The girl announced, as she picked up Naegi, placing him on her shoulder and holding around his waist, as he clamored in opposition. Regardless, he held onto her as tightly as the position would allow."I'll get you there! C'mon, Leon, hurry up!"He shouted back to her, and sprinted as fast as he could, attempting to keep up with her. "F-Fuck, can't you wait up?! I haven't warmed up at all for this much runnin'-"Naegi, watching the path they were trekking across, felt his eyes widen. He patted Asahina's back, gaping, "G-Guys!"Leon chimed in, looking to the boy, "What, Naegi? What is-"They were interrupted by an ear-piercing shriek, and collectively, their blood went cold.Naegi watched as a creature stuck his hands over the side of the ledge, and its deformed face came into view. Dark blood was dripping down from the nose, where it was broken from the brunette's kick earlier.Regardless of it's state, of the blood or of the dismemberment of its awful body, its cheeks held up in a huge smile. The grin shined the flat teeth of a human, though soaked with blood, and black from decay. The low gargling noise that it made struck fear into all of their hearts and minds."Go, go, go, go-!" Naegi screamed, as he made eye contact with the bleeding menace, which got both feet onto the upper landing they were on. It raced after them, immediately gaining speed enough to begin to catch up.Leon stammered, "Uh, guys! Yeah there's that but- ahead!"Naegi attempted to turn and see, but was brought back to the sight of the creature, throwing itself towards them so animalistically.He felt a stop, and held around Asahina's neck for dear life, as the whiplash of the sudden stop nearly threw him out of her arms. She caught him in a simple bridal hold, whixh he held onto her in return.The wall in front of them had clearly collapsed, the only pieces of it left were boards of wood, glass, miscellaneous rubble and literal ashes."H-Heck," Naegi mumbled under his breath, as he looked to the drop in front of them. They seemed to be stopped in an open doorframe, a sliding door which led to a balcony, but was now shattered, along with most of the outter wall blown away.He didn't have quick enough analyzing skills to guess the height of the drop - but it would hurt. He could tell at one glance that it would hurt.. a lot.Asahina did not look down, though, as his gaze flickered onto her. She looked ahead, and he followed her gaze, as his terrifying grip tightened.There was another window, one which was also open, the building (or, more so, remains of the building) were just parallel to this home."Hold on," She announced, as she tightened her grip more on both Naegi's back, and under his legs, as he gulped.Leon, beside them, took a step closer to the edge, his form turned and looking behind them. "F-Fuck, fuck, hurry up already!" The creature screamed, racing towards them."I'll get you over there, Naegi- Kuwata, Hold on!" The girl reassured, holding him tight.Naegi gulped down his fears as Asahina took a few steps back, to give herself a runming start momentarily, he instantly knew her plan and was shaking with anticipation and worry.Asahina raced forward, with a very sudden and very fast reaction speed, followed by firm confidence, as she pushed off of the ground. The boy in her arms, grasping her for dear life and protection, as they both flew into the air between the houses.The red haired watched as they jumped, and then whipped his head back to the scene approaching him rapidly. "Uh, guys!? Guys!" Leon shouted for dear life, as the creature approached."Kuwata, quick! The-The-" Naegi stammered, and then sqwaked, when she hit the ground omce again, successfully. His eyes were screwed shut, but he instantly opened them again, as the two of them turned back to the scene."Kuwata, quick!" Naegi insisted, "The board! T-The board of wood! Grab it!!"The boy didn't catch on immediately, until it clicked in his mind, immediately moving to happen like this was a second instinct.He grabbed a board of wood from the wall, one which was just barely attached at all. He ripped it out, and held it firmly within his two hands, even if the splinters of it dug into his palms and fingertips.Kuwata prepared himself, his feet spread a certain distance apart, and a glint in his eye as he held the wooden board behind him in a prepared stance.The creature squealed, and as it's sickening form came to reach of Kuwata-"Batter up, hellspawn!" As the creature ran forward, full speed, arms raised and teeth bared, Leon swung the board fast enough for it to make a loud, promising whoosh.The wood made direct impact with creature's skull, and the unforgettable sound of impact to such a place on the body would never be forgotten. The piece of wood snapped in two, splitting all the way throughout it. The creature flew back with impact, smacking down onto the creaky wooden floor with enough power to make the remains of the house shake violently."Yeah! Go Kuwata!" The girl cheered, a wide smile taking up her face, with admiration for the amazing baseball player.Kuwata smirked himself, as the creature remained down, merely twitching. Though he didn't stop to look for long- within a split second, he was taking his own steps back, and calming himself mentally the best he could, before racing forward.The both of the people awaiting him reached out for him Asahina put Naegi down again to do so, and while he did not manage to land on the other balcony, he did grab a hold of it. The both of them pulled him up.The three of them took a second to merely catch their breath, their hearts racing. "That was amazing, Kuwata," Naegi praised, with a look of admiration in his greenish-hazel eyes."Aha," The boy had to heave a breath, attempting in desperation to catch it once more. "Aha, thanks little bro," He even chuckled a bit, his knees giving out as the baseball star fell. "It was pretty great. That jump, though.. whoa, man."Asahina, who had also taken a second to sit down after pulling him up the ledge, giggled in a lack of breath. "Heh, thanks! I sure did have to work for it.."The girl chirped in once more, with a delighted grin. "I'm actually more happy that you haven't been workin super hard on the workouts we've given you, Naegi." She exhaled strongly."What-? I have been working on them!" He blinked."But you're so light! Much more muscle and, well.. I don't know how well that jump would've went..""Yeah, maybe we'll just make you stop doing workouts altogether. Then, you'll be easier to carry, all the time." Kuwata chimed in, both of them making Naegi's cheeks heat up.Asahina grabbed onto the other's leg, looking it over, and frowning at the sight of his blood-soaked sock."Seriously, though.. That thing got you pretty bad." She admitted, Kuwata's brow twitching with concern as he gazed at the fresh wound."Yeah, I'm sure with all the adrenalin in you, you don't feel it. But ouch. We'll have to get you back to the base, and get that patched up..""Yeah." Naegi admitted. "Are we close? Where did they say that the meeting place was going to be..?""Actually," She blinked, and hopped back onto her feet in seconds, walking across the ruined room, and finding a hole in the wall large enough to gaze out of."Hey, be careful, you'll fall." The red haired warned, staying seated, as he pressed his arm across his chest until a bone popped comfortably."Oh, see! Guys, come see!"Kuwata blinked, and then groaned a bit in annoyance as he stepped up and to his feet again. He stretched his leg, his knee popping once as well, until he offered Naegi a hand to get off of that wound of his.The two of them made it to the same makeshift window they looked out of, and blinked at the sight."See? We're close. We were going the right way." She turned to look back to the brunette male, who looked to the skies ahead of them."Thank God.." Kuwata sighed, and then yawned loudly.The greenish streak, fading into a more brown color, they all recognized instantly. There were three colors they had to know- Red was asking for backup, white was warning, and the best one of all, green. Green instantly brought a weight off of their chests. Green was safety, for the area, which was now secured, and for the people that had arrived there. That meant that their group was alright."Do you need me to carry you s'more, Naegi?" The girl grinned, and he coyly looked away."Ah.. I'd love to say no, but.. well.""Don't worry, I won't drop you!" She chuckled, immediately bringing a squeal out of the boy as looped her arm underneath his legs and held him the same bridal style as before."Kuwata, you good?" She asked, and he nodded from his place behind them. "Yuuuup. As I'll ever be, I guess."She nodded, and gestured for him to follow, as they all made their way to the inviting green flare.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The sounds, the shuffling of feet, the chattering of voices- so many hushed sounds that they covered up one another and they seemingly all combined into one mixed sound. It sounded like a home. Something like a home, anyway- no screams, anyway. No running to preserve the essence of one's life.. It was a gift to hear the chatter of many people, like this. From inside, a girl stood beside a table, with an old blanket spread across it. A young girl, with her eyes screwed up, laid upon that table and blanket, a makeshift cot for her. "You just found her, like this?" She asked, her heavy gaze flicking from the young girl, to the one standing across from her. He stood with the most pristine of posture, and raised his hand, saluting to her as if to prove his truth further. "Yes, she came in with the others. Apparently she had collapsed, while everyone was coming in, and hasn't woken up since." "Keep an eye on her, and tell me if she does wake up. If I am not around, try to reassure her the best you can until I am-" A knock on the two giant doors brought a wave of anxiety over almost everyone in the bunker. Tens of people all turned to the doors, to one another. The girl looked to the doors with a slight wideness to her eyes. "Watch over her for me." "Yes, Kirigiri! I will, ma'am, I swear!" He defiantly promised, and immediately turned his focus back to the blonde girl. She walked through the large room, as many people watched anxiously. However, it was not dead silent. People were merely anxious.. after all, there were monsters flooding the streets outside of here. This haven was not permanent. She walked to the doors, but first, looked to a man who was standing beside them lazily. He took a moment to react, but when he finally did, he begun climbed up a tall ladder. Quickly enough, he peeked through a curtain, where the tall man caught glimpse of the people below. His expression quickly lightened. "Hey, it's the three of them! They're good, you can let them in!" Quickly, Kirigiri fiddled with the chain which locked around the two handles, unlocked the actual door, and proceeded to swing it open. Asahina grinned from ear to ear- in fact, all three of them did, as they scurried inside. Kirigiri shut the doors behind them, and locked them in place as well, the man from the ladder sliding down to help her chain them and secure the handles wouldn't be unintentionally moved. Afterwards, she turned back to the three, of whom two of the three had taken up a place on the floor- there was a very limited amount of cots, beds or any furniture at all, in this warehouse. Naegi eased onto the floor, as Kuwata plopped beside him. Aoi Asahina did greet Kirigiri, however, remaining standing. "I see there are lots of people here! That means we did good, right? It looks like we did!" The other two listened from the floor, and the white haired girl nodded. "Yes. We couldn't have asked for a better job, actually.." She looked around, eyes scanning to the few groups of people sitting in the warehouse. There may have been thirty- perhaps more like fifty, actually. "There's no way we could've gotten away from that thing, if it hadn't have been for you three taking it off in a different direction." Her eyes stuck on the sight of the girl, still motionless on the table. "All of these lives.. There wouldn't have been a chance of saving so many, if you three hadn't lured him away from the group." "It was hard, man! You sure are lucky we did! He almost got us a few times, too." Kuwata half told, and half complained. He leaned back, laying down on the floor comfortably. "I understand that." She sighed, a bit ticked at the red haired's whining expression. Yet, she held her composure, and remained in a content, grateful mental state, after such a success. "You three really acted quickly. I wasn't expecting the group to have to split up.. But you all handled it extremely well." "Um, not us, Kirigiri! That was all Naegi, actually!" Asahina chirped, kneeling beside the boy as she praised him. "He was the one who it was chasing. He was bookin' it so fast, too!" Naegi rubbed his face over his chin, and looked away as he felt Kirigiri's eyes looking down on him. "Ah, I really.. wasn't, I mean, I even-" The man from the door, who sneaked into the conversation from behind Kirigiri, cackled a bit. "Always tie your shoes, Naegi, a bit of advice." Looking down at his shoe-less foot, Naegi had a hard time keeping himself from smiling nervously and chuckling just as weirdly. "Um, yeah.. I sort of.. lost it.." Kirigiri seemed to smile a bit. "So clumsy." Asahina laughed, nudging his side. Isn't he? He's just the clumsiest!" Despite the teasing, she looked at him with a fond gaze, and he blushed but never felt truly offended by any of this. He was alive. He was feeling the air fill his lungs, and then felt it leave his body again in an exhale. That was all that mattered, in this moment. All the same, the breathing, the voices, the gentle nudges and even laughter of the few around him.. that's what mattered. God damn it, was he lucky. Kirigiri did blink, however, he watched a tiny amount of surprise present itself on her face. She kneeled down next to where Asahina was, and gently adjusted Naegi's ankle, where his sock was stained with a dark red. He winced, and she immediately retracted her hand. "Ohh, that's why you were being carried by Hina?" The tallest man, standing still, cackled the lightest bit. "I thought y'all were just.. canoodling or something." Kuwata snorted at this, brushing off such a saying with a gesture of his hand, from where he was laying. "Pffbt, nice one, Hagakure. I feel ya, though. All the blood n' shit.. Yup. Makes you want to canoodle with someone, doesn't it?" "You two are gross." Asahina tittered, and a pained Naegi agreed with a slight hum. Before they could continue, Kirigiri's firm voice stole the metaphorical spotlight."You're hurt?" She asked the boy in front of her, first looking to Naegi himself, and then between Kuwata and Asahina. "What happened?" "Scratches. The thing had pretty sharp nails.. sharper than I've seen before, anyway." Kuwata started, to which Naegi took over. "It only scratched me a bit. It didn't bite me, or.. or anything like that, really. I'm fine." "This is.. really deep, to be a mere scratch." Kirigiri asked, clearly full of stress at the idea of this. She was careful not to touch it again, careful to stay away from the open blood. "We'll need to have it cleaned up.. immediately. There's always the fear that such close contact with it might've.." The group around them grew silent, all of them looking to Naegi, the lightheartedness and even joking air that they enjoyed a second ago seemed to disappear from around them, and the harsh, unrelenting stressors of life were there in full force to crush all of them once more."I m-mean.. worst case scenario, he just.. loses a leg, right?" Asahina attempted, to which they collectively sighed. "No.." Kirigiri gulped past her dry throat. "The worst case scenario is that we lose another teammate. Maybe even.. multiple." She stood up again, already stepping away to go get someone to help clean up and dress his wound. All of them stood still, and she soon slowed to a stop too. "All of you.. can you help Ishimaru care for the people? Don't.. be too close to Naegi." She whispered, "Please." After her quiet plea, all of them seemed to start to move. Hagakure, who already was avoiding eye contact with the others, stumbled off somewhere to attend to something else. Kuwata, who was laying down, suddenly seemed a lot less comfortable. He rolled back up into a sitting position, and when he made direct eye contact with Naegi, he shone a small half-smile. It was fake, yes, but it was better than nothing. The red haired patted the brunette's shoulder the slightest bit, before getting up and following Hagakure. Asahina looked to him for a moment, until he met her gaze. She hesitated quite the amount, until hopping to her feet. "Don't worry, Naegi. You'll just get it cleaned up.. And it'll heal like normal!" She smiled. This one was more real than Kuwata's, and he felt himself reciprocating that grin just because of it. After that short exchange, they all walked off to handle what they had to. A moment later, two masked people and Kirigiri came to help him walk into a different section of the warehouse. In the back of his head, he felt four specific pairs of eyes watching him, and he couldn't help but gulp down his fear.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The walls were once white, maybe. Based on the shelves of bottles, of things that looked like they were supposed to be tucked away and out of the hands of the general public, he assumed this might have been a sort of pharmacy once.

There was an actual cot in here, a couple. There were others in here, who were either resting up, or staring somewhere in thought.

There was one woman, seated in the corner of the room, not on a chair or anything, just on the floor. She had her nose buried deep in a book- he felt like he understood that woman quite spiritually.

One man supported under his shoulder, quite helpful and gentle with the shorter boy, which he was forever grateful for.

Naegi quietly thanked him, as they came to one cot, and he was assisted in seating himself down. He felt that his heart was racing, and he even heard its echo in his ears, as well. The initial beat of his heart, and then the quieter afterbeat after, they were both audible to him.

Seated on the bed, the other masked person, a woman, pulled the linens off of the end of the bed, and replaced them with a sort of plastic tarp, from where they were piles of them in the corner of the room.

The lady requested that he put his leg up on the tarp, and he did so, the stretch popping a bone in his hip which felt quite nice.

The both of the masked helpers looked over his leg, as Naegi glanced to the side.

To the side of his bed, though still at a distance, was Kirigiri. She had her arms crossed, as usual, and her face was unusually cold towards him. She didn't look at him, actually, she looked at the medical assistants that were investigating him.

Or.. upon closer inspection, it almost looked like she was looking right through them. She had a look in her eyes like she was.. lost in thought. What an expression to see, on her. He could tell, whatever she was thinking of.. it must have been important.

Naegi raised his hand, and gave a small wave, before he could even stop himself.

Apparently, this caught her attention. Her purple eyes blinked out of her trance-like state, and she looked at him, to which he smiled a bit anxiously.

She met his eyes for perhaps a few seconds - it surely was not long, whatever time it was. She met his eyes, and then she immediately turned away.

He got to say no words of remorse to her, and didn't get to say any words of goodbye, as she seemingly forced herself to leave.

Surely she was just leaving because she had important things to handle. Surely, she was just stepping out because she had no reason to be here.

Surely what she was thinking of was merely a memory, perhaps a plan for the future.

Of course, there was no way that she was leaving because.. she was pained by this. Right? Pained by the fear of..

Fear of losing another friend..

Another friend who contracted this awful, awful sickness, and then never returned..

Naegi gulped, and brought himself back to reality, where he felt cold beads of sweat on his back, and on the palms of his hands.

That wouldn't be him.

He was gripping the side of the cot very tightly, and he inhaled sharply before exhaling slowly, and releasing his grip.

He felt a heavy, heavy weight in his mind, and recalled his thought from a moment ago.

He didn't get to say goodbye..

But..

Why would he need to say goodbye, anyway? He'd see her again tomorrow, like every morning.

Every single morning where they'd wake up and go over who needs to do what.

Every morning he got to see Kirigiri. Every single morning he got to see Kuwata, Hagakure, Ishimaru, Asahina.. all of them.

He didn't need to say goodnight, or goodbye. Because tomorrow morning he'd see their faces just as he had everyday for the past six months. He did not know how many days that was..

To take his mind off of the anxiety he was allowing, he begun to count said days he did not know off the top of his head.

There was a thick calender that Hagakure always kept with him. Every single morning, another thing they all sat there for, was reviewing what day it was. Some days, sometimes even for weeks at a time, they'd have to stay cooped up inside. So having track of what day it was was very important, and they all thanked Hagakure for taking care of that for them.

Looking down at his hands and counting on them, he recalled that it was the 16th. Adding up all of the days together.. he counted.. 183 days.

Finally, after counting and repeating the number enough he thought he could commit it to memory, or at least try to, he let his hands fall back down to the sides of him.

After wrapping up his thought, he blinked, and his eyes fixated on the two people at the foot of the bed, who were staring at him questionably.

He bit his lip, and felt redness in his cheeks. "Sorry, I was.. counting."

Shortly after their quiet intervention with Naegi, who still counted on his fingers, they asked for him to try to stand up for a couple of tests to be done, to see the severity of the wound itself.

Then, of course.. the possibility of sickness..

In the back of his head, as he listened to their instructions and did as he was told, Naegi repeated a newfound and important number to himself.

183 days. Tomorrow, after all of this... will be 184.

He will live to see the morning on day 184.. without a doubt.

..Without a doubt.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

It was a cool enough evening.Of course, both of the siblings were biting back their whines, but that was normal.It was very, very normal. This entire day, it was nothing but normal.The young girl, seated cross-legged and comfortably on pillow she had placed upon the floor, pulled her lips into a frown. She had her arms crossed over her chest, and gave their mother a sideways glance, since mom was the one who held the remote."Do we have to watch the news? It's so depressing! There are like, so many studies that say you shouldn't watch the news everyday, it's bad for mental health!""Well you, Komaru," Their mother chuckled. "Don't have to watch it you know." She shot her daughter a glance, and then her eyes and focus moved back to flipping to the familiar channel. She wasn't all that tech-savy, and hadn't figured out she could type in the channel number yet, so she was resorting to flipping to said channel instead."You know the rules, when mom gets home at five, she gets the TV." Makoto piped up, and reached down to ruffle up his sister's hair, from his spot on the couch.Makoto had superiority, which meant he got the other seat on the couch, he was happt about that. And so Komaru was kicked off to let mom sit there.To be fair, any minute now dad would also be home, and Makoto would have to give up his seat for dad, but he was enjoying these few minutes in comfort.Wrapped in a thin comforter he brought from his room, Makoto was quite warm. His legs were draped over the side of the couch and as his mother finally found the channel and sat down, he rested his head on his mother's shoulder.The news channel didn't seem all that interesting. It didn't say "breaking news" or anything like it. Just news. And national news, too, stuff about politics that both kids held in a groan about.Well, Makoto held in a groan, Komaru gave an audible "ughhhh!".She leaned her head back, and pouted some. "Mooom, I really don't wanna watch this.. Can't we all sit down and watch something actually fun?"Makoto looked down at his sister, and grinned some from his comfortable, settled place. "Hey, Komaru, if you go grab my DS and yours we can play Mario Party instead.""Oh, for real?" She chimed, and then giggled maniacally. "Okay, but only if you won't cry when I inihalate you!" The girl scrambled to her feet, and then loudly clamoring upstairs.His mother reached up with one hand, and Makoto grinned wider as she ruffled up his own hair. "Thank you for agreeing to play something with her.""She loves to play games.. she's really good at them." He hummed."Well, yes, she loves to play games, but.. I've never seen her as excited to play her games with someone as much as her brother.""No way. She's a tween, she hates me in comparison to her friends." He chuckled. "She would much, much rather play with them instead. Beside, they're probably better at her games, too.""No way. She loves her brother the most." Makoto couldn't stop his little smile, as he leaned into his mother's touch, and closed his eyes comfortably. "Thank you, mom.""It makes me very proud as a mother to see my two babies so close with one another." He chuckled.Before another word could be said, the excuted tween was back down, holding both of their gaming devices. Hers, a Pokemon edition Xerneas and Yveltal blue 3Ds, then Makoto's, an old pink regular Ds.The touch screen was cracked on the side of his own DS, it was fairly old, which negatively impacted most games they'd play together. To make it look less basic, a few years back Komaru had covered the thing in scented stickers, to try to make him happy. At the time he was not as happy, but even years later when the scent was gone, he still kept them all on there.That, and he didn't play it a ton anyway. Literally speaking, the only time he used it was when Komaru wanted to whollop him at a game, like now. Still, he was happy to have it.Komaru bounced over and handed him his device, which he switched on immediately. Then, she plopped herself down, and tuened hers on, too. The two of them chattered some as she explained how to use the download play option for him, again, which caused their mother to turn the volume on the TV up some more. A sudden change in the show brought everyone's attention, though. The bottom of the screen flashed a bright red for a few moments, and all of the reporters looked offscreen, as if there was something the viewers weren't seeing.The eyes of the reporters were quite wide, and the weird disorganization of the news brought Makoto to look up and watch a minute of it."We have just recieved word of a recent attack to the United Dusk University Hospital, and ..""Hey, Dusk Hospital?" Komaru looked up, a brow raised. "Isn't that like..?""I think that's.." Their mother whispered, and leaned forward in her seat, causing her son to sit up more as he looked to the screen as well.The reporters went on to show a map in the side of the screen, with emphasis on where said hospital was.Eyes wide, Komaru pointed to the screen. "Hey, that's us! Look, look!" They all turned to the little map, as she crawled forward and pointed to the placement."That's our hopsital?" Makoto gaped, as all of them gave the screen their full attention.There was soom another view on the screen, an arial view from a helicopter, it seemed. This had views of actual homes, and houses.The main picture was of a massive hospital, one that all three of them recognized very closely. But, if they hadn't seen it a million times before, they would've had no idea it was a hospital at all. The walls were crumbled down, windows smashed, the roof seemed to have collapsed. All of them watched in horror, the sight of the destroyed building seeming surreal.In the way, way corner of the screen, Makoto saw Komaru point right where his eyes were going as well. "Th-That's our house!" She gasped."It really is our hospital?" Their mother asked, until bringing herself to her feet quickly. Makoto looked up to her. "Mom, what do you.. think happened?"She made her way through the house, until she was at the bay window, the one in the hallway. On the ledge, a dog laid down peacefully, and looked up at her as she approached.She moved the blinds, immediately her eyes widened. Makoto, stumbling to get up and over to her side, was followed quickly by Komaru as well. She stepped back to show them the scene.The helicopter, the one they just saw the view from, they saw it in the distance, a black speck that they caught immediate sight of. Across the street, and others, they did see commotion. The blue and red lights illuminating everything, the three of them attempting to get a better view, which none of them got.Makoto gulped down his anxiety, his throat suddenly very dry. His sister, leaned in closer to him, stammered for words."M-Mom, what's happening out there?""Just.. don't worry, kids." She watched outside the window with an unwavering glance. "It was probably just some sort of big mistake someone made."Asking them to not worry was downright unreasonable, and yet, all of them silently nodded to her plea. The two siblings stepped back from the window just as their mother did, and Makoto looked back to the television screen.Their mother walked off, and based on the brisk pace she walked with, and how she flipped her phone out of her pocket, they all trusted that she was calling their father now. All of them were even more deeply worried, as they thought of their father, who had yet to come home.They both watched her walk off, and while left behind, Makoto felt Komaru grab onto his arm."Makoto, I'm.. I'm kind of scared."He felt a heavy weight in his stomach, like a solid rock weighing him down. He reached over to wrap his arm around his little sister, and reassure her with a subtle hug."It'll be okay, Komaru, mom said that it will be. Maybe we'll just have to.. move hospitals, is all." He attempted to reassure.The young girl nodded, and as they walked back into the living room together, they both heaved a deep sigh.They went the rest of the day trying their absolute best not to think about it. They were all anxious, they were all trying to contain shaky breathing as they fully watched the news channel, and pretended like they were doing something else.But trying to pretend like they weren't already panicking was the least they go do. And so, they attempted the best they could.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Naegi's chest heaved, and rose, with a deep exhale. Consciousness was nipping at his tired mind, and he felt himself being pulled awake.

He desperately tried to squeeze his eyes shut, but the attempt didn't work all too well.

Sighing, he finally opened up his eyes to the place he was in.

Slowly, as his brain begun to fire up, and reviewed what he was doing before he fell asleep.

Wait.. When had he fallen asleep at all?

He moved his arm, which was draped over his face. The ceiling was above him, and the many rafters, beams and sorts of vents he didn't know the purpose of, all were securely there.

Naegi blinked, to adjust to the lightbulb hanging overhead.

He was.. in the warehouse, still. What time was it?

He shuffled a bit in the bed, feeling it was indeed a bed. He felt chilly.

His sleeves, sweatshirt, pants, they were all damp. And the same, they were chilly.

Well, he had fallen in a couple puddles when he was with Kuwata and Asahina, just a while ago..

A while ago?

Naegi's heavy body protested, as he attempted to move, it was so hungry for rest, it hurt to move.

And, building off of that word choice, he was quite actually hungry.

And then, of course, he was cold.

Regardless, he forced himself to keep moving, sitting up and sighing.

The room was full of quiet chatter. The comfortable sound of people talking.. people who were alive.

He liked the sound, very much so.

He felt a bit of prick in his arm, and winced. Turning his arm over, he noticed a piece of white tape, holding on what seemed to be a cotton ball, right over his wrist.

Naegi quizzically picked at the tape, curious to see what was behind it. But before he could pull it off to see what was there, a voice shattered his focus.

"Naegi! You are awake again!"

He turned, and met a grin with one of his own "Oh, hello, Ishimaru." He greeted.

"Welcome back to us."

"Heh. Thanks."

"Do you happen to know what this is..?" He asked, and poked at the tape on his arm.

"Do not touch it, please. The two medical students drew some of your blood."

"My blood?" He echoed, unnerved quite quickly.

"You got mortified at the sight of the needle they pulled out, and passed out. So they just took your blood while you were unconscious."

Naegi frowned, looking to the tape on his arm That was a bit embarrassing, to listen to.. Especially with so many others in the room listening..

The boy's eyebrow quirked. "So, they needed my blood..?"

"Yes, but don't fret." Ishimaru reassured, and took to giving Naegi a pat on the shoulder. It was a little harsh to be just a pat, but the brunette understood what he was trying to do. "It was merely to do some tests on."

"Tests? For.." Naegi looked up to the other make, first, and then off in a different direction. "Oh.."

Yes, his wound, that was why he was on this cot. The simple little scratch, that..

He looked to his leg, sliding it up, and then pulling it closer to investigate. His ankle was bandaged with a different kind of thing from the tape and cotton ball. This seemed to be actual bandage. It wrapped tightly around his ankle, and then down his foot, they'd taken his bloody sock off and (hopefully) threw it away. Additionally, the leg of his jeans on that side had been rolled up, and still were.

"Did anyone say how it was, or..?"

"No, I just.. watched as the two students stepped out. Oh, and Kirigiri, as well. She has been working elsewhere since."

"Alright. Thanks, Ishimaru.."

"It is no issue." The taller boy spoke, still with his firm voice, no matter what he said, really. "I am hoping you'll be better very soon. We all are."

"We?" Naegi repeated, and then felt a smile raise onto his lips. "Oh, you mean everyone else.."

"Yes! We have all been worried."

"I'd love to see everyone else.. Am I able to?" He asked, "Is that okay..?"

"Actually.." Ishimaru's voice grew to a murmur, which was weird. He seemed to frown, an action of which etched itself into his cheeks. "I don't.. think that that is a good idea."

"Kirigiri told me merely to see if you were awake by now. She did instruct us.. not to be too close towards you."

Naegi's brows furrowed. "Oh, I see.."

"I am sorry."

"Don't be.. it makes sense." The teen looked off, soughing. "I guess.. that means you have to go again, doesn't it?"

"I am.. sorry. Yes. I should be back to report to her.. Be careful, Naegi."

"Of course. You too, Ishimaru. Be back soon."

With the reassuring conversation coming to a tense end, Makoto watched his back as he walked away, with a brisk and hurried pace.

His mind trailed back to his dream.

Well.. it wasn't a dream, was it? Every single little detail, every word, all of those he remembered like they were just last week.

He heard Komaru's voice, her little tone that never seemed to disappear from his mind. His little sister..

Where was she, in this world? What was she doing..? Was she okay?

Was she even alive?

His mind went quiet, even his worries seemed to shut up for just a second, as he inhaled and relaxed his muscles, even if only a tiny amount.

Clearly, she was alive. If Makoto was alive, after all this time, then she must be thriving.

He remembered her cocky grin, when she'd beat him at something. That grin meant pain for someone, always.

And that grin usually meant that Makoto was going to get beat at something, and even if they'd only tested it out with her video games, he refused to believe anything else.

After all, she was better than him at a great many things.

As Makoto smiled to himself, he tuned in on the sounds of chatter and life around him. After all, he shared this room with others.

He rolled his shoulders around his sides, and felt them ease into place a little more. He moved his legs more, which resulted in a nice pop.

Naegi rolled his neck, lastly, which helped to relax it as well. And finally, placing his feet on the floor, he attempted to stand on his two feet.

He did wince at first, but the fact that the wound was now dressed helped tremendously. Kuwata was certainly right, now that his "fight or flight" response had calmed down, he really did feel the null, but still intense pain from the wound itself.

Easing into the first few steps, he stood up from the bed, and held onto the wall as he walked.

As soon as he gained enough confidence to move, and started to adjust to a sort of limped walk where he could avoid putting pressure on the actual cut, he pushed himself through the room and to the other room, the main one.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The room was full of people, and just the same, they all were huddled up together in their respective groups, respective families.

There were a couple of fires happening, their light shone in the huge, and yet dimly lit room. There was no heating, and as it seemed to be a particularly cold day.

One was from a grill, the charcoal from it shone brightly red. A few people were huddled around it, and within the group, Leon Kuwata.

Naegi, smiling, then approached.

"Hey, Kuwata. Where'd you guys get a grill?"

"Yooo, dude, isn't it nice?" He laughed, a fork in his hand. "It was one of the things in the store across the street that the scavengers found while you were out. And a shitton of good food to to on it, too."

"None of the scavengers were hurt, right?"

"Nope, didn't seem like it. Hey, they got first dibs on dinner, though, so stand back or get in line."

Kuwata's eyes fixated on something beside Naegi, and as the brunette turned to meet whatever he was looking at, she was already upon them.

"Naegii!" She cooed, throwing an arm over his shoulder. He squeaked at the action.

"Ah, Asahina, aren't you supposed to.. not touch me?" He laughed, a tiny bit, nervous. And yet, he didn't try to stop her affectionate action within the slightest.

"You're limping, there's no way in heck that I would just ignore you right now! I say, you look like you need a hug right now more than ever."

"You noticed my limp..?" She nodded, and squeezed his shoulder. "Don't you worry at all, Naegi, that leg's already healing up. Soon, you'll be back out on the field with us."

Kuwata snorted. "Oof. You're a lucky duck, missin' out."

"Yeah, I'd like to think I really am pretty lucky.. My leg does hurt, though."

She gave him a support to lean against, and helped him gain a few extra steps away from the commotion, where a clear spot on the floor was calling out their names.

He sat on the cold floor, and yet, his behind felt very comfortable as it was finally able to sit down. He smiled up at Asahina, who waved a finger at him, as if mock-scolding. "You be sure to stay there, okay? I'm gonna go and get you something to eat in a few minutes, now."

"Why are you taking care of me so much?" Naegi chuckled, his face warm.

"I mean, why wouldn't I?" She smiled, and took up a spot right beside him. It was far too crowded to go and grab anything yet- but she would soon. She knew this wasn't a "first come, first served" situation. The six of them never would allow that mentality into one of their safe havens.

"Thank you, Asahina, so much."

The exclamation of her name made her shrug her shoulders a bit, and look over his face, before bringing up, "You can still call me Hina, you know. Or Aoi! I wouldn't mind either. It's you I'm talking to, there's no issue."

"Really? And you're okay with that?"

"Totally! It sounds so stuffy and professional if you call me my last name. We've been friends so long now, too! Call me Aoi. C'mon, do it. Dare you."

"Okay.." He exhaled, and almost swallowed down some fear. Looking her in the eyes, he carefully treaded on, "Aoi."

She snickered. "Yeah! Like that. That's so, so much nicer. Call me that from now on."

"Aoi." Naegi repeated, humming a bit, still as nervous and anxious as he always was around other people (Especially nice people), he found himself quite happy.

"Aoi." He echoed again, and then looked to her with a compliment. "You've got a lovely name."

"Aww, thanks, Naegi!" She blushed, and rubbed the back of her neck with a cheeky grin, beaming over at her friend.

She did hum quizzically as she said his name, though. And then proceeded to ask, just like wondering aloud, "So, can I call you your first name too, you think?"

"Oh, of course." Naegi nodded slightly, and watched her as she continued on.

"Okay! Well.. oof, I mean. Thank you, Makoto." He chuckled.

Due to their close proximity to one another, he felt the warmth which radiated off of her side. He was still quite cold.

Unconsciously, he leaned his head more into her side, until he felt his cheek rest on her bare shoulder.

Only when he felt her shoulders shake as she snickered once more.

"Awwe. Makoto, you're so sleepy."

This reminded him of..

This reminded him of his memory. The warmth of a shoulder to lean on, the sound of someone calling him his first name so casually.

This reminded him of his family.

"Makoto..?" She asked, making him open his eyes, and return to the reality in front of him.

"Whoa, are you okay, Makoto?" She asked, suddenly with a tone of desperation.

He blinked up to her. "Yeah..? I am.."

"But you're.." She gestured to his face, and then, leaned forward, taking his cheek into her hand. He watched her with one wide eye open, as she wiped the underside of one of his eyes with her thumb, careful.

"Ah.. I guess I am." He laughed, dryly. She wasn't all too amused, as she put her hand down, and pulled him into another quick half-embrace.

"You sure you're okay..?"

"I'm just.. happy."

"Happy?!" Exclaimed Aoi, "You are?"

"Yeah. I am."

"You don't look very happy." She pursed her lips a bit in thought. "In fact, I think you look like the complete opposite of happy.."

"Being happy is what I'm good at.. I'm just tired and happy at the same time, right?"

"Ohh, yeah. Yeah, I feel that sometimes, too. It's not me that's making you cry, right?"

"No, not at all. I haven't really heard someone call my first name in a long time, though.. So.. It's a little alarming.."

"Really? How long has it been since someone's called you Makoto, do you remember?"

"About.." He trailed off, shrugging a bit. "Six months, now."

She fell silent, and then nodded a slight amount. Six months was an amount of time they all understood collectively. After all.. it'd been six months ever since they all experienced hardship, and separation. About six months since the eventful day that damaged them all, that is.

"I wish that Kirigiri wasn't being so mean about this all." Aoi spoke up, breaking the silence between them both. It may have been a comfortable silence, but even so, it was broken.

"Mean?" He echoed, turning back towards her.

"Yeah. Mean.. She certainly isn't being very considerate of you."

"She's just.. worried." Was that it? She was just worried, and wanted to help them all? There did seem to be more of a possibility for something else. But what could Kirigiri hope to gain from his departure?

Probably a lot more than he knew..

As the evening went on, they all got a fair share of a few select options of food. Makoto got to have a piece of meat for the first time in a month or so. He, Ishimaru, Hagakure and Asahina shared some sort of fish. It was heartwarming to enjoy a meal with others, and made all of them feel quote grateful for said time.

After the meal, things settled down. The people started to sink into sleep, and the noise slowly grew to a near-silence.

In the departing aura of life around them, the darker-haired girl spoke up once more. Asahina nudged Naegi's side with her own, and got his attention back quickly.

"Hey, you got to get more rest, right? Heal up that leg of yours as soon as possible!"

He couldn't exactly argue with her. Not with Kirigiri's troubling actions weighing on his mind.

Even as he attempted to tell her she did not need to bother herself helping him, her insisting allowed him to let her. As confusing as it was. And then, she did so.

With her help, back to the room they went, where she helped him down and to tuck himself in on the flimsy, damp linens he was given.

And with that, another day passed. Without families, without much for livelihoods - another day passed.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"Makoto?"He heard, and squeezed his eyes shut a bit tighter, the firm grip of sleep was far too tight on him for him to give up so easily. "Noo.. sleepy.." He muttered, and rolled over, to shield his face from the noise by hiding it undee his arm."Makoto! Get up!" She grabbed a hold of his shoulder and shook it, making the boy whine a bit more."Komaru, let me sleep, it's Saturday..""No, mom told me to get you! So that means it's time to get up." She huffed, and then grabbed a hold of his arm with both arms, pulling it and shaking it. "C'mon, c'mon!"He whined, until finally throwing his legs over the side of the bed, and standing up. Satisfied and trusting that he was going to be downstairs with them soon, she bolted out of the room.The boy got dressed in more clothes- and by that, he meant that he pulled a hoodie on, was all. He was pretty content in a pullover and basketball shorts. It was Saturday, after all.He dragged himself downstairs, and into the kitchen, where the rest of the Naegi family was. His mother sat at the table, a book was open in her hand, but she didn't seem to be focused on it in the slightest. She also had a plate of breakfast in front of her, barely touched. His father was standing next to the stove, where he was cooking up some eggs, but he was staring outside of the kitchen window other than focusing on it. It was clear he had something on his mind, and they all could guess what it was.Komaru was seated at the table, flipping through something on her phone quickly, until she put it down and looked up to her brother."Finally, you're down here! Getting you up is like pulling teeth!"He chuckled. "It's not even close to as bad as you. You get angry when we wake you up." Makoto took his place at the table, where there was an open chair and an empty plate in front of it. He assumed that was for him.The few of them sat in a relatively silent kitchen after that, the hissing of a fried egg, and muffled shouts and commotion outside, being the only real sound.Their mother was the first one to break the silence, taking a deep inhale as she took a sip of a mug of coffee, and then placing it down with a muffled clack."Your father was able to stop at the scene earlier this morning, or at least by it. A police officer told him all they know so far." She spoke so quietly, so carefully, her voice both eased the anxiousness in the air, and added sufficiently to it.The two kids leaned into her words. The youngest spoke up, "Really? So, does that mean they're still investigating there?""Yes. They still are." The man answered, as he carefully balanced the egg on his spatula, and then leaned over the table to place it on his son's plate.Makoto thanked him quietly for it. "Thank you, dad. So, what'd you learn?""They're not.. quite sure. I've only heard a rumor, but it sounds like some guy was really sick.""Well, yeah, isn't that what happens at hospitals?" Komaru stated, with a sense of surety. "Like, just about everyone is sick at a hopsital!""Yes, but.." The man exhaled deeply, and Makoto watched as his father's expression seemed to fall further.  It made him scared to see that expression. Dad was usually such a chipper man."Apparently, the sickness really effected the guy's mind. He went crazy."Their mother frowned, at the thought. All of them hung off every word of his story."That's just about all I could tell you.""So.. The broken windows, were all him? But what about the collapsed walls?" Makoto spoke.Their mother joined in, "Yes, wasn't the entire fourth floor collapsed..? How on Earth did he manage that?""He seemed to have his hands on some sort of explosive.." Their father cleared his throat. "The officials are believing that he went into the hospital that day with ill intent, and that he had the explosive at the ready.""Was it an act of terrorism..?" Mom asked, though she knew nobody could really answer. "But.. To a hospital? Do they know why he chose the hospital..?""No idea.. I only know what the officer told me."Their father quietly murmured something that made their mom frown deeper. "I was thinking of going back to check again, after breakfast.""To check again?" Komaru chirped.The brother spoke up as well. "Let's go and check it out. Yeah, that sounds good. I would like to see it too.""I'm not sure if that's the wisest idea. We've been watching the news like a hawk, and you've already been there once." She sighed, looking troubled. "Aren't we doing enough already?""It's just another visit. It won't hurt to check again, if there truly is any more information we can gain from it.""I'm going!" Komaru announced, leaving nobody any room to argue.Finishing up their breakfast quickly, the two kids followed their dad like ducklings, and then pooled into their middle aged station wagon. ---They approached the scene- and it seemed like they weren't the only concerned ones in the area. There were a couple other groups of people, all looking on from their place behind the yellow caution tape. They were kept out of the scene by said tape.Their father offered his hand out for Komaru to hold, worried about the girl wandering off, which she felt embarassed of."Dad, you don't have to hold my hand, I'm not gonna get lost or something!" She'd whine. But out of concern in this situation and in this scary world, he insisted.And Makoto wasn't freed from this, either. He didn't outright complain or argue about it, though. Their father held both of their hands protectively and tightly as they came upon the scene.Komaru looked about the scene with interest, her eyes wide and expressive.A woman stepped up to them, and her voice rung in his ears. Not in a horrible way, however."Excuse me, are you three with the detective agency?" She asked.Turning to find the creator of the voice, Makoto met a pair of eyes that were piercingly purple. Such a bizarre color, but they were surely vivid.He looked over her face, so pale in this morning lighting. Her hair was just as bright, too, another weird color- it looked very soft."Excuse me?" She spoke up, again, her expression, as hard as it was to read, seemed annoyed."Wh-What?" Makoto gaped, and shook his head, instantly feeling embrassed to be caught staring at someone. "No, no we arent, I am sorry."Ah, damn. Just his bad luck, that when someone comes and talks to him, he's holding hands with his dad. He didn't particularly care, but.. he did notice her as she looked at the clasped hands and raised a brow. That was embarrassing, to say the least.He looked away, catching sight of both of his family members, who were turned another way and speaking with a different officer. "I'm here with my dad. And my sister" He turned back to the strange girl.She nodded a bit. "I see. Were you three also coming to see if you could get more information?"He blinked again, and nodded. "Yeah. We live just a block away, and..""Just make sure that the three of you stay back. There are a lot of people here.. and everyone is on edge." She crossed her arms over her chest.She was wearing such a nice uniform, a sort of suit, a pencil skirt to match. She sure did look professional.He nodded briefly, meeting her gaze, until her gaze went sharp and cold. "Don't do anything stupid." In a moment, she was gone again.Makoto watched as she stepped over the yellow tape, and back into the scene, which made him wonder.Well, she sure was dressed professionally enough to be with the detectives here. But she looked so young.Finally, his father tapped his shoulder, and he turned to see the male gesture for them to leave. "They don't have any new information for us. But we were right, on what we do know.""That the guy came here with bad intentions?" Makoto asked, and his father nodded."Quick, let's head home. We don't want to worry your mother anymore."The two of them nodded. And as they pooled back into the car, and trekked back on to their familiar house, trying to comprehend and anxious and foreign situation ahead of them.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The crew was in one, this time, without any need to be split up for the time being. Except, they did happen to be one short.

Usually, it would only be the company of just them. But after seeing the people trapped in the apartment, surviving just scarcely as they locked themselves in, they had a lot more to deal with than before. At least 40 more people, that was.

But this wasn't the first place they helped evacuate, and there was no way that it'd be the last.

So, in order to stay back and make sure that things could go exactly right, Kirigiri elected herself. Ishimaru also tried to step up, but she said he'd be needed out with everyone else. He was made the wannabe "leader" of the journey today, and the only one who was given the only flashlight.

In turn, the team was currently complied of Hagakure, Asahina, Ishimaru, Kuwata and lastly, Naegi.

Naegi had been a question, though. It had been three days since he had received the slice on his ankle, it was still bandaged, and his walking was still less than perfect.

Even so, Kirigiri had been weirdly adamant about the fact that Naegi should go with.

While the boy himself didn't argue, other's raised questions. To which, she only told them that he would need to "walk it off", quite literally, and then shooing them off with a wish for good luck on their scouting today.

She was a very odd leader, but within the last months, she had been the one to organize almost all strategies and plans. So, nobody had the heart to doubt her. Naegi knew that he definitely didn't.

Either way, he was joining them all for this trek.

These floors were also a bit wet, today's weather wasn't the nicest. "Floors", being the rubble around them all, and the cracked pavement underneath them.

The moisture on the ground, it certainly made Naegi wish he had a second shoe, but they hadn't gotten around to finding one just yet, and he was far too embarrassed to ask one of the poor, traumatized people they'd rescued.

There was a slight drizzle of rain, today, to match misty air, and deep gray skies, even if they were shielded right now from said conditions.

Their wet footsteps echoed through the tunnel, as did the noisy sloshing and splashing of their actions.

The world around them was smokey as well as humid, making it tough to take in a full breath of air.

They moved quickly through the straight tunnel, and through the waters. She'd told the group to find a shortcut across the highway on the East side of town, because it was crawling with these troubled creatures. After a debate (argument), they all decided (Ishimaru decided) that said tunnels would be the best option to try.

Their steps were loud and waterlogged, and the occasional voice to match. Usually a complaint. Complaints made them all feel a bit more sane, at times like this.

A sort of splash was heard, but a different one than them all. It echoed throughout the tunnels, pinpointing the location elsewhere.

They all stopped, the entire company, like a ragtag gaggle of mice who were unfortunate enough to hear the hiss of a snake. Whatever conversations they were having be damned.

"What was that?" Hagakure whispered, leaning in close to Kuwata to ask said question.

"Dude-" Kuwata squeaked, shoving his elbow into the brunette's side as he aggressively whispered. "I don't know, get off me-!"

They heard a slight sizzle. Such a noise couldn't be described any other way. It was like a sizzle, a very mellowed and hushed scream.

Kuwata jumped back, and screamed, suddenly throwing himself into Ishimaru. Ishimaru, in turn, screamed back in return, and pushed the red haired away.

"What-?" Ishimaru demanded, after such an action, a pure assault to him. "What happened, Kuwata?!"

Asahina pointed to a place behind them, having pinpointed where the sound was despite the screams and shouts of the annoying men around her. Despite once being a swimmer, her hearing was not all that bad.

"Guys.." She murmured, as her blue eyes widened at the corners. The three arguing (Hagakure and Kuwata arguing, Ishimaru scolding them,) didn't hear, but Naegi did, who followed the path of her eyes.

He gazed upon the scene behind them, a short ways away, in the beginning of the tunnel where the light emitted. He could barely make out the start of the tunnel, but be did make out what may be splashing around.

A mass of some sort slowly rose, a reddish arm brushing up the sides of the cement wall, its fingers cracking as it moved them.

A head appeared, with two yellowish eyes directly in the middle, and a tongue flicking out over a pair of bloodied and shredded lips. The expression could barely be seen in the lack of lighting, but after so long, it was getting difficult not to recognize these hellspawn anymore.

The creature wasn't as noisy as the other ones, it didn't shriek.

As they were backing away from it, that struck Naegi as odd. The creature quietly breathed, or seemed to from the rising of its chest. Its feet splashed as it drug them through the water, stepping into the tunnel.

This was a bad time to remember that these were people, actual people, with actual personalities. All humans, despite a bloodlust and a hunger for the only food source available around- human flesh.

This monster was a human being, underneath the huge welts and sunken appearance.

But the monster went down all the same as the others in the end.

A fierce and heart-stopping sound echoed through the tunnel around them, one of an explosion, nearly. It was gunfire, and only one bullet was shot, until the huge mass chasing them fell with a last, large splash.

Hagakure shrieked, and immediately ducked down. While Naegi didn't see exactly what he did, he did hear the collapse of him in the water.

Asahina yelped at his sudden movement, and collectively they worried he was the one that was shot- but no, he was just ducking for cover.

They watched the entrance to the tunnel with wide eyes, until behind the creature, a figure appeared.

Kuwata gulped, throwing his hands up, and then encouraging the others to do the same. "Hey, hey! Don't shoot, don't shoot!"

"Heyy, you heard the guy, don't shoot!" A voice feminine exclaimed, from some place away from them.

The rest of the group collectively held their breath, as the savior of theirs took a step into the entrance of the tunnel, and stopped.

"Ooh, what've we got here? Helloooo!" Cooed the girl(?), and Naegi squinted to try to get a better look at her face.

Or, two girls?

"Hello?" Kuwata asked in return, the first one brave enough to try to talk with this mysterious person. People? It looked like..

The water under them was hazy, a reddish tint spreading through it, the corpse of the monster just killed was beginning to spread throughout it.

The girl took a step closer, her boots sloshing around, until she stopped.

"Oh, shit, what happened?" Asked the peppy voice, poking her head up and over the other. So it was two people, as Naegi suspected. There was one girl carrying the other, on her back. The one on the back was talking to them a lot more. As they came closer, the details started to show up, like the one's camouflage military uniform (the one who was carrying the other), and the second girl's large, blonde pigtails.

"Sissy, you fucking shot him! Damn, ain't that heartless," Cooed the pigtail girl, her expression of shock coming into view, her lips a bright enough red to see from afar, and her lashes long enough to look like drops of ink, raining down onto her porcelain cheeks as she laughed and her eyelids closed.

He noticed her features for two reasons. The first was because it was terribly odd to see someone so gussied up. When everyone was just trying to live, who had time for makeup? He was partially confused. The second reason was just because she was very, very beautiful.

"Is he alive?" She asked, as everyone was so quiet. They were quiet, he just noticed. He was busy thinking.

Naegi was the first one to follow her glance as soon as he banished his thoughts, as the girl with the pigtails gestured with a nod to Hagakure behind them. The brunette blinked as he nudged the older man with a gentle push of his foot, trying to convince him to stand up again.

Hagakure yelped again, another sound to echo through the tunnel and its great acoustics. He flew up like a bat out of the pits of hell, holding his hands high above his head. "Don't shoot me-"

She laughed, a pleasant sound, but so misplaced. Her pigtails bounced with the action as she cackled.

"No, nooo! Stand up, we won't shoot 'cha. Right, sissy? Sissy wouldn't hurt a fly."

The blonde girl had her arms wrapped around the other girl's neck as she was being carried, and her hand, complete with sharp red nails, brushed along the other girl's pale cheeks from this angle.

Sissy?

Their attention went more to the woman clad in military garbs.

She had dark black hair, and in this lighting her face was so shadowed by it combined with her sister's hand that none of them could really make out her features.

"Y'alls have some time to stay n' chat?" She cooed, and eyed up the group, keeping her eyes on Ishimaru more than anyone else.

That question got Ishimaru to speak up, finally, and he cleared his throat to speak sternly as always. "No, we have to immediately get back to base, and report our findin-" Ishimaru asked, and immediately averted his gaze away from her as he made his point.

"You guys have a base?" Her eyes lit up as she cut him off, and her mouth curled into a cat-like grin. "Woww, nice! Where is it?"

Hagakure, still with his hands held high above his head, looked off in thought. "It's just temporary, while we were evacuating this apartment, but.."

Ishimaru, standing stern, looked just as concerned. "Where have you two been staying..?"

"Oh, nowhere." The blonde deadpanned, and shrugged her narrow shoulders, an action they could barely make out.. "We don't do shit around here. Just passin' on through, I fuckin' guess."

"Why don't you two.. come to the warehouse?" Naegi murmured, and the blonde looked upon him closely. He felt nervous under her gaze, to say the least.

"H-Hey now, I don't think that Kirigiri is gonna be all too happy with that idea, Naegi-"

"Ohh, you'd really invite us? Just like that?" The peppy girl raised her brow, and her tone rung with a very intrigued giggle. "You're so kind hearted! Aren't you, Naegi?"

Asahina quirked a brow, and took a step forward, her steps stirring up the water a slight amount. "Yeah, we can't just leave people, right? And they don't look sick at all."

"No way. I'm not sick. Gross!" The unfamiliar girl seemed offended in a scoff.

Ishimaru quirked a brow, clearly at a dilemma. He was always so sure with what he did, but this was new to see him split like this.

"Kirigiri can handle two new people, besides, if she doesn't like it- it's what she gets for threatening Naegi!" Asahina defiantly remarked.

The blonde raised an eyebrow as she watched on, honing in on the situation through context. She had such a highly interested expression.

"I really think we should let them come with." Naegi repeated.

"Oh reeeeally? You'll let us?" She gasped, hugging around her sister closely.

"Hell yeah we will." Kuwata finished, trying to bud his way into a conversation he was mostly not listening to. It could've been that he was distracted by the pretty girl, though. Nobody was really surprised.

"Okiee! Ohh, thank you all so much. You're all so nice n' sweet, n' shit. I love, love you guys! We'll be besties."

While Naegi knew he couldn't really keep up with her conversation, she was smiling to wide, and her voice was filled with laughter.

She was happy, it seemed genuine. She was laughing and showing them a big smile. He loved seeing it- it made his chest tighten some. He loved seeing the happiness on her face.

The bloody water sloshing at their feet as they started back out of the tunnel once more with their two new arrivals.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The fire crackled, a primarily peaceful sound. The blonde girl reached her hands over her head, stretching, until laying down on her back.

"Ugh, this floor is so gross. Do you guys always sleep on the floor?"

"Uh, yeah." Kuwata was the first to answer, with a red brow cocked. "Where do you sleep?"

Enoshima shrugged a bit, shuffling to get comfortable, and then shoving her arms behind her head in a more valid attempt. "Ugh, I don't fuckin' know. Anywhere that isn't a damn dusty floor."

"Hey, why don't we go see if we can find someone's bed? This looks like a house, yeah?"

"I would not advise by any degree that anyone leave the group," Ishimaru started, raising his finger at the handful of them, until Kuwata waved him off.

"Yeah, yeah." Kuwata shrugged, huffing his breath. "C'mon, we just wanna go check out the house. What about like, food, huh?"

Asahina perked up at such a mention, "Uh, good point. What about food? If we're sleeping here, what're you going to eat?"

"On second thought, perhaps a scouting of the building is best, after all." Ishimaru murmured, a hand on his chin as if that took real brooding to finally inquire.

Hagakure took that as an invite, clearly. He gave an excited fist in the ear, and turned 180 on his Sketchers, which were absolutely too small for his feet.

"Ooh, sweet nighttime luxury here I come! Say goodbye to sleeping on a floor now," He cheered, which encouraged the other man to sit up, Kuwata.

"Ooh, count me in!" Asahina laughed, rising from her feet, as they both disappeared into a hallway from the only door.

Before she left the room, however, Aoi stopped next to Makoto, and beamed down to him. "You comin'?"

He took a second to think it over, until finally just shrugging.

She nodded in understanding, "Aw, well, either way, see ya! And you be extra safe!" She patted the boy's head briefly, which made him chuckle, as well as the tips of his ears flushing red. Afterwards, she bounced into the hall to join the boys, and the blonde newcomer.

As she left, the brunette settled back into his spot, until another friend approached

"Naegi, you are not coming?" Just as he was about to head out to join them, Ishimaru frowned deeply, looking ready to explain the negativity of such an action.

"Is it.. okay, if I stay here?" He chuckled dryly, and let his gaze fall again, to his bandaged ankle.

"Oh, I see."

"Yeah. It kinda hurts.. I'll stay and watch the fire, okay? Yell for me if you need anything..?"

Ishimaru nodded. "Yes, I see.

The boy left the room, they all were gone by now. Gone, out and exploring.. He wished for their safety, and wished them good luck.

The seconds turned into minutes, the crackle of their makeshift fire was the only sound, currently. But it was nice, paired with the warmth it was radiating.

The silence between the two remaining students wasn't completely uncomfortable. In fact, it felt to Naegi almost like he was sitting by himself, in a mildly homely way.

If he had to admit it, he felt that way because he completely and totally forgot the other student was sitting there, across from him. She was so silent and reserved that the knowledge of her entire self and very presence just.. slipped right out of his mind.

"What happened to you?"

The sudden voice brought a jolt to his spine, immediately mentally ridiculing himself for forgetting someone in the mere minutes they were in silence.

He blinked, and looked over, across the fire. Through the distorted air, and searing heat of it, he saw the face of their other newcomer, who'd just moments ago been an unknown phantom to him.

Naegi had to take a second to recall her name. Ikusaba, right? She was the older sister, to Enoshima.. He was catching on as quickly as he could.

He recalled her question, and shook his head a bit, looking over her face and then down to his leg. "Ooh, you mean this?"

She nodded, and he caught sight of it. "It's just a little cut that I got a few days ago."

"You said it was hurting?" She questioned, fixating her eyes on the bandages from around the fire.

He shrugged. "Ah, yeah, sorta.. Not too bad."

Silence followed their conversation, until the boy smiled in a sheepish sort of way, brushing his fingers briefly through the hair on the back of his neck. "If I have to be really honest, I mostly just wanted to sit down for an extra minute.."

She returned the smile, at least a small amount. He couldn't really tell, though. How often did she smile? He never knew he'd see an unpracticed smile. But in this awful day and age, a smile was a miracle that was rarely seen.

Cheekily, he heard her mumble something, and he had to listen extra close to pick it up.

"Yeah, I just wanted to sit, too."

Naegi chuckled, and then proceeded to exclaim, "I'm glad at least someone else understands me around here!"

She smiled, wider. It was so nice. So very nice. With so few smiles in the world, his day lit up as she added just one more. Her pale face looked lovely with a pleasant smile adorning her porcelain and outwardly stoic cheeks.

"You're Ikusaba, right?" Naegi asked, "Ikusaba Mukuro?"

Ikusaba hesitated for a moment, and from this distance he couldn't tell why. Then, she nodded, her eyes gazing so carefully over him, he feared he did something wrong.

"Nice to.. meet you." He continued on, but felt anxiety welling up as she stared.

"It is nice to meet you too, Makoto Naegi."

Naegi perked up a bit, and felt a shiver run down his spine. His full name? Had she caught onto his full name, really..?

Between Asahina and the rest of the crew, it would be pretty impossible not to hear both his first and last name by now, already. So he let that question slide completely answered from his mind.

But had anyone said his first name, he wondered..? He didn't remember Aoi saying it..

He decided to just let it go. It was so trivial and unimportant, there was simply no reason to hold onto such knowledge.

Naegi picked some cloth up off of the floor, remnants of what might have once been some curtains. Or, perhaps, a blanket? It was such a small, dusty piece of cloth that he probably would've never been able to tell.

The room they were in was relatively empty, which was a little foreign, but there still was a couple of scraps. Said discarded pieces of whatever, porcelain, plastic, glass, cloth, tucked, or trapped, between the cracked floorboards, or perhaps just dropped and left to rot on the floor.

Another reason he wished dearly that he could get another shoe sometime soon. He did not particularly want a footfull of broken glass.

Taking the small piece of cloth, Makoto leaned forward, and held it over the fire. Half of boredom and the rest of fascination, he dropped the piece into the flame.

Watching the piece of cloth catch flame, slowly being engulfed and devoured by the hungry and destructive force, Naegi exhaled slightly.

The movement of air breathed more life to the fire, causing it to whisp and dance more so. He watched with the same childish fascination.

As Naegi sat, just the two of them, he began to tune back into his surroundings. Just as he did, he could just sense the odd feeling of eyes on him. He looked up again, as soon as he fully noticed.

The flow of of icy, icy blue, basically gray, a vivid color that he met as soon as he looked back to Ikusaba.

She seemed offended instantly. Or, at least, troubled. He sure hoped not offended.. But how quick she was to look away was a little alarming.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be! You're completely fine." Naegi smiled a bit to reassure. For all the smiles he dished out in a day, he did try to make sure they went to good causes.

She turned to look again, and she seemed a lot more pleased, a lot less freaked out. This smile had gone to a great use. "Ah. Thank you, Naegi.."

They remained in the warmth of the fire, the previously awkward silence slowly peeling away to reveal a much more precious and comfortable feeling.

He wasn't even sure of the presence of a higher deity, not when he was a child and not now- but he did find himself thanking one when the others returned safely.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Through the rubble in front of them, making it through the streets, was the group of them. Everyone in tact, and even now, with two more to join their ranks.

At the front of the group was Ishimaru, who promoted himself to leader whenever Kirigiri wasn't around to tell him otherwise. Hagakure and Kuwata followed behind, sluggishly monitoring the surroundings. Asahina stood behind them, in a conversation with Hagakure about something random as all hell.

The two new recruits were content near the back. Naegi was also there, and he was half convinced that Enoshima had taken up her place in back just to be closer to him.

Enoshima frowned, "So, what's your deal? Inviting random people to join you, and whatever?" The blonde walked carelessly. Behind her was her sister, at the very back, silently stalking like a shadow.

They had to watch their steps closely, for fear of tripping, or something much worse. There was broken glass, there were things ready to fall on top of them at any moment- just the act of moving around in this world was exceptionally hard, as of recent.

"We'd like to take in as many people as possible. If you can save any life, you should always do it." Naegi explained, or attempted to, his eyes on the street that they walked on for fear of putting direct weight on his damaged ankle.

"Ooh! You're so heroic!" She cooed, to his surprise. "What the hell, where have you been all of my life?"

She giggled in a weird way, a way that made the hair on the back of Naegi's neck stand up.

He brushed such a thing off. "It's really nothing. I just care, is all. That's really all I'm good for." He smiled.

"Aweee.." Enoshima cooed. "So sweet. A little angel."

"I'm.. I'm really not.."

"I shouldn't expect anything less from a little guy named faithful seed."

"Yeah, that.. yeah. That's my name.."

"Naegi, seedling. What a fitting name. You're so small and loveable. You look squishy."

" 'Squishy'?" Kuwata chimed in, giving Naegi a sideways glance. He snorted, holding back so many insults. It was clear on his face.

"Yeah, squishy!" She cooed. "Look at that little face. Awee."

"Wait, wait, wait," Hagakure spoke up immediately, stopping in his tracks, which caused most of the group aside from Ishimaru to stop as well behind him. "His name means faithful seed?"

"Yeah. it does.. You didn't know that?"

"Nah. Not a bit." The tall man laughed, living up to his embarrassing fact. "Never really thought about it."

Enoshima invited herself to continue onwards, and reached over to caress his little cheek with a gentle touch. Her pristine and sharp nails made his heart race in anxiousness, though, as her thumb brushed down his cheek. "Naegi, meaning seedlings. And Makoto, faithfulness. Such a pretty little name for a pretty little boy."

With heat spreading through his ears and face, the brunette pursed his lips quietly.

"We should keep moving.." He murmured, barely loud enough to be heard."

As the group continued onwards, Enoshima pestered Naegi with a fondness he had to say he was confused about.

---

Their trek continued onwards, and eventually, with no more attacks from the once-human monsters, they all managed to slide back into the growingly familiar. warehouse.

Ishimaru asked around to see everyone's conditions, while a concerned Hagakure asked about where Kirigiri had gone off to, since she was nowhere to be found.

Naegi helped escort the two girls around the makeshift home for so many, and show them where every necessity was usually, until he fled away from Enoshima's fondness to join the search for Kirigiri.

In the time that they were allowed to sit down, the two girls found a spot near one of the corners to lay. Ikusaba laid down her jacket for her sister to sit on, to avoid having her sit on a floor for a second time.

They situated themselves, examining the new place, the new people, and familiar people they'd just ventured here with.

"Mukuro, sissy?" Enoshima whispered, through the semi-quiet life in the warehouse. The lights were on, dimly enough, as they usually were.

The many families filled up the few beds and many places upon the floor. Somewhere there was a baby crying, but at this time the baby started calming down finally.

In the half silence, the blonde gazed across to her sister, smiling widely across her features. Despite her love for her sister, it did make Ikusaba's heart sink at least slightly, as she held her breath in anticipation for what her dear sister asked.

"I want you to get me something."

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"Hey.. You. Come here.."He listened in, and then heard the other's nearly silent call. He lifted his head from his chest to take a quick glance around.A quiet voice, almost inaudible, which could barely be heard as it was, combined with the snoring from Kuwata who leaned on Naegi's shoulder.He didn't bother to acknowledge it further, after he found nothing. He was thinking it was made for someone else. After all, there qere he lots of people here.. Perhaps a parent calling their child, or friends?A minute passed. It felt like a minute, anyway. He merely let his eyes shut again, with a deeper exhale.Even as sleep was not coming to him, he would like to try, rather than not. Maybe that'd change if he tried hard enough.Naegi began to nod off, leaning his chin against his abdomen, arms crossed and back against the cement wall behind him.He stayed fairly still as he eased back in relaxation. Or, at least, he tried to. Try was the word of the day.Again, to tug him out of his sleep. This time, far more unmistakably.."Naegi." They spoke, a bit louder, ane his body jolted itself back up, making Kuwata whine in a comically upset and sleepy voice.He looked around, once again. This time, he finally caught sight of them.. her.A silhouette gestured, a slight movement of her hand, beckoning him. "Come with me."He stumbled up and to his feet, from his place on the floor. He gently brushed Kuwata off of his shoulder, forcing the other male to lean on someone else. That someone else was Hagakure, who seemed okay with it. Okay, crising averted, nobody was awake.It was only at this point that he began to wonder why he was being summoned, like so. What'd he even do? Or, what did he need to know..? He didn't see a need to call him out so late.. But there's no way it wasn't for him, was there?A small light caught his eye, and he was curious as to how. But at the very side of his peripherals, just outside of where he believed he could see, there was his answer.He blinked a bit more, his eyes squinting, and oh so cautiously leaning closer in this dark and damp warehouse room, closer to where such a .. Natural, light was. After so many days spent up in here, his mind always reminisced of the simples times outside. Walking to school, school recess, simply watching the street in front of his house as he awaited his parent's return.He missed natural light, the organic feelings it blossomed in his chest. He felt so nostalgic to see simply a ray of light in the distance and somewhat to the side, it looked to be around a corner or such. With some abstruction, yes, but not too much as so that it was hidden from him.Naegi fixated on the small light. It was clear that he was getting no sleep as of now, so..Pushing Kuwata so gently off of his shoulder (since the man had slowly progressed back onto Naegi's narrow shoulder, once again.), to which the deeply sleeping male only snored freakishly loud, like a snarl, and threw himself onto Hagakure's lap instead (which the former fortune teller didnt so much as move or take note of in his resting state). Such melodrama was taken note of, as Naegi put his hands to the cold and uncomfortable floor, pushing himself back up and to his feet.His eyes, asjusted to this darkness, opened again and with one, two- three blinks, he noted a silhouette he did not notice before, also abstructing said light in the distance.The curious brunette, temporarily watching his feet on the ground to avoid the feet and legs and even bodies of so many people all around him, approached the direction in question, carefully.He progressed through the room until he was near the narrow hallway-ish passageway, where nobody laid. When he had his feet in place and didnt have to worry again, he slowed to a stop as thoughts passed through his head.The silhouette was now in view, and he watched on with a leveled amount of curiosity and equal to match amount of fear. It looked to be about his size, and immediately his mind was worried if some creature snuck in. But it was so.. calm. It couldn't be.. right?He fixated on it as he peeked a bit closer, cautioisly and quietly approaching. He also recalled the calls and beckons he heard earlier, however. But quickly made the thought disappear- as, there was so many people, it had to be someone else.Naegi stopped in place, nearly squeaking, as the figure moved. He immediately put a hand to his mouth to quiet his breathing and his almost sound he made in fear. Such an action made the smallest noise, rustling from his jacket and of the impact of his hand on his chin. He regretted it instantly.Blinking, and getting a closer look, his poor heart could finally start beating again, and his breath came out in an overly heavy sigh.He watched her turn around- Dark hair, pale, almost porcelain skin.. He recognized her well enough."Naegi," She called out in a hush to him, with a bit of a blink in her own stone cold fashion."Ikusaba..?" He greeted in question, hands falling down by his waist. "Were you.. calling for me?""Yes, actually.. But.." She took a moment to face him fully, turning to face him, the ray of light behind her and giving her sole holy-looking light. "I thought you were resting, so, I let it be as it was.""I'm here.." He smiled a bit sheepishly, nodding, and to which her cold expression very much in tact."I want you to come with me." She informed, and he looked over her face until nodding a bit."Uh.. why, may I.. ask?" Naegi requested, to which, as he expected, the soldier-esque girl (he wasn't exactly sure who she was but she sure did look like a soldier, and act like one..) did not answer, merely turned around and began down the narrow yet dimly illuminated hall.She brought him through the back hallway, where he had previously been, when his leg was being bandaged.Having never been passed that, he followed closely behind Ikusaba.She found a solid wall, with a few sturdy-looking pipes. There was a solid bar, made up of some sort of metal, and bolted a ways out from the wall.Naegi watched onward as she grabbed a hold of the bar, and pulled herself up. She seemed to have little struggle at all, it was quite amazing to see. She grabbed onto apparently, something else that he couldn't catch from this angle.Speaking of angle, this was a little more than he bargained for, as he finally took in the sight. Quickly, the flustered boy turned his face away, after a way longer look at the other's undergarments than he probably should've taken.As the boy tried to compose himself, and hide his obvious and visual shame, Ikusaba had already made her way out of view. By the time he looked back again, he felt a small gust of wind, which danced across his skin and made his hair stand on end."Come on, up here." She called, and he stepped forward to see. She was looking down at him from a sort of hatch, on the ceiling. He had to say, he'd never noticed such a hatch before. To know they had an emergency exit wad good, though.Naegi grabbed a careful hold of the bar, with both hands, and proceeded to try to pull himself up. Emphasis, of course, on the word try.As Naegi managed to grab a secure hold of the second bar, he glanced back up to Ikusaba. She had reached down for him, now that he was close enough to.He accepted the kind and helpful offer hastily. Naegi grabbed a hold of her hand, feeling the warm skin against his, as she helped to pull him up."Thank you." He smiled, pulling himself up to the roof, and then after to his feet. She looked at him for a moment, until nodding a modest amount. "How did you fond out about that hatch?""This building, whatever it once was, has a lot of things that needed maintenance on the roof. It is only logical that there would be a way up here."Naegi hummed, satisfied with the answer. Yet all he could really do was be satified with it, it wasn't like she'd clarify or anything if he so much as asked. It was a sad fate for a curious little man. He was fine though, and she looked to be too.He looked back to the sort of hatch they came out from, and watched as she crouched down to close it once again. "Here, come on."He looked back up, with a nod as well. "Yes, of course, Ikusaba."They walked a ways, chilly night air nipping at Naegi's red cheeks, and dark gray clouds in the polluted skies, sweeping gently and without a care, covering the black and inky canvas above them. Stars and the moon were way too lost within the mess of smog to be seen right now.After some stargazing in the non-reciprocating sky, and walking as he did so, he winced, and as did Ikusaba."Oh, I'm sorry-""Watch where you're going." She said, scolding some as she turned a bit and looked at the clumsy boy who had bumped directly into her."This is as close as I want you to get, no more." She told him, and looked ahead of them. Naegi looked to her face, a profile view of her face from where he stood, after he had stepped back some to avoid bumping anymore, and giving some space overall.Finally, he traced her gaze and took in the sight for his own.Illuminated the slightest bit by the light pollution and grayish-brown of the world itself out here, he took in the sight of three bottles, they seemed to be old and discarded beer bottles, upright and in a triangle, on top of some sort of filter that must've once helped this building stay ventilated. Probably did not work anymore- making for an effective table on this rooftop.Looking upon the scene with absolutely no clue or idea at all, he pursed his lips, wondering exactly what was.. happening. Or.. going to happen, maybe?"Ikusaba, are you--?!" He took a step back, his hands immediately throwing themselves up, to show his lack of weapon and show surrender.She didn't even look at him, her eyes focused on the weapon in her hands. Her gaze looked fond. Naegi wasn't sure exactly what she was fond of. Her voice was low in a calm way. "Calm down.. I wouldn't do anything like that. That's not why I brought you out here.""O-Oh," The brunette blinked, fixating on her and keeping his hands up stupidly, until quickly returning them to his sides and embarrassedly shoving them inside of his pants pockets instead."Here." She leaned back up and looked to him, holding both hands under the weapon and bringing it in his direction."Wh.. at?" He asked, looking at her and then the weapon, and then her. Then back, and forth again."I think it's a necessary skill.. And I'd want you to learn it.He looked to the girl, studying her porcelain features. Her face as pale as snow. Decorated with the tiniest little dots and freckles, which helped to make her look less doll-like. His brown brows furrowed. "You want me to learn.. to.. shoot this?"Naegi's mind trailed off, as he looked closer at her emotionless face, trying to avoid thinking or looking the weapon he held. He couldn't help but feel off with this cold, dangerous thing in his hands, it felt like it burned his hands to hold and he absolutely hated it. He was worried. She had just said she wasn't here to harm him, if he read her response correctly, but it didn't sooth his paranoia."Are you okay, Ikusaba? You seem.." He choked on his words, murmuring. "..tense.""There isn't a lot of option for me to be anything except tense." She replied without skipping a single beat, and he felt in an instant how dry his throat was. He struggled to swallow down this feeling, his entire body frozen as if he was scared the slightest movement would set off the gun in his hands."I.. don't want you to get harmed, Naegi." She spoke up, and he watched her even closer, if it was possible. She had her back turned to him, now. Wasn't that some show of vulnerability? And.. and he had a gun? What was even going on? "I need you.. to have a chance.""A chance..?" He echoed, in his quiet and nonthreatening voice."Yes. So please.." She turned back on her heels again, quick enough that he jolted a bit. "Please continue this training."He nodded, slightly. Silently. And on the night continued, with Ikusaba's plan that he did not understand, but went along with regardless.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"Hey..!" He called, grabbing a hold of her shoulders carefully, a motion that put tenseness into the bodies of all that were watching-which were quite a few. But she didn't jolt, she didn't jump away or anything like it. Just stared with glassy eyes, the most of a reaction being their flicking blinks, further fueling the frantic expression on her face."What happened..? What.." Like her voice was gripped and taken out of midair, she suddenly gasped for air, making the onlooking boy's green eyes widen. "What're am I do doing here..?" Her breath was so labored, painfully deep and sharp as she attempted to stabilize uneven breaths.Nonetheless, hearing her quiet and squeaky voice, it reassured him of her being more okay than he thought. For a worrywart such as Naegi, he was grasping at any hope of more people being okay. People being safe. Safety was so scarce these days.She eyed the male in front of her, her eyes glossy with another wave of oncoming tears, to quickly follow the ones that had already spilled out and trailed her porcelain cheeks.A shaky hand brushed over Naegi's arm, like she was grounding herself back to reality. Though the look in those eyes crystal blue eyes could clearly show that the reality in front of her was not one she wanted to accept."Where am I?" She quietly asked once more, seemingly not flinching away from his touch. She remained keeping her eyes directly on him.He let go of her shoulders, the weight of her gaze pulling down upon him."This is our shelter." He worked up a small turn of his lips, a slight smile. Anything pleasant, anything he could muster. "Or.." He took a momentary glance to the sides of them, more as a gesture than his own observation. Quickly he returned to meet her gaze again. "Our makeshift shelter, anyway."To emphasize the point, and help accumulate her to the space around her, Naegi stepped back and gestured to the large room. Bustling, with families and people alike. All going about their ways with serenity, excluding a few children who ran as playfully as they once did on the streets, many months ago, when it wasn't such a risk to do so.A few people, with worry, brought their eyes to the blue-haired girl. The glass-eyed girl who held the sides of the counter she laid on, still tense."You should be safer here." Naegi encouraged, looking over her more closely, as she finally tore her eyes off of him and proceeded to examine the room around them. Her jumpy demeanor and her on-edge expression seemed to ease, as she took in sites, like mothers cradling children, a small grouping of friends who laughed quietly among themselves, small fragments of humanity and joy that could mimic the subconcious concept of safety.Bouncing once, then twice, finally thrice, on the balls of his heels, the brunette even swelled with his own joy to see this young girl crack the tiniest of smiles. Enough to get a little seed growing, a seed of hope for her especially. "Welcome to our group..! I hope you'll," He stammered. 'stay with us?' Of course she was going to stay. It's suicide to even think otherwise. "E-Enjoy your time here- if we can help or I could do anything for you just let us know, okay?" Naegi carefully, but gleefully shared. To which, the blue-haired girl gave the slightest of nods.He watched her, maybe longer than he should have. That was something he realized before anyone else, whereas Maizono distracted herself with surveying the area, and then eventually locking eyes with the boy again. He took that as an awkward sign that she needed some space, and turned on his heels to briskly walk wherever he was needed next in great strides of mock-importance and psuedo-confidence.Maybe a minute the girl was left to her lonesome, or, as lonesome as a noisy warehouse could get. She did get a moment to breathe- but a moment only.A white-haired girl approached, sliding past a corner, and into direct light of one of the florescent bulbs overhead. The intense lighting highlighted the purple accents throughout her hair- no doubt natural. Quick enough that only the blue eyes in the prereferal vision caught on, but not quick enough to register the prescence of another who was trying to contact her.Kirigiri stood with the same, stoic expression that she always upheld."Holding up alright, are you?" Her voice lacked the same sugary-sweet coating that Naegi's soft tone always intentionally upheld. She had a lot more rigid tonality, the voice of one with no intention of beating around any sort of bush."Oh!" Maizono squeaked, as she turned with fluttering eyes to the source of the voice, the one she hadn't even understood initially. Her clueless look told Kirigiri all she needed to know.Taking one step forward, one to simply test boundaries, she repeated her question with a deep sigh that released the tension around her eyes and in her jaw.The blue-haired still perched cautiously on the counter she was initially laid, even if now sitting upright and viewing effectively. She eyed the other, but no real fear was evident. Kirigiri took another step forward."Stay safe. Ask if you need anything, you can ask Naegi where to find me."Maizono eyed her until she turned back past that corner, and within seconds, out of range. Leaving the newcomer to her head and thoughts, as she shakily considered placing her feet on the ground and starting to try to live effectively in this place.Kirigiri walked with her usual stride, one that was quick and cold, not one of someone who had even one thought of befriending those who she passed by. But that was simply the life she lived, and always had.Though, as average as it was for her, for someone who could read her and recognize even the slightest of changes in her expression compared to the way she would view others, one could catch just the tiniest glimpse of emotion pass through her purple eyes in the form of a dull twinkle. The twinkle being born in the eyes of a suspicious detective, who just found the newest clue.