Saeko and Aurélien vaulted over the stair railing and landed on the road below with a soft thud of their feet hitting the ground. Looking both ways down the street, Aurélien was relieved to see no undead nearby, but he didn't want to become complacent and make another mistake like in the previous fight. Glancing at Saeko, who gave him a nod, they continued lightly down the street, weapons drawn and ready.
The sky was gradually darkening. The duo found a nearby restaurant that was thankfully empty, and the refrigerator still held food and drinks. Saeko found an almost intact backpack and began stuffing it with whatever she could find in the fridge and sandwich station. Aurélien checked the kitchen and, although he found bloodstains, there were no signs of the undead.
"Are we safe?" Saeko whispered to Aurélien, who looked at her and nodded.
"Yes. It's clear for now, but we need to keep moving," he said as he sat down on one of the many empty chairs.
Saeko took a soda bottle from the drink fridge and offered it to Aurélien. "Here. Not my preferred choice of drink, but we should keep our strength up," she said with a smile.
Aurélien smiled and nodded in agreement. Out of habit, he reached with his left hand, but phantom pain reminded him of his reality. Seeing the faint melancholy in his eyes, Saeko frowned in concern. She opened the bottle for him. Then she looked into Aurélien's backpack and took out fresh bandages to replace the worn ones on his crippled arm.
As she tended to him, Saeko asked, "Where do we go from here?"
"It's starting to get dark, and my house is still a few kilometers away," Aurélien replied. "I know it might be smarter to head to the Takagi manor, but I absolutely need to return home before an infection sets in."
Even before the apocalypse, amputation could lead to serious complications. Now, the risk of death from infection was like something out of the Middle Ages. The only treatment Aurélien could apply until he returned to his workshop was to load up on the meds in his bag.
"It'll also give us temporary shelter. If you have anything to add, feel free," Aurélien offered.
"No. Sounds like a plan," Saeko said with a nod.
"All right, then. Let's go, before night assaults us with its horrors," Aurélien declared as they left the restaurant.
Luckily, the streetlights were still on, slightly illuminating the roads. A few undead still wandered about, but Aurélien and Saeko mostly avoided confrontation, conserving their strength. After 40 minutes of swift, quiet walking, as they crossed a store parking lot, Aurélien peered ahead and clenched his jaw at what he saw.
"What is it?" Saeko asked him. Aurélien whispered back, "About thirty of them, at the intersection."
Saeko peered into the encroaching darkness and frowned slightly as she saw what Aurélien had described. "We'll have to fight our way through," she said, tying her hair into a ponytail and drawing her bokken.
"Let's make it quick then!" Aurélien said, spinning his sword in his hand. Saeko smiled faintly at the flourish and asked, "Trying to impress someone?" Aurélien returned her smile and winked, which made the indigo-haired swordswoman blush faintly.
Staring down the horde of undead, Aurélien let out a sharp, piercing whistle. With guttural groans and shuffling feet, the undead charged toward the two survivors.
A hunter broke from the small horde, rushing Aurélien—but it never got within five meters. One of the technopriest's mechadendrites extended and crushed the abomination's skull.
Adrenaline surging through her, Saeko charged as well, her bokken swinging in quick, heavy strikes. The sounds of hard wood cracking against bone echoed as she shattered limbs and skulls, dispatching every undead in her path. Aurélien relied mostly on his mechadendrite, avoiding strain on his wounded arm.
Saeko twisted fluidly to evade grasping, rotting limbs as she struck back with precision. Almost surrounded, she unleashed a powerful spinning strike that knocked the zombies away, their heads smashed by the force. A smile graced her lips as the fight high sent a rush of adrenaline and endorphins coursing through her.
Groans behind her made Saeko spin around for more deadly blows—but what she saw froze her in place, horror overtaking her face.
Three children. Three zombified children, with bite marks on their bodies, tattered and bloodstained clothes, and the sickly gray skin of the undead, shambled toward her with outstretched hands and ravenous hunger in their eyes.
A wave of emotions washed over Saeko. A part of her told her not to kill them, but the darker part of her insisted otherwise.
"Saeko!"
Aurélien was in front of her, his sword flashing as he cut down the three undead children, separating their heads from their bodies. Their small forms collapsed into pools of blackened blood. Saeko stood still, her horrified expression frozen.
It took her a moment to realize Aurélien was shaking her and speaking.
"Saeko? Saeko!" Looking into the young man's emerald eyes, Saeko let out a sob and nearly collapsed to her knees, but Aurélien kept her upright. With his remaining arm wrapped around her shoulders, he led her down a side street, away from the small horde.
…
As they approached his neighborhood, Aurélien noticed more and more lifeless corpses scattered across the road. Glancing with concern at the girl in shock, he quickened his pace. When he was 100 meters from his home, his cortical chip received an external signal. His second drone team was nearby.
Soon, three BX droids appeared. They immediately transmitted their report to the technopriest via their shared link. Aurélien was relieved to learn they had successfully rescued his mother—though one of them had been lost in the process.
They had returned less than two hours ago, using an abandoned moving truck to escape Tokyo and quickly return to Tokonosu. His mother had been frightened and believed the droids to be a new threat, but when they told her they were her son's creations, she was shocked, wondering if she even truly knew him. Exhausted, she fainted upon arrival at the safe house. The droids secured the area by eliminating remaining undead and potential looters.
Aurélien felt a headache brewing at the thought of the conversation to come when she awoke. Still, he had other concerns for now.
"One of you, go to my workshop and prep my equipment for a major surgical procedure! The others, continue protecting the neighborhood!" Aurélien ordered.
The machines obeyed as Aurélien finally returned home. It had only been a day, but it felt like weeks since he'd last been there. He laid Saeko on his bed—she needed rest and time to gather herself.
Then he entered his garage. The mechanical arms mounted on the walls and ceiling came to life at their creator's arrival. Aurélien approached a table where a half-finished mechadendrite rested.
"It's time to replace the weakness of flesh," the young man murmured, staring at his crippled arm.
...
Three hours later, Saeko awoke on a bed and realized Aurélien had left her in a bedroom. Her mind still swam with the earlier events. Emotions clashed within her, and a memory from her past resurfaced.
A distant rumble of thunder rolled overhead, soon followed by the sound of rain.
Rain lashed the roof, thunder echoed, and lightning cracked, the sounds muffled by the thick wooden walls. A few candles were lit, casting warm light in the room. Saeko sat nearby, deep contemplation etched into her face.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Aurélien's entrance. Her eyes widened at what she saw: in place of his missing limb was now a metal prosthetic shaped like a human arm and hand. She saw it clearly, as he had removed his coat and wore only a short-sleeved shirt and gray joggers. For some reason, he was hiding his right hand behind his back.
"You built a prosthetic?" the indigo-haired girl asked, stating the obvious.
Looking proudly at his arm, "Indeed. And I've applied several enhancements," he said, rotating the wrist and flexing the fingers as if he'd been born with it.
Seeing it reassured Saeko, though guilt still gnawed at her. "I'm sorry, for losing control," she said, looking down, her hair hiding her eyes.
"You don't need to apologize. I hold no resentment toward you. I lacked foresight and failed to adapt to the unexpected. I have only myself to blame for losing my arm," Aurélien replied honestly. But it wasn't enough to ease his friend.
"Saeko?" The indigo-haired girl looked up. "Look what I made," he said gently, revealing his right hand—holding a katana, which he offered to her. Her sapphire eyes lit up in awe.
The scabbard was dark material with two golden fittings for a belt. The guard was dark metal, and the hilt was carved ivory. On the pommel, an engraved golden eagle bared its beak in a snarl or grin. Above it, the kanji for Honor and Duty.
Taking the weapon from him, Saeko slowly unsheathed the blade and let out a soft gasp at the sight.
She sheathed it again and looked at Aurélien. "Thank you, Aur. You've no idea how much this means to me," she said gratefully.
"Well, I had to give you something better than what you had before," Aurélien said modestly before looking at her more seriously. "What happened back there? You were badly shaken."
Saeko looked at the floor. She had hesitated to kill three zombified children. She hadn't hesitated to kill zombified adults or classmates. But seeing those young children turned was something she wasn't ready for. Without Aurélien's presence, she might have died because of that hesitation.
"I…" she tried, but words failed her. Aurélien gently tilted her chin up to meet his eyes. To her relief, he looked neither angry nor disappointed—only concerned and compassionate.
"I understand," he said softly. "I would have hesitated too, in your place."
"I know, and it almost killed me," Saeko replied, her voice trembling slightly with restrained emotion. "I've never hesitated before, and that's what scares me," she said.
"What do you mean?" Aurélien asked her.
"It's time... I told you my true nature," Saeko confessed. "It happened about four years ago. I was walking home after a kendo practice when a man attacked me and tried to assault me," she said. "But I had my bokken with me, and when I realized I had the upper hand, I felt so calm," she added, a nearly hysterical smile spreading across her lips.
"I subdued my attacker, and when I saw him lying on the ground, scared and bloody, I hit him again!" Saeko let out a small, twisted laugh. "His terrified movements were so inviting that I couldn't stop hitting him, over and over again!" she said. Aurélien looked at her stoically, his face calm and composed as she told her story.
"What happened next?"
"I told the police what had happened, and they let me go due to the circumstances. They even drove me home," Saeko said, tears welling in her eyes. "But after that night... I learned there's a part of me that... enjoys inflicting pain and having control over someone else's life," she added. "I loved it! The feeling of someone's life in the palm of my hand! How can I live with that? How does someone like me deserve compassion? Or friendship? Or love?" She then broke down into silent sobs.
"Don't be so hard on yourself, Saeko," Aegon told her gently. "That sounds like a case of self-defense to me, maybe that's why the police let you go," he reasoned.
"I try to tell myself that, but deep down, I'm a monster!" Saeko cried, her body shaking with each sob.
"You're not the only monster!" Aurélien said harshly. "Since this outbreak began, I've been like that too! Before leaving the bus, I tortured Shido and left him for dead after you and the others got off for what he did to Kohta and what he tried to do to you and the rest!" he added.
"You only became like that after all of this happened. I was like this before it all," Saeko said. "How does someone like me deserve to be loved?" she asked through her tears.
Aurélien suddenly embraced Saeko. She was surprised, but then buried herself in his chest, quietly sobbing. Aurélien held her close, drawing soft circles on her back. Once Saeko had finished crying, Aurélien looked into her eyes. Saeko looked up at him, her mouth opening and closing several times as if trying to find words, but failing. Hesitating briefly, Aurélien leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. Saeko made a muffled sound of surprise before starting to kiss him gently back, closing her eyes as she did. Deepening the kiss, Aurélien shifted Saeko to sit on his lap.
Aurélien continued to kiss her, and she kissed him back, her arms wrapping around his neck and shoulders, pulling him closer. As the roar of blood rushed through their ears and the need for oxygen became too great to ignore, Aurélien stopped kissing Saeko and rested his forehead against hers. Looking into each other's eyes and panting heavily, all they could see were stormy clouds of lust and desire—but also hesitation.
"Saeko?" Aurélien murmured. Saeko smiled breathlessly as she leaned in and kissed him again, her hands exploring her lover's body.
Aurélien looked into Saeko's eyes, holding her face in his hands—one warm and human, the other cold and prosthetic, a contrast she oddly appreciated. "Saeko, are you sure? I'm on a dangerous path, one that might make me the bloodiest dictator in history to some, or a man who gave up his humanity to restore Order to others. With me, your life will be in constant danger, and you may never find peace," the technopriest said worriedly.
Saeko only smiled softly at his warning. "Nothing will make me doubt you. We haven't known each other long, but I've never felt more alive than I do with you. If the man I've chosen walks a dark path he believes is right, then I will follow him to the end, no matter what fate awaits us. I ask only one thing—never abandon me!" she finished with a hint of doubt.
Her lover immediately shattered that doubt by kissing her passionately. The two lovers spent the next minutes kissing each other deeply, letting physical and mental exhaustion overtake them as they lay wrapped in each other's arms, on the bed.
"I'll be here," Aurélien whispered gently to her, his eyes beginning to close as he gave in to sleep. "I promise I'll be here when you wake up," he said before finally surrendering to Morpheus' embrace. Saeko lost her own battle to stay awake, and her last thoughts that night were of the man to whom she had given her heart.
…
Saeko woke up and yawned, wiping away any drool that may have gathered at the corner of her mouth. Looking beside her, Saeko's heart swelled when she saw Aurélien sleeping next to her, his face peaceful and content. Moving closer to her lover, she pressed a soft kiss to his cheek—a chaste gesture compared to the night's previous activities. She stood up and realized she hadn't eaten the day before—and likely, neither had her lover. She rose and stepped out of the room, prepared to make a proper breakfast.
Aurélien woke up a few minutes later, catching the pleasant smell of food. He got out of bed and put on a pair of black pants and a gray shirt. He also slipped on black gloves to hide his prosthetic at first glance. When he opened the door, he made a horrifying discovery.
His mother and his new girlfriend—together in the kitchen. Saeko was cooking and smiling while looking at the photo album that Aurélien's mother was holding, an album full of childhood pictures of him. The adult Aurélien now wondered what kind of hellish dimension he had just walked into.