Despite his protests, Takashi did manage to find himself a few hours that could, under a very generous definition, be called sleep. He still felt like hell in the morning, but at least he could function again with a reasonable degree of awareness, and his body was no longer screaming at him for rest. Now it was just a quiet sort of ache all over. Saeko, if she felt the same, did not show it. The most she showed was a few dark bags under her eyes, but on her even those looked good somehow. Like rouge applied by a make-up artist.

By contrast, it seemed Chihiro had slept reasonably well, or at least no worse than ever before, sporting the same bushy-tailed and bright-eyed look he had the night before. And Rea, well, now they knew the truth. She never slept. The rest of the Furuya's were still inside when Rea and Chihiro came to the shrine in the morning with some breakfast for their guests.

Little more than bowls of soup and some tepid water, but it was better than nothing, and they were most grateful.

"I did a quick check earlier," Chihiro explained as they wolfed down their meal. "Still quite a few of Them at the gates but the back hill is completely clear. If you follow the rise eastwards you should find yourself at a short wall you can easily climb over. That'll lead you to the canal, and from there you should be able to get to where you're going."

"We'll leave soon then," Takashi replied. "Soon as it's a bit more light out."

Though it was definitely dawn, the sky overhead was thick was heavy clouds, and could have meant a downpour was imminent. The sooner they got going the better, but until there was more light out Takashi didn't want to risk it. Last thing they needed was to stumble over something in the dark, break their ankles (or worse) and be left to the tender mercies of Them.

However, that didn't mean he intended to stay inside of that gloomy shrine a moment longer than necessary. Last night had changed everything. Not just the revelation that Rea was a kind of sentient zombie, but also what Saeko had told him shortly before they'd gone to bed. About how she'd frozen up with the children, and later against Rea. How she kept recalling a terrible incident in her past, before the dead had risen. And Takashi had tried to comfort her, and found himself unable to do so. Never had the strong Busujima swordswoman seemed so utterly... broken.

Takashi stepped out into the open courtyard of the home, stretching out his limbs and gazing up at the overcast skies. It was a welcome sight. No matter how horrible and restless the night had been, they'd made it through it. They'd survived another day in a world determined to end their existence. It gave him a distinct feeling of accomplishment. Indeed, as he gazed out at the open world, the view from the hill reasonably good in the growing light of the new day, it seemed as if things might just be alright.

Naturally, this was when Fate decided to remind him of just what sort of stakes had been raised.

A low, unearthly moan caught his ear, and Takashi's golden gaze flickered downwards to the shrine gates. One of the undead ghouls was battering against the gates to try and get in. Nothing terribly unusual, except he seemed to only be the first of many, and more were coming for as far as the eye could see, staggering down the roads and alleyways and headed towards the shrine. The wind began to pick up, tugging at hair and clothes and rustling through the leaves of the nearby trees, shaking them down to their branches.

Chihiro came sprinting out of the house, followed by the girls. "What happened?" he asked.

"No idea. Is the rustling leaves drawing them in?" Takashi mused aloud.

"Could be," Chihiro agreed.

"Well don't you have more of that... that powder you use?"

"I used up the last of last night," he replied. "I need time to make some more. Sanka-san, do you still have leaves up in my room?"

"I t-think I finished the last of it!" Rea exclaimed. The gates shuddered again, the force of so many bodies pressing against them making them groan in protest. "I'll go hold the gates!" she cried out, flinging herself down the steps and pressing hard against the wooden frame. It wouldn't hold forever, but it might slow Them down.

Her tactic confused Takashi, who didn't see how such a slim girl could possibly make any difference, but his protest died on his lips as Chihiro shook his head. "She can handle it," he said, offering no further explanation. Maybe They would try to attack Rea, recognizing her as one of them. That was as likely an explanation as any, Takashi thought.

"Mero, find some more black pepper, there should be some in the pantry," Chihiro instructed. Nodding, the pale girl vanished back into the house. Her older brother then turned back to Takashi. "I'll get some more hydrangea, can you hold them off for a bit if they break through?"

Takashi cocked his shotgun, making sure it was primed, and nodded. The cat-eyed boy was off seconds later.

"Saeko, get ready, we're..." he paused, glancing at the swordswoman, who seemed to be trembling. And not with excitement either. She was afraid. Terrified even. "Saeko?"

But his voice seemed to come from a million miles away. Saeko's mind was lost in her own terror. Her own memories.

"I... I can't do it..."

Recognizing her inner struggle, Takashi did the only sensible thing he could. Fully aware he was setting himself up for a well-earned slap, he stepped up behind Saeko and threw his arms around her, including grabbing a hold of her left bbrreast through her uniform top and squeezing tightly.

"S-stop!" she protested. "What're you doing?"

Shocking you out of your stupor, he thought. Hopefully the pain and embarrassment would help with that. Aloud, he said, "Don't even think for a minute you're quitting on me. We've come too far. We're not letting Them beat us. You're coming with me, because I need you. I don't care what you did before! I only care about what you do now!"

He held her tightly the whole time, mindful of the zombies still pounding at the gates down below, hoping, praying even, his words would get through to Saeko. Because if she had well and truly shut down, if she had lost her warrior's spirit, then he didn't see any way they could survive this. Finally, Saeko lifted a hand, placing it on Takashi's arm. The surprisingly gentle motion relaxed him. "Thank you," she intoned softly. "I'm okay now."

He let go of her, his arms falling to his sides as he watched her stride forward, unafraid. His words had not been in vain. He'd gotten through to her.

And the timing could not have been better. For despite her best efforts to hold the gate, the sheer number of bodies pressing against it had caused the barricade to start to crumble. The wood splintered and broke as gray, grasping hands filled the gaps. Rea was forced to retreat back up the steps of the shrine, peering down them in downright terror as one of the gates came crashing down, and a flood of undead monsters came pouring in.

"There's too many!" Rea said.

Saeko reached out a hand, laying it lightly on Rea's shoulder. "Do not be afraid, battle sister. I got this."

Smoothly sliding into a ready stance and holding up the sheathed sword in hand, Saeko charged forward, lashing out with the blade in a perfect battoujutsu move, carving through dead flesh like a hot knife through better. With a twirl on her heel she was in motion, sliding the tip of the katana through another zombie's mouth and into its brain. The sharp tip erupted out the back of its head, splattering congealed blood everywhere. Now that she was back in combat, she was totally in her element, hacking and slashing with a savage joy. But that did not mean she was letting her bloodlust get the better of her. Saeko fought intelligently, using the terrain to her advantage, tripping up the clumsier zombies on the stairs before they reached her, bottlenecking them before they could come close and dancing away whenever she was in danger of being overwhelmed.

Unsure of what she was supposed to do, Rea watched the battle with her hands clasped in front of her chest, watching for some way she could make herself useful. But with no weapon and no skill with fighting, she wasn't sure how she could. Takashi was likewise staying back while Saeko tore through the undead ranks with astonishing skill and grace, her sword flicking through the air almost faster than her eyes could follow. It was an enticing, almost beautiful display, were it not punctuated every so often by the dead bodies hitting the ground and blood splattering everywhere. Rea lifted a hand to her lips, positive that if she still had a working stomach, she would feel quick sick by now.

So entranced was she by the morbid display she failed to notice another zombie staggering up the stairs until it was almost right on top of her. She turned around and gave a shriek as it came at her, stepping backwards to try and get away and immediately tripping over the garden rake Chihiro had left out the previous night. Rea stumbled flat onto her butt, backing up as the zombie continued to crawl towards her. If she'd been paying close attention, she might have noticed they were trying to make their way past her towards the still living defenders, evidently finding her unappealing as a meal. Likely due to her already being dead. But Rea was well past simple panic now, and had gone into full on terrified. She staggered backwards on all fours as the zombies continued to approach.

"S-stay a-aw-... stay... STAY AWAY!" she screamed, grasping at the fallen rake and swinging it with all of her might.

Such was the force of her blow that it tore the zombie's head clean off its shoulders, sending the rotted head crashing down nearby while the body collapsed bonelessly on the ground. The zombie girl wasted no time in reclaiming her feet and swinging the makeshift weapon at any zombie that happened to get too close to her, screaming hysterically the entire while.

"KEEP AWAY FROM ME!"

Chihiro came sprinting out of the house holding a jar with more zombie repellant, but slowed before coming to a halt beside Takashi, eyes wide at the carnage on the stairs. Congealed blood was splattered everywhere by the combined efforts of the two girls, who continued to cheerfully, even gleefully, smash through the rotted remains of the zombies invaders one after another. They were almost running out of targets, even allowing for the fact that more and more were being drawn to the sounds of the fight from far away, lured like moths to the flame.

"Uh... what did I miss?" he asked, sliding up alongside Takashi and checking out the view.

"Oh uh... not much," Takashi replied, his voice somewhat strained. Even given the weird days he'd been having, this was easily the weirdest. A fact driven home as one of the bigger zombies, a heavyset man with a huge chunk of his shoulder torn out, slipped past Saeko's slashing blade and tried to overbear Rea. She easily lifted him up... right over her head... and threw him down the stairs, sending him crashing into a quartet of gray-faced zombies and smashing them all into the ground far below. He must've weighed twice what she did, yet she'd thrown him like a basketball.

"How on earth can she do that?" Takashi asked, confused and stunned by the displays of raw strength.

"A human's strength is regulated by the brain subconsciously protecting the body from over-exerting itself," Chihiro replied automatically, not taking his eyes off of the carnage. He seemed less speaking and more reciting from memory. "Since she is no longer properly alive, Sanka-san has no such limited on her body, allowing her to demonstrate impressive feats of physical strength at the risk of further damaging her body."

Idly Takashi glanced at the piles of corpses around Rea's feet, and wondered just how much damage they were feeling from her attack. Chihiro's explanation made sense though. That had been the same problem that got Hisashi bit, underestimating the dead. They kept coming with no regards to their own well-being, and so were capable of great displays of strength.

"Uhm... should we help them?" asked Takashi, holding his shotgun loosely, pointed downwards. He was pretty sure if they tried to get involved now, he'd only end up getting in the way.

Chihiro seemed of a like mind, setting aside his blue powder on the steps of the shrine and heading inside. He emerged moments later with a bowl of popcorn and plopped himself down at the top of the stairs, munching idly on the popped kernels and staring ahead as if watching a movie of the week.

Moments later, Takashi joined him, slipping a hand into the bowl to claim a bit of popcorn for himself.

In the end, the fight was long and devastating, but not a single zombie was left 'alive' within nearly a half mile of the Furuya shrine once Saeko and Rea had dealt with them. Chihiro had finally spread out a generous amount of the blue powder and he and Takashi and had made use of some ceremonial fans to blow it up and down the streets, filling the air with the pungent odor and driving away the zombie hordes to a safer distance. They would be looking for easier prey now, and the shrine was saved.

By now, however, dawn had come, the sky was lightening (though it still looked like rain) and it was high time for the Fujimi High survivors to be on their way.

"We're sorry you can't come with us," Takashi said politely. "But, we understand. And hope things continue to work out for you."

He offered his hand, and Chihiro enclosed both of his around Takashi's, giving him a firm shake as he nodded in agreement. However, Takashi felt something cool press against the inside of his palm, and when Chihiro had withdrawn his hands, he saw something had been left behind. A small vial of some sort. A vial containing a thick, viscous fluid of a curious amethyst color. It didn't take a genius to guess what it was.

"I... well... just in case, right?"

Eyeing the vial hesitantly, Takashi again glanced over at Saeko and Rea, comparing the two girls. And what he knew about himself. Saeko would want to keep living... and he would want her to keep living too. He took the vial and slipped it into his jacket pocket.

"Thank you," he said sincerely. "And hey? Be careful, okay?"

"You too," replied Chihiro, holding up his hand, fingers closed in a fist. Takashi pounded it with his own.

They were quickly joined by the two girls, who had also finished saying their good-byes. And it seemed, also found a common bond they hadn't expected to find. Takashi even noted with some amusement that Rea had also tried to pin one of the hydrangea flowers on Saeko's uniform top, but it simply wasn't working. Probably for the best, considering the plant was poisonous.

"I suppose I should return this," Saeko said, sheathing the katana and offering it to Chihiro in both hands. He gently waved her off.

"Nah, keep it. You obviously know how to use it way better than we ever will."

"Oh, but... I can't..." she said, again trying to offer it.

Rea's hands, cold and pale, gently closed over Saeko's. "Please, keep it. We've seen how good you are with the sword, Busujima-sempai. And we want to be sure you have the best possible chance of surviving out there as we do in here."

A chance that seemed less slim than strolling outside naked and hollering at the top of their lungs, Takashi mused. But a chance all the same. Saeko seemed of a like mind, for she accepted the blade with a solemn bow of her head, sheathing it and expertly hanging the sheath at her side. She would have to look into finding or making a belt to attach it to once they reached Takagi Manor. And speaking of which, Takashi decided it was high time they were on their way.

"Ready to go, m'lady?" he asked with an only half-mockingly gallant tone.

Saeko immediately played along, dipped her head demurely as she slipped her free arm through his. "At once, my lord Takashi."

He snickered at the term, and the two of them made their way down the stairs of the shrine and out the gates, pushing them shut and allowing them to be latched again from the inside before circling around the hill and following Chihiro's directions towards the canal. It was a bit more roundabout than they'd hoped, but it would get them back to the Takagi Manor and their friends. Even a single night had seemed like an eternity separated from the likes of Rei, Kohta, and Shizuka.

"Do you think they'll be okay?" Rea asked, looking out from the top of the hill. In the distance, she could just barely see the outline of the two living survivors amidst the stumbling forms of other zombies. Monsters like her.

"I sure hope so," Chihiro said.

Gently, he took Rea's hand, and leaned against her, the two of them sitting on the porch of the Furuya Shrine. Like Saeko and Takashi, they leaned on one another for support through the dark times, and came through it stronger.

Nearing the canal, Takashi cast back one final glance towards the Furuya shrine. He thought he could barely make out the sight of two figures standing at the top of the stairs, watching them go. He lifted up a hand, unsure if he should wave to them, then reluctantly lowered instead.

"Do you think they'll be okay?" Saeko asked, glancing back. The shrine was growing more distant, and by the time they'd reach the Takagi estate, it would be long gone from sight.

"I sure hope so," said Takashi, ruffling his hair. They had a long way to go, but really, he'd put good odds on them surviving this.

Gently, he took Saeko's hand, and leaned against her, the two of them walking down the long road leading to the Takagi Mansion. Like Rea and Chihiro, they leaned on one another for support through the dark times, and came through it stronger.

Authors Notes:
Happy All Hallows Eve. Please review and favorite if you enjoyed.