Life couldn't be better for Sheriff Watanabe and Officer Ohara. They were partners in fighting crime. They worked hand in hand, always knowing what the other was thinking. No one could ever outsmart them when they were together. Each day going as the last where they fought crime and pulled the bad guys from the street. It wasn't until one night where things took a turn for the young duo. The lines for the station were blowing up with multiple calls, they were barely even able to handle everything. While getting down information, there was finally a call that was enough to pull the best officers on it. A young girl had called, she sounded as if she were in trouble. All that could be heard from her was a location in the nearby outskirts of town and a cry for help. Gearing up, the two got their gear and headed out.

"Ohara, what do you think is happening tonight?"

You questioned as she continued to look around them. The location the girl had gave led them to a forest with miles upon miles of trees. There was something off about the atmosphere that the sheriff just couldn't put her finger on.

"I don't know Watanabe, but from the sounds of it, I don't think it's from this world."

"What makes you say that, Ohara?"

Before Mari could answer, a quick snap of a tree branch was heard in the shadows. Taking a step back while getting into her fighting stance, You took a look around at her surroundings. It was a man, no older than 30. He stumbled towards the sheriff. His eyes were dazed but as soon as he caught sight of You he began to pick up speed towards her. You repeatedly asked him to back down but he didn't budge, instead becoming faster with no sign of slowing down. Finally, pulling out her trusty chamber, You took aim at his leg. The shot was fired. As the metal pierced his leg, he paid no mind as now he started limping towards her with just a slight change in speed. Startled, You stared at the man in shock as he didn't even seem phased.

Suddenly, a loud boom could be heard as the body fell to the ground. Mari's chamber radiated smoke as she lowered her gun. Finally out of her shock, You took a look at the man, who was now missing a large portion of his head.

"What the hell happened to this bastard?"

You knelt down taking a good look at him, or what was left of him. His mouth was foaming while his skin had lost its shade of life, showing a more green like tint to it.

You got up from her position only to see Mari was gone. Spinning on her heels, You took a look around the place before calling out,

"Ohara! Where are you, Ohara?"

Suddenly, all around her, You could hear bodies coming near her as groans echoed the forest. Quickly grabbing her flashlight attached to her belt, You shined it in the closest direction of the sounds.

There were more people coming her way, all with the same look upon their faces of the dead man at her feet. Before You could think about fighting, Mari came bursting from the shadows with a group of people chasing after her.

"Run, Watanabe! Run!"

You didn't waste a moment as she immediately took off, heading back towards the sheriff's department. It was hard dodging all of the bodies, as well as random debris on the ground, but You managed. Mari had caught up to her and as they were side by side she yelled out,

"I'm gonna take a detour, Watanabe! I'll try to lose a couple at the cornfield. Meet you back at the station!"

Before You could answer back, Mari was already on her way. Luckily, she took a good amount of them with her. Taking this moment, You began sprinting towards her destination. She had to get these things off her back before she made it back to town.

As her legs ached in pain, You kept going faster and faster with the thought of saving her town in her mind.

She hadn't been paying attention to any of her surroundings as next thing she knew she was already at the station. Taking in large breathes, You took a look around only to see even the streets were empty.

She felt disgusting as she was sweating head to toe but she didn't have time to relax.

Entering the sheriff's office, You immediately heard shuffling of people moving around. She didn't believe these things would be smart enough to hide from a sudden noise but would rather charge towards it. Getting closer to the noise, the young deputy found a group of townsfolk hiding behind her desk.

"Are y'all okay?"

You asked but as soon as they heard her voice, the group of townspeople cheered. They were all afraid they'd have to deal with one of those monsters out there.

As they all stood up, You recognized each one of them. Chika: the farmer's daughter, Kanan: the local lifeguard, Dia and Ruby: the mayor's prodigy children, Hanamaru: The librarian's assistant, and Riko: the local music teacher. Each one of them looked ruffled up as they all stood before You,

"Where are the other cops? They said they would be back but we've been here for an hour."

Chika was the first to question You but before she could answer, Kanan interrupted next,

"And what about deputy Ohara? Where is she?"

As she was about to answer, more and more of their questions started rolling in. Being only one person, You waved her hands to get everyone to calm down,

"I know just about as much as you guys. I came back from a call that Ohara and I took but things got bad so we split up. She should be back any moment now."

The girls all turned to one another chatting away before they heard laughs coming from one of the cells,

"You already know what's happening, sheriff. I told you all about it the night before, but you didn't listen."

All heads turned towards the sound of the noise. You began to go towards the back, already knowing that voice from anywhere,

"Tsushima, what are you talking about?"

You asked her question as she stood in front of the cell.

"I tried warning all of you, yet no one heeded my warning."

You kneeled down to see more of Yoshiko through the bars as she sat on the single bed in the cell looking towards the ground.

"Tsushima, you were literally running around town at 2am telling everyone the end was coming, I think you can understand why no one would believe you."

Yoshiko simply laughed before whispering out,

"But you will soon."

Before You could probe any further, Mari came bursting through the front door,

"Sheriff, we have a problem!"

You ran out of the holding area only to see Mari was attempting to hold it back from multiple people trying to burst their way in as well. Not taking a moment to lose, You immediately ran towards the door to help Mari.

Using her strength to hold it back, You shouted towards the townspeople,

"Can you guys give us a hand with this?"

Kanan, Chika, and Dia were all the first to react. They all immediately began to grab the desks of the office and push it towards the door.

"Ohara, help them secure it. I have to have a talk with someone."

Jogging back to Yoshiko, You opened her cell. Yoshiko stood up as You came face to face with her,

"If you knew this was going to start then tell me how to stop it."

Yoshiko smiled before answering

"As much as I would love to refuse helping you and allow you all to perish, I unfortunately would be stuck with you guys. So, it's simple really. For 29 days these bloodthirsty monsters will roam around this town, not taking a moment to rest until they get each and every one of us. Only a single sacrifice is sufficient enough to get them all going back to the hell where they belong."

You tapped her foot as she crossed her arms. She wasn't entirely keen on the word sacrifice as none were ever easy according to every tale out there. Yoshiko continued on as she looked at the annoyed You before her,

"The person who runs this town must give up something they love and carry it to the center of town. Don't worry, as long as you have your sacrifice in hand and it is the correct one, no one will attack you. However, it can't be alive. If they hear a heartbeat, they'll be sure to remove it. Do this and the ritual will be set for another 100 years. By then you'll all be dead, hopefully, and it'll be the next person's problem."

Yoshiko took a moment to the let the suspense built in You before she finished her instructions,

"The mayor isn't the one everyone would expect though. It's the sheriff that truly runs this town, I mean, look to where everyone ran to instead. So, considering you're the one runs this operation, you technically run this town. Congratulations."

You couldn't help but panic as she had a spark of the one thing, or rather person, she loved in this town with everything in her soul, but she immediately hid it. However Yoshiko could see right through her,

"I know who it is that will take the bullet. It really is too bad you never told her you loved her in the first place. Such a wasted opportunity."

Yoshiko clicked her tongue before sitting back down.

"Now then, lock my cell. If you don't do it, I'd rather starve to death in here then get eaten out there."

You could feel herself panicking. She fell to her knees as she could feel her tears forming. This wasn't what she needed right now in her life. She was still young, yet she couldn't think of a life finding someone else like her, as if there was someone out there that could compare to her red-haired beauty she held close to her heart.

You had told herself over and over again that at the right time she would finally ask Riko out. She'll make that first move, yet each time, panic would always set in. Everyone in town knew of her feelings but the one she wanted. You looked up towards Yoshiko with her tears fully falling,

"Please, there has to be another way?"

Yoshiko looked down at her in pity,

"Should've made her yours when you had the chance. Or at least quit this god awful job."

As the walls were barricaded, everyone came into the cell room only to see the scene before them. They were all confused as to why You was crying on her knees before Yoshiko. You got up, slowly making her exit from the cell before Yoshiko called out,

"And don't forget, if you don't do it by the time it reaches midnight tonight, you'll have missed your chance. Then again, wouldn't be the first time am I right?"

Yoshiko laughed with her final words as You turned around to lock her cell once more. You tracked her way out to the cells. Taking a look at the clock, it was already 3:18. As the group of girls followed her, You quickly wiped her tears. She couldn't let them see her in her current situation she was in so she instead stayed facing away from them before choking out her words,

"She said I have to make a sacrifice of something I love. That's the only way to stop this all."

All of the girls seemed confused except for Mari. She couldn't help but feel her own heart sink. She knew of You's unexpressed feelings towards the local music teacher. Mari took a glance back at Riko that didn't go unnoticed.

"Oh no, please don't tell me."

Riko felt as if someone was grabbing ahold of her own heart. She looked back at Mari as she simply nodded her head in confirmation. The red-haired girl looked towards You for some sort of confirmation as well but You continued to look away from the group.

You couldn't get out her words as she began to sob. Riko made her way towards her as the other girls cleared her a path. Grabbing her shaking shoulders Riko whispered out,

"Hey, it's okay. I've lived a good life and if I'm being honest, it's been an even better one knowing you felt the same way."

You finally turned to look at Riko. With the sight of her honey eyes glistening with tears before You, the sheriff couldn't keep herself together. You could feel her knees weakly give out as she fell to the floor.

"I-I can't do it. I can't do that to you, Riko."

Riko went down to the floor to join You grabbing her hands in her.

"Like I said, it's fine. But I do want one thing before I go."

You gripped Riko's hands a little tighter, pulling them closer to her chest,

"I'll do anything, what is it you want?"

Riko then took her hands from You's grasp, softly placing them on the sheriff's cheeks. She pulled You closer to her as she whispered out onto her lips,

"You."

"Wait a second, why am I the crazy town lady?!"

All the members of Aqours sat in their club room as You and Mari stood before them with their story. The long rainy day had caused them to cease all practicing, which then led to them pairing up and creating stories to keep their minds active. Of course, that now turned into a horror-romance novel from Mari and You. Well, mostly Mari.

"Well, you seemed the most fitting for the roll, duh, Yoshiko-chan."

Mari said as she petted Yoshiko's bun. However, Riko's face was flushed red as she whispered to herself,

"Why am I the sacrifice? And the one to say such embarrassing things?"

Mari couldn't help but laugh at Riko's whispers,

"Well, You-chan here wouldn't write the scene herself, so I decided to just add in some romance ad-libs to spice it up."

Riko looked over towards You, who had been dying in the corner since the sudden change of their pre-planned story, leading to the romantic trope had appeared. She quickly jumped up from her hiding space when she was mentioned however,

"T-That wasn't supposed to happen, Riko-chan! I wouldn't ever write you like that! And Mari-chan, that would've been great if you had run that by me really quick."

Mari simply giggled while shrugging her shoulders,

"If I did, you wouldn't have let me keep it."

Chika, who was far too interested in the story, excitedly asked aloud,

"So, how did it end?"

As Mari took a breathe to begin but You quickly stepped in,

"Nothing happened! Nobody kissed! Yoshiko-chan was just the crazy town person and she lied. Instead, I went all badass on everything and killed the zombies and we all lived happily ever after."

Chika giggled before adding in,

"Happily ever after with Riko-chan, right?"

You sputtered out a response that was lost to the uproar of laughter in the clubroom. Mari and You both took their seats before Kanan clapped her hands,

"Okay, that was eventful. So, who's next?"

Riko and Dia were the next to stand. At the front of the whiteboard, Dia and Riko proudly presented their piece titled, 'Garasu no Hanazono'. They had even drawn a tiny picture on the front of their book. Before Dia could introduce their story however, a sudden question broke through the air,

"Wait, why does that look like Eli and Nozomi from Muse?"