AN: Ahhh I'm so happy that some people are actually reading this haha. The chapters will probably get longer as we go on, but for now, there is this. Feedback is cool! Thanks for reading!

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Chapter 2

The Classmate

She only stopped running when she came across a hardware store that was empty and dark, the front windows shattered and the door unhinged and crooked. Most people were starting to get off the streets now and this one was nearly empty, making her stomach turn with nerves. Misaki tried to quiet her labored breathing and stepped through the window pane. There had to be a back room like an office, and she was willing to bet that locking herself in and barring the door was about as safe as she would get for the night.

She was doing a good job at staying quiet until she tripped over a couple of boxes strewn across one of the aisles and she swore loudly as she fell. Stupid, she thought, everyone in a five mile radius heard that.

A male voice erupted from the dark. "Is someone there?"

Misaki froze, her heart squeezing painfully in terror. Her sudden panic was so stark that she didn't realize that the voice was familiar. She scrambled to her feet and checked her backpack, holding her breath as if that would give the illusion she wasn't there at all.

"Hello?" They sounded strained and worried, and there were footsteps coming nearer. She backed up too far into one of the shelves and more boxes fell to the ground, making even more noise. Of course, she thought, angry with herself. "I'm not going to hurt you. Are you sick?"

"I'm not sick," she said, though she trembled to understand what his words truly meant. A flashlight beamed down the aisle and illuminated her. She squinted against the brightness and raised a hand to block her eyes. "Are you trying to blind me? Put that down."

There was a click and then they were left in darkness again. "Ayuzawa?"

Abruptly, his voice registered in her mind. "Usui Takumi," she hissed out.

Usui Takumi was a boy who was in her class. She mostly knew the boys who were trouble makers but the only reason she knew Usui was because he had a habit of making girls cry when he rejected them. He was good at everything and modest about it, which pissed her off, especially since the boys at school tried to use him as some sort of leverage in getting what they want. As if Usui was any competition against Misaki Ayuzawa, the Student Council President.

"Don't sound so glad to see me," he murmured as he drew closer, dropping his voice lower. There was something about the way he spoke that felt intimate and she was wary instantly - she'd never trusted guys much since her dad left her family behind when she was younger. Now that her life was hanging in the balance, she was even less inclined to trust them.

"Don't come any closer," she warned in a low voice. She'd spent a couple years in self defense classes and she wasn't afraid to use that.

He paused. "I'm not your enemy, Pres," he said softly. "Anyway, where are your weapons? And don't you know better than to wander into a store in the dark without a flashlight? People are going crazy right now; if it had been anyone other than me, they probably would have attacked."

Crazy? Misaki felt sick to her stomach and a bit irritated at this his inquiry. As if he had any right to know her story at all. "I don't need a lecture from the likes of you," she replied cuttingly. "I'd say it was nice to see you, but it wasn't." She turned to leave but a hand shot out and pinned her shoulder to the shelves. She gasped in indignation.

"Don't be an idiot," he said though he had the audacity to sound amused. "You can't go out there unarmed. You'll die." There was a pause, and then, "Well, you'll die sooner."

"Let me go and leave me alone," she snapped, pushing him off of her. "And don't touch me again, you pervert!"

His hand clapped over her mouth suddenly and her anger rose as her face flushed with heat. She tried to rip his hand from her face when she registered the change in his posture and he quietly whispered, "Shhh."

She froze, realizing how stiff he was and stopped struggling. A horrible sob floated through the air from the front of the store, almost a choking sound, as if someone was trying to speak and couldn't, and Usui leaned in close, his lips touching her ear. "Follow me."

She didn't want to meet whatever was at the windows so she let him grab her wrist and pull her to the back of the store. They stepped lightly until they reached the cashier's counter and had to climb over it. Misaki's shoe squeaked on the laminated tabletop but the coughing and broken cries from the front of the store didn't change, causing her heart to slow a bit once she was behind the counter; at least no one was coming in after them.

He pulled her into a small room and shut the door, barring it with a heavy chair. With a sigh of relief, he flipped the light switch on and hopped up to sit on the desk. Her eyes had to adjust to the sudden brightness as she took in her surroundings. There was a blanket, a couple of books and a water jug tucked under the large desk, the cushion from the chair leaning up against the wall. On the far side of the room, a small window was covered with a black jacket.

"You're an awfully aggressive woman, you know," Usui said, regaining her attention. He was inspecting her as though she was something interesting.

"I know," she responded as she stood there awkwardly, glaring at him. "Don't touch me again."

He smiled then, genuinely, and cursed how attractive he was. His blonde hair was a mess, and there was a scratch that ran along his jaw, his shirt torn and spattered with blood. His green eyes glittered in the fluorescent lights and she thought it was unfair that he could do that. No one ought to look so flattering this unkempt under fluorescent lighting.

He hopped down off the desk and tucked his hands into his pockets. She thought he looked like he belonged in a magazine and not here at the end of the world. "I think we'll be safe in here tonight."

"Do you know what's going on out there?" she asked a bit reluctantly, clutching at her backpack straps. He eyed her for a moment, something sad about the fix of his mouth.

"I saw the janitor at my apartment complex get his throat torn out by his manager's bare hand and almost lost an arm to someone who looked like they'd seen hell." He leaned a hip against the desk and stared at her. "I'm just as confused as you."

He watched her face and she wasn't sure what he found there but he lifted his shirt and pulled a knife from the little sheath acting as his belt before holding it out to her. "You're going to need this, Ayuzawa."

Misaki took the blade from him after a moment of hesitation, but if there were people walking around killing other people, then she wasn't going to fight over it. She was actually pretty handy with a knife, and she was surprised by the unexpected comfort it gave her. Shrugging out of her backpack, she placed the knife in the side pocket, hilt sticking out so she could grab it in an emergency.

"Thanks," she muttered, her face feeling hot. She wasn't going to say it any louder. "Where did you even get all of this stuff?" She motioned to the nest of blankets and books.

"It's easy to get out when you live alone," was his cryptic response.

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Misaki woke up the next morning with her head on the chair cushion, roused by the sound of Usui packing up camp. Her eyes felt sticky like honey and her stomach lurched with a sudden flash of terror at her current situation but she pushed it away quickly and steeled herself for a long day on the run.

"Sleeping Beauty, finally awake," Usui hummed silkily. "Have any sweet dreams?" She made an obscene gesture, coercing a laugh out of him as he slipped into his jacket and slung his bag over his back. "Get up, then. It's still early, but the sun is up and the days are getting shorter. We need to move as quickly as possible if we're going to make up for the loss of daylight."

She rose to her feet, combing her hair with her fingers, a little self-consciously. "We? What makes you think I'd let you come with me?" She was impressed by how disgusted she sounded; being alone out there in a world full of diseased people that Usui said were killing others did not appeal to her in the slightest, but she didn't want him to know that she felt better at the prospect of his irritating company. She could take care of herself, but she'd been told before that two is better than one.

"Non-optional," he smirked. "Lucky me, stuck with someone as fearless as Ayuzawa. I'm only increasing my own chances of survival, you know. You're one amazing woman."

She rolled her eyes and slipped her backpack back on, taking the knife he gave her in one hand. It was too bad that there wasn't a bathroom around. She would pay money for the pleasure of washing her face and brushing her teeth right now. She was far from feeling amazing. "Don't say things like that about me, pervert. You don't know me."

He shot her a smug look. "I know you work part time at a cafe as well as hold the position of student council president, while maintaining grades that nearly match mine," he told her. "That's amazing."

Her face got hot - how had he known about her part time job? She didn't exactly advertise it. "I like you better when you don't talk."

Usui grinned as he moved the chair away from the door. "But you do like me."

Her face went red as a stoplight as her eyes caught on the two other knives secured at his belt and a. . .gun? Where did he even get that? "That's not what I said! Idiot!"

"Shhh," he shushed her as he opened the door and stepped out into the cashier space. Misaki swallowed her irritation and clutched her knife tighter. He bowed and winked at her, whispering, "Your lead; I'll cover you."

She took a deep breath and climbed over the cashier station, her footsteps soft as she started down the tools aisle. For good measure, she grabbed the largest wrench she could find and tucked the knife back into her backpack's pocket, clutching the tool like a baseball bat.

When they made it to the front of the store without incident, Usui touched her shoulder to keep from walking outside.

"Looks clear but I don't know how much we should trust that," he whispered, his mouth close to her ear again. Her face went hot and she licked her lips as she resisted the urge to shove him away.

"We need to go this way," she whispered back, motioning toward a smaller side street about a block away. It was eerily quiet outside as the wind swept through, like a whistle, and Misaki was disturbed by the absence of human bodies. Where were the police? The medics? What the hell was going on here? "I need to make it to my friend's house; they're waiting for me."

He nodded and pointed at the empty buildings. "I don't know if those who go crazy die from whatever is infecting them, but we should do our best to not draw attention to ourselves." After another quiet moment, he murmured. "Please stay close to me."

She shrugged out from his hand and slunk out the door. "Then don't wander off," she whispered back harshly, vexed by his assumption that she would need protecting.

He blinked, but a smirk curled at his mouth. "I won't."