SAFE ZONE

Chapter 1: Leader

To anyone who is hearing this, my name is Souichiro Takagi and I offer you refuge in a safe haven in an isolated and heavily guarded community under my watch. Air-lifts will be given to those who contact this frequency directly. To those who are willing to go by foot, you are very welcome to travel to Honshu where my staff and supporters along with the remaining Uyoku dantai will take care of you. My friends, it has been 2 years since the catastrophe occurred, and we shall not wait in the shadows any longer. The human race will survive. We will rebuild our nation. We will rebuild humanity.

Takashi sat by the window sill of the small apartment complex his group had holed up in to pass the night. Sleep never came to him. It had been like that ever since the end began. He watched Them from afar as they shambled along the streets. To think that those creatures were once human beings who had a conscience.

He made sure that none of those undead bastards lay a hand on his new family. He was the core of the group and without him; they wouldn't have survived for this long. He gave Saeko a reason to live, he provided Rei with the comfort that no one else could bring, he was the contrasting force to Saya's abrasiveness, Kohta and the rest look out to him with respect and dignity that he felt he didn't deserve.

He was their leader.

And with that comes along the heavy burden of keeping them alive. How long could they keep running? Was there no end to this? Were they not allowed to live a normal life?

He looked over to them as they slept. Saya, Rei, Shizuka and Alice huddled together in a futon as they slept. Zeke and Kohta slept near the door and Saeko was propped up on the couch. It looked so peaceful. He wanted to see them like that more.

He was not going to run. Not anymore. As if all his prayers were answered, safe refuge was offered to them in the time they needed it the most. It was the third time that night that he listened to the announcement. He already contacted them and set up a rendezvous point. By tomorrow morning, they would fly out to the refuge.

He clenched his fist and took in deep breaths. He went over to his automatic shotgun and made sure it was loaded, he checked all of the other weapons the same. He wanted to make sure that they all had adequate ammunition for tomorrow. They were going to need it, so he loaded every magazine in their weapons so they had full clips each.

He went back to his original position in the window sill and continued to stare outside.

"Takashi?"

A familiar voice came from behind him. He turned his head and smiled a somber one.

"Saeko, you should go back to sleep."

She stifled a yawn, then smiled "I think I've slept enough." she went over to his spot and sat down across him "Mind if I join you?"

"No. I could use the company." He gave her smile and she smiled in return. They grew closer and closer as time passed, and even though attraction and the affection were clearly obvious, they never decided to make their moves, aside from a number of intimate moments between them. He was fine like that; and not so much on her side. She kept it in for the sake of the group. If they started a relationship now, Rei would lose it. They cannot afford to compromise the safety of the group. They needed one another. Conflict is the last thing they wanted.

"What's on your mind?" she asked.

He spaced a moment before answering her back "You."

Her cheeks turned pink at his statement. But then he continued "and everyone else." She muttered an 'oh' before sheepishly smiling.

It made him chuckle. She was really cute, he thought. If it wasn't for the catastrophe, he would never have been acquainted with her, which wasn't really a bad thing.

"What?' she asked, embarrassed.

"Nothing." He replied "You just look really cute."

The two shared a small laugh while Saeko continued to blush profusely. The laughter died down and they sat there in silence for a while.

"Saeko"

"Yeah?"

He continued to stare outside with a somber look on his face. "I promise you." She nodded and motioned for him to go on. "I'll get you guys to safety." He looked back to her "No matter what it takes." The tone of his voice carried of absolution and resolve to it.

She was at a loss for words due to the sudden shift in atmosphere.

He looked over to Alice. "She's getting older each day. I want her to have a normal life, a normal childhood." He gulped and looked over to Kohta "Kohta's becoming more and more unstable after what happened to Asami 2 years ago." His eyes then trailed to Saya "Saya's intellect would be better suited to help build a nation rather than trying to survive in it and so is Shizuka's." and then finally "Rei deserves to be happy. But after what happened to her mother, I doubt that."

"We all deserve to be happy." he continued "Would you want to keep fighting forever, Saeko?" He looked over to her and he clenched his teeth "Even if you did."

He shut his eyes tightly "I don't know what I'd do if something ever happened to you."

Her eyes widened in concern at the confession and a luminescent blush radiated from her face.

From that point on tears were sliding down his cheeks "I'm the leader of this group. But I am also human. In time like these, am I allowed to show weakness, even if for a little bit?"

She didn't know if she would be happy the thought or not. The fact that he was confiding to her and allowing her to see him in a weakened state meant that he was comfortable enough to be with her.

He wiped away the tears and revealed the resolve in his eyes "You guys are my family, now."

Takashi looked back to her and his expression softened "Is there anything you won't do for family?"

Seeing the pained expression on his face was enough for her. She grabbed his hand, as if on autopilot and leaned in closer. She didn't say anything, all the concern and love for him was already visible in her gaze. He was surprised at the sudden show of emotion from Saeko Busujima, so he offered her a smile and squeezed her hand.

Just like in the temple back then.

He moved in closer until their faces were only inches apart. Saeko wrapped her arms around him and buried her head to his chest. Takashi pulled her close, savoring in the warmth that she gave off. She gripped his back with the intent of not letting him go.

"Nothing's going to happen to me Takashi. Not when you're here." The woman looked up to face him. Damn, she was beautiful. The moonlight emphasized that even more. "You took responsibility right?"

It was a promise to her that did not intend on breaking. Even if the meaning behind it was out of necessity.

He gently kissed her forehead and he smiled afterwards.

"Yeah. I guess, I did."

She couldn't keep it in any longer and so she went in for the kiss. It was a soft and chaste kiss, no force behind, it was a kiss that told so many things yet left so many out at the same time. It was a kiss that had so much trust in it. He closed his eyes his and pulled her even closer.

After a moment or so, he gently broke off the kiss. Saeko, in a daze tried to pull him closer to kiss him again

"Takashi…" she moaned, her voice filled with longing and lust.

He gently held her by her shoulders "Not here Saeko. Not now." He motioned his head to the side and pointed to the others. He couldn't afford to let one of them see the development, especially not Rei. After her mother's death the only thing Rei had to live for was Takashi.

She lowered her head and apologized meekly. It was unlike her to act this cute. He softly chuckled and pulled her into an embrace. "Thank you, Saeko." He was getting fuzzy all over.

"You're welcome, Takashi." She smiled warmly. "Want to go sleep?" she asked

"I thought you had enough sleep?" he jokingly asked.

"I think it would do me good for a few more hours." Her voice sounded slightly muffled as she snuggled even tighter to his embrace. Clingy Saeko was a hard to thing to come by these days. So they broke off the embrace and headed for the sofa.

A few minutes in, Saeko did fall asleep and on his lap. He hoped that she wouldn't drool on it again. He smiled at the thought while stroking her long hair.

Sleep was the last thing on his mind. No matter how much he tried, even with Saeko by his side, sleep did not come to Takashi Komuro that night.

To be continued…

So...yeah. I was kinda late to the party. I only managed to watch the anime a few days ago. Damn, I ship these two so much. Anyways It's been three years since I wrote a fan fic again. Because you know... college. And training. lots and lots of bboy training. I finally passed my thesis though. Hooray for me. lol