Nimthewriter
patreon
Hound of the Dead Chapter 8: Spreading
🕑 Added 2025-01-02 00:55:24 +0000 UTCBeta read by Shigiya and Darklord331
Next update is Nanoha followed by Steel Eyed Faker.
.
.
.
-Fujimi-
In the dead of night, Fujimi was indistinguishable from any other of the surrounding towns. The streets lay in eerie stillness, with barely a car passing by and even fewer souls braving the sidewalks at this hour. A faint, silvery glow from the moon washed over the roads, casting long, ghostly shadows that seemed to stretch endlessly into the distance.
The cicadas droned on in their relentless serenade, a rare constant in the otherwise tranquil night. The forest itself seemed to slumber, its creatures tucked safely within their nests and burrows. Yet, amidst this stillness, a small mongrel lay curled up in a shallow cave, nestled among the roots of a gnarled tree.
The dog's peaceful slumbered, until disturbed by a faint sound—a disturbance carried by the cool night breeze. Its ears twitched, picking up the noise long before its mind registered the anomaly. Slowly, it lifted its head, blinking away the remnants of sleep.
“—?”
As the dog gazed ahead, confusion flickered in its wide, dark eyes. A figure emerged from the shadows, its silhouette barely distinguishable under the pale moonlight. The dog's body stiffened, and a low whimper escaped its throat as unease crept in.
The animal's ears flattened against its skull, and its tail tucked tightly between its legs. It didn’t bark or flee; instead, it watched the figure with a mixture of curiosity and fear. Something about this presence felt... unnatural. The figure moved closer, its form becoming clearer—a man shrouded in an aura that felt at odds with the serene night.
The dog whimpered again, its small body trembling as it tried to decide whether to run or stay hidden in the safety of its makeshift den.
And still, the figure advanced, its purpose unclear, or maybe it hadn't noticed the small cave. The dog’s eyes reflected the dim moonlight as it stared in front, frozen, at the intruder who had disrupted its peace.
“Ah, did I bother you, little guy? Sorry about that, I'm not going to bite ya! Just do a bit of sightseeing, and go back to sleep.” The Irishman said with a calm voice, a smile on his face upon lowering himself down to his knees. The prior unsettling presence disappears and is replaced by a friendly and bright toothy smile. “Don't know how to say it, but these parts aren't exactly safe for you. Should leave when you get the chance.”
A flicker of understanding flashed in the dog's eyes. It hesitated to approach at first but thankfully gathered enough confidence to go forward and sniff Cu a couple of times before returning to its lair. The dog no longer considered him a threat, even lying back down on the ground. This reaction made the man chuckle, not going any further to disturb his newly made acquaintance.
With his back against the tree, he leaned back and rubbed his eyes for a few moments. Sighing with the smile slowly slipping away to show a face laced with exasperation. He retrieves a small notebook from his pocket and opens the first page to reveal a rather detailed map of Fujimi and several areas around it. All are divided into several sections with a large number of them having a red x mark over them.
Cu crosses off another area symbolized by a simple tree drawing.
“What a fuckin’ nuisance, at this rate, it will be daybreak and I'll find nothing even if I search half of this damn forest.” He muttered slowly, placing a cigarette to his lips and having a tiny flame appear at the tip of his fingertips after drawing a small Ansuz rune. One of the few moments he got to enjoy these, hard to do so around his apartment after he gave his word to Kyouko to avoid smoking there.
In any case, indulging in the effects of the tobacco for a bit before bringing his attention back to his book.
“Can’t tell where that Fear Gorta wannabe even came from, no undead spotted around the shrine and the bounded field still has not gone off yet — so it did not have any friends.” He searched the area around the shrine for several hours, having covered most of the regions near that place but only ending up empty-handed.
The streets leading to the city were empty with not a soul in sight, no secret underground tunnels, or even any residual energy from spells. It was completely quiet, empty, and normal — which only made him grow more suspicious of it all.
“No kind of undead just appears inside a shrine-like that all by itself. Either it transformed whilst inside or by some miracle got teleported straight in. Some of the bottles were recently opened, the kid must have been from that group… a bunch of students.” Was there perhaps an apostle that existed in this world? Not a chance. The creature had no magical energy to label him as a ghoul even… for all intents and purposes, it was a walking corpse.
No superhuman strength, its flesh easily tore apart by just trying to claw him and even a well-placed kick to the head by a regular person could have killed it.
Not to mention how that kid's body clearly had been dead for a while, longer than those people who drank at the shrine last time. Highly unlikely that thing stayed in its place without reacting to their noises.
“Hah… this is getting annoying. I feel like I am missing something, maybe I’m putting to much on my world knowledge? Things are bound to be different here, so maybe it is another kind of being that created this zombie.” The more he thought about it, the more of a headache it started to give him.
The man was not exactly the best when it came to investigations and gathering clues, while he was proficient tracker — Cu just preferred a more physical approach if he had the choice. The former Servant of the Spear did not forget the possibility of this being a man-made incident, but without proof, these were just random guesses.
“What a joke this will be if I am just overthinking the entire situation and at the end of the day it is really just a single undead. At that point, I'll just punch myself.”
As he continued to continue brainstorming, he failed a shift to his side and turned to see the dog back up again walking over on its own with curiosity on its face. “Couldn’t sleep huh? Can't blame you, would like to go sleep in my comfy bed right about now. Seeing how your fully awake, you wouldn't mind helping out a friend like me to hunt down a few ugly rotting zombies?”
The dog huffed, looking away from the man.
“I suppose not, that thing would have made ya its dinner by now. Though I doubt those rotten teeth would have lasted long against yer hide.” His casual praise had the intended effect - the dog's chest in pride. The puffed chest and muzzle held upwards in an almost human-like manner.
“Don't get all tough, lil’ fella. I can still see a lotta bones here, get a tad bit larger and come back then.”
Ruff…
It let out a gruff bark, not loud enough to spread far.
“Bite me and I'll bite ya back.”
“...”
Somehow, his words were understood by the animal who just ended up huffing again, rolling its eyes almost. “Oi, what's with the attitude? You're starting to remind me of that Archer prick, not a good thing.”
A simple joke, a banter shared between him and the nameless dog, but soon, one of its ears twitched.
The black dog tilted its head, looking around and sniffing the air a couple of times. Getting up, its tail wagging quickly and ears perking, alert and focused. Both man and canine turned their heads towards a particular direction, having sensed the same thing.
“Oh,”
Cu stayed quiet, his smile dying down the moment he noticed the forest had suddenly gone eerily quiet. No more sounds of insects or woodland critters rustling the leaves as they moved around.
Everything came to a complete halt.
Getting up without making a sound, he ruffled the dog's head to get its attention. Placing his finger in front of his mouth, he gestured the animal to stay behind — a sentiment the latter did not seem to agree with but obeyed nonetheless. Soon, as they disappeared deeper within the forest, not a single trace of either of them remained.
.
.
.
“Well, what do we have ‘ere?”
Traversing a great distance from his prior place all the way to the other edge of the forest without so much as making a single sound was an easy task. Not wanting to alert anyone of his presence, he jumped on top of a tree with the leaves and branches covering his figure — looking in the distance at a strange sight.
That of several men vested in protective military gear, covered in layers of armor and intimidating-looking weapons stationed near the entrance of the shrine.
“They don't look like the local authorities,” Cu muttered, seeing that despite the appearance of an armored vehicle and their appearances… there was something off about them. Granted, he was not a local and knew very little, but at the very least he could deduce that the local military did not have the logo of a sakura flower embroidered onto their uniform.
These people did not even have ranks.
A private militia? Perhaps, it was not an impossible group to assemble, but only someone very influential and rich would obviously have the ability to do so. Yet that still did not explain what they were doing here, at the shrine where the undead appeared.
Unless…
Enhancing his eyes bore little fruit, other than the handful of men guarding the entrance, the others already had the building.
“I'll have to get closer.” Going in and possibly getting spotted by men holding dangerous weapons without a weapon in hand was no different from lunacy, he imagined his master facepalming at his action and chuckled. “I really need a spear.”
Having been reborn without Gae Bolg by his side irked the Irish hero for a good while. For it was not just a weapon gifted to him by his teacher but also his trusted companion who, together, swept through the battlefield and spilled oceans of blood.
A Noble Phantasm who drew some parallels with the likes of Gungnir itself!
"Bah, no use whining about it now. I'll sort something out," he muttered, running a hand through his hair. The odds of finding Curruid's bones to craft even a crude imitation of his spear were practically nil, and even if he did stumble upon the materials, he'd be useless with them. Blacksmithing was never his forte - he could barely hammer a nail straight, let alone forge anything resembling Gae Bolg. He let out a dry laugh. "Watch me trip over the damn thing in some random cave."
Regardless, stealth was never his strong suit and he never intended for it to become so at any point. But that did not mean he could not take a quieter approach if required, hopefully, this effort would bear some fruit.
Unfortunately, the closer he got to the shrine, the more strained his smile became at the idea of sneaking around.
“Fuck.”
…
(Inside the shrine)
“Izumi Kenji, 16 years old as of last month, sole child of the Izumi family and a student at Ishio High School. A quiet boy with not that many friends… or any at all given the lackluster response we got from the investigation. History of getting involved with a group of delinquents in his year that used him as an errand boy according to a few students. Gone for half a month, the police suspected it had something to do with the group he hung out with but found no proof. After a while, and no other leads, the case was deemed as the kid having run away.”
Within the still-dirty room stood two men accompanied by a handful of armed men just like those stationed outside. The one reading the report wore a suit along with the second person who overlooked the mess in front of him with a gaze similar to that of a hawk.
Carrying an almost suffocating presence that would have put any regular person on the edge. Standing taller than everyone in the room with a broad back, a katana of all things by his hips, and a gruff voice. Even those currently accompanying him, not daring to show even the slightest bit of weakness, their backs straight and gazes filled with respect.
“Tell me the truth, Tetsutarou. Not the fabricated story. Just give me the short versions, I don't have time for this.” The man said, no, demanded with enough authority to make his assistant flinch.
Tetsutarou Doi nodded and took a deep breath.
“Yes sir, it was uncovered by our men that the group, in their drunken state, ended up beating Izumi Kenji after was behaving weirdly according to them. They went too far and ended up killing him. One of the kids had parents connected to the acting mayor and asked for the case to be dismissed. This body was never found though one of them confessed to their lawyer that they buried Kenji near the temple before leaving.”
“...”
Sweat trickled down Doi's temple as he stood rigid, acutely aware of his superior's fury simmering beneath that stoic exterior. The silence stretched painfully, heavy with an intensity that only decades by the man's side had taught him to recognize.
Finally, for what felt like years, he spoke. “What about maintenance?”
“W-We understand that the Mayor has provided funding to a private company charged to keep this place clean, one of the boys was the son of the director.” He quickly replied, having almost stumbled over his words but managing to save himself at the last second.
Crack!
The heavy boots walked inside, crushing the shards of glass scattered throughout the place.
“Does this place look maintained to you?”
“No, it does not, sir.”
For years, it looked abandoned, a truly disappointing sight of a shrine that once belonged to the esteemed family he served—the very land gifted to the city itself many decades ago.
Due to his bosses increasing responsibilities, they had turned their attention away from this place for a while these past few years. A small land that was not worth that much in the first place, but still a place once under their leader's family name.
“Not only have they used this place as a gathering spot to have their ‘fun’, leaving behind undisciplined teenagers to vandalize, pocketing the funds most likely and even spilling blood on this holy place — they are mocking my Takagi family!” He shouted, barely holding himself back from punching the wall and instead keeping his stance firm. Hands clenched with the nails digging inside his skin.
Doi shuddered, it was rare to see Souichiro Takagi get this furious and he knew this meant many people would suffer the consequence of his wrath.
“... This room itself reeks of death. How vile,” Souichiro commented with a frown, looking at the dried-up bloody footprints and the splatter of blood on the wall itself. “The corpse?”
“Uh… we failed to find it. Only his belongings were uncovered, this wallet which fell through the floor’s cracks.” As soon as he said that, Doi got even more nervous when he felt a piercing gaze after he bowed deeply. “We searched the place and indeed found a hole of sorts at the back near the forest — but there was nobody inside. I will immediately send Hideo to get the real answer out of—”
Doi stopped the moment Souichiro raised his hand.
“Head back with the men and have a crew come by to clean this place up. Tell Yuriko to have her contacts buy back this land and be reinstated to the Takagi name by any means necessary. If she can't do it then I will make it happen myself. Go.”
The order was given, and both Doi and the armed men did not dare to disobey for a second. Bowing down at their boss before leaving without any hesitation, leaving him all alone in the bloody room. Getting down on one knee, he inspected the few belongings Doi left behind belonging to the deceased boy, a wallet with an old picture including him, and a few of the members belonging to the group who killed him amongst several receipts all with different last four digits from the cards.
Putting them down, his fingers traced across the surface of the wood, sliding it across and finding a faint trace of black soot.
His eyes gazed at the bloody footprint that filled the corner, and then it led back to the door before disappearing. Not a single trace of burned remains even on the other side and no blood. It disappeared completely at this point…
His eyes narrowed, several questions rising but with not a single answer.
Creak
“—!”
Something primal sparked in Souichiro's gut—pure instinct. His hand found the weapon's handle, drawing it with practiced efficiency. Steel sang against the scabbard as the blade caught the moonlight. In one fluid motion, he struck the katana's edge, cleaving through both the wooden pillar and door like they were made of paper.
Those being the only thing his sword cut through, confusion showing on his face when had sensed a dangerous presence. Yet the empty spot made it clear there had been no one there, not even a single falling leaf anywhere in sight.
“...”
Disbelief flashed before his eyes, impossible. Having been taught swordsmanship by the Busujima head himself, environmental awareness was a core aspect of his training that he had mastered. So for his senses to go off this badly over nothing was strange, almost unbelievable.
But then again, it had been a long day, and with little sleep, fatigue most definitely started to crawl its way onto his min— “So the kid's name was Kenji… Ishio High School huh, good to know. This might give a lead.”
“—!?”
This time, the uncomfortable feeling returned tenfold. Goosebumps spread all across his body with an immediate response that followed with him twisting his body around before his mind could even keep up, rather than going for another slash and attack blindly — he jumped away to create enough distance and brought the sword up in a defensive stance.
He saw a young man with blue hair and crimson eyes casually standing behind him with the same folder in his hand where Doi read his report coupled with the missing student's belongings found earlier.
"Easy there, old timer. Swinging that sword around like that - you might hurt someone," the stranger taunted with an amused grin, completely unfazed by the deadly blade. His crimson eyes glinted with mischief. "Nice form though. Reminds me of someone I know, except she had more of a killer instinct when she fought."
“Who are you?” Souichiro demanded, tightening his grip over the handle. He had not sensed the boy's presence behind him this entire time! A realization that rattled the middle-aged man who had learned from one the best in the country and despite that, an unknown teenager managed to slip his senses.
‘Was he hiding here the entire time?’ Several explanations formed in his mind, but that also could not be the case since his men had done a thorough sweep of the place before. Not even an ant would escape their notice let alone a person of his stature.
“Oh, my name ain't that important.” He waved his question away, scratching his ears without much care. “You don't need to know it, I'm leaving either way — got way more than I anticipated.”
He was planning on leaving like this thinking he would be let go so easily? Souichiro did not know whether to believe this boy was way too confident or arrogant. Especially when he brazenly grabbed onto items that were not his in front of him!
“Don’t move, you are trespassing a private investigation and personal business of the Takagi, accompany me to the precinct if you want to avoid any trouble.” Regardless of his initial response, using words instead of the sword was far more ideal. Blind violence led to unnecessary conflict which he wished to avoid in such a sacred place if possible. “You will just be asked questions, if all is good then we will let you go.”
For this person to be here all by himself and even gain some interest in the missing kid possibly means there is some connection between those two. A member of the gang even, an idea that came to the back of his mind.
“Sorry, can’t stay. I need to go back—it’s almost dawn, and I have places to be. Make sure to have this place cleaned up, will you? It holds a lot of value to someone I know. It would be nice to see it return to the way it was,” the boy said, his voice calm but distant, as though he was already halfway gone.
“Wait!” Souichiro shouted, his voice sharp and commanding.
The boy didn’t stop, his casual demeanor making it clear he had no intention of staying. The reasonable approach had failed, and Souichiro refused to accept such an outcome. His grip tightened on his katana as he lunged forward, the blade angled downward, a clear indication that he wasn’t aiming to harm but to detain.
He had dealt with many opponents in his lifetime, both in combat and in negotiation. Whoever this young man was, he didn’t appear to be anything out of the ordinary—just a fit, determined youth, likely no older than his daughter or that Komuro boy he had seen during the entrance ceremony. Souichiro had confidence in his own ability, even without the backup of his bodyguards. This boy, whoever he was, would not be above him in strength.
Yet, what happened next shattered that confidence in an instant.
As Souichiro’s hand reached out, ready to grab hold of the boy, the figure before him vanished. Not in the way a fast opponent might sidestep or dodge—but completely, utterly gone. His brain barely had time to register the absence when he felt a light, almost mocking tap on his shoulder. This was accompanied by a chilling sensation once more as if a bladed weapon was pressed against his heart and continued to beat the drum loudly..
His body froze, and his eyes widened in disbelief. Turning his head slightly, he saw the boy standing there, as calm as ever, his expression relaxed.
“Don’t stress too much, will ya?” he said with a tone casual as if he hadn’t just evaded him in an impossible display of speed. “I’m not the one who killed the kid. Just found him here, and… let’s just say he was pretty much gone already. You wouldn’t want to show that to any parents, trust me.”
The words hit Souichiro like a blow to the gut by his teacher when they first sparred, but before he could respond, the blue-haired individual was already walking away. His footsteps echoed faintly in the room, growing softer and softer until they disappeared entirely.
He stood frozen, katana still in hand, his breath uneven as he tried to process what had just transpired. The room was silent now, save for the faint creak of the floorboards beneath him. He was alone once again, but the presence of that boy—and the unsettling truth of his words—lingered heavily in the air.
He was not hurt, there were no assassination attempts or any kind of attacks aimed at him the entire time. My dad did not stop his heart from beating as if he ran through a marathon, the adrenaline's effect disappearing after a few seconds of silence. Taking a deep breath, he walked outside and turned around to find not a trace of that boy anywhere, returning to the entrance proved to be a fruitless endeavor and he most likely disappeared from this very area.
The armed guards who are supposed to protect the entrance had proven themselves incapable, lying on the ground unconscious and thankfully alive. No signs of any blood on them, or any cuts on their gear… at least this explained how no one intervened back then.
Amongst them being none other than his loyal assistant.
“Tetsutarou!” His loud voice spread across the forest itself, loud enough to rattle nearly everyone back to their senses.
“S-Souichiro-sama!” No different from an average citizen getting up late and discovering they had been late for their jobs, Doi had a similar reaction. “A-An assailant! A young man is walking through these parts, please head back inside the car and I'll have—”
“Hah… it's fine. The person left, so don't bother.” He massaged his forehead, feeling a migraine approaching, unable to do anything about it other than just use his resources to find this person. At the end of the day, Fujimi remained in his territory, finding a single person though risked consuming a lot of resources, he had to do it.
“Left?” Doi was confused, the clear change in his expression making it obvious what was going through his head. “You let him go?”
“... No.”
Whoever the boy was, his intentions and identity were unknown which he did not like one bit. Someone who knew Kenji? Maybe. There was some clear interest in this case given he took the documents, so he was likely to be around Ishio High School. Not Japanese from his facial traits, but he spoke the language fluently like a local.
It had been a long time since Souichiro felt this wary against someone other than Master Busujima.
“Let's go back,” he instructed sternly, earning a stare of disbelief from Doi who most likely wondered why he was not saying anything about the intruder. “Make sure to proceed with the land's acquisition with Yuriko and have a crew come by to clean this place right away. I want to see this place return to its former beauty.”
“Yes sir! B-But what about the one who attacked us?”
All he received was a glare, even if his body ached from being knocked unconscious, the fear evaporated all of that and pushed him to stand straight and comply without saying anything else. Calling all of the men to return to the car, The engine revved as they made their way back to town with great speed.
Even as the lights from the town reflected off the window, Souichiro stared almost absent-mindedly at the road in front of him. Thinking about his brief confrontation with the stranger, trying to uncover what truly happened.
‘He recognized my sword style… Did that old man take another disciple?’
The more he pondered about this, the more sense it made. Strangely, he did not hear about that man taking in another disciple. As far as he knew, he was focusing on teaching his granddaughter who has been hailed as a prodigy. One whose talent surpassed even his, a natural-born swordswoman who only needed a bit of time to bloom.
‘It won't hurt to see how he's doing.’
{Break}
(Next day)
-Fujimi Academy-
Safe to say, Cu did not get the few hours of sleep he wanted.
Having returned to his apartment after leaving the shrine, the sky had already turned bright with the birds chirping loudly and his alarm clock going off as soon as he opened the door. Barely enough time to get some shut-eye or even eat for that matter.
However, he did not regret his decision to patrol the town. Creatures like those tended to spread fast if left unchecked, he was not sure if getting bitten or infected through blood would turn others into undead creatures.
Strangely enough, he recalled not seeing any bite marks on Kenji. Then again, hard to tell since half of his body had rotted away by the time he found the undead kid. His only lead to finding the source of this matter turned out to be another school nearby, a place that did not hold the same standard as Fujimi Academy, from what he gathered, one of the third year, social studies teachers also worked over there from what he managed to gather from Kyouko.
In any case, for now, he decided to take a moment to rest his eyes during the lunch period. Classes were tedious to follow, as usual, Rei was worried about him and he reassured her quickly. Putting the blame on some late night session of drinking which she was quick to believe.
Not that he blamed her.
Another reason as to why he was finding a spot so far away from the main building was also due to a certain kendo practitioner hounding his ass for the entire day trying to make him join the club. Making countless offers despite knowing he had already made up his mind.
So after finding a random bench in the furthest corner of the school, under a fully grown tree that provided enough shade, he went forward to take a small nap. Having closed his eyes and let his mind for a moment forget about everything.
“If that marker touches my skin, I'll spank ya butt naked in front of the whole school.” Those words left his mouth with a dry tone, not needing to even open his eyes to know who it was near him. The hesitant footsteps led by one that was a bit too eager, silent whispers that even an elderly person with hearing issues would be able to listen, and finally the strong smell of alcohol and various chemicals irritating his nose.
“Ah! I told you he was awake!” The first feminine voice chastised her friend, sounding extremely guilty as if he caught her red-handed with her hand inside a cookie jar. “I'm sorry, Cu! I told Momo to not to bother you but she wouldn't listen!”
“Oh come on, he was basically asking for it, sleeping all defenseless like this in the corner. I know you were also looking forward to having me send you the pictures of his face with cat whiskers, Fumiko!”
“S-Shut up! I never say anything like that! Cu, don't believe her lies!”
The two bantered with one another just like usual. He opened his eyes to find the familiar faces of the redhead tomboyish Momo holding a sharpie close to his face and an embarrassed Fumiko in the back unable to meet his gaze. Fidgeting in place, looking cute enough to have him experience the desire to tease her a bit.
"Cat whiskers, huh? My, my, I didn't know you were into that kind of thing," he teased with a lazy grin. "Should I be worried about all these boys getting jealous of the attention you're giving me? Though maybe..." He leaned forward slightly, his voice dropping playfully. "You're hoping for some special pictures in return?" It was fun seeing her face turn crimson red faster than it took Archer to summon that damned shield. Wait, why was he even thinking about that bastard?
Damn it, that dog's smug face and the cat discussion just naturally made his mind wander to that smug prick.
“N-N-No! I–I-I don’t have such intention—”
“Oh? Am I not good enough? Guess I can understand, Fumiko only likes cute boys with whiskers.”
“Seth!” Unable to hold back her embarrassment, the girl came over and kept throwing at his chest a barrage of light punches that barely made him feel anything. No different from getting hit by fists made of cotton, it was cute he had to admit. From this angle especially, she started to remind him of a younger-looking Kyouko from the images around her house. “I was helping you to stop Momo from drawing something embarrassing on your face and this is how you repay me!? How could you!?”
“Ah! Hahahaha! It hurts! My ribs! Ooh! You'll break something at this rate—ouch! Don't pinch my nose!” At first, he was just playing along with fake reactions, but that pinch actually hurt like hell! “Hit your friend as well, she's just there!”
Slowly, Fumiko stopped and managed to regain her cool, taking several deep breaths and giving him a dry look.
“If I so much as try to do that, she will take advantage of it and grope my breasts.”
Oh, well, he had to admit, given what he remembered from their first interaction, the girl was right. Giving him a free show in public no less, bold to say the least. “Well you did say to not do that in public, right now no one is looking, so…”
“No.”
“Shame.”
At least he gave it a try.
After that, both girls took a seat beside him and somehow, after a string of moments with Momo, suggested finding a way for them to make up for disturbing his sleep. Something that was meant as mostly a joke to also tease Fumiko took a rather unexpected turn that even made the redhead speechless at first.
“A-Are you sure this is comfortable for you?”
With the soft sensation of her warm thighs beneath his head, malleable and not too firm, enough to make it feel like one of the most comfortable pillows he tried for a while.
He looks up, his vision half-obstructed by two big mounds, the bespectacled girl's eyes peeking out at the end. The juxtaposition of her cute behavior and seductive nature is quite a sight to behold.
“Mmm~ Very,” he gave her a curt response, staring back at Momo who just sat there with her mouth open. “Not that I mind having to experience heaven for a bit, but what's the occasion?”
“N-Nothing… I just f-felt bad for having Momo disturb you out of nowhere… and also no one is l-looking, so it's fine for just a few minutes.” Looking away from him when talking was enough of an indicator that she was indeed hiding something from him. Cu raised an eyebrow, while it had been a while since he had last been in a relationship — that did not mean he could not spot the signs of a gal with interest in him.
But what caught him a bit by surprise was from whom this was coming from, the shy girl who gave him the impression of being someone who would faint by just giving a hug to someone of the opposite gender.
Not that he was going to say it out loud for now.
“Is that so, then don't mind me.” Taking what he was given without hesitation, the man got comfortable and enjoyed the warmth without declining the advance. He was a bit tired and sleeping next to a woman's embrace seemed like a good opportunity no matter how he saw it.
"Hey Fumiko, I should probably get up - don't want to make you uncomfortable with my weight," he said, starting to lift his head. But before he could move, her hands pressed firmly on his shoulders, pushing him back down. The sudden motion buried his face deeper between her legs, giving him an unexpected view of lacy underwear that made his eyebrows shoot up in surprise.
Huh, baby blue suit the girl.
“You're not heavy!” Fumiko quickly answered him, her face still crimson but at least now she managed to speak without stuttering. “I-I won't do it again, this is just to make it up for waking you up!”
“If that is the case, then I don't mind being woken up from my sleep more often.” He gave her a cheeky response, seeing her pout in a similar fashion to Kyouko made him start to wonder if these two were not related after all. Momo still remained in her spot, speechless at how bold her friend showed herself to be away from the attention of the public.
“Your hair is surpassingly soft, Cu.” Fumiko said after a few seconds of silence, starting to touch his strands and playing with them soon after. “They are softer than mine… how is that possible? What shampoo do you use?”
“None, just regular soap. My hair has always been like this.” He attributed this small element to perhaps his divine heritage that also got carried over here. Even if this body was that of a normal human being, his soul remained that of a demigod. And certain changes were bound to happen sooner or later.
“Is there a reason why you're so tired today? Usually you tend to be very energetic. For you of all people to be tired is like Momo becoming quiet.”
Did the close physical intimacy give her a confidence boost to speak such words about her friend when the latter sat right next to them? Certainly looked like it, that smile that started to become more relaxed by the second as she continued to play with his hair.
“Nothing like that. It's something else, I've been looking into a few things that I consider important. Say, do either of you two know about Ishio High School?” He took the opportunity to ask that question to the girls as well.
“Ishio? Why do you want to know about that place?” Momo, having finally been able to overcome her prior state, answered him with a curious glance.
"Found a dead student there - well, undead actually. Need to track down what caused it before things get messy. And before you ask, no, I'm not training either of you to fight zombies. This town's got enough problems without me turning you two into wannabe zombie slayers."
“Hah? You should probably ease up on the late-night horror movies, Cu.”
Momo burst out laughing, shaking her head at what she clearly thought was just another one of his wild stories. Fumiko joined in with a softer giggle, her fingers still absently playing with his hair. Cu let himself laugh along with them, knowing all too well how this went. It reminded him of trying to convince his parents about who he really was - same skeptical looks, same dismissive chuckles. No point trying to prove anything to people who'd already made up their minds that you were just telling tales.
“One of my friends goes there, it's a normal school I would say without anything standing out. The big wigs don't have their kids go there so most of them are just from regular families from around town. Our schools even tend to hold annual competitions against one another and as you might expect, they rarely won out of the dozens of matches against our clubs.”
Truthfully, there was not much in this piece of information that he could use. Then again, she did answer his question as told and thus it was not her fault.
“Speaking of bigwigs, you still haven't told us about what happened between you and Busujima-senpai! Since when could you use a sword like that and was good enough to reach a stalemate with the best Kendo practitioner in the entire district if not the country!? The fight between you two was so sick! It was like I was watching an action movie with samurais!”
Fumiko nodded along enthusiastically, making her chest bounce with each movement from his point of view.
“I have to agree, You two were moving like those people inside those action movies. I could barely keep up with either of you the entire time, even the other students were captivated by the display and stopped what they were doing.”
“Are you perhaps one of those people who grew up on a mountain completely shut off from society with an old wise kung fu master trying to teach you everything he knows?”
Ah, the girl was a bit too close to the truth than anyone else. Even if this was said mostly as a joke.
“Change the Kung Fu master to an immortal witch spear user and mountain to a magical realm shrouded in shadow, then you're right on the mark.” Both girls chuckled, even though he had not mentioned a single lie the entire time. “To answer your question, I think I already mentioned at one point that I was trained to use a spear before. But that was not the only weapon I learned to use, whether it be swords and shields, I learned to use them all. That Busujima girl is crazy good, I never met someone with that much potential so far.”
Momo scoffed, “Look at you, speaking about the literal kendo champion as if she were a novice. Had I not seen the match with my own eyes, then I would have accused you of being arrogant! Do you have any idea just how many of her fans you will piss off by saying those words?”
He shrugged, not at all afraid by these fans so to say. “Let them come, might even distract me from my boredom if they all come at me at once. Spear or no spear, I am sure I can take them all on with just my fists… or I can just borrow a wooden spear from Rei.”
“Oh yeah, and speaking of Rei. Is she your girlfriend?” As soon as Momo asked that question, he felt Fumiko's entire body grow stiff. Her expression remained mostly the same, but everything else was tense. Was he a bad guy for wanting to give a false answer just to see her response? Maybe.
“She's my beloved student and future second-best spear user in the making!” He declared proudly, for the Irishman was truly serious when he intended to increase her skills far enough to become amongst the top experts.
In this town at least.
“I didn't hear a no.” This time it was Fumiko who answered, her voice a tad bit more saddened than usual. She tried her best to hide it, but was very bad at it.
“Jealous? Don't be, she has two guys competing for her affection — one of them is a childhood friend. While I admit it would be fun to mess with them, I don't want to get in between that and possibly hurt someone. Those lads deserve a chance, good people at heart in my opinion.” Her eyes turned hopeful with some light shining brightly within them. His grin returned and the next moment, Cu quickly snaked his arm around her waist, feeling up her developed curves. “Don't get so hung up on something like this, have more confidence in your looks because right now, your making it hard for me to control myself.”
“Wait, real—hold on! That's not what I meant!”
Too late trying to change it. “Hya!”
Of course, feeling left out, Momo decided to join in. Taking the other half of Fumiko's thighs and shamelessly rested her head just an inch away from his.
“Don't hog Fumiko all for yourself.”
“Please, there are plenty of her for us to share.”
“Good point. Mmm~ so soft~.”
He did not even need to look upwards in order to catch her changed expression. Even her breathing became more audible, the slightest movement making her squirm and twitch, occasionally letting out involuntary moans.
This was getting a bit out of hand.
And just like that, they ended up spending their entire lunch time on their friend's thigh. Waking up right after the bell rang and forcing them to return back to their classes.
Now, at least he had a better understanding of that other high school. Not much information to be honest but enough for him to plan things out for his next move. For now, though, he wanted to enjoy the sensation he was feeling, so he closed his eyes and took advantage of the forty minutes left.
–Break–
(A few hours later)
“What a long day.”
With another few hours passing by, Cu went through his day without any issues. Aside from occasionally avoiding a certain kendo practitioner girl who kept hounding him to join her club.
So, now that his classes were over, the blue-haired man made his way to the club room where once more found the room to be nearly empty with barely any practitioners left. Even though he struggled to call them practitioners since they were just half-assing it.
Rei continued to have a steady progression with her skills but still remained prone to making rookie mistakes under stress. No amount of words would remove them, but instead, the best teacher was experience itself. Thus rather than using words, he preferred to continue sparring with her again and again till she eventually learned.
Not wanting to break the poor girl, he gave her a break and decided to end it early.
“Want me to walk you home?” As they were putting on their shoes to leave for the day, Cu asked while standing near Rei waiting for her to get ready. His answer got the girl to look at him with a raised eyebrow.
“What's the occasion?”
“Nothing, just want to make sure everything is fine on your end.”
“Sorry, I'm not going home right now. My mom asked me to stop by the police station to check up on my dad, he's been working a lot lately. More so than usual.”
He wondered if it had anything to do with the case of the undead boy. Given how that Takagi guy had his subordinates gather information about the missing kid, then there was a chance that even the cops were on it.
“Is everything alright with you, Cu?” Rei asked, walking closer and getting a good look at his face. “You were very quiet today.”
“You’re the second person to ask me that today. Am I really that loud for you all to think something is wrong with me today when I’m being quiet?” He immediately got a confident nod from Rei. “I don't know whether I should be glad about that or not.”
“You didn't get into any trouble, right?”
“Me? In trouble? Come on now, I'm not some kind of delinquent. You're looking at one of the most honest men in the entire school who does his best to avoid trouble of any kind~!”
The face she made entailed not a single word he said was taken seriously. Ouch, was his image really that tainted?
Finally, Rei ended up chuckling, giving a light slap to his arm “How about next time then? Tomorrow I don't really have anything to do. There is a nice cafe that opened recently near the mall, we can go there together. Unfortunately for you, they don't serve alcohol and you will be paying — take responsibility for all these bruises on my body. I can still barely walk because of you, jerk.”
“Oi, I don't just drink beer.” She scoffed at his response. “Also, you need to seriously work on your phrasing, Rei. You make it sound like we're doing something more naughty than sparring.”
His eyes stared at something behind her back, gesturing to her to turn around as well. Taking his advice, she turned to find Takashi awkwardly standing there in front of his shoe locker.
“...”
“...”
He could practically feel the tension in the atmosphere between these two. From the awkward gaze of Takashi to Rei's noticeable frown. He figured something must have happened between these two recently.
“You two hash this out, gotta meet Kyoko and run some errands in town for dinner. See ya later, Rei, and you too, Takashi.”
Giving her no time to respond, he turned his back to them, and left school, practically feeling the girl's glare boring holes behind his headbut pretending to not notice it. The best way to deal with such tensions between two people was to just talk it out.
.
.
.
“Takashi.”
This day just took a turn for the worse in her opinion. Getting constantly beaten during their sparring was bad enough, but now having been left behind purposely just to force her to talk was not something she enjoyed.
So to try her best, she swallowed her anger and forced out a smile on her face while facing her childhood friend.
“How are you doing?” She said, speaking politely and intending the conversation to be short. For she was serious about going to check on her father at the precinct, apparently some case of several students disappearing came to his attention early on this morning. “Sorry we could not talk to each other often recently, with all the school work and other issues that pop out of nowhere, it has been pretty stressful for me.”
“... I understand.”
Did he? She doubted it. Every fiber of her being wanted to roll her eyes and call bull on his empty words, but she held back for civility's sake. After getting tossed around by Cu all afternoon, she didn't have the energy to deal with Takashi's moody teenager act.
"Have you joined any clubs yet?" she asked, trying to keep things civil. "The deadline's passed. Teachers might give you grief about it." She kept lobbing easy questions his way about classes and school life, but all she got back were grunts and one-word answers. Like trying to have a conversation with a brick wall.
After a few more painful attempts at dialogue, Rei gave up with a weary sigh. This was going nowhere fast.
“Just say what you want, Takashi. I have to get going, I can't stay here all day with you barely answering me.” The polite and formal tone she used had been dropped after figuring that taking such an approach proved to be a complete waste of time.
“...” The boy was taken aback at first at her response, perhaps not expecting her to be so direct. Thankfully, his reaction only lasted for a few seconds before he regained his composure. “Rei, you have been hanging around Seth a lot lately.”
Hah?
Her eyebrows shot up at that. Irritation flared through her as she processed his words. The jealous undertone in his voice was impossible to miss, and it only made her blood boil more. Who was he to question who she spent time with? And the way he said Cu's name, like it left a bad taste in his mouth - that really got under her skin.
‘Don’t get angry yet, let's just hear out what he has to say.’ She said to herself, cooling her temper.
“Well, we are in the same club and he does teach me from time to tim—”
"That's not what I meant," he interrupted, making her eye twitch as her practiced calm expression shifted to annoyance. "Look, Rei, I get that you two seem friendly and all, happy to make another friend, but... you should be more careful about who you spend time with."
Was he…
Was he seriously insinuating what she thought he was? She stared at him, anger and disbelief warring inside her. The sheer audacity of him - of all people - trying to warn her about who she could be friends with left her momentarily speechless.
“I admit that I don't know much about him, but I can say with certainty that something just isn't right with him. Early on this morning when I was making my way to school, I saw him talking to a suspicious-looking man, one who looks like he belongs to the local gang and both of them were coming back from out of town.”
She listened patiently at first, but the longer he went on for the more of her patience started to chip away. “So? I still don't see your point. He can have different kinds of friends that look different from regular people. I wouldn’t be surprised if he made friends with a bear.”
“Not when that friend of his has several gang related tattoos on his body,” he countered. “Trust me on this, I don't know what is going on with him but this does not look good no matter how you look at it. He's supposed to be new to the town but is already hanging out with the wrong crowd. I don't want you to get in trouble by being associated with those kinds of people. You know how dangerous they can be, Rei.”
Her fits clenched, the soreness she felt all over her body had become just enough to thoughts at this point.
“Look, I know things haven’t been the same between us lately,” Takashi began, his tone careful, almost pleading. “But I’m just worried about you. I’m trying to help you avoid getting into trouble. It’s for your sake—”
“Would you shut the hell up?”
Her voice cut through his like a knife, louder than she’d intended, but she didn’t care. The floodgates had opened. Rei’s eyes, now filled with disappointment and a storm of negative emotions, solely locked onto him.
“Worried about me? For my sake?” she spat, her voice dripping with disbelief. “What kind of bullshit are you spouting, Takashi? Don’t stand there and act like you care now. Where were you when I needed you the most?”
He flinched but said nothing, his mouth slightly open, as if searching for a response.
“I don’t remember getting so much as a single phone call from you when Shido sabotaged my grades and humiliated me!” Rei continued, her voice cracking with pent-up frustration. “Not one text, not one word from you for an entire month while I was stuck dealing with that mess. Even Igou came by to check on me—but you? You were nowhere in sight!”
Her chest rose and fell as she struggled to rein in her emotions. “And now you have the audacity to say you’re suddenly worried about me? Worried because I’m spending time with Cu? What gives you the right to say anything at all?”
Her words hung in the air, heavy with accusation, as she glared at him. Takashi stood frozen, unable to meet her eyes, the weight of her anger and disappointment pressing down on him..
“Rei, it’s not that I didn’t want to help,” he said, his voice steady but tinged with frustration. “I wanted to be there for you. I really did. But every time I tried in the past, you were the one who pushed me away. Do you remember? You’d ignore me, distance yourself, like none of it mattered anymore.”
He hesitated, searching for the right words, his gaze meeting hers. “And this time… what could I even do? Your grades, your dispute with Shido—those weren’t things I could fix for you. And honestly, I was afraid. Afraid that if I reached out, it’d just happen all over again. You’d pull away like before, and I’d be left wondering why I even tried.”
“Is that seriously your excuse?” She responded back in disbelief, his answer not helping the situation in the least. “I didn't ignore you because I no longer needed you! I did it because… I-I…”
Because she wanted him to try harder, to be the first one to take a step forward and take their relationship from just friends to something more. But he never tried, showing no interest that she started to believe he truly only saw her as a friend. But then his lack of response to her conflict with Shido made her question if he was even looking at her as a friend anymore.
“You're so fucking frustrating.” In the end, she could not say it and just decided to end the conversation on that matter.
“One more thing,” she said without turning around, stopping right at the entrance. “Don’t you dare talk about Cu like that again. He might be a bit eccentric, but he’s honest. He wouldn’t put me in danger. I genuinely have fun when I'm with him, despite how painful it can be at times, at least he's helping me to become better and actually cares on how I’m doing.”
Rei finally turned to face him, her eyes blazing. “And for you to say such things about him... wait.” She paused, narrowing her gaze as if piecing together a puzzle. “I get it now.”
Takashi blinked, confused. “Get what?”
“You’re jealous, aren’t you?”
“Jealous?” His tone was incredulous, but Rei’s accusation struck a nerve.
“Don’t play dumb,” she snapped, stepping closer. “You’re just saying those things about him because you want me to stay away from him. You can’t stand the idea of someone else being close to me, of me being in a relationship with someone else. Are you seriously still clinging to that stupid promise we made as kids?”
Takashi opened his mouth to respond, but Rei didn’t give him the chance.
“If that’s what this is about, then grow up, Takashi. I can date whoever I want—it’s not your place to decide otherwise. Whether it’s Igou or Cu, it shouldn’t matter to you. And for you to act like it does?” Her voice dripped with venom. “It’s pathetic.”
With that, she turned on her heel and walked out, leaving Takashi standing there, frozen, her words echoing in his mind. Watching her figure walk away, several students avoided her after seeing her furious face.
{Break}
-???-
“Ah damn it!”
On the other side of the town, hidden underneath a bridge, a bald middle-aged man leaned against the wall whilst taking deep gulps of air. His face filled with sweat, pale and with some residual traces of blood that were quickly wiped away.
His face familiar to anyone studying or working within Fujimi Academy.
Wakisaka, one of the teachers who taught social studies, His prior prim and proper look now completely disheveled.
“Hah… Hah… Hah…”
Leaning against a stone wall, hidden within the darkness and holding onto a metal pipe covered in blood, He stared in terror at the bloodied corpse of a student in front of him that he had been beating for quite a while.
“Eur—rkeu…A-Ah…”
Yet much to his horror, even after having its skull fractured and several limbs smashed to bits, the body continued to move and looked at him with soulless eyes filled with hunger. The teacher trembled in fear when looking at his former student, one of the kids who got involved in the case concerning Izumi Kenji.
According to some of the reports, him being one of the five kids who had beaten him to death.
But the truth was different and the boy had called him here to confess away from any prying eyes about how he was innocent and had nothing to do with the killing. Only hanging out with the group and only mocking Kenji from time to time.
Wakisaka did not even know why he had come in the first place, forgetting involved in this matter wrist endangering his career in both schools. He'd rather lose his job in Ishio High School than Fujimi Academy. But unfortunately, one of these kids just happened to be his nephew so he had little choice on this matter.
Which just so happened to be this kid.
But things took a strange turn up for when he arrived, the boy seemed to be in a strange state. His face was pale and his face sunken as if he hadn't eaten for days, clear signs of a fever and a generally bad state of health. He could barely talk at first and he knew that continuing this conversation was a waste of time.
So taking this opportunity to draw a line into this affair and attempt at distancing himself, Wakisaka ended up experiencing a turn of event he could have never imagined in his life. For out of nowhere his nephew let out a strange sound that sounded like a roar and a moan of pain before lunging at him.
Having barely managed to dodge the assault in time, here unfortunately could not manage freeing himself from several scratches on his body from his feral nephew's attacks. Splatters of saliva and blood having reached his face filling him with disgust and a sense of danger.
Without having a choice, he grabbed the nearest item he could find, which ended up being a rusted metal pipe and started to bludgeon the kid again and again. Shouting him to stop, even begging him to get back to his senses but none of that worked.
“S-Stay away from me! Why won’t you die? Why won’t you die!? WHY WON’T YOU JUST DIE!? DIE!”
Watching the barely recognizable boy still trying to bite him, Wakisaka lost himself in his rage and started stomping on its face with all his might. Cracking the skull with brain matter spilling everywhere upon the ground and his clothes. This state lasting for another minute till he came back to his senses.
“W-What have I done…” He spoke with terror, extreme guilt knowing at his being upon seeing the pile of flesh that was once his nephew. “No… nononono—eurgh!”
Growing delirious come up the world started spinning and the middle-aged demand fell to his knees spilling his guts onto the ground.
“Hah… hah… I-I can't let the police find out about this… get out… I have to get out of here!” But of course, he could not just leave the body here and soon be discovered that could potentially trace it back to him. So with trembling hands and a shaken spirit, he forced himself to slowly push away the body into the stream of water. “Ah!”
In his haste, his feet ended up slipping on the pool of blood and landing on the body that was once his nephew.
“AAAAAAAH!” Seeing the single eyeball still attached to the skull staring back at him without any life within further pushed him to the edge. “Argh!”
His movements were completely out of control, trying to crawl away as fast as he could but without doing so safely, something sharp ended up piercing his palm. A flash of pain spread across his body and he looked down to see a canine tooth lodged within his palm. It obviously belonged to his nephew. “Why me… WHY ME!?”
How did things turn like this? He had no answer to that but regardless, Wakisaka’s goal was to return to his regular life and make sure for him to never get involved and lose the career he built through blood seat and tears. “It hurts… ah!” With some effort to come up He managed to remove the tooth and threw it into the river. Doing the same with the body leaving only a patch of blood on the grass.
“I-It will wash away, right? I heard it was going to rain today. If I stay here for longer I'm at a bigger risk of being discovered.” With that in mind, he quickly did a quick rinse of his clothes to wash away as much of the blood as it could, hiding some of his wounds and getting out of there as fast as he could.
For now, you just needed to act like nothing happened and he wasn’t aware of where these kids had gone. To continue his regular life as a teacher and let this matter slowly die with time.
“Shit! Argh… fucking stings.”
There was a slight burn in his palm. As if bugs were crawling under his skin and stinging him. Going to the hospital was also not an option, for he feared they could link him back to the murder in the future. So best to go back home and dip his hands into some pure alcohol to dissolve any infection that he might’ve caught.
Comments
Arlos
Tbh, I don't think the water thing is that big of a problem, water is treated quite rigourously before consumption, the bigger problem is that he himself got infected, and there are still 4 kids unnacounted for who are probably infected and most likely turned at around the same time as this kid. Still wondering how the outbreak is supposed to explode globally in one day under current condition.
Arlos
Unironically, the Takagi would probably be the best ally to try and supress the outbreak in the early stage, once he confirm some slipped through the net, Cu ought to know it's not a one man job anymore.
Aeden Emrys
Thanks for another great chapter of this interesting story! I'm looking forward to reading much more of this great story in this new year of 2025!
Raphael Espinoza Angulo
I love this story, it's my top 1, second is Kuroinu's. :)
2Lazy2Name
Props to Nim for accurately portraying pre-zombie outbreak Takashi as a quiet moper who tends to put minimal effort into everything, and is now only talking to Rei *after* she made the effort to reach out to him first (at Cu's suggestion mind you), and even that is driven by his jealousy over her taking interest in other boys. As Gigguk once said, this guy is childishly upset over how "pinky promises made back in kindergarten don't equal guaranteed sex." And kudos to Rei for catching on and calling him out on it. Meanwhile Cu is doing his best to patrol for more undead, but of course the outbreak is still in the early stages, and he can't sense them since they're not ghouls. So one of them has slipped by and attacked an adult, who actually managed to take it down. Except the dumbass still managed to get himself infected, and he even threw the body into the river to almost definitely contaminate anyone who drinks from it for good measure. Methinks that things are going to erupt into full chaos the next day at school, only question is whether that'll be one or two chapters from now. When that happens though, Cu will likely show just how skilled with a spear he is, and possibly even his talents with runes. And if he saves Kyoko, he'll even have another teacher by his side to counter the absurd suggestions of that creep Shido, along with Cu likely cementing himself as a leader-type figure during the initial disaster.
Sean Robbins
i think he's already buried man! 🤣 and good riddance! never liked him anyways!!
ginkun
Can’t wait 😝 for the zombie to rise up!!!!!!! Let go Cu!!!!! It time to save your harem!!!! And kill those suckers.
Bookwyrm
Honestly, I am loving how you’re dissecting the issues in the interpersonal relationship between Rei, Igou, and takashi prior to canon. It’s a very realistic and mature look at what was going on based off what we got to see. I’m also so disappointed in that dumbass teacher. Clearly the kid was sick with something serious, even when you discount the disturbing degree of durability that should have tipped him off to the zombie thing, he should have known better than to just dump it in the damn river.
The Storm Master 567
Uh-oh. Looks like Chu is gonna have some more trouble on his hands when it comes to the infection unless he can nip it in the bud fast enough. Which I don't see happening. Usually hate Rei but you're painting her in a light that I'm fine with liking her. Do hope he kills Shindo as he's seen guys like that so many times. I mean, he beat the shit out of one when he was contracted with Rin.
Gerardo Hernández Sánchez
Great Chapter👍
Undefinedofs
thank you for the chapter! And Takashi is still diging his grave
