Pitching from the Balcony

Chapter 04: Pitching from the Balcony

Day 002 – 10:09

"Rest for a while there, Hachi. We will look around the house first," Roku said as he saw Hoshimi sat beside Hachi. "Stay with Hachi, okay?"

After confirming her nodding obediently, he walked towards the door with Namie. Roku first peeked outside and when he saw that the zombies were just passing the gate, he closed it slowly again. After that, they started to barricade the door with few heavy furniture nearby just to be safe.

"Alright, I'll head upstairs." Saying that, Roku headed towards the stairs for the second floor meanwhile noting that Namie was going into different direction.

He checked the rooms one by one, once again thinking about the fact that there were enough rooms for Hachi's family to live here if not for their jobs, which resulted with him living alone in this house. And then he entered his partner's room.

The room was spacious, probably because Hachi was an only child. He was slightly relieved that there was almost no changes in this room from when he visited two weeks ago except for a single magazine in his bed. The blue-haired teen picked it up and flipped some pages.

His brow twitched, it was so obvious.

It was a fashion magazine, and it would pass as something that a high school boy would buy, except that this was only for women. And most of all, it only shows footwear worn by cute models.

Of course, also feet of those models.

"…Hachi." He was actually a bit shocked. He did not expect that his partner would buy this kind of magazine. There was no denying it anymore, and Hachi could no longer deny the fact that he was lusting for feet.

"I mean, they have their own appeal but I wouldn't be so invested in them. If I have to choose I will prefer a bit higher." As he said so, he flipped more pages and stopped once he saw a certain model. "Yes, that thighs…."

One foot was a wearing a black shoes and the other was not, flaunting the perfectly aligned fingers with a beautifully cut nails—something that Hachi would probably like. Going higher, the model was wearing a dark one-piece dress reaching until the thighs— thighs. Pearly white, smooth, and spotless thighs.

Roku neared his face to the magazine.

"So this is your fetish, huh, you horn dog."

Roku immediately closed the magazine and spoke in a casual manner, smiling as he looked back. "No way, Nana-san. I was merely looking for some shoes that my big sister might like."

"Heehh. I see. So this was Hachi's fetish then."

"…Uh, maybe this was a magazine he bought so that he could pick a present for his girlfriend?"

"Well, that might somehow explains it." Namie then suddenly looked at him in distaste. "But Roku, you think you can deny your gaze at the model's feet earlier?"

"…I was comparing judging if the shoes would match my sister's image."

"It's no use," Namie stated as she grinned. "Now I know that you like feet, you feet-lusting, horny, piglet."

Roku inside his mind was not thinking of his current crisis. Instead, he felt troubled by the fact that she was mistaken his interest.

"So Roku, you're still gonna deny it?"

"Alright, I'll tell you," he cracked grinned throwing the magazine on the bed exaggeratedly. "I admit that I was staring at the magazine, but Nana-san, you are mistaken about one thing.

Roku had the determined look in his face enough to startle Namie a little. "I was not staring at those feet."

"So you admit you are staring somewhere else?"

"Exactly."

"Quite a confident, aren't we? So tell me, what kind of disgusting fetish you have."

"I wouldn't call it a fetish but I think that thighs are really attractive."

"Hahaha! Doesn't that fetish just suit you, Roku?"

"No, you don't understand the amazingness of the thighs!"

The seemingly grand declaration of Roku actually grossed out Namie as she could not help but remain speechless before she regained her composure by clearing her throat.

"If it isn't thigh fetish, tell me, what do you like about thighs then?" She smiled as if ridiculing Roku for the things he had said, and the points that makes thighs attractive.

However, Roku did not mind her at all and started talking honestly, without any shame.

"Thighs are likeable no matter what they kind of clothing covers them, so long as they are tight-fitting like pants or leggings. Of course, if the girl is wearing stocking then it would be even greater. Did you know the weird feeling when you want to see the thighs but you could not because it was cover by that thin, black stockings beneath their skirt!?"

"Whoaa… Gross."

"No. I'm not finished yet. The best thighs are not the covered ones. If a girl is wearing a shorts or a skirt and then paired with a long socks… THAT would be the best combination ever!"

"…That's just thigh fetish, isn't it." Namie started leaving the room. "Well, you could just sniff at that magazine all you want."

"Wait…! I still have not described thighs enough," Roku shouted. "Between the skirt and the socks, the white thighs peeks as if both showing itself while being shy at the same time… uh…"

Roku thought for an example of people and models he saw with that description, while his eyes darted everywhere, passing Namie who looked at him like an insect…

"Yes!" He pointed at Namie. "Your black shorts and black socks are the best parings, Nana-san!"

Namie's face seemed to turn redder even than her hair as she immediately closed the gap between them. She threw a punch at Roku's face but the boy evaded it as he expected it coming.

"Heh that was obvious— gah!"

But he did not expect Namie's knee to his stomach that followed after. Roku, crouched on the floor, groaning in pain.

"…You pervert, piece of shit." Namie kept her upward, hiding it from Roku for a moment. She then looked down at him with hostility. "I do remember you saying I can beat you up when we find a safe place right?"

"…Ahaha. Did I?"

.

The wind blew on his face as he leaned in unmoving on the railings on the balcony, Roku had been punched in the face a few times, several on the stomach, and a kicked in the crotch once. Namie did not let him get away even as he tried, resulting with him ending up in the balcony facing the east.

"…It hurts like crap." He touched his swollen face. By the way, Namie left the room as soon as she was satisfied hitting Roku. "We just ran like crazy earlier, just where did she get all that energy!?"

He stayed like that for a while to rest his tired body before he noticed someone open the door from the room. From his position in the balcony, he could see the bed inside the room through the glass pane. Aside from that, there were no more obstacles for Roku to see the door.

He slowly stood up and he saw Hachi entered inside with his sympathetic smile. In return, he smiled.

"So how did you manage to piss her off again?"

Roku let out a dry smile. "Be thankful Hachi, if it weren't for me, Nana-san, might have figured out your fetish."

"No way, how come?"

"See that thing over there?"

"…Shit. I was careless." Hachi hurriedly picked up the magazine and he stashed it in his bookshelf. "Thanks then. So you suffered those injuries because she accused you with a feet fetish?"

"Something like that, or maybe not." He turned back to face the scenery of the city from the balcony. "Your house's view is great as always."

"Yeah."

Looking from most two story houses, even if one stood from roof, could not view get a proper view of a city. However, it was different with Hachi's house. The land around the house's area was elevated compared to the eastern part of the city, which was considerable lower due to its slanting landscape. Moreover, the houses near the edge of the hill. As a result, from their current viewing spot, they could get a clear view of their target building, which was the evacuation center.

Roku observed the city quietly, taking note of the current state of the city once more, which was not better than what they saw yesterday. He shifted his vision to his left when he noticed Hachi walk to his side carrying a binocular.

Hachi peeked into the pair of cylinder quietly so Roku waited for his turn. After several seconds of staring at the city, and the backyard, Hachi then handed him the object. He neared the binoculars to his eyes careful so that it wouldn't put too much pressure to the area around below his eye, which was swelling as well.

"Let's see…" The image was not clear enough to get the details earlier but now Roku could tell the humanoid figure loitering around the streets were sure to be zombies. Some houses were burned and even right now, he could see some smoke rising in the sky.

He quickly surveyed once more before he focused his vision in the evacuation center. He could see the upper part of the structure but the lower part were obstructed with tall trees planted near it resulting with him to get only the general overview of the structure.

Judging from the few people, he saw inside the windows, it seemed that the evacuation center was safe for now. And like Namie had said, he also saw a person inside that looked like someone from the military.

"Seems like there no problem for now," Roku said as he returned the binoculars to Hachi. "We will discuss what to do later with Nana-san."

The two of them went downstairs to find Namie caressing Hoshimi's head, who was quietly laying on her lap apparently sleeping. She looked at them as she put one finger near her lips to indicate them to stay quiet.

"So going to Kagamine-san's house will be postponed until she wakes up, I guess," Hachi commented. "And it's not like we could come out from the front door without being greeted by those zombies who are having some fun jamming outside."

"And we have to eat lunch first too, which means that the earliest we leave will be afternoon in the first place."

"And you guys needs some rest too."

Both of them exchanged weird glances due to the unexpected statement of Namie.

"What the hell is with those idiotic reactions?" she asked, irritated.

"Uh…well, nothing. Right Hachi?"

"Right." Hachi immediately retreated back. "We'll cook some food."

"Like I said, you guys can rest and I'll do the cooking. I can't trust in some Roku and Hachi shitty cooking, after all." She laid Hoshimi's head gently on a throw pillow. "Got it?"

"Yes ma'am!" Hachi and Roku both answered energetically. Satisfied with their answers, Namie went into the kitchen alone. Both of them know that this was Namie's way of showing consideration for them since they have expended a great deal of energy yesterday, and today.

"We can leave the food to her then, it's not like we're that good at cooking after all. I do hope the ingredients in the fridge will be enough though."

"So long as it's edible, and at least a bit tasty, I have no qualms with whatever she cooks. And by the way, if we're talking about cooking cup noodles, I bet I could beat Nana-san too."

"That aside, Roku, I'll go and take a quick shower."

"Sure, I'll go after you then."

"Yeah, I'll bring you change of clothes too."

Hachi first went to his room and then to the bathroom. Meanwhile, Roku started up the television, and the game console connected below it. He pulled the controller and selected a shooting game.

"Die, you freaking zombies."

After several minutes, Hachi returned with a newly worn clothes. His usual spiky hair was now curling down a little. "Games huh. Hey why don't we race later?"

"Sure. After I'm done."

Roku knew all places of this house and he never felt this place to be some stranger's house. It gone without saying that Roku knew where he could find the washroom as well. But before he entered the bathroom areas, he stopped in front of a sink to look at his face in the mirror.

Observing his reflection, he voiced out his own thoughts.

"She really gave me a good beating."

He checked his face to see how bad it was injured. Fortunately, they were not easy to notice if people wouldn't take a careful look at his face. The swelling should be gone by tomorrow.

After that, he proceeded washing his body to remove all the sweat and dirt accumulate since yesterday, and to also drive away the drowsiness assailing him. He was tired after all the zombies and problems they encountered. Moreover, he had not gotten a proper sleep at the school's rooftop with zombies everywhere in their school.

"Nana-san is sharp as always," he said appreciating her for giving them time to rest. But at the same time he wondered if Namie was just as tired like the two of them. If so, she needs to rest as well.

After he finished taking a bath, he wore the clothes prepared by Hachi. Even so, he still felt a bit tired but not drowsy anymore. He returned back at the living room and there he saw the monitor showing the main menu of the game. However, the player, Hachi who was supposed to be holding the controller and waiting for him to arrive, was now sleeping on the wooden floor with his hands sprawled on his sides.

"He could just have slept on the other sofa," Roku said as he looked at his friend and then to Hoshimi, who was sleeping silently on the sofa, a slight smile escaping from his lips. He sat on Hachi's right side, took the controller for himself, and selected single player mode as he played the game.

Aside from the sound effects of the racing car and the BGM, which were both set in a low volume, only the sound of the controller being tapped could be heard in the living room. Roku played by himself to distract his drowsiness but it was not long when he felt it was coming back again.

"Ahh…damn." Roku forced his eyes wide open as he plopped his back to the floor, staring the details of the ceiling. However, he could not stop his eyelids from closing so he resigned himself to let them rest for a bit while reminding himself not to fall asleep.

Still, he eventually did not realize his consciousness dispersing away like a mist. Roku had fallen asleep.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Roku could hear the BGM for the game over repeating for some time, which he wasn't sure. Upon getting more of his thoughts clearer, an instant was all it took for him to realize that he dozed off and he immediately bolted his eyes open.

Crap!

He stood up and quickly looked to his left side… He sighed in relief. Hachi and Hoshimi were still sleeping and the door was still blocked with furnitures. Next, he turned to his right side…

"…Uh. What's going on?" he asked himself.

Leaning her back on the small table placed in the center of the sofas while holding a controller connected to the game console in her hands, was Namie who to be seemed sleeping.

She must had played the game after Roku and ended up with the same situation like him. But still, Roku wasn't sure if that was the case so he took a closer look. Namie's hands which were holding on the other controller were not moving, and the same could be said for her whole body save for her quite breathing. Her sharp eyes were closed but the black circles below them were still there.

He was convinced that she was really sleeping. But with that realization, various thoughts came into Roku's mind, like the fact that Namie right now seemed really cute and that she was vulnerable in her current state.

"Oh no." Roku averted his gaze. "I mustn't."

He had decided not to look too much on her defenseless self. Looking at the wall clock, he saw the time reaching noon soon. Apparently, he had slept for more than one hour.

Sitting once again in the same spot earlier, he held the controller and started playing games again to kill time, the BGM for the race played along. Oh right, did Nana-san finish cooking? he thought. He paused the game, stood up slowly and started to walk to the kitchen.

"I already finished cooking," Namie suddenly talked behind him.

Surprised, he looked back to see her sitting with her back leaning. From Roku's position, he could see Namie's sharp gaze through her red hair and he noticed that they were still in a little daze.

"I see," Roku said as he returned and sat again. He clicked a button in the controller and the game played again. The screen showed a blue racing car leading away from the rest of the other racers, while at the same time, he wondered why Namie hadn't gotten angry at him for sleeping.

"That game is boring."

"You think so? I think it's pretty fun, especially if its racing against other player."

"Let's race then," the girl as she approached his back and sat beside him after setting her baseball bat on the floor first. He took a look at her and saw her confident grin.

"Shouldn't we wake them up first?"

"Just one round will be fine."

"Alright then."

The race started with Roku taking the lead.

As he focused on the screen, feeling his mind getting absorbed in it, Somehow, he felt comfortable. It might be because this moment right now with him competing with unbeatable Namie was not different with their usual days back before this apocalypse started.

It felt nostalgic.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The match ended with Namie's win as expected. In the last corner of the last lap, Namie's red car bumped into the rear of Roku's blue car while it was drifting. As a result, the direction of the blue car was altered, giving enough time for the red car to cross the finish line first.

"Man, you were so close," Hachi said after they removed the furniture blocking the door. Somewhere between the match consisting of twelve laps, Hachi and Hoshimi woke up, probably because of Roku's cursing and shouting while having trouble somewhere in the race.

"Yeah." Roku had already been used being defeated and in some cases, he could be completely fine with it.

The group was now readying to go to Kagamine Emi's house. They had the discussion after eating their decent lunch, something that the duo didn't really see coming. They decided that they would follow the original plan and go to their schoolmate's house. However, only Namie and Hachi would go.

"How long do you think it will take you to Kagamine-san's house?" he asked.

"Two minutes in a fast walk. Probably we would be back after around five minutes."

"Sure, that's quite fast."

"If things would go…smooth, that is," Hachi grunted as both of them returned the wooden cabinet used to barricade the door to its former position.

Hachi looked through the peephole before opening the door a little bit and then clocked it soon after. "All right, seems no zombie in the front." They had looked through the front yard from the window on the second floor earlier but Hachi checked again.

It was now near four o'clock.

There were various regarding the time. One was waiting for the zombies to disperse, since unlike living people, they tend to stay at one place if they couldn't hear a loud noise. Two, right after eating lunch, Hoshimi and Namie went together to take a bath as well. Three, they did the laundry. Fourth, the group, with all four of them ended up playing different games in Hachi's game console.

"Say, Hachi. Do you have a gun in this house?" Roku asked a question as he watched his partner tying his shoe laces tightly. Hachi had the sam

"Sadly, none." Hachi grabbed his metal pipe laying down beside him. Few seconds later, Namie arrived the front door as well, her baseball bat in her hand. She changed her upper wear from jacket to a 3/4 sleeve shirt, which apparently came from her own backpack. Behinds her was Hoshimi who was wearing different set of clothes. Namie did brought her a spare set of clothes after all. "You done getting ready, Nana-san?"

"Yeah."

"Were going then, Roku. Watch Hoshimi-chan for us."

"Best of luck."

Namie and Hachi both nodded, and with that, the two quickly went outside the house. Roku immediately locked the door.

"Hoshimi, let's go."

"Yes, onii-san," Hoshimi said as she walked beside Roku up to the second floor. Both of them went to a balcony where they could see the road in the front of the house. He held unto the railings of the low wall and observed the view from there.

The road was straight up to a few hundred meters, surrounded by houses and other structures on both sides. Sure enough, the way they came from had been almost cleared from zombies already and the remaining number of the undead could be counted by his two hands. Further past this house, walking in a fast pace on the road leading to Roku's right side, were his two classmates. Roku watched them evade the zombies in their way and killing few of them until they turned into a corner. He could no longer see them but he felt somehow relieved that things were going well for now.

"Getting tired of tiptoeing?" he looked in the little girl beside him.

Hoshimi, who had just enough height to look over the low wall, let her sole down evenly on the floor before she answered, "I'm fine, onii-san."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Alright then. Let's keep watch. Just tell me if something catches you eye, okay?"

After confirming her nod, Roku held the binoculars before his eyes and started to examine the place carefully. He viewed the places where zombies could appear and even houses where people still lives inside. Except the few zombies around, there were no unexpected things that he found.

Four minutes had passed and he had been still going with his job, sometimes taking look outside of the binoculars.

"Onii-san, they are fine, right?" Hoshimi looked at him worriedly.

"I'm certain they are. After all, Hachi is stronger than me." Roku showed a reassuring smile. "And you know that certain stupidly strong, red-haired, superhuman, right?"

She smiled at him, her face saying that she believed every word of Roku. Likewise, he believed of the same thing, that they were both fine. If a crowd like before wouldn't appear, he was confident that they would not be having too much trouble dealing with those occasional zombies.

Five minutes had passed and from the estimated travel time earlier, they would be soon appearing from the corner. Roku, looked to that spot with hiss binoculars, eagerly for them to arrive. However, something that he did not expect happened.

"Onii-san, look over there."

Hearing Hoshimi's words, his attention shifted to road leading just before the going down the slope. A single figure stood there, scavenging a human human corpse. It was a middle-aged man… More importantly, he was holding a gun. Roku could tell from playing shooting games that it was a double barrel shotgun.

On a closer look, the man was taking something out of the corpse's pockets, in his pants and jacket. He basically looted the dead. But it was not surprising in this word anymore. Still, Roku could assume now that it was the dead man who originally owned the shotgun, given that the looted things from the pockets looked like shotgun shells.

The man loaded bullets into the chamber and then shot at a nearby zombie, killing it.

Bang!

He started walking along road taking one another undead before he disengage the cartridge, and reloaded two more bullets. From that point, he shot zombies one after another. The sound of his gun was gathering the nearby zombies and even the ones from afar.

"Hoshimi, hide inside. And don't ever take a peek from the window, understand?"

Adhering to Roku, the girl went inside the house with a silent nod. The teen, himself crouched on the spot hiding behind the low wall of the balcony while still observing the man, and the overall situation.

The man seemed to enjoy killing zombies, however, more of them were coming from the gaps between houses and from the roads nearby. This was not good, Namie and Hachi would probably arrive soon at the corner.

Speak of the devil.

Roku could see the both of them looking towards his direction through his binoculars so he tried to signal them as well. He pointed his index finger towards the man while making a serious expression hoping the two could get his message. While he doubt they could clearly see his visage, they would still recognize his finger, if not, his hand.

Both of them looked to the road leading to the house. They looked like they at least got the message that something not good was happening. Roku watched the two as they moved fast, evading the manageable zombies in their front. Behind them was not all different, undead were all over the place now.

It seemed that the two would be able to manage this problem so Roku removed his binocular from his vision and shifted his attention to the man, who was now just several meters before the gate of this house. It seemed that he noticed Hachi and Namie heading his way as well. Even in the process of being surrounded by zombies, the man's lips curled up.

Roku had a bad premonition.

The man removed the cartridge again, meanwhile, Roku picked up a potted plant beside his feet. The man loaded the bullets, and the teen stood up while a stance for throwing the object in his hand.

Roku did not let himself let the action of the man unnoticed. When he saw the man facing his friends as he barely raised his arm—Roku immediately threw the plant at him, aiming at his body.

Crash!

The potted plant missed its mark and broke after making contact with the asphalt. But that was enough, the man was now looking at his Roku's direction and pointed the gun at him.

Shit! Roku ducked immediately behind the wall. And then the gunshot resounded.

His ears, despite hearing louder noises before, was horribly ringing. His heart pumped faster, making his breaths shorter. That motherfucking bastard!

Despite his fear of getting fired at again, Roku peeked once more, and like he expected, he was greeted with another gunshot, which he desperately evaded by hiding. He took a deep breath to compose his breathing.

The man would need to reload again so he had some time before the gun would be able to fire again. But…shit.

His feet was wavering a bit but it was not enough to stop him from standing up, grabbing another plant. Even his arm was shaking. Fixing his left foot forward and his right foot backward, he drew back his right arm. He inhaled once more.

The man had finished reloading again, however this time, he didn't aim at Roku and focused his eyes on the running two person on the road, who looked like they were going to meet him head on.

Roku knew in his mind how dangerous things were for the two right now. He could not afford to miss. He needed to at least hit the gun to change the trajectory or the person's head to finish him once and for all.

If I miss this, they would probably get shot.

The teen standing on the balcony pulled his left foot backward in the air, aiming at the head.

If I miss this…

"Make…it…!" The man aimed the gun at the two, in that instant, Roku released the potted plant in a form of a player pitching a baseball. "There!!!"

Two sounds went off with seconds of delay between them.

Crash!

Bang!

…Roku was utterly shocked, words refused to come out from his mouth as he watched the result…

…Never…would have I…expected…

The man had evaded the pot and then his gun fired directly at the Namie, who was leading in the front.

"Nana-san…" The feeling in Roku's chest was something he could not describe really well. It was perhaps, an amalgamation of emotions.