Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Takashi felt like he was crawling out of a warm soft cocoon as he tried to open his eyes. Then he realized that warm softness was breathing up and down.

His eyes opened to find Shizuka's cleavage staring him in the face. "MUURRRFFFTTTT!" was all he could get out as he flailed his arms.

"That's a good boy! Just rest your head and nursey will make it all better!" the blond told him as she patted him on the head.

To the side, Takashi could see Saya and Kohta who had just come in the door. Saya had frozen in shock, eyes bulging and mouth wide open, while Kohta flinched as if he had been hit and grabbed for his nose.

000

Behind her, Saya heard Hirano go, "GAAA!" as he reached to stop the blood that suddenly gushed from his nose.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Saya roared at the nurse.

"Oh Takagi-san! Komuro-kun just woke up and I didn't want him to fall out of bed again."

Saya stormed over and pulled the nurse away from Takashi. "Right now it looks like you're suffocatinghim!" Pointing back towards the door she said, "Go help that one! It looks like he's going down!"

"Oh dear!" Shizuka cried as she flounced over to Kohta, who was slowly sliding down the door with a glazed look in his eyes.

Turning her attention back to Takashi, Saya asked, "Are you okay?"

Takashi blew out a breath, "Why does she always have to do that?"

"What? She's done it before?" Saya asked puzzled.

"Ah…" Takashi paused as his mind had to reset again. "Well I assume she does that to everyone…"

Saya rolled her eyes as she looked over at Shizuka putting a cold compress on Kohta's nose. "The main thing is do you feel any better?"

"Yeah, I'm ready to get out of here. Where are the others?" Takashi asked.

Saya frowned, "Others? What others?"

"Rei and Sa…" the boy looked dazed for a moment. "Uh…I mean Rei and…Hisashi. I haven't seen them this afternoon."

"Miyamoto is at soujutsu club and I haven't seen Igou all day," she replied. It seemed like he was going to say someone else, but stopped himself, she thought.

Looking back to the nurse who was finishing with Kohta, Saya asked, "Can Komuro go home now?"

Shizuka nodded, "If he feels like it he can. Komuro-san, rest good tonight and let me see you tomorrow sometime."

"Yes Sensei," the boy said as he got up. Walking over he took Kohta by the elbow, "Come on Kohta, I think you need to walk that one off."

Kohta looked up at Takashi with a puzzled look before looking at Saya, who shook her head 'no'. "Sure Komuro-san, whatever you say…"

They went out the door and down the hall to the front of the school where a car waited. The driver got out and opened the rear door, the teens stopped on the sidewalk.

"Get in Takashi, I'm going to take you home," Saya said.

"No I'm just going to…" he started before Saya turned on him.

"After the day you've had, you are going to listen to me and get in."

"Eh…okay…" the boy said. "Ah, how about you Hirano? Need a ride? You don't mind, do you, Takagi?"

The cubby boy's eyes went wide as he looked back and forth between Takashi and Saya. Saya's eyes flared with anger, but Takashi had put her into a situation that to refuse would be extremely rude.

"Where do you live, Hirano?" she asked hoping it would be some out of the way place and then she could get out of it. Of course it was only a couple of kilometers further than Takashi's house.

"Okay, fine let's go," Saya huffed as she climbed in. Takashi sat next to her, and Hirano on the other side of him. The boys gave the driver their addresses and just as Saya opened her mouth to tell him to take Hirano home first, Takashi spoke. "Drop me off first please! I've have to meet someone shortly!"

Saya right eye twitched, "Who is it you have to meet so suddenly, Komuro?" she asked with venom in her voice.

"Hisashi is coming over to watch the game. The Dragons are playing the Tigers tonight. It's still pre-season, but we always try to catch them."

"You will pay for this!" Saya muttered under her breath as Takashi smirked.

000

After Takashi got out, Saya and Kohta sat quietly in the car until it got to the end of the block. Kohta took a breath, twice, and then spoke. "Umm, Takagi-san, you don't have to take me any further if you need to get home. I could walk from here."

Well at least he has the sense to know this is uncomfortable! Saya thought. "No that's alright, Hirano; I'm not pushed for time today."

She could tell the boy wanted to say more. "It looks like you have something else to say. Go ahead."

He looked thoughtful for a moment, "Takagi-san does Komuro-san always act this way? I mean…he seems nice and friendly, but I get the feeling he's acting like he knows me when we have never met before today."

Saya thought about what the boy said for a minute before responding. "Well, yes and no. He is a nice polite person when he wants to be, but I see what you mean. Did you tell him he could call you by your first name?"

Kohta shook his head, "No. I really don't mind if he does, but we had only talked for a few minutes before class started."

Thinking more, Saya posed her next question, "What do you know of this Busujima Saeko, Hirano?"

Shaking his head he said, "Not much really, second year, member of the kendo team. Ah, I heard some other boys talking and they called her an 'icy queen and a rare beauty'. They were also saying her father runs a dojo that teaches sword. That was the name Komuro-san called out when he passed out this morning isn't it?"

Saya nodded, "I talked to her later and she doesn't seem to know him. I don't understand a lot of what went on today. The nurse said he also called her by her first name, but as far as she knows, she has never seen him before either."

"Maybe he read them in the student handbook or something?" Kohta suggested.

"No, those were not given out till after the opening ceremony," she reminded him.

"Hmm, that's true, there was so much going on today I didn't think about that."

The car slowed and pulled to the curb. "Your stop sir," the driver said.

"Thank you," Kohta said as he opened the door. Once out he turned back and bowed to Saya, "Thank you for the ride, Takagi-sama. Please have a good evening."

Well that's polite! Saya thought before responding. "You too, Hirano; see you in class tomorrow."

Hirano smiled before nodding twice and closed the door. He bowed again as the car pulled away.

Saya tried to not look back, but she turned her head slightly and watched. Kohta stood there for a second looking after the car and then turned and went in his front gate.

Turning back, she noticed the driver watching her in the rearview mirror, "Do you have something you want to say, Mac?" she asked with a frown.

The driver, a mid-aged man with dark hair and a scarf tied around his neck, replied, "If you don't mind, Mistress Saya, he seems like a nice polite young man. Is he a new classmate?"

Saya nodded, "Komuro and I just met him today. I'm not so sure about him yet though."

"You've known Komuro-san a long time haven't you, Miss?"

Saya smirked, "Somewhere Mother has a picture of the two of us on our first day of school. We were six years old. I had on a new pink dress and Takashi was wearing a suit. His hair was unruly just like it is now, and he has this grumpy bored look on his face. I've seen him almost every day since then…but today was… it's almost like I don't know who he is. Something happened while we were on spring break…and I intend to find out what."

"I see," Mac said. He grew quiet after that.

I know what Mac's thinking, Saya thought to herself. He thinking; does she like him…does she love him? I don't know myself now. He's always looked at Rei. All these years his eyes have been for her and hers for him. Till today. Today he called out another girl's name. A girl we didn't even know until today. Hell, she even says she has no idea who he is!

Saya looked out the window for a while, watching the city as it cruised by. You're keeping a secret from me, Takashi, and I will damn well find out what it is!

000

Six o'clock came and Takashi's front bell rang. He opened the door to find Hisashi leaning against the door frame holding a bag full of snacks, a smirk on his face.

Takashi waved him in and they made their way to the living room where the TV was. His mother stuck her head out of the kitchen and greeted the boy, "Hello Hisashi-kun, how did you like school today?"

"Hi Auntie! It was good, real busy, but I guess I'll get the hang of it in a day or two."

"Good! Takashi, I've got to go out for a bit, but I'll be back around ten. You boys have a good time," Takashi's mother said.

"Okay Mom, we're just going to watch the game and then I'm heading to bed," he told her.

"Well don't stay up late again. You need to be in bed early since it seemed you didn't rest well last night," she said.

"I won't. The game will be over by then anyway."

"Don't sound so sure of yourself, boy, I know how baseball games go. I'm gone, see you later Hisashi," she called as the door closed behind her.

As he waved goodbye, Hisashi looked at Takashi, "What's this about the game being over by ten? This has all the makings of a long drawn out pitching battle."

Takashi shook his head, "Naw, it will run three up, three down for nine innings and suddenly Oshima Yohei will crack a homer in the bottom of the ninth to finish it off."

Hisashi shook his head, "How can you make a prediction like that? You would have to be some kind of mystic seer to call that!"

The world reeled for Takashi for just a second, but steadied down very fast. "I don't know, dude; I'm just sure that's what gonna happen."

Hisashi shook his head and flopped down in front of the couch as on the TV the umpire called, "PLAY BALL!"

000

Two hours and thirty minutes later, Hisashi sat and stared at Takashi.

"How in the hell did you do that?" the boy asked. "You called the play down to the final hit!"

Takashi sat quietly and watched the TV where the Dragons danced and cheered over the home run from Oshima. His stomach felt like it was churning as his breath sped up. He jumped up and ran for the toilet, barely making it before retching in the white bowl. He heard Hisashi come up behind him and ask quietly if he needed anything.

Telling him no, Takashi washed his face and brought a cool rag back to the living room with him. Hisashi sat on the couch, legs and arms crossed, a stern look on his face.

Takashi sat down and held the wet rag on his face, wiping his neck and forehead.

Finally Hisashi broke the silence, "What's going on with you, Takashi. I've known you for over ten years and I've never seen you like this. Colds, flu, yes, but never like this. It's like you're in pain or something. You're my best friend, tell me what's going on with you."

"I really don't know. I've been like this ever since I got up this morning. I had that crazy dream and then when I got to school I kept seeing people I know, but have never met before. Hirano Kohta is one of them."

"Chubby guy with glasses? Was in the row in front of you when you went down this morning?"

Takashi nodded, "That's him."

"He's the one that kept you from splitting your head open on the floor. Takagi cried out to catch you and he was on you in a blink. Morita got to you second and then that hot ass nurse had Morita and I take you to the infirmary. This Hirano seemed like a good guy, wanted to help, but we didn't need him."

"He's a great guy once you get to know him, got a lot of knowledge about a lot of…stuff." Takashi stopped there.

"What was that whole deal about calling out Busujima-senpei's name? When did you meet her?" Hisashi asked.

Takashi thought for a minute, wondering how much he should say. Finally he sighed, "I've never met her except in a dream."

Hisashi jumped up and paced back and forth, "Wait, wait, wait…you're trying to tell me you passed out in front of the whole school, called out a girl's name, one that is considered to be one of the great beauties of the school I might add, and YOU HAVE NOT EVEN MET HER?! ARE YOU ON DRUGS?!"

Takashi sighed as he slid down further on the couch.

Hisashi was laughing at him now, "Cause if you are, I want some! If they make you have dreams about one of the hottest women in the school, I need to try this shit!"

"I'm not on drugs and you know that," Takashi said quietly.

Realizing how upset Takashi was, Hisashi calmed down and sat back on the couch. "Dude, I'm sorry, but you got to see this from my point of view. So…what was the dream about?"

Thinking again for a minute Takashi sighed again, "The end of the world."

Hisashi sat and watched Takashi for a minute before nodding, "Okay…so how did that happen? War? Nukes? Rock from space…?"

"Zombies," Takashi replied.

"Zombies?"

"Yep, zombies."

Hisashi face palmed himself, "It would have to be zombies, right? Undead walking the earth, chewing on brains…OH! I get it now! Busujima-san is a kendo practitioner! So that would be perfect for zombies! Get that hottie a sword and cut her loose! So what were you? Did you trick out a big time samurai?"

Takashi blushed for a second as he heard the teasing in his friend's voice. "No, I had a baseball bat…and later a shotgun…"

He expected the other boy to fall out laughing, but instead he got a serious look on his face. "Baseball bat huh…good choice really, common, available, sturdy, shotgun is a nice upgrade too. So was I in it? What did I have?"

Takashi leaned forward, "You died early. I tried to get you to take a weapon but you wanted to use your karate skills and got bit by a teacher."

Hisashi fell back on the couch, "Oh man that's just wrong! Your best bud going down right at the beginning! I bet that made it hard on you!"

"It was bad enough on me because I had to put you down. It almost drove Rei insane."

"Aw man, she was that upset over your best friend getting zombified?! That's sweet of her!" he joked.

"She got upset because I killed her…boyfriend," Takashi said quietly.

Hisashi sat upright again, "Wait what? What did you say?"

"Rei freaked because I had to kill you after you had turned."

"But you said her boyfriend. You're her boyfriend, not me."

Takashi sighed, "She had dumped me for you."

Hisashi got up. "Okay Takashi, this is not funny anymore."

"You asked, I told. Look I got over it. Plus in the end I had Saeko-san." Takashi could see that Hisashi was disturbed now.

"Okay look…I don't know if you had some bad fish or what, but you need to go soak, your head too I might add, and get a good night's sleep. I'm going to head home and I'll see you at the train station in the morning."

Takashi nodded as he got up to let his friend out.

Hisashi stopped before going out the door, "Look, don't tell Rei anything about this and I'll keep my mouth shut also. She pissed enough about you passing out today while calling out some other girl's name."

"I figured that is why I had not heard from her. I was not looking forward to trying to explain it by the way." Takashi said.

The other boy thought for a minute, "Look this is what we'll tell her. The last thing you heard as you passed out was Busujima-san's first name. You didn't even know you called it out! Whatda ya think?"

Takashi hated to lie to Rei like that, but he knew Hisashi was right. It was better to tell a small lie than muddle everything up with the truth right now. He nodded that he agreed.

"Oh, and don't say a damned thing about this dream! I think it's best if you try to put the whole thing out of your mind." Hisashi held his fist out to bump Takashi's. "See you in the morning."

Takashi waved goodbye and closed the door behind him.

He cleaned up the mess they had made in the living room and got his stuff ready for school the next day. Heading into the bath he scrubbed down, and once he rinsed off, slid down into the hot soaking tub. He could feel his tensed up muscles relaxing as the heat crept into his bones. He closed his eyes and just floated for a bit, his mind drifting into a dreamlike state…

He was in a big tub, in some house they had broken into. Rei's mother had been with them for at least a week now. Everyone else was downstairs relaxing while they had one night free of Them. Rei and her mother had cooked, and the others had cleaned up. Miyamoto Kiriko had run Takashi out, telling him he had done enough that day, guiding them thought the streets while trying to find a means of transportation out of the city.

At least he thought they were all downstairs.

His eyes were only slits when he saw a shape through the steam. He tensed up for a second till the shape turned into a person.

"Saeko…" he said quietly as she eased closer. She leaned over and brushed her lips against his.

"Sit up, my love, I'll massage your back for you," she whispered. Scooting forward, he kept his head turned away as he heard her robe slip off. She stepped into the hot water behind him and then settled in, her long legs on either side of his hips. Her hands squeezed and rubbed his tired shoulders for a few minutes before she pulled him backward to lean against her ample chest.

"You know, this is not going to take all the tension out of me don't you?" he said with a chuckle.

With that remark she leaned forward and nipped his ear. "I'll try to take care of the rest later then," she whispered seductively.

He glanced around at her, "What would everyone else say, Saeko-chan?"

"Saya, Kohta, Sensei and Kiriko-san know, my love. Only Rei and Alice-chan are in the dark. In fact it was Kiriko-san's idea for me to come up."

"But what about Rei?" he asked.

Saeko sighed, "Kiriko-san took me aside last night and we talked a long time. She knows it was over with you and Rei, and she didn't think it was fair you were holding back just to smooth over Rei's feelings. She wanted me to know she harbored no ill will against me and that she would handle Rei when the time came for her to find out. She thinks it will be better for you if this is out in the open."

Takashi felt as if a heavy weight had been lifted off his chest. "You know I do still have some feelings for her, right?"

Saeko nodded as she massaged his neck. "Yes my love. You have been together most of your lives and I would be a fool to think you would feel otherwise." She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him close, "The main thing right now is, I need you, and you need me. We love each other, and every minute in this world is precious to us, and I don't intend on wasting any more of it."

Takashi turned around in the water and pulled her to his chest, "Saeko…" he whispered and their lips crushed together. That's when he heard the voice.

"Takashi? Takashi, are you still in the bath? You haven't fallen asleep in there have you?" his mother asked through the door.

Eyes flying open he looked around in confusion, wondering where the girl he loved disappeared to. "Ah, no mom! I was just thinking about stuff while I was soaking! I'll be out in a minute."

"Okay, I'm getting in as soon as you're done so get to bed and have a good night s sleep."

"Okay, night mom," he replied, as he got out.

He dried off and dressed in his sleeping shorts before heading towards his room. He sat on the bed and let the dream? Memory? Drift through his mind. That's the night Rei finally had to face that Saeko and I were together, he remembered. From that point on Saeko was never away from his side. Eating, sleeping, fighting…right up until the moment of her death…at his hand…

Takashi lay face down on his bed, put his face in his pillow…and screamed…in his mind's eye he could see her headless body at his feet as the firestorms from the nukes washed across the hilltop.