Life Over Death

"What?" Yamishiro asked in bafflement as he eyed Kazuichi up and down. He couldn't believe what Kazuichi just said and he had no idea why he had to do something so embarrassing like that. "I'm sorry, can you repeat that again, Kazuichi-san."

"I said, put it in your mouth. Trust me on this one. It's going to be helpful." Kazuichi replied with a stern face. Clearly, he wasn't joking when he ordered Yamishiro to do something that was unthinkable— at least for him, it was unthinkable.

"All right. All right. I'm trusting you on this one, Kazuichi." Quite frankly, Yamishiro could only ever hope to either become an infected or a Hybrid. If he had the choice, then it would've been nice if he could go down the path of being infected on his terms. To him, he'd rather become a Hybrid than a senseless mindless infected. Even if it meant that his diet would consist of blood and meat, he'd still choose to become a Hybrid. It was a matter of life and death, after all, and Yamishiro still wanted to live.

"Good. Now stuff your mouth with the towel and really get in there. It should be stuffed to the point where you can't even move your jaws. Okay?" Kazuichi said as he pushed Yamishiro to the ground.

Since nighttime had already descended upon the entire stronghold, everyone could barely see each other. There were lights, of course, but they were scattered since most of them were broken, thanks to the attack.

When Peruva and Rima saw what Kazuichi was doing, they had no idea why at first. But after their eyes adjusted to the dimness of the place, their mouths hung open in shock.

There was their leader, lying down on the ground with a towel in his mouth. He was breathing raggedly and sweating profusely as if he was doing something strenuous. Then there was Kazuichi on top of him, pressing on his chest while he advised Yamishiro to stay down.

"Oi oi oi... what's going on?" Rima whispered at Peruva who was just as bewildered as she was.

Peruva shrugged and he didn't utter a single word. There was confusion in his expression as he grabbed Rima by the shoulders. "It'd be best if we give them the privacy they needed," Peruva whispered back after regaining his composure.

Without hesitation, Rima turned her head to see what was going on, but Peruva was quick to grab him by the head. He told her to look the other way.

"Ah, Rima, Peruva, perfect timing!" Kazuichi grunted as he continued pushing down on Yamishiro's chest.

Since Yamishiro was slowly turning feral, Kazuichi had no choice but to press his own weight against him so he won't go on a rampage and initiate another breach. It would've been nice if he had gotten a rope so he could tie Yamishiro while he tried to fight his urges. But right now, he couldn't leave him.

Even while using a huge portion of his strength, Kazuichi was still having a hard time when it came to cutting off Yamishiro's movements. This was the reason why he was grunting.

With eyes almost popping out of their sockets, Rima and Peruva double-backed to see if Kazuichi was really calling to them. They couldn't believe that he'd have the audacity to do this. He should've been more private— or so that's what the two of them thought as the misunderstanding worsened.

"Could you help me out on this? I'm having a hard time. He's moving a lot." Kazuichi asked, quickly swiveling his head towards the two before looking down on Yamishiro. He couldn't let his guard down even if it was just a split second. One wrong move and he might be the one getting pinned instead of Yamishiro.

"Um... should you really be asking us to help you? What exactly do you need help with, Kazuichi?" Rima's flustered tone in her voice was evident as she spoke, and she fidgeted as she scooted closer to Kazuichi and Yamishiro so she could get a better view. She was curious as to what they were doing since the two of them seemed to be too into it.

"Let's get out of here, Rima. Kazuichi, you shouldn't be asking anyone for help in situations like this. Have some decency.' Peruva spoke with a clear tone in his voice.

"What are you guys talking about?" Kazuichi questioned. While Rima and Peruva were confused from heaven and back, Kazuichi was also becoming a little bit confused with how they were reacting. 'It was obvious that their leader was bitten, but they don't even care about him. I was just asking for their help so we could save his life. What's wrong with them?' Kazuichi asked himself, but he still gave them the benefit of the doubt since there was the possibility that they could be misunderstanding something.

"Guys, I just need your help tying him up. After that, I'll take everything from here. Is that too much to ask?" Kazuichi continued, his brows pressing against each other as he was getting slightly irritated.

"What?! If that's what the two of you are into, then leave us out of it." Peruva still had that monotonous tone in his voice as he responded. He heaved a sigh.

Behind him, Rima was contemplating whether she should help or not. It's not like it's a big deal if the two of them were into tying each other up, or if they were into light torture. But then again, this wasn't the time to shame them. She gulped and slowly approached Kazuichi. "I'm going to help." She continued.

Once she approached the two of them, Rima then finally realized what Kazuichi was doing. She finally got a clearer view and now she was beyond shocked. The misunderstanding instantly flew up from her head and she fell on her rear side.

"Leader? LEADER!!!" Rima was finally aware of the situation. She rushed towards the two, immediately holding onto their leader's legs so he wouldn't flail around like that. "Quick! Peruva, we need a rope!"

Fwish~!

The calm winds of the night was suddenly disturbed and Kazuichi felt it on his skin. His instincts told him to look to the side, and to his surprise, another person was there.

"So he's been bitten, huh," A familiar lady commented as the right side of her lips curved upward.