While Takashi and Kohta were surveying the area for the infected, they were distracted when they saw Haruto come running up the hill like a madman. Takashi tried not to laugh as Kohta looked down to see what he was running from. He then saw the Humvee come shooting past him as it ramped off of the curve of the hill, nearly crushing Haruto underneath it but he was able to dive out of the way just in time.
He got up and he was fuming when he saw Saya get out of the car. "What the hell was that for? You could've killed me!" Saya just giggled as she walked over and kissed his cheek. "But I didn't!" She then turned and pulled a pair of binoculars from her little satchel and looked around. "Man… those things really aren't here are they?" Haruto was broken from his fuming and he turned the other way to look. "No… they aren't. I wonder why..."
He then heard the engine of the Humvee roar to life again he screamed while jumping towards the nearest tree, hanging upside down on the branch. He stared fearfully in the direction and saw that it was just Shizuka starting up and closing her door. He sighed and let himself fall as he landed on his feet. Everyone piled into the metal monster except for now it was Takashi and Rei on the back of the roof instead of Kohta and Alice.
He climbed into the passenger side seat and buckled up. He was about to lean back and rest until he heard his door open. He turned and saw Saya standing there with a smile on her face. He sighed and smiled back as he patted his lap. She smiled wider and climbed in, laying her legs across the console and her feet rested in Shizuka's lap. Shizuka just smiled as she looked at them and Haruto closed the door.
They took to the road and Haruto just looked out the window at the buildings as they passed them in a steady blur. "Haruto-kun..." He heard Saya speak and he looked to her. She wasted no time in continuing. "Earlier… you were talking about your friends. You said that when this happened that they got more distant from you… why were they? If they were your friends then they would look past that wouldn't they?"
Haruto sighed as he spoke. "One would think that, Saya-chan. Unfortunately when they found out, not long after a friend of ours betrayed us. He left and nearly killed me but then I..." He looked back and saw that Saeko was smiling and playing with Alice while Kohta rested up. He turned back to Saya. "I let my demon take control. After that… they saw me still as a friend but they were becoming distant from me. We wouldn't hang out as much and some would just ignore me when I would say hi."
Saya could tell that bringing the memories back was hurting him. She brought her hand up to his cheek as she had done the night before and she made him look at her. "Forget all of the terrible memories, Haruto-kun… you are here now. The friends that pulled away from you were never friends… they just acted like it until you didn't fit what they were looking for..."
Haruto looked back out the window with sad eyes. "I know that… I just wish that it wasn't true..." Saya felt her eyes burning but fought back the urge and she leaned in and rested her head against his neck. Haruto laid his head down on hers and closed his eyes. "Hey..." She made a sound that told him she acknowledged him. "I need you to make me a promise..."
She lifted her head up with a smile and looked him in the eyes. "Of course… what is it?" He seemed nervous as he began to fumble with his words. "I… if I… if I ever..." "IT'S THEM!" Haruto was pulled from his conversation and he looked ahead to see a small group of the infected. He grimaced in anger. "Damn it… these bastards again! So they are over here. Saya-chan, I'll need you to move to the back for now."
She nodded and clumsily maneuvered to the back beside Saeko. Haruto reached to his belt and pulled the Raging Bull out before leaning his body out of the window with his but sitting on the door. He took aim and saw that they were forming some sort of road block. "Shizuka-chan, Turn Right!" She did as she was told and turned. Haruto then came face to face… with another Behemoth, only this one wore black shorts that were once again strained and a blue shirt. It was also a tad bit bigger than the one from before.
He looked at the creature as time seemed to stop before it resumed and they went zooming past it. Unfortunately for Haruto he was clothes-lined and stopped moving as the Humvee went shooting past. Even in his daze he could hear them screaming for him, Saya even told Shizuka to turn around. Haruto felt his head begin to ache as he fell to the ground into a smoking heap. His eyes were swirling from the hit as he spoke in a dazed voice. "Not this guy again… why me?"
"It's because you're too fucking stupid to realize when to duck… you stupid fuck..." Haruto pushed himself off of the ground only to have the Behemoth smash his foot down on him. He felt the pressure on his chest and he heard a roar come from the creature. He tried to see if there were any infected coming for him but he was happy to see that it was nothing. He sighed as he felt the pressure increase on his chest. "Gah! Oh well… at least it wasn't a..."
His words were cut short when he heard another roar off in the distance and his eyes widened. To couple with it he heard the Humvee approaching. He inhaled and yelled as loud as he could. "Turn Back Around! It's Signaling Another..." Too late… the next Behemoth dropped down behind the Humvee and it had them boxed in between the horde and the two oversized creatures. He then realized what was going on. These things… are they plotting? They're… they are coordinating attacks! These are too smart… what the hell are these?
Takashi had begun to fire his shotgun at the thing and found that it wasn't very effective. Haruto also saw Kohta pop out of the hole and began to fire whatever the hell it was that he decided to carry. Haruto felt more pressure being put onto his chest and he would swear that he felt a bone snap. Fuck… this thing is going to crush me... He grimaced in pain and saw that Saya had gotten out and was running to him even though the Behemoth stood over him. She got to him and was in tears. "Haruto-kun!"
His eyes were lidded as he smiled at her. "Hey… ugh… Saya-chan. I… I need you… to do something for me." She nodded her head as she clasped her hands together, hoping that he had a plan to get himself out from under the thing. He kept his smile. "I need you… to get back in and tell Shizuka-chan… to get you all out of here..."
Her eyes widened and she felt a tear go down her face. "But… what about..." He chuckled. "Hmhmhmhm… don't worry… about me, Saya-chan. It's gonna take more than an oversized piece of… rotting flesh to take me down. My mission is to… make sure that you all… survive. Now… go..." Her lip quivered as she nodded. She was about to leave but then she was grabbed by her arm. Haruto thought it was one of the infected but saw that it was Takashi. Haruto kept a small smile. "Good job… Takashi. Take her and go… get out of here!"
Takashi nodded as he ran to the Humvee with Saya in tow. They got into the car and Saya took the passenger seat, her eyes wide like she had just seen a ghost. Shizuka looked to her in worry. "Where is Haruto-kun?" Saya didn't even spare her a glance. "He said for us to go..." Shizuka's eyes got wide and she looked out her window to see Haruto struggling against the Behemoth, only to grimace once more. She felt her own eyes burn with tears but forced herself to look away as she put the car into gear.
Haruto watched as they were able to maneuver around the second Behemoth and get away. He noticed that it didn't follow them. So… they just want me, huh? Why is that? He contorted in his overflowing pain as he felt another bone snap in his ribs. "Gah! Fuck!" He counted three broken ribs now. "You better not be giving up right now, you fucker!" Haruto frowned. "It's not like… I can get out from under this… fuck… thing! He has me pinned and I have no momentum!"
"Are you fucking stupid? Wait… ask a stupid question and you get a stupid answer… never mind!" Haruto ignored the comment. "So what… exactly would you have me do?" "I'll let it slide this one time… but I need you to use my chakra. I'll let you use it and I'll pull out from it. But I need you to live so I can get out of this body."
Haruto chuckled but then felt another one of his ribs snap. "God… Damn It! Okay, Fine! Give Me It!" Haruto heard him chuckling in his head and then felt his body convulse in the shock. The black chakra began to leak out of his body and it apparently burned the Behemoths foot because it stepped off of Haruto with a roar. Haruto didn't make a move to get up, though as the chakra continued to leak from him.
All of the infected began to move in on him, crowding around him like a school circle. One Behemoth then reared back and roared while throwing its fist at Haruto's body… still his body did not move. He only opened his eyes and felt as his bones snapped back into their places. That feels better… I really needed to get that off of my chest.
He chuckled as the fist collided with his body and sent a cloud of dust and debris flying all around them. The infected took this as their cue to jump in and begin to tear at anything that they could. They had just begun to move until a massive shockwave of power came at them, sending them and the Behemoths flying.
The Behemoths recovered fairly easily and were up and charging back to the crater formed by the fist and the blast. The two were in a type of synchronization as one pulled back its left fist and the other did the same with its right. They then assaulted whatever hid it the dust cloud, only for their massive hands to be caught by something.
The dust began to clear and there stood Haruto with a crazed look on his face. He held the two monsters' fists in his own hands. His claws dung into the skin of their fingers, as that was all he had in his hands. His eyes were pitch black, just like Alters and his grin showed his now longer canines. He then spoke in a voice that made a chill run down even the Behemoths spines. "Let's have some fun..."
He ripped off the middle fingers of both of the monsters and they reeled back their other fists to punch at Haruto again. He pulled out Shukketsu Souru and dashed for them, cutting the one on the left all the way up its arm and as he got behind them he slashed the one on the right all the way down its spine. He flipped through the seals and announced his attack. "Sodoato: Kuro-en: Damudo no Imoreshon!"
Black flames began to dance across the respective wounds before the arm and back exploded in a shower of hellish black fire. They fell to the ground before getting back up and charging again like mindless animals. Haruto, tired of the fight already, pulled out the Taurus and channeled Alter's chakra into it. He smirked as he stared the beasts down. "Rest in pieces..."
He pulled the trigger twice and each bullet slammed dead center into their chests. They made clean holes but blew out a grand portion of each one's back. Before they were able to reach Haruto… they fell dead. He turned with a flourish, spinning the gun by the trigger guard and holstering it quickly.
He let Alter's chakra leave his body and he turned to the direction that the group had driven off in. Hey Alter… do you have any way to track them down? That piece of clothing I have is useless now that they bathed. His head was silent for a few minutes until the malevolent entity spoke. "I do know one technique that can be used. It's an older one that Kyuubi has floating around in her personal memories. Chakura no kaori. Every person has a particular scent to their chakra. If you can just focus on their bundle of scents then you can track them down. Here are the seals."
Haruto watched as the trivial seals washed into his mind. He quickly did them and focused his chakra, seeing the world take on a slightly golden hue. He looked to the direction they drove off in. He saw all of the trails. One was pink and Haruto could easily recognize it as Saya's. He also saw Shizuka's white, Takashi's brown, Kohta's dark green, Saeko's violet, Rei's red and Alice's hot pink. Haruto smirked. You know, I think this is the first time that you've done something helpful for me!
"What the fuck are you talking about? I just saved your ass by giving you chakra!" Haruto waved it off. Mutually beneficial. This left Alter growling as Haruto began to follow the trail after them.
It took some time to actually find them but when he did, he wasn't surprised to find them cornered. He perched himself up on a streetlight. He looked over from about a hundred yards away and saw that Takashi and Rei were on the ground while Saeko was in the horde cutting them down to pieces.
They are getting surrounded… that is bad. Saya-chan, Shizuka-chan and Alice-chan must be in the car. Where is… ah! There's Kohta! I almost lost him. "How the hell do you lose THAT? The guys got the belly of a fucking WHALE!" Haruto couldn't help but chuckle at the comment but stopped it quickly as he saw that they were beginning to get surrounded. Hmmm… they are definitely in trouble. It feels good to be needed. I guess I need to draw them away from the group so that they can get away.
"HEY!" Everyone near the Humvee looked up and saw Haruto perched on the light and their eyes widened at the fact that he was alive an unharmed. They smiled but the infected acted as if he weren't there, though. He frowned and jumped to the ground. He shouted his orders out. "Takashi-San, Get The Others Out Of Here! Saeko-Chan, Help Me Draw the Infected Away!"
Both nodded at their orders and went to work. Takashi started to get Rei off of the ground and slung her arm over his shoulder, taking her to the Humvee. Kohta kept the infected off of them and Alice was handing him clips every time he would run out. Shizuka was doing what she could in order to get the Humvee started, but no matter what she would do it wouldn't start.
Haruto pulled out the Taurus and Shukketsu Souru, holding the gun in his left hand and the blade in his right. He smirked as he raised the gun high in the air, pulling the trigger and listening to the resounding bang of the gunpowder being sparked within the bullet. All eyes were on him as he holstered the gun in his belt and reached down to his waist, going for the white scroll that was strapped there. He pulled it up and quickly unraveled it and quickly discharged some chakra, sending a small puff of smoke out. He rolled it back up expediently and strapped it back to his waist. He then snatched at the smoke cloud and pulled out a red tag about the size of his hand.
His eyes were narrowed with a small smirk on his face as he sent chakra into the strip of paper, making it spark. He turned and threw it down the street back where he came from. It flew in a surprisingly straight line and landed only seconds before exploding. Everyone had wide eyes as they saw the street explode from the touch of the tag, not knowing that it was the tag itself. Haruto looked back to Saeko and motioned for her to hurry.
She nodded as she began to move towards him. She began to make as much noise as she could to draw the infected closer to her and Haruto. The whole time she did this, she couldn't stop thinking. Doing this is going to break us up from the group. It might be the only chance I have to confront him alone about his distance towards me since the bridge. I'll have to do it then.
She continued to move forward as she was occasionally cut a creature in half when it got too close to her. Haruto was staring at her as she came to him. She was right beside him and he began to move as well. They worked their way up the stairs to their right and when they got to the top, Haruto noticed something and his eyes widened. They aren't following us...
The infected had turned back to the Humvee and were going after them again. He gritted his teeth as he used his steel-toed boots to kick the metal light pole beside him, sending a loud metallic ring over the street. "Follow Us! Get Over Here Damn It!" It seemed like they were ignoring him as they just continued their dark walk towards the car. Haruto was about to jump over the railing until he saw another car pull up behind a wire that the Humvee was stalled beside. He saw the people get out and they were dressed in some sort of gear that looked to be for the best protection against the creatures. Haruto sighed as he watched them begin to help the group.
Turning, Haruto looked to Saeko with a smile until he heard Saya's voice ring out over all the noise. "Haruto-kun, Come To My House! The House On The Hill!" Haruto smiled as he spoke back. "Don't Worry, Saya-Chan! I'll Be There!" He then turned and began to run towards the back end of the platform he was standing on with Saeko right behind him. As soon as they landed on the ground below them they were running again until Haruto heard a roar from up again. He came to a halt as he watched the Behemoth come out from behind a building and he only smirked as he brought his sword up with Saeko beside him taking a stance. The monster charged and Haruto looked at it with the same smirk.
"The bigger they are..." "The more the ladies scream when you stick it in!" Haruto just groaned and Saeko looked at him. "You okay, Haruto-kun?" Haruto smiled and looked back to the charging Behemoth. "I'm perfectly fine..."