Capítulo 109: Symptoms; Prelude
The group's leader had been slumbering for a whole day after sustaining heavy wounds. During this time no one slacked. Lucy took charge and refused to allow anyone to laze around.
Mikoto and Arisa cooked dinner. Hirano taught Takashi and Higuchi how to use the M4 rifle as they had almost learned the basics with the shotgun.
Lucy somehow managed to train Kyoko enough for her to hit some cans of soda from a close distance. The zombies had already regrouped in the building's entrance yet there was an aura of security in the middle of a disaster.
…
"Did you manage to fix it?" Saeko asked Lucy, both of them were in the garage where there was a bulletproof vehicle that belonged to Shizuka's friend, Rika. Lucy determined this would be their vehicle from now on and they were inspecting if there was anything wrong with it. So far there was nothing wrong.
"The engine looks okay, it shouldn't have that much mileage. We can use it" Lucy rubbed her forehead, in this group the only ones that had some mechanical intellect were her and Takashi; however... this was too much for the latter to check up on.
"Until you hack Blackwatch's one".
"Yes… although being honest that one is too advanced for us at the moment, it is also tricky to drive so this is better for us" Lucy patted the humvee.
"We can have Brand scan it once he wakes up" Saeko remarked, sending an insidious glance towards Lucy; a gaze that the latter didn't completely understand, as if she wanted to say something but didn't know how to.
Having finished her job, Lucy prepared to go upstairs and have a shower since she was now coated in oil; Saeko stopped her by taking her wrist.
"What is it?"
"Have you been feeling ill lately, Lucy?"
"No… have you?" The net runner gulped, this is something she had been stalling and fearing at the same time. She even lowered the tone to a whispering one.
Saeko shook her head and looked visually awkward to speak about it, she hugged her elbow and evaded Lucy's gaze.
"It is something else… I-I have been feeling something weird, but… it may be my imagination. L-Like a fetish?"
"A fetish? what do you mean?" For a moment Lucy had an amused glance.
"It is Brand… sometimes I want to bite him".
"...E-Eh? Pardon?" Lucy was aghast… unable to discern if she should laugh or get worried.
"I-I said sometimes I feel like taking a good bite out of him, that's not normal is it!?" Saeko knew she was a psychopath, but even she couldn't have expected to develop this side.
"Of course it is not normal, y-you sick girl!" Lucy knew from the girls she was arguably the most perverted... a rough competition she had with Saya who despite looking pure, was quite freaky. Nevertheless, she never thought about biting him.
"But when you say biting, I mean... y-you mean with blood? or just a playful munching? like..."
Saeko was shivering, whether it was fear or shame, Lucy didn't know... instead she avoided that answer.
"Please stop... I just want to confirm. You don't feel this, do you?" The purple-haired beauty asked again, pressing.
"I-I mean you may have a heavier taste than me, Saeko…" Lucy tried to make a joke in order to lighten the mood, but it didn't work.
"I'm not the only one, Saya told me she has felt that too. I don't know about Rei, Shizuka or Kyoko-sensei. That's why I'm asking you".
There was an awkward silence between the two in which Lucy didn't know what to say without sounding pessimistic.
"Do you think-?" She tried to ask.
"That we're transforming into zombies? I don't know… there hasn't been a moment in which I want to bite someone else… just Brand. B-But you're right, Lucy... I don't mean a playful munch... it is odd… especially when I saw his blood, I… sorry".
Saeko sighed and Lucy patted her back, at this stage they had to consider everything as if it was something serious. From the beginning, she felt suspicious that the virus could be affecting them somehow. It was just taking time to react or something of the sort; that's why she paid attention to the girl's behaviours, and she wasn't the only one. Saya and Shizuka did so too... the first symptom they noticed was coughing, but that could be attributed to something else.
This could be the second symptom.
"It is okay, Saeko. You don't need to feel shame. How about we ask the other girls just to confirm? It may be just a new fetish for yours after all~".
"Oh, hush...".
**
**
"I want to eat Brand-chan all the time, so… I don't know~ I always want to eat him whole, his arms, his legs, everything!" answered a puzzled Shizuka with enthusiasm.
"I don't know why I expected anything different from her" Lucy rubbed her temples.
The meeting took place downstairs in front of Brand's room. The boys were upstairs, training. Mikoto and Arisa were still cooking, apparently enjoying themselves, chatting and making plenty.
"I thought you wouldn't tell her, Saeko!?" Saya blushed in outrage, it was just confirmed that she had a 'fetish' of biting her boyfriend during intercourse, who happened to be her cousin, she couldn't be any more ashamed. All the purple-haired beauty could do was hold her sword and look away at the blatant betrayal she performed towards Saya.
"W-Well… I don't know… do we really need to have this conversation?" Rei fidgeted, seemingly desiring to avoid this topic at all costs.
"We do… it is important, Rei".
"Well... actually I do feel like biting him sometimes, I mean... when we're having sex I'd like to have a more dominant position, maybe? I don't know if this is the same..."
"But biting with blood?"
"I don't know, stop asking me!" Rei stood up and fled the scene towards the kitchen where Arisa and Mikoto were, leaving a group of deadpanning lasses.
"What about you, Kyoko".
"I can't say for certain, but... I have never been one to like a more dominant role during intercourse, so... I guess me wanting to be more dominant is something wrong?"
"I wouldn't say it is wrong. Whether you want to push the Brand down or not is not the issue... the issue is whether you want to bite him, drink his blood or something like that..."
"..." Kyoko remained silent for a few seconds as if considering things. She then closed her eyes and bit her lips, consciously or unconsciously a hand crept up to her breast and squeezed it.
"Y-You're getting too much into it..." Lucy's eyebrows twitched.
"Sorry... I-I think the answer is yes. I-In fact, I'll go to Brand's room to check something" Kyoko stood up and excused herself from the meeting, entering Brand's room in front of a row of baffled eyes.
"..."
"Do you think it is okay to let her go?" Saya asked, thinking that the next time they saw Brand, he'd have a bunch of bite marks.
"For now. But, if we all want to bite him, it can't be a coincidence anymore" Saeko asserted with worry.
"But Lucy doesn't want it, so we can't say for certain" Saya fixed her glasses and crossed her arms under her chest, pondering on what the real cause may be.
"You're not completely right, Saya-chan. Lucy-chan was summoned... could it be that her body is different from ours?" Shizuka placed a finger on her lips and fixed her gaze on Lucy's body. Although she knew her story as a net runner and the fact that Lucy used to have a bionic body, she never even bothered to do a checkup on Lucy's body to see if she had anything different.
"Lucy-chan, could I dissect you later?~"
"Please, no..."
*BAANG!*
A sudden dull noise came from upstairs; like something bumping against a wall.
"Everything okay up there?" Saya yelled through the stairs and they received an answer from Hirano. Even Arisa and Mikoto were curious over what had been the origin of the noise.
"Everything is cool, Saya-san! Higuchi-senpai just tripped!"
"Boys, be careful up there!"
**
**
Upstairs, things weren't as calm as they thought. Takashi was pressing Higuchi against the wall with a venomous gaze, while Hirano stood to the side with his rifle pointed against the boy who was in exchange showing a really hideous expression.
"Don't ever say that again… I'll let this one slide but there won't be a second time, Higuchi".
"You don't see Takashi? He keeps attracting dangerous things, eventually, we will all die if we keep him as the leader! stronger zombies and now even that... thing, it is going to kill us all!"
"It is thanks to him that we're still alive, Higuchi-senpai, have you forgotten?!" Hirano hadn't taken things too kindly.
Higuchi's proposition to the two boys had been simple. Get rid of Brand Mercer. Perhaps he thought he'd get overwhelming support. The three of them were jealous of him... that was the truth. But Takashi and Hirano hadn't ever considered turning their backs on him; if anything Takashi thought of eventually leaving the group in a friendly tone.
But Higuchi's desire was fueled by pure greed. He desired to be the new leader. The boy brushed away Takashi's hand and towered above him.
"I don't understand why he gets to keep all the girls and all the food is managed by him as well. We have all worked hard to get everything and make it to this stage!"
"If you don't like it then leave, Higuchi-senpai… I'm not going to betray Brand-kun… I'll mention this conversation to Saya-san as well" Hirano wasn't taking any nonsense. He had been saved by Brand on his first day at school, something that the boy likely didn't even remember. However, Hirano did remember.
Deep inside he desired to have Brand's life, perhaps even feeling jealous over the girl that was once his crush, Saya... but he never thought about betraying him. Upon hearing his words, Higuchi panicked... he hadn't expected both boys to be against him so overwhelmingly. If he was exposed, he'd be thrown away at least, killed at most.
"Wait, Hirano, don't do it! I'll leave… I'll talk to them later and leave the group on my own".
"You better, you have two days to either leave or apologise to him".
Takashi and Hirano left the room with a tense atmosphere, leaving Higuchi alone. The boy clenched his fists... he had waited for the best moment. With Brand injured there was no better moment to take over than this and yet he was rejected.
'I don't understand, why are they so loyal to him?!' He thought Takashi and Hirano didn't have a backbone.
'I can still do something... only then we can be together, Kyoko-sensei'
His gaze fixed on the sky, taking his shotgun. He had hoped, but his hopes had been crushed that night.
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