Love Hina Fan Fiction ❯ Love Hina - Nijuuhachi Hi Ato ❯ 28 Days Later ( Chapter 1 )

An increase in heart rate. Acceleration of brain functions. Respiratory functions working harder to accommodate greater demands for fresh oxygen.

Slowly, a pair of eyelids opened a crack. They scanned the room for any activity, reflecting the confusion in the man's face as he couldn't see anything. Angling his head he noticed a side table. Trying to reach it he stretched out his left hand but could not due to resistance. Feeling his arm he felt lots of tubes there, and he finally sat up awkwardly. His left leg was still wrapped up in a cast. Unhitching the contraption to keep his leg raised, he lowered it down and picked up the two crutches near his bed. Another thing shook him. Silence, unearthly silence. Pulling out the various needles and tubes that were connected to him, pumping long emptied IV bags, he winced as he removed one wrongly. Shaking a little from the pain he picked up his glasses on the side table. Looking around more he found more of his things, but no clothing, so he was stuck with the hospital gown he had on. He then tried opening the door to no avail. It would not slide open. He was about to kick it before he noticed a key there on the floor. On instinct he picked it up and placed it in the keyhole, unlocking it with a sharp click. He slid the door open and coughed as some dust from lack of use flooded his nose.

Empty. Searching around the bare hospital Keitaro felt lonely. Searching the rooms surrounding his he found bandages with which to wrap his bleeding arm in. Going downstairs he tried to use the telephones but they were not working, not even a dialtone could be heard through the receiver.

"Hello?" He shouted, to which no one replied.

Walking to the entrance and seeing some personal effect of people, he picked up a rucksack and then picked up large wads of yen bound in elastic bands. Some vending machines were there also, forced open using a crowbar from what he could tell by the scrape marks on the side. Stuffing lots of chocolates, crisps and soft drinks into the bag he made his way outside.

The classic scene from many Western movies played out in front of him. Silence, save for the wind blowing paper and yen trough the streets whistling hauntingly as it did so. Keitaro walked on; he only realised just how long when he checked his watch he found from his hospital room, 3 hours had passed, and not a single soul on the streets of Tokyo. He found no sign of anyone having lived there, cars were abandoned in the middle of roads, money seemed to be everywhere so he chose not to pick it all up.

The most disturbing of sights was when he passed the Senso temple in the middle of Tokyo City. Pictures and letters were plastered everywhere. Loved ones, sons, daughters, grandparents, fathers, wives, everyone was looking for someone. Going to the wishing boards, he saw hundreds of little plaques with wishes on them. Reading them over he couldn't understand what they meant.

He had been calling out for people since he left the hospital, and he began to expect no reply.

"Hello?" He yelled.

He turned around to leave but heard frantic steps behind him. Looking back with a relieved smile, it melted from his face as he saw this person wasn't there to greet him the same way. The man wore traditional robes associated with the Buddhist priests that prayed at the shrine. What wasn't traditional was the blood and cuts over his body, crimson eyes, irrational movements and the guttural noises of a hunter. Keitaro yelled in fear, falling backwards thanks to his crutches and he shielded his face from the oncoming creature.

A small explosion and cutting sound and a body falling to the ground was what he heard. Peering out from behind the robes he saw the slumped figure of the man, three large slices across his back. The blood crept towards him.

"Keep away from the blood Urashima!"

Keitaro looked up to see the glinting edge of a blade and a familiar hakama beneath the darkness of a tree.

Happy to see her he was truly relieved, smiling. "Motoko-ch..." He stopped as she moved out of the shadows. Her hakama bore cuts; the hem above her ankles was torn badly, not done by natural causes. Her gi around her upper torso was similar. Gone were her long hanging sleeves, ripped off at the shoulders, and instead were tight bandages wrapped around both her arms. She bore a red ribbon around her head, around her forehead over which her bangs fell. She walked to Keitaro.

"I've been looking everywhere for you..." She said quietly. Sheathing her clean katana Keitaro noticed that she now carried two of them. "I was worried when you were not in your room."

"What do you mean?!" Keitaro was beginning to panic, "What is happening? Where is everyone?!"

Motoko picked up his crutches and helped him onto them. "I'll explain on the way..."

"So this thing started a month ago?" He asked.

"Yes, around two weeks since you fell into a coma from the shock of the entrance ceremony and your leg breaking at the same time." She confirmed. "It originated from Tokyo, the first cases being reported in the Toudai campus."

"T... Toudai?" Keitaro shuddered. Hold on, what about... "Seta-san! What's happened to him?!"

She stared off towards the end of the street, her eyes narrowing slightly, looking off to her sides quickly. Sighing she replied honestly. "I don't know, the last time we visited you was a day after the first case, and since then the area was too dangerous, we weren't allowed back in."

Keitaro nodded, "But still the Infected spread to other cities."

"Yes, no one was safe anymore..." Her lip quivered for a second, although Keitaro noticed this.

"What happened Motoko-chan? Hinata-sou?"

She turned to him, tears now fully visible in her eyes, the occasional one slipping out gently over her ivory cheeks. "Hinata Springs had the first Infected a week ago..." Keitaro took in breath sharply, "In a small town like that it was not long before even Hinata-sou fell under their bloody gaze."

Keitaro was on tenterhooks, "And?" He asked again.

"The others left two days later, I have not heard from them since." She paused for a second, as if hearing something in the teasing wind. "I too was on my way out, the last to leave, but the Infected came for me..."

"It must have been hard Motoko-chan..." Keitaro could see the agony in her face, and putting a hand on her shoulder he continued. "They were not human anymore, you would have been putting them out of their misery."

She sniffed again, "I understand that, but you only know half of what transpired there." She clenched her fist tighter. "When I reached the bottom of the steps, I saw more bodies of the Infected, cut much in the same way as the way I killed them. Looking down the road, I saw someone who I had not seen since before I came to Hinata-sou."

"Who?" Keitaro wondered.

"My sister..." She replied, "She was fending them off her successfully, but one got too close and as she killed it, some of the blood sprayed onto a cut she had on her hand." Motoko needed a minute to compose herself, "I... I saw her convulse in pain, transforming into one of them..." A tear fell from her eye, "I gasped and she turned to me, her eyes filled with hatred, rage, and murder, she lunged for me, her teeth bared. I could not defend myself, I could never kill my sister..."

Keitaro standing a bit lopsided embraced her in a one-armed hug, "I'm sorry Motoko-chan, I don't want to imagine what you went through. But..." His curiosity was peaked, "If you didn't defend yourself, how are you still alive?"

Motoko, feeling secure in his arms spoke more softly, "She was killed before she got within reach of me. She was trapped by a net thrown from behind, I turned my eyes away and heard her being ripped apart by the steel wires."

Keitaro was shocked, "Who threw the net?!"

Motoko pulled back to face him in the eyes, "Her husband, Shin."

"Are you okay Motoko-chan?" A voice spoke.

The young Kendo girl looked up to her saviour, the most unlikely of people. A hand was held down to her, which she slapped away. Standing up by herself she glared at him with malice, although he was unfazed being taller than she was, the sun glaring away behind him.

"Suit yourself." He said.

"My sister..." She demanded, "What was she doing here? Did you bring her to Tokyo to fight?!" She nearly yelled.

"No." He stated firmly, "She came to protect you."

Motoko paled, "What...?"

Shin sighed, "She already had plans to come here to make you inherit the dojo, but considering these recent events her visit changed to one of saving you from all this."

A gust of wind made Motoko's long hair flow out behind her, Shin's only moving slightly. Motoko fell to her knees.

"Am I that much of a failure? Am I unable to protect myself...?" She spoke to no one in particular.

"I don't believe so." He looked to her body, and a sense of loss was shown in his deep purple eyes. "The only thought in her at that time was love. She didn't care for her own safety, just to help you escape from this living hell."

Motoko couldn't bring herself to look at the body of her sister, and instead got up to evilly regard Shin through narrowed eyes. "So, why are you here?"

"She had no idea I followed her. I knew she could handle herself. The Shinmeiryu techniques I learned from her made me invisible to her ki senses. Not bad for a humble fisherman..." He inhaled sadly, "When I saw the blood fall on her, I knew it was too late. I thought you would protect yourself but when you didn't I had to step in."

"WHY?!" She yelled, "Why did you kill your own wife?! To save me? I would rather have died than be saved by you."

"You were not my first concern, however I knew in my heart that you dying would shatter my wife's soul to know that her body killed her own sister." He pulled up the empty but bloody net, "I saved her from the impure blood that flowed through her body. I love her too much to let her live on in pain." He unclenched the fist that held the net, and inside was a silver ring. "This was my bond to her, the bond we made in marriage. I will hold on to this ring until the day I die, whenever that may be." He looked off to his right, down a street. "I must part with you now, I don't know where I'm going, but it will be to atone for my sin.

He moved closer to Motoko, who didn't move while he spoke, "Don't let the blood near you Motoko-chan. Try and be happy like your sister, find that manager of yours in Tokyo and take him somewhere safe. Survive this ordeal." He had finished, "Until we meet again..."

Motoko watched him walk away from her, and saw him enflame his ki around the net, burning away the dead blood. Stunned by what he said, she gripped her katana tighter and ran off towards the nearest train station. The power was down and she could walk on the train line itself.

"I see..." Keitaro said, "So you travelled for five days then...?"

"Yes, it was hard and the Infected seemed to know where I was headed, they have a strange form of communication." She said before stopping, hearing high-pitched screeches in the air. "That's them!" She gripped his arm, "We have to get out of here!"

Looking around they were on a mostly empty street, high walls on both sides, but a car lay on a pavement, a door ajar. Keitaro pointed there. "Let's drive now!"

Half running half limping there they got inside and shut the doors, locking them quickly. Keitaro immediately started searching for keys and found them by pulling down the sun shield. Placing them inside he tried to start it but the engine wasn't firing properly. The screeching noises increased in volume and number.

"Urashima, hurry!"

They saw them, three at the end of the road and two closing in from behind the car. Finally with a swift punch to the dashboard, it flared up and roared into life. Keitaro placed his uninjured foot on the accelerator and they immediately flew backwards.

"AAAAH! Why does this happen to me?!"

Braking rapidly he turned it into Drive gear, and as the automatic engine began to go on, the rear window broke with the fists of the two Infected.

"Go! Now!" Motoko screamed.

Pushing the pedal down to the floor, the car launched ahead, dislodging the two behind them, and heading straight for the three Infected in front of them. Swerving a little he missed two but clipped one on the edge, the car bumping over it twice as it went under the wheels. Tires squealing as they went round the corner he screamed.

"Motoko-chan! I can't control this! My left foot can't press down on anything!"

Unbuckling her belt she went straight for the pedal and so she sat on his left thigh and pressed the brakes firmly to lower their speed. Soon they were in the clear but he still need her help to go around corners.

"Urashima, if you get any perverted thoughts from this, I'll leave you with the Infected, got it?" She glared at him.

"Believe me, if I could I wouldn't." He smiled wanly back at her.

She noticed a signpost go by, "Where are we going?" She asked.

"Hinata-sou..." Keitaro said.