Chapter 1: I Was Strolling Through the Woods One…What the Hell is That!?!

Crunch!

"Ow! Damn it! Why th' hell am I th' one whose always steppin' on shit!?"

Tatsu bit her bottom lip, furiously emitting curses left and right as she gracelessly plopped down on the wet ground, lifting her left foot once her bottom was placed firmly upon the soil beneath her. She squinted her eyes heavily, now wishing she had a flashlight handy so that she could inspect her afflicted foot. Why did fate always have a cruel way of making people step on sharp things in bare feet when there was no source of light to be used for injury inspection?

The seventeen year old, who was nearly ready to scream in fury for her misfortune, ran her fingers over the rough skin of the sole of her poor, defenseless foot, trying to discern whether or not the skin had been punctured. Her best guess was that a twig, a damn pointy one, had met her appendage, which made perfect sense being as her current surroundings happened to be infested by nothing but trees, rocks, and other things of that sort. Finding no traces of blood amongst the dirt and bits of leaves clinging to her skin, Tatsu released her ankle and hefted herself to her feet once again, wishing that she'd had the sense to put on some shoes before she left the house.

"Tatsu-san, are you alright?" asked a familiar voice, causing the aforementioned girl to jumped slightly and spin around to face the person standing slightly behind her.

"Jeez, Miyuki! Are ya tryin' ta give me a heart attack along with a hurt foot? Where'd you suddenly come from anyway? You weren't right behind me when I left the house." Tatsu crossed her bare arms before her chest, one eyebrow tweaked in question and agitation.

"I wasn't directly behind you, Tatsu-san, but I wasn't far behind either. The only reason I was delayed was because I had to grab a few things, namely this and this."

Tatsu blinked as light suddenly flashed before her eyes, blinding her for a split second before the dots dancing before her pupils faded away. The raven-haired girl cast a glare in Miyuki's direction as the light was directed away from her face and off to the side, relieved that at least her friend had enough sense to grab a flashlight before dashing out in to the woods, but annoyed that she hadn't had the common sense not to turn in on right in her face. Tatsu prepared to utter a typical insult of indignation, but stopped herself at seeing Miyuki's apologetic smile…and the wonderously wonderful pair of sneakers that dangled from her fingers. Score! A wide grin spread across the previously pissed face of Tatsu as she snatched the shoes from her companion, taking note that there were socks tucked safely within them. She looked up at the slightly older girl standing opposite of her as she plucked the socks from their safe haven, eyes narrowing slightly.

"Tell anyone about the dopey grin I had on my face and you die."

"Yes, I know, Tatsu-san," Miyuki replied, rolling her eyes slightly, by now used to comments of such a manor from her best friend, understanding that Tatsu would never really harm her.

Tatsu plopped down on her behind again as she began the simple task of pulling on her socks and shoes, muttering in frustration as she tried to un-tie the double knot in her laces, thusly reminding herself that she should un-tie her shoes and then take them off from then on, rather then kicking them off as she normally tended to do. Double knots, bad! Miyuki, in the meantime, glanced about herself, shivering ever so slightly as the chill air agitated her bare arms, causing goosebumps to make an appearance. She was glad that she had brought a flashlight along for their little venture, but it felt to her, being in such a dark, quiet place, that a good can of pepper spray or a baseball bat would be handier. Something about being out in the middle of the woods in the middle of the night, when all to be seen for quite a good distance ahead were shadows, made her feel incredibly uneasy. Then, calling herself paranoid and childish, Miyuki pushed such thoughts aside and silently goaded herself to be more like Tatsu for once. Good bye caution and hello abandon! Time for a late night nature walk.

"Ready to keep going now?" Miyuki asked as Tatsu, shoes and all, stood up, brushing off the seat of her by now dirty plaid boxer shorts.

"Yup. Lets go, Onee-chan," Tatsu replied, smirking at the slightly taller girl as they headed off in to the darkness, flashlight pointed straight ahead the entire way, both intent on exploring the very depths of the woodland.

* * * * *

Ten agonizing minutes later…

"Fuck! It's cold!"

Tatsu's entire body shivered fiercely as her hands rubbed unendingly up and down her arms, her mind making a note to not only untie her shoes before taking them off, but to wear more then just a pair of boxers and a tank top to bed. Miyuki, who was by far the more frail of the pair, nodded in total agreement, easily dismissing the intense swear her 'little sister' so insistently used being a she was used to it, wanting nothing more then to have access to either a jacket or a heater, as if one could really be used without electricity, but that was beside the point. They were both cold as hell, even though hell isn't normally described as cold, and were warranted a little bit of impossible dreaming.

It had taken them only ten minutes to wander quite far in to the woods behind Miyuki's house. They had become quite tired of stumbling over decaying logs and listening to owls hoot in the treetops above their heads. They were cold, annoyed, a little bit paranoid, and most importantly lost. That's right. Lost. Five minutes in to the trek, neither of the girls could discern where in the woods they were and an extra five minutes of walking and looking hadn't helped them figure that out. It simple made them even more misplaced then they had already been. Tatsu cursed, swore, moaned, and groaned as they walked on, occasionally stopping to slug the trunk of a tree and then growl about her sore knuckles. Miyuki herself was swearing somewhat profusely, though her curses were all mental, and she was trying almost desperately to try and figure out a way back to her home.

"This is one of those rare occasions that I actually wouldn't mind running in to someone unfamiliar," Miyuki muttered with a frown set across her face as she pushed her snow-colored bangs out of her eyes.

"I hear ya. We'd be screwed, though, if it was some kind of psychotic killer type of person," Tatsu replied grumpily. Royally screwed and physically screwed probably.

"Never mind. Random person appearing is a bad thing."

Miyuki sighed heavily, her steps stopping as she stared somewhat blankly at the ground beneath her feet. Tatsu, a few steps ahead of the white-haired young woman, halted as well, glancing over her shoulder at her best, if not only, friend. Tatsu had never been the emotional, comforting type. It was against her nature to be like that. Miyuki on the other hand was that type of person; weak to an extent, but strong in her own right and highly motivated by her thoughts and emotions. The worry in the older girl's green eyes, the color indiscernible in the dark, but memorized throughout the years, made Tatsu want to comfort her, even if it was against her personality. Her icy blue eyes softened ever so slightly.

"Don't worry, Onee-san. We may be as lost as a fuckin' virgin in a whore house, but we'll get outta these damned woods eventually."

That was as far as Tatsu ever got in the sense of being comforting and emotional, but Miyuki was very grateful for the display. Few had ever been granted the chance to see such a thing and she was glad that Tatsu found her close enough to receive the reassurance.

Miyuki opened her mouth to say her thanks, but, rather then showing her gratitude, the thing to escape her lips was a slightly cut off scream and a whoosh of air as something heavy collided with her body, sending her on to the ground. Something heavy was upon her and, by the sound of male grunting and heavy breaths; it could only be a man. Miyuki, feeling breath draw close to her shoulder, managed to work her hands to the offender's shoulders, pushing him off of her with as much strength she could muster, which, due to her fear, was quite fair. She had little chance to catch of a glimpse of the attacker's face, especially without a flashlight handy, as it had been knocked from her grasp, because Tatsu, immediately taking action, slammed a heavy piece of decaying log in to the side of his head.

The raven-haired girl's idea had been to plow the 'freaky rapist man' off of her friend. What she hadn't expected was that his head would completely detach from the rest of him and go flying through the air. The two stayed glued to their current positions, eyes wider then tea saucers as they watched the head land on the ground with a resounding thump and a squish. Tatsu, thoroughly freaked out by then, dropped the log she had been wielding and quickly, eyes still trained on the opposing head, pushed the prone body off of Miyuki with her foot. Miyuki, still a little dazed, sat on the ground in shock and did not move until the body, which had been pushed to the ground beside her, began to move. She screamed loudly and jumped to her feet, grapping Tatsu's wrist and pulling her a few feet away, pointing at the struggling, headless body as it shuffled to it's feet. Tatsu was too busy swearing in surprise and pointing at the head, which by now was emitting loud moans.

"W-what th' fuck is that thing?! A zombie?!"

"Uhmm…Tatsu-san…" Miyuki whispered meekly, poking the girl's shoulder repeatedly.

"What?!"

"I think you're right about the zombie thing."

Tatsu's eyes followed the direction in which Miyuki's finger was pointed, her pupils shrinking to the size of pins as she stared at the rather large horde of decaying people as they approached them, seeming to have appeared from out of no where and coming at them at a rate that seemed rather speedy for zombies, who had always been depicted as slow in most films. The two girls squeaked in shock, fear, and disbelief before Tatsu took charge, grabbing Miyuki's hand and running away like the end of the world was at her heels, the two daring not to stumble as they rushed away, the strange, unexpected legion of undead moaners following after them.

"YOU'LL NEVER CATCH US, MOTHER FUCKAS!!!"

* * * * *

"This is pathetic," stated Hiei in obvious, and very thorough, agitation, arms crossed before his chest.

"Pathetic or not, Hiei, Koenma sent us on this assignment and we must complete it. Aside from that, it's a shame how many innocent people have been killed by those stray souls," Kurama replied, blood red hair billowing in the slight breeze as he stood beside his shorter companion, both taking safe haven in a well hidden treetop.

"That concerns me very little. Let's just get this over with before my patience wears thin."

"That seems to happen often," Kurama said more to himself then to Hiei, a knowing smile gracing his lips.

Hiei did hear the remark, but shrugged it off as he always did. The two stood in complete silence, listening to the sounds of leafs brushing together as they were pushed around in the breeze. Neither really knew exactly what to look for since Koenma had been anything, but discreet when he supplied them with information regarding their assignment. All the two of them really knew was that something was causing a disturbance within these woods, something that had brought much unexpected death and a hellva lot of paper work for Koenma.

Normally Yuusuke would have been entrusted with taking on their appointed task, but considering that the strange events taking place were happening outside of Tokyo and the aforementioned young man could not afford to miss anymore school nor could he stand anymore lectures from his teachers, they had been given the job. Hiei, of coarse, found the idea highly annoying and truly desired nothing more then to march out of Ningenkai and say, "Screw this!" Luckily for the people endangered by the strange occurrences, Kurama had managed to persuade him to complete the mission, though not without a lot of grumbling. Isn't teamwork grand?

Eventually, as fate would have it, the two began to feel frustrated at finding no sign of disturbance and wondered if they would have to wait until the next evening until something happened. But then…

"YOU'LL NEVER CATCH US, MOTHER FUCKAS!!!!"

"Well, I hadn't been expecting that, but at least we know which way to go now."

"Let's just get this over with."

* * * * *

"We'regonnadie! We'regonnadie! We'regonnadie!" Tatsu and Miyuki chanted as they continued running away from their would-be murderers.

After several minutes of rushing way for the sake of their lives, the two found themselves fueled on by adrenalin, but slowly lagging due to the fact that weariness from such strain was kicking in. If they didn't find some way out of their current situation, fatality would be the only thing left for them. Miyuki clutched her pained sides as she ran beside Tatsu, breathing heavily as a throbbing sensation burned within her legs and stomach. Tatsu was in practically the same shape, however able to shrug it off due to her determination to stay alive.

With a flashlight no longer in their possession, the two ran blindly through the dark, unable to see very far ahead of them. It was this fact that made them unable to see the fairly steep incline in the ground before them and it went unnoticed until the two of them came upon it's edge, both losing their footing and rolling down the hill, both making shouts of surprise. Tatsu stood first after they had stopped tumbling, rubbing the sore shoulder that she had landed on when she finally halted, grimacing slightly. Miyuki brushed leaves and twigs off of her form as she stood to her feet soon after, arms wrapped around her mid-section as she tried to ride out the pain burning within that area.

"Damn…this has been one screwed up night…" Miyuki said through slightly gritted teeth, taking many deep breaths, which had been lost on her only a few moments before.

"If we weren't on the verge of getting killed, I'd hug you and beam with pride," Tatsu muttered back at the girl behind her, blue eyes slightly humored at the sound of her best buddy being vulgar for once.

"Yeah. We can worry about that later. Let's just try to get out of here now."

Tatsu nodded and the two looked forward, starting off in a mad dash again only to stop in their tracks, eyes widening in fright at the sight of even more zombies standing in their path. Miyuki grabbed Tatsu's hand and started pulling her in the direction they had been coming from, only to see the crowd that had been following them before approaching from that direction. They looked left and right, finding a wall of living dead in a complete circle around them, blocking off all chances of escape. The only option they really had left was to try and fight to stay alive. Tatsu growled in anger, reaching down and wrapping her fingers around a large, fallen tree limb, holding it before her as if to use it as a bokuto. She turned away from the path they had come from, eyes glaring down at the new batch of attackers that had appeared in the direction they had been heading. Miyuki grabbed a limb as well, following her best friend's lead and wielding it aggressively. She knelt down to pick up a large rock that sat beside her, gripping it within her fist before hurtling it at a random zombie, resisting the urge to cheer as it smacked the apparently male creature right between the eyes, knocking him off of his feet and knocking off his head.

"Damn! Good one!" Tatsu said with pride in her voice as she and Miyuki stood back to back, ready to at least die fighting.

There was a moment of silence before several of the girls' opponents rushed at them from all sides, intent on getting their meal. The two braced themselves, hands shaking as they waited for the inevitable. Death never came. Before the offenders could even reach either girl, they all fell to the ground, body parts flying away from their forms as if cut away by some unseen force.

"What the…"

Tatsu blinked, lowering her makeshift sword as she took notice of the tall young man standing a few feet before her, wondering just who he was. His hair, as crimson as blood, billowed down his back as he stood before her, a strange form of whip in his hand, it's length curled up at the ground. He seemed to suddenly take notice of her presence and turned his head, looking over his shoulder to see her. He smiled softly, revealing his brilliant green eyes and handsome face. His eyes nearly startled her for, even in the dark, she could clearly see their color, which seemed to glow, even more so then Miyuki's did at times. Who was he?

"Who the fuck are you?" she snapped, coming out of her sudden hazy revere. The stranger, rather then showing offense to her remark, simple chuckled and shook his head, turning away from her and raising the strange whip he held in his hand, as if preparing to attack.

Sure enough, as Tatsu had predicted, the red-haired man thusly snapped his whip, the one lone movement proving to disable several zombies all at once by way of detaching many of their limbs. Pop goes the zombie. Tatsu grinned slightly as the stranger began to take apart any decaying corpse that came at him, showing no signs of apparent struggle as he did so. He was rather impressive…for a girly looking guy. (Tatsu's perspective, not ours. Please don't kill us! ^^;;)

"I wonder who he is," Miyuki wondered aloud as she stepped behind her comrade in arms, as if big sticks could really be considered arms, eyes full of inquiry.

"I have no fuckin' idea…" Tatsu muttered, scratching her temple with one finger as people often tended to do when in a state of confusion.

The duo suddenly became stiff and wide-eyed as the sound of a loud, choked groan filled their ears, resonating from directly behind them. The two spun around and let out squeaks of shock as they glanced at the tall, burly dead man that stood behind them, one of his pale, dirty hands extended, making it obvious that he had been reaching for Miyuki. Something, however, had apparently stopped him, for he made no move to grab her. Both girls jumped slightly as the corpse fell to the ground at their feet, cut completely in half by a clean slice through his mid-section. As the body parts fell away from their vision, the two caught sight of another strange man, this one standing a head or two shorter then the first, adorned in all black, and wielding a sword that somehow glinted, even in the darkness. He brought his sword down to his side, one eyebrow arching over cold, crimson eyes, his expression showing little concern for the two of them, even though he had just saved Miyuki. He seemed annoyed with their presence. Tatsu had been the only really close friend Miyuki had ever known and the raven-haired girl was known for being rather cold in demeanor, but even Tatsu's frosty personality could not compare to the darkness the black clad man held all around him. It was intimidating to an extent and even a bit unnerving, but, for some reason, Miyuki felt…remorseful when she looked upon him, her eyes softening.

"Save your thanks," he said darkly as he watched Miyuki's lips part, knowing just what she intended to say. "Just stay out of my way, both of you." And with that, he turned away, rushing at the approaching horde of zombies, sword drawn and ready to disembowel.

"Jeez…what an ass…" Tatsu said, lips drawn back in a deeply agitated frown as Miyuki slapped her forehead and muttered to herself.

Kurama turned to Hiei with a look that said, " That was easy enough, " and then smiled at the two girls. " How did you two find yourselves in such a place? " He asked politely and Miyuki opened her mouth to respond, but Tatsu beat her to the punch.

"We got fuckin' lost ya dumb ass, whaddya think?" The black haired girl snapped and Hiei gave her a surprised look, one eyebrow arching before he look at Kurama, expression basically stating, " I don't like this one already. "

"We were walking in the woods and got off track. Would you be kind enough to help us back to my house if it isn't too much trouble? " Miyuki asked nicely and Hiei huffed, not wanting to take time off to walk two little girls back home.

"Why sure. It would be no problem at all, right Hiei? " The shorter man twitched at the sound of the always gentlemanly Kurama selling them out.

"We don't need any body to walk us home Miyuki, especially not two idiotic men. "

"These two idiotic men as you put us just saved your lives you ungrateful little-"

"Hiei! "

"Tatsu!" Both black haired people froze, glaring at their companions before glaring at each other once more, but staying silent and backing back towards their comrades.

" If you let us, we would like to make sure you get home safely, I'm not sure if we've gotten rid of all these creatures yet. " Miyuki nodded and bowed to him in appreciation, while Tatsu just grumbled.

* * * *

"Its Miyuki and Tatsu correct? " Kurama asked and Miyuki nodded.

"And you're Kurama-san and Hiei-san. I hope I can remember that. " The white haired girl bit her bottom lip in worry and Tatsu snorted in a very unladylike fashion. They had been walking through the woods for an access of 12 minutes already, not surprising since they had ran with superfluous speed in the opposite direction of Miyuki's residence.

"Its nice to make your acquaintance Miyuki-chan. " Kurama put out his hand which Miyuki took and then lifted to his lips. He turned to Tatsu who calmly socked him one right in the face.

"Mother fucka tryin' to make a goddamned move on me, you fuckin' lecher. " Tatsu grumbled as the red haired man held his nose in pain. Miyuki blinked widely a few times but finally sighed and apologized to poor Kurama.

"What is wrong with that girl? Kurama thought to himself, watching her walking ahead of everyone else. He looked over at Hiei with a look of confusion, still rubbing his nose, but the shorter man was as emotionless as usual. The shout of joy from in front of him drew his eyes up to Tatsu once more.

" THERE'S THA FUCKIN' HOUSE! GOD FUCKIN' DAMN!! " Tatsu was so overcome with happiness she could barely put out the normal curses. Miyuki squealed lightly, running to catch up with her shorter friend but froze at the sight Tatsu failed to see. The house and yard was squirming with even more zombies then before and on the roof stood one that looked less putrefying and more like "one crazy son of a bitch" in Tatsu's eyes. Hiei raised his eyebrow and drew his sword.

Why would they be here? He calmly walked forward, past the two girls and took a rock from the ground, chucking it up at the zombie-thing on the roof. It struck him square in the temple fairly hard, but instead of sending his head flying, like most zombies, it was simply absorbed into his body. The man (I shall no longer call him a zombie cuz' he sure as hell ain't) turned and grinned at Hiei, his red eyes flashing.

" Well hello Hiei, Kurama, girls. How nice of you to come. " He leaped off the roof and landed a few feet away from the group. Miyuki gripped her "little sister's" arm slightly, her eyebrows creasing in worry, the said tomboy meanwhile stiffening and balling her fist in apprehension. The man bowed as the zombies shuffled around him, moaning their anticipation. " We've been waiting for you. My friends… " He turned to his army and all their eyes (err…sockets) began to glow, "have fun."

The only thing that crossed their minds at that time was.

Oh…shit…

TBC

Sami: Muahahaha! Was it interesting enough for you all? Zombies! Zombies everywhere! They want to eat your brains!

Utena: No more Return of the Living Dead for you.

Sami: *Pout* All righty, readers. It's review and flame time! We want reviews! Give us reviews! We ain't postin' chapter 2 until we get at least five reviews and that's that. *Flashes everyone puppy dog eyes* Please review.

Kurama: Perhaps you would have a greater chance of getting reviews if you were less…eccentric about asking for them.

Sami: Are ya callin' me crazy?!

Kurama: Er…

Hiei: Yes, he is. You are both insane.

Utena: As if we didn't already know that, Hiei-san.

Hiei: *Glare* If you dare make our fight scenes corny, I'll sharpen my sword with your flesh.

Sami: Is that possible?

Utena: *Shrug* I don't know.

Kurama: With Hiei, it probably is.

Hiei: *Mutters about obsessive fangirls and their annoying habits*

Dictionary:

Onee-san: Big/older sister

Imouto-chan: Little/younger sister

Bokuto: A wooden sword, often used for practicing Kendo.