Butterflies Affect

[WillDfly]

One Halloween later, I finally got this out, and hopefully the other part will come soon. As usual, feedback is highly appreciated.


Emi braced herself against the wall, catching her breath. Thank God they weren't that fast, but they were relentless. If she didn't have her racing legs on, she would be done for already, just like everyone else.

Everybody... How could she have ended up all alone? She thought back on the last few hours, trying to find where everything went wrong.

It all began during class.

A warning through the PA system, telling everyone to evacuate, turned into a terrifying cacophony filled with screams and indescribable, gruesome sounds.

The teachers tried to control the panic setting in, to little avail. If Yamaku hadn't been designed with mobility in mind, many students would have died right there, trampled by their colleagues. Not that it saved them in the end.

Rin avoided the multitude that ran, limped or wheeled down stairs and elevators. Instead, she rushed to a window to assess the situation. Emi, worried and confused but sure of her own running capabilities, followed her.

From the third floor, they could see a car crashed against the gates. A handful of inert bodies laid strewn on the ground, that sported huge puddles of reddish-brown, with some of it trailing in their direction.

As the girls tried to piece together what was going on, one of the figures stood up unsteadily and begun to make way towards the building. Nurse's lab coat and purple hair were easily recognizable, even from a greater distance.

Emi let out a gasp and covered her mouth in horror as he turned around. His left arm was a bloody mess hanging limply from his side, connected to the shoulder by mere centimeters of muscle and sinew.

She turned to run down the stairs, but Rin stood in her way. "Rin! What are you doing? We need to get down there and help!"

Rin shook her head. "No. If we go out with everyone, we will end up like them." She turned towards the window.

The first groups of students had arrived on the site. A couple of them tried to help Nurse, but were promptly attacked by him, he was... biting them?!

"What the..." Emi couldn't believe, but she clearly saw Goro eating at the students. Her breakfast forced itself out of her, burning her throat and nostrils on the way. She coughed and gagged, but some instinct got her to recover and go back to observing the threat beside Rin, who stood unfazed.

The ones who tried to make a run for the gates quickly discovered that the corpses spread on the way were not as inert as they first seemed, and fell under their attack. Some of the students tried to run back, but they were blocked by the mass coming out of the building, and a frenzy rose by the minute. The whole group became easy prey as chaos ensued, and their screams could be heard across the campus. Other ones sounded closer by, probably caused by whatever made the trail of blood they had seen.

"Come, we need to find a safe spot to avoid them. Hmm... The roof, yes." Rin started walking contrary to the flow, leaving Emi to follow her.

"Wait, what about the others? We gotta find Hisao, Miki and the rest!"

That gave her a second of pause, but when she turned Emi could see no doubt in her expression, only some bitterness.

"No. If they went with everyone else, we would just get ourselves in the same mess. We can check the classrooms on the way. Come on."

By then, the third floor was empty, and the classrooms were populated only by abandoned objects, upturned chairs and desks. They reached the top of the building in a few minutes.

Shizune and Misha were already there, and after catching up, they tried to get a signal on their cellphones and call their families or the authorities. Emi tried too, but the cell network was overloaded and useless.

"Well, it's not like the police or the JSDF could reach us in time to help. Is that so, Shicchan?"

Meanwhile, Rin was closely checking Misha. Very closely.

"Oh, so they couldn't mobilize enough... Huuh... Whatcha doing, Richan?"

"Looking for bites. Or scratches. I mean, marks of those things, I would not be able to see a bite, only something biting another thing. You know, from them. But I guess you two came here before encountering them."

The other three looked at each other, then back at Rin. Almost at the same time, two voices and a pair of hands made the same question: "What?!"

Rin looked back at them all with calm and a bit of contempt.

"Well, they are clearly like that movie. The one where it was night and there were living dead people."

"The Night of The Living Dead?"

"Hm? No, I never watched that one, is it good?"

"Well, it's a class- Never mind that, Rin! You think those are... zombies?" Rin shrugged.

"Something like that." Shizune answered to that with sharp movements.

"Shicchan says that's ridiculous! Those are just works of fiction. There must be a rational explanation!" Rin shrugged again, annoyed.

"Well they are very real, and they eat people, and they are up when they should be down, one when they should be zero, and even if it is ridiculous or irrational, I'm gonna avoid their bites and scratches and I'm gonna aim for the head. Don't know what yet, but I will aim it for the head when I find something I can aim at their heads with."

And she did, she kicked at their heads to the very end. Even got rid of some that way, but there were too many for them. Emi would never forget her face as Rin told her to escape, tears sprouting from her eyes and her gritted teeth holding back the pain as they tore her flesh. It was as engraved in her brain as the agonizing screams she finally let out when Emi was already far away.

But Shizune had been the first one to die.

Their plan was simple, as all good plans are, and mostly drawn by Shizune. They would go through the empty classrooms to grab hammers, pieces of wood, whatever they might use to defend themselves, and check for survivors on their way out of the school.

The main gate was clearly not an option. Even if they could drive a vehicle to get try and through the crowd of them, the crashed car would block their path. Only a handful of people ever used the rear gate, so they had agreed to go out through it, circle through the woods and go to the town below.

Like most plans, good and bad, it didn't last long. A group of them came unnoticed to the classroom they were searching, and Shizune was the only one to spot them. Unable to warn the other girls in time and with no hope of taking a dozen of them down with a mere hammer, she grabbed a desk and threw herself at them.

Her blocking the main entrance with her life bought enough time for the group to leave through the back door. Without her sacrifice, they would not have made it out of that room, much less the building. Misha had not seen anyone die in front of her - they were already cutting class on the roof before the whole mess started - and seeing Shizune delivered to them to save her was too much. Her mental state quickly deteriorated and she soon fell to a group of them, crying out and uselessly batting at them with a 2 by 4.

Rin had been the only one to make it out of the building with her, but now Emi was all alone. Well, not quite. A rustling sound from the other side of the bushes was signal enough that her breather was over. She wiped her tears and held on tight to her baseball bat. She didn't want to risk a fight, but losing it right on the final stretch of her escape was just as bad.

As Emi approached her destination, she saw a familiar trenchcoat. Mutou was loosely holding a metal pipe that dripped blood with his back to her, turned towards a student-- no, to one of them. It wasn't a threat anymore, its head smashed into bits and spread out on the pavement, and Emi couldn't see any more of them, so she made a run to the teacher.

"Teacher! Thank god I found you, I--"

"No!"

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Terrified, I cover my mouth, but it's too late.

Oh my God, ohmygod what have I done they're all looking at me. I can't make myself small enough, I can't hide enough behind my hair, I need to go.

"I... I--"As I'm about to stand up and run away, Hisao clears his throat, commanding the attention of the room. The other four girls turn to him, with some delay from Shizune.

Trying to get my breathing back in control, I settle down a bit. I can't be this weak, and if i ran now, I'd only bring that attention back to myself. I close my eyes and take deep breaths as Hisao continues.

"'No!' says Hanako, watching helpless as Emi runs towards Mutou. From her vantage point on the second floor, she could see what Emi failed to notice: the blood on the pipe wasn't just from the student. Mutou was bit on that arm and had turned already."

Emi lets out a small gasp.

“You are caught by surprise as it attacks you. Roll for evasion." The only sound in the room is the die hitting the table. "Even surprised, you are too agile and it fails to grab you. Your turn."

"Ha! Watch me run laps around the old corpse. I'll bypass it and make a run for the woods." Curiosity takes the better of me and I open my eyes as Emi launches the icosahedron, and her confident grin becomes a pout. She rolled a 1. "Damn!"

"Wow. So... As you launch into running, you slip on a bit of gore from the smashed student aand..." A die rolls behind his open notebook. "...hit your head on the concrete. Not hard enough to go unconscious, but almost." Another die. "In your nearly defenseless state, the thing formerly known as Mutou jumps you and bites into your neck, giving you a painful, but quick death."

"No fair! I made it this far just to get screwed over by luck." Emi huffs and crosses her arms. I can't help but giggle over her adorable pouty face, which earns me a glare. "What about her?" I freeze in place as she points at me. Oh, please don't, I'm sorry.

Everyone but Rin turns, and I reflexively hide behind my hair and fix my gaze on the table.

"Huh?"

"Yeah, Hicchan~! You introduced Hanacchan in the story, what happens to her? Shicchan is asking about you too~."

"Oh, and Miki? I bet she'd manage to run, she's almost as fast as me."

Is my hair in place? I pat it down to make sure. Can I get out? But I'm curious too. I should go. No! Stay still, be strong.

I raise my eyes just enough to see Hisao rub the back of his neck, then look up for a bit, weaving his thoughts.

"Well... You girls didn't figure this out in game, but this kind of zombie uses mostly sound to find prey. Since the room Hanako was skipping class in is pretty isolated, as long as she stays quiet and manages her food and water until someone comes, she should be ok."

As long as I don't panic and ruin everything, that is. Even me being the center of attention just now was my fault, I should have kept my mouth shut. Stupid immersion, stupid cute pouty face.

"Miki could have escaped somewhat easily, but she stayed behind and she, Suzu and Taro ended up dying together, fighting to defend a few other students who could not escape."

I can definitely see that happening, Miura is pretty strong and reliable. Everyone is nodding too.

"As for me, I had the same idea as you all, to escape through the woods, but I got scratched on the way. Mutou helped me to the back gate where I turned, bit him and later Emi found us. It was my brains she slipped on." To my dismay, he says this with a smile, as if proud of his participation in the story, however grisly.

Before most of us can react to his neutral report on the gruesome events, Misha's booming laughter startles us. Well, most of us. Rin seems fixated on Hisao, I think she barely faltered throughout the last hour.

"WAHAHA! We always knew you were a scatterbrain, Hicchan, but not like that!"

Everyone but Rin and me shares a laugh. I can't help but smile a little, Hisao facepalms at the pun, and Shizune adjusts her glasses proudly. That was clearly her idea.

Only the redhead is still looking at Hisao in a near trance state, like a child listening to a bed time story. One full of death and gore and zombies, so more of a bad time story, I guess. Hisao claps his hands a bit loudly, which startles me, and starts getting up, which finally breaks Rin's trance. She looks around, pushes her dice away and rests her head on the table.

"Well, that's it for this session. Again, Kanna apologizes for her absence, but we all know health comes first."

"If it did, you'd be running more." Emi mumbles somewhat audibly.

"What was that, miss Ibarazaki?" Hisao sounds every bit like a scolding teacher, and she salutes rather quickly and mockingly.

"Nothing at all, captain DM teacher sir." If he notices her tone, he doesn't comment on it.

"Good. As I was saying, next week she should be back and we can resume our campaign. As thanks for helping me out with this experiment, your characters will receive some extra XP and maaybe some items."

"Wahaha! Such generosity! You love doing experiments, don't you, Hicchan?"

Hisao is still stacking his notes, looking down, so I catch a expression the others don't. I've never it seen before and I feel blood rushing to my cheeks, don't know why. I pat my hair again

"Yep, sure do." It goes away like it was never there, and he snaps back to a normal smile. "I'm in the Science Club, after all."

"Snacks! Whatcha got for tonight?" Emi seems a bit worked up too, did she see what I did? Maybe she's just hungry.

"Oh, yeah. Since we have been getting some chilly nights, I made chocolate fondue with assorted fruits. Yes, Rin, there are oranges, and I peeled them in advance. Hmm... I think there's some castella left too, I wonder..."

Rin stands up tall to face Hisao and shakes her head, all seriousness. "Don't. Some experiments are too dire."

"Hmph. Fine, just the fondue and fruits, then. Everyone cool with it?" The girls nod.

"Sure, Hicchan! Your snacks are aal~ways delec- delecta... very tasty~!"

"So you guys can clear up the table while I finish preparing everything. Can you give me a hand, Hanako?" I jump a bit in my seat at the mention of my name, but everyone's attention is on their tasks. I nod meekly and follow Hisao out of his room.

"Hey, how did you know people were going to get attacked when they went to help?"

"I had no idea, it just sounded like something my character would say."


"So. What did you think of the RPG? Did you manage to grasp what it's about?"

"I... enjoyed watching. It was like a... play or, or a novel being written right in front of me."

"Yeah, except there isn't a single author, the story is built by the whole group, so things are less predictable. Sorry about using you as a character there, by the way."

"It was my fault, I- I couldn't keep quiet when I realized... what was gonna happen." It happens sometimes when I'm reading, to my horror when somebody sees.

"Huh. Was it that obvious?" He sounds a little dejected, like I was criticizing him. I hurry to deny it.

"No, no. I... don't think so, but when you read... as much as I do, some patterns become... noticeable."

We arrive at the boy's dorm kitchen, which is blessedly empty save for a kid sleeping on the couch.

"I guess so. Well, I just need to heat up the fondue, and set everything up. Could I bother you to make us tea?"

Well, that's something I'm good at. I nod and he responds with a smile.

"Great, thanks. The tea is in the green box, inside that cupboard. We can use the set by the sink."

I find the container, but it has two compartments. I reflexively take a whiff.

"Ah, the herbal one, please. It's the one on your--"

"Right, yes. Chamomile, citrus and... rosemary?" What an odd combination. "And green on the left." I look up for confirmation and Hisao's mouth is hanging slightly open. Oh my god, I just cut him off.

"I... I'm s-sorry, I..." I stagger, but he just gives me a smile and a quick pat on the shoulder. The left one, fortunately.

"Hey, no problem. You just demonstrated I chose the right person for the job." I feel my cheeks burning up from embarrassment, but I'm also a bit proud. Better focus on the tea so I don't screw it up.


"All... done here. A couple minutes brewing and it's ready to drink."

"Good, I am nearly done too." I was so nervous and focused on not screwing up, I didn't even see what he was doing at the stove. The silence is awkward, so I ask something that has been on my mind for a bit.

"Is... Is it common for everyone to... die like that?" Doesn't look like a lot of fun.

"Hm? No, party wipes like this are pretty rare. On our usual campaign, everyone has had the same characters from the start. Emi's had to be revived once, though."

"Re... revived? The... d-deaths the girls suffered in the game, and... yours too, seemed... very definitive."

"Like I said, tonight was an experiment, just because Kanna was away. The ongoing story is on a fantasy setting, much more forgiving. Though it took nearly all the money the party had, and a lot of pouting."

"I... I see." Some of my favourite books take place on fantasy settings, so I can see the allure of being part of those worlds. What I wouldn't give to be transported to worlds like Middle Earth, Narnia, Asgard, Camelot... My musing is cut short when I realize Hisao has finished his part and is just regarding me, with an amused smile.

"Piqued your interest? Because that's one of the reasons I asked you to come help me." Oh, great. Now that I was settling down.

"O- one of..." I choke on the words, unable to finish the question.

"First is your mastery of the tea, of course." He chuckles, trying to lighten the mood. I'm still nervously waiting. "Second, I wanted to talk to you alone, to ask if you would like to play with us."

"Why..." My voice dies, and I catch myself fidgeting. Why would he need me to leave the room?

"I thought the added pressure of four girls watching and waiting for you to answer would be uncomfortable." Oh, that's... considerate. A bit patronizing too. "No need to answer me right now either. I'll send you some links if you want and, if you are interested, we can talk about it after class or in the library."

His 'no pressure' spiel is having an opposite effect. Why is he being so considerate? I thought he was already dating someone. No, he actually told me so when he invited me for tonight, otherwise I wouldn't accept. Did he know that and lie?

My head is spinning, and the only thing I know for sure is my escape route.

"I... III--"

"You'vegottadosomething?" Hisao takes the words right out of my mouth, and I just choke and stand, a deer in the headlights. "Too bad, the girls and I wanted to chat, get to know you better. Oh well. Here, take this."

He hands me a small, two-part bento box, and I take it on reflex. "The fruits are on top and the molten chocolate is on the bottom, so it should keep your hands warm on the way to the girl's dorm. It should be microwavable, if you decide to eat later. Though I have not tested yet, so no guarantees."

I just stay there, stunned. No one has ever stopped me like that before. And when did he prepare this? I wasn't looking but how did he know to?

"I gotta go too, otherwise Misha and Emi will end up eating my books or something." He starts to fill a tray with the tea set, the fondue and half a dozen small bowls with fruits.

"Shizune would find a way to make a competition out of it, I'm sure." He mumbles while he grabs the last items.

"See you tomorrow in class?" My brain is overloaded, but I manage to nod and make my way out of the boy's dorm building. At half of the panicky speed I initially intended.


I don't even know how I reach my room, considering how stupefied I am by the whole experience. If Lilly was here, I would be in her room right now. I can't deal with all these doubts and suppositions and she always knows what to tell me when I feel this lost. Why did she have to go now, of all times? And what time is it in Scotland? I make the calculations and decide I should wait an hour or two before calling her.

On the meantime, I might as well try this fondue out, before it goes cold. By the way Hisao talked, I should eat while it's warm. But how am I supposed to eat it? Sounds like something Lilly would know too. Oh, Lilly, how I miss you...

I guess I'll just have to figure it out on my own. Maybe eating will calm the butterflies on my stomach.

[Toothless]

As a pen and paper rpg player, I really love this. I was toying with the idea of writing a complete campaign trough the eyes of the characters.
Did they just crash in on Hanako, and only noticed she was in the room halfway trough the game? Sure seem like it to me.

[Mirage_GSM]

Okay, first of all I'm not a fan of gore stories in general and of zombie stories in particular, so the first part didn't appeal to me at all.

The second part was better, but there are some problems regarding it's connections to the first part:
For one thing it is quite unusual for RPG players to play themselves as characters, but okay - experiment.
The thing is that as players they wouldn't play themselves like that. For example Misha being in love with Shizune is a well-kept secret. She wouldn't have any reason to act like that because Shizune lost a RPG character. There were a few other examples but this was the most obvious.

Then in the end Hisao seemed to have taken quite a few levels in fast-talking compared to how he usually acts - are we certain that's not his RPG character?

Heck, it's layer upon layer upon layer...

[WillDfly]

Okay, first of all I'm not a fan of gore stories in general and of zombie stories in particular, so the first part didn't appeal to me at all.
The second part was better, but there are some problems regarding it's connections to the first part:
For one thing it is quite unusual for RPG players to play themselves as characters, but okay - experiment.
The thing is that as players they wouldn't play themselves like that. For example Misha being in love with Shizune is a well-kept secret. She wouldn't have any reason to act like that because Shizune lost a RPG character. There were a few other examples but this was the most obvious.
Then in the end Hisao seemed to have taken quite a few levels in fast-talking compared to how he usually acts - are we certain that's not his RPG character?
Heck, it's layer upon layer upon layer...

Hisao watched HOTD and thought how similar events would go on Yamaku, playing themselves was a consequence of that. Besides, it would be a waste to create new characters for a single session when they were perfectly workable.

I changed the Misha thing, but lost it between edits. Fixed now, thanks. She was having a hard time playing and translating, as their usual shortcuts didn't work quite as well on the different scenario. In game, it was the shock of losing her close friend. The whole sequence was based on Highschool of The Dead, and I thought this was their version of these friends. (There's gore, BTW).

The Hisao at the end was something I knew that would raise eyebrows, Brythain said the same thing when I first sent him this. I didn't want to lose the Halloween connection, and the plan was to post the next scene, its epilogue, immediately after but... Well, best laid plans and all that.

We need to go deeper, so here it goes.

[WillDfly]

YOTD - epilogue

A hard nudge, nearly a headbutt, breaks my train of thought. She must've tried a few times to get my attention.

I look down to some seriously disheveled auburn hair, and the girl that's the cause of so many of my smiles.

The moon lights up her porcelain skin, and I can't help glancing further down at her bare body only partially under the covers.

I quickly recover eye contact, lest we end up not sleeping at all.

Her eyes. They never fail to impress me. With enough light, I would compare them to leaves, grass or the sea.

Right now, one could mistake them for black holes, taking in all the surrounding light and letting none escape.

Even under the full moon, I'm mostly inferring their position as I reposition my right arm to better accommodate Rin.

"Where were you?" Convinced of my attention, she finally asks.

"Right now?" I may not be able to see her eyes properly, but I know they're locked on me while she nods her answer.

"In here." I gesture towards my cranium with my free hand.

"I thought so." Her gaze wanders around the room for a bit before fixing back into my own. "Can I come in?"

I chuckle at that. "It's best I come out, so we can cuddle properly." I hug Rin's slim figure and bring her closer for a kiss.

Once our lips lose contact, she nods slowly, says "Good thinking." and nuzzles against my chest, tickling my scar with her ear.

"It's what I do most, might as well be good at it."

I scratch her head a bit, before she raises it, interrogatively.

"Did you bring it out?" Rin asks, her leg sliding dangerously close to my boxers and causing a spasm there as she makes herself more comfortable on my chest.

"W-what?" My flustering is met by a small, bemused smile.

"Your thoughts, the ones you were over-concerned about." She explains, holding that tiny grin.

Her smiles as stars. Not bright and warm like the Sun, those are Emi's or Misha's smiles.

Rin's are distant stars: hardly seen, unless under ideal conditions. Once you find them, though, they're absolutely fascinating and you can't help trying to see them again all the time.

I'm not sure if I should stop hanging out with the astronomy club or schedule more joint meetings.

Her leg moves again, and I swear that one was on purpose. I run my hand through my hair with a deep breath, to still myself.

Distracting is probably easier than dissuading.

"I was thinking if I dealt with the whole Hanako matter properly."

I couldn't explain everything to Rin, but she has a good grasp on the situation (and/or on me) to know what I'm talking about.

"I see." She makes a pause, as if thinking on what to say. That's not quite it, though. She probably knows what to say already, she's figuring out how to put it in words.

Words are always difficult

Knowing the effort she's putting, I want to cover her with grateful kisses. That would ruin her concentration and annoy her, so I hold back.

Annoyed Rin is pretty cute, though.

It's kind of weird how people romantically engaged tend to find this kind of response endearing, to the point of provoking it.

I'm a repeated offender myself (though mine is a though customer), and Taro's worse.

I've lost count how many times he's had to buy or make something nice for Molly because he went too far fishing for a reaction.

Maybe there's a social component, of desensitizing those you care about from matters they could otherwise take too seriously and lose control over.

If someone called me a nerd last year, I'd probably get mad. Now, Miki says it every two sentences and I have no problem. Heck, since I started the Science Club, it makes me kind of proud, even.

But that friendly banter is more similar to inside jokes. When Miki calls me a nerd and I tell her to go suck Suzu off, if an outsider thinks we're serious, it only adds to the fun.

The couple version of this seems more... exclusive? That might be it. Having a part of your partner that only you know of is a nice feeling.

Whether it's an expression, a quirk or body parts, the notion that only you are allowed to it is powerful, if not empowering. That would include one's triggers.

It's probably an evolutionary trait, to know and keep private each other's characteristics when on a monogamous relationship.

"Why?"

Hell if I know why.

Honestly, 'why' is such an annoying question. Specially when it's concealing a different question.

I've come to abhor it, specially since I started dating Rin.

Between my mother's why (disapproval), Taro's why (mocking), Emi's why (protectiveness) and Shizune's why (the easiest and hardest one), I'm sick of it.

Why do people even ask those? Gah, I can't even question it without doing it too.

Oh.

"Sorry, what was that?" I got too deep in my internal ramblings and missed when Rin started talking.

"Why are you helping?" My girlfriend asks again. I'm lucky she understands my absences. Well, we both are.

"Mutou and Shizune asked me to." The way her expression sours at the mention of the president tells me she didn't forget this, so what's the point of her question?

She nods at my answer, like she expected it. "As their last option?"

"I don't think so. From what I gather, I was the only one they asked."

She barely lets me finish before firing again. "So they chose you as the best person for the job?"

"I guess so..."

She half-closes her eyes. “Hisao, I have never seen anyone else practicing talking to someone. Except for that time I went to the drama club, but I fell asleep. Are you in the drama club?”

Crap, she saw that? My cheeks grow hot. Rin was painting in my room while I was talking to myself and simulating conversations, but I thought she was lost in it and wouldn't listen. She didn't even answer when I called her name.

The best way I could think to avoid any landmines with Hanako was spending a couple of afternoons figuring what to say and what not to say. My role as DM helped, but it was more embarrassing than my brief 8th grader syndrome back in middle school.

It helped though, her reactions were within what I had expected, including her attempt at running away, just like when I first talked to her. I can't help but feel a bit proud for my preparations and quick thinking.

“No, I'm not. Are you going somewhere with this?” I know that it's not fair, but I wish she would get to her point soon. My embarrassment doesn't help.

"Oh, yeah. Did you accept to help thoughtlessly?"

"Of course n-- Wait, are you being Socratic on me?”

"Would I ever?" The air of innocence she shows only serves to convince me she's anything but.

"You hate it, so only if you were trying to make a point..."

"Yes?" She goads me on with the kind of smile you'd give a small child or a dog.

I sigh before giving her what she wants. "Like to show that something is so silly or absurd that you have to resort to a Socratic approach to make me see it. That I did my best, put on the effort and now I can only hope everything went well enough."

She beams at me, in a way that makes me equal parts happy that I met her expectations and annoyed at my role In this whole exchange.

That, of course, amuses Rin some more. Even she is not an exception to that couple's peculiarity.

“So...?” Her eyes are on me, and she sounds really expectant. Her thigh snakes against my crotch again, now clearly on purpose.

“So now I can relax and go to sleep.” Two can play that game. “Thanks, good night.” I give her a peck on the forehead and turn around as if to be the little spoon.

One, two, three, f-- “Hisao. You are not leaving me any choice.” She hooks me and I let her turn me on my back. Before I can say anything, she's already straddling me.

“I have a somewhat dire need and you are in a position to sate it. If you want to sleep you can try to during or after I'm satisfied.” I consider provoking her a bit more, but the sight of her luscious, stark-naked body atop of mine erases that idea nearly instantaneously.

There's only one possible answer. “Yes.”

*************

Rin's body, heaving with heavy breaths and covered by a thin layer of glistening sweat, is on a diagonal across my bed. My covers fell somewhere, and I don't care right now, heater's good enough. I dispose of the condom and let myself fall on the bottom part of the bed, too exhausted to displace her.

“Hisao.” Her voice is muffled by my pillow, but I grunt in response. “I'm glad you figured it out.”

In my current state, my answer is delayed by several seconds. “Well, you talked me through it.”

“Heh.” What's funny? “Sometimes it's a good thing you think too much.”

“What do you mean?”

I raise my head to look at her, and she looks down with the smile of a cat who ate the canary. “I completely lost my point halfway through. Haven't found it yet.”

…

“Seriously? And you just kept going?” Smug shrug. “You little...” I raise myself on my elbows and roll on top of her right leg, holding it. I'm on the right level, so I drop my face on her exposed rump and bite it.

She spasms as the pain hits, but relaxes almost immediately, letting out a muffled moan. Come on, this is supposed to be a punishment! I bite harder, but she just waves her hip into it.

Aaand now I'm hard. Great, now I'm not gonna get any sleep.

Oh, well.

[Mirage_GSM]

Nice save
Though now Rin is a bit ooc, but that's okay - she always is

[azumeow]

Well, that was an unexpectedly lewd epilogue

[Oddball]

The zombie part lacked the mood and atmosphere you really need to pull off effective horror. I think you also try to work too much into too small a space and not everything gets the details it needs.

The twist that it was just a game is actually a decent one, but then that raises some issues with the characterization. In such a case, I'd imagine some of them wpouldn't play themselves as they actually are. Unlike the rushed openning though,it felt like it dragged a bit too much.