Chapter Text
Date: April 09 20XX
Location: Somewhere in the plains
Time: 8:03 am
Minamoto Kou
Early morning light creeps towards Kou's face, illuminating the lint floating in the air around the ancient sheets. As his face tightens with the light from the lone attic window, and he rolls over into the musty comforter, rubbing his dried tears onto the worn material. His rough hands wipe at his face as he sits up on his bed to find an exhausted man staring at him in the mirror. With a somber sigh, he sets both feet on the ground and walks over to the door leading to the main part of the house, pushing away the large dresser barricading the door.
Dust files as Kou walks down the ancient staircase. Large windows line every wall. Allowing light to flood into the downstairs portion of the farmhouse. Kou holds up a hand to shield his still tired eyes.
Upon looking around at his surroundings, he sees an endless stretch of fields outside the farmhouse, with other structures scattered around the farm he happened to stumble upon. Having found this house late last night, he hadn't even registered how broad a property it was.
Taking a quick peek outside the windows and seeing no signs of zombies, he walks out from the staircase and onto the main floor.
He kneels to open his duffel bag, going through the contents. He extracts, folds, and sets aside piles of clothing, taking the time to look at the possessions he brought. He takes out a pocket knife, a miniature sundial, a water purifier, canned goods, and a jewelry box. Putting the tactical gear away for the time being, he turns his focus to the small box.
Opening the box carefully so as not to break the latch further, he pulls out a few photos and flips through them. He recalls his little sister, Tiara, just a few years ago, on her fourteenth birthday. His family looked so content in this moment, even his brother, the eldest, letting down his guard to bask in the simplicity the moment brought. Sifting through the photographs, he sees memories from his home, and new tears are born.
Why was Teru so arrogant?! He couldn't care about anyone besides himself if it caused his own demise.
He shoves off the thought of his brother, choosing to focus on the present. He opens his eyes and closes the box.
Opening up a can of peaches, Kou opens the door and walks onto the wrap-around porch. His eyes wander as he starts to investigate the property. A warm summer breeze hits his back, and the Earth seems to take pity on the young man and shine down upon him.
He steps down from the porch and walks out to get a good look at the house. As suspected, it's two tiers with a window looking into the attic. The house has been abandoned for at least ten years, and was built at least thirty years ago.
Pivoting towards the other large structure on the property, he finds a large barn, but even more importantly, a large (broken) pen of a few farm animals. A wild grin takes over his face, and he jumps the fence of the enclosure dropping his peaches, trying to get a look at all the animals. He goes to grab a sheep that hasn't been sheared in years. Its wool is thick and matted from years of neglect.
"Poor thing, I'll help you," the man coos and swiftly hoists the sheep up over his shoulder and into the barn. The sheep bleats in protest as he's put into a stall that Kou can only assume was used to hold horses. Kou opens up a large wooden chest and finds an array of tools. For the most part finds scrap so rusted it can't be used, but under the pile, it had protected a comically large pair of shears.
"This shouldn't hurt a bit, buddy." He grabs the sheep and starts to shear away years of wool.
Lo and behold, thirty minutes and a pile of wool later, the poor thing was freed and sprinted out of the barn.
"No, buddy, come back!" he pleads with the sheep to come back to him as the sheep runs as far as its little legs will take it.
Kou sprints after the animal and runs back towards the house, passing it and making his way towards the main gate.
I can't let this sheep get away; having animals would be a godsend in this post-apocalyptic nightmare!
With a burst of determination fueled by fear of, he catches up with the creature only to have his attention stolen by a figure near the main gate.
Why would there be a zombie out here? These things are supposed to stay near cities? Or worse, one of those bandits who kill for sport. I could take a zombie, but definitely not another person.
He makes a sharp turn and stares at the human(?) at the gate to the property. Out of stupidity or fear, he hollers at the figure.
"Who the hell are you?"
He yells, trying to mask the growing dread in his voice. The figure remains frozen still, and Kou wonders if it is, in fact, a corpse.
"If you don't say anything, I'll come over there!"
He raises the intensity of his voice, praying to scare the intruder away. In one last-ditch effort, he starts to sprint towards the human-like formation. Only about five hundred feet from the figure, the humanoid shape opens the gate and starts to run at Kou with an inhumanly fast pace. Realizing what was happening, he turned back, realizing he had not made a smart decision. Running for dear life now, Kou hears the figure gaining on him, followed by a loss of his center of gravity and a face full of dirt.
Lying face down on the ground, he turns over to see the figure standing above him. In his dazed mental state, he can't make out the thing's face.
Holy shit, this is how I die. I leave the Minamoto house for a day, and I'm already dead.
To Kou's unexpected delight, the thing now known as a person extends their hand towards Kou, offering to help him up. With some hesitation, Kou grabs their arm and stands up. Now, face Kou examines the person.
They have a masculine face with feminine eyes and a tall figure, almost as tall as him, only shorter than him by an inch or so. The most interesting thing about him, besides his heavy clothes for the summertime, was his gorgeous, deep magenta hair. Complementing his eyes, it was shoulder-length, with it being neatly parted to the right side. Entranced by his beauty, he almost forgets to speak.
The man stares at him with a certain displeasure in his eyes, crossing his arms in defiance.
"And who might you be?" He questions, keeping an icy gaze locked on him.
Kou stands awkwardly, unsure how to handle such a situation.
"I'm Kou Minamoto. Who are you?"
Surprised by his earnest response, the man shifts uncomfortably clearly not wanting to overshare.
"You may call me Mitsuba, and as long as you don't bother me I will allow you to live."