災伴 (Saiban)

Chapter Two (Tanaka Hana)

I'm the happy one, the cheerful relief for tension, the peppy girl to cheer on everyone else, an unseen pillar. That was my role before the world became like this, and I guess I just fell back into what's comfortable for me. It's exhausting, but it's too late to take it back now. Smiling is just moving a few muscles — it shouldn't be so hard right now...

I take out my notebook and add another tally to the pages titled "Days Since Monsters Showed Up". It's up to 752 now. Either the rest of the world is just as bad, or they've given up on little old Japan, and I don't really like either option. I sigh and flip the pages to the back, where there's the list of the people we've survived with. We started out with a few dozen people, but now... it's only us five. My pen hovers over "Momogawa Haru" for a moment. Did we really lose him? It feels like he should still be here, still being his old self...

"You alright, Tanaka-san?" Yohei calls over his shoulder. He's currently crouched on the ground, sorting through some cans in front of the shelf we use to store food. The candle beside him — one of the many we use to illuminate the interior of the boarded-up apartment we use for a base. It's a big apartment — a large common area with a kitchen, two bedrooms, two bathrooms — but it feels a bit small with six people living inside it... well, five now.

"Oh, yeah, just spaced out!" I say, putting on a grin. "You want help with those? I'll try not to drop them like last time!" I lean over, ending up at his side.

He shakes his head, his lips shifting to match my expression. Success. "No need. I've got it. Arigatou gozaimasu." He turns back to his sorting, squinting a bit at the labels.

"Really, I can help, Yo-chan." I take a few cans for myself and sort them into piles. "You should go put in the new contacts we got you." I smile brightly at him, trying to ignore the face of the Saiban that killed Haru flashing through my mind — a snake's features on a dog's skull, baring its needle-like teeth... "We can't handle our good ol' leader having to struggle to see, right?" I add, being sure to keep each syllable light and bursting with energy.

Yohei's pale cheeks gain a bit of a red tint and he looks away, clearing his throat. "I'm not anyone's leader..."

I giggle, creating a can stack for beans. "If I didn't know better, with that modesty, I'd say you're pure-blood Japanese, born and raised. Aren't you Westerners supposed to be confident?" I tease, nudging his shoulder.

He grumbles, his cheeks blooming with more color. "I only lived in Germany until I was fourteen anyways..." He rubs the back of his neck. "I want to save the contacts for when we go out as much as possible... I don't want to waste them. They're a resource we shouldn't have to think too hard wasting time to replenish, since I'm the only one who needs them—"

"Maybe I should start calling you Klein-sama, boost that ego of yours." I poke his cheek a few times until he finally looks at me. "We don't mind wasting time on you, dummy!" Smiling so much is starting to bring a familiar ache to my cheeks.

"...please don't." Yohei grimaces.

"Klein-sama."

He groans and goes back to sorting foods, now separating bags of white and brown rice. I notice a small smirk on his face despite the circumstances, however. Good. He's probably the most important person here to our survival. His decision-making and foresight has saved lives plenty of times since this started. Some have been lost, but the successes far outnumber the failures. I doubt anyone else here could do what he does if he falls into a depression or dies...

"Who the hell are you?!"

The shout takes me out of my thoughts. My head whips around towards the direction of the source, at the front door. Orou-kun...?