The Ultimate Hunt {DRV3 AU}

A House At The Edge Of Reality

Rantaro stared at Maki. The cold afternoon wind was already beginning to get to him as he felt a shiver go down his spine. He kept near his car, back arched against the metal.

He wasnt carrying anything or anyone now that Maki looked again. She briefly wondered what happened before decided to ask in private.

Two boys were following Maki. Before Rantaro could even ask, she answered.

"They're trustworthy."

The purple haired boy waved at him as the other stood quietly, hiding his face. Maki entered the car as they followed her and Rantaro seemed to finally come back to earth.

"Wait, these guys are coming with us??"

She sighed. "Apparently so... This is Kaito, the other one is Kiibo."

Rantaro gave a small wave to his passengers before starting the engine.

"So." Kaito leant forward, hands on his knees. "Where we going?"

Rantaro focused on the road before realising that nobody was responding to Kaito. "Somebodys house. Makoto recommended for us to go there, since the school was unsafe. Its apparently off the grid."

Kaito nodded, satisfied. "Tsumugi's not gonna attack us or anything though, right?"

Rantaro gave a shrug. Maki rolled her eyes.

This time Kiibo spoke up. "What happened to the other people she infected though? Like, where are they??"

Rantaro sighed again, raising his finger slightly off the steering wheel. "I'm not sure."

Maki's dark ruby eyes slid over him. 'That's a lie...' she thought. 'He definitely knows something...'

The rest of the trip was in silence. They pulled up to a log cabin and Rantaro gasped silently. It was two stories, but so beautiful and covered by trees and moss.

"..." Maki glanced at him before turning to the other two. "Let's go in... We can figure out what to do from there."

She caught Rantaro's eye and exited.

A young woman was waiting for them in the courtyard, looking to be in her early twentys. Her short brown hair hung in a bob around her neck and she wore a yellow sundress. She reminded Maki of Makoto, maybe it was her hairstyle.

"Hello! You must be Rantaro!" She stretched her hand outright to give him a little handshake. He looked at it warely, before relaxing and shaking her hand.

"Yeah; this is Maki, Kiibo and, uhm..."

"Kaito."

"Kaito!"

She welcomed them in. "I'm Komaru Naegi! This is my house, as you can see-"

"Wait, did you say Naegi? Like, Makoto Naegi?" Kiibo interrupted her.

"Yep! He's my big brother!" She informed them.

Maki nodded. It made sense why they seemed familiar now.

"Who's down there?" Another female voice yelled out from the second story.

"Just some guests Toki!" Komaru yelled back.

"..." Silence from upstairs before the voice replied, in a much softer voice. "I told you not to call me that around people..."

Komaru laughed before leading the group to her living room. It was covered in rustic decorations and a big bellowing fireplace stood to a side.

They talked for a bit about what was going on. Komaru told them that Hopes Peak was still trying to gather up uninfected classmates instead of finding a cure. "It's stupid really. Instead of trying to, ya know, fix this, like they did with the second killing game, they're just gathering up the uninfected classmates and leaving to space." She crossed her arms.

"Do you think there's a cure?" Maki asked.

"Oh, definitely! As far as Ive heard, the infection switches their personalitys artificially. So, unlike real personality disorders and stuff, this one can be reversed."

"How... do you know it can be reversed?" Rantaro asked this time.

"I've studied my fair share of personality disorders and such! In fact, I'm majoring in it this year!"

"That's cool."

"Yeah... And, well, Toki's helped me out!" As if on cue, a purple haired woman walked down the stairs in an elegant black dress. Her hair swayed out behind as as she descended the stair. She caught sight of the group and her eyes narrowed.

Everyone looked at her, curious to what she was doing here. Everyone except Komaru.

"Toki!!!" She threw herself at the woman, knocking her off balance.

"Ugh, Komaru get off!" The purple haired girl tried lightly pushing her off before accepting the hug, disgruntled.

Her eyes looked over the group, but before she could speak, Kiibo interrupted her.

"Are you Toko Fukawa??" He asked.

She straighten her oval glasses. "Yes. Who are you?"

"They're our guests! Makoto said they can stay here for a few days, since we're off the grid."

She frowned. "Why would they need to be off the grid."

Maki explained the situation to her. Toko's eyes widened. "Oh... I see..."

"So these people - your classmates - are infected... Do you know where any of them are."

Maki looked at Rantaro. He was fiddling with his hair, avoiding eye contact. "I may..." He spoke, his voice breathy.

He sighed. "Follow me."

Kiibo stood up, prepared to follow him before hearing Komaru. "Ah, maybe it's not such a good idea for everyone to go. After all, if he's infected, then something bad can happen."

Kaito smiled a triumphant grin at her before standing up confidently. "I can handle myself! I've handled much worse in my space training. Plus, I'll protect everyone."

Maki glanced at Kaito before turning to Komaru. "I can handle myself."

Kiibo glanced to the side. "If you still want somebody to stay inside, I will..."

Komaru shook her head. "No, if everyone else is going, it's not fair on you. Just,,, stand back from the infected, okay?"

Rantaro led the group to the car. Rustling sounds were heard from the boot of the car and Maki wondered why she didn't hear them earlier.

He glanced to the boot. "In here..." Rantaro gave the keys to Kaito before stepping a bit back, careful as ever. Maki glanced at him.

"Who is it...? Kaede?"

Rantaro shook his head before turning his attention to the body. Maki followed his gaze as Kaito pulled out a body.

Black hair covered the boys face, yet Rantaro still knew who it was. Mostly because he'd found him on the side of the road, bleeding and unconscious. He then got a call from Maki about the infection. Tsumugi must have thrown him out and deemed him useless or something.

He hadn't woken up. The blood loss was significant, even if he wasn't an adventurer, he would be able to tell that he needed some medical attention.

Komaru nodded her head. "Let's get him inside. We have a medical bed next to Toko's room that he can rest in."

Rantaro glanced to the side. This was... well, majorly his fault. He was the one who kept abandoning Shuichi. Kaito carried him inside as Rantaro followed and decided upon something.

He decided he wouldn't rest until he found a cure. He wouldn't abandon him again, as everyone else also seemed to do to Shuichi.