Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is purely a fanfic for enjoyment.
Cross-over from various games, books, anime, manga, and movies.
The familiar characters you see here belong to their respected authors and owners.
"Speech"
Time*
Arc 1: Mental Illness - Chapter 6
"I'll have to agree with the two about keeping Touhou around. More than that—unlike the rest of us—he actually seems to understand what needs to be done on the spot, relying on pure logic instead of reacting through emotional outbursts." Saya said slowly, her eyes shifting to give Takashi a brief side glance. "Furthermore, we'll need another person besides Hirano who has real experience using firearms. After all, judging by how Touhou wanted that gun he is holding, he clearly knows how to use it, probably better than all of us combined."
Takashi's scowl deepened even further, his jaw tightening as Rei shot Saya a clear look of disapproval. Rather than backing down, Saya simply rolled her eyes, letting out a small huff of irritation at their reactions, as if she had expected nothing less from them.
"Don't forget how sharp he is on his feet." Saeko added in a serious tone as she leaned back against the wall, folding her arms loosely. "Balancing himself on those metal fences isn't easy, and most people wouldn't even think of whistling to draw the zombies' attention. Honestly, I would've just shouted instead."
"I did something similar just recently, but you don't see me bringing it up." Takashi snorted in annoyance, his eyes narrowing as he stared at Saeko. "Besides, I went out of my way to save Alice here." He continued, jerking his chin toward the little girl. "Yet here you and Saya are, going on about this bastard when you haven't even bothered to check if she's okay after everything she's been through."
"Congratulations on saving her." I said calmly, cutting in before Takashi could continue his rant. "Are you planning on rescuing every other child in the neighborhood, too? Because she isn't the only one dealing with zombies or other people desperately trying to survive right now. Furthermore, as long as that little girl doesn't have any bites from a zombie, she'll be fine. She won't end up transforming into a zombie anytime soon." I added, my gaze steady on him. "That said… have you actually checked whether she was bitten or not?"
"There's no need for me to check—Kohta made sure none of them could even touch her!" Takashi snapped, looking like he was ready to throw a punch at any second, his shoulders tense with barely contained anger. "If anything, who the hell are you to question me about what to do?!" He shouted, jabbing a finger at me, rage burning in his eyes.
A dull headache began to form at my temples. Before I could even think it through, my body moved on instinct.
I rushed forward, grabbed the finger Takashi was pointing at me with, twisted it sharply out of place, then snapped it back into position just as fast.
Takashi screamed, the sound cutting through the room, so I clamped a hand over his mouth while my other hand rose, fingertips hovering just beside his left eye, close enough to promise what would happen next if he didn't cooperate.
No words were needed.
Takashi went silent instantly, his body stiff with shock and pain.
Everyone stared in stunned silence, frozen by what they had just witnessed. No one moved. No one even seemed to breathe.
Before anyone could react after a few heavy seconds had passed, I stepped back toward the couch, calmly picking up the sniper rifle and the briefcase from the floor.
As I straightened, something felt… off.
The world around me seemed to slow, just slightly, so subtly that most people wouldn't notice it at all, yet clear enough for me to feel it, like reality itself had slipped out of rhythm for a heartbeat.
"I feel like some of you don't understand that shouting is a fatal thing now." I said dryly, sweeping the room with an empty gaze—lingering mostly on Takashi.
Takashi had collapsed to his knees, tears streaming down his cheeks as he clutched the finger I had forcibly dislocated and snapped back into place against his will, his breathing uneven from the pain and shock.
"I agree with you, but did you really have to be so brutal about it?" Saya asked, a hint of anger flashing in her eyes even as she made sure to keep her voice low. "Still… I guess I'm glad he took the brute end of it instead of me." She added with a small huff. "Not that I'd call having a finger broken and snapped back into place fixed at this point." She muttered the last part under her breath, though it was loud enough that everyone in the room heard it anyway.
Takashi stared at Saya in tear-filled disbelief, his lips trembling as if he couldn't quite process what he'd just heard.
"Brutal or not, at least everyone understands now that making loud noise isn't a good thing anymore." Saeko spoke up calmly, her expression eerily composed—like someone who wasn't the least bit concerned about what happened to Takashi a moment ago.
"But that still doesn't mean this bastard gets to break Takashi's finger…!" Rei nearly shouted, her voice catching at the last second as she forced it down.
Rei glanced at me, fear flashing in her eyes, the rest of her anger quickly shrinking back under my empty stare.
"He doesn't, but I can tell he isn't in the right state of mind… or maybe he's dealing with a massive headache." Shizuka said quickly, worry creeping into her voice. "I should check if we have any pain meds..!"
Without waiting for a response, Shizuka hurried over to the luggage piled with medical supplies from the high school and began rummaging through it, bottles and packets softly clattering as she searched.
"Must be one killer headache." Saya muttered, taking a few careful steps away from me, clearly not wanting to stay within striking range.
"Hirano, aren't you going to do anything?" Rei looked over at the other boy in the group, desperation edging into her voice as she searched for some kind of support.
"Wh—what?! What do you expect me to do?!" Kohta blurted out, his voice rising fast.
The moment he realized how loud he was getting and noticed me staring at him hard, he slapped both hands over his mouth, eyes wide with alarm.
"Besides, don't you understand he's way above my skill set?" Kohta whispered hurriedly through his fingers. "Have you seen his athletic build compared to my… well, my fat body? You're basically sending me straight to death's door."
Rei scowled in frustration, then let out a sharp huff before turning back to Takashi, worry written plainly across her face. She hovered there helplessly, clearly concerned, yet with no idea what to do to actually help him.
"Here it is." Shizuka said brightly as she hurried back with a small bottle of pain meds in hand. "This should help with the headache, at least."
She passed it to me with an easy smile before suddenly blinking, as if something important had just clicked in her mind.
"Ah! I should check on Takashi's finger too."
With that, she quickly turned and rushed over to him, already fussing as she examined his hand, like she'd only just remembered he was there at all.
I looked down at the bottle in my hand.
"…This is Seirogan." I said slowly. "It's not for headaches—it's for diarrhea."
I stared at it in silence for a solid 4 seconds before lifting my gaze toward Shizuka, who was clearly too focused on Takashi to hear me at all.
With a quiet sigh, I shifted my eyes over to Saeko and Saya instead.
"Sorry, I barely know anything about medicine aside from a few common household remedies." Saeko admitted with a small, composed smile, as though the situation didn't quite faze her.
"Don't look at me." Saya said, rolling her eyes. "Believe it or not, she's actually the only one in the group who studied medicine and went to school for it." She points at Shizuka.
I glanced down at the bottle in my hand, then slowly lifted my eyes back to Saya, letting the silence say everything I was thinking.
"What? It's not like I know whether she actually finished her studies or not." Saya muttered, quickly looking away from me as if to dodge the weight of my stare.
I let out a quiet sigh, rubbing at my forehead as the headache throbbed a little stronger. Setting the bottle aside, I picked up my briefcase, then paused before opening it.
With too many eyes around now, I decided against pulling out my journals, keeping my thoughts to myself instead.
"Alright, come on." Saya said gently, guiding Alice away by the hand. "Let me check if you have any bites, just in case."
"Saya, are you seriously following this guy's orders?" Rei asked, wide-eyed, disbelief written across her face as she looked at her.
Nearby, Takashi grimaced in pain while Shizuka examined his finger, gently flexing it and giving it small pulls—each movement making him wince too hard to pay attention to anything else around him.
"Excuse you, but what I heard was a question, not an order." Saya shot back with a scoff. "And clearly, you're forgetting that we're not living the same life we had this morning. We might as well start making it a habit to check for bites from now on." She softened her tone slightly as she looked down at the little girl. "Come on, Alice."
Alice looked a little nervous but nodded, allowing Saya to gently guide her toward the bathroom, the door closing behind them with a quiet click.
Rei shot me another glare, making me seriously question whether she had memory problems or if her intelligence was the real issue. Maybe both.
"Alright, it's getting very late. I'm going back to the house I was staying in before coming here." I said as I stood up, slinging the sniper rifle into my grip as I prepared to leave. "I need sleep, and with your friend here continuing to scream." I added calmly, glancing at Takashi. "I'd rather not keep breaking his fingers."
"Good. You should leave. No one wants you here anyway." Rei said coldly, looking at me with undisguised hatred in her eyes.
"Don't put words in my mouth. Like I said before, I'd rather have him here." Saya spoke up sharply, returning with Alice before anyone else could respond. "I didn't even need to check for long—no bites anywhere in the obvious spots within reach." she added matter-of-factly. Then she shot Rei a flat look. "And are you stupid or something? Sure, Fatso here might be our gunner, but even he has limits. He can't keep going forever before he collapses."
"I'd like to have him around too." Shizuka said with a gentle smile. "After all, he drew all those nasty zombies away from us. Just imagine how many we would've had to deal with without his help."
"I think it's best if you and Komuro stop pushing for Touhou to leave." Saeko said calmly, her sharp gaze fixed on Rei rather than Takashi.
After a moment, Saeko's expression softened as she turned toward me, giving a small, respectful bow of her head. "Please stay for the night, Touhou. Many of us would be grateful to have someone like you helping us in the long run."