EP 26 : What Survives

The mall burned behind him.

Not in flames, but in memory.

Kanata rode until his arms went numb and the city thinned into long, empty stretches of road. When he finally stopped, it was beneath an overpass choked with vines and rusted signs. The engine ticked as it cooled. His ears rang in the silence.

He slid down against a concrete pillar and sat there longer than he meant to.

Blood had dried on his sleeves. Not all of it was his.

He wiped his hands on the pavement anyway.

A sound drifted up from the darkness. Small. Careful.

Footsteps.

Kanata’s head snapped up, gun already raised.

“Told you you’d try to disappear.”

Takiya stepped into the dim light, sword strapped across her back, hair tied up and messy. Sweat darkened her collar. She looked furious.

Relieved.

Alive.

“How did you—”

“I followed the noise,” she cut in. “You’re not subtle on a bike.”

She stopped a few steps away. Took him in. The blood. The shaking he hadn’t noticed until now.

“You went alone,” she said. “Again.”

Kanata lowered the gun slowly. “You shouldn’t have.”

“I know.”

They stood there, neither moving.

Finally, she crossed the last step and grabbed his jacket. Hard. Pulled him up just enough to look him in the eyes.

“What did you do?” she asked.

He didn’t answer right away.

“There were people,” he said finally. “They weren’t infected. They weren’t innocent either.”

Her grip tightened. “And?”

“I removed them.”

She searched his face, looking for cracks. For regret.

She found something worse.

Understanding.

Takiya released him and stepped back. “The others are scared.”

“They should be.”

“That’s not what I meant.” She swallowed. “They’re scared of you.”

Kanata leaned his head back against the concrete. Closed his eyes.

“Good,” he said. “Maybe that keeps them alive.”

Takiya slapped him.

Not hard. Not soft either.

The sound echoed under the bridge.

“Don’t you dare decide that alone,” she said, voice tight. “Don’t turn into something Koko won’t recognize.”

That did it.

Kanata’s breath caught. His hands clenched at his sides.

“I saw what people do when no one’s watching,” he said. “That’s what survives. Not kindness. Not rules.”

She stepped closer again, softer now. “Then let us survive with you. Don’t shut us out.”

A long pause.

Sirens wailed far away. Maybe zombies. Maybe people pretending to be help.

Kanata opened his eyes.

“I don’t know how to go back,” he said.

Takiya rested her forehead against his chest. Just for a second. Grounding him.

“Then don’t,” she said. “Just don’t go forward alone.”

Headlights appeared in the distance.

A van.

Kanami’s driving style was unmistakable even from far away.

Godou leaned out the window waving frantically. Koko’s face pressed against the glass.

Kanata stood.

For the first time since the mall, he holstered his gun without thinking.

The van rolled to a stop. Doors flew open.

Kanami jumped out and punched him in the arm before hugging him so hard it knocked the air out of his lungs.

“Idiot,” she said into his shoulder. “You promised to come back.”

Godou wiped her eyes and tried to laugh it off. “Next time you go solo, at least leave a note.”

Koko ran up and hugged his leg.

Kanata froze.

Then slowly, carefully, he knelt and hugged her back.

She smelled like chalk dust and old soap.

Still human.

Kanata looked up at the group.

He was tired. He was changed. He was no hero.

But for now, he was still here.

And that would have to be enough.

To be continued.