Archive of Our Own

It had only been quite a few years since the two classmates found themselves together, wandering aimlessly in a wasteland they had once recognised as home. Some buildings were on the verge of collapse, but most remained safe for shelter, or for scavenging, especially for food. It wasn't as if supplies were scarce, since Kusakabe and Sajou seemed to be the only people around in the town.

Their main priorities were stable shelter, praying to God the building don't collapse above them. Really, it was a miracle they were still alive, possibly because of how much Sajou had watched zombieland. While the undead wasn't a issue, since nobody had risen from death, they had to keep themselves fit enough for survival. The places they were the luckiest finding new clothes and water was the expensive Manor houses on the outskirts of town, which is quite the walk but really, what could they possibly have to lose now?

Apart from eachother - nothing.

Each time, they split up to cover more ground in the house, and now, Sajou was searching the bedrooms upstairs getting any clothes that fit and stuffing them into a bag, as well as toiletries, just in case they come across any working showers, or clean onesens. Even now, Kusakabe promised to take Sajou to one, despite how much they worry for their safety.

"Sajou." Rihito jumped, dropping his bag on the floor as Kusakabe just laughed, quickly taking his hand in apology and getting the bag for him, "sorry! Sorry, I didn't think I'd scare you." He slung Rihito's bag over his shoulder, along with his, as sajou smiled and rolled his eyes, closing up any cabinets or drawers. "Alright, alright, did you find anything?" He gently squeezed Kusakabe's hand, causing a soft blush to appear on his cheeks "ah- I did! It's mostly tins, but since, but I managed to find medication in the bathroom, and I also got something for you, but I won't show you until we get back to our safe spot." Kusakabe giggled

Sajou raised an eyebrow, smirking and chuckling as they began to walk out the room, taking the bag back, and letting out a gentle sigh, "you and your gifts... do I have to wait?"

"Yes, of course, it won't be a surprise otherwise." Kusakabe suddenly stopped in place, prompting Sajou to look back confused, but still smiling, "I suppose you want the satisfaction of seeing my face don't you?" The blonde hummed in response, pulling sajou a bit closer so they can be face to face, with Sajou quickly catching on "ah- kusakabe-"

"Maybe a kiss will settle your curiosity, Sajou?" Kusakabe's lazy smirk, paired with the comment, left Sajou's cheeks bright red as he just stared with wide eyes. "... now-?"

"Yeah." He quickly took the initiative, brushing away some stray hairs to cup his face before giving him a quick kiss. Not long enough to fall into a full make out session, but long enough to leave sajou a flustered mess, giving Kusakabe the moment to snicker, "anyone ever tell you you're pretty cute like that?"

Sajou quickly pouted and looked away in an attempt to hide his flushed expression, "You're the only person, I've seen in a few months-"

"Shit it's been months? I lost count the first week, I'm surprised you kept track." Kusakabe laughed, taking a hold of his partners hand again. And to Kusakabes surprise, that got a laugh out of Sajou, "well, it's not like we haven't had much else to do, hm?"

"Ah, fair. Well-" he offered his hand as he opened the door for them "you ready to go back?" Earning and nod from Sajou and a tight hold on his hand. "Mm. Don't forget about the dog outside the building."

"Dog?" Kusakabe thought, "ah- guard dog- we'll sneak past it like we did when we first snuck in."

"If it goes after us, we'll have to split up."

The blonde whined and pouted, "Sajooouuu..."

"We'll be less likely to get hurt. Come on, we need to find where it is." Sajou lead the boy out while he grumbled and whined under his breath, but quickly went quiet once they stepped onto the porch, only hearing the hum of burst electric lines and the peaceful harmony of birds, chirping away. Fortunately for them, the dog on guard didn't seem to be on the front garden, so it gave them a moment to breathe and carefully walk along the grass, sajou keeping watch on the left, and kusakabe on the right. With each step a crunch of leaves followed, echoing in the empty space and causing the two to be extra cautious, until Sajou came to an abrupt halt, confusing kusakabe for a minute before gaining eye contact with the now on guard bullmastiff, who was prepared to charge at any sudden movement. "Sajou-" kusakabe kept his voice low, keeping as still as possible as not to disturb the shrubbery around him.

"Go over the fence," Sajou seemed to hesitate in letting go of kusakabe's hand as the dog approached, now bearing its teeth "We'll throw the bags first, and then jump it, got it?" 

Kusakabe blinked, "what about the hole we came in?"

"It'll follow us. I'll help you over first."

"Wha-" He almost choked on his words when Sajou broke into a sprint, slipping off his backpack in preparation to throw, alongside being startled by the dog, barking and running after them. "aH- Sajou-!!" Kusakabe watched as Sajou's bag flew over the iron fence, yelping at sajou bending down to pick up the blonde at his legs, to help him get higher ground. "Sa-"

"I'll go round back." Without another word, Kusakabe climbed onto the fence, seeing the dog practically scrape sajou's arm at an attempted bite before he quickly took off down the garden, leaving kusakabe to watch from the fence. He quickly shook the worry from his head, knowing he'll just distract sajou. "Aahh, idiot! Making me afraid-" he hopped down from the fence, getting his leg caught on a sharp piece of iron in the process, though, ignoring it thinking its just a little scratch, and going back to mumbling to himself. "Idiot...--" he quickly snatched up sajous bag, and followed the fence around in hopes of running into his partner again.

Upon turning a corner, kusakabe's eyes lit up upon seeing sajou, albeit, looking scratched up and missing his jacket, but what mattered was he got out "ah- Sajou!" He held their bags tighter and jogged over, while sajou stumbled, out of breath, but smiling. "I'm okay, I'm okay-"

"Does it hurt?"

"N- no- only stings, but I don't think they're deep." Sajou sighed, taking a tight hold of the blondes hand after a moment. "Are you hurt-?" Kusakabe quickly kissed the others cheek, just in an attempt to stay close. "A scratch or two, doesnt hurt." He gave Sajou a bright little smile, "we should head back- do you want your bag or-"

"I'm okay, I can carry it-" 

"Ehh, too bad, mine now." Sajou chuckled at this, trying to take it back regardless "kusakabe-" He quickly yelped and jumped out of his skin when the guard dog began to jump at the fence, barking at them once again. Kusakabe, as per usual, couldn't hold in his snickers and laughter, prompting a playful punch from Sajou. "Kusakabe!" 

"Sorry! Sorry! Haha!" Kusakabe wiped his eyes, handing sajou his bag, before slipping off his own to reach in for food. "Here, he's probably just hungry-" he rummaged through his bag, hoping to find some meat, or at the very least some treats, while Sajou, most definitely afraid at the moment, got close to see if there's any injuries.

"Let's hope there isn't a gang of stray cats again, I like spoiling them, and I don't think they'll take lightly to me giving some of their food to a dog." The blonde smiled, "Wait, dogs can eat chicken right?"

Sajou sighed and laughed softly "of course they can, Kusakabe. Poultry or not, if its meat, they'll have it." 

"Right!" Kusakabe quickly looked around for something to put the chicken breast on, settling with a piece of bark fallen from a nearby tree. He slid the meat beneath the fence and whistled to get the dogs attention. Once the dog went quiet and looked over at Kusakabe, he poked the bark platter closer to it, watching as it cautiously sniffed the air and approached the food, glancing at kusakabe before gently taking it to eat it elsewhere. "Ah. Haha." Kusakabe zipped his bag back up, leaving the rest of the pack where the first fillet was, hoping that it would be enough to keep them going a little longer. "You seem to like dogs." Sajou smiled "I always took you as a cat person."

"Eh, I like all animals, even if they're scary." kusakabe slung his bag back onto his shoulder "that's why I sometimes call you a bear. Friend shaped, but when you're angry, still cute, but terrifying." He snickered, only giggling more at Sajou's blank glare, "cmon, I'm not wrong am I?"

"We need to start heading back, it's getting late and we won't find our way if it's too dark-"

" 'no you're not wrong, Kusakabe, I am like a bear, and I'll give you as many bear kisses and hugs as you want when we make it back' " This time, Sajou just smiled in response, knowing that he couldn't stay at least a little upset at that man for long, not anymore. "We can, but only if we go now, okay?"

"Yessir!" He quickly slipped his back onto his back, before waving at the dog qnd starting to walk next to his partner. "Bye bye, Strange dog that nearly ate us alive"

"Ah, speaking of eating, I'll make the ramen tonight, if that's okay? You're starting to look pretty tired."

"You say that as if I don't look tired all the time," He sighed, and held onto the bag strap a bit tighter. "Then again, I could go for ramen, kisses, cuddles and a nap-"

"Kusakabe--"

"Aaaah! It'll be the best night so far, now that we managed to wedge that old bed frame from one of the nearby stores into that corner in the warehouse, with all those pillows and blankets--!" A sudden grip on kusakabe's arm halted him in his tracks, forcing him to look back at Sajou, who was hurrying to take the bags off his shoulders and trying to have him sit down. "Eh- Ah, I haven't messed up my chances for a kiss, have I?" He watched as Sajou quietly, and efficiently, rummaged through their bags, pulling out a few wipes and alcohol, which had the blonde confused. "No. Just stay still for a moment-" sajou fumbled with opening up the disinfectant.

"Did you get hurt? Do you need me to-- OW YOU COCK-" Kusakabe flinched, slightly kicking his leg at the feel of the liquid practically burning him. "Hold still! I have no idea what I'm doing and I don't want to hurt you, idiot!" Sajou held onto kusakabes foot as he attempted to clean up the wound that came from calf to ankle, all while recieving a good few kicked and hisses of pain from the blonde. "SAJOU-"

“I know, I know, but it’ll hurt more if you don’t clean it. Especially one this big!” Sajou huffed, carefully placing kusakabe’s leg on his knee before reaching for the bandages. “how did you manage to do this anyway?” He carefully wrapped the wound with some alcohol drenched cotton underneath to stop it catching on the bandage, leaving the blonde wincing and pouting at the sudden pressure. “I think its from when I jumped the fence, I think one of the spires were broken-“

“so when I asked if you were injured, you lied to me?” sajou shot him a quiet glare as he set kusakabe’s leg back onto the ground, watching as he panicked. “no! god, no, I didn’t even notice until now, genuinely, I thought it was a just a scratch.” He scooched himself closer to his partner, taking hold of and stroking his cheek gently, feeling sajou heat up in his hand. “I’d never lie to you sajou, especially in a time like this. I’m not the kind of guy that would hide a zombie bite, got it?” This got sajou to laugh a little, unable to stay upset at him over small things, not anymore. “alright, but please just be careful, alright?”

“ ‘course I will! Do you not remember when I fell of my bike? I was perfectly fine!”

“Because I put you on a bike ban.”

“nuh uh, im responsible.” Kusakabe giggled and took a tight hold of Sajou’s hand, “I’ll be fine.” He quickly moved to gently kiss him before maneuvering to try and stand, hobbling slightly now the pain began to set it, but managing to stay upright.

Sajou quickly stepped up to help Kusakabe balance. “Careful-“ He could practically see his dumb smirk, without even looking. “you think you can make it back walking?”

“Yeah, I’ll live. I don’t mind being carried though. “He didn’t drop his smile as he gave a side glance to see his reaction. “If you can’t, I don’t mind, I’m sure your noodle arms will struggle- wait-“ Kusakabe bit his tongue and gasped at being lifted up, scrabbling to cling on, wrapping hiarms around sajou as tightly as possible. “Sajou-! Aaah- too high, too high, this isn’t romantic-!” He sighed in relief as he was plopped back down, even as Sajou gently laughed. “you’re surprisingly heavy with that bag-“

“I think my life flashed before my eyes…” Kusakabe blushed when sajou took hold of his hand this time, walking him back down to the main streets to get back to their spot in Kyoto, “come on, You still need that ramen and cuddles I promised you.”

“wait you’re actually granting my wish for endless hugs tonight?!” Kusakabe lit up, stumbling at Sajou’s side, though flustered and smiling widely nonetheless.