A Chance to Meet (Open.)

[Yumi Sakamoto]

Yumi walked down the slightly busy streets of the city. It was about mid-day and fairly warm, despite a small breeze. Her white cat, Aya, followed her at her heels. She wasn't headed anywhere in particular, just wanted to get out of the house.

News on the war caught her ear. Anger filled her blue eyes. It was the stupid war's fault everyone was suffering the way they were. She hated it. Just then a large gust of wind blew her long, blonde hair in her face from behind. Yumi instinctively lifted a hand to block the strands from her eyes, while her other hand went to hold down her skirt. Her face turned red. How embarrassing.

[Jun Matsumoto]

Jun sat at the corner of a street, cigarette between his fingers, slouched against one of the many shanty shacks of the safe zone. Taking a deep drag of his cigarette, he let smoke fill his mouth, travel down his throat, and rest in his lungs, and then, with long sigh, exhaled, turning the world a misty grey. Staring at the burning stub, held between the knuckles of his first and second finger, he watched it burn down to the filter. As he felt the heat on his skin, he flicked it away, casting the remaining embers into the street.

He sighed again, long and hard. He was bored. As much as he loved returning to the safe zone, getting to spend time with his mom and eat some of her awesome sweet rolls, it could get so old, so boring. There was nothing to do in her house other than eat, and while he liked talking to her, there wasn't much to say to her. She didn't approve of his zombie killing, smoking, or scavenging, so it wasn't like she was going to ask 'Hey son-Jun! How's them zombies killin'? I hear that no man's land's the place to be!' Rather, she spent most of her time talking about cats, neighbours, and who was marrying who in her neighbourhood.

“Screw this” he said aloud, to no one in particular. Pushing himself up to his feet, using the wall for support, he turned to head back toward his home. He resolved to collect his things, and make for the Old City before night fall, try and put some kick back in his day.

As he did so, a stray gust of wind caught his hair, tousling it more than it already was, and it distracted him for a moment. That moment was a god send. In the second he focused back on reality, he noticed a blond girl a few feet away from him, pretty, around his age, trying her best to hold her skirt down against the wind. His eyes flashed to her legs, and he grinned. Nice. It was a girl he wouldn't mind meeting. Hey, with a bit of luck, maybe she'd put some kick back in his day.

Heading toward her, he pretended not to be able to see through his hair, and ended up unceremoniously bumping into her, shoulder first, and then waited for her reaction.

[Yumi Sakamoto]

"Oh!" Yumi shouted trying not to fall. What ever hit her had caught her off guard. "Huh? Oh! I'm sorry." She apologized. "I shouldn't have stopped." Yumi bowed and tucked the loose strands of her blonde hair behind her ear. "Are you OK? You're not hurt are you?" She had concern all over her face. Yumi was a very caring girl. "I''m Yumi and this is my cat, Aya." She motioned to the white cat sitting at her heels. "Mew."

Yumi blushed a little. She just noticed it was a rather cute boy that had bumped into her. She was fairly shy and easily embarrassed. Her face became redder as she realized she was blushing. Yumi turned her head and looked down at the ground. Hoping he hadn't noticed.

[Jun Matsumoto]

Jun grinned as the girl swayed a little, gasping with a high pitched 'oh'. He watched her sway, and reached out to her, catching her sleeve in a firm grip, holding her up so she had time to steady herself. When she had regained her posture, she quickly apologized and looked away from him, tucking hair behind her ear in an somewhat adorable way. Jun carried on grinning. 'Score was all he thought.

“Nah, you didn't hurt me. Like someone as small as you could hurt me.” He spoke in a somewhat cocky manner, smiling at her with self-assurance, and pulled a quick, jokey muscle pose. However, he quickly sobered up, adding the right amount of care to his voice when he asked “But...being as I'm the big strong man, I didn't hurt you did I?” He knew he hadn't, and if he had he didn't care too much. Girls wanted men to be the right blend of caring, funny and masculine, and it was a blend Jun thought he had down perfectly.

Holding out his hand as she introduced herself, Jun gave her another once over, making sure he wasn't wasting his time. The girl was tall, blonde, pretty. She had a good figure, wore a skirt, and had nice legs. With a nod, he decided that this was indeed time well spent. “Jun Matsumoto. Nice to meet you Yumi...and...erm...kitty?”

That hadn't been as smooth as he'd hoped. Jun had been zoned out when she mentioned the name of the fluffy ball of white at her heels. He'd been too busy looking her over, and he couldn't really admit to that. Hopefully though she didn't notice, as she seemed to be staring at the floor, her cheeks a bright red, blushing about something. Jun thought he knew what, and as if test his theory, his pushed his hair away from his face, sweeping it across his forehead in a style he knew all the models used to wear. If she blushed deeper, then he'd know it was because she was looking at him. Score indeed.

[Yumi Sakamoto]

Yumi nodded awkwardly. "No....not at all.I'm fine." Her eyes moved to look at him, but she kept her head down. He swept his hair, letting her see more of his face. Yumi felt her face get even hotter. It's OK. He's only a guy. She tried to tell her self. "So...um...what are you doing here?" Her voice squeaked, much to her displeasure. She hated how shy she was. It never worked in her favor.

Yumi shook her head, trying to get the red from her face off. She fixed her hair and used her left hand to cover her right in front of her. "It's nice to meet you, Jun." She bowed and managed to smile without blushing. That was a major accomplishment for her. She was even a little proud inside.

Yumi noticed his hand was out and gently shook it. She had forgotten what she was doing out here, not that she had a reason to begin with. The boy had some kind of magnetic pull that kept her attention on him. She couldn't describe it really. It was as if he knew exactly how to get a girl's attention and it worked well if that is what he tried to do. After awhile, she noticed she had been staring at him, looking him over more closely then she had intended. Her face went red again and she turned to the ground to hide it. Curse her shyness. Why couldn't it go find someone else to bother? It wasn't doing a thing for her and she hated it with a passion. Who could blame her? Every second that went by seemed like hours. Yumi wondered why that was.

[Jun Matsumoto]

Jun grinned, nodding a little in response to the girl's head bobbing up and down. She seemed to be trying to avoid looking at him, but clearly wanted to be in his presence, as she made no move to push past him or continue on the path she had been previously walking. Jun had that effect on women though, and he couldn't blame her. She was just one more to fall to his charm, one in a countless many. He treated all girls the same, and while not all were as susceptible to him as this Yumi seemed to be, he wasn't used to girls turning away from him. It was one of the reasons his ego was as large as it was, one of the reasons he was so self-confident.

“Well it's good that you're okay. I thought I may have hurt you there.” Jun stuffed his hands in his pockets, assuming a somewhat slouched, uncaring posture, and he looked off into the distance past her head, trying to prove he wasn't all that interested in her, that he was, in essence, the cool guy who had to do no work to keep her attention. “What am I doing here? I was just getting my head looked at. I injured it recently, and I had to get it checked out.”

Jun pointed to his recently stitched wound, and while he wasn't about to tell her how he got it, or who had bandaged him up afterwards, he thought there was no harm in using it to increase his legend in front of this girl. “What about you? You look dressed for class or something. You still going to school?” His voice remained calm, unwavering, and he smiled to himself as he caught her staring. This had been way too easy, and for a moment, he felt bad that he'd made the girl feel special when he treated her like he'd treat any other hot person, but he quickly got over it. If he ever needed some tlc after a long night out in no man's land, it was nice to know he had someone he could call in the safe zone that wasn't his mom.

Shrugging a little, he inclined his head questioningly. “So, you want me to walk you to your class...or whatever?”

[Yumi Sakamoto]

“What am I doing here? I was just getting my head looked at. I injured it recently, and I had to get it checked out. What about you? You look dressed for class or something. You still going to school? So, you want me to walk you to your class...or whatever?” Jun had offered. Yumi looked up and had a questionable look on her face. What did he do to get a wound like that here in the safe zone? Yeah, people still got hurt, but usually you only got really hurt out of the city. Either on the battlefield or in zombie infected places. If he was out there, she had know idea why. He looked too young to be in the army. That was really the only reason most people went out of the walls of the safety zone. Although, Yumi wanted to go out and search for her brother herself. Did he have someone he was looking for out there?

Her mind suddenly went to the question he had asked. School wasn't it? "Oh, yeah. It's my senior year." Yumi nodded. She was glad too. She was almost free to start her own journey after her missing brother and when she found him, he was getting an earful for leaving her alone. "Thanks for the offer, but schools out for the day. I just wasn't ready to go home yet." Yumi took her hand and slipped a strand of lost hair back behind her ear. "I'm not really sure what I want to do." She added in an honest voice. Anything, was better than being home alone. Actually, what she really wanted was to know where her older brother was, but she doubted he would know.

[Jun Matsumoto]

Jun watched the girl for a moment as she stared at him, and he raised an eyebrow. Normally, the ability to talk was important, and this girl seemed to have lost it. She was just staring off into space, lost in her own thoughts. Was she a serial day dreamer or something? Was it so hard to stay focused? He was hot. That's what she should focus on! Not her own thoughts. They were merely boring in comparison. When a minute elapsed, Jun yawned, and it seemed to stir some life back into her.

She explained she was in her senior year, that she wasn't ready to go home yet. Blinking a little, Jun wondered what time it was, and how the hell he'd still thought it was morning if it was sometime toward evening. Shrugging a little, he scratched his tousled hair, and then ran a finger lightly over his stitched wound, still finding the feel of raised, healing skin intriguing. Plus, it drew people's attention to the cool wound.

“Well, you could go home? Or you could wander the streets? I dunno. I guess I could walk with you either way. I'm free for like...an hour.” An hour was always a good time to give. That way, if he got bored of her company, like he did with most women, he would leave. If he didn't, which was rare but for one, he'd be able to say that he'd had longer than expected, or make up some excuse to why he wasn't going anywhere.

He sighed a little, and he felt a sudden craving for another cigarette, yet a further sign of his impending boredom. Pulling the pack from his jeans, he looked at her, eyebrow raised, then realised that she may not like the idea. Pursing his lips, he felt he should do the polite thing. “Erm...you mind if I smoke?” he said tentatively. He hoped she would say no. That would make her a much better prospect.

As he waited for her reply, the small cat with the girl had made its way toward him, and had started sniffing at his trouser leg, mewling softly. Looking down at it quickly, he raised and eyebrow, and shook his leg. What was it doing? It made him uncomfortable. Jun had never really liked animals that much, as he could never tell what they were thinking. That made them possibly dangerous. While this cat didn't look like it could kill him, it did have he ability to pee on him, and that would just not be acceptable.

[Yumi Sakamoto]

“Well, you could go home? Or you could wander the streets? I dunno. I guess I could walk with you either way. I'm free for like...an hour.” Jun offered. Yumi thought about it. She REALLY didn't want to go home. There was nothing to do there. With just her living there is was clean, quiet, and boring. Seth, her somewhat caretaker wouldn't be coming by with supplies for her for another 3 days. Yumi didn't see any reason to go home.

"I wouldn't mind wandering, if you don't." She blushed. She wasn't sure why he wanted to walk with her. Maybe he was being a gentleman? Whatever the reason, she was happy to have someone to talk to. Jun pulled out a box of cigarettes. "Erm...you mind if I smoke?” She honestly didn't care for smoke, but she always wanted others to be happy. "No. I don't mind." She answered. It was part of her personality, to please others even if it gets her into trouble. Though, there were things she would never do. Those bordered on her belief of right and wrong. She would never kill, steal, or hurt someone else for any reason. She hated violence and abuse. The war was no different, and she wished it would end before something worst happened to them. It was only a matter of time in her mind.

Aya went to check him out. She sniffed his leg and gave a mew. She jumped when he shook his leg, and quickly hid behind Yumi. What was his problem? She was only looking. Aya let out a small growl. "Aya, don't." Yumi complained to the white cat. She picked her up in her arms. "I'm sorry. She's usually friendly. I don't know why she did that." Yumi petted her head, making Aya start to purr.

[Jun Matsumoto]

When she agreed to wander, Jun nodded and then shrugged, wondering where on earth they should go. He had forgotten, in his moment of interest, that the safe zone had very few 'fun' places to visit. There were shanty houses, shanty houses, and more shanty houses. The only real areas of interest lay outsize the man-made camp, back in the old city and housing district. There he could find fun things to do for hours. Perhaps... he looked her up and down quickly, taking in her big blue eyes, perfectly set blonde hair and pristine uniform. 'Nah' he thought, 'she won't last one second out there, not in that world.' He wouldn't be taking her outside these walls. It'd be a sure fire way to get her killed. How he longed for someone to share his passion with, someone who liked life beyond the walls of safety...

He heard her say he could smoke, and that relieved some of the tension that seemed to have grown between them, made things a little less awkward. At least if they found nothing to do, if he got too bored, he could entertain himself with his cigarettes. Removing one, he popped the filter between lips lips, held it there and pulled out his zippo. Lighting it in one speedy, practised move, he took a drag, and then felt a little rude. In his rush to light up, he'd forgotten to ask if the girl wanted a smoke. She had no problem with it, so there was the slight chance she was a smoker herself. Rising his eyebrows, he offered the packet to her, and muttered a “You want one?”

As the girl picked up the cat, Jun looked at the beast cautiously. “Probably 'cause the cat don't like me? She can be as friendly as she wants, but fact is I don't tend to get on with animals, and they don't tend to get on with me. We have one of them mutual dislike things.” He shrugged. “I got no idea why.”

Taking another drag, he blew the smoke away from Yumi, and then tapped away the rapidly forming roach, watching the ash drop to the floor, extinguishing itself on impact. “So are you gonna lead the way?”

[Yumi Sakamoto]

“You want one?” Jun offered Yumi a cigarette. She shook her head. "Uh...no thanks...I don't smoke." She said in a polite manner. Yumi petted Aya in her arms. “Probably 'cause the cat don't like me? She can be as friendly as she wants, but fact is I don't tend to get on with animals, and they don't tend to get on with me. We have one of them mutual dislike things. I got no idea why.” Jun shrugged as he explained. Yumi had always gotten along with animals so she didn't really understand why he didn't. Though, she didn't push on the matter.

“So are you gonna lead the way?” He asked. Yumi shrugged. She was afraid he was going to say that. She had no idea were to go and was hoping he did. "Um....OK..." She started to walk, nowhere in particular. Maybe something would come to her as they walked. She spoke again with a sense of hesitation. "So...um...I know it's not any of my business but.... how did you get such an injury?" This question had been eating away at her mind for some time now. If he really did get it outside of the Safe Zone, maybe he had come across her brother. She knew the second she was out of High School, that Yumi was going to go out and find him. Even if that meant she would have to face the soldiers in the war, or the zombies that resulted. She was determined to find that idiot of her brother and demand to know why he left her alone just after their mother died. The nerve he had to leave. Yumi's face filled with slight anger at the thought.

[Jun Matsumoto]

Jun sighed, feeling his mood drop when the girl said she didn't smoke. Why the hell did no one smoke any more? It was the end of the freakin' world! A zombie apocalypse! Yet everyone still feared for their health, as if some cigarette was going to shorten their life in the currently God forsaken world. Pursing his lips, he took another drag of his own, and then closed the box and dropped it back into his inner jacket pocket. With that, he looked at her, waiting for her to move. It took her a few minutes to decide on a path to take. She was indecisive, and Jun wondered if she was worth his time, or the boredom he felt.

When, finally, she took off walking in a random direction, he followed after her, keeping her pace with a stooped stride, his shoulders hunched against the wind. There was silence between them for a while, and Jun wondered what on earth had happened. Had his woman radar been completely off? Why on earth was she so...quiet? So...plain? He was beginning to lose interest, and his mind wandered of to other exploits, or rather one...a girl in no-man's land with a perfect set of-

The girl, Yumi, spoke suddenly, dragging Jun from his thought process. He blinked at her, trying to process what she had said. Something about...his scar! Finally! Someone had brought it up. He grinned at her, not noticing her expressions as he was so lost up in his own pride, readying his masterfully crafted story. Jun would not tell her he tripped and hit his head on a rock, oh no. He would tell her how he'd been in an epic fight, and how such an injury nearly ended his brave life.

“This thing? Oh, I got it a while back. See, I was out in no man's land, doin' some scavenging for my mom.” He stopped, pausing as if deep in thought, as if he was trying to remember. Truth was he'd rehearsed it, but she didn't need to know that. I should have been watchin' my back, but I wasn't. I finished searching this corpse, and before I knew it I was surrounded! Zombies on every side of me, eyes huge, the size of plates, staring at me. Their mouths were open, full of razor sharp teeth, drooling acid slobber!” Another pause, this time for suspense. He thought it was going well. “I didn't have time to think before they pounced, every single one rushing at me. All I had was a knife, a knife and my wits. I ran, slashed. I had to take 'em on! Otherwise, they'd have got me. I was winning until out of the blue comes this clawed hand, and SLASH! It got my forehead. I retaliated, slashing at the zombie, and I managed to kill him. Then, in like this epic rage, I killed all his friends. But his wound was deep, and I needed stitches...”

Halfway through his rant, he noticed Yumi was lost in her old world, clearly thinking about someone or something else. This annoyed Jun a little. He was telling her an awesome story, and she didn't care. With more than a little irritation sounding in his snide comment, he put a fist on hi hip, tilting his head questioningly. “You..erm...don't like my story?”

[Yumi Sakamoto]

“This thing? Oh, I got it a while back. See, I was out in no man's land, doin' some scavenging for my mom. I should have been watchin' my back, but I wasn't. I finished searching this corpse, and before I knew it I was surrounded! Zombies on every side of me, eyes huge, the size of plates, staring at me. Their mouths were open, full of razor sharp teeth, drooling acid slobber! I didn't have time to think before they pounced, every single one rushing at me. All I had was a knife, a knife and my wits. I ran, slashed. I had to take 'em on! Otherwise, they'd have got me. I was winning until out of the blue comes this clawed hand, and SLASH! It got my forehead. I retaliated, slashing at the zombie, and I managed to kill him. Then, in like this epic rage, I killed all his friends. But his wound was deep, and I needed stitches...” Jun excitedly told his story. However, Yumi was lost in thoughts about her brother. “You..erm...don't like my story?” His statement pulled her back out of her mind. "Oh...no it's not that." Yumi stopped listening after he had said he was in the 'no-man's land.' She was debating on whether or not to ask him. Her hopes had come true in the sense that he was out in the world beyond the fenced land of refuge.

"Um...Have you met a man named, Daisuke? He has black and red hair and red eyes, about 23?" She had stopped to look in Jun's eyes. Yumi waited, hoping to hear the answer she wanted to hear. Just to know he was alive would satisfy her for now. Though, she really wanted to go out and look for herself.

[Jun Matsumoto]

Jun blinked, once, twice, and then a third time. What on earth was the girl doing? She'd bumped into a hot piece of man mean, and yet she was daydreaming about other things! What was she thinking?! Plus, he'd been telling her an epic story, one about how he'd fought off armies of zombies, and, while it was a lie, he told it like it was true. People in the safe zone had a boring and plain existence; what the hell was there to be distracted about when she did nothing but go to school and some cool scavenger was telling her about his exploits in No Man's land?

He sighed as she tried to explain herself, becoming all the more bored by the second. What had he been thinking. He should have known blonde haired blue eyed girls were all distant and thoughtful and...well...not women who wanted to jump into bed. They were too obsessed with innocence and emotions and...those other things that girls liked. If she hadn't been looking straight at him, he may have face palmed.

And then came the question. "Um...Have you met a man named, Daisuke? He has black and red hair and red eyes, about 23?" Jun let off another sigh, and ran a hand through his hair. He shrugged, and then shook his head. Did this girl have any idea how much she was asking? He saw so many faces out there, met so many people, watched as they died, that very few faces stood out in a crowd any more. Only Tawny's did, and he'd remember that face no matter what happened to him.

Still, he pulled thinking face, stroking his chin gently, a single eyebrow raised. “Daisuke? Nah. Sorry.” he said finally, although he'd already made it clear he had no idea who the guy was. “Sounds a pretty weird kid, what with the red eyes and all. Most of the people out there,” he signalled to No Man's land over his shoulder with a thumb movement, “with red eyes tend to be them infected zombies. So we tend to stay well away. Plus, the likelihood of me knowing that one guy, when I've met so many people, when I've watched so many people die...they're slim chances y'know?”

Jun tilted his head a little, wondering why it was she asked. It'd only just occurred to him she may already have a boyfriend, and he might be the Daisuke she was talking about. “Why, you gots yourself someone special out there?”

[Yumi Sakamoto]

“Daisuke? Nah. Sorry. Sounds like a pretty weird kid, what with the red eyes and all. Most of the people out there with red eyes tend to be them infected zombies. So we tend to stay well away. Plus, the likelihood of me knowing that one guy, when I've met so many people, when I've watched so many people die...they're slim chances y'know?” Jun answered after some thought. Yumi sank a little. She should have expected it though. Jun had a point even if someone did see him they might not remember them. “Why, you gots yourself someone special out there?” Jun added.

Yumi nodded a little. "He's my older brother. Our father die when I was young and he joined the army shortly after. He came back to visit but that's when the zombie outbreak happened. Our mother was killed, but he managed to save me. He said he had something he had to do and I haven't seen him since." Yumi thought about what she said. Here this boy wanted to talk to her and all she could think about was her idiot brother. "I'm sorry. So you scavenge for your mom? That sounds dangerous. Doesn't she worry about you out there?" Yumi gave a concerned look as she continued to walk forward aimlessly.

"You must be a good fighter then, if you managed to defeat all those zombies with only a deep cut. I learned some martial arts from my dad and brother, but I don't know how well I'd do against zombies." Yumi stopped to kneel down and let Aya ago before getting up and continuing down her unknown path. The small white cat quickly followed at her heels. "So what's it like out there? I haven't been out of the Safe Zone in three years, but I want to go search for my brother after I graduate in the spring." She asked in a curious voice. She wanted to know what to expect when she did finally go back out. Had the world outside of the gates changed that much?