Convenient?

Kurumi was teaching the other girls how to drive, or at least what little she knew about it. What she wasn't doing was teaching them how to fight.

For a week or so after they left the school, the other three took turns coming with Kurumi and helping take care of any zombies that were in particular buildings they needed to stop at. They tried to keep that to a minimum, but they needed food, water, gas, bathroom breaks, and even just a chance to get out of Megu-nee's car, after all.

According to Miki, who'd been the one with her the last time anyone had gone with her when they stopped, nothing had happened that should have scared Kurumi or changed her mind. She'd just started insisting on going alone after that.

She'd actually raised her voice at them, which none of them had been expecting, snapping that she knew what she was doing so would they just listen to her? She'd apologized after but had gone alone anyway. That time, and half a dozen times since.

The konbini was risky, even late at night, since it had been open 24/7 and zombies returned at all hours out of habit. Miki insisted on killing the lights from the outside first, and Kurumi waited just enough to one side of the doors to keep from making them open automatically, her eyes closed.

It let her adjust more quickly to the dark, and when the lights were off and her night blindness was gone, she headed inside to swiftly take out the zombies that were gathered. Even though there were eight in there, it didn't take long.

It never did anymore.

"All right! It's all clear." Kurumi waved them in, and Yuuri opened the car door, Yuki slipping out after her. Miki had been waiting again by their door, watching to make certain no zombies were coming up from any unexpected direction. Yuki's concerned eyes had been on the convenience store itself, even though it was impossible to tell what was going on inside in the dark.

"We shouldn't take long," Yuuri reminded the other two girls. "Places like these are busy at all hours."

"Right!" Yuki agreed.

All three of them brought in flashlights, with Yuki carrying an extra to hand off to Kurumi. Miki still carried a baseball bat that she'd picked up early on, even if she hadn't had call to use it in weeks. Yuuri kept a knife, that knife, wrapped up and with her, a shameful but powerful secret.

Kurumi was already grabbing snacks from the shelves and putting them into a bag, and grinned at them as they entered. "It really is convenient," she joked. "Maybe we should pick up some alcohol while we're here..."

"What a terrible idea," Miki noted, making sure to lock the automatic doors behind them, so that nothing passing by could trigger them to slide open and present a tempting entrance.

For a few minutes, everything went as planned, or even better than planned. Quiet, efficient, and incredibly productive, there was a lot of shelf-stable food still here, and plenty of drinks including water, and even stationary and clothing items.

"They started selling a lot more clothing pretty recently, huh?" It wasn't particularly cute or fashionable clothing but it included socks and undergarments, and even just having fabric for bandages was nice. Kurumi was getting a second bag just for clothes when she heard Yuki speak up.

"Hey, Rii-san? Remember Halloween last year? When the broadcasting club put together a Halloween party and everyone dressed up in costumes?"

Kurumi looked over at Yuki. She was tracing her fingers over the sleeve of a shirt, a little smile on her face. Then she looked at Yuuri, who returned her gaze and nodded to her.

Kurumi set down her bag. Then she headed over to one of the shelves, Yuuri joining her to painstakingly push it over towards the front of the store, to reinforce the doors and large windows.

"Eh? What are you--?" Yuki's confusion was obvious, and Miki shared it for a moment before understanding dawned, and after a moment's hesitation she set her own things down to join the efforts. "Hey, wait... We shouldn't take too long here, right? It's dangerous..."

"That's all right," Kurumi assured her, grinning even though her voice was strained with the effort of moving shelves.

"We should be safe for a while with the lights off and a barricade like this," Yuuri said. "Just so long as we're quiet."

"Besides," Miki said. "It's been a little while... Since we've done anything fun like this."

Yuki looked torn for a moment longer, and then smiled brightly. Kurumi wasn't sure if she was faking it for them at all, but she looked honestly happy and hopeful, too. "Right!" she agreed, and came to join them, trying to help move the heavy shelves.

That made it worth it, Kurumi thought. That always made a little more risk worth it.

It went unsaid that they'd be dressing up, of course. Even with the large variety of clothing items and some makeup as well, there wasn't too much they could do for costumes. Yuuri was helping draw whiskers on Yuki's face with mascara, so she probably had some idea for dressing up as a cat. Kurumi bumped into Miki around the ties, and grinned at her.

"What are you dressing up as?"

"A salaryman. There's not much to work with," Miki observed, picking up one of the dark blue ties. She was smiling, though, and after a moment she admitted, "I think we need this."

"Yuki's really good at figuring out when we need something like this," Kurumi agreed. She was like a weathervane, like that -- she turned to the winds of the group, could tell when everyone was starting to feel down even when she wasn't herself, and so she was always worth paying attention to. And it was good that she'd realized things, it was, but if they could still help her keep that smile...

"I'm glad the two of you helped me see that."

"You're the one who saw it for yourself." Kurumi patted Miki on the shoulder, but pulled her hand away quickly. Miki gave her a concerned look, but she just smiled and grabbed a white tie, wrapping it swiftly around her forehead. "What do you think? Should I write 'Fighting Spirit'? Or 'Number One'?"

"I think that depends on if you're a martial artist or a drunk salaryman, senpai."

"Hey!" Kurumi said, but laughed, and Miki smiled again.

"Write 'Success'," she suggested.

They were making it through every day, together. Kurumi found a black pen and a red pen that were good enough to show up bold on the fabric and drew the red dot in the center, then carefully wrote out 'Success', nice and big.

There were plenty of treats in the convenience store, candy and shelf-stable sweets that the girls enjoyed their excuse to fill themselves on. Their bags could be for more practical supplies they'd need in the future, but for one night they didn't worry about real changes of clothing or a balanced diet. Just makeshift costumes and enjoyable junk, and a little bit of makeup.

Yuuri had even put on some decent smoky eyeshadow, two fake bite marks at her neck and a little tasteful "blood," to go along with her somewhat vampiric dark shirt and skirt. They all agreed, however, that Yuki with her whiskers, smudged nose, black clothes, and little fabric triangle "ears" tucked up into a headband won the costume contest.

Kurumi suggested a little alcohol, mischievous. None of them had much, Kurumi least of all, but she did burst out laughing at the face Miki made.

There were also good, fresh, working batteries, and that made it feel like it wasn't such a waste to use some on the trick part of the night. They were halfway around their little circle of scary stories -- sticking to folklore and not touching on the subject of zombies or even ghosts at all, having had their fill of the restless dead -- when there was a sound from outside.

Yuki clutched at Miki, cutting her off in the middle of her Hachishaku-sama story. Yuuri reached for her hidden knife, starting slowly to get up, but Kurumi stood first.

"I've got it," she said, no-nonsense all of a sudden. "Stay here and watch them, okay?"

Yuuri began to protest, but Kurumi was gone. She frowned, then turned to the other two.

"We'll be right back," she said to Yuki and Miki. "Stay quiet and hide, all right?"

She moved quietly after Kurumi, catching up with her at the doors. From the movements outside, past the shelves, there were only two and they weren't intent on getting inside yet. It would be a problem when they wanted to leave, though, or if the zombies attracted more.

Kurumi was struggling to move one of the shelves away from the automatic door as quietly as possible. Yuuri wordlessly joined her, helping her shift it.

"Yuuri!" Kurumi's whisper was concerned, even upset, and Yuuri felt her efforts slack.

"Keep going, Kurumi-chan," she whispered back, strained, and after an agonizing moment, Kurumi put her back back into it.

There was a scraping sound, and the movements outside shifted. More interested in the door? Kurumi slipped through the little gap to unlock it, blocking Yuuri's way completely, and she closed her fingers around the handle of the knife and fretted.

How could she be expected to use it now when she hadn't back then?

This was different, though. And she had to try, for all their sakes. For Yuki's, for Miki's... for Kurumi's.

"Don't come out," Kurumi whispered urgently. "I've got this!"

"Wait--" Yuuri protested, but Kurumi pushed her way out into the night air, already lifting her shovel. Yuuri slipped out after her, having to move the shelves a bit more for the slightly tighter fit.

She tried to see clearly as the too-familiar sound of Kurumi's shovel impacting flesh, quiet as it was, seemed to ring out in the silence. But the zombie that Kurumi hadn't closed with, instead of focusing on her movement and sudden presence, oriented unexpectedly onto Yuuri instead, partway out the door.

Her eyes widened, and she drew her knife, but Kurumi heard her gasp and turned, shovel arcing through the air with a vengeance.

"I told you not to come out!" Kurumi, Yuuri noticed, closed her eyes when driving the shovel into the second zombie for a final blow. She looked away, seeing how the first's head was almost completely off, and swallowed.

"You can't keep doing this on your own, Kurumi-chan. I have to learn how to use this." Bold, she let the cloth fall away from around the blade, familiar to both of them. Kurumi paused, and the moment of silence seemed to stretch out.

It couldn't have really lasted too long, but the air tasted... tense. Yuuri felt a little sick.

"It's better if I do it on my own," Kurumi disagreed, and stepped towards Yuuri. The tip of her shovel rested on the ground and she reached out with her free hand to close it over Yuuri's hand, holding the knife. Her touch was surprisingly gentle, and almost as surprisingly cold. "...And I'm glad you didn't use it. You tied me down, right? That was a good call. If I ever turn, I'll want you to keep your promise, but you don't need to before then, okay?"

Yuuri swallowed. Her hand on the knife was a little shaky, and she relaxed it; Kurumi let go of her hand again when it started to lower, and she knelt down to pick up the cloth distractedly, wrapping it up to put it away again.

"You all were amazing," Kurumi said. "But let me keep taking care of you for a while, okay? That's my job!"

Yuuri didn't ask about her cold hands, or why the zombie hadn't attacked her. They'd need to talk, but they needed to move on before more zombies found them, too, and for just this moment she didn't want to know. But when she straightened again, before Kurumi could completely turn away, Yuuri wrapped her arms around her and pulled her into a hug.

"Yuuri?" Kurumi's face was red, but Yuuri couldn't feel much body heat from her.

"I'll trust you," she said, and buried her face in Kurumi's shoulder. Cold or not, her skin was soft and familiar. "Take care of us, Kurumi-chan."

Kurumi was quiet for a moment, taking a breath. The handle of her shovel was hard and cold in her hand, a reassuring presence, and she knew she'd have to clean it before they moved on, washing the blood from the metal. She could feel the little divots made by Taromaru's tiny teeth.

But more reassuring right now was the way Yuuri held her, and she closed her eyes. Just for a moment. Just long enough to wrap her free arm around her and return her hug, like everything important was still normal.

"Right," she agreed, and smiled against Yuuri's hair.