Chapter 23: Different Kind of Anger - Taiei Mall I
After explaining to Cho where they came from exactly and how big their group was, she agreed that it was better to go with them than to search for aid in the police station. Ryo, confused at her words, asked something critical.
"Did you not hear the news?" he asked Matsushima who looked oblivious of the situation. Her answer clearly told just how oblivious she truly was. "What news?"
"*sigh*... This crisis has been confirmed to be worldwide, and the Prime Minister is dead" he said, not even trying to soften it up for the police officer. Her jaw hung lifelessly as she processed what Ryo had just said. "No... no way... so hope is lost..."
Ryo looked at her like he was looking at someone pityful. She depended so much on orders that her will broke the moment she heard there would be no orders for her anymore. As such, Ryo did what he knew how to do best.
"Wake up already. Hope lost? As if" he said with a scoff to his voice. He clearly didn't share her opinion. "Didn't I tell you? There is a group of survivors not far from here. If we move quickly we can leave you there and avoid the horde completely"
Matsushima seemed to remember her duty as a police officer when she heard Ryo's words. She was, after all, someone who had to protect the people. If she lost herself in depression, then who would protect others?
"Thank you" she said with honesty while bowing to Ryo slightly, not at all embarrassed of the fact that a kid ten years younger than her just taught her a lesson. "No prob. We're going to the mall anyway. From there we can go to the police station and then to search for Rei's parents. At most, we'll take one more day until we're back to our base"
*
A few minutes later, they arrived at the mall. Just like Cho had told them, the are was absolutely covered in undead. With the exception of a few streets, Ryo was sure he had already gone over at least 200 zombies. He had killed driving probably double what he had killed with his own hands. As soon as they reached the building, they went into it, leaving the bus as close to the entrance as possible.
"Matsushima-san!" shouted a few people when they saw the police woman. Ryo saw an old couple and a few gangster looking kids, probably a few years older than he was. Amongst all the people, he found a kid with a grim face. He looked like he was dead. Ryo didn't have time to care about everyone, so he simply ignored him for the moment.
Since they didn't need anything from the mall currently, he just went with Matsushima and talked about how the people there were living currently. She said that she had just left to search for help when the zombies spotted her and the rest he already knew. Leaving that aside, they had already decided to smoke most of the meat so it would last longer, which Ryo found smart. Still, he would've cut it in thin slices and then smoked it or dried it in salt to make jerky. That way it would last a lot longer.
As they walked, they heard a commotion happening somewhere in the furniture section of the mall. Ryo was the first to run to the area, after all, he had recognized one of the voices. It was Shizuka's, and it was calling for him. The situation he found as soon as he arrived was one he had never considered possible. After all, the girls very rarely were away from him and who would dare to do such a thing in the Estate?
But in the mall, people didn't know Ryo. Shizuka was unharmed, but that didn't lessen what his mind was processing. He ignored how Matsushima pulled her gun and pointed it at the man... at the bastard... that dared to try and touch Shizuka.
Ryo's hands were twitching, his eyes turning colder and narrower. He had never felt this kind of anger. It was something primal that came from deep in his being. He felt like someone had done something unforgivable... When he finally saw a tear fall through her cheek, he snapped.
Slowly, he walked towards the piece of dead meat that was still standing over Shizuka. The person in question had a sudden feeling of dread wash over him, as cold sweat began appearing on his forehead. Ryo walked past Matsushima with soft steps that resounded in the entire mall. The people that had gathered around, watching the scene, felt like Ryo wasn't a human being for a second. He had become something worse than the zombies. He had the same cold eyes Yuriko had seen once before.
"What are you doing?" Matshushima asked him, but received no answer at all. Ryo reached the man. he had turned around and was looking at Ryo's eyes. He felt fear rise up in his entire body. Ryo's eyes told him that he had fucked up big time.
*BAM* *THUD*
Ryo had propered him a punch so strong to the face that a few teeth were left on the floor. The attempted rapist was flung to the ground, hitting the floor so hard he couldn't stand again. Some would've thought that it was enough, but Ryo didn't. In his eyes, he wouldn't be satisfied until that person wasn't breathing.
"Come on, where is your bravado now?" Ryo said coldly, making everyone shiver at the coldness in his voice. Everyone but a few select people who knew Ryo very well. The girls that moved around him felt secure when they saw his anger, while Kouta couldn't help but respect Ryo even more. After all, he took him as an example of who he wanted to be one day.
Ryo kicked the man in the gut a few times, until the man tried to get up from the floor. "Finally you try to do something..."
Only to be kicked back down. Ryo squatted in front of him, grabbing the man by the hair and lifting his head up. He looked straight into his eyes, and found him disgusting. Lifting him up by the hair and collar Ryo threw him against one of the shelves, which broke under the strength of the hit. Ryo wanted to keep going. He wanted to destroy the bastard until he was worse than Shido had been.
"You thought of touching Shizuka..." Ryo said while slowly walking towards the man that couldn't move already. "I can't forgive you for that, you know? Nobody hurts my family..."
As Ryo's words left his mouth, the girls felt warmth and at the same time hurt. Even Miku and Saeko realized just how much he cared about everyone, to refer to them as his family, something he had lost long before meeting them. Shizuka stood up from the bed and hugged Ryo from the back.
"It's okay... that's enough Ryo... I'm okay..." she said, trying her best to calm the man she had unconsciously been depending on. She didn't want to see him like this. It hurt her and the other girls' hearts. Ryo just stopped dead on his tracks and looked at the piece of trash coldly. "You're lucky she is like this..."
The pressure everyone was feeling suddenly vanished. Ryo was looking at Shizuka with a tender and caring look. He was worried about her. The idea of someone he cared about being hurt made him lose control of himself. He remembered his family and couldn't let him get out of it scott free like everyone else before.
"Shizuka, are you truly okay? He didn't do anything to you, right?" Ryo said as he checked Shizuka for injuries. She felt warmth spreading through her entire person. She had, unknowingly, fallen for him. "I'm okay... I just need a hug..."
Ryo hugged her without a moment of hesitation, not caring about what anyone thought. Shizuka felt a bit embarrassed. She was a clutz and she knew it, but she was still an adult woman. Feeling the care Ryo had for her made her heart beat faster.
"I'm fine now... the other's will get jealous..." she said, knowing that Ryo wasn't as dense as he acted at times. She knew that he wouldn't make a move on them unless they made it clear to him that they wanted him, but that he would do it if they couldn't push through themselves. That was the only reason she wasn't worried about Saeko or Miku. Because she knew that the person most worried about them was Ryo himself. She whispered to him. "You really are an unfair man..."
"You are the unfair ones..." he whispered while burying his face in her hair for a moment, before letting go of her.
Ryo then turned to everyone else in the place. Some were scared and some were respectful. After all, what man didn't want to defend his woman like that? Ryo ignored them and turned to Matsushima.
"I'm sorry for disturbing everyone!" he said as he bowed. He was indeed sorry for disturbing everyone else, but he wasn't sorry at all for what he had done. Matsushima understood that, but couldn't bring herself to say anything to him. Ryo was walking away when she spoke. "At least you didn't kill him... that much I wouldn't have been able to let go"
"Matsushima-san" Ryo called her when he heard those words. He turned his head and looked at her sideways, his eyes as cold as before. "If he had done anything more than that, he would be dead"
He left the scene, leaving Matsushima to think of his words. Ryo didn't care. He couldn't feel empathy for people like Shido or Soichiro, much less for someone who just attempted to rape someone he cared about. Shido had attempted that with Rei and had intentions on Shizuka. He died. Soichiro wasn't going to die, but he tried to stab him in the back. Literally. As for this random piece of shit? He couldn't care less. If he had gone further than just getting on top of her, he would really be dead. If Shizuka hadn't stopped him, he would've at least been castrated. That was for sure.
While breathing deeply, Ryo walked away. He needed to keep his cool better when he got angry, but people like that just irked him in a way he couldn't control.
"Ryo... can I talk to you?" Miku said as she approached him.
Ryo turned his head in her direction and thought that it was as good a moment as any, so he simply nodded. Releasing a long breath, he took a cig and lit it, prepared for the seemingly endless day ahead of him.
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Yaaaaay! The Mall arc isn't going to be too long, at most one more chapter.
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