Apparently, Shouji Kosahana would take Shino and a select few servants out on vacation to either Canada or Australia during the major holidays. It had been a kind gesture that had also offered him an opportunity to bond with his daughter... or so we thought.
“He just couldn’t help himself; he always went out hunting when we were supposed to be on vacation. I couldn’t stand the loneliness, so one day I pestered Dad to take me with him, and before long, I got to use a gun.”
“That’d explain your sick aim.”
“Huh... Never thought of it that way,” Shino said as she scoped in on the nearest wall. Her breathing grew still, and her muscles stopped moving. She had entered the zone.
Just like I remember.
Maintaining the zone required a great deal of endurance, seeing as the 700 packed close to a whopping 6 kg of mass (attachments included), but to Shino, it was mere child’s play.
“This brings me back to our Field Battle days.”
“Sure does. We played what, a grand total of five games together? But every single one was magic.” I wiped a proud, manly tear from one eye. “You racked up headshots like it was a point-and-click adventure game. Clean as all hell.”
“You bet.” Shino pointed her gun at the window, held it there for maybe half a second, then lowered the gun back down. “No one wanted to be friends with me, Dad was never there when I needed him the most, and, to top it all off, I had the mafia on my back. Whoop-de-do.”
If the maid hadn’t intimidated Shino’s classmates enough, then rumors about her family’s involvement with the mafia most certainly had. They had avoided her like the plague because she was the plague. In their minds, at least.
Field Battle had been the escape hatch Shino had so desperately needed. In video games, she didn’t have to be a Kosahana, she could be whomever or whatever her heart desired. She had taken full advantage of that.
“I felt lost, stranded, like the world was closing in on me. At one point, it got so bad that I...”
“Yes?”
“I tried drowning my sorrows in alcohol,” she said with a wry smile.
Oh, just a little underage drinking. Hey, it happens to the best of us.
That was when Shino’s story took a dark turn.
Apparently, she had snuck out to a bar after school with a not-so-well-meaning schoolmate right under Tetsuko’s nose while the maid had been waiting for her outside the school gate.
While most of Shino’s classmates had chosen to avoid her, there had been others who saw her as an “easy score.” This dirtbag had been one of them.
She’d had it all: money, looks, and lacking just enough in street smarts to fall right into his hands.
“I guess I just thought he was different, that he’d come sweep me off my feet. My very own Prince Charming.”
This guy’s plan had been to find a hopelessly lonely schoolgirl, get her sloshed, sweet-talk her into believing whatever she wanted to believe, then drive her back home and let the fun begin. Truly a modern-day Prince Charming. Luckily, Tetsuko came to the rescue just as the sleazeball was trying to get Shino out the door.
“Tetsuko went ballistic, telling me how my first should go to a man of strong moral fiber, solid annual income, and shining academic background.”
“That’s one way to look at it, I guess.”
You’d think she’d be against the very idea of Shino doing the deed, but apparently that’s just too normal for her liking.
Tetsuko had notified Shouji, as one might expect, which had led to Shouji taking matters into his own hands.
He had immediately canceled all his business meetings, rushed to the nearest airport, hopped on a connecting flight to Japan, and arrived home the very next day.
Shouji had wanted nothing more than to give her a piece of his mind. Shino had been Daddy’s little pumpkin. She had done well in school, she had loved her family, and she had never acted up, not even once. He’d felt responsible for pushing Shino over the edge, and he had intended to right his wrongs no matter the cost.
In doing so, he might’ve inadvertently fallen right into Shino’s trap. What if she had actually wanted to be punished to see if her dad still cared enough to get upset over her behavior? Not that we would ever get the chance to find out.
“He made it back home, things were looking up, and then...”
The collapse of human civilization as we knew it.
Back then, Shouji had taken up arms and laid waste to the undead invaders with Tetsuko at his back. Then, he had immediately locked the gate to prevent a further influx of zombies. They were safe... or so they’d thought.
Shouji had done business in contested territories. While there, he’d developed a keen sense for crisis management, which had allowed him to take appropriate measures before things got out of hand.
He had not, however, predicted a crisis from the inside. A servant had turned zombie and had begun attacking other servants, who had then come after Shino, but Shouji had come to her rescue just in the nick of time. Shino had made it through unscathed, but Shouji had been bitten in the process.
He had ordered Tetsuko to hunker down in the mansion with Shino. After that, he had stepped outside, opened up the gate, and met his demise in a glorious battle with the zombies.
Not a day later, Shouji had joined the walker ranks.
“It’s all my fault.” Shino buried her face in her hands.
Shino truly believed that had she not acted out, her father would still be with them. It was really sad to think about.
“You have my condolences.” In response to Shino’s emotional story, Otoha offered her some monotone words of sympathy. Social niceties were a foreign concept to Otoha as she only knew how to speak her mind, so this made her sympathy feel all the more sincere. “But it’s time to move on.”
“I...” Shino looked at the ground and began quivering.
When reality came crashing down, we never thought to move away. Instead we just stood there telling ourselves that everything was okay. It happened to me, it happened to Otoha, and now it was happening to Shino.
“We’re leaving.” I turned away from the window to face Shino. “And you’re coming with us.”
“B-But...” Shino looked to the window—or rather, what lay beyond it. “I can’t just leave him like this.”
“Luckily for you, we’ve got just the thing.” I took the rifle and shoved it into her hands. “You know what to do.” She blankly stared at the gun for what felt like an eternity.
“Believe me, I’ve tried.” A single tear rolled down Shino’s cheek. “I was this close, this close!” she cried. “All those precious hours sunk into that lousy game, for what?!”
Let it all out, girl.
One angry tirade later, she came back to her senses, wiped the tears off with the back of her hand, and mustered up a forced smile.
“My apologies. I don’t know what came over me.”
“If it weren’t for Otoha, I wouldn’t have made it past day one. And you know me; I was on the FPS grind day in and day out. You’ll get used to it.”
The Elo system was but a shadow of the past. It meant nothing out in the real world.
“Shino, be real with me,” I said in an uncharacteristically firm tone. “You’re not just going to let your dad’s death be in vain, are you?”
“I...”
“That’s the spirit. Now, what say we make the old man proud and maybe even a little teary-eyed?” I unholstered my SAKURA. “We got this.”
“We?” She looked at me in surprise.
I paid it no mind.
“You promised us a rifle. Do we get to choose?”
“Where are you going with this?”
“That one. I want that one,” I said, pointing out the window. “Huh, it’s an autoloader too, now that I look at it.”
“But—”
“No buts.” I checked the SAKURA’s cylinder.
Four shots. Guess it’ll do. I’ll whip out the crowbar if push comes to shove.
“Cover me ’cause I’m coming in hot.” I turned my back to Shino and slowly walked away, waving my hand. “Just like the good old days, eh?”
“Don’t go! I can’t... I can’t do this!” I looked back only to see Shino launch herself right at me. I fell butt first onto the floor with Shino in my arms. “I can’t let you do this either,” she mumbled, her face buried in my chest.
“We’re in this together, Shino.” I gently pushed her away, got back on my feet, and helped her up.
I gathered all of my moxie and bravely went in for the hug.
“But Hiro—”
“The man’s suffered enough. Let’s put an end to his misery.” Rich coming from the guy who left his dad behind, but if a little white lie was all it took to free Shino once and for all, I’d bite that bullet any day of the week. “I’m counting on you.” I released Shino and promptly left the room.
She didn’t come running after me this time, but Otoha most certainly did.
“You—”
“I’ll be fine. Just wait till you see her amazing aim. Couldn’t miss even if she tried.”
“That’s not the point!”
“You stand by the door. We went over this already.” Leaving the door open would be suicide, and closing it triggered the auto-lock system, which could only be disabled from the inside. Someone had to stay back. “Worst-case scenario, I want you to do the honors.”
“No fair,” Otoha said with a slight pout. “Who’s gonna do my honors?”
“Yeah, about that...”
Don’t think it’ll ever get to that point. Even if it does, I probably won’t be around to see it.
“Guess you could always try blowing your brains out. Heard that’ll do the trick.”
“Not cool.” She sulked even more. “If you ever turned zombie, I’d... I’d...” She fell silent for a few solid seconds, then stuck a finger in my face. “Point and laugh.”
“Fine, fine.” I couldn’t help but smile. “I’ll play it safe, a’ight? That work for you?” With that, I reached for the door’s electronic lock—the only thing separating me from the outside world.