Daylight filled John's eyes, slowly waking him from his slumber. His first thoughts were;

  What the fuck was that dream?

  His second thoughts were;

  What am I feeling right now?

  He was sitting upright with someone leaning on his chest and snoring softly. He opened his eyes, seeing a head of blonde hair directly below him, Shizuka seemingly sound asleep, leaning on his chest. That wasn't the issue. The issue was the something or the someone who was stimuting 'Little John' below Shizuka.

  He looked a bit to the side and saw Saeko, lying across the backseats of the van they were in, with her head in his p. He could feel her hand idly rubbing his crotch through his pants.

  "Mmm... John-Sama..." She mumbled. She stopped moving her hand, seemingly falling back asleep.

  What the heck is going on?

  He looked outside. It appeared the van was parked along the shoreline, their other vehicles scattered around it. Tsunoda and Miku were seated on top of the Humvee, the tter armed with the crossbow, apparently keeping watch while everyone slept.

  It appeared that they were on the mainnd, which was good news in his book. He cursed himself for passing out st night, which was avoidable if he had taken his damn pill on time. He reached inside his jacket and pulled out the case they were in and popped one in his mouth.

  "Hmm... Morning John. *YAWN* Are you okay?" Shizuka said, sitting up and stretching her arms above her head. She y her head back down on his chest afterwards. "I was really worried you were hurt when Saeko carried you back to the vehicles."

  "Yeah, I was just mentally exhausted from the day I think. Not as young as I used to be, you know, I need my afternoon naps." He replied, wrapping his arm around her and kissing the top of her head. "I am gd you are okay. What happened after I passed out?"

  Shizuka filled him in on their escape from the bridge, which was pretty much just a high-speed rush down the main road, then parking down here to rest. They hadn't encountered any more zombies, or anyone for that matter.

  "So, now we are here!" She said, smiling up at him.

  "Now we are here. So... any idea why Saeko is asleep on my p?" He said, putting his other hand on Saeko's back. Her uniform had seen better days, stained with ichor and torn in spots from everything that had been happening.

  "Hmmm? OH! She asked me if it was okay to, so I said Sure! It is just like a little sleepover, right?" She said cutely, her airhead attitude returning. She then said more seriously, "You know, she and the other girls like you, too. I am not the jealous type, but they are more traditional than I am. It's fine if you want to fool around, just don't break their hearts."

  "Shizuka... thanks, but I don't-" He started, but paused when she pressed a finger to his lips.

  "John, however you got it, you now have magic. Real magic. Don't limit yourself to just me, you... You should spread your seeds to as many people as possible. If your children all end up with magic too, it could mean a new beginning for mankind." She said, then kissed him.

  He returned the kiss, his thoughts racing. He knew on one level she was correct, that if his kids indeed inherited his ability to use magic, it would be a major boon for humans. In a few generations, nearly everyone in Japan would be able to use his powers, and if he brought more tomes into this world, they would be more than well enough off to continue on their own once he was gone.

  But this was two worlds now that he felt like he was being pushed to have retionships with multiple women, which, unless you were part of certain religions or extremely lucky, just didn't happen where he was from. It just didn't feel real to him.

  "It is a little too soon to be worrying about that. Let's finish rescuing as many people as we can, then find somewhere safe. We can talk about... this then." He replied. "Besides, I have everything I want with you."

  "Mmm... I am happy to hear that, John. Just know that I am okay if something happens."

  They rested there awhile longer, talking quietly about a few inconsequential things until Saeko began to stir. They got up then and exited the vehicle.

  It was time to get on the road.

  Shortly afterwards, they broke their makeshift camp. John was driving his truck again, Saya and Saeko beside him, the pink-haired girl pouting that she didn't get to drive the car again. He had turned it back into its 'toy' form and stashed it away in his bag, citing it was too noisy to use unless they needed the extra space again.

  They started to make their way to the Takagi compound, a rge manor on top of the hill in the center of the city. Saya started filling him in on her family's history, which turned out to be much richer and embedded into the local society than he expected. It turned out that the Takagis were the lords of this city long before Japan became a democracy.

  Much of the history went over John's head, not understanding many of the terms she was using, like Shogunate and Daimyo. Suffice to say, her family had been in a position of power for a long time, shaping their country's history.

  "So should I be calling you Lady Takagi then?" He said in a joking tone.

  "I would rather you just call me Saya, Sensei. You call everyone else by their first names, why don't you call me that way too?" She asked.

  "You never asked. Everyone else did. I am happy enough to drop the formalities with you, Saya."

  "Good, then I will call you John then. Now, as for my family, what you need to expect..." She continued, going over details of what he should expect to see when they arrived so he wouldn't be surprised by how traditional they were. She was smiling a little bit, her incisors biting her lower lip whenever she paused when he asked for crifications.

  It was cute.

  They passed by a motorcycle shop, some of its bikes still lined up on the side of the road. His back started aching immediately, memories of that Vulture from StarCraft still fresh in his mind despite the weeks that had passed for him.

  The deeper they moved into the city, the more cherry blossoms seemed to be blowing around the streets, the sides of the roadways, and any greenspace having the trees pnted. It was both beautiful and eerie, the roads devoid of any movement other than the blossoms and their convoy.

  "Have either of you seen a zombie recently?" He asked after some time had passed.

  "Now that you mention it, no. Not one." Saya replied.

  "Not since st night, John-Sama," Saeko replied, speaking for the first time since they left the van that morning.

  John had Saya radio the other vehicles to see if they had seen anything, but got nothing but negatives. He frowned at that, bringing the convoy to a halt.

  "What is wrong, John?" Saya asked him, confused why he stopped.

  "This doesn't make sense. These zombies were all over the news yesterday; they wouldn't just disappear." He replied, shutting the vehicle off. "Stay with the truck, Saya. Saeko, you're with me. We are going to check the surroundings from the top of that building." He pointed to a high-rise apartment across the road from them, taller than the surrounding buildings by a fair margin.

  John got out and, after quickly passing the message on to the rest of the convoy, they moved into the building. The power was still on, so they risked the elevator in the lobby. It took very little time to make it to the roof, a quick Dig spell breaking the lock on the door.

  As they were walking to the fenced edge of the roof, John spoke. "Thank you for st night, Saeko. It seemed to work."

  "I am happy to have been of service, John-Sama." She said, bowing her head to him.

  "How did you know, though? I know you said you were watching me, but how would you know that anger seems to fuel this weapon?"

  "I didn't, but something about your sword reminded me of a fantasy novel I read once. The welder of that bde could only use it when they focused their anger into intent. Or something like that, it has been a couple of years since I read it. I figured it was worth a shot before we were overrun." She said, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment.

  He didn't notice that; his mind focused on her words.

  Does that book exist in this world? If the opportunity arises, I need it.

  He put his hand on her shoulder. "However you found the information, it worked. You helped us survive st night. So again, thank you."

  She just nodded, and they started looking out over the cityscape. It didn't take him long to figure out where the zombies were, and it was frankly terrifying.

  Several streets over, a veritable horde of them were moving around, all heading in one direction. If he had to guess, they were all heading in the direction of the Takagi estate.

  "Why are they all grouped up like that?" He said, watching as the masses of undead flesh advance along the road.

  "Here, John-Sama, look at the sides of the intersections," Saeko said, handing him a set of binocurs she had pulled out of her pocket earlier.

  "I really need to go through all that kit at some point." He murmured, then looked through the gsses. He wasn't sure what he was looking at at first, but after a few moments, he could see it. There was a wire mesh strapped between the buildings, forcing the zombies to funnel down the street instead of spreading out.

  "Why?..." He said, leaving the question hanging in the air. He had no answer as to why someone seemed to be funneling the zombies in that direction.

  The convoy continued down the road, John paying more attention than before, looking for signs of cables being strung across the roads. They had to make a few detours because of them, but eventually they found a route to make it up to the Takagi manor in retive safety.

  The manor itself was a rge two-story 'L' shaped home, with a detached garage that was big enough to fit a couple of buses. A stone fence surrounded the property, with a decorative gate blocking the driveway from anyone entering.

  Two guards were on duty there, pointing their weapons at the vehicle until Saya leaned out the window and started chastising them. John pulled her inside the cab, then, telling her to rex, that they were only doing their jobs.

  They were admitted shortly afterwards, the guards bowing to her, informing them that both the Lord and Lady of the manor were currently out, but the Lady would be back soon.

  They had made it, and soon it would be time to start the next phase of his pn. Searching for and rescuing the family members of the survivors.