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Makuyomi - Zombie

Lazy days weren't common in the Void household, AKA where they were forced to live together because Mikado wanted to keep them out of the eyes of the Kisaragi Foundation. Mikado was only home half the time, so that was fine with them.

Lazy days were usually defined as whenever none of them had any idea of what they should be doing and were hanging out around the house. To be specific, it was when none of them had a mission assigned to them and when none of them had to do their jobs. This included running out of fuel for their job.

In today's case, Nikei had no ideas on what to write his article about. This led to the journalist being grumpy all day and curling up on the couch with a sulking face. He was eventually found by Hajime, who sat down next to him with a sigh.

"What's this all about? The girls have been saying that you've been acting prickly all day," the boxer asked. "Is this another hissyfit about your authoritarianism?"

"Oh, fuck off about that!" the journalist snapped back. "I can't find any damn stories for my job! If you can't tell, we kinda need money, and I'm the one thing that keeps us from being dependent on a so-called 'wizard' that isn't even here half the time!"

"You know that Emma's savings funds and my investments from my matches keep us from doing that too, right? It's not like we have no money at all," Hajime replied. "But your job's important, I know that well enough. Maybe you should turn on the TV and look for things that are exciting the population instead of just celebrity news or world news."

Nikei rolled his eyes and reached for the television remote. "Fine, let's see what's on a talk show then, maybe I can snag something from that," he sighed. He and Hajime watched the hosts talk about latest news pieces that Nikei had already covered, but then moved on to talk about movies.

According to the hosts, there was a new movie coming out that was yet another zombie apocalypse movie, but not only did it have a lot of famous actors in it, but the director on the talk show implied that the movies was going to have a twist on the usual zombie narrative.

"I'm going to go see that movie. I don't care if Mikado tries to stop me," Nikei decided, getting out his phone and getting ready to buy himself a ticket. He normally hated horror movies with a passion because he was scared of them, but he couldn't miss the chance of getting a scoop for himself.

The movie was supposed to come to theatres tomorrow, so Nikei texted Mikado and told him that he was going to see a movie the next day. To his surprise, the wizard allowed it, but reminded him to use a fake credit card so they couldn't be traced. With his ticket purchased and Mikado out of his way, Nikei was ready to see the horror movie.

When he went to see the movie the next day, he took notes with his notepad throughout the movie. The director was right about there being a twist, the zombie infection was caused by a bunch of aliens that ate their own alien versions of zombies, and they were creating their own zombie farm so that they could a have a continuous food source with humans reproducing and getting turned eventually. The aliens ended up removing the zombies and infection from the world once it was made clear that humans can't reproduce quickly enough or control the horde, ending the movie with the survivors left to rebuild humanity once more.

Though he had walked into the theatre with excitement, bravery, and an empty notepad, Nikei left the theatre jittery and with his notepad full of the movie's details. But when he got home, it was clear that he was too jumpy and scared to concentrate on anything. 

Hajime noticed this and decided to check in on him. He put a hand on his shoulder and carefully asked, "Hey man, are you alr-"

"Gyaaaaaah?!" Nikei screamed, whirling around and looking at the boxer in fright before calming down and looking embarrassed. "Oh, it's just you..."

"Let me guess, you got spooked by that zombie movie?" the blonde sighed, looking at Nikei sympathetically. He brought the journalist into a hug and began patting his back. "Zombies aren't real, I promise."

"I-I know they aren't! Don't treat me like a child!" Nikei exclaimed. "Let go of me, dammit!"

"Okay, okay," Hajime chuckled as he released the journalist. "How about we get a drink and relax for a bit before you make your article?"

"Yeah...I'd like that," the journalist replied, the words 'thank you' dying on his tongue. He was still embarrassed about being seen like this, even after being comforted by the boxer. Together, they went to the fridge and got some water.