If an observer happened to glance in from outside, the scene would have likely appeared somewhat comical.
The room was like in a still picture, with each person of the group occupying their own comfortable spot. Jesse and Kochi were sprawled out on opposite ends of the couch, their legs casually entwined in a tangled mess. The brown couch bore the marks of time, its cushions softened by countless years of faithful service.
Meanwhile, Juri had cozied up on the floor, stretching out as if the old carpet beneath him was the coziest spot in the world. Despite its worn-out look, with marks from endless footsteps and spills, Juri didn't seem bothered one bit for once.
Shintaro and Hokuto sat side by side at the dining table, hardly exchanging a word despite their chairs being pulled close and their bodies leaning towards each other.
Taiga had chosen the armchair in the room's corner, his head resting against the top. His eyes drifted lazily around the room, a relaxed smile gracing his lips as he simply felt the mellow buzz and wanted to stay floating in that feeling for a while.
The faint scent of weed hung in the air.
There was a self-made glass bong in Jesse's hands, and he extended it toward Kochi with a grin, silently offering him another hit. But Kochi shook his head, declining the offer with a low chuckle.
Jesse shrugged and took another deep drag from the bong himself before stretching his leg a little bit to nudge Juri's shoulder with his foot. Jesse passed the bong over to Juri, who happily accepted it and inhaled deeply before placing it on the floor beside him.
Earlier that day, the group had set off to the nearby town to seek some potential supplies. The streets had been eerily quiet as they had ridden through the empty landscape. Although they were very much aware the town had been abandoned long ago, they had held onto the hope of finding something valuable inside the ruins. There were never enough food or bullets after all.
Suddenly, a low guttural growl had echoed through the empty streets, freezing them in their tracks. Their hearts had pounded in their chests as they had turned to face the source of the sound.
A figure staggering towards them from the ruins of a nearby railway station had emerged with unsettling, twitchy movements. Its skin had been pale and blotchy, its eyes devoid of life. Infected. No longer human. Maybe it had once been.
With a primal snarl, the infected had lunged forward, its decaying hands reaching out. Hokuto had acted on instinct, grabbing his pistol from his pack and firing a shot at the creature. The bullet had hit the infected's arm with a thud, knocking it back only slightly.
But the creature had been relentless. It had continued to reach towards them with agitated movements.
Then Shintaro had simply raised his rifle and shot the creature in the middle of its abdomen. The single shot had sent it crashing to the ground in a heap. Dead in an instant.
They had stood over the dead body, and Jesse had suggested they check if the creature was carrying anything they could use. Not too surprisingly, it had been empty-handed, devoid of all guns and supplies. It had probably been just a poor civilian who had had the misfortune of being bitten.
"What a disgusting bastard," Juri had muttered and kicked the smelly body with the tip of his shoe.
"Just leave it as it is," Kochi had advised, putting a hand on Juri's shoulder.
After that, their group had stumbled upon an abandoned record shop, its shelves picked clean and its interior a shadow of its former self. Yet, hidden beneath the rubble, they had unearthed a surprising treasure—a stash of weed tucked away in small plastic bags inside the drawer of the cashier counter.
Kochi had taken the bags, opened them, and examined the contents, taking a whiff before inspecting them between his fingers. With a knowing smile, he had confirmed its identity to them. Marijuana. Surprisingly fresh.
Hokuto had surprised them all by casually suggesting they take the stash with them and proposing they give it a try that evening. The idea had met with unanimous agreement. Too tempting to resist. There were really no reasons to party, and most of the time, it was riskable anyway. Yet again, their lodging was safe with the spiked fences around it and several traps set along the way.
Besides, getting high together sounded much more fun than doing it by oneself. And now, for once, there was plenty of weed for all six of them.
They hadn't talked about who had smoked before. But Jesse had seemed to know what he was doing with the self-made bong as he had stashed the weed into the pipe and added just the right amount of water inside it. He had showed everyone how to use it after that.
Taiga reflected absentmindedly on the value of friends like Jesse. Jesse wasn't just a steadfast companion, but also someone who knew how to uplift and guide them, even in the simplest of ways. Like showing them the art of relaxation through using drugs.
As Taiga had taken his first inhale, he had felt nothing.
"First time's often like that," Jesse had advised, noticing Taiga's expression.
"Take a few more hits, let it settle in."
As Taiga had followed Jesse's advice and taken a few more puffs from the bong, he had started to feel the effects seep into his senses—a gentle wave of relaxation and euphoria enveloping him, gradually deepening with each breath.
Coming back to the present moment, Taiga dropped his head against the headrest again and watched the ceiling.
As they continued their smoking, they kept exchanging words in hushed tones, but all of it felt more like snippets of random conversations than fully formed dialogues. Every so often, one of them would burst into an unexpected chuckle.
Taiga found himself drifting in and out, his mind a haze of euphoric bliss as he nestled into a more comfortable position on his chair. He caught words here and there, but for the most part, his thoughts wandered freely, locking onto random concrete observations like the flickering of the overhead light or the texture of the shabby carpet beneath his feet.
He came back to his senses a little bit as he heard Kochi uttering a cough. Taiga watched him across the room.
Even though he was feeling the effects of the high, Taiga could tell that his friend was uncomfortable. Taiga must have worn a concerned look on his face as Kochi weakly smiled at him and waved it off.
"It's okay. I think I just need some fresh air," Kochi murmured softly. He pushed himself up from the couch with slightly shaky movements.
"I'll go upstairs to the balcony," he told them.
The others nodded in understanding as Kochi headed upstairs. He was always the resilient one, and it was just some weed, so there was no cause for bigger concern.
"This is a bit..." Shintaro then began, but he couldn't finish his sentence before laughter overtook him. He glanced around the room at their faces, unable to suppress another bout of giggles.
"...weird," Hokuto offered to complete the sentence. It wasn't intended to be humorous because it truly wasn't funny in any sense.
But despite that, the entire group erupted into fits of laughter.
Juri, lying on the floor, could barely control his laughter and kept laughing hysterically. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he gasped for breath between giggles. His eyes were hazy from the weed, and he eventually calmed down and shifted his gaze back to the ceiling.
"Why does your voice sound like that, Hokuto? Why does your voice even... exist?" Juri asked. His nonsensical question sparked another round of laughter among the group.
Taiga didn't almost notice as the bong found its way back to him. Juri's voice cut through his fog, and he turned slowly to look at Juri, then at the bong. His expression must have looked blank. With an autopilot, Taiga reached for the bong to take it into his hands and lifted it to his lips. His fingers fumbled to cover the hole, and a bubbling noise filled the air as he took a deep inhale. Then, releasing his finger, he drew the cool smoke into his lungs.
As Taiga got more into the high, the world around him seemed to change even more.
Colors got brighter, sounds got sharper. Even the smallest movements made strange feelings run through his body.
But what struck him as strange was the way all these feelings felt. They weren't like the usual shivers but more like warm tingling waves that washed over him with each passing moment.
Then Taiga felt a comforting heaviness settle over him slowly. Gravity seemed to get stronger with each breath he took, pulling him deeper into his armchair, but it was a pleasant sensation. It was like being wrapped in a cozy thick blanket.
At some point, Shintaro abruptly pushed himself away from the table and walked across the room just to join Juri on the floor. Juri welcomed Shintaro's presence beside him with a warm smile, chuckling softly as their bodies got sprawled out on the carpet in a tangled heap of limbs.
"Your body feels so warm," Juri mumbled to Shintaro, the words slurring together. "Why are you so warm?" he continued with a tone as if he was directing the question to all of them.
Then, they heard a soft snore. Everyone looked over to see Jesse on the couch, fast asleep. Jesse's chest rose and fell steadily as he breathed in and out.
Juri and Shintaro erupted into another round of giggles at the sight of Jesse snoozing away, their laughter growing louder as they struggled to control themselves. Taiga's ears buzzed, and the sound of laughter bubbling up from the floor seemed to tickle somewhere in his inner ear.
Then Hokuto rose from his seat, his walking looking sluggish as he approached Jesse. Hokuto gently nudged Jesse's shoulder, urging him to wake up.
"Hey, maybe you should go and find a real bed. You'll break your neck if you stay on that small couch all night," Hokuto's words were slurred, yet his tone was gentle as ever.
Jesse mumbled something in response, his eyes fluttering open slowly. His eyes looked red and dry.
"W-what?" Jesse asked sleepily.
"Find a bed and go to sleep, Jesse."
Jesse rose slowly from the couch, he remained seated on the edge of it for a while. He turned his head to watch Shintaro and Juri on the floor. Jesse stared at them blankly as if his brain was trying to figure out what was happening.
"Go to sleep," Hokuto repeated to him firmly.
"Mmmh."
With reluctance, Jesse eventually slowly heaved himself up from the couch. He muttered something about crashing with Kochi as he shuffled towards the stairs, each step taken with deliberate slowness.
Hokuto took Jesse's vacated spot on the couch, sitting down first and then coming to half-lie on it. Meanwhile, Juri and Shintaro remained sprawled on the floor, and Taiga stayed in his armchair.
Suddenly, Taiga noticed Juri wrapping his arms around Shintaro and pulling him into a tight hug. Juri pressed his nose against Shintaro's neck. Shintaro chortled, trying to sound annoyed but failing as it all came out more like a playful chuckle.
Taiga couldn't tear his eyes away from Shintaro's hand resting on Juri's waist. It seemed... oddly captivating in a strange way.
Taiga watched as Shintaro's grip on the fabric of Juri's shirt tightened, and then his palm smoothed out, gently rubbing Juri's waist. At some point, without Taiga really noticing exactly how it happened, Shintaro's hand vanished beneath Juri's shirt.
Taiga made a soft sound, feeling again that strange tickling sensation in his inner ear but now dropping down to his own waist. He couldn't look away from what was happening in front of him, finding it hard to stay focused as the odd feeling spread across his body.
Taiga quickly pinched the skin of his palm, forcing himself to refocus. He wasn't supposed to be like that. It was creepy, he tried to tell himself.
"I can't feel the tip of my nose," Shintaro suddenly announced.
"Maybe it's hiding from you," Juri teased, playfully tapping Shintaro's nose.
Shintaro's laughter intensified as he squirmed under Juri's touch. Taiga noticed his hand had stayed under Juri's shirt.
Then, in a moment that felt both inevitable and surreal, Juri and Shintaro's lips met in a hungry kiss.
Taiga watched that in a dazed stupor. His mind was struggling to process the sight before him.
The kiss seemed to stretch on forever, time slowing to a crawl as Juri and Shintaro lost themselves in grabbing each other's faces and deepening the kiss.
Taiga stole a quick helpless glance at Hokuto. Hokuto's gaze was also fixed on Juri and Shintaro kissing on the floor. However, Taiga couldn't decipher the expression on Hokuto's face. It was as if a mask had been pulled over his features, concealing any hint of emotion or thought. His look remained stoic, leaving Taiga slightly wondering what was truly going on behind those unreadable eyes. Or if Hokuto was too high to comprehend what was happening around him. Not like Taiga himself would have been in any better state or fully present in the situation.
"Listen," Juri announced to all of them after breaking his kiss with Shintaro, his voice low but firm as if he was about to reveal some big secret, "sometimes, it's better to just feel instead of trying to find the right words."
"Makes sense," Hokuto agreed from the couch.
Taiga would have wanted to point out that it didn't make sense to him at all. His high mind was struggling to grasp the meaning of anything, let alone any philosophical thoughts coming from Juri.
He wasn't a philosophical person to begin with. He was only good at hiding. Maybe running away. And smoking weed with his friends.
"Right Kyomo?" Shintaro asked from the floor level.
Taiga blinked. He turned to look at Shintaro, who had a questioning look on his face.
"What?" Taiga managed to utter.
The words were his own, and they came out of his mouth, but they felt distant and disconnected.
"Look, someone's fucking high," Juri chuckled amusedly.
Then Juri and Shintaro turned their heads to share another kiss, their bodies pressed together even tighter.
Taiga couldn't look away, the lines between Juri and Shintaro's figures blurring in the intoxicating moment. It was becoming harder to tell where one person ended and the other began.
Until Juri broke the kiss and panted against Shintaro's mouth before turning to talk to all of them again.
"I'm feeling pretty sleepy," he murmured.
Shintaro next to him protested softly, claiming he wasn't tired at all, but Juri was already rising to his feet, gently coaxing Shintaro to join him by offering his hand to him.
Juri guided Shintaro towards the bedroom door, their hands clasped. As he gently pushed Shintaro into the room before him, Juri glanced back at Hokuto and Taiga. There was a tiny grin playing on his lips.
"Have fun, you two," he quipped before disappearing inside the bedroom.
As the door clicked shut, Taiga was suddenly struck by the silence that enveloped the room. The absence of others created an immediate awkwardness, leaving Taiga feeling strangely vulnerable.
He had never been alone with Hokuto before. It was never just the two of them.
It was as if the room had suddenly shrunk smaller, the walls closing around him.
Taiga's mind raced, desperately searching for something to break their awkward silence. But no words came to him, and he found himself fumbling for something, anything, to say.
It was as if a thick fog had descended upon his thoughts, obscuring his ability to think clearly. There was only one thought going around in his head. Hokuto hated him. Well, if not hated, at least he despised him. Or at the very least, he disliked being with Taiga for sure.
The sudden sounds of moaning in the neighboring bedroom interrupted Taiga's thoughts, making him shiver. At first, he thought the sounds were just a figment of his imagination, but soon he realized they were real as they grew louder and clearer.
The discomfort Taiga felt was intensified by the loud slick noises coming from the bedroom. Each sound only made the awkwardness of the situation feel even more uncomfortable.
Taiga could feel Hokuto's presence in the same room, almost like a magnetic pull drawing him in. It made him feel so weird that he wasn't sure what to do with the sensation. He felt another rush of heat to his skin.
He dared not glance in Hokuto's direction. He could feel Hokuto's piercing eyes on him even without looking back.
Suddenly, Taiga realized how his heart hammered. A frantic rhythm in his chest matched the pounding in his ears.
And then, almost as if it had crept up on him without warning, Taiga became acutely aware of the hardness between his legs pressing against his pants.
He flinched as if someone had just hit him. What the fuck.
The sudden understanding made his cheeks feel hot as he realized how turned on he was.
With his heart pounding in his chest and his head swimming with confusion, Taiga abruptly stood up and stumbled out of the room. His breaths came in short gasps as he fought to escape the suffocating atmosphere closing in around him.
"Kyomoto!" Hokuto shouted behind him, but Taiga couldn't look back.
It felt as if he was drowning, like his desires were crushing him from the inside.
A desperate urgency was about to wash over him as he reached the front door and had trouble even opening it as his hands were shaking too much. He needed release, needed to escape the overwhelming feeling that threatened to consume him whole.
Once safely outside and slamming the door close behind him, without a second thought, Taiga plunged his hand into his pants. His fingers wrapped around his hard dick in a feverish grip.
"Fuck fuck fuck," he panted aloud.
His breath came in ragged pants, the cold air biting at his skin as he leaned against the hard wall for support. But the chill was nothing compared to the searing heat coursing through his veins, the heat that was driving him to the brink of madness.
With each stroke of his hand, Taiga felt coming closer. His gasps turned to desperate moans as his pace quickened up, and he kept stroking himself so aggressively that he felt like he would die if he didn't.
As Taiga's hand moved urgently, his mind filled with jumbled memories.
He remembered the infected earlier from the day. How Hokuto had aimed his gun at it. How Shintaro had shot it, killing it before it could even hit the ground.
Taiga's mind was filled with Kochi's tired look. Jesse's sleepy form and his trained calves tangled with Kochi's long legs. Shintaro's hand on Juri's waist. Juri's tongue in Shintaro's mouth. Hokuto's lips. Slick sounds coming from the bedroom. Moans. Groans. Slick sounds getting mixed up with Hokuto's face.
With a ragged gasp, Taiga surrendered to the overwhelming release, his body trembling with the force of his orgasm.
Taiga's limbs turned to jelly, unable to support the weight of his trembling body any longer. With a shuddering breath, he sank to his knees.
As the waves of pleasure subsided, Taiga found himself engulfed in an eerie silence, broken only by the erratic rhythm of his breathing.
Even in his high mind, he knew at that very moment he was fucked up.
He was so fucked up.
Maybe they all were.