Fox Girl In An Apocalyptic World

\'Will this even work?\' Akira was cautious of Lou\'s idea, as he had never used his corruption in such a way.

Taking a deep breath, Akira picked up a butter knife and coated the edge with his corruption. Looking at Reia\'s arm, he was a little unsure where to start, but decided to go for the top of the arm, where the infection was moving.

Lou who was unable to do anything left it all up to Akira and so she went to go get Reia a change of clothes as hers had been ruined.

\'I swear if Akira doesn\'t save her, I will kill him and her at the same time.\' Lou did not want anyone dying as she simply wouldn\'t allow it and if they were, she wanted it to happen with her own hands.

"Akira I will be going out to get some clothes, don\'t you dare fuck up while I\'m gone." Lou opened up the bunker and quickly left while leaving Akira a warning.

"What a way to add to the already crushing pressure." Akira\'s anxiety was spiking, but he did not let that stop him.

\'You are the only one that can do this.\' Akira leaned in close and trying his best to keep a steady hand slowly approached the infection. It also was a surprise that Reia didn\'t turn quickly, but that was a question to be answered later.

Touching the infection with the corruption, it had begun to eat it away slowly and since it was a low dose it fizzled out quickly.

\'It covers a lot more area than I thought.\' Akira cleared a few inches of infection with only a small tap and it seemed the corruption was only going for the infection. This reassured him that it wouldn\'t go astray and kill Reia unless he made direct contact with the skin.

Spreading out his touches he had made great progress on clearing the infection at a rather fast rate. Even with a few close calls where he would touch too close to the skin, the corruption still aimed for the infection.

\'There must be something about this infection and the slime it creates that makes my corruption target it.\' Akira, who thought he had a good grasp on his essence, felt like he was back to square one, knowing nothing about it now.

Finishing up on Reia\'s arm, Akira was relieved that Lou\'s idea had worked.

"I can\'t believe it, I can stop the infection." Akira had gained quite a lot of confidence and so he quickly moved onto her other arm.

<10 minutes later>

Akira had just finished off Reia\'s legs and was about to move onto the tail Reia had acquired. Turning her on her stomach, Akira lifted her clothes to see if there was any infection on her back.

To his surprise, it seemed like the tail was not infecting her as there were no signs of it moving. Still wanting to get rid of it, he went ahead and used corruption directly on the tail.

However, upon touching the tail, it gave Akira an electric shock and the corruption quickly fizzled out.

"What the hell?" Akira stood up, causing the chair to fall. His heart rate had quickened again, panicking that all his effort would be for nothing.

\'Fuck.\' Not knowing what to do, he started to tear up as thoughts of Reia turning flooded his mind again, but she had suddenly shot up from the table.

"ARGHH!" Screaming out in pain from her sudden movements, she was forced to lay back down on her back.

"Fuck that hurts and why am I on the table?" Reia looked around, trying to get her bearings and saw she was on the bunker dining table. Looking over to the side she spotted Akira who was on the verge of tears while staring at her.

"W-wait I lived?" Reia was under the assumption she would have died after passing out as her last attack took the last bit of her energy and wasn\'t sure if she would get through.

"R-Reia." Akira was trying to keep it together as he was unsure if Reia was fine or not.

Lifting her arms she no longer saw the mutant traits she had gained that had helped maintain the essence fox form she used.

"Akira what happened?" Reia, not wasting any time, wanted to know what happened to her body after she passed out.

Holding back tears, Akira picked up the chair and sat back down moving a little further away from the table. He then explained how the slime on her body was slowly covering her body and how he just used his corruption to get rid of it.

*

Slowly sitting up on the side of the table, Reia now had a better picture of what happened and her heart rate had also increased, but for an entirely different reason.

\'Akira saved me.\' Letting her thoughts wander, she remembered what she mouthed to him before using the core, causing her to turn red.

"Anyway, the only thing I couldn\'t get rid of was your mutant tail and hey are you okay?" Akira held back the urge to hug Reia due to her injuries and was able to calm down while also keeping his composure, but he noticed Reia\'s face had turned completely red.

"I\'m fine, don\'t worry, I don\'t feel unwell and that second tail, I can control it like it\'s one of my own." Looking over her shoulder, she wagged the mutant tail and felt nothing out of the ordinary. The change of topic also helped Reia not to focus on what she said while in the nest.

"Hmm, okay." Akira trusted Reia\'s word and although the tail was still suspicious, it was safe to assume it was not dangerous for now.

"Now tell me, what did you say to me just before using the core?" Akira was confident in what Reia said, but he needed to confirm it for himself.

\'Shit.\' Reia was hoping Akira didn\'t remember and wanted to avoid the topic, but it seemed like she wouldn\'t be able to escape it.

Turning her head, Reia avoided any eye contact not wanting to say anything but had spoken anyway.

"G-give me some time to think, I-I\'m not ready to answer." Reia hadn\'t expected to come out alive and so she mouthed some words to Akira, just so she didn\'t have any feelings of regret.

react.

17:57

*

"Alright." Akira, always giving the space and time Reia needed, agreed to wait a bit longer.

\'She really did say I love you.\' Akira felt a swirl of emotions inside him and he didn\'t know how to really react.

*

Kim, who had decided to peek at what was happening, was trying to hold back her excitement about Reia\'s recovery.

\'YES, IT\'S FINALLY HAPPENING!\' Screaming in her mind as the atmosphere of the room was full of tension and love, Kim couldn\'t help but be happy that some progress was being made between them.

However, because she had lost focus on trying to hide she accidentally swung the door open exposing herself.

"Oh hey Kim." Akira had thought she had just come out and didn\'t hear anything so he tried to act normal.

"H-hey Kim." Reia\'s voice was rather shaky as she hadn\'t calmed down, but tried to act normal as well.

"So is Reia all clear?" Kim realising that she hadn\'t been found out tried to make it seem like she didn\'t know Reia was okay. She had also felt anxious as she could see the mutant tail despite knowing there was no danger just yet.

"For now Reia is okay and the tail is still unknown, but as far as we know, nobody is turning into a mutant." Akira saying it out loud, helped the reality sink in that Reia was okay and almost brought him back to tears.

\'Damn it, now I\'m the emotional one.\' Akira hadn\'t been through such a rollercoaster of emotions and wondered if it was how Reia felt with her emotional immaturity.

"Phew, now you need to just get some rest and heal up before we go back out." Kim felt relieved and now that the chaos had blown over it feels like they could relax again.

"I can still move around, but my entire body is sore." Reia who wasn\'t severely injured from the mutant attacks still had hindered her ability to move. The scratches and small bite marks that did not dig too deep also made it rather hard to turn without some part of her body hurting.

"Oh, well Akira, why don\'t you carry Reia to her room." Kim had a smug smile and Akira knew exactly why. Reia had also blushed, but she definitely wouldn\'t mind as it was painful to move.

"I wouldn\'t mind a change of clothes though." Reia looked down and saw that her clothes had a bunch of holes and tears, but still just enough to cover her body.

"Lou will be back soon with some extra clothes and is probably getting some for herself and Kim." Akira realised that they didn\'t have many spare clothes and he would need to go out and look for some.

"If that\'s the case, please take me to my room." Reia looked down at the ground as she asked to hide her blush.

"Heh." Kim looked at Akira and when she did he glared back at her as if it was her idea in the first place.

Letting out a sigh, Akira got up from his seat and lifted Reia into a princess carry. Kim quickly pulled out her phone and took a photo as she realised that the camera would still work.

Akira heard Kim, but because he was carrying Reia he was unable to do anything now and just had to leave Kim be.

"Hehe." Kim quickly ran away back to Kadi\'s room which was next to hers to avoid Akira.

"Tch." Clicking his tongue he walked off carrying Reia who had gripped his clothes as this was her first time being carried like this before.

\'Warm.\' Reia had felt rather comfortable and didn\'t want to move from Akira\'s arms.

\'Maybe I should just say it.\' Reia considered just admitting what she said since she felt confident that the feelings she had were that of love.

\'Every time I\'m close or think about him, my heart and mind always wander and after he saved me, I felt this spark.\' Reia was convincing herself that she did feel something for Akira and she didn\'t want to keep him waiting any longer.

Akira walked into Reia\'s room, putting her down lightly on the bed and before he could move away Reia grabbed onto his sleeve.

"Can you stay for a little bit longer?" Reia didn\'t want Akira to leave just yet.

"Alright." Akira sat down on the edge of the bed wondering why Reia asked for him to stay.

Reia sat up so she could see Akira better and took a deep breath.

Akira looked away unsure what to say as it was rare for Reia to do anything like this.

"Akira…" Reia leaned into Akira and as he turned his head to look, he felt a pair of hands pull his face in.

There will be effects from the infection, but they are yet to be discovered, just have to be patient as not everything can fit in one chapter x)

Shoomoon