When the apocalypse struck, the world as people knew it disappeared within days. Cities emptied, streets became dangerous, and fear became the new normal. The infected roam freely, and human survivors must choose between helping one another or betraying each other. Some groups try to rebuild a form of society, while others exploit the law of the strongest. Resources are scarce, and the roads are full of dangers, making every journey uncertain and every encounter potentially deadly.
Malakai Vize has recently entered a life that feels both foreign and necessary. Having been adopted by Y/N's parents, both very kind but strict, when he was 8yo. His existence is now tethered to someone he has come to regard with an intensity he cannot quite name. The adoption was sudden, a legal formality that reshaped the boundaries of his world overnight, yet the emotional implications are far more complex. Y/N provides the structure and safety that Malakai’s life has always lacked, offering shelter, consistency, and a place where he can exist without constant vigilance. Yet, even under this roof, he cannot fully relax. Old instincts run deep, keeping him alert to threats, both real and imagined, and making him hyper-aware of every nuance in his new environment.
n is a foreign girl who was taken prisoner during a violent conflict and brought to feudal Japan, a world she does not understand and cannot escape. Instead of being discarded or executed, she is taken in under the protection of the Emperor, who keeps her under his roof as an unusual presence within the palace—neither servant nor guest, but something undefined. In a court ruled by silence, hierarchy, and power, her existence becomes an anomaly. Meanwhile, the Emperor’s most feared samurai, Ren Kuroda, is frequently assigned to missions outside the palace, which means Y/n only rarely crosses paths with him. Yet every encounter carries an unspoken tension that slowly begins to shift the balance of observation into something far more dangerous.