Lucy woke up with a pounding headache. She found herself in a dark room lying on the floor, her head propped up against some sort of bag and a large coat over her as a makeshift blanket.

"What happened? Where am I?" she thought to herself. She tried her best to remember what led her to this situation, to no avail. Something about monsters? No, that had to be a dream.

She looked around the room and recognized that she was in the coffee shop. The windows were boarded up blocking out any light from outside, and it seemed like the power was off. She was lying in a small alcove behind the counter and couldn't see anyone around her. Was it not a dream?

She felt a small chill and pulled the coat up over herself. In doing so, she caught a whiff of the unmistakable scent of Leon and immediately remembered what had happened before she was knocked out. She let out a quick squeak as she remembered being pressed up against his body as he held her behind the table. She glanced around once again to confirm that nobody was around, and then buried her face inside the coat. She let out a soft moan as she inhaled that musky scent, and then slowly slipped her hand down her skirt. Oh, this was going to be good.

"I see you're awake," said a deep, manly voice. Leon had walked around the counter and was looking straight at her. "We've barricaded ourselves and shut off the power to avoid drawing any attention, and – what are you doing?"

Lucy froze. She had his coat wrapped around her face and was clearly touching herself. She slowly pulled down the coat to look back at him.

"Um, I was cold?" Lucy responded.

"It seems like my coat heated you up nicely," he retorted. "Get yourself presentable and come meet me in the main room, we have important things to discuss." He turned around and walked away, offering her some measure of privacy.

Lucy's apartment had thin walls, so she had lots of experience with being quiet during her activities. She finished within a few minutes, got up to fix her maid outfit, and then walked over to the table Leon was sitting at. She tried unsuccessfully to hide her smile as she sat down next to him.

Her smile faded fast when Leon pointed out the dead monster on the floor. It was humanoid, but in place of its head was a mass of tentacles. It had several bullet wounds, and blood was covering the floor. Lucy balked at the gory sight.

"These monsters are overtaking the town. Somehow, Rachmaninov's toxin breached containment and is spreading around town. Once infected, the toxin turns you into one of those abominations."

Rachmaninov? Wasn't that the extremely wealthy family in town that owns a pharmaceutical company?

"The Rachmaninovs are that extremely wealthy family in town that own a pharmaceutical company," Leon continued. "I've been tasked with keeping tabs on them and the toxin, but I never expected them to go through with their plans so early. If this continues, they will..."

Leon continued with his explanation, but Lucy had stopped paying attention. It couldn't be that important, right? She was mesmerized by the movement of his lips as he was talking. She looked at his arm and noticed a bloody bandage. "He must have had to deal with a lot while I was knocked out," she thought. She glanced around the room and saw several more dead bodies of those tentacle monsters. She shuddered.

"...so make sure that you never ingest any of their slime. Got that?"

"Roger. So, where's Sally?"

"I just said she's up top keeping watch. Were you listening?"

"Oh. No. I wasn't."

Leon sighed, exasperated. "Just... don't make too much noise and stay out of our way."Immediately Lucy's phone rang. She hadn't had the chance to turn it down from max volume. Time seemed to stand still as the Kuroinu theme echoed around the room. A growl came from just outside the window.

"We have company!" Sally yelled from above.