A/N: I was re-reading "Gantz" and the inspiration struck. It's my first fanfiction for this amazing manga, so feedback would be greatly appreciated. Enjoy!

Standard disclaimer applies.

Man's Best Friend

It is said that man's best friend is a dog. People would often point out the qualities like loyalty and devotion to its master and tell stories about these friendly animals. There were created many fictional dog characters – Lassie, Pluto, Scooby Doo – which lived on in the human imagination.

If considering something a friend depended on how much time it spent on following you around, all these dog lovers didn't meet any pandas, Izumi thought.

The tall Gantzer took a quick peek over his shoulder and yes – there it was, the recent irritating addition to the team, stubbornly trailing after him. Why me? Izumi asked himself, his brow creased. Weren't animals supposed to sense what kind of a person you are? Didn't this panda feel the hollowness in him, which he could only fill with bloodshed and violence? Didn't it understand that he didn't want friends but more and more challenging opponents? Only overcoming the overwhelming obstacles, winning against the most unfavourable odds would give a true sense of accomplishment to his successful, boring life. Certainly not striking a friendship with an annoying critter.

If he ever found out whose idea it was to put a bloody panda in the Gantz's room, he would painfully disembowel this person, Izumi resolved, caressing the hilt of his retractable katana. For now, he would just ignore the dumb animal. If it wanted to die, it wasn't his business. He wouldn't lift a finger.

Time to hunt.

Even without any real memories of his previous experiences as a Gantzer, the handling of various equipment provided to him by the black ball came to him quite easily. Soon he could be found stalking the corridors of the gallery, using the hand-held GPS-like device to track the aliens he was about to exterminate. The effect of an action-movie star was ruined by the presence of the panda in tow, but he had to give it a credit for at least being silent, a feat for such a big animal. From time to time, even he forgot about it and had to look back to confirm it was still there.

The first alien he came across was big and terrifying. It masqueraded as a triceratops and seemed to be a strong and resilient opponent. The appearances can be deceiving, Izumi reflected, while he casually flicked his blade to get rid of the bluish alien blood staining it. He looked over his handiwork with critical eye to spot all the unnecessary and inefficient cuts in the butchered remains of the monster. There weren't that many and he nodded to himself with satisfaction at regaining his swordsmanship skills so fast.

The panda, which had enough sense to hide during the fight, suddenly tackled him to the ground. Izumi landed hard on his back, not feeling any pain thanks to the amortizing by the Gantz suit he wore. Something flashed above him, going through the place his neck had been a second before and he realized the panda had just saved him from an unexpected decapitation. After pushing the animal away from him, he swiftly rose to his feet and faced the new enemy.

A velociraptor stood before him, shrugging its head anxiously from side to side and giving him a hungry look. Izumi assumed a loose stance, katana wielded firmly in front of him. He needed to be quick on his feet, as the raptor looked...

Izumi's train of thought was cut short by the dinosaur lunging at him with astonishing speed. He barely had any time to dodge the initial attack, which was swiftly followed up with dangerous lashes of the sharp claws. Izumi pivoted out of the reach of the short but deadly forelimbs and made to strike, however the long, flexible tail came at him in a whip-like motion, forcing him to jump back.

A moment to take a breath – and Izumi broke into a run straight at the raptor, taking the initiative, the blade held parallel to the ground at his side. He sliced widely from right to left, the thrill of the battle getting his blood pumping, but the dinosaur evaded the attack. It screeched and once again swung its tail at him. Izumi dropped to the ground and in a blink of an eye the raptor was leaping at him, the long fangs descending upon his head to tear it out.

Izumi had a brief second of doubt whether the suit would be enough to protect him, then the jaws closed shut with a tremendous strength a few centimeters from his face. He didn't question his luck, instead taking the chance and looping off the raptor's head in one clean cut. The alien's corpse collapsed in the wake of its death. Izumi straightened on his legs and brushed away the hair that has fallen into his face during the fight.

He didn't have to wonder what stopped the raptor from biting his head off as he saw the panda let go of the beast's tail and bound over to him, looking exceedingly pleased with itself and, dare he say it, seeking his approval.

'Thanks,' he offered automatically, then stopped to think over what he said. Did he just thank a panda?

The animal stood on its hind legs and embraced him in the waist, gazing up with its big, black and shiny eyes. Did it want something? Izumi supposed this could be a case, so he hesitantly reached down and patted the panda on the head. It yipped excitedly and pushed him over on the floor.

'Hey!' he protested, but the panda pounced to cuddle and nuzzle into him.

After a while, thanks to the strength the Gantz suit offered, Izumi managed to disentangle from the overly affectionate bear. He stalked off, annoyed at the treatment he received and wanting to kill some aliens. However, the source of his annoyance was walking right behind him, making him wary of another enthusiastic tackle. What was the worst, he was unable to shake it off, not even by turning invisible, as the animal seemed to follow his scent.

Soon he couldn't take his own tension anymore, so finally he whirled around and faced the panda, which regarded him curiously.

'That's it! Look, I'll allow you to tag along, just don't get in my way! Do we have a deal?' he couldn't believe he was making a proposition to a panda, and what's more, that it nodded in agreement! It was one of these things, which it was better not to dwell on too much, Izumi decided.

They continued walking in silence. Izumi was back in his hunter mode, ignoring the panda and the panda was back to trailing after him.

He didn't need friends, after all. But spectators weren't friends.

Epilogue

'Izumi-kun, is that a panda?' asked Ryoko, Izumi's girlfriend, pointing out the animal, which followed him to their meeting place in the park.

'Yes, it is,' he replied with a sigh. 'Do you like it?'

'I love pandas! Do you think I can touch it?'

'Go ahead, it won't bite,' he said. It might just tackle you and hug to death, he added in his mind.

Ryoko happily stroked panda's fur and soon a few kids from a playground nearby came over to join her. Their fun was cut short when the people from the zoo drove over to collect the animal.

'Bye, bye, miss panda!' the kids called and waved, as the animal was taken away.

'I don't understand, how is this panda always getting away? It's a third time already!' complained loudly one of the zoo employees.

'I still think someone's letting her free, maybe we need to change the locks again,' suggested his co-worker.

They loaded the animal into the back of the van, but before they closed the door, the panda lifted a paw and yipped.

'Izumi-kun, did you see it? The panda waved at us! I didn't know they were so intelligent!' Ryoko exclaimed in surprise.

Izumi smirked. The annoying, stalking critter was letting him know that come next mission, it would still be after him.

So be it. It's not like he cared... right?

The End