Author's note: What a pretty long wait this was...
By the way, the title of this chapter is pretty meaningful, since Tomoko and Nishi have a brief moment in the limelight.
The Price of Victory
Chapter 3: Lament of Lovers
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"Do I know you?" Tsuneo asked.
"Relax, these are the two vampires I caught up with before I was brought to you guys. They're Hikawa and Chiaki, and to my surprise, they seemed pretty lenient towards me." Natsuki replied. "They even said before that the aliens don't wanna exterminate the vampires, too."
"Even if they took part in the missions, they're sort of neutral, I believe." Kato said.
"That's right." Hikawa said with a smirk.
"Does that mean they want to help us or something?" Kishimoto asked.
"Probably." Natsuki replied.
"Let's skip the small talk and get things over with; I'm getting really excited about killing some more aliens." Chiaki said.
The short-haired girl shrugged, before Tsuneo nodded over to the others. With that, the entire group, including the vampires, went to find and destroy what was to be Eeva, considered to be the strongest alien.
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Along the way, the boy with the glasses told Natsuki, "Uh, I forgot to tell you that before we met those four humans, our team was able to round up a fair amount of aliens and abused them. But I could clearly tell you felt sorry for a few of them when they said they were genuinely sorry."
"Me, too. One of the female aliens the group even told me about this alien named Eeva; she would rather see him dead than consume all of the humans on Earth." she replied, nodding in agreement. "Come to think of it, I want to change the subject on one thing and one thing only: I was really starting to get to know you before the Katastrophe arrived." she added.
"So did I. You're pretty cute and all, but I really think we should take things slow; I don't want to instantly upgrade our relationship from friendship to immediate romance." Tsuneo said.
"And speaking of which, I wonder how Tomoko is doing..." she added.
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When Kurono confronted Nishi at the tower, the latter revealed he wanted to destroy all the aliens, but the former had second thoughts. He believed that there are other aliens that never had any intent on doing horrible things to the humans, such as eating them alive.
He and Tae were even aided by a kind female alien who ended up sacrificing her life in the process, and he ended up mourning her death. Thus, this led to Nishi attempting to kill Kurono's girlfriend, but the two lovers made their escape, leaving the sociopathic boy to perish alone.
As he prepared to die, he had one thing on his mind: Tomoko. She was the same girl whose feelings he once ignored, until their unexpected reunion after the Oni alien mission. As the Nurarihyon mission occurred, the two ended up cooperating together, mainly as a means for her to grow closer to him.
It also helped that after she saved him from losing his other arm, and did all she could to defend, even if he lost a limb in battle. Once the mission was over, they finally consummated their newfound bond at a love hotel.
Even though he would never admit it to anyone else other than Tomoko, Nishi felt as if he was very much falling in love with her. He even professed his love to her via a letter after the mission involving the statues, and offered to spend another night with her at the same love hotel they went to.
Since she was no longer a hunter after leaving the game, she went underground with her family. She anxiously waited for the time the aliens would be finally defeated, but at the same time, she still thought of him.
As Nishi went through countless aliens until he reached the tower, he never stopped thinking of her, either. When they parted ways just as Katastrophe could begin, he vowed to her that he would return to her after he was through with the enemy.
Alas, it wasn't possible. He had crossed paths with Kurono and Tae, and as he failed the kill the latter, he was left to die. As such, he thought to himself.
I guess this is over, huh? Even if I don't have any regrets regarding those bastards, I actually have one. I could never return to Earth to reunite with Tomoko Harada. Every time I think of her, I get flustered, but I shrug it off. But, even as I wait for my last breath...I still love her.
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Back on Earth, Tomoko sighed as she laid back on one of the numerous beds in the resting quarters. As she looked up at the ceiling, she began to recall her memories with Nishi.
Even when he promised her he would return to Earth after the Katastrophe, it seemed he wasn't coming back. She frowned, and felt her eyes water a bit as she gazed at the painting she made of him back at school post-Oni aliens mission.
However, her frown turned into a smile as she believed he would sacrifice his life not only for his allies (even if he hardly got along with them), but for her. She closed her eyes as she found herself in deep thought.
When this war is over, I'll try and do what I can to move on if he doesn't return. I still have my friends, after all.
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As Natsuki and the others finally reached Eeva, he looked down on them with a glare. "So you're the son-of-a-bitch that wants to kill us all." Sei told him.
The alien replied, albeit in a rather odd language, 'You've finally arrived; it seemed you are intent on annihilating us aliens.'
Of course, when Hikawa and Chiaki showed up, his eyes slightly widened. 'Vampires...'
"It looks like you're too scared of eating vampires, though." the vampire in the business suit said with a smirk.
'I am NOT scared of you and your kind; even if we cannot consume you, we will destroy you anyway.' Eeva replied.
"I guess this is the last battle, after all." Suzuki said.
As all the hunters, as well as the vampires, brought out their weapons, they knew this was the point of no return.
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Well, this is it...
Will our heroes triumph over Eeva? Or will they die trying?
With love for my fans,
Chrissy