Several hours later, Hiro had come back home, holding a shopping bag with the name of a local fashion store on its exterior. He walked to the couch, on which Nemesis was still asleep, and lightly tapped her shoulder with his free hand.

She didn't react, so he just sighed and reached his hand between the back of the seat and her body and flicked his hand forwards. Her light weight meant that he easily was able to roll her over, and she collapsed onto the ground in front of him.

She made a spluttering noise and sat up, blinking away sleep and glaring at him with her bright gold eyes. "What was that for?" she asked angrily, though she didn't really sound like she was actually mad. She'd probably expected him to do that.

Hiro shrugged. "You didn't wake up, so I made sure you would." he said, then dropped the bag next to her. "I went out and bought you some clothes. You'd better appreciate it. You don't know how awkward it is to buy girls' underwear when most of the cashiers know I don't have any relatives."

Nemesis laughed, taking the bag and looking inside. She rummaged through the bag, then glanced up at him, tilting her head in a way that Hiro could tell meant she was about to say something teasing.

"What, no maid outfits or anything like that?" she asked, grinning and confirming his suspicions.

Hiro rolled his eyes and sighed. "I don't know what you take me for, but I'm not some fetishizing pervert." he said. "There's three outfits in there for you. You can change in the bathroom." he added, pointing to the hallway. "Second door on the right." he directed.

Nemesis nodded and stood up, gripping the bag's handle with one hand. She grinned. "Wait here. I want you to tell me how I look." she said. Hiro sighed and shrugged, sitting down on the couch.

"Fine, I might as well wait. I have nothing else to do anyway." he said, then chuckled. "What am I, your fashion advisor?" he asked.

Nemesis giggled, a sound that, to Hiro, didn't fit her at all, and walked away to change.

Hiro sat on the couch, waiting for her to finish. He tapped a rhythm on the arm of the chair, letting his mind wander.

He sighed to himself. A couple days ago, when he did this, he could end up thinking about almost anything. His mind could go to all corners of his thoughts when he let himself wander.

That wasn't the case anymore. Now, every time he did it, his mind would wander a bit, but then, it would always go back to Nemesis. The alien who'd come into his life and completely screwed it up simply by existing. He'd made a decision that went against everything he stood for, but that he knew also followed his ideals perfectly. It was just too confusing for him to think too much on what had happened that day.

He gritted his teeth. The shock of the day before was finally starting to wear off, and he realized how stupid his actions had truly been. He'd saved the life of an alien, and to make matters worse, he'd willingly offered to let her stay in his house, closer to him than any other location. It could only get worse if she decided to start going to school as well.

He shook his head. Nemesis may be a mystery to him, but he could tell that she was smart enough that she could figure out that aliens weren't wanted in the school anymore, after the Darkness incident. He knew she was aware of the tension between the students and the existing aliens, and that even should she hide as a human, even she couldn't remain hidden forever. The school was now his safe haven, whether he liked it or not.

Well, anyway, what he felt about the petite alien was of no consequence now. He'd made his decision, and he couldn't exactly get rid of her easily.

He was shaken out of his thoughts when he heard the object of his thoughts clear her throat.

"Come on-nn, Hiro." she said, in a slightly high-pitched, whiny tone. "I got dressed in the clothes you got me, and you just ignore me?"

He blinked and shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Oh, sorry, Nemesis. I was lost in my own thoughts." he replied, looking over at her.

She was dressed in a light yellow tank top, still a bit big on her, as Hiro had overestimated her size a bit, and she had opted to wear a pair of simple jean shorts. Hiro nodded at the sight, and grinned.

"Well, you definitely look more normal now." he said. "Even though I had to go to the kids' section of the store to get those for you."

He didn't say it, but he thought she was very attractive, even more so than earlier. When she wasn't wearing much, he thought she'd come across as a bit of a show-off, as clearly, she didn't really care if she was wearing anything or not. Now that she was actually wearing something, despite it being intended for someone many years her junior, she looked much more natural, if Hiro just ignored the scars that criss-crossed the exposed flesh of her arms and legs.

He tilted his head, having noticed something new about her while he was lost in thought. "Why do you address me by my first name?" he asked. "In Japan, you usually address people with their surnames, unless they're especially close to you."

Nemesis chuckled, sitting down on the couch next to him, a lot closer than she had done when she'd explained what she was, earlier that day. The only outward sign that Hiro had noticed this change in behavior was a raised eyebrow, which she ignored.

"I'm well aware of how the naming system here works, Hiro." she said. "But you saved my life. I feel like that gives me reason enough to give you respect by using that name. And you call me by my first name anyway, so it's only fair."

Hiro shrugged. "You only told me your first name." he replied. "So, it's not exactly the same. Whatever, though. I don't really care what you call me. I just thought it was odd, since I'm not your relative and we're definitely not close enough for that."

An odd expression passed over Nemesis's face, and, surprisingly, she looked genuinely hurt by his response. It appeared and vanished so quickly that Hiro could have sworn he'd imagined it, but that didn't stop a sudden spear of guilt reaching into his chest.

He quickly clamped down on the unfamiliar emotion and forced it away, closing his eyes to help himself even out his mindset back to its normal nearly emotionless level. There was no way he'd let her mind tricks get to him, now that he knew the way she thinks. She was the kind of person to manufacture every emotion she showed. He still didn't know how to read her true thoughts, but that didn't mean he'd never be able to.