Author's Note: Thanks to some encouragement, I managed to finally get this written up. I'm incredibly sorry it's been almost a year since the last update. Hopefully the next one will be much, much sooner. There's only one chapter left to go, and if you don't see it in the next month please feel free to pester and remind me. (I think that's why the last update ended up happening, too.) Huge, huge thanks to everyone who has stuck around until now and new readers that have found and enjoyed this story. I hope you like this new chapter and that it was at least somewhat worth the wait.

Chapter 21 ; Taste of Defeat

The stench hung so thick in the air that it was overwhelming. Every inhale made her feel like she was drowning in it—the cloying smell of blood and innards, spilled across the concrete like discarded garbage. The body was unrecognizable, and she wasn't even sure it was a person until she heard something crunch beneath her boot. It was that deafening crack that made her hop back in surprise.

Haruka was certain that she had grown accustomed to death and gore, but seeing the dismembered skull of one of the people who had been standing in the Gantz room with her not more than an hour before made her stomach churn. What she had stepped on had been a man's jaw, but beneath the rubble of the shattered street and the severed limbs, she hadn't been able to recognize it at first.

Dizziness gave a sudden surge and she stumbled, barely holding her balance—let alone her grip on the katana in her hand. The throbbing pain in her shoulder had grown into a dull ache, but she had lost so much blood wandering aimlessly. Where was their final target at? Would they somehow miss the opportunity to find it and beat it this time?

Her gaze drifted to the sky. The lights of the city made it impossible to see the stars, and she lamented that this might be her last sight before dying. Strange, she had seemed to have such conviction earlier when declaring that she was willing to kill Nishi. How had she now come to the point where she was idly contemplating her death?

As she peered down, her eyes caught her own reflection in the pool of blood at her feet. The cut on her cheek had been deeper than she thought, but she couldn't feel it at all.

"Just a little longer," she assured herself in a murmur. Yes, this would be her last game, and then she would finish her debt to Nishi. All she had to do was hold on until then.

Kneeling down, she dipped her gloved hand into rippling bodily fluid. Even through the fabric she could feel that it was still warm and had yet to begin coagulating. This person's death had been recent. She smiled wickedly as she wiped the red liquid across her mouth. It tasted coppery as it trickled in past her lips.

"You must be close," Haruka whispered manically, an unfocused gleam in her eyes as she stood, brandishing her weapon with a renewed sense of determination. "Only something huge could rip someone to pieces like this. Not like the last two I faced. And if you're that big, you can't hide very well."

The muscles in her legs rippled and bulged, the concrete beneath her feet collapsing as she crouched and suddenly lifted off, flying through the air before landing on the roof of a nearby building. She scaled up to the top ridge, eyes narrowed as she scanned the skies.

"I... found you."

—

Although her heart was thumping furiously in anticipation that she would hear the familiar sound of the Gantz gun being triggered, it never came. She had continued to stare wide-eyed at Nishi even after he had lowered the weapon and stuffed it back into his pocket.

"You're... not going to kill me?" Her voice trembled. "But what about..."

Rather than answer directly, he turned his back and took a few steps away from her before peering back over his shoulder. "Are you coming or not?" he asked gruffly, clearly impatient. "We have to make up ground to catch up."

As much as he wanted to pass it off as though nothing had happened, she hesitated to tag along like the lost puppy that she had been before. There was no doubt in Koizumi's mind that he was completely capable of turning on her at a moment's notice. He might have decided to spare her for now, but it was abundantly clear that if he deemed it necessary, she would be sacrificed. Her hand tightened on the gun in her hand that he had returned to her earlier.

"What are we going to do when we catch up?" She swallowed hard after she made the query, afraid of what answer he might give her.

"What else? Finish this."

Nishi was dodging her true question. It was clear that Koizumi wanted to know what he intended to do about her at the end. His mind was an impossible one to read. Would he continue to leave her alive as Haruka had wished, or would he decide that she had to die in order for Haruka to have a life to go back to? Even if he did something like that for her, there was an unimaginable rift between the two of them now. Killing Koizumi would only widen that gap between them and no doubt have an undesired effect.

Inwardly she weighed these different outcomes. After a few minutes, she took one tentative step forward, and then another. With each one she grew a little more confident. No matter how she looked at it, there would be no benefit to killing her.

He had just been trying to make a point, to coax her out of being the frightened fawn that she always was. She had to be more independent. Clinging to him like she was would only hold him down more.

"Okay, let's end it."

Those dark irises seemed to scan her facial expression, as though trying to read her sincerity. Finally he said, "We can't afford to waste any more time." He may not have been explicit, but she understood what he was implying.

Nishi's leg muscles bulged as he set off, leaping into the air. She followed after him, utilizing the strength of her suit to propel her body. It was almost exhilarating how the wind whipped through her hair as they flew.

Koizumi knew it was wrong to think of this as fun or as an adventure, but that was how she felt. Especially watching Nishi's back. All memories of his threat moments prior had been washed from her mind. She romanticized him—the feelings that she shared with Haruka brimmed to the surface. Even though he kept her at arms length, she watched him fondly. The vague concern she had for her more experienced counterpart had faded to the back of her mind.

"Stop," Nishi said suddenly as they landed side-by-side on the balcony of an apartment complex.

The atmosphere was completely mismatched for what they were doing. She could see sidelong into the apartment—the lights were on, and a couple was seated at a dinner table, laughing as they chatted with each other. Her cheeks flushed as she watched, somewhat mesmerized by it.

"Koizumi!"

She jumped at the sound of his hushed cry. "S-sorry—"

He grabbed her by the chin, tilting her head almost all the way back. Koizumi struggled against his grasp—it felt like he was trying to break her neck the way he was awkwardly maneuvering her. But she froze the moment her eyes landed on it. "W-what... is that...?" Her mouth felt dry.

"Our target," he confirmed.

A bolt of lightning lit up the sky as though to illuminate the distant, hulking shadow that she saw. The brief flash of light was enough for her to make out part of its face. It was like something right out of a nightmare. She had seen it in pictures before—those stone things that sat on the ledges of old European Cathedrals. What were they called? She couldn't remember.

The ricochet of thunder booming overhead caused her to jolt, her hands flying to Nishi's arm, clinging tightly to it. The fear coursed through her veins. It wasn't her first time laying eyes upon something inhuman, but this was different. This thing looked almost humanoid with legs and arms, despite being covered in scales.

"You're afraid," Nishi assessed with a scoff, as though he was repulsed that she would react with such a realistic human emotion.

She yanked her hands away from him, trying to calm herself. "I-I'm not scared!" Koizumi stammered. Yet for as much as she denied it, she could remember how terrified she had been in the talons of that creature earlier, and it paled in size to what they saw in the distance. "Is... is it coming toward us...?"

Seeming unconcerned by the clear discomfort in her voice, he studied the distant silhouette before replying, "No."

"I wonder if it's going to rain." Even though that was the least of their concerns, her eyes turned up to the skies. It was difficult to see anything because it was so dark out, but there must have been dark clouds smeared across the sky. The rain would surely affect the visibility and their ability to fight effectively.

His hand clapped down on her shoulder hard, startling her again and causing her to hiss in pain. Perhaps he had forgotten the claws that had pierced through her suit earlier. Yet he didn't look apologetic even as he lifted his hand away. "Let's go."

"D-do you have a plan...?"

"Yes. You will initiate combat. I'll target it from behind while it's distracted."

That kind of strategy certainly wasn't in favor of her safety, but she could hardly voice such a complaint. This was not the kind of situation where she had much room for argument. It was kill or be killed, after all, and if she couldn't even be useful enough to play as a distraction, then there was no point in going at all.

Still, she could not completely quell her reservations, and without thinking she asked, "Will... I die?" It was obviously a silly question that he could not answer for her. There was no way of knowing. Everything was a gamble.

"No."

He was lying—she could see it in his eyes, and he hadn't even hesitated. Her heart sank a little as she mounted the ledge of the balcony. Through the gloves of the gantz suit, her hands felt clammy from all the perspiration. She was just glad that her nervousness was so easy to hide.

"Okay, I understand. I'll go first then."

—

She took one steady breath after the other, her chest pressed firmly against the cool cement. Something wet pelted her from above—the first droplet hit her eyelash, and the second her forehead. After only a moment of brief confusion, she realized with an intense sense of urgency that it was starting to rain. Time was already beginning to run out.

Haruka had found a high position on skyscraper, and it had taken a great deal of effort to scale to the top. She had smoothed herself against the roof, blending in with the darkness as she scouted her prey. It had taken some intuitive guesswork to figure out what direction it would head in next, and in her current position, it would pass just below her in less than two minutes.

All she had to do now was calculate the distance to it and leap at the most opportune time. If everything went perfectly, she would strike it completely unaware and end everything in one fell swoop. That was being optimistic, she realized, especially in light of the fact that the wind was picking up with the impending storm.

It was typhoon season in the region, and she felt stupid for not taking that into account. The darkness had lulled her into a false sense of security.

Sweat was pouring down her forehead as she tried to readjust her calculations. She was no genius—this had taken all the brain power she had. It was a simple strategy and so easily it had been countered. Her grip on the katana tightened, and with it, she felt a surging pain in her shoulder.

Gritting her teeth, she snapped her eyes shut. Think, think, think. There had to be some way to—

The sound of an earsplitting shriek interrupted her thoughts, and as she jerked her chin up, she saw through the darkness that just a short distance away, someone had started to engage the creature. No, not someone, it was two people. Two silhouettes that, despite the darkness, she could distinguish.

It was clear that the one dodging desperately and aiming randomly at the creature was Koizumi, and despite her seemingly clumsy attempts at attacking it, she was providing a good distraction. Nishi had flanked it from the rear with some well-aimed shots that had hit the creature's wing span and shattered the webbing that had kept it airborne

The whole area shuddered as it came crashing to the ground. Haruka held tight to her position on the roof, squinting as rubble and debris sprayed through the air, making it impossible to see anything below.

There was no longer any time to spend dawdling up here and just observing. Although the bleeding had slowed from the wound on her shoulder, she could feel jarring pain every time she tried to lift her arm. Standing turned out to be more of a laborious task than it should have.

Shit, I'll be a liability if I go in like this. Or worse, I might... Her expression contorted as she abruptly dropped the katana from her hand. It clattered against the floor, and she reached up and clutched at her shoulder.

She almost felt startled at how cool her hand felt against the open wound, and that was when she remembered that the fabric there had been torn. Determined, she grasped at a strip of the shredded arm pad, yanking it off.

Breathing heavily, she knelt to the ground and used the hand of her injured arm to grasp the katana. Biting down on her lip to distract herself from the pain of tensing her muscles, she wrapped the ripped fabric around her hand, latching the weapon to it.

It was a risky gamble, but she needed to be able to wield it with both hands to be effective. After all, she wouldn't have many opportunities to try to take it out. Nishi and Haruka may have managed to disable it, but they hadn't killed it yet.

Her legs felt shaky as she stood on them, swaying upon the ledge where she was standing. It was so difficult to breathe through the pain. Hadn't the wound been fairly superficial from the beginning? Maybe it was worse than she thought?

After a single, shuddering breath, she steeled herself and crouched. As soon as she could make out the figure of the creature, she would have to use the building as a launch pad to propel herself toward it. If she was lucky, then it wouldn't notice her until the last possible second. Her plan hadn't changed. If anything, its success rate had shot up thanks to those two meddlesome pests.

Just as the dust was beginning to settle and clear, she could make out the creature—peering through the surrounding rubble. It was so clear now that she could make out its lips, peeled back to reveal hideous fangs that had already been stained with blood—no doubt that person from earlier that she had found dismembered.

"I'm just going to have one shot at this," she told herself. "I have to make it count."

Grinding her teeth together, she tensed all the muscles in her body. The suit responded automatically, and she could feel the enhanced strength. In a split second she kicked off, and like a bullet she shot through the air so quickly that she had to squint as she adjusted the point of her sword.

Just as she was at the precise distance and the exact angle, the blade of the katana suddenly shot forth, extending directly toward the head of the creature. The speed at which it jutted forth made it nearly impossible to counter, and yet at the last second, the enemy angled itself out of the trajectory, and instead lifted its taloned hand to protect itself.

A hiss rang out through the air and she felt her entire body jerk as the blade punctured straight through flesh, tendons and bone. It had been a hit, but she had completely missed her mark. Instead the creature had caught weapon in its grasp, and with her attached to it so securely, there was no escape.

In slow motion she watched as those long, scaled fingers started to curl down around her, its nails like daggers poised to puncture her body in moments. It was like an iron maiden was closing around her.

Desperate to get away, she released her hold on the hilt of the weapon, tugging fiercely at her hand to try break the knot that she had tied. But the fabric held tight and she dangled helplessly, screaming as the pain tore relentlessly at her shoulder. She didn't care if it tore off her arm, she just had to get away!

"Haruka!"

Her vision was blurry with tears as she looked down. Nishi was staring up at her with a look of determination as he aimed his gun, and for a moment her heart stopped as she heard the sound of the trigger being pulled.

Suddenly she felt the bitter taste of bile roll across her tongue as she realized that he was granting her silent wish, and just as those claws were beginning to constrict around her, she felt her arm swell to an unimaginable size. She was screaming so loudly that her throat felt raw, until finally the flesh was unable to withstand the pressure. Her eyes watched in horror as it exploded, chunks of flesh, blood, and bone being sent in every direction as she was left plummeting toward the ground, barely escaping the grasp of the creature that had very nearly killed her.

For a moment the whole world felt distant. All she could see was darkness, as though it was closing in on her from all corners. Even the excruciating pain she had felt in the moments prior had faded instead into an all-encompassing numbness that wrapped itself around her whole body.

"...ka... ruka..."

She had some vague sense that someone was talking to her, but her hearing was dulled by the the ringing in her ears. It was as though the echo of the Gantz gun firing off was playing over and over like a broken record.

A sharp pain striking her across the cheek brought her gasping back, as though she was taking her first breath after being submerged. Had she been holding it the whole time? Her vision went in and out of focus as she blinked furiously, trying to understand what was happening.

"Quit struggling," a voice scolded harshly, and she winced as she felt her body being jerked around. It was like she was some kind of rag-doll.

Though delirious from the pain, she recognized Nishi's cold glare. He wasn't wearing his jacket as she was used to seeing. It took her a moment to register that he had shrugged it off and was wrapping it around her, trying to staunch the bleeding from her shoulder.

"Y-you shot off her arm!" Koizumi stuttered in a muted cry of terror.

"She would have been killed if I hadn't."

"But she might bleed to death!"

"She won't if we kill it quickly."

Every sentence was spoken in such rapid fire succession that she could scarcely follow the train of their conversation. She felt herself fading so quickly, she could hardly keep her eyes open. A sudden tiredness was crushing her, and she felt the great desire to sleep.

Something echoed as she felt another sting of pain against her face. "Don't close your eyes," Nishi hounded, pulling her upright and leaning her back against a slab of broken off concrete. She wasn't even sure where they were—but they had to be some distance from where they had first engaged the creature.

"We have to hurry. She's fading fast."

"Stay awake." A gloved hand caressed her cheek—or was it her imagination? Her lashes fluttered. Everything was gradually turning into a blurry outline. She wasn't sure she could hold out like the voices wanted. "You'll be safe here."

Suddenly the warmth that had lingered on her skin disappeared, and she was left to the numbing cold that was creeping in on her. Desperately she strained her hearing, but she could make out nohing—no noise of battle, not the cries of her companions, or even the rain as it pelted against her.