Noriko was running down the middle of the street, trying to remember the way back to the shed. Behind her, she could hear the battle continuing. Damn it! Why did we leave the shed?! A waft of air hit her nose and she froze in place. Her green eyes lifted to the sky, widening. "…is that smoke…?" She started to run again quickly, fairly certain that she was going the right way now. It can only be caused by Sonic or the others and Sonic is somewhere behind me. What happened after we left?!

Houses seemed to fly past her as she sped up and when she reached the outskirts of town, she nearly fell to her knees. "Wh-what the hell?!" Not only was the shed on fire, but the field beyond it was blazing as well. There was no sign of her friends. This is too much! I can't handle this! What am I going to do now?! Head back? But this fire! How am I supposed to put out this fire? Why is this happening?

"Oh, hey. There you are."

She looked over her shoulder and saw Saitama walking toward her. "Why is the shed on fire?" Her tone was low, accusatory.

"Oh, that? I figured we were done with it so why not get rid of it? I mean, you have a lot of bad memories tied to it, right?"

"Where's Genos?"

He shrugged. "I guess we got split up somewhere."

Noriko stared at him for a moment. He seemed alarmingly relaxed for standing in front of a burning field and building. "C-can you find him and have him help put out the fire?"

"Shouldn't we let it finish? I wanted to get rid of the whole thing."

"I-it doesn't…even concern you, Saitama! It didn't happen to you! Why should you care what happens to this place?! Just find Genos and have him help you! I need to get people to move away from the shopping district!" She started to run back toward the city, but paused when she heard his next words.

"You know, it does sort of concern me. You're my friend and this place caused you a lot of pain. I just thought it would be good to erase it."

"…thank you…" The girl continued to run, smiling slightly. Friend. We're friends. That's right. Now, is he going to actually look for Genos or is he going to stand there and watch it burn some more? As she neared the shopping district, she cupped her hands around her mouth. "Everyone get out of the area! There's a rat monster!" she shouted as loud as she could.

People began to stare and then, when her words registered, they started to run. A few looked curious, but were urged to run after her next words. "There's also a rampaging perverted ninja in the area! Please evacuate the area!" She felt her face turning red as she spoke those words, but it proved effective in making people run. When the area was vacant of people, Noriko turned to where she heard fighting. Alright, I'm going into this bare-handed! I didn't see Genos anywhere and Saitama wasn't carrying my swords. I just hope I'm able to make a difference!

Shift P.O.V

He stood in front of the house, staring vacantly. He was not sure what he had expected to find. This was just an ordinary dwelling. Though it was in disrepair and there were no sounds coming from within. No sign of life. The nameplate on the gate read "Moriyama". A small clue to her past identity.

Genos had gotten directions from a blushing young woman in the street. He was still curious as to why Noriko's swords had not frightened her. It took a considerable amount of effort to get the directions. He had started by asking where Samurai Catgirl had lived. The woman had no idea what he was talking about. When he asked where the girl with purple hair had lived, she had eagerly given him the directions and asked for a photo with him.

The man entered the house with caution, not entirely sure of what awaited him. There was a melancholic air about the home. Everything seemed to be in its place, as if a murder had never occurred there. He moved through the dwelling without a sound. When he came across the window overlooking the small yard, he saw something absolutely chilling. Instantly, he imagined Noriko returning to the house after her escape from the cellar and tending to the three graves in the back.

Turning away, he saw the photos on the coffee table. Photographs of Noriko and her family from when she was a child. He walked through the house, room after room, and took all of it in with a sense of gloom. When he came upon what could only be her old bedroom, he could not bring himself to actually step inside. Here was her past. All of her childhood hopes and dreams for the future. Everything that she had wanted, everything that had been snatched away from her by Kenta.

"Hey, Genos! Noriko saw the shed and wants us to put out the fire!" Saitama called through the window.

Genos looked out at him, slightly surprised that he had been found so quickly. He went outside and adjusted the sheathed swords hanging over his shoulder. "Master Saitama?"

"The fire kind of spread into the field. And I'm not sure why, but Nya-chan said she had to evacuate the shopping district. So maybe we should see what that's about, too." He tilted his head and looked at the name on the gate. "Is this it?"

Shift P.O.V

Noriko was not prepared. Nothing could prepare her for what she returned to. Junko had fled, which was good because the other three were fighting viciously. Sonic was targeting the rat, who was targeting both him and Mumen Rider. The cyclist was trying to protect the rat from dying while at the same time defending himself from it. He was bleeding heavily from a variety of wounds, but he was still standing. The catgirl watched the rat hurl him into the air and leapt in time to catch the man.

"Um…I couldn't find Genos and he has my swords."

His glasses were cracked, blood running down the side of his face as he stared up at her. "What are we going to do? Did you at least find Saitama?"

He may or may not have committed arson so he's dealing with that. Shaking her head, knowing she could never tell him that, Noriko set him down against the side of a building. "H-he's busy. Mumen Rider, I can…I mean, I sort of have to handle this myself now. Thank you for all your help. Er…I-I'll treat you to dinner…when we're back in City Z. Alright? Stay here and…if it gets out of hand, I want you to run."

The man struggled, trying to push himself to stand. "I won't let you fight them alone. I can still fight, Noriko." He winced in pain, grabbing his side.

"Stay here." She put a hand on his shoulder and forced him back down. "Maybe…I can hold them off long enough for Saitama and Genos to find us." A glance over showed that Sonic and the rat were still battling. Her eyes locked with the ninja's for a second and she smirked. She leaned down and very lightly kissed the top of her friend's head, making him blush and making Sonic glower at them.

When she ran toward the fight, the rat's back was turned to her. Noriko stepped up onto a chunk of the convenience store's remains and launched himself onto the monster's hairless back, her sharp nails sinking deep into his flesh. It was disgustingly warm beneath her nails and fingertips, feeling greasy to the touch. He twisted and turned frantically, trying to throw her off, but she held on tightly. Over his shoulder, she could see Sonic preparing to attack. With a sharp twist, she turned so the attack hit her instead of the rat's chest. A slash opened across the girl's back from her left shoulder to her right hip.

"You think you're making a difference? Look at me. I've been fighting this thing since you left. Let me rephrase that, I've been trying to kill it since you left. Why do you think it's still alive? Because I feel pity for it? No matter what I do, it refuses to stay down!" The ninja leapt up and struck downward at the beast's shoulder, but the blade seemed to simply bounce off.

What the hell was that?! Is this thing made of gelatin? But my nails are able to break through. They couldn't be sharper than Sonic's blade, right? He isn't going point first though. When he hurt it before, it was with shuriken, wasn't it? She latched on tighter as the rat began to thrash again. "Tell us where Kenta is!"

"I'll never tell you! Not even for a feel of that chest!" Fat Rat roared.

"Who said anything about you touching her?" Several shuriken planted themselves in the rat's jiggling chest and stomach. Blood quickly filled the air, following the boom of explosions. Sonic jumped back in time to avoid it, but saw that Noriko's shirt and face were dotted with it when the beast collapsed forward.

She pushed herself to stand, extracting her nails from the monster's skin to find them tipped red. Gross! Gross, gross, gross! Why is it always me?! Glaring at Sonic, she first wanted to attack him. Luckily, she remembered her priorities and stomped on the monster's back. "Hey! Still alive?" The beast groaned in response. "Tell me where Kenta is! If you don't…I'll let him do whatever he wants with you. And I promise that you'll suffer."

Mumen Rider watched this interrogation with a racing heart. Noriko stomped down on its back again when it refused to answer her and Sonic began to grin. It was all really unsettling. When he saw a pair of figures off to his left, he quickly turned his head toward them. "Saitama! You have to hurry! That rat knows the man we're looking for!"

"Uh…what have we walked in on? Why is Nya-chan stomping on that thing's back? And how long has he been here?" From the corner of his eye, he saw the dark expression taking form on his cyborg companion's face. "Hey, it's probably nothing, okay? If things get out of hand, we'll get in there and stop him. If they're going to fight, we need to let her fight him herself."

Noriko slid down the creature's back as it pushed itself to sit upright and shifted around to its front. The stomach and chest were a mess of blood, organs, and muscle. "Tell me where he is, damn it!" She bared her fangs, ears perked forward and tail puffed in anger.

Sonic knew that Saitama and Genos were there. The situation was exciting enough; the enemy was resilient, he got to put all of his skills to use, and Noriko was there to witness it all. Now that more obstacles were appearing, it only presented more of a challenge and he reveled in it. "I would listen to her, if I were you. She looks ready to tear your throat out," he stated. The corner of his mouth drew up into a smirk. "But doesn't she look cute when she's mad like this?"

"What?! Why are you-?" The rat grunted in pain when Noriko drew her nails across his stomach. "Kenta-sensei is far away from here! Even if I tell you where he is, he'll be long gone by the time you get there!"

"You say that as if I should care. No matter where he runs, no matter where he hides, I'm going to find him. Now tell me where he is."

The girl's tail twitched back and forth at the tip, irritated that he was taking over her interrogation. She wanted to tell him off, but the others were watching. Talking to him now would make things look suspicious. Standing in silence, Noriko watched her prey squirm beneath Sonic's glare. What is he going to do though? If he kills the monster, we might never know where Kenta is! Her eyes went wide in fear as her body was roughly grabbed and pressed against the ninja's with her back to his chest. His blade pressed against her throat, his arm wrapped around her in a way to pin her arms against her sides. What is he doing?!

"If you don't tell me where he is, I'll kill her. Wouldn't he rather have her alive? And besides, if she's dead, you'll never be able to get up close and personal with her. Well, not without being creepy. So what do you say? Tell me where to find Kenta and I'll help you out."

She began to tremble, her gaze shifting from the rat to her friends. One looked shocked, one looked enraged, and the other wore his typical deadpan expression. Just please don't do anything stupid, Sonic!

"A phone! Kenta-sensei gave me a cellphone! He gives one to all of us rats so he can tell us where to go! Y-you can trace the signal and then you'll find him!" the monster blurted out, his face going red. "N-now show me-!"

"Show you what? Something like this?" Sonic's left hand drifted down the girl's stomach to the hem of her shirt, slipping beneath it. "You want me to show you what's under here?" His evil grin was forming, but the rat mistook it as friendly. A deadly error.

"Yes! Show me!"

Noriko winced as his hand moved higher up her shirt, her own face turning a vibrant shade of red. A glance toward her friends showed that Saitama no longer wore a blank expression. Damn it! Why is this happening?! She felt his fingertips dig beneath her bra and groped her, right in front of her friends and the monster. Her body tensed, dumbfounded that he would actually do such a thing. This…won't end well…She maneuvered a leg between his, hooked her ankle around his right ankle, and swiftly threw him off balance. The blade nicked the side of her neck, blood quickly running from the wound. The girl was soon behind him, planting a sneaker on the center of his back and giving him a hard shove forward.

Sonic drove his blade through the monster's flesh and into its gut, gritting his teeth in anger. When he pulled it free, with a splash of blood, he turned toward her and grinned. "You're going to regret that. I'll make sure of it."

She stepped back quickly, a hand pressed to her bleeding neck. The rat was rapidly dying behind the man, squirming on the ground in agony. Noriko noticed a gleam to her right and held out her hand to catch one of her swords by the hilt. She moved in time to block a strike from the ninja and darted back a few more steps, wary of her surroundings. In her peripheral, she could see Genos to her right, Mumen Rider staggering toward her from the left, and Saitama rapidly approaching Sonic from behind. Wait? Saitama?! What is he-? She ducked out of the way as Sonic's body flew forward and planted itself in the side of a building. Turning to look at him, she saw him twitch and knew that he was still alive. "…S-Saitama…?"

Her friend looked to her with a frown. "You okay, Nya-chan? That looks kind of deep."

The girl sank to her knees on the pavement, shivering. "Yeah, um…I-I think I'll live." The monster gave a final, shuddering breath that made its stomach jiggle one last time before the life left its body. She crawled forward and, with an absolutely disgusted look on her face, dug around in the pocket of the rat's shorts. True to his word, he had a cellphone with several names in it. Several really bizarre rat names and also Kenta's. She was about to dial it when a pair of metal arms lifted her and held her against a hard chest. "G-Genos…?"

"Master Saitama, we should leave before more of them come."

"Yeah, I know. I know. Here, Mumen Rider, put your arm over my shoulder. How bad does it hurt? Wait, first, which one of them did you fight?"