Yoko flicked through the mail, muttering about useless advertisements until she came across an envelope with her college stamp on it. "This must be my dissertation results." She eagerly opened the letter and read through it carefully. Yoko frowned at the written statements and slammed the paper on the counter. "Bastard, my thesis was accurate, I swear, what the hell did I do wrong?"

"That's what you study?"

Yoko let out a short scream and turned quickly to see Nishi standing behind her with a grin on his face. "What the hell! I didn't even hear you come back, you scared the fucking crap out of me."

Nishi chuckled and tapped the sheet of paper in her hand with a grin. "No wonder you didn't want to tell me."

Yoko groaned and folded her arms with a small pout. "It's not that bad…"

Nishi raised an eyebrow. "Someone whose killed a person, two people in fact, wants to be a human rights lawyer. Now I have to ask what the fuck you wrote about."

Yoko's cheeks reddened, and she hunched her shoulders at his statement. "You don't have to be so blunt about it, and by the way, both of those times were self-defense."

Nishi tilted his head and said, "Only one of them was, and barely, but that's not the point." Nishi grinned at her. "So what did you write about?"

Yoko screwed up the sheet and quickly threw it in the trash. "You'll never know."

Nishi shrugged. "You might as well tell me, it's not like I'll remember when I'm free anyway, and you won't remember you told me."

A sadness swept over Yoko, and she looked down at the floor with a smile. "I'll tell you after the next mission is over."

Nishi looked at her with a knowing grin. "Is that supposed to be a parting gift?"

Yoko regarded him with amusement. "Why not."

…..

Yoko looked at Nishi with a nervous smile. They stood in one corner of the Gantz room, suits on, equipment already on their person. There were eight fresh players, one female, the rest males, most of them in the age range of eighteen to twenty-five, two of which seemed to be brothers, both dressed in what appeared to be a construction uniform. The only female of the group wore a hospital gown; she looked around in confusion, but her eyes searched for something in particular as they grew wide with worry; they made a guess her death involved childbirth. The rest of the group appeared to be ordinary citizens; no sign of how they got here or what they did for a living, but they all had one thing in common, they would all die. Yoko's nervousness came from Nishi's irritation, she knew he couldn't stand the new players for a variety of reasons, and the main one was their ignorance and lack of independence; one day, he just might snap, but she figured they'd both be free by then and would never have to see a repeat of this again.

Nishi rolled his eyes when he caught her expression, knowing she was thinking the same thing. They would be the only ones who returned, just like always. Nishi suspected there was an underlying sympathy from Yoko for the fresh players, but she didn't care enough to voice it.

The group of newbies tried a few times to approach Nishi and Yoko for an explanation, but each time, the teens brushed them off and declared they had no knowledge of what was happening. Despite their suspicions that the two were lying, they didn't continue to pursue the issue.

"Remember your agreement," Nishi said quietly to Yoko when the Gantz screen gave them a vague explanation of its own. "After this mission is over, you choose option one, no exceptions."

Yoko tensed beside Nishi; she hadn't forgotten her promise, but she was so afraid of leaving him here alone, something Nishi refused to understand. Yoko didn't have the guts to voice her excuses; the teen would only get angry if he sensed her doubts, doubt in him; instead, she said, "I know, I will go free."

Nishi looked at the black ball when it started to show their target, a large bug-like creature with at least six long legs, harboring two extra, razor-sharp limbs from its torso. "I won't be far behind you."

Even though Yoko's fear remained, she smiled with a nod of acceptance because there wasn't anything she could do; Nishi would not show her the same, however small, empathy if she refused freedom a second time.

"If I were you, I wouldn't charge at the aliens too much, no sense in risking it if you've already got the points you need." Disapproval crossed Yoko's face, and Nishi chuckled. "I'm not saying you have to refuse to fight, just don't be reckless about it."

Yoko huffed and rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, I'll try not to take the points unnecessary."

Normally, Nishi found her intuition irritating, that she was able to read between the lines and understand him even the slightest bit, but he didn't mind in this case. Regardless of this, however, his words before were truthful because he always meant what he said, unless deliberately trying to hide that truth from others, in which case he'd be a lot more subtle about it. "That too." Yoko looked at him again, and this time, her expression was one of gratefulness when she realized what he was trying to say. 'Avoid the dangerous risks in order to survive until the mission is over.' Nishi shrugged, not willing to continue with the conversation. "It will be more pathetic if you die with a hundred points, than if you were to die before receiving them, that's all I'm saying."

Yoko nodded in agreement; yeah, that really would suck.

There were screams of confusion when the transfer started, and a couple of the newbies grabbed a weapon out of fear, but really, they had no idea what they really needed it for because of their lack of attention to Gantz's information.

…..

Once all players arrived at their location, they quickly noticed the separation between them and continued to express their fear of dealing with the situation alone.

Yoko kept Nishi's advice in mind as she advanced on the building ahead. She would hunt for the aliens but wouldn't risk her life to gain unnecessary points. I wonder if I could help Nishi gain some points if I just distract the aliens, Yoko thought, as she checked her map to scan the immediate area. "Or is that considered the same thing as being reckless? Of course I could always use the other players…." Yoko stopped in the middle of the car park; the meaning behind those words made her realize just how far she was willing to go for him. When Yoko finally looked up at the building, she gasped loudly; since her focus had been solely on the mission and her freedom, not to mention how different things looked in the dead of night, it was only now she recognized the place. "This really sucks. To think these alien bugs have been at my college and we didn't even know about them. People used to say this place was haunted, but I thought they were fucking joking."

Yoko aimed her gun at the door's entrance when she realized that others might already be inside. Yoko skipped back a few paces to avoid the explosion that the gun caused and quickly made her way inside. Yoko found comfort in knowing her way around, so she started her search with the aliens clear in her mind. "Now that I think about it, the alien made me think of that Starship Troopers movie; or at least, that's what Ryo would have said." Yoko chuckled to herself as she quietly walked down the first-floor corridor. "He really loved his movie references." Yoko smiled wistfully when she thought about the two from her team; she imagined the four of them watching a movie together like a normal group of friends, an odd bunch of friends, but still. Yoko could picture it clearly; Ryo picking a favorite horror of his, and herself showing excitement while Nishi dug holes at its unrealistic plots due to experiencing the real thing, and Jiro identifying the best survival strategies. "If only we made it together, they deserved that." Yoko shook her head. "Enough dwelling, I need to focus on the now."

A sudden scream made Yoko jump when she reached the turning to another corridor as one of the 'ordinary' players passed her, a gun in his hand. Within a few seconds, Yoko saw the alien chasing after the male closely, anger evident in how it screeched, and she wondered if the man did anything to provoke it. "Did he actually use the gun on it?" Yoko asked herself in mild surprise.

While she didn't need the points, Yoko ran after them anyway because she might as well take the opportunity to kill at least one since she was close by. Yoko's eyes widened at the gruesome way the alien's sharp limb sliced the man in half without so much as a hint of effort, causing blood to spray across the floor and over the wall. "Shit." It wasn't as though their missions had only been mildly horrific up until this point, but she wasn't expecting such a quick attack because even though the man's death appeared extremely painful, he didn't even have time to express that. Yoko pushed her fear aside and fired her gun three times, and by the time the alien turned to its next attacker, it blew up, adding purple to the red as blood splattered the entire area. Yoko frowned, there was something strange in the way the alien appeared so suddenly, and she played the scenario in her head; for a moment, all she saw was the man running, and it was only when the alien got close enough did she actually see it. Yoko gasped, "It can cloak – just like us." Yoko turned to retrace her steps and quickly checked the map to pinpoint the other player's locations. "I have to warn Nishi."

Nishi glanced back at the fast-approaching alien; he turned back with a frown and dashed into what appeared to be a lecture hall. "Where did this fucking thing come from, it just appeared out of nowhere!" Nishi leaped into the air, narrowly avoiding the alien's attempt to sever his leg, and landed half-way between the tiered seats. Nishi turned on his heel and ran down the length of steps toward the stage; he couldn't afford to stop even for a second. Nishi gritted his teeth, heart hammering, and ducked to avoid the debris of splintered wood when the alien's long hard limbs broke through the desks. "This thing is fucking relentless," he breathed out and whirled around to face his attacker, hoping he left enough distance between them to fire his gun. "What the-" Nishi's eyes scanned his surroundings quickly; he became slightly frantic. "Where did it go so fast?" The boy saw the alien in the last split second when it appeared almost right in front of him and dove to the side before it swiped both sharp limb's through the air, slicing through the large desk, and, to which he now realized, the body of the only new female newbie, accidentally revealing her hiding place. Nishi quirked his lips slightly with amusement. "Heh, whoops." Nishi used the momentary distraction, which the woman's death caused, and fired his weapon at several different points along the alien's body.

Nishi let out a breath and slightly relaxed when the bug exploded; he had a bad feeling about these alien bugs and pulled the device from his pocket to confirm his suspicions. "Fuck." Red dots kept disappearing from the map momentarily, a sure sign that the aliens could cloak themselves, and although it wasn't for long, it was enough that even Gantz's technology couldn't track them properly.

"Nishi." Nishi looked up to see Yoko running toward him from the entrance. "Thank god you're okay, there's something about these aliens I found out that you need to know."

Nishi stepped over the large chunks of carcass, careful not to slip over the slimy purple blood. "I already noticed," he said with annoyance when he finally reached Yoko's side and pointed at the dead alien. "The damn thing attacked me out of nowhere in the hall, and then it disappeared temporarily, I managed to kill it when it got distracted; the woman is dead by the way, sliced her right in half."

Yoko cringed when the memory of the man flashed in her mind. "Yeah, another died the same way."

Nishi looked at his map when two red dots appeared from one section to the next within seconds. "They're fast, and they don't stay hidden for long, but they certainly have the advantage when it comes to the element of surprise."

Yoko watched Nishi make his way to the entrance. "Do you think they'll be able to see us if we're cloaked too, I mean, wouldn't they be on the same frequency?"

Nishi turned to her with a grin. "Who cares if they can, we can cloak for an unlimited time, and that's our advantage." Yoko watched him slowly disappear before turning to regard the mess of her lecture hall, ignoring her concern for the boy. "Reporters will probably pin this on vandalism, just like the mall incident." Yoko groaned in dismay. "But did it have to be my lecture room." Yoko huffed and turned to the mess on the stage. "At least they can't see the cause, I can't imagine the uproar it'll bring if people start seeing dead aliens everywhere… or alive ones." Yoko shivered. "Never mind."

….

Yoko cursed as she jumped to the side when the alien bug tried to attack her. "So much for avoiding unnecessary danger, damn it." Yoko's concern grew when she thought about Nishi since she hadn't seen him since the lecture hall, and that was twenty minutes ago now. "They certainly do have the element of surprise," she muttered before rolling underneath the bug as it lunged for her. Yoko was about to fire when the alien disappeared, and by the time the bug reappeared, it was directly in front of her, and she barely managed to avoid its sharp limb, ducking just before the thing sliced her head off. Yoko used the opportunity to take advantage of the suit's strength and punched the alien underneath its legs, it didn't kill it, but at least there was a distance between them now.

"What are those things!"

Yoko turned to see two males behind her, looking at the scene with horror on their faces: it was the construction workers. Yoko was about to tell them both to fuck off before they caused her hassle, and then she noticed they both had weapons. "You two, get over here."

They looked toward her with suspicion. "What, why the hell would we get closer?"

Yoko rolled her eyes and said, "If we all shoot it, it will die easily, and then I'll explain what's going on, okay?" Yoko had no intention of telling the brothers anything and certainly wasn't teaming up with them to help them survive. "Come on, hurry up, just pull both triggers at the same time."

Yoko smiled at how easily the brothers agreed, and all three of them fired their weapons; the brothers' aims were extremely poor, but the damage to the walls caused enough of a decent distraction, and she waited for the right opportunity; she could worry about her guilt later if she had any. "Keep firing," she told them encouragingly.

The alien disappeared, and Yoko grinned. "Now's my chance." Yoko waited a few seconds and then clicked the button of the device in her pocket.

"It disappeared!" one of the brothers exclaimed before turning to Yoko for instructions. "Huh? Did she leave us here!"

"Oh shit!" the other shouted and screamed when the alien appeared right in front of him.

The shorter of the two cried out when the alien's limb pierced his brother's chest. "No! Mafumi!" Tears immediately cascaded down his face, and he tried to shoot, but with one swipe of the alien's limb, his body split in half. The alien proceeded to rip apart the other still in its fangs, and it was at this point, Yoko appeared and fired her weapon twice, and the bug blew apart.

Yoko exhaled and looked at her device with a frown; her hand was shaking, and it had nothing to do with what she just did. "These damn aliens are taking too long to kill, it's hard to get an accurate reading on their location when they keep disappearing."

….

Nishi stood in the middle of a corridor on the top floor; he was almost positive they were close to completing the mission, but the timer concerned him greatly; the aliens were easy to kill providing you kept enough distance and didn't let it catch you off-guard, but they were hard to find. "There can't be any more than three left, and that probably includes the stronger one, this will be close."

"Hey!"

Nishi looked to his left, and surprise etched on his face when another player other than Yoko ran toward him. "You're still alive?"

Nishi's question caught the man off-guard, and he stammered as he stopped in front of the boy. "Yes… why do you ask that?"

"Tsk." Nishi merely turned on his heel and continued down the corridor. "The question was rhetorical, idiot." The boy heard footsteps echo his own and grunted with irritation. "Fuck off."

The man blinked at the boy's hostility but didn't comply with his order. "I just – that is, I thought it might be safer if I stick with you…"

Nishi couldn't help but chuckle despite his thin patience due to the man's cowardice. "If you say so." Nishi frowned at the map in concentration, trying to ignore the man's rambles.

"I mean, you seem to know what's going on, so I-" Nishi's eyes grew wide, and he suddenly turned to run in the other direction. The man didn't hesitate to follow. "Why are we running!" The alien appeared suddenly around the corner, and the man screamed in fear as it ran across the wall with its long thin legs. "Oh my god!" The man let out another scream, and this time, it was a cry of pain as the alien's sharp limb impaled his leg, and he fell to the ground. "Oh god! Help me! Please help me!"

Nishi stopped abruptly and turned to face the alien; it wasn't out of concern for the helpless idiot, but he didn't have time to leave the damn thing for later, and there was still the stronger one. Nishi fired his gun multiple times, annoyed when he managed to kill the bug before it had the chance to finish off the other player.

"Thank you! Thank you so much."

Nishi just glared at the man and ran off; there was no time to defend his actions, he'd have to do that once the mission was over, and he would; no way would he let that man get the wrong idea, knowing he'd just try to depend on him next time.

Nishi stood on the roof; the map showed signs of at least three more aliens within the area. The roof was large enough for the bugs to move quickly, but Nishi hoped he could use the stealth mode in time. A sudden screech to the side of him forced Nishi to quickly defend himself, firing his gun before the bug could get any closer. So much for the stealth mode. The alien blew up, but another appeared directly above him on the higher wall; Nishi ran when it jumped down to chase him and dashed to the side, grinning when the alien's limb got stuck in the ground. "Aww, are you stuck? Too bad." Nishi blew it up and barely flinched at the blood, which covered half of his jacket. "Well that's two, but where's-" A shadow suddenly loomed over him, and he turned to see a much larger version behind. "Fuck!" Nishi ran, but the alien wasn't as slow as he predicted it to be, and he fired the gun blindly behind him, fumbling with the device in his pocket. Neither of his aims hit the target, and Nishi's eyes widened when the gun slipped from his hand as the explosions knocked him off his feet. Pain shot down his arm before Nishi grabbed for the gun when the alien pinned him to the ground with its razor limb. Nishi let out a cry of agony, tears springing to his eyes. The boy gritted his teeth, blood quickly staining the left side of his shoulder. "Shit, come on…" His fingertips brushed the gun's handle, but before he could secure it within his grasp, the alien lifted him from the ground. Pain clouded Nishi's vision for a moment when the limb sunk deeper into his shoulder before abruptly yanking away. Nishi almost blacked out, but the painful impact to the ground jolted him awake enough to grab the ledge of the roof with his good arm.

Yoko sprinted up the stairs leading to the last floor, her heart clutched with fear, there was only a minute left, and if Gantz wasn't transferring them back yet, then… "Nishi, please… please be okay…" Yoko's suit expanded as she ran with abnormal speed. "I knew I should have gone sooner, I should have helped sooner, damn it."

Yoko dashed through the rooftop's doorway in time to see Nishi hit the ground and grab onto the ledge. "Nishi!" Fear struck her heart, and she ran toward him.

Nishi managed to pull himself up enough to see Yoko heading in his direction. "No!" The outburst caused him to almost slip, and his suit bulged through the forearm to keep him clinging on. "Kill the alien! Kill it now! Hurry up, we don't have a lot of time left!"

Yoko stopped and turned to face the alien; she chewed her lip, thirty seconds left. Can I kill the alien in time? Yoko aimed her gun, but when she glanced back at Nishi, he was barely holding on, and she could see him losing consciousness due to whatever injury he had, and her body moved automatically.

Nishi clenched his eyes shut when his hand slipped from the ledge, hoping to god Gantz transferred them before he hit the ground, regardless of whether the suit could protect him from death or not. Nothing. Nishi felt a grip on his wrist and opened his eyes to see Yoko above him, but the brief smile was gone from her face instantly when she realized her mistake. Nishi could see the fear in her eyes, and his whole body became numb with the same emotion; what the hell would happen to them now?