And for all the furor the Big G's arrival caused, there was surprisingly little sign that he had been and gone. The beast had barely made landfall before G-Force drove him back into the sea through the creative use of fuel-air explosives and as yet undisclosed secret weapons.

Chiyo sat in the back of a company car, head resting against the window tiredly, the beads of a light drizzle rolling past her unfocused eyes. Her father sat awkwardly next to her, hands folded on his lap. "Sorry that we couldn't offer your friends a ride," he finally said, indicating the small car's interior ruefully. "We rushed right over. All I could think of was to make sure you were safe…"

"It's okay," Chiyo sighed, "I'm sure they'll be fine."

"Can't believe this happened, eh? First time in fifty years… but you know, this time hardly anyone was hurt. Well, except the monster." His voice held a certain note of pride that vanished into concern. "Sure you're doin' all right, kiddo?"

"Yes… sorry, it's just…" they bumped to a stop.

"Sorry, boss," the driver pointed ahead, "SDF."

Traffic on their street had been stopped to allow a column of tanks to cross in front of them. Chiyo sat wrapped in her own thoughts for a few seconds, but then sat up sharply with an angry, "Hey!"

Mr. Mihama blinked. "Uh? What's wrong?"

"A hobby drawing!" she said crossly. "Honestly!" Embarrassed, her father didn't reply as the last Mihama Heavy Industries Laser Tank growled by and traffic resumed.

"You probably didn't move the whole time," Sakaki murmured affectionately, resting her hand on the wall next to the gray cat. He yawned cavernously, showing off his devilish teeth, then padded away without acknowledging her. For an absurd moment, Sakaki felt hurt, but then shook her head and continued towards home.

Kaori walked nearby, seeming, like many of their fellow students, just a little bit out of sorts. Though an explosive cheer had risen at the news of Godzilla's retreat, and the whole school (particularly Tomo) had been full of excited chatter as they rose to street-level, once out in the open air a hush had settled over them.

Armies of parents had swooped in on the school, frantic to see that their children were alright, but once Chiyo had left, Sakaki had silently and confidently set out on foot. Feeling lost, Kaori followed her in spite of the fact that her home lay in almost the opposite direction. Truly, she almost seemed to be sleepwalking.

"Are you okay?" Sakaki asked. Her expression was as flat as ever, but worry colored her dark eyes. Unfortunately, this was lost on Kaori, unable to meet them as always.

"Uh?" the smaller girl jolted at her soft voice.

"You don't live this way."

Kaori flinched again. "I'm—I'm sorry!"

"You're sorry? But what…?"

"I'll stop bothering you now!" Kaori bowed and scurried away quickly.

"But…!" Sakaki reached after her, "What's wrong? Kaori!" When her admirer turned back in surprise, their eyes finally met.

"I didn't… I thought… I just…" Kaori fumbled. Stop it. Stop and think about what you're trying to say. But what is it you're trying to say? Oh, hell. "My parents are out of town… the house is empty and I… I didn't want… to be…" she petered out. How pathetic must she sound?

"Would you…" Sakaki didn't know quite what to say herself. "Like to come over?"

"Would I?" Kaori shook herself visibly. "Thank you, but I… I couldn't."

"Please? I could use a friend, too."

Kaori smiled shyly. "Well, y-yes. Yes, thank you."

"Are you sure you don't want a ride, honey?" Yomi's mother asked kindly.

"Er, no," Tomo replied, casting an uncomfortable glance at her best friend. "I, uh, think I feel like a walk."

"Well, suit yourself. I guess I would to, being cooped up down there all day!" the older woman said cheerfully. "Not this one, though. She's always been a bit lazy, y'know?"

Tomo smiled and nodded, but didn't comment. Though it was normally a treat to commiserate with Mrs. Mizuhara about Yomi, especially when the bespectacled girl was present, now was definitely not the time. "See you later. And Yomi--catch you," she struck a pose, "On the flip si-ide!"

Yomi waved shortly. She couldn't even spare an exasperated sigh? This was a bad case. With another cheerful "Bye!" from her mother, they pulled out and entered the flow of traffic. Once they were well and truly gone, Tomo shook her head. "Yomi, you moron."

Around her, the rapidly emptying school grounds were a scene of controlled chaos. It was normally the sort of setting she was comfortable in, but this time everything was all wrong. Everybody was strangely quiet, a little dazed, mincing around as if they were afraid Godzilla would hear them and come roaring back out of the depths to eat them.

She looked about in disgust, though whether it was at everyone around her, Yomi in particular or perhaps just herself was unclear. It didn't matter anyway. Shrugging the whole thing off, Tomo started for home, but just as she was about to leave the grounds, she happened to notice Osaka.

The girl stood alone behind the school, that weird egg-thingy of hers resting in one arm, staring at something on the ground with great interest. Curious, Tomo moved closer and saw that it was the track that held her interest for some reason. Never one to pass up a chance to hone her ninja technique, Tomo edged up behind her, and… "Yo, Osaka!" she yelled, less than a foot behind her victim.

Fwack! Osaka's open hand shot up and rapped against her nose sharply. Tomo yelped loudly and staggered back; a moment later, Osaka turned, every bit as surprised as the would-be ninja by her reflex. "Oh… hey, Tomo. 'Sup?"

"What did you--owww!"

"Sorry."

"Never mind, forget it." Dang! She didn't know Osaka could hit that hard! "What're you doing here? Shouldn't you be headed home?"

"Probably… I was distracted."

"By what?"

Osaka looked back over the track, eyes distant. "I was tryin' to imagine it."

"Imagine what? You're staring at asphalt."

Instead of answering, Osaka walked to the edge of the 100m track and lay down, feet resting on the line. She stared determinedly along the track for a few seconds, then closed her eyes. Shrugging, Tomo lay down next to her. "Okay, so what are we doing?"

"It's real…" Osaka squinted over the track again.

Tomo followed her gaze, but all she saw over there was a cone. Her patience quickly waned. "Okay, do you want me to start kicking you?"

The spacey girl turned her head and smirked, looking for a minute as if she were considering leaving Tomo in the dark, but then finally relented. "I read how big Godzilla is… that cone, see it?"

"Yeah."

"Imagine we're looking up at his head."

Tomo looked at the cone herself and tried to imagine standing at the feet of a beast that reached such heights. "Holy crap!" A wave of dizziness rolled through her. How could something like that be?

"I think he looks taller on TV," Osaka said, giggling at the stupefied look Tomo gave her. She rose slowly, took one last look at the cone, and with a faint "hunh," started to walk away. "Why didn't you catch a ride with Yomi?"

"Oh," Tomo said dismissively, hopping to her feet, "She's mad at me."

Osaka looked at her oddly.

"I don't mean yelling at me and hitting me and calling me names, that wouldn't be a problem. Yomi's mad at me." A few seconds passed without Osaka's reply, and though her preference would have been to kill the subject, Tomo found herself barreling ahead. "I guess she didn't think I was worried enough. Frickin' idiot; just because things are goin' to hell doesn't mean your heart has to seize up and get all… all constipated, know what I mean? I cared just as much as she did, I do, but that's no reason to cry or freak out or whine like a punk, right? Right?"

Osaka shrugged. "Diff'rent folks, diff'rent strokes."

"It's just stupid, is what it is! You saw, I did my best to keep the mood light, but everyone insisted on just shriveling up! Even Chiyo, and she's supposed to be smart! I hate that! It's like giving up… it's like, if we were dying and stuff, they'd just… lie down and… and die!"

"Don't you think some things are worth being serious about?"

"Of course! But what the hell would being serious have gotten us there? Ulcers, that's what! If we're gonna get nuked in five minutes, might as well make them worth it, right?"

"Well…" Osaka put out her hands. Tomo happened to notice that her fossilized mushroom had somehow grown to about the size of a chicken egg. Freaky. "Uh, I had an ulcer once."

"Really?"

"It was in my eye." (1)

"What?" Tomo blinked. "Did it get lost or something?"

"Dunno." The girls had been walking for a few minutes now, not thinking about their direction. Either by accident or subconscious design, they were drawing near the Kasuga residence. Wouldn't Osaka's folks be glad to see her…?

Feeling an uncharacteristic stab of guilt, Tomo grabbed her cell phone. "I'm gonna tell my mom I'm all right."

"Good call." It was a few seconds before Osaka realized she had made a pun and started laughing; Tomo's off-handed slap only tousled her hair a little.

After checking in with her parents (who seemed a bit disinterested, if you asked Tomo), Osaka changed into street clothes and they set out together for the Takino residence. Though the other girls didn't really know about this facet of their friendship, Tomo's house was a refuge for Osaka when things got… dicey… around home.

And while things looked absolutely fine on the homefront, Tomo didn't question her friend's need for refuge, or what it could be from. She did notice that the usual fog behind Osaka's eyes seemed a little thicker than normal, her stance tense and lacking her usual drifting, balloon-y grace.

Tomo knew what this called for: Takino special brand tension relief! "Hey, Osaka… you wanna learn one of my ninja techniques?"

"Sure," Osaka said distractedly.

Now, the way her friend was asking, Tomo didn't really see the need for this first step, but it was part of the technique and ninja forms must be observed. "Look over there!" she cried, pointing.

"Huh?"

"ATTACK!" Tomo tackled Osaka onto a patch of grass, quickly rolling off of her friend and bracing for the counterattack—that never came. If there was one thing Tomo hated more than tension, it was awkward silences. "Uh… Osaka? Is something the matter?"

"For the first part," Osaka replied placidly, slowly sitting up beside her, "You could have broken the egg. It's important to me. For the second part, you could have broken my head. I need that, too. For the third part…" she paled visibly. "Remember that letter opener I was going to throw at your head?"

"What?" In point of fact, Tomo had completely forgotten their conversation that morning.

Her friend seemed to genuinely find this amusing, in a half-baked sort of way. "I had it in my pocket just then, but… heh! Funniest thing in the world… I think it's in my leg now." Tomo glanced over, and sure enough, a maroon blotch was growing on Osaka's hip pocket. She surged to her feet in a panic. "B-blood?"

Osaka giggled dazedly, turning a vacant gaze up to her friend. "Couldja kindly help me back before I start bleeding all over the place?"

"Blood…?"

"C'mon, don' make me hobble all the way b…" Osaka pleaded.

"WAUGHH! BLOOD!" Tomo ran away, waving her arms.

For a few seconds, all was silent. "…shoot."

1) I've been there. I kid you not. Weirdest… sick day… ever.