Gantz: The beginning

by thedollars666

All he wanted was to die, but it appeared that someone else had other plans for him. Nishi must adapt to his new life in a gruesome new world full of violence and bloodshed as he, along with three others, fight to stay alive long enough to free themselves. As Nishi succumbs to his hidden sadistic side, only one thing remains true; he wants to live, and wants to go home. Reuploaded.

6. Secret for a secret

Yoko slumped in her car; she wasn't sure how, but her friend knew she knew. "I was hidden, I'm sure she didn't see me...but I can't avoid her forever." A knock on the window startled her, and Yoko glanced over to see her friend and panicked once more as she slowly clicked the button to open her window. "Hey Yui," she stuttered and tried to act natural.

Yui raised her eyebrow and leaned in. "Hi, have you been avoiding me? I haven't seen you since this morning."

Yoko tried her best to remain passive but was sure her eyes gave her away, and her hands gripped the seat unseen. Oh no, I made her angry, she knows! "Sorry, I just, it's been a busy day."

Yui chuckled, and something was chilling about her laugh. "I'm teasing silly, I just wanted to make sure we were still on for Friday?"

Yoko forced a smile; it seemed she was doing that a lot lately. "Sure we are." So you can poison me, or maybe you wanna kill me in my sleep too. "I don't have college tomorrow, but I'll see you Friday."

Yui stepped away from the car with a broad smile, even creepier than her laugh. "Right, and we have our part-time job too, plenty of catch-up time." Yui jumped in excitement, "See ya Friday!"

Yoko waved at her and then sighed in relief when her friend walked away. "Yui, what have you done..."

…...

Nishi walked into a convenience store; he was low on money, but he wasn't going to steal; he would not stoop that low. He browsed the reduced section in the chillers and noticed two other people in the store, but he paid them no attention. As Nishi picked up a sandwich, someone bumped into him, which he felt was on purpose because there was enough space on the aisle, and he dropped the sandwich. Nishi frowned before bending down to pick it up, and just as he was about to give a snarky retort, his eyes grew wide when he saw the one responsible and only had enough voice to breathe out the name, "Matari." When Nishi stood up, the other boy had at least two inches on him.

"Well, look who it is!" Nishi glared when Matari shoved him lightly. "Haven't seen you in school recently, too good for education now, smartass?"

Nishi clenched his hand around the sandwich; why couldn't someone like this dick get sent to Gantz? "Out of my way, Matari." Nishi tried to keep calm; he couldn't start a fight here.

"Ooooh, you didn't just say that," Matari moved close to Nishi's face with a grin, but Nishi showed no signs of backing down. "You just wait until we get you at school." Matari grinned. "Again."

"Whatever," Nishi muttered before pushing past and saw the second person was another middle school student; it was Fuji, so he walked down another aisle to avoid more interactions with them.

Matari nudged his friend when he returned, "Hey, check this out."

Nishi overheard them talking and stayed within earshot out of curiosity.

"Whoa! Where'd you get that?"

"My dad's private collection."

"Is it real?"

"Of course it is but keep your voice down."

"What are we gonna do with it?"

"I dunno, there's a round of bullets in it, so let's go shoot some birds or something."

Nishi grimaced; terrific, he just had to walk into the same store as them.

"Sweet man." Matari picked up some chips and shoved them in his jacket, and Fuji gasped, "That's stealing,"

"So, who cares, I feel invincible right now."

Nishi sighed and quickly made his way to the cashier; the quicker he got out of here, the better. He placed his items on the countertop, but the store clerk looked up in time to see the other students put something else in their pockets and shouted, "I saw that!" Nishi glanced up and knew the clerk was moving his hand to push the emergency button that was always hidden under the register; he thought it was unnecessary for petty theft until he remembered they had a gun. The cashier left the counter to address the other students. "Hand them over! And whatever else you took."

Nishi watched the scene with annoyance. Plagues of society, he thought.It baffled Nishi to see them stealing, knowing they could pay for it, while he barely had any money left and still paid for the items.

Matari pulled the gun from his jacket, pointing at the unsuspecting shopkeeper; Nishi tensed when he saw the object but stayed at the counter; if he acted like he didn't see it, he could just leave.

"What are you gonna do about it now?" Nishi heard Matari say, and there was a gasp from the clerk and that of Fuji.

"What the hell; are you out of your mind Matari?"

Nishi grunted with amusement because, apparently, Fuji didn't care if he bullied and kicked the crap out of someone, yet he drew the line when threatening someone with a gun.

"I don't - want no trouble, just hand over the stuff, and we'll just act like this never happened," the cashier stuttered out, but the moment the store clerk neared them, a gunshot sounded, followed by the sound of sirens in the distance.

Nishi turned then, unsure what to do now, he was already trying to avoid the police, and suddenly he realized - the boy glanced up at the camera in the corner, pointing directly at the counter. Shit.

"What have you done, the cops are coming, let's get out of here!" Fuji shouted. The clerk was lying on the floor, bleeding out from his chest, but he reached his hand out in a weak attempt to stop them. Matari and Fuji headed for the door, and just as they were about to escape, Matari turned back to Nishi and shoved the gun in his hand. "Tag, you're it." They both flee the scene just as cop cars pulled up to the entrance.

Nishi stared at the gun in his hand with surprise. Now he was really in trouble. "Fuck," he breathed out, and quickly took a shot at the camera in the corner, the one by the sliding doors, and the one at the back of the shop, before placing the gun in his jacket; at least now they couldn't identify him. Nishi looked outside and saw four cops approaching from the parking lot and thought it might be a good idea to bring some of the Gantz items with him next time. If he had the transmitter, he could just walk out of the store. The realization annoyed him, but it was too late now. Ignoring the shopkeeper, Nishi quickly made his way to the back entrance and pushed against a door that said, 'back exit,' but cursed when it didn't open and slammed his hands on it in frustration; he didn't have time to return to the store clerk to retrieve the key.

Nishi eventually found the store's office and quickly took care of the rest of the CCTV by pulling the recording device off the desk and slammed his foot against it a few times. Nishi noticed a small open window above a shelving rack and gritted his teeth when he heard voices close by and realized the police were examining the shop.

"He might have gone through the back!"

Nishi began to climb the shelves, pulling himself up to the window that was just big enough for him to fit through; it led out into the open back alleyway, and he clicked his tongue when he saw the locked door below. Nishi was at least a few feet above ground, but with the cops closing in, he had no choice but to make the shortfall from the window. I jumped off my school roof, so what's a few feet. Nishi crawled out and jumped without hesitation, landing on top of a large blue bin; unfortunately, he bounced off, and, placing his hands out to soften the fall, a hiss escaped him, and he lifted his hand to discover there was broken glass littering the ground. No time to inspect the injury, Nishi dashed out of the alleyway back onto the main street, heading away from the convenience store.

"He's heading away from the alley," Nishi heard as he reached a corner that led down another street onto an intersection. Nishi's main concern was that because he was technically part of an armed robbery, they might start 'returning fire,' so he ran in between the crowds of people to avoid it. I destroyed the cameras, so at least they can't trace me, and if I outrun them, I'm off the hook.

Yoko breathed deeply; there had to be something missing; it just didn't sit right; her friend couldn't be that kind of person. Yoko shook her head; she just wanted to forget about it tonight and chill out. Suddenly, something familiar caught Yoko's attention, and at the corner of her eye spotted an almost blur of grey. Nishi ran around the corner, just passing her car as she reached the intersection. "Nishi?" Yoko continued driving without losing the boy from her sight, and when she got closer, she found that it was indeed the middle-school boy; there was no mistaking the black bangs that adorned his head. "What the hell?" She reached her hand out of her window to adjust her side mirror to see what he could be running from, but there was no one; even so, she sped up and shouted out of the window, "Nishi!"

The boy stopped suddenly because hearing a female's voice caused him to panic for a moment. Please don't let it be her, he thought with a heavy heart before turning around to see someone in a silver car; he sighed in relief because the car was unfamiliar, and then the voice shouted again, "Get in!"

Nishi realized who it was. "Shin?" He looked to see if the cops were still pursuing him; regardless, he quickly got into the passenger seat, and Yoko drove off without a word.

When Yoko turned the corner onto an unfamiliar street, Nishi caught her looking at him, and she asked, "What happened?" He knew his silence was unnerving her. "Nishi?"

"Doesn't matter," Nishi replied.

Yoko frowned, "That answer isn't enough when you're getting blood on my seat." She wasn't sure, but she could have sworn she heard him mumble some kind of an apology. "Are you okay?" Yoko watched Nishi look out of the window, choosing not to reply; he looked so apathetic. Is he always like this? She didn't notice while they were on a Gantz mission and thought he was somehow different.

"You can stop here." Yoko blinked in surprise at his sudden voice and then registered what he said.

"No way, you can stay at mine tonight, at least until whatever happened back there dies off, I know you probably wanna get back home, but you can give your mother a call from inside." Nishi flinched, but Yoko failed to notice as she slowly drove up to a block of apartments. "Here," she said and handed him her key. "I just have to get some shopping from the back, go on in."

Nishi huffed because it seemed like he didn't have a choice, so he took the key and asked, "What's the number?"

Yoko peered out from the door. "Oh right, it's 38, the fourth floor," she said as she grabbed four bags and pushed the door shut with her hip. Nishi turned to eye her suspiciously, debating whether to trust her or not before reaching down to yank two bags from her hand with his good one. "Oh, you don't have to, I can," she tried to say, but he started to ascend the stairs, "manage," she finished and followed after him.

When they reached the apartment, Nishi handed her back the key because it felt strange to open the door to an apartment that wasn't his.

Yoko turned the key and pushed the door open with her foot. "Home sweet home," she lilted as she placed the two bags on the kitchen counter. The kitchen was an open area connected to the living room, two medium kitchen countertops slotted into the corner, with a refrigerator and stove on opposite ends. A microwave sat next to a coffee machine, and above the counters, five cabinets were accompanied by five cupboards below. Two bedrooms were spaced out along the back wall. "It's not a fancy place."

"Certainly beats a cruddy motel," he mumbled back.

"What?" She took the bags from him and placed them next to the others.

"Nothing," he replied and avoided eye contact after realizing he wasn't meant to say the last part out loud.

"You can sleep in the bedroom on the right."

Nishi shrugged. "Couch will suffice, it's only for tonight."

"Right, okay." Yoko started to unpack her shopping until she heard a loud gurgling noise.

Nishi grimaced and remembered the sandwich he never brought. There's not a chance she didn't hear that.

Yoko didn't say anything to embarrass him; she simply asked, "What do you like to eat? I can't really cook, but I have ramen, and some veg - or we can order pizza."

Even though a full meal like pizza sounded wonderful to him since he'd lived off noodles for the past few days, he didn't accept the offer. "Ramen will do, I don't care."

"Oh, okay, are you sure?"

Nishi sighed; her fussing reminded him of his mother, and there was something seriously wrong with that, considering she was only four years older. "Bathroom," he said bluntly when he looked at his hand.

Yoko looked at him and barely formed an answer, "Huh?"

"Bathroom, you do have one, right?"

Yoko wanted to slap herself, wondering why she was acting nervous all of a sudden. "Yeah, of course, just on the right there," she finally replied, pointing to the door on the side that led off from the kitchen.

Yoko kept two ramen packets out, collected water in a large pan, and brought it to the stove to boil the contents. "Ramen it is then, I guess." Just what exactly am I doing? I must be crazy; I barely know anything about this kid, and what will the neighbors think if they see him come out of my apartment? Mrs. Sato already thinks I'm a weirdo. Yokohad no idea why; she hadn't done anything to make anyone think of her that way.

"I think the water is boiling," the intrusive voice made her jump, and she stared over at him, glancing down at his hand that was now in a bandage. "I see you found the first aid kit." And helped yourself, it would seem.

Whether her sarcasm was intentional, he noticed and replied, "It was either that, or you might complain about blood on your floor like your car."

"Good point." Yoko emptied both packets into the pan. "Five minutes."

Nishi placed his hands in his pockets and tensed when he realized the gun was still in his jacket. "I need to step out for a moment."

Yoko turned to him with a suspicious frown. "Dinner will be ready real soon."

"I won't be that long," the boy replied and toed on his shoes.

"You're coming back, right?"

"It's embarrassingly obvious that I'm hungry, so I'll be back." Nishi quickly left the apartment and ran down the steps, never breaking his pace as he dashed across the car park; he was positive a large riverbank was nearby.

Yoko frowned; a few minutes had passed now, and she turned the stove off, covered the pan, and ran out the door, slamming it shut behind her.

Nishi stood at the side of the bridge, stepping onto the bottom of the railing, and it hit him like deja vu, but he couldn't think about that now; what mattered was getting rid of the evidence. Nishi took the gun out of his jacket, holding it firmly in his hand; it was nothing like holding the weapons from Gantz; he didn't feel the same rush; maybe it was because he wasn't under attack by aliens. Nishi raised his hand to throw the weapon, but a voice interrupted him.

"What are you doing?"

Nishi turned around to see Yoko, her features brightly lit by the lamps. "I told you I was coming back."

"I know - I just-" She looked guilty now, and Nishi hated it.

"Didn't believe me?" He turned to grip the railing. "You should have just stayed where you were." Nishi heard her gasp and knew she saw the gun.

"Why do you have a gun?" Nishi didn't reply because he wondered what to do now but turned entirely to meet her gaze. "What happened back there, what did you do?"

Nishi suddenly bared his teeth in anger and couldn't help but retort, "So you see a gun in my possession, and naturally, you assume it's me that's committed a crime."

Again, Yoko expressed guilt. "No! I mean, I didn't mean that-"

"Yes you did, don't say something and cover it up with a lie."

Yoko sighed, "What happened?" Nishi pursed his lips, but his gaze never left hers. "You can trust me."

Nishi huffed a laugh, "What makes you think I would trust you?"

"Two missions in Gantz, and I just basically saved your ass earlier."

Nishi shrugged, "I would have lost them."

Yoko tilted her head. "Then why did you get in the car?"

Nishi didn't have a good comeback, so he replied to her first statement, "Everyone is fighting for those points, no matter how much 'teamwork' we provide; in the end, it all boils down to that."

"I know, but at the very least, we can trust each other."

"This world doesn't count either."

"Well it should! Because at the end of the day, we're the only ones that understand, right? It's nice to know that there are people like you, Ashi, and Sugihara going through the same thing I am. If we're a team in that world, then we're a team in this world too."

Nishi stared over the water, contemplating her words; he didn't trust anyone except his mother; it didn't feel right to depend on someone else; Yoko was practically a stranger. Gantz was different, he thought, even if he knew they were only helping him because it meant better survival chances, at least they were honest about it. But now, Nishi wasn't sure what she thought she'd gain by helping him.

Yoko huffed; Nishi obviously wasn't going to talk, she didn't know what made her think he would, and as she turned on her heel, wincing at the rough ground, realizing she didn't have any shoes, she said, "The offer to stay at mine tonight still stands, after all, dinner is made."

Nishi watched her start to walk away, and before he could reconsider, he said, "The gun isn't mine."

Eyes widening in surprise, Yoko turned back. "What?"

Nishi sighed, "It's not my gun."

"Then how come you have it?" Yoko couldn't believe her stupidity because Nishi surely wouldn't trust her now, but -

"I was in a convenience store, two morons from my school were there, this is their gun."

"I don't understand-"

With a frown, Nishi reluctantly continued, "I was at the counter, and I saw them stealing stuff, the owner noticed too and approached them."

Yoko gasped, "And they shot him?"

Nishi huffed a laugh, "If you knew them like I do, you wouldn't be surprised."

"Then what happened?"

"One of them shoved the gun in my hands, and they fled before the police arrived."

"And, that's why you have it now?"

"That's why I was running when you saw me."

Yoko stepped forward. "But, if that's true, then you're not guilty of anything, so why did you run?"

"I was the only other person there, it didn't exactly look like it would accord in my favor, so it was best to just run, I was more concerned about them shooting me down."

"Then, why was your hand bleeding?" Yoko grimaced. I need to shut up now.

"I cut it on broken glass when I jumped out of the back window," Nishi frowned. "Just say it, I know you don't believe me."

"I do!" Yoko flinched at her too-quick haste to answer.

Nishi sneered at her, "The doubt in your eyes is very reassuring."

"I just-"

Yoko looked down when she thought about what Nishi had told Daikei.

"You had a problem with killing that alien, but you didn't have a problem with putting my life in danger to protect them did you hypocrite, so perhaps I should end your life now to protect myself from whatever harm you might try to inflict on me next."

"You just what."

Yoko looked up at Nishi with a worried expression.

"You almost shot that guy, back in the room-"

Nishi glared and suddenly pointed the gun toward her, aiming it right for her head. "That's all I needed."

Yoko froze; for a moment, she was back in the alleyway, her ex-boyfriend looming over her, ready to gun her down.

Nishi noticed her expression change to fear and wondered if she would beg for her life now, how much she'd lie to save herself. "I could shoot, the gun already has my fingerprints on it, and what's a human life to an alien life? I honestly don't have a problem with it."

Yoko couldn't move, she was going to die again, and this time, Gantz wasn't going to bring her back. "You're lying..."

Nishi clicked the safety off with his thumb. "I didn't lie about the shop, and I'm definitely not lying now."

"Okay! I didn't completely believe you, but I want to, so put down the gun, please!"

Nishi raised an eyebrow. "I expected lies, not a confession." Nishi chuckled, "It's funny how the truth comes out when a person knows they're going to die." Nishi turned swiftly and threw the gun as far as possible, and they heard a distant plop once the weapon hit the water.

Yoko exhaled a sharp breath, "You - you didn't shoot."

Nishi turned and glared darkly. "I will only do that if someone gives me a reason."

Yoko understood now; she hadn't done anything to make Nishi want to kill her, but Daikei did by shoving Nishi from that roof during the Gantz mission.

Nishi walked past her and said, "We don't speak of this again."

Yoko watched him walk in the direction of her apartment and knew he intended to keep her offer; she smiled.

"By the way, you're standing in shit."

Yoko looked down. "Huh? Gross!" She shook her foot and tried to scrape it off on the curb. "Ew!" She could heard Nishi laughing in the distance.

…...

Yoko took their empty bowls from beside the couch and placed them in the sink; she turned to her guest, who was staring at the television's blank screen. "You can watch if you want," she offered; he looked a little awkward sitting there, as though he wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. When Yoko saw that Nishi wasn't accepting the offer, she reclaimed her seat and grabbed the remote from the couch's arm.

Yoko smiled when a show she liked came on, it was the kind of show that was just for laughs, but she always wondered why people went on the show because it looked humiliating.

Nishi glanced at the screen; the show already annoyed him, but since it was her apartment, he tried to offer his opinion without sounding rude; he did have manners but didn't use them often. "This crap will turn your brain to mush, don't you watch anything educational?" Hmmm, well, so much for not sounding rude, but he found that he didn't care anyway, and when Yoko replied, it seemed she didn't either.

"Well, I've been following the elections to parliament."

Nishi snorted, "Fixed."

Yoko turned in her seat to face him. "You think so?"

Finally, Nishi relaxed into a more comfortable position by tucking his legs under him. "Political campaigns usually are, especially when the elective has won three times already."

"Isn't that supposed to be a good thing?"

"I dunno, he's probably got so much dirt on his peers they're begging him to stay."

"Really?"

Nishi shrugged. "Just a thought."

"Huh, wow..."

Nishi laughed when he realized the reason for her silence. "You voted for him."

Yoko pouted, "Well I was impressed by his words of-"

"Deceit?"

Yoko frowned, but it was not quite in anger. "The way he spoke on tv was-"

Nishi laughed again, "He's full of crap, and he's 'comfortable.' I'll just bet they bribe him too."

"With what exactly?"

"Who knows, you never can separate the truth from lies with politicians."

Yoko smiled; she liked having these types of conversations, her ex-boyfriend hated politics, but with Nishi, she found him easy to talk to. Yoko realized where her thoughts were heading, so she simply brushed it off. "Aren't you clued up, now I feel like a tool for voting for him."

Nishi laughed louder, "I can't believe you voted for that moron on your first voting poll, that's so comical."

Yoko huffed, "I had been following him for a while, and I always said I'd vote for him when I reached eighteen."

"So comical," he grinned.

Yoko finally switched the channel over to the news.

- A local reporter named Yuuma Daikei was found dead in his home this afternoon, suspected of dying late last night. The cause of death is unknown, though it appears that the reporter may have simply died in his sleep. -

Nishi looked over at Yoko when she gasped lightly. "What's your problem, we know he died."

"Yeah but-"

Nishi tilted his head in amusement. "Reality kicking in?"

"I know how he died."

Nishi grinned, "Yes, he got his head blown off by Gantz."

Yoko clicked her tongue at his crudeness. "Not then, before."

Nishi crossed his legs to give her his full attention. "Interesting."

Yoko turned to him and thought his words were sarcastic, but the look on his face said otherwise.

"Go on."

Yoko realized he wanted her to share the information. "I can't."

"A secret for a secret."

"Are you bribing me?"

"Not really, bribing is when one person has the dirt on someone and uses that to get something in return. You already know what happened to me at the store, so it's not really the same."

Yoko rolled her eyes. "Oh great, so you're blackmailing me instead."

Nishi huffed, "You're so dramatic."

Yoko shook her head. "I shouldn't tell you because the more people I tell, the more people I get involved."

"I didn't ask you to tell everyone, just me."

Yoko sighed and mirrored his position. "Okay, my childhood friend whom I attend college with was always a great informative; her passion was to be a reporter, she worked so hard, and any time you needed info, she was the one to ask. Now Yui works on little news articles, like school ratings, college competitions, and things like that. Apparently, she had this big-time report that she was going to get published by a top illustrator or something. Anyway, that guy from last night, Yuuma Daikei, had been following the same sources. I don't think the two met until the end, but she was so stuck on her work being published, that she couldn't stand the thought of someone stealing the limelight, and-"

"She killed him," Nishi interrupted with mild surprise.

Yoko frowned because hearing it out loud from someone else was hard. "Partly, at least, she's responsible in the sense that she paidsomeone else to kill him."

Nishi leaned back against the armchair. "I told you, reporters will do anything. How did you come by this?"

Yoko flinched. "That's the worrying part, I saw her hand a bunch of money to some guy and got curious, so I hid behind a tree, and that's when I heard them talking about it, he sounded like a fricking mercenary."

Nishi suddenly straightened, and now he knew what she meant by involving him; well, too late now. "Did she see you?"

"Yes, but only after the whole thing was complete, I don't know whether Yui thought I heard."

"So she's what, eighteen?" Yoko nodded. "Then she probably hasn't done anything like this before, so the 'mercenary' probably isn't well known. Any ideas on what this story was?"

"No."

"She might even be having second thoughts about publishing if this guy Daikei was following the same leads because if she publishes the story now, whoever he was working with, might have something to say about it."

"But she usually tells me all her reports."

"You said that it was her first-time publishing for a real paper, there's probably a discretion rule she has to follow."

"Well, she's kind of a bragger, so she would have told me."

"In that case, it might be unlikely it was anything catastrophic."

"But you saw Daikei, he was out of his mind!"

"Exactly."

"But, he seemed so desperate."

"Maybe he hadn't published or found anything interesting to report for some time, he comes across this supposed source, your friend unknowingly following the same one, she finds out he's about to take away her first real story, and she gets desperate enough to pay someone to 'remove' him."

"One's doing it for the money, the other for fame."

Nishi nodded as if praising her. "And now she's realized the true nature of what she's done and how it might affect more than just her career."

Yoko sat back, her head was swimming, but she smiled. "Wow, you're good."

"It was just a matter of processing the facts, putting together the pieces that you couldn't because of your friendship to her, you probably refused to believe it, since you were still stuck on the idea that you might have made a mistake about what you heard."

Yoko blanched because what he said was too accurate. What the hell, I'm an open book to this kid, no, not kid, not really. "What shall I do?" Now she wanted his advice because he was suddenly this brainiac.

"Maybe she doesn't believe you heard anything, you probably wouldn't be here if she did."

Yoko grimaced at his harshness. "But, we were at college all day yesterday."

"Could she have been near your car at any point during that time?"

Yoko tensed with a gasp, "She could have slashed my tires or cut my brakes!"

Nishi huffed, "Well, shit, to think I got into the car to avoid bullets, only to get into a possible car crash later."

Yoko hunched her shoulders, whoops. "Well, nothing happened, so you're right she doesn't know, I guess, and I'm going to keep it that way; after all, I've known her for years."

"People change, you know."

Yoko shook her head. "No, I think you were right, it was a one-time thing, she knew she made a mistake in the heat of the moment."

"It's never just a one-time thing when people kill someone, they don't just stop at one, I'll just bet that Daikei did the same thing at some point, which was why it was so easy for him to do it again."

"He was a pacifist."

"Bullshit, that's just what he told himself, and others."

"Maybe that's what made him act so weird." Yoko bowed her head, and Nishi shrugged in reply. Yoko suddenly looked up with a sad smile. "Do you think that might happen to us if we kill enough aliens; would it affect who we are? What if it affects us so much that we get to like it?"

Nishi turned his head to hide his expression. "Who knows, we - or should I use the term I - might be already free."

"I hope so." She stood up as she turned off the TV, stretched, and then yawned before turning to face him. "Are you sure you just want the couch?"

Nishi glanced at her through his black bangs. "I told you, it's just one night."

"Nishi, is there a reason why you won't call home?"

Nishi glared at her. "Not up for discussion."

"Did you run away?"

Nishi couldn't deal with her questioning stare any longer, so if he agreed, she wouldn't delve any deeper. "Something like that."

"Then, where exactly have you been staying all this time?"

"Motel, I had enough money."

"And now?"

Nishi didn't reply because he didn't want pity, which he knew she would give him.

"You can stay here, you know, I won't pry, I've run away before."

Nishi rolled his eyes. "From your ex-boyfriend?"

"Not up for discussion," she grinned at him.

"I know you were shot in the head, what's to learn from that? I can piece the rest together myself, trust me."

Yoko didn't know what he meant by that, but she didn't want to ask. "All right, enough wisecracks, I'm tired, and you're giving me a headache. So, take my offer and stay as long as you want."

She headed toward the bathroom.

"I'm not a charity case," he blurted out.

Yoko now understood the issue and turned back and said, "Then you can help me dig up info on my friend tomorrow."

Nishi looked at her skeptically. "I thought you were dropping it."

"I'm just curious is all."

"Uh-huh."

"So there, no charity."

She moved to the front door to ensure the lock was in place and said, "Does this mean you're using the room now, and I don't have to get the duvet out?" She took his passive shrug as a yes. "Spare toothbrush under the cupboard, towels should be in your closet, and there might even be some spare clothes that'll fit you."

Nishi stood up and tried to remain stoic, but he was grateful, so he tried to let her know. "Stop fussing."

Once they'd finished in the bathroom, Yoko spoke again just before heading to bed. "Oh, I have to quickly go to college tomorrow, I'll be back around eleven, I just need to get my laptop and see my professor." Nishi waved her off and then made his way into the spare room and shut the door. She placed her hands on her hips. "Man, he's difficult."

…...

Nishi stirred from sleep, the puffy duvet covered him like a cocoon, and he couldn't help but sigh at the comfort. He turned over, blinked sleep from his eyes, and glanced at the clock on the bedside table. 09:30. He sat up with a stretch and swung his legs over the bed, grabbing his grey hoodie to wear until he was ready to shower. Nishi heard the front entrance open and placed his ear to the wood as he neared the door, trying to listen for Yoko. Nishi looked around the room; there wasn't anything to use as a weapon, so he would have to grab something outside.

Nishi slowly turned the handle and quietly walked into the living room; he suddenly froze when he saw a possible intruder by the door, and before he had a chance to speak, the person asked, "Who the hell are you?"

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