The male bellowed at the teenager across the room, "Who the hell are you kid?"

There were three possibilities to consider. One: It was Yoko's ex-boyfriend. Two: It was the mercenary, and three, the guy was a burglar. Nishi suspected the latter of the three was unlikely. The man was also too young to be a parent; although he might be a relative, her family had never been the topic of conversation; in fact, Nishi was sure she was an only child, so unless she made a habit of giving the people she knew a key to this place, he's back to the first two possibilities. "I'm a friend," Nishi finally replied.

"She never mentioned no friend living here."

So it couldn't be her ex-boyfriend; he wouldn't say that so casually. "Who said I was living here." Nishi groaned inwardly. Shit.

"A little young to be screwing her, ain't ya?"

Nishi stayed silent, with his little retort, he couldn't exactly deny anything now; except for his age. "People tend to look young for their age, you know." That was so lame.

"Right." Nishi returned the man's glare, clenching a fist; he started to think living at Yoko's temporarily was going to be too much of a problem; she seemed to have unintentionally got herself into trouble. "She didn't mention a boyfriend."

Definitely not her ex; an ex-boyfriend wouldn't address that so calmly either, especially one that shot her in the head just for leaving him. Nishi shrugged before casually asking, "How did you get in here?" The man became silent and never once moved an inch, and, not willing to give an answer, the man turned and fled the apartment. Nishi relaxed. Whoever he was, he was clearly sent here to see Shin. Nishi didn't have the patience to follow him; it really wasn't his problem, although it looked like it could be because that guy would turn up again sooner or later.

…...

Yoko smiled at her guest as she entered her apartment, carrying her laptop. "Hey, I hope you weren't too bored; I took a little longer than expected." Nishi looked up from the television as Yoko placed her laptop on the counter. "Have you eaten?" Nishi sat up, and Yoko noticed his grin. "What?"

"You had a little visitor."

Yoko raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Nishi clicked his tongue, "You may want to start locking your door."

Yoko glanced at her door and turned back to him. "It was locked."

Nishi rolled his eyes. "Then quit giving people keys."

Nishi's words confused her; she walked over and sat on the couch beside him. "Okay?"

Nishi sighed and switched the television off. "A guy came into the apartment earlier."

Yoko's eyes widened. "What guy? Are you okay? What happened?"

"I'd just woke up, and I thought it was you coming back, I walked outside, and a man was here."

Yoko felt fear creep up her spine. "Oh god, was it him, was it my ex?"

"The questions he asked and the way he was acting wouldn't suggest it was him."

Yoko let out a breath, "What makes you say that?"

"For starters, it sounded like he was sent here; he questioned my existence as though he'd been given the wrong information."

"So, what happened?"

Nishi shrugged. "He left."

Yoko blinked at the statement. "He just left?"

"It was obvious he was here for you, me being here must have shocked him."

Yoko wrapped her arms around herself. "She knows, doesn't she?"

"Oh, one more thing, I may have given him the impression we were screwing."

Yoko choked on the air, and her eyes bugged out. "What?"

Nishi simply grinned. "It slipped out, I didn't expect company."

Yoko groaned, "Great, now I'm a pedophile too." Yoko placed her head in her hands in distress. "What am I gonna do now?"

"Nothing good comes from eavesdropping."

Yoko rolled her eyes. "I didn't mean to." She shook her head. "No, this has to be a misunderstanding, she's my best friend."

"So you keep saying, but she's already had someone killed once."

"But she wouldn't, she wouldn't kill me."

"She would if she knows you know."

Yoko stood up, flinging her arms in the air, and huffed a laugh, "This is crazy, I should just drop the whole thing and forget that I know anything."

"That won't stop her."

"It will, she'll see that nothing has changed between us, and she need not worry about it."

Nishi frowned, "You don't get it, that guy was here to silence you."

"Well, once Yui knows and believes that I don't know anything, she'll drop the hit."

"You're an idiot, he doesn't work for her, she hired him for one job. If he felt his work was under threat, he will terminate the problem on his own."

Yoko smiled and placed a fist against her palm. "Of course! What if he saw me by the tree listening in, and now it's him that's after me without Yui's knowledge."

"Then how do you suppose he got the information on your address?"

"My college details, he's an assassin, so he could have browsed the info from the database."

"Then how did he get a key, and why did he say she never mentioned someone else living here?"

Yoko stopped smiling. "He did?"

"Does your "friend" have a key?" Yoko nodded solemnly. "There you have it, she gave him the key, she told him where you live, and she told him to kill you."

Yoko sat down again. "You're right...my best friend wants to kill me."

"You can still act like you don't know anything, but even if you convince her, that won't stop him."

"I'm just sorry you got involved."

Nishi chuckled, "This is your problem, not mine."

"But what if he gets your details?"

"He doesn't have anything on me to get mine, he doesn't know my name, he has no idea how old I am or what school I go to."

"I guess that's true," Yoko sighed. Why couldn't I just remain curious?

"My only advice is to bring the Gantz suit back with you; a gun wouldn't hurt either."

Yoko's eyes widened. "Are you crazy!?"

Nishi shrugged. "I thought that was pretty good advice, you really don't have much choice."

Yoko frantically shook her head. "Someone will see me! I don't want my head being blown off!"

"You wear the suit under your clothes during the day and carry the gun in your jacket or bag."

Yoko looked at him and pointed, "You're not wearing it now, are you?"

"No, but I think that I should, given that I was chased by cops for a crime I didn't commit, and now, whether the mercenary knows about me or not, I'm probably on his hit list."

"But we can't just take the Gantz weapons home, can we? Those are only for the missions, and we shouldn't use them for harming people."

"People, aliens, what's the difference anyway? Either way, it's all self-defense, right?"

"But-" Yoko's phone interrupted her; she made her way over to the counter and saw the name displayed across her screen. "It's Yui."

Nishi raised an eyebrow and walked over to her. "Answer and put the phone on speaker." Yoko nodded. "Act natural."

"Hey Yui!"

"Hey? That's all I get? Where have you been? I thought you were at home."

"Well, I got up early to get my laptop from college since I left it there yesterday."

"Oh, that makes sense; listen - I sent someone I'm close with today to get something from yours that I left there when I was last round; it's that little red book with all my college notes in, it was in the spare room, I figured you might not have minded much, but I didn't realize there was someone there with you. You frisky devil, why didn't you tell me you were seeing someone!"

Yoko flushed and glanced at Nishi, who merely shrugged. "Uh..."

"I'm sorry, I wouldn't have sent my friend over if I knew you had company. Is the guy okay? Your 'friend' I mean." Yoko could practically see her friend's grin.

Nishi slid the notepad on the counter over to him and began writing.

"Yeah... he's okay, I guess." Yoko looked at the notepad.

You're not falling for this crap, are you? Yoko shook her head.

"Oh good, I was worried your new friend might have tried to start a fight or something. My friend was worried he might have thought he was a burglar."

"Well, it was a bit suspicious, I mean we could have called the police."

"I know I know, you didn't though, right? I caught you in time?"

She's panicking now.

"Yeah... it's fine, just - I kind of wish you told me."

"Oh good, thanks a lot, you're great. So will I meet this guy tomorrow?"

Nishi looked at Yoko, and her face dropped to a fearful expression. "Tomorrow?"

"Yeah, girls' night - we're still on for that, right? Wine, movies, junk food, I've been looking forward to it."

CANCEL.

"Well, things are a bit – can't we reschedule?"

"Oh, come on! Don't cancel on me, please? I'll be nice."

CANCEL NOW.

"I promise we can reschedule for next Friday, I won't cancel, and I'll even buy all the food and wine."

Yui sighed, "Okay."

She really wants to kill you. Nishi grinned and moved back to avoid the playful slap Yoko tried to give him. "I won't, I promise."

"Okay, well, I'll see you tomorrow anyway, you can tell me all about that new guy of yours."

Yoko smiled nervously. "Sure..."

"Okay, well, see ya." Yui hung up.

"She's full of crap," Nishi said bluntly.

Yoko huffed. "I guess it's true."

"Not very bright, she admitted she sent the guy over, regardless of who she said he was supposed to be."

"I know, but at least it bought time."

"You're hoping that Gantz calls us again before next Friday?"

Yoko nodded. "You're right, bringing back the Gantz suit and weapons is a good idea."

"It's your best option if you don't want to get killed by your supposed best friend."

"I really hoped to be wrong..."

"No matter how close you think the person may be to you, they can always turn on you if the circumstances are high enough."

Yoko still couldn't believe it, to think that her childhood best friend was willing to get rid of her to cover her own mistakes. She knew that Nishi had trust issues, but now, he was all she had, and it turned out, she was all he had. "I'll cook us some food."

"Just so we're clear, if I find out that you gave up any information regarding my personal life, she won't get a chance to kill you, because I will do that myself."

Major trust issues. "I wouldn't do that; besides, I hardly know anything about you anyway."

"Good, it's going to stay that way."

"She'll wanna know something since she thinks we're dating, which is your fault."

Nishi snorted, "No matter what you say, this all leads back to the whole thing being your fault."

Yoko sighed; she wasn't even safe in her own home. "I'm going to have to get the lock changed."

"That would be logical."

Yoko moved into the kitchen to rummage through her freezer for food. "Do you think she'll try something during the day tomorrow?"

"Since today failed, she was probably hoping to poison you or something tomorrow night, but you canceled, so she'll most likely wait until next Friday."

Yoko pulled out two pies from her freezer and set them on the counter. "For what it's worth, I am sorry."

Nishi shrugged, "If that guy comes back, I will defend myself, I don't care what I have to do."

Yoko frowned and switched on the oven. Now she had that on her mind.

…...

Yoko got through the weekend alive, and it was Sunday; it seemed that if Yui still planned to kill her, she was waiting patiently. It was late, Yoko flicked through the channels out of sheer boredom, and Nishi was sat on the other side of the couch with the same tedious expression. "Shouldn't be long now," he said, and the sudden sound of his voice made her jump.

Yoko turned to face him. "For what?"

"Gantz."

"How do you know?"

"Just a guess."

"Yeah, I don't remember it being this long before."

…...

Ryo sat grumpily in the seat of a truck, tapping impatiently on the steering wheel as he waited in a long line of cars and other trucks. "Do a quick job Ashi, it'll be quick Ashi, there's no traffic Ashi," Ryo grunted in annoyance. "Next time he can kiss my ass, why the hell did I agree to do a delivery this late anyway? Who the hell knew there'd even be traffic at this time of night." Ryo shivered as the traffic started moving. "Bout time." He glanced at his hands when they began to disappear. "Oh no! No no no! Not here! Fuck!"

Nishi sat up, and Yoko looked over at him. "What's wrong?"

"It's time." Nishi stood up and looked at her. "Right before we got called last time, I felt a breeze, just like the one I felt now."

Ryo found himself in the Gantz room, and his dog barked at him. "Shit, this really sucks, what bad fucking timing." Jiro appeared blinking in confusion and then realized he was in the Gantz room. Ryo held a hand up. "Hey, nice boxers," Ryo laughed at the white material with red heart shapes.

Jiro looked at himself and laughed nervously. "Well, I was asleep just now, I didn't know that I was going to be called by Gantz."

"That's nothing, I just disappeared while driving a truck on a main road, again!"

Jiro gave him a sympathetic smile. "Bad timing."

"You're telling me."

Nishi and Yoko appeared next; she quickly looked away when she saw Jiro's attire. "Sorry, my dear, I was sleeping."

Yoko nodded with embarrassment. "No problem."

"So," Ryo started. "I wonder who we'll get this time, you know, to replace that Daikei ass hole. I saw on the news that Yuuma really did die in his sleep; Nishi was probably right, he was probably poisoned."

Yoko glanced over at Nishi, whose attention was on the ball so as not to suggest he knew anything about the situation. As she looked away, Gantz's colorful laser began to form a person, no, two people. Once the transfer was completed, it revealed one woman and one male, roughly in their thirties, both had long brown hair and dressed in very colorful clothing.

"Whoa...wild," the woman said.

"Are we like, totally tripping right now," replied the male.

"And I'm the hippie," Ryo muttered.

There'll be about as useful as the dog, Nishi thought.

Yoko stared at them; they failed to notice anyone else in the room, let alone the giant ball.

Ryo turned to Jiro and asked, "We're not going to try and explain things to them, are we?"

Nishi glanced at Ryo. My thoughts exactly.

Jiro coughed to clear his throat and stepped in front of the two spaced-out people. "Excuse me, I know this all seems like a weird trip to you right now."

Ryo chuckled; it was so obvious they were high that even the old man could see it.

"But I can assure you that everything that's going to happen from now on is real."

The male pointed at Jiro with a broad smile, "Check out this dude's boxers, expressing the love man." He held his hand out for a high five. "Come on, don't leave me hanging."

"They're nuts," said Ryo.

"That black ball over there will open pretty soon, and you must put on the suits it provides and read the instructions very carefully."

The woman leaned over to her partner. "What's he talking about?"

"Don't know, but he might be even higher than us."

Jiro sighed, "Please don't joke, this is very serious."

Nishi started to lose his patience; he was so sick of hearing Jiro repeat himself. "Forget about it, they're not going to believe you, they're too fucking high, and we don't have time for their drugged minds to catch up; honestly, they're the worst we've had so far, those two are not our responsibility old man!"

Yoko knew Nishi was right; there really wasn't any point; they probably didn't even know their own names.

Jiro looked at them and finally stepped away. "You're right."

Ryo sighed, "Looks like we're on our own again."

Suddenly, the ball began to sing, and the hippies started searching the room. "Where's that freaky tune coming from," the woman remarked.

"You heard it too?"

Nishi closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to remain calm; the sheer level of idiocy from the two was unbelievable, even if they were high.

As the two reached the ball, the male placed his head against it. "I think it's coming from this ball man."

Ryo laughed, "At least they're kind of entertaining." Yoko slapped him. "You can't deny it, they're hilarious!"

The ball sprung open, and the two clueless ones jumped back and then clapped, applauding the sphere. "That was awesome!" They then noticed the writing. "It says our lives have now ended; what you do with your new lives is entirely up to me. Oh man, I think we died," the male said.

"That's so spiritual."

"You can't make this shit up, they're complete lunatics," said Ryo.

The ball soon revealed their target, and the team regarded it carefully.

Kewpie alien.

Traits: Small, fast, likes people.

Phrase: Play with me.

"No way, no damn way," Ryo stammered out and almost fell backward.

Yoko glanced at him. "What's wrong?"

"Dolls, they freak me out."

Yoko clicked her tongue. "It's not a doll, it's an alien."

"Okay," Ryo pointed to the ball. "That is a fucking doll, like a creepy Annabelle doll."

"I have to admit," Jiro said. "It does resemble a doll."

"See! I'm not crazy."

"Anyone who gets freaked out over a child's play toy is pathetic," Nishi said as he began to gather his suit.

Ryo frowned, not understanding how Nishi could act so fearless. "Are you telling me that you're not the least bit freaked out that our next target is a creepy doll?"

Yoko chuckled, "It's been the least creepy alien we've had."

"This is bad, this is so bad, I really hate dolls."

Jiro looked at the two new members; he at least wanted to tell them something. "You need to put on the suits and grab whatever weapons you can."

…...

Nishi, Jiro, Ryo, and Yoko stood in the room, suits, and weapons ready. The two hippies also adorned their suits and carried a weapon. Nishi would have found that impressive if Jiro didn't tell them what to do; he didn't understand why anyone deserved their help when they didn't have any. Three of the four each wore their clothing over their suits, but since Jiro only had his boxers, he couldn't do that.

"What happens now man?"

"Is this like - a war?"

"Just watch out for those aliens you saw on the ball, and be careful, they're dangerous." It was all Jiro said to them before they began to disappear from the room.

"I think I'm tripping again," the female said and was the last to transfer. She appeared in a dark area next to a long wall behind a garage. "I can't stand the darkness." She walked forward, carrying her weapon at her side. "Hey, Dill! Where'd ya go?" She turned the corner onto a dark street; it was too quiet. "I'm totally lost, where is everyone?" She stopped when she heard a noise; it almost sounded like scraping. Suddenly, she heard a voice, a faint singing in the distance, and her heart raced; she was positive she wasn't high anymore. As the scraping got louder, so did the singing, and a shadow started to appear, guided by the moon's light as it moved away from its hiding place in the clouds. The woman breathed heavily as the singing and scraping grew louder, and she finally heard the words.

"Here I come to find you, hurry up and run, let's play a little while..." There she was, the doll from the ball, brown curly hair, and a white frilly dress. The scraping she'd heard was a long sharp knife dragging across the wall. The noise stopped when the alien looked up at the woman with a grin. "Play with me."