AN: Yay! New chapter! And it didn't even take that long! But I must be honest. I can't promise that all my chapters will come up this quickly. Anyway, also, a little before I continue on… The whole reason I even started writing this was I was actually tired of looking for SenxUmeko fics and running across YAOI! Granted, yes, I am a yaoi fan… but that's all I could find!!! It made me sad… and inspired me a bit to write…. Anyway, hope whoever is reading this actually likes it! Please review! I need opinions. I don't get much inspiration without opinions… or rather… I don't really get inspiration unless I know someone likes the story so far, and is really enjoying it.

Special Thanks to:

Umeko-chan: Yay! I love you! Thank you so much for reviewing! You're the reason there's a new chapter out so quickly, lol. I'm glad you like my story so far, and calling it beautiful made me even happier. I hope you continue to enjoy it!

Chapter 2

It was a new day and Umeko groaned as she slowly opened her eyes, staring over at the clock. There was an announcement for all the Deka's to gather. Apparently there was another Alienizer out on the loose, and the Deka's were being called to go take care of it. Umeko didn't want to climb out of bed though. If she went on this new mission, what if she failed again? She wasn't sure she could take another failure. After losing that civilian before, Umeko was sure that her life as a Deka would end soon.

There was a knock on her door and she groaned again, wondering who was bothering her. Rolling out of bed, she dragged herself over to the door and pulled it open, leaning against the door. She stared up at Sen, and almost laughed at herself. She should have known it would be him. It was always him.

"Umeko, we're being called. There's an Alienizer on…." He blinked as he stared down at the woman. "Umeko?"

"I'm sorry Sen-san, I'm not feeling very well today…"

"Are you okay?" He placed his hand against her forehead and she had to keep herself from blushing. "No fever. What's wrong?"

"I just feel a little woozy. I think I should sit this one out. Do you think you can tell Boss for me?"

Sen nodded, clearly worried for the woman. It was unusual for Umeko to get sick. "Yeah. You go get some rest. I'll come check on you when I get back."

"Thanks." She smiled up at him then shut the door behind her and made her way back to her bed. Falling against it, she buried her face in her pillow. She felt bad lying to Sen, but she just didn't feel she could go out onto the battlefield today. She shifted, still lying on her stomach, but her head now lying sideways on her pillow instead of buried in it. Staring over at the mirror, she realized how horrible she looked. Her eyes were puffy and red, and there were tear stains all over her face. She wondered if Sen had noticed. He probably did. He was a pretty observant guy.

She rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. She felt pathetic. She was a failure. How could they continue to allow her to remain a Deka? How could they all say it wasn't her fault? She closed her eyes, falling deep in thought.

xxx

It was maybe a couple hours later, and Umeko groaned as she pried open her eyes. Peering around, she allowed her vision to adjust, landing on the door. There was a loud pounding and Umeko was sure that's what had woken her up. She didn't even remember falling asleep. Shaking her head, she climbed out of bed and somehow managed to make her way over to the door. Was it Sen? But then, he wouldn't be pounding on the door like this.

Pulling it open, she was surprised to see Ban standing there. "Ban? What…?"

"Umeko, I know you're not feeling well, but I need your help."

"What's wrong?" she asked sleepily, trying to calm the man down.

"There was this Alienizer, and everyone thought they had him trapped, but he lured us into a building. Then there was this explosion."

"An explosion?" Umeko's eyes widened as she finally woke up from her daze. "Is everyone okay? Sen! Where's Sen? I want to see him!"

Ban stared down at the ground sadly, and shook his head. "I was the only one not caught in the explosion. Sen-chan is in worse condition than everyone else."

"No." Umeko shook her head. "No! He has to be okay! He promised when he got back he'd come check on me!" Tears filled the small woman's eyes and before she knew it she was running down the hall towards the infirmary.

Finally finding which room the man was in, she shoved the door open and her heart almost stopped. She wanted to tear her gaze from the bloodied mess on the bed, but just couldn't. It hurt her seeing Sen in such a state. Slowly, forcing her feet to move, she made her way over to the bed, and with a shaky hand, took his into her own. "Sen-san…"

Slowly, his eyes opened, and he smiled up at the woman. "Umeko… I'm…. glad… you're okay…"

"Shh. Don't talk," she ordered the man. Warm tears fell, even though she fought to hold them back. She thought to herself, maybe this wouldn't have happened if she had just gone. If she hadn't been so selfish, maybe things would have ended up differently.

Sen, watching the mixed expressions on the woman's face only smiled. "Umeko… it's… not your… fault."

Eyes widening slightly at the man, she choked back a sob, holding back the urge to cry even more. He was hurt, yet here he was reading her like that open book again, trying his best to cheer her up. She leaned down, burying her face against his chest, sobbing against him as she couldn't hold it back anymore. She felt him reach up and place his hand against her head, stroking her hair.

"Umeko…" she heard Ban call from the doorway. He had been there the whole time, watching the touching display. He knew the feelings they held for one another, that Umeko loved Sen. He couldn't understand why the woman hadn't just confessed to him yet.

Standing up, the woman wiped her tears and turned to Ban, nodding her head in acknowledgement. There was an Alienizer out on the loose. It had hurt Sen. Umeko couldn't just let it get away. Pulling out her S.P.D. license, she got ready to transform when she felt a small tug on her hand. Blinking, she stared down at Sen.

"Be careful…"

She smiled reassuringly at him and nodded. "Hai." Then she ran past Ban, into the hallway, disappearing from Sen's sight. Ban shut the door, and ran to go catch up with Umeko.

xxx

DekaPink and DekaRed were currently tracking the Alienizer, both already in S.W.A.T. mode. They had been led into a dark tunnel, both knowing it was far too dangerous to be there, but not really having a choice. The Alienizer was smart. He wouldn't come out into the open. If they wanted to get to him, they had no choice but to go into enclosed spaces. There was laughter and instinctively DekaPink ran in the direction it came from.

"Umeko! Wait!" she heard DekaRed call from behind her, but she didn't stop. She was going to stop this Alienizer, no matter what. She was going to get him back for hurting Sen. After some time of following the laughter, DekaPink could no longer hear DekaRed's call behind her. She worried she might have strayed too far from him, but still didn't stop. She had a feeling she was going to regret that later, but for the moment she just didn't care. She felt herself getting closer to the Alienizer, and her heartbeat started to pick up. She felt it racing, beating faster and faster as she neared her target. She slowed her pace and kept her eyes open, searching.

There, in the corner of her eye, she spotted movement. Spinning quickly she held out her d-revolver and shot, but there was nothing there. Confused, she started looking around again. She could have sworn she saw something. She took one step and listened as it echoed through the tunnel. It was quiet… eerily quiet. She got ready to take another step when something suddenly grabbed her at the ankle. Letting out a loud scream, she felt herself being pulled into the ground. Just when she thought she was a goner, she felt someone grab a hold of her hand and she looked up.

"Ban!"

"Umeko, hold on!" He pulled, grunting as he did so, slowly managing to save her from the void in the ground. Whatever had been holding onto her ankle finally released her and she practically flew into DekaRed's embrace. She watched him hold out his d-revolver and shoot at the spot that she had been pulled, and the swirling void closed up.

"Ban, what's going on?" DekaPink asked her partner.

"I don't know. That ability is new…" The pair looked around, keeping an eye out for any other strange things.

DekaPink shook her head. "I shouldn't be here!" she told herself, and DekaRed only looked back at his companion.

"Umeko… what do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm just a screw up! A failure! I got that other civilian killed and now I'm going to get us killed!" She was panicking. DekaRed could tell. Reaching out, he grabbed his friend at the shoulders and shook her.

"Snap out of it! Even Sen-chan told you it wasn't your fault! Do you really think he'd lie to you? He's laying there in the infirmary, practically dying, and you want to accuse him of lying? Why would he even waste his breath then?"

DekaPink blinked behind her helmet and stared up at the taller man. "Ban…" She shook her head. "I'm sorry… I…" She had to snap out of it. She knew this.

"Umeko…" She could hear the smile behind his mask. "You aren't a failure. It wasn't your fault. No one thinks it was your fault. If we thought that, I wouldn't have dragged you out here to help me. Now, there's an Alienizer out on the loose, and if you want to stand here and mope about what happened yesterday, be my guest, but I have a mission to take care."

He was right. She knew he was, yet here she was acting like a spoiled child. "Ban…" Behind her mask, the smaller woman smiled, followed by a nod. If she couldn't at least cheer up for herself, she could do it for Sen. Even though he was in such a horrible state he'd still spent the time to cheer her up. Now wasn't the time to accuse him of being a liar. She never thought he was, so why was she starting now? How could she doubt the one man she cared most about?

The pair got ready to go back to their search when suddenly the Alienizer himself appeared before them. Everything happened so fast, there really was no time to react.

"Umeko!" she heard DekaRed call out to her. Spinning around, she came face to face with the Alienizer. Pulling up her d-revolver, she somehow managed to pull the trigger, but she never got to see if she hit him. There was a loud explosion and then everything went black. DekaPink knew everything happened within seconds, but it felt like forever to her. Many times she heard DekaRed call out to her, but along with that darkness soon came silence.