Besides the loud cheery music that came from mounted speakers, all was quiet. No spiders leaped down on the heads of the people being phased in. Whatever aliens lurked, they weren't showing themselves right off the bat. It occurred to Yara that she had no idea what the monster of the week would look like, being too preoccupied with getting her suit.

Speaking of her GANTZ suit, she had yet to put it on. There was no time for it with all the drama that happened. Yara glanced around her. Smaller rides such as spinning cups and a drop tower were near their spawn point. It looked like a fairly typical mid-range amusement park. Surely that also meant public bathrooms to change in.

Going off on my own might be risky.

Yamasaki was still the only hunter in the group. Held in his hand was a screened device controlled by dials and buttons. Its screen blinks rhythmically like a radar. Yara recognized it as the object Nishi had been using to go invisible all those weeks ago.

She slunk up behind Yamasaki, glancing over his shoulder. None of the buttons were labeled. To figure out what it did, one would have to experiment. On the screen, there were several green dots on the top right. Yamasaki, looking up from the screen, looked to his right. Yara mimicked him, but saw nothing unusual. Behind the two, someone called out.

“Yamasaki, what are you doing?”

“What do you mean, I'm tracking the– woah!”, as Yamasaki turned around, he was startled to see Yara. He leaped up like a cat, far higher than any normal person could. His GANTZ suit's legs thickened with bulging veins.

Yara shrunk back, embarrassed she'd been caught doing something weird. She just wanted to get a look at his scanner, not interact at all. Yamasaki was still momentarily rattled when Hasegawa walked up to them. He looked back and forth between the two of them quizzically.

“What were you two doing?”

“Nothing! I didn't even know she was there!”

At this point, Yara was making a B-line away from them, her cheeks turning red. She could hear the pair calling out to her, but continued walking away. From the corner of her eye, she saw the punks from before walking away from the group as well. They were making their way towards what looked like the amusement park's entrance. Yara paused briefly to watch them.

That's right. There's nothing stopping us from just walking away. But wait, if that's the case, then how would GANTZ manage…

While mulling on it, a different woman from the room ran up to them. She had never stood out to Yara before– a small Japanese woman with plain looks and shoulder-length hair. This woman tugged on both of their clothes, trying to stop the couple in their tracks. Their voices were muffled, but Yara could make out that she was frantically talking to the couple. The female of the two scrunched up her face before smirking. She pushed the other woman fairly hard, to the point that she stumbled several steps backwards.

The couple were laughing now. Both ran at full tilt towards the ticket booths. Unexpectedly, the smaller woman seemed to be on their heels chasing after them, yelling something. The petite woman attempted to tackle the female punk. Failing to do so, she managed to grab on to her ankle. The male in the couple, not realizing this, continued running. He managed to jump the turnstiles, still cackling when–

Yara blinked and she missed it. Where the man's head was, was now a gusher of blood. His body stood for a brief few seconds before crashing to the ground. His lover was screaming now. She tried walking to him, but the other woman held strong.

Holy– What just killed him?!

Yara took out her pistol, alarmed that the aliens would start appearing to kill more of them. Being so engrossed in trying to find what killed the man, she didn't notice Yamasaki and Hasegawa walking towards her until Yamasaki put his hand on her shoulder. With a yelp, she pointed the gun at him. Yamasaki pushed it away from himself easily.

“Don't do that, dumbass.”, Yamasaki said to Yara.

“Um, um, but,” Yara pointed helplessly in the direction of the body, “the aliens killed him!”

Yamasaki glanced momentarily before shrugging. “Yeah, that sometimes happens. He left the boundary.” Yamasaki paused. “And you have no idea what I'm saying, do you?.”

After a moment of the three awkwardly staring at each other, Yamasaki elbowed Hasegawa and gestured to Yara. Hasegawa shook his head rapidly at Yamasaki. He got another elbow to the ribs in response. With an anxious look, Hasegawa took a quick breath in and out before puffing out his chest.

“Hello, how are you?", said Hasegawa. As Yara opened her mouth to answer, Hasegawa answered his own question, “I'm fine, thank you!”

Hasegawa was quite pleased with his attempt at conversation. He smiled at her in a way he thought would make him look friendly, like in a manga with his eyes closed and his teeth bared. Yamasaki facepalmed. It never occurred to him that he would have to teach Hasegawa how to smile like a normal person. As it was, his wide smile made him look manic.

Yara was mostly dumbfounded. It was apparent he didn't really know English. What was he trying to do here? Izumi telling her that Hasegawa wanted to date her flashed in her mind. With the punk woman crying her heart out 30 feet away from them, Hasegawa's timing was seriously awful.

Emboldened by the language barrier between them, Yara answered truthfully. “I've been feeling pretty shit if I'm being honest.” It felt good to say that out loud.

Hasegawa nodded his head happily, giving a thumbs up. He pointed to the metal case in her hand. “YOU-NEED-TO-PUT-THAT-ON.” He spoke loudly and slowly. While pointing to a place deeper into the park, “COME-WITH-US.”

Yara got the gist of what he wanted. But she wasn't sure it was a good idea to leave the rest of the group alone. By this point, the remaining punk had been led back to everyone else. The smaller woman was trying her best to console her. Yara was about to protest when she saw the tuft of Caden's light brown hair being scanned in. With a jolt of adrenaline, she walked in the direction Hasegawa pointed, with him and Yamasaki following after.

As the trio walked, Yamasaki checked his scanner, steering them in different directions. They eventually came across one of those cement public restrooms. Its entrance was ‘locked’ with a hanging metal chain that Yara stepped over. To her surprise, Hasegawa stepped over too.

“LET-ME-CHECK-IT'S-SAFE.”

“Hasegawa, there's nothing on the scanner!”

“I know that, but she doesn't! Let me look cool!”

Hasegawa walked in boldly, flipping on the light. He kicked open each stall door with his rifle drawn. Once he checked the last stall, he bowed to Yara and gestured that it was good to go.

“Oh, thanks.” Yara ran into a stall and locked it. Hasegawa lengered by the closed door, long enough that Yara took notice. He reluctantly walked out with echoing footsteps. Only once she was sure he was gone did she undress.

I don't mind that he has a crush, but he's acting a little… off.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

Outside, the two hunters flanked the bathroom entrance. Yamasaki leaned on the stone wall, bored. Hasegawa kept glancing back into the bathroom, impatient with puppy dog eyes.

“That was a bit much.”, said Yamasaki.

“I wouldn't have to try so hard if you had let me save her from the asshole back in the apartment! I'd be her prince charming by now.”, huffed Hasegawa. He crossed his arms, looking away from the other man.

Yamasaki snorted. “Hey, I wanted to avoid starting anything! Not that it matters now. Izumi started shit way worse than anything you could have done.”

“I wonder what Izumi would think if he heard that?”, said a third voice. The two drew up to attention, weapons at their ready. Slinking out of the shadows was Nishi. Both men relaxed somewhat after the reveal, but not entirely.

“So you're a snitch now, Nishi?” Yamasaki cocked an eyebrow, “Last I heard, you and Izumi are on bad terms.”

Nishi clicked his tongue. “Nothing I can't make up for.” He paused , a slight concern on his face. “What are you two doing?”

“Helping the American woman.”, said Hasegawa.

“Trying to get Hasegawa's dick wet.”, interjected Yamasaki. Nishi grimaced at the thought.

Inside, Yara was finishing up changing. She had a rough go of it. The suit seemed to be her exact measurements and the material had little to no give when putting it on. The neckpiece in particular had been hard to put on, with all her hair clogging up the opening. She stuffed her original clothes and the case into her red backpack, now overly snug.

Out of the stall and looking into the mirror, Yara was embarrassed by what she saw. You could see every curve of her body, the space between her breasts and the parts where her thighs and hips meet were especially bad. Yara really didn't want to know what one would be able to see if she ever had to bend down. She made a mental note to buy looser clothes to wear over top next time.

Is it too late to hide in the stall forever?

Slowly, painstakingly, Yara walked out of the restroom. Three pairs of eyes greeted her. She was surprised to see Nishi there. He wasn't all that interested in her and quickly looked away. Hasegawa and Yamasaki, on the other hand, looked at her up and down. She fought the urge to cover herself, instead gripping the straps of her backpack tighter.

“Eh, not bad, but not my type.” Yamasaki patted Hasegawa on the shoulder. “Good luck!”

“Can we go now!?” Nishi, without waiting for a response, walked off deeper into the amusement park. The other three jogged up to follow along.

Yamasaki took the lead while Hasegawa took the rear, leading to Yara feeling a bit paranoid as to where Hasegawa was looking. Beside her, Nishi yawned. It was astounding that he could be bored in this kind of situation. On closer inspection, the boy had deep, dark circles under his eyes. Maybe it was a lack of sleep bothering him?

The group came up to several different stands placed in a semi-circle that had prize games such as dart throwing, knock-down-the-bottle, and water-gun targets. Each stand was filled to the brim with stuffed animals. Many of them were knock offs of well-known characters. Yamasaki lifted the scanner and pointed at the dart game.

“It's somewhere over there.”

Like a well-oiled machine, Yamasaki and Hasegawa got into place on each side of the wooden box. The two were almost in sync. During this, Nishi disappeared into thin air again. This left Yara wondering what she should be doing. She opted for crouching behind a nearby bench, her pistol at the ready.

To her surprise, Hasegawa took point. He lifted his fist and slowly counted up. ‘Ichi, ni, san!’ The two visible hunters blasted the game stand with multiple shots. After the briefest moment, the simple wooden stand exploded into wooden splinters and stuffed animals ripped open, covering the immediate vicinity in white cotton stuffing. Hasegawa and Yamasaki breathed heavily. They both looked around as if searching for something.

Yara peeked from her hiding spot. There was no sign of an alien. She began to walk towards the other hunters when she stepped on something soft. Thrown from the blast was a pink bear plushie. It was torn from the head, and an ear was now missing. But there wasn't stuffing coming out of it; it was blood.

“T-tasukete kudasai!”, said a warbling childlike voice coming from the bear.

A scream escaped Yara's throat before she could help it. She jumped back, away from the plushie. The bear, in turn, lifted its head from the pavement to look at her. Its glossy glass eyes somehow resembled a person's eyes watering right before crying.

“Tasukete kudasai!!”, it yelled at her again.

Wait, is it asking for help?!

Before she could think much about it, the ground near the bear caved in from a gun blast. The shot took out one of its arms, but with it, it knocked the little plushie into the air. Yara tracked it as it fell back down. Once it landed, it scrambled quickly out of sight behind a different stand, similar to a mouse.

“Fuck, I missed it!”, said Yamasaki.

Hasegawa and Yamasaki circled the stand the bear plush hid in. Neither wanted to shoot it this time. They worried it could hide in the debris. Looking from the front of the stand, Yara could see the lined-up display of non-sentient plushies strapped to the wall wiggling. She could follow where the alien was crawling under them. She hesitantly took up her gun.

Is-is this right? I thought we were supposed to be killing each other? But it asked for help!

She tried not to think about it too much. This was what she was told to do. Yara aimed, closed her eyes, and pulled both triggers. After the gun's time lag hit, the back of the stand burst open. Stuffing flew everywhere once again. But this time the unmistakable pieces of flesh and blood were mixed in with it. Its head and a bit of torso landed with a splat near her.

In a tiny voice that only Yara could hear, the bear mumbled out, ‘Okaasan…’. It shivered once before succumbing to its injuries. Staring down wide eyed, Yara felt like the air had been ripped from her lungs. Did she just kill a child?

Hasegawa and Yamasaki came up to congratulate her. Nishi reappeared, seeming irked. Yara wasn't really processing any of it. On autopilot, she shambled behind the others as they moved on.

After following the scanner some more, Yamasaki pointed to an area off the paved route. Before their group could act, another plush bear broke from the trimmed hedges onto the path in front of them. This one was baby-blue and bigger than the first one at two feet tall. Crashing behind it in pursuit were Izumi, Chiba, and the two Japanese brothers that Izumi gave Y-guns to.

The bear seemed shocked to see another group of hunters and fumbled in its run. Izumi took the opportunity to extend his sword, skewering the poor thing. He sliced it vertically down from its center. The bear wriggled on the ground still alive. With a bored look, Izumi stabbed it in the head, finally killing it.

“Where the hell have you three been?” Izumi turned to look at Hasegawa, Yamasaki, and Nishi. He took notice of Yara, but didn't say anything about it.

“We were helping the American girl get acquainted” , piped up Hasegawa. Izumi rolled his eyes, knowing exactly why Hasegawa would want to help her. “She already got a kill today.”

“That's not impressive, considering what we're fighting.” Izumi stepped on the bear to pull his sword out. “It's not a good excuse to separate, either. We hunt as a group for a reason.” Izumi gave Hasegawa a cold look that made the man recoil.

Chiba suddenly stepped between them. “The targets have been a pain to track. If this keeps up, we'll hit the time limit. Splitting up may have been the right move.”

Izumi and Chiba stared down at each other. The hostility between them was palpable. Izumi didn't like the affront to his authority. Chiba wasn't about to let Izumi start another pointless fight. Neither seemed willing to back down from this. Eventually, Izumi was the one to step back and consider Chiba's words. He looked at his own scanner, then did a quick headcount.

“Fine, we split up. Get into groups of two. Veterans, take a newbie with you. If anything goes wrong, it's on you Chiba.”

Yara had absolutely no clue what was happening. Hasegawa saddled up next to her. Chiba patted one of the new guys on the shoulder. Yamasaki was chatting up the second newcomer. That left Izumi and Nishi. Izumi wrinkled his nose at this.

“Hasegawa, switch with Nishi.”

“What! Why!?”, shrieked Hasegawa.

“Yeah, what the hell!”, yelled Nishi.

“Nishi knows English. That'll make things easier.”

“You take her then, Izumi!”, said Nishi. The boy scowled. He already didn't like working with others, and now he was going to be forced to be some empty-headed girl's tour guide!

“I don't feel like it.” Izumi, addressing everyone, “Move out, take different directions. If you hit too much trouble, meet back up with another group. Understood?”

Chiba and his apprentice walked away. Yamasaki shrugged his shoulders at Hasegawa before he left with his new partner. Izumi started to leave too, then noticed Hasegawa wasn't following.

“Hasegawa.”, Izumi said as an order rather than a question. Hasegawa looked back at Yara once. He was tearing up. After a sniffle, he dutifully teamed up with Izumi. Yara, again not understanding, tried to go along with him, only to be held back by Nishi.

“Stop.” Nishi sighed. “You're with me.”

Nishi honestly thought about leaving Yara to her own devices. He knew though, if it ever got out he disobeyed a direct order, Izumi would never get over his grudge of having a boss kill stolen. If the aliens in this round weren't so passive, Nishi could imagine himself feeding Yara to the lions to get back at Izumi.

“Why? Did we really split up? That seems like a bad idea…”

Nishi ignored the young woman's questions. He checked his own scanner. The others were already going in the direction of the bigger groupings of bears. Much to Nishi's annoyance. There was one blip not far from the area where they were first teleported to. He started in that direction with Yara in tow.