"You sure you can carry all that?" Sueka asks me.

"Trust me, I'll be fine."

Although I'm having a bit of trouble carrying back some of the groceries because of my broken arm, it's nice to know that I can still be of some use to Sueka. I know that we have a good bit of food, but I was hoping to stock up before inflation hits in full force. On the upside, Sueka seems to be doing well at her current job. At least, judging by what she says. On the downside, I'm still unemployed...

Luckily for me, the newspaper story that mentioned the incident did not mention me. For better or worse, I don't want any attention drawn to me at this point. Especially considering how that ended up causing me trouble in Terraz.

After our little trek from our apartment to the grocery store, I'm glad to have some time to ourselves and relax. Honestly, that was probably the most excitement I could take all day. As soon as we reach the door to our apartment...

"Hey, Sueka. Would you be an angel and get the keys from my pocket?"

"Sure thing!"

Quickly moving the groceries she had in her left hand all to her right, she searches my right cloak pocket for the keys.

"You sure you didn't misplace them?" she asks.

"Hm? Oh boy. One moment."

I put down my groceries and search the same pocket. She's right, it's not in there. I search my left pocket. Again, nothing. Come on! I know it's here somewhere.

Pan! Pan! Pan! Pan!

"AHA! Here it is!"

It's always in the last pocket I look in...

Gacha...

(Hm? That's odd. I don't remember leaving it unlocked.)

I pick up my groceries and push the door open and...

WHY THE HELL IS PRETTY BOY IN HERE!?!?!?!?!?!?

"Damn," he says, looking through our fridge, "Where's the meat?"

Mmmmeeeaatttt............... I'm feeling sick already... Wait, nevermind that. What's he doing here!?

"Um, excuse me?"

"Oh, hey! Welcome back! I've been waiting for you!"

I look at the apartment number then back to him over and over. This is our apartment. No doubt about it. But still...

"This your apartment?"

"Nope." he says bluntly.

"Then what are you doing here uninvited!?"

"Friend of yours?" Sueka asks.

"I hardly know the guy!"

"Oh, don't be a douche. Here, come in and relax."

"I shouldn't have to have an uninvited guest tell me to relax in my own home!!!"

(Okay... Calm down. There has to be a logical explanation for this.)

Sueka and I walk past him and begin putting the groceries in their designated places. ... Is it just me, or is this place colder all of a sudden?

"Hey, how long did you leave the fridge open?"

"The instant you saw me. No more than that."

I finish putting away the groceries I brought in.

"Look, I don't know you very well, nor do I wish to in this manner. I have to speak my mind, I wasn't expecting any company, and we're unprepared for this. Next time, inform us in advance."

"Fine. Fine. Don't be a fucking grouch."

(His personality is nothing like what I saw this morning.)

"Hey, you'd be too, if somebody broke into your house. How'd you even get in here?"

"I came down the chimney. Ho. Ho. Hey, where's the hoe?"

"You trying to start something?"

"Only if your ass is ready."

(Good Rhoken, this guy's disgusting!)

"H-h-h-hey, brother?"

"What is it, sis?"

"What up, my bitch!" says the uninvited guest in English.

With lightning quick reflexes, Sueka jumps in front of him and grabs him by the collar of his shirt.

"You got something to say, punk?" she says slowly, with a menacing glare.

."..So, this is what you're into?" he says to me, pointing to Sueka.

"If you're going to cause a ruckus, get out! Anyway, what's the problem, sis?"

At this question, Sueka instantly lets go of the boy's shirt.

"There's a...dead girl in the bed."

"EEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHH!?!?!?!?!?!?!?"

I rush over to the bed Sueka uses and, sure enough, there's definitely a girl in it. She is...or...was around our age of 16 and a height around 150 centimeters. She has short hair of a very bright lavender tint. Her skin is very, very pale, although not to the point of white. And, yes, I will say it, she's flat. Flatter than Mydrea-sama flat. But the most interesting detail on her person is the fact that...

She's a corpse with a cherry popsicle in her mouth. Not only that, there are quite a few popsicle stains all over what would have been her pure white T-shirt.

"Is this the kind of sick humor you're into?" I say to the boy.

"Oh, hey! When the hell did she get here?"

(What's wrong with this guy!?)

"Anyway, dead girl off the bed!"

I walk up to the bed, bend over to girl, and say, "And get your ass and your sick sense of humor out of our...!"

HHHHHYYYYUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!

(CCCCCCCCOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!)

I wouldn't remember this, but, according to Sueka, as soon as I touch the corpse, my body was instantly frozen in a thick layer of ice.

"Nnnnnn....." I grunt.

"You okay, Oren?" I hear Sueka say.

"Oooohhhh... my head. What happened?" I say, rubbing my eyes. Honestly, everything is still blurry.

"Prosti." I hear an unfamiliar voice say with little enthusiasm. In spite of this, the voice is fairly high in pitch and arguably quite sweet in nature.

As soon as my eyes clear up...Why the heck is the dead girl just centimeters from my face!?!?!?

"Hello..." she says lazily, waving her popsicle.

I back up towards the wall as fast as I can. Sure enough, she's alive. But, when I touched her, there was practically no body warmth whatsoever.

"Not bad if you can wake up that quickly from hibernation," I hear the boy say. I look at him and see him sitting in the corner with his head down, as if he is resting.

I let out a sigh. "Okay, I have given the situation a good bit of thought, and I have something important to say..."

"And that is..." the girl chimes in weakly.

After a few seconds of silence. It's time to take action.

I pick the girl up,

Toss her into the boy's arms,

Shove the duo towards the door,

And literally kick them out.

"GET OUT OF OUR APARTMENT!!!!"

"Ow, what gives?" the boy says in English.

I quickly close the door and prepare to lock it.

"Hey, sis, where are the keys ag...!"

BATAN!!!!

And the door is slammed right into my face. The girl is the first to walk back in.

"Wake me when we're ready to talk," she says, flailing her arms, her eyes closed as she walks towards the bed.

I look to Sueka and, judging by her blank expression, I think we're in agreement.

(What the heck is going on?)

I won't go into much detail, but our uninvited guests kept us on our toes for a while longer. In the end... I gave up.

"Alright, alright. What do you want?"

"Well, it's about time," the boy says.

At hearing this, the girl sits up in bed... and looks straight at Sueka's chest.

"Wake me when the nightmare is over..." she says, and goes back to sleep.

"Ooohohoho no," the boy says. "It was your idea to come here, Crys. Now get up."

"I don't wanna. The boob monster is likely to get me..."

I can't remember the last time I've seen Sueka so dumbfounded and shaken up by such a statement. She practically froze in place, deathly pale.

Eventually, we finally sat down at the table and began to talk.

"I apologize for coming unannounced," the girl begins to say, "But we didn't know when you'd be back. So, we chose to wait for you inside."

"That still doesn't explain how you got in here," I retort.

At this, she points her index finger upwards. Almost instantaneously, a thin icicle points up from said finger.

"Lock-picking."

(Figures.)

"Anyway... My name is Crystal Chiru. As you probably have guessed by now, I'm an ice tone. Nice to...meet...you..."

She falls asleep right before we finish our handshake. COLD!!!

"Crystal, wake up, damn it!!!" the boy says.

"Prosti..."

The boy then gets up and politely bows. "My name is Yamiso. Yamiso Hallow. Seems you guys are not used to my profane vocabulary yet. You haven't been around many darkness tones, I take it."

An ice tone and a darkness tone. Can't say I remember too much about their cultures. What I do know is that ice tones never gain weight, no matter what they eat or how much they eat. For this reason, their body structures are the slimmest you'll ever see in order for their bodies to not overheat from body fat. Yes, that includes breasts for the girls as well.

I really seem to mention breasts a lot for character descriptions. It's like I'm in some ecchi light novel or something.

Anyway, then there's darkness tones. From what I've heard, they are literally the best looking race on the planet, but they're all profane and very...one track minded. Or, at least, they seem to base their decisions quite a bit on their own personal fetishes.

"Okay," I say, "And what brings you here?"

"We came here for you." Crystal says.

"Why me?"

"It's about time you showed up," Yamiso says, "We've been waiting for backup for a while."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Holy shit... I didn't expect you to be this out of the loop. I pity Mydrea for having to work with you."

!!!!

I jump up from my chair and grab Yamiso's shirt collar.

"YOU KNOW MYDREA-SAMA!?!?!?"

Silence ensues for a bit...before Yamiso bursts into laughter.

"Sama!? Never heard that one before! Now THAT's funny!"

"Yes..." Crystal says. "We know Mydrea..."

I release Yamiso.

"And...what happened?"

"Seems... she was deceived. Using the last of her strength, she fought off fake members of El Escudo and requested that two locals be sent to New Vegas. She even paid for their medical expenses... Still, we...don't know anything else."

(Mydrea-sama...did all that?)

I still hate her for what she did, but...

"Anyway," Yamiso says, "With Mydrea-'sama' out of the picture, we're short on members in our own case. That's why we need you."

"Again, why me?"

"You were with the so called 'traitor' Mydrea in Terraz, right?"

(God, I'm jealous!) Yamiso thinks to himself.

"What's that got to do with anything?"

."..How long were you with that bitch, brother?..."

I don't even need to turn my head to know what kind of glare Sueka is giving me.

"I was just showing her around, I swear."

"You ssssssuuuuurrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?............"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Okay, you're forgiven!" she says in her 'cheerful' voice.

"Okay, it seems you really are out of the loop, so I'll get to the point. We have reason to believe Selot is alive, contrary to what the newspaper says, and he is in this city. We have also reason to believe that the hydra figure responsible for Terraz's destruction is here, as well."

(What!?)

...

A chance...

A chance to avenge my father...

A chance to avenge my friends...

A chance... to make up for my mistakes...

The memory of losing my home... The feeling of regret in my heart... The chance to meet up with that traitorous girl and that single-minded snake... It's all right here! A chance! This...is my chance!!!

"Now, on to the other details..." Crystal begins.

"When do I sign up!?" I immediately interrupt.

"WHAT!?" cries Sueka in surprise.

(Something...is really...off about this newbie.) Crystal thinks to herself.

"I won't let you down. I swear it!"

Once again, silence ensues. Yamiso-sama and Crystal-sama look to one another and shrug. Yes, I now trust them enough to have formal titles for them. However, I won't make the same mistake with Mydrea-sama. They seem trustworthy enough to work alongside and don't seem the types to betray others like Mydrea-sama. I won't work alongside anyone else who will betray me and hurt those I care about.

I may not know much about what's going on, nor can I confirm the relationship of these two to Mydrea-sama, but this is a chance. A chance to make things right! And besides, these two... I don't know what to think of them. Rumor has it that the Keisetsu is a group of fighters. The best of the best. But... these two... don't look like fighters to me. What is their relationship to Mydrea-sama? Are they out for revenge as well? Is Mydrea-sama considered a case target?

However, if they are people to look out for...I'll be on my guard. Never again. Never again will I make the same mistake with Mydrea-sama.

"How long do you plan on staying?" Crystal asks.

"How long will this mission of yours take?"

"In that case," Yamiso replies. "You need a job?"

I perk up at this question.

"I'm listening!"

"Alright then," he says, patting me on the shoulder. "You start in the morning!"

"You got it!"

After this, we say our goodbyes on rather friendly terms. Sure, they barged in uninvited, attempted to eat our food rations, slept in my sister's bed, froze me, slammed the door in my face, and so on. Other than that, this was a great meeting.

A chance...

(Father. I promise you. I won't make the same mistake again. I will make you proud.)

As soon as Crystal-sama and Yamiso-sama reach their own apartment, the two begin to rummage through their things.

"What do you think of the rookie?" Crystal asks.

"Not much to look at, but there's no mistaking his fighting prowess after what I saw earlier today. Makes you wonder what he can do using his rhime-based attacks."

"He didn't seem well informed."

"We're never very well informed on our missions. It's for that reason Mydrea ended up in the trouble she got herself into. We should request better communications at the next damn Kyusen conference."

"I hope this Oren character will be alright."

"I'm sure he'll be fine. After all...we are members of the Keisetsu."