Walking down the street, Haruko reveled in the stares and whispers. She loved getting attention, especially if the attention was focused on her body. She just wished that the first native girl she knew, Mamimi, were still in town. It was almost tempting to locate the traveling human, just to tease her about the bouncing belly she was now sporting.

“What happened to you?” called out a memorable voice, that Haruko had been hoping to find. Smirking, Haruko looked across the street at Ninamori, who was looking at her funny.

“I’m carrying Naota’s baby,” Haruko cooed, holding her inflated stomach and rubbing its sides.

“No your not,” Ninamori snapped. “I saw you last night and you didn’t even look like you were in the first trimesters of pregnancy. What kind of idiot would believe that you were pregnant?”

“Naota’s father believed me,” Haruko retorted. Then she slapped her head and cursed silently. She had just proven Ninamori’s point for her.

“Are you going to tell me why you look pregnant or not?” impatiently Ninamori asked. She was a busy girl and didn’t have time to listen to the ramblings of Naota’s twisted lover.

“Let me think about it. No!” Haruko turned around and dashed off, leaving Ninamori in her dust. As Haruko vanished in the distance, Ninamori shrugged her shoulders and left. She nether cared or wanted to know what was wrong with Haruko. Maybe if Ninamori was lucky, Haruko had been infested by alien spores and was going to burst. She let that pleasant thought stay with her as she headed home.


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Naota was aware of little inside the womb. He found himself falling into brief hibernation periods at any given moment and even when he was awake, most of the sound was blocked out Haruko’s heartbeat or the layers of flesh separating him from the outside. He didn’t mind being unaware of what was going on, he just reveled in the warmth and safety of the womb and let everything else fad away. During a nap, he was awoken when he found himself falling face first onto a cold, tiled floor. Sputtering, he fell to his stomach on the ground and gave a yelp at suddenly going from warmth to cold. Shivering, a set of clothes was thrown over his body. Looking up, he saw Haruko pulling up her pants.

“Get on the clothes, I had to strip and rob a fat kid to get them for you,” Haruko told Naota without letting her eyes fall on him. Groaning, Naota slipped on the clothes and got to his feet. His whole body was slick with Haruko’s juices, so the clothes felt uncomfortable on his naked body.

“What’s the deal with making me change here?” Naota asked, feeling less then happy about being tossed out so unceremoniously from his cozy womb.

“I’m leaving and I didn’t want to carry you in my womb for the ride.” Naota paled and stumbled back in shock. Was Haruko really leaving or was this just one of her sick jokes. He wanted to believe that it had to be a trick, but the cold shoulder that she was giving him made it doubtful.

“Where are you going?” Naota stuttered, trying his hardest not to start crying like a child. He had final realized that he loved Haruko and now she was leaving him, it wasn’t fair!

“The city where we last spotted the cloaked guy. I figure that I can pick up his trail there and see where it takes me. This guy is trouble and I don’t let trouble come to me, I go to the trouble.” Haruko got a viscous grin on her face and opened the stall. They were in the public bathroom at the bus station. Naota followed Haruko out of the stall and ran to her. He grabbed her shoulders and spun her around. He wasn’t going to let her get away again.

“YOU CAN”T LEAVE ME!” he screamed in her face. Stubbornly refusing to let Haruko walk out of his life like she was never there.

“Naota,” Haruko said with a small grin on her face. She looked at him sadly and placed a hand on his head. She looked into his fearful eyes and gave him a message.