"Dad"!

A tiny voice called him from the room with the fleur-de-lys on it. Shin looked up from his book and faced the room door, wondering if he had really been called or if that had just been a voice in his head.

"Dad"! the voice called him again, this time a little louder. "Dad"!

Coming, sweetheart he called back telepathically, pushing the door open gently and going inside the room.

Lalia's room was fairly on the purple side, as in most of the room had purple in it. Purple walls, floor, bed, wardrobe, floormat and occasionally some of her toys as well. Lalia herself was currently on the little pom-pom carpet her doting grandmother had sewed for her out of violet, lavender, pale purple, eggplant and amethyst pom-poms years ago, playing with three of the twelve plushies she currently owned; a plushie jet, a plushie spider and a plushie Xandrias.

Yeah, no prizes for guessing there. Her late mother was pretty much unbiased about plushie shapes, and also had a strange taste for them.

"Dad"! she mewed, looking up at him at that point.

Hey sweetheart Shin signed, sitting down on the carpet with Lalia and lifting her into his lap. What are you doing?

"Consultin' my plushies", she mused, hands clutched tightly around the jet plushie.

Consulting them? Shin repeated, raising an eyebrow. What are you guys discussing?

"About who's gonna have 'em after I sell 'em off", she responded in a tone that even for a four-year-old still nailed the seriousness.

Why do you want to sell off your toys? Shin asked her, surprised.

"I heard you, grandma and grandpa talking yesterday, when I was about to go to bed", she explained, hugging her stuffed jet to her chest and rocking back and forth on his lap. "You said you haven't been able to find a job lately after you got fired from your first one, and so that got me thinking...See, there's a garage sale this Saturday, and I thought, 'if I can sell my plushies this Saturday, then I can probably get some money for dad'".

Shin was just speechless.

"Something like that", she added, still rocking back and forth.

No.

Shin's features contorted slightly, his chest heaving more than was normal at what he had just said.

"No"? Lalia repeated, now confused (and concerned) herself.

No, you don't have to sell your toys to help us Shin signed out, feeling a sort of pressure well up in his breastbone as he held his daughter in an embrace, like he was now unwilling to let her go anywhere.

"But grandma and grandpa said"- Lalia begin in an attempt to state her point before her father cut her off.

Lalia, I know what you heard, and I know what you're trying to do based on what you've gathered, but understand me when I say it isn't necessary Shin told her, his voice low and solemn.

"Why"? Lalia asked him, eyes widened with confusion. "I mean, I'm just trying to help".

Yes, you are, and I appreciate what you're trying to do Shin breathed, unable to hide the rising tension in his hand movements now. But please, that isn't necessary. I'll find a job. Don't worry, I will. Looking for one takes time

"I'll hold you to that", Lalia murmured, reaching up to hug her father. "Just take it easy, alright? Don't pick something you'll regret later".

I will see about the last bit when I come to it Shin told her as she slid off his lap and once more onto the pom-pom blanket on the floor. Until then, just...be good to your grandparents while I'm not around, alright?

Lalia gave him the 'OK' sign with her fingers as she turned back to finish 'consulting' her plushies. Shin left his daughter's room, feeling a knot of fear bulge in his throat. There was no denying that they had been running short of money lately, and when Lalia had realised that she had taken to spending more time in her room with her toys than with her father or grandparents. Shin's parents had taken the death of their daughter-in-law badly themselves, but not so much that they were inconsolable.

But Lalia, unfortunately, was a different case altogether.

Shin retrieved the book he had dropped earlier and went back to his room to begin packing up a few things. He was going to find a job, and like it or not, he knew he needed to support his family somehow.

Don't pick something you'll regret later. The words echoed at the back of his head like a bell, and Shin pondered on their meaning for awhile. He looked out the window for a moment, then back at the book in his hands.

Then, the world went black and he found himself someplace else.

-

Ichika's Apartment, 6:30 p.m.
Shin's P.O.V
Headache. That was all I felt at the moment. A splitting headache that felt like a drill was boring right into my skull right there and then. I kept my eyes shut for a few more minutes, seeing if that would help ease the budding headache, then deciding against it, I opened them.

I found myself in what looked like a small bedroom in an apartment, but this one seemed like a downscaled version of what I could usually find back home. The walls, which had been painted over with slaked lime, were now threadbare and the dried lime was peeling off in places, exposing the stony grey concrete underneath. The floor was covered in smooth white tiles that, though old, looked clean and shiny, such that I could see the reflection of my hand in it.

I pushed myself up on my elbows and looked around. In the far corner of the room, a medium window let in whatever bit of moonlight that managed to find its way in. The room was illuminated by a weatherbeaten desk lamp that sat on an equally weatherbeaten desk in the far corner of the room. In one drawer below I could see papers of sorts filling it to the brim, a few having already dropped to the floor. A shanty looking bureau stood nearby, doubtless chock-full of clothing.

I stole a moment to examine my hands and legs. From thigh to toes, my right leg was swathed in bandages, so was my right hand from shoulder to halfway up my palm. My entire abdomen, chest and, well, most of my upper body was wrapped in bandages too, with some of the excess looped over my left shoulder. A bit of blood had already seeped through the bandages on my leg, while my arm and midriff were clean of blood for the most part.

My eyes fell on a round plush toy by my side. It was a cheesy yellow, with two curved lines for eyes and a mouth curved in a wavy motion like a cat's and two pink blush spots on its 'cheeks'. It also had two stubby hands and a tiny black fedora hat on its head.

I picked up the plush toy and squeezed it gently, smiling as I heard a 'squeak' sound from it. It reminded me of the plushie heads inspired by Ace, the fourth member of the Ultra Brothers back home whose mouth was naturally shaped in the likeness of a cat's mouth whenever he smiled, that for some reason really had the ladies gushing over him a lot. A local toy store had made plushies inspired by his face once, and the entire stock sold out in less than an hour.

Crazy but true. Lalia still has one of those plushies.

I stroked the plush toy gently. It had some sort of very short faux fur covering it, and I could feel the patterns where the person owning it had petted, stroked and even hugged the toy many times. They were rather big prints, coupled with a few smaller ones that likely belonged to a five or six year old child.

Then it hit me; the lady and little girl I had seen before I passed out had rescued me!

But where were they now?

Judging by the decor of the room I was in, this obviously belonged to the lady, not the little girl. In it I could pick out a strong aura of anxiety. From the plush toy I was holding in my hands, I could see a distant memory of her crying and hugging the toy while another figure crouched over her, holding something in its hand. I could sense pain, anger, sadness and tension, the last one hanging in the air like a shroud of smoke.

"Oh! You're awake! Just in time too".

A kind and gentle voice snapped me out of my reverie at that moment, and I turned away from the plush toy in my arms to the door.

-

Ichika's P.O.V
So I had expected the alien to revert back to his original form from the ball shape after I'd brought him back home, and in that moment I had also re-bandaged his wounds before heading off to make myself some tea.

What I hadn't expected, however, was the alien guy to actually be sitting up in bed and playing with my Cheese-kun plushie.

I wasn't totally freaked out by this, since he would still need to get up either way, but to be honest, the idea of an alien walking around the house didn't seem to click to me at the moment. Nevertheless, I was surprised enough to comment and it got his attention.

You...saved me? he asked in, surprisingly, sign language, cocking his head to one side. His voice was warm, a low and gentle baritone, and it melted right through me.

"As best as I could", I told him, stepping inside. "Are you alright"?

I'm not in pain, if that's what you're asking he replied, setting my Cheese-kun plushie down on the pillow beside him. I'm confused by where I am now, though it feels like home.

"This is Earth", I explained, sitting down on the edge of the bed just beside him. "And this is my apartment. You can stay here till you've recovered, or until more of your kind finds you-whichever comes first".

He seemed to accept that explanation for the moment, tilting his head back and observing as I lifted his arm and checked the bandages on it, making sure they hadn't come loose. He gazed at me and my whole bedroom out of two large eyes shaped like domed almonds that glowed a bright but soft ivory. They lacked pupils, but it wasn't hard to note that they were still moving and following my hands as they petted and checked the bandages on his arm, leg and midriff.

Then I heard a soft purr. It blanketed the whole room and filled the atmosphere with a warm, comforting aura. I looked up at the alien guy again and realised he was purring. The sound resonated from his mouth and throat, very much like a cat's, and when I touched his chest, it vibrated against my hand like a purring cat's chest.

Are you alone? he asked me at that moment, barely breaking the silence between us.

"No", I told him. "I have a daughter".

Oh he exclaimed back in sign awkwardly. Little more that would be said was better exemplified by the silence between both of us.

Finally, after a long moment of silence between us, I left the room and flopped down on the sofa, remembering the conversation I had with my brothers about the alien guy a few hours ago before he woke up.

-

Five hours earlier
"So this guy's about as tall as you, you say"?

"What's he like"?

"He's unconscious or awake"?

"Does he have guns on him"?

"Everybody shhhhhh! You're overwhelming her"!

I sighed in relief when I heard Goji's voice quieting the others. They all settled down with a bit of a hesitant note but at least they were quiet now.

So my mom gave birth to male quintuplets five years before she had me, and for reasons I figure that have to do with convenience she named them after numbers, adding the prefix -ji to the end in accordance with most Japanese boy names. They were Ichiji, Niji, Sanji, Yonji and Goji, literally meaning first son, second son, third son, fourth son and fifth son in Japanese.

Don't get started on what my name means. I have no idea and also, the meaning changes depending on the Kanji symbols used to write it. Take a guess if you want. (Answers in the comments section⬇️).

"I know this sounds stupid, crazy and possibly or maybe definitely life-threatening (not that I care much about the last bit) but please", I pleaded for what seemed like the umpteenth time in our Zoom meeting that day, wondering if I was actually going to regret consulting my brothers about this. "Unless you hear me out. Unless you listen and note every word here, you won't understand any of this and this just might be the only time any of us gets an opportunity to change their lives for good"!

"Yo, little nii-chan, we're all ears", Ichiji quipped at that moment, his voice a solemn baritone. "Tell us what it is".

"What gives? Your slimeball of a husband's tryna get you back again"? Niji asked, concern marring his usually handsome features. "Thought we chased 'im off, eh"?

"No, he hasn't harassed me in awhile", I explained, almost chuckling at the look Sanji had on his face now, the look that warned people that he was going to go on a slugfest any moment now. "But I found something out in the woods".

"What is it? New kind of berry? A mushroom? Herb"? Yonji asked, eyes sparkling excitedly. "Something you fancy cooking"?

"Actually, it's a bigger prize than that", I muttered, not feeling too sure about the answer.

"Well, what is it"? Goji asked, curious. "Come on little sis. Don't leave us hanging".

"Well...I...uh"... I swear I really did not know how to explain this to them.

"Sis, is something up"? Sanji asked me. "You don't really seem like yourself today".

"Bruh, what're you expecting of a lady who's been with that son of a bitch, eh"? Niji countered, eyeing Sanji with an incredulous look. "Heck, even the pets he's gone through looked like they were better off in the slaughterhouse after they were with him. What's to say people wouldn't be the same"?

"Nii-chan, present company", Ichiji reminded him.

"What the-? Oops, sorry sis", he apologised, turning his gaze away from the camera for awhile. "Just really pissed, that's all".

"It's okay", I assured him, my cheeks getting warmer by the moment.

"So, are you gonna tell us what this is all about? Or are you gonna show us"? Yonji asked, winking mischievously.

"I'll show you guys, but you've gotta promise me something", I told my brothers.

"What is it"? Goji asked.

"Do not, under any circumstances, scream", I warned them, picking up my phone and heading to my room. "What you're about to see is perhaps the most mind-boggling thing any of us has seen in our somewhat very short lives, so just...until we get out of my room, alright"?

"Righto, lil' sis"! Sanji noted, giving me a thumbs up.

I sighed and opened the room door, where the alien was still unconscious and lying down on my bed. I had done my best to rearrange his body in a way that he wouldn't wake up with a stiff arm, leg or back when he woke up and I'd fished out a thick blanket to wrap him up in, so now said alien was nestled snugly in the confines of a plush blanket and two pillows, still unconscious but thankfully breathing and very much alive.

The moment my brothers laid their eyes on him, they were so shocked that anyone who just got off from playing Half Life might have thought they were looking at five Fast Headcrab Zombie victims (with the Headcrabs off their heads) through the screen. I mean it, their mouths were hanging open and their eyes were widened in shock. I quickly tip-toed out of my room and back to the hall after they had their fill and they immediately bombarded me with questions.

"What the heck is that"!?

"Is this some sort of sick joke you just fell for"!?

"That guy looks like a suit"!

"This is awesome! Who is he!? Or...she"?

"Easy there guys", I assured them, hoping they'd calm down before the sudden ruckus woke the alien up. "And to answer your questions; I don't know what he is, just that he's some sort of alien entity. No, this isn't some sick joke I fell for. I literally did haul this guy back home and he can bleed and all so he's not a suit. He's also unarmed. And he's a 'he', just to note".

"So you say", Ichiji noted.

"What're you gonna do with him though"? Sanji asked me.

"I'll be taking care of him", I answered. "Till he's healed".

"You WHAT"!? Yonji screeched, shocked.

"You heard me. I'm gonna take care of him", I repeated.

"Sis, you sure that's a good idea"? Goji asked, raising an eyebrow suspiciously. "I mean, this is an alien we're talking about here. You could end up killing him without meaning to".

"What if he's evil"? Yonji suggested, making Sanji glare at him. "What if he's just faking unconsciousness and when you least expect it, he kills or knocks you out? Or maybe he'll plant some sort of freaky alien parasite in you that'll turn you into a zombie and take over the Earth"-

"If that-alien, whatever you call that guy-wanted to do any of that, we wouldn't be talking to Ichika right now", Niji reiterated, cutting Yonji off there. "Sure, argue that some can stay unconscious for God knows how long, but if that alien had any malicious intent then he probably wouldn't have accepted Ichika's help in the first place, much less be lying there and not attacking her while she's got her guard down. And he's wounded, so he's probably too weak from blood loss, not wholly unconscious. Heck, he's most likely aware that he's being helped, not harmed".

"Speaking of that, how DID you lug that guy all the way home without anyone seeing you"? Ichiji asked, cocking his head to one side in confusion. "I mean, six feet and six inches tall? Unless you're good at remaining inconspicuous, then anyone fitting those height measurements is kinda hard to miss".

So I told them how the alien had shrunk himself into a glowing ball so I could carry him home in my backpack.

"No shit", Sanji gasped. "He actually did that"?

"Toldja' he knew he was being helped", Niji laughed.

"Anyways, I don't know what his motives are, but I'm sure it's more of 'I'm stuck on this planet and can't get off it at the moment', which means he'll be staying here for quite awhile", I explained, feeling a little unsure of what I had ahead of me now. "As for most of the other issues, I think I can handle them myself".

"You don't mind if we come and visit you this weekend"? Ichiji asked me, his voice low with worry. "Just...you know, for company. Things haven't been well back there, have they"?

I sighed deeply and looked around. He wasn't wrong. Ever since I'd given up everything for who I initially thought was the ideal husband for me, I hadn't had much left, especially since he and my former in-laws had tried to take everything from me. I hadn't focused on getting everything back yet, just whatever that was necessary (my café's workers, food, etc). Most of my time had been devoted to bringing up Miko as well, since she was very young and definitely had no part in any of these problems in the first place. After what Endo had done to me I also didn't really trust myself around men, to boot.

Nowadays, Endo just wouldn't give up and go. I had filed multiple restraining orders against him in the past four and a half years but none of them succeeded in keeping him away. He would continually harass me, either turning up at my apartment or workplace, and there were only so many things I could do to keep him away. I had gone through many phones, changing my passwords and email addresses so he wouldn't find me, but he still did.

Finally, after several years of that, my breaking point hit after he insulted me for letting their relationship down. I lost my shit at that moment and called the cops on him. At present he was in jail for his crime of harassment and domestic abuse, evidence provided by the scars on my body caused by him beating me bloody with belts and hangers, and my constant gastritis caused by his in-laws (who were currently under house arrest) starving me provided the doctor with enough proof to help me testify against Endo and ensure he was locked up for good and wouldn't be let out anytime soon. I guess I might've gone too far, but all that occurred when I was carrying his daughter and to be honest, I've never recovered much from the trauma.

My brothers and parents had been supportive of me the whole time. After my former in-laws had officially kicked me out, my mother let me live with her until I could afford an apartment for myself and Miko, and she was very patient with me when I was still in a state of shock and was pretty much frightened of being around men to the extent I would start crying or screaming if there were men present or if I could hear them. My father and brothers wisely kept their distance from me during this time, even after I'd recovered, though Ichiji visited me every now and then whenever he could.

"Sure, you can come", I told him at length. "I'll inform Miko about this visit. She'll be excited".

"Take care, lil' sis", Niji purred, leaving the group meeting. The rest of my brothers did too until all that was left was me. Then I left as well.

I plugged my phone in it's charger and sat down. Then picked up the landline phone and, after contemplating the thought for a few minutes, dialled a number pressed the 'call' button. I heard a dial tone and then a deep husky 'hello'?

"Tazuki-kun? It's me, Ichika", I told the person on the other end of the line. "How quickly can you get to Sakura Condominium"?

"Half an hour I guess", he muttered. "What's up"?

"I'll fill you in on arrival", I told him before putting the phone down on the receiver and wondering if this had to a the one thing I was going to regret or not.