The Shark followed me up the stairs to my apartment on the third floor. It was quiet in the apartment complex, except for the odd sounds of cars passing by on the street below. I looked back, making sure she wasn't having trouble carrying her stuff. I was a little embarassed she looked as if nothing was wrong, when I think I would be a little strained doing the same thing. I'm guessing under that winter jacket of the Shark were muscles and not normal arms like everyone else.

"So, is this your floor or what?" Saki asked me, completely in breath.

"Yeah, it is. My apartment is the next one up." I pointed to it with my keys, already out to unlock the front door. Almost immediately, Saki rushed towards the door with her stuff, grabbing my keys on the way. I shouted in surprise before asking, "What the hell?"

The Shark ignored me, and fiddled with my keys as she stood in front on my door. She messed around with putting one key, flipping it upside down and scratching the knob as she seemed to try and force her way into my place. She eventually got it in right and turned. As the door opened she entered, the keys hanging from the door knob. I rushed to follow her, grabbing my keys on the way and stopping before I tripped over the two bags that were in the front hallway. The door on the opposite end of the hallway was closed, which was unusual, since I always left my bathroom door open. Upon second thought, I realized I shouldn't be shocked she needed to "freshen up" and held her composure quite well. I gingerly grabbed the bags as I kicked the door shut and carried them past my kitchen, between the front door and bathroom, and carried them into my living room, placing them next to my couch. I then headed to the closet on the other side of the room, where I kept spare towels and blanket and other things, and made sure there was some room. I had to stack the towels on top of one another so that you would have to pull them out like a game of Jenga, and took full use of the depth of the closet, but there was enough space for The Shark's things. I bet she would like a little privacy with them. By then, she was done in the bathroom, as I turned around to her drying her hands on her jacket, before looking at her stuff in the living room.

"Oh, yeah" she looked at the doorway and realized her stuff had been in the way. "Thanks for moving my stuff in here."

I was glad she wasn't angry. I hitched my thumb behind me to the closet space. "Well, you can put some of your stuff in the closet so it isn't in the way. And well," I decided to be clear on living arrangements again, "there are blankets in there as well for when you go to sleep. I don't have any extra pillows, so you have to use the couch pillow for tonight."

She looked at the lumpy pillow and shrugged. "Eh, better than nothing. I can go to the store tomorrow to get a real one."

"Wait, so you have money?" I just had the odd idea she was broke, but having cash on her made sense.

She looked at me like I was stupid. "Of course! My parents weren't that heartless, and I still have savings from that bar job."

I couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you too young to be working at a bar? I mean, you are still in high school and stuff, right?" I knew the Shark was a high schooler, but that was about it.

She just shrugged as she walked towards her things. "They didn't ask how old I was, and there ain't no rules about being old enough to be working security."

The thought of her wearing the American shirt that said "Security" in bold letters, oversized in my imagination, stopping middle aged men from getting too rowdy almost made me crack. Almost.

"Are you still working there?" I asked, curious if she could use a contact there to find a new place sooner rather than later.

I saw her eyes narrow towards me. "Hey I thought me crashing here was a out-of-the-goodness-of-your-heart kind of thing, and not a hotel?"

I was taken aback and stuttered out, "N-no it is. But I mean, you will need a job when you can get your own place. And you have to pay for it somehow."

She looked at me and shrugged. "Won't be open for a bit. Boss went for a vacation for Christmas and won't be back until the second week of January. The Lazy bastard..."

I didn't have a comeback for that, so I went silent. She dragged her bags over to the closet and crouched down, rummaging through them as she put somethings on the space I freed up for her. Awkwardly, I sat down on my couch, having nothing better to do, and decided to turn on the TV. I would normally grab a pillow for no real reason, but I threw the pillow on that side of the couch to other side. I thought it would be a bit rude. I flipped over to the 8 o'clock news, which didn't have much but filler stories and crap about America on since it was the season. I sat there, kind of paying attention to the news, when I felt someone sit next to me. I saw The Shark sitting in the middle portion, leaning back taking full advantage of the couch's backing. She saw me look at her, and spoke.

"Well, I ain't gonna put my head down where you put your ass, and I don't wanna put my head down where I had my ass, so I'm sitting here. Got a problem with it?" She told me in a strong tone. I didn't have anything to say to that. She grabbed the controller out of my hand. "And what are you, 40? Who watches the nightly news anymore? Let me put on something good." She plopped back into the couch, asserting it as her domain in doing so, and began to channel surf. I was fully expecting her to end up watching a documentary about sharks, or a gangster film.

The Shark apparently likes to watch music talent shows.

After suffering through a man try to sing a K-Pop song (by Girls Generation, according to the Shark) we were watching a lady sing some hit song from the 90's. The girl sitting next to me seemed to be relaxed, and began talking in a quiet voice.

"I love this show, but I never got to watch it at home." She told me, her eyes peeled towards the screen. "My dad was always watching some sports network, and I broke the TV in my room after the Kiyoko incident."

"What is the Kiyoko incide-" I begin to ask, but she shot a glare at me.

"You don't know about what happened to Kiyoko? It was all over the news. She was awesome! She was gonna get huge with her next CD, but she quit signing to marry some American millionaire game maker. I tried to punch him the first time I saw him, but he was on the television..." The enthusiasm she started with died out during her confession. Again, I prevented myself from laughing, and decided to lie to make her seem less pathetic.

"It happens. I was so mad at one light novel my brother got me into that I threw it into the ocean." That one wasn't a total lie, the novel did piss him off and he threw it in disgust. "I had to buy a new one so I could have a full set, so that was a waste of 1200 yen."

She ignored me, since she was refocused on the show. It really didn't matter though. We just kept watching the show through 9 and 10 pm. It was more music shows, which aren't really my thing, but I was entertained enough Around 10:30pm, she elbowed me in the ribs. This was the first time we really acknowledged each other in two hours. I looked at her, rubbing her stomach. "Do you have anything in the fridge I could eat right now? I haven't eaten since breakfast." A growl from her stomach gave evidence to this.

I just pointed to my fridge. "Yeah, I have some extra beef stir fry and rice in the fridge. I was gonna eat it for lunch tomorrow, but have at it." With a single bound she jumped up and scurried over to the kitchen. Watching her swing open my fridge and grab the leftovers, I realized I was thirsty and followed her into the kitchen. She was busy dumping all the food onto one plate (I had kept it separated) and stuck it in the microwave while I was busy getting a glass of tap water. I noticed her begin to look around my kitchen for something, and the answer was obvious. I pulled open the counter drawer closest to the front door, and pulled out a pair of disposable chopsticks. "Here you go."

She gave me a smirk and said "Thanks" while I finished up my glass of water. I suddenly realized that I was actually tired, but had been to somewhat entranced to the TV to realize it. I let out a muffled yawn and stretched over her head, waiting for her meal to heat up. "Okay... Mizukuro-chan," I had to think a moment about what her real name was, "I'm heading off to bed. Make sure you clean up after yourself, and turn off the TV before you fall alseep."

I could tell she thought I was an idiot. "I'm not some little kid, Haruka-kun." She insulted me with the girl's name. "I know damn well what to do." I just rolled my eyes before heading off to the bathroom.

While I was brushing my teeth, I heard her say something else. I didn't catch it at first, but I knew what it was. "Thanks for letting me stay here." I was kinda touched.

I slipped by her, sitting on my couch with the food and a cup of water herself, and told her good night, but she ignored me. I quickly changed into my pajamas, and pulled out my phone to check my email's. Nothing important. I placed my phone by my bedside, and turned off all the lights, and began to think about the girl that was, judging by the sound, rinsing off her dishes. She was surprisingly normal, I thought to myself. She liked music stuff, and was not a stonewall conversation wise, though it wasn't like we tried to get to know each other. I was just letting some scary Yankee I knew about crash in my apartment, and all she knew was that some guy took pity on her and gave her his couch for a night or two. But she seemed nice enough. I was actually beginning to think to myself, something crazy. Maybe I would like to get to know this cute Shark a little better. I let out a yawn as I turned in my bed. Yeah, I thought to myself, get to know her a little bit better tomorrow. This was my last thoughts before I drifted off to sleep.

My dreams that night about knowing a shark-girl that helped me explore the world of One Piece as a pirate crew are for another day entirely, however.