After a week, the pretty human girl had scanned about 20 square miles. Followed- in somewhat secret- every step of the way by Yato. She now found herself in what was once a park, shifting through piles and piles of trash. What ever she was searching for much be important, her search had slowed down here so she could scan every inch. Maybe if she saw how fun it was here, with him, she would give up on whatever she was searching for.

"Now, remember the plan." Yato whispered to the cockroach on his shoulder. Nora squeaked in acknowledgement, her antennas twitching. They hid inside an empty store, on the second floor of the mall. Below, the young woman was scanning the check out area.

Yato and Nora nodded to each other before she leaped off his shoulder and scurried down the escalator. Yato watched as Nora made her way across the large tile floor, and came a couple feet behind the alien. Nora's chirp echoed throughout, signaling the young woman to whip out her gun and fire at the noise.

Yato swallowed a shriek, fingers coming to cover his mouth. He nearly cried in relief when Nora crawled out of the smoking hole in the floor and hissed at the taller girl. The latter blinked at the small insect, slowly putting down her gun. At this, Yato let out a sigh of relief, the plan working.

Nora took a step back to shake herself out and chirping again at the newcomer. The girl's eyes widened at the sight and she put her gun away with a cute gasp.

"A periplaneta americana!" she gently reached out a hand and let Nora inspect it before climbing on. The brown-haired woman then brought the insect closer to her face, holding her palm at eye-level.

"This was one of the few species suspected to still be surviving! But I haven't seen yet so I assumed it wasn't true!" she rubbed a finger along Nora's spine just the way she liked it, causing her to buzz. Yato melted at the sight, then resumed the plan with renewed vigor. He patted behind a collom and took a deep breath, cupping his hands around his filter.

"Nora!" Yato called. More often then not this was met with a blue hyper beam of destruction. This was one of those times.

"Ack! No! Wait- its- wah- its me! Stop!" Yato scrambled behind one column at a time, each one blasted his wake by the trigger-happy girl below.

She stopped shooting at the sound of his cries. "Ugh. Yato!"

"Why hello! Fancy meeting you here!" Yato leaned back against a pile of shopping carts that wobbled before falling on him.

"I told you to stop following me around! I'm on a mission!" her shout carried over his groans of pain. He quickly got up and shook it off, pausing to desperately unhook the wires tangled on his compactor.

Yato hopped over the railing to the first floor. "Don't be like that! Besides, I'm not here for you! I'm here for Nora."

At this she gave him another funny look- one that had increasingly more annoyance in it each time- and put her gun down.

"And what, is a Nora?" she put her fingers to her head. Yato noted with slight hurt that she still didn't put the gun away. He crossed his arms and cocked his hips.

"Not a 'what', a 'who'." Yato pointed down at her feet.

She looked down at the cockroach, then glowered back at the Wall-E, thorughly done with his nonsense. But before she could tell him off again- or better yet, blast him- Yato began quickly tapping his shoulder and made clicking noises. To her surprise, the cockroach perked up, then scuttled over to him and up his leg. Planting herself happily on his shoulder, facing the young woman to chirp.

"This is Nora. Cockroaches weren't perticulally liked a long time ago but they're actually quite smart." Yato said. He booped Nora's face with his fore finger, then froze, and turned to look at the only other person besides him.

"You're not here for her are you?" He sounded reserved, almost scared or hostile.

The girl in white blinked at the tone. After a brief pause, she sighed.

"No. No I'm not."

Yato watched her with a small frown as she leaned back against a bench.

"Why can't you just tell me what it is you're looking for? Maybe I can help you!"

"I told you it's classified!" Her voice rose back to it's annoyed state, "It means it's none of your business!"

"Come on! Who am I going to tell? There's no one here! And I don't have contact with the mother ship! Or any ship for that matter! You're not going to find someone who knows this planet better than me!"

"I already told you, it's not really something you can carry around or keep on a shelf! I can work so much faster by myself instead of you holding up item by item and having me scan each one! "

"Well I wouldn't do that if you told me what it is!"

They both huffed at each other, glaring as Nora looked between them. This common argument ended with her whispering how the information was classified. As awful as it sounded, Yato relished even these interactions. At the very least, his speech was starting to be more 'up to date'.

"Can I at least get your name?" Yato spoke softly, pleading. The young woman squeezed the nozzle of her gun and pressed her lips together.

"Just stop following me around. Leave me alone." She spoke to the floor. Yato watched with slumped shoulders as she stepped quickly out the store, glass doors sliding shut behind her.

Nora hummed against his neck, trying to snap Yato out of it. The silence seemed to stretch on as Yato's systems did a check on what was putting stress on his heart. He held up his finger to nudge Nora away from tickling his neck.

"I think I've been away from work long enough, Nora." Yato said.

The sun was starting to go down, officially making it one month since the space ship brought the brown-haired beauty to Earth. It proved to Yato, at the very least, that people still existed far beyond the Milky Way. There was still a chance for them to return. And when they did, he would be ready and waiting, with a cleaned-up world behind him.

Yato and Nora found themselves self working on the piles near the ocean port two days after his fight with the girl in white. He still watched her on the television, at first doing everything in his power to ignore her, but finding he simply couldn't. He spent yesterday charging, then compressing the shopping carts he jumbled up.

Now most of his squares consisted of old fishing nets and discarded glasses from cruises. His body jumped when he heard the sound of an object flying through the air at break-neck speed. It was a noise that found it's way into his dreams recently. He looked around to see her flying from behind skyscrapers, her eyes and scanner pointing toward the ground.

When she landed on one of the ships, Yato found that he was moving towards her. He didn't want to give up. Maybe he should get her something nice, the people who left to live on Heaven's Sun were said to be very materialistic. Yato didn't realize he was running till he slowed to a jog when she rose up out of the ship. The wind was strong today, and it whipped though her pigtails. Her white suit practically glowed in the sunlight. She was defiantly something not of this world, someone from Heaven.

She flew to the next boat. A large cargo ship made for transporting large hunks of metal or cars. He picked up the pace when her boots caught the attention of the crane magnet. The large disc swayed towards her, she seemed to freeze for a moment before she flew in reverse. The exhaust pipes of her boots hit first, she let out a yelp of alarm.

Yato knew how to turn those things off, but he couldn't fly. She would have to dangle there while he figured out a way on the ship.

"Aarggh! Take this!" Her body twisted and she fired a series of shots at the magnet and flew free. She then turned to fire at the ship. The outside of it cracked open as heat borrowed through it. It couldn't handle the destruction, the ship fell onto the one next to it. Then the next one, and the next one. The boats fell like dominos, each erupting in a ball of fire.

The woman drifted back towards shore, landing softly on the ground between the boats and Yato. She plopped down with her back to him, and pulled her knees to chest. As Yato got closer- seeing the light dance across her face- he found himself feeling the same awe as when she first stepped out of her pod. He then remembered the look she often gives him, and decided to take a slow approach. By the time she noticed him there, and pointed her gun at him, Yato already had the compactor in front of his face.

"It's just me," he said above the roar of the fire. She didn't say anything, but he heard the gun clack on the hard dirt. The Wall-E sat on the ground a little more than three feet away, his compactor on the ground next to him. Yato found himself glancing at her now and again. Her gaze was unfocused, her eyebrows knitted together.

Ceasing his chance, Yato scooched a couple inches closer to her. And again when she didn't look up. The third time he moved closer, he let out a sneeze. Scaring her, her head whipped to face him.

"Gesundheit," she squeaked. Yato yelped at being addressed, the dragged his compactor a little closer. They held each other's wide-eyes before relaxing slightly. Yato kept his eyes on her, even when she turned to look at the fire again. Always on her.

"So, find it yet?" Yato said after some time. She looked at him with tired eyes.

"No," she replied.

"Is it really that important?"

She turned on him with fury he knew wasn't anger, but determination.

"Yes! I can't tell you exactly why- that's classified, you know that- but I would be revered! Someone my family could be proud of, even though it's a job they didn't want for me!"

"I see. Good for you, it's important to do what you want. Even if it's not the same as what your mom or dad want." Yato murmured.

Hiyori rarely shared anything about her life before she landed here on Earth. Whenever she did, she would immediately kick him, or try to shoot him. This time, to Yato's shock, her scanner turned on him again, buzzing when he came up negative. Yato turned to face the fire, not wanting to push his luck.

"So, um," she sounded unsure, "Does that thing you carry on your back, help with your- uh- work?" Her words sounded more confident at the patient, reassuring look Yato tried to convey. He perked up at her question.

"My compactor? Yeah! See, this big square is actually two. The one on the end opens up to be a hallow cube, with one wall missing. This is where the garbage and the second square go." Yato stood and made his way to the closest pile of waste, just enough for once trash cube.

He swung his handle, the empty cube just scraping the ground and scooping up all the trash, with practiced ease. Yato covered the trash with the second iron square and pushed the handle down. It slipped down the cut-out slat on the opposite wall a little farther than normal, but it got the job done. Yato then pulled the handle up, letting the compressed trash roll out.

The woman let out a noise of understanding, even as the trash collapsed sightly. Yato sat back down, this time much closer to her. She didn't move away, instead watching him re-flatten the compactor and fasten it to his back.

"Tada!" Yato pointed at the squished cube with jazz hands. His mouth opened when she actually laughed. How he missed that noise. Yato gave a toothy smile back. After her breath evened out,  her brown eyes flickered down to the ground. He long legs stretched out a bit and her fingers twirled together. They looked at the fire together again, the air lighter as it whipped around them.

"Hiyori Iki." she said. Yato turned to look at her with same smile.

"Huh?"

"My name. You-you asked remember? It's Hiyori Iki."

Yato flipped on his knees to face her, eyes wide and shining.

"Oh? Oh! Hiyoriiki! What a nice name!"

"No, no!" She waved her hands in font of her face and Yato immediately backed off.

"Not 'Hiyoriiki' it's Hiyori. Iki is my family name."

Yato copied her position, holding his own hand over his knees. He had heard of 'family names'. They were something old-money humans had. Yato hummed in acknowledgement and thought of his own name. The one that was miss-read on the application his Father filled out. Yato covered up whatever his expression was with another smile. He then remembered that his mouth was always covered by the filtration mask. No wonder she thought he looked 'creepy', as she put it, he hoped one day she could see his smile for real.

"It's still a beautiful name."

"Th-thank you!" Hiyori's face turned into a nice pink color. Yato felt warm, his body heat had increased. It made it a little harder to breathe. Yato straitened up. No it wasn't him, it really was harder to pull oxygen through the mask. Yato looked around, his sensors buzzing.

"What wrong?" She fell away from him when his speaker started to blare an alarm. The word 'Warning' filled his vision as the wind picked up rapidly. A dust storm. Coming across what used to be the ocean, from behind Hiyori. Yato lunged at her with his hand outstretched, only for his forehead to be met with the nozzle of her gun.

"Hiyori!" Yato looked again behind her wide wide eyes. There was no time to make her understand. The natural disator program in his mainframe kicked in, his body moving almost without thought. Yato whipped off the compactor and dug the handle into the ground, holding onto it with both hands. He pressed his forehead to the squares- effectively covering his face- and shut his eyes.

"Yato? What is it- What's going on?" The ground trembled as Hiyori stood up, turning around just in time to see the storm take her. Her feet left the ground and she tumbled backward, Hiyori could barely see her hand in front of her face.

"Yato? Yato!" The wind tore apart her call, but he heard her anyway.

"Hiyori!" Yato looked around, eyes much more suited for this type of weather. The glowing blue lines of her suit flickered a couple meters behind him. Yato stood on got his ground, putting away the compactor, he made his way towards her. She was looking away from him when he called to her again.

"Yato?" Hiyori looked at him through her helmet, feeling his hand wrap around her wrist. It was large and calloused, warm and slightly damp.

"Come on! This way!" Yato tugged her towards his home, his gps pointing the way on a small map to his lower left. He couldn't stay in these conditions long, so he pulled her to go faster. They ran, her confusion and protests drowned out by the wind in his ears.

"Do you have night vision?"

"Wha-?"

"Do you have night vision? Can you see?"

"No! I can't see a thing!" As if to prove the point, Hiyori stumbled on something Yato served around. At her cry of pain and alarm Yato halted and faced her. The glass of her helmet hit his chest hard, they met eyes for a second before he bent down and gathered her in his arms.

Now he was sprinting, every thud of his legs jostling the girl he carried bridal-style. Hiyori eyes were wild and her mouth worked uselessly. She tried to tell the Wall-E of piles and objects appearing out of nowhere, but he leaped and ran around without a second thought.

Yato came to a stop at some looming structure. He put Hiyori down, but kept a tight hold on her arm. The whirling of a mechanism sounded piercing against the wind. She was then pulled forward, her booting hitting metal. Yato closed the door, and the storm abruptly cut out.

"Yato?" she tried again.

"It's okay. We're safe here."

Hiyori blinked for a moment as unnatural light illuminated the space. Christmas lights and other funny bulbs showed that she was in a rectangle cuboid made of metal. The side lined with rotating shelves, covered in things he collected over the years. He had told her about the cooler of treasures he carried, but she hadn't given it much thought. 

"Welcome to my home! I'm sorry I don't have a place to sit, or a drink to offer, but there's my bed! So make yourself comfortable!" Yato waved his arms around and gestured to everything. He didn't know if she had heard him, if she did she didn't show it. Her wide eyes scanned the shelfs, she brought a hand to cover her open lips.

Yato stayed silent with a smile as she picked up things off the shelfs, throughly inspected it, then gently put it back. She scanned things once and a while but eventually made her way to the back of the trailer.

"We could be in here a while, so I thought we'd watch a movie! It's my favorite, a love story between a- No wait! Don't shoot Mr.Fish!" Yato scrambled to his feet and ran to hit the button on the singing wall fish. The trailer went quiet again as the plastic bass went still. Yato then turned to look at the girl pointing her gun at it.

"It's just a toy. No need to get worked up." Yato tapped the barrel of the gun with his finger. Hiyori glanced at the gun then back at Yato with narrowed eyes. When she let the gun fall to her waist, the man tsked at her.

"Ah-uhn. My house, my rules. That thing goes away. Can't have any holes in the walls." Yato stared with his hands on his hips till she took the hint and re-clipped the gun above her tail-bone. Both their attentions were stolen by the magical noise of the Capybara Movie's musical intro.

"A Capybara Movie? I've never seen this one."

"You know Capybaras?" Yato shouted with glee, "I love Capybaras! This is my all time favorite movie! Aren't they just the cutest thing! There's an amusement park across town but Wall-Es are only suppose to work, so I never got to go. But once I was alone I learned to hack into the coasters! I know which ones are safe so we can go together!" At some point during his speech, Yato started dancing with a silver trash lid on his head. Hiyori let out a chuckle at the sight, his childlike excitement, ignoring the pity in her heart. He sometimes slipped bits and pieces about his life during their conversations. Those pieces did not show a happy picture. Hiyori wished-in these moments- she could take him back with her.

"You know we have a Capybara Land on Heaven's Sun. It's a bit smaller than the old one, but still." Hiyori offered. She had to shield her eyes from the dazzling happiness the Wall-E radiated.

"For real? You do! That's amazing! You have to take me!" Yato pulled her into a hug. Hiyori fought her way out of it.

"Take you? Uh, oh, well I don't know. The ship is really for trained Eve-scouters."

Yato's stomach plummeted. She couldn't take him back with her? She was just here to get something then leave? Was she not just the first one here?  Humanity wasn't coming back?At his pained expression, Hiyori quickly backtracked, palms held up to try and pacify him.

"What I mean is, um, I have to get a ship for the two of us. You know? So I can come. Pick. You. Up?" Hiyori's voice trailed off at the end. Yato's face morphed into something unreadable. No goofy smile. No whining or teasing. He wasn't even blinking, his vivid blue eyes stoping her breath.

"Sure, Hiyori. That sounds nice." Yato quirked the corner of his mouth up. Hiyori tried his name again, but it came out as a whisper.

"But hey, nothing we can do now, right? Let's just watch the movie." Yato made his way to the television, showing the capybaras struggling through a famine. Hiyori squeezed her fist above her heart, then made her way to sit cris-cross next to him on the flat mattress. He pulled her up to dance for every song, spinning her around while she clumsilly stepped on his iron-toed boots. When he talked though the entire movie, pausing only to sing along to the songs, Hiyori only smiled.