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DAY 1

A young girl with long, blond hair carried a black plush cat named Lil Whiskersin her left hand.

She was wearing her school uniforma white blouse with a red plaid bow and skirtand donnedwhite headphones.

Kotone Baisho was staring off into space as she walked the streets to her house. A carefree smile

was on her face.

Until she heard someone running up behind her.

She turned around, eyes wide open in shock and her smile no more. A tall, muscular man with a

gun was charging up to her.

Tears filled Kotones eyes, and fear prevented her body from moving.

Wha- what do... what do you want from me?

The man replied bluntly. Youve got something valuable, kid.

No I dont! Please, leave me alone!

Yeah, the man saidthat you probably dont know bout it. Now sit still and be quietor things aregonna get a whole lot more ugly!

Suddenly, there was the sound of a slap, and the man fell to the ground in an instant. Standing

behind him was Kotones twin brother with his hand outstretched.

Her brother looked down at her. Didnt I tell you to waitfor

The man grimaced and shot the boy.

Kotone walked over to her brother. YORI!

The man stepped on her chest, sending her body down to the pavement.

Thats what he gets for interferin.

He pointed the gun at her as a smile crossed his face.

Sleep tight.

///////

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Arata Kajiya was a Reaper in his early twenties. A high-ranking Reaper, to be sure, but he tried not

to think about that. He was wearing an expensive tuxedogotta look good when youre attendinga meeting right after your big promotioninstead of his usual sweater. He didnt really want toforgo the sweater that his mother knitted for him right before she passed away, but this meeting

was kind of important and he decided showing up in casual clothing would be in bad taste.

At least, thats what he thought, but apparently none of the other Reapers had picked up on that.

He glanced down at his watch7:00 AM on the noseand cleared his throat and smiled.

G-Good morning, everyone! he said nervously. My name is Arata Kajiya, and as Im sure youreaware, Im the new Conductor of Shibuya.

I understand you may all be a little on edge after the events of the last three weeks. A weeksworth of players were all put on standby except one, many of our Reapers, including most of our

Officer Reapers, were erased, and on top of that, the Red Skull Pin wreaked havoc on the minds ofthe Realground. And I know what youre probably all thinkingAll that happened under thecommand of a Conductor that we all trusted. How do we know that this new guy isnt going to beworse?

He sheepishly glanced down at the ground as he ruffled his curly, light auburn hair.

Well, I cant force you all to trust me, but I can promise you somethingthe Games that IConduct will not be like the last three weeks at all. The Composer and I will run a fair Game, free

from influence from our own agendas. But theres one thing that I need from all of you: your co-operation.

Yeah, you probably dont trust me yet, and I get that. But please hear me outeven if TheComposer and I do everything perfectly, we cant keep tabs on each and every Reaper at once.You all are responsible for upholding the integrity of the Game and making sure everyone follows

the rules. Because, without rules, what are we? Nothing more than superpowered maniacs with

wings, thats what.

In conclusion, as we start our new game this wonderful Monday morning, lets wipe the slateclean. Put aside any animosity you may have towards another Reaper, or any anger you may have

regarding the events of the last three weeks, and lets have a fresh startfree from any schemingor corruption.

Lets have a new seven days.

///////

When Kotone woke up, she was sprawled across the pavement of Scramble Crossing holding her

Lil Whiskersin her left hand. Hoards of people walked right over her, never once noticing orstepping on her.

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She got up and sighed. Reaching into her pocket with her free hand, she pulled out four pins and

put them on as she talked to herself.

So. This is the start of The Reapers Game, huh? And just when I thought that getting mugged wasthe scariest thing that could ever happen to me. But, hey... if we work together, well be fine!Right, bro?

There was only silence. She turned around, but her brother wasnt there.

Bro?

She turned around, looking for someone in the crowd.

Yori? Yori, where are you?

She started running. Not in any particular direction, just somewhere in the crowd.

Yori?

No sign of Yori. She ran somewhere else.

Yori?!

She looped back around to where she maybe might have started, but she couldnt tell for sure.

YORI? YORI! I CANTI CANT FIND YOU!

She sat down, clutched Lil Whiskerstightly, and started crying.

Yori...

Her cellphone started buzzing. She sighed as she pulled her phone out of her purse to look at the

text message.

Game #1

Go to 104. Your time limit is 60 minutes, and the price of failure is erasure.

--The Reapers

A searing pain shot through her right hand.

AIIIIEEEE!she screamed, digging her right fingers into her stuffed cat.

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She didnt need to look at her hand to know what had happened. Engraved there was a timer,slowly ticking down. 60:00. 59:59. 59:58. 59:57...

Her breathing increased rapidly and she started trembling. I cant do this. I cant, I cant, I cant...

She sat in silence for a moment.

But wait a minute. Is this really any way to behave? Crying like a cowardis that how Yori would

want me to carry myself? If he could see me right now, hed probably tease me for being such a

wuss...

She stood up, puffed out her chest, and clenched her fists.

A-alright, I can do this! Even though Im scared, Ill pull through!

She smirked.

I dont need Yoris help to walk to a stupid building! Im an independent cat lady who dont need no

man! I mean, as long as manage to avoid the Noise, I should be fine, right?

She started to briskly walk over to 104.

Nothing to worry about at all.

Suddenly, something leaped onto her face. She stopped running, but inertia was bound and

determined to make her loose her balance. She wobbled her arms to regain her footing and

grabbed the whatever-it was with both hands, trying desperately to pry it off her pace.

EEEEEEEEK! GETITOFFGETITOFFGETITOFF! she screamed as she fumbled around.

After a few desperate tugs, the thingwell, now she could see that it was a frog Noise of somesortwas off of her face. Unfortunately, now a whole herd of Noise had gathered.

Another frog leaped onto her shoulder, and then two more onto her opposite arm. A wolf lunged

at her, which she deftly avoided by quickly hopping out of the way. The rest of the wolves started

charging towards her, soon followed by hopping frogs.

Kotone looked behind her and smiled. She was standing in between the noise and 104.

At this point, she did the only thing she could do.

She ran.

///////

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Koki Kariya and Uzuki Yashiro stood on top of a building, watching the Players in the Scramble

Crossing. Uzuki was trembling and giggling gleefuly as she looked down at them, while Kariya just

stared and frowned.

Youre really set on this promotion, arent you? Kariya asked.

Uzuki just continued to giggle.

Kariya sighed.

Look, I understand if you wanna move up in the world, but weve just had an unprecedentedthree weeks of work without a break. Did you really have to volunteer the two of us for a fourth?

Kariya, stop being such a slacker!Youre gonna ruin my big break! Uzuki said, still staring downat the Players and with a wide smile still on her face.

Life is too short to spend it chasing after pipe dreams.

Uzuki turned to Kariya and frowned. This isnt a pipe dream, Kariya! This is a full harvest!

She motioned towards the vast multitude of players. Look at them all! Not only are there all thepeople from the RG who died last week, theres also all the people who should have played theGame last week but couldnt!

And yet here we are on a roof, Kariya snarked.

Hmm... Youve got a point. Come on, Kariya! Were going into the warzone!

But I never even wanted this promo

Uzuki walked away from their lookout point towards the stairs. Kariya sighed.

Well, if it makes her happy, he said as he followed.

///////

Kotone arrived at 104, panting frantically. As she looked down at her hand, she sighed in relief to

see the timer gone.

Phew!

That was easy. That wasnt really anything to be afraid of, I mean, really, what was I thinking?

Crying like some sort of idiot on Day 1, thats just silly

Kotone! her brother said.

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She turned around. Standing about 10 feet behind her was Yori.

Yori? Yori its you! She rushed towards him and enveloped him a hug.

No time for sentiments, Kotone! I need you to forge a pact with me!

Her eyes widened in fear. R-right now?!

Yes, right now!

F-fine! I accept!

A blue light enveloped the two of them as they closed their eyes. The two of them floated up

above the ground, and once they had stopped rising, they opened their eyes. The blue light went

away, and they floated back down.

Suddenly, with a huge smile, the speed of an arrow flying through the air, and the force of a highly

lethal samurai, Yori grabbed Kotone by the shoulders. Thank you, Kotone! Thank you!

Youre welcome! But, um... why the big rush?

Yoris smile suddenly disappeared. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted.

Because, at that moment, out of nowhere a wolf noise came barreling into him like a rhino.

Starting from where the wolf had struck him, an orange light spread across Yoris body andenveloped it. Almost immediately afterwards, a yellow light shone up from the ground right underKotone and filled her field of vision.

When the light dissipated, everyone else was gone, even Yori. It was just Kotone, the cat, and the

Noise.

And, curiously, there was now more than one. A frog had joined the wolf.

Alright, Kotone, her brother saidas she switched which hand she was holding her Lil Whiskerswith. Although she could hear him, she couldnt see him. What pins do you have on?

Umm... she glanced down at her pins, having forgotten already. This one has a lightning bolt, sono points for guessing what it does...

She looked up to see that the wolf had gotten closer and was about to bite her. At the last second,

she thrust out her left hand. Sure enough, a bolt of lightning burst forth, forcing the wolf to a halt.

Her eyes widened and she jumped back in fear.

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WOAH!

Did it work? Yori asked.

A smile crossed her face. HECK YEAH, it worked!And, umm she jumped out of the way of thefrog; the wolf had started charging againThis one might let me use some sort of tornado attackbut Im not sure.

Kotone held her hand out at the wolf again. No attack came to stop the oncoming mound of fury.

OHHOLYCRAP!

She jumped out of the way.

Im not able to use this pin.

Ive only been able to get one pin to work for me. No shame in that!

OK, this one is white with a blue triangle pointingassuming I put it on rightto my left. Icebullets?

She held her hand out just like she did with the lightning, and a shard of ice flew out from it. She

managed to hit both the wolf and the frog.

Alright! It worked! This last one is a lime green heart with a white border on a light blue

background. Sounds like a healing pin.

Best to wait, then,Yori said.

What? No, not best to wait! Use it now!

Didnt you hear what Mr. Kajiya said?Until healing pins evolve, they generally only have one useper combat. So unless those noise are kicking your ass hard, lets hold off.

...Did he say that?All I remember was the stand and think part.

Pay attentionnext time, Kotone.

Kotone shrugged. A frog jumped up towards her face, and she responded by shooting lightning at

it.

Instead of falling to the ground like she had expected, the frog exploded into what looked like TV

static. She could hear applause.

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Way to go, sis!

Thanks, bro! She curtsied just like a princess form some European country would. Not that herbrother could see.

Next, she fixed her gaze to the wolf.

It was right next to her, about to lunge. She held her hand at it, and let fly a quartet of lightning

bolts, followed by three ice shards. Her attack was cut short, however, by what she could only

assume was the pins recharging.

Now it was the wolfs turn.

It lunged into her and knocked her straight to the ground. The back of her head was filled with

intense pain. She got up, held back tears, and held her hand to the wound.

H-How are you doing, Yori?

Bad.

Then Im using the pin.

Its hard to describe the sensation of using a psychic ability that has no real correspondence to anymotion youre making in the real world, but for Kotone it felt a little like making a wish on ashooting star. She just stood there and thought really, really hard about her pin.

Except when she was done thinking, she felt no better.

The pain was still raging on. She spat out what little words she could. It... it didnt...

KOTONE! Her brother yelled.Kotone, dont die on me!

She could feel something swinging back and forth in her right hand.

The hand that she put the cat in.

She looked down at her hand to see Lil Whiskers swinging back and forth in her hand as she heldhim by the arm. And he was looking up at her.

I let you die once! Yori continued. I cant let you die again!

Do... do you want to be free? she whispered to Lil Whiskers.

He nodded.

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She gently set Lil Whiskers down on the ground. Much to her surprise, he immediately rushedtowards the noise and punched it.

A lot.

And it wasnt just a rush of ineffective hits, it was solid punch after solid punch. He was landinghits like a trained fighter.

He finished his combo with a monster of a punch that Erased the noise.

The stuffed cat.

Kotones jaw dropped. After a few seconds she was able to regain her composure.

Yori, it looks like you wont have to!

Lil Whiskers ran back to Kotone and huggedher leg right before the yellow light came back.

When the light faded away, all the people were back and Yori was right at her side.

She immediately turned to him and said Yori, the pin worked and it brought LilWhiskers to life!Somehow!

What.

I know, its a little weird. Well, a lot weird. But, hey, he gets the job done, right?

Lil Whiskers walked up to Yori and grabbed his leg.

And look! Kotone said. He loves you!

Hesitantly, Yori lowered his hand and gave Lil Whiskers a head rub.

Thatll do, cat. Thatll do.

///////

A man woke up stark naked and sprawled across the floor of his bedroom, and he realized almost

immediately that he had amnesia.

Its a strange experience, to be sure. Thinking to yourself I have no memoriesis probably one ofthe most terrifying things you can experience.

But thats just what happened to this man. This man, by the way, is one that you are allacquainted with, so I shall now refer to him by name.

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Sanae Hanekoma had no memories.

He sprung to his feet with a worried look on his face and panted nervously.

I... cant... remember... anything...

He looked around for some traces of his identitya photo ID, a piece of junk mail, an old schoolassignment, anythingand found that it was significantly harder when you dont even know whatspecifically it is.

He went through a pile of papers on his desk, but they all seemed to be sketches of graffiti or pin

designs.

Come on, come on, theres got to be something...

Finally, at the bottom of the stack, there was a check.

Pay to the order of Sanae Hanekoma

AH-HA! My name is Sanae HANEKOMA!

In the corner of his eye, he could spot a notebook and a permanent marker, both of which he

quickly grabbed.

The notebook was, unfortunately, blank. Regardless, on the first page he wrote:

Sanae Hanekoma

artist (graffiti, pins)unsure if professional or amateur

very disorganized

I woke up naked as a jaybird and Im not sure what that means

He capped the marker and looked back at his artwork.

It was all bright and colorful, and captured what he assumed was the heart of the bustling, urban

life in an optimistic fashion. At the top of each piece of paper, two phrases were written: Enjoythe moment more and Gather. A cat featured very prominently in most of his designs, as didthe words Do what you want, when you want, how you want.The design at what was once thetop of the pile, however, seemed to be built around a simple, yet mysterious, five word phrase:

THE WORLD ENDS WITH YOU.

He set that one aside in hopes that he would figure it out later.

This point in time seemed like a good opportunity for getting some clothes on, so he walked over

to his dresser and pulled out a plain white t-shirt, briefs, and a pair of grey sweatpants.

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He made some changes to his list:

Sanae Hanekoma

artist (graffiti, pins)unsure if professional or amateur

very disorganized

I woke up naked as a jaybird and Im not sure what that means

briefs over boxers

regarding art:

o cats

o Do what you want, when you want, how you wanto

The world ends with youo Enjoy the moment moreo Gather

and was about to embark on an information hunt when his phone rang.

He followed the sound to the top of some shelves attached to the head of his bed. The phone

prompted him to place his finger on a white square, and once he did so, it scanned his fingerprint.

The phone unlocked and displayed a new text message from a sender that it couldnt identify.

hey, this is shiki. i just got a new phone, and im texting you so that you have the number.

Inspiration struck. Sanae smiled and started typing.

Shiki, could you please come over as soon as you can? I need help with something.

im free tomorrow at noon.

whats the situation?

Ill explain once you get here.

Thank you.

no prob

Sanae put his phone back, lied down on his bed, and sighed.

Who are you, Sanae Hanekoma?

///////

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Day 1: Reapers Game

COMPLETE

///////

DAY 2

Yori woke up on Tuesday in the same place as the day beforeon the pavement in the Scramble

Crossing. He could hear the sounds of the RG crowd, but none of the Players seemed to be making

any noise.

Except behind him, he could faintly hear the voice of a girl.

I-ro-ha-one, i-ro-ha-two, i-ro-ha-three, i-ro-ha four...

He turned around and saw his sister and Lil Whiskers bent down, doing some sort of exercise. On

iro they were holding their knees and bending them, and on ha and the numberthey tapped

the ground.

I-ro-ha-five, i-ro-ha-fiveno, waiti-ro-ha-six, i-ro-ha-seven...

Hey, Kotone, Yori said. What are you doing?

She and the cat paused their exercise. One moment, Yori.

The exercise stated again.

I-ro-ha-eight, i-ro-ha-nine, i-ro-ha-hold!

They reached for the ground as Kotone counted One hippopotamus, two hippopotamus, three

hippopotamus... Once she got to twenty hippopotami, she sprung back up and grinned.

Hi, Yori!

...Hi. What was that?

Oh, I was just doing some of my morning exercises! Mr. OCathain taught me this one right before

winter break. He says that he learned it in America while he was taking Tae Kwon Do. But in the

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version he learned, instead of saying iroha, you say hana-dul-set-one, hana-dul-set-two... she

was doing the exercise as she demonstrated the original chant.

Kotone, you can get up now.

Matt OCathain (Kotone insisted on spelling it Cathin, as that was the proper spelling, but

OCathain was how the man himself spelled it) was an Irish-American and the assistant teacher in

Kotones English class. He was a nice man, and he and Kotone had grown very close.He was also

the club advisor of the track team, which Kotone was a member of.

...So, anyways, she resumed, I added it to my routine. I didnt get a chance to do any exercises

yesterday, but since the Reapers Game is pretty physically taxing, I figured Id get some in before

the mission

Just then, the air was filled with the cacophony of hundreds of phones ringing at once. The Baisho

twins both simultaneously reached into their pockets and grabbed their phones.

Game #2:

Find the source of the energy spike and bring it to me. Ill be waiting at 104. Your phones

have been given an extra functionality. Your time limit is 60 minutes, and the price of

failure is erasure.

--The Reapers

Pain shot through Yoris left hand as the timer took its place.

He loaded up the Reapers Game app on his phone. Overlaid on the normal map of Shibuya was an

indicator of the energy spikes location.

Kotone, its in the Station Underpass.

Kotone nodded. She was on her phone, too, holding up each of her pins to the camera. Apparently,

she was taking advantage of the apps ability to tell you the power of each pin.

Did she not do that yesterday?

Hey, Yori, she said. Just before you attacked the man who was about to shoot me, he said that I

had something valuable, but that I probably didnt know what it was. What do you think he was

talking about?

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Yori shrugged. Maybe Lil Whiskers is hiding some precious metals or gemstones underneath all

that fluff. Ooo! Or what if its that mini-statue of an angel that went missing from the art museum

two weeks ago?

Could be. Kotone wordlessly walked off towards the Underpass.

Yori chuckled. Cant stay on one train of thought for too long, can we?

///////

Arata Kajiya was sitting down at a desk in his office, leaning back in the chair with his feet propped

on the edge of the desk. In front of him was a vast wall of TV screens with data on each of the

Players and Reaperswhen and where they died, who they were paired with, whether or not

they had been erased, how many points they had, and their Imagination level. He also had ascreen with a map of Shibuya showing where each Player and Reaper was, along with the locations

of any walls and mission-critical events and items. Presently, he could see that there was a

massive source of energy in the Station Underpass critical to the mission, there were no walls, and

that the Game Master, Katsuro Sumeragi, was in 104 as the mission stated.

There was a knock on his door.

Kajiya immediately adjusted his position to look more professional and in charge. Imitating his

sisters favorite anime, he put his elbows on his desk, held his hands in front of his face, and

interlocked his fingers.

Enter.

Aika Bando, an Officer Reaper, walked into the door on Kajiyas left.She had hair dyed a beautiful

dark red and cropped short, and was wearing an orange t-shirt with the name and logo of her

band, Lass jetzt los, printed in black over top a black long-sleeved shirt. Her pants were a pair of

black jeans that accentuated her rear end perfectly without being too tight as to be unflattering,

and on her left wrist she wore a black-and-white checkered wristband.

Hi, Aratasorry, Conductor,Aika said with a perfect and beautiful smile on her face.

Kajiya smiled. Aika! Have a seat.

She did so.

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Conductor, she said, TheComposer leaving has made me a bit worried. I mean, He never even

told you where he went.

Kajiya put his hand on her shoulder.

Aika, itll be fine. Hes still in the UG, and He doesnt intend to be gone for more than a couple

days. He just has some important business to attend to. Youll hardly even notice that He was

gone!

Whether or not to release details regarding His total absence from the UG for three weeks was still

under discussion.

Besides, Kajiya continued, the Composer is a very secretive man. Sure, He didnt tell me where

He was going, but thats to be expected. No need to worry!

Youre nervous, too,Aika said out of the blue.

What? No, Im not!

Yes you are, Aika said. Cmon, Ive known you for too long for this to be a surprise. When the

Composers and Conductors of Shibuya and Minato had a meeting last year, you flipped out.

It was completely unscheduled and nobody knew what was going on! I think that was cause for

concern!

But back then, you couldntknow what was going on! Now youre the high and mighty

Conductor! Back then, practically everybody but me was your superior, but now youre second in

command! You dont have to be the little guy anymore!

Kajiya stood up and finally let his fear show.

And thats exactly what Im afraid of being!Im the least qualified of all the Office Reapers for the

job, I was low ranking, and Ive had practically no training. And now Ive been lifted up as the

pinnacle of what a Reaper should be, and somehow I have to live up to that! I try to be mature and

professional and look like I know what Im doing, but its all an act! Sure, Im afraid of what caused

the Composer to leave his post for the day. But more than that, Im scared of something

happening HERE while hes gone! I dont know what Im doing, Aika!Im just a kid whos dressing

up and playing pretend!

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Aika just smiled. If the Composer chose you

Then the Composer is crazy! We think of Him as a god, but Hes not some perfect, holy being like

in Christianity! Hes capable of making bad choices! Hes capable of screwing up! And I know youwere about to say Then maybe He had a good reason, but if He does, Id like to know!Especially

since He thinks I can run a Game all on my own!

He buried his head in his hands.

Kitanji, I envy you... he muttered.

Aika turned to look at the map.

If you want to know so bad, she said, then why dont you just ask Him?

About His important business or about my job?

She smiled smugly and glanced back at him.

Both.

///////

As Kotone and her brother reached Hachiko, they heard a woman call out to them.

Why, hellooooo, ghost kids!

They both turned to the source of the voice to see two Reapersa woman with pink hair wearing

a corset over her shirt and a person of indeterminate sex with poofy orange hair and a hoodie with

a skeleton pattern printed on it.

What do you want from us? Yori asked.

Oh, how rude of me not to introduce ourselves!The woman said. Im Uzuki Yashiro, and this is

my partner, Koki Kariya. Were here to Erase you.

The orange-haired one conjured up some Noise. It looked like a werewolfit had the appearance

of a canine, but its body structure was similar to that of a human. It was standing on its two hind

legs, sneering at the twins.

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Game partner or partner partner? Kotone asked.

The noise immediately sprung itself on Kotone, sending them to the Noise Plane.

///////

Yori had always been a fan of yo-yos. Ever since he could remember, he had gone to the schools

Yo-Yo Club, where he learned how to use a yo-yo like the pros did. So it didnt surprise him that,

out of all his pins, the only one he could use was Rise, Turn, And Falla pin that let him use his

yo-yo as a weapon.

So, his sister said, I finally figured outwhat this other pin does.

Oh? He went up to the werewolf and used his yo-yo for an attack comboan upward swipe

across the torso, a right hook to the head, a downwards attack on the head, and a left hook.

It lets me use a super-karate chop attack! Kotone said as Yori was attacking the werewolf.

HIIIIIII-YA! she cried out. He sighed. Kotone was always a strange one.

Didya see that, Yori? Didya? Well, I guess you didnt, but it was pretty cool.

Although Yori didnt see the attack, he did see the werewolf take damage.

I bet it was! Yori said. He was in the middle of another combo as Kotone said that, but was

interrupted by the werewolf taking a swipe at him.

So, what do you think the energy source is? he asked as he started another combo.

My current theory is that its some sort of superweapon. Its previous owner tried to hide it, but

the Game Master found it and wants it for himself. He cant just go and grab it himself, though, so

hes having us do his dirty work.

Left, right, left, right, up. He dealt the first blow of another combo. Youcertainly have an active

imagination.

Well, what do youthink it is?

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Im pretty sure that its something completely normal he finished his combo, and the wolf

took this opportunity to attackand the only reason that it gives off energy is so that we can

find it with our phones.

Maybe thats what they wantyou to think!

Youre weird.

Nyeh nyeh nye nye nyeh nyeh.

Up, down, right, left. Up, down, up, downthe wolf swiped at him againDown, left right, down,

left, right. The second combo was much more successful.

AH-HA! Kotone cried out. Now thats what Im talking about!

What happened?

Lil Whiskers attacked the wolf while I used my totally cool karate chop attack to flank him. Flank

the Noise, I mean. Not my cat.

Yori tried his best to protect his sister, but he couldnt help but get the impression that she was

more effective against the noise than he was.

Just like Tsukiko.

///////

Meanwhile, Kotone was doing her best to avoid the werewolfs attacks.

She was dishing out plenty of damage from afar, sure, but eventually she had to go up to him to

use her melee pin. And whenever she did that, the wolf interrupted her barrage with his slash

attack.

Youcertainly have an active imagination, Yori said.

Well, what doyouthink it is?she asked as she shot a lightning bolt at the Noise. She had decided

to give up on her karate chop thingy.

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Yori answered with Im pretty sure that its something completely normal a smile crossed

Kotones face; she had the perfect ideaand the only reason that it gives off energy is so that we

can find it with our phones.

Maybe thats what they wantyou to think!

She pointed at Lil Whiskers and mimed him attacking, then pointed at herself and mimed

sneaking up on the wolf.

Youre weird,Yori said.

Nyeh nyeh nye nye nyeh nyeh.Lil Whiskers had started his attack combo, and now it was her

turn.

She rushed up behind the wolf and went at him with her karate chop pin. Once that started to

recharge, she shot some ice shards at him for good measure.

AH-HA! Kotone cried out. Now thats what Im talking about!

What happened?she heard Yori say.

Lil Whiskers attacked the wolf while I used my totally cool karate chop attack to flank him. Flank

the Noise, I mean. Not my cat.She went back to her lightning bolts.

Good for you! Yori said.

There was a pause in the conversation. Kotone turned to her cat and whispered Lets do that

again!

Lil Whiskers nodded and went at the wolf some more. Kotone, once again, went up behind it and

attacked it.

Immediately after she had used up her melee pin, she ran away from the wolf and used her

lighting pin.

Hey, Kotone? her brother said with a forlorn tone of voice.

Yeah? she replied.

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He sighed.

When were done with this Noise, theres something I need to talk to you about.

Kotone nodded, but then realized that her brother couldnt see that. Alright.

Thank you, Kotone.

No problem. She flanked the noise again.

Lil Whiskers pointed upwardspresumably to the top Plane, where Yori wasand then used his

paw to show a tear coming down from his eye.

He does seem sad, Kotone said, but Im not sure why.

///////

Shiki Misaki pulled her phone out of her pocket, checked the time (12:00), and walked into

WildKat. She was greeted by the sight of a forlorn Mr. H sitting on a chair by the entrance and

holding a notebook. He immediately perked up when he saw her walk in.

Shiki! he said. Thank you so much for coming! Can I get you anything? He motioned towards

the counter. He had a caf, apparently, which came as a surprise to him. A caf that was empty

during lunch hour, mind, but it still freaked him out a bit that he owned one in the first place.

The girl, who he inferred was Shiki, nodded. A cup of coffee would be nice. And maybe a muffin.

He smiled nervously.

Cominright up!

In retrospect, it was a bad offer to make, considering that he didnt know what he was doing, but

there were instructions written on a piece of paper behind the counter addressed to Josh, so he

figured he was fine.

As Mr. H started to make Shikis coffee, her phone rang, playing her special ringtone for Eri.

Hold on, I have to take this, she said to Mr. H, who was strangely hesitant during the coffee-

making process.

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Go ahead, he replied.

She took a few steps back and answered her phone.

Hello? she said.

Hi, Shiki. This is Eri. Listen, Im at 104, and there are these two guys here trying to ask me

questions about... you-know-what.

Oh. Oh! Hand the phone to one of them.

Eri presumably moved the phone away from her mouth, but Shiki could still hear Eri tell them that

she was letting them talk to her friend Shiki and apologize for not knowing the answer. The twoboysone about her age, one who sounded like he was in grade schoolagreed to this, and one

of them took the phone.

Hello, Madam Shiki, the older one askedin a dignified tone of voice. What psyche does the

Sexy D pin have?

Oh, um... if Im remembering right, its Psychokinesis. Ive never used it, but my partner during

the Game did. Why do you ask?

A wall appeared that impeded our progress, and its respective Reaper stated that we must passhis Reaper Review in order to ensure passage.

Oh, yeah, those are tough. Did he do his little Like a bolt from the blue thing?

Indeed.Well, thank you for your help.

Youre welcome! Oh, hey, I never got your names.

I am Daniel Funayama, and my partner is Hachiro Mizukawa.

There was silence. Oh? Funayama said. Oh, alright. You can say goodbye.

After a moment more of silence, Shiki heard the voice of the younger boy. Hi, Im Hachi. Nice to

meet you!

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Nice to meet you, too, Hachi!

We have to go now. Bye bye!

Bye, Hachi!

After a moment, Eri took the phone back.

Thank you soooooo much! she said. When I asked them ifthey were Players, they assumed I

was one too!

No problem, Eri.

And, Shiki, I know Ive said this before, but... thank you for trusting me enough to tell me aboutthe Game. I know that was a hard thing to decide to do, and it means a lot to me.

Youre welcome. Thanks for listening.

Shiki looked over to Mr. H, who was now done with her coffee.

Well, I have to go now, Shiki said. I guess Ill see you on Friday.

Thank you, Shiki!

Anytime!

They said their goodbyes, and Shiki hung up and took her coffee.

Thank you, Mr. H.

No problem, he replied. He turned the sign on the door from OPEN to CLOSED.

He had decided to make himself a cup of coffee, too, and took it and the notebook over to a table.

He sat down, and Shiki did so soon after.

So, she said, whats the problem?

He sighed. Shiki, I cant remember anything.

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Shikis eyes widened. She was silent for a moment.

Wow, she said.

Who am I, Shiki? And who are you?

Well... youre Sanae Hanekoma,a single man who not only owns a caf, but is a famous artist

called CAT. I can count on one hand the number of people who know that youre CAT, though.

He nodded. That explains the graffiti sketches on my desk.

He took out his notebook. He had made some additions yesterday, and now he could add some

information about his artistic career to his ever-growing list.

Sanae Hanekoma

artist (graffiti, pins)unsure if professional or amateur professional

very disorganized

I woke up naked as a jaybird and Im not sure what that means

briefs over boxers

regarding art:

o cats

o Do what you want, when you want, how you wanto The world ends with youo Enjoy the moment moreo

Gather Close friends: Shiki Misaki , Goro Aragaki, Hisako Ikeda, Noburu Ueda, Yoshiya

Kiryu (nickname Josh), Tsubaki Koizumi, Asuka Kingetsu, Neku Sakuraba, IchiroSato, Chiharu Takemoto, Akemi Tachibana (ne Murata), Juro Nagamine, Isabella

Nagamine (ne Gardener), Daisukenojo Bito (nickname Beat), Ryo Fukui, DanielFunayama, Jackson Matsuoka, Yamaguchi Yamamoto, Noboru Wakahisa, Eri

Watanabe, Sydney Jones (ne Smith), John Smith, David Smith, Daniel Thompson,

Helena Holmes,

Family: Tsubasa Hanekoma (father), Mineko Hanekoma (mother, ne Aihara), Noa

Amura (elder sister), Hibiki Hanekoma (elder brother)

I have a Feisupejji profile (password: darklit+Eden)

I have a Songbird profile (username: Wildkat; password: G4T1T0) I have a Dashr profile (username: Wildkat; password: H4N3-N0-N3K0)

Regarding art

o pseudonym CATo identity is a secret

Whats that? Shiki asked as he was writing.

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A notebook, Sanae answered. Im writing down what I know about myself so far. He put his

marker down.

So, Shiki, how do I know you?

Do youdo you know anything about The Reapers Game?

He shook his head.

Shiki fiddled with her glasses nervously. Well, this might be a bit hard to believe, but... when

someone dies, theyre not quite dead. Their soul moves to a place called the Underground, or UG,

where they have to play The Reapers Game. The Game is a week-long deadly contest where you

have to pair up to complete the missions the Reapers give you or you get Erased. You also have tofight creatures called Noise. At the end of the week, a few people come back to life, and everyone

else can either play the Game again for another chance, become a Reaper, or be Erased. You saved

my life while I was playing the Game, and you taught usmy friend Neku and mepretty much

everything we know about it. I dont know how you knew so much, but you did. Th-this isnt too

weird for you, is it?

Youre joking, he said. Youve got to be joking. Theres no way.

Please tell me why you would ever be friends with someone who would lie to an amnesiac like

that.

Mr. H just sat there in silence. After a moment, his eyes started to widen, and he made a beeline

for the chalkboard behind the counter as Shiki followed.

He hurriedly erased some information on a special that ended on Sunday anyways, picked up a

piece of chalk, and started to sloppily scrawl some words onto the chalkboard.

Shiki, someone stole my memories and left me thinking that Im a normal person! Thats the only

possible explanation!

What?

He finished writing on the chalkboard and turned to Shiki.

WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR

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I am involved in Reapers Game

knew a lot

taught Shiki and Neku

did not tell them my positionlater believed myself to be a normal man

He had a large smile on his face as he excitedly and energetically explained his thought process.

Think about it, Shiki! The only reason anyone would ever think The Reapers Game is anything out

of the ordinary is because, as we grow up, we learn that the supernatural doesnt exist! Once I lost

my memories, I should have forgotten that period of maturation where I started to deny the

existence of the supernatural and instead I should have returned to having a childs willingness to

believe anything! If I don't remember anything, how do I know that The Reapers Game is any

stranger than the sun coming up in the morning and setting at night? But the first thing I said toyou when you told me about The Reapers Game was Youre joking; youve got to be joking!

To add to that, even though my memories were supposedly gone, I still knew what graffiti was, I

still knew that some men prefer boxers over briefs, I still knew what Feisupeji and Dashr were! I

may have forgotten where I went to school, but I still remember what I learned in school! But if my

memories were gone, I wouldnt remember any of that! UNLESS someone decided to take all of

my memories exceptthe ones that I needed to be a normal human being! And if someone took my

memories, you know what that means?

It was Shikis turn to be excited. That means that there might be a way to get them back!

YES! Mr. H put his hands on her shoulders.

I have no idea why anyone who wanted you out of the way would take away your memories

instead of just killing you, but thats a question well worry about later!Shiki said with a wide

smile.

The two of them excitedly babbled on, but were interrupted by a knock on the door.

They turned to the door and saw a teenager with ash blonde hair and a baggy polo. What he said

next was just barely audible through the glass:

Status update, Sanae?

///////

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Yori looked on in pride as the werewolf erupted into TV static. He was enveloped in orange light,

and when it faded away, they were back in the main UG plane.

UGH! Yashiro yelled. Its the start of Day 2! You should NOT be that good at fighting yet!

The fact that they had three combatants may have helped some, Kariya (who they gathered was

male by the sound of his voice) said. Anyways, you owe me a bowl of ramen now.

Well, I amgetting a bit peckish. Time check, Kariya?

He pulled out his phone. 11:40.

Alrighty, then! Yashiro said. Lets get a move on!

She headed over to the Scramble. As she walked, Kariya looked at the two kids.

Just an FYI, kids: the Underpass is closed off, but the energy source youre looking for passed

through here as you were fighting the Noise. Hes heading for the Shibu Department Store, and

where hell go next is anyones guess. If you see a kid with pale blond hair, a baggy dress shirt, and

a smirk that makes you want to clean his clock? Thats the one.

Kariya left the twins as he followed Yashiro.

So, Yori, Kotone said, what is it that you wanted to tell me?

Yori opened his mouth to talk, but then just sighed.

Nevermind.

///////

WHAT DO YOU MEAN,IT WASNT WHERE YOU EXPECTED IT TO BE?!

It was five minutes until noon, and Kajiya was on his lunch break, sitting at the bar in the Dead

Gods Pad. His meal had been interrupted by a phone call from the Game Master, Katsuro

Sumeragi.

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I dont know how it happened, Kajiya!I was expecting it the energy source to be in the Scramble

Crossing, but it was in the Underpass instead!

So you misplacedit?

Not exactly, sir.

What do you mean by that?

I put it in the Scramble Crossing this morning, I swear! How it ended up in the Underpass is

anyones guess!

Kajiya took a deep breath in through is nose and out through his mouth. Now that he was at least

a little bit calmer he went back to his phone call.

Well, maybe one of the Reapers moved it, Kajiya said, making a mental note to ask Aika to help

him gather an interrogation team.

That sounds likely, but why would anyone do that?

I dunno, maybe they want to use all that energy to power their house so that they dont have to

pay their

Kajiya glanced at the energy tracker on his phone.

Oh no,he said.

Whatis it?Sumeragi asked.

Its moving away from 104.

What.

Kajiya stood up from his chair and slammed against the bar countertop. SOMEONES STEALING A

PIECE OF GAME EQUIPMENT!

WHAT?

Barkeep, sound the alarm! Im putting the UG on Emergency Call!

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Of course, sir.

///////

At about five minutes past noon, Kotone was about a stones throw from Cadoi City. Yori followed

a fair bit behind, panting and sweating.

Kotone! Kotone, wait up!

CATCH up! she replied.

She kept running. Her hair was flowing behind her, her favorite music was playing on her phone,

and the temperature

HEY, LITTLE GIRL! a Reaper shouted. YOURE ABOUT TO CRASH INTO A REAPER WALL!

Startled, Kotone came to what would be a screeching stop in the case of a car.

Like a bolt from the blue, the Reaper continued in a normal tone of voice, here comes a Reaper

Review from me to you. Now, these questions all have a common theme: D+B.

Question 1: What psyche does the Pin Sexy D have?

Psychokinesis, said a mature-sounding boy from behind her.

She turned around and saw two boys standing behind her. One was tall, probably half-Caucasian,

and around her age. He had brown hair, glasses, a white dress shirt, and brown slacks. The other

looked to be about 9 or 10, and he was full Japanese and a bit pudgy. He had black hair, a Tin Pin

Slammer t-shirt, and jean shorts.

Kotone froze up.

Oh gosh its people what do I do what do I do what do I do

We came across this same wall earlier today,the tall one said.

Yori came running up behind them. Hey, Kotone! Hey... whatever your names are!

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I am Daniel Funayama, the older boy said,and this is my partner, Hachiro Mizukawa.

You can call me Hachi! the little one said.

Yori introduced himself. Im Yori Baisho, and this is my twin sister, Kotone.

Kotone waved sheepishly.

Hello, Master and Madam Baisho, Daniel said.He turned to the Reaper. Of the set Happy Beam,

Ice Blow, and Earthshake, Happy Beam is not a D+B pin. In addition, D+B stands for Dangerous

Buffalo.

3 out of 3! The Reaper said. Congratulations! You passso pass on through.

Well, while it was nice making your acquaintance, we must be off, Daniel said to the twins.

Until we meet again.

Bye bye! Hachi said.

The twins waved goodbye. Bye! Kotone said.

Daniel and Hachi ran off.

Kotone smiled as she dashed off as fast as she could and soon after overtook them.

Kotone, what did I say about waiting up?! Yori called out.

///////

It was now 10 minutes past noon, and Joshua was running down Cat Street.

He ran up to the door of Wildkat to see Sanae talking excitedly with Shiki Misaki about something

or other. They were blocking his view of the chalkboard, but he was fairly sure he could see the

words Reapers Game written there.

He knocked on the door, and they both turned to look at him.

Status update, Sanae?

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Sanae turned to Shiki and whispered something, and she replied in turn. He then walked up to the

door and opened it for Joshua.

Hello, Josh! Come right in!

Shiki waved as Joshua walked into Wildkat.

Thank you, Sanae. I dont think Ive ever seen you this excited before in my life.

Actaully, Im having a bit of a crisis right now, Sanae told Joshua. Someones stolen my

memories. But you can help us find a way to get them back, right?

What. Joshua had a deadpan look on his face.

Just then, a blonde teenage girl ran into the caf.

Thats him! she said, pointing at Joshua. Thats the energy source!

What.

Hey! Shiki called out. She ran over to the blonde.

Youve got the same cat as I do! Shiki said, holding up Mewkinz or whatever his name was.

Aww! she said. She held up a near-identical stuffed cat. Look, Lil Whiskers! Youve got a twin!

He must be made from the same pattern that I used, Shiki said.

A blond boy, presumably a relative of the girl (brother?), ran after her panting. Kotone, Im not as

fast as you! He paused to catch his breath. Youll slow down when we take that guy to 104,

right?

What?Joshua said once again.

A Harrier (or maybe Officer) Reaper in his 30s with a white dress shirt, black slacks, a grey dress

jacket, and his hair in a black bowl cut ran through the door next.

A-HA! Its in here!Its thief was quick, but I was quicker.

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What?

Arata Kajiya, the new Conductor, ran in next.

Katsuro Sumeragi, I command you to return to 104!

Kotone ran over to her brother and grabbed his arm.

These are way too many people!she whimpered.

Daniel Funayama and Hachiro Mizukawa stepped in.

Wow, its like a giant party in here! Hachi said. He walked up to Sanae. Hi, Mr. H!

Oh, h-hello!

Joshua turned to Daniel.

Code Alonso, Daniel. He pointed at Sanae.

This cannot be! Daniel replied.

Upon hearing Joshuas voice, Kajiya turned towards him and lay prostrate on the ground. Y-Your

Radiance!

Rise, Kajiya, Joshua said to Kajiya.

Yes, sir.

Wait, who are you? Shiki asked Kajiya.

Thats the new Conductor, Joshua answered.

The Conductor of what? Sanae asked.

Good Heavens! This isserious, Daniel said.

Indeed, Joshua said.

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Master Kiryu, Daniel said, I have a matter which I must discuss with you in private at your

soonest convenience.

Then we shall retreat into private to discuss it, Joshua said as he walked toward the door.

Hold on, that boys Shiki said, before she was cut off.

No, wait! Kotone called. We need you to come to 104 with us!

What?Joshua asked.

I believe theyre referring to the mission, sir, Kajiya explained sheepishly as he adjusted his tie.

See, the mission says to find the energy source, which Im sure isnt referring to you, per se, but

its easy to get confused, seeing as you show up on the energy tracker since you havent botheredto disguise your vibe and yourethe only source of energy this tracker is picking up on, oh dear

mother of Tokyo.

Kajiya, show me those readings, Sumeragi said. Kajiya handed his phone to Sumeragi, who

looked over the numbers some before saying:

Its not the one I was using for the mission.

Wait, WHAT?!Kajiya yelled.

Y-You cant be serious! Kotones brother shouted.How is that boyeven a major energy source?

CLASSIFIED! Kajiya, Joshua, Sanae, and Shiki all shouted at him.

Wait, Sanae?

Joshua turned to Shiki. Did you tell him that Im

Yeah, Shiki said. Weve talked to him about it in the past, though, so I figured

Shiki, that man Joshua said before he stopped himself. Can we talk about this later?

Is this something that I would benefit from knowing? Daniel asked.

Well talk later, Joshua said.

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Wait, arent you that guy from the phone call? Shiki asked Daniel. How do you two know each

other?

Joshua glanced at Daniel, who shook his head.

That, Joshua said in reply to Shiki, is our secret.

Sumeragi, Kajiya said, if theif that boys not the energy source, what IS IT?!

I-Ive never actually seen it in person, sir, he replied sheepishly.

YOU WHAT?!

When I told you earlier that I put it in Scramble Crossing, I meantthat I had someone else do it.

Who?! Kajiya asked.

Hes since been Erased. So if youre planning on asking him, dont.

T-Then do we automatically lose? Kotone askedsoftly. She was looking at the palm of her right

hand rather worriedly.

No! Kajiya said. As the Conductor, Im declaring Player victory due tounwinnable mission!

Hachi smiled as he looked down at his left hand. My timers gone! Thank you, sir!

Youre welcome! Kajiya said before he turned to Sumeragi. This mission was clearly doomed

from the start! What do you have to say for yourself?

It wasnt MY fault! Sumeragi said. It was the fault of the man who was in charge of the energy

source!

Andyou never bothered to check on it until noon?

I assumed my tracker was broken, so I tried to fix it, but by noon I gave up.

Well, you should have told me first thing, and I could have tried to help.And what about when I

ordered you to stay at 104?

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Well, I

Two Support Reapers walked into Wildkat.

You requested backup, sir? one of them said.

You two! Kajiya said to them. Take Sumeragi back to base and have him report to Kenta

Sengoku.

He pointed at Shiki and Sanae.

You two! I dont know why youre not in school, young lady

My mom wont let me go until shes gotten all the lice out of my hair!Which will probably take a

while.

Alright, then! You two meet me at the West Exit Bus Terminal tomorrow at noon, and well take

care of this Code Alonso.

He turned to Daniel and Joshua next.

You twoI-I mean, most esteemed sirs! You have my full blessings to go find a location for your

meeting.

Ive got a room upstairs, Sanae said.

Good. Show them where it is.

Sanae lead the two of them upstairs. Kajiya turned to Shiki.

You good with kids, Shiki?

A big smile crossed Shikis face. Yeah! Im great with kids!

Good, cause I have the feeling that Hachis going to be waiting a while.

He turned to the two blondes.

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And you two...

He held out his hand.

...sleep.

///////

Joshua was sitting in Sanaes guest room talking to Daniel Funayama.

...which we started to refer to as Fourty-Four, he said.

There was a knock on the door.

Enter, Joshua said.

Kajiya walked in nervously.

My careers over, isnt it?

///////

Day 2: On the Prowl

COMPLETE

///////

DAY 3

An important note from your friendly neighborhood author:

Dialouge surrounded by slashes (known in Britain as strokes), /like this/, representssomething being said in German. I apologize if this gives any linguists conniptions.

In addition, represents something being said in English.

We now return to your regularly scheduled story.

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///////

Kajiya opened the door of The Room Of Reckoning, and, slowly but surely, walked in. Waiting for

him there was The Composer, in all His glory.

Kajiya, the Composer said. You said you wanted to talk about something?

Y-yes, Your Radiance, Kajiya said. Its about the events of yesterdays Mission.

Kajiya, I believe I made my position clear last night. Those events were completely outside of your

control. You had specifically asked Sumeragi about the intended location of the energy source the

morning of the Mission, and he neglected to answer.

Furthermore, he neglected to inform you that the source of the energy was not in its intendedlocation until a considerable amount of time had passed since the start of the mission, and

disobeyed your direct orders when he left his post to look for the energy source.

Lastly, he had the ability to verify whether the energy source registered by the trackers was giving

the correct readings, but he did not. The culpable party is Sumeragi, not you.

But as the Conductor, dont I have a responsibility to ensure that the mission runs smoothly?

Kajiya asked.

Yes, the Composer replied, but Sumeragi has the responsibility to submit to authority. He failedto inform his superior of a crisis that later rendered the Mission unwinnable, and that is no-ones

fault but his own.

A-are you sure, sir?

Yes, the Composer replied. But I do have one comment to make about the way you handled

the situation.

Kajiyas eyes widened in fear. My deepest apologies, sir!

The Composer chuckled. Kajiya, no need to worry. Im not going to Erase you just because you

were unsure of what to do in a new and frightening situation.

Its not Erasure Im worried about, Kajiya told Him. Itsmy own shortcomings! Im unqualified,

untrained, and unable!

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Kajiya

Why am I the Conductor?

The Composer rested one of His hands on Kajiyas shoulder.

I spoke to the barkeep yesterday, and he said that, when you noticed what appeared to be

robbery of a Game-critical item, you did nothing. You doubted your own ability to succeed so

much that you didnt even try. And its time to do away with that attitude. Youre not the weak

man you believe yourself to be. Hidden under all that fear and sadness and self-doubt is strength.

So what if youre not perfect? Nobody is, especially not right from the start. But youll get better.

All the other Reapers are obstinate in their pride. They wont change, they wont learn, they wontgrow. But you not only accept growth, you long for it. And thatis why I chose you.

A small smiled crossed Kajiyas face.

Thank you, sir.

///////

Eichhrnchen! Eichhrnchen! Eichhrnchen! Eich-hrn-chen!

The two twins had woken up at Spain Hill, each of them with a box the size of a pizza container,

labeled TO BE OPENED ONLY BE RECIPIENT. At first, Yori was glad to see that Kotone had

cheered up after their fight the day before. But it weirded him out that she was babbling on

about... something.

Kotone, Yori asked his sister, whats an aishonshen?

Yori, its not aishonshen. Its Eichhrnchen! And that means squirrel! Everybody says that German

people cant pronounce the English word for squirrel, so German people started challenging

English speakers to pronounce the German word for squirrel! And thats my personal challenge!

...Good for you?

Danke.Kotone smiled.

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Hey, Kotone, what made you decide to learn German?

I like languages. I was already doing a good job with English, even though its so different from

Japanese, so I decided to try another Germanic language.

Im still surprised they let a 13-year old into a class for adults.

Mr. Cathin put in a good word for me. He said that, in all his years of teach English, I was the

best student hes ever had! And thats why Mrs. Weilet me in.

I know. Youve only told me about a hundred times.

She stuck her tongue out at him.

Their phones rang.

Hopefully our mission will explain whats in these boxes, Yori said as he pulled out his phone.

Game #3

Deliver your packages to the caf on Cat Street. If the contents of the package are

damaged during the transportation process, it will not count as a victory. Your time limit is

80 minutes, and the price of failure is erasure.

--The Reapers

P.S. In order to protect the contents of the packages, do not open them. Also, use your

memes on the recipient.

Memes were concepts used for imprinting, The Conductor had said, and imprinting was placing a

meme in somebodys thoughts.

Apparently theyve got something fragile in them, Kotone said. Maybe theyre picture frames?

Yori opened his mouth to answer when his phone rang.

Again.

Just his.

Hold on, what? Kotone said.

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What the crap? I thought it was impossible to call Players! Yori said. Nevertheless, he answered

the call.

The person at the other end of the line said something in a worried tone of voice.

Yori sighed and replied with one of the only things he knew in German. Einen Moment, bitte.

He passed the phone to Kotone.

Its for you! he said.

But I dont wanna take a phone call!

Yori glared at her.

Kotone slowly took the phone from him with her left hand and held Lil Whiskers up against her in

her right.

/H-Hello?/ she saidnervously in German.

/Sorry, I called the wrong number. Whats the Mission?/the boy at the other end of the line said.

/Youre German?/ Kotone asked.

/Yes, Im German. Do you speak German?/

/I do!/ Kotone said excitedly./But whats the missionis that some idiom Im unfamiliar with

or are you asking about an actual mission?/ Kotone asked, suddenly even more suspicious of him

than she was previously.

/What do youthink?/

Kotone raised one eyebrow.

/Are you a Reaper?/ she asked him.

/Ah, so you ARE involved in the Game. No, Im not a Reaper, just an unaffiliated observer./

/How are you calling us?/

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/Classified. Which Game District are you in, miss?/

/Shibuya, she said, assuming that he was talking about the wards of Tokyo. /Why?/

/Well, ysee, each District has a number assigned to it according to the order that it becomes an

official Game District. A bunch of German Districts, one of which someone that I was trying to call,

all became Districts at the same time, and it seems Shibuya just so happened to become a District

in the middle of all that./

Kotone heard the sound of the boy typing.

/Whats your name, kid?/ she asked him.

/Names are cheap. Call me Herr Aunskunft,/ he replied.

I understand his desire for anonymity, but... Mr. Intelligence? she thought to herself.

/So, Shibuya, huh?/ he said. /Seems like a nice place, full of stores and... oh. Oh, my./

/Whats wrong?!/ she said, gripping Lil Whiskers even tighter.

/The energy readings coming from Spain Hill! Theyre crazy!/

///////

Katsuro Sumeragi was sitting down at the bar in the Dead Gods Pad, looking down at his phone.It

seemed that the energy source hadnt turned up yet.

He sighed, walked over to the door to Kajiyas office, and knocked on it.

Enter and make it quick, Kajiya said.

Sumeragi opened the door and walked in.

Id like to take a look at some Player records, if you dont mind.

Sumeragi, I already told you, that friend of yours refused to play.

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Thats not the Player I had in mind, sir.

Well, which Player didyou have in mind? Kajiya asked.

All of them.

//////

/Spain Hill? Imon Spain Hill!/ Kotone said over the phone to Herr Aunskunft in a panicked tone

of voice. /Whats going on?/

/I dont know, but my energy tracker is picking up on a massive source of Angel energy!/ Herr

Aunskunft said, typing frantically (maybe trying to check the readings?).

/Angels? There are Angels in this Game, too?/

/They dont usually interact with the Game, so I dont know whats going on!/ Herr Aunskunft

said, just as surprised as Kotone was.

/Maybe its coming from whatevers in these boxes?/

/What boxes?/

/Oh, umour mission gave us some boxes and told us to deliver them to Cat Street. Were notallowed to open them, though./

/Are you delivering them to someone whos going to be there? Maybe theyll open it. Meanwhile,

dont hang up on me. I want to see what becomes of this./

/Roger that. Hold on, Im going to tell Yori what just happened./

Kotone pulled the phone away from her face. She noticed that Yori was holding both boxes.

The man on the line calls himself Herr Aunskunft, somehow hes got an energy tracker that can

pick up on readings on the other side of the globe, and theres a massive source of Angel energy in

Spain Hill! she explained.

WAIT, WHAT!?What kind of freaky crap is in these boxes!?

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I dont know!

Well... regardless of what it is, we better get a move on. But please, go at a reasonable pace!

Especially since Ive got both the boxes!

Kotone nodded and went at a jog instead of her usual sprint.

After a few seconds, Yori spoke up.

Hey, Kotone... he said in a forlorn tone of voice. Remember how yesterday, I said there was

something I had to tell you after the Noise Battle?

Kotone nodded.

Well, before I partnered up with you, I had a pact with Tsukiko Ishiguro.

You... you did?

He nodded. She asked me to be her partner almost the moment that we woke up. I felt a little

guilty saying yes, since I knew you were in the game and I felt like I was abandoning you and I

saw you there, right in front of me,but the love of my life had just asked me to spend seven days

by her side, and I just...

Tears started welling in Kotones eyes. Y-Yori...

The Ishiguro family lived next door to the Baisho family. They had four children, and the youngest

was Tsukikoa girl who was born a year after the Baisho twins.

Growing up, Yori had a crush on Tsukiko. Unlike most cases of puppy love, this one lasted well

through middle school, and Yori was still in love with her the day that he died.

Once Yori saw Kotone crying, he struggled to keep calm. And once we made our pact, she ran off

for 104, and I followed her, and I knew I should have checked up on you but Tsukiko was so

perfect and beautiful, and I just... I... Im sorry, Kotone!

For him to start crying at this point would have been entirely uncool, but his eyes were getting a

bit misty.

Kotone, however, had no such inhibitions, so she broke down crying.

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And then she got erased by Noise, and I found you... Yori said, struggling to hold back tears.

Y-YORI! YORI, WHY DID YOU ABANDON ME?

Im sorry, Kotone! I really am!

Is this why you were in such a rush to make a pact with me? Was I just your ticket to survival? DID

YOU EVER REALLY CARE ABOUT ME?!

OF COURSE I DO!And I always will! But I was weak!

Still crying, Kotone turned away from Yori and ran out towards Tipsy Tose Hallaway from Cat

Street.

KOTONE! Yori called out.

The tears started rolling down his face.

Kotone...

///////

Kajiya stood at the West Exit Bus Terminal as Miss Misaki and her friend with the Alonso problem

approached him.

Miss Misaki! he said excitedly as he shook her hand. Ive heard so much about you, and may I

say that it is an honor to meet you in person!

Thanks, but... I didnt really do that much, she said. It was mostly Neku and Beat.

Nonsense! If it wasnt for the friendship you showed towards Mr. Sakuraba, he would have never

opened up and learned to grow! You may not have contributed much in combat, but what YOU did

means so much more!

She smiled. Th-thank you, sir!

She put her hand on the amnesiacs back. This is Sanae Hanekoma. He was a big help to me and

Neku during the Game. He also saved my life.

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I did what now? Mr. Hanekoma asked.

Kajiya excitedly walked over to Mr. Hanekoma and shook his hand.

Mr. Hanekoma, although you dont remember what youve done, may I say that it is an honor to

meet the man who saved one of the Saviors of Shibuya!

Shiki saved Shibuya? Mr. Hanekoma asked.

Its a long story, Miss Misaki said.Ill tell you later.

Kajiya pulled two pieces of cloth out of his pocket.

Now, Miss Misaki, although I trust you wholly and completely,for the sake of protocol Im going

to have to ask each of you to wear one of these blindfolds.

Kajiya gave one to each of them, who each took their glasses off, and he put the blindfolds on over

their eyes.

After spinning each of them around three times, he led them by the arms to his office, on the

other side of the Shibuya River.

He took off their blindfolds and motioned for them each to sit down on one of the chairs. They did

so, and he sat down behind his desk.

Taking out a notebook and a mechanical pencil, he asked Mr. Hanekoma a question.

When did you lose your memories?

I woke up at about 9:00 on Monday without my memories, but Im not sure when the actual

memory loss occurred.

Kajiya wrote that down.

Do you remember anything at all about your previous life? And I dont mean finding information;

Im talking about actual memories.

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I dont remember anything about my memories, but I do remember how to function as a normal

adult.

How did Miss Misaki become involved in all this?

Right after I woke up,Shiki texted me. I replied to her text by asking for her help.

What do you know about yourself so far?

Sanae Hanekoma, born to Tsubasa and Mineko. Youngest of three children. I own a caf called

Wildkat, but Im also an artist who goes by CAT. I was very knowledgeable about the Reapers

Game through means that neither Shiki nor I are incredibly sure of. That blond kid who was in the

caf yesterday is the Composer, which basically means he runs Shibuyas Game and has

phenomenal cosmic powers.

Kajiya raised one eyebrow. Youre CAT?

Apparently.

It didnt really surprise Kajiya that Mr. Hanekoma knew who The Composer was, since Miss Misaki

knew who He was.

Describe to me the first thing you remember.

I woke up naked as a jaybird, sprawled across my bedroom floor.

After he was done writing, Kajiya set the notebook and pencil down.

Hey, Kajiya...

Mr. Hanekoma pulled some folded-up pieces of paper out from his pocket and handed them to

Kajiya. Kajiya unfolded them and saw what appeared to be photocopies of notebook pages

keeping track of what Hanekoma had learned about himself so far.

Thank you, Kajiya saidas he put the papers in his notebook. Now, Im not sure what happened,

but

Were pretty sure somebody stole his memories and left Hanekoma thinking that he was a

normal person, Miss Misaki said.

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What makes you think that?

Well, for one thing, he almost didnt believe me when I told him about the Reapers Game, whichmeans he at least knows well enough to know that the Reapers Game isnt something that

normally happens, she explained.If his memory was completely wiped, he wouldntremember

that something like the Reapers Game is any stranger than the sun rising in the east and setting in

the west. Also, Ive been doing some research on amnesia, and standard memory loss doesnt

work this way. If he forgot everything, then he would have forgotten everything. But he still knows

how keys work, who Oda Nubunaga is, the fact that the Earth is round, the fact that the Sun has

nine planets that all orbit around it

We have eightplanets, Kajiya interrupted.

P-Pluto lives on in my heart! Miss Misaki said defiantly.

Well, if the memories were stolen, then Im not sure if this will work, but...

Kajiya got up and pulled away a tarp on a nearby table, revealing a helmet which was plugged into

a computer system.

This is the Memory Modification Machine! Kajiya said. Its so powerful that only the Composer

and I are supposed to know it even exists! Now if you would put the helmet on...

Mr. Hanekoma put it on and adjusted the strap.

This machine can be used for removing and sharing memories, Kajiya said as he configured the

computer, but the function which concerns us today is its ability to restore lost memories. Its

effectiveness will probably be hampered by the fact that this memory loss was brought about by

an external influence, but itsworth a shot!

He looked up at Mr. Hanekoma.

Lie down, please. This machine causes fainting in many individuals.

Mr. Hanekoma did so.

Ready? Kajiya asked.

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Yes, sir! Mr. Hanekoma replied.

Alright!

Kajiya got ready to push a button on the computer.

Beginning restoration process in three, two, one...

///////

Sanae was lying down in his bedroom. He saw Joshua wearing a white sweater, kneeled down, and

leaning into Sanaes face.It was cold in his room.

Joshua turned to his left and said something which Sanae couldnt quite make out.

An adult male voice which Sanae didnt recognize responded.

Sanae attempted to look at this other man, but before he could do so, Joshua grabbed his head

and turned it back to him.

Joshua pulled a penlight out of his pocket and shone it in Sanaes eyes(this was a test to see if

ones pupils dilate properly; Shiki told Sanae about it on their way to the Terminal). Joshua had his

eyebrows furrowed and was staring at Sanaes eyes intently. He said something to the mystery

figure.

Joshua turned the light off and pocketed it. He turned to the other man and said something.

Sanae turned to the other man.

It was him.

///////

Kotone reached the Udagawa Back Streets with her face still wet from her tears.

As she was running away, her phone received two messages, each telling her that she had found a

memeweak and seven days.

As Kotone ran, in front of her was the graffiti mural.

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She walked towards it in awe.

There was no-one else there but a boy with purple headphones and orange, spiky hair who was

sitting in front of the mural.

Kotone sat down next to him.

A thought crossed her head.

I havent tried scanning anybody yet. I wonder how that works...

She remembered the Conductor saying something about touching the Player Pin, then getting into

your zone and extending your thoughts outwardsand then you could read the minds of others.

She wasnt sure if she could manage in a crowded area with a bunch of people, but here seemedlike a good spot.

She touched the Player Pin and got into her zone by holding Lil Whiskers close to her with her

right hand and holding up her left. At this point, she could start to feel the range of her scan. She

extended that field outwards in her mind, opened her eyes, and focused on the boy.

When Beat falls asleep in class, she heard him think, why does he blame me for not waking him

up?! I try, but no matter how many times I try to wake him, he wont! And even before that, when I

say Open your eyes, dont let them close!, he ALWAYS lets them fall close! He claims he can keep

awake, but clearly he cant! I love him like a bro, but this almost makes me glad that I caught

Shikis lice, so he doesnt yell at me.

Almost.

Kotone pulled out of her scan and got a new text message. It was for a new memeopen.

She put her hand on her chin.

I should practice imprinting, too.

She scanned again, pulled up the list of phones on her meme, and picked seven days.

Seven days...

What? That has nothing to do with anything.

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...Wait a minute? Was that a player imprinting on me?

He reached into his pockets and dropped some pins on the ground.

Here. Take em, he said. Ive got a bunch of those.

She smiled, pocketed them, and pulled out a permanent marker from her pocket. She wasnt sure

if he could see it, but...

She wrote THANK YOU in big letters where the pins once were.

She sat back down and started looking her pins up with her app.

One of them, Sexy D, was a black D on a purple sparkly background. Apparently, it could be used

to pick up objects in the Noise Plane and use them as Weapons.

Another, Pop Pendulum, showed a pink kangaroo jumping in a blue background and could be

used to fire a giant boomerang at the Noise.

The third, Velocity Attack, showed some sort of firestorm. It could let Kotone charge into the

Noise like a human battering ram.

She put them on in place of the attack pins she had.

Just then, she heard Herr Aunskunft shouting her name.

She put the phone up to her face.

/Herr Aunskunft, Im right here!/

/Oh, good! I thought something bad had happened to you! Have you delivered the packages

yet?/

/Well, um, funny story.../

/Yes?/

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/It took me a while to find my brother on the first day of the Game, so I always just assumed he

couldnt find me, but today I found out that he didfind me, but decided to partner up with

another girl instead!/she said, as if she was talking about a bad ex to one of her BFFs or

whatever kids say these days. /So now Im in Udagawa./

/Kotone, I understand if youre upset, but... you responded to finding out that your brother

abandoned you by abandoning him?/

/...Well, when you put it thatway.../

She got up and ran back the way she came, towards Shibu-Q Heads.

IM COMING, YORI!

////////

Turns out, Mr. H did indeed faint.

Shiki was sitting down on the ground, waiting for him to wake up. Kajiya was monitoring the

computer and making a phone call at the same time.

Sumeragi, this is your last warning. If you do not send me the Administrative Description for

todays mission by 13:30 today, you will be put on probation effective 14 o clock.

The Conductor hung up.

According to the wall clock, it was 13:13.

Still no answer, he said to Shiki. And I dont have the authority to declare unwinnable mission

unless I know that its genuinely unwinnable.

How much time do the Players have? Shiki asked.

24 minutes, 44 seconds, the Conductor responded.

So once the Game Masters time to send in the Description is up, then can you declare an

unwinnable mission?

The Conductor shook his head. At that point the timer is paused and I defer to the Composer.

Once Hes issued His verdict, the timers either keep going or disappear.

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Shiki got up and put her hand on The Conductors shoulder.

Hey, Im sorry that you have to deal withall of this on your first week, she said. Must be reallyfrustrating.

It is, he replied. But, really, it cant be helped. I just need to try harder to get things to work.

Serves me right for scheduling a memory manipulation procedure in the middle of a Mission,

anyways. I should be going out and fixing this myself.

Dont say that!You said yourself that youve got your best Reapers looking for the GM. Youre

doing all you can.

She looked down at Mr. H.

How long does this memory thing usually take? Shiki asked.

It varies from person to person, the new Conductor said. Usually 25 minutes to an hour, though

there have been recorded instances of both 17 minutes and a day and a half.

Wow, Shiki said.

They sat there in silence for a moment. The Conductors phone rang.

He picked it up.

Conductor Kajiya speaking, he said.

The person on the other end said something. The Conductor frowned.

What? What is he doing at 104?

The other person said something else, and the Conductors frown faded away.

Oh! Well, in that case, congratulate him for me.

The other person spoke.

Um, Im a bit busyright now, but Ill send someone else in my stead.

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The Conductor walked over to the door of his office, cracked it open, and poked his head through

the crack.

BARKEEP!

///////

/Hey, Kotone?/ Herr Aunskunft said when Kotone reached Shibu-Q Heads.

/Yeah?/ she responded.

/Youre at Shibu-Q Heads, right?/

/Yessir./

/Well, theres an Angel stalking you./

She stopped in her tracks and looked behind her.

/I... I dont seean Angel,/ she said quietly. /Are they able to turn invisible?/

/Some are./

/What do you think it wants with me?/

/Dunno. Maybe its got a crush on you./

/So youre saying that a being with phenomenal cosmic powers is stalking me and wants to.../

She curled up in a ball and started crying.

/Kotone!/ Herr Aunskunft said. /Kotone, go where there are a bunch of Players! That way, that

Scheischwein wont be able to get to you!/

Kotone wasnt sure what a Scheischwein was, but she got the feeling it was something pretty bad.

She got up and kept running towards Tipsy Tose Hall.

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///////

Yori was right there, at Tipsy Tose Hall, being attacked to within an inch of his life by the Noise.

He was hunched over, leaning on one arm, not having the strength to get up anymore. His attacks

were all useless, as his partner was out of range.

His school uniform shirt hardly had what constituted as a backside, and gashes in his skin gave way

to the TV static that passed for blood here.

The rest of him wasnt much better offhis face was a mess, he had big cuts on his legs, and his

right arm was broken.

He was holding back tears. He braced himself for another hit

...and nothing came.

He lifted his head up to see Kotone standing there with a stern expression, left hand outstretched.

Yori wasnt quite sure what Kotone had done, but regardless, the Noise that was once there was

gone.

Wordlessly, and with the same expression, Kotone picked up Yori using some sort of psychic magic,

bent down and grabbed the (miraculously unharmed) boxes from the ground, and started walking

towards Spain Hill.

They were back on track.

Once they reached Spain Hill, Yori felt that he had it in him to talk again. He said something to

Kotone.

Thank you for saving me, Kotone.

Welcome, Kotone replied in a stern tone of voice.

I was... I was on my way to find you, but then I kind of got attacked, Yori continued.

I appreciate your concern.

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Did you get a new pin? Yori said, trying to find a subject that Kotone would be more open about.

A psychokinesispin. She was still as stern as before.

There was an awkward silence, during which they reached Molco.

Are you stillmad at me? Yori asked.

Yeah, but Im not gonna let you die.

Technically, were already dead. I would have been Erased.

Semantics.

Silence.

You know, you could probably start running again.

I need to keep you as still as possible.

Then why move me at all?

Well, theres a Mission.

A Mission that someones probably already beaten.

Kotone looked down at her right hand.

Nope, she said.

Well, how hard is it to deliver a box?

Apparently, fairly so.

Silence.

Im sorry, Kotone. I shouldnt have left you all alone on the first day.

She sighed. Her stern tone of voice disappeared.

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And I shouldnt have left you all alone just now. Were both sorry together. And I forgive you.

So do I.

As they reached Cadoi City, they crossed paths with two girls.

One had pale blonde hair in a bob cut and was wearing a white tank top with a short jean skirt.

She was carrying over her shoulder one of those old brooms that swill used straw for the thistles.

The other was Caucasian, and had big, blue eyes, a big, round nose, and wavy green hair in a boys

cut. She was wearing a t-shirt printed with the design of the British flag, and had black slacks and a

fanny pack on.

Dont even bother, the blonde said to Kotone. The owners not there.

Wordlessly, the green-haired girl pulled out a first-aid kit from her fanny pack.

Yes, please! Kotone said. She gently lowered Yori, and the green-haired girl went to work.

Kotone turned to the blonde.

The owners not there? Kotone said quietly.

The doors locked, the lights are off, and theres a sign on the door that says Out for lunch! the

blonde responded, more energetically.

So just leaving the boxes at the door doesnt count?

Thats where the boxes are right now! the blonde said. Thats where a whole stack of boxes are

right now! But our timers are all still ticking! The only person there is some redhead Reaper chick

looking for the GM, and she might not be there anymore!

Kotone made a mental note to inform Herr Aunskunft once she was in private.

The Players phones all started ringing.

Kotone and the blonde both pulled their phones out and read the text message. The blonde

turned to the green-haired girl.

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Hey, Melody!

Melody, the green-haired girl, looked up from her work.

Due to the possibility of an unwinnable mission, the blonde read, Players timers will be paused

once they reach 15:00 until The Composer issues His verdict, at which point, the timers will either

resume or disappear. In either case, the Players will be notified prior to the action taking effect.

The Conductor

Kotone looked down at her timer. 15:03.

15:02.

15:01.

15:00.

You know, this isnt the first time this week that theres been an unwinnable mission, Yori said.

What? the blonde said.

Yesterdays mission, with the energy source? Turns out the real one went missing and we wereall following a different one, Yori explained. We were there when the Conductor found out. In

the caf on Cat Street, in fact.

Oh? Well, what