A/N: This story contains MASSIVE SPOILERS, including the identities of the Composer and the Fallen Angel. Don't read unless you've read all the secret reports.

I shoved the key in the lock and tried to twist it. The dang thing always seemed to stick at the worst times. After some fumbling, I managed to get the door unlocked. The bell chimed when I pushed the door aside; its cheerful tone hardly matched my mood. I considered flipping the sign to "Open," but quickly decided against it. It wouldn't hurt anything to keep WildKat closed today.

I flipped the lights on with a habitual flick of the switch. I didn't care that someone might mistake the bright lights inside as an indication that the trendy place was open for business; I only got a few customers anyway, and they'd understand. Besides, all my best coffee stuff's in here. Nothing says calm like a hot cuppa vanilla hazelnut.

That was what I told myself, at any rate. I hardly felt like coffee. I think a part of me hoped that someone would come and keep me company; Josh was bound to appear outside the door any minute now, especially considering that my vibe pretty much dropped off the face of his mental map. Any other day, I would probably be feeling his concern as though it were my own - the Composer and the Producer are sort of linked like that. It's not as strong as the whole Composer/Conductor thing, but I digress.

I hated being human. There was always that feeling of worthlessness, that I had no control over anything. I've still got my business as CAT, mind you, but eventually, the imprinting codes'll wear out and disappear completely without me renewing them. Once that happens, my art really serves no purpose to me. Unlike the Prince of Ennui, I really don't care for riches and fame. I just wanted to help Shibuya. I used to stop by the main murals and rework anything washed away by the rain or some other inconvenience, but to what end? I had a sinking feeling that once the codes wore down, so would CAT's popularity.

Not having wings was another thing I had to get used to. I couldn't skip the Pork City elevator and just jump down thirteen stories - a simple pleasure that I took for granted until now - without anything to break my fall. Besides, I was stuck in the RG - it would just look like a suicide attempt. (Lord, was I already thinking about that? Come on Sanae, you're better than that. At least it can't get any worse.)

"Hey, if it isn't featherless factor himself!"

Scratch that. It just got worse.

The door swung open quickly, nearly bashing forcefully into the wall. I sighed in defeat. This was supposed to be my time to recover, emotionally at the least.

"When did you hear?" I asked quietly, without turning to face him.

"This morning," Sho chuckled. "Zetta sucks to be you."

Once it got around that I helped him, he got called to serve as a witness at my trial. They even healed all the damage Joshua caused, since it was vital that my former partner attend. Sho was done with me; that much was obvious. Let's just say that the whole thing didn't go too well. The higher Angels always pass judgement without anyone other than the defendant present, so at least I had time to myself before he heard the verdict and came to rub it in my face.

"Get outta here, Sho." I didn't dare look at him. "You can't possibly drag me lower." The thought that he was now stronger than me just made me feel worse.

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong, radian." He walked across the cafe, and his footsteps almost muffled the all-too-familiar metallic click. Almost. Any other day, I wouldn't even have flinched when the muzzle touched the back of my head, but I'd been reminded of my current mortality more times than I could count.

"Here's the deal," Sho said calmly. "I know you're still buddies with the Composer. Convince him to give me back my own wings, and I won't blow your brains to nanobytes."

I should have anticipated this. When Sho was erased by his own psych and came back through the Taboo refinery sigil, he lost his status as a Reaper. Recruiting new ones is the Conductor and Composer's job, so we - er, the Angels didn't bother.

"Oh, and don't even think about playing the Game," he added. "I'll erase you before you beat the first mission." That wouldn't help me anyway. I'd been exiled to the RG and stripped of my wings. Even if I did win the Reapers' Game, they wouldn't let me ascend. The closest I would be able to get is Composer, and I hardly wanted to take that away from Joshua. There was always the possibility of joining the Reapers permanently, but...

"You know what? Make it an Officer," Sho said, cutting off my train of thought. His voice was practically dripping with pride. I longed for my second sight, so I could find a weak point in his stance and strike. I might have been able to get the gun out of his hands, even in a fist-fight.

I suddenly noticed that my ears were ringing faintly. It wasn't something I was familiar with, but I recognized the cause right away.

"Why don't you hand me that gun, Sho?"

The end of the pistol never left my head, but I wasn't as afraid now. Even if Pi-Face pulled the trigger, Joshua would stop him from erasing me, and I'd be free to get through the week. Even as a Reaper, being able to tune to the UG was important to me. How else was I going to help things out?

Sho growled softly. "Make me an Officer or Sanae gets it," he spat.

For the second time, I wished I had my second sight back. I didn't want to turn around and risk getting shot right there and then. I hated feeling so useless.

"I could make you a Reaper again," Joshua replied, "but then I'm afraid I'd have to erase you. Rules are rules - no free rides."

There was a pause. I thought I felt the muzzle back away just a tiny bit. "But if I followed the rules, you'd have no choice, right?" Sho asked, still calm, but much less proud.

"I suppose not, but don't do anything rash, now," Joshua added quickly. "You're half-Noise, Sho. I don't know if you can legally play the Game." So he was still Taboo.

Sho forced the gun tighter against my head. "Well?" he demanded. "Tell the truth or I'll erase you faster than you can say infinity."

He had no way of knowing whether I was lying or not, of course. If I said that he could be made a Player without a hitch, and he really couldn't, he'd be erased like common Noise, or else just left dead. Problem is, I had no idea either. When humans die, they leave a body that can be healed and tuned, but when Noise die, they fade to static. There was no way of knowing what would happen if Sho killed himself. I couldn't tell him that - he'd think I was just dodging the question.

There was also the fact that Sho was in the RG at the moment, thanks to the decal on WildKat's entrance. If he were outside, the Noise part of him would likely force him to the UG, where any and all deaths count as erasure.

"You should be fine," I forced out. Sho must have still trusted me on some level - he owes me his life, after all - because his gun immediately flew away from the back of my head without another word. The gunshot echoed loudly in the confined space, banging against my eardrums. The only sound after that was a sickening thump.

I waited a few moments before turning around. The scene was less grisly than I thought it would be - very little mess, just a growing puddle of black blood on the floor around Sho's head. The equally dark Taboo energy began to fade from his body while Joshua and I watched, and in a matter of minutes, I didn't need my Angel senses to tell me he was human again. The blood pouring from his wound slowly faded to a more natural red color.

"Well..." Joshua muttered. "I didn't think that would actually work." He sat on his knees beside Sho and set to work, healing the damage and cleaning the mess.

"Me neither."

After he was finished, Joshua stood up and said, "The other Angels already told me."

I sighed heavily. "I figured as much."

"What are you going to do?"

It was a simple enough question, one that I hadn't pondered for very long, but I could only see one viable answer. Staying in the RG and doing nothing was out of the question. I couldn't take my old job back. That left one possibility.

Out of habit, I willed the gun laying in Sho's open hand to fly to my own, but I quickly remembered that I didn't have the ability any more, so I stooped down to pick it up instead. My mind was made up.

It took Josh a few moments to figure out what I had planned. "...Are you sure?" he asked.

"It all works out," I replied, more to myself than to Joshua. "We've been watching Megumi for a while now. This is the perfect opportunity to test whether he can handle it."

Josh sighed. "Just be careful."

I nodded, held up the gun, and pulled the trigger.

The World Ends With You belongs to Square-Enix.