Foul Play:

I do not own The World Ends With You, Square Enix does!

Written for Twelve Shots of Summer: Quarter Queller - Week 4…

Settling in his seat, gathering his hands together, Yori breathed in contently as he listened to the several scribbles that filled the air.

Yori felt proud that he was one of the very few students who finished early, not needing the extra thirty minutes when he felt assured he didn't have to worry over his answers more than he should. He briefly cast a look at his girlfriend, noticing her look agitated, seemingly struggling with her own exam. He could only hope their study sessions together paid off, or she might have a chance at flunking again...

Tapping his pencil gently against his desk in thought, he wished for her to remember what he pounded into her head. Sammy never had a prowess for school, but he knew for sure that with his help, she would have a chance at walking the stage for graduation.

As time slipped through his mind, the bell soon rung, alerting everyone to hand in what they had. Yori gave Sammy a reassuring smile as she got up from her seat, watching her slowly approach the desk of Mr. Inoue before placing her exam down with unsteady hands. By the time she got back to her spot, Yori was ready to leave and joined her side.

"This was a bit a doozy, huh?" mused Yori as he watched Sammy put away her things, fumbling with the buckles as he sighed, "From the looks of it... Mr. Inoue doesn't expect any of us to pass."

"What can you expect? That man has been trying to jeopardize our future since we've been chained to his dungeon..." grumbled Sammy as she slid her strap onto her shoulder, turning to him as her eyes glinted. "At least we don't have to see him again until September!"

"Right!" Yori grinned at that. He strode carefully through the maze of desks, hearing Sammy follow after him as he remarked, "Now all he can do is harass us when school has anything important to tell us."

"When has there been anything important to tell us, Yori?"

"I don't know, Sammy..." chimed Yori as he passed through the doorway. "Our school has less student memorials than others, so we must have made a bland choice to take classes here."

Sammy's hearty laughter made Yori smile more, "But of course!"

"Watch it!" A swift blow to Yori's side sent his vision spinning in the other direction, making him blink dazedly as stomps echoed away. "Stupid nerd..."

"What's that dude's problem?" asked Yori crossly as he fixed his glasses, smoothing down his hair as he narrowed his eyes at the bulky figure disappearing into the crowd. He never expected to get rear-ended when getting off the train, but he guessed even off the road it could happen to anyone.

"Impatient, I guess?" Sammy shrugged, not pleased by the way that boy... or man treated Yori seconds ago. Yori nodded at that, soon frowning as Sammy huffed out, "It's terrible that he goes to the same school as us."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Yori widened his eyes in disbelief. "He does!?"

"Yeah." Sammy nodded with boredom. "He does..."

"I never would have guessed that," Yori grumbled as he and Sammy began ascending the subway stairs, luckily away from that boy. "He looks more like a pro-wrestler than a student..."

"He doesn't go to class normally."

"Then he's wasting his education." The russet haired boy couldn't help but fume about that boy, and it wasn't just from his gut throbbing. Lack of respect was going to kick that boy back to where he came from if he didn't smarten up his attitude.

"Look, he doesn't matter, Yori," said Sammy coolly. She walked ahead when they stepped off the stairway, soon pressing the lights' button to allow them to cross the street. "All that matters is us, summer, and no Mr. Inoue."

"You forgot the part where we have homework, Sammy."

"Oh no, don't remind me..." The blonde gagged at that, dramatically slanting backwards while resting the back of her hand to her forehead. "I think you might as well get my coffin ready."

Yori chuckled at that, shaking his head as he murmured, "Don't worry, I'll help you with your portion."

At that, Sammy threw her arms around him and pecked him on the cheek. "What can I do without my Yoriro?"

"Hmm… I don't know, Sameko," replied Yori warmly as he returned the hug. "You make up the other part of my life."

"And you make up the other part of mine." Sammy grinned at that when she pulled away, and the both of them set off again.

More often than not, Yori kept finding that boy from the subway after that day. Or, Yori presumed he could have been spotting the boy more because of learning about him. Whether it was in any district, or school when they came back after the summer break, the boy seemed to be everywhere.

Sammy eventually found out the boy's name after him and Yori had enough negative encounters to call themselves friends... Not that they were or will be, Yori told himself... The boy was known as Borisu Yamauchi, although he raised a fist to anyone while demanding to be called Bruce instead, and that was all Yori wanted to know. But as fate often detailed those hopes and dreams, he got more information as he kept bumping into the bulky boy.

"Why don't you stick to places you belong, Maki-Kun!" Bruce snarled that the moment he slammed into Yori, catching Yori by surprise the moment he stepped onto the third floor. He grunted in pain the moment his back met the stair railing, soon feeling it throb intensely.

After feeling stunned for a few seconds, Yori finally recovered, only to fume about the unexpected greeting. He tried to flatten the crumbled fabric of his uniform, wondering how the bulky boy could have known Yori would be here to plan a horrible attack at a time such as this. "The last time I checked, I have classes upstairs, not downstairs, Yamauchi-san."

Within seconds of uttering that statement, Yori felt a pressure to the crown of his head, and he gritted his teeth as Bruce hissed out, "Your height begs to differ, Maki-kun..."

The russet haired boy tried to get himself out of the other boy's grasp, but Yori found it to be impossible so he stopped. He didn't want his neck to be snapped; there was nothing good about ending up in the hospital or dead at a time like this.

"You see here, Maki-kun..." continued Bruce sweetly as his fingers secured themselves around Yori's skull, twisting them ever so slightly and sent a twinge of pain that Yori cried out at. "I don't think you know what you're dealing with."

Yori heard students in the hall approach, whispering... and from the corner of Yori's gaze, he met Sammy's appalled gape. The two of them were already drawing in a crowd, so Yori knew there wasn't much to be done. As much as he hated Bruce, as much as it seemed to terrify Sammy, Yori knew the best thing to do was nothing. A teacher would hear the commotion soon... so there was no need to be provoked or panic at a time like this...

If Yori didn't give Bruce interest, the bulky boy would only become bored and seek out another student to torment. Although, undergoing this treatment for the past month made Yori hope that would be true soon.

"Not going to say anything?" sneered Bruce quietly.

"There's nothing to talk about," Yori returned flatly, feeling the grip on his head tighten. "Y-You don't have anything to gain from me..."

As Yori waited for Bruce to respond, he heard furious clacks from shoes nearing. "What is going on here? You students should be in class right now-"

Blinking his pale blue eyes, Yori noticed now that a teacher was rushing towards them. "Borisu Yamauchi, stop that right now!"

At those words, Bruce shoved Yori back with the use of his head, nearly sending Yori over the railing but he managed to clasp onto it before it was too late. That earned another angry noise from the teacher, but Yori could only focus on the extreme pulsation of his head.

Within a few minutes, Yori found himself being guided downstairs to the nurse's office, sitting down in a chair as he answered any of the required questions the nurse had to know before being told to lay down for a bit. He could hear shouting from down the hallway, and it made his head ache as he lazily brought his hand over to his temple, hoping the pain would cease soon.

Of all the people in the school, what did Bruce gain from hurting him?

"Your head still hurts, Yori?"

"Yeah. The painkillers are doing nothing, Sammy!" hissed Yori as another spike of pain waved through his head, making him clench his cellphone tighter. "I can hardly focus on my homework, let alone helping out my parents with dinner."

"How did your parents take the word of Bruce's attack?"

"My father liked that I didn't do anything to degrade myself," murmured Yori as he stepped into the hallway, heading into the bathroom for another glass of water to hopefully quell the pain this time. As soon as he set down his cellphone, turning on the taps, Yori went on as he leaned close to the cellphone, "My mother on the other hand fretted as always."

"I can't help but feel the same way, Bruce keeps targeting you and I don't like it one bit!"

"All we can do is wait for him to lose interest, Sammy..." replied Yori louder when he turned off the water, clasping his glass and adjusting his cellphone into his grip again before murmuring, "He can't focus on me forever..."

"That's what you said for the past few weeks!"

"Ah-ah, dense people tend to follow this pattern sooner or later, Sammy."

As Yori entered his room, he soon sat down at his desk again, peering back at his Math problems. "And what if he doesn't, Yori?"

"Trust me, Sammy, he will..."

It was a few seconds later before he heard her again. "Fine." There was a bit of crinkling from the cellphone. "Okay, question, Yori..."

"Yes...?"

"How can I keep zero from being on the bottom of the line?"

Yori sighed. "Well, what did you do in the first place, Sammy...?" Yori picked up his glass, and drank from it slowly as Sammy explained.

Even after that day, Yori kept finding himself and Bruce encountering each other. And for a long while, Yori thought Bruce might never leave him alone when he finally did stop. In fact, Yori soon found out the reason for that was because Bruce was expelled from school. Yori felt that the principal made a sound decision, knowing that Bruce never really seemed to benefit from learning anyway.

As happy as he was that Bruce wouldn't set foot in school again, Yori noticed soon after that Sammy seemed to have less time for him as well... even before he learned of the fantastic news about Bruce. A lot of times, more than Yori could count, he tried asking her why she was so busy, but she didn't answer him. He was worried something must have happened to her, so he decided to see what was going on himself after many days of silence.

When asking her parents about her, all he got from them was surprise that she hadn't been spending time with him. So he ruled out that Sammy was sick... but the fact that her parents thought she was hanging out with him made him feel wary of what was going on.

So the next few days he tried to talk to Sammy at any given moment, but all she did was start to give him simple excuses that he didn't buy. She would laugh and joke with him like she usually did when she was with him at school; but before and afterwards, she wouldn't be present... Yori wished he knew what was happening, so he decided to follow her after school one day when his nerves finally had enough.

He knew it was wrong for him to do this, but he knew Sammy wouldn't tell him so he had to take matters into his own hands. After all, she was his girlfriend, and she probably wouldn't mind that he cared about her enough to do this for her. However, he soon realized he should have listened to her reasoning. He should have trusted her… but he didn't.

Yori couldn't help but press his back against the wall, shutting his eyes tightly as he tried to forget what he saw. He told himself it must have been a different guy that he saw with his girlfriend… but there was no doubt of the physique which only belonged to the person who had been taunting him.

Slowly drawing his gaze back, he watched as Sammy chatted with Bruce casually, not appearing to bat an eye to who this boy was. Yori couldn't help but seethe immediately, scowling as he watched them disappear into the crowd.

He wanted answers.

Annoying trills sounded from his cellphone again, but he simply let it ring and become white noise in his room. Yori already knew who was calling, and he just wanted to finish his homework right now... but it was already difficult when he was still haunted by what he saw.

Yori knew he couldn't ignore Sammy forever, yet the ache in his chest made it hard to breathe when attempting to deal with what happened. He couldn't wrap his mind around why she was with Bruce. He wanted to know why she was with him… but he wanted to figure out a way to go about confronting the subject first.

He knew turning off his cellphone or blocking Sammy wouldn't do any good, he wanted at least a reminder that she still cared about him. Yori needed the reminder… or he couldn't be sure that she did.

Yet, he couldn't help but wonder if she never did to begin with.

Soon buzzing began to fill his room, and he finally spared one glance at the screen.

Is something wrong? - Sammy (at 5:04pm - October 28th, 2007)

…Yori…? - Sammy (at 5:04pm - October 28th, 2007)

I know your phone isn't dead! Pick up! DX - Sammy (at 5:04pm - October 28th, 2007)

Yori! Why won't you pick up already!? DX - Sammy (at 5:03pm - October 28th, 2007)

The screen went on and on with messages and notifications that he missed twenty calls... but it wasn't comforting in the very least that it was all from Sammy. He expected to feel relief that she cared enough to spend so much time trying to communicate with him, but he felt cold instead. Yori couldn't help but let the cold settle, not bothering to yearn for the warmth that escaped.

Sighing, Yori closed his eyes. 'You should know something is wrong…' Letting the phone continue to buzz, he tried his best to focus on his homework that was barely finished. 'You're the one who did it.'

As much as he wanted to ignore Sammy, the next day came and he would have to be in class with her again. There wasn't anything that could stop him from seeing her to his disappointment.

Not long after he got off the train and approached school, he found himself being dragged away from the entrance to the school's playing field by Sammy. He knew he had it coming to him when he ignored any of her calls or texts, but thinking about what he saw made him not feel terrible about it.

Anger churned in him as she stopped yanking on his arm, placing her hand down gently on it as she faced him. "What's wrong, Yori?" she asked sounding concerned.

The long, almost neat haired boy had a hard time keeping himself from laughing at that statement. Judging by Sammy's unchanging expression, Yori knew she had no clue that she did anything wrong. So he snorted, drawing his arm away from her hand, feeling his skin still burn from where she touched it. As her expression lit up with shock, Yori shook his head as he replied curtly, "I don't know, Sammy, but I thought you might have an answer for that."

"Yori, please," she said, sounding like she was already exhausted with him. "I don't want to play any games with you right now…" She frowned sadly. "I want to know what's going on with you."

"Then can you at least tell me why you couldn't spend time with me last Friday?" asked Yori coolly. He blinked as he tried to search her blue eyes for honesty... anything that would let him know everything was okay.

Sammy sighed, "I already told you, I had to help my parents out."

The way her eyes shifted past him told him it wasn't.

At once, Yori shook his head, feeling his rage dump over him freely. "No, you didn't." Before she could defend herself, he went on bitterly, "You never did, Sammy, you're lying..."

"Look, I don't know what you're talking about, Yori-" the blonde's eyes flashed in alarm as she spoke.

"I saw you in Spain Hill on Friday, Sammy," growled Yori as he began to back away, curling his hands into fists. "I saw you with Bruce!"

Within seconds, Yori's girlfriend flinched. For a long time she didn't say anything, her eyes widened slightly before narrowing as she spat, "You were following me!?"

"What else could I do!?" he returned harshly as he began to tremble. "Your parents told me they didn't ask you for help, so I thought something was wrong!"

"Yori, how could you!?" Sammy's face began to flush in anger as she growled, "I can't believe you followed me!"

"What else could I do when you're hanging out with Bruce!?" countered Yori as he shakily breathed out. "You've seen how he is- how he's hurt me-" He gritted his teeth as he shouted, "Why would you even go near him, Sammy!?"

"You don't know Bruce, Yori!"

"I know him well enough that he's bad news!" spat Yori.

"Yori, please-"

"We all know he's bad news-" Yori cut in sharply, clenching his hands harder as he raggedly yelled on the top of his lungs, "So why were you with him!?"

At once, the blonde raised her voice as she huffed, "I can see anyone that I want, Yori! Why-" She paused suddenly, soon closing her eyes as she shouted in distraught, "Why are you being such a twelve-year-old!?"

Yori slowly breathed in, wanting to speak but he found he couldn't form any words in his mouth. He opened his mouth, but Sammy merely turned her head away; her low ponytail whipping in his direction. "I can't believe you, Yoriro Maki…"

As she began to stalk away, Yori immediately blinked in surprise and called after her, "Sammy, wait-"

Sammy curtly pivoted back to him, glaring as she growled coldly, "If you want to talk to me again, talk to me as your real age!" With that, she darted away.

After he watched her go, he couldn't help but punch a nearby goalpost. As he grimaced from the agony grasping his hand, he let it rest against the cold metal. "What does it matter, Sammy!?" he grumbled, soon hanging his head and closing his eyes tightly. "You liked me ever since we were twelve…"

Yori saw Sammy with Bruce everywhere. He couldn't help but wonder if he was imagining it, or if he was actually going insane from thinking about the fact they were spending a lot of time together. Whenever Yori had a spare moment, he followed them, even if Yori knew getting caught by her would make the problem they were having worse. But Yori knew the moment she started seeing Bruce was how the problem became worse, leading him to wonder why Sammy would spend time with the brute in the first place.

When Yori had tailed the two of them for an hour after school again, two days after Sammy stormed off, Yori was tired of watching them interact and needed a break. So he let them leave his sight before he sighed, feeling starved so he headed straight for Mexican Dog. He wasn't much for the food nowadays; he was more into it when he was younger... yet for some reason he felt the need for some Special Dogs.

The first thing he noticed was the prices had gone up a lot from over the years, and Yori couldn't help but wonder how a Special Dog could go from 420 Yen to 630 Yen as he parted from it. Sure, inflation hurt everyone's wallets… but he couldn't believe the price leapt up so much from three years ago. Even the cashier was different… a bit too friendly when regarding Yori's current mood. Yori sort of wished the cashier hadn't been so carefree when interacting with him; a little gruffness would have sufficed when he was handed his food.

By the time Yori left the shop, his appetite was already spoiled… but he still gobbled down what he paid for. Despite how he wanted this in the first place, the stenches it had given off made him want to throw it back up now.

Shaking his head, Yori sighed. 'And here I used to think Mexican Dog was the best place for food…' Right now, the russet haired boy could only wonder whether or not his taste buds changed or the practice of making the hotdogs changed.

He leaned against the nearest wall, hoping his stomach would settle soon as he watched people come and go in the district. He was sadly reminded of Sammy when a couple drifted on by, giggling and appearing happy…

Yori felt sick again.

Getting up, he began to walk away, wanting to go home and dwell on his homework that he had been putting off when he overhead something.

"You gotta be kiddin' me, Rhyme! Those people are messin' with Shibuya again!"

Yori blinked, turning his head immediately towards two people; one much younger and one slightly younger than him by the looks of it. They were both decked out in skull beanies and outfits that seemed to flatter them.

Immediately the younger blonde girl grabbed the boy's arm. "Beat, I know they are, but we can't talk about this here-"

"Rhyme, the reapers game is goin' on again!" shouted the boy, causing the younger girl to widen her eyes as he went on, "You know what they did to ya!?"

"I know, Beat…" Rhyme frowned at that. "But we shouldn't talk about it right now, it's not safe here…"

Yori couldn't help but be curious about what they were talking about. He knew it wasn't smart to eavesdrop on other people, but he felt a need to know about this… 'reapers game'. So he headed in their direction, ignoring how the Special Dog was affecting his stomach as he asked in a clear voice, "Reapers game? What is this… reapers game?"

Straightaway, the two skull beanie people flinched and turned his way. Yori reluctantly gave a wave, pretending there wasn't anything awkward about the way he welcomed himself into their discussion. He saw how the boy's gaze darkened shortly, appearing tense as the younger blonde girl hid behind him, and Yori assumed they didn't want to be verbal about the subject anymore.

"Ya know…" Apparently the boy was open to share, although he seemed stern about it. "You can imprint words into peoples' heads in the UG."

Yori shifted his glasses immediately upon hearing that, eager about the new information as he asked, "Anything you want?" Pausing, he thought over the boy's explanation again before he asked in confusion, "UG? What's the UG?"

At once, the boy groaned, seemingly annoyed by the questions. But Yori ignored that, trying to focus on the subject as the younger blonde stepped in for Beat. "It's sort of like a parallel Shibuya," she said sadly, "except it has some variations to it." Her partly concealed hair swayed when a chilly breeze struck them, chirping as she didn't seem bothered by it, "Get it?"

Yori nodded at that, frowning upon hearing Beat scream in embarrassment at that. Before he knew it, the blond boy was tugging the younger girl away as he cried out, "Phones told us to not tell anyone that!"

Before they were out of earshot, Yori heard Rhyme reply with a sigh, "But he'll find out about it anyway, Beat. We can't hide this…"

When they were gone, Yori couldn't help but think about the Reapers game. Even if he hadn't gotten much information to come up with a clear image of the subject, what the boy said about putting words into peoples' heads rang through his mind… He wondered if the boy meant they could change the minds of people…? And if so, he only wished he could do that to Sammy; then she wouldn't be snubbing him like this.

...Maybe she could even forget about Bruce?

Within a few moments, Yori felt a bit frustrated then. He realized he should have asked for more information on the matter, seeing how cryptic the two were being with their explanations… However, the only comfort he had for gathering more knowledge of it was from what that girl said before they left, although he wondered how he would.

"You may have known me as the Weather Lady, but now I have more news than whether it will rain or shine!" An ashen haired lady in a crimson coat faced forward while she flipped her pen up in the air from her hand, soon catching the spinning object before using it as a pointer.

A commercial was running from one of the Scramble Crossing's billboard screens, and Yori couldn't help but take a moment from thinking about his girlfriend and watch like all the other people dwelling in the district. "Coming to Shibuya live, and the world live~" A gleaming grin popped onto her face as she cried out, "The worldwide Reapers game will be here for all you lucky duckies!" Immediately, Worldwide Reapers' Game floated across the screen as she exuberantly chirped on, "A game for survival- the time for wit and struggle- is coming the moment the other seats are filled! We only have forty spots left in the queue- so hurry anyone from here to across the globe and come join us on the other side before it's too late~!" With a quick thumbs up towards them, the crowd watching had their hearts captured by the young woman on the large screens, whooping and cheering as she finished, "You have twelve days left~!"

Yori blinked dazedly as the screens had static wave over them before the usual commercials returned. He couldn't help but wonder what that woman meant when she mentioned 'the other side'… But he shook his head, thinking she must have been overzealous when marketing the information.

Upon turning away, he checked his cellphone for time, noticing that it was getting late so he decided he should go home. So he started to walk away, brushing past another person who seemed to be watching the billboards when Yori heard someone speak, "You really want to be part of it?"

Frowning, Yori halted and turned to the person he passed- a boy by the sound of it. Yori blinked, adjusting his square glasses before he addressed the boy, "Why would you think I want to be part of it?"

"You're curious about it," returned the boy flatly, not even bothering to face Yori as he went on, "You want something…"

Yori narrowed his eyes, sighing deeply as he replied coolly, "You have no clue about what I want."

"Hmm... no." The hoodie boy shook his head. "Only you don't."

"Excuse me, but you don't know who I am nor have we ever met," retorted Yori coldly, feeling slighted from how that hoodie wearing boy seemed to think he knew what he was talking about.

The boy turned to him. "Right now, do you really know what you're doing? Your life may have been perfect, but the moment it starts to be wayward, you squirm around like a worm. You try to cling to something, but without your arms, you blindly roll around, hoping you're heading in the right direction."

Boy… this dude was muddling…

Yori snorted at that, shaking his head lightly. "You can't tell me what I am, and I know what I'm doing."

"You really want to be in denial right now, don't you?"

"I am not in denial!" said Yori in frustration. "I have a lot of stuff on my plate that I need to deal with!"

"Like your girlfriend and that boy?"

Clenching his fists, Yori spat, "She doesn't know the problem she's making between us! Bruce is a horrible person- and she knows that- but she's just… just keeps being with him!" With a huff, he growled, "She shouldn't be with him, she should be with me!"

"So you're jealous?"

"I'm not jealous!" retorted Yori as he glared at the boy, shaking as he went on angrily, "I'm just worried about her!"

"So you're worried about whether or not she loves you?"

At those words, Yori felt his blood boil over. He breathed in and out harshly, soon snarling on the top of his lungs, "She loves me! She's just making a mistake!"

"…I guess you do belong in the Reapers' Game after all..." For a while, the boy didn't speak before he started walking across the street. "You're a child playing pretend rather than living your life... you don't see reality."

Yori couldn't help but yell furiously after the boy, "I am living my life!" Before he knew it, he was running after the boy. 'What do you know about me!? You're not walking in my shoes!' He pressed down on his feet faster, breathing heavily as his anger continued to course through him. 'Everything may be going wrong in my life- I'm being cheated on but what's it to you!?' He was deaf to everything but that boy, and Yori was about to catch up. 'You don't know anything! I'm not a child- but I guess everything would be easier if I were a child! Yet, I'm not! I'm just a teenager with everything burning around me!' He closed his eyes tightly. 'But I want-'

His mind went blank.

"Wow! Would you look at that, everyone!? We have lucky Player number forty joining us already! Give it up for… Yori Maki~!"

- END -

I hope you enjoyed the story! =3

…

EeveeGen9988: To tell you the truth, I'm a bit surprised I wrote this. But it was an interesting experience having a blast from the past with a character I haven't touched upon for a while, heh. *rubs back of neck* Of all people, Yori was the last person on my mind to write a one-shot for...