Chapter 2

Surprisingly, the high school was an open campus. So during the lunch period, students would travel outside the high school and follow the road leading to the Scramble Crossing. Some students would go to Ramen Don in Dogenzaka, where the owner would offer his famous "Insta-noddles" to only his closest friends. Others prefer to go to the Shibuya Main Store area where they can have a burger while they shop. There's even a new restaurant opening, called "Shadow Ramen". With so many choices, only a few people could be found standing in the courtyard, however, no one would, or could, take notice of them.

Shiro took a big gulp as he stared at the purple-headed girl that had just shot at Kariya. Her handgun was still pointed towards them, the smoke fresh out of the barrel. Shiro's arms were shaking, and why wouldn't he be scared? Kariya had just been shot in the chest, his left hand now clutching the wound.

Behind him, Uzuki stood unfazed. Her eyes were full of boredom as well. "Was that really the best you've got?" she asked in a disappointed tone.

Yuri was breathing in quick, light amounts, but she managed to show a small smile."There's plenty more where that came from," Yuri threatened. "Trust me." They glared at each other, their eyes in perfect focus. Yuri took the time to catch her breath, and she planned to attack as soon as she did. Unfortunately, a student walked by Yuri and accidentally went through her. "Ah!" she cried, surprised.

Suddenly, Shiro felt a gust of wind climb up his spine, causing him to shiver as it passed by. A small tornado, about people-sized, was hurdling at Yuri at an increasing rate.

By reflex, Yuri aimed her gun and fired at the tornado, but the bullets were easily deflected. The chiming death bell of an empty gun resounded.

"Tch, Damnit!" Yuri cursed. She took out the empty cartridge and put in another supply, all within a second of time. But she was a second too late, for the tornado was already upon her. Unable to resist, Yuri fell on her bottom, her eyes closed to the inevitable. She could already feel the wind cutting into her cheek. It could finally be the end she was waiting for.

"Guard Skill: Hand Sonic." The sound of two blades clashing together echoed throughout the courtyard.

Slowly, Yuri opened her eyes, and then stared in awe as Kanade held her ground against the raging wind.

"Yurippe!" Hinata shouted, running to her side.

"Yuri!" Otonashi joined, following Hinata.

"You guys…" Yuri said quietly. Gently, they helped her to her feet, and Naoi and Soreni ran close behind.

"Don't let up!" Naoi ordered Kanade.

She nodded in reply, and put more force on her defense.

"What~!" Uzuki whined inside the tornado. "There are more of you!"

At the sound of her voice, Otonashi, Hinata, and Naoi took out their hidden guns and aimed them at her.

"Uzuki, come back!" Kariya shouted. Surprised, Shiro quickly looked at him.

'I thought the bullet went through his chest!' Shiro thought. He searched Kariya's body, looking for the open wound that would have been caused by Yuri.

Kariya's left hand was still on his chest, but there wasn't any blood soaking out. In fact, it looked almost brand new.

"Uh…don't boss me around!" Uzuki moaned. Her tornado began losing its speed, and in a matter of seconds, the threat was gone.

Instantly, all of them fired their guns.

"Bye…" she taunted before disappearing into thin air. Naoi stared angrily as his bullet flew away at an invisible target.

"Where the hell did she go?" he yelled.

"Back there," Kanade said calmly, pointing where the rest of the Reapers were. With an emotional boost, he changed his focus and was an inch away from pulling the trigger.

"Wait!" Yuri said, putting her arm out.

"What the hell, Yuri!" he cried angrily.

"That guy I just shot," she whispered. "He doesn't seem to be hurt. Why?"

Back on the other side, Uzuki leaned back on a cushion of air with her arms crossed. Shiro was checking up on Kariya, still puzzled by the sudden recovery.

"How did that happen?" Shiro asked, bewildered.

"Haha. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure," Kariya admitted.

"Aren't they going to attack us?" Uzuki asked angrily. "I didn't think they would be this boring!"

"Hold on, Uzuki. Maybe they want some answers, just like we do," Kariya said, lowering his left hand into his jacket pocket. Pointing his lollipop at Yuri, he put on a smug face. "Yo! Miss-shoot-now-ask-questions-later!"

"What is it, Lollipop?" Yuri shouted back.

"Ouch…" Kariya mumbled. "Just like the new kid…"

"Just get on with it!" Uzuki yelled impatiently.

'New kid? They don't mean me, do they?'

"We didn't come here to fight," Kariya continued. "Our mission was to get some answers, and then bounce once we did!"

Yuri contemplated for a second before answering. "Then you give us some answers first!"

Kariya chuckled to himself; he figured he was right.

"Fair enough! Start asking."

The crowd of teenagers walking by was rapidly decreasing. Soon, it was only them and the Reapers.

"Who are you guys, specifically?" she asked first. "We heard you guys were called Reapers from this red-hoodie guy. But other than that, we don't know anything about you!"

Kariya eyes followed his lollipop as he began to swirl it in the air.

"Ah, I see. One of ours must've thought you were a Player, and told you."

"What's a Player?" Yuri felt her anger increase when he didn't answer at first.

"Easy, easy. One question at a time, will ya? Let's see… To start, have you ever wondered where people go after they die?"

"No. We've already figured out the answer. Its-!"

"Then that makes things easier," he said, interrupting her. "It's called the Reaper's Game, and you've got seven days to fulfill seven missions."

Yuri quieted herself when she heard his explanation.

"The Players are those that are dead, and are playing the game. We Reapers aren't necessarily dead, but we act as the game's...difficulties, I should say."

"If you don't complete the mission," Uzuki added, "then you get erased! Isn't that so much fun!" She began laughing hysterically, and Yuri tightened her grip on her gun.

Kanade saw the small movement, and looked at the rest of the group. They seemed to understand as well, even Soreni. Satisfied, she looked back toward the other side.

"So what you're really here to do…" Yuri said, restraining the anger in her voice, "is to bring us into this sick game of yours?"

"Well you are dead," Uzuki said, pointing out the obvious.

"Seems that so long as you stay in this area, you aren't affected by the game's rules. So all we ask," Kariya said, extending his arm towards the exit, "…is that you leave the high school."

Yuri pushed her arms downward, clenching her teeth. "Are you kidding me!" she shouted, her anger now exploding. "Do you really expect me to go into this little game, knowing that I'd be erased if I do!"

"It's not all that bad. If you win-." Kariya didn't get to finish his sentence.

The lollipop in his hand was now just the white stick. The bullet took away everything else. Yuri moved her arm slightly, so that the gun pointed at his head.

"Whatever prize I get out of this game," she said, glaring at them, "doesn't account for my existence at all!"

Uzuki glared back at Yuri, her claws poised to strike. Kariya let go of his stick, then smashed it in his hand.

"Shiro. Think you can handle one by yourself?" he asked.

The frightened boy looked at Kariya as if he was crazy. He looked hesitantly at the other group, and saw that every one of them was dead serious, no pun intended.

"Ok," Hinata said to his friends without breaking his sight on the Reapers. "I think now is a good time to get Soreni out of here…!"

"What?" Soreni asked/whined.

"I agree," Kanade said to those behind her.

"Soreni, get out of here now!" Yuri commanded. She took a step back, as if the last phrase had hurt her physically.

"Alright," she sighed. Soreni turned around and began running back to the safety of the school.

"Gonna save your unarmed one?" Uzuki asked. "We'll just get her as soon as we're done with you~!"

"Listen, Shiro," Kariya said to him. "You're dead, so a bullet won't do much to you. Just use your pins!"

"Again with the pins. What are they supposed to do?"

"Call out their names and you'll see."

Suddenly, Kanade made the first move, jumping high up into the air.

"Shiro! Call out Frozen Cool, now!" Kariya commanded.

Kanade's sword slowly arced its way down towards Shiro. Desperately, he shielded himself with his arms.

"Call it!" Shiro bit his tongue.

"Frozen Cool!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

A spear of frozen ice pushed emerged from the ground, shaking everyone quite a bit. Its steamy white figure appeared magnificent, but it was also a deadly weapon.

Kanade's eyes slowly widened as she came closer.

"Delay!" she cried out. Time seemed to slow down, and Kanade smoothly twirled in the air. With supreme acrobat skills, she landed on the icy spike with bent knees. Cracks emerged from underneath. Then Kanade performed a back flip and jumped back onto the ground.

Everyone, especially Shiro, was frozen in the tension that had set. It was a stalemate again, with both sides unwilling to yield to the other.

A gun fired from the far right side; Naoi pulled his trigger.

The bullet was sent spinning off in Uzuki's direction, but she dodged it with ease. Now on the offense, she snapped her fingers, and two wolf-shaped Noise arrived at her side. Coming from their unknown world, four, orange wolves bared their teeth at the five high school students.

They all looked at each other, and nodded in agreement.

In a burst of speed, Kanade ran passed the wolves, and aimed her small blade at Kariya.

Flustered, the wolves growled and decided to attack the other four, which was exactly what they wanted.

In perfect sync, Yuri and Otonashi fired at a single wolf, one aiming for its leg, the other aiming for its head.

Hinata and Naoi the same, and two wolves were down.

The other two ran at incredible speed, catching up to them before they could react. The wolves pounced on Otonashi and Hinata, their claws on the young men's shoulders and their teeth centimeters away from kill.

"Get this thing off of me!" Otonashi shouted.

Shoulder blades turning, arm extended, gun fired, and wolf down. Yuri completed this all in one fluid movement.

Struggling for his life, Hinata managed to place his gun underneath the wolf's neck and ended its life.

With a sigh of relief, Naoi remarked, "Well that went easier than planned."

Otonashi nodded, and looked back at Kanade. He instantly tensed as he saw them fiercely fight each other.

Using Delay, Kanade swiftly pranced back and forth, while Kariya continued to bombard her with his blue, spiky shurikens. Kanade couldn't even get close to him, and he couldn't even hit her once.

"Uh, hurry up, Kariya!" Uzuki shouted.

"This ain't easy, Uzuki," he replied, breathless. "Why don't you help me a bit?"

"Uh…alright. But you owe me a bowl of ramen later." She summoned two more wolf-shaped Noise and turned to Shiro. "Take care of them for me. Ok~?"

Shiro slowly nodded, and she giggled to herself.

"There's a good boy." Her black wings flapped once, and before he knew it, she was above the icicle already.

Shiro watched as she traveled to the other side, then turned his attention to Yuri and the rest.

Not a moment sooner, a bullet fired by Yuri herself went through a wolf and barely skimmed his face.

"Take them out, and then go for the boy!" Yuri ordered, dashing into the middle of the battlefield.

Hinata followed her for a few seconds, stopped, shot a wolf in the eye, and then continued.

Naoi and Otonashi shot their targets first before running towards them.

Shiro, his eyes bugging out, covered his face as another bullet passed by him.

"Damnit! Missed again!" Yuri shouted. She lowered her gun to reload, giving Shiro enough time to react. She brought it up again and fired.

"Frozen Cool!" Shiro yelled. The familiar pillar of ice was coming up again.

Yuri expected it to happen, and she jumped on top of the icicle, taking care not to step on its point. The bullet smashed into the ice.

"Yurippe!" Hinata called. He shot his gun several times, determined to break the ice.

Without much effort, Yuri jumped off the icicle on the other side, pointed downward, and fired.

Kanade couldn't keep it up much longer. She had to attack now, or her Delay would wear off. But Kariya was unrelenting, and with Uzuki joined in shooting pink, but sharp flower-shaped shurikens, there wasn't much she could do. Kanade decided she only had one chance, and she would have to use it.

But Kariya had a change of plans. "Uzuki, I'll finish it!" he shouted.

"That's more like it!" Uzuki cheered.

Kariya stopped his barrage and pointed one hand at Kanade. A yellow ball slowly appeared in his palm, and it glowed fiercely. When it covered his entire hand, he smiled at her. "Sa~yo~na~ra-."

"Guard Skill: Harmonics." Instantly, a second Kanade split from the first, and darted at Kariya.

Uzuki was in shocked; she stopped her assault, and watched the event unfold.

With a sword on her arm, the second Kanade slashed at the ball of energy. The sound of energy being swallowed followed after.

Then, an explosion occurred, engulfing both Kariya and the second Kanade.

The power of the burst smashed the first icicle in the way, revealing Shiro, on his hands while leaning back in terror.

Yuri stood in front of him, holding the bun to his forehead. Off in the distance, Shiro's Seattle hat lay on the ground, a hole in the front on the cap.

"Checkmate," Yuri said quietly.

"Kanade!" Otonashi shouted, running to her. She was lying on the ground, unconscious.

Uzuki didn't stop him, because she was with the also unconscious Kariya.

"Damnit, Kariya!" she shouted. "You're such a big idiot!"

Hinata and Naoi caught up with Otonashi, and stood silently next to him. "The second Kanade's consciousness must have gone back when the explosion went off," Naoi assumed.

"So she just fainted, right?" Hinata asked. Otonashi gently put Kanade's head on his lap.

"We can only hope."

Yuri took a second to watch Kanade, and Shiro took the chance to try to get away.

"Don't move!" she yelled at him, almost pulling the trigger.

Shiro yelped at the sudden movement.

"I should just shoot you here…" She tilted her index finger forward, and then pulled back.

'First Gear.'

"First Gear?" Shiro asked aloud. Suddenly, he disappeared out of Yuri's sight, and reappeared next to Uzuki and Kariya.

Yuri was taken back, but she recovered and rejoined Otonashi.

Standing between the two groups was a man in a shady suit, sunglasses, and red headphones around his neck. The man's hair was slicked back, and he held a dirty grin.

"Megumi!" Uzuki shouted.

"I'd prefer you call me Kitaniji," the man said, irritated. He pushed back his sunglasses and spoke to Kanade and the rest. "Well, well. It seems that we have here some rebel souls that won't play the game."

"And we never will!" Yuri added. Kitaniji laughed.

"We shall see." Kitaniji turned his back on them. "You," he said to Shiro.

"Me?" Shiro asked.

"Yes. You can create Noise, can't you?" Shiro nodded in reply to him. "I'll make sure you become a Reaper. And guess what will happen when you do?"

Shiro thought for a second before answering. "I don't die?"

"No, you stupid boy!" Shiro lowered his head. "You get to come back to life!"

Suddenly, the life in Shiro came back. "I get to come back to life?"

Kitaniji smiled at him. "Yes… All you have to do is make sure Players…" He pointed at Otonashi. "…like him, get erased!"

A spark in Shiro's eyes shined. "I get to come back to life…"

"Go ahead. Take them out."

A mystic aura began to surround Shiro. It was dark, and it seemed hostile to touch.

"I need to go back… If I just erase them… If I do…" Shiro lifted his head towards the sky. "I WANT TO COME BACK TO LIFE!" he screamed.

Instantly, the dark aura surrounding him shot up into the sky, and formed into the shape of a giant bird. The sky began to darken, and soon after, a purple bird filled the sky with its menacing form.

"Hahahaha! Just perfect, boy!" Kitaniji grabbed Shiro's pins and threw them on the ground. "Well," he said, turning his head back. "We'll meet again…" He disappeared into the air with Kariya, Uzuki, and Shiro.

Otonashi clenched his teeth, watching the giant bird fly circles around them.

"What are we supposed to do about that!" he shouted.

"I don't know!" Yuri answered. "Just…shoot it!"

"That's crazy!" Naoi yelled.

"Then what can we do?" Hinata asked. They stayed still, waiting for the bird to make its killer strike.

"Follow my lead!" shouted a young man.

"Screw that!" another young man shouted back.

Suddenly, all kinds of mechanical items fell from the sky: vending machines, cars, and even bicycles. They barraged the giant bird in the sky, and it proved too much for the Noise.

Otonashi, Yuri, Hinata, and Naoi watched the bird fall on the ground, and saw that two male teenagers were standing in front of them.

The first had orange, spiky hair and purple headphones to match. The other stood composed and brushed his light, silver hair out of his face.

"To think we had to face this thing on Day 1," the silver-haired teenager said. "It's a good thing I've got a pro like you, Neku." He laughed to himself.

"Sheesh. And I'm stuck with you for another six days," Neku thought out loud. "At least get rid of the laugh, Joshua."

"Talk later, Neku. We've got an injured girl over here." They turned around and observed Kanade carefully. "What happened to your Cure Drink, Neku?"

"I spent all three uses already." Neku's eye caught the single glimpse of a few pins lying on the ground. "This'll do," he said, picking up the happy-face pin. "Peace Full."

A soda can appeared in front of Joshua. He grabbed it, and bent down to Otonashi. "Let her drink this," he said with a calm voice.

Otonashi looked at Kanade with concern, and reluctantly took the can. He opened it, and slowly let the liquid fall into Kanade's throat.

After a few seconds, Kanade slowly opened her eyes, and the darkness that came with the bird slowly went away as well.

"Yuzuru?" she asked.

"Yeah, Kanade," he answered. He embraced her tightly, and a tear began to form in his eye. "I'm glad you're safe."

"Well, you're welcome," Joshua said, standing back up. Then he extended his hand out to shake. "My name's Yoshiya Kiryu, but please, call me Joshua. It's nice to meet you."

Neku walked up towards them, and put his hands behind his head. "Neku Sakuraba. Likewise."

Yuri looked at both of them with uncertainty, but they seemed alright. If she wanted to survive, she needed allies like them.