Roxas smirked and scoffed, "You expect me to believe that? I've had enough crap as it is." When Neku didn't respond he continued. "OK, fine. How did I happen to get into this game?"

Neku sighed. "I don't think it's a good idea for me to tell you. It's compli-"

Roxas glared at him. "Try me."

There was a long pause as both of them stared at each other. Their glares were equally matched. "You have to die to become a Player in the Game."

Roxas didn't even blink, but his thoughts were swirling in his head. "Wait...Wait a minute. I-"

Neku let out an irritated growl. "We don't have a minute. Come on, we have to reach the 104 Building." He grabbed Roxas and started to drag him towards the Scramble. Suddenly he heard the icy s slithering sound of metal against metal. Neku turned around to see the blonde lunging at him, his two strange key swords crossed in front of his neck.

"Listen. You tell me now what's going on or I swear I will kill you. I've been manipulated and tossed around like a proxy way too much to just let you go on without telling me exactly what's happening."

Roxas's words struck a tense chord in Neku's memory. They sounded so much like the story of his life. Who was this kid?

Neku took a step back. He held his hands up before him. "You listen to me. If we don't reach the 104 Building in two and a half hours, we will be erased, just like the Reapers said in their message. You will cease to exist at their hands. This is nothing to joke about and I swear I'll tell you everything I can once we get there. Then we'll have the rest of the day to answer your questions."

Roxas's eyes stayed narrowed for a long moment until he finally lowered Oblivion and Oathkeeper before dismissing them.

"Fine. But I want a damn good explanation after this." He glanced down at his hand. Neku was right-there was only two hours and thirty-two minutes left.

When he looked up Neku was already headed towards the 104 building. Roxas quickly caught up. He raised an eyebrow when they passed a creepy looking dude with a red hooded sweatshirt obscuring his face.

"Wall clear." The man said and Neku casually ran past him. Roxas mentally noted to ask Neku about that.

"There. We're at the 104 Building." said Neku, stopping in front of the huge building.

"Is that it?" asked Roxas skeptically.

"Look at your hand."

Roxas looked down at his palm. Just as Neku had implied, the red timer was gone. Roxas looked at the orange-haired boy.

"So what are these? Missions?"

Neku nodded. "That's right. The Reapers hand them out to all the Players every day with specific time limits. The catch is that even if just one pair of Players accomplishes the mission, the all the Players still in the Game live for another day."

Roxas crossed his arms. "Are they always this simple?" Neku shook his head, confirming his suspicions.

"No, the first day is always the easiest if you can figure it out." Neku smirked. "And the first day is always the same."

"Who are the Reapers?" Roxas had an inkling that they were similar to the Organization.

"The Reapers…" Neku thought for a second, carefully considering his words. "They're basically a group of people whose jobs are to eliminate Players during the week. There are rules that they have to abide by though, like they can't directly attack Players until the Seventh Day."

"What about the guy in red" asked Roxas.

"Those are barrier Reapers." said Neku. "Their job is to put wall up restricting where the Players can go. Though with a mission like today's you have to accomplish certain requirements to get through."

Roxas stuck his hands in his pockets. "So you have to die to enter this Game" From his tone, Neku knew the boy was distressed. Hell, he knew he certainly was when he found out he was dead.

"You probably noticed that people don't notice you. The UG makes it so Players can see other people, but they can't see you. That skull pin there-" Neku pointed to it in Roxas's hand as the blonde took it out to inspect it. "Allows you to hear their thoughts. It may sound a bit confusing, but you want to be able to hear their thoughts. If you can't then that's bad news."

"Why?" Roxas asked curiously.

Neku frowned at him. "It's a long story and trust me, you wouldn't want to know."

"But if I'm dead, then what happens if you don't get erased?" asked Roxas, furrowing his brow.

Neku pulled at his deep cowl. "Then if you did a good job during the week, the Conductor gives you a chance to return to the RG."

Roxas shook his head. "UG, RG, Conductor?"

Neku sighed. "This plane is the UG, short for Underground, where the Game takes place. The RG is the 'Real Ground', or where everyone else is."

Neku looked upward, trying to think of anything else. "Right, so no one in the RG can see you, but if you go into some restaurants or store with a Reaper decal on the front then the people inside will be able to see you. And always bewar because unless you're in a place with the decal, the only people you can talk to normally are other Players, Reapers, or those few others who dwell in the UG."

"Who would those be?"

Neku knew Roxas would ask that and mentally slapped himself. "Uh, people who run the Game, like the Conductor."

Neku saw Roxas's frustrated look and scowled. He was giving away way too much information. "The Game you're in is the Composer's Game. He's the one who calls the shots and runs Shibuya. He's like…the CEO or whatever. Basically he's god here." Neku knew it was a daunting statement, but Roxas did not have a great reaction.

"Now the Conductor is his right-hand man who may directly interact with the Players, while the Composer will not." Roxas didn't say anything for a while. Neku was beginning to get impatient when he remembered he had been the same-quiet and brooding.

"Hey kid, do you know what your entry was?"

Roxas was too confused with the question to retort at his use of 'kid'. "Entry fee?"

Neku scratched his head. "I forgot to mention that. It's the thing you have to pay to enter the Game. The Conducdtor takes one from every Player before they start Day 1. In order to redeem it, you have to survive the week." Neku was utterly embarrassed he had forgotten to mention the entry fee, the motivation of almost all the Players.

Roxas shook his head. "I don't think I'm missing anything."

Neku leaned forward. "Entry fees are whatever you value the most."

Roxas thought for a second. He shook his head a couple of times before he responded with a pale face. "I'm pretty sure I know what my entry fee is. Axel."

Hey, I'm pretty sure they're called Barrier Reapers, right? Oh well...