Authors note: I suck at transitions as always, but here's the (slightly belated) second chapter. I'd meant to get it up last night, but as I was reading through it, I kept noticing things that were worded funny. I wound up spending the hour trying to fix it rather than posting it OTL

Anyhoo, enjoy~

"School is fine, mom, thanks."

"That's great sweetie!"

"I got an A on my math test."

"Keep up the good work! Have you made any friends yet?"

"Uh, yeah sure, tons of them."

"Wonderful, darling."

Mother caught me throwing out my pills yesterday. She didn't yell at me - she never does. Father is the shouter. Mother just gave me this disappointed look (which was almost worse) and sent me to my room while she called the doctor's office trying to figure out if anything bad would happen because I didn't take them. She seemed to think I would die of food poisoning or something.

She came in later on to talk to me, asking me why I wouldn't take them. I told her they made me sick. She asked me how long I haven't been taking them.

"Only for the first few months"

"Have you seen the monsters since then?"She didn't seem mad, just worried, but I couldn't stand how those pills made me feel. She couldn't put me back on them.

"No." I lied. "Not a sign of the animals."

She ruffled my hair, smiling slightly. "Well, you've still been doing well in school, and your father hasn't seen you act funny, so I suppose if you think you're okay... I'll talk to him about it and we can make appointments with the psychologist to make sure…" She trailed off, not really knowing what to say next.

I nodded, not trusting myself to say more. I wanted to tell her everything - about the pair that had disappeared the other day, about the creepy floating symbols, about the mysterious music I sometimes listened to when I locked myself away in my room - but I couldn't, not when she would just make me take that stuff again. I watched her walk out of the room, my vision blurring as tears came.

When I was younger, I remember Mother calling it my "overactive imagination" and for a long time, I accepted that as being true. I assumed all kids were like me, off in their fantasy world. The people when they vanished were simply part of the act. They would of course, turn up for someone else like a giant game of peek-a-boo. I knew better now, of course. Every time someone disappeared I had to quell the urge to cry.

I didn't talk about it so much then because it seemed normal. I made the mistake once, of asking if my dad could see them too, hovering over the man sulking on the street corner.

"See what?" He'd snapped back. He'd woken up on the wrong side of the bed today. Not that it was much different than usual, but still not a good time to bother him.

"The symbols, floating round that man's head. What are they anyway?"

Father got angry with me then, and I learned not to talk about it so much. He still caught me staring sometimes and whenever he did, I got in trouble. I blew it when I'd tried to convince him about the girl. Apparently that was the last straw for him and his ideas of perfect normalcy.

I had to watch myself even more after I was supposedly on the medication. A single slipup could set Father into a rage. I learned to stay out of the house more often as the less they saw of me, the less I had to worry getting caught between the other world and this one.

I hid out in my room whenever I wasn't feeling up to roaming the streets of Shibuya. The silence of a Thursday evening spent like this shattered when Father burst in through the front door, shouting something about his car. I heard Mother's softer voice trying to mollify him, "It's okay, I got a raise at work last month, remember? We'll be able to pay installments on a new car with the help of insurance."

"NO WE WON'T!" Father roared. I heard a crash that sounded rather like a dining room chair getting thrown to the floor. "The insurance company screwed me over. I called them about it and they said that this wasn't something they covered, and the incompetent IDIOTS at work think I haven't been doing such a good job, even when I pulled their asses out of more than a few situations! Something about paperwork getting filed incorrectly, but I KNOW DAMN WELL that I put that shit back in the right place."

"Honey, honey… Please, just calm down. We'll figure something out and you know it. We just have to-" Even muffled by the door, I could hear the note of panic in her voice.

"SHUT UP, WOMAN!"

I tried to shut out the sounds of their argument. I knew they fought occasionally, but this was definitely the worst yet. I couldn't even tell exactly what set Father off, whether it was the wreck - which if he'd made it home alright I couldn't imagine being much worse than a simple fender-bender - or because he thought he was on the verge of getting fired. Why he was taking it out on Mother though, I couldn't tell.

Still, there was no peace to be had in my room. I suddenly felt motivated to make my way to the park, as far out of earshot of the argument as I knew how to get. Unfortunately, the only way out of our apartment was past my parents.

I grabbed my bag from the hook on my wall. Nothing of particular importance was in there, just my cell phone and some books, because I didn't know how long I'd be out. I assumed (hoped, really) Mother would call me back home when the fight was over.

I crept slowly down the hall, trying my hardest to avoid the creaky parts. The noise of their argument would have covered up any sound I made anyway, but sneaking still felt safer. They were in the kitchen, so I at least had a chance of making it to the door before they saw me. Taking a deep breath, I darted from the shelter of the wall towards the door, grabbing the handle as silence fell again. Well, almost silence anyway. It sounded as though Mother had left the TV on the wrong channel when Father had burst through the door.

I looked slowly back towards the kitchen. They both stared at me. Mother seemed apologetic and flustered. Father, in contrast, was still angry though confusion laced his expression. My eyes, however, were drawn above his head to where those strange symbols floated. Instead of the usual red ones, these were a deep yellowish-gold color. The static, whirring noise, I now realized, came from them, whatever they were.

Without a word, I fled the building. I think my parents were too stunned by my terrified expression to react fast enough to catch me. My cell phone rang before I reached the bottom floor, but I just kept running. Faster, faster… I had to get away from the fight, from the ithings/i that seemed now to follow me everywhere.

Crazy or not, why were they invading my house now? I mean, sure I hadn't taken the medication in over a year, but Mother thought I was over it - like it was some sort of prank from the very beginning, and Father didn't care one way or another so long as I wasn't talking crazy.

Chest hurting, I slowed down to catch my breath and figure out my surroundings. Oddly enough, I found myself exactly where I had been planning to go before Father saw me. Before I'd seen those ithings/i in my house.

Miyashita Park.

My mind drifted back to the things hovering around Father and I felt suddenly very sick to my stomach. I leaned on the wall to steady myself. Despite this, I doubled over dry-heaving, glad despite the pain that I had forgone dinner. My father might disappear, just like those people nobody else could see. Would he turn like them first? Invisible to everyone but me, racing for his life through Shibuya… As vindicating as that might seem, he's still my dad. I don't want to see him gone…

When the nausea passed, I pulled my phone out. Mother had called four times since I left and even as I held the phone, it rang a fifth time. I stared at it mutely, not really wanting to answer. I hit ignore and opened the voicemail.

"Joshua please come back!" Mother pleaded, her voice tinny over the phone's speakers. "We stopped fighting and we didn't mean to scare you. Your father was just in a bad mood. He had a bad day. Please Joshua…"

"Yoshiya Kiryu!" I almost clicked the phone shut as my father's voice rang out, far louder than Mother's had, "Get home before you give your mother a heart attack!"

"Joshy, please just come home. We won't yell anymore. Father has gone to bed. Just answer the phone."

"Honey… I really don't want to send the police out after you. Just come home before nightfall, okay? We're worried." Joshua listened as the message didn't seem to be quite finished though his mother fell quiet. "I love you. We both do and I'm sorry about what happened." *click*

Even as I hit end, a message flashed up to let me know I had a new voice mail. Silencing my phone, I kept walking towards Cat Street at the other end of the park. The sky already turned a pinky red - there was no way I'd get home before dark, and the last thing I wanted to deal with was more shouting. What I'd do until then wasn't clear yet, but going home was not an option.

Near darkness fell eerily fast, despite the street lights and constant glow of the city. I crossed my arms more against the uncertainty than the cold, and kept walking. No going back now.

The Jupiter of the Monkey store probably closed down hours ago. I debated breaking in and sleeping in the corner. No… I'd only do that as a last resort. I'd rather sleep under a bridge in the park than get arrested. Looking around, I noticed a table and chairs set up byr a tree. Maybe I could crash there?

A movement in the trees caught my attention and I jumped slightly. Just the wind of course, but… Was it just me or was the light playing in the tree casting rather skull like shadows - no. No. Just no. This was simply my imagination getting away from me. Like always…

I took a breath to steady myself and looked around again, pointedly ignoring the creepy-as-hell tree. The café the chairs were by seemed open, or at least a light shone from inside. Nobody seemed to be interested in going in, not that there were many around at this time of night. I glanced up at the sign, wondering what the name of the establishment was - I wasn't even sure if it was a café. I only assumed so because it smelled like brewing coffee.

Instead of a name on the sign up top, I could make out some sort of shiny, white… Was it a face? I cocked my head to one side. Maybe it was some abstract pouring milk-thing?

"Hey kid."

I nearly jumped out of my skin. I had been too busy trying to work out the picture and hadn't noticed the man inside until the door opened, inviting me in.

"Woah there, tiger. I don't bite."

"Hello, sir." I said, a little nervously, looking him over. The man seemed nice enough at least. He wore a white shirt and a vest, dark pants, sunglasses. He was old (well, older than me at least) but not quite as old as my parents. On top of that, the man just oozed coolness.

"I can offer you a cuppa joe if you'd like. 'M not too crowded now, and it'll only set ya back 520 yen." He motioned for me to come in and I obliged.

"That would be nice. Yeah, I'll take the coffee." I fished in my bag for my wallet and handed over the money. "What's this place called anyway?"

"WildKat. Pretty hip, huh?" He handed me the coffee. "Here ya go, fresh from the pot."

I could tell he wasn't asking my opinion, just trying to pull some conversation out of me. Still, I wasn't wanting to talk all that much. I nodded and sipped at the drink, not wanting to burn myself.

"So what brings a kid like you out of doors at this hour of the night?" He asked, trying again to start up a conversation.

Not really wanting to anger the man, I answered as honestly as I could without sounding insane. "My parents were fighting. I had to get out for a bit."

"Do they know where you are?"

I shook my head in reply, sipping the coffee again as an excuse not to answer verbally.

"You should call them before they send the cops out. I don't wanna be accused of kidnapping." He threw his head back and laughed. The sharp, barking sound made me flinch, but he didn't seem to notice. "Let your parents know where you are, and if they can't come and get you, you can crash on one of the booth chairs.

I nodded this time, thinking it best to listen, and pulled out my phone. I didn't even have to dial the number - Mother was the last one to call. The phone had barely rung once when Mother's urgent voice answered, "Joshua? Oh honey where are you? Are you okay? Why didn't you call?"

The man had retreated to put another pot of coffee on to boil, something I was thankful for. "Mom, it's alright. I'm fine… I'm at a place called WildKat. It's on Cat Street."

"Alright. I'm coming to pick you up… But really, are you okay? Why did you run out like- oh well I know why you ran out. I'm coming, just hold on a few minutes."

"Alright, Mother. See you soon." I closed the phone and pocketed it again.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" The coffee man asked. I just shrugged again and took a seat near the windows. The coffee seemed to help me think clearer. Maybe it was just having something warm in my stomach, but I felt like I could actually think over the events of what happened.

Those symbols, they made the animals, and I'd seen those people fight the animals and make them disappear. Maybe I could ask one of them to kill the ones on Father? I took another sip of the coffee, thinking about how to go about getting their attention. I didn't even know why those people did what they did, just that they were there, running around invisible to everyone but myself.

My mother found me lost in thought when she reached the coffee shop. She hugged me tightly to her, unable to properly scold me through her worried tears and her profuse apologies to the coffee man. We left for home shortly after Mother bought another 'cuppa joe' in thanks.

As I walked out the door, I glanced back to see him giving me an odd look I had the strangest feeling that he could read my mind…

The next day, Friday, I slogged through my schoolwork, just waiting for school to get out. I wasn't sure if this was one of those 'off weeks' where the invisible people didn't show up, and I really hoped for once that they would be around today. I had an idea of how to get them to do as I said, but I would have to find them first.

Wait, were those wings? I'd seen them out of the corner of my eye and I jerked around for a double take. Sure enough, standing at the entrance to Center Street, there was a winged person in a red hoodie. The face was in shadow, so I couldn't tell if they were a guy or girl, but I still cautiously approached the person.

He looked at me - I could tell it was a 'he' now - his eyes narrowing at my pointed gaze. "You a player?"

"No sir." I replied shortly. "You have wings - do you know about the symbols?"

The man started, "You can see them? What are you?" Remembering the first time I'd spoken with one of these 'hallucinations,' the question echoed oddly.

"I need you to do something for me.

"Okay kid, go buy me some of that ramen from the place on Dogenzaka. It's not too far away from here, but I can't leave my post. I'll think about hearing you out if you do that."

Nodding, I turned on my heel and started off towards Dogenzaka and he called after me, "Hey! Get me the pork one!" I pretended not to hear as I slipped into the Scramble.

I returned with the Tonkotsu ramen faster than the man must have expected, because he jumped when I appeared. "I have the ramen, now hear me out."

"Gimme the food and I'll listen while I eat it." He shot back. I wondered why it was so important to him to have the upper hand, but his defiance rubbed me the wrong way. I would have given him the ramen, but instead I chose to dangle it before him. I was rewarded by his stomach rumbling in protest.

"No." I said belligerently, "I want the symbols-"

"They're called Noise." He interrupted. "We call them Noise in the UG. You want all the noise erased so you don't have fight anymore? Ha! Good luck with that. There'll always be Noise." This guy was really starting to get on my nerves.

"No. I want the 'Noise' on Father 'erased.'" I replied coldly. I think something in my tone surprised the older man, because he stopped mocking me.

"I can't just go and erase noise. I'd like to help, you do seem kinda… Well I'm sorry, but I can't. I have a job to do, and it goes against protocol to help the Players, or whatever you are, out like that."

"Then tell the ones without wings to do it. Are they the players? Tell them it's part of the game, or whatever it is they're playing."

He looked at me strangely, then nodded. "I dunno what all you know, but if you can bring your dad here and stall 'till a player shows up, I can say they have to do that before they can get past the wall."

I handed the ramen over, nodded shortly, and left. I felt his gaze on my back until I was out of sight. I'd used up the last of my allowance on that ramen and I hoped it was worth it…

Line break

"Dad, can we go get…" I hesitated. What stores were around Center Street? "Music? There's a new album out that I really want."

"Go get it yourself." he growled back, sinking further into the reclining TV chair. "You hang out in the city all the time on your own. You have allowance."

"C'mon dad!" I insisted, hoping the unusually casual tone in my voice would bring him around. "I want to spend some time with you while you're home." I noticed that Mother was watching me from the kitchen, obviously wondering what I was trying to do.

"Oh go on, Honey! Spend time with your poor son." She encouraged.

"He's just trying to make up for scampering out on us last night." The ugly expression on Father's face, coupled with the odd, inharmonious sound of the symb- no, Noise,almost sent me back out the door.

Still, I didn't want Father to be erased, and I thought maybe the Noise were eating him somehow, making him angry. It wasn't his fault.

"Don't gang up on me!" he snapped He gave in and stood up though, heading to grab his keys off the mantle.

No! We couldn't drive… "Let's walk, Dad. It'll be more bonding that way." This earned me strange looks from both mom and dad, but Father shrugged and met me at the door, slipping his shoes on. We made our way fairly quickly to the Center Street entrance where the winged man stood sentry. I'm not sure if he recognized me or simply saw the Noise, but I could see his eyes widening as I approached.

Slowing my pace down considerably, I attempted to stall, hoping that someone would come along and talk to the man in red.

"Miki! Stay with me! It's gotta be around here somewhere."

"We've erased a ton of noise, and this timer is still ticking! I don't think you have a clue at all. Come on, let's try a different area!"

I turned to listen - were those people some of the 'players'? They had to be, talking about erasing noise and all that. Whoever they were, they knew about the noise. I watched the pair as they tried to run past the man in red. The first one ricocheted off an invisible wall, slamming into her partner. "Ack!" they cried, landing hard on the concrete. No one around them so much as flinched, and I knew for sure that they had to be part of whatever 'game' that they were players in.

"Joshua!" I blinked and looked away from the scene just now to see my father up by the man in red. Jogging, I managed to close the distance fast enough that Father looked only a little displeased. "What's wrong with you lately? You're so distracted."

I was distracted all right. The noise surrounding Father hissed and hummed louder than ever outside. It almost seemed to be feeding of the drifting red ones.

The two players hopped up and started talking fast to each other and the man in red. He motioned towards Father, and they turned to him, taking some sort of attack pose.

I swallowed, stalling again, and hoping that the noise would be erased soon and not Father. I made sure not to look straight at the players, because Father looked angry again, and if he found out that I still saw these things… "I thought I saw a coin on the ground. Turns out it was just a bolt for the drain. No big deal."

One of the players had faded almost out of sight, while the other appeared almost darker than usual. I'd seen this before in passing, but never thought much of it. The two moved almost in sync, but both seemed hard to see almost…

"You know, I do think this walk is doing me good. Thanks for dragging your old man along." Father smiled at me, and I couldn't help but grin back. The symbols around him vanished and so had his bad mood, so we continued on to the record store. I could hear snatches of the excited conversation behind me as we left.

"Wall clear!"

"Good we can move on!

"Huh? Oh wait, looky here! The timer's gone!"

"Woah, sweet! I guess that was the mission for today then!"

"See! I was right all along! Mleehhh"

The miracle cure to Father's mood didn't last all that long. He returned to his usual moody self only a few days later. At least it wasn't angry-moody now. Still, the upbeat attitude had been nice while it 'd even bought me ice-cream on the way home!

Still, I lapsed back into staying away from home when possible. Apparently whatever work issue had worked itself out, so at least he didn't wind up fired. .