-Day 3: Mother-
Scramble Crossing—a place where anyone could get lost in the crowd. Standing there now, Joshua knew that was the ideal place to begin the Game. It'd even be appropriately named with the Players having to scramble around to find Partners in a crowd consisting of both the living and the dead.
But that future would have to wait. For now, Joshua and Megumi had their new mission: defeat the Moyai Dragon.
"Dragons are quite majestic creatures, but Moyai Dragon?" Megumi asked as he stared at it.
"The Moyai is a statue. It was a gift to Tokyo from Niijima," the younger one explained. "Though it resembles the Moai statues at Easter Island, not a dragon."
"I've seen it before," the other mused. "Perhaps if we go there, we'll find a Noise."
"I suppose there's only one way to find out." In agreement, the two made their way past the crowds and towards the famous Hachiko statue southeast of the scramble. From there, they'd be able to weave through the buildings to reach the west bus terminal, where their target slab of rock stood.
At least, that'd been the plan. However, a Support Reaper blocked their way, his wall reaching up between the towering structures and forbidding them from going any further. "You wanna clear this wall?" the Reaper asked, leaning back against it. "Then both of you dress head-to-toe in Dragon Couture."
Well, that was easy enough, albeit out of the way. Part of Joshua didn't want to bother and let some other Player handle it, but the other part considered how many points this would give him—points he lacked so far. Though in the end, he walked towards the store not for the points, but simply because he did kinda want some Dragon Couture clothes. Megumi, at least, could think he was finally stepping up to do something right.
The two hurried past 104, keeping their pace quick in an effort to arrive before the other Players. They soon entered the Shibukyu Main Store and found the shop in question. From casual to formal, it held nice, classy clothes primarily for men. "Pick something out," Joshua suggested as a light blue shirt caught his attention. With only three buttons and a white trim around the sleeves, it couldn't be simpler. Still, it seemed loose and comfortable—and more than that, the low cut seemed wonderfully opposite from the ties he'd grown up wearing. He found his size and pulled it off the rack, nodding in approval before moving on to search for pants to match it.
He soon found a pair of blue slacks. With those and a pair of white shoes, he headed to check out, wondering how Megumi's search fared. Not seeing the elder around the racks, he proceeded to buy the items and headed to the changing rooms to switch clothes.
They fit perfectly, and he rather liked his look with them on. He switched his Player Pin to his phone and his new pockets before staring at his old clothes—far too stiff and formal. Perhaps it'd do him well to discard of them.
He had that thought in mind as he headed towards the front of the store. There, he could wait for Megumi, and part of him wondered what sort of outfit his dear Partner would pick.
"Joshua!" A hand grabbed his arm and pulled him behind a clothing stand, and he found Megumi already there and changed. The man now wore a white shirt rather similar to Joshua's, but over it he had a texturized black jacket with matching pants. The man put a finger over his lips in a request to keep quiet, and, confused, Joshua complied. But why? What were they hiding from?
He found out the reason straight away, though he almost wished he hadn't.
"I know you've been getting a lot of questions recently, but I just had a little more I wanted to ask about your late son—Joshua."
Joshua's eyes widened at the unfamiliar voice, and he peeked between the shirts in front of them. He saw two women there. The speaker was a woman with orange hair cropped around her face. Her smile stayed too bright—perhaps even disgusting so. She seemed rather young and had no jewelry despite being old enough to marry. Though her dress seemed nice, it also left her free and open to move, showing off both her legs and cleavage.
"You're lucky I was in the area," the other replied in an agitated voice, and Joshua's breath hitched. She was none other than Noriko Kiryu—his mother, from whom he got his wavy hair. "I've had about enough of reporters." She'd come in the same dark blue business suit she always wore along with the usual pencil skirt and heels, her short hair brushed behind one of her ears to show off her expensive earrings. She hadn't changed one bit.
"I understand how hard this must've been for you, especially with all the news reports claiming he killed himself. But you said before that he was your perfect little angel. Why do you think he might've done that?"
Of course she was claiming that. She'd always been obsessed with western tales of angels. She was fully Japanese, while Joshua's father was only half. Perhaps her love for foreign worlds drew her to him despite society. Not only that, but it'd led to her insisting on calling him "Joshua" instead of his given name—or even the nickname of "Josh." Either way, whoever she might've been when she was young had long left by the time Joshua had grown old enough to remember. She'd become twisted, obsessed with his perfection and his future as heir to their advertising company. To her, they were like royalty, the rulers of Shibuya and its trends.
Joshua scoffed, a smirk forming. Oh how he'd love to shatter her world with the truth of Shibuya's true ruler, the Composer. But doing so would come with the price of her knowing about an afterlife, and that price seemed far too steep.
"You understand?" Noriko repeated, a frown on her face. "You said you have a daughter, didn't you? Is she still alive?"
"Well, yes, but—"
"Then you couldn't possibly understand."
Don't give me that, Joshua thought, his own gaze turning hard as he searched for an escape route. All you ever wanted was a perfect little puppet—and that's all you lost. He began sneaking the other way, making sure to keep his cover. Don't confuse it with someone who actually cares about their child.
Megumi followed, using his own height to cover the boy until they could escape. Neither said a word as they hurried out the store and back into the UG, Joshua dumping his old clothes in a trash can on the way. They began walking towards Hachiko again, this time in silence for a few blocks.
"So," Megumi finally spoke, "that was your mother?"
"Unfortunately."
A pair of young boys hurried past them, the one ahead laughing as the one in back called out, "Souma, wait up!" Megumi let his gaze follow them a moment as the next question formed in his head.
"Why did you kill yourself?"
Why, huh? Joshua's mind flashed through all the horrible lessons his mother had come up with in her efforts to form him the way she wanted. She'd never approved of the things truly part of him, such as his ability to see people that "weren't there" or his confusion as to why he'd one day have to marry a girl—why did gender matter? Plus, to her, his creative endeavors were nothing more than a waste of time. She didn't understand his desire to make a game for a TinPindo system or his interest in the Eraqus X building in Shibuya.
Explaining all of that to Megumi, though, seemed like far too much work, not to mention giving out free information about himself far too easily.
"Why wouldn't I kill myself?" Joshua replied. "Living in the RG is far too stifling. I'd rather be somewhere where I can spread my wings. I guess you could say the UG rang, so I answered."
"They say Shibuya's been on a decline recently. Do you really think you could turn that around?"
Ah yes—how worthy was he to become Composer? This question had to come up eventually with how much Megumi loved these streets.
"When you watch the people of Shibuya, like those kids, for instance, what do you see?" Joshua asked, though Megumi wasn't able to answer quickly enough. "I see lost potential. There's so much more this city could make if they tried. Those two kids could grow up to become artists or musicians or something fun, but society makes it hard to break into those jobs." The boy brushed his hair back and added, "The state of Shibuya is likely a result of the Composer. If that's the case, perhaps what the seat needs is more creativity to push it forward. Perhaps then, Shibuya could become a place truly worthy of leading the world forward."
Megumi nodded with a small smile and let all other questions drop. Besides, they'd already reached the wall that'd stopped them before, and the Reaper allowed them to pass this time upon seeing their attire. They proceeded to the Moyai statue and scanned for the Noise in question.
Sure enough, a blue dragon appeared. When they tried to pull it in, though, it slithered off, its long body disappearing into the station underpass. The two exchanged nods before hurrying after it.
They slowed as they entered the underpass, darkness surrounding them as they looked around. The dragon had to be somewhere here, after all, unless it'd gone into the sewers or the freeway.
A clap stopped them short, and both spun around to see a female Reaper standing behind them. Her blonde hair fell straight down her black, and she brushed a little out of her eyes as she stood with a hand on her hip to show off her purple D+B outfit. "You two did pretty good getting this far. But it's too bad for you. That dragon won't come out without a little... offering."
"Are you volunteering?" Joshua quipped, folding his arms over his chest.
"Well, you have two options," the Reaper explained, tilting her head to one side as she put a finger to her lips. "Either one of you can become a sacrifice for the dragon or you can get a little something to draw its attention."
Joshua shrugged and said, "In that case, you leave us with little choice. Megumi, we're just going to have to make use of your long hair and turn you into a damsel in distress for the noble cause of not cooperating."
Megumi, however, didn't bite. "Do you have a clue for what the dragon wants, then?" he asked the Reaper instead.
With a giggle, she tossed a paper airplane at them, and Joshua caught it before opening it up. On it, it read "Play at Moyai," and the boy soon realized it was a meme.
"You see, this Noise is pretty hungry. See if you can round up a little human girl for it, okay? I'm sure that meme will help you—bonus points if you get her away from her mommy or something!" She then stepped back, her wings beating to pull her up into the air. "Ta-ta, little Players!"
Sacrifice a human girl. That was this true mission. Even if the Noise couldn't erase a human, they could latch onto emotions of fear and distraught, and any Soul they ate would never come back. If they fed too long, the human's emotional state could even be broken forever.
"Are we really going to do this?" Megumi inquired, adjusting his sunglasses. "Sacrificing a child to the Noise..."
"What choice do we have?" Joshua pointed out. "Even if we don't, someone else will to draw out the dragon. Besides, this is a test for Composer, is it not? Sacrificing one person is child's play compared to what we'll have to deal with as masters of the dead."
"I suppose that's true... Where are we going to find the child?"
Joshua paused, his mind reeling back to the previous day. Katsu's words rang in his head: "One new reporter's gotten pretty popular by showing the mother-son bond Mrs. Kiryu talks about."
Sounds like that might've been the reporter we saw today, he realized, his gaze growing serious. And judging from the conversation today, she has a daughter. His mouth curved into a smirk, and he told Megumi, "I think I have the perfect target." Without offering any more information, Joshua led the way back to the Shibukyu Main Store. That "mother-son" bond was a lie—a lie he couldn't stand.
They found the reporter outside the store this time and saying her goodbyes to Noriko Kiryu. Good, Joshua thought, knowing he wouldn't have to go in to where the decal was for this. He just had to follow that reporter—
"Mommy!"
Well that went faster than expected. An eight-year-old girl ran up, her wild pink hair bouncing behind her. She stopped, letting it settle as her brown eyes lit up at her mom. After adjusting her green hat, she offered her parent a pin and boasted, "Look, I bought this for you!"
"Wow, Eri, that's really pretty," the woman said as she patted her daughter's head. "Thank you."
The child laughed as she held her hands behind her back, bouncing in excitement. She, too, was way too cheerful. Had she grown up without a care in the world?
That didn't really matter, though. This child—Eri—would work quite nicely. After honing in on a scan, Joshua imprinted the meme in her head.
Eri's eyes grew wide before smiling, liking the idea she thought she'd come up with all on her own. "Hey, Mommy, let's go play!" She then spun around and began jogging, calling out behind her, "Come on!"
For such a little thing, she sure was fast. Joshua had to run to keep up, much to his displeasure. Megumi stayed close behind them, and a glance back showed him that Eri's mother had an even harder time keeping up. Perfect—she'd no doubt get lost in the crowds at the scramble, allowing the two Players to complete their mission.
The trip through the scramble went just as planned, and the little girl didn't stop or look back to notice she'd lost her mom. She passed by Hachiko with the same excitement as ever, not stopping until she finally reached the Moyai statue. By the time she'd gotten there, she'd run out of breath, but the smile on her face never left.
Proud of herself upon reaching her destination, Eri twirled around. "Here we are!" she announced, but only now did she realize her mother wasn't there. She was all alone. "...Mommy?"
And, like they wanted, the dragon Noise surfaced. It wound its body above her before diving down to feast—
A vending machine crashed down on the creature's head, stopping it short. Joshua held his phone in one hand and tapped a few more buttons, causing bikes and cars to pummel it, too. His other fist stayed clamped tight around the pin he channeled his energy into—Digitize.
"Joshua—"
"Come now, Megumi. Are you going to fight, or are you really going to let this little girl's Soul get eaten?" Joshua remarked, now stepping between the dragon and Eri. "And here I thought you were against sacrificing children."
Megumi put one hand over his face, chuckling. He should've known that Joshua had this plan up his sleeve all along. He concentrated his energy into his own psych, and balls of energy appeared around him. Purple, bladed notes shot out from them like wisps, creating music as they hit their target. The dragon roared in agony, switching its target from the girl to Joshua.
Mission accomplished as far as he was concerned. He jumped out of the way, letting Megumi attack alone before he continued transforming objects around them into digital energy to fight with. The dragon tried everything to fight back—fire, biting, lashing its tail—and sure, some attacks did hit. However, Joshua knew every trick the Noise tried by now, and after beating so many GMs, he found this glorified lizard hardly a challenge. He sighed as the creature vanished, wiping his brow. "Well that was annoying. This mission actually made me sweat."
"Eri!" the reporter's voice yelled out as she hurried over to her daughter. She scooped the girl up into a hug, letting her worry settle into happiness as she found her daughter happy and unharmed.
"That was so boring," the female Reaper complained as she landed in a sitting position on the Moyai statue. "You could've at least let the Noise eat a little bit of her Soul, you know."
Joshua shrugged, letting her words roll right off of him. "There was no need, really. She drew the dragon out. That was enough."
The Reaper rested her elbow on her knee with her chin in her palm. "I guess the motherly bond this girl has is pretty cute. Too bad you never had that, right, Yoshiya Kiryu?"
Joshua turned his head away, refusing to give her any semblance of a reaction. The previous GMs had already tried preying off his past with his mother, and he wouldn't let himself fall victim to their words.
"You want it, don't you? A nice, healthy relationship with your mother—like what that girl has," the Reaper continued with a giggle. "For your own mother to hold you with love instead of that façade she gave you." She pushed herself over and wrapped her arms around the boy, pulling him into a hug. He grew rigid as she whispered, "But you'll never have that, or any love. Face it, Yoshiya—you'll always be alone, no matter what you do, because all you know is a fake love. And someone who can't love can't protect Shibuya."
A façade, was it? His eyes drooped as the Reaper's words settled in, beckoning his conscious towards darkness. Perhaps that truly was all he knew, and he didn't want to change it—he didn't want to love anyone. After all, the less he loved, the less he hurt.
So was he still fit to be the Composer?
