Sorry for the day-late update! Here's your chapter; hope you enjoy~ uvu

Groups 1 and 2 trekked north without their one missing member, each of them feeling differently on the matter. Light had made the politely-stated argument that it was better to take care and protect the people that they had together with them right now, because it would just be more dangerous to go looking for him – the initial plan was to stock up on special items, so that should continue to be their plan. Kiritsugu had agreed, bluntly explaining that obviously Roppi didn't want to be involved, so it may well end up just putting them in danger going after him.

Shirazu didn't agree and Kaneki felt right terrible about the whole thing, but Shintaro said lowly that whatever it was Roppi was planning on doing, he would do it no matter what they tried to do. "He doesn't want to be helped," the shut-in said, eyes far off. "And if he doesn't want to be, he can't be…"

Seidou sighed heavily. "I'm not even going to begin to explain how I feel about this right now. To think, he just up and leaves like that? And with the medical bag, no less!"

"I'm just glad…in that it means he's looking after himself, at the very least," said Kaneki calmly.

"If he has that much determination," said Kiritsugu, "I imagine that he'll do alright. Seeing that he doesn't want to be helped, and judging by the way he'd been acting in the short time I saw him, it may be better that he's split off. It's possible that he would have only caused conflict."

Seidou huffed. "No kidding," he grumbled, looking pissed.

"I just hope he's okay," Shirazu said, rubbing at his head. "Swear, I really hate it, not doing anything…"

But they pressed on anyway, going over the other groups as they went. Kiritsugu was particularly interested in the species to be described. Other than humans, there were demons, gods, spirits, ghouls, parasites, and androids…possessed by demons. So there was some explaining to be done. The formal discussion helped bring everyone's mind off of Roppi, at least for the time. It was one of those things you can't really get rid of. From the topic of species, Kiritsugu went on to explain that there was one other new player from his realm: Rin Tohsaka.

"The Voice said that she was from the same realm as I was…the Realm of the Holy Grail," said the Magus Killer. "The Tohsaka family has a bloodline of very powerful mages… She's likely a mage, though I don't know her myself. I do, however, know a relative of hers."

"Holy Grail…huh?" Kaneki touched his chin. There was a part of him stirring that he forgot existed. He closed his eyes, tales of King Arthur dancing behind his eyelids. Of Sir Lancelot and Guinevere and Merlin, of old hardcover books held in his own small hands, leafing through well-loved pages of stories whose binding was weak and worn. The musty smell of his dead father's study filled his senses – he was reading to himself while his mother worked; he was only in elementary. Books; they had been his sanctuary. For years, no, even now…

…When was the last time he'd been able to read a book? Six months ago…, he thought dimly, opening lost orbs. I wonder…if Hide will be alright…

"Yes. The Holy Grail is a wish-granting item that is sought by mages all over the world," Kiritsugu explicated.

"From Arthurian legend," Kaneki said softly.

"Correct." Kiritsugu's expression didn't change. He glanced at Kaneki. "Seeing as all of you are from different worlds than my own, I don't see any reason not to tell you this: Saber, my Heroic Spirit, is King Arthur of legend. Heroic Spirits are the spirits of those who have perished, but who are raised and worshipped by humans for their good deeds in life. They're used as weapons in the Holy Grail War."

"Sounds like a TV show I watched," mumbled Shintaro, not looking up from the ground. He was merely spared a glance.

"There's no way there could be a Holy Grail War without King Arthur himself," Kaneki chuckled. "Amazing… To think, yours is a world where legends can come to life…"

"They're actually pretty deadly, Kaneki-san."

"They're legends, after all," said Light warmly. "I can think of lots of legends that, even though I love them, I'm not too sure I'd want to see them become reality."

"Hm…" Kaneki touched his chin, remembering that his favorite tales had always been tragedies.

"To be frank, I am hoping to find Saber at one of these 'special items pillars' you've mentioned."

"I guess we'll find out when we reach it," said Seidou. He'd been unsure what to contribute to the 'King Arthur' conversation. The orange-haired Shirazu, on the other hand, had been absolutely clueless.

"I'd say so – though speaking of knowing something about the new members," said Light, "I know that L person that was mentioned."

"Yeah?" Shirazu tilted his head.

"In my world, L is the world's most powerful detective," Light enlightened them. "A man with many respectable accomplishments… although he's pretty strange in person. He's… very smart, and very quirky. His strategizing skills are phenomenal – I do want to try and meet up with him at some point." Because after all, if I weren't to want to find him in this situation, then I'd be more likely to be Kira, especially after that announcement. If I want to find him regardless, and still want to work with him side-by-side, then I can still go with the idea that I was falsely accused by whoever's running this game… If I avoid L, I'm as good as guilty.

"Well, we'll ally with him if we can," said Kaneki.

"It kinda depends on who he's workin' with, too. If he's stuck with the assholes, we'd have some trouble gettin' him with us, y'know?" said Shirazu. "Not 'cause he wants to be with 'em, but because he's gotta be, unless he escapes. They might kill 'im; I sure hope not, though… Jeez, I hope Roppi's alright!"

"Me too…," Seidou sighed. "…Even though I'm still really pissed off."

"Yeah, the first thing I think I'll to do 'im is kick him in the fuckin' face, that ass!" Shirazu shouted, and Kaneki put his hand on his back to calm him. The half-ghoul was about to speak when the Voice once again began with an announcement.

"Hello again, players! I think there is something I need to inform all of you about. This has been going on for some time now, but I believe it's time to shed some light on the situation all of you are in… You see, players, as we speak, there is another game going on!"

Groups 1 and 2 stopped walking. Kaneki, Seidou, Shintaro, and Shirazu were most alarmed, while Kiritsugu and Light were just bemused.

Throughout the game field, all groups halted in their movements, filled with a mixture of shock, anger, and confusion. "In this second game," continued the game master, "there are only females involved – or rather…there were only females involved. Now, that game has ended! With eight remaining members of that game, they will be now integrated into this one! They could show up anywhere, really, so be aware of these eight new members! If there's anyone you know personally, they'll likely be teleported nearby your group, so fear not! Enjoy the surprise, everybody – I hope you can accommodate!"

With that, the Voice was silent.

"Ayano," Shintaro whispered, and a flash of light appeared perhaps 300 meters away. They all looked at one another, and before it had even died out, Kaneki, Shirazu, Light, and Shintaro all ran for the site. Seidou froze up. Kiritsugu stood by.

There were three people who materialized there. A girl in her late teens with light blue hair pulled into somehow-still-neat pigtails, short and plump, staggered at the scene change, tired eyes wide – Saiko Yonebayashi. A girl with violet hair parted to the side collapsed instantly, barely remaining on hands and knees; her breathing was heavy, her nice clothing tattered and bloody – Touka Kirishima. Lastly, there was a woman with pale blond hair, bangs pulled into a braid that was pulled into a bun. Strands had fallen out, messily hanging about her weary face. Though she staggered, she straightened her posture and stood tall, black tights ripped, white attire soiled with reds and browns – Akira Mado.

"Saiko!" Shirazu yelped, speeding forward. "Mado-san!"

At the same time, Kaneki exclaimed, "Touka…!" in a suppressed kind of way.

Then there was Seidou, standing frozen behind them, staring at the woman with the pale blond hair, face going pale in color itself. "…Mado…" Yes, the number one in his class. The top dog. The one who always beat him, who didn't care. The one that he loathed. The one that he saw as his rival. The one that Shintaro had convinced him he needed to apologize to, and yet…

"Shiragin!" Saiko cried, jumping into the orange-haired one's arms. "Y…your hair is back!" she exclaimed happily.

Shirazu caught her. "What? The hell's that mean?!" he demanded. "No, no—Mado-san! Is Mado-san alright?"

"I'm fine," Akira answered, refined. "Please, Touka…"

"Touka, are you okay?" Kaneki asked seriously, sliding on his knees to meet her. Shintaro scrambled after him, desperate to help even though the lack of Ayano frightened him.

"Kh—" she began, then began to cough, hacking out blood.

"She needs medical attention," Akira ordered.

"The medical bag," Shintaro whispered. Roppi has it. He heard Light tch beside him – he'd thought of it too.

"She needs a place to rest. Now."

Kaneki eyed the quinque that Akira held, then looked up into her face. She was serious. Had they, too, made an alliance together from the game they'd played? As Akira stared back at him, stone-faced, recognition played across her features. "Sasaki…" Her eyes softened. "Ken Kaneki?"

"I…yes." The half-ghoul didn't know how to take that look.

"Akira Mado," Akira said bluntly.

"Saiko, that's a younger Sassan, actually," Shirazu informed the blue-haired Saiko, who stared at Kaneki for a moment before pouncing on him.

"Mama!" she cried. Kaneki was lost as to how to respond, but he distractedly patted her head.

"Mado-san," Kaneki began, but she held up a hand.

"Please, call me Akira. Take us to the nearest base. No time to discuss. We're going to try to save her." Her eyes narrowed. "At all costs."

Kaneki nodded wordlessly, lifting Touka bridal style in his arms. She grimaced, attempting to open an eye to look at him. Kaneki noticed that she looked older than he remembered – perhaps she was out of time with him too. She kind of vaguely smiled at him through the grimace, her eye somehow at peace through the pain. "Ka—neki…," she choked out.

"Be quiet," said Akira, and Kaneki stood. "We don't want you hurting yourself worse."

"Akira, I have you," said Saiko, trying to give her superior support. Unfortunately, she proved as more of an armrest then anything with her short stature, only proving to set Akira a bit off-balance. By then, Kiritsugu had joined the party.

"Is there anything we can do?" asked Light.

"Hurry up," Akira answered bluntly.

Light nodded. "Right… The best thing to do is find the nearest hospital."

"The game area was the same," Akira said, looking upwards. "I recognize this street. The hospital is two blocks east."

There were some nods of comprehension.

"Um—" Shintaro painfully decided not to ask about Ayano for right now. "I—do you want to use me for support?"

"You're not strong like that," said Seidou, grudgingly joining in, stepping forward with averted eyes. "Kiritsugu, Kaneki, and I should help. Kaneki is taking care of that girl; I will offer my aid." Seidou sounded very flat, like he was forcing himself to say these words. "Mado, if you will allow me to…"

Akira stood, wide-eyed and paralyzed. It seemed as though the breath had been leeched from her lungs. "Taki…za…wa…"

Seidou huffed, crossing his arms tight over his chest. "Don't be all tongue-tied, Mado – call me Seidou; it saves time," he snipped. "You said we have to hurry, don't we? So let's go. Which side do you need support?"

"My—left." Light and Kiritsugu noted how white she looked when she saw him. They didn't know the relationship, but both of them had a more extreme reaction to the other, so they both knew something was going on here.

"If we need to hurry, we should carry the weak," said Kiritsugu. "Seidou, carry her. I'll carry another if we need to go fast. Seidou, you said you were trained, yes? So both of us can run while carrying someone."

Seidou swallowed and nodded. He was having to do far more than he expected for his rival.

"But why do you need to carry me?" Light frowned, indignant.

"Are you physically trained well enough to run as fast as us?" Kiritsugu answered, and Light shrugged and conceded his point. "And the blue-haired one?" asked Kiritsugu.

"I can run," Saiko said, giving him a peace sign.

"Uh—" Shintaro began, but Shirazu scooped him up with ease.

"I've got the hikkiNEET!" Shirazu proclaimed, ignoring Shintaro's yelp of protest. "Let's go!"

Kiritsugu grabbed Light, and they all ran two blocks east to the nearest hospital.

"Oh boy," said Yukiteru to the ceiling, nervous. They'd gathered some supplies, and though there was much that needed to be done, Yukiteru had suggested to all of them that they take some time to relax. A-ya and him hadn't slept the night before, and Yukiteru figured at Roy and L should take some time to settle with the idea of what was going on. After the time they took to gather food and tools, an hour or two relaxing would take them to early afternoon. It was perhaps noontime now, and they'd just heard the news of the females coming in.

Now Yukiteru was sitting on the end of a bed he'd found in one of the bedrooms, tying the laces of his boots up and putting his hat back on his dark-haired head. He'd never gotten to sleep. A-ya was already at the door when Yukiteru opened it – they nodded at one another and headed downstairs to where Roy and L were. "You mentioned a terrorist?" Roy said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yeah…" Yukiteru rubbed the back of his head. "We'll…see how this goes."

"If terrorists attack with explosions where you're from," Roy declared, "I will beat them easily."

"I hope so," Yukiteru responded, and there was a knock on the door.

Yukiteru and A-ya stiffened. Was that how it was supposed to work? Somehow, a knock on the door seemed too… ordinary.

Yukiteru went for the door while Roy went up the stairs, ready to sneak out the attic window and onto the roof to set fire to them if they were a threat. L remained crouched on a chair at the kitchen table.

When Yukiteru twisted the door handle and swung the door inward, there was a woman and a small child waiting outside. A-ya was just behind Yukiteru, standing slightly to the side so as to see and be seen.

Yukiteru did recognize the pissed-looking Minene who, although ragged looking in her green tank top and messy, wavy dark purple hair, looked otherwise unhurt. The small child with neatly-cut hair beside her had blue-violet hair, herself – she looked to be only seven or so, but Yukiteru figured that her age could be as old as eleven… if that.

"First," Minene growled, referring to Yukiteru, the first player in the Future Diary battle royal. She took step inside, single eye narrowed.

I stabbed the other one out, Yukiteru thought in terror, staring at her black eye patch. She's totally going to kill me… His fingers clicked open his pouch of darts. "N-ninth—Minene…! Um, p-please hear us out; um—this game…"

"Thank god it's you," she said dismissively, and shoved her way inside.

"Uh—wha?" He turned around, perplexed.

A-ya peered curiously out at the little girl, who smiled sweetly at him. "Ni~paa~" She beamed, and A-ya blinked wide red eyes.

"Ah?"

"May I come in, please?" she asked politely.

"Uh, yeah…" He stepped aside to invite her, and the little girl followed behind Minene. A-ya watched Roy jump down from the roof, and A-ya shrugged at him. "I guess we're safe, at least for now."

Tugging at one of his gloves, Roy nodded, still on guard. He smiled excitedly, touching his chin. "I take it, then, that I'm now allowed to be excited that we have women in the game!" He laughed a bit, but A-ya could tell that Roy was playing a role – very well, in fact. The occult-lover couldn't help but wonder about his true face.

Yukiteru was lost as Minene went straight into the living room and collapsed on the couch, leaning back and resting her elbows on the back of it with a sigh. Rika looked around at everyone curiously before sitting herself sweetly in a chair nearby the couch. Everyone gathered there in the living room, even L despite the fact he was quite comfortable crouching in his chair.

"Um… Minene—?" Yukiteru began, but she cut him off.

"Look, I figure we can work together on this one," she said flatly. "We've worked together before; you can trust me. For now."

The others of Yukiteru's group had left him at the forefront of conversation – this was his show, not theirs. "Wha—I've never worked with you!" he cried.

"Huh?" She sat up. "Sure we have! It was after that pink-haired bitch kidnapped you and fucked you up!" She tilted her head, cocking an eyebrow. "I trained you. And your dad."

"My dad?" Yukiteru repeated, even more perplexed. His dad was someone he hadn't seen in ages, and their meetings were always few and far between ever since his parents divorced. It worried him that he got involved with him and Minene… he hoped he didn't get too enmeshed in the Future Diary game. "I…" He straightened. "The last I remember, you blew up my school!" Yukiteru shot back, indignant. "You killed tons of kids and nearly killed me! Why should I believe that you and I worked together at any point in time?"

Minene blinked at him, scrutinizing his unbending will. Then she laughed. "Both of us were pinned by the same guy, and that's how it started. It wasn't an official alliance until you figured out how fucked up Second is. You started out pretty lame in our game, but you learn fast…" She leaned forward, a satisfied glint in her eye. "I mean, look at ya here, First. You seem to have a pretty good handle on yourself, don'tchya? Even seem like a leader, and without Second backing you, even! You've got the will to make it. So do I. I'm just impressed with these guys…"

"The game masters?" Yukiteru asked, confused, while A-ya sat down on the ottoman beside him.

The terrorist nodded. "I bet you and I are from different periods. Think on it – why else wouldn't you remember? It's either that or they implanted false memories into my head, or maybe they hit you on the head too hard. Brain wiped ya. Just – I mean, these guys have control over the future, and therefore the past, the present… It's the only thing that makes sense. Otherwise, wouldn't all this bullshit have been foretold in our Future Diaries?"

Yukiteru paled at the realization. What was it they were facing, exactly…?

"Look, I'm not gonna hurt ya unless you go after me or Rika. I've been taking care of her since day one, so you'd better be nice." At her mention, Rika began kicking her feet back and forth, happily sitting on her chair. "Other than that, we're forming an alliance if you let us. Fighting…well, that's giving the bosses exactly what they want."

"I heard you blew up the Control Center," Yukiteru said drily.

"Yeah, and then some bald asshole showed up." She shook her head. "Fucking—anyway, my point is that the goal is to get to that building and find the bosses inside. I know which building it is. I'm sure you could figure it out, but I can make things a little quicker."

"The only way to get in," said A-ya, "is to have complete cooperation from all other players."

"Yeah, unlike that fucking half-ghoul or whatever the hell—" She clicked her tongue.

"So we can't bomb it," Yukiteru stated, and she frowned deeply.

"Wait, we've gotta have everyone in on it? Are you fucking kidding? We'd better not have too many dumbasses in this game, or fucking beefed-up players that just wanna kill everybody." She shook her head irately. "I know all the girls are in this together right now, so that won't be a problem, I don't think. One kid makes me uncomfortable, but that's just one. I had an alliance with her group, but my god, there's this chick Maka that's real handy. She can sense when people are crazy, so she got rid of the bad ones pretty quick." She shifted to a more serious face. "First…"

"Call me Yukiteru or something," Yukiteru answered. "It's…weird here, like it's the wrong game. I'll call you Minene instead of Ninth, if that's alright."

She shrugged. "Whatever. Yukki, hear me out. I don't know how you feel about Second – Gasai, Yuno, whatever… But she was fucking insane. Maka killed her, and I was real glad. I'm not apologizing for it, but I thought I should let you know."

Yukiteru nodded. "Yeah… I know. Thanks…"

A-ya shifted. "Did you—I mean… Did you ever see a girl with brown hair to about… here? Red ribbon… School uniform?"

"Huh? Yeah, she was in the crazy one's group, actually. She was fine when Maka killed Second, and we didn't fight much after that. Her group looked like it was doing pretty well, but she wasn't in the final showdown, so I don't know exactly what happened to her… Come to think of it, I didn't see any of that group there – I wonder what happened…" She looked at A-ya. "One of your friends?"

"I…" He paused. "Yeah."

Yukiteru glanced at him, thinking back on the first night of the game. "I don't know that they'd be considered 'friends'… We get along, I guess." That was what A-ya had said about them, in the beginning. Maybe the loss had changed his mind…? Yukiteru was struck with an idea: which was worse? A-ya's predicament, where all the friends he had were lost, or Yukiteru's, where he had no friends to return to in the first place? Shaking his head, he decided against thinking too hard on it.

"Well, if we're gonna make alliances," said Minene, "there's one girl I know we need to find. She's strong, and she knows more than the rest of us. Not sure how she figured it out, but she knows a lot."

A-ya and Yukiteru glanced at one another, wondering if perhaps this person had been the one to find Aureus. Who had the golden-haired items master mentioned?

"Her name is Celty," Minene continued. "She's all in black – got a biker's helmet. She's real badass, but she didn't seem to want to hurt anyone. She split off from her original group because of how fucked up everyone was. When it came down to it, though, she fought really well when she needed to. She's the one we need to find."

"Alright," Yukiteru nodded.

"If that's the case," said Roy, "we'll need to find her, first."

"I think that we should take things slowly," said L. "We have the entire game area to search, and five other groups to factor in besides our own. As he did with us, I believe that A-ya should take his time explaining to you what he knows about the other male groups. Any new male members are people I may be able to analyze – if it's Light-kun, I know him and will recognize him."

"We'll search the game area methodically," Roy agreed. "If we come across another group, we will stop and analyze the situation."

"Then we can see whether they're friends or not," smiled Rika, still kicking her feet. She smiled a closed-eye, childish smile.

"Yeah, we'll figure that out when we get there," Minene agreed gruffly.

"…Right," Roy responded eventually. "I'll come up with a formation for us all – I'll need to know your strengths to set it up. That's something to be discussed before we start out."

It was here that Yukiteru found himself laughing. All but A-ya looked at him, a bit confused.

"Nii?" Rika tilted her head.

"What's so funny?" Roy frowned.

"I can't say I'm not curious," L added, staring with blank intrigue at him, index finger to his lower lip.

Yukiteru shook his head, suppressing his weary amusement. "I just—you have no idea how relieved I am to have you guys as our teammates…"

"Bad group?" asked Minene, eyebrows shooting up.

"Well—kinda…"

"I'm the last one from my group – I get it," Minene shrugged.

"I wonder where Maka and Nora are," commented Rika softly.

"Well," Minene said, stretching, "we'll find out, won't we?"

"First things first," said Roy, "after you two are settled, I'd like to discuss what we need to."

"Abso-fucking-lutely," Minene concurred. "Sounds good to me."

The females at last make their appearance! Next chapter the rest will be properly introduced to the story~

Hope you enjoyed; have a lovely day! uvu