14.
…and so, the Game concluded with a Player victory over the Game Master, as well as a challenger victory over Shibuya's previous ruler – the Author. Its new Composer – Kiryu Yoshiya by name – was able to defeat the Author because of a series of coinciding circumstances that resulted in an advantage. First, Kiryu Yoshiya possessed a naturally high vibe – resulting in him having a degree of background knowledge that allowed him to quickly adjust to Imagination-based combat. Secondly, out of a sense of fairness, Shibuya's previous Author raised Kiryu's vibe even further before the challenge, allowing him to access an even greater level of power. Thirdly, the presence of an object designed by me, Shibuya's Producer, which Kiryu was able to use to redirect the energy the Author had been using to attack him. (This effect was unforeseen. My only intention in giving Kiryu this object was to positively influence his behavior with an imprint.)
As Shibuya's Plane of the Dead – now to be called the Underground according to the preferences of its Composer – is being remade, several changes are being made to the rules of the Reaper's Game. In order to give the Composer time to consult with me and finalize these revisions, the Reaper's Game in Shibuya is currently on hold. The new incoming Souls are being stored in stasis until the Composer is ready to resume normal business.
Other than Kiryu Yoshiya, Shibuya's previous Game had three winners: Sebastien Santos, Nakamura Kenji, and Arita Ryuuji. Santos, being highest in points and the Player deemed most likely to inspire creativity in others, will be returned to life under a new identity. The Composer expressed a desire to resurrect all of these winners, as well as an erased Player named Yasunaga Manako, whose Soul I have preserved in the form of a pin at the Composer's request. However, Shibuya's new Composer does not yet possess the power that would be required to resurrect three people at once. At my recommendation, he offered the other two Players the chance to play again or become Reapers. They both decided to play again.
This concludes my report. I will report again once I have more news.
With a sigh, Sanae set his pen down on the top of his report and wondered if anyone really would care enough to read it.
Standing up to stretch his legs, Sanae decided to make himself a coffee. It was quiet. Always so quiet, without Joshua paying him visits anymore. He remembered the way Joshua looked at him the moment of his ascension - he was then less an innocent than he'd ever been, less helpless, less human; and yet he'd never looked more like a scared, lonely child than he had in the moment he realized his closest friend was not who he said he was.
He'd managed to smooth things over. Joshua had had the aftermath of a Game to deal with, and by the time that was through he was too tired to pick a fight. When his Imagination recovered, he'd interrogated Sanae, and though a few of his questions - "What are you?" and "Were you telling the truth about anything?" - had taken on a passive-aggressive note, Joshua's hunger for knowledge was too strong to be held back by any grudge he might have held. So he maintained civility, something bordering on familiarity.
And yet that look in Joshua's eyes came back sometimes. Only for moments at a time, only when he didn't realize Hanekoma was looking at him.
So even though Joshua had not been erased, he'd lost Joshua and the Author both. Ascension, erasure – they weren't so different, were they? Either way, a Soul was being recoded into something new. Something that would never be the same again.