A/N: In case this site is taken down as people are predicting, I want to remind everyone that this story is also on AO3.

Chapter 10

"So, did you find him?"

Uzuki didn't seem too fond of Kariya's question. She scowled, clenching her fists.

"I haven't. It's like the GM vanished from the face of Shibuya!"

Well, that sounded rough. Game Masters had gone missing in the past, but usually they were found pretty swiftly. Given the current situation, the GM had to be purposefully avoiding them. He kept the Game going, but under his terms, not the Composer's.

"What will you do now?" Kariya asked, putting a lollipop in his mouth.

At this, Uzuki smirked. "I already received a message from the Composer. He gave me the go ahead to deal with the situation as I see fit."

The Composer contacted her? This was getting serious, then. Or maybe it was something else entirely. It was hard to tell what those weirdos upstairs were thinking.

"You have a plan then?" Kariya asked.

"I do." Uzuki didn't even try hiding the triumphant smirk on her face. "I have a trump card. A factor who will throw a wrench in the GM's plans, as long as she's up to the task."

Things really were getting interesting. There was almost never a new player introduced this late into the Game. Then again, Game Masters didn't often turn against them either. Shibuya was just a hotspot for breaking the rules, despite how strict they were meant to be.

Though Kariya had to wonder, just who was this "trump card" of Uzuki's?

Eri groaned, stirring in a random location for the sixth time in a week. Where would they be this time? Eri opened her eyes, ready to say good morning to Yuika and—

It felt like a bucket of cold water was thrown on her. Her heart plummeted, tears returning to her eyes at the reminder of what had occurred yesterday. There was no greeting Yuika and Marino. They were gone—erased—with no hope of coming back.

"Hey, friend."

Eri had woken up in a sitting position, slumped against a building by the Crossing. She knew she should stand up, and yet… How could she? How was she supposed to continue without the two of them to support her? She didn't have Shiki, she didn't have them, she had… nothing.

"Hey, friend."

Hearing the voice the second time, Eri forced herself to look up. Of course, she saw Haz, the usual nonchalant grin on his face.

"Hey…" she managed.

"It's Day 6," Haz said. "Only two days left in the Game."

Eri frowned. What was with him? He had been there yesterday too, yet he was acting like nothing had happened. This wasn't some weird way of grieving was it?

"Yeah…" Eri sighed. "But without Yuika and Marino…"

"Do you really need them?" Haz questioned. "What happened to your confidence early in the Game?"

That was enough to make Eri glare up at him, snapping. "They were our friends!"

In response, Haz merely shrugged. "I don't recall ever agreeing on that fact."

He didn't—what was wrong with him!? Eri stared up at her "partner" with her jaw agape. All this time, she had thought… No, she hadn't. Deep down, she had known the truth, but refused to acknowledge it. She'd come close when confronting Haz, but she didn't want to believe…

"You don't care about any of us, do you?" The question came out as a whisper.

"Not particularly." There was no hesitation in Haz's response, no guilt in his voice. Eri felt the last shred of her hope shatter upon hearing his words. "I'm just here to see the Game through to its conclusion."

Before even realizing what she was doing, Eri had sprung to her feet, grabbing Haz by the collar of his shirt. "So we're just tools for you to get your life back!? We're people! People with feelings and aspirations! You can't just… use us like that!"

From the look on Haz's face, it was as if he didn't even notice Eri's tight grip on his shirt. "Not everyone can win the Game. If you didn't want to lose, you shouldn't have played."

"You…" Eri's hands were trembling. "You're terrible! None of us wanted this! We just wanted our lives back!"

Aren't you the same? Eri wanted to ask that question, but she was too afraid of his answer to take the plunge.

"And yet," Haz noted, "we're partners. You and I made a pact, friend."

Eri scowled, throwing Haz back. "We may be partners," she said, "but we are not friends. I would never want to be that close with someone like you."

Even that wasn't enough to faze Haz. He simply grinned as their phones buzzed, pulling out his to read the mission. Eri didn't want to hear his voice any further, so she pulled out her own phone.

"Survive the tide of Noise for 120 minutes to avoid erasure." Eri felt a heavy weight on her shoulders alongside the burning of her palm.

"Nonstop fighting… of course." She groaned. "This Game Master seriously has no creativity."

Haz frowned, finally. "Are you not up to the challenge?"

"Shut it," Eri all but growled. "I'll be fine. Worry about yourself."

"If you insist." That was all he said. A moment later, the Noise were upon them. They didn't even get the chance to scan before a hoard of the creatures descended.

From the start, Eri made a mistake. As Noise shaped like wolves ran at her, she attacked them with her closest pin, Black Cat Burn. But the wolves were fast, and one got through the vortex area before it had finished forming. It leaped at Eri, pinning her down.

Crap! Eri struggled, pushing the Noise back as it tried to lunge at her throat.

"A little help!" she shouted, flushing a bit when she remembered that she had just told Haz to worry about himself.

Thankfully, a beam of light still hit the Noise on top of Eri, disintegrating it. She got up, doing her best to ignore the look Haz was giving her.

After that, Eri tried to stick to Black Cat Cards. A safe, long-ranged pin perfect for an endurance test like this. Except even that proved to have its faults, as rhino Noise charged at Eri and forced to throw herself to the side, her cards ineffective against their armor.

Haz was surrounded by bird and frog Noise, so Eri would have to deal with this herself. Spinning around, she sent a flurry of cards to pelt the Noise from behind, where it was vulnerable. Only that didn't work, because it turned around too quickly, charging at her again. Eri rolled sideways, not even getting the time to stand up.

Growling, Eri switched to Black Cat Burst. If this thing wanted to play tough, she'd play tougher. It charged at her again, but rather than dodge, Eri built up the energy in her pin. It reached its peak just as the Noise got close, letting Eri summon a pyramid out from under it. The rhino was sent flying, fading away in the air.

All that for one Noise. This was going horribly.

It didn't get much better, either. The Noise kept coming at them, not giving them a moment to rest. With just the two of them, they had to put all their energy into keeping the Noise at bay, or else they risked getting overwhelmed. These were just pack Noise, but when there were so many of them, it was nearly impossible to keep up!

If Yuika and Marino were here, then… Eri grit her teeth, forcing that thought aside. She couldn't afford to get distracted, not now.

Too late. In the brief moment Eri let her mind drift, a bird Noise swooped down, its talons latching onto her. It carried her into the air, uncaring of her struggles.

"Let me go!" Eri shouted. "Haz!"

Shit, there were bear Noise on him. Seemed all the Noise decided the one bird could handle Eri, all descending on Haz instead. He would be so preoccupied trying to survive, he wouldn't be able to spare a second to free Eri.

Eri continued to struggle, but the bird's grip on her was too strong. Its talons dug into her, making her cringe from pain. She could feel more of her energy drain with every passing moment.

And neither of us have healing psyches. What am I going to do?

Struggling was getting her nowhere, so she stopped, resigning herself to wait for Haz to get a moment of space. She absolutely hated having to rely on him, but wasting her energy right now would be stupid beyond belief. She had to survive. For Shiki.

That was getting more difficult to accept as a full minute passed, Eri feeling weaker with every passing moment. Was she going to die like this? Clutched in some random Noise's talons, alone?

Thankfully, that wasn't the case. Haz finally managed to clear out the Noise in the immediate vicinity, turning his attention to the bird. Just a few pelts from his psych was enough to take it down, freeing Eri. Now she only had to live with the embarrassment of screwing up so bad.

Only if she survived the next 2 days, that was. Could she even last that long? She and Haz were a mess by themselves, and these missions were only getting harder…

Eri could feel her confidence depleting with every passing minute. She continued to fight the Noise, careful not to get caught by one of them. Yet with every Noise erased, two more seemed to pop up. It was becoming increasingly clear that the two of them just weren't enough.

Screw this Game! Eri thought, erasing yet another Noise. She was spending more time dodging than attacking at this point though, still recovering from the damage that bird had done to her.

"Maybe we should run," Eri said. "Get to a place where we can funnel the Noise."

"Too late." Haz analyzed the Noise surrounding them. "If we try to run, we'll only be leaving our backs open."

Dammit, he was right. Eri checked the timer on her hand. One hour left. They were only halfway done.

We can't do this, Eri thought. We're going to die. It was a thought that made her heart race, psyche going wild and missing the Noise she had been aiming for entirely. The bear ran at Eri, making her heart leap into her throat.

At the very least, she had enough sense to get out of the way. Then, she readied her psyche again. This time, she wouldn't miss—

She was too distracted, not paying enough attention to her surroundings. Because of that, she wasn't prepared for a frog Noise to slam into her from behind. Eri yelped, falling to the ground.

That left her vulnerable, and the bear Noise knew that. It roared, slamming its paws down at her, sharp claws ready to tear her flesh apart. There was no time to dodge, no chance of attacking. Seeing her impending doom, Eri squeezed her eyes shut.

I'm sorry, Shiki!

The bear made a guttural sound, stumbling back.

Eri's eyes flew open, just in time to see the bear fading away. But… looking to her right, she could see Haz dealing with Noise too far away to have helped her. So how…?

"I made it in time. Thank God."

It might not have been the voice Eri wished to hear the most at that moment, but it was still music to her ears. Eri turned, having her suspicions concerned. She couldn't stop the gasp that escaped.

"Shoka!?" Eri blurted. Eri nearly didn't recognize the girl without her signature Mr. Mew hoodie, but it was her, hands glowing with power from a psyche.

"Hi, Eri," she said, crouching down. A moment later, Eri sighed with relief as she felt a healing psyche wash over her. "I'm sure you have questions for me."

"Plenty," Eri agreed. The Noise had retreated for a moment, startled by the new threat. That let Eri get a good look at Haz, and what she saw made her blanch.

The boy's features were normally so calm and collected, she had been convinced nothing could rile him up. Yet now, there was a darkness to his eyes. A burning anger that threatened to smother the entire city if let loose. What… What was with him?

"And I'll answer them," Shoka promised, turning Eri's attention back to her. "But first, there are more Noise coming this way. I can help you fight them."

"But… you need a partner." Eri had to admit, she had no idea what was going on.

"Don't worry," Shoka said, showing Eri some red pin with a black design on it. "As long as I have this gift from Shiba, I don't need a partner to fight. Now hurry and get up!"

Eri did so, her head spinning. She glanced at Haz again, but the darkness from before had retreated. He looked as casual as always, even though they had nearly died.

"I suppose this Game isn't over yet," he said. "Though we certainly aren't out of the woods, wouldn't you say, Eri?"

Did Eri call him out on his initial reaction? Something was up with him, and she felt a need to find out now.

It wasn't the time, though. The Noise had gotten over their initial shock, and were charging at them once more.

Except now they were charging at three instead of two. Eri wasn't alone anymore. She had someone with her who she knew she could count on.

"We're not," Eri ended up saying.

"But I know we will be soon."