The Composer tossed and turned, his mind wandering into places he wasn't keen on revisiting. He saw flashes of images, of his own distorted memories. There was an ache inside him that had to be filled...that HAD been filled once.

I am going to make you suffer like you've never suffered before!

He lurched back, feeling ghost blows to his head...to his Soul. A clawed hand fisting his stomach while another forced his head to the pavement they fought on made it's return, throwing him nearly out of bed and onto the cold floor.

He saw his Soul in the claws and gasped, the tether hadn't been broken...what was he going to do?! No! He yanked it free, returned it to himself. He had come way too far to let this idiot ruin all of his work!

He gagged, dry heaving as he felt his chest and put a hand shakily on his forehead, closing his eyes as he willed the memory to continue. He was getting closer, he could feel it...the answer was just out of reach!

"Ok Mister Kiryu, time for another once-over."

He cursed the timing of the nurse. With someone else intruding, the memories refused to reappear. He endured the humiliation of having a tongue depressor in his mouth. Endured the indecency of being force-fed the horrid-tasting liquid that was the antidote for the poison he consumed. He waited in impatient silence and mild flirting as the nurse finished what she's set out to do.

Once she left, he tried recalling the lost memory.

He was sorely and frustratingly disappointed, for the wisp he'd tasted refused to reappear before him.

"GRAAAAW!"

TWEWYTWEWYTWEWY

Kariya sighed as he watched the young girl from a ways off. He was really hoping the payment he'd receive would be worth all this extra effort. Spying on the Composer's pet was not at all stimulating, especially when the main threats were doing time. The Noise were even absent from this entire environment, though that was hardly surprising. Who could be negative at the beach?

Well...besides Neku Sakuraba.

The spikey teen was clearly only there for support. He hadn't even brought a swimsuit, and sulked under an umbrella, hiding from the sun and scowling at the sand. However even with his discomfort, Noise refused to show themselves.

"A Shibuya Reaper far from home. Interesting."

Kariya sighed and closed his eyes, not turning to the new arrival. "You're a bit off from your usual patrol space, Misoto. Gin give you time to play finally?"

The other Reaper snorted and waved his burly hand in the air dismissively "Naw. I just thought I'd come see why there was a Shibuya reaper in my territory. Glad it's you, eh cuz?"

Kariya smirked. The larger male was indeed his second cousin, but one would never guess from his stark white locks and muscly form. The four wings he sported gave away his position as an Officer Reaper, maybe even a Conductor. His younger cousin was hardly surprised. The man was as driven as Uzuki, and deserved to be in high position.

Misoto sat down and looked at the students. His eyes settled on Rhyme, and his euebrows raised slightly as he saw that her Vibe was fluctuating, indicating she had been close to someone with a much higher frequency recently.

"So, that's Yoshiya's newest victim. Poor kid. The Proxy's here too, I see. What a Vibe! Kid's not careful, he could accidentally shift planes."

"I need to ask the Boss about that. I noticed it a month ago." Kariya murmured, taking out two lolipops and offering one to the other Reaper. Misoto took his with a smirk, "Still can't get enough of the bean paste, eh Kariya? Some things never change."

The redhead chuckled "Well, gotta keep up old habits. You know our existence can be stressful sometimes. Best keep our comforts, right?"

"Yeah, right. It's totally that." Misoto scoffed with a snort.

The two turned their attention to the students. Rhyme was engaged in a game of volleyball with the other girls, and was doing quite well for herself. Misoto sighed and stretched after ten minutes.

"I don't know, cuz. She seems like a normal teenager back from the Game to me. Nothing a Composer would bother themselves with anyway. When Ginroto told me about Yoshiya's new obsession, I thought she'd be a bit more interesting."

"Boss brought her back from erasure." Kariya pointed out " She was even a Noise for a bit. But I think there's something else. Something's been bugging him for a while now, and he thinks ol' Little Skulls over there can help him figure whatever it is out. I can't fathom what he's after, but it's so important that I have to guard her even out of Shibuya."

The burley reaper looked hard at his cousin but then chuckled "You know at least some of the details, Kariya. Don't try to bluff with me. Fine, whatever, keep your secrets. I can't blame you. The Composer can't be seen having any weak points, and as much as Ginroto wants to strangle that pompous brat yopu call a boss, I could care less what Shibuya does."

He paused and said seriously "Besides, last thing we need right now is another Composer war."

Kariya jumped in hurredly "Yeaaaaaah, let's not touch on that again."

"Yeah no, we don't need to dwell on that."

"Ever again."

"Yeah no."

There was silence for five seconds, then Kariya asked tentatively

"You honestly think Gin would go against Shibuya again?"

"We are not discussing this."

"He IS thinking about it!"

"Kariya don't you dare…"

"Oh, your boss is going to get beat down hard!"

"Shut it, Cuz!"

"But he's thinking about it, yeah?"

"HALF of JAPAN is thinking about it, Kariya! We aren't special. Now drop it."

The redhead snickered "That's true enough. Alright alright…"

They turned their attention back to the students, who were now engaged in wave tag. Kariya noticed with a wry expression that the young Bito stayed in the shallows.

He couldn't say he blamed her.