Eri continued her drawing, a wide smile stuck on her face. This time. This time for sure, Joshua would see what she worked on.

He didn't even let her feet resting against his legs distract him. He concentrated his eyes and focused, shifting his omniscient view around to her shoulder.

"Finished!" she announced right as he caught a glimpse, and he froze. Did he see right? Why did she draw that?

She turned the drawing around to show him, and sure enough, he found his own face covering her pad. She'd caught every wisp of his hair and every shadow that played on his slender face in this lighting. It stopped around his shoulders, capturing the top of his shirt just as it fell now. "What do you think?" she asked, her grin shifting to one of nervousness. "Is there anything I need to fix?"

"No," he managed after a moment. "You're not bad at drawing." His gaze drifted away, and he forced out the question in his head. "Why me, though?"

"Because you're my friend," she answered, and his wide eyes shot back over to her. "I have one of Shiki, too. It's something she suggested when I was trying to draw her in some outfits once—I'm not very good at remembering the little details, so she suggested drawing a reference picture I could always go back to." She traced her fingers over the sketch. "You can have it if you want, but I want to at least make a copy to keep in my room so I won't mess up when I draw outfits for you."

Joshua didn't even know where to begin. Her words were so—so wrong. How could he be her friend? And she wanted to draw outfits for him? None of it made any sense, and yet she seemed dead serious.

"I'm not sure when I agreed to be your friend," he eventually replied.

"You don't have to agree. I decided that you're my friend, so you're my friend."

Yeah. Like that made any sense. How could one human girl be this annoying?

Well, not like he had time to argue now. The next Reaper came, so Joshua said, "I'd suggest you choose your friends more carefully. Sit up—next one's here." He then disappeared as Eri quickly sat up and made herself look professional again.

Kasumi Himura entered. At age seventeen, she hadn't even been dead a full year yet. She was the one Joshua least wanted to see, as she reminded him too much of himself: a suicide from unhappiness in the RG. Her icy blue eyes took Eri in as she sat down, letting her long black hair rest against the back of the white couch. A light purple jacket sat over her clothes in a style reminiscent of Dragon Couture. The jeans and bag she carried, though, contrasted it with a Natural Puppy flair.

"Thank you for inviting me to an interview," Kasumi said, holding her hands in her lap as she tried to hide her nervous twitch.

Eri shook her head. "You don't need to thank us for that," she said, her kindness shining through. What happened to acting professional? "So then, to start off, tell me about yourself—your life before this and your hobbies."

"I was a student in high school. I'm a hard worker and participated in a number of clubs. I worked to make something special of myself, and I had the grades for it. But..." She paused, looking down. She then rose her gaze back up and said, "I hate it. The way society always pushed people for the best. I'd seen a few pushed to suicide because their grades weren't so good, yet I was always still going and still pretending like everything was normal."

"So... what happened?" Eri asked, curious.

"Someone special to me died," Kasumi replied. "I couldn't just pretend anymore after that. I decided to follow and see if there was anything more. And I found this—the UG."

Eri frowned, but she continued on with the questions. "How well did you do as a Player?"

"I'll admit, I had a rough start," the interviewee answered. "But, once I got used to it, I figured out the missions easily."

"What about your Partner? What were they like?"

"She's a lot older than me, and she always referred to herself as the 'heart' of our partnership. Still, she's always been a hard worker and helped keep my spirits up back then. She's the one who suggested I become a Reaper, and she's one now as well."

That peeked Joshua's interest, but the human went on. "Well, why do you think you're qualified for the role?"

Kasumi crossed her arms. "I'm smart and good once I put my mind to something. I have a high Player count despite being here less than a year."

Eri tilted her head. "Exactly what are your skills?"

"I'm good with stories," the Reaper said. "I can make things up on the spot to dissuade Players or trick them."

"And, how badly do you want the role?"

"Very."

"Do you understand its importance?"

To that, Kasumi closed her eyes a moment. She then answered, "Lately, this city's changed. It seems better somehow, and well..." She opened her eyes to stare down at the table between the two, a sad smile on her face. "If the city had been like this before that person died, maybe we both would've kept trying..." Her gaze flickered up to Eri, now laced with determination. "So, I want to keep it like this. I feel proud of where this city's going, and those higher up are a part of that somehow."

Again with how the city had changed. Had Joshua really changed that much? Well, not that it mattered—he was still himself, and he wasn't about to go changing again like these people seemed to want. He wasn't going to let anyone else in close.

"Then are you willing to carry out any and all tasks the Composer might give?"

"Of course. I wouldn't dare fail."

"Even... bending the rules for the Composer, but not against the Composer?"

Kasumi tilted her head now, considering. "If those are the Composer's instructions, then yes."

A text buzzed on Eri's phone, and she checked it. She found a text from Joshua reading, "Ask her if she thinks she can really handle the pressure. If she thought the RG pushed people, then she might need a reality check about the toils of the higher ranks."

With a nod, the human then asked her interviewee, "Do you really think you can handle the pressure here? The higher ranks are no cake walk..."

"I know," Kasumi assured. "But, I've changed since then. The old me wouldn't have made it through the Game. My Partner gave me a strong heart, though. I don't know what the future may hold or what may happen exactly if I get the job, but... I know I can do it now."

Eri comforted her with a smile before saying next, "What about keeping secrets? How are you with those?"

The Reaper fiddled with her jacket. "Well, I wasn't going to mention it since it isn't my business... But you're an imposter."

Eri's breath hitched. "Eh...?"

"You're not even dead. You're a citizen of the RG." She then pulled a magazine out of her bag and placed it on the table. Joshua recognized it right away—a magazine a Reaper published for the rest of the RG to keep up on exciting UG news. "My old Partner wrote this and took these pictures." She flipped it open to show pictures of what looked like Eri with Neku. It wasn't, though—it was Shiki.

Eri snatched the magazine up and stared at the pictures, her eyes wide as she flipped through Shiki's adventure. She stopped on a page that read "Day Six," staring at the pictures of Shiki and Neku standing behind her as she talked to a friend in the RG.

Joshua frowned as he watched the girl. He knew that day, too. Only, from his perspective, that was the day that messed up his plans. That was the day that his proxy started caring about someone else.

"You're human," Kasumi continued. "How you got here, I'm uncertain. However, you must be in the Composer's good graces to be allowed to do these interviewers on his or her behalf, so I'll let it slide."

Eri lowered her head, still holding the magazine in her lap. "Then, last thing... Prove that the Composer can trust you."

With a blink, the Reaper considered the weight of her question. Soon enough, she answered, "I don't really know how to prove that sort of thing, but, well..." She then stared straight into Eri's brown eyes, serious. "I swear on the soul of the only person I've ever loved. As long as I'm here, I'll protect Shibuya and its Composer and do whatever I can to make this city better—to make it a city that she would've loved."

Eri gave a nod and said, "That's it, then. You can wait outside." After a pause, she asked, "Do you mind if I keep this magazine?"

"Go ahead. My old Partner has plenty." After that and a bow, Kasumi left the room.

Joshua faded in next to the human girl, and neither of them spoke for a moment. That last one knew the truth. More than that, swearing on the soul of someone she loved? Joshua couldn't understand it.

"You have a lot of really good choices," Eri whispered. "What are you going to do with the two you don't pick?"

"I have a number of positions that need to be filled," the Composer answered.

"And the position that they're trying for—Noa mentioned the name, I think, but what's it called again?"

Joshua considered whether he should answer or not. Well, the chosen one would be the face of whatever he decided. Seeing no harm in it, he replied, "Conductor."

"Composer and Conductor, huh? What other positions are there?" She leaned back and stared at her drawing, thinking. "Do you have any named after instruments?"

"No. The lower positions follow a different naming convention," Joshua explained. "Most Reapers are broken down into Support, Harriers, or Officers."

"Then are there other high up positions with cool names?"

Joshua placed a hand on his chin. There was one, but no one save him could know about the Producer's true role. "Perhaps."

"What about something like a 'Muse'?"

Joshua halted, tilting his head in confusion. "A Muse? I don't follow."

"Like the Composer's inspiration," Eri explained as she turned to him with a wide grin. "Don't you have anyone that inspires you?"

This girl certainly had odd ideas. Joshua looked away, not wishing to entertain her strange thoughts. "No, not particularly."

Eri only replied with a thoughtful "hm."

Well, it didn't really matter what she thought. Now he had to make a decision.