…After a few battles on the Ultimate difficulty against powerful creatures, does that 'beep beep' sound from a low HP bar get on your nerves as well? That's a rhetorical question, mind you.
By the way, I'd like to give a shout out to 'water blue panda' for the review, 'Ben Zephyr' for putting this on his Favorites list, 'Destiny Gamer' for putting up a Story Alert, and 'maliciousmarquee' for both a review and an Alert. Don't think for a second that I ignore my fans; their compliments AND criticism help me to become a better author every time I write! …Though, of course, I prefer compliments. Who doesn't? …That was also rhetorical, for the record.
Day 2 of 7: Questions
Sho and Yodai, like all players in the Reaper's Game, spontaneously awoke on the very next day. The mathematician was a tad freaked out by this; not only was he unable to remember why he suddenly fell asleep, but also, he was quite certain that they weren't in front of the Mexican Dog stand in Spain Hill when they entered their period of slumber.
"…The heck's goin' on?!" Sho asked his temporary comrade, seeing as how the older gent seemed to know everything. "You said nothin' about going into a freakin' COMA, and being moved around Shibuya unwillingly! Why the integer would you leave something that zetta big out of the grand explanation yesterday?!"
"It seemed trivial, like measuring sugar so that you're not a single grain over the required amount, so I didn't bother," Yodai replied unemotionally. "Now, be ready; the mission mail is bound to be served soon."
On cue, the phone in Sho's pocket began to ring. The number lover jumped a bit; he had never bothered to purchase a cell phone in the RG, seeing as all of the friends he had could only be reached with MMORPGs, and there were a few parts about having one that he still wasn't used to.
Soon, though, he managed to pull the phone out and check the new message. "Get two men to recite Matoya's Spell. Then, be a dear, and lend them a hand. You have one hour; fail, and be hemmed," the calculating whiz read aloud, so his partner could hear. Suddenly, his hand surged with pain, causing him to drop the phone onto the street. When the pain subsided, he now saw that his hand had a timer on it. "Geez; even when you said these things sting, I never would've figured it's be so zetta PAINFUL!!"
"…You get used to it," Yodai replied as he picked up Sho's phone and handed it to him. "Right now, let's concentrate on the current goal, before we get fricasseed."
Thankfully for the two players, they knew what this mission was about. Matoya's spell was a strange, nonsensical incantation that was supposed to be recited when playing Reaper Creeper, a new Shibuya fad. When faced with a decision, living beings were supposed to ask the spirits for help deciding. And, since they were now technically spirits, Sho and Yodai could guess how they would help.
"All right then; if they took the time and effort to put us here, then I doubt that at least one sap is farther than five hectares away," Sho commented as he looked around the area. Sure enough, one individual with a concerned look on his face passed right through him and entered the Mexican Dog. After a shrug, the creepy cook and the living calculator followed.
"Bienvenito! Welcome to Mexican Dog; may I take your orders?" Hideki Kikuchi, the owner of the restaurant, asked the duo as they entered the establishment.
Sho quickly glanced at a nearby wall and saw the graffiti mark that enabled them to be seen in buildings; if Yodai hadn't told him about that, he'd probably be freaking out right now, which would lead to getting kicked out of the place entirely. After hearing his own stomach growl, he replied, "I'd like a Hot Dog and an Orange Soda. Put my bill together with my friend, Mr. Steroids."
Though he offered a bit of complaint, Mr. Higashizawa gave in and paid for both of Sho's foodstuffs, as well as a single Cola for himself. Noticing that the kid from earlier was dining inside, at a seat near the window, Sho and Yodai decided to sit in the area and listen to the boy talk to himself.
"…Makoto, you are such a fool," the lad told himself as he gazed outside the window, half-heartedly chewing on his meal. "All I have to say to her is, 'Ai, would you like to come to the Tin Pin Slammer Tourney with me?' Her friend already told me that she likes me back, so it should be simple. But, what if she doesn't want to come with me? After all, Tin Pin's audience consists of mostly elementary school students. Plus, it's the 21st century; what if SHE wants to ask ME out on a date, and thinks I'm being anti-feminist if I ask her? Oh man, what should I do?"
This was the perfect opportunity for Sho to tell the guy to try Reaper Creeper. He turned towards Makoto's position from his current seat, but when the mathematician was about to say something, he just turned back to face Yodai. "It sounds to me like this Makoto kiddo zetta likes this Ai person," Sho explained, after his partner gave him a weird look. "What if we end up making things worse for them? I just don't have enough confidence to go through with this equation…of course, you already knew that."
"Well then, it looks like this cook's going into the kitchen alone…again," Yodai muttered as he stood up from his seat, and walked right over to Makoto. At first, the kid was freaked; he had always been taught not to talk with strangers, and this guy seemed like the reason why. However, Yodai managed to coax him into talking for a few more minutes, during which Sho just stayed at his seat and finished his meal. When his partner was done his discussion, Makoto quickly walked outside of the building.
"He's still unconfident about the whole thing, but I managed to convince him to do it," Yodai told his acquaintance. "I told him to do it outside so the 'Reapers' have less boundaries to go through in order to reach him, but it's really so we can help him without being seen, like an assistant who adds the perfect amount of spice to a stew while the master chef's back is turned."
They got outside just in time to see that Makoto had already pulled out the Reaper Creeper board, and was reciting the spell. "NEERC SEVAS EHT TARDNALD LOH…uh, Reapers, are you there?" Makoto asked, wondering if such a silly bunch of words could actually call help from beyond the grave. "Y'see, I'm in love with this girl, and I think she loves me back, but I'm worried that something bad will happen if I try to ask her to come to the Tin Pin Slammer Tourney on a date. Should I still try to ask her out anyways?"
On cue, Yodai walked over to where Makoto was, and put his finger on the ten-yen piece that had been placed in the middle. Slowly, he moved it over to the white section of the Reaper Creeper board, signifying a positive response.
"…M-my God! It really happened; I really contacted a spirit!" Makoto burst as he watched the coin move, and then stop once it had reached one of the three sections. "T-thank you for your advice, Reaper! If you think I'll be all right, then I'll do it! I'm going to call Ai up right away!"
As Makoto hurriedly packed up the Reaper Creeper stuff and ran home, as Sho wasn't the only guy in Shibuya who didn't own a cell phone, both Minamimoto and Higashizawa felt a tingling on their palms. Looking down at them, they noticed that the timers (which still had 30 min. remaining) were gone. "…What the factor? We're only halfway done, aren't we?" Sho asked, wondering what just happened.
"Well, we're not the only two cucumbers in the salad known as the Reaper's Game," Yodai replied. "It's plausible that some other player found the other person, and lifted his or her spirit like yeast in a baked good."
"…Pfft; whatever gets us out of this inverse matrix soon," Sho commented, right before he had the urge to take another nap.
-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-
"…Conductor? …Mr. Conductor? …Man, where IS that lazy slob?!"
Deep beneath Shibuya, close to the river hidden in its sewers, two Reapers were looking for their master. What people from outside this universe might find odd is that, in a different world, they were both friends of Neku Sakuraba. Their names? Shiki Misaki and Raimu Bito, AKA Rhyme. And neither of them were unhappy with something that could only be fixed with help from the Conductor.
"Seriously, Conductor, where the heck are you!?" Shiki yelled at the area around her, hoping that her cries could be heard by her master. After a few seconds of silence, she turned to her ally, and told her, "You know what to do."
Rhyme gave her friend a small grin, and started to say the name, "Daisuk-"
"Bwaaaagh! Don't say it where people can hear you!" the Conductor cried out as he came out from behind the pile of trash he was hiding behind and covered his little sister's mouth. Yes, folks, the Conductor is none other than Beat…gives you a good idea how messed up this universe really is, doesn't it?
"About time you showed your face, Beat," Shiki told her master sternly, not caring at the moment that his power exceeds hers tenfold. "We have a bone to pick with you about the current GM. Why Eri, of all people? I know I'm her BFF, and I should be happy for her…but still, I just can't let this matter go. Not only is she inexperienced, she's also a…well, she's a…"
"Ditzy airhead that needed MY help to write today's mission mail," Rhyme finished for her partner, who was unable to belittle her best friend, no matter how idiotic she may be. "Brother, why did you ever allow her to rank so high in this organization? It just doesn't make any sense to the rest of us."
"And another thing," Shiki chimed in, "what happened to the Composer? I haven't been able to find him for the past two days! And I KNOW that you two are close, so don't think I'm going to believe for a second that he didn't tell you where he was going! And I also know that he'd never let himself get himself kidnapped, so you can save that work of fiction for somebody else as well!"
"…Look, yo, I can't explain the whole story right here and now," Beat told the females looking for an answer. "But trust me, that by the time this round's done, it'll be worth it, ya dig? Peace out."
Before the girls could stop the Conductor and drag more answers out of him, Beat quickly hopped onto his board and skated towards the exit. After a long day of hiding behind debris, he could really go for a good bowl of curry downtown.
WEEK 1, DAY 2, END