Author's Note: I don't usually do these, but I suppose I should mention it. With this chapter, I have come to the end of my stockpiled chapters. While I am currently writing chapter four, it may or may not actually be finished on time. Motivation is officially starting to wane a little, and there are many things (video games, for example) that are… well, distracting. That being said, one of the best motivators for an author period are reviews. I'm not planning to stop quite yet, but I am much more likely to stop and write rather than play games or read when there's at least one or two people who are definitely reading this thing. Juuuuust pointing that out.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled Link.

Chapter Three

Day One || 14:45 || 104 Tower, Roof

Ryosuke let out a loud, disgruntled sigh. Like most Reapers, he had been looking forwards to the next game. But somehow, instead of getting partnered with Takeshi as usual, he got roped into playing mentor for the newest harrier. Well, not quite. He knew exactly how things had ended up this way. It had to do with a certain psycho of a game master showering favoritism on the newbie like there was no tomorrow. And in true newbie fashion, the kid didn't even realize what was going on behind the scenes. Typical, he thought. He has no idea what a deal he got.

Ryosuke had been with the newbie for the past two hours, briefing him on his new abilities that came with his rank and explaining their job. So far, he was less than impressed. The kid wore his old black hoodie from his wall Reaper days, and looked about as confident as a rabbit about to be thrown into a pack of wolves. Which was stupid, because where Reapers were concerned, they were the wolves; the Players were the ones who should have been nervous and fidgety, since they were the ones most at risk of erasure in the near future.

The mere idea brought an almost feral grin to Ryosuke's mouth. He was true harrier material, and he knew it. There were few Reapers who enjoyed bumping off Players as much as he did. And he wasn't the type to go with just a simple Noise attack; he could clever, and tended to employ ambushes and other surprise attacks by stronger, more ruthless Noise than the average Reaper.

As he gazed down at the scramble below, he began easily picking out whom to target. The girl with the weird get up looked promising, if a little too easy. Nah, he'd go for someone tougher. Someone who would put up a fight. He had enough points racked up; he could afford to toy around a little for sheer entertainment.

"Anyone good?" Ryosuke scowled, recognizing the voice of his partner. He didn't even deign to turn and look at the boy, who now peered over the edge of the roof to the people below.

"Some. Like that guy down there, with the creepy crosses and the dumb wing-shirt." He grabbed the newbie Reaper's head and jerked it so that he was facing the right direction. He smirked as the other gasped in pain. Serves the idiot right. "He looks like a wimp… at a first glance," Ryosuke explained. "But look at him, checking things out, wandering a little. He's not waiting for the game to start before he tries finding a partner, and you can bet it's going to be someone he thinks will get him through the game. He's smart."

"So we should take him down first?" The newbie Reaper was rewarded with a smack to the head.

"Moron. A guy like that is prime entertainment. Besides, I doubt you could get him with the trash we're stuck using on the first day." Ryosuke scowled, referring to the ban on any Noise too powerful. The Players had to have some chance of winning, after all. It wasn't high, but it was definitely there. "If you're looking for someone to go after, you should try those girls over there." Again his hand lashed out to grab the newbie's head. A little more wary this time, the Reaper noticed in time to dodge. Unfortunately for him, Ryousuke's hand followed and seized him anyway, pointing him once again in the correct direction.

"See them? Miss Green and her brown haired friend. Green looks like an idiot, but Brown knows what she's doing. She's going to get them both out no matter what. But they also look like they know each other, so they'll probably think that their friendship means they'll be able to work with each other well." He laughed as he said this. Players could be so deluded sometimes. "But even they might be a little tough for you," he mused, looking out over the crowd. He felt his partner move suddenly, no doubt indignant, but he ignored it.

"There. That guy with the blue streak." Again, the newbie winced as his head was jerked over. "He thinks he's tougher than he really is. Plus, he's in a crowd of Players – just summon a bunch of Noise and they'll take care of the rest." Ryosuke considered this piece of advice especially considerate, as the weird looking girl was near Blue Streak, too. Any Reaper who attacked that group was practically cherry picking.

"Is that it?" the newbie Reaper asked through gritted teeth. Ryosuke just grinned, and released his partner's head. The minute he was free, the poor kid moved away, rubbing the back of his neck. Ryosuke didn't care. It was just a newbie, after all. GM's favorite or not, he was nothing special. In fact, Ryosuke was fairly certain the guy wouldn't even make it through his first week; he didn't have any resolve, something that being a Reaper depended on. After all, if they didn't, they'd die – for real this time.

"If that's all, I'm going to get into position," the newbie said stiffly. Ryosuke waved casually.

"You take things too seriously. It's just a game, after all," he laughed. Just a game. Right. His partner shot him a glare as he pulled his hood over his head. Instead of replying, he simply took a running leap from the roof, his wings stretched out. Ryosuke watched with amusement as he glided clumsily down to earth.

"Have fun, Masao!" he called with a smirk. The kid turned in mid-air, obviously trying to flip him off, but he was too inexperienced for that. Before he could, he was forced to look forwards again before he ran face-first into a building. Ryosuke chuckled – the kid could be pretty fun to watch sometimes.

As his laughter died, his expression became thoughtful as he regarded the crowds below. "Now, who to erase…?"

Day One || 14:55 || Shibuya Scramble

Masao landed less than gently. To be more precise, he hit the ground like a sack of bricks. But he also landed on two feet, which was more than could be said of his other attempts.

Grumbling under his breath at his sore ankles, he took a look around to get his bearings. He found that he was actually quite close to Blue Streak, who he was aiming for. He may have hated Ryosuke with a passion, but he had to admit that the senior Reaper knew what he was doing. And though Ryosuke was an egotistical bastard, he also had spoken honestly to him. He knew better than to intentionally try to make another Reaper fail. Instead, he gave Masao the information and sent him out to either sink or swim.

1000 yen says he expects me to sink, Masao thought with a grim smile. He had no illusions about his senior; Ryosuke did not like him. Which suited Masao just fine, since he had no love of the guy either. Though, he would be much happier if the Reaper would stop grabbing his head all the time. Just the thought of it made Masao roll his neck, trying to get the crick out.

Moving quickly, he headed towards a shady wall of a nearby building. He supposed that, if he leaned against it casually enough, people wouldn't really see him as being out of place and ignore him. He calmly moved into the RG, more out of instinct than an actual know-how. Even he was not sure how he did it – for some odd reason, ever since he had become a Reaper, he just knew. His wings vanished as they always did, and he suddenly felt much more like he looked. In other words, a pathetically skinny kid who would drop at the first punch. With a deep breath, he checked his cell phone, watching the time intently. 2:57 PM. There wasn't much time before it all began.

'I'm sure we'll make it!" The enthusiasm attracted his attention. Not too far away, the two girls Ryosuke pointed out were walking. It was the one who had dyed the tips of her hair green who had spoken. "We're best friends, after all. If we become partners, there's no way we could lose!"

Her friend looked considerably less sure. Though she nodded along with what Green said, her mind was plainly elsewhere. No doubt thinking of ways to actually survive the game. Masao couldn't help but smile faintly at their antics. He knew that being partnered with one's best friend did not always make for a guaranteed win. In fact, few ever actually made it, period. The handful of games he had been in as a Reaper had all resulted in 100% losses for the Players. He began to wonder if anyone would manage to squeeze through this time.

He checked his cell one more time. 2:49 PM. Nearly show time. Moving back into the UG, he quietly began to summon a batch of Dixie Frogs. If he could just time it right, they'd be out right on the dot. "Ten," he began to count. "nine, eight, seven…"

Cell phones beeped all around him. About half of the crowd looked at their phones, some curiously, others with surprise. Expressions changed in a wave, as the Players read the contents of their texts.

"Three… two… one." Everyone winced in unison as the timer was burned into their palm. Almost right away, screams and cries of horror and pain filled the scramble as the Reapers set to work.

Masao was no exception. One of the screams had occurred rather near him, as it were. An office worker, from the looks of it. She had been extremely unfortunate in that one of the frogs formed right behind her. She hardly knew what happened before she was erased. Those in her general area were dropping like flies as the Dixie Frogs did their work. Masao looked just in time to see Blue Streak go down when he tried to kick at a frog, only for it to fly into his face and tackle him to the ground. He vanished the moment he hit the asphalt.

Feeling decidedly ill at this point, Masao turned his back on the scene and instead strode into the confusion that was the scramble. Instead of watching the panicked faces of Players swerving around each other in an attempt to escape the frogs, he concentrated on creating more Dixie Frogs. More Noise to erase Players, and earn him more points. He ignored those he bumped shoulders with, even when said shoulders vanished almost instantly afterwards. His frogs were more effective than he'd thought.

Not far away, a flash of light lit up the scramble. The Reaper turned to look, shading his eyes from the intense radiance. The first pact had been made. Elsewhere, he could see identical beams as other Players began to partner up. It was about time; Masao had begun to wonder if any Players would be around for Day Two at the rate they were biting the dust. If there are any, it's not gonna be too many, he observed. It seemed that the Players this round weren't particularly bright when it came to the Reaper's Game. Is this going to be another 'no win' round? he mused, distracting himself from the sight of a teenaged girl vanishing with a horrified screech.

He was a wimp. He wouldn't deny it. He had been wary of taking the promotion offered to him; he had been more or less fine with his station as a wall Reaper. But at the same time, something in his mind told him that declining the offer was insanity. Few wall Reapers made it to harrier so quickly, and some would kill for the position – part of the reason why they wanted it. If he was being considered for the job, it meant that someone in the higher ups had decided he had the potential to be a good harrier Reaper, and the higher ups had a reputation for knowing things that. So who was he to argue? They knew what they were doing… right?

When he saw yet another Player fall right in front of his feet, he nearly became convinced that no, they did not. Before he could quite recover from it, someone grabbed him roughly from behind. "Wha-!"

The man turned him around, and then grabbed his collar instead. Masao felt his feet lift slightly off of the ground below him, and turned his eyes up towards the tall, lean man who had caught him. "You're a damn Reaper!" the man spat.

"Really? I didn't realize," Masao replied sarcastically, masking his sudden panic. That only made the man even more livid. He shook the small Reaper as he spoke. "Look, kid. You're gonna get me out of this game, and you're gonna get me out quick if you know what's good for you."

Masao cringed. The man had every right to be angry, but he didn't have to spit all over his face. "You're in the Reaper's Game now. There's only one way out, and that's by winning. And just so you know," he added, "beating up a Reaper doesn't qualify as a win."

That seemed to be the last straw. The man just grunted as he pulled his right arm back, ready to punch. Masao saw what was coming, and acted fast. Putting his hands to the man's wrist, he yanked himself out of his grip and ducked his head to the side, allowing the arm to whistle past harmlessly. Crouching down, he dashed right up to the man, grabbing him by his own collar and hoisting him up as high as he could, barely noticing that his hood had fallen back.

Masao was suddenly extremely grateful that being a Reaper came with boosts in physical prowess. If he'd been his regular, weak self, he'd be in the midst of a very brutal punishment at the hands of this man. As it was, he was able to put on a smug expression as the terrified man stared helplessly at him. "Nice try. But did you know? Attacking a Reaper is about the worst thing you can do in this game." He spoke softly to make it even more dramatic, if not a little creepy. In truth, he was nearly shaking from his own fear of what was coming next. "Incidentally, I lied. There is a way out." Dropping the man to the ground, he summoned a whole new gang of Dixie Frogs. As the man realized what was going on, he began to make whimpering sounds. Trying desperately not to be sick, he turned away and began to put up his hood again. Partially to block out the view of the man as he was attacked by not one, but five frog Noise all at once. In his panic, Masao had overestimated the amount needed. This was just overkill.

Turning to look anywhere but behind him, a familiar face caught his eye. At first, Masao could only register surprise. That blonde hair, those green eyes… Even as a teenager rather than a five year old. Masao recognized him instantly.

It was hard not to when the owner of the face was your old best friend.

About a million different thoughts ran through Masao's head in the span of a few seconds. The ones that stood out the most were "how?" and "I have to get out of here." Gritting his teeth, he threw his hood over his face and ran with his head down. He didn't care where he went anymore. He was too ashamed.

The minute he built up enough momentum, he spread his wings and took off. It was the cleanest one he'd managed yet, but he didn't notice. He was too focused on getting away.

Away from him, and away from his past.

Day One || 16:15 || 104 Tower, Roof

Ryosuke looked down at the streets of Shibuya. From his perch, he could see everything that occurred, from the crying kid to the gang of punks headed in the direction of Molco. And yet, he couldn't find the most important thing – his partner.

As much as he hated his guts, it was his job to make sure that Masao made it through okay. If he didn't, there was a chance that he wouldn't make it through okay. The GM was a hard lady to please, and even he knew that it was better to give into her demands than risk her displeasure. Though she didn't try to do anything direct, she knew how to make Reapers suffer for their daring through indirect means. Trapping an unsuspecting Reaper between unbreakable walls was not beyond the power of a GM, particularly if it had to do with the day's mission, and had the nasty side effect of leaving those particular Reapers a day behind the others in terms of points. For some, that was amount to a death sentence; not everyone kept as up to date on points as Ryosuke. And god forbid the innocent Reapers who got caught in the same trap discover the person who was at fault for it. No, he did not want to deal with that crap. Looking out for Masao's back every once in a while was much preferable to it.

With these thoughts in mind, Ryosuke found himself breathing a sigh of relief when he spotted Masao flying over from the direction of the station. A bullet dodged. He was annoyed enough with the newbie Reaper to ignore his presence until he had landed on the roof alongside him. When Masao tried to explain his absence, Ryosuke got up with a perfectly straight face and put his hands on the smaller Reaper's shoulders. Masao's look of confusion changed to one of terror in an instant when he saw Ryosuke draw back his arm.

Thud.

Scrambling to his feet, Masao remained crouched on the ground, his arms up and ready to defend against any blows that he was certain were about to come sailing his way. Ryosuke could see a trickle of blood down the younger Reaper's chin. Must have cut his lip on a tooth, he thought rather pitilessly. Turning away, he sat down on the edge of the roof once more, his legs crossed. Masao got up warily, not quite trusting Ryosuke enough to come any nearer.

"I heard you did pretty good out there." Ryosuke remarked. "Sounds like you racked up a lot of points. That's good – at this rate, you're safe. For a week, anyway. It's up to you to stock up on enough to last you until the next Game."

"I know. You told me all of this before, remember?" Masao mumbled, wiping the blood off with a fist. He flinched, his mouth still tender from the punch.

"Good for you. You can remember things for three whole hours," Ryosuke said sarcastically. "Except for the whole 'meet me at 4:00' thing. I don't mind, like, 5 minutes or something, but 15? Seriously? How the hell can you be so late coming from the train station?" Masao didn't reply. He just stared off into the distance moodily. Ryosuke rolled his eyes. Kids these days. He was about to remark casually that another punch might be in order when Masao cut in.

"What's the rules about a Player you know?"

Ryosuke paused, caught off guard. Masao's expression was one of determination, mixed with a little worry. Cautiously, Ryosuke replied: "The same as any other Player. What, you think they get special treatment for being buddies with a Reaper?"

Masao scowled. "I never said-"

"You didn't say it, but that's what you meant." Ryosuke was beginning to relax again as he regarded his junior. Judging by the expression, Ryosuke was right on the mark. "You realize that even if you gave this person a helping hand, another Reaper could easily go and erase 'em, right?" Masao started, before glaring at the senior Reaper. Ryosuke laughed in response.

"Not even just me. When a Reaper sees a Player, most see walking, talking points. Even if I stayed away – if being the key word here – any other Reaper could easily come and sic some noise on the person. That goes for if you just ignore them, too." Masao opened his mouth to retort, but Ryosuke held up his hand to silence him. "Face it, kid. There's nothing you can do. Just go about your duties like you're supposed to. If he gets erased, that's too bad. You know how it is. Only those who are worthy can get through the Game."

The resulting silence carried on for nearly a minute. Ryosuke was about to just get up and go out of boredom when Masao spoke up again. "Fine. I get it. Next time I see him, I'll just erase him."

Ryosuke regarded the newbie Reaper with a critical eye. His face was turned downwards in a way that suggested defeat, but he could see that part of it was a simple inability to look him in the eye. Exactly like a kid telling a fib.

Ryosuke sighed and crossed his arms behind his head. "A whole minute, and that's all you could come up with? Whatever. I don't care anymore. Do what you want, but if you get in trouble, I'm not gonna take the fall for it." Before Masao could cut in again, he planted his feet on the side of the building and launched himself off, his wings allowing him to glide smoothly away. He had been perfectly honest with his words. Masao wasn't worth the trouble. Besides, the GM could hardly fault him for leaving when work was done for the day, could she? He'd congratulated his junior for his good work. Wasn't that enough?

Ryosuke felt his spirits sink. Nothing was good enough for the GM where Masao was concerned.

Lucky bastard.

Chapter Three: Shadow Side – Reaper Feat.

End.