Liar Game: About the Drama
Liar Game was described by a viewer on one forum as being "far from perfect: It should have been shorter and there were too many scenes of guys with strange haircuts laughing manically." (Was he talking about Mushroom-head and Mini-Mushroom??)
As with many Japanese Doramas, it is somewhat over exaggerated, with (mostly) mediocre acting and many bizarre camera angles and effects. However, the premise of the Liar Game is intriguing. You can watch the three-hour finale and understand almost the entire show, but I like Shinnichi and Nao's characters a lot, and I enjoyed watching them muddle through and figure the Liar Game out. I wanted to do more with them. Hence, this crossover.

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I apologize for the short chapter, but I wanted to give you something to hold you over until next time.

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or Liar Game. They belong to... um... other people.

Kevin Curnow.

He stared for a long time at the name, letting it sink in. He finally sat down at his computer to begin researching his opponent.

Kevin Curnow had been in and out of prison, and was currently wanted in any case. Spencer felt a little bit better about indebting him—he would be imprisoned anyway, as soon as he was found.

Spencer began to plan. He would need resources to find him, if the police were still looking for him. He knew of one place he could get that information discreetly: Garcia.

Spencer decided that he would approach her the next day, in the morning. He'd bring her some sort of pastry as a sacrificial offering. Maybe a whole cake... This was important.

--

A young man stepped off the plane and scrutinized the airport. He let out a small snort of disbelief, then proceeded to the exit gates—he had nothing but his carry-on bag with him. He sped through customs and made sure his visa was in order. Finally, he stepped foot outside on proper American concrete.

He hailed a cab and handed the driver an address, then sat back and watched the city roll by.

Shinnichi Akiyama pulled out the list of participants and looked for Spencer Reid's name. His opponent appeared to be someone by the name of Kevin Curnow. Shinnichi wondered why they would match someone like Dr. Reid against a nobody.

Long, dark hair fell into his eyes, obscuring his vision, but not his observation, as he looked back out the window. The cab pulled in front of a modest home. He got out, paid the cab driver, and approached the front door with no sign of trepidation whatsoever.

He knocked.

--

Spencer jumped. He had been planning, when a knock sounded on the door. He quickly filed away the plans and notes he had made, then went to open the door.

A young man stood in front of him, a small duffel bag slung over his shoulder.

"Spencer Reid?" the man asked. He nodded.

"Yes, can I help you?" Reid answered guardedly.

"Probably not, but I might be able to help you," the boy replied. "The Liar Game has already started, hasn't it?"

"What do you know about the Liar Game?" Spencer asked, stepping outside to look around.

"What do you know?" the man challenged. "A lot less than I do, I'm sure. I will help you, but I have a request."

"How do I know you're not Kevin Curnow, trying to get a jump on me?" Reid asked logically. The man laughed humorlessly.

"Do I look like a Kevin Curnow?" He shook his head with a smirk. Spencer had considered that his Japanese accent did not fit with the name, of course, but he had to ask.

He continued: "My name is Shinnichi Akiyama. I played until the third round of the Liar Game in Japan, before one of the financiers had a change of heart and stopped funding the game." He leaned against one of the posts on the small porch. "I was not surprised to hear that the Secretariat moved his operation to America. There are plenty of greedy people in America to take advantage of."

Reid was not sure how to react to the insult against his countrymen, so he pursued the other obvious avenue of questioning: "You've played before?"

"Yes," Shinnichi said simply, truthfully.

"How did the game turn out?" Reid asked, almost—but not quite—fearing the answer. Surely, he could not have come tot he United States if he was a million dollars in debt.

"I was lured into the game by a police officer's manipulations," Shinnichi explained casually. "The girl who requested my help won the first round, though she gave the sum of her hundred-million yen prize money to the loser of the game to keep him out of debt."

"You got her all one-hundred million yen? How?" Spencer asked, slightly awed.

"It was simple. The man was of weak will, and was easy to manipulate. However, giving him the prize money left her unable to buy out of the second round, so she continued on."

Spencer frowned. A second round? You had to buy out of it? Maybe he made a mistake in agreeing. He couldn't simply pay off the debt, could he?

"She lost the second round without debt," Shinnichi continued, "but entered the Resurrection Round in attempt to save me from going on to the Third round."

"I see," Spencer nodded, brows furrowed. "You did go to the third round, though?"

He took a breath. "I wanted to continue," he said. "For reasons of my own, I have to continue on. I need to find out who is at the top. But Liar Game Japan didn't extend past the third level. I received a tip from a friend who informed me that there was another game starting in the United States. I recognized your name on the list he gave me of participants, and decided that you would be an appropriate partner. You work with the government, correct? Criminal profiling."

"...That is correct," Reid said. He was wary, but there was no sign that he shouldn't trust Shinnichi's words; except of course for the fact that he was a stranger, standing on his porch uninvited, with seemingly intimate knowledge of an illegal, high-stakes game.

"Come inside," he offered after a long moment, stepping aside to let the man in.

"ども," the man bowed slightly as he stepped in. He toed off his shoes and padded into the living room.