Author's Note: Sorry! This one took a while. I had to background-check a few things.
I thought maybe I would make this one longer, but I think I'll try to stick to shorter chapters this time around.

So this is Day 1! Nothing significant, but I hope you enjoy. The next chapter should pick up the plot.

Chapter 3
Day 1

Uzuki woke up early, and as per usual during game weeks, so did Kariya.

It was tradition to start off the week spending all the loose change they had accumulated during the vacations on quality ice cream. No one was ever up at the hour they went except for the shop owner, who knew them quite well.

She sat at one of the tables with a bowl of raspberry and white chocolate drizzle. He sat down across from her with a chocolate, toffee, vanilla and caramel swirl.

"I don't know how you can start out the day sweet," she said, eyes resting on the grey swipes of sleeplessness under his eyes.

Kariya sighed, slouching over his bowl, spoon drooping. "I don't mind." He wore a blue cotton and polyester shirt with cool grey shorts and moccasins. He was currently in the act of stabbing a vein of caramel swirl. "But even with ice cream, early mornings suck."

Nodding, she sucked on her spoon. "I can tell you think so."

Uzuki looked considerably more perky, but not exactly refreshed. Deciding what to wear was surprisingly easy, as she had her favorite outfit already. It was a petit dress of bold, warm fireworks against a white cloth. Sleeveless and simple, she could have some fun with her makeup. She played with orange tones instead of her usual pink. It was rather refreshing.

"Well, are you excited for this session?" she asked.

He swallowed. "I'm trying not to have any expectations, but I suppose I'm neutrally excited."

Grinning, she rolled her eyes. "Oh shut up. You're excited, just tired. Such a drama queen."

Lips twitching at the corners, he focused on his ice cream. Moments later, he said, "Says you."

"What?" She had to speak around a spoonful of ice cream.

"Says the Empress of all Drama Queens."

Normally, she might've snapped back without thinking, but the fact that he was putting up an effort to argue at all made her smile. "You'd be bored without me, and you know it."

"Maybe." He still wasn't looking up.

She laced her fingers, then unlaced them. Picking up her spoon, she announced, "I have a question."

"Heaven forbid."

"Actually, more a rule really."

"Good god."

"Kariya, shut up!" She jabbed her spoon in his direction, then spooned some ice cream before continuing. "I say that a challenge must be dictated in less than a day or it is assumed that any action goes unchallenged."

His eyes wrinkled after a moment. "You literally just talked in a circle."

Uzuki splayed her fingers toward him, shaking her hair out of her eyes. "I'm just saying that unless you give me a challenge soon, I have every right to peruse your pigsty collection."

Rubbing at his eyes, he groaned. "Look, Uzuki, have you ever heard of respecting the wants of your friends?" he said bluntly.

This made her pout, which he promptly ignored.

She sulked until she had eaten every spoonful and Kariya stood with a "my pockets feel much lighter". He also looked much lighter without his darker washes and sugar now in his blood.

"You ready?" he asked, taking up her bowl.

Her face brightened visibly. "Yes, actually. I'm going to win that promotion."

His expression was thoughtful. "I reckon you could. There aren't many people above us, right now."

"Got our work cut out for us," she said, nodding. Her pink waves bobbed against her shoulders.

Kariya sighed, fishing around in his bag. He pulled out a lollipop as he waved to the shop owner and said to Uzuki, "Well, let's get started, then."

No one bothered with introduction when the weeks started. You got the information when you were new, and stayed with you like the wings on your back. So, when the game started, you would just know, as a reaper. There was a different feel about the air- not just the grey city taste. Your skin would tingle imperceptibly, but so obviously that you felt like leaping. It was a bright, exciting, competitive mind frame that set in as soon as the first minute started.

Kariya showed it in his eyes, and it was so much more obvious without the light of his sunglasses. He seemed stronger and almost dangerous if you looked at him a certain way. Uzuki just looked louder, like static energy just dancing on the surface of her skin. She was less toned down and more excitable, and she enjoyed it.

They both recognized the players differently. Kariya saw the death on their skin and movements like an imprint. Uzuki felt them like whining mosquitoes on the edge of her vision.

They stood on the edge of the crowd, not moving much, and people, without knowing exactly why, gave an invisible subject a decent berth.

"Almost wish we were around to see some of these people die," Uzuki said, eying a young woman in the crowd with platinum hair. "What do you think she did for a living?"

Kariya grinned. "She looks like a college freshman to me. Someone who sits at bars and feels lonely. Maybe-"

"A stripper?"

He barked out a laugh, rubbing at his eyes with a trace of sleepiness. "Harsh."

Uzuki smiled, running her hands through her hair. "So their mission today?"

He glanced at a passing older man with a squashed nose who appeared to be sweating profusely at the hairline. "Same as always."

"Any pairs?"

His eyes flitted around, taking in all the panicked dead. "I see one."

She perked up like a bright flower, leaning up on her toes to peer over heads. For precaution, he pinched one of her wings in case some fool jolted her balance. He shoved his other hand in one pocket. "See them?"

Uzuki squinted, then said, "Think so! Redhead and blond?"

"I could debate over that 'read head', but yes."

"Strawberry-blonde?"

"That's better."

She leaned back again, twitching her wing out of his fingers. "It'll be time soon, then. Should we give the rest a minute?"

His eyebrows raised themselves without bidding. "When have you ever waited?"

Her hands propped themselves on her hips. "I've exercised restraint!"

"Since when?" he asked. "Give me an example."

Silver pins appearing in her fingers, she said, "Just now. Seconds, Kariya! Valuable seconds!"

A grin flittered onto his face for just a moment. "Are we splitting up?" he managed to ask before she outright just disappeared.

"Sure!"

Uzuki's pink hair swung from side to side as she shoved her way into the crowd. "Control yourself!" he warned, calling over heads.

"Roger!" she called back, and was gone.

For a moment, he just stood there, playing his pins between his fingers. A second more, and his eyes had located a boy who looked like he deserved to be dead.

He didn't last long.

"How many?" she asked, ankles crossed.

"Seventeen."

She covered her face, face crumpling to frustration. "You always one-up me!"

Kariya rubbed his knuckles thoughtfully, giving a shrug. "Guess that just means you're buying ramen tonight."

Uzuki scowled.