Beat, sitting down on the couch, closed his phone with the front display reading, "Message Sent." He begins slurping the ramen he got to-go from Ramen-don. With a full mouth, he tells Rhyme, "Do ya really fink dis'll work?"

"Of course it'll work! And don't talk with your mouth full, Beat. We've all known how close those two have been, they just need a little push." Rhyme said as she was washing dishes. "I've already texted Shiki. We just need to keep at it until it happens." Beat gulps down what ramen he stuffed in his mouth.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. We jus gotta pretend ta be sick all weekend, yeah?" Beat asked.

"Beat..." Rhyme sighed. "That wasn't the plan..."

Shiki was at her desk focused on studying for the next test. She jolted when her phone rumbled on her desk. "A text from Rhyme? Let's see… 'Beat and I can't hang out this weekend; our parents are making us clean the house. You'll have to hang out with just Neku tomorrow. See you at school!'" Shiki started tapping away at her phone to reply to Rhyme. "I might as well text Neku." Shiki said, tapping away at her phone once again.

Neku was lying on his bed with his old indigo head phones on listening to music. He was lost in his music and didn't feel his phone vibrate in his pocket the first time. His mom opened the door. "Neku, your father and I are going for dinner now. Are you sure you're fine here on your own?" she said. Neku sat up on his bed and took his headphones off.

"Yeah mom, I can cook myself. Now go have a good anniversary dinner!" Neku replied. His mom gave a faint smile and said goodbye. Neku's phone rang for a second time. He took it out of his pocket and noticed that he had a text from Shiki and Beat. First he read the one from Shiki. "Beat and Rhyme have to do chores tomorrow, so they can't hang out. Meet at Hachiko at noon. Be there, or be erased." Neku chuckled. Then, he read the one from Beat. "'Yo, Rhyme n' me is sick, so we can't be there tomorrow. Be sure to have some fun with Shiki.' What? Are you sick, or do you have chores? What are you up to, Beat?." Neku said to himself. He ignored the contradiction and went back to listening to music.

Neku was walking in the scrambled crossing towards Hachiko. He listens to the many conversations happening at once as he walks. "I actually met up with her when we…" "I heard you were finally getting a…" "MAN, am I hungry for some..."

"So many people. So many events. It makes you really think. The world is how you view it. The more you learn, the more you understand the world."

Neku stood at the Hachiko statue. He pulled out his phone and checked the time. "Only 11:45? I might as well listen to music." He thought. Neku had his headphones hanging around his neck before he put them on.

Neku must have spaced out because he snapped back into reality when someone accidentally bumped into him. Neku looked around and saw no one that could have bumped into him. "Must have been a player." Neku thought. He checked the time with his phone and saw that it was already 12:20. He looked around and saw Shiki off in the distance. He turned his music off and put his headphones back around his neck. He waved at Shiki hoping to get her attention. Seeing Neku from the crowd of people, she gave an enthusiastic wave. "You threaten me with erasure if I'm late, and you're the one that's late?"

Neku and Shiki were strolling around Shibuya, taking their normal route when they all hang out. They talked about goings on at school, and upcoming tests. They checked out the stores at 10-4, stopped for a bowl of ramen at Ramen Don, circled back to the crossing, and starting another loop from the Center Street Entrance to the Shibu Department Store. But instead of circling around the second time, they stopped at Tipsy Tose Hall.

"Hey, Shiki, have I ever shown you my favorite part of town?" Neku said, stopping before they left for Spain Hill. Neku was looking at the way towards Shibu-Q Heads.

"You've told me about it, but you've never showed it to me before. Do you want to go?" Shiki asked, moving in front of Neku. Neku gave a nod.

"Sure. It's been a while." Neku said, as they were heading towards the Udagawa Back Streets.

Neku stopped in front of the giant CAT mural on the wall. He placed his hand on it, thinking back on how CAT changed his life. Neku gave a small smile. Although it was small, it was the smile that Neku gives when he's at his happiest.

"This place makes you happy, doesn't it?" Shiki asked, admiring the mural.

"Yeah, I guess it does, but…" Neku said. Suddenly, his smile disappeared, and his expression changed to one of regret. He removed his hand from the wall. "It's kind of a somber happiness, though. A few years before I entered the game, I had a friend that appreciated CAT as much as I did. He was the best... One day, I asked him to come see this mural with me. On his way here, he got in an accident, and he… died. I always felt guilty and thought that I was the one that caused his death, and the more I thought about it, the more I created a distance between me and other people. That's why when you and l first met during the game, I was always in a bad mood and always tried pushing you, Beat, and Rhyme away. I..." Neku's face grew dark, and he placed his head on the wall. Shiki could see the grief in his eyes.

"Oh, Neku… I'm sorry…" Shiki said, grabbing Neku and hugging him tight. "But you don't have to cry about that anymore. You have friends now."

"Yeah… I do… I have Rhyme. I have Beat. And I have you." Neku returned the hug that Shiki gave him. They broke away from the hug.

"And don't forget Mr. Mew!" Shiki said. They both gave a slight laugh.

"This place starts getting sketchy pretty soon, so we'd better get out of here." Neku suggested. He started walking, but he didn't take three steps before tripping over something. He fell over and something fell out of his pocket. It was a small silver circle that started rolling down the steps, bouncing off each time it fell. It slowed down once it got to the bottom before falling over. Shiki helped Neku get up and they both walked down the steps and examined the object. Neku picked it up. It was a small pin with a very familiar design.

"What's wrong, Neku?" Shiki asked, looking at the pin.

"Does this pin look… Familiar to you?" Neku said shockingly. He showed the pin to Shiki. "It's a Player Pin… But the colors are all wrong... It's inverted. It's a black skull on a white background."

"Yeah... There's also some weird circle going around the edge... Are those arrows?" Shiki asked. "What's something like that doing here? We aren't even able to see something like that!" Shiki said, getting tense.

"I know someone that can help us.

"Who?"

"CAT."

Neku and Shiki walk into WildKat, and the place is void of life, as usual. "Hang on a sec, I'll be right there!" said a voice coming from the back. Neku and Shiki decide to take a seat. The source of the voice came out from the back. "Alright, what'll ya ha- Oh. Neku." said the man in a white-collar shirt and black vest.

"Mr. Hanekoma. I don't believe you've met my friend as she is now. This is Shiki." Neku said, gesturing at Shiki.

"Oh? You look a lot different from when I met you when you were playing the Game. Something to do with your entry fee?" Hanekoma guessed. Shiki gave a nod. "So, are you here as a friend, or do you want something from the menu?" Hanekoma asked, handing both of them menus. Neku declined the menus.

"Neither, actually. We found something earlier. A problem." Neku stood up and reached into his pocket. He pulled out the mysterious pin they found earlier.

"Where... Where did you get this? This ain't just a problem, Phones." Hanekoma said. His face was more serious than Neku has ever seen.

"I found it in my pocket earlier. No idea how it got there. What is this, and why does it look like a player pin?" Neku asked, holding the pin in his hand.

"That pin has many names. I call it the Switch-it Pin. It lets you switch from the RG... To the UG. No death required. Besides that, it works just like a player pin, except that you don't participate in the Game. Only the higher-higher-ups wear these. These pins are at The Composer's level. You don't just stumble upon one of these, someone had to have given it to you somehow. Whoever gave it to you has to know what you went through last year. And I'm guessing that someone wants you to go back to the UG"