AruuYuda-ShoriKyuyu: Late update, haha. Being busy...busy... Sorry... Haha.
"I mean...damn it! I saw it!"
Rin Kagamine, the boisterous' legs, as well as her voice, were visibly trembling in fear. "What's with this game?!"
What was the Time Master's reason for initiating this game? – the question was running in their minds after they saw an innocent person fade away, vanish in thin air. They knew from understanding and observation that the deaths would be the element to drive the players to finish the game, but why did the unaware have to be involved? There could be other driving factors not involving others' lives, right?
At that point in thinking, they finally deduced that the Master was sadistic – a lover of seeing gore and letting others feel pain and suffering, and he enjoyed intricate games. Combining those two, they got this Game.
The Master also pointed out that he already had this Game started years ago. Then, this game was a sort of "time loop", with him the controller. He was the Time Master, so he was responsible for that.
This was a spiral game – a game starting every time the Master wanted to. Spiral, synonymous to "chaotic", synonymous to "world's end".
They had a time limit set, right? They didn't know how much time were left, save for the fact that they have a year left. As for what hour the next year on the same day the game would end, they had no idea. The Master might, or could, be fickle, but they held on to the hope that it would end on the same hour they started.
But they had to capture a hundred dark ghosts in a year, and unaware people would disappear one-by-one as they went around, which meant that they had to hurry.
Just how many people vanished at this moment?
"Hey, will you freak out when you're suddenly teleported to another place like what that Master said?" Len asked. The three girls turned towards him.
"I...don't know," was Miku's reply. "Maybe I would, if we're all separated..."
They all fell downcast at that thought. They probably would freak out – they didn't have other people to interact with and share their troubles with. They were now mere ghosts. No other people could see them. No other people know of their problems. No other people know that their lives were at stake.
"Anyways, w-we have to hurry, don't you think?" Luka asked, trying to smile (but that smile had a visible tinge of worry), trying to lighten up the mood, even just a little. The others nodded, though a little solemnly.
"Let's just go," Miku said, taking up the role of the group's leader, because no one voluntarily spoke up to tell them what to do first. Maybe the others wanted to, but they were a little bit shy to announce instructions.
Luka was part of the Student Council, the tealette remembered, but then she was a little soft, she noticed. She didn't seem to know that she was the others' top choice of being the real leader, and perhaps the pink-haired girl wasn't that confident in being one. The President of the Council mostly did the talking on everyone in the Council's behalf to the student body without any copy of his speech.
When the President ever became unable to deliver his words due to some circumstances, he would send pages of his speech to Luka, his classmate, and she would deliver it.
Though stepping up to finally tell them what to do, Miku didn't acknowledge the "leader" title. It was just to keep the order within them. There would be no actual title nor hierarchy. They were all the same. Equals. If any one of them claimed the title, or any title, arrogantly, it would be much more unorganized and chaotic. Their situation would be much worse.
At that point, she remembered the book she read which title was "Lord of the Flies". She mentally sighed in relief knowing that no one in the group was greedy nor arrogant.
"Len-kun, you take the west side of the city," the tealette called out as they ran. "Rin-chan, you're to go to the south. Luka-san, you're north. I'll take the east side. You can also scan the rest of the city after you're done with your assigned place to make sure. That would speed up our search before the Master decides to throw us to another place."
The three nodded as they agreed, and they went separate ways. That would speed up our search before thousands of innocent people disappear.
Miku ran towards the east side, going around the city fountain, not even looking at the directory board near one highway corner because she memorized every single highway, avenue, alleyway and building of the city, thanks to the number of years she had been living in there.
The boots she wore (why did she even wear this kind of clothes while she's, say, currently in the supernatural world? They were way too casual...) gave out a tapping sound as she sprinted on the cemented sidewalk. Living people didn't seem to hear it because no one turned their heads and looked curiously at her direction.
Come to think of it... She's actually living. Her human body is just in coma...
Stopping at a corner she glanced left-and-right to look for any creatures not supposed to be there – the ghosts they were supposed to drive away. Or kill. Whatever that word was, Miku didn't bother to think of that.
There was nothing. Nothing out of the ordinary, nothing unnatural, nothing "dark". She shrugged her shoulders and continued sprinting, going to the left side.
She saw the traffic lights going up to green, and the cars sped past her, making them look like dark-colored speeding blurs. At the corner of her eye, she saw a child disappear, along with the toy figurine he held onto, as well as his clothes, much to Miku's intense frustration and anger. A child! A child! An innocent toddler got involved! His identity became erased from this world!
That sadistic Time Master... If she could, she wanted to rattle the Master's head and aim severe blows at it. She cared much for children, especially, for they were much fun, and that damned Master had to make her feel pained seeing a child vanish in the air.
Seeing that disappearance, she further sprinted, the soles of her boots hitting harder on the cement-and-gravel sidewalk in a hurry, her desire to finish the damn game and finally have her hands gripping around the Master's neck strengthening every step. Tears threatened to spill out of the corner of her eyes, but she dared not. She didn't like crying. She knew that crying is kind of a must to release her emotions, but she didn't like appearing to be weak in the eyes of the others.
Meanwhile at the west, Len felt the same after seeing another person – an elderly woman who still seemed to be active – disappear. Turning away from a corner of a street, he skidded as he stopped in his tracks as he clicked his tongue.
There was one of the dark ghosts, close to a middle-aged man who was completely unaware and talking to somebody over the phone. The ghost looked like a mere silhouette of a man. He recalled "Slenderman" without those freaky miscellaneous things at his back. The ghost's sly red eyes scanned the city streets, seemingly searching for a suitable prey. His slouching posture, however, made him look like he was easy to take away. The problem was that he, and the other players of the Game, didn't know what the ghosts exactly did. Did they eat people like what he usually saw in video games or any other media? Possess them and make a ruckus? What? They didn't really know. All the Master told them that they were wicked, and that they needed to be sent back to where they should be – their "prisons".
With that note, plus the fact that the Time Master was sadistic, they kept in their minds that they were possibly – no, really – dangerous.
"Whoa, a tall one..." Len muttered. He wondered whether the strength he obtained from all his sport trainings would be a match against the supernatural being.
"LEN!" a voice called out. He knew that voice. It was his twin sister.
"That was a quick search, Rin. Did you skip? I bet you are too lazy-"
At that, he earned a hit at his head with her bare hand, which was fairly painful, as expected from the most energetic in the group (he wasn't the most energetic. He reserved his energy for sports or when it was really necessary). Len rubbed his head and seethed.
"Dammit, I am NOT lazy! I just didn't see anything!"
"Well, here we finally have one," Len announced, holding out a hand towards the ghost's spot.
"DON'T GO AROUND KIDDI- Oh. My. GOSH! It's freakin' REAL!"
Her loud voice attracted the dark ghost. Its head quickly turned towards the twins, and it made the blonde girl gulp in fear.
"You twit, you shouldn't have called out!" Len seethed, sweat trickling down his forehead.
A yell rang in the air, which made Luka, searching at the north side, turn towards the source of the sound. The yell didn't seem to disturb any people around.
She recognized the tone of the yell. It was Rin's – high-pitched with her own strong and "active" voice. Whatever happened to her? Did she come across a ghost? Luka looked around her. She was near the west side's painted street border, which meant that she already scanned the whole north only to find nothing. She considered running towards the siblings' whereabouts.
How about Miku at the east? Was she doing fine? Just as that thought crossed her mind, she saw Miku running towards her. She looked a little bit exhausted. Perhaps she ran all that time?
She did. As she came closer, Luka noticed the droplets of sweat on her forehead and neck.
"Did you hear Rin?"
Luka nodded. "I did. She seems to be in trouble. Let's go there?"
Miku briefly nodded and started to sprint, not complaining of her exhaustion. Luka tagged behind her, running as well. They crossed the street paint-border.
They ran past a bank, a boutique, and five more establishments. As they reached the front of a cafe, they saw Rin jumping and running around in fear whenever the ghost brushed past her as it tried to dodge. Len, dagger on hand, attempted to get the creature wounded on any part, charging forward and slashing the weapon.
"RIN!" both girls called out. They had their daggers prepared on their dominant right hands.
Rin, upon hearing the call, looked at both of them in a little bit of relief, but her teeth were visibly chattering.
"L-lookie what we g-got here..." she said, a shaking finger lifting up to point at the quick and agile ghost. Luka flapped a hand to make Rin come to them. The blonde girl ran, leaving the boy.
"How 'bout that bastard brother of mine who just attacks without thinking?" she asked.
"I'll just assist Len," Miku said. Luka and Rin nodded. "Luka, please just back me up when I ever fail."
Without waiting for the pink-haired girl's reply, Miku ran, taking out her own dagger from her skirt pocket. She tried running around the ghost and going behind it and steadying, but the ghost was hyperactive! She clicked her tongue.
"Len!" she called out. "Lure him to you!"
She saw the blond boy's face contort in shock. He mouthed "what the heck", but then he started dancing like a crazy monkey in an attempt to make the tall ghost run to him.
"Yoo-hoo Slendy!" the boy shouted out.
At the "bleachers" – from where Luka and Rin was watching, they had their faces wrinkle as they irked.
"Why did that idiot call him Slendy?"
Returning to the main scene, Len was executing a jumping-jack, sweating in the process. The ghost was finally running towards him, red eyes glaring in a mix of anger and determination to get his dark hands on him and devour him.
Miku, standing far in front of Len, was tense, her eyes narrowed in analysis. Her hand was trembling a little, as well as the dagger gripped tightly by her right one. This was the only time she would analyze something while feeling this way. Before she was dragged into this Game, she solved conflicts or thought of matters calmly. But it was lost this time. Maybe if she got used to this, she would regain her usual composure.
Her aquamarine eyes were focused at the tall ghost.
Since the monster wasn't paying attention to her anymore...it was easy. She realized that she didn't have to think of this as a complicated case...
"How–"
Smoke consisting of black, purple and red streaks emerged slowly from where the ghost was hit with the blade – its spinal area. The ghost let out a low groan as it collapsed on the ground, landing with a thud, making the tealette hiss in triumph. She hit it!
After a few seconds, the smoke, as well as the dark ghost, dispersed in the air, like dust blown away by the harsh wind. The dagger which she threw at it dropped on the ground with a clank as the ghost finally disappeared. Len refrained from his luring-act and stared at where the ghost was, panting softly because of his exercise that contributed to the first victory. Rin and Luka joined the two, blinking at the scene before them in a mix of amazement and nervousness.
"Wow, Miku-nee..." Rin said. "You can throw daggers...pr...pre...what was that word...?" she asked, the word about to be said forgotten, resting at the end of her tongue. "Gah, I easily forget too fancy words..."
"'Precisely', you mean?" Luka suggested. She turned to Miku and smiled, giving a thumb-up.
"Yes! That's it! And," the blonde girl turned at the tealette. "It's amazing!"
Miku gave a sheepish grin, blushing at the compliment. "W-why, thank you..."
"How d'ya hit it straight at the spine?" Len exclaimed, curiosity visible in his eyes. His cheeks were puffed out.
"A-actually..." she scratched her head in slight embarrassment. "I try darts in my bedroom..."
"Uwoh! Nice one! One down, and it's a point for you!" Rin exclaimed. "I think... Nope! It's your point!"
"That's amazing, Miku-chan!" Luka said, tilting her head and smiling. Miku felt heat rush through her cheeks, bowing down so that they wouldn't see. Even though she was dubbed the "genius" in nearly everything, she didn't really like being praised too much.
"T-thank you..." she said, adding a silent and tiny "I guess" at the end.
They finally got one. Now how many lives were lost while they were on the move? Realizing that they were wasting time, Luka gasped.
"Hey, we mustn't go on like this, right? We must move quickly, right?" she asked. The others nodded and they all set to a run, with the tealette giving directions where to inspect for ghosts next.
Ten steps after, they felt the whole world spinning around them, making them dizzy, losing sight. The sensation of falling into a deep pit made them scream loudly, reaching out their hands in front of themselves, though there was nothing to be reached. The air around them felt heavy and compressed, enveloping them very tightly as they felt like falling...or drowning of some sort...
Next thing they knew, after opening their tightly-shut eyes, they were in a different, unfamiliar place.
=:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:=
[Time Left]
= 365d : 17h =
[Players' Status]
= Luka Megurine =
Captured: 0
Status: Alive
= Miku Hatsune =
Captured: 1
Status: Alive
= Len Kagamine =
Captured: 0
Status: Alive
= Rin Kagamine =
Captured: 0
Status: Alive
=:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:=
Our search took two hours...until we found the ghost...
It was Miku Hatsune's hit. No, we aren't in a competition of who captured more than the others. No. For us, this would be just a task. Not a Game. The captures by us should total to a hundred before the time limit goes out. The numbers were just recorded by the dreadful Time Master, in which we didn't care. We only cared about the world's fate, as well as our lives' statuses.
What we worry for right now is...where are we?
AruuYuda-ShoriKyuyu: Yaaaay. Reviews, please? I will really love you for that!