AruuYuda-ShoriKyuyu: Haha, hey, guess what... I finally updated... My writing might seem sloppy, since I haven't written much since my laptop broke..."OTL Anyways, surprises about the story comin'... Or not. XD

"You're starting it again?"

The cloaked silhouette turned around to face the younger person speaking. His eyes seemed to be bored, and one hand was in his trouser pocket. The cloaked man grunted and frowned. "Why, it's my own game for my own pleasure. You can't do anything, anyways, even if you persuade me."

"You're such a sadist."

"You're lucky that you won it."

"It isn't something I should be proud of," the younger one clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. The man smiled, not caring. "Many died. My three comrades died."

The older one didn't budge. He paid no attention to the other.

"I'm here, along with the other 'victors' of this damn Game. No one is happy with that. They're walking around this infinite realm, located nowhere. Where did you get that sadistic mind of yours, you so-called 'Time Master'?"

The Time Master turned around. The realm was surrounded by very bright light that it made him mysterious-looking, almost like a silhouette, completely cloaked. A highlight on his face showed that he raised an eyebrow. The other, who was visible in the light, felt his blood rush.

"Where did I get my sadistic mind?" the Time Master echoed. He mockingly put a finger under his chin, just like one would do when thinking. "Ah, it was a natural little trait of mine. I enjoy looking at humans playing a game with Death."

"Psychopath..." the other muttered. He was looking at the translucent orb the Time Master was looking at. In that orb showed what was happening to the current Players.

"I'm assuming you want to rush there? And help?" the Time Master asked. The young man sighed. "I can send you there, to where the current Players are, if you want."

"You also have a considerate side, huh...?" the young man scoffed, crossing his arms in front of him.

"You can still die, however, when you reach the human realm, when you get terribly wounded, or 'devoured' by one of the ghosts you encounter, just like the Players. Once you die, you will enter the realm of the Dead Souls and sleep forever and ever."

"I don't care. All I have to do is help them and tell them everything I know about this Game." With that, the young man's world spun around him, yet it didn't make him suffer from headache as he was used to it, and the Time Master's figure swirled into nothing, until he was back to the planet where he used to live. The only difference was that he was only a Living Soul, just like before.

"Where do you think are we...?" Rin asked, looking at Luka and Miku, who were the smartest of the group. "I don't really like Geography. Even maps." The two who were being asked looked at each other, then at the place where they stood, invisible from the foreign people. They were obviously not in their country, anymore. There were lots of grasses, lots of buildings, white-skinned, rosy-cheeked people, and signboards with various languages – one of them French.

"Somewhere in Europe?" Luka suggested. The book-smart girl clasped her hands together, and she fidgeted.

"Maybe Europe, indeed. Might be France, but we mustn't care about where we are anymore," Miku sighed in reply.

The four of them walked together to nowhere, examining the area before they would split off and begin hunting for the Ghosts. The air was cool, and it lessened their feeling of distress, worry, and anxiousness.

They started to worry when one young man was looking at them straight into their eyes. He was walking towards them. He looked like Len, but his hair was tied up a little neatly than how Len's hair was tied up messily. He was wearing a white T-shirt, a plaid scarf around his neck, jeans, and black rubber shoes. Len nearly flinched as he eyed him who looked like an exact mirror image of his.

"Can he see us?" Len asked worriedly. The others gulped, and they all prepared their daggers. The Len-look alike shook his head, eyelids drooping over his crystalline sky-blue eyes. As he neared, until he was two feet away from the group of teenagers, he held out an assuring hand. He seemed too calm.

"So you're the Players. Fear not. I was also a Player."

The young teenagers lowered their daggers as they heard it. But still, they were unsure whether to believe him or not. No one stepped forward and dared to ask him, except outgoing Rin.

"Huh? So you're saying that people can't see you, too?" she asked. The other nodded. He raised his hands in submission.

"I'm telling the truth. I was a Player, twenty years ago. I won it – but I am not proud of it," he said, sighing. "Surely you're confused about this. I came here to explain all of it. The damn Time Master allowed me to."

The teenagers couldn't speak. "Though we have to walk around as a team. We have to hunt, and I have to talk to all of you."

"Who are you?" Miku asked. "And...you have connections with the Time Master?"

The other nodded. "Yes, I do...ah. I haven't properly introduced myself to you," he paused. He bowed at the teenagers. "My name is Allen Kagami. I'm from the same country you were from. Come," he said, turning around and walking away. "I can help you catch Ghosts, too. Though I don't have a dagger. Let's go."

The four teenagers looked at each other and nodded in agreement. They followed the young man named Allen. They looked around for Ghosts, but there weren't any at the moment. There was one innocent person, running around like he was late for something, and they all flinched at the sight. Even Allen seemed to be uneasy as they saw the man turn into a haze, and blown away by the wind, with his identity and evidence of existence gone.

"T-there..." he started. "Only us Players would remember who turns into a Dead Soul..."

"Excuse me, um, Kagami-san" Miku interrupted. Allen turned his head towards her, listening. "What is a 'Dead Soul'?"

"And why do you have direct connection with the Time Master?" Luka added. Allen nodded once, digesting the questions asked to him.

"There are two kinds of Souls – the Dead and the Living. The Dead are those who died as a Living. For example, if we Players, who are Living Souls, get fatally wounded and died at the end, we would end up as a Dead Soul. Living Souls are of humans who died on Earth, but nothing happened to their Souls. The Living are able to walk around the 'other world's realm'. That's why I have connections with that man. The Dead are forever...well...dead. Immobile, yet still remembered by those still physically living.

"As for the humans who disappear without warning, they are already deemed Dead Souls, though they aren't remembered anymore. It's the Ghosts' doing. What we see are the humans' bodies, and the haze we see when they fade away are their souls being ripped off along with everything they have. The Death gods are in charge of their existences' erasure. The Time Master...he has businesses with everyone in the realm of the seemingly impossible. They're all too bad... It's part of the Game."

Allen said all of those things with a rather weak voice, but he spoke quickly, like he was soon to have no breath. He nearly shrugged his shoulders when he mentioned the Time Master. The real Game was so complicated, it took the teenagers almost five seconds to let the information sink in. Rin, being the most dramatic, gasped loudly as she understood. This made Allen snap out of his slight drama. Len's eyes widened. "You mean to say...?"

"Ghosts are nearby those who disappeared, yes. I also mean to say that they could turn invisible at their own will." Allen started into a run towards the spot where the man disappeared.

"Then this Game is harder than what we thought?" Len and Rin yelled, nearly jumping back.

"It is. But they would be easy to spot. Come here," Allen yelled back, waving at them. The four sprinted towards him. Allen held out a hand. "Who is kind enough to lend a dagger?" he asked. Luka handed hers, and the other nodded at her in thanks.

"Ghosts, even though invisible, could be reflected from mirrors or metal. It's your own strategy how to see it," he explained. He handed the dagger back to Luka. "Another thing I'm going to say about Ghosts is that they have different traits. One could be slow, one could be fa- look out!"

With that warning, a booming sound echoed near the spot, yet the people around were unaware. Truly, they couldn't, and wouldn't, see anything otherworldly. Near them was a Ghost with very large feet and a tiny torso, trudging on the paved ground. Though nothing happened to the ground, it seemed that if it were real, it could wreak havoc and destroy the whole place. Being in touch with the otherworldly was indeed crazy.

The Ghost was the same color as the previous one they caught – black, with some faint eerie violet outlines, with glowing red eyes. It was fairly fat. It was heavily trudging towards them, ready to strike anytime. Though it almost had the same height as humans, only taller for a bit, its large feet made the illusion that it was a giant. The group of Players backed away as it came closer and closer, and they readied their daggers, except Allen, who was empty-handed.

The dark Ghost swung its fairly long limbs and lashed it at the group, and they narrowly missed it.

"You either have to cut off their heads, or hit their vital parts like the head and spine," Allen explained. "Don't count how many you've killed – just go on, and do not let anyone die, unless you want to suffer being a winner!"

Miku heard what Allen said. She inhaled and yelled at everyone else, "Try to cut the limbs first! I'll aim at the head! Luka-san,go to the back of the ghost and try to hit the spine to make it stop! Kagami-san, please try to lure it!" she commanded.

"Nice idea, Miku-chan!" Luka said. She and the twins moved around the Ghost, sprinting, while, Allen moved farther back to try luring him. The strategy was similar to the first kill's method, but she didn't mind. All they had to do was to eradicate all of the Ghosts within the given time limit.

"S'pose you want to get home to the Time Master, you dimwit?" Allen yelled, directed at the Ghost who was still flinging its arms around to hit the Players and the newcomer. Miku nearly lost her concentration and she almost looked behind her shoulder to see Allen. "Come here!"

The Ghost screamed.

"Miku!" Len called, meters away from her. "I think we can't hit this bastard!"

"Then hit his feet! Wound it or anything, just to make it stop for a while!"

The twins and Luka nodded at her, and they focused intently at the Ghost. Once the arms got out of the way for a split second, Len and Rin tried to hit the Ghost's ankles, while Luka aimed at the spine. Len's dagger successfully lodged in the ankle, while Rin's dagger missed. Luka's dagger, however, was able to lodge on the middle of the spine, but it wasn't deep enough to eliminate the ghost.

"Damn, this is much work..." Len clicked his tongue.

A thin smoke emerged from the wound which Luka made. Black, red and purple – smoke of these colors emerged. Little by little, the volume of the Ghost's groan increased. Miku came to the conclusion that the wound on the spine wasn't deep enough to make the Ghost disappear, and so she aimed at the head to end it.

Her dagger flew fast as she threw it with well-thought precision, digging deep enough on the forehead of the Ghost. More smoke emerged, up to the point that it dispersed in the air, up to the point that nothing was left but the others' jaws hanging low in amazement.

Allen was smiling gently at the girl who ended the round. Her style was that of professional dart-players and knife-throwers. He remembered the time when he was still a Player, along with his own comrades...who were now Dead Souls... No one in his group was a dart-player nor a knife-thrower. All they could do was to hold down what they could catch and slit their heads or spines open until they disappear. It was hard work. As time passed by, the Time Limit coming closer, they died, one by one, until he was the only one left.

No, his comrades were strong enough, but some Ghosts were stronger than them. They were dominated. Those times, Allen, who was a person used to running around, would be the one to slash and slit while the others aided him. However, stronger Ghosts were encountered...

He finished the Game alone, until all Ghosts were eradicated, yet as he came back to the world after almost a year of coma, he was suffering mentally. Allen died a few years later in depression.

There were three hundred and sixty five days. Then there were a hundred Ghosts. The world still existed. Therefore, the Game was always finished, at the exchange of lives, though. The current group of players, Allen observed, were a little more skilled than previous ones, yet they were younger. He then thought that the Time Master must have been bored with using humans who were in their twenties or older as Players, thus choosing teenagers for a change. However...that plan was far more...unsuitable...? They were too young to experience mental abuse.

He also observed that they could win the Game and live unscathed, go back to the world without suffering. They were skilled. They were already warned and given advices, unlike most of the previous Players. Hopefully...hopefully...I'm crossing my fingers...

Allen walked close to Miku, who was taking her dagger up from the cement path where it dropped, and offered a hand to be shaken. "That was a great way to lead...uh, I believe you all haven't introduced yourselves to me... I apologize."

The others were around Miku, as well, saying their expressions of amazement. She was waving it off humbly.

Miku sighed and stood up. She bowed in respect. "Thank you very much, Kagami-san. I'm Miku Hatsune."

"We're twins. I'm Len, and this is Rin. Kagamine. Glad that we're not relatives of some sort. We even look alike, Kagami-san," Len said, grinning cheekily. Rin gave him a whack on the head, but luckily, Len's hat absorbed some of the shock, and her hit hurt less.

"I'm Luka Megurine, nice to meet you. Thank you for your advices," Luka bowed.

Allen waved his hand. "Ah, no...that's not a problem... Oh, and once you're being transported to another place, it means that Ghosts are cleared from the area you're currently standing on."

Just as he said that, the nauseating sensation came back. He was standing calmly, with one hand in his pants pocket. The others, however, had their hands on their heads as their surroundings spun around them, turning into a haze, until the scenery changed again. This time, they were in a sort of prairie, with a few houses around. The tall grass was sprinkled lightly with frost. Miku and Luka guessed that it was already six o'clock in the night at this unknown place, judging from the darkening sky, and the stars that were starting to come out.

"C-cold..." Rin mumbled, rubbing her hands together to make heat. "At least it isn't snowing... Er...aren't souls supposed to feel nothing...?"

"Why were you standing calmly, Kagami-san?" Len asked, raising an eyebrow.

Allen sighed. "I'm used to that thing."

"Do you also know why we're in these kinds of clothes?" Miku asked, arms crossed in front of her to help her keep warm. Allen chuckled lightly.

"I'm guessing since the Time Master sees through time, he knows about 2000's fashion, and I think he fancies it. Even us past Players, even those older than me who played more than fifty years ago, who were Living Souls now, were in these clothes. I didn't mind, since these were the kinds of clothes I wear when I was still alive. He knows what kinds of clothes you fancy that are close to what he fancies. I might draw a guess that Hatsune-san likes skirts and blouses," he spoke, a little too quickly than what they were used to listen to.

Miku puffed her cheeks. "Well, yes..."

"And that Kagamine-kun likes simple casual clothes, especially v-necks and...cardigans? Kagamine-chan likes mini-shorts and sweaters."

"Close 'nough," Rin blurted out. Len scratched his head.

"That man kinda got it wrong. I like jerseys."

"Sporty!" Allen exclaimed. "What you wear are close enough... You're not comfortable since clothing in your time is lighter than those back in my time. And Megurine-san likes simple dresses."

"Yes, I do..."

"Now, let's stop now and take a look around," Allen suddenly said, voice changing a little. "Even though there's still lots of time, lives are at stake."

"Is that why you speak quickly?" Miku asked. Allen nodded. He adjusted his scarf up to his chin to warm himself. He turned around and led the others to a walk around the field.

Len and Rin were behind the group. They were walking silently, but Len's gaze was fixated at Miku's back. His eyes were glinting a little. Rin observed this. It was a little odd, so she tugged at the hem of his sleeve, which was elbow-level. No secrets shall go past her unknown by her.

"Why are you looking at her back like that?" she asked, voice seething carefully so that only Len would hear. "It's creepy, like a stalker."

Len sighed. Rin saw that his right hand closed into a fist. "I don't know..."

"Aw, come on, tell me..."

"Even I find this odd..."

"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone about what you'll say to me. I'm not a megaphone to yell out secrets, okay?"

"Sometimes, I don't trust you." Len glared at Rin sideways. Rin puffed her cheeks out.

"My best friend Kaito-kun has lots of secrets. And nope, I haven't spoke about those to people. C'mon."

Len sighed again. His eyebrows furrowed. "I'm amazed at Miku – she's like...perfect?" he whispered carefully. Miku was three paces in front of them, while Luka was one pace behind the tealette. He was wondering whether they could hear their conversation. "And I get this strange...strange badump-thingy in my chest...?"

Rin's eyes widened. She couldn't believe what she just heard. Her lips, which were parted in surprise, suddenly crooked into a malicious smirk. "Len."

"What?" he asked, gazing once again at the tealette's back. At her flowing teal hair, precisely.

"Nothing!" she suddenly spoke, turning away and skipping like an excited child. In her mind, she was rolling on the floor, laughing. They don't know whether a day already passed, but she was sure that it wasn't still a week since falling into coma, but here was her older twin, worrying about this strange feeling. And she knew what that feeling was, since she was a fan of romantic-comedic stories and manga, and she kept a collection of these in her room.

Len, however, was only a fan of sports and games, and he didn't know about fluffy human feelings, unlike his younger twin sister.

True, Miku already gave the others an impression that she was the genius in the group, alongside Luka, who was only book-smart. She was pretty. She was able to run around without panting easily. A match.

Therefore...Rin couldn't help but chuckle to herself.

=:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:=

[Time Left]:

= 365d : 14h =

[Players' Status]

= Luka Megurine =

Captured: DO NOT COUNT

Status: Alive

= Miku Hatsune =

Captured: 1 – DO NOT COUNT

Status: Alive

= Len Kagamine =

Captured: DO NOT COUNT

Status: Alive

= Rin Kagamine =

Captured: DO NOT COUNT

Status: Alive

=:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:=

At least...one person came to aid us in our burden...

AruuYuda-ShoriKyuyu: Haha... It's...a poopy writing... Errors might be around, because I wrote this at night and I'm kinda...zzz... Anyways, reviews please, and notify me of any errors! Thank you!~ *bows*