I know I've been gone a while; I've been working on other fics as well as some videos that I have up on youtube and working on the novel that I will soon be publishing. I haven't abandoned this fic, though! Here's the next chapter for you guys. Because you're all so awesome.

Summary: An accident sends Neku back into the Reaper's Game, but this time it's more than accomplishing missions or even survival. Neku knows these new creatures aren't noise, and a certain keyblade-wielding teen may hold the answers for him. (Kingdom Hearts Crossover)

Playing For Keeps

By FlikFreak

Chapter Seven: Tell Me All You Know

I can't be dead! I'm not dead! I'M NOT DEAD! NO!

Sora could hardly hear anything else. His own thoughts shouted through his own mind, screaming in denial. He wasn't dead. His skin wasn't cold. He was still breathing. He was still in Shibuya. He could still think, feel, see, hear… He couldn't be dead. It just wasn't possible.

"Sora…"

"I'm NOT DEAD!" Sora screamed, the sobs only coming faster. He pounded a fist into the ground angrily, ignoring the stinging pain in his knuckles. "I'm…"

Neku approached, kneeling down next to the boy. "Sora," he began, "You can get a second chance, you know."

Sora hesitated, then shook his head. "How can you say something like that?" he whimpered. "I know you're trying to make me feel better, but…"

"That's the reward for winning the Reaper's Game," Neku continued. "If you win, you come back."

"But why did I have to die in the first place?!" Sora demanded.

Neku stood, shrugging. "There's no other way into the UG. The composer came once, but since he's in charge of the game he has the power to do that. No one else can really get into the UG without dying."

But that means… Sora began. "That Joshua guy…I saw him in the alley just before I…died. He shot me and killed me, didn't he?"

"Yeah," Neku replied, not seeming very distraught over it. "But he's got the power to bring you back, too. And he will once this game is over with."

Sora wasn't sure he could trust Neku with those words, but something in him told him it was the only option. Standing, he pulled out his player pin, a thought crossing his mind. "I need to talk to them," he said. "To Leon and Yuffie."

"Those two?" Neku asked, gesturing to the warriors.

Sora would have scoffed at how Neku was so casual about being dead, but he reminded himself that Neku had been dead a lot longer than him. "Yeah," He replied, nodding. The tears were finally starting to fade, but the anger remained. The sick feeling in his stomach only got worse. Shaking his head, he gripped the pin in his hand firmly, but not tight enough to crush it. "Is there a way I can talk to them?"

"You could imprint," Neku suggested. "All you have to do is get into their thoughts and say what you want them to hear. It might be easier to just get them into a store so you could talk to them face to face, though. The closest store is the Sunshine Stationside where I met you."

"Think I can use imprinting to get them to go there?" Sora asked. "It's faster than just following them, and they'll probably leave if they think..."

Neku nodded, knowing what Sora meant. "It's worth a shot."

"Okay," Sora replied. "Here goes." He held the pin delicately in his hand, feeling it pulse as the sounds of everyone's thoughts surged into his mind.

Dunno what this kid was doing in an alley like this…really should think more about what he's doing…this is exactly why I tell my kids to stay away from dark areas.

Sora was tempted to imprint a rather rude message on the man's mind, but moved on.

I don't believe this…Sora was only here for a day when he was shot.

Bingo. Yuffie.

What are we supposed to do now? He was our only hope, and as far as we know he's the only one that can wield the keyblade…

"Go to Sunshine Stationside."

What the…why am I thinking about food at a time like this?

Sora rolled his eyes. "Quit being stubborn, Yuffie. Go eat something." He was just about to admonish himself for his recklessness when Yuffie's voice came up again.

That sounds a lot like something Sora would say… Well, I don't think he'd want me moping about this. Besides, I kind of am hungry.

Dropping contact and opening his eyes, Sora watched as Yuffie turned to Leon. "Come on, Leon. They only want witnesses here anyway."

"Should we try to take care of this place on our own?" Leon asked, sarcasm evident in his voice. "You know Sora's the only one capable of-"

"We can think about it later," Yuffie insisted. "Let's just go get a bite to eat. I saw a place to eat on the way here."

Leon, apparently not wanting to argue, followed Yuffie up the street. Neku crossed his arms and observed. "Not bad for your first time imprinting."

Sora shook his head. "Not really. Yuffie's just pretty gullible. Come on."

The two followed Leon and Yuffie down the street at a distance. When the two entered the shop, Sora and Neku followed calmly, entering just as Yuffie finished placing their order.

"…and two OJ's. How much is that?"

"A salad, a double burger, and two OJ's," the lady at the counter repeated. "That'll be 1,320 yen, please."

"Yen?" Leon echoed.

Yuffie groaned. "We forgot to exchange our currency, Leon."

"This is just perfect," Leon grumbled. "Yuffie, you ordered the food. You figure this out."

"Don't dump this on me! How was I supposed to know this in advance?" Yuffie sighed. "Yeesh, just whose idea was this, anyway?"

"Yours," Leon replied bluntly.

Sora chuckled lightly and stepped in. "Actually," he said, "It was mine."

Neku strode up to the counter and tossed some yen to the girl whom was currently in charge. "Use the extra to get me two of the usual."

The girl, obviously a different one from the one Sora had been present for, hesitated before nodding and heading off to prepare their food. Meanwhile, Yuffie and Leon were staring in shock at Sora.

"Wha…" Yuffie began. "But you…what's…"

Sora sighed. They're not going to take this well. "Yuffie, Leon, you might want to sit down."

"Sounds like an idea," Leon said, complying calmly as usual. As cool as Leon seemed, however, Sora had never seen the man's eyes go that wide. "Sora, is that really you?"

"Yeah," Sora replied. "It's me."

Yuffie crossed her arms. "How can we be sure it's you?"

"You're from the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee," Sora said as he and Neku took their own seats. "I'm helping you guys fight the heartless and keep them under control."

"Anyone could figure that out," Leon said, crossing his arms. "We're not exactly a secret operation."

Neku shook his head. "Sora, are you sure you know these people?"

"Of course I know them!" Sora insisted, feeling partially insulted. "I've known them for two years."

"Then tell me one thing that only Sora would know," Yuffie said, her eyes darkening.

Sora sighed and thought. What's something that no one else knows? Oh, yeah… He cleared his throat. "Before I sealed the keyhole in Hollow Bastion, Squall told me something." Sora paused momentarily, noticing Leon flinch at the mention of his real name. "You said, 'We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other.' Remember?"

In the short stunned silence, the waitress brought the food to their table and quickly left. Yuffie stared with wide eyes, while Leon's expression was unreadable. The young ninja was the first to speak. "Sora, it is you!"

"But how?" Leon asked. "You were in that alley. The policemen said you were…"

"Dead," Sora finished quietly, reaching for his Tatsumi Burger. "I know."

Neku, whom had been quietly nibbling away at his own food, chose his moment to speak up. "Sora's not the only one," He said. "I'm dead, too."

"I still don't get this," Leon continued. "If you're both gone, how are you here?"

"We're taking part in the Reaper's Game," Neku explained. "It takes place in the UG, which is like an alternate part of the RG that you and everyone else alive walks around in. The only time we can be seen is if we go someplace where the UG and RG overlap. Usually that's in stores like these."

"We don't have time for you to be playing games, Sora," Leon grumbled. "You need to be taking care of the heartless."

Sora shook his head. "The heartless are here, Leon, they're just in the UG. Neku and I are taking part in the game so we can keep an eye on them, so to speak."

Neku nodded. "The Reaper's Game is what happens to you when you die. Everyone comes there for a common reason: a second chance at life. Of course, there's an entry fee to get into the game, and it's what you value most. Mine was waived this time – at least, that's what I was told – but I'm not sure about you, Sora."

"What you value most?" Sora echoed. Then…what was my entry fee? I don't like the sound of this…

"Speaking of which," Yuffie began. "Sora, Cid sent us here to help you out and all, but there's something we need to tell you."

"What is it?"

"The king and his servants," Leon began, "As well as Riku and Kairi have all gone missing."

The world seemed to stop then and there as the information sunk in. Sora could barely move; his mind was reeling. "Missing?" he repeated. "Everyone's gone missing?" This can't be happening again… I just found everyone…

"Gone without a trace," Yuffie confirmed. "It happened around the same time you stopped answering our calls."

Sora stared downward in disbelief. "Then my entry fee was…"

Neku looked away. "You'll get them back if you win," he said quietly.

"This is the third time," Sora continued. "The third time I've lost them…"

Beep! Beep!

"Mission mail!" Neku exclaimed quietly. "We'd better get going, Sora."

Reluctantly, Sora nodded. "I guess," he said before turning back to Leon and Yuffie. "If you guys can keep an eye out for heartless in the RG, that'd really help. I'll try to keep in touch when I can."

"How?" Yuffie asked. "We won't be able to see you."

"You won't have to," Sora replied, grinning. "Remember how I said it was my idea for you two to come here?"

"Yeah," Yuffie replied, scratching her head in confusion. "I…don't quite get that. I just had some weird thought in my head and I decided to come here. How was that you?"

Sora only smiled. "You'll see. When I need you, you'll know."

Neku stood. "Come on, Sora. Let's get started on the mission."

Koki Kariya could hardly believe that this turn of events had occurred. No one had ever seen these monsters I the UG before, and he had a pretty good idea that they didn't belong there. What bothered him the most, however, was the fact that the current game master was none other than that guy.

"I can't believe this!" Uzuki raved. "Why the hell would the composer choose him to run the game?"

"Calm down there, sweetie," Kariya said, grinning his trademark grin. "Just because you have a few qualms with him doesn't mean he can't be the Game Master. Besides, he's doing a pretty good job if you ask me. Those black monsters are getting wiped out pretty good. We haven't lost a single player to them yet."

Uzuki shrugged. "I still don't know, Kariya. I mean, other games we've done we've had to wipe out players, and now we're hoping they survive. Isn't using players as our clean up duty kind of…low?"

Kariya snickered. "You only say that because you're a harrier. Why not use those skills of yours on the monsters?"

Wrinkling her nose, Uzuki place a hand on her hip but drew her gun anyway. "Ugh, why should I? I'm not going to earn any points from this. Why aren't you helping them, anyway?"

"Details," Kariya replied matter-of-factly. "Besides, there won't be any players to hunt down if they've all been wiped out by those things, right?"

"Good point," Uzuki replied. "Besides, don't we have a special op from the composer or something to make sure some new guy makes it through the game safely?"

Kariya shrugged. "Something like that. The composer said he's a pretty important piece of this whole mess. Supposedly he's the one that's going to fix everything up. He paired him up with that proxy from a while ago for some extra security."

"Neku Sakuraba?!" Uzuki exclaimed, digging her fingers into her skull angrily. "We have to deal with him?!"

"Would you rather be wiped out by the monsters?" Kariya asked dryly.

Uzuki didn't respond, and instead loaded her gun. "Come on. We've got points to earn."

Kariya grinned.

"This doesn't seem like it would be too difficult," Sora said, crossing his arms.

Neku shook his head. "It's day three, Sora; and the mission seems pretty tough to me."

The keyblade master glanced back down at his phone. "Bring light to the darkness at Molco. You have 120 minutes. I'm pretty sure it just means wiping out some heartless."

"I still think it's fishy," Neku replied, walking along. "I mean, there haven't really been any noise involved in the missions so far, except for the first one."

"We've only gone through two missions," Sora pointed out as the two rounded a corner. "But yeah, I see your point."

Neku sighed, staring at the sky as they approached Molco. "What really gets me is that the game master this time around is using those heartless things as part of the game. Why would he use something that could help Minamimoto? I'm pretty sure that math freak needs to be erased, not promoted."

"Maybe they're using the players as part of their cleanup duty or something," Sora suggested.

At the thought, Neku cocked an eyebrow. He's got a point, he said. I never would have thought of that, personally. There was only one mission that was like that, and it was to wipe out Minamimoto. That didn't exactly work, either, since he came back and all…twice, now.

"Here we are," Sora said. "Now to wipe out some heartless."

"I don't see any," Neku noted, glancing around. The only things he saw were the crowd walking by and a few kids playing Tin Pin Slammer. Nothing out of the ordinary. "Should I scan for them?"

"Sounds like an idea," Sora replied, nodding."

Nodding, Neku took out his player pin and pulled his headphones on. He cautiously initiated the scan, and several voices approached him. He began searching for any suspicious noise levels when something dragged him in by force. He staggered, clutching his head as an image entered his mind.

It was almost dusk. Four kids sat on a clock tower, eating what appeared to be ice cream bars. One in particular caught Neku's eye: he would have been the spitting image of Sora had it not been for a few subtle differences. For one, his hair was shorter and blonde instead of brown, and his clothing was mostly white rather than black. Something else seemed different about the boy…something just didn't seem right, but even so he still talked happily to his friends. Out of his pocket, the boy whom looked like Sora pulled out a little blue bead and held it in the sunlight, causing it to glimmer beautifully.

The image shifted to a completely white room, in the center of which was a flower-shaped pod. The boy angrily attacked a man wrapped in red robes, brandishing what could only be the keyblade. He was about to strike again when the man vanished. The pod flashed, and the petals peeled back, revealing a familiar boy floating peacefully inside, apparently in a deep slumber. The blonde stared upward and mouthed a single word: "Sora…"

"Neku! Are you okay?"

The boy jerked out of the trance he didn't know he was in and fell to his knees, gasping for breath. His player pin clattered to the ground, and he pushed his earphones back down onto his neck before picking it back up. He couldn't find a choice of words, so he just shook his head in response to Sora's question as he sat up.

Sora, concerned, knelt down next to Neku and muttered a few words that he couldn't make out. There was an odd wave of warmth that covered Neku and he felt his composure returning to him, and he managed to stand up again. He gave Sora an odd look, knowing whatever had helped him must have been Sora's doing, but chose not to speak on it. Sora stared on in concern. "Neku, what happened?"

Neku looked away, eyes still wide in shock from what had happened in his vision. "Sora…I think I just scanned you."