Really, Joshua thought he was done with all this "phasing out of consciousness" drivel. He wasn't a Player anymore, but he had no explanation for the fact that Sho's little brother had faded away into blinding white. He similarly lacked any reasoning for the current blackness surrounding him. He wasn't quite sure when the white had changed to black-in fact, he wasn't quite sure how he'd gotten here-wherever here was. Was this just a darkened Cat Street, or…
"Sho?" He called out in annoyance. He resented the familiarity of the situation. He really thought he was done with blindly calling out for his partner.
No answer. As he began to roam what seemed like endless darkness, he became able to make out the fuzzy outlines of a large object in the distance. Somewhat relieved, he realized he was not blind again; he had merely needed to grow used to the dimness.
The large object before him was wooden and smooth. It stretched out far in either direction. A stage. Two figures sat upon it.
"Well, if it ain't Wingless. Come to crash our party?" The man's wings twitched a bit as he leaned back to take a lick of his lollipop. Joshua glared at the mention of his new nickname.
"Kariya. Is this your doing?"
"Is what my doing?" The man sounded genuinely confused, but Joshua still wasn't fully convinced. Before he could accuse him of anything more, Kariya added, "good thing you turned up though. All that whining from Mitsuki was getting on my nerves."
Joshua sighed. "You've got to be kidding me. We just erased some players a few hours ago. What more does she want from us?"
Kariya laughed. "Normally I don't care, but Mitsuki's been on everyone's ass for a few days now. She was way more upset than usual though, so I'm guessing it wasn't really about the fact the up-and-coming new reapers hadn't checked in for days. Most likely something going wrong with the higher-ups got all the officers spooked."
It took a few minutes for the many parts of this message sink in. "But we just saw her at the meeting today."
"A Reaper meeting? We haven't had one of those in about five days now." Those words hit Joshua like an elephant noise.
"J!" The loud sound of Sho's combat boots echoed across the concrete floor. "Finally found you, you zetta son 'a digit. I've been looking all over for you. Where's Jun?"
Joshua turned away from Kariya as the man returned to his lollipop. "Sho, how… Did we get here?"
"Beats me. You haven't seen him?" Just then, Sho finally noticed Kariya sitting atop the stage. "Who invited Lollipop?"
"'Sup, Pi-Face?" Kariya waved.
"Sho, you know we're not on Cat Street anymore, right?"
Sho frowned and tugged at his hat. "Yeah, I got that from the black infinity all around us. So what happened to Jun?"
"Guess he's still back on Cat Street?"
"I bet that coffee shop owner has something to do with this."
Joshua hadn't thought of that. Yes, he did remember something... He remembered wings. Wings on the backs of people he could only see out of the corner of his eye. Every time he turned to face them, they turned into vague blurs as if he seriously needed glasses. Was Mr. H with them? He had no way of knowing.
"Blame the higher-ups. They're leading us to despair." A voice called. Joshua turned to see Kariya's partner, Daisuke. Or, as everyone liked to call him, Doomy Dai. The newest Reaper before Sho and Joshua had appeared, Daisuke was known for pessimistic prattle about death and misery and misfortune. Not quite the happiest reaper to have around, but Kariya didn't seem to mind.
But… what about the higher-ups? Did his rambling actually hold some key to this hole in Joshua's mind?
"How?" Joshua's voice was flat and curt.
Kariya exchanged an indecipherable expression with Doomy and then shrugged.
"Not talking, are you?" Joshua tapped his foot impatiently.
Apparently not, as to break the stillness Doomy Daisuke began arguing with Sho over the mathematical possibilities and implications of the Apocalypse.
Joshua couldn't help raising his voice. "Am I the only one concerned here!?"
"J, calm down." It was strange that it was Sho trying to ease Joshua's temper instead of the other way around, but the boy couldn't explain why he was so upset. There was something he just couldn't place his finger on, some fear he couldn't quite grasp. He knew it had something to do with this piece of memory that was missing-a piece even more disconcerting now that he realized it consisted of five days! No matter how hard he tried, however, that chunk of time consisted of nothing more than shadows and blurs. Why didn't Sho understand how weird this was?
"Sho, you don't remember how we got here."
"Yeah, we've been through this, radian."
Joshua sighed. "Yes, well, our dear friend Kariya just told me we been missing for five days."
"…You're out of your vector."
The two boys were startled as the older Reaper leapt off the stage to stand in front of them. "Hate to break it to ya, Pi-Face, but Wingless over here is right. Mitsuki's been going nuts."
"Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally… How the hell…"
Joshua almost smiled, glad someone finally understood that this really was not okay.
"I… shit. I have to check on Jun. I can't… J, I gotta go." Joshua's smile faded as he looked at his friend with a pained expression. "J, I have to-look, we'll talk about it later. Promise, and all that. See ya." Then Sho looked through Joshua, and the boy realized his partner was already in the UG as he watched the black-capped teen run off.
All three paused as Kariya scrutinized Joshua's scowl. "Well. He's certainly got some obsessive tendencies, don't he?"
"I can tell you're hiding something from me, Kariya. You must know something about these five days I can't remember."
Kariya put his face right in front of Joshua's with a curious expression. "So. You really don't remember any part of the past five days?" Joshua crossed his arms and shook his head. "That's…weird."
"Understatement of the century. Daisuke, you said something about the higher-ups?"
Joshua wondered if Kariya was going to stop Doomy from answering him, but the orange haired man just kept licking his lollipop and staring at Joshua in interest.
"The higher-ups are leading us to despair. You two got rid of one, but more still corrupt the reapers and the city."
"That's enough Dai." He turned to Joshua, "I was hoping you would be able tell me more about that last game, actually. I know our new Conductor got in a lot of trouble after that."
Suddenly, Joshua remembered Mr. H's words from earlier, that the boys risked being "whisked away to the trial".
"The trial!" Joshua exclaimed. Kariya raised an eyebrow. "Sho and I, they took us to the trial for Megumi Kitaniji." As he spoke, at least one of the blurred figures became clearer. The red headphones and black sunglasses of the defendant were now visible as if they always had been.
Seeing Kariya's confused expression, Joshua quickly explained the entire matter of the heart pins that had gotten Kitaniji in trouble with those of the Higher Plane. Unfortunately, Joshua couldn't remember the content or the verdict of the trial itself. In addition, he did not mention this to Kariya, but there was another figure there as well… A girl, with light brown ringlets and a red lace gown. She was hysterical, constantly changing the subject of the trial to the erasure of the Conductor. The other beings there, the ones who he still couldn't focus on, attempted to console her. They tried to get her back on task, but throughout the trial she flashed Sho and Joshua those looks of pure loathing. And every time she looked at him, he was reminded of those days when the music struck and knifed and pulled out his brains, as if subliminal notes had been placed in that music just for him to hear. Just to drive him crazy.
"They're leading us to the end. Breaking their own laws, creating illegal pins. It's a sign." Daisuke said with a nod.
"Sure, Dai. But this is definitely interesting… I knew there was something weird about Kitaniji. It'd be interesting to see what Sho thinks of this. Your memories really aren't that complete, and it's possible if you prompt him a bit more he may remember more too."
Joshua frowned. "I'd rather not say anything to him right now."
"Aw, c'mon. Sure, every partner's got their quirks." He gestured towards Doomy Dai, "but ya gotta forgive them for those. They wouldn't be your partner without them, and he wouldn't be your friend if he wasn't himself, right?"
Joshua toyed with his hair. He realized there was decades of experience behind that advice, or else Kariya wouldn't be famous for taking in every new un-partnered Reaper under his wings. "I suppose you're right."
"Then go after your partner, Wingless."
"I have a name. Joshua. And his name's not Pi-Face-it's Sho."
Kariya laughed into his lollipop. "A'ight then. Good luck finding Sho, Joshua."
Joshua smiled and scrambled after his partner.