Chapter 7: It's just a little Noise
The duo finally made their way towards Cat Street, Suzume walking in front and Rinkashi a few steps behind her, both rather exhausted from traveling so far a distance. And the entire time, Rinkashi's blue eyes never left the girl's figure. Her ensemble was actually quite something to behold. The red shirt she wore was spaghetti-strapped and exposed a good portion of her midriff while her black shorts were pretty short but not short enough to be considered sluttish with three decorative faded blue belts tied around her waist, all of that was under a black and red corset bustier jacket that buttoned in the front and sported two long coattails in the back of her. Black and grey knee high boots covered her feet along with white thigh high socks that stopped about two inches from her shorts. On her hands were black finger less gloves and blood red arm warmers that stretched until it reached her elbows. Her ebony hair flowed behind her and stopped just at her mid thigh. To Suzume, it was a normal outfit, but to Rinkashi, it was enticing.
"We're almost there, so look alive Yoroido-Kun." Suzume called back. Rinkashi finally snapped out of his thoughts and picked up his pace so that he would be walking next to her.
"That won't be necessary. We're partners now so just call me Rinkashi. Is it alright if I call you by your name, Suzume?" he said. She gazed out of corner of her eyes and nodded.
"I would rather you'd call me Suzu." she simply stated.
'Suzu, huh?' he pondered.
"Careful, Rin." she said. They continued walking until they arrived across the street from a certain store with a cat sign. They walked over to an alley and made themselves comfortable against the brick walls. It took him a while to realize that she had given him a nickname, and a cute one at that.
"Rin, huh?" he repeated back with a smirk. "We've just barely met and I already have a nickname?"
"Well, your name is quite a mouthful." she shrugged, staring back at the shop. The doors had not moved at all. "I had to shorten it somehow." Before Rinkashi could even make a comeback, the doors of the store opened wide with a jingle of bells to a group of teenagers exiting onto the street. No one on the streets even acknowledged them as they all piled out, and they were pretty odd characters; a few of them with spiky hair that defied all laws of gravity, a trio of girls, a gangster-looking kid and a kid with a blindfold. They sure were a colorful bunch. He felt his partner tug at his shirt sleeve and pointed to the spiky haired ginger wearing indigo and white. "That's him."
Rinkashi carefully watched the boy's movements and moved off of the wall. "Sakuraba Neku...right?" he asked. She nodded. "Well then, let's make our presence known." They both moved away from the alley and quietly walked towards the shop, but before they could get there, a green object flashed by them with insane speed, causing Suzume to stop her steps short. She peered over to where the object was thrown and exhaled sharply. It was a knife, but not just any kind of knife. This knife was gold and blue; cyan blue, which explains why they thought it was green at first.
"You…" a voice said. Both players glanced over to the person that spoke and cringed together. To their right was a rather ruffled Scarf Lady and Rose Guy, or Marluxia as she had screeched earlier that day. "So here you are, hiding amongst the rodents." she taunted. She was spinning another knife around her fingers so fast that the color merged into green. Rinkashi looked over to the shop again to find that the teens had already left and was currently heading through the underpass.
"Suzu...maybe now isn't a good time to meet them…we have enough problems to deal with..." he reasoned. The blackette took a small step back.
"No shit...you think?" she scoffed. The vicious woman took her knife and threw it to the ground, a move in which confused the duo. But when a maul of graffiti bears materialized from the knife itself, there were no questions that needed to be asked, nor was there any more confusion. Scarf Lady really wanted them dead. The bears themselves had their own deadly vibe about them. They stood on their two hind legs instead of all fours with tawny brown and ashen blonde fur. There were dark blue tribal marks around their stomachs, arching down towards their hind legs with a light purple on their chests. Their arms were what made it a Noise, as it was graffiti. It started as a dark blue hue around the upper and forearm but faded into that same light purple as that mark on their chests at their claws. Both teens felt the lifeless anger emit from their orchid purple eyes. Suzume felt her heart jump in her chest. "This is bad...Hey, Rin?" she muttered.
"What should we do?" he gulped. The girl peered around the area and dug into her pocket, pulling out a small object. She gripped it tight, causing a bright blue light to form in the palm of her hand.
"We're not obligated to take them out since we already completed the mission." she said. "But if we run, they'll surely come after us, so we have no choice but to fight."
"Lemme guess...fight and flight?" he pondered. The girl nodded.
"Fight and flight." she said. "Towards the scramble crossing."
Suddenly, one of the bears slammed its front paws onto the ground, creating a shock wave that hurled towards the duo. Suzume quickly wrapped her fingers around the boy's hand and yanked him to the side before the wave could make impact.
"If we live through this, remind me to thank you." Rinkashi breathed. She shrugged.
"You mean when." she concluded. Suzume pulled her blue eyed partner up onto his feet and they were running once again, cutting through streets and reaching the underpass in a matter of minutes.
"Kill them." Scarf Lady growled. The bears bolted off, catching up easily to the duo. One had snuck up on the violet-eyed girl from behind and gave her a sharp uppercut to her back, throwing her into the metal wire fence.
"Suzume!" Rinkashi screamed, dodging an attack from a different bear. "Hey! Answer me!"
With a low groan, the girl stood up and grabbed the fence for support. "I'm alright!" she yelled back. She once again gripped the object and watched the light return to her left hand, which had formed a bright blue rapier of pure energy. As a bear approached her, she was able to dodge its uppercut by ducking down low to the ground. Once it was caught off guard, she swiped her energy sword at it's legs, causing it to stumble and fall backwards. She then back flipped over it and as she did that, stabbed it in the eye with some excessive force. When she landed, the bear had dissipated into air, leaving her sword behind. As Alice looked over to her partner, she noticed that he was holding guns in his hand, dual guns. He had also taken down two of the eight monsters and was working on his third. She had switched her gaze behind her to find a small opening that her previous kill had given out of the madness and started to run for it. "Rin! Let's go!" she screamed. In a matter of seconds, the blonde had made it to her side and was running again. When he noticed that Suzume's back was bleeding, he had grabbed her hand.
"You're not in good shape!" he yelled amidst the chaos. "We shouldn't fight anymore!" she scoffed and rolled her eyes, gripping the blade tighter in her left hand and snatching her right hand away from his.
"So you can get us both erased? I don't think so!" she yelled back. "Don't worry about me!" he chuckled.
'Well, at least I know that she's reliable...'
Ahead of them was Towa Records, the brightly colored yellow building was practically impossible not to notice. As they ran, they noticed that the group of teens had stopped just ahead of them, chattering amongst themselves. 'They walk too damn slow...' he thought to himself. Rinkashi spun around and began firing round after round of energy bullets as Suzume took the close handed combat approach and began slicing furiously. Together, they had taken down 3 of the brutes, but the last one was the largest in size. Rhyme was watching just a few yards away, with a worried expression.
"Hey... I think they need help." Rhyme called out to the others. This grabbed the attention of the rest of the group with the exception of Riku, causing them to also watch the duo fight off the monster. The largest grizzly had quickly slammed its claws into the ground with great force, ushering a strong earthquake to shake the teens. Suzume had jumped out of the way as Rinkashi dodge rolled to the right side of the beast. The blade Suzume was holding had begun to glow brighter as she charged to the monster at a quick steady pace.
"Back me up!" she shouted to him, not even giving him so much of a sideways glance. Her partner readied his stance.
"Right!" he confirmed. He started firing rounds of black bullets into its chest, attempting to catch it off guard. Then he moved to its legs, firing the same rounds. When they made impact, the creature had begun to slow down. Suzume dipped and dodged around the bullets blazing past her then jumped above the noise, stabbing it furiously with lightning speed. Once she landed in front of the creature, she jumped back, flipping backwards once, and skidded to a stop right next to her partner. The noise suddenly began to disappear in a strange fashion; its body was outlined with television static then it filled in its body. And like that, it vanished. The duo stood up straight and adjusted their clothes, allowing their weapons to vanish from their holding places. Then, without warning, Suzume fell to the ground whilst breathing heavily.
"Well now that that's done, you should rest." Rinkashi finally stated. His partner simply shrugged.
"I told you already. I'm fine to keep going. You won't get me erased."
"As weak as you are now, you'll be the one that'll get US BOTH erased. If you push it, we're screwed." he sighed.
"...I don't like your tone." she muttered.
In the distance, the group carefully watched the two. "It looks like they'll be alright by themselves." Neku said. Sora stood quietly as Neku spoke to the rest of the group, eyeing the girl in the distance. Her ebony tresses were rather long and very straight, but her eyes were what caught him. They were a very vibrant violet purple, not like Joshua's eyes, which were more of an amethystine hue. They held a familiarity to the boy, like he saw them before. But before he could divulge into his memory further, something caught him off guard by pulling on the sleeve of his jacket.
"...ra?"
"Hey, Sora?"
"Huh?" he mumbled. He blinked a few times then looked at the person who was trying to get his attention. It was Shiki.
"Hey, are you alright? You zoned out..." she asked calmly.
"Oh... I'm sorry... Just...thinking too hard about something." Sora replied back.
"Do you want to talk about it? It's good to ask questions if you're confused." she said. The boy shook his head and looked back over to the girl that was sitting in the middle of the road. The blonde haired boy that was next to her, probably her partner for the game, had crouched down to her level and was talking quietly to her.
She then pulled out her phone. It was a standard flip phone with black and red tribal designs on the back. The charm that hung from it was a black heart outlined in red; it two skewed lines on the inside of the heart that both resembled thorns and the bottom flared out to make a three pronged bottom. That charm was unforgettable...
"...I remember that girl..." he muttered. Neku walked towards the boy and tugged on his arm a bit to get his attention.
"Hey, something wrong?" he asked casually.
"I know that girl...I saw her at the scramble crossing just after I woke up...she was there on her phone." Sora said, his eyes never leaving the girl.
"Well it is the Reapers' Game." Roxas said. "Considering that what Neku said was probably true, we should be expecting some questionable moments."
"It's true. People look through you like you aren't even standing there." Ventus added.
"But she looked right at me. She stared at me. Then she walked through me. If in the Reapers' Game no one can see me, then how could she?" the brunette explained. The group pondered this for a moment before someone spoke up.
"Maybe she's on par with Joshua." Riku said. The boy's voice had once again caught him in his trance, causing him to turn around and face the white haired boy. "Perhaps you know her from somewhere?"
The ashen blonde boy closed his phone for the eighth time that day and placed it back into his pocket. "I unfortunately wouldn't know since I've never seen her face."
"Well look alive cuz they comin." Beat stated. Everyone looked over and sure enough, the duo were finally back on their feet and walking towards them. The blonde haired teen was rubbing his shoulder while the girl was tying her hair into a high ponytail with a white ribbon. She was a bit wobbly on her feet but walked fine nonetheless.
Once they got a bit closer, Rinkashi's brows furrowed. He took another glance over the colorful group. Apparently the trio he had thought were girls consisted of two actual females, one with medium length black hair and a shorter one with blonde hair in a beany, and one blonde male with amethyst eyes. The Spiky Cinco were all male; a tall redhead that actually had RED hair, a short ginger who surprisingly had his eyes closed, a brunette, and a pair of blonde twins. There was another kid with white hair in a black blindfold and the last one was a blonde that looked as if he was a part of a hip hop music video. This was definitely a ragtag group of interesting people. Rinkashi waved at them.
"Hello there." he said. A few in the group waved back while the others just stood there. "I think I know the answer to this question but which one of you is Neku Sakuraba?"
The ginger with the headphones slowly opened his eyes and glared at the two with venomous eyes. "Who wants to know?"
"Whoa. Easy there, Tiger. If you glare too much, your face will get stuck like that." Rinkashi chuckled lightly. "I suppose that I should introduce myself. I'm Yoroido Rinkashi. This is my partner, Masahiro Suzume, but she prefers Suzu. We're looking for someone who could help us get through this fucked up excuse of a game."
"And you're asking me because...?" The boy glared.
"Sakuraba Neku, you won last year's Reapers' Game..." Suzume said. "By the skin of your teeth, at that."
"You were in it?" Rhyme asked. The girl shook her head.
Shiki and Beat stared at the girl with the violet eyes rather perplexed that she knew about that information.
"Then how did you...?" Shiki muttered.
"You all fought valiantly to win, and for that I would like to personally thank you four on behalf of all of Shibuya." She bowed respectfully towards the group then rose. Ventus stood, mouth agape.
"Wow. You guys weren't lying about that whole 'gotta save Shibuya from destruction' crap." he said lightly.
"Quite. I hope you won't mind my blunt asking, but if you weren't a part of the game, how would you know anything about it? " Joshua smirked.
"You can see a lot when you're a medium, even things you don't want to see." Alice shrugged.
"What's a medium?" Axel asked, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. The male's attention was slowly drifting off to other places while the duo explained themselves. He took a glance around the group. The only ones that were paying them any attention were Neku's original group. Riku was fidgeting with his bamboo keitai once again. Ventus was talking to Roxas about god knows what while Roxas was pinching the bridge of his nose. Sora was staring really hard at the girl as though he was trying to decipher her thoughts. He then felt something jab him in the side. When Axel turned, it realized it was Roxas.
"You asked the question. Perhaps you should pay attention." he sighed.
"Nah, that's alright. I'll let Beat fill me in later." Axel shrugged.
"That's not likely. He doesn't even know what she's talking about." Roxas noticed. The redhead looked over and found that the boy had indeed started scratching his head. A sigh slipped past the male's lips.
"Jesus, I just had to have this guy..." Axel muttered.
"So you can see spirits?" Rhyme said, summing it up. Suzume nodded.
"Thank you Rhyme." Axel whispered to himself.
"Yeah...so are you gonna help us?" Rinkashi asked.
Neku stood quiet for a moment as he scanned over the pair. After the last series of games and thanks to Joshua's little stunt last year, he was definitely weary of the other Players. 'Trust your partner' quite only had to apply to his partner and his friends, but he would be lying if he said that he wasn't slightly worried about the outcome. Before he could even answer, he heard a sudden metallic clink hit the ground, catching his attention. A cyan blue and gold throwing knife was sticking out of the asphalt, just next to Alice. She gazed at it for a few moments before her violet eyes went wide.
"You little BITCH! I'M GETTIN REAL TIRED OF YOUR BULLSHIT!" came a scream from behind the group. They all turned around and found a frazzled woman with slender electric blue eyes. Her blonde hair was cut short while two antennae-like strands slicked over her head. The most noticeable item she held on her person was a sheer yellow scarf around her neck. Rinkashi quickly noticed the woman by her scarf and became defensive, moving in front of his partner. He glared at the woman as she glared back at them.
"Fucking god, why are you so OBSESSED with us?! Don't you ever quit?!" he shouted.
"Someone you know?" Roxas asked.
"Hell no! She's been following us since I found Alice!" He snarled. Scarf Lady cackled loudly.
"That's because she belongs to me. I sought her out MYSELF, therefore I OWN her! Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way...you can hand her over or I'll erase you both!" she shouted.
"She's a Reaper?" Rhyme gasped. Her eyes were wide with fear as were Shiki's. Ventus glanced at the girls with a frown.
Rinkashi turned his head slightly to the girl behind him. Alice was still not quite stable on her feet, which worried him. There was no way she was going to fight and survive. Suddenly, a hand fell upon his left shoulder, quickly receiving his attention. Neku stepped forward.
"How the hell did you already piss a Reaper off? That seriously takes skill." he sighed.
"Well, I-"
"Stop. Never mind." Neku stared at the woman with a frown. "Why is she so important to you?"
"It's none of your business, little boy. Why don't you and your little pack of misfits find another place to linger." Scarf Lady sneered.
"No thanks. We were here first." Joshua smiled, walking up to stand next to the ginger. "You can go find that place though."
Scarf Lady growled. "Quit beating around the bush! Hand her over!"
Joshua pulled out his orange cell phone as Neku reached into his pocket and pulled out a pin, gripping it tightly. "I'm afraid we can't do that. You see, she's a part of our group now, as is her partner."
"An we ain't lettin em go nowhere!" Beat shouted, running up to stand with the other boys. Rhyme placed a gentle hand on Suzume's forearm, pulling her back away from the potential splash zone. Rinkashi took notice and backed up as well. Sora could only watch as his partner stood his ground against the Reaper.
'He's fearless...' he muttered to himself.
Shiki dashed over to the boy's side with Mr. Mew right behind her, readying herself. "Why does she look like an elderly cockroach?"
Hearing that statement, Scarf Lady sneered at the four in front of her. She snapped her fingers once, drawing five of her specially designed knives to both of her hands. The woman smirked.
"Elderly cockroach, huh!?" she snarled. The woman dashed to the group. But before she could get to them, a portal of darkness appeared in front of the woman, who stopped in her tracks. Out came another sketchily hooded man; a rose resting in his left hand.
"We're being called to headquarters. We have to RTC." he said.
"But I still have to grab her!"
"Orders are orders. Besides, you took out a nice amount of Players today anyway. Your quota was reached hours ago. Let's go, Larxene."
With a frown and a deep growl, she opened her hands, allowing her weapons of choice to dissipate into air before she slipped through the swirling black and purple portal.
"What's wrong?! You gonna start some shit then run away?! That's messed up, yo!" Beat shouted.
The man followed behind her and glanced at the group. "Let this be your warning. The next time we meet, I'll set her loose." he said aloud before also entering the swirling mass. Once inside, he vanished. Neku's entire group felt a sigh of relief flow through them as they all rose to a regular standing positions. Mr. Mew tapped on Shiki's leg causing her to look down. With a smile, she bent down and picked him up. Neku and Joshua both put their items back into their pockets and turned to face Shiki and Beat. Ventus turned to Roxas.
"What was that about?" He pondered. His twin shrugged.
"Like I know. You should ask someone else."
The veteran group walked back to the next others and stopped in front of Suzume and Rinkashi.
"So now I guess you're stuck with us." Shiki said smiling.
Neku glared between the two. "Just don't drag us down."