Yep. As you can tell from the chapter's title, this week we're taking a dive into the world of "The World Ends With You". Fair warning, the following chapters will spoil... pretty much the entire game. The only parts that it won't delve into (aside from some minor scenes and details) are "Another Day" and "A New Day" (the latter of which I chose not to play/watch while I was writing this arc). So, if you want to experience the game for yourself without this, go right ahead, and I hope to hear what you think when you come back. If you don't care for spoilers, I hope I've been able to explain things in a satisfactory way.

So, read on, and let me know what you think in a review.

Chapter 118

Busy Streets of Shibuya

"So, now what?" Riku asked, addressing the party in the cockpit of the Gummi Ship. They had finished breakfast and ascended to the cockpit to set off for a new destination, only to realize that they once again have no idea where they ought to go.

"We might as well just throw darts at a map and go from there," Donald remarked, annoyed at the repetitiveness of their situation. Sora and Kairi tilted their heads quizzically, not familiar with the expression.

Jiminy sighed. "We've done the whole 'go to the next world and hope for some helpful plot development' thing before," he noted. "It's just that this time, we've already been to so many worlds, and we don't even have a decent lead. We don't even know who the last three members of Maleficent's council are."

"From what I understand, our enemies are also running around to different worlds and looking for the artifacts," Aqua said. "They just have a more narrow field in which to look."

Sora crossed his hands behind his head and leaned back into his chair. "Maybe we should treat this as going around to other worlds, helping people out, and maybe running into the bad guys along the way," he suggested.

Goofy scratched his forehead as he considered the idea, then smiled. "A-hyuck. That is what we usually used to do."

Aqua nodded. "He does have a point," she agreed. "Granted, when I did the same thing, I didn't have any idea what I was supposed to be looking for. I just flew around the cosmos until something happened to point me in the right direction."

Riku sighed. "So, pick a direction, I guess?"

"Works for me," Mickey replied. "Who's up for flying?"

"Hey, how about we let Aqua take it for a spin?" Kairi suggested.

Aqua blinked in surprise. "M-Me?"

Sora grinned. "Great idea! You never had a chance with the controls yet. You want to give it a try?"

"I-uh-well…" Aqua stammered, unsure of what to say or do. After a moment of consideration, she decided that it might be a fun experience. Calming down, she smiled and nodded. "Sure, I guess."

Donald smiled in approval. "Great! I'll show you the ropes."

"It's always good to try something new," Riku said. He turned his attention to Donald. "Like casting a fourth-tier Fire spell."

"Congratulations, Donald!" Goofy cheered.

"Hot dog!" Mickey exclaimed.

"Yeah, way to go!" Sora agreed.

"He just went 'waka-waka-waka-waka, then BOOM!" Kairi added, pantomiming the waving of a wand and casting of spells. Sora, Riku and Aqua laughed at the sound effects she had chosen.

Donald chuckled, enjoying the praise. "Well, why don't we get this flying lesson started," he said, turning the discussion back to the previous subject.

Mickey climbed out of the pilot's chair to let Aqua take the seat. As Donald and Goofy were already in the co-pilot and gunner chairs, respectively, they simply strapped themselves in. Donald began to teach Aqua how to use the controls.

Sora prepared to strap in, but Kairi put her hand over his, drawing his attention. "Hey, I was wondering if you could show me some of your moves," she requested. "Like the way you took on Mozenrath. Do you think you could teach me some of them?"

Sora raised an eyebrow at the request before ultimately grinning and nodding wholeheartedly. "Of course." He stood up and turned to leave, only to stop and turn back to Riku. "Hey, you mind coming to help with the demonstration?" Riku nodded. Together, they left the cockpit and headed for the cargo hold, wishing Aqua luck as they exited.

Once in the cargo hold, they pushed a crate of mineral ores and a box full of maps against the walls, so that they then stood in an open space in the middle of the room. Sora and Riku stood across from each other, with Kairi standing aside and watching.

"Let's start with some basics," Sora said. He showed off some jabs, first at normal speed and then in slow motion so that Kairi would fully process the movements, on a stationary Riku. He then stepped away from Riku and stood in front of Kairi. "Alright, your turn. First things first, you need to get into position. Find your center, settle your body weight, and take a stance," he instructed, repeating what Sion had told him during his lessons. Kairi did as he said, and threw jabs at him, repeating how he had demonstrated. He gave her advice when she needed it. He then demonstrated new moves on Riku, then repeated the process in teaching Kairi. After half an hour, Sora stood back from Kairi and nodded. "Alright. Ready to spar?" He took his stance, ready to test Kairi.

Kairi nodded, but before they could begin, the ship shook with a tremendous impact, causing them to stumble. "What the一?" Riku blurted.

"Sorry!" Aqua's voice came from the loudspeaker above the door. They realized that the tremor was not due to an attack, but rather because Aqua must have accidentally strafed an asteroid. Sora was prepared to forgive her, as he had done the same more than once. Kairi giggled.

When they regained their footing, they retook their stances. On Riku's cue, Kairi dealt jabs toward Sora, who effortlessly blocked most of them, though Kairi did get a few hits in. Sora retaliated with a few blows, some of which Kairi managed to block. She deflected one to the side and delivered a strike to his side. However, Sora grabbed her arm at that point and twisted around, dragging her along and throwing her to the ground. As a finisher, he threw a punch toward her chest but stopped an inch above it, ending the brief trial duel.

They took a moment to catch their breath. They began laughing. "Not bad," Sora commended. He helped Kairi to her feet, only for both to stumble and him to fall on top of her when another impact shook the ship.

Riku used a crate to hoist himself to his feet and smirked at the position his friends were in. "I'll, uh, go make sure the ship is still in one piece," he said, excusing himself. As he ran out the door, he muttered: "I'll leave you two be."

Sora picked himself up and then helped Kairi to her feet, the two of them blushing at their momentary predicament. "So, uh, round two?" Sora suggested.

Kairi giggled. "If you're up for it," she replied teasingly.

They began another match, each throwing strikes at one another. Kairi's blows became more precise as the sparring session went on. Sora still had the upper hand, but Kairi had more success countering him and she lasted longer against his attacks, avoiding his trap to pull her down to the ground. He did ultimately bring her to a knee by sweeping at her leg, leading to another match. During and between each match, Sora commended her on her progress. At one point, she elbowed him, but he grabbed her arm and tried to twist her around, only for her to actively go with it, maneuvering so that they both turned around, and she then backed them both up so that she had him pinned against a crate, with herself pressed up against his chest.

Sora smiled. "That was pretty good," he said.

Kairi giggled. "Maybe one day I'll be strong enough to go up against you," she joked.

Sora laughed. "That'll be something."

They let go of each other's arms and Kairi stepped forward. "Heartless and bad guys, beware! This skinny girl can beat the mighty Sora in a fight!" she bragged prospectively, pumping her fist up. She looked back over her shoulder and grinned.

They laughed. Kairi turned around so that she was fully facing Sora. "I'm glad you're here, Kairi," Sora said.

Kairi giggled sweetly. "I'm glad I'm with you, too," she replied.

Sora sighed. "Honestly, I was kind of worried for you when you asked to come along," he admitted. "I did want you traveling and exploring with us, but I never wanted you to get roped in all this danger. But, I'm glad you've been handling yourself the whole time."

Kairi smiled with a hint of pride. "Well, I knew what I was getting myself into. And besides, I couldn't have made it without you." She took a step toward him.

"Does any of this ever scare you?" Sora asked.

Kairi tilted her head as she considered her answer. "A lot of the time, yeah. You?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah. Scared for myself, scared for the others… scared for you."

Kairi nodded. "Same. Truthfully, I didn't just come along so I could see the worlds with you. Well, that's mostly why. But I also didn't want to have to lose you again."

Sora raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Well, the first time around, when you closed the Door to Darkness, I was the only one to return home, while Riku was lost in the Realm of Darkness and you went looking for him, even when you had no idea if you'd be able to find a way back. Then I lost my memory of you almost completely, and Riku had to turn into Ansem. After we all went through so much, we finally made it back home together. I didn't want to sit back at home, waiting for you to get back, only for you to disappear again."

Sora put his hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "Well, then, I swear this time will be different. Kairi, you're not going to lose me. I promise."

Kairi smiled. "And I promise you aren't going to lose me." She reached into her pocket and pulled out her lucky charm. "I am always with you."

Sora wrapped his hand over the charm in her hand, his fingers interlocking with hers. Kairi raised herself up onto her toes, while Sora leaned in.

They were interrupted once again by yet another tremor that shook the ship, causing them to topple to the ground. They started to pick themselves back up, blushing again.

"Okay, this time we are under attack," Aqua announced over the intercom.

"Wak! Do a barrel roll!" Donald shouted.

"Hold onto something, everybody!" Mickey warned.

While the artificial gravity within the vessel kept them on the floor as the ship performed a three-sixty, the jolt of the action caused Sora and Kairi to roll across the floor. When they came to a stop, they pushed themselves to their feet again.

"We should probably head back up," Sora suggested.

Kairi nodded and picked her lucky charm up, stuffing it back into her pocket. "Good idea," she agreed.

After the crew fought off a Heartless-controlled ship resembling a humanoid robot with gun arms, they continued on their way. Aqua finally got the hang of piloting the Gummi Ship, although she still had a few rough spots, much like Sora had when he first took the controls officially. The scrapes and blasts caused the ship to lose a few blocks, but Mickey was able to repair it using spare parts from the cargo hold. They flew for a few hours, parking on an asteroid to take a lunch break, before they came upon a new world. It had the appearance of a big city with tall buildings, although it seemed less dreary than Midgar did on Shin-Ra. With the electronic billboards and colorful displays, it made Riku think of a brighter version of the Dark City below the Organization's castle.

"This looks interesting," Aqua mused. Sora, Kairi, and Goofy nodded in agreement.

"Alright, then. Let's find a good point in orbit to leave the ship, then find a spot to beam down," Mickey advised. He showed Aqua how to locate Safe Points where they could disembark. She selected a point, and the group stepped into the glowing circle.

They appeared in a department store, gathered a short distance away from the bathrooms. Looking around, they saw that the store was packed with shoppers, most of whom appeared to be teenagers and young adults in their twenties. The merchandise appeared to consist of fashion targeted at that age range. Sections were sorted by brand, with labels including Mus Rattus, Sheep Heavenly, Tigre Punks, and D+B.

"Nice choice," Kairi said. "You know, I think I could use a wardrobe update. Come on, Sora!" She grabbed Sora by the arm and started to drag him along as she made her way to the D+B section.

"We should probably stick together so we don't get lost," Donald warned.

"If we get separated, let's just meet up at the entrance," Riku suggested, pointed toward a glass wall with two sets of double doors that led outside.

"It couldn't hurt to look around," Aqua said. "I might get myself some new clothes, too. I've been wearing the same thing for over a decade." She chuckled. "It's probably out of style," she joked.

"I wonder if I can find anything in my size," Donald mused. "Everyone else got a change of clothes recently except for me."

"Hopefully something that won't tear or burn easily," Mickey added.

Sora stood by as Kairi searched through the clothes that the store had to offer. He glanced over at the men's clothing section to see if there was anything that would interest him. As he scanned around, he noticed a lanky teen with ash-blond hair who wore a light grey button-down shirt standing off to the side, watching him in a peculiar manner. Sora raised an eyebrow as he looked at the boy, sensing something odd about him but unable to figure out what it was. The boy snickered mischievously.

Kairi admired the selection. The clothes even came in her preferred colors. "Hey, Sora, what do you think?" she asked, holding one of the shirts by the coathanger in front of her.

Turning his focus away from the stranger and back to Kairi, Sora took in the amethyst-colored zip-up with dark purple pockets. He smiled, liking the look on her. "Looks nice."

Kairi hooked the shirt back on the rack. "Ooh, but what about一" She stopped as she noticed the price sticker. Rather than the diamond-shaped symbol that the other stores used for Munny, the sticker used a strange "￥" symbol. "Sora? What's this?" she asked.

Sora examined the price sticker and raised an eyebrow. "I dunno. Never seen it before," he admitted. "They might not use Munny here. If we find a Moogle Shop, we should ask about it.

Kairi pouted, but sighed in defeat. "Let's go find the others," she said. As they left the clothing aisle, Sora glanced back to locate the mysterious boy, but he had vanished without a trace.

They searched the store, finding their friends in different aisles, all with an expression of disappointment. Riku stood near the checkout stands, listening to the cashiers and customers. Kairi surmised that they had all seen the price stickers as well.

Riku rejoined the group a moment after Sora and Kairi had caught up with them. "It turns out that in this world, people use paper currency called 'yen' rather than Munny," he explained. "If we're going to shop for anything, we'll need to find a way to acquire some yen."

"Gawrsh, I think I saw a Moogle Shop over in the back," Goofy said.

"Do you think they do exchanges?" Donald asked.

Aqua shrugged. "Well, if they don't take yen, then I can't imagine why they would set up shop here."

As they began to head toward the shop, they stopped dead as they heard dozens of girls and some boys screaming. They tensed up, anticipating danger, before realizing that the screams were not of terror, but of delight and excitement. A crowd formed, charging toward the middle of the store. Some less-courteous people shoved Sora, Kairi, Mickey, and Donald around, much to their displeasure. A few of the cashiers groaned, although one of the others swooned. Wondering what everyone was going crazy over, the group turned to the entrance and saw a handsome man in his upper twenties walk into the store. He had sandy blond hair and brown eyes, which some of the girls seemed to be lost in. He wore a sleeveless button-down white shirt, a white short-sleeved jacket that was attached more akin to a cape, a loose white cravat, brown jeans, a white belt, and light tan cowboy boots. He appeared to be a celebrity, judging from the fangirlish screaming.

Sora realized that, due to the still-swarming crowd, he had been separated from his friends. As most of the locals were taller than him, if only by a few inches in some cases, he could not see any of his companions, not even Kairi, who had been right next to him until only a moment ago, through the dense throng; he was barely able to see the cause of the crowd's frenzy. Riku, Aqua, Donald, and Goofy managed to stick relatively close together, but Kairi was separated from the others and Mickey was lost completely.

Riku turned to one of the fangirls. "Who's that man over there?" he asked.

"He's only the hottest superstar in Shibuya: Eiji Oji, the Prince of Ennui," the girl replied dreamily. "He's the star of the most wonderful soap opera on television."

"Really?" Riku said curiously.

"Just about everyone reads his blog," the fangirl continued. "People just love his don't-give-a-care attitude."

Riku was confused by the unfamiliar terminology. "Blog?"

"Yeah. F Everything."

There was a pause as Riku was left unsure how to respond. "What?"

"I think we're going to have to bump up the rating just for that," Donald remarked. Aqua looked down at him in bemusement, having no idea what he was talking about.

"No, silly. The F stands for Fabulous!" the girl clarified.

"Uh, okay," was the only way Riku could think to respond.

Not keen on being squashed in between a dozen raging fans, Sora weaved his way through the crowd, trying to make the quickest path into open space. Eventually, he freed himself, at which point he realized that he was at the store's front entrance. Remembering Riku's suggestion to regroup at the entrance, he decided to wait there until the crowd dispersed. He leaned against the wall and crossed his hands behind his head. While he waited, he watched the celebrity maneuver through the store. His adoring fans shifted to grant him passage. He was utterly amazed by the man's reception; the most popular stars on the island did not receive nearly the same amount of wild praise as this guy. He did, however, recall the applause and ovation that he and his friends received at the Coliseum. In spite of that, the majority of their fans knew well enough to respect their privacy and personal space (which might have been helped by the fact that they slay monsters on a regular basis).

He glanced around the store, only to catch something out of the corner of his eye. Just outside, he saw the strange boy from a few minutes ago. He stood in the corner of the doorway, watching him still. When the stranger saw that Sora was looking at him, he smirked and stepped out of view.

While he knew that he ought to stay and wait for his friends to catch up with him before going out into the city, he had to figure out why the boy was watching him. He ran through the doors and stepped out onto the sidewalk. He turned to pursue the boy, but he had vanished again. Perplexed, he scanned around, wondering where he could have gone. He caught a glimpse of the sign over the store's entrance, finding out that the store was named Molco. He finally saw the boy a hundred feet to his left, it having taken him a moment to identify him among the passersby, in the opposite direction from where he thought he had gone. Confused, he followed him up the sidewalk. He weaved through the people as he passed them. He took quick glances around, so that he would be able to find his way back, but he did not focus too much on the surroundings, more intent on tracking the stranger.

He soon found himself in a back alley as the sky turned orange from the setting sun's light. The walls of buildings on his left were covered in posters. In front of him, a set of stairs with a railing in the middle led up to a high wall that was decorated in elaborate, colorful graffiti art. There were many different shapes and phrases painted on the wall, though there were two designs that stood out to him: a refined white shape that appeared to be a monstrous skull with multiple spikes, which seemed rather ominous to him; and the centerpiece, which resembled a cartoonish cat head with bat wings directly below the ears, its tongue sticking out, and a pair of four-fingered gloved hands hovering above the head.

He looked around in confusion, because one thing he did not notice was the strange boy. He spun around, trying to find him, but he was nowhere to be found.

Who was that? he wondered. He was watching me in the store, and I think he led me here. But why?

Suddenly, he felt a presence directly behind him. He turned around to identify it, only to find himself staring down the barrel of a handgun.

He had no time to react, and he barely heard the BANG.