Mr Reaper

by EeveeGen9988

A young Reaper set in his ways has enough of seeing Shibuya being left unprotected from criminals, and finds himself leading those of common interest to take action. If only he knew how one step to betterment would lead to another he would take alone... Written for [Shibuya Operation - Story Storm 2019-present] and [Twelve Shots of Summer 2019].

4. Mr Salvager

Mr Reaper

I do not own The World Ends With You, Square Enix does!

Mr Reaper Part 3 was written for Shibuya Operation - Story Storm (SOSS); previous chapters (Parts 0 and 1) were posted during Twelve Shots of Summer (TSoS).

...

3 - Mr Salvager

---

Months Earlier...

---

"This is different..."

"..."

"Did you… tell them anything?"

"..."

"Me? Just me?"

"..."

"Do you hear me?"

"..."

"You're giving me the silent treatment now… Dammit, I could have sworn you were talking to me."

"..."

"I mean, with all that I do, maybe I should take it easy for the next while."

"..."

"I spend a lot of my time fixing the mistakes reapers put people through because they think a lacklustre job is fine! I've dealt with severed heads being set sideways- fingers being mixed up with the thumb in the middle and the pinkie on the thumb stump and the middle on another middle- which is fucking unforgivable!- and don't get me started with their eyes! ...Fuck."

"..."

"Have you ever seen when eyes have been swapped!? They one time put one in the other and I was lucky when I was there to find out about that because the eyes wouldn't stop- lolling around and twitching at the same time! Reapers were going crazy and acting like spineless pansies until I took on that case! Those fucking reapers who did that were damn idiots because they thought we were none the wiser! Oh ho, it's not a fucking joking matter when you screw with the life of another human being- and for your case..."

"..."

"For your case... everyone gave up on you."

"..."

"...I'm not going to do that. Out of all the reapers involved, I was the one paged to help you after the whole 'jackpot points' fiasco. I mean, I don't think it was necessary to twiddle points like that. I think it was fucking stupid, between you and me. They should have just left you be and let the professionals do their thing. But no... they didn't. And look at what happened..."

"..."

"You're in safe hands now. We have plenty of time to get to know each other."

"..."

"Well, me more than you once I get you sorted out better, heh. So if you can get your invisible flap going again… then I'll know I'm not crazy."

"..."

"Oh boy… who am I kidding? I've wasted enough time talking to air and dust particles... I'm here for a reason, and I need to get this done before the spirit's lost! Get it together and go back to work."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...H-Help…"

"Seriously... you choose now of all times to-"

"I don't want to di-ey-ey-eye…"

A long sigh sounded, "...Don't worry."

"I don't want to di-ey-ey-eh…!"

"You're not going to die again."

"I don't want to!"

"...Do you hear me now?"

"...P-Please… h-help…"

"Maybe later on… I'll ask again later…"

"H-Help me… it h-hurts…"

"I'm here, don't worry."

"H-Help me…! I'm begging you...!"

"Shh… I'm here."

"Help... me..."

"You're not going to die. Trust me."

"..."

Another sigh sounded, "I'm not crazy…"

"..."

"Just get back to work."

---

- 1975 -
Present time

---

"Due to your choice to remain in the Barracks, I feel that you have shown that you are no longer suffering from your previous ailments," the Conductor told the Harrier on the morning of the last Day of the Week, yet all the Harrier could respond with was silence and a tight scowl under his hood. The man puffed out his chest as he went on, "Know that I expected you to have sprung an escape at any point of the Week, but to hear you cooperated and complied with my order, I see no reason for you to be kept from your duties now."

"Ignoring the fact you provoked me into attacking you…" started the Harrier grumpily, he soon tilted his head and forced out a gustous sounding chirp, "Sure! We'll go with that."

The posh bastard exhaled softly, his cold gaze unwavering as he breathed, "I suggest you take heed. You very well may not gain the same outcome, must you find yourself with the unfortunate results of your actions once more. Thus, if you wish to maintain good standings, refute your cancerous ideals and don't go against the grain."

"But I already am doing that… Thank you for your noteworthy concern, though," snarked the Harrier, shifting his arm across his stomach and dipping his body in a shallow bow. He could practically tell the posh bastard wasn't amused by that as the Harrier was. However, being crammed in a corner for a Week and finally having his bird cage door open was enough to put the Harrier in high spirits to not care about the stakes for now.

As he straightened himself out, he crossed his arms. "Was that all you had to say..." He smirked coolly. "Or should I take my leave?"

When the posh bastard opened his mouth, he held it open for a moment before sighing out from it. His jaws pressed closed, resuming his uptight-ass mien as he placed his other hand on his cane. "You may," he stiffly responded. "...Take care."

Nodding at that, and ignoring how it sounded like the posh bastard had been recently tortured when he added that last bit, the Harrier grinned to himself as he trotted past the suited man. When the man made no attempt to say more or call the Harrier back to talk about any other bullshit, he was at ease as he left the Barracks.

While he kept moving, he couldn't help but find it was invigorating the further he put distance between them. It wasn't long until he found himself gaining speed as he broke into a run through the halls, narrowly weaving past vultures acting as human pylons for him and felt the need to skip along the whishing river. He would have, that is, if he wasn't so perturbed by the thought of acting too happy and giving the Conductor his satisfaction if a vulture decided to comment on it to the posh bastard. Therefore, he refused to break character and pushed himself to feign urgency of leaving as for why he nearly pushed an Officery-looking Reaper over as he was nearing the River's exit.

The moment he took in a breath of moist, watery air at the mouth of the exit, he didn't care about the fact it was a downpour and ran straight into it. Laughing merrily, he slowed to pace in a lazy circle on the spot, slightly raising his arms and head to the sky to feel the drizzle and condensation contacting his skin.

Refreshing… so refreshing…

He couldn't help but grin harder. His heart made leaps and bounds as warmth filled his chest, laughter soon bubbling softly from it to rumble out of his throat.

It felt so good to be outside...

When his high ebbed slightly, he finally halted and inhaled deeply and exhaled contently. The Harrier shifted his head to look around himself as he was lowering his arms, his smile turning into a small beam as he contemplated what he should do first.

Find Andy and followup on what's been happening?

Let the shower drench himself and not care about getting sick because of the joy he felt from being one with nature?

Take to the streets and do some solo recon?

The Harrier didn't have to think about it too much, deciding that easing his friend's distress was of utmost important. He didn't want to be an ass to her; not when he got abducted because he 'fainted' this time for sure. It wouldn't be fair to her. Not at all…

He threw around some ideas on where he would usually go with Andy, knowing that they would either be hunting for new targets or eating out on Day 7… The Harrier crossed his arms as he mused, trying to factor himself outside of the usual equation to get the results he wanted. The possible whereabouts she could be at were now scrambled, leaving him to believe his friend could be anywhere. ...Dammit. That threw a wrench into his plan.

Cursing to himself softly, his eyebrows knitted as he tried to summon any relevant information from the depths of his brain… Nothing. Well then, wasn't he up to his knees with shit fortune. He sighed heavily, shifting uneasily on the spot. He felt almost as if the excitement spurring him on to get out of the Shibuya River was zapped right out of him when it occurred to him as much as he told Andy he planned ahead to successfully go ahead, he had fucking no clue how to plan out where to find his spirited, wayward friend.

What kind of friend didn't know the haunts their friend dwelled in? What kind of friend ditched their friend? What kind of friend wouldn't think about contacting their friend when they had no fucking way of knowing what happened to the friend who hadn't thought about reaching out to them if something not ideal happened?

...Himself; apparently.

Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he lowered his gaze to the ground to distractedly glance around. 'Well, aren't I an idiot...' he mused to himself mentally. 'At the drop of a hat, I've become the scum of the moment. Wasting the air with my toxic carbon dioxide as I sap the righteous oxygen from those who need it.'

A heaviness settled in his chest, almost anchoring him to the spot as the rain now felt like it was biting his flesh and nipping through his Reaper garments. It seemed right to take it all in- letting the sudden coldness seep into his aching bones…

"It is raining today…"

Blinking, he was surprised to find he had a visitor. No wait-

Swiftly pivoting his body towards the person who had spoken, he stiffened slightly in place as he gasped out, "It's you again!"

And there she was: The girl from last Week.

The Harrier breathed shakily for a bit, soon narrowing his eyes at the ebony haired and eyed girl who innocently frowned back. "D-Did you…" he breathed, searching for something coherent to end his sentence with before settling with a simple gulp before speaking again, "Wh-Where were you?"

She bit her lip; sadness shined in her eyes. "I am sorry… I could not find you."

"Find me?" He frowned, tilting his head a smidge.

She took a few steps towards him, dipping her head slightly as she murmured bashfully, "I tried to find someone for help, but I had no luck. And when I traced myself back to you…" Her expression twisted painfully. "You were gone."

Oh… so it was a matter of missing each other. Or- to be more precise- her mistaking him to have spontaneously Erased before she got back. That was enough for him to drop his suspicions she left him for 'dead', so to speak.

He relaxed only so much as he let out a sigh, "Someone found me first." He turned away, raising his hand as the rain felt like it was pounding down harder and gritted his teeth. "I guess I ran out of steam and juice to keep going?" He shrugged with uncertainty, wiggling his shoulders and connecting arms up and down in sync for each side for a while, grimacing soon after as he put in, "Eh… not entirely certain what happened, though."

Behind him, she nodded slowly before her head twitched at the last moment. "That is good to hear." She gave a sigh of her own. She intertwined her hands as she went on softly, almost calmly, if he squinted enough at the tone, "I could have sworn you had become lost for good, as I guess one can only conclude so much from a disappearance."

The Harrier nodded at that, twitching his head to watch her in the corner of his left eye.

She was- if he could describe it well enough- drifting around the pavement, ignoring the rain as it created light mist to slither and gather on the ground. Nearby her shoes, the misting appeared to follow her, as if her outline was giving off an aura…

He blinked and wondered how he couldn't sense her appearance beforehand. Did she just return from the Realground, or was she that good at sneaking up on people? He thought Andy held the title for creeping behind him successfully… so he supposed Andy may have to defend herself if she were to remain the champion.

The female Reaper soon smiled small at him, blinking as well. "Honoka…"

"Huh?" He twitched and raised an eyebrow at that.

"That is my name. Honoka," she supplied simply with a small bow. Her smile almost broke while she rose up before she dipped her head gingerly. "I forgot to introduce myself last time." she murmured sadly.

He nodded, placing a hand on his chest. "My apologies then." He finally turned back to bow to her, dropping his arm to do it properly. "I'm-"

Water suddenly dunked on his head, causing him to start stiffly and freeze in place. 'Fuck!' His stifled breath lingering on his tongue spilled out, and the Harrier instantly placed a hand to his drenched hood as the water seeped through the fabric. It began to slip down his head, neck then undershirt as he shook his head in befuddlement at the aquatic attack.

'What was that!?' He squinted, feeling his teeth chatter as he death-glared the tree branch that waved up and down. He then wondered, in dismay, how the amount of water that bombed his head could have possibly gathered on the skimpy, leafy branch as it had to do that.

His face dropped it's tautness when Honoka laughed. The Harrier, in turn, squinted more while she shook her head lightly and gasped out, "What are the odds of that?"

At first, he flatly regarded her, grumpily making note it made no sense for how the rain could have landed like that- It was downright impossible! Even so, he held back his commentary, trying to recompose himself as he quietly yet tartly replied, "I must look like a drowned rat then..."

She widened her eyes, shaking her head fretfully as she breathed out, "I did not mean to laugh." She frowned immediately. "It just seemed so incredulous to have happened."

"Incredulous?" he echoed with a sharp eyebrow raise. That wasn't a right way to put it... seeing as that word held no relevance or significance to the situation.

Honoka face shied away. "...U-Unexpected."

The Harrier began to carefully wring his hood by curling the outer rim of the fabric backwards, shivering slightly as he mumbled out, "...F-Fair enough."

He was thankful he didn't even have to worry about his hair. It wouldn't matter if it turned fluffy and frizzy from drying under the safety of his hood and body heat, because to hell with a Bad Hair Day! Who would see it anyway!?

Stuffing his hands into his pockets again, he walked over to seek shelter under an overhanging roof. Upon turning around, he noticed the girl remained where she was admiring her surroundings. Odd… Was she that smitten with the terrible forecast that she was ignorant to her own health?

"Hey," he softly breathed out. It seemed to catch her attention a few seconds later as she was now frowning at him. "You're going to catch a cold."

Honoka suddenly adopted an odd look. What? How was mentioning that fact making him out to be the weird one right now?

Slowly, after staring at him for some time, she turned her head to the sky, remaining still as the rain struck her and bounced across the street. He would have spoken again had she not closed her eyes, appearing peaceful as it continued to drench her hair black.

The Harrier couldn't really tell what was going on in her mind. It was as if time had stopped for her, leaving her suspended in an almost trance-like state… He simply watched, interested in what she was doing yet he couldn't help but feel frustrated she was being an idiot. He could even forget how his head was almost numb from the splash of water from earlier refusing to uncling from him, beading on his eyelashes, eyebrows and jaw as he remained safeguarded from the downpour.

"Why are you hiding from the rain?" Honoka asked serenely, her dark eyelashes batting lethargically as she side-glanced him.

He balked at that. 'What is she going on about?' He crossed his arms, looking away from her as he huffed out, "Well, why wouldn't I seek shelter from it?" He shifted a bit, turning his head back slightly as he coolly went on, "It's cold, it's wet… it's- not to mention-" He frowned, letting it enter his tone as he finished, "Lightning could be close behind."

"You are scared then?" she guessed, making him shake his head indignantly at that as she drew her hands together. Her hair was already plastered to her skull as she murmured with laughter in her voice, "There has been no sightings of thunder or lightning- All of your answers indicate you have a subjective aversion to it. Have you thought of whether it may actually be good for us? Can you not name a reason to like it?"

"If you haven't noticed," he answered pointedly, gesturing a hand to the sky as he scowled upwards. "It's a downpour!"

"It still is rain," she simply returned with a shrug. She shifted a hand palm up before cupping it to catch the rapid droplets. "Before... you seemed to be enjoying it."

The Harrier couldn't really deny that…

"What changed your mind? Because it soaked your head? That it is a downpour?" she rapidly asked with a single little bounce on the spot. She gradually brought her other hand to the one water dribbled out of, siphoning it into the new hand as she cradled the water almost lovingly. Her eyes glowed warmly as she gazed at it, smiling abashedly before glancing up at him, beaming now. "There is still time to relish it before it is gone!"

He narrowed his eyes, soon noticing the shower was dying down and blinked in awe before he stared at the Support Reaper again. She kept her gaze on him and the Harrier wondered if she was waiting for him. He very much wanted to stay where he was, yet he was interested in seeing what Honoka was leaning towards right now.

Damn his curiosity… He couldn't even pass this up.

Slowly, he stepped back under the sheet of water, grimacing as he trekked towards the girl Reaper. He soon stood in front of the girl to pointedly regard her. "Well…" he started out coolly, blinking as he asked, "Now what?"

Her face fell for some reason. "Did you only join me because I was prompting for it?"

"No, it seemed like you would tell me the point of this if I did," he gruffly huffed, crossing his arms instantly. "Was this a test?"

She shook her head, almost as if she was taken aback. "O-Of course not," she said, still keeping the water in her hands safely even when she frowned at him. "I was wondering why you would hide from the rain, when you seemed so glad about it." She paused before continuing, "What had changed? Why would you leave it behind as you had? What made you hate it?" Her eyebrows knitted. "Of all those things, I could not help but feel bad for whatever the case had been."

Sighing, he curtly spoke as he lowered his head a bit, "Aren't you philosophical…" He smacked his lips, half-closing his eyes as he ignored how he was shivering under the cool barrage. No sense in going back under that roof now… "It bothered me," he said. "That's all."

"How so?"

He grimaced again, grumpily wondering what was so confusing about that. "For one, I told you why. Second, I was irritated because it bothered me." He narrowed his eyes before he huffed out hotly with a scoff, "It's not rocket science, alright?"

She nodded slowly, sadly gazing back to her cradled water. "I see…" She smiled weakly after that, soon murmuring gently, "There is nothing wrong with feeling like that, but-" She glanced up, as if searching the shadow of his face for eyes to meet before half-heartedly giving up to blink towards him. "You cannot just avoid it if it is there. When you can enjoy it without any worries, when you have no reason to fret…" A beam popped onto her face. "Right?"

The Harrier felt odd when he mulled over her words, wondering if she was trying to allude to something when a wet something else grasped his hands. It made him flinch and flail to some degree, soon realizing Honoka was holding his hands tenderly with her own.

'I thought I told you I'm not a touchy-feely guy!' he thought with vex, promptly registering her fingers were brushing along his hands yet he made no move to remove them. ...He didn't know why. The Harrier merely gazed deeply at her, trying to scrutinize her motives for taking ahold of his hands (now cold and freezing from how wet her hands had become). 'I can't believe she forgot I told her that!'

A trickle of light flashed through her eyes, catching his attention as she breathed out softly, "There is much to be done. The longer you hesitate, the more likely you will lose out. Do not be daunted…"

His breath hitched at that, idly pondering the words as it didn't seem to be as if those words had context to his apparent 'fear' of the rain. Even so, he couldn't help but feel like they were for encouragement… Nothing more; nothing less.

Suddenly, she ripped her hands away. Honoka began to flusteredly twist around to his puzzlement before she half-gasped and half-cried out, "Oh no- dear me- How could I forget!?"

"What's the matter?" he helpfully- maybe not at all- asked.

She blinked, as if remembering he was still there before her stock-still body simply relaxed. Honoka turned to him, nervously smiling as she explained, "I had an arrangement to meet with others. I think the rain distracted me, heh."

"Well then," he said firmly, sighing under his breath before he went on with slight playfulness, "I implore you to go and find those others. It would be terrible to leave them on a limb, stranded and afraid of what has become of you, oh forgetful one…" The Harrier rested an arm across his chest and did a 'humble bow' for effect, feeling his chest swell at how her face softened and eyes glowed warmly at him. He didn't know why he went with it, but it worked to calm her down, right?

Honoka nodded, looking determined as she turned before parting from him. When she disappeared into the remaining misty terrain ahead, he let himself drop his act and crossed his arms.

'I have to wonder what was so important that she could forget about it so easily?' he mindfully pondered to himself, feeling his eyebrows pull themselves down as he tilted his head. 'But… that doesn't matter.'

As he became aware of how the rain was lightly pattering the cement again, he pursed his lips. 'I should actually find Andy instead of wasting my first moment of freedom talking about philosophical shit…'

Although... he couldn't help but feel as if he enjoyed that conversation. As ambiguous as it was, in his opinion.

---

It was starting to clear up when the Harrier received word that Day 7 was completed for this Round. By then he had come up with nothing from his baseless strategy of walking around to luckily bump into his friend, leaving his mind to concoct various reasons as for why Andy was nowhere to be seen.

He took a break from looking around, not minding the fact he was out of breath from a near hour walk to appreciate the fact he could exhaust himself if he wanted to now. Even when he was weary from Number Twos this Week, he couldn't help but feel refreshed.

The Harrier started to knead his hoodie's hood, trying to ease out the leftover water taking residence in it as he pondered where he should look next. Andy didn't really have a location she was particularly attracted to, as she once mentioned earlier on in their work that she couldn't bring herself to see Shibuya as home yet. He couldn't blame her for feeling like that; he hardly could look at the city the same after that one night.

Rocking on his heels uncomfortably, he tried to tug his thoughts away to muse on the fact how funny it was they resorted to calling Shibuya a city when it was- in fact- a prefecture; a special district of a bigger, bouncing metropolis. He couldn't help but go with the flow of the norm to call Shibuya a city, as it wouldn't do him good to correct people or bulldoze them with his preference of seeing it as it was supposed to be.

Interesting how it could spark debates, he noted mentally. Although, he found it funny how of all places, a humongous shopping district would hold underground- no pun intended- activities where it was right above Shibuya… What was so special about it to have Noise milling about to invade their world, their ward…? In any case, it might be best to not think about it too much.

He pulled out the two taot papers he was given long ago, making note that he should figure out which Noise he should spring upon his targets next Week… He already was set with plenty of Noise prepared as he took a moment to recount the number of Symbols marked on the square and rectangle taot paper. When he was finished, he simply put them back into his pants pocket. The Harrier went on to disgruntledly mull over the fact that he had only so much time to bring in new wrongdoers before the call was made that all slots were filled for the next Round… However, it seemed likely he would be cutting it too close and might have to wait until the next, next Round to hunt his targets.

Breathing out through his nose in irritation, he didn't want to go this alone without his friend by his side… and yet, he didn't have much of a choice if she was elsewhere. The Harrier reminded himself he didn't have to actually hunt for two months or so, if he didn't focus on the three wrongdoers' Souls he did eat, but Andy needed his help more than ever.

As a fact that remained true to this day, Andy wasn't a strong Reaper…

Often times, before they officially teamed up, when he was by his lonesome, he could see through her elbows whenever he passed by her on the streets. Since Andy seemed like the type of person to be prideful, and would take any aid as a form of insult or attack, he didn't press the offer of helping her out. Each time the thought crossed his mind, he felt guilty more and more as he kept silent about what he observed.

You may wonder why he thought about her if he never let himself interact with her after they became Reapers, but the fact was that he couldn't forget her even if he wanted to. It all the more made him feel worse; the reminder he was leaving her on her own when he could do something, but he still didn't allow that be a reason to forget about her. After all, how could he? How could he when she was the first competent person he came across in his time in the Underground? Therefore, he kept observing her, making note of whether or not her wings were fading or becoming more intricate as the Weeks went on.

One Day he managed to summon the courage to ask if she wanted to learn Japanese, after he noticed she kept skirting around corners nearby him whenever he was collecting Points from a wrongdoer. He didn't let the implication that she was stalking him deter him, instead seizing it as an opportunity to finally get close to Andy to hopefully help her. And, by luck, during one of their Japanese lessons she reached out for him, after he prematurely ended it when he noticed she wasn't feeling too hot. It came in the form of the question of why he wasn't pursuing Players after Erasing their Partners, or to be exact, wrongdoers.

It was during that moment they came to an agreement: Andy could have his 'leftovers'.

Thus, he found himself at ease when he started letting her tag along on his hunts- soon progressing into her tailing after him into the Realground and offing her own targets… How she was following his example made him realize she actually cared about what he thought he had to do alone. It made him feel more confident in himself and elated that someone wanted to hear his opinions and feelings. She did that during the short time they initially knew each other, but at the later points in time, it made him feel less small and bigger than he had ever felt in his life- even his existence.

After that, everything came into place… They became friends. Not shoddy parasites… they were friends.

...But what did their friendship have to show if he couldn't figure out where she was?

Centering his mind on that thought, he tried to push away the toxic guilt that was steadily building for the last few Days and started to walk again. Find Andy first... then his targets.

As he was steering clear of the bustling road- damn rush hour- and kept to the sidewalk, he couldn't help but notice vultures' eyes were honing in on him. The burning feeling made him warily glance around, shouting mentally for them to mind their own business... then a Support came into his path.

At first, the Harrier cringed away, warily observing the vulture who stood in front of him and clearly meant to stop him like this. He wasn't happy that someone, who wasn't his friend, intended to speak with him when they- he- breathed out, "You're finally outside…"

"Uh…" The Harrier grimaced under his hood, awkwardly making note that they were too close for comfort yet he could tell something was up. "Yeah…?" he supplied lamely, trying to regain control of himself by inhaling deeply. When he was finished, he spoke again to hopefully sound nonchalant and not unintelligent this time around, "Was pretty stuffy inside..." What was he supposed to say!? If the Harrier knew what this conversation was about, he wouldn't be struggling to make casual chitchat in front of this Support!

The Support nodded. "I-I wanted to say something, b-but I didn't want to disturb you too much." He paused abruptly, soon stuttering out, "I-I hope you're feeling better now!"

Oh! Maybe the posh bastard kept up the facade that the Harrier was sick, so the Harrier must have gotten some sympathizers because of that? ...The Harrier decided it was time to switch gears; snatch the perceived truth by the horns!

"I am, thank you for your concerns," he intoned slickly with a hum, nodding as he placed a hand over his heart. "I was cleared this morning, and it feels so good to stretch my legs..." He fanned out his hand as he lifted it away from his chest, holding it out to the side as he sighed happily, "I even soaked myself to the bone for the experience today!"

"A-Are you cold?" asked the ever bashful Support worriedly.

"Nah, it's been cool and refreshing, to be frank," he smoothly replied with a hint of satisfaction in his voice. He shifted before he drew his hand closer to gesture idly as he went on, "Too bad I missed the Week, though… I would have liked to have seen the batch of Players squirm around the city… give them a hard time for the kicks..." He whisked his hand one last time to bring his palm upward. "The usual."

"Yeah…" The Support nodded again, soon clasping his hands as he added meekly, "I-I thought things were almost game over for Recruitment… until I saw Andy and that other guy the other Day."

"You saw Andy!?" cried out the Harrier. Fuck small talk- this was the lead he needed! He tried to unruffle himself as he dropped his hand and asked eagerly, "What happened? Do you know what they were doing?" He'll just assume the 'other guy' was Jimmy for now until someone else was framed in the picture… got to have his fingers crossed and all.

"Flagging people down?" The Support shrugged in a lacklustre manner, visibly deflating seconds later. "A-Although I couldn't abandon Wall Duty, so I never got a chance to find out."

The Harrier shook his head, grinning as he chirped, "No, no… It's not your fault you were stuck being on-duty." He experimentally placed a hand on the red-hooded Reaper's shoulder for 'comfort', feeling them relax under his palm. The Harrier wasn't great with physical touch gestures but he knew this was enough to send the right message to this Support. "I haven't had the chance to catch them myself, and I would appreciate it if you might know where they may be today."

Slowly leading people on to think they're actually important… The Harrier hated to exploit it or use others and hurt their feelings, but he didn't want to make Andy wait around for much longer. He did promise he'd be back; promises were meant to be kept, after all. The Harrier was a man of his word, he believed. To further reinforce this, he told himself this was a humble exchange of information to get himself up to date with the Underground he was locked away from by that posh bastard. This wasn't exploiting it, nor was this going to hurt anyone if he said his please and thank yous...

He'll just let the irksome guilt slide for now.

"I-I think…" The Support slurred his words, soon resuming his response when he sounded more certain, "Miyashita Park? That guy had his friends with him... and Andy? She seemed to be talking about something, but..."

The Harrier would have just thanked the Support for the information had he not believed that he would be leaving the meek Support feeling like the Harrier only cared about the answers… The Support didn't know much about the current situation, but that was only because he was left out of the loop because of his circumstances. So could you blame a guy for not being in the know? Therefore, the Harrier decided it wouldn't be fair to ditch this Reaper. It would leave a marr on the Harrier's conscience, first off; and it seemed this Support was a supporter of Recruitment, second off.

In the eyes of the public, famous people could easily get slandered if they so much as acted outside of the consensus' expectations… Apply that to his situation and it wouldn't be any different. The Harrier reminded himself until Recruitment was in full swing, he had to maintain himself and not ward people off with the idea that he would toss them aside the moment their usefulness was gone. It left a vile taste in his mouth at the thought of playing people, even if they were vultures that all competed for Erasing Players to extend their expiration dates. He liked to believe he wasn't the type to think of persons as his chess pieces; they were people after all.

Sure, putting on an act played with the feelings of others… but it wasn't the same as lying to them or kicking them to the curb. He knew there was a very thin line he couldn't quite fully flesh out about when to be honest and when to mislead others to save himself and others the grief of leaving themselves on a limb. His 'fainting' episode could attest to that, he supposed, as it was to make sure Reapers wouldn't catch onto his plans for that Day. If they were startled out of focusing on the conversation, they could easily forget it and feel frustrated over the commotion he made.

Yeah, that's probably what he was going for…

The Harrier hated the idea of being a doll everyone would be happy with; he could only hope the vultures would be interested in what he had to say and not his theatrics. This is exactly why he was disappointed people wouldn't stop acting like he was pitiful, or that him being sick was more important than the message he sent out. If no one could focus on the meaning he was trying to paint for them for why he was reaching out to their hearts, everything would crumble before him and Andy even got enough signatures. He didn't know how many they needed, but sixty... sixty-eight was hardly anything to sneeze at…

Hah. Wasn't he just the lovable, wisecracking firecracker?

So, as he kept his hand on the Support's shoulder, he crisply spoke, "If you're not busy, why not join me to see what's going on right now?"

The way the Support jolted made the Harrier wonder if this Reaper wasn't spoken to much. "I-I'm not busy!"

"Great!" the Harrier chirped contently, sliding his hand off as he nodded. "Lead the way."

When the Harrier made note of how the Support remained where he was, turning rigid, the Harrier couldn't help but worry he may have overstepped an invisible boundary of some kind. "...Something the matter?" he asked in confusion, furrowing his eyebrows.

The Support lowered their head. "N-No…"

"Then… what's wrong?" The Harrier frowned, scowling slightly yet tried to make his expression neutral in case the Support could see his lower half of his face right now. The Harrier had no clue if his hood provided enough cover to shadow his face in the current amount of lighting that was available in the afternoon… but you couldn't be too careful.

"I-I'm so honoured- s-so happy- I don't know if I could move."

Oh boy… that wasn't good.

The Harrier used as much energy as he could to conceal his grimace from his voice. "Um… we could go when you're ready to move?" Even if it was irritating he would have to delay his reunion with Andy, he could pretend he wasn't impatient. So, it would seem he will have to try to be understanding and tolerable with this Reaper's inability to process the Harrer's act of kindness towards him. Keyword: Try.

"We still got plenty of sunlight to burn," he added politely. "And it's not like we're on-duty now."

"S-Sorry," stuttered the Support, sniffing wetly. "I-It's just s-so- g-great you want t-to d-do that for m-me!"

The Harrier waved a hand in response. "No biggie." He put a smile on his face. "I don't want to leave you in the dark and all."

If the Harrier told the Support what he wrote on Jimmy now, the Harrier would hate to find out something complicated it later when he caught up with Andy. Therefore, he would have to keep his mouth zipped until rendezvous with Andy and-slash-or Jimmy. If something had changed, or something impeded their progress, it wouldn't make the Harrier appear as truthful as he was to this Support. Don't assume until you have more intel to base your next statements on… something akin to what his father told him once.

Immediately, the Harrier tried to push his father out of his head. He didn't want to tear up about how a dull slab of grief wanted to take the wheel of his thoughts, nor have this Support mistaken the Harrier for shedding tears of joy over them sharing this moment of waiting on the Support. Thus, he fought to push back the tears, pretending his sniffle was a sharp intake of breath gone wrong momentarily. 'I'll be back soon, Andy…'

Shouldn't take too long... right?

That question was left to the universe's mercy as he watched the unmoving Support in front of him.

---

When they finally arrived at the park an hour later, the Harrier couldn't help but remain quiet as he watched the Realground citizens idly walking around the area from nearby the stairs. It was a nice park... too bad construction limited the amount of land available for people to relax in.

He contemplated that thought for some time before he tried to lead the way to the stairs; swallowing thickly as he quickly blinked his tears away.

Whenever the woman wanted to get out of the house for a bit, she always took her young son with her while claiming 'he needs to get energy out of his system'. In actuality, her son would have liked to have stayed home, but he still went out to enjoy the weather. To be precise, he was just happy to be with his mother. He wouldn't step out of line, listened carefully to whatever she had said to behave and not give his mother trouble… Every time, he was in awe of the tranquility the place held.

When the son was eight or nine, it changed into something akin to a terrace above a parking lot and an overpass to Cat Street. There wasn't as much room to play, he still listened to his mother sigh wistfully about how they ruined the park… wondering in confusion what was wrong with the park to be altered as it was. They didn't stop returning; talking about things that wouldn't leave a lasting impression on their memories and the boy noticed how weary and chary his mother had become. He could only wonder if he spent too much time playing when he should have realized his mother only came here to clear her head; bringing him along must have been an afterthought.

The boy decided to not mention what he noticed, as he didn't want to burden his mother when she was just trying to escape for a bit. It didn't even bother him his mother wasn't going to leave him home alone, only that he wished she felt better each time they returned home.

It was later on that his mother stopped taking him to the park… She kept insisting that he should be focusing on his grades and she soon retired to stay home all day. His father died sometime after; the boy had been twelve-years-old then.

The Harrier blinked as he found himself still leading the way after his recollection was finished. He would have held onto his lament had he not brightened when he noticed familiar dirty blonde hair was bristling from the wind.

He shouted out, "H-Hey!" He burst forward immediately. "Andy!"

As soon as he bounded over, skidding to a stop as she turned in shock to gawk at him, he wheezed before he blurted out quickly, "Before you say anything, I"m so sorry!"

Instantly, she swung a punch for his shoulder. The Harrier cried out in alarm whilst dodging swiftly, watching wide-eyed as she drew her hand back and glared at him. "Yaa gaott expraaining ta dao!" she spat out lowly in her croaky voice and he frowned in response. "Rleaaving meh aoutt ta drly leike aahn aegg aon the windshierld aon aah haott Summerr Daay-"

"I said, I'm sorry," he countered in annoyance and scowled back. "Didn't you hear that!?" He crossed his arms as he pointedly tilted his head.

"Teh-" She threw her head up, looking upwards as she groaned back, "Laoud aahnd crleaarr…" She sharply jabbed a finger towards him. "Bauutt thaatt daons't exceuse yaa flaom ditching meh. Yaaw'rre aah leaarl shitt- yaa heaarr meh?"

He grimaced, holding his hands up and showed his palms to her defensively. "I know, I know-" he grumbled as he rolled his eyes. "I ran into complications and got snagged by that batshit coot-" He pointed his fingers at her sharply. "Do you really think I would plan for that?"

She shook her head, sighing irritably, "AI geuess naott…" Her amber-brown eyes regarded him coolly as she crossed her arms loosely. "Yaa shaourld be rluckee aI mett aup with Jimmee, aorr everleething waourld haave gaone ta shitt."

At those last few words, the Harrier dropped his arms and gasped in concern, "Did something happen?"

The Harrier was aware of the Support that was tagging along with him finally joined him, then he noticed another Support who was lanky approached with three other Reapers who were Support as well… Okay, this was just going to disorientate him. With five Support Reapers present, the Harrier knew he wouldn't be able to mentally keep track of who was who unless they took turns to introduce themselves or had their hoodies magically change colour.

"I reckon you came at a better time than later, mate." Finally! The Harrier turned his head to the lanky Reaper- Jimmy, he reminded himself- who shook his head. "I think I got your message out all good, but we had a mare of a time passin' it out."

Ooh… that problem was a definite sore thumb.

"How so?" the Harrier asked coolly, albeit his nerves being stabbed at the thought of what went wrong.

"There wasn't enough information to go off by," gruffly replied a Reaper behind Jimmy, his deep timbre spooking the Harrier briefly. It was a second or two later he regarded the fact that this could be one of Jimmy's friends he mentioned having... "Not to mention we came onto the scene when people started to bounce."

"People asked us to scribble out 'eir signatures," explained Jimmy quietly, like he was hoping the Harrier wouldn't hear him say that.

The Harrier gaped in horror as Andy brought out the notebook and gloomily turned pages until the Harrier was met with the devastating sight of ugly scours of pen striking out various Kanji. Shaking his head, the Harrier felt small as an icy grasp clutched his heart, refusing to believe this had happened in his absence. How could their supporters for their cause give up on it so fast if he wasn't at the reins of the operation for a fucking, damn Week!? This was exactly was he was afraid of, but to actually see the ravages of their signature list with his own eyes...

"H-How many-" he breathed out uselessly. He quivered briefly before he cried out desperately, "Who didn't opt out!?"

Jimmy withdrew and took the notebook away from Andy as if the Harrier cleanly slapped his friend's own hands. With a brief glance to the Harrier who kept staring at him anxiously, the lanky male then tucked the notebook close to his face as he started to bob his finger to it.

The Harrier felt his focus drift to the Support behind himself who shifted uncomfortably; Andy had a dark look in her gaze as she gritted her teeth; the Supports behind Jimmy didn't even speak again-

Barely holding back his anger, the Harrier's voice rose as he choked out, "H-How could this happen!?" He shakily breathed, wanting to pace but the Reapers around him were huddled too close and the Harrier suddenly felt as if he was suffocating in front of them. "Th-This wasn't a joke- D-Did they think it was a j-joke!? A fucking f-farce!?" he managed to get out incredulously as he glanced at the Reapers fretfully.

He soon swept a trembling hand past his hood to his nape, squishing it firmly but not enough to hurt himself as his head spun. A cold realization settled in his chest, leaving him nearly swaying from lightheadedness as he gasped out, "W-Was it me!? S-Seeing me on damn standby all Week long with crummy handlers fucking guarding me!?"

Suddenly, Andy's hands were on his shoulders, making the Harrier jolt and panic as the female Reaper said in a levelled yet edged tone, "Yaa haave ta naott paanic faolr taalrnaatchuaon's saake!" The Harrier gulped albeit breathlessly and felt dazed before his friend went on, "The aones whao reftt jaust haad stteupid exceuses aahnd werre jaust ein eit folr the baandwaagaon!" She shook his shoulders briefly, grounding him enough to make note of how he felt like a ragdoll under her hold. "We sttirl gaott peoapurl-"

Her gaze left him. "Haow maany waas thaat aahgaain, Jimmee?"

Jimmy's voice spoke up, "Somethin' like fourty-"

"Saomething leike faortee!" she hissed irritably as her amber-brown eyes shot back to the Harrier as she tightened her grip, gazing deeply towards his hood while not having to even worry about meeting his gaze. The Harrier could already feel the intensity of her molten eyes that sharply taunted him to make a counterclaim, but he held his tongue and chose to numbly listen instead. "We trlied ta find aahneeaone whao signed aourr petteittchun, we'rre sttirl looking, but know that the cause, sttirl, matters!" She stopped before her gaze darkened; her lips became pinched. "Purl yaaself tagetherr befaorre aI srlaap yaa sirlee auntirl yaaw'rre leike aah dlaunk maan ein aah baumpurr caarr!"

"O-Okay…" he breathed out quietly, finding it hard to nod and swallow before she actually released him.

As he stood on his own again, he inhaled unsteadily before he rasped out as intently as he could, "W-We're going to have to find others if we even want to rotate the posh bastard's head our way, because-" He grimaced, scowling slightly as he took a moment to clear his throat before asking Jimmy sternly, "How many exactly?"

"Fourty-five… fourty-seven? Somethin' in the forties..." Jimmy passed over the notebook soon after. The Harrier was thankful as he began to scan the page himself and crunched the numbers carefully. "I don't even know how many Reapers there are, but that's around two classrooms if I haven't stuffed up."

Andy suddenly flinched. "Mightt be betterr eif aI dao thaatt-" She edged closer to the Harrier suddenly to hover beside him. "Saaving yaawrr strlength folr taarlking eis betterr thaan daoing the daumb maatth yaawrrserlf!"

"Oh please," the Harrier scoffed as he paused in his reading, quirking an eyebrow as he smiled coolly. "It'll only take a second."

He backed away when Andy tried swiping the notebook away, frowning in annoyance and wondered in alarm why she was acting weird. He felt a pang of irritation when he realized he had lost count because of Andy, throwing a peeved look to her before restarting.

When he finished, he soon found that the number of entries continued over to the next page. He concentrated on the number he crunched as he turned the page to-

The Harrier no longer focused on the buzz of conversations around him.

He was hardly able to tear his gaze away from the many scratched out newer Kanji and the little notes beside each entry... He could feel himself shaking his head yet his gaze remained fixed on the page as a numbness alike anything he felt before slowly wormed into him at what he was reading. The more he read, the more it started to surge throughout his whole body...

Some were crossed out because they were doing it for fun.

Some were tired of waiting around for no results that they weren't sure would return.

Some mentioned how… oh gods… Some were about how they thought he was just being an attention whore! He wasn't giving a speech out because he wanted to hog attention to himself- What was wrong with these people!? Why would they think he was an attention whore!? And-

His breath hitched.

Just fucking around with us.

What a moron.

Empty words.

Medachitagariya.

Ichibiri.

Asshole.

Kusoyaro.

Sicko.

Sick-minded.

Pathetic.

Lame.

Weak.

Sickly.

Delusional.

Dumb fucker.

Spoiled brat.

Doesn't know what he's talking about.

Not worth the time.

Nobody asked for this.

Why do you-

we-

you-

think we care?

Was Andy trying to mess with him by not telling him this…?

Deciding to recount the remaining signatures that remained valid, despite struggling to bring himself to not look at the insults, he remained deathly quiet and couldn't help but stay aware of the ache in his heart. His heart just hurt... He could hardly keep his hands on the notebook because they suddenly were clammy and fidgety and-

Rapidly skimming the rest of the entries, he shut the notebook with more force than was necessary before shoving it into Andy's previously ready hands. The Harrier then choked out in disbelief and dread, "Fourty-three…" All voices ceased to continue amongst themselves when he had spoken, and in his dazed, foggy-minded state, he hissed out, "W-We had so many before- But now-" He felt faint, pushing a hand against his forehead at once. He exhaled harshly before he mumbled, "Th-This can't be happening…"

Twenty-five people left… Nearly half of those who were interested in Recruiting were lying to him when they were smiling right in his face to sign the notebook…

He felt himself laughing… it sounded ugly; it sounded harsh and unnatural. He clenched his eyes closed, shaking his head as he murmured soon, "H-How could I be stupid…?" He felt his body shudder. "H-How could I be so stupid…?" Another laugh bubbled out from his lips, as ugly and broken as the ones before, "I-I think I'm going to j-just sit down."

His body plummeted.

Hands scratched and clawed as they dusted his black sleeves, soon aware of how painful it was when he was half-slouched forward and half-resting on his right knee entirely while his left splayed out uselessly. He gritted his teeth as his ears buzzed, hearing them ringing as he clenched his hands so hard he knew he was puncturing his palms with his nails.

Even as he remained on the wet cement, he felt his lips twist upwards in an unsteady grin as he whispered out, "Wh-What am I even doing…?"

His chest kept aching, building as he shallowly breathed in and out. His lungs kept protesting for more air yet he didn't even know if he could inhale more oxygen… He was already suffocating from what he read- what the posh bastard and Sadist Saiyama kept taunting him with- being trapped in the stupid Barracks as his cause died unbeknownst to him…

The Harrier didn't want to give up… yet everything was going against him.

It was maddening… how as soon as he was preparing himself to act on his goals, everything- anything that could have possibly retaliated went full throttle. Maybe the universe was trying to fight back because it knew it didn't want him to follow his dreams- Maybe this was a nightmare he failed to comprehend he was in; placing him in limbo to suffer as if he was a dirty sinner who deserved to be tortured for all of eternity-

Everything- everything- any-fucking-damn-thing never went right for him! Can't he have one allowance in this shithole!? One damn thing to turn out in his favour instead of stabbing him in the chest!?

Why!?

Why!?

WHY!?

His chest hurt so badly!

Why did his heart hurt so badly!?

He opened his mouth, trying to call out only to release feeble, whimpering sounds.

Pathetic...

Like he was.

What was going on…!?

His heart just hurt so… so… much…

...He could hear a violin.

Why was someone playing a violin…?

It sounded off.

Sounded like a string was missing.

Why would he know that?

The absence was apparent, as each note played beautifully until one of the notes skipped for some reason…

Kept skipping.

Skipping.

Skipping…

...Nothing wrong with that.

Didn't sound perfect.

But there was nothing wrong with that…

Why would the violinist keeping bowing if they knew one of their violin's strings snapped?

...Sounds nice though…

He was aware of an ache.

...Didn't matter.

The violin was pleasant to listen to.

It kept skipping.

Kept skipping.

Skipping.

Skipping…

That one note.

No matter.

It was just one note.

---

His eyes fluttered open, only to gasp out deeply before harshly coughing. He felt like he was choking until he found himself breathing normally, his blurry vision flickering before he blearily could make out a blanket. Blinking, he rubbed a thumb along it tiredly yet curiously, soon noting it was one of those scratchy blankets they had back at the Barracks.

The Harrier's expression screwed up, suddenly becoming well aware he was in his shitty bunk… in the stupid Barracks.

Instantly, he started and hauled himself up abruptly. He heavily leaned on his headboard as he anxiously whipped his head around in disbelief.

Everyone else was sleeping.

'...How the hell did I get back here!?' he thought appalled, shaking his head as he breathed faster when he was aware of how dark it was. Gulping and releasing a strangled gasp at the same time, he couldn't help but throw his blanket against the wall, scramble himself to the edge of his bed to shoot his legs down to the ground, then ripped his knapsack out from under the bed.

He wasted no time in hurrying towards the hallway, feeling his breaths simultaneously accelerate and decelerate dangerously fast as he flew across the floor. The Harrier couldn't tell which way he was going- just continuing to bolt forward until he met a wall, rebounding to the ground with a strangled cry. He clenched his eyes shut, tensing as the pain waved through his spine and variously hit the rest of his body, inhaling so shallowly and so fast while the throbbing didn't go away.

"What was that for!?" boomed an exasperated voice as the Harrier shook his head. Not now- not now- "Look where you're going, you…"

The Harrier risked a glance up, only to gawk in horror and swear loudly in despair. "Why the fuck won't you leave me alone!?"

"Oh. It's you," the old man intoned flatly, proceeding to grumble something under his breath. The man suddenly lurched down, confusion and surprise evident across his whole face as he growled out, "What's the matter? You seem like you've seen a ghost…"

The Harrier pushed himself backwards, clutching onto his knapsack almost for dear life as he kept scooting himself away from the man trying to get closer to him. When his back met a wall, the Harrier raggedly breathed in and out in a trice as he widely stared at the man, shuddering as he pressed against the wall harder.

"Stay… back," he warned lowly, glowering as hard as he could. Even as he kept his gaze on the sadist, he couldn't help but feel as if he looked more like a cornered animal; nowhere close to being intimidating despite his effort. "I-I swear- stay back! I-I'm warning you!"

Suddenly, the sadist rose to stand at his full height, giving him a baffled yet wary look. "Whatever happened to you... " he sighed, shaking his head before frowning hard. "Want to talk about it?"

"No." The Harrier shook his head slowly, placing a hand on his head as a laugh bubbled out. "Oh fuck… this is such a crazy dream!" He gestured to the man then back to himself as he laughed harder. "Why the fuck not!? Might as well get it out of my systems before I wake up!" He tucked his head, gasping in air before he mumbled to himself, "A-At least… I can let off steam somehow without worrying about the consequences-"

He looked back with a beam. "R-Right? All of this shit happening to me has just been one big, fat, nightmare! R-Right!?"

The man eyed him suspiciously, pursing his lips as the Harrier babbled on, "To think… everything seemed to be turning out fine and dandy by the end of it." He blinked, his body giving a shudder as he closed his eyes, feeling tears gushing down his cheeks as he chuckled, "Nothing goes right for me.. n-nothing ever has. I thought staying here would give me a peace of mind- something to look forward to because I wouldn't have to go back." His voice cracked near the end of his sentence.

He sniffled, not caring about crying in front of this stupid behamoth because this was just a stupid fever dream! "I was just outside- just outside when I think I realized I'm not supposed to be happy. I'm just a court jester to everyone in this shithole, aren't I?"

The man didn't reply.

Murky eyes continued to watch him carefully as the Harrier opened his eyes, raising his arms up. "I'm the fucker who is the scum of the Underground! No one to see here!" He flopped his arms to loosely slump across his ochre knapsack, leaning his chest on it for support as he went on, "All I'm good for is being the posh bastard's punching bag… Lecture after lecture, punishment after punishment... " He let his head land on his bag, pressing his cheek into it and felt it roughly rub against it. "I just hate him… He's such an asshole…"

"Same old news… feh," murmured the old man in a heavy tone. "So what happened outside?"

"Freedom," the younger Reaper remarked, feeling miserableness settle in his chest. "Before reality slapped me to the ground. Or- whatever goes on in a dream for a reality."

"No, seriously-" The burly Reaper huffed gruffly before he asked sternly, "What happened outside?"

"Looked for Andy to apologize for ditching her…" mumbled the Harrier, hearing a hum in response before he sighed sadly, "People backed out of our petition… All of those excuses why they did just… h-hurt." He inhaled sharply, feeling a tinge of familiar pressure localizing in his chest before he breathed out shakily, "I-I couldn't br-breathe… T-Too much pain in my heart…" He blinked, smiling bitterly as he added gently, "Then someone was playing a violin… It was beautiful for some reason…"

He went silent, wanting to see if this dream-sadist would bulldoze what he was trying to say when the man grunted, "For some reason?"

"Violins are sad," replied the Reaper matter-of-factly, grimacing as he tried to remember how the tune went. "The sounds they make are always sad, I mean."

"What makes you think they're sad?"

The Reaper sighed at that, "It's not a matter of why I think they're sad." He then scoffed in annoyance, "They just are."

"When was the last time you've heard a violin?"

"My father's funeral," replied the Harrier simply, regretting it soon after when he clenched his eyes shut. "It's torture on the ears to sit through, trust me…"

"...When was the first time you heard a violin?"

"A theatre performance I went to as a kid," replied the Harrier tiredly, giving a yawn as he mumbled out a few seconds later, "I don't know why... but it seemed like father always thought I liked the violin music the best. Said I would hum along to it happily." The Harrier bit his lip, twitching his lips around in thought before he closed his eyes again. "Dun dun-dun dunn. Dun duh-dun-dun duh."

"Uh-huh…" intoned the other Reaper with a grunt. Suddenly, the Harrier watched as the burly man was doing weird gestures, screwing up his face in confusion as he watched how intense the old man's expression became. Soon it was just a death-glare that pointed past the Harrier's head, which the Harrier ignored.

When the older man looked down at the Harrier again, the sadist grunted, "Why were you trying to tackle me earlier?"

Blinking lazily, the Harrier took a few moments to try to recall what he was feeling at that time before he sighed, "Thought I was still outside… No, wait-" He grimaced, raising his head as he sighed wearily this time, "I didn't realize I was still dreaming so I must have panicked. No wait- wait- wait..." He gritted his teeth, pressing a hand to his head as he tried to think harder about it before he blubbered more wrong answers to the dream-sadist. "T-Too dark."

"What?" The burly man grimaced.

The Harrier placed his hands over his face, spreading them completely over it as he groaned in nervousness, "The room… it's always too dark. Wh-When it's very late."

"Too dark…?" echoed Sadist Saiyama thoughtfully, his (wow, never noticed how thick they were) eyebrows pulled together and his lips pressed downwards to become an ugly frown. "So you're telling me… you're scared of the dark?"

The Harrier would have responded to that immediately had he not backpedalled mentally for a moment. He eyed the man carefully, blinking whenever the edges of his vision went bleary, as he soon decided on how to phrase this in a way that didn't make it sound like the Harrier was lame.

"Y-Yeah… like I'll never get out." He blinked quickly as his face went pale, gaping in horror as he frantically cried out, "N-Not like it's a childhood fear or anything- j-just because th-the damn Cherry-" He widened his eyes, stiffling a scream in his throat to strangle it as he soon shouted out as cheerfully as he could muster, "Who doesn't love Cherries!?"

Slowly, the Harrier rested his body against his knapsack again, feeling self-conscious suddenly that he literally said that out-loud. Exhaustion flushed through his body as he let his weight sit on the bag, frowning to himself as the old man growled out, "What do you do to cope with being in a dark room? Ram into people?"

Words escaped the Harrier, leaving him to flail mentally about as he tried to work his brain to make a good excuse for that. Dream Sadist Saiyama or realm of the awake Sadist Saiyama… the Harrier didn't want to go too much in depth about the topic. Not when it bothered him so much- haunted him so much- making him remember how helpless he was trapped under the hood of that damn Cherry…

He shook his head when he realized he was about to doze off, grimacing about the fact that his body was betraying him when he shouldn't appear weak and pathetic in front of this dream-sadist. It was the last thing he wanted to happen right now…

A sigh sounded from the army man, "Why don't you ever sleep…? It's clearly messing with your brain."

"Excuse me, but I sleep well," he snippily told the old man, sniffing before he went on grumpily, "Why I'm telling this to a Dream Sadist Saiyama… must be one of my wildest dreams…"

"Well, at least I can say it isn't one of my wildest dreams. Being with a spoiled brat," grunted the burly man as he yawned, shaking his head. "Just go back to bed, get some proper shuteye and maybe you won't be so loopy tomorrow."

"Hah, hah, hah!" The Harrier smirked weakly, waving his finger at the man as he snarked quietly, "I'm already asleep, so I won't be seeing you tomorrow! My nightmare will be over, you and I will still be tossing insults... and you might actually crush my chest like you almost had in this dream!"

Sadist Saiyama stiffened when the Harrier said the last part, his eyes darkening as he muttered something under his breath before lumbering off. Grinning to himself, the Harrier hummed a victory tune before he closed his eyes, content on the fact that this was going to be all over soon.

After all, it was just a dream...

---

Waking up to noise penetrating his senses, the Harrier grumbled as he refused to open his eyes. He began pawing for his towel-like blanket, slowly becoming aware of how much his back twinged and his neck was so, so damn stiff… He wiggled his shoulder blades, hoping to stretch his wings so they wouldn't hurt so-

Widening his eyes, the Harrier realized his wings were still absent.

The Harrier inwardly cursed. 'Dammit- wasn't a nightmare!'

As he made note of how Reapers were passing by him, he slowly felt his heart region and tried to reason with himself that this was just his imagination he would believe this had been a dream. That he must have thought he'd spoken to Saiyama… when he was still sitting on the ground where the behemoth left him. Upon placing a hand on his forehead and bridge of his nose, he grimaced as he wondered if collapsing yesterday gave him a concussion... or some other form of head injury. Whatever it was... it definitely made him loopy about his circumstances if what the sadist said was true.

But that begged the question: How did get to the Barracks?

Using the wall behind himself as support, he guided himself to his feet, frustrated when he swayed as he did so. His mind drew back to the fact that he had been panicking before he ended up in the Barracks, yet the Harrier couldn't help but feel unnerved he yet again fainted. He knew he did, but how could panicking draw out a fainting spell? He tried to recall more but all he got was a headache, simply chalking it up to stress going overboard with him.

Even so... he couldn't decide if accepting something so simple was a good enough explanation to be okay with.

Groaning as he rubbed his temples, he soon put his forehead on the wall and sighed. The Harrier decided it might be for the best if he went back to the Barracks to create a better conclusion from there.

After taking the time to peel himself off the grey wall, keeping his hand on it as he started to trudge, he watched as more and more Reapers went the other direction. Some kept turning their heads only to whisper to their companions, some shamelessly stared at him until they couldn't anymore and the majority of them just ignored him. He gritted his teeth, pretending to not notice as exhaustion tugged on the edges of his mind the further he went along. It wanted to slip into nothingness, and he had to catch himself when he stumbled once and awhile, but in spite of this, he kept going.

Eventually, he slowed to a stop, letting his weight slump against the nearby wall. 'Maybe I should just...' His eyelids fluttered. 'Take a nap here...'

The Harrier had no idea why he felt so drained... If he slept on the ground all night, wouldn't he not be fatigued? Not having to resort to basically hugging a wall to just get around the River? Whatever the case was, the wall shouldn't have been so inviting to rest on.

Before he knew it, something was patting his shoulder, causing him to groan out as he blinked groggily. He blinked more at the fact that some Harrier- that wasn't Andy- was trying to get his attention.

He squinted at them as they huffed before speaking, "String bean, do you honestly think that's healthy?"

"Wall's nice." He shrugged with his shoulder that wasn't on the wall so he wouldn't fall over. "Closer than Barracks."

She huffed, shaking her head... At least, he thought she was. "Are you or are you not on-duty today?" she asked firmly.

"Depends on if I find my friend," he replied again, not caring how sloppy and slurred his words were right now. "Guess Barracks is out of question..."

"Okay, you're definitely not going places when you can't properly speak to me," the female Harrier said none-too-gently but not too strictly, soon sighing slightly through her lips before her hood shifted. "If you really need to see them, I have a Psyche that could get some juice in you."

"Really?" He furrowed his eyebrows, frowning with surprise. "...Didn't think there could be Psyches like that."

"Pep Snack is rarely given out to Players, string bean." She gave a shrug before searching her right pants pocket, drawing out her hand to show him a red Pin with what looked to be melonpan on it. "But I guess you can just call it the breakfast of champions for us Reapers, since it's the closest thing we got to having local cuisine around these parts."

As if she sensed he needed a live demonstration, she conjured up a melonpan that fell into her other hand. With a mild smile, she raised it to him while putting the Pin away. "Take it."

"Th-Thank you..." he mumbled before reaching out, having it deposited into his hand promptly. He sluggishly drew it up to observe its muskmelon grooves in its yellowy-cream, meshed skin. And as he did so, he couldn't help but be fascinated at how Imagination could do such wonders as to create nourishment out of thin air.

It seemed the other Harrier was waiting on him to try it because as soon as he took a bite out of it, she nodded curtly in approval. "That's it. Make sure you eat it all, or you won't get the full benefits."

The Harrier kept munching until he gulped, nodding back. "I'll keep that in mind. Much thanks."

That was when she gave a firm smack to his shoulder before walking off, not offering more to say as he went to take another bite from the sweet bread.

As he kept chewing, he found he wasn't as tuckered out as he had been minutes ago, savouring the flavour as he kept tearing off its skin with his teeth. He couldn't help but be reminded of how one of his teachers, when he went to school as a kid, was fond of making them. However, he found it odd how something from so long ago could be remembered vividly, as though it wasn't fading from the recesses of his memories.

By the time he popped the last morsel onto his tongue, simply swallowing it, he couldn't help but agree with that Harrier. Already he felt as if he just woken up from a good dream, pushing off the wall before deciding with the generosity that regained his strength and energy, he should go meet up with Andy. And, knowing where any Reaper should be, not that they wanted to, he directed himself to the debriefing.

Although, before he even got to the Supports and Harriers' designated area to stand in, he sighed in relief less than two minutes in to walking to his destination. 'Ah-hah.' He quickened his walking. 'Found you.'

As he came up to his friend, who was standing by her lonesome beside the fake elevator that teleported Reapers to the main level, he waited until she failed to notice him. He chose to fix that by clearing his throat before speaking, "Good morning." When she gave a yawn in response, he added in a whisper, "We got to talk later."

"Augh-huh…" she hummed lazily; blinking slowly as she rubbed at her eyes.

Deeming that she wouldn't hold a conscious interest until later on, he simply positioned himself beside her until she was ready to go to the debriefing. And as he did so, he felt a jittery sensation inside him make him feel the need to shift on the spot, letting his mind wander.

Today was the next Day; known to be Day One for the Underground denizens. While Reapers did their spiel with the new Players, it would give him and Andy a smokescreen to work under to undermine the negative reception they got for their cause… Not to mention, it would do them all good to group together the Reapers who were still loyal to the petition… He should have thought of that sooner, but Andy would know how these sorts of things worked. Was getting names the only step in this method, or was the Harrier expecting too much of what a petition entailed?

...The Harrier put a pause on that thought when he realized he left his knapsack in the Barracks.

After going through some options of what to do about that, he told himself after the debriefing he'll pick it up. Yet, as he focused on the fact that Andy didn't seem want to budge and kept yawning instead of hustling to the debriefing, he frowned. 'Andy usually isn't this tired...' He'll just have to remind her where they were supposed to be... as much as he hated the many times he hated getting up every Day, just to stand for a long time until the posh bastard got enough of his beauty sleep in. Man, why couldn't they just set up a billboard or something so Reapers wouldn't have to 'bask' in the posh bastard's presence as if it was important to know that the posh bastard still existed?

"Aren't we going to the debriefing?" he asked in confusion finally, earning a half-attentive, half-bemused look from Andy. "Because you're not really moving, and-"

"Aahrleaadee haappened…" The Harrier froze at that. "Thaoughtt yaa wentt aon withaoutt meh…" she mumbled with a flimsy shrug, soon giving a rub at her eyes again. "Saorlee, gaueess aI herld aus aup."

The female Reaper pushed past him to turn to the 'elevator' while the Harrier furrowed his eyebrows at her instead of following her example. As he watched her hand was about to activate the Teleport trigger, she paused to turn and blink back. "Whaatt?"

"I-I passed out and never went…" he began nervously as he crossed his arms, frowning as he went on, "Just woke up a few minutes ago... actually." Andy tilted her head at that, which made him groan before he asked worriedly, "Didn't you wait up for me?"

"AI deed," she grumbled with a scowl. "Bauutt yaa neverr caame aoutt. Sao aI wentt aon thinking yaa welre waaitting folr meh aaht the debleifing."

"No." The Harrier glowered. "I would have waited on you." Shaking his head, he groused after scoffing, "You know I will wait outside the Barracks for you- we always go together every morning."

Andy immediately swapped her scowl for an uncomfortable frown, clueing him in on the fact that perhaps it wasn't the case apparently. By that, the Harrier meant it wasn't the case because he had been absent for a Week to her knowledge.

The Harrier sighed before he murmured, "Look…" He grabbed onto his nape and was careful not to disturb his hood too much, settling to smooth out his tone to be level and reasonable while dealing with this. He knew that an upset barrage wouldn't be appropriate for the situation. "I'm not going to disappear on you again," he said quietly as he siphoned on the tense air between them. "I honestly thought I wouldn't be compromised like that, so I'll give you permission to stalk me if it makes you feel better."

It worried him when she remained silent, knowing that whatever she had decided was off-limits to him. It wasn't as simple as one may think to barter with Andy; if he screwed up, there was an equal probability of things going good or bad from here on out. It was a game of chance he hated being a part of... but it was an absolutely necessary one for him to trawl through.

When she finally exhaled out, with a slow shake of her head, Andy was soon crookedly smiling back at him. "Yaa sure yaa waantt meh ta dao thaatt?" She shrugged with heartedness as she snorted out in sleepy amusement, "'Caause aI think aI knaow yaa werl enaouf ta knaow yaa haatte taa much caompaanee eiyeing yaa leike aah caarlcaass sett aout forl vurttules taa nibbre aon."

"You're my friend, what's wrong with special allowances?" he asked with an arm shrug and a small chuckle, soon continuing on with a serious tone, "I just don't want to put you through that again, so it's the least I can do."

"Theen whaatt's the maoustt?" she quipped with an eyebrow quirk.

"Well," he started in mild amusement as he closed his eyes. He smirked after a few seconds. "That's premium knowledge only one will know when they enter the stage of 'Best Friends for Life'..." He raised a hand palm up and frowned. "Or, of course... existence, in our case."

"Heh, then aI'rll keep sttaacking aup mah effaorrtts ta find aoutt!" she piped with a snicker and leaned over to start patting him on the back, which he allowed for now. He accepted that this was as much of a forgiveness he could receive from his friend as of the current moment; it was enough for him to be happy about.

Andy's hand left as she turned back to the 'elevator'. She yawned, most likely shaking off her sleepiness at this point so this was merely a precursor to her complete awareness, "Sao, yaa gao aahnd taake the leaaad…"

"I still need to get my bag first," he said as he turned his head back to the way he came from, starting to tread forward only to feel her hand almost grasp his wrist. The Harrier flinched away out of reach before he spun around to glance at his friend again, scowling as he frowned at the weird look he was receiving. "You know I don't like that," he scoffed irritably before he huffed, "What's the matter?"

Andy slowly approached him again. Her molten gaze appeared tentative and her mouth was agape as she breathed out quietly, "...Eitt's aon yaa baack."

He would have automatically shut down that comment if he hadn't come to realize she was right.

Stiffening, he ran a few of his fingers against a strap on the same side of his body lightly, letting them linger as he wondered how it got there… But it wasn't about wondering how it got there, just knowing he had it on himself when he could have sworn it was at the Barracks made him understand that he must have been more exhausted than his friend if he couldn't even notice this for himself. However, he literally felt almost fully awake after that Pep Snack Psyche, so there was no reason for him to be fatigued to let this sort of thing slip by. And because of that, he couldn't help how much it bothered him...

Andy was patting his back earlier... How could he have it on him now? How could he have felt her fingers rap rhythmically against his clothed back if his knapsack was in the way?

Echoes of their previous conversation surrounding the knapsack made his head spin with lightheadedness, maybe even humiliation as his own words were thrown back at him in a self-inflicted lecture. How could he… not know this? How could he... feel her hand like that? It fundamentally was impossible. He told Andy himself last... yes, last Week or more that he could tell when he had the knapsack weighing him down and killing his back. But knowing her hand was on his back... feeling the weight of it dusting upon each pat she had given... feeling the warmth from the mere contact...

A shudder shot through his spine.

Ducking his head bashfully, he ran through his fleeting thoughts for some kind of further explanation. And in the meantime, he found himself working his mouth uselessly. "I-I…" He stopped to release a groan as he was clenching his eyes tightly closed. "I don't even know how to begin with this."

While he swept a hand over the bridge of his nose and part of his forehead, he was aware of how close Andy was to him; barely hovering in front of him as he tried to gather himself together. When he finally took a look at her again, the dirty blonde was staring at him silently with her eyebrows knitted; her face almost neutral, yet it still clung to a smidgen of rightfully necessary concern.

...So it wasn't just him finding it was strange.

Andy usually became quiet like this- from what he observed during his time with her- when there was something that evoked none of her usual responses. It seldom happened, so the Harrier couldn't help but feel even more unnerved about the situation. Around these times, it was almost impossible to know what was on her mind. He couldn't tell if she was being insightful, confused or anything else... It gave him a horrible sense of forlorn that he couldn't decypher what was going on with her when it came to this kind of display.

It wasn't like the sadist's look he noticed a few days ago; his may have been unreadable but Andy's has always been unreadable. That is, unless she gave a little something away to clue him in on on what she was feeling. Why it bothered him… oh what would he give to know that right now.

When his slightly shorter, semi-tall friend sighed, it finally released him from his storm of uncertainty and discomfort.

He watched her smile crookedly. "Rett meh guess… Taarlk furlstt, wurlk nextt?"

Blinking at that, he couldn't be more relieved but slightly nodded with unease. "...That might be for the best."

She continued to smile at him; her expression turning milder, softer... "Aaightt."

---

This was a nice change of pace.

As a spiral of steam kissed his cheeks from his cup of ebony liquid, despite how he felt about the reason why they came to rest in a kissaten, he couldn't help but smile. He was pleased that Andy forgone the idea of izakayas for a more suitable location such as this. Even if the soft chatter of Realground citizens disturbed their privacy, a little pool from the storage of peace he thought was gone forever made him feel slightly better now.

Andy, as he peeked out from under his hood on the other end of the table, had an iced coffee. The only difference for this picture was that she hadn't even touched it as he had with his own beverage.

The air was thick and he could feel it as they sat in silence; the goal of being here wasn't going to be achieved. He experimentally scooped up a spoon and gingerly yet idily stirred the contents of his plain beverage for no good reason but to do something for the sake of doing something.

He couldn't wrap his brain around why the Realground couldn't offer him an out from the constant headache he was getting from being in the Underground… A kissaten such as this was the perfect location to relax in, yet, despite how he wanted to release the stress he held inside, it wasn't enough. The knowledge that they were here because of him and his problems made any of the pleasant air turn sour in his mouth at every inhale he gave... It hinted at him that if it weren't for him, they wouldn't be trying to find a secluded location for him to express his ill thoughts in to stop them from spinning round and round in his head, out of control-

It wasn't worth it… He didn't deserve this.

The Harrier would have had acted on the urge to get up and go outside for fresh air if he wasn't suffocating on those same thoughts right now. It put into perspective how he couldn't just reap this reward after a harrowing time; he could never be allowed this even though he was right here in this chair with his friend who was trying to make him feel better. It worked, but the effects still were being sullied by the fact that he couldn't enjoy this. He couldn't even flip off his stupid brain so he could forget why his existence was so stupid right now...

He felt he had enough of their silence; if it lasted longer, he knew he would implode.

Breathing out slowly, it transformed into a murmur, "Sorry."

"Why aarre yaa saaying thaatt wheen yaa haave nao leaasaon ta?" Andy asked promptly as her gaze flickered to him. Her eyes half-closed and she frowned as she added with a huff, "Eif yaa need theis, yaa need eit."

He shrugged half-heartedly. "I guess you're right."

Drawing the spoon up and past the lips of the cup, ignoring how the ebony dribbled to the cusped portion and threatened to fall on the tablecloth, he jadedly slanted it up Andy's way. "It's just that…" Twiddling the top of spoon lazily at her for a little bit while trying to gather his thoughts, he stilled his brandished item soon and closed his eyes with a sigh, "I can't help but feel like the moment we've started trying to get what we've wanted approved, anything that hasn't stopped us before is now stepping into the pit to contend with us."

She blew a raspberry, waving her hand down before she grumbled, "Daon'tt terl meh yaaw'rre geiving aup wheen wee've jaustt sttaarrtted-"

"No!" he protested and stared at her anxiously, keeping his intent gaze on her amber-brown. "It's not that." Dropping the spoon a second later, he placed a hand over his face as the discarded utensil clanged quietly in the midst of the motion. The Harrier could feel his friend lean closer to him in response, disregarding that as he decided to continue on with the train of thought. "What I mean to say is that…" He shook his head, remaining quiet for a moment before groaning, "Have we just been doing this wrong? Have we been underestimating the factors around us and being too rash with pushing this at the wrong time?"

Andy simply exhaled deeply as he was about to say more, "Yaaw'rre geettting caord feett becaause aof the peetteitteion." He ceased any attempts to rationalize this and merely let his friend take over the conversation to say her bit. He lowered his hand and brought the other over to carefully, yet gradually, bring the cup close to his face. The Harrier didn't make himself take a sip, simply tilting his chin towards the cup to feel the warmth of the receding steam. "Aor aarre yaa gaoing ta finaahlry terl meh whaatt haappened laast Weeek?"

"To be completely frank with you," he mumbled into the cup, pausing for a little while before smiling bitterly and spoke again, "I've hardly had the chance to figure that out yet."

Andy immediately banged a clenched hand against the table, sharply turning her head away to scowl. "Thaatt's sttuupeid."

"I know." He frowned as he drew his head up, letting dry chuckles escape himself as he grumbled, "It wasn't even about what we do, he was keeping me against my will so I could rest up- but that's not the worst part. He forced me to absorb Points he had kept in cold storage to fucking screw with me." His friend let out a squawk of anger when he said that. "Then the old man from before was hoping a few favours and threatening me to cease our work would win me over, which is just the dumbest shit fools have pulled on me."

As Andy's eyes adopted a murderous glow, he sighed as he conceded his beverage to feel abandoned on one corner of the table. He rested his hands down and folded them together, feeling nothing but aloof. "On top of that… knowing we lost support is just the rotten icing on the cake sitting in the bottom of the dumpster, Andy." He placed his forehead against the top of his hands, not in the mood to adjust it as a dull ache started from how his bones pressed against his skin. Quite frankly, he welcomed it and felt even more drained than he had over a Week ago from losing his wings.

To finally return to feeling like shit instead of fighting against the two fools who were ruining his existence should have been a bonanza when all it did was hone in on the fact that he felt even smaller than before. He would have preferred someone punching him until he laid half-conscious on the streets, having no means of blacking out than having all this shit storm down on him.

"Raook, wee maay haave raostt saome, bauut thaatt eisn'tt the end!" Andy said with pep, yet he couldn't bother to get himself excited about that reminder. When she used the moment to take a gulp of her beverage, he felt her hand land on the back of his head and soon felt tiny pats. Her hand stilled as she spoke again, "Wee caourldn'tt find everreeaone whao signed aup, bauut aI knaow wee'rl gett whaatt wee waantt!"

"...Doesn't excuse the fact they gave godawful reasons for why they lost interest…" he mumbled drearily and couldn't give a damn that the weight of Andy's hand was making his head hurt more. After a few moments, Andy's hand left only for his eyes to widen partially as both of them slipped past his hood.

They gently contacted his cheeks and her smallest fingers hooked under his chin, slowly bringing his head up to face her. All he could do was slightly panic as his hood was disturbed during those actions. "A-Andy, what are you-" he started only for her to purse her lips and narrow her gaze, losing the words he was about to say when he realized how intense her expression was.

"Haow waourld yaa knaow whaatt theey taorld aus wheen yaa aonlree gaott baack yestterrdaay?" she suddenly asked suspiciously, her eyes dark as they flickered and met his gaze directly. Even when he was anxious about the chance of someone catching a glimpse of his face, the question only silenced those worries as thoughts anew sparked in his head and he gaped at her. "Deed yaa rlie aahbaoutt beeing therre aahll Weeek rlaong?"

"Wh-What are you talking about!?" he sputtered as he instantly grabbed her hands, pulling them off his face quickly. The Harrier couldn't help but feel guilty when she groaned out in pain as he clenched onto them hard. "I-I saw them!" he anxiously cried out and shook his head, his eyes widening while he fretfully added, "The notebook had them- you were trying to stop me from looking at it!"

The moment Andy's expression twisted into one of puzzlement, he couldn't help but stare at her numbly as he continued on, hearing his voice crack as he felt his heart speed up, "Forty-three! We have forty-three people left! I-I- Th-Then I ended up in the Barracks and I don't know why!"

"Becaause wee wentt baack ta the Baarlaacks…?" Andy said slowly in an odd tone. He felt lightheaded immediately and shook his head wildly at that, soon watching her purse her lips and tilt her head. "Since yaa saaid yaa werlen'tt feerling werl...?"

"I-I did say that," he mumbled uneasily as he bashfully felt the need to adjust his hood. He released his friend's hands to toy with the fabric then tangled his fingers with his locks as his stomach churned. "B-But I-" Blinking slowly, something seamlessly had stolen his breath, leaving him feeling as if it decided to rub salt in his face for his attempt to continue by squeezing on his throat. His hands started to tremble, his body even shuddering as he tried to think back on what happened before he finally managed to choke out, "I-I fainted, Andy!"

The furrow of Andy's dark sandy eyebrows did nothing to calm his nerves as her face contorted. He waited on her response, knowing she would say something when all she did was frown deeply back at him; staying silent. Suddenly, he could hear the click of the clock from the back of the kissaten; footfalls all around him; chatter from faceless pedestrians; feel the glow of the lighting of the overhead lamps; the sound of Andy's breathing going in and out sharper than it should be. He inhaled unsteadily, feeling a spell of dizziness seep into him yet he still gazed at his friend desperately.

"...Show me the notebook," he had somehow said in a steady, levelled tone, feeling his expression tighten as he tried to work past the vertigo and focus on Andy. When she started with a blink, he frowned hard and knew his gaze had sharpened. "Please, Andy… I need to look at it."

Andy gave a grimace. "Aohkaay...?" She turned to lean over and started to unzip his knapsack. "Jaustt geive meh aah secaond…"

Forcing himself to try to control his breathing and not act recklessly, he removed his hands from his hair and patiently waited.

Maybe he was wrong to conclude that he wasn't actually dreaming... In the back of his mind, alarms were going off at the oddness of what Andy told him; something just didn't feel right to the Harrier. Wasn't dreams supposed to be unrealistic events strewn and warped because you couldn't control how your thoughts went rampant during your most vulnerable state? Because you shut yourself off from the conscious world you lived in? But this wasn't a dream- he knew it wasn't a dream… so was it the fatigue he experienced everyday? However, that didn't explain how him and Andy remembered the end of the Day differently, or why Andy was accusing him of lying to her and thinking he hadn't seen all of those terrible things people had said about him...

The Harrier, after mulling it over for a bit longer, cast those thoughts away. He shouldn't jump to any more conclusions until he had evidence in hand. After all, he had to focus on not doing anything rash right now.

When the notebook was put in the middle of the table, he wasted no time in opening it.

The Harrier carded through the flimsy pages until he happened upon the list of various Kanji again… noting how it was the same clean line of symbols. Blinking, he took a moment to brace himself before he finally bit the bullet and turned to the next section… which was a continuation of the clean line. He silently studied the crossed out Kanji then briefly shook uncontrollably, soon flipping through blank pages, hearing them all crinkle and sometimes hiss from ripping as his eyes searched and trained on each one.

He only stopped when he got to the back of the notebook, exhaling shakily before turning back to the initial start of the list to examine it again. After a heartbeat of flipping the page up and down a final time, he dropped it and removed his gaze to stare at Andy. "Where did they go?" he asked quietly, ignoring the slight hoarseness his tone had adopted.

The Harrier watched how Andy's expression twisted more and appeared completely lost. "...Wherre deed whaatt gao?" she asked back.

Straightaway, his heart sank as his eyes darted back to the list. He glowered hard at it as he gripped the notebook harder. "The comments."

"Aohkaay," she then said as she slowly moved to lean against the back of her chair, frowning at him as her eyes reflected nothing but baffled molten pools. "Naow yaaw'rre jaust maaking nao sense."

Whipping his head down angrily, he narrowed his eyes as he spat out while jabbing an index finger into the page, "There were comments insulting me and our cause, Andy! Right here!" He slammed the book shut, squeezing the black item firmly as he growled in exasperation, "I don't know how anyone could have erased pen, but I damn know they were there!"

As Andy was about to open her mouth, he then shoved the notebook with both of his hands against the table as he abruptly leaned forward; sharply scowling at her. "Don't you remember!?" Andy didn't respond right away, staring at him wide-eyed as he slowly felt his frustration ebb; his heart sinking as horror started to worm itself in. "...Y-You don't…" he soon said quietly, shaking his head in disbelief as he mumbled the rest, "Remember…? Do you?"

She merely gave him a sad expression, lowering her eyes to the table as she sighed, "Nao, aI daon'tt."

It was then and there the Harrier drew back to rest in his seat again. He faintly felt as if a torrent of wind was blaring through his ears, or maybe blood was flooding out from them; blocking his hearing as he started to feel as if he was small. 'I-I… I know it happened,' he thought to himself bleakly. 'Wh-Why doesn't Andy remember? She was there when I fell down- She was the one trying to stop me from reading them-' He shook his head lightly. 'What the fuck is going on here!?'

As he tried to breathe in deeply to calm himself, he could feel himself shuddering and was woozy as fuck. "Th-This isn't a joke, Andy," he started again with a weak chuckle, trying to smile it off yet his lips stubbornly didn't connect with the motion. He laughed dryly, "I can't take anymore jokes right now, so could you please just tell me the truth."

"Y-Yaa thinnk aI'm maaking this aup?" she chuckled the same way as him- humourless yet was incredulous- before glowering at him as she growled, "Becaause AI aain't jaoking aahlaound weith yaa…" Andy's expression hardened as she snarled, "Sao shuutt aup aahbaoutt meh lrying ta yaa wheen aI've beeen naotthing bautt haonestt!"

Before the Harrier could get a word in, he became aware of the fact that there were some onlookers from other sections of the kissaten. With a slight side-glance, the owner of the settlement was giving them an unhappy, peeved look.

'...Inside voices. You need to use inside voices here, me,' the Harrier thought to himself before he craned his neck towards the man; bowing his head. "We'll watch our volume, sir," he said apologetically in a mumble.

As the owner turned his back to them to get a mug from the shelves, the Harrier couldn't help but feel self-conscious now as he drew his attention back to his friend. He grimly reflected on the fact that Andy wasn't one to lie, yet he wanted so much to hold on to the notion that she was. Even if the interruption hadn't occurred, it still hit him that it wasn't right to accuse her like that. The only evidence he had was... nothing, so it was fair to say that there's a chance the insults weren't there yesterday...

Or, maybe, they weren't even there to begin with...

The Harrier eventually sighed, "...Sorry." He placed his head in his hands and felt guilt gush through him. A part of him tried to convince himself he was in the right and shouldn't feel bad about that, which came in the form of an imagery of someone ripping out the pages and copying all but the comments to screw with him. A horrible thought, to be frank, so he tried to block it out and focus on figuring this out.

"But I know the comments were there," he started again but with misery, frowning against his hands as he went on, "I'm not imagining it..."

His friend crossed her arms in annoyance, eyeing him with her hardened gaze as she huffed, "Theen why wuorld yaa saay thaatt!?"

"Because the comments made me faint, alright!?" he snapped as he threw his head up and glared at her, gritting his teeth as he harshly inhaled and exhaled. He snarled while slamming down a hand against the notebook, "Something is fucking up with this! I know it is, Andy! What it is, I fucking don't know- but I damn know for certain that this level of shit can't be from you or me!" Taking a moment to catch his breath, he soon drew back his hand, darkly staring at her while grumbling lowly, "You know I don't make stuff up."

"AI knaow." Her certain tone all but made his anger die down and cleared his brain from whirling out of control. When the dirty blonde shifted to readjust how she sat, she soon frowned as she asked in a quieter voice, "Deed saometthing haappen?"

Blinking warily at that, he soon frowned in confusion. "...What do you mean?"

Andy rested a cheek in one hand and propped the connected elbow on the table, placing her other arm down horizontally as her eyes grew stern. "Yaa saaid the Caounduuctaorr faolrced yaa ta taake Paointts," she responded; her lips went flat.

With a quick glance around them, taking note of how the owner was crossly watching them again, he soon sighed. "Yes," he mumbled with a shrug, frowning deeper as he put in softer, "But that doesn't explain me fainting and being the only one to see the comments."

"Nao, nao-" He barely had seconds before he was gripping the wrist of her hand that was about to cuff him on the side of his head. Sending a vexed look to her as she merely kept her now darkened gaze on him, he slowly released her hand before frowning disapprovingly. "Deed he dao aaheetthing erlse?" she asked with an eye-roll while readjusting herself again.

The Harrier blinked again after she said that. "Anything else?"

Andy promptly cocked her head and scowled with vex.

Grimacing slightly before dropping it, he slowly brought a hand up to his chin; wrapping his fingers around it as he narrowed his eyes in thought. "He…"

Rolling the question around, he tried to run through the instance he experienced last Week when he woke up in that bed again. To be fair, it was the only moment he had with the posh bastard other than having the clearance to be released back into the streets yesterday. With so much happening in that amount of time of trying to leave that unknown room, only to almost suffocate from Sadist Saiyama then end his time there by nearly 'attacking' the 'defenceless Conductor', it mostly entailed trying to leave whilst shutting out the words of both fools.

Man, he had a whole Week of being trapped in the Barracks, had all the time in the world to think... yet he could only remember the most juicy bits and pieces of that exact period of time. Although, he couldn't blame his brain for struggling to remember. To be frank, how could he when he was trying to slough off that-

His breath hitched.

"...They had an Imprinter come in," he finally responded coldly. Andy's eyes lit up with shock, which prompted him to explain while pondering about it, "Another one happened... so the posh bastard and sadist claimed they were 'helping' me by making an Imprinter do something to 'pull me out of it'." His eyebrows knitted. "If I remember it right."

"Sao yaaw'rre trlying ta saay…" Andy slurred as she furrowed her eyebrows.

The Harrier raised a finger in the air. "They could have had the Imprinter do more damage than they entailed." He frowned deeply as he glowered, clenching his hand when he put it back at his side. "I don't even want to rope myself into what those vultures fucking do, but what I do know is that they screw with a person's head. And while those fools may have played the innocent card on me, they must have done something to me."

He raised his hand and placed it on his temple after uncurling his fingers. "Whatever it had been, it could be screwing with the progression of our cause. I don't know for sure what it was, but things have been weirding out for me." With his other hand, he opened the notebook again and stared long and hard at the side of the page with the less than filled page of the list. He traced the areas where he could have sworn were raked down with penned insults and belittling words aimed for him, gritting his teeth as he stopped his hand and growled, "That must be it."

Whipping his head up to Andy, he pursed his lips and coolly explained, "The posh bastard must have wanted to steer me away from completing what we're trying to do. So, being the bastard he is, he got someone to plant seeds in my brain to create false happenings. Whatever Imprints were used to make them, they're trying to deter me by stripping my confidence down to nothing because I'm the only one perceiving those happenings." He tapped the page as he rolled his eyes. "If I step out of line, my brain will place me back on it the longer I go against the grain he wants me to follow."

Andy gazed at him in a mixture of awe and horror after he finished speaking, smirking soon when he gave a dry string of laughter and shook his head. "Oh that man is a fool, Andy…" She blinked at that, grinning in return as he smiled coldly. "Thinking he could get away with this when I know better..." He tilted his head. "Isn't that cute?"

"Saounds leike yaa gaott aah plraan," she hummed proudly.

Trying to match Andy's grin, he gave a nod. "The Sadist must have told him about the pitch I made, so that limits our options to what we have on hand already."

He patted the notebook almost tenderly, soon starting to trail his hand up the page. "If he wants me to turn tail by screwing with my perception enough, who knows if we can do more to look for more supporters…" As he curled his index finger under the top of the page to hook onto the other side, he pushed the page up with his left and pressed it against the page in front of it. The Harrier then lifted his head and smiled slyly. "And if that's what he's trying to stop, then we will stop."

His friend gave him a baffled look before he carefully tugged at the top of the notebook page, listening to how it protested before he started to tear it towards himself. "You see, we may have thirty-five supporters, and I don't even know if getting names was all we had to do-"

"Eit is," Andy quickly replied.

Briefly halting, he grinned brightly. "Thank you." He returned his gaze to the notebook and continued ripping out the page again. "So basically… the only way to combat this is to deliver what we got before the Imprint makes me ruin it for us." When he whisked the freed paper into the air, watching it flap from the current he created, he soon waited for it to floppily hang from his hand before he dipped his head and murmured, "No more stalling. This is our shot and we will take it."

Andy nodded eagerly, popping two thumbs up as she piped, "This eis why aI lreaave the plraanning ta yaa, mah sawheet buumpkein…" She soon crossed her arms, cocking her head as her eyes tenderly watched him. "Even eif yaa theink taa muuch."

The Harrier couldn't help but smirk, pulling his hood out of his face a little to lock gazes with her contently. "Then it's showtime, Andy."

---

They were making good time in their journey back to the Shibuya River, the Harrier felt, when they escaped the busy Scramble Crossing from Reaper-Player 'bonding time' to arrive at Hachiko's statue. The Harrier didn't see the point of stopping when they were so close, yet, as they were passing by the dog statue, he discovered that Andy may have begged to differ when he found she had halted entirely.

He ceased his stride to turn to her in confusion. "What's the matter?"

Andy's hooded-face whipped to him when she hissed, "Saomeaone's eis faorlraowing aus."

'Following us, huh,' he thought warily, immediately inhaling to steady his nerves. He glanced around the area without making it too obvious, using as little head movement as possible to do so. 'Well then, perhaps the posh bastard must have finally gotten his mutts to keep an eye on us.'

Of course the despicable man would do such a thing; knowing the fact that him and Andy worked together was almost a guaranteed sign that they were hunting or amassing their kills for the Week after. This time, they weren't searching for their targets in either circumstance, but that didn't mean it wasn't a bad thing if said vulture found out their plans...

'I don't want them to sniff us out and contact the posh bastard before we act.' He could feel himself clench his fists, resisting the telltale urge starting up inside him to freak out about this as he thought more, 'We have to somehow shake them off if we want to get Recruiting off the ground.'

"Then let's switch gears and be the innocent souls we know we are," he returned cheekily and turned to the statue. He could feel Andy's gaze on him as he smiled small, keeping his gaze on the plaque of Hachiko and hoped he wouldn't have to elbow Andy to get her on board with the scene they had to paint. ...Not that he would hurt his friend, he just wanted to get this set up before they got their cover blown. 'Come on, Andy… get with the program!'

As he felt her shift and siddle to flank him, he sighed mentally before he murmured, "Say, Andy… don't you just appreciate how even animals can make a difference in the world?"

He wasn't going to lie, he always liked the story of Hachiko as a child. The woman who raised him, however, thought the tradition to pet Hachiko was not worth his time so he didn't really get the chance to do it. That, unfortunately, carried itself into his teenage years when he was juggling his part-time job at the Gotorutsus' bodega with maintaining his damn perfect grades while caring for that woman. As a Reaper, he could do it now, but knowing that he could do it hurt after what he's been through to get that chance.

Gazing towards the sitting dog's eyes, he went on with a fond smile, "Sure, he didn't beat up criminals or stop floods, but you got to admire how pure loyalty goes a long way."

Andy, from the left side of his vision, side-glanced him uneasily from the corner of her hood. "...Eitt's aah daog sttaatue."

Blinking, the Harrier full-on turned to Andy and exclaimed incredulously, "Don't tell me you don't know who Hachiko is!?"

The mustard-hooded Reaper shrugged noncommittally. "Sttaattue's aah doag, sao aah daog?"

...He'll have to teach her about Hachiko later, unless explaining the bittersweet yet heartwarming story still counted as 'innocent, average Reapers existing as usual here'. Either way, Andy will know who this dog is if he has anything to say about it. In fact, why not kill the birds with the golden opportunity of using a stone now?

Clearing his throat, he placed a hand on his chest and pointed with his left hand. "For your information, this dear pooch is the most loyal, faithfullest creature to have breathed in Shibuya." He closed his eyes and went on matter-of-factly, "He waited for his master who went to work everyday on the train and Hachiko went home when Hachiko's master returned after work. Then one Day, his master died at work, but Hachiko didn't know about that. He kept waiting for his master to return, only appearing during the periods of time when his master should have returned from work and kept waiting for a long time."

Andy widened her eyes as she whipped her head back to the dog's commemoration. "Aahnd thaatt daog deedn'tt think the guy waasn'tt gaoing ta caome baack?"

The Harrier rolled his eyes, shaking his head in disappointment. "Oh please, Hachiko loved that man with all his heart and of course Hachiko would think his master would come back one Day." He gestured to the distinguished canine and breathed sadly, "To have someone trust, and be so dedicated to you, must be nice to have… knowing that you can always count on them to be there for you…"

"Say, that reminds me of what your mate was doin' for you last Week."

Flinching, the Harrier whipped his head to the left then towards Andy before fully turning to see a lanky Support Reaper behind them. He mustered all sense of control he had in his body to not rocket himself into the statue, resulting in him raising an eyebrow before he soon remembered whose voice it was.

"Oh," he said in a note of calm, blinking as he sighed in relief, "It's just you."

"Heh, I reckon all of us wearin' similar uniforms makes it a mare on us," said Jimmy casually before stepping back, giving the Harrier and Andy space. Not to mention, it provided room for the Harrier to breathe without feeling as if he was being cornered against Hachiko's statue. "Although, I'm glad we're allowed to wear whatever footwear we can or we would all become twins."

Feeling himself become a little more at ease, the Harrier nodded. "I suppose that is true."

"It wouldn't be a piece of piss to find both of you if it was," added Jimmy as he crossed his arms, cocking his red-hooded head at the Harrier. The Harrier crossed his arms as well, furrowing his eyebrows as Jimmy chuckled, "Even if you did wear the Harrier pullover, it's mean you have your trainers and bag on hand to pick yourself out of any crowd as well."

'...There's nothing wrong with my hoodie. I want to do my Harrier work comfortably.' The Harrier frowned as he dipped his head, unfolding his arms to pick at the black fabric. 'We're allowed to wear anything we want, and I even cleared it with the posh bastard the moment I agreed to become a Reaper.'

The posh bastard was corny to have chosen the colours for the official uniforms: Red for Supports, yellow for Harriers and blue for Officers... Or, to his knowledge, Officers were supposed to pay homage to the pseudo-primary colours, but he's never seen an Officer in a blue hoodie before, to be frank.

As for what he knew about his rank, Harriers apparently were allowed to wear different garments if they verified them with the posh bastard first, which he may have incidentally discovered, but it may have been due to the fact that the posh bastard was a stickler for properness and order. He probably was making sure any Reaper looked the best to represent themselves the best, clearly to show the Players which Reaper was which. Although, the Harrier couldn't help but think it was a nicer way of saying it was the only way to make themselves seem like faceless jerks to the Players.

And finally, for the Supports... they had to, without question, stick with the same bloody hoodies… Hah, how did it feel to be the face of Reapers at Walls if you were marked with the blood you may have worn from your blood loss? ...Okay, that actually wasn't funny.

"I mean, it's not a rubbish hooded pullover, it's just that it has a pong," Jimmy added as he rubbed the back of his head. "One wash will do so you don't smell like you were swimmin' in piss."

...Was the smell still that bad? Did the Harrier get used to the smell without realizing it!? Wait, why was Jimmy only mentioning this to him when Andy's hoodie smells as well?

The Harrier grimaced as he laid those questions to rest. "I would, but you see…" He picked at the fabric and held it between his fingers. "It's the only clothes I got and I'm not a fan of yellow."

"Whaatt's wlaong with yerraow?" asked Andy as she gave him an odd look. "Mah haairr's aah braonde, aahnd daon'tt peaopurl caonsiderr thaatt aah yerraow?"

"Not the colour itself, just the fact that wearing it will constantly make me feel like I'm wearing a completely stained mustard shirt," returned the Harrier with a harder grimace, giving a shoulder shrug after a short moment. "Stains don't come out easily, and I'll just leave it at that."

...Hell if he'll give the reason why.

He lowered his head, trying to push away the thoughts that tried to invade his mind as he listened to Jimmy instead. "I mean, if you wanted, I could even wash for you and bring it back?" Jimmy said before he rubbed at his hood-covered nape. "Unless you wanted to crash there until it's home and hosed, is all I'm tryin' to say."

Blinking at the lanky Support, the Harrier couldn't help but tilt his head in disbelief as he breathed, "That's very generous, but what's in it for you?"

"Me?" Jimmy pointed towards himself, his head shook lightly before he spoke again, "I just thought you might want to smell better since I know you crash at the Barracks, and I feel like you haven't had a fair go of washin' it for yonks."

Huh… the Harrier couldn't detect a single amount of false information streaming from his lips, unless Jimmy was the type to play naturally innocent. A part of him was already shrugging off the thought like an unnecessary overcoat for the Summer Days, knowing that Jimmy hadn't given him a reason to doubt him yet, so there was no need to point fingers for no reason.

"Fair enough," said the Harrier with a nod, relaxing slightly as he regarded how the tension from Jimmy's body lessened as well. It was probably from the fact that an offer being given only for the hand to nearly get bitten was disorientating if it was in fact genuine.

The Harrier shifted as he crossed his arms when coolly murmuring, "We were about to go present our proposal when you joined us, but I suppose smelling like piss wouldn't bode well for our cause, now that I think about it. After all, presenting ourselves at our best grants better rewards than a participation prize." He dipped his head afterward. "Thank you, we appreciate your offer."

"Oh, for sure, mate," responded Jimmy with a lighthearted chuckle, soon shaking his head. "Just thought I'd put it out there since I'm all good payin' a little ow extra for water this month. Better look beaut and not pong, eh?"

"So you mean to say you do got a place to live," murmured the Harrier and got a nod, shifting slightly as he frowned. "With what we do, that must be expensive for you to maintain, and I couldn't have imagined the posh bastard would have let you do that."

"That stink fulla took yonks to convince, and yeah, it's hard out dear," explained Jimmy mildly with a well-mannered shrug. "So it's not like I can get those fancy trainers of yours right now."

"What about my shoes...?" he asked carefully, knitting his eyebrows slightly.

"For somethin' so cracker, 'ey're dear trainers," simply replied Jimmy with a bit of a laughter. "Seen 'em in some shops, yet I can't seem to find 'em when I got enough money on me."

"Oh! Yes- yes," he sputtered out into sheepish laughter. He chuckled a little after as he nodded in acknowledgement, casting a look down at the object of their discussion when he murmured breathily, "They're one of a kind, aren't they?"

"Keen, keen- how did you even get your hands on 'em?" The Support's hood shifted all too quickly to face the other male Reaper, who couldn't help but smile back contently from how excited Jimmy appeared. Well, in that case, it was hard not to oblige the request, he believed, to share what he knew. Why? Well, he already felt as if he had an affinity with the Support. It wasn't just from their supposed agreement they didn't like the Conductor, it was from Jimmy's own flashy white-and-black, thicker yet jagged striped trainers. A good second option from Tigres, he might add, when one couldn't get their hands on the Harrier's shoes. That alone cemented the Harrier's belief they had something in common... and when you have something in common with a person, you had a chance for a clique to be created with said person. And by all means, he felt their mutual taste in Brands had the potential to build great rapport with each other... not to mention, even friendship.

Grinning now, the Harrier nodded. "Well, they're Ligres, for your information," started the Harrier proudly, jutting out a foot for good measure. He watched Jimmy bend down to examine the loopy-striped shoes while he continued to explain, "It was a joint effort between Pegaso and Tigres a few years ago for some event. I guess they expected premium demand, so they limited their supply in hopes to get their filthy paws on as much Yen as they could between the two Brands. And, as you may guess, when Ligres came out they were expensive as shit... but I just couldn't help but love the design, you know? So... I got them." He gave a shrug shortly after he was finished speaking.

"But 'ey're still in shops," noted Jimmy in wonder. "How was the supply limited?"

Placing his foot down, the Harrier let out a breathy chuckle, "Didn't get them when they cost you your arms and legs." He crossed his arms as he added in amusement, "They slimmed down the price enough when I happened to need new shoes, so it was a happy coincidence that I swiped my pair before inflation set in." He rocked on his toes a little before he mused, "I'd say it was... a year or two ago."

"Sweet as," hummed Jimmy in awe, soon glancing back with a nod as he sighed wistfully, "You can only be rapt with choice stripes like that… Might be lucky now to get 'em at an op shops if 'ey're not munted."

"In that case..." The Harrier said before he started wiggling his arms out, swinging his knapsack down and crouched low to access it. As he started unzipping it, he kept his gaze on his knapsack as he mumbled, "How much are they now?"

Jimmy, from what he could feel, remained still in place. "...Y-You don't have to do a shout for me."

"No, no, I insist." The Harrier waved a hand before starting to tug out Yen Pins distractedly. "How much?"

For a while, the Harrier waited as he continued drawing them out, mentally crunching how much he had in his grasp until Jimmy murmured, "You sure?"

"Yup." The Harrier nodded while quietly popping the 'p'.

Jimmy took a bit longer before he breathed reluctantly, "...24,520 Yen."

"A bit more than before, huh? Okay, let me see..." The Harrier sifted through his bag, dishing out more Yen Pins into his grasp until he finally raised his head and gazed at Jimmy. "I got about..." He crunched the numbers again before he went on mindfully, "Got about 25,000 here, but you can keep the change."

"H-How did you get so much?" breathed Jimmy in disbelief as he all but didn't move to take them.

The Harrier let out a gusty chuckle before he smirked. "I usually don't get the urge to get anything for myself, so I just carry it around until I see fit I need something." He shook his cupped hands, tilting his head. "Come on... it'll help me not break my back, if it makes you feel better. So for your information, you'll be doing me a favour." He tilted his head the other way in thought. "Or... you could accept this as compensation for doing us a solid, Jimmy." The Harrier did a quick shoulder shrug before he smiled. "Your call."

It was a moment or two later that Jimmy undid the clasps of his bag, gradually spooning each Yen Pin in, before he exhaled out in awe, "Ta."

"Anytime," the Harrier returned mildly before closing the pockets and slinging his knapsack back on. "Just make sure you don't let anyone swindle more from you when you get them."

After Jimmy nodded, he closed his own bag silently.

As the Harrier made note of how the conversation was dying, he couldn't help but ask the question that had been lingering on his mind. "New topic, but… might I ask where you came from?" He finally stood up as he spoke. "I couldn't help but notice your accent."

The Support shrugged; his hands separating from fiddling with his standard shoulder-strap Support bag. "Born and raised in New Zealand." His tone was plain and simple; giving nothing but the hard facts as if the answer was clear as day. "Shifted out here and made some mates before I was pushing up daisies." He promptly tilted his head. "Am I not makin' sense to you?"

"I'm following along, but some terms are new to me," mentioned the Harrier calmly. He shook his head as he gave a shrug of his own. "You're the first person I've met from there."

"No worries," replied Jimmy with a slight chuckle. "I would only be knackered by the time I meet someone who has." Jimmy paused for a bit after he was done before he asked, "So… wager you're interested in gettin' that pullover washed up all good now?"

Turning his head to Andy when she came closer, she shrugged as well. "Yaa waantted ta haurree, lightt?" she asked as she lowered her hood, frowning as her gaze flitted in the direction they had been set on going before. "Rlightt?"

"Ah, yes. Yes, I did," murmured the Harrier before facing the Support Reaper again. He held out a hand. "Thank you for offering us the help again, Jimmy."

The Support dipped his head and chuckled, grabbing onto the Harrier's hand, "But of course, mate. Let's bowl round there."

---

It didn't take too long until Jimmy had led them to a small eggshell-coloured building in the Shibukyu district; one where there were steps leading downwards to one door and another leading up to the door Jimmy chose to walk to.

Huh, it was funny, at least to the Harrier, that there were residential buildings here. This was mostly a place where shops were set up and sold away to new Brands that would come and go frequently, with only a choice few staying because they managed to fight hard enough to establish a place in the hearts of Shibuya's shoppers. He snuck a glance around, noticing there were a few shops close by that he may have remembered going to at one point in the past. He faintly recalled the Tigres Brand should have maintained a staple here, so when he checked, he sure enough found it where he last saw it: snug in the corner of the area.

"Ah, so it's no wonder you encountered the Ligres," remarked the Harrier as he drew his gaze back to Jimmy, who was fiddling with his keys, and earned a brief nod from the Support when he silently unlocked the door.

When the two other Reapers entered the home, the Harrier started to walk forward to follow suit only to grimace in the midst of planting his foot down on the tiled-floor. Instead of going in, the Harrier placed it beside his other on the cement landing again then bent down. He undid his shoelaces on each of his trainers, soon slipping out of them and quietly hearing Andy and Jimmy were chatting about something without him. He then placed his feet on the other side of the entryway and briefly went to pick up his shoes; content he hadn't screwed that up.

Or... maybe he was supposed to take his shoes off on these tiles he was now standing on? Dammit, the Harrier didn't want to believe he may have mixed up the process after so long of not taking off his shoes in the Underground unless he slept. Not to mention, if he remembered to take them off before he slept. So, considering how these tiles suggested they were the genkan of the small home... he must look like a moron right now.

The Harrier blushed with embarrassment and felt the need to pretend he was invisible... However, he was glad for the fact that no one could see his face as he awkwardly stared down at his white socks. 'Fuck.'

"Whaatt's taaking yaa sao raong?" Andy called. He turned his head to see how she stood further inside but was on the beige carpet, only to widen his eyes in horror. "Whaatt ein taarlnaation aarre yaa daoing gaoing ein aon yaawrr saocks?"

The Harrier opened and closed his mouth, soon letting his jaw hang as he breathed, "W-Why are you still wearing your boots?"

Said ruddy-orange boots tapped idly on the floor while she made a face. "Daoes eit matterr?"

As he was about to answer that, he then did a quick blink before he simply sighed, "...Andy, you're not supposed to."

"Why?" Andy blinked with an eyebrow raise. "Everreeaone daoes aahtt the Baalraacks."

The Harrier couldn't help but feel as if one of his eyes were twitching. "This isn't the Barracks."

In response, Andy's face screwed up with confusion. "Then why?"

Before the Harrier had a chance to explain, Jimmy, who had been in the middle of getting his shoes off on the genkan, answered, "Japanese customs. When you enter a home, you take your shoes off at those tiles here, Annee." The Harrier furrowed his eyebrows, wondering why Andy wasn't making a fuss about her anonym being mispronounced as Jimmy added mildly, "It's somewhat the same as it is in New Zealand."

...Should he mention the fact that he fucked up those Japanese customs?

Andy put a hand on one of her hips. "Sao daoes eit leaarree maatterr?"

"To be straight-up, I like my carpet to be clean," admitted Jimmy with a shrug, shifting before he started concentrating on removing his trainers again. "Sort of the reason why we do that back home, is all I'm sayin'."

"See, Andy? We wouldn't want to upset the king in his castle..." supplied the Harrier shrewdly as he gestured towards Jimmy, soon gazing back at his friend pointedly. "Lose the boots."

For a long time, Andy scowled at him and Jimmy, soon tilting her head to blink down her boots, that had a brown crust caked on the bottom of both of them. After staring down for a bit longer, she let out a disgruntled sigh, "Fiiine…"

As Andy fiddled with her bootlaces' knots, Jimmy finally slipped out of his trainers and placed them near the beige-carpeted region. "I'm tryin' to get used to it still myself, to be straight-up about shoes."

'Well then, I suppose I shouldn't be so worried if Andy and Jimmy aren't...'

The Harrier smiled crisply. "I mean, I almost forgot to do it," he added after a long beat of silence. "Since I haven't been to houses in such a long time." Not to mention, he often had a knack for accidentally running out in his slippers, but the Harrier didn't think it was worth sharing. "The only place I go back to nowadays is the River, even though I wish I didn't have to," he mused coolly with a huffed sigh.

"Isn't the floor cemented?" asked Jimmy curiously.

"Yeah, so it's not like Reapers should run around barefooted," returned the Harrier Reaper with a small chuckle. "We practically sleep in the sewers, so what use would there be in walking around if the River overflows?"

"Daoes eit?" asked Andy quickly; still stuck on undoing her boot knots.

The Harrier offered a wry smile to her. "Not that I know of." He set down his shoes beside Jimmy's before looking around the tiled area. "Come on, Andy. We've been Reapers together since the beginning of our careers in this hellhole."

Andy chucked her boot at him with an affronted scowl.

Without looking up, the Harrier simply predicted where it could hit him and caught it; placing it neatly beside his Ligres before he continued his search.

Jimmy's hood turned to face him. "You right?"

The Harrier kept the question in mind as he continued to scan the floor, soon raising his head. "...Uwabaki aren't a thing in New Zealand, I suppose?"

Andy gave him an odd look, as she was focusing on her other boot, while Jimmy laughed, "Not even, mate. A heap of us just go barefoot back home, and I only started shoddin' socks once I shifted here." Jimmy pointed at the Harrier's feet. "You can keep your socks on and you'll be all good, mate."

"Ah, thanks," intoned the Harrier before walking with Jimmy onto the carpet. "Force of habit of mine since childhood, you see."

"No worries, mate," said Jimmy with a chuckle as he continued forward. "Annee, make yuorself at home. I'm goin' to take our mate to get him somethin' to wear."

"Aohkaay," Andy chimed back. "Brling meh baack aah shirt."

When she said that, the Harrier paused before turning back to her. "Wait- Don't tell me you're not wearing something under-" The next second resulted in Andy's hoodie making its home on his face. The Harrier pulled it off to blandly gaze at his friend, noticing her pastel-green tank top did nothing to conceal her arms that moved to plant her hands on her hips. "Very funny..." he mumbled before shaking his head, spinning around to follow after Jimmy again. "Could almost say that was cute."

Andy stuck out her tongue before she ignored him, tugging at her bootlaces again.

As they walked, the Harrier made note that the kitchen was mostly cramped with counters, the sink and the refrigerator to make a semi-circle. It had a counter in the middle with a space to enter on either side of it from where they met the carpet, which the Harrier found to be odd. The Harrier glanced around and took notice of how the living room was a bigger squared area than the kitchen, despite being small due to the size of the home, yet the creamy walls ended perfectly across from where the kitchen walls did. The furthest end of the kitchen and living room was next to the short hallway Jimmy was heading to, having three doors that spanned across it on the walls of the other end. As for furniture, there were two sets of couches against the connecting living room corner walls closest to the doorway, and on the other wall that led to the hallway, there was a... huh.

"You're something of an artist, aren't you?" asked the Harrier with an impressed smile, veering off from entering the hallway. He treaded forward until he stopped to observe a sooty-coloured mat, that was set up next to the unoccupied wall of the living room. It was smeared with grey-brown smears and smudges, probably from the clay that sat in the middle of it.

"The reason why I came here," replied Jimmy proudly; he made his way back and halted to look at the mat with the Harrier at the mouth of the hallway. "Heard Japan was a beautiful country, so I couldn't help myself from a look-see it to get some mean inspiration in."

"Which involves claywork?" mused the Harrier simply as he blinked at the half-formed creation, wondering what Jimmy was trying to shape out of the malleable substance.

"Carvin' usually, but I felt the need to try a bit of that, actually. Yet… I am still on the fence about tryin' to do paintin'," admitted the Support Reaper with a light chuckle. "Been in a slump about what I want to make lately, so I thought shiftin' over here would give me somethin'. New experiences seem to bring out new ideas, as I was told by my mum and dad." The New Zealander paused for a bit before he gave another chuckle, "It brings in pretty profit, though."

"Profit?" The Harrier turned back to Jimmy.

"Makin' somthin' of myself since I popped on over a year ago when I was twenty." Jimmy shrugged. "Since I got my shop stayin' under us alive for now."

"Yaa aown aah shaop!?" Andy shouted over from the entryway; the Harrier could picture her face was shining with awe as she croaked out, "Gett leal!"

"Not even," laughed Jimmy and crossed his arms. His voice sounded as if it was going quieter, his tone even sounded slightly off during his next chuckle, "Maybe a bloke thought to knock over the sign and you couldn't gawk it, eh."

...Maybe that's why the Harrier hadn't noticed. He could have sworn the other door led to another dwelling, but if the served as the shop... that was awfully convenient for Jimmy to have. However, that wasn't what drew in the Harrier's interest. Instead, he focused on the delivery of the information, soon making his own conclusions as to what it meant before deciding it was worth bringing up.

"It happens often then," noted the Harrier, earning a sharp head turn from Jimmy. "Sorry to hear that… that sucks," he added sympathetically.

"Get off the grass, h-how'd you reckon?" asked Jimmy in surprise, his voice shaking near the end of his sentence.

"Well, it's simple-" The Harrier frowned as he raised a finger. "That kind of comment suggests that had happened along the line at one point."

"Oh-" Jimmy smacked his palm to his forehead before laughing in amusement, "Must be more knackered than I thought I was!" The Harrier quietly observed the Support as he rubbed his head until the Support stopped, soon keeping his hand on his forehead as he sighed, "Have I been losin' you?"

"Define 'losing'," merely said the Harrier helpfully.

"My diction." The Support shrugged before chuckling slightly- no wait, wait a minute... That chuckle actually sounded nervous to the Harrier's ears. "'Cause you did say I'm the only joker you met from New Zealand."

Okay, the Harrier could see what was going on here. When Andy first started hanging around him, she wasn't eager to use some of the sayings she learned from America nor was she confident in herself for using them right. Kudos to Jimmy for sticking to his slangs, though... but the Harrier wasn't going to let the New Zealander think he had to tiptoe with his mouth around the Underground because of the Harrier's inexperience in understanding the meaning behind Jimmy's words.

"Last I checked, my answer hasn't changed, Jimmy," replied the Harrier as kindly and nicely as he could. "Don't worry, though," he added when he sensed Jimmy may have been reluctant to accept that response, raising a palm up for good measure. "It's not too much of a problem, I've been able to follow along and have gotten the gist of the context so far."

"Ah, she'll be right then." Jimmy nodded contently after a few seconds… or at least, the Harrier imagined the Support did. It was somewhat difficult gauging the other Reaper's reaction based on the fact that the lanky man also had his hood on… Ah, well, he could kind of feel a smile tugging at Jimmy's lips, so the Harrier at once redacted part of his observation. "Chur bro."

Ahah- there it was- The Harrier successfully nailed his delievery to give Jimmy the reassurance he needed!

"Don't mention it," the Harrier murmured warmly, smiling as he put a hand over his heart. "Do whatever makes you happy, my friend, is all I'll be asking of you."

"Heh, I'll remember that." Jimmy gave nod of ease.

As the Harrier was pleased with his efforts, he then blinked in surprise when Andy hollered over from where she stood at the divide between the kitchen and living room in her faded-grey socks, "Daoesn'tt raook leike aI'm seeing waashing gaoing aon herre!"

Jimmy gave a swift look to Andy before turning his attention back to the Harrier. "Oh bugger, you came to get your hooded pullovers washed," said Jimmy with a chuckle. "Enough about me."

"Right." The Harrier nodded before following after the Support again.

They left Andy to her own devices as the Harrier was led into a small bedroom from the left door of the hallway, blinking in surprise at how the room only had a dresser and bed… making note the walls and carpet were the same colour as the ones feeding into the room. Usually, the Harrier didn't try to get too involved with another person's life, but seeing how little Jimmy had made him feel almost inclined to ask-

"What's your size, cuz?" asked Jimmy; the Harrier noticed the other Reaper was pulling out shirts.

"Anything with a hood and medium, thank you," supplied the Harrier as he simply allowed himself to lean against the nearby door frame.

"Shot bro." The Support went back to focusing on checking clothing before he spoke again in a mutter, "Oh bugger all."

"Is there a problem?" The Harrier frowned immediately.

He alertly watched as Jimmy turned his head. "I don't suppose you would trade for a t-shirt?"

The Harrier lowered his gaze. "No offence, but I'd rather not have people look at me, to be frank."

"...Hang on."

The Harrier raised an eyebrow as he gradually raised his head, only to blink in surprise as Jimmy was tugging his red hoodie off. As soon as the article of clothing was messily cradled in the other Reaper's arms, Jimmy went over and offered them to the Harrier.

"I know it's a bit groddy..." said the copper haired male as he fumbled with the Reaper uniform, his grey eyes shifting before darting to the Harrier. "But it's the only thing I own with a hood."

"Are you sure you're okay with this…?" the Harrier couldn't help but breathe out, shaking his head before frowning with uncertainty. "You don't have to do that-"

"Nah, yeah," replied Jimmy with a shrug and smile. "It's only for a bit until your pullover is clean, eh?"

"...I suppose it wouldn't hurt." The Harrier nodded sheepishly. "Thank you, it'll do."

"No worries," said the Support as he ran a hand through his messy, copper locks. "My shout for a mate." He shoved the red fabric into the Harrier's arms and took Andy's hoodie before shuffling past; the Harrier turned to watch him open the door across the hall. "I'll just get the machine started up and toss her in with Annee's when you got her off."

Nodding again, the Harrier closed the door, waiting a few seconds in case the other Reaper returned before smiling. He walked over to the bed before carefully resting Jimmy's hoodie down, hesitating for a few seconds before removing his black one. It felt odd, how the moment he started, he felt his body almost lock up as he was in the middle of pulling it off his head. He even felt dizzy at the darkness he subjected himself to before he managed to slip it off and chucked it past the red hoodie.

For a brief moment, he zeroed in on how pale his lean arms' skin became, tracing old scars with his fingers carefully as little recollections of their origins drifted in. And yet, as he searched his arms, he could never find anything associated with burns or deep scar tissue damage suggesting that he had flailed them against the hot metal parts of the-

Abruptly, he reached for Jimmy's hoodie.

He shakily breathed as he tugged it over his head, fumbling with shoving his arms through the sleeves before trying to worm his head out. When finally he set the hood over his head, he made note that the hoodie was albeit big on him, as his hands were half-covered by the ends of the sleeves and the bottom went halfway down his thighs. Even so, he felt it would have to do. The Harrier quickly scooped up his discarded article of clothing and briskly went to join Jimmy in the cramped room with the washer and dryer.

As the copper haired New Zealander set the black hoodie inside when the Harrier passed it to him, the Harrier simply started readjusting the hood when it flopped over his face; pausing when the other Reaper breathed, "Are you allergic to fabric softener?"

"Fabric softener?" The Harrier tipped his head slightly, as to not disturb the hood, before he sighed, "On the top of my head, I wouldn't know if I was. Why do you ask?"

"I usually put some in," replied Jimmy with a shrug, turning his head to regard the Harrier before his grey eyes flickered to the container next to the machine. "Only for it to be nicer on the skin."

"Oh-" The Harrier clapped his hands together and grinned happily. "By all means, please do."

For a second, Jimmy tilted his head to the Harrier before doing so. As he set the latch and flipped a switch, he rose to his full height as the machine started to rattle. "Should be an hour then another for drying."

"Ah, that's fine by me," said the Harrier as he backed out of the space to let Jimmy pass. He fell in behind the taller Reaper as he mused, "I used to have to do it by hand."

Jimmy stopped for a trice, only to keep walking just before the Harrier almost bumped into his back. "By hand?"

"Yup. The woman who raised me wasn't too trusting of them, so she taught me to wash by hand," said the Harrier with a grimace. "Nor did she know how to use washing machines."

"They come with manuals," said Jimmy as they came into the kitchen.

"She didn't want to read them," returned the Harrier before he slowly turned his head to see how Andy stared at them wide-eyed. He cringed and widened his eyes when she dropped a glass and heard it shatter as she whipped her head between them.

The female Reaper's expression was pallid as she cried out, "That's what yaa raook leike!?"

Instantly, Jimmy laughed hard while the Harrier groaned, "Yes, I've been Jimmy all along." He waved a sleeve floppily up and sighed as he inched forward, "I'm just borrowing this until mine's ready, Andy."

As Andy's expression reluctantly relaxed and she gave a nervous chuckle, the Harrier shook his head as he knelt down to survey the pale reddish-brown tiled area. "Just stay still," he told her firmly as he frowned hard. "I don't want you cutting yourself."

"Maaybee aI shaourld haave keptt mah baootts aon," suggested Andy with flat tone. "Baootts aahrre baootts folr aah rleaasaon."

"And boots will track glass across Jimmy's home," dryly returned the Harrier with a huff, shaking his head before he looked at the counter for a bit. An idea came to him, and he soon turned back to Andy. "I need you to hop onto the counter and lose the socks."

Andy gaped at that. "Yaa waantt meh ta go baarrefaoott naow ta hurlt mahserlf!?"

The Harrier hardened his expression. "As long as you scooch yourself to the other side to get off onto the carpet, I see no reason for you to be worried. You could have gotten glass on your socks, Andy, so we can't trust that you can wear them anymore."

"Aoh- maakes sense!" Andy chirped before her face blanked. "Wait… then whaatt aahbaoutt mah saocks!?" she asked frantically. "AI need mah saocks!"

"I'll buy you new socks…" grumbled the Harrier before he pressed, "I'll even get you unmatching pairs for the kicks because the most important thing for me to do right now is ensuring my friend doesn't slice open her foot, or have glass embedded in them for the rest of her existence." He gave her a pointed look. "Capeesh?"

Andy gave him a long look before sighing in defeat, "Caapeesh…"

"Good girl…" The Harrier hummed before twisting his head to Jimmy. "Do you have a dustpan and brush?"

"Oh, that's right," replied Jimmy before heading back into the hall. "Lemme get you 'em…"

With that, the Harrier flicked the lights on before focusing on how Andy was struggling to get on the counter. She was about to twist on the spot when he spoke up sternly, "Don't do that, I'll give you a boost."

He went to position himself on the other end of the unattached counter. "Reach behind you and I'll pull you up." Andy made a noise then he grabbed ahold of her, groaning as he started to slide her up onto the sandy-brown surface. He helped her go backwards until he guided her hands to the edge of the counter so she could steady herself. "Good, now lose the socks. Be careful when you do because we both know you wouldn't want to harm your pretty little fingers."

"Fiiine…" she sighed before she did so awkwardly, dropping them somewhere on the other side of the counter and the Harrier nodded in approval. "Bautt yaa daon'tt haave ta tarlk leike thaatt," she added with an annoyed grumble.

"What? Concerned that my friend will be careless?" he hummed with a pointed look at her. "Trust me, you know I'm looking out for you."

He watched as his friend twisted herself around, almost losing her grip and balance had he not steadied her, until she faced him again with a disgruntled look. "Yaa knaow whaatt aI meaan."

The Harrier simply shrugged. "Perhaps, perhaps not. I'll let you decide." He stepped back to observe her as she thrust herself over the edge, and Andy grinned while her feet happily tapped and rubbed against the beige carpet. He smiled contently with a nod. "Presto." When her eyes drifted to him after he had spoken, he placed a hand over his heart as he chuckled, "Felicitaciones, amigo mío, has escapado del peligro."

Andy fully faced him and her eyebrows furrowed. "Daon'tt dao this ta meh."

"Whatever do you mean?" he asked teasingly before grinning with another chuckle,

"Aeitherr speaak Jaapaanesh aorr Engrish," Andy huffed unhappily. "Yaa maake nao sense."

"When I see fit you are ready to fly without me in the wondrous world of fluent speech," he sang as he swayed a little on the spot and pivoted smoothly towards the kitchen, he dipped his head as he murmured snidely, "I'll consider teaching you Spanish."

"Fuck yaa," Andy groaned.

With one smirk, he shrugged nonchalantly and held it. "Ah, one of the many compliments I receive... Good selection."

It was then that he heard Jimmy's return, glancing over to him to see the lanky male held the much needed tools. "Oh, good timing, Jimmy," he murmured then held out his hands. "I can get rid of the mess for you."

The New Zealander frowned unsurely. "I wouldn't want to bother you, mate."

"No, no..." The Harrier shook his awaiting hands and patiently kept his gaze on the other male. "The mess wouldn't have happened if you hadn't brought us here, so I would think it would be bothersome and rude for you, the owner, to be the one to clean up after us."

Jimmy's grey eyes widened a fraction before lowering his gaze to the two items. "...If you really want to, I wouldn't be opposed."

"Then how about you sit back and let me handle it?" pressed the Harrier mildly before waiting on the other male's response. It was a moment or two later that Jimmy hesitantly offered the dustpan and brush and the Harrier took them with a nod. "Thank you."

As the Harrier was about to enter the kitchen, feeling Jimmy cross his arms as the lanky male watched him approach the area, the Harrier paused before turning back. "Andy." When she blinked and gave him her full attention, he waved the brush towards her. "Don't think about entering the danger zone until I'm done," he told her firmly before simply holding the brush at her. "I'm a trained 'glass remover' professional, and we can't have civilians get caught in the crossfire."

He merely received a cheeky eye-roll in return.

The Harrier smiled in relief. 'Alright.' He settled himself at the start of the pale ruddy tiles. 'Time to shine, let's put on a show.' He crouched down then carefully inspected the floor to began his work.

---

It must have taken a while until the Harrier finally watched as Jimmy began tying up the bag of glass that he deemed the task was done. As the lanky male left to dispose of the bag outside, it left Andy and the Harrier to mingle until the copper haired male returned while in the middle of dusting his hands off.

"Choice call, bro," said Jimmy as he nodded to the Harrier, crossing his arms as he chuckled, "I just froze up when you hopped to it."

"Well," started the Harrier sheepishly, resting a hand on his baggy-hooded nape. He chuckled as well, "Don't sell yourself short, Jimmy."

The copper haired Reaper grimaced slightly. "If you say so, then I'll take it." The Support went over to pace between the two entrances to the kitchen, giving a once-over of the floor before his eyes lolled back to the Harrier. "Almost appears as if it didn't even happen." His accent slightly came out during that mumble.

"Let's just go with 'premium free service' and leave it at that," said the Harrier as he opened his arms out with a nod, blinking when Jimmy's hoodie's hood flopped into his face and earned a laugh from everyone. He could feel his cheeks warm up a bit and pretended that hadn't happened, merely picking and lightly tugging at the edges of the hood that rested on his face to the side. He readjusted it for a moment more so his face was hidden properly before he was satisfied.

"Alright," he began as he turned back to Jimmy, "How long do you suppose that took?"

Jimmy scratched his chin and tilted his head in thought. "I reckon… twenty minutses. You kept pausin' every now and then."

"Pausing?" The Harrier frowned when Andy smacked a hand on his shoulder, making him regard her irritably with a flinch.

"Yaa think taa much," she said with an eye-roll, yet she was smiling slightly with a tooth peeking out. "He thinks taa much," she repeated when the Harrier noticed Jimmy appeared to be confused the moment she had said that. With a pat on his shoulder, she slunk around him and shook her head wearily. "Aahrlwaays jaustt… zaoning aoutt, aorr saomething leike that."

"Huh, sounds stink," murmured Jimmy; a worried look was cast to the Harrier a second later. "So you… do heaps of thinkin'?"

"Force of habit, you see," said the Harrier simply with a good natured shrug. He shot a look to Andy before he tapped his head with his eyes wandering back to Jimmy. "I can't help but think about any possibilies or potential missteps that could happen, or think even anything that strikes my interest." He slumped his shoulders visibly as he sighed in frustration, "Andy thinks it's a bad thing."

"He's leike aah zaombee aaht times," grumbled Andy with a huff and the Harrier sent her an annoyed look. "Saometimes aah gaood smaack eis aahrl he needs ta gett naorlmaal aahgaein."

The Harrier scoffed, "Excuse me, but that's totally inaccurate."

Andy sharply turned back and put a hand on her hip; a challenge in her glinting gaze. "Aoh leaalry?"

His eyes sharpened when they glinted back. "No question about it."

There was a sudden pause in the air, like something stabbed it in the gut to leave it breathless, then Andy let out a giddy cry, "Plaove eit!" She abruptly stretched out and wiggled her fingers as lunged for the Harrier.

The Harrier dipped his head. "Gladly."

He letted her come to him before hopping and twisting out of the way of her arms. With a few steps to steady himself, he merely leaned sideways twice to evade her seeking limbs before thrusting body to the right, turning to watch her fall and crumple onto one of the couches that was closer to the front door. He flashed a smirk, raising his left heel and touched the tips of his toes against the carpet as she was pulling herself up. Before she had a chance to get off, he slid his left foot in a half-circle in the direction of the kitchen before pushing hard on his right to spin and thrust himself into dashing away.

He came to be on Jimmy's left flank and turned to grin back at his friend. "I thought you were working on your footwork?" he taunted teasingly as he took a couple more steps back before tutting in amusement, "Such a shame."

"Caan eit!" Andy shouted with vex before jogging over to slug him on the shoulder. It merely caused him to laugh as he tipped his body to precisely rotate and swing dangerously to evade it, righting himself with a step away when he succeeded and she huffed in frustration, "AI caan nevarr caatch yaa- nevarr gett aah heitt aon yaa!"

"Well, well, well…" he murmured with a coy smile. "That should tide you over because that, my friend, is accurate."

When Jimmy cast his questioning gaze between the two of them, the Harrier picked up on his bemusement. He immediately turned his head to the Support. "Sorry." He rested a hand on his red-hooded nape and explained mildly, "Andy has trouble keeping up with me."

"Thaatt's baurlsheitt!" Andy spat back vexedly.

"What? I'm just explaining it as it is," he said with a chuckle stuck in his throat and a hint of teasing, lowering his hand and shaking his head when he went on, "Andy can sneak up on me, but she's never been able to land an attack on me."

"Isn't that a good thing?" asked Jimmy knitting his eyebrows.

"We maake aah gaame aof eit," said Andy with a shrug while laughing merrily. "AI uosuaarly rlaand aahrl aof mah aahtttaacks aon Prlaayerrs, Naoise…" She sharply struck out an index finger at the Harrier Reaper. "Yett aI caan'tt gett aah heitt aon him!"

He flashed his own index fingers at her and raised his thumbs up and hummed, "Slacker."

"Zaombee," she returned but in a murmur, grinning happily at him a moment later and he couldn't help but chuckle and lower his arms. She sharply drew closer to abruptly tug the big hood down over his face, causing him to cry out only to explode in laughter as she wrapped her arms around his torso and arms then squeezed him. "AI win!"

"No fair, you cheated-" he gasped out while he writhed in her hold, yet was unable to control his laughter as he stubbornly clung to him. He freed an arm to curl his hand slightly over her shoulder before playfully shoving her off, breaking her arms' link on his body without feeling resistance. "For your information, I let you do that," he added breathily- after killing a snort of amusement- with a feigned crossness. "You've won nothing…"

"Lyaarr, lyaarr, paantts aon fyerr!" she sang as she steadied her footing while he fixed the hood again. He ignored how she stuck her tongue out when he didn't call out a counterclaim, simply busying himself with making sure his eyes could peer out at her.

Andy gave him a long face when he was finished with adjusting the oversized hood, tilting her head with a wolfish smile. "Laound twao?"

"Learn when to quit when you've been beat, my friend," he returned lightly before gesturing towards Jimmy. "But I'm afraid we shouldn't roughhouse much more because this is Jimmy's home."

"Heh, no worries, mate," said Jimmy mellowly as he let out a laugh of his own, shaking his head in amusement. "Good on you for havin' fun. Not like you munted my wares or whatnot."

"Because I knew where to put my feet," the Harrier intoned smoothly before briskly heading over to check the mat. When it appeared the clay he spotted before laid untouched, he felt himself release a sigh of relief and turned his head towards the two other Reapers. "And everything is just as it was when we arrived," he announced as he started to pad back.

As he joined them, he smiled as he continued mildly, "Now that we've gotten that out of our system..." He clasped his hands as he took a moment to breathe in quietly. "I suppose all we need to do is wait for our hoodies to finish being washed and we'll be out of your hair."

"That reminds me." Jimmy cocked his head. "You're doin' a petition about dealin' the wrongdoers…"

"Ah, yes," murmured the Harrier, feeling himself become more alert at that topic. He cleared his throat before speaking again, "That is indeed our plan of attack, per say."

"And you said you were goin' to present the petition…?" said Jimmy in an odd tone of voice, which made the Harrier frown slightly. He tried to focus more on Jimmy's body language to figure out what he was going on about, wondering if something was wrong when Andy disturbed the Harrier's concentration.

"He waantts ta dao eit becaause we think the Caounduccttarr ded saomething ta him," quickly explained Andy as she adopted a serious manner, frowning unhappily and disgrundled as she crossed her arms. She shook her head. "Saomething aahbaoutt him sclewing with his mind, aorr-" She shot a look to him, her expression frantic within seconds as she silently pleaded for his compliance to help her out, he supposed.

With an inhale to prepare himself for his delivery, he turned his head to Jimmy. "What Andy means to say is that we have come to realize that the Conductor did something to me, and it could potentially undermine our efforts," he told the Support seriously. Andy breathed out a sigh and smiled, shuffling closer to him as he knitted his eyebrows. "Which is why we need to present Recruiting as soon as possible now."

"If it's too much to say, I was just goin' to ask how you were goin' to present the petition, but that's-" Jimmy scowled after a second, shaking his head with irritation. "Ratshit ow."

"Oh." The Harrier blinked, feeling as if he was momentarily dizzy before he spoke again, "Sorry about that." He placed a hand on his nape while Andy bewilderedly gaped in a frown, once and awhile stealing glances at him as he mulled over what Jimmy just said.

"If we focus on the subject of the petition…" he began uneasily, gritting his teeth in a grimace and awkward smile as he breathed out, "Let's just say that I've thought over how it'll go. I mean, I was trapped in the Barracks last Week, so I had plenty of time to figure out what to say, and what to go with, depending on the theoretical situations or responses that may come up during it-"

When he was met with puzzled expressions, he mentally backpedalled briefly. He coughed into his arm and spoke again, "M-Meandering aside, all I'm saying is that I know how I'll get the results to the person we need to hear from us."

"But… are you only goin' to pass out the notebook?" asked Jimmy uneasily, his eyebrows furrowing as he continued, "How will you explain it to the person- or who is the person you're goin' to-" Jimmy smacked his forehead and grimaced, soon speaking again but with a frown, "When you do a petition, aren't you supposed to do more than just hand in what you got from the petition?"

The Harrier blinked in surprise. "There's more?" He angled his head towards Andy, who widened her eyes. "Andy?"

"Aoh!" Andy cried out before she crookedly smiled… awkwardly? "Maaybe?" she hummed sheepishly with a shrug then started shaking her head. "AI meaan, aI've daone them... bautt aI've nevarr haanded them ein- eheh…"

Slowly the Harrier's expression became neutral. "You only knew about the signing part… didn't you?"

"Hey- hey-" she protested as he pivoted to fully face her, waving her arms in a fluster as she cried out with a huff, "Raook- wee gaott the signaatturres, sao whaatt's the big deaarl eif wee daon'tt dao aahneething erlse!?"

"I'm not angry, Andy," he told her simply. That made her blink in surprise before calming down slightly, gaping at him as he sighed, "Except, I would have liked to have known that in advance, seeing as this is the first time I'm doing one."

"...Aahpaorlegee aahceptted?" Andy asked in a tiny, hopeful voice. She clasped her hands near her chin and gave him a small grin; her amber-brown eyes faintly shining.

He waited a while before smiling slightly. "I suppose so."

"Aoh gaood…" she moaned as she dropped her hands, slumping forward. "Thaoughtt yaa werre gaoing ta be aahngree with meh."

"Why would I be angry with you?" asked the Harrier with a confused scowl, pursing his lips as he sighed again, "You're my friend, and I would like to hope you were not withholding that information from me because of a stupid reason."

"Leike…?" The dark dirty blonde tilted her head and she raised it slightly with a worried frown.

"A stupid reason that constitutes a snag that screws over Recruitment." He crossed his arms and huffed.

"Aoh gaood!" Andy piped and grinned brightly, giving huge body bobbing nods. She soon straightened her posture, slouching a bit afterward. "Phew."

"To be straight-up," started Jimmy as the Harrier snapped his attention to him again, watching the other male scratch his chin while his gaze looked off into the distance. "Dependin' on who you're presentin' it to, wouldn't it be all good if you make an explanation of what the Recruitin' is all about?"

"To make sure it doesn't get miscommunicated?" supplied the Harrier before receiving a nod. The Harrier put a hand over his chin, closing his eyes yet kept his eyelids slightly raised as he mused mindfully, "That is a good point, to be frank…"

Now that he thought about it… if he did his thing and left it at that, there was much room for confusion to bloom from the seeds he planted. Without it explained properly, or not offering an explanation at all, the proposition would be lost and lose all of what it stood for. Through repeating it, or paraphrasing from those passing on the message… by the time it got to the one person he truly wanted it to arrive at, it would develop into an entirely different meaning. For the Harrier, that was the last thing he wanted to happen.

One way to sort that out would be to limit the scope… However, as Jimmy suggested, a surefire way of ensuring it wouldn't happen would be to explain it with a different medium that wouldn't be sabotaged if every single person read the same message. As a matter of fact, that idea was perfect.

"If you would be so kind…" The Harrier merely smiled. "Do you suppose you could spare us paper and an envelope?"

"Course I can," said Jimmy with a keen nod. "How many?"

"I'll only take what I need if you supply me a stack," responded the Harrier evenly before he blinked slowly. "As well as… if you could tell me what else we may need to do in order to do this petition its justice."

Andy craned her neck towards him, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion before she started to chortle hard. "Dao jaustice!?" she croaked in the middle of a laugh, starting to slap her knee as her eyes clenched closed when laughing harder. "Aoh maan- thaatt's jaustt gaorld!"

Jimmy simply smiled, his grey eyes emitting his amusement as he gestured for the Harrier to follow him. "Hard out. I'll get you what you need, bro."

The Harrier's smile grew as he dipped his head. "Much thanks."

---

It was late in the Day when the Harrier and Andy left Jimmy's home after their preparation was complete and they had their hoodies back. Jimmy saw them out before locking his dwelling as they went down the steps, not before exchanging pleasantries that they would update him on the outcome of their proposition.

Before they started for the River, the Harrier let his friend take the lead so she could choose whatever shop caught her fancy. He wasn't going to allow for himself to break another promise, so he simply let her cart him around for the next hour until Andy happily trotted with brand new socks on; thankfully not complaining about how her feet hurt as he contently watched her.

When they first started doing stuff together, the vultures tended to think him and Andy were actually dating. The Harrier Reaper would have liked to dispel their misguided notions but Andy took care of that fairly easily. To be frank, would you keep talking nonsense if one of the subjects of your conversation cocked a rifle in your face and screamed broken Japanese until you let it go? ...If you had any common sense, that would be a no brainer.

It often frustrated him that he had to walk out each Day and remain silent until the gossip faded into obscurity- a breath of fresh air- when it wasn't in their interest to make it their business he was spending time with his only Partner who survived his Game Week with him. Sighing mentally, he wondered if the vultures still clung to hope that him and Andy were an item... but he wrinkled his nose in annoyance. Why did people think a guy spending time with a girl automatically declared them as daters? There were no rules for who you may or may not hang out with during your leisure, and right now, he was glad he could have a companion to shoulder Day-to-Day hardships with.

Part of his mind went back to what Jimmy said about Andy waiting for him all-Week-long after that thought, reinforcing his earlier urgency when trying finding his only friend...

"If you want, we could take another stop," he mused at some point into their journey back to the Shibuya River. "And get you a bag so you don't have to worry about your storage space." Well, he didn't mind that his knapsack was still cumbersome even after he bought Andy socks, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to lighten it more if it came to the expense of doing something nice for his friend.

The moment Andy shot him a bemused look, he let his gaze drift off. "I mean, after all the trouble I gave you with my disappearance last Week... that should be enough compensation." He put his hands into his pockets- careful not to crush his taot papers- while he continued walking with her. "Unless... you want the Yen Pins now, Andy." He drew his gaze back yet kept it lowered. "Since, you know, I've already crunched what I owe you from how much time-"

"AI daon'tt waantt yaawrr maonnee," Andy said with a small, unconcerned frown then spun on the sidewalk to stop and look at him. He grimaced slightly as he raised his head to look at his friend once he halted to regard her. She put her arms behind her head and leaned on air, so to speak, as she sighed, "AI'm jaust haapee yaaw'rre baack." She shrugged slightly. "Yaa knaow?"

"Mmm, that's good to know then..." he mumbled, feeling somewhat better yet didn't continue on walking. He simply blinked at Andy as he smiled a little. "But we don't have to go back right away."

The dark, dirty blonde knitted her eyebrows as she lowered her arms, her lips pursing. "AI thaoughtt yaa waantted ta gett this aoverr with aas saoon aas paossible?"

"If we hadn't met up with Jimmy, we could have." He took his hands out of his pockets carefully, sighing briefly before he tilted his head. "And maybe we would have botched everything and looked like buffoons."

"Yaawrr paointt?" sniffed Andy with a frown slowly tugging onto her lips, putting a hand on her hip as she put her other on her chin. "Yaa ausauaahrly daon'tt sauggest daoing aahneething aunress eitt's becaause aof meh eorr yaa'wrre naott feelring leike gaoing baack."

"Hah, you caught me," he breathed with a humourless laugh blowing out when he had spoken. "Guess I"m not as crafty as I may think." The Harrier closed his eyes, shaking his head before he mumbled as he put a hand over his heart, "When you think about it..." He slurred his words as he pondered what he could tell his friend, soon deciding to give a shrug. "We've done all that we've could, and yet-" He frowned as he blinked uneasily. "Now I feel like we should be doing more."

"Yaa saaid we caan'tt," Andy reminded him warily.

The Harrier let his shoulders fall before he took a step closer to her, nodding reluctantly. "Call it cold feet or whatnot, but what we're about to do will make or break everything."

"Bautt eit wirl waorlk." The female Reaper smiled wolfishly as her eyes crinkled. She drew her hands together and bobbed them she chirped, "We've gaotten this faalr, whaatt's staopping aus now?"

"Between you and me, what I'm going to say and do during our spiel will be risky diplomacy," he told her firmly, earning a confused raise of her eyebrows. Her amber-brown orbs owlishly regarded him curiously, giving him the invitation to enlighten her.

He raised one corner of his lips then let them become a flat line, inhaling before he started quietly, "We've lost our chance at having a guaranteed opportunity of catching the posh bastard today before he does whatever the fuck he does. So, seeing as we've pretty much wasted precious daylight..." He dipped his head before murmuring, "We're not going to let him leave our sight the moment he enters it tomorrow."

"Expraain." Andy grimaced yet smiled knowingly. That was one thing he loved about Andy; she didn't question his motives. Sure, she did in some cases, but with all that they've gotten done so far, they wouldn't have done anything if Andy didn't let him be the brains in their operation for the most part.

"Imagine this, my friend," he continued mildly with amusement, moving a hand to the sky and gazing past it in tune with his next delivery. "It's an average, Underground morning... The sun is its ever wonderful, golden goodness..." He whipped his head to her. "Reapers are waking, Players have no clue what they're in for as they rest in Stasis..." Letting his hand fall gradually until it was near his shoulder, he pulled both hands close to hover his palms over his chest. "Enter you and me."

He nodded when his friend did, feeling his heart slightly go warm as he knew she raptly absorbed his speech. It was like he was an exotic flower and Andy couldn't help but admire him... He gave a breathy chuckle at that silly thought, knowing she was all ears for the next phase of the plan.

The Harrier then shook his palms and let his hands go back to where they were, soon going on eagerly, "We, part of the vulture society, wake up as usual." He let his arms fan out and gestured through little circles and whisks of his hands as he crisply grinned. "We groom and ready ourselves for a gruelling, uneventful Day where we may get lectured by the posh bastard again- but wait!" He flicked his hands back up to let his left rest over his heart and hover his other near his mouth, almost covering it as he piped, "Oh no- we can't leave the River yet! We're confused!"

"Caonfused?" Andy chimed in warmly. She tipped her head back as chuckled, "Aoh nao... whaatt wirl we dao?"

The Reaper dropped his arms and smirked as he began pacing in front of her. "Oh, what else do Reapers do if they're confused..." He sharply turned, shooting a finger up as he rounded on Andy and laughed, "We ask for advice." His finger swayed down to point at her. "From there-" He popped a thumb up. "- history is made."

"Why aahrre yaa sao waorlied then?" Andy shook her head lightly and a giddy grin stretched across her face. After a few seconds, she gave a few soft claps as she nodded enthusiastically. "Eit's good! Eit's good."

"Yes, yes... all and good," he hummed in agreement as he crossed his arms. His his face soon became neutral as he coolly spoke, "But this is the part that relies all on me giving them a show to remember. If I don't sell us, Andy... we sink and drown."

The mustard hoodie wearer blew a raspberry and waved a hand down with an eye-roll. "Parease... Eit's purlfect, yaa gaot eit ein yaawrr heaad-" Her bright eyes grew wide as she chirped, "Yaa knaow whaatt ta dao aahnd aI'rl be rlightt behind yaa the whaorle waay thrlaoeugh!"

For a few seconds, the Harrier felt as if he was at a loss of what to say next. He let himself smile contently as he relaxed, blinking appreciatively back at his friend as he wondered what he would do without her. Already they pinpointed his inability to properly act was because of the posh bastard's Imprinter... so if it was just him and only him doing this, he was certain he wouldn't have the drive to keep going. Andy had a kind of effect of being able to motivate or push him into doing stuff he usually would blatantly ignore and deem meaningless to do... and it still worked even to this Day.

He had to hand it to her; Andy knew how to turn his head around.

"Yaa saaid befaorre..." Andy squinted and frowned, suddenly gaining his attention as he furrowed his eyebrows and wondered what she was going to say. With a few heartbeats of silence, she soon blinked before tipping her head and continued, "Therre waas aah cerrtaain pearlson yaa waantted ta give the thing ta..." Her gaze landed on him, expectantly pausing on him as she finished, "Sao, whao eis eit?"

"Oh." He breathed out and felt a little sheepish, letting his gaze drift away again and watched the road thoughtfully. "Well, since you asked..." Biting his lip sightly, he soon closed his eyes and sighed, "I'm going to ensure it goes to the right person."

"Thaatt's naott ahn aahnswerr," Andy chided teasingly as she let out an amused laugh, letting it keep going to warmly reach the Harrier's ears. She then took on a honeyed tone. "Daon'tt be aah silree-bilree... Yaa caan terl meh aahneething- aahnd naobaodee's herre-" She leaned forward, from what he felt and heard, and patted her hands against her legs as she croaked out playfully, "Caome aon... terl yaawrr bestt bauddee Andee everreething..."

He promptly turned his head to her, quirking a side of his lip up and hesitated for a while before he breathed, "Woof."

Andy's face was hilarious from how it fell, becoming disgrundled as she huffed, "Leaalree?"

"What?" He lifted both of his palms up as he shrugged. "It sounded like you wanted a dog to spill his deep, dark secrets."

"Aoh, aahrllightt..." she grumbled as she rose and straightened her back. She frowned in blatant disappointment before sighing with ease, "Thaoughtt eit waas waorlth aah shaott."

"You know, as amusing as that was," he curtly replied as he crossed his arms. "I was about to elaborate who our recipient was." Andy's face flashed with incredulous dismay and he shook his head with an eye-roll. "However... you kind of made me want to see what would happen at the end your little performance. So... being the good friend I am..." He smirked. "I let you have your fun."

Andy muttered under her breath, and he could have sworn there were swearing involved, then hung her head. "Caourld yaa terl meh now...?"

The Harrier tipped his chin up slightly and pointed the top of his gaze in the same direction. "Hmm..." He swayed a little, smacking his lips before setting his eyes back on his friend. "I suppose."

"Whaatt aahre yaa waaiting folr?" Andy pressed impatiently, tapping her feet as her head lifted. "Shaoot."

Stepping closer to her, casting wary glances around to make sure no vultures were actually listening in, he leaned towards her ear and whispered into it, "Him."

Waiting a few seconds, he could almost tell Andy was slowly starting to smile crookedly. "Gaott eit."

"Good then." He backed away and smiled contently. "And is that all of your grievances you have to discuss with me today, Shiza-"

Andy shoved him back, alarming him as his eyes went wide upon realizing how aggravated Andy had become in that short amount of time. Feeling bad that he actually thought it was okay to try use her surname at the expense of a joke when it was a sore subject matter for her, he lowered his head, nodded then sighed, "...S-Sorry."

His friend's voice was frigid. "Daon'tt yaa daarre everr think ta ause eitt..." Her gaze was dangerously dark and sharp as she aloofly scoffed, "Yaa knaow that."

Nodding again uneasily, he simply gave her a sad look. "N-Noted."

With the previously relaxed air now tense with awkwardness, the Harrier pursed his lips before he sighed again, "...I still want to get you a bag."

"Why?" Andy growled as she crossed her arms grumpily.

"Look, it's convenient and I want to make sure you, my friend, are taken care of," he told her stiffly before he simply walked past her. "Don't point guns at me for wanting to do something nice for you."

As he continued forward, feeling guilty that he ruined their first conversation in a while that wasn't taxed with stress and was a semblance of normal, Andy took a while before she started to follow him. "AI gaueess."

He felt his body grow less tense. "I only want the best for you, Andy."

"AI knaow."

The Harrier nodded and bit his lip, soon sighing in annoyance, "Look, if you won't be excited about the fact you're getting a free bag..." He let his lips rise slightly. "I'm going to make sure its pink as fuck."

When his friend gave a shriek of anger, which soon devolved into laughter as he started to sprint away, he silently laughed along with her as she tried to catch up to him.

Mirth bloomed in his shaking chest.

---

Yawning as he stretched, the Harrier smacked his lips as he swung himself up in his bed, sighing in relief before he scratched at one of his temples drearily. He ignored the fact he was the only one awake as he tugged on his Ligres, quietly doing up his laces while rehearsing the pitch he was contemplating last night in his head again.

Today was the Day… Just knowing that he had to figure out a way to corner the posh bastard, to hand off the letter Jimmy helped to assemble and provide the materials, suddenly made him feel as if it was realer than he thought it would ever be.

The past Days were all but to sniff at in context to how the Harrier was about to push through with making his vision a reality; something that he'd chased up to now… It all came down on him as he tried to fight off the nervousness threatening to keep him from leaving his bed, as if the planky mattress would save him from the consequences of putting his foot forward into the path of the door he could have just grabbed the doorknob of to stop.

As he finished with his shoes, he made a move to grab his knapsack when he felt himself twitch upon hearing stomps. His body remaining rigid, he carefully made out how the sadist was a part of the moving masses, not wanting the sadist to notice him as the older man was about to lumber by… That would have worked if the sadist hadn't stopped to send a disgruntled look, a flash of unreadable emotion flickering from his gaze, before following the other Reapers.

The Harrier felt himself tensing almost on instinct, immediately aware of how that expression told him enough. He simply deigned to pull his knapsack out quietly. 'After I meet with devil darling, I think you'll know better than to bulldoze my viewpoint again,' he thought bitterly in gloating as he slid the ochre knapsack on, waiting patiently for the Supports and other Harriers to amble through the exit. He didn't want to pull out his trump card when the eyes of vultures could snuff him out upon notice of said key to salvation. 'I'm going through with my plan whether or not you chain me down to this shithole for eternity like he did...'

When he deemed there wouldn't be much for interference, he slowly yet discreetly shifted closer to his pillow. He pretended he was fumbling his hands whilst making sure the bag was settled on his back right for audience assurance, carefully watching the onlookers as he subtly wiggled his fingers underneath the pillow to draw out the envelope. Pausing, he feigned exhaustion when a Reaper stuck their head in and was telling him to hurry up, making sure their focus was on him as he fleetingly hid the proposal in his hoodie pocket before getting up to follow them.

Andy was quick to fall into step with him, which he silently acknowledged as he was fixing his hood. The steps from her boots and his Ligres started to calm his nerves, inhaling slowly to savour the fresh, untainted smell of softener and the new feel of softness the black fabric had as they continued walking.

Of all the things that he arrived at from the various outcomes the Harrier walked himself through before he tried to let himself sleep, he would have to make sure the last thing the posh bastard did was destroy the proposal upon obtainment. The only obstacle would be the posh bastard's skepticism, distrust and curiosity… three potential threats to the proposal's safe travel. So, to make sure they did this right, he had to act as if nothing was out of the ordinary… That was something he would have liked to say was already happening, but he knew the posh bastard would complain otherwise about it. Thus, he would have to suppress his dignity to assume urbanity… bite back the urge to scream and yell immaturely... if he were to gain the posh bastard's regard and cooperation.

The Harrier shifted easily into the crowd and blatantly ignored the posh bastard's pompous speech, letting it become indiscernible noise that failed his comprehension as he simply concentrated on what truly mattered. The Reaper tried to ease his body into a relaxed stance, disregarding the itch his hands had to move about or hold themselves. He coolly paid mind to the fact he would have to have an ideal route to access the man without trivial obstructions barring their passage. A surefire way to gain an audience from the man; one without the cost of appearing intentional and sketchy while doing so.

Flicking his gaze to Andy, who was watching him, he simply dipped his head slightly and went the extra mile by rotating the tip of his right Ligre to make contact with her closer ruddy-orange boot. By the time he shifted his foot to point outright forward with his other, he made note of how Andy was desperately stifling a snicker, soon messing with her shaggy, cropped locks as she flattened her lips.

'Perfecto…' he thought with a smirk, resisting the urge to chuckle as he simply kept his gaze towards the uppity-dressed man in the distance. He drew his chin up to be at normal level, hoping to appear nonchalant as he wiggled his jaw in amusement. 'Everything is to be in order.' He relaxed his face, blinking slowly before he closed them in the middle of another one. 'All that's left is the preamble to our act's grand opening.'

When his eyes stared forward again, he felt them sharpen. 'The show will soon go on… and you will listen to me.'

---

As the minutes soon had their payoff, bodies started to weave and worm past his frame.

'Time to shine...' He gave the tiniest of nods to Andy before he led the way forward. 'Let's put on a show.'

She took on a quiet, unassuming strut while he chose to take on a nimble, determined amble while following his focused-route through the receding vultures. He braced himself the closer they neared the nobles' territory with his gaze unflinching from the unsuspecting dapper Reaper, who was speaking with one of his, court members, if you will...

It was apparent their presence wasn't unknown, as he felt heads turn and burn into his flesh- despite how he concealed it brilliantly- and reacted sparsely amoungst themselves as he was about to step onto the soil he was set to invade. The Harrier all but forced himself to welcome the unwanted attention, trying his best to concentrate on the posh bastard, who apparently wasn't too absorbed in himself to notice them as well.

Slowly, the man swivelled in deft movements with his cane to right himself to face them, his gaze turning heedful and questioning the longer he regarded them. He intoned warily, "Support Reapers, what appears to be the matter for you to enter our presence at this kind hour?"

Even with how the words pretended to be civil when they were anything but, the Harrier would play off of it just fine.

He simply tilted his head, curling his lips as he breathed out quietly, "Oh, I believe our hello isn't in order then?" He clapped his hands together, holding the motion as he clicked his tongue before continuing on fauxly bright, "Very well, I suppose I'll just go and make this quick for both of our sakes."

As he was rewarded with the dull, polite smile and a 'mellow' 'you may go on', the Harrier chuckled before he spoke suavely sweet, "For your information, I only wish for a mere favour from you."

That all but made the Officers chous and murmur to themselves, some choosing to silently stare holes further into him, before the hive mind vigilantly drew their gazes to the Conductor. It appeared, to the Harrier's satisfaction, that the posh bastard almost appeared to be fighting off an eyebrow twitch if the Harrier imagined it hard enough.

Drawing in a breath, the finely-dressed man's lips pulled tighter as he politely dipped his head. "What may I do for such an occasion?"

Ah-ah- you see that? Pleasantry for those who he surrounded himself with! The Harrier was right to meet the man head-on and corner him in the place he least wanted to be trapped in. It was simple, if he were to go off of the posh bastard's probable line of thinking: All must maintain their mien in the manner of their court, or they would lose favour and respect from those who followed blindly. If the man was on his own, the Harrier would be given a flat out denial- outright refusal- to bend to the Harrier's whim... but such was not the case.

Slowly sucking in a breath of his own to ground himself, the Harrier siphoned the mystique he may have gained in the last minute as he released his hands. The Harrier promptly raised a finger up. "Ah yes-" He drew his hand close to his pocket opening, applauding himself for his current vantage as he wheedled out warmly, "Now, I have this..." He fished out the envelope, blinking brightly and beaming as he chirped on, "- message, you see." He whisked the proposal lightly with gaiety as he all but purred out, "But I had no clue what to do to send it..."

The posh bastard's eyebrows furrowed for a slight moment, yet his face soon rested when he mused politely, "You require assistance with your letter?"

Tutting quietly, he wagged the envelope playfully as he shook his head and chuckled, "Oh no, no, no…" He shrugged while carrying the letter loosely, smiling knowingly as he laughed mentally about the man's obliviousness. "This is not just a letter." He relaxed his body and gradually held out the envelope towards the posh bastard, smirking as he murmured, "It's a…" He gingerly flapped the letter distractedly. "A little something, yeah."

He stilled the motion, pausing for the dramatic and awe-filled effect he hoped he instilled, then severed the string he was roping them all along on. "It has my love and faith that it will not be meddled with if you would be so kind to deliver it for me." He slanted the envelope to be perfectly flat, dipping his head as he finished, "If it isn't much of trouble, I would hope."

Waiting eagerly, he curiously flickered the top of his gaze to watch and see how the posh bastard would respond to such a request. The Harrier even forgone the crowd's consensus on what they agreed to consider him with, just so they wouldn't divert his concentration from the man.

From what the Harrier could make out, the man wasn't approaching him; simply scrutinizing him under his veil of courtesy. The Harrier all but expected for this to happen, so he started to run through his various preregistered preambles. The Harrier had to be in tune with the response the posh bastard may give, thus, he lent himself his ear for when the man would speak so the Harrier could pull out the right passage from his script.

"I feel inclined to ask," started the man in a rich, honeyed-tone, shifting his hand on his left-held cane as he lilted without missing a beat, "Why you would intend to ask for me to deliver this message of yours?" He whisked his right hand to his left then right side, holding it in place when he finished the former gesture. "There are many Officer Reapers who I am sure would be happy to assist another Reaper in their pursuits…"

Raising his head, silently plucking out his next lines, the Harrier inhaled before he responded fluently, "Oh, now that's not a tricky case to crack. You see…" He lightly twirled the tip of the envelope without moving his wrist from where he hovered it, pretending to buy himself the time to think of a response or ponder the question before he ceased the motion. He smirked within his smile. "Of all the… people-" Good save; calling them vultures would net in a negative appeal to his case. "- I know around the Underground, I have heard only one can directly contact the Composer."

As he expected, a hush fell over the Lounge.

Left-to-right, he felt Officers almost immediately turn to themselves to whisper or throw each other secret messages only they may encode and assemble meaning from. The posh bastard's face didn't change... however, how he gripped his cane gave the Harrier the reassurance he nailed wiggling with the man's heartstrings perfectly.

"I-I beg your pardon?" breathed the posh bastard, as if he too knew he hadn't recovered well enough to disguise his disbelief.

Behind him, the Harrier could feel Andy shift almost into a confident stance; crossing her arms as he all but passed on mirroring her. He instead mentally emulated her, simply smiling harder and gave a curt nod before he murmured calmly, "I'm sorry, I don't quite understand what's puzzling you about this."

The Harrier caught a few sparse comments from the audience, trying to school his expression as he all but waited on the posh bastard openly. ...It wouldn't do to lose face in front of them now, would it?

"How does that Harrier Reaper know about the Composer!?"

"He has to be kidding-"

"Did he just… ask to have something delivered to the Composer?"

"Is he crazy?"

"Seems confident about it, though…"

"He can't possibly believe he can order the Conductor himself around just to pass on a letter to someone as important as the Composer-"

The words of the Officers ceased when the posh bastard silently raised his right hand, his gaze sweeping his left and right briefly before landing on the Harrier again. The man simply cleared his throat then lowered his hand, smiling with a dazzling smile as he softly mused, "Excuse my confusion... Do you mean to tell me you truly intend that this must be given to the Composer?" He paused before adding politely, as the Harrier noticed his left hand may have gripped his cane tighter, "Am I correct?"

Instead of letting the temptation of chuckling or proceeding to break down that question to nothing envelop him, the Harrier didn't try to make himself appear condescending. He curtly nodded. "Yes. I wish for the Composer to receive and read the contents of this envelope without interruption," he said confidently, not wanting to shift out of his stance from growing impatient or uneasy as he tacked on smoothly, "And if I am to be bold to request, I expect a swift response."

Letting himself study the posh bastard, the Harrier mentally hummed as he watched the various emotions pass through the finely-dressed man's midnight blue gaze whilst ignoring the rest of the audience.

This was it… he had to hammer this down right here and now for the ticket to Recruiting to be delivered on a silver platter! The thought made him almost giddy with excitement as he tried to suppress the feeling to swell just in his mind and heart, not wanting to bounce on the spot and look stupid for 'no reason'. This was the moment he was waiting for- flushing the smugness from that posh bastard's system and have their roles flipped so the man would flounder before the Harrier as all the lectures, scoldings, punishments, warnings and reprimands would twist and lash back at the one who made them!

This was his time to maintain vantage- to wear it proudly for all to see!

"...I suppose I may be able to grant your request, yes," started the posh bastard off as he grasped the envelope carefully. He slid it out of the Harrier's grip- who simply didn't move as he caught how the posh bastard appeared to be almost half-muttering to himself- whilst turning as he spoke. The fawn-coloured haired man took a few steps away as he adjusted his hold, his back facing the Officers, the Harrier and Andy as he added promptly, "Return to your duties, all of you."

"Make sure the Composer gets it," intoned the Harrier; his voice slick and firm. "I don't want anyone to have read it before it has been received."

He internally smirked at the way the posh bastard suddenly halted, assuring himself the timing was perfect as the Harrier congratulated on how he caught the man red-handed even before the act was performed.

It wasn't that hard to predict that the man would rip open their proposal only to dispose of it; maybe not that far off from the notion the posh bastard would turn a corner, burn it then wait twenty minutes to commit forgery and dismiss them without mercy. Although, the posh bastard always pretended he was an honourable man- so perhaps he wouldn't try to act so petty to fake penmanship… The Harrier felt, perhaps, the posh bastard could go to that extreme. However... if the Composer found out about that, maybe that act wouldn't allow for things to end well for the dapper bastard.

…Here's to hoping the Composer wasn't oblivious to His second-in-command's duplicity, the Harrier prayed dryly. He might as well invite the man to squirm his way out of this… knowing the posh bastard wouldn't be fooling the Harrier easily.

The posh bastard remained silent for a short while longer before he breathed, "You have my trust it will not fall into the wrong hands."

"I wasn't talking about that," replied the Harrier coolly, simply retracting his hand as he pressed calmly, "It is for the Composer, and only for the Composer. No one else." He paused for a few seconds, soon bringing it all together as he smirked. He dipped his chin down slightly. "Sir."

Watching the man's head start to twist to look back, it appeared the man gave up halfway before facing forward again. The Harrier would have loved to hear another excuseful diversion, however, the posh bastard chose to saunter away without another word.

...Huh, looks like the man didn't have another counter at the ready to defend himself with. Or, mind you, another way to try to pretend he wasn't planning on viewing it first, the Harrier mused to himself in disappointment. Such a shame… the Harrier was looking forward to dismantling another attempt at sorry rationalization.

As the posh bastard paused near the end of the Lounge, the moment the man blinked seemingly out of existence allowed for the wonderful rejoice to enter and swirl inside his heart. And yet, the Harrier held back the urge to laugh in gloating of his victory as he finally sent an assured look to Andy; pleased at the result he drew them towards and wanted to see how his friend was faring on her end.

Andy's bright, amber-brown eyes shimmered with giddy warmth; an ear-to-ear grin climbing onto her lips as she nodded back to him tenderly… proudly… That was enough for him.

The Harrier finally relaxed, aware of how he was already grinning back.

All that was left was to wait... wait for the Composer to grant them their dream's right to exist in reality.

---

Andy was tapping his arm, rousing him from a sitting-doze as he blinked from the couch. He wasn't sure when he started to drift off, but her fingers curled around his wrist, tugging insistently when he hadn't reacted to her right away. It made him annoyed until he realized the posh bastard had returned.

Feeling as if he had just swallowed weights, he sprung up to his feet as the man sauntered over to him. He resisted the need to clasp his hands over his stomach as he eagerly drank in the fact the posh bastard had an ivory envelope in hand.

"Is that it?" he asked immediately as the posh bastard's neutral expression didn't serve to give him hints on how he felt. The Harrier took the envelope and began twisting it around curiously and excitedly until he noted there was an intricate, cobalt seal plastered on the back folds with the Reaper Sigil as its insignia. His previous theory for forgery was further thrown out the window when he saw the addressee delicately inscribed on the front.

To My dear Correspondent

The Harrier smiled warmly. If this didn't prove the Composer existed to the naysayers, this will.

Andy slowly came to his side, craning her neck and twisting her head at the item as he further studied it for a few more moments. The Harrier suddenly was wrought with various emotions, feeling as if he couldn't filter through them or mute how they overloaded him. He was certain joy was a part of it, maybe dizziness that in his hand, he was holding the proof that the Composer read what he wrote to Him... He wasn't so sure, but he almost felt he was close to crying where he was standing.

His mind finally drew him back to the present when he turned his gaze from it to regard the posh bastard, who was mindfully watching him. The Harrier pursed his lips as he toyed with the idea of saying something to the man, but then again, he supposed he shouldn't be rude about how the same man did him a solid. As much as he would rather ignore the stare he was receiving, the request should be repaid in some form… right?

"I-I…" he started carefully, pinching his lips more as the fawn-coloured haired man shifted in response as if he was ready to heed the Harrier. The Harrier was somewhat reluctant now that he got the man's attention, feeling his throat go dry and blinked uneasily as he tried to force the words out. "...Suppose a thanks is to be in order."

The posh bastard adjusted his grip on his cane. "You are welcome." The tone suggested the stoic male was expecting something... not the gratitude the Harrier hated to have said when the man hardly reciprocated the Harrier's seldom used manners correctly.

Flickering his eyes back to the Composer's response, he knitted his eyebrows. He felt as if there was a sudden strain in the air, perhaps an awkwardness… It was as if he should have done something else and yet he felt that anything that had to be said met the requirements for such an exchange. With the envelope in possession, all he had to do was slit it open and finally see its contents… but he wasn't sure if it was a good idea to do it now or later. The posh bastard may not respond positively to the message, therefore, it may be best to read it out of earshot and hope the Composer had the mind to fill His Conductor in on what had occurred.

Yes, the Harrier supposed that would be for the best.

Keeping his gaze lowered, the Harrier somewhat grimaced as he mumbled, "Yes, uh, well-" He cleared his throat, swallowing once or twice as he kept his attention on the man's movements. He spoke on as clearly as he could despite how nervous he was for no reason, "That's all we came here for, so I suppose that'll be all."

"Indeed," intoned the posh bastard plainly, nodding curtly while his midnight-blue eyes remained fixed on him. "If you have any more requests that require additional assistance again, do not be afraid to ask. You may also refer yourself to the Officer Reapers at your earliest disposal." That response made the Harrier think it was from a line of options on an uncanny script the man would pick and choose from. So bland and so, so courteous... The Harrier couldn't be more repulsed they were used on him.

The Harrier twisted around without a word, setting his gaze forward as he marched off with Andy not too far behind. The further they got from the finely-dressed man, the more the Harrier's earlier excitement flooded back in as he felt a smile twitch onto his lips again and gazed down at their well-earned prize.

After all this waiting, planning and hardship… they finally had what they wanted. All that was left was to see what the Composer had to say.

---

It took a while of walking through the various cement corridors after going upwards, traveling alongside the timeless underground river, that they found solitude. The Harrier knew the best place to read would be somewhere that the vultures would detest going to, so they hid and squeezed themselves- after minutes of trudging up to their knees in water through the branched-off channel- into a cranny that was shallower. As much as Andy had complained on the way here about how freezing it was, this was where the Harrier wanted to be more than anything right now.

A place where only they could share the fruit of their labour in peace.

...He could exist with a cold if it meant the vultures wouldn't destroy their moment.

The Harrier idly picked at one end of the ivory folds, using his tips of his nails to try and create a rip to exploit until he carefully ran one nail through the opening he managed to break into. His friend kept watch for unwelcome visitors as he worked his way into the envelope, aware of how she would watch him with a small, content smile briefly until he was peering in to see their reward.

"Yaa caourld haave jaust taurrn eit," Andy commented as he felt himself grin the longer he gazed at their answer.

"We can't ruin it," he insisted curtly, frowning at her when he raised his head and narrowed his eyes. "This is special. Too important."

"Eif yaa saay sao..." Andy sighed in resignation, shaking her head lightly. She then gave him a grin and rubbed her hands together hastily. "Then why daon'tt yaa aohpen eit? Rett's see aourr gaoodies, mah sawheett bumpkein!"

The Harrier offered a smirk and wagged a finger in her direction. "Easy, tiger…" He placed his left hand over his heart and raised the envelope up with his right. "We should relish this glorious moment as it should be relished." When Andy stuck out her tongue, he simply chuckled as he lowered his arms then waved the envelope in 'defeat', "Alright, alright- let's do this."

Hooking his fingers in to fish it out slowly, he grinned as his heart soared when unfolding the parchment. Already he felt himself bounce on his toes as Andy clapped her hands slightly with an even wider grin, hesitating for one moment before he began to finally read.

To My dear Correspondent,

Upon receiving Your missive, I could naught be more astounded as I have naught had the pleasure of receiving them in such a long time. It warms My heart to know I am naught forgotten, and are still considered by those who dwell in My Underground. Henceforth, I must extend My gratitude to You for how You have reached out to Me.

The Harrier briefly glanced at his friend. "He appreciates how we took the time to send something to Him!" he hissed cheerfully, feeling his heart soar at the thought he was right to have listened to Jimmy to send in a supplementary message to explain themselves. With that in mind, he went back to the parchment eagerly to know more.

In regards to the substance You have brought to My awareness, it pains Me to know the people of Shibuya are suffering as they are. I cannot be more disappointed My Realground citizens still walk an amuck path, which from it they turn to grievous actions to wrought upon unnecessary suffering onto their own without the slightest of remorse or compassion. It is naught Our fault the people have deigned to these accords, only for Us to be unable to reach and catch them safely before the victims have fallen.

His smile shook; falling as he knitted his eyebrows.

As for Your supposed 'Recruitment', to eliminate the 'Wrongdoers', as You have come to call them… I could naught be more disappointed. You have discussed in detail how You plan to deal with the threat You feel is to be stopped, and yet, I want to be certain to understand if You have naught considered the possibility that killing those who have wronged others will coagulate You into the same category as them or naught. I mean naught to accuse You, only to reaffirm Your reasoning.

We should naught tamper with the will of life, or the instances that manifest from them, as it would only be disrupting the balance of the world and toying with our morals. The Reapers' Game is for My judgement of the lost, or what we know as those who are the Dead. It is naught a playground for those to fall victim to sinning onto the Plane We have left behind; Our existences and the Realground's lives are to be separate and parallel to one another, as We no longer are connected to their lives. What You have suggested defies the equilibrium We must uphold between the two Planes of Existenc.

I dolefully regret that I must decline Your proposition wholeheartedly. Do naught grieve upon My decision, it is for the best.

Sincerely,
The Composer

The Harrier read the letter again; shallowly breathing and tightening his grip, faintly hearing the parchment crinkle in protest.

"Well…?" Andy beamed, clasping her hands as she leaned slightly closer. "When daoes eit staarrtt?"

He let out a shaky exhale and clenched his eyes. "A-Andy…"

She tipped her head, still smiling. "Yeaah?"

"I-It…" He shook his head, all but shoving the letter to her. He withdrew into himself as she raised her eyebrows in confusion. "N-No."

The dirty blonde grimaced and put her available hand on her hip when she frowned at him. "Yaa maaking nao sense. Whaatt's the maatter?"

Instead of responding, he held his tongue. Right now, he didn't trust that he could speak without choking on his own tongue. His stomach felt like it was being clenched and rolled around, leaving him to feel the need to prepare for puking yet nothing would come out no matter how long he waited for the bile spray to begin.

He was aware he was dizzy the moment Andy turned back to him, watching her form blur rapidly only to regain focus on how she widened her amber-brown orbs. "H-Hey," she said in an uneasy note, reaching over to squeeze his shoulder. However, he knew she had only by the motion of the touch. "Eisn'tt this aah sheittee jaoke?" she then asked with a little chuckle, grinning tightly yet he could hardly make himself do the same thing. "R-Right?"

As her hand curled more around his shoulder, the Harrier felt his face was pulling into a blank expression as he stood still beside her. He wasn't sure why, but he couldn't find it within himself to listen in to his thoughts. He knew he was thinking and his mind was empty, as if his brain itself was struggling to decide what it wanted to do with him.

The Reaper couldn't understand; it just didn't make sense to him. The Composer thought they were...

He closed his eyes.

Everything seemed to have muted in the last few seconds; he just couldn't tell what was going on. He knew something was happening, but he also knew nothing was happening to him. If he got sucked into a void that acted as a vacuum that left him stranded in misdirection, he wouldn't know any better. The nineteen-year-old all but inhaled and exhaled as deeply as he could without accidentally sputtering on the self-made current.

A small part of him urged for him to try interpreting the message again.

When Andy let the Harrier have the response back, he all but stared at the same cruddy words. Nothing changed since the last two times he read them...

Blinking slowly, he lowered his head as he felt his grip slacken.

Andy squawked out something but it never reached his ears, only dwelling on the fact he felt like he was swimming through sludge… or rather, his mind was flailing in said sludge. Suddenly, he gasped- gapping as he wildly drew himself up from where he found himself in the shallow bed of water. Whipping his head around, he shakily breathed until it calmed when Andy leant down beside him and was propping her hands on her knees.

"Aarre yaa aohkaay naow?" she asked flatly.

"A-Am I-" He stiffened after a flinch, widening his eyes as he gasped out loudly, "My taot paper-!"

The Harrier straightaway shoved his body up and leant against the wall as he frantically searched his pockets, ignoring how his body shivered furiously. He soon drew out his soggy square and rectangle sheets and stared down in horror at how they clung to his fingers. 'They're ruined!'

"Why'd you do that!?" he angrily demanded as he instantly swerved to Andy.

He scowled hard as Andy growled back with irritation, "Yaa werren'tt lespaonding!"

The Harrier almost bit back at her when he blinked in dismay, soon allowing himself to switch to a mild annoyance as he all but showed her his hands. "Thanks for the dip, Andy, but you got them drenched," he hissed instead as he waded past her, marching with the current as he tried to resist the urge to clench his hands. He carefully held up his palms, kicking through water and following the invisible trail they previously took until he found dry land again.

As soon as he sat down on the cement floor, ignoring how his back protested from how his knapsack was being sandwiched between it and the wall, he narrowed his eyes as he gently rested his rectangular taot sheet on his left black sleeve while focusing on his square one sticking to his left palm. He touched his right middle finger to the inner-upper-side of his thumb, curling his raised hand close to his chest.

He only had so much time to work with before they were rendered useless.

The Harrier grimaced as he watched the frantic red and black squirming on the soaked square taot, telling himself he had to be careful unless he wanted to beset a stampede through the River and get back on the posh bastard's radar. While he understood Andy's intentions were well-natured, he couldn't help but be frustrated that he had to deal with this now. These papers were the only mechanisms for Reapers to capture and utilize the Noise through their Art usage… there was no telling how angry the Noise would be if they broke out of their seal because an aquatic roughhousing desaturated their Noise Symbol.

Even as he sat crosslegged on the cement ground, hearing the swish of the dark riverbed, his mind briefly drew back to the letter. The Harrier momentarily felt himself close his eyes as he could have sworn he'd memorized the words enough for them to dance and destroy his thoughts. He tried to gather himself together as he returned to focusing on the now partly see-through square.

Inhaling quietly and hearing the sharp rustle of his drawn breath, he held it in before closing his eyes. 'Got to take this nice and easy… no theatrics or flare.'

He tried to mentally search for the familiar split ends of his veins to start pushing energy through them, searching for the one root he needed to land himself on the exact point to access his much required Pin's power. He tried to trickle in an eighth of his usual power when he felt it arrive at the right Pin, smiling slightly before letting it encumbrance his Ignis Swarm and soon felt heat at his barely-connected fingertips.

With another measured inhale to brace himself, he whisked his wrist downwards as he snapped his fingers.

A tiny ember sailed from his flicked fingers, observing it contently as it fluttered in the direction he intended it to go as it approached his other hand to hover above it. He waited, hoping he didn't put too much oomph into the Psych before the ember burst into a mini-explosion that warmed his hand. After the wisp of black smoke became particles disappearing into nothingness, he then experimentally touched his taot square; pleased with the initial results.

Although the taot square was still damp, he continued his progress as he heard his friend join him; she had taken to resting against the wall with her arms crossed from what he could see with his side-vision. As another baby explosion greeted him, she sighed, "AI'm saorree."

Nodding, he drew a finger along the sheet's perimeters, running it along the sides and corners. He flipped the square on its backside before releasing another tiny ember. "Regardless," he crisply returned, ignoring how drearily quiet his voice was when he mused, "I know I can't keep recycling them. Who knows if they weaken over time, or if a tiny rip from flashing them out so often may end up leaving me with a bed buddy to keep me company until daybreak."

"Sao yaa think they'rl be aohkaay?" she asked in soft concern.

"I may have to get an Officer to reissue some for me." He shrugged after checking on the small square sheet again, feeling it poke against the sides of his palms at the solidity it regained. After slipping it into his frontal hoodie pocket for temporary safekeeping, he flattened and pressed his left fingers together again as he laid out the floppy rectangle onto the hand.

He knitted his eyebrows, snapping his fingers again as Andy gave a tiny chuckle, "Haow raong dao yaa think eit'rl taake?"

"Depends," he murmured absently, pursing his lips thoughtfully at the next baby-explosion. "...Or, what I mean to say is... depends on why you're asking," he added albeit bashfully.

"Yaa raook daown, sao aI think eit caourld be grleaatt eif wee gao aahlaound aouttside," Andy explained just as he was about to set off another ember, now turning his head gradually to her instead and she grinned back when his hood fully faced her. She tightened her lips as he continued gazing at her, not sure why he didn't have anything to provide to regard her suggestion as she prompted, "Yaa knaow whaatt aI mean…?" She winked cheekily; her jaw on the same side wiggled in sync.

"The other vultures probably have their hands full, so I doubt there are many Officers around to ask for petty requests," he shrewdly said as he looked at the rectangle again and snapped his fingers. As the next ember fluttered off, he quietly lowered his gaze. "Not to mention... I'll have to spend my time waiting on them to secure my Noise safely and deal with their bullshit in the meantime."

"Then why naott hurlee aup aahnd wee caan geitt aout aof herre faasttarr?" Andy whined as she released a small groan, shaking her head as she continued on with a jab of her right arm sideways, "Waastting daaayrigjtt lightt naow…"

"Just let me deal with this." He prodded the rectangular taot sheet, supposing it may need a few more reheats before he could properly gauge its visibility.

Andy shut herself up as he worked, worriedly biting his lower lip as he soon brought the paper close to his hood. 'Looks a bit worse for wear…' He rotated it and examined it as closely as possible for any imperfections he could very well miss when he halted at the sight of a tear. 'Dammit…' He scowled at the fidgety Symbols on the elongated taot paper, muttering a curse as he shoved the potentially hazardous Noise cage in to be with the otherwise 'safe' square one.

"I think it may be best to trade these in now and forgo a surprise attack later," he announced quietly as he helped himself up to face his friend at peak height. He shoved his hands into his dark green pants pockets, shifting as he added with an unhappy sigh, "As much as I'd rather avoid the exchange…"

"Whaatt aahbaoutt gaoing aoutt!?" Andy asked incredulously.

The Harrier frowned, tipping his head slightly. "To do what?"

Andy's expression fell, her amber-brown eyes wide with disbelief as she exclaimed, "Aour thing!" She narrowed her eyes, shaking her head as she growled, "Whaatt wee werle daoing ta geett aahceptted!"

At the mere mention, the Harrier's previously untroubled demeanour was punctured.

He suddenly felt as if all that he was thinking and feeling bled out as the infectious, heavy weight of emptiness fell in to replace what was lost. His eyes broadened as he failed to breathe in that moment while he was numbly gazing at his friend.

"...Wh-What are you talking about?" the Harrier found himself saying faintly. He watched Andy's face warp into bewilderment before he drew his head down to fixate his eyes onto his Ligres. "Th-The response…"

Andy marched up to stand right in front of him, planting her hands on her hips and sharply jutted her upper body forward to skeptically regard him. "Whaatt dao yaa meaan whaatt aI'm taarlking aahbaoutt?"

"The Composer denied us!" he shouted out with dismay and shook his head uneasily. "H-He told us-"

"Why shaourld eit maattaarr whaatt waas saaid!?" Andy challenged in ill-temper, causing him to throw his head back up to gape at how aggressively stiff she held herself. She stood up taller again and whipped a finger towards him sharply. "Eit waas burlsheitt! Mustt haave been the Caounductarr scruwing with yaa aahgaain!"

"It was from the Composer!" he protested as he gasped out, gritting his teeth as he retorted, "How could you say that!?"

"Yaa said the Caompaoserr waourld aahcephtt this!" she growled back as she abruptly stepped forward, swinging a hand into her pocket. Within seconds she lashed out her palm to reveal an almost soaked, crumpled ball, with blue diluting ink and leftover water dripping off her hand readily. It must have been the letter, he supposed with appall, but how did it get wrecked like that!?

"This waas aah tlick aon yaa! Sao haow caourld this bee rleal!?" Her hardened face darkened drastically. "Haow caourld the Caompaoserr bee rleal!?"

The Harrier bristled. "He is real!" He clenched his hands as he bit out coldly, "Why would you doubt that!?"

"Yaa keep terling meh the Caompaoserr eis reaarl, bautt haow caan thaatt bee tlue!?" Andy's narrowed her eyes to slits. She chucked the wet ball and stomped down on it fluently with a squish and thump as she spat, "AI leaad this even with aahll eit's smaancee-spaanee shit aahnd aI knaow this caan'tt bee flaom aah leaarl pearlsaon!" She twisted her ruddy-orange boot, blue oozing out from under it to his dismay, as she snarled, "AI daon'tt even knaow wherre yaa gaott aahn aideaa thaatt eit existted!"

"I heard it from someone," he tersely told her, narrowing his gaze as he went on, "I know he's real."

"Then whao waas eit? Wherre waas eit?" growled Andy lowly.

The Harrier opened his mouth and began to speak when he stopped. He frowned, mentally backpedalling as he knitted his eyebrows. "I don't know."

"Yaa knaow," Andy practically growled out as she stiffly walked towards him. "Yaa knaow… daon'tt rie."

As his friend approached him, the Harrier scrambled his mind as he all but said quietly, "I don't know…" Grimacing, he pressed a hand to his temple as he mumbled, "Someone told me… but I don't have an inkling where or when, Andy. It's been so long, and trust me, I know without a doubt it's true."

Something akin to a headache started under his hand, feeling the pulse but the ache failed to surface. His hands loosened slightly as they rested at his sides, dropping his eyes as he frowned hard. He really did want to answer Andy's questions… but if he couldn't bring out the matching piece to a puzzle, how could he?

When she was almost in front of him, he half-closed his eyes. "Don't you get it?"

"Geett whaatt?" Andy spat bitterly.

The Harrier all but sighed, "What we're doing." He pulled his head up and raised his hand, noticing already Andy was drawing her breath to speak when he went on miserably, "He explicitly told us He disapproves of it…"

"Sao whaatt eif that Caounductarr daoes?" sneered Andy coldly with a drawn-out eye-roll. "Why waorld thaatt sttaop aus? Yaa nevarr caarred wheen the Caounductarr rectturred aus!"

"It's not the Conductor who wrote it... the Composer thinks it's wrong," he mumbled fearfully, sucking in a sharp breath as he gasped out worriedly, "If He doesn't want Recruiting legal, don't you think it would be unwise to push our luck when He doesn't care about it?" He was aware he was meekly muttering now, "He doesn't want it- He hates it!" He grabbed the sides of his head, gripping his hood tightly as he shook his head. "I-I don't understand why He wouldn't approve of it- Oh my g-god-" He shakily breathed out as he backed away from Andy briefly and cried out shrilly, "What if that's why the Conductor lectures us!? N-No one wants this!"

His breathing became ragged and uneven as he clenched his eyes closed. "I-I'm stupid to think a-anyone in the Underground cares about our cause…"

"Whaatt aawrre yaa saaying!?" Andy shouted back incredulously and angrily.

"Wh-What does it matter if we keep doing this, Andy…?" he whispered bleakly, his chest tightening and voice strained as he gasped out miserably and weakly, "We're fools… The damn person who should have cared about this doesn't." He pressed his hands harder on his ears. "No matter what we do we're only going to be mocked- and we deserve it for thinking we have the big pants around here! Maybe we've been screwing with something that shouldn't be screwed!? Why should we pursue something that will never be wanted!?"

"Yaaw'rre taarlking naosense!" Andy wailed in dismay. "Rett's jaustt crleaarr yaawrr heaad with saome kirls aI saaved foalr aus this Week, aahnd-"

Within seconds, the Harrier didn't think as he watched himself as if it were an out of body experience. Andy was reaching for one of his wrists until he batted it away, feeling as if he was sucked in his body just for the sick thrill of seeing Andy's shocked face- no, clutching her wrist hard in his trembling vision as he felt his lips curl back in a snarl as he choked on his breath.

"E-Enough," he heard himself say, baring his teeth as hollowness filled his chest cavity. "That is enough."

Images streaked over his vision- distorting and glitching as familiar faces remorselessly bled before his eyes, feeling himself freeze at the sight of them as his breathing hitched. All the faces wordlessly shouted and screamed at him- leaving him reeling as his heart seized- his mind went blank as he tried willing them away to no avail.

That woman shallowly demeaning him and leaving him feeling small-

The scumbag sneering moments before the Harrier Erased him and frustrated that it changed nothing-

Burning eyes of the Sadist roaring furiously as the Harrier grew lighthearted and weak from powerlessness-

The posh bastard smiling pleasantly yet giving off the air of gloating and twisted triumph of degrading the Harrier each and every Day-

Words spiralling aimlessly and making his vision blurry and unstable as 'disappointment' kept skimming everywhere-

A young man… of the likes he's never seen before… sobbing and shivering, the Harrier somehow having everything that he knew the man felt transfer into him as he was left feeling his heart being twisted and squeezed and tugged without relent as if someone was pretending to have wanted to rip it out as he gasped and shuddered and felt his energy drain as a heaviness pushed against him and was almost numb-

Andy's face pleading… shouting mutely… jerking as her floating hand was yanking back… his own hand curled around her wirst…

The Harrier merely lowered his gaze and let go of Andy. "What's the use of doing this anymore…?" he asked faintly and slowly; barely audible. "We're not even making a difference…"

Turning away, he started to walk off, leaving his head low as he soon halted briefly. He drearily took a moment to brace himself before picking and pushing his way through the crowd that formed at some point. Not that it mattered to him…

His heart rested heavy and hollow.

---

Years ago...

---

"Th-This is all wrong…"

Lightning flashed, barely noticed by the eighteen-year-old as he pressed his index fingers' knuckles against his closed eyes. He shook his head, biting his lip as he mumbled out, "Wh-What I am even doing?"

Bowing his head, hearing crackles from outside, he remained still where he sat at the chabudai; alone again…

It occurred to him this probably wouldn't be the last time he was alone, as mother and her date were out again. Wasn't it supposed to be an experimental thing!? That he would let himself sit at home alone as he let his mother sort out her feelings with this man she apparently trusted!? Only to crunch the numbers as one time became again then the next again then the next again then-

Shaking his head, he all but ignored the cake resting on the counter in the kitchen, too sick in the stomach- disgusted even, as the wax was becoming one with the icing as the minutes went on. He felt nothing but dizzy as his breaths wouldn't stop coming out short- rapid- ineffectively keeping his head straight. He shook his head more, biting harder on his lip as he tried to get a handle of himself, grabbing his nape and squeezing it in spite of how he knew it wasn't healthy to do that-

This was just supposed to be an experimental thing!

A scream was trapped in his throat; leaving him strangled as he tried to let it out.

She wasn't supposed to get a boyfriend, it was just supposed to be an experimental thing!

He lowered his head as he trembled, spreading out his fingers when he released his neck to rest his head in them. His eyes welled up, wetting and smearing his nose, cheeks and chin as tears rolled down against his hands and gravity let them escape onto the dark surface he had been cleaning before his mother broke the news to him.

"Just imagine- Kage can now get to know you better!"

The young man gritted his teeth, faintly aware he was drawing blood into his mouth as he failed to intake a proper breath.

"Oh, my son… you have no idea how happy this makes me that Kage is the one for me!"

The smell of wax and smoke hardly met his nose; tearing his mouth open to breath as he couldn't breath in from it to his dismay.

"I know I said I was testing the waters… but he is amazing! Thank you for suggesting this to me!"

He could barely breathe… trying to gulp in as much air as he could as he pulled his hands away.

"I was worried you were going to be angry about the idea of me seeing other men, but your support makes me feel better knowing you approve of it!"

"I-It was s-supposed to b-be ex-experimental…" he mumbled out between desperate gasps, struggling to get up as he made a move for the kitchen. He tried inhaling and exhaling as slowly as he could, deeply even... only to find to his dismay he was deeply hyperventilating and pushed himself to go for the cabinets. He had to breath- he was only going to suffocate if he couldn't clear his nostrils- he couldn't afford to speak until he did clear out the despicable snot yet he found himself mumbling regardless, "I-It w-wasn't s-supposed t-to…"

Stopping by the cake, he all but numbly stared at it, almost forgetting the reason why he ventured into the room and found himself mesmerized by the flames of the stumpy candles left for him. He widened his eyes, half-aware of how his body moved before he could register it fully as he was leaning for the cake.

He couldn't let the candles burn the cake itself- it would cause a fire he knew he wouldn't be able to put out in his state of mind!

The eighteen-year-old forgoed tradition and tried puffing out a breath only to choke on it- hacking as he tried again. Why weren't they going out!? He tried again- ignoring how the wax ruined the icing- ruined the Kanji of his name- like it mattered right now he would be more focused on his name when he hardly heard it any day!

He attempted to force out another feeble breath, not even managing the motion before coughing- panicking as the flames went closer to the cake. 'No, no, no-' Without another thought, he unsteadily grabbed the plate, whipping towards the sink only to stumble forward- hearing the smash- coughing at the smoke- sucking in as harshly, sharply as he could. He desperately tried to turn the taps on, and once he had… an emptiness started to fill him as he watched the flames and cake disappear... disappear down the drain...

The young male hiccuped, lowering his head and leaving it to hang as ragged sobs escaped his throat. 'I-I just ruined it…' He found himself falling to the floor, not remembering if he turned the tap off as he soon sat on his knees, slumping against the counter as he let out another harsh sob. 'I-I ruined the cake she made- I-I ruined the system we just managed to create after so much time after F-Father died- I-I ruined it!'

His head felt heavy…

He closed his puffy eyes as he surrendered himself to his sobbing.

"I-I know you may not like it, but please consider it, Mother. I just want you to be happy…"

"I do not know about this…"

He shook his head. 'I-I'm just pathetic…'

"Then this can be an... ex-experiment!"

"Experiment?"

'Wh-Why did I have to be so stupid…?' he thought wearily; not caring if he was breathing at this point.

"Y-Yeah, an experiment! See if you like it, try it out… An experimental thing!"

"Experimental thing?"

'I shouldn't have tried to fix something that wasn't broken…'

"Er… like a trial run?"

"Sweetie, this is not a topic to joke about. Going out with random men just to see if I am happy with one of them makes no sense!"

"B-But- how could you say that without actually seeing if it works out?"

"Th-This is not like you, my son."

"I-I just want you to be happy… C-Could you try it out… for me? T-Tell me I'm wrong to think an experimental thing could work out if you just give it one try, Mother? I-I won't bother you with it again if you just give it one shot- I promise you..."

"...I will consider it, I suppose."

"R-Really?"

"Yes, my son. I will consider it, as I had said just now."

"...Y-You won't regret this-! Um, ah- m-maybe you might if it doesn't go well, but believe me- It won't hurt to give it one good try before you're certain I'm wrong!"

"I suppose you are right."

The eighteen-year-old released one last hitched breath, gasping out dryly as he felt dizzy where he lay on the floor. He didn't even want to disturb his position on the floor as his senses were returning to him, even when he knew lying here would do him no good…

But that didn't erase how crummy he felt.

As soon as he sniffled, trying to coax himself into breathing properly again, he finally pulled himself up and took a look in the sink and faintly felt prickles of anxiety nip him at the sight of the plate shards. He sighed tiredly, scolding himself for acting so rashly as he reached in. The young man dully gazed back at his slightly serrated reflections, who stared emotionlessly back at him, when he stopped himself from inflicting his own injury from how screwed up his mind was from his previous occurrence. He almost felt the need to cry again, heat threatening to spill out and set up another attack-

When he froze; his breath hitching.

Feeling as if everything had stopped, yet was able to freely think in this absurd span of suspended period of time, the eighteen-year-old all but stared at his hands. He clenched them slightly once, holding his fingers in place, before relaxing them with incredulous awe.

...He still had a chance to fix this.

Blinking, he wondered how that thought invaded his mind, yet he couldn't make himself shove it out. He held it tenderly to ponder it.

...Why didn't he just stop it before it became another try?

His breath quickened, frowning as he clenched his hands again.

...Why did he let everything happen around him… when he could have taken the initiative to stop it?

He felt his eyes start to narrow, sharply breathing in and shook his head. 'Like I could do anything now…' He went to the cupboard, grabbing a thick cloth and disposal bag before returning to the sink. 'It's not like I can convince her to not continue after encouraging it when she's so happy…' He carefully set the cloth over his palm and fingers, balancing it carefully as he drew his hand towards the first plate shard. 'I wanted her to be happy… and she said she is… so what's wrong with me that I think she shouldn't be doing this now because she is happy!?'

Piece by piece, he plucked out the shards, trying his best to not miss any as he worked at removing the hazard. His mother would have a fit if she came home to a broken plate waiting for her in the sink…

He narrowed his eyes more in annoyance and scanned the sink several times, deeming the other shards had to have been too small to see. Thus, he turned the tap on again, interrupting the flow of water to swish the liquid around the kitchen basin as much as he could. He ignored how cold his hands were as he continued the ministrations, waving water at the sides and wherever he could, soon hoping it was enough to slosh the leftovers away as he finally stopped the tap with a sad sigh.

'This could have been avoided,' he thought bitterly as he made a move to pick up the cloth, only to stop barely before actually grabbing it when it occurred to him he could have unintentionally picked up shards he didn't see into the cloth. Sighing again, he warily tried to figure out how to best pick it up with the least chance of cutting himself before plopping the hazardous cloth into the bag. Better safe than sorry...

He tied it up, immediately bringing it to the door, pulling off his slippers once he opened it while on the genkan then laced up his new Ligres.

After he deposited the bag in the local dumpster, he was aware his hands wouldn't stop shaking from how cold the wet lid handle was. The young man couldn't help but remain outside beside it, even as the rumbles from the sky urged him to go back in.

'What does it matter…?' he thought drearily as he watched lightning crawl sharply across the dark, hazy sky. He felt nothing but indisposed to leave for the shelter of his home. 'I'm just going to ruin the tatsumi mat because I didn't think about a coat…' He frowned quietly to himself as he shivered violently, tipping his chin to his chest. 'Because I think I know what I'm doing when I shouldn't at all bother with it.'

He gripped his white t-shirt's fabric around his chest region.

'Why bother doing anything when there's nothing I can do to fix it…?'

He clenched it hard; trying to breathe.

'I'm not my father…'

The rain was freezing; he let it soak him to the bone.

'She's better off without me…'

He sniffled wetly; his hair dark as it glued itself to the sides of his head.

'She doesn't even spend time with me anymore…'

The young man smiled bitterly.

'I-I don't matter…'

Lightning crackled close by.

'He makes her happy…'

His chest hurt.

---

To be continued... Hope you enjoyed the chapter! =3

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EeveeGen9988: So, we finally get to Part 3 after all this time. *physically deflates* I'm going to spend a few days recharging after all the editing and fighting with my dying Mac keyboard I did (and yet I feel paranoid I must have missed something, ugh). *sweatdrops*

Seeing as my brain is fried, as I usually do author's notes after editing, I'm just going to rest or just sleep it off. So, in the meantime, I hope you don't hate me for giving you so little of hearing from me post-chapter. However, I will still give you fun facts.

Fun Fact - For Pep Snack, the reason why I chose melonpan for the snack item was the fact that other than being something I thought would work well for the Psyche, melonpan was actually the third Japanese food I've tried (if I remember it correctly) while going to a local Anime convention in the city I live in. So, I guess you could say it's something that I wanted to highlight since I thought it tasted really good and has held a special place in my heart since then.

Fun Fact - The colour of Andy's boots came from the advice of another fanfiction and fictionpress author by the username of poeticlandmermaid when she offered to draw of a picture of Andy for me for art practice. She mentioned when she drew Andy with reddish-orange boots that she was going for a retro colour for the 70s vibe, so I wanted to express my thanks to her for pointing that out to me and inspiring the final colour of Andy's boots. Originally, I was just going to give Andy dark grey boots, but I feel like Andy having ruddy-orange boots suits her better personalitywise. =D

Fun Fact [post-posting] - The Composer response took me ten writes to get right, heh. =3

Fun Fact [post-posting] - Originally, the chapter was going to be called Mr Strategist, but it was changed last minute to Mr Salvager. The reason why I did this was the fact that while Mr Strategist could have very well worked as it was intended to be, MR Protag kind of did more of salvaging his relationships and what's going on in his life *cough* existence *cough* right now. So, I felt Mr Salvager fit the theme of the chapter better, just so you know. XD

Also, by arriving at the end of the chapter, you have found something again. ;D

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NEW LETTER THREAD HAS BEEN [SUCCESSFULLY] CREATED

THREAD_TYPE = [PRIVATE]=[HM to KF]

DATE_OF_CREATION = 2/07/22/PM/WED/21/MAY/1975

ENTRY_NO = 349721

LOG_NAME = SD

DOCUMENT_ALIAS = Secret Documents - Entry 349721

ENTRY_GAME_SEQ = DAY/01/MAY/21/1975

---

Hiraku's First Report of his Fifth Term in the Lower Grounds
- 1975 -
the Arts and the Psyches

Okay, Ms. Fukuhashi wants me to do reports for once, so I guess I should start off with something simple. Hmm… Wait,
I know! Psyches and Arts! That should be good to talk about! Hopefully this report turns out well. Maybe. Oh dear, here goes.

In the Lower Grounds in the Game, Noise are always on the prowl! Even though you have to defend yourself- Oh wait- Fukuhashi
might not like how I started it out, I better

In the Lower Grounds, from what I have seen, has changed. Let me tell you, it's not as easy as giving a punch with a pow or a kick
with a thud to fend off the Noise (and other people who might be fighting you?)!

Psyches are the initial powersets Players get (wow, it's weird how we used to be called Interns when I had been in my only Game).
I'm not the one to come up with the name, but here's how it works.

From what I heard earlier, when the Composer was not the Composer, it used to be that you only got your own abilities from your Imagination.
Something that's special only to you and only you! It was exciting because of the countless opportunities for anyone to have something
that they were great at! But during the first Game, the first official Reapers' Game, the Composer and Conductor thought, "Wow, gee… It
might get a bit chaotic if we let Interns use whatever they can in a fight. We should make it more manageable for keeping the Game in
check!" So the Composer decreed for certain abilities to be harnessed in Medallions.

You were given certain Medallions based on what the Composer read from your Imagination and Composition, and created your Psyches
for you! You would get Medallions after achieving certain things like Requests, Objectives, Missions and beating the big bad Boss Noise at
the end of the Week they always cooked up for us! Well, once for me because I've only been in one Game before I joined the Angels. Haha.

Not only that, Noise were captured in some Medallions for the Reapers to use because, by then, the Composer and Conductor had the Noise
finally under control and sealed within Noise Symbols the Composer created after trapping them in Shibuya. I don't know the whole story, ask
Hanekoma.

With the Arts bestowed to them, the Reapers unlocked the potential to use Noise as a way to create Challenges and to fight Interns without
actually getting hurt. Not for the intent to EErase, but to test Interns. Sometimes, ooh, Interns were not always up to that test. Ugh- I barely
made it out by the end of my Week.

The Psyches could still be used by Reapers if they were chosen to become a Reaper, and could afterwards learn the Arts that would aid them in
their duties as Reapers. SOmetimes, weirdly enough, the Arts would manifest in Interns which was not always appreciated by the Reapers who
worked so hard in gaining control over the Arts. Sometimes Interns could Imprint on other Interns and Reapers.

It wasn't until 1940 that the Composer managed to figure out that the Arts were subconsciously leaking through the veins of Shibuya, (called the
Leylines), which was not the intention of what the Composer created them for. Instead, the Composer managed to encapsulate the Interns' Arts
(Imprinting in particular) when Interns arrived in the Underground which the Composer linked to Shibuya through certain Medallions given to all
Interns.

Every single one of the special Medallions had a connection to a Leyline in Shibuya, so the COmposer at will could negate certain Arts from arising
in Interns to make the Game fair again and for Reapers to not be unhappy campers. The only thing allowed to the Interns for Art use was the Arts
of Scanning, Detecting (of Noise Symbols), Imprinting (To some degree with harsh side-effects on the receivers in the Realground of screaming
people, yikes!) and Listening (which I think of it as Mind Reading) only of those in the Realground of Prominent Thought-Fragments. The Composer
left a little Imprint on each Medallion to ensure no Intern would try to get rid of their Art Medallions, and eventually started to incorporate them in
Missions during 1950.

However, in 1955, the Composer realized that Players (Reapers started to call them that, and the name stuck instead of Interns now) didn't always
have bags or pockets to carry Medallions in, nor was it efficient to carry Medallions in your hands or around your necks during battle because the
Medallions would weigh Players down in battle if they had too many on hand or on the special Medallion sashes they were given. So, the Composer
decided to convert Medallions into smaller versions of them: Pins.

Little metal pins with special designs engraved in them that Players today, and Reapers who still keep their Pins, use and can identify are known as
Pins. They were lighter and cooler than the almost hand-sized Medallions, and the Composer slowly collected all Medallions and started to transfer
them into Pin versions, using a different design to set them apart. The Composer left the names to the Players who received them, and eventually
by 1972, every Medallion Psych has been logged by Reapers and are now able to be reproduced as Pins whenever the Composer feels certain Players
can harness their powers.

Sometimes, Players hold the potential to manifest new versions of Psyches on their own from their Imagination. The COmposer can sense this and
pulls the Psych from each Player in Stasis to make them their Pins, and Reapers constantly have to be ready to register each and every new Psych.
It's 1975, but it's still similar to when it was 1972.

Arts (almost forgot to explain more) lately have not always had as much importance as they once had years ago, by that I mean each Reaper feels
there is no such identity they can have because all Arts have culminated into generic ones almost any Reaper could use. THose who held certain Arts
in the past have retained them and there are no longer cases of Players appearing to use Arts other than the ones supplied minimally through the
Player's Mark (which the Composer called the Pin recently).

Some of these available Arts are:

Wall Creation and Destruction - now transferred and enabled through the Composer's recent Keypins.

Shadow Pacting - Reapers can Pact with shadows of Reapers or create their own shadows to fight alongside themselves.

Lifeforce Fishing - Reapers can pull their spoils of what remains of the Players' lifeforces and absorb them to add more time to their Survival Capacity
for themselves to survive. They usually call them Reaper Points because the name of this Art isn't always explained to them as it should be in detail.

Imprinting - the Players may hold the same power, but not the same as the Reapers can. Reapers can Imprint Realground people to forge new memories
in case something not Realgroundy happens if it's horrific enough to not be easily forgotten. Those who had Imprinting surface in them as Interns who
became Reapers before 1950 (before the Composer let Imprinting became a generic Art) and still have the Art today are known as Imprinters in the
Underground.

Noise Capturing - through their 'taot papers', they have come to call, they can use this Art through baiting the Noise into the paper as a cage for
them, I guess? Confusing concept for me. I wonder if it's like bug catching (I loved doing that as a kid! I miss doing it so much!).

Noise Summoning - Reapers can summon Noise from their taot paper to attack Players to defeat them in battle.

Frequency Tuning - Reapers can switch their Frequencies to pull themselves to the Realground and back, unless forced to Down-tune by Reaper
Sigils or even Down-tune and Up-tune by a stronger Soul from such as the Conductor, Composer, myself or another Angel. Does the Master count?

Reaper Sigil Creation - Sigils created to ward off Noise from certain establishments, practically making the Realgroun people invisible to protect
them from Noise influence. The only side-effect is that Players and Reapers are forced to Down-tune if they enter the establishment with the
Reapre Sigil, which in turn means they also become invisible to the Noise. SOmetimes, Reaper Sigils get phases when they weaken so sometimes
NOise can sneakily affect people in those establishments, especially if the person was already being impacted by a Noise before entering the
establishments.

I think that was nearly all of them, I don't remember the rest. If I remember more, I'll make a short follow-up report detailing them, Fukuhashi!

That's the end of Document,
- Hiraku Maeda