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].

7. Mr Stranger

Mr Reaper

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

Mr Reaper Part 6 was written for Shibuya Operation - Story Storm (SOSS) 2020/21; previous chapters (Parts 0 and 1) were posted during Twelve Shots of Summer (TSoS) 2019 and Parts 2 to 4 were posted during Shibuya Operation - Story Storm (SOSS) 2019/20.

...

Part 6 - Mr Stranger

---

Months ago…

---

"...You got to be kidding me!"

"..."

"What happened!? Why are you- how did you break apart!?"

"..."

"Eighty percent… EIGHTY PERCENT! I was at eighty percent with you- and now you're…"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...Fuck. Fuck my existence-! It was going so well- so well… I didn't do anything-"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...Keep your head on, this was to be expected. A mess of a soul like this was to be expected after those stupid, stupid point-starved vultures screwed with your guts-!"

"..."

"Mould them back together, he says… Make them a viable player, he says… Certify their composition is dead status worthy, he says! Fucking piss easy my ass!"

"..."

A sigh sounded, "...Getting angry… getting angry won't fix this. You knew this wasn't going to be a normal case, you should've expected setbacks were a given… But this, this wasn't what I signed up for! Fuck…"

"..."

"Hang in there, my friend… turbulence is sure to be coming. I'm going to have to go about this entirely new, but I won't let malformations happen to you any longer."

"..."

"You're going to be perfect… You're going to be great… When I'm done with you, you can practically even call yourself a brand new person if you feel like it! I'll do whatever it takes to ensure you will not walk out of here scathed with faults if my name isn't-"

"..."

"...Almost forgot the no name policy. Slipped for a second there."

"..."

"Anyway, you can count on me to make you right again. Trust me… I will not fail you."

---

- Present Day -
1975

---

As the Harrier stared out into the horizon, the muted, nondescript horizon that was transparent with indiscernible colours, he couldn't help but feel his heart race or how his breathing was going too fast as he wandered out aimlessly. His shouts and cries for anyone to respond to him fell on deaf ears, mainly because he couldn't make a sound no matter how much effort he put into his voice.

Just the thought of not finding anyone here left him in a near cold sweat, whipping his head around and back and forth fearfully as he couldn't bear the thought of being the only one in the entirety of the area. His chest heaved with the heavy air he was forced to suck in, wondering how much further it would take to find whatever it was he was looking for…

He stopped, frozen to the spot when he realized somehow, in the entirety of this barren location, he was back where he started from. Even though everything in this wasteland was of nothingness, he somehow had the instinct to know he had been brought back to where he had come from. Without thinking he sprinted off, only to return in an amount of time he couldn't crunch before heading off again to receive the same result. In spite of his ability to think things through, he mindlessly kept searching for a way out, searching for someone to tell him which way he should go. He wanted to at least hear something so his mind wouldn't cave in from the forces of insanity.

Starting and stopping and going and halting… his mind couldn't tell exactly when or where these events occurred. For the longer they happened, the more he felt trapped in the yawning expanse that would tell him otherwise.

Falling to his knees, he buried his face in his hands as a sob came out, feeling pressure pushing down on him and-

At a weight on his shoulder, the Harrier woke up even though he was very much still alone. He couldn't help but stare around drearily in his sleepy daze, aware of his shortness of breath and the sensation of chills running over his body. After a few more seconds of silence, he turned his head just as the door was closing and widened his eyes.

"W-Wait-" he cried out and instantly sprung off the bed, only to have his leg get caught by the blanket tousled around his form. He erratically kicked at it until he finally freed himself, clambering up on to his feet to rush towards the door. But upon trying to yank it open, it gave resistance, cluing his tired mind in that he basically caught the doorknob too late and jiggled it frantically to push it open before running out into the hallway.

His sprint while searching for the figure rapidly slowed when he found himself halting in between the living room and the kitchen counter, his eyes broadening in horror when he realized he had stepped out into darkness. He felt every bit of his body seize as he stood there paralyzed, assaulted by the sudden terror he plunged himself in. But that didn't stop confusion from entering him when he realized there was no one in the world who could tell him that Jimmy was fast enough to turn off the lights, run back over to the sofa furthest from the kitchen and be asleep in a matter of a minute.

What was more important, in the grand scheme of things, was the fact that the Harrier was in total darkness, without a fuck of a clue of where the light switch was. He was soon struck with a great sense of anxiety choking him until he remembered the bedroom still had a light on.

The Harrier quickly tried retracing his steps instead of falling victim to his distress the best he could, feeling as if he was blind and floundering as he tried to find his way back while feeling bemused as fuck about the whole thing. He was practically fighting with his vertigo as he traversed the darkness towards the pool of light, but the blackness was making him nauseous as he could only feel his body go rigid. It was almost impossible for him to move further and it came to the point where he couldn't breathe and could only crumple to his hands and knees where he barely managed to get himself to.

His eyes went wide with terror as he could only sputter out a whimper, shaking his head with dread as it was already encased around him, suffocating him where he was currently sitting. He lowered his head, trying to pull himself out of the fear overwhelming him, but it was already too late- Smoke was entering his nostrils rapidly, leaving him to choke as he wildly tried flickering his gaze around for some kind of escape he could make. But it was so dark… so black… his mind could only start to slow down as static filled his ears-

Shaking violently on the floor, he was barely aware of how a hand was soon on his shoulder, but it didn't stop his shaking one bit. He didn't look up, too immersed in his own terror to regard the other person. He was hardly keeping himself from blatantly screaming his heart out from the stress alone, and he didn't want the person to realize this even though it was pretty much obvious he was having a nervous breakdown- for no reason in their mind- over the fact that he couldn't fucking handle a second being in pitch darkness like this- his patheticness gnawing on his mind as well as the mortification that he couldn't control his own emotions right now in the spur of the moment he realized he ran out into the darkness for no fucking reason but to check and see the person who had come back to comfort him after a nightmare for no reason at all-

Suddenly, he felt something touch the underside his chin and he stiffened. Slender fingers were joining the others to gingerly hold his jaw then his face, lifting it up after he hardly gave much of fight for them to do so. He had no choice but to stare out into the darkness, as he couldn't even see whoever it was who was propping up his chin to face them when he couldn't even see them.

"J-Jimmy…?" he blurted out in a raspy whisper as his eyes bulged with fear.

For a while, the other person who was making him look up was silent. They didn't speak, nor was the Harrier able to tell what he was looking at, but then he heard Jimmy's voice, "You doing alright there, mate?"

The Harrier couldn't help but exhale wetly and hoped the other hadn't heard him well enough to realize the Harrier was close to bawling his eyes out. And even though the Harrier was still shaking like a leaf, he sniffled before offering a weak smile back to the darkness. "I-It's… i-it's too dark…"

"Sure it is," said Jimmy as his hands momentarily left the Harrier's face. The Harrier felt the New Zealander was trying to help the Harrier's stiff body up, grunting as he did so before the Harrier was brought back to standing. Even though the Harrier was back on his feet, Jimmy didn't release him, merely holding onto the Harrier's arm as the Harrier all but clung to him in response. "Lemme help you back to the bed. Won't take too long, it'll be a jiffy."

"O-Okay." The Harrier gave a frail nod and frowned with uncertainty. "C-Could you… help me get there? I-If it isn't too much trouble?" While he was thankful that the Support found him quickly before he totally lost himself in his freaking out, he didn't want to admit that he very much had a problem with the situation he was in.

Jimmy laughed, "I already said I would, mate." As the New Zealander tightened his grip on the Harrier's arm, he then said calmly, "Just follow my lead and it will be over quickly. Promise."

Something bothered the Harrier about the way Jimmy was talking to him, but he could only suppose, as he was slowly being inched towards the direction the Harrier thought was Jimmy's bedroom, that perhaps Jimmy was tired. Oftentimes, when the Harrier was groggy, his choice of word and phrasing didn't turn out the way it usually did, so he supposed the same could be said about the Support Reaper himself.

Even as he walked with Jimmy, the Harrier found he was becoming progressively more and more sleepy each step he took with the other male, his mind going blank once and awhile, until they were both inside the room again. As soon as Jimmy paused to flick on the lights, the next thing the Harrier knew was that he was back in the bed. The blanket was tucked around his lying figure to his dumbfoundment, and he could only surmise he must have been so tired he passed out on Jimmy by mistake. He could only blink in a sort of daze that it happened so quickly he could barely pay close enough attention to what happened, and yet, it didn't at all bother him. In fact, he was soon aware of the fact that the light in the room he was currently presiding in was turned back on again and the door was ajar…

The Harrier could only frown in bemusement, absently staring at his surroundings until he leaned back to lower his head down onto the pillow again. 'Am I… am I a heavy sleeper?' His eyebrows knitted with worry. 'That should have woken me up, or, to the very least, kept me up until Jimmy left...'

Despite his misgivings on the matter, the Harrier laid very still, alone with the company of his thoughts and the bewilderment of that strange dream.

---

The Harrier sleepily stayed in bed a little longer when he woke up, just to rest his eyes, he told himself. So when he felt he was able to get up, he took his time to stretch before he went to explore what was going on this morning.

He journeyed out into the living room to find that Jimmy was busy again; at work with another art piece. The Harrier couldn't fight off a smile that the New Zealander seemed to be enjoying himself, taking note that Jimmy seemed to be completely relaxed as he concentrated on what he was doing with his hands. The way they moved seemed to indicate the surety that his craft was going to turn out as planned.

The Harrier was about to go sit on the sofa and watch when he realized Andy wasn't around. He could only guess she probably left to do stuff for the Day, but he couldn't bring himself to feel relieved he wouldn't have to face her in another awkward conversation after what she found out. He frowned while dwelling on the subject, soon turning his head to Jimmy as he asked, "Did she leave last night?"

In response to the question, the New Zealander's hands stopped moving entirely, still staring at his half-moulded creation before he nodded. Turning his head and looking up at the Harrier with a flick of his chin, the Support breathed mildly, "She'll be comin' back later today, though." Blinking at that, the Harrier tilted his head a bit as Jimmy's grey eyes stayed on him. "She still has to keep up her appearances if we're sure to not have the Reapers findin' you here."

The Harrier reserved his feelings about the matter and simply focused on the other subject he was presented with. "Do you think they'll give up anytime soon?" he then asked uneasily, already feeling his hands betray him by clasping together over his abdomen. "It's been, what? Weeks since they've last seen me?"

Jimmy's grey eyes blinked in a thoughtful manner, idly starting to rub his dirty hands on his inside-out Support hoodie as he replied, "To be straight-up…" His expression twitched in a way that suggested he nearly grimaced before he put in, "It's a mare to tell, bro. We're just lucky we haven't had other Reapers knock on my door yet… But knock on wood, though. It's best to say that it's up in the air to the Days."

The black-hooded Reaper merely furrowed his eyebrows in worry, saying nothing at that as he mulled over the information. "Is that so…?" he eventually came to say quietly while feeling his fingers clutch around his knuckles tighter. He lowered his head to stare the carpet as he gave a deprecative chuckle, "I guess my options are still limited then. I suppose it can't be helped that I literally painted a target on my back for the Posh Bastard to shoot at, right?"

Right away, Jimmy sat up taller as his mucked up fingers gestured lightly in the Harrier's direction, from what the Harrier could see from the top of his gaze past his hood. "I don't think they will any time soon, bro… As long as Annee doesn't pop along too often, we have a chance at shieldin' you longer."

Immediately, when the Support was near the end of his sentence, the Harrier's lips drew downwards. "Then I suppose we're only buying time for me."

For a long while, Jimmy's gaze was settled on him, reminding the Harrier that the other Reaper was still giving the Harrier his attention as he stayed silent. The Harrier, on the other hand, didn't want to press the topic further, instead lifting his head enough to see where he was going as he walked past the Reaper on the floor.

Deciding that he didn't want to have Jimmy pick up from where the Harrier left off, the Harrier voiced a thought that had been on the back of his mind throughout their discussion. "I just wanted to say... thanks. F-For last night," said the Harrier sheepishly, failing to be nonchalant as he fell onto the burgundy sofa. He heard nothing on Jimmy's end as the Harrier sluggishly pulled himself into a better position to regard the New Zealander again, who still kept his sight on the clay he was working on until the Harrier had spoken.

"Um…" Jimmy's tone was quizzical as he finished, "You're welcome?"

The Harrier couldn't be more bemused by that response, already finding his mouth moving as he frowned slightly. "What?"

Jimmy was silent again as he turned his body around to sit the other way, facing the Harrier while making an odd face. "Are you… feelin' all good?" His delivery was done in a slow manner when he asked that, confusing the Harrier even further when the Support's gaze was nothing short of questioning pools of grey.

For a few seconds, the Harrier thought about the question quietly, all the while wondering why Jimmy was acting as if he didn't know what happened last night when it occurred to the Reaper that maybe it had just been another realistic dream of his. But it couldn't have been another of those, the Harrier reasoned to himself bemusedly, as now that the thought was out in the open, it made no sense that it had been a dream. And yet, regardless of what it was, the Harrier took note that Jimmy was still giving him that same look so he dropped his surprise the best he could.

Popping on a smile, he gave a bashful chuckle. "Oh, um… don't mind me. Just my mind making weird stuff up today, I suppose." The Harrier very much wanted to believe that had been the case, but from the look on Jimmy's face, it was clear he hadn't bought the throwaway the Harrier intended to use on the New Zealander.

Jimmy, without touching the carpet with his still mucky hands, pulled himself up to his feet, casting one glance of concern to the Harrier before he murmured, "Wait just a second, I'll be back."

If it was possible for the Harrier's front to crack, Jimmy's short passage of words managed to do the trick. It wiped off the fragile smile that tried its best to stay on the Harrier's face, leaving him to frown as he blinked at the Support, who had walked off into the kitchen to access the sink.

The Harrier's mind was already focusing on the peculiar response he had been given even before Jimmy ran the water. But it wasn't actually a matter of it being peculiar, mind you, but the fact that Jimmy jumped straight to declaring that only made the Harrier wonder if he said something wrong or if Jimmy thought the Harrier wasn't acting right. Or perhaps… Jimmy finally realized the Harrier's mess of words portrayed to him for the first time revealed that the Harrier was a pathetic human being who could hardly string his words well after-

Already in the Harrier's frame of vision, the motion of Jimmy crossing his path to travel to the other sofa sobered the Harrier up enough to regard the Support again.

As soon as Jimmy was seated, now in his recently acquired hoodie, the lanky Reaper inhaled before he began carefully, "How much do you sleep at night?"

The Harrier merely flinched at the copper haired Reaper's question, but more importantly, he couldn't help the squirming in his chest, or even his stomach, of having to spill his thoughts about the subject matter. The way Jimmy said it was directly on point, as if the other Reaper had this question on his mind for a long time. When that thought came to the Harrier, it slightly reassured him but the stress of knowing that Jimmy wanted to confront the Harrier about it made him feel almost queasy, even though the Harrier knew he could easily give a straightforward answer to satiate Jimmy's concern.

Pursing his lips together after realizing Jimmy was still waiting on a response, the Harrier tried his best to recapture his composure. He cleared his throat, just to spare himself some extra time for his disposal. Not that he needed it, but he felt it could help his nerves as the Harrier soon mumbled, "To be frank… it's pretty shot."

In return, Jimmy's eyebrows furrowed, so the Harrier assumed he must have used a word that Jimmy knew, but to him had a different meaning. He was probably having trouble interpreting the meaning, so the Harrier cut in quickly to add, "I sleep terribly all the time. Not all the time, per say, but most of the time… I just can't sleep easily." His body slumped as he sighed, "Some nights I can to some degree, that being lately, but at the same time too… it's basically shit."

Why was he giving out too much at once!? The Harrier felt it had to do with the fact that he was hardly keeping himself collected because of the frustration he's felt about it over the last few months he's been in the Underground. Andy knew as much, provided that he's told her countless times about how he needed pick-me-ups in the form of coffee to keep him alert during the Day, but for Jimmy... The Harrier knew he'd have to reiterate everything again because he was sure as hell that Andy hadn't swapped every secret that she had about the Harrier to Jimmy in the span of time they've both known the New Zealander.

"That's… ratshit, bro," said Jimmy finally, after a pregnant moment was shared between the two of them when the Harrier threw out all that. The Harrier merely hummed noncommittally as he grasped his hands together again on his lap, once and awhile checking on Jimmy to try to gauge how he was feeling before the Reaper spoke again, this time in a sombre question, "The bed's not helpin' you either?" Shaking his head, the Harrier watched Jimmy frown deeply as he stared incredulously at the Harrier. "And all that sleep you've had when you were recoverin'...?"

"Nada, zilch, nothing…" The Harrier hung his head and sighed heavily, "It was just sleep to help my body feel better after all that shit that went down. None of it gave me sleep. It's like I'm sleeping, but the sleep is pretending to be sleep." Grimacing at his choice of words, he lightly smacked the side of his head and groaned, "Not even the nightmares got the memo about letting me get back what they've stolen from me…"

He immensely regretted admitting that last part, but Jimmy seemed more interested now as his upper body leaned forward. His arms rested on his legs to keep him from falling over as his eyes widened. "Nightmares?"

The Harrier frowned in his grimace, cringing internally about the fact he opened up another avenue for discussion accidentally. He momentarily had the thought to flip out another topic to keep Jimmy busy with that instead, yet even the Harrier knew there was nothing he could do to prevent the incoming events that seemed slated to follow. And yet, he drew his gaze to his hands to distract himself, hopefully to calm himself down without digging into it.

"I-I mean, they're just nightmares," he chose to say with a laugh for show, even though Jimmy didn't look convinced. "I'm sure they'll run their course soon and I'll be back to having my dreams in no time! No problemo!"

Jimmy opened his mouth, leaving it open for a while before closing it. He rose to his full sitting height again, giving a shrug as he soon chuckled, "So it's all good then?"

The Harrier felt as though the other had more to say, but gladly accepted the response he had been given instead wholeheartedly. He felt a little more chipper over the fact it went better than he thought it was going to be, soon feeling a smile break over his face as he chirped, "Nothing to it! Just got to bear through it like everyone else." A sudden thought came to him, one that he immediately reached for and voiced. "Although, speaking of sleeping…" His expression fell as he frowned guilty at the other male. "I feel like I've just been a terrible guest this whole time."

When Jimmy gave him a bewildered look, the Harrier went on to explain matter-of-factly, "What I mean to say is that I've been in your bed longer than I should be. Seeing as this is your house, and-"

"Bro, she'll be right," said Jimmy, causing the Harrier to whip his head up in disbelief at the other Reaper, who was smiling at him. It didn't make sense why the other Reaper was acting like this- he shouldn't be so understanding!

"But-" That was the only word the Harrier got out before Jimmy shook his head. It confused the Harrier even more than he had been and it was enough for him to stop talking altogether.

The New Zealander's gaze appeared bright with an emotion the Harrier couldn't describe, but it didn't look angry or happy… Content? Calm? The Harrier had no clue what was going on in the other's mind right now. "What's botherin' you about it?"

Sputtering the moment the Support said that, the Harrier simply choked out a reply, "Wh-What do you mean, 'what's bothering me about it'!?" He shook his head wildly. "Doesn't it bother you that I've essentially taken over your bed!?"

Jimmy shook his head gently. "It's not really flogged from me if it was my idea to let you sleep in it in the first place, bro." The Harrier could only blink in dismay at the good-natured smile he was now on the receiving end of, continuing to gawk at the other as Jimmy chuckled casually, "Lemme ask you this... When have I told you to crash on any of the sofas since you got here?"

It wasn't a hard question to answer. "...Not once."

Nodding while looking pleased, Jimmy then said with another chuckle, "Then what's makin' you think there's a problem, bro?"

The Harrier made a face at first, then he merely gave an embarrassed smile of his own back. "I-I suppose… nothing?" Upon another nod from Jimmy, the Harrier let his smile fall when he spoke uncomfortably, "But it's still your bed, and I'd feel better knowing you slept in it. You haven't been in it for quite some time since you've taken me in, Jimmy."

"So what's gotten you to think about this then?" asked Jimmy curiously.

With a sheepish flick of his chin downward, the Harrier mumbled bashfully, "I don't know how long I'll be here for… And from the looks of it, depending on how long you're willing to put up with me…" The Harrier sighed heavily, "It might be a long time until you're free of me."

Jimmy appeared mindful when the Harrier said that and frowned. "You got a point there, bro, but that'll be somethin' we can worry about in the future. Eh?" As the Harrier nodded in response, Jimmy then closed his eyes and sighed as he murmured, "But I just had a thought… if you're willin' to answer it."

The Harrier raised an eyebrow. "What exactly would that be?" he asked curiously.

For a moment, Jimmy didn't say anything, but when he did, he opened his eyes and they bore into the Harrier. "Once everythin's been smoothed over with you, what are you goin' to be doin'?"

The Harrier frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You know." Jimmy tilted his head up and moved one of his hands towards his red hood, hooking a few of his fingers on the hem of it and began tugging it away from his body. He returned his gaze to the Harrier once his hoodie was off. "When you're out doin' your duties again."

In the last few seconds that the question was asked, it felt like a bag of stones were dropped into the Harrier's chest, causing a strain to his heart as his eyes abruptly went wide with shock. He felt his lower lip part slightly, quivering the longer he stared at the other, who immediately released his hoodie and gave him a worried look within seconds.

'What I'll be doing…' The Harrier was aware he was frowning now, but he cared less about that and more about the information presented to him. 'As a Reaper…?' He couldn't help but feel his expression contort with unease, stress already grappling him and rising up from within as the question echoed and echoed and made him queasy rather quickly. It wasn't like he should have not expected this; the fact that he hadn't given thought to the possibility of being asked this right now left him reeling. The sensation was making him feel ready to retch.

Even though his emotions didn't show up on his face, because his hood, as always, was dutifully in the way of any onlookers, Jimmy seemed to pick up on the fact that his question did more harm than answers. But before the Support could say anything about it, the Harrier swallowed hard, lowering his gaze towards his lap to watch his hands shake as he breathed quietly, "I-I'm not sure."

Jimmy's expression only reflected his concern as his coppery eyebrows furrowed. The Harrier anticipated the copper haired Reaper was going to press for more information, so the Harrier cut in yet again before that could happen. "But don't worry, I'll think of something," he reassured the other hastily.

"A-Alright then," came Jimmy's perplexed response, although the Support Reaper seemed uncomfortable afterward.

Sensing the opportunity to steer the awkwardness away, the Harrier straightaway chuckled nervously, "Thinking about opening your shop today?"

As the tension in the air dissolved into little exchanges of various subjects, the Harrier silently found he couldn't shake off the question from his head.

---

The Day passed uneventfully after Jimmy ran his shop again. The Harrier barely found anything remarkable to remember anything about it, so when he waited for Jimmy to lock Mana Saddleback up, he couldn't help but lean against the stairwell quietly with his thoughts.

By now, he knew he hardly had a grasp on what Day it was anymore. The details were lost to him, harshly reminding him of how long it's been since he had a reason to care about the time of the Week. Somehow it bothered him, that he lost track of time, making Jimmy's earlier question resurface and fester on the forefront of his mind.

What will he do… now that he gave up on Erasing wrongdoers?

When he declared he wouldn't return to the Shibuya River, that was the first thing he contemplated. Yet now, he hated how it came back into his existence, callously taunting him and flipping his mood from the sheer uncertainty he had from it. It wasn't something he would have thought would be torturing him like this… it should have been a no-brainer he had to consider it eventually. Then again, he was literally running on a timer. Not an actual timer, mind you, but the knowledge that he already spent part of those two months he got from being forced to accept the innocent Players' Points made him pause when he was about to follow Jimmy into his home.

Without realizing it, he already was counting his fingers, crunching the numbers of what he knew before slowly widening his eyes. Was it already a month since he announced their plans to legalize Recruitment? Or was he off by too many margins…?

The Harrier blinked dazedly when he heard Jimmy calling for him.

He reluctantly raised his head to see the Support was eyeing him from in front of his home's doorway before the Harrier lowered his arms gradually. 'No use worrying when I still have time,' he thought as he forced himself to go up the stairwell, treading up to Jimmy's door as he continued, 'Plenty of time…'

Just as he entered and started to toe off his Scampers in the entryway, he tensed up just as he realized another person was heading his way. He stiffly reached for the lock, turning it deftly before retreating further into Jimmy's home. Just as he was about to swing into Jimmy's room, a loud thump followed by more made him start violently.

Jimmy merely sighed before going over to unlock the door, opening it as the Harrier recovered from his initial alarm. "Annee… don't be so hard on the door."

The Harrier somewhat relaxed, yet when Andy made her entrance into the building, he couldn't help but feel the need to inch himself into the room he had been intending to enter. "Aoh… aI waasn'tt thaatt haalrd!" The Harrier grimaced; completely untrue. "Peaopurl need ta heaarr meh paound eit eif they'rl aahctuaaarlee aopen eit…"

Already he felt her eyes land on him, causing the Harrier to halt his efforts entirely from escaping to eventually bring himself to look at her. However, in spite of her eagerness flickering in her molten orbs… he couldn't help but note that they were watching him expectantly. For what? He wasn't sure…

After a few moments, he awkwardly drew his hand up to wave, knowing a bow wasn't suitable for Andy, before dipping into the room to change. He tried to not ponder how she reacted to that as he quickly yanked his borrowed Support hoodie off, laying it down on the bed after folding it before silently standing in the room. Briefly the idea of stalling came to mind, to take as painstakingly long as he could to announce his presence again... But he instead shook his head, padding over to sift through Jimmy's drawers to retrieve his usual upper-garment.

As much as he felt uncomfortable with being near Andy right now, it didn't change how rude it would be on his part to avoid her. He told himself he could manage a chat or two when he walked out of the room.

Andy was locked in a conversation with Jimmy upon his arrival. He was standing awkwardly by the end of the hallway as he caught the tail-end of it. "...naott aahtt aahrl?"

"Nah, yeah…" Jimmy then seemed to recognize the Harrier was there first when he turned to look at the black-hooded Reaper. His face, previously pensive, turned optimistic as he suddenly beamed from where he sat beside Andy on the sofa closest to the entrance. "How long have you been there, bro? Yack with us!"

The Harrier couldn't help but frown at that, raising an eyebrow. 'Huh?' He hesitated before starting to move forward. "Okay…?"

When he carefully maneuvered himself to sit in the corner of the furthest seat from Andy and Jimmy on the other sofa, just to give himself space to collect himself, he placed his hands on his lap and clasped them before regarding the two. Andy and Jimmy were staring back at him from the burgundy sofa, making the Harrier feel on edge as he shifted his focus between them. While Jimmy still carried himself the same as he had, Andy's eyes were sharp from how they were critically analyzing him. Whatever happened when he left the two of them alone, he wasn't certain what it was, but what he did know was that this wasn't going to be a friendly catch up like yesterday.

He braced himself before forcing out a mild murmur, "So?" He tilted his head 'curiously'. "What are we going to talk about?" He studied them mindfully as he waited for a response, knowing perfectly well his invitation was meant to inquire into their odd behaviour, not feed into it.

As such, he may have been proven correct. Jimmy immediately twisted his head towards Andy to convey a silent message before his grey eyes centered on the Harrier again. "Me and Annee were wonderin'…" He held himself uncomfortably as he went on, "If you're all good for a question."

...That's what they were worrying about? They didn't have to be so delicate about it…

The Harrier frowned as he leaned back. "Questions are my forte. Shoot." Confidence was the key to not falling apart.

Andy made a face before removing herself from her spot on the sofa. She took a few steps towards him, which made him stiffen subtly, before she frowned sadly. "Wee…" She stopped herself, glancing hastily to Jimmy before her gaze snapped back awkwardly. Her face contorted once more before her voice croaked, "Haow's eit being herre?"

Reading the social cues Jimmy displayed in response with his suddenly twitchy wings let the Harrier know that wasn't the question. But deciding to humour them with obliviousness, he smiled as he chirped, "I get around fine, thank you. Jimmy's been a great help."

He hated how they weren't being honest with him. The Harrier silently observed this through Jimmy's pained expression, while Andy shot the New Zealander a panicky glance, then the Harrier mentally sighed. Looks like he'll have to nudge them along; might as well get this over with.

"What is this- an intervention?" he chuckled mildly with a shake of his head, grinning small underneath his hood in case they could see the lower part of his face. With one sweep of his gaze between them again, he quickly adopted a frown as he spoke curiously, "Seriously, what's the matter?" Waiting a few seconds for effect, he soon ventured further worriedly, "Does the Posh Bastard know my location, or-"

Instantly, as if he murmured the sweet nothings of a secret password, Andy released what he could only describe as a tormented scream in her throat as she threw her head back. She then whipped towards Jimmy and growled in frustration, "AI taorld yaa he'd dao thaatt!"

The Harrier raised both of his eyebrows when Jimmy lifted his hands and replied awkwardly, "Annee, this is not calm and open."

Andy jabbed a finger towards the Harrier. "He's smaaarrtt- rlett's jaust aahsk him aahleaadee!"

Before Jimmy could say anything, the Harrier spoke up 'innocently', "Okay… so this is an intervention." But for what? He knitted his eyebrows and grimaced when Andy mouthed an angry retort to the New Zealander while shaking her pointed finger. 'Good to know. Good to know…'

Finally, after observing their nonverbal argument long enough, the Harrier sighed. He dropped all pretenses and spoke sternly, "You don't have to seriously hide anything from me. I would appreciate it if you told me what's going on already."

Jimmy inhaled then nodded, starting to look relieved. "All good then." The New Zealander turned his head towards the Harrier, pausing for quite some time before speaking again tentatively, "We're concerned about you, bro."

The black-hooded Reaper blinked once, then twice, then frowned as he furrowed his eyebrows. "Concerned about me?" When he received delayed nods from the both of them, the Harrier soon grimaced bewilderedly as he shook his head. "That's what you're so nervous about?"

A huge sigh was expulsed from Andy then. She immediately was heading for the other sofa, plopping herself down on it as she frowned at him sadly. "Wee daon'tt aunderrstaand yaa." While a question straightaway formed in his head, her expression looked almost afraid as her amber-brown eyes trained on him. "Eit's been Weeks… Weeks since yaa've daone aahneething…"

The Harrier lowered his gaze. "I have been recovering, what did you expect."

"Naott thaatt-" Jimmy appeared to have been interrupted by Andy as she frantically blabbed on, "AI've been waaiting aahnd waaiting aahnd naothing eis haapening- Whaatt's taaking yaa sao raong!? Whaatt aahrre yaa gaoing ta dao!?"

Flinching on the inside, the Harrier's skin began to crawl as he quietly answered her in a mumble, "...Andy, what are you talking about?" He slumped in his seat a little as he continued uneasily, "I just said I've been recovering-"

"Yaa knaow whaatt aI meaan." The Harrier blinked his eyes wide at her drastic change of tone. It suddenly had become firm and cold, making him quickly hone in on the fact that Andy was slowly starting to scowl at him. Her lips were pursed and her hands had curled when she next growled out, "Aahfterr yaaw'rre aahbrle ta waarlk frlee, terl meh whaatt yaaw'rre gaoing ta dao!?"

Jimmy suddenly pushed himself up and took a step towards her, reaching out. "Annee…" His cautious tone only confirmed the Harrier's suspicions as the Harrier felt his chest swell with oxygen involuntarily. "Not so tough-"

"Jimmee-" Andy's head snapped to the New Zealander, causing the Support to flinch as if her tone scalded him as she yelled out distraughtly, "Eif wee daon'tt dao this naow, we'rl neverr knaow!"

"Know what?" the Harrier asked sternly as he felt himself bristle.

"Aahrre yaa finaahlree gaoing ta huntt them aahgaain!?"

As a glacier coldness ran through him, freezing him where he was as he openly gawked at his friend in shock, her molten eyes returned to stare intently at him. However, the Harrier could only keep gazing back at her with a familiar panic going through him, feeling himself go rigid in seconds as he struggled to take in another breath.

Was the universe secretly trying to screw with him today!? First Jimmy, now Andy- was Sadist Saiyama going to break down the door and demand for an answer too!? A squad of Reapers headed by the Posh Bastard himself to invade Jimmy's home soon after to corner him here to dastardly proclaim the same question with a spin of his stupid cane!? Why in the world was everyone getting on his case for this now!?

As he realized he was grasping his head as he silently continued to freak out, the Harrier was well aware of how Jimmy had drawn closer to him with concern plainly illustrated on his face. Andy, on the other hand, was scowling him down, her arms now crossed as she continued to wait…

Swallowing fast as a wave of lightheadedness smote him, the Harrier tried to steel his nerves unsuccessfully as he reared his head up to meet her eyes with a coolness he desperately tried to cling to. "There are other options I can explore, Andy." Even though his voice sounded levelled, his head was spinning and he felt sick as he took in a breath to further brace himself. He tried to straighten his posture in spite of his nausea, holding his chin up as he continued as calmly as he could gather into himself, "As I already told you before, pursuing Wrongdoers is no longer one of them."

"Whaatt!?" Andy's face twisted in fury.

"Have you heard about Processing?" he then said with a weak smile, trying to make it firm as he went on as pleasantly as he could, "I've crunched the numbers recently-" Or rather, months ago after he first Erased a Pact. "- and if I scour the streets enough, I can easily sustain myself if I Process ten-to-fifteen Dead within a Day every Day and get trunkfuls of Points!" Oh good, now he was rambling… "Not to mention, for your information, Processing new Dead as future Players isn't a popular field these Days, so the market is pretty much free-range for me to prance about the streets for for the measly meals! Not to mention, despite the paltry amount I'd get per Process, it would be for a good cause while we remain in good favour and compliance with the Composer's wishes! And that's just one of-"

"Shautt aup."

The Harrier did so with a start, slowly noticing how much red had enveloped the dirty blonde's contorted expression. Her eyes were dark and very unfriendly as they directly leered at him relentlessly, trembling on the sofa cushion as her hands were white from how much harder she was clenching her crossed arms.

"Whaatt the fucck aahrre yaa blraubbing aahbaoutt?" she asked coldly as she planted her hands down to squeeze the cushion now, supporting her weight as she leaned forward as her eyes hardened. The Harrier felt himself frown, but the anxiousness he was expecting from himself was absolutely absent as she hissed irritably at him, "AI waasn'tt aahsking aahbaoutt whaatt yaa think yaa waantt ta dao insteaad, aI waas aahsking wheen yaa waourld gett baack einta the rlhythm aahgaain!"

As Jimmy was turning his head between the Harrier and Andy, the Harrier still waited for the incoming anxiousness he knew was supposed to consume him… However, instead of feeling it arrive, an emotion he hadn't felt for quite some time came in as proxy.

Gritting his teeth, letting his head lower as he was clenching his hands on his lap, he harshly inhaled and exhaled for almost a minute before his eyes hardened. His chest was simply tight with nothing but utter anger.

"And why would I do that?" he grounded out icily, his gaze sharpening as he gradually brought it up to successfully meet Andy's glower. "Why would I purposefully do that when time and time again I have already explained my position on the matter!?"

"Becaause eit's whaatt, wee, dao!" Andy screamed out furiously as she curled her lip distastefully, full-on sneering at him as she spat scornfully, "Eit's whaatt yaa staarrted ashnd whaatt yaa aahcaomplished faorl aourselves flaom the verree beginning!"

Without taking a moment to step back and look at the situation with a clearer mind, the Harrier straightaway scoffed humourlessly, "I may have started it… but I very much made it clear I do not intend to delve into it further." He smiled coldly as he chuckled derisively, "Are you that thick to not realize I don't want to do this anymore!?" His voice had risen exponentially during the last few seconds, but he ignored that fact as he abruptly stood to properly glare her down as he stalked towards her. "Do I have to scream and scream and scream in your face!?" He halted almost in front of her and increased his volume. "Is this loud enough for you!? Do you want me to be louder!? Louder!? Louder!? LOUDER!?"

As she fixed him an unimpressed, miffed look, he drew a foot backwards as he exhaled while out of breath, "Did you get that, or do I have to keep yelling at you until you understand!?" He pivoted and stalked stiffly a little ways away and his tone became low. "Why do I have to keep repeating myself, Andy? Why do I have to keep trying to convince you what I already-" He flung his arms up sharply. "- already expressed oh, so, clearly!?"

"Yaa fuccking maorraon..." He halted at that, feeling his frustration spike and his hackles rise as she sneered from behind him, "Staop lrying ta meh- yaaw'rre naott aah herletic! Yaaw'rre naott aah faoorl…" The Harrier narrowed his eyes to slits at what she said next, "Yaaw'rre jaustt ein deniaarl. Saoonerr aorr rlaatarr, yaa'rl leaarlize yaaw've been faoorling yaawrrself aahnd yaaw'rre jaustt stlauggrling ta terl yaawserlf eit waas the Caounductaarr fuccking with yaa thaatt Daay, giving him exaactree whaatt hee waantted aahnd yaa caan't brling yaawserlf ta faace the mausic! He maade yaa aah fuccking vegetaarriaan, aasshaorle!"

Even though he was still unhappy that Andy was angry over how he still didn't want to continue killing Wrongdoers anymore out of respect for the Composer's response, this wasn't the same as when one ultimately decided to become a vegetarian. Although changing your diet was considered a major decision in one's life, it wasn't one-in-the-same to how the Harrier basically wasn't going to prey on Players or Wrongdoers anymore. Sure, one may say he was going vegetarian with his decision… however, the Harrier felt that Andy was completely overreacting. He was tired of having to explain the same thing to her and having her try to make it seem like he was the nonsensical one here!

Narrowing his eyes at her to slits, the Harrier went more stiff as he growled acerbically, "Regardless of what you're telling me, this is still my decision, Andy."

The dark dirty blonde slammed a fist down on the arm of the sofa beside her on her right. "Yaa caan'tt jaust gao with thaatt burlsheitt he's fed yaa! Yaaw'rre smaarrtarr thaan thaatt!" Her eyes were darkened in her ire.

"That wasn't bullshit- it was the words of the Composer!" he snapped as he rounded on her with fury, his hackles sharply rising as he bristled and spat, "And I know I'm smart, but knowing the Composer exists doesn't make me dumber!"

Andy scoffed, "AI caan'tt berieve yaaw'rre stirl getting rirled aup aahbaoutt saomeaone thaatt's eimaageinaairie!"

As soon as she said that, the Harrier felt his heart grow cold and it hardened as he regarded her icily, pursing his lips in his frown to the point they were aching but he didn't even care about that. Clenching his hands into tight fists, he immediately shouted, "Just because you're pretending He doesn't exist doesn't mean you should be acting like you're better than me!" Andy gave him an affronted look, one that the Harrier ignored at once as he went on in frustration, "Just because you fail to understand that what we got was from the Composer Himself doesn't mean you have to actively try to smear what I believe in to nothing!"

"The aonree thing aI'm doing-" Andy spat as she thumped a hand against her chest, glowering at him darkly as she went on venomously, "- eis daoing aourr waork aahnd naott crlying aoverr the aone thing yaaw'rre sao guilibrle enaough ta berieve eis tlue when eit's naott!"

Jimmy suddenly spoke up, "Bros, maybe we should all just calm-"

"I'm not gullible!" the Harrier exclaimed in aggravation and threw a dirty look at her, sharply pointing a finger at her as well. "Don't you dare accuse me of that!"

"Then why aahrre yaa beriving ein lries!?" Andy got to her feet. Her glower was still intact on her face as she groaned out in aggravation, "Caan'tt yaa see thaatt he's faoorled yaa!?"

The Harrier merely gritted his teeth together as he hissed, "What you read wasn't from the Conductor, Andy…" He rolled his eyes while shaking his head aloofly as he went on, "Do I really need to repeat myself again, and again, and again just so it can sink into your fucking skull for once!?"

Andy's jaw dropped at that as her expression became immensely angry, soon closing it to frown hard as she yelled back, "Yaaw'rre the aone thaatt needs ta haave eit sink ein sao yaa caan aundarrstaand yaaw'rre being rlidicuulraous!"

"Ugh, don't give me that shit!" he groaned before exhaling heavily in annoyance. "Your tactic of going around in fucking circles with this in the hopes of changing my mind isn't going to work! Stop regurgitating your nonsense and just give up!"

The amber-browned eyed Reaper's eyes became slits; she started trembling where she stood as she glared him down. On the other hand, the Harrier felt his point was strong enough that they could just stop-

"Yaaw'rre sao paathetic!"

When those poisonous words reached his ears, the Harrier momentarily felt his bravado dip. His eyes widened unconsciously at the other Reaper, who was marching up to him until they had only so much room in front of them that they could strangle each other here and now if they wanted to. Even as a chill started running through his veins as he was slackjawed and boneless after hearing that, Andy continued frowning as she then growled acidically, "Yaaw'rre being sao stuupeid with this… aahcting leike yaa shaourld haang aup the taowrl becaause yaa waon'tt get aoverr haow a fucking lretterr terls yaa ta staop when naothing haas everr staopped yaa befaorre!"

"...And risk upsetting the one person who's in charge of the whole Underground!?" threw the Harrier bitterly back at her when he recovered from his momentary daze. He shook his head roughly before he spat, "Because for your information, Andy, not disrespecting the Composer even though it hampers our work is the least we could do after-"

Before the Harrier could finish, the next second had the Harrier on the floor, his vision instantly going blurry as a numbness quickly became an ache filling his left cheek. It took a while for him to shake off his daze before he realized what had happened, going still as his eyes went wide again before glaring at the carpet. Instead of getting up right away, he remained on the floor, stiffly drawing a hand over to his disturbed hood that wasn't completely covering his head anymore to tug it over his head again. Even though he was aware of how Jimmy had run over and was now sitting on the carpet, kneeling over the Harrier while asking questions that only sounded like noise to the Harrier, the Harrier didn't respond to the other male. He rigidly stayed where he was, even when Jimmy grabbed his arm, ready to help him up, but the Harrier simply tugged himself away and refused to look at the Support Reaper.

At first, he felt as though he couldn't feel anything, but then it became clear that he knew he was too angry. He couldn't quite express it from how much he had contained in him right now after what Andy had just done. She hadn't said anything else, at least, in his tunneled awareness, but that didn't mean he knew she would verbally assault him again once he gave her his attention.

As the pain from his cheek was the cruel reminder of why he was on the carpet, he soon pulled himself up gradually in stiff, rigid movements, ignoring Jimmy completely as he finally turned and shot one last murderous look to Andy. She didn't react to his leer, but the Harrier didn't care if she couldn't because of his hood as he pursed his lips before turning away from her. He pushed past Jimmy, despite the many worried words being thrown at him from the New Zealander, and stalked off towards the entryway wordlessly.

He knew he didn't need to express anything right now to anyone. Especially not to someone who just hit him, especially when he wasn't in the mood for anyone to fuss over him when he didn't need it.

Even as he crouched down to access the rack of shoes, ignoring the Scampers as he grabbed his Ligres, he didn't offer a single glance nor did he want to know how Andy was reacting to this. He began reaching for his being, searching for that one cord of himself and started yanking himself with it as soon as he was done tying his shoelaces. Before he turned towards the door, a single thought came to his mind as he felt himself shifting slowly the more he yanked on his being…

When his gaze caught Andy's sprawled out boots, he didn't have any second thoughts when he went to grab them too.

While the female Reaper immediately yelled at him in aggravation, probably demanding about what he was doing, he only offered her a steely look before watching her charge towards him. He didn't move, he didn't have to move…

Because Andy rammed into the wall after he successfully pulled himself into the Realground.

Even though he couldn't have possibly seen that now that he was on the other Plane, he knew for a fact it happened. Jimmy was probably concerned about her, which was fine because the Harrier merely pivoted and stalked towards the door to unlock it so he could leave. And the first thing he did when he was outside was throw one of Andy's boots onto the road while walking off with the other to dispose of it somewhere else before Andy had the thought to come after him.

And once he had, he ran off.

---

Throughout the time the Harrier had pulled himself into the Realground, he couldn't help but keep to himself as he let his feet aimlessly steer him around the streets. His earlier frustration had already ebbed after a few minutes into the walk, but his heart was heavy from how his thoughts remained on his argument with Andy.

Did Andy really believe he was being stupid with this? That because he wasn't sure of what to do with himself, that he wasn't himself… he was choosing to be difficult with her trying to pull him back into killing like they used to? It wasn't like Andy to be angry with him or be physical over a disagreement… but the fact that she was disrespecting his personal boundaries because she wasn't happy with how he was conducting himself as of late put a bitter taste in his mouth.

He just wished he didn't have to remove himself from the situation. They shouldn't have gotten testy with each other in the first place when their friendship was as tight as it was. But the fact that it happened...

When he stopped to join a congregation of pedestrians in Circle Link- after reminding himself he couldn't just walk on the road because he wasn't in the right Plane to do so- he sighed deeply as he stuffed his hands into his cargo pants pockets. 'It was a mistake.' Languidly turning his head to check on the crosswalk signal, he soon lowered his gaze as he frowned harder. 'If I hadn't listened to drunk Andy about Recruitment legalization… we wouldn't be at our throats over how she won't accept the fact that our plan went up in flames.'

He kept his ears open to make sure he wouldn't miss the cue to cross, simply closing his eyes in the meantime as he inhaled slowly. 'I get that she's worried about me, but I can't handle how... 'aggressive' she's being. When did she get like that? Or was she…' His eyebrows furrowed. 'Always like that?'

The Harrier hoped there wouldn't be an answer to that last question.

"If that driver would just crawl closer to enter the surface sensors' field of view…" Blinking, the Harrier curiously gave his attention to a male, who was scowling at a car that was a few feet away from the painted lines. He was wearing a white, elbow-length sleeved shirt with dark grey pants and black shoes, which were an older line from Natural Puppy's Scampers. The messy, brown haired Realgrounder promptly twisted his head back, his lips pursed when his pale grey gaze landed on the Harrier. "We wouldn't be wasting our lives because of that old man."

For a brief second, the Harrier didn't respond. He almost convinced himself the Realground male was chatting with someone else, but somehow he knew that comment was meant for him. With a slight grimace, he reluctantly nodded back. "Guess so."

"You probably aren't bothered by this," said the person with a shrug; he adopted a passive kind of look. "It would be easy to turn a corner and slip on by us if you felt like it."

As much as the Harrier would have let that statement pass, he immediately acknowledged the idea of why this person may have wanted to share a conversation. Slowly giving a glance around, making sure no one was directing their concentration on them, he soon inhaled before he mused quietly, "Not overly-excited about getting anywhere in particular right now."

It seemed to be enough for the former Player as he let out a 'heh'. He hummed calmly, "I hope you're not weirded out."

"I'm a dead giveaway, so the feeling could be mutual if I was," returned the Harrier as he blinked, faintly feeling one side of his lips quirk up. "Sorry."

"You know, you're alright." The former Player faced forward again as the Harrier realized people were starting to drift forward, letting himself follow the herd. As he did so, the male kept close as he breathed, "But… I'm kind of curious."

"Mmm?" The Harrier didn't let his head turn, trying to not blow his act as he absently watched himself get closer to the other sidewalk.

"Has there been more of them arriving there?" suddenly asked the male. "...More than usual?"

For a moment, the Harrier thought about the question, but also of what implications there would be in answering it. They had certain regulations to follow if Reapers entered the Realground, which he knew off by heart from how much he tested those regulations when he had been killing wrongdoers… But sharing knowledge of the Underground to Realground citizens was prohibited, which was strongly reinforced during his training. He thought it was a given, considering what went on in each Plane was subjective within their own rights. They couldn't just walk up to any unsuspecting person and be like: "Hey there, grandpa! Guess who just Erased your grandchild in the death game I'm from~!?"

God no; that rule was there for a reason.

Even the Harrier knew it was one line he shouldn't cross, ...maybe just forget about what he did cross for a moment. While the Harrier knew his priorities of what he had done up to his failed Recruitment legalization wasn't in the Posh Bastard's favour, at least the Harrier knew that level of expectation must be met if he didn't want to be dragged back to the Shibuya River, to remain there by lock and key by the Posh Bastard, until the Harrier faded because of his ill-used judgement. Therefore, the Harrier had no choice but to break the previous Player's expectations.

Instead of making it obvious to the former Player what he asked was completely unacceptable, the Harrier pretended to take more time in considering it to make the coming response less rude.

He merely sighed upon giving his answer, "I can't disclose that."

"Is that so?" Both of them were back on the sidewalk now. But while the Harrier kept going forward, the previous Player had already halted. "Not even a yes or no?"

The Harrier almost allowed himself to leave the other male's presence, yet he felt himself slow slightly. "Is it that hard to understand why I can't?"

"There's no need to be defensive," said the previous Player calmly… No, for whatever reason, something about the way he had spoken was off-putting. He couldn't deny that the tone unsettled him, even though it was presented as a simple statement. "If it makes you feel better..." The Harrier could feel the male's expression start to tug into sharper features, soon letting out a sigh, "I'm only curious because of the murders."

As soon as the previous Player said that, the Harrier's throat felt dry. He somewhat shifted uneasily without meaning to, blinking as he carefully went over the fact he didn't know if he should stay longer, to turn back the way he came, or risk making a scene by yanking himself into the Underground at once. ...Not that he could do it that fast, he still struggled with pulling himself through the Planes a lot of the time. But nonetheless, the Harrier didn't even care if he would be found out and lectured if he was desperate to undertake the final option. He just didn't want to hear anymore; strictly put.

Of all the topics he was trying to avoid, he couldn't help but hate how the universe appeared to be actively subjecting himself to the matter. Why couldn't he just have time to forget about the one thing he had left Jimmy's house in the first place for? Sure, the murders must have been something on the collective mind of the Realground as of late, but why was this former Player interested in bringing it up with him? There shouldn't have been any happenstances that everyone wanted to bring up murders around him- specifically him-

"It's just that... how should I say this…" The previous Player was approaching the Harrier from behind, now that the Harrier realized it abruptly. He didn't know why, but he couldn't help but feel his ability to move away was dashed, as the other male had seemingly eased himself into the Harrier's personal space again.

Perhaps his ability to be hyperaware of his surroundings only lent itself to the other Plane, the Harrier supposed. But seeing as he could sense some of the actions happening around him… it led him to believe his difference in Frequency watered down the potency it usually had. Thus, the Harrier told himself he had to be more careful about traversing this Plane if he didn't want to end up offing himself accidentally from not paying attention to his surroundings.

Or, if he were to namely put it, people such as this-

The Harrier tried not to tense when he felt hushed breath on his hood. "I could be potentially targeted as well because of the Game."

When the new information seemingly oozed over the Harrier's brain, his mind and thoughts started to become muzzy and his chest tightened almost painfully. He felt dazed in an instant as he frowned in appall, his eyes widening as he mumbled out faintly, "Wh-Why are you telling me this?"

For a while, the previous Player was silent as he still lingered close to the Harrier, then he finally stepped back and left the Harrier to his involuntary shudder. "If it's not in your realm to tell me, then it could be in mine," said the previous Player in an even voice, his hands folding together as he held them near his chest. He put in after a long moment, "Because I may have news that could be of use to the ones running the place."

The Harrier's eyebrows knitted. 'He may have just found the wrong Reaper to talk about this.' As the previous Player said no more, perhaps waiting on the Harrier to react or respond to his cryptic message, the Harrier couldn't help but be rapt, wanting to know more. Or... to at least figure out if whatever this male was holding from the Harrier should be ignored. 'I deliberately announced Days ago I will never go back to the River, I literally have Reapers trying to hunt me down because the Posh Bastard, nine chances out of ten, wants me Erased for fighting the Sadist… but what if this is too important for me to not go back on what I said? What if… what if-'

When the thought that he was getting too keen on going along with this previous Player's baiting- yes, the Harrier told himself, he was actually being baited like a stupid fucking koi- he urgently tried to backpedal mentally. Maybe someone else would be jumping for this, which he must have been more privy to than he may have thought he potentially could have been, but the Harrier felt he knew better than to fall for a trap. The previous Player wanted something from him. Whatever it was, the Harrier wasn't sure. But the fact that the previous Player wanted a Reaper to hear him out couldn't be more fishy.

It was, as quoted by that previous Player, not in the Harrier's realm to share information, but the previous Player shouldn't have been so confident he could cheat past the system. Nor was it- by the rules- allowed for the Underground to intervene on matters happening in the Realround… if you forgot about how the Harrier played with that one for now. However, the previous Player's claim was that it was of utmost importance for the Harrier to tell his higher-ups about it, talking as if it was connected to former Players in some way, if the Harrier's stretch was correct… Maybe there was something the denizens of the Underground needed to be aware of? Particularly surrounding whoever was behind the murders…

The Harrier could slowly feel himself turning his head behind himself. He caught how the previous Player stood respectfully out of range, silent as he blinked expectantly at the Reaper.

...He usually wasn't one to let himself be swayed by people he didn't know well, but he couldn't help but furrow his eyes in concern. He told himself if he got more information to go off of, he had better chances of working out what this previous Player's intentions were. The Harrier knew something was up, yet he knew he needed evidence to convince himself why that was. The easiest way was to keep talking, tiptoeing around the discussion to nail it down so the Harrier could proceed with the best way to handle the situation without falling into some kind of pitfall.

"...Why do you think it's important to them?" he asked warily, letting his eyes become guarded.

The previous Player raised his chin. "While the police don't understand what the link is behind the murder victims, the murderer probably does."

'Is he saying…' The Harrier felt himself blink in appall. 'Is he saying the murderer is targeting previous Players like him?' As much as he hated how his logic had been proven right, he could only wonder what beef the murderer had with them... Or was it just a sick game for them? To send those, who rose above their peers to get back home, back into the ring again.

It just made him feel sick to his stomach. He could have been a part of those statistics if he hadn't chosen to stay in the Underground.

"I don't know if you caught my drift, but I feel like it could extend past those sorts of people," continued the previous Player seriously, his grey eyes flickering to the side as he mused coolly, "If the other sorts of people think they're safe because they have no reason to be here."

His heart may as well be stuck in his throat, as he couldn't breathe properly and was struck with vertigo straightaway.

He dizzily watched the previous Player smile. "I wish I could tell you more, but it's hard to do that without getting odd looks in the middle of the street."

The Harrier merely frowned as he went over the previous Player's proposition.

...If there was a chance that the murderer would go after Reapers, then there was a chance that it could impact the Underground and the Realground. The Harrier wanted to tell himself the previous Player's words were alarming enough to get himself away, but the thought of being hunted by a Realground murderer who knew who they were sent chills down his spine. He couldn't help but scold himself that the obvious solution was to leave and never go back to the Realground to save his skin from that type of threat if it were a threat… Yet upon having the thought of one Day walking upon Andy's, or even Jimmy's dead corpse… he immediately found himself gagging.

He clenched his eyes shut and tried to eliminate the imagery, but it hadn't done anything to stop his breathing from coming out unsteady. When he managed to somewhat regain control over himself, his chest merely shook from his last ragged exhale and inhale.

It wasn't about not doing anything, the fact that he now had potential knowledge of a supposed threat made him realize that if he withheld the information and wrote off the previous Player's claims as false… and it did happen and he was found out to have known… it would make it seem like he was in cahoots with the murderer. Not like that, per say, but the Posh Bastard would most likely find out and think this was an absolute for ensuring the Harrier would be Erased for that sort of fuck up. Not that he was worried about being Erased, but the fact that he could be endangering other Reapers by not speaking up, losing Andy and/or Jimmy…

He felt himself quivering on the spot as he heard the previous Player sigh sadly, "...I see." Snapping his eyes open, the other male had turned around. "You don't want to do it because of some sort of rule, so I guess I shouldn't press for it if it's going to be bad on your end. Hopefully another of you guys will-"

As he started to walk off, the Harrier already felt himself rushing forward, grasping the wrist of the previous Player as he gasped out, "I-I can do it."

The previous Player paused the moment the Harrier had spoken. "R-Really?"

"Y-Yes." The Harrier nodded quickly as he let go, stepping back as he breathed out shakily, "As long as it's quick."

From how the previous Player's face lit up when he turned back, the Harrier knew he should have spent longer thinking about his decision. Yet he told himself it wasn't like he had much of a choice.

This was too important to ignore, even for a Reaper like him.

---

After twenty minutes of walking, the Harrier paused in his steps when the previous Player finally gestured towards an alleyway. "This looks like a good location, don't you think?"

Ignoring the dizziness and twist of his stomach that came suddenly, the Harrier frowned deeply as he tried to control his breathing. The reminder he swiftly threw at himself barely managed to keep his head straight as he eventually exhaled. 'He wants to do this in an alleyway?'

As if sensing his thought, the previous Player cocked his head as his tone remained steady. "We should be fine in there, I think." It also seemed as though he felt gesturing would make the Harrier more eager to enter. "After you."

The Harrier immediately eyed the brown haired male meaningfully. "You never know if the killer could have taken this as his next roost." That made the previous Player return his head to its normal position as the Harrier pressed on, "Isn't there a better place to conduct our business in?"

"There aren't better ones." Huffing at once, the previous Player's eyes narrowed as he frowned back. "Not if you want to paint yourself as a target in the middle of sipping rice wine."

With a mental curse, the Harrier could only stare back into the maw before his expression went more taut. Even though he agreed to this, he couldn't help but feel like going in first would put him at a disadvantage. He didn't know this person well enough, knowledge-wise and trust-wise, and if their discussion went south, he wouldn't want to be boxed in if he found out he couldn't just leave in the other direction. But the fact that the previous Player was adamant about having their talk take place here only made the Harrier anxious, especially when he wasn't comfortable with spending much time in them. He's had his fair share of killing Wrongdoers in them, yes... but that didn't ameliorate his feelings towards them.

So as long as he remained in full control over the situation, just until the previous Player expressed what he knew, it wasn't like he was going to suffocate in the burning fumes from under another car's hood.

The Harrier scowled back and merely gestured towards it pointedly with his own hand. "If you're so sure, why don't you go in first."

An affronted look crossed the previous Player's face, but it faded rather quickly as he sighed, "You got nothing to worry about..." He turned into the alleyway and walked a few steps in the quarter of a minute before turning back. "Even gangs wouldn't station themselves this close to Cadoi City."

Instead of commenting on the lack of prudence, the Harrier reminded himself he shouldn't be too rude. After all, it wasn't like he was going to be spending the rest of his existence with this person, he might as well get it over with.

The Harrier soon slid inside the alleyway to pad up to the previous Player, yet kept his distance to a few feet for his nerves' sake as he faced the other male. "Okay," he said as he crossed his arms, cocking his head a little as he went on, "I'm all ears, but you better make sure your intel is worth the trouble."

"Trouble? You make it sound like I'm not going to uphold my end of the bargain," sighed the previous Player as he narrowed his eyes.

The Harrier huffed, "No offence, but I've never spoken with you until today." He then tapped his right fingers against his wrist despite his patience. "You can't really expect me to bend over backwards."

In response, the previous Player's expression was dropped and became placative. "Fine, you're right." He shifted before sighing again, "I shouldn't have been quick to assume you would have gotten my joke."

"That wasn't a joke, if I am to be frank…" mumbled the Harrier before he shook his head. "Like I said, make this quick."

For a few seconds, the previous Player inhaled and held it before he breathed cautiously, "For starters, I only know the killer has been going after former Players so far because I've been trying to get into contact with them."

Raising an eyebrow, the Harrier stayed silent as he took in the information. The other male continued to explain earnestly, "I've been doing this for the past… oh, let's say... about three or so months. Since I got out of the Game I've just had this urge to connect and share my experiences, because no one believed me when I got out, and I wanted to talk to someone who would understand me."

Nodding, the Harrier mused quietly, "That makes sense."

"Mmhmm." The former Player nodded back appreciatively before he frowned. "Just thought it would also help to heal ourselves, even newcomers from the madness… So, I've done that… But the moment the people I got to know started ending up in the papers as victims of a criminal, I tried reaching out to warn the others when it occurred to me they were all Players."

"Were there any you hadn't known before?" asked the Harrier quizzically, watching as the former Player froze in dismay. Shifting his gaze away, the Harrier stuffed his hands in his pockets and sighed, "Sorry, it just seems odd you could have located so many in that span of time."

"So many…?" parroted the previous Player slowly, as if he never heard of that concept before.

Scowling, the Harrier pursed his lips. "You made it sound like you know a lot of them."

"But I do." The previous Player's eyebrows knitted. "What's so confusing about that?" he asked in bristled frustration.

Eyeballing the other's notable touchiness, it seemed odd that the previous Player became way jumpier than he had been a minute ago. The Harrier couldn't help but feel wary upon how his deductions made the previous Player react that way…

"I didn't say it was. Just voicing an observation, mind you," returned the Harrier carefully before he inhaled then exhaled out, "Carry on."

Hesitating for a moment, the previous Player appeared to be off-kilter until he hung his head. "Okay, you got me. I didn't know all of them, but it was so easy to tell who did it and who hadn't." He shifted his feet as his lips pursed. "That's why word on the street from one of the Players I knew let me know that the murderer is targeting us, and it all started with my sister going missing."

At the mere mention of that, the Harrier half-closed his eyes. "My condolences," he decided to say curtly.

"Thank you…" Even when the previous Player solemnly murmured that, the Harrier already detected the tone was off. One should be mournful when it came to familial deaths, yet this person was deathly calm about it… Or was the Harrier interpreting the emotion wrong? "We were close, so I feel like it gives me more incentive in making sure whoever is behind this gets their comeuppance and ends up where he needs to be." His expression tightened promptly.

"Him?" When the former Player gave him a stern look, the Harrier simply studied the other male before sighing, "While I can understand it may be easy to label the killer off as a 'him', it creates bias for what you're talking about." He tilted his head in what he hoped was a bored manner then continued matter-of-factly, "As trivial as that may be for me to bring that up, may I ask why you think they're a male?"

...Something didn't feel right. If the Harrier's deflection worked, it may help to bring in the context he needed sorely to analyze the situation right. As shitty as he felt with Andy, as much as he wanted to just walk away to dwell on how he was going to make it less awkward with the people he knew… something told him this person he just met definitely wanted something from the Harrier. Not just the safe delivery of information, that was the reason why he was here, but the fact that the way the person was talking to him didn't seem right. Inside, he knew he was correct to situate himself near the exit… because the Harrier had a hunch that this person was overally different than he had been minutes ago.

From the way the person was talking, it wasn't like a desperate soul who was vouching for the best of both of their worlds, fearing for his own life now… The moment the Harrier agreed to this private meeting, this person's personality took a flip. The Harrier didn't have a precise read on his behaviour yet, but the way the Realgrounder was acting made it seem like the male was confidently assured. No... he was self-assured. He was drawing out the conversation, but he was using tones that put the Harrier on edge for no reason…

And the need to forgive these odd signals was smothered by the part of the Harrier that felt the need to investigate into this. He felt as if whatever needed to be unraveled would do so as long as the Harrier kept the other person talking, nudging the previous Player in the right directions as the Harrier mulled over the information he was receiving. His earlier panic into accepting slowly dwindled as the stubborn curiosity he knew he had a vat of fought its way out into the forefront of his mind.

He suddenly didn't mind humouring this former Player if it meant getting answers to his own forming questions. After all, if it wasn't apparent from the behaviour, the three different reasons the previous Player gave for figuring out the murderer's motives were.

While a part of him was frustrated that he was lured into what he wasn't promised previously, the Harrier tried to school his expression despite knowing it wasn't going to be shown to the other. The Realgrounder started to speak again but defensively, "I mean, I never meant to be sexist-"

"I'm not accusing you, I just wanted to know why you thought it was a male," affirmed the Harrier flatly.

With a shift of his head after the black-hooded Reaper had spoken, the previous Player inhaled before releasing a nervous titter, "Alright, alright-" He clasped his hands together and wrung them as he breathed out, "It's just that- if you know what I mean, I think it's just easy to blame a male."

"'Blame a male'?" The black-hooded Reaper didn't like the sound of that. "Why so?"

From the way the person eyed him, the Harrier felt a chill go down his back. "Previous transgressions."

For a few seconds, the Harrier couldn't help but blink when something tried squirming into the forefront of his thoughts, trying to push past his concentration on the other male. It was practically on the tip of his tongue... but he felt as if he's seen that look before. It was hard to write it off as nothing when that look seemed so familiar for some odd reason.

"I mean, it's probably not important to you, but I got screwed over by a male once. So ever since then… my life's just been hell to get around," explained the male sullenly with a shrug, slowly letting his head loll to the side as he then chuckled in an impassive manner, "The guy probably didn't realize it at the time, but it caused trouble. And you can't help but think when you're stuck in a rut, all you can do is blame the person who may have been the reason for it... even if it wasn't in their intentions to bring you that suffering."

The way he said it seemed so shallow… The Harrier couldn't help but frown when he heard that, even as the person kept talking, "It's just that, when something bad happens, it just seems so impressionable and it's harder to get your mind off of whatever it was. So I mean no disrespect that I think of the killer as a male."

"...I see." The Harrier couldn't help but eyeball the person more. "But wouldn't that make it easier to look for the wrong person?"

In response, the former Player smiled slightly. "I'm not lying. I feel as if whoever would be looking for me would have already found me, and they would be strong enough to make it discreet." He half-closed his pale grey eyes as he went on, "Most of the time, as the saying goes, males are bigger, faster and stronger… So don't blame me for assuming it's a guy."

"Which is why your bias may make things harder if it's a female," murmured the Harrier thoughtfully, yet he didn't dare to lose focus on the other. He crossed his arms as he sighed grumpily, "But that doesn't explain why you think the killer may go after Reapers yet."

"Look, all I'm saying is that if they're landing the Players correctly, who's to say they don't know about the Game?" coolly returned the male with a shrug.

"You're only making it easier to paint the scene the way you think it's supposed to be," countered the Harrier warily as he half-closed his eyes. "While the obvious connection to the planned targeting makes sense, you're not separating objective facts from subjective opinions about the identity of the wrongdoer."

"Is it wrong that I'm taking it personally?" While the Harrier frowned at that more, the male merely smiled more. "If you look at it from where I stand, the Game already gave me and my sibling grievances. Knowing that because we were a part of that same Game makes me a target doesn't help me feel any better, because aren't we supposed to forget about it? Forget that we were part of a fucked up Game when we had no reason to be there in the first place?"

There was an obvious challenge in his voice, not just because of the upsetness that was in the thick of it. The Harrier narrowed his eyes slightly, silently watching the Realgrounder spend some time doing deep breathing before the brown-haired male sighed sadly, "Sorry, it's harder than I thought it would be to talk about this."

"No biggie," mumbled the Harrier with a snappish shrug. "Just talk."

As the former Player looked reproachful for some reason, the Harrier wondered if the previous Player wasn't happy about how the Harrier made that callous delivery. He soon measured the Harrier, his gaze lingering on the Reaper's shadowed face most likely before he grimaced. "You know what's weird? I feel like ever since we got here, my tongue's been slipperier and I can't seem to talk straight."

The Harrier would have offered his opinion had the previous Player not spoken on in an odd tone, "You make it easier for me to spill out my thoughts, and it's hard to... focus."

'On what?' the Harrier thought askantly; his eyes immediately honed in on the other person more. 'You had a clear objective for us coming here, and now you're complaining about how you can't seem to give me a straightforward exchange of information? Or are you just so full of yourself that you think your hero complex will excuse yourself of the prattling you've been giving me this whole time?'

"Look, I don't mean to be rude," started the Harrier tersely before he huffed in frustration, "But you've just been rambling on instead of telling me what you promised to tell me. I don't have the time to hear your life story, even though what you're doing is great and all…" While the Reaper was speaking, the former Player's expression darkened noticeably and was frowning deeply when the Harrier went on sternly, "But I'm sure that other Reapers would love to hear about your valiant efforts-" He turned and started to walk away. "So if you could just tell me what I may need to repeat to-"

The Harrier was halted abruptly when a hand closed over his right wrist. It ripped him backwards, causing him to gasp sharply at the pain in his wrist as he was spun involuntarily back to the other.

"...Are you this quick to dismiss what others have to say?" asked the former Player coldly, a glint passing through his hardened gaze as he frowned more. "Do you not care about what others think, or do you just listen to what you want to hear?"

"What?" The Harrier gritted his teeth as he narrowed his eyes to slits, immediately pulling his arm back only to tense when the other tightened their grip. He didn't hesitate to grasp into his body, feeling for the cord he needed inside his being to pull himself out of the Plane then and there. He kept his gaze sharply on the Realgrounder who coldly stared back. "That has nothing to do with-"

"Why so scared?" asked the person shallowly with a single chuckle, their fingers curling into the Harrier's skin as they murmured, "I'm literally below you, Reaper, that's all I've been to you... Even now- even when you played the Game."

Before the Harrier's next words came out, a thought came to him that left him frozen. '...He was there that Week.'

"Oh yes… you do remember that at least, right?" The Harrier was aware he was slowly releasing his pull of his Frequency he had in his grasp unintentionally as he numbly watched the former Player. "From how much fun you've been having, I would have thought you wouldn't even have a sliver of an understanding of those you fucked over. Unless…" He whispered the last part aloofly, "You don't remember."

The Harrier couldn't help but dig through his memories, trying to piece together who this person may have been at that period of time as the former Player's expression started to grow stony. "Long time, no see…? No. Oh no, no... it wouldn't be appropriate to say that," he said icily as his grip remained firm. "Why would I say that… when the feeling's not mutual."

Suddenly, the Harrier's blood went cold at an odd sensation that stirred inside him. He widened his eyes as he struggled to grab the cord of his being again when the person laughed, "You're not going to run away on me, are you? Like how you've done that for the last four Weeks? Or how you left your kills open for all to see after hunting each of them down?" It was as if his voice was a cruel singsong as he callously mused, "Because there's no reason to keep running… not from me."

Inhaling to ground himself, the Harrier pursed his lips and growled irritably, "Let go of me."

"Hmm? Let go? After all the searching I've been doing...?" sneered the person before they shook his head. "How about no."

"Searching?" The Harrier instantly bristled as he glowered at the person before him. "Okay, you have ten seconds to tell me what you're fucking going on about!"

"Before you flee?" asked the former Player rudely with a huff. "Before you call out for the Conductor to protect you again? To swoop in and tell me to fuck off like last time!?"

The Harrier tried to remember what happened that related to the claims the former Player was making when he realized something wasn't right. He desperately tried figuring out what may have been wrong as the previous Player gave a cold sneer, "Not this time… This time- you're alone and going to actually face me like an equal, whore!"

At those words, the Harrier mutely gasped as an unwelcome memory tried to enter his mind. He shook his head before he realized the other person's other hand went missing- No, not missing, it was-

Right away, the Harrier knew the amount of time he needed to pull himself back to the Underground wouldn't be fast enough.

He immediately used his weight to fall backwards the moment he tried bending his legs upon catching sight of what was putting him on edge. The person let out a cry as he was pulled down with the Reaper, who instantly used his other hand to roughly shove the other person away with as much strength as he could before he was released from the hold.

Even when the Harrier landed on his spine with a pained groan, he rolled over and tried getting up before the other person did, only to let out a cry when the person on the ground kicked into the back of one of his shins before painfully feeling his leg push forward. It no longer supported his weight as he nearly did the splits, soon being twisted into slamming into the building wall next to him. His head hurt as his vision went wrong, feeling dizzy as he tried to recover from his daze, as he tried to pull himself up again only to involuntarily sway.

As much as he knew now was the time to pull himself back, he couldn't help but feel he couldn't do so in this alleyway. If he tried, all the other person would do is try to hit him again. The Harrier knew he would have to risk pulling himself back to the Underground either in a new hiding place or out in the open where any Realgrounder could see him if he were to get away.

He cursed his inability to do this as easily as the other Reapers could while he tried pushing off from the wall, only to throw himself down without thinking the moment his attacker tried to grab him. Swinging his body around the best he could, trying to kick back at the attacker to disorientate him for an uninterrupted escape, he only to growled out in frustration when the person caught his ankle and promptly pulled the Harrier towards him.

"I waited all this time- and I'm not going to let you slip away again!" spat the former Player in shrill frustration. The Harrier tried kicking his other leg at the hand in response, only to miss, cursing under his breath as his hands scrabbled with the ground from trying to drag himself away to no avail. The moment he was released, the Harrier ignored the pain from his leg landing on the ground, wasting no time in trying to kick again to hopefully knock them over to stun them when he realized the person had already gotten in front of him.

Scrambling to get up, he didn't have enough time because the person stomped down on his right hand, making him release a cry. He involuntarily drew it close to his body before he was being pulled up enough from the ground to have his back shoved into a wall again. It left him reeling, wondering how he could easily fight off his foes in the Underground without a problem but struggled immensely in the Realground when something was being pushed against his face.

Gagging at the horribly sweet smell, he tried grabbing the person's occupied hand to rip it away from his face, but it only made the Harrier's attacker push a cloth harder against the Harrier's nose. It forced the Harrier into trying to hold his breath before the lack of oxygen made him inhale the terrible odour again after a long time when the cloth refused to leave his nose.

'...Wh-Why does he have that…?' the Harrier thought dazedly.

"Huh," said the male with a snippy haughtiness as he drew the cloth away. He shoved it into a soggy plastic bag, zipping it up while chuckling, "Not so tough here, are you?"

Before the Harrier could respond, he felt his words die as nausea came to him. It made him gag again as he dizzily tried to move his hands, that shook with doubles overlapping each other in his vision to pull the hand off his chest. He only grimaced in dismay when he kept missing, soon trying to glare back at the male, who was almost kneeling in front of him.

An amused laugh was emitted from the other male as he now patted the Harrier's head with a click of his tongue. He hummed contentedly, "That's right… you don't have any of your usual shit to protect you." The Harrier coughed, inhaling raggedly before gagging when he caught a hint of the smell from earlier. It must have been lingering nearby his nose still.

He groaned out before he growled shakily, "Y-You said you wanted to…" His throat felt as if it was clogged the more he tried to breathe, shaking his head as he soon tried getting up when the hand let go. "S-Save them-" In a matter of seconds, he tumbled onto the ground, crashing onto his side to lay limply- to his appall- as he could hardly move his limbs now. "Wh-What did you do to me!?" he croaked out angrily.

"Like I said, I don't want you slipping away." The Harrier gritted his teeth when he heard that, hating how he could only struggle to get up without success. as the male continued while patting the Harrier's head again, "Come on, don't fall asleep on me. Chloroform doesn't just knock people out like that, so you have enough time to hear me out before it actually hits you."

"An-Answer me!" spat the Harrier weakly with another cough. He felt his head swim while the ground wouldn't stay still. "Y-You planned this! Wh-Why did you-"

"Now you want to listen? Teh-" The person, he could hardly wrap his brain around what the person was doing above him, but the Harrier knew this wasn't as simple as it once was. This had to be planned… the former Player indicated it. "How sweet of you to let me do that."

He moved into the Harrier's unstable vision as the taste in his mouth from the chemical vapour wouldn't go away. "For starters," said the Harrier's attacker calmly. "I guess it's funny, but trying to make your own chloroform for fun wasn't the brightest idea me and my sister had. Didn't think we would get killed from testing it on ourselves enough, but that showed how foolish we were." He shrugged. "It took a while to get it right after getting back, but it was worth it... seeing how you're reacting to it."

The Harrier furiously gritted his teeth. "Y-You fucking-"

His attacker covered his mouth. "Sh-sh-sh-shh…" The Harrier's vision momentarily allowed him to catch the smirk of the attacker. "You had your fun interrupting me, now let me explain so we can get this done quickly. Like you wanted it to be." The Harrier soon felt his attacker move again, only to flinch when he was being tugged up. He faintly felt the wall behind him briefly before, in his disorientation, hands looped under his armpits. Each hand had grabbed on to his shoulders...

He realized he was being dragged backwards, further and further away from the entrance of the alleyway to his appall. He immediately tried to reach out to pull himself back to the Underground in the meantime, to hopefully do so when the person was finally distracted. It wouldn't make much of a scene until the Harrier was almost ready to save himself, but all he had to do was let the person do as they seemingly wished: Talk.

After a few seconds of feeling the ground moving below him, the Harrier heard his attacker speak again; the voice seemingly taking his attention away from his task as it echoed horribly and rang in his skull too much to think about what he had been doing previously, "Wow, it's either you were very responsive to this, or the batch I made was a lot stronger than I thought it was." The Harrier's eyelids fluttered as his thoughts seemingly blanked for a second, panicking when he started to lose his already loose grip on the cord of his Frequency. The movements halted before he felt himself being yanked hard in the same direction as the person grunted, "Ngh… Even though you're lighter, you're still heavy…"

The Harrier's head lolled backwards as he was starting to be pulled away again, reclining on air as his vision shifted and drifted horribly, making him grimace when he was abruptly being placed against another wall. Hands were readjusting his limbs to probably make him sit up better as the person breathed out, "There we go… Not so easy to see the entrance back here, so we shouldn't be disturbed."

When the hands left him, a headache came to him as exhaustion waved through his body. He watched the person bend back down again, the sound of something-

Trying to push himself away, the Harrier managed a jerk before he smelled the terrible sweet smell again, helplessly coughing as soon as it was promptly taken away. He blearily made out how the person was putting it away again before he heard the male chuckle, "I'm surprised that you Reapers are susceptible to this as much as the others had."

"O-Others...? Th-Th-Then…" Fingers slipped around his chin, holding his head in place as the person pulled his hood back a little- The Harrier widened his eyes sluggishly, parting his lips to tell the male to stop before he was being forced to look at a blurry face. "N-No…"

He was aware of hands slapping both of his cheeks lightly the moment he felt his eyes starting to close, groaning as colour splashed in his gaze. He soon heard the male sigh as he chided, "Keep your eyes on me… I can't have you falling asleep."

A protest started in his throat, but before he expelled the words, the male's fingers holding his chin wiggled upwards to slither above the Harrier's upper lips before clamping down on his jaw again. It made his lips press together slightly, trapping his voice, leaving the Harrier powerless to move them now. "You're chattier than I remember you being, so how about you shut up so I can finish my piece."

Despite how he felt about this, it wasn't like the Harrier had a choice.

He faintly remembered he was trying to pull himself away to the Underground, so he decided to try again. He inconspicuously started to search for the cord of his being as the person snickered while speaking haughtily, "Now where were we?" He barely was able to grab on to his Frequency's cord when they continued, "Ah yes- that's where we were. You never knew us because you were too focused on completing those stupid Missions we had to do with your new Partners. ...I would have felt bad for you if it was just one or two of them that bit the dust…" The Harrier rolled the cord around, trying to push the needed energy into his system when he had a firmer grasp. "But you just had fucking five Partners before you nabbed the last one!"

His attacker shook his head grimly. "All of us, those you hadn't made a Pact with, thought it was pretty crummy at first... that you had to team up with new people each Day, hardly having any time to get to know and work with your Partners before they were Erased... But no, after the fourth time, me and my sister knew the shit happening to you couldn't have been a coincidence." His gaze darkened. "Everyone else thought you had the worst, fucking luck... but we knew something had to be wrong, very wrong with the picture…"

As the previous Player was relaying the information, the Harrier paused his attempt at his escape when memories came back to him; a picture being illustrated of every Erasure that came upon them…

Reapers tricking them.

The Harrier being unable to convince his other Partners to not trust the Reapers.

Noise ambush.

He wasn't certain which came first, or which fate was for which Partner, but the fact that he was stuck being forced to think about it again made him feel the nausea that was building up in his stomach. It became nearly unbearable as he gagged; he wanted to puke so the awful sensation would go away.

"Did you even remember their names…?" asked the previous Player cruelly, causing the Harrier to grimace. "Haita Yutsunara... Jundo Takatera... Buroto Hamaya... Fufi Nagagaya... Taro Akimori... " After a brief pause, the previous Player sighed, "Not sure if you even knew what the last one's name was. You only had a Day or two together, more Days than the rest had before the end of the Week, but even I can't remember what the name was. She couldn't even fucking tell us what her name was because of how she couldn't even speak Japanese... if you didn't even know that."

Trying to narrow his eyes at that, feeling his heart ache, the Harrier couldn't help but feel an emptiness fill him at the thought of his first friend… To be honest, if he hadn't stormed off, if he never had his argument with Andy... he wouldn't be tormented like this. He felt his eyes start to well up, but he couldn't even make the tears go away in time as the warmth of them were already rolling down his cheeks. Why was he being more sensitive than usual!? Was it because of the fact he could very well die that he couldn't keep himself together now!?

But the derisive laugh pushed those thoughts away, making him seethe.

"I bet you ditched her the moment you were one of them." The other hand of the previous Player started to brush against the Harrier's cheeks, soon pushing hard into the Harrier's face. He was rubbing at the tears roughly with his fingers as he sang abrasively, "Aw… are you sad? I didn't think you could be sad after how much you lost over the crying you did over your Partners' Erasures until after Day Four." He smacked his lips with a shake of his head. "I always thought you were faking them, and maybe you're doing it now so I could pity you and use that for your escape."

For a brief moment, the Harrier's vision swam before the back of his head was slammed into the wall. He gasped out sharply in shock, then a pressure started to build at the back of his skull from being held hard against it.

"I said, don't go to sleep!" spat the previous Player as the Harrier breathed feebly, feeling his gaze fade in and out before he blearily watched the other person again. "I'm not done with you…" his attacker growled.

It was a while until the previous Player relented on the pain, just a little, before he whispered icily, "You've always been sucking up to others ever since your Game Week, haven't you?" When the Harrier tried to shake his head, laughter was thrown at him, "I mean, come on- how else could you have them all be Erased so fast like that!? You were conspiring with the enemies like we thought you had, weren't you!?" The previous Player gave a snort, "From the start? Any fucking time during the Week?" He gave a chuckle before sneering, "Whatever it was... you got your Partners all Erased!"

The Harrier's vision finally fixed itself, barely allowing himself to concentrate on the other as he tried to pull himself away again. "Imagine my shock when we were told our efforts wouldn't let us go back- Th-That you- you were the best amongst all of us! Or how you fucking gave it up! If you hadn't given it up, I would have maybe understood you had enough desperation for getting out like the rest of us to conspire with Reapers to make yourself the best candidate- But no...!" Without warning, the Harrier cried out weakly when he was shoved back onto the ground, groaning out when he felt a hand grasp his throat and pushed down.

He coughed, trying desperately to breathe as his vision faded out briefly. He was already smelling smoke as his lungs burned when he heard the previous Player continue his furious tirade, "You asked to join them! You asked to join them- and where the fuck do you think we went!? Back for a Round Two while you fucking ate out of the palm of that Conductor, that's what!"

"I-I…" His voice died as dizziness made him barely make out the cement, rasping out a breath he tried gasping in the best he could. It soon left him coughing when the pressure made it impossible to do so.

The Harrier was given the chance to inhale when the hand relented a little, feeling his head spin and the smoke leave as he heard a harsh whisper, "I lost my sister… I lost my fucking sister during that Round Two… I was the only one of us that made it out from those who went back in, hoping to do something that may have worked like it had for you to get that Second Chance… But it ended up Erasing them while I managed to get to the end and go back home." The Harrier tried to regain more of his lost oxygen as the former Player growled, "I could hardly bring myself to think about anything else, of how come I survived when we could have all survived… or how even one of us had after your fucked up decision."

It was silent now; the Harrier mentally breathed in relief. He cautiously tried to reach out to pull himself over now that he wasn't going to be distracted by the angry attacker's story, as much as it made him feel awful that he now knew what happened to the other Players after that Day. In fact, thinking about it made him feel as if maybe it was good for him to know who else he fucked over over his selfish need to-

His mind went blank. Air escaped his mouth as a muffled, almost mute scream passed his lips.

The Harrier felt it… he felt it sticking from his left flank… It was left inside him as it was being harshly twisted around in the area by the previous Player now.

"You feel that?" asked the former Player quietly with a cold calmness, abruptly ripping it out and causing the Harrier to release his short cry of suppressed agony as his watered eyes screwed shut. He instinctively felt the need to cover the wounded area, yet his hands wouldn't move… leaving him gasping as he felt… felt something oozing out…

His eyes fluttered before they widened. How could he forget!?

He could bleed in the Realground!

While it wasn't uncommon knowledge that Reapers could come and go back to the Realground as they pleased, bringing their Frequency down to the same level as Realgrounders lent Reapers the same vulnerability as the living people. Dying was no exception for them, and if dying was no exception, that meant the Harrier had to speed up his escape attempt if he didn't want to fade the moment he went back to the Underground!

"Hmm… how about now?"

Before the Harrier could stop him, the previous Player drifted around and grabbed his wrist, then the Harrier released a strangled screech against a hand that pressed against his mouth when he felt the blade slide in a second time. He winced violently as he tried pushing himself away, yet the stupid chemical he had been forced to breathe in must have still been at works because he could only manage a small flop of his body… like he was a stupid koi out of fucking water!

Whipping his wide gaze to his arm as it was being set in front of him, freezing at the red that was spilling from his wrist, his lower lip quivered as the bright scarlet started to rapidly pool around his hand. 'F-Fuck…' he thought in horror, struggling to drag himself away as he heard horrible laughter above him. 'H-He's trying to kill me! B-But I-I c-can't…'

...He had to get away. He didn't care if his body was falling apart when he arrived, he had to get away now!

If only he wasn't terrible at ReTuning his Frequency, his disappearing act would be seamless!

"You started to pass out," the former Player informed the Harrier dryly as he sat down, facing the Harrier, his arm and the pool of crimson or scarlet… The Harrier couldn't figure out which shade it was. "Like I told you, no one believed me when I got back. People thought I was delusional… so much so that I was forced to take Days off from medical school. I was practically alone with the knowledge of what happened those two Weeks, all because they gave you that fucking Second Chance."

For a brief moment, the other continued to watch him, as if he were giving the Harrier some grace period to absorb the complaining he had been doing this whole time. However, it merely gave an entirely different effect on the Harrier; the black-hooded Reaper couldn't hatch his plan discreetly if his attacker was blatantly watching him. With how much of his concentration was drifting, how many times the other spent waking him up... he knew he wouldn't be able to pull off an escape without help. But his list of options were next to nothing if he only counted on Jimmy and Andy... In fact, he wasn't even certain Andy would want to help him even if she were to magically appear out of thin air. If anything, he could see her shaking her head with disappointment and watching him succumb to his attacker's whims...

His chest tightened painfully at that thought.

For a brief second, the Harrier couldn't help but feel as if the pain was disappearing. His whirling mind was soon slowing down, reducing him to falling into a lull as he watched the former Player play casually with the knife he was holding. "Can you imagine it? What knowing something that no one believes you for is like?" His movements stopped promptly and his hold tightened on the bloodied handle. "Discrediting your claims as hysteria over causing your own sister's death, after they find you in the Scramble Crossing after nearly being struck by a car after getting that Second Chance because they believed you ran away for two Weeks to cope with the loss!?"

He suddenly cocked his head with a cruel smile. "I tried getting over it. I tried forgetting it happened. Like I said, I reached out to talk to those who were Players once…" His lips went downward. "But do you really think it helped me?" After a long pause, the former Player's gaze was intense despite looking blank to the point his gaze reflected what little light there was left in the alleyway. "What helped me… was knowing my reason to be given the Second Chance had purpose."

The Harrier narrowed his eyes at that.

With a short stare at the knife, the former Player chuckled humourlessly as he smiled again, "I learned what their other experiences were like… but theirs were pathetic compared to my own. When they heard what happened to me, they had sympathy, not empathy." He flattened his lips as he continued sullenly, "They didn't have empathy… because how could they fucking relate to having a fucked up time like I had? They could never experience what I experienced because they had no idea what it was like for themselves. They thought it was okay with how their stories turned out, but for me, I wasn't okay with it."

His eyes slowly landed on the Harrier again as they darkened. "I still searched on, trying to find someone who was bothered with their experience as I was… But none of them were. All of them had some fucking excuse as to why the Game gave them another chance to become better, when it left me short with hate."

He shook his head then smiled icily. "Then one Day, I caught sight of you in the streets.

"I knew you were the same person because you never got rid of that stupid black hoodie. How could I forget something so… abhorred?" Suddenly, before the Harrier could react as the other laughed, the former Player took ahold of the Reaper's bleeding wrist, pulling back at the fabric of the hole the knife made before sliding it back in again, prickles dancing across the Harrier's skin as the Harrier watched in horror as the knife sliced open a larger hole. The Harrier's eyes remained wide, starting to shake his head feebly at that as his arm was dropped callously before the former Player reached over to do the same with the flank wound's hoodie hole. "In fact, it took a long time of restraining myself from chasing after anyone in a black hoodie until then…" he said calmly. "But I knew out of all the people who wore hoodies I saw, that person was you."

Upon leaning back to sit down comfortably again, the former Player closed his eyes while the Harrier started to hyperventilate. He couldn't believe that this… this person ruined his hoodie. As much as the numbing knife wounds were pressing matters, the fact that the former Player had the gall of tampering with the Harrier's last gift from his grandparents made it all too much for him to bear any longer.

He choked on his sob, shaking his head that, from the flick of that stupid knife, he knew he was going to die again.

If the former Player noticed how much it upset the Harrier, he didn't show it. "You kept killing people, people who were reported to have done crimes," he said in his stupidly calm, emotionless, stoic voice; the Harrier didn't care about recognizing which emotion it was right now- He just wanted to get out of here! "Then you would slip away to take them back whence you came. Repeating the cycle of those who would suffer and suffer… and would never come back." He placed the knife down briefly to fold his wet hands in his lap, sighing, "There was never a penalty, never any consequences from what I saw… You kept killing and killing and killing them." He raised his chin as his eyes took on a measured look. "I wasn't crazy. I wasn't crazy if I saw you, I told myself. So whenever I could, I followed you around… I never told anyone who was killing the criminals, because I knew it wouldn't solve anything if you kept slipping back into the safety of the Underground before they found you.

"Then when it came to last month, you hardly went out on your killing sprees," said the former Player in a frustrated voice as his eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't appear anymore, and I wasn't going to let you disappear after four Weeks of being sane. And by the end of last month, I had it. I wasn't sure what drove you away from the Realground, but I knew what would draw you back."

The Harrier's ears started to ring when the former Player said that.

"You thought it was another Reaper? A mundane murderer?" asked the former Player coolly as he gave a cold smile at that. "No, no, no…" He shook his head for a while before he sighed with a smirk, "How else would I get you to return unless you caught wind of a killer that was irresistible to kill?"

As the Harrier stared at the former Player, feeling a shiver go down his spine, he drew in a stuttery breath as he quivered. "I-I knew it..."

"W-Wait-" The other male gaped as he straightaway widened his eyes. "Kn-Knew what?"

"Th-That you were the killer…" the Harrier mumbled in response.

"You knew already!?" That brought a frown to the other male's face.

The moment the previous Player said that, the Harrier sighed as he half-closed his eyes. For whatever reason... just hearing how shocked the other was was enough to put a lull in his distress. "I-I had my suspicions when I realized you were too calm about your own sister's death… I-I thought you were… y-you were being too slippery with your words. And even before then... you were too interested in talking to me when you spoke to me in the streets…"

He paused to inhale and lowered his gaze to the ground. When he realized his attacker seemingly wasn't going to respond to him, he went on quietly, "Th-The way you posed the idea of the killer being a male… s-self-a-assured when you should be too scared to speak your heart out when the killer could have stumbled upon us at any moment… was odd. It was out of place for the situation." He half-closed his eyes and pursed his lips. "You never told me what you said you intended to tell me, instead rambling on, buying time… time to distract me well enough to probably camouflage y-your... real intentions... When you were too sloppy with your deliveries... when the idea of making it short should have been just that. You didn't even give a solid alibi, you gave me three contradicting reasons for how you knew about the targets of the killer."

He coughed afterwards, blinking as his vision blurred momentarily before he mumbled uneasily, "I-I guess… I-I tried to ask questions to smell out whether or not you knew something that wasn't in your realm of knowing. You were too jumpy… too quick to assume the worst… thinking I was accusing you already and was put on edge by my 'curiosity'... B-But I guess-" He smiled dryly before he let his lips become flat again. "H-Hehehe… I-I guess you could say you were subjective… when you should have been objective."

As the previous Player's eyes narrowed, shooting off to the side, the Harrier couldn't help but feel tired. He wasn't sure if it was the chloroform or the bloodloss anymore, but he just felt so tired…

"I-I can't believe…" The Harrier blinked sleepily when he heard the change of tone. "H-How come you knew that!?"

Mulling it over for a moment, the Harrier soon sighed, "I-I guess… that's why I was selected for the Second Chance."

"B-Because you can read people well!?" asked the previous Player in accusation, his voice going shriller as he shouted out, "B-Because you think you're smarter than me!?"

"N-No…" The Harrier felt oddly calm when he quietly spoke next in a mumble, "M-Maybe I was given it... because I-I did what th-the Composer was l-looking for... N-Not because I deserved it or needed it, but because I did just that."

As much as that made sense to him, it occurred to the Harrier perhaps that didn't fit the context of his attacker's question. Even the look on the other's face told him as such.

"...Well, you're not the fucking police. So at least once this is over with, I know I won't be found out," sniffed the previous Player suddenly in a triumphant manner. The Harrier merely sighed at that. "Not even the lapdog of the Conductor will out me because you'll be gone… and I can have my life back!" He then sneered viciously, "Lie to me all you want, whore… you wouldn't put it past you to have run straight for him and done the fucking deed!"

All the Harrier did was offer a frail frown. "Y-You're misinformed… a-about how things are with me and him then…"

His vision briefly went blurry before he groaned out upon finding he was still lying on his stomach on the red cement, feeling somewhat cold as a shiver flushed through him. And yet he left his head where it was, oddly okay with how he could hardly feel his right fingers anymore, or how a chill was waving between his undershirt and hoodie…

The Harrier's gaze eventually roamed upwards to regard how the previous Player was now staring down at him with repulse, or perhaps the other male wasn't repulsed with the Harrier but with himself? A chuckle bubbled from his chest at how absurd the idea was- that the killer of Players would suddenly adopt a persona of mortification- even regret- at what he had done. Maybe the loss of blood was messing with his head, but the Harrier couldn't help but feel strangely lax about how this was turning out.

A previous Player turned killer… searching for the one who 'wronged' him… only to find out said 'wronger' no longer had the agency the killer perceived him to have… It was a massive disappointment. It couldn't be anything else from not receiving your salvation you were gunning for… only because it was a waste of actions of doing wrong.

The Harrier's sluggish mullings were interrupted by how the previous Player- no, Player Killer sounded more fitting- had gotten closer, close enough to shakily place the knife into the Harrier's wounded wrist's hand. The Harrier couldn't feel it, but he certainly was aware of it.

The Player Killer snarled viciously as he curled the Harrier's fingers around it, "This is not how it was supposed to be!" The knife slipped out of the Harrier's absent hold, for whatever reason it was put there, into the puddle to become more slick with the fluid. "Y-You were supposed to- supposed to not be like this! Wh-Why are you not acting right!?"

"A-Acting… r-right…?" the Harrier whispered softly, losing his frown as he all but blinked slowly. "A-Are you kidding me… Wh-What do you expect happens when you st-stab… st-stab s-someone…?" In the moments he had spoken, the Harrier couldn't help but make note of how lethargic his tongue had become. It almost felt numb; he hardly noticed it was moving irregularly in the first place until now.

"N-Not that!" The previous Player merely glowered at him as if… as if he was accusing the Harrier of something? It was hard to tell what kind of look it was… the Harrier briefly had his vision vanish for a few seconds. He soon realized the Player Killer was still speaking. "...supposed to be like this-" After a quick huff, the killer eventually narrowed his eyes before he spat, "You know what!? I've wasted enough time on you-"

From the pool of red, he scooped up the knife. "If you won't act like you should, I'm going to do it myself!" whispered the former Player savagely before he pointed the knife at the Harrier. "Watch you bleed out like you were supposed to be! And once you do, I can go back to living my life like I was supposed to…"

As the Harrier kept his weakening gaze on the knife, he merely said nothing as he frowned dolefully. He knew there was no escaping this… he was too weakened from bloodloss to pull himself back to the Underground. And even if he could do it, the Harrier knew his body would only fall apart during the process or arrive on the Plane only to keel over and fade. He wasn't sure why he was calmer than he should be about this, not even if he told himself it would just be like Erasure… The thought that he was going to die again, here and now… he wouldn't be surprised if he was in shock this whole time since he was initially stabbed. He just wasn't sure.

His breaths came out shallow, painful even, as each one sucked in reminded him of the blood that still was forming around his body like a terrible pool of sludge. Even though the chloroform had most likely run its course… he still felt entirely dizzy and felt slightly cold. He was growing weaker and weaker as all he could do was watch the blade as it was reared back…

Then it fell out of the Player Killer's hand when he abruptly fell over, blood already staining the area nearby his throat and chest region as he landed. There was now a hole in the middle of his collar bone's location.

...A hole?

The Harrier gazed back at the Player Killer, who was staring at him glassy-eyed, sluggishly trying to determine how his attacker got killed like that. Or maybe his attacker was still alive, and he always had the hole there, and was only pretending to be dead so he could finish off the Harrier...

Then ruddy-orange boots stepping into the puddle blocked his line of sight.

The Harrier blinked slightly in recognition as he gasped out in a rasp, "An-Andy…?"

Despite being stuck in his position, unable to lift his head as he tried to confirm it wasn't someone else with the same footwear choice as her, his vision was soon drawn up for him as a weight rested on the underside of his chin. He hazily made out movement growing closer to him before it briefly stabilized to show him the dark dirty blonde, blinking slowly as he inhaled shakily while watching her leer flicker to him. Her molten gaze darkened to the point it was dangerous to look at… He blamed the bloodloss for making it hard to make sense of things, but the way she looked at him held no warmth or friendliness… it was as if she was still furious to see him. Although, he couldn't blame her for feeling that...

When his eyelids lowered heavily, they weakly fluttered as she blurred. "Yaa see this…?" he soon heard Andy say almost in a growl. Her voice barely contained her stifled rage while she stiffly pointed at the fallen figure of the Player Killer. The Harrier dully tried to gaze at the attacker instead of Andy, trying to understand what she was trying to indicate as she soon huffed, "Yaaw'rre wirling ta risten ta aahn eimaaginarree purlsaon faorl this sheitt thaatt jaust trlied ta kirl yaa?"

Even after hearing that, the Harrier frowned slightly as he still was baffled about what she was trying to say. He soon noticed she was closer than before as her fingers touched his cheeks. She was gently stroking his tear crusted skin, which was maybe even damp with blood, he just couldn't tell, as she murmured coldly; tears starting to leak from her now barely open eyes, "Daon'tt terl meh we caan'tt kirl them aahneemaorre… aI fucking haad ta saave yaa becaause aof him… Yaaw'rre dying…" Her croaky, tenor voice had cracked near the end.

Despite hearing that, the Harrier couldn't help but feel his eyes close slightly more, concentrating more on the feel of her fingers than what she had to say next… He knew he was dying, so why was Andy crying? Why was she here when she hated him…? He wasn't even sure if he was merely hallucinating that Andy was with him now…

He tried opening his eyes when he felt the ministrations disappear, opening his mouth sluggishly to ask why she stopped before he realized Andy was gone.

So maybe he did imagine her…

That thought made him sad, if he focused on the fact that he must have been sad if he was crying again. It made no sense because he could hardly tell what he was feeling right now. But it wasn't like it mattered. He knew he was dying, so maybe it was his mind's way of trying to cope with the fact that was happening.

The Harrier couldn't help but feel he had fallen onto the ground at some point again. His vision swam as he laid sprawled, about to call out for her, just in case this actually wasn't his imagination screwing with him, when he faintly felt his body was being twisted. He soon was on his back with a groan as copper and red mixed around in his unsteady sight.

Even if it wasn't important, the copper was something different. It was the best thing he could allow for his disoriented gaze to follow.

He promptly opened his mouth, but the sound of Jimmy's faint, trepidation filled voice fell over him instead of his own, "Wh-Why… Wh-Why didn't you pop back...?"

Still having his mouth remain open, the Harrier felt his head loll slightly. Was his mind still playing tricks on him? Should he answer? He wasn't certain if it was worth it, but talking was good to do to know if you were still alive, right?

"I-I couldn't…" His eyes fluttered as he tried squinting when his vision went out of focus. "I-I think… th-there's too much blood…" While trying to grimace, the Harrier's tongue moved around the cavity before his voice came out in a whisper, "D-Did you know w-we bleed here?" Blinking slowly as he tried to figure out if that made any sense, from the way 'Jimmy' didn't respond, the Harrier tried tilting his head up as he tried speaking again, "I-I just can't… do i-it."

He couldn't help but notice how cold it was, barely able to register how he was shaking. Even if this wasn't the right person he was talking to, even if it was just a hallucination, he couldn't really fight how tiring it was to concentrate on things. His eyes were too heavy.

Sensations of hands were on him, pressing against various points on his body. It was enough to bring back the Harrier's awareness so he could blink at the red and copper again. "I-I can't heal you here-"

The Harrier frowned... or he hoped he had. It was difficult to tell. "N-Never could…" He tried swallowing before trying again. "N-Never c-could do it…" He tried reaching out for a hand when he could have sworn it dusted his wrist. "I-I'm dy-dying… r-right?" he asked as his chest tightened. For a few seconds, he heard nothing, but he had to be sure he wasn't hallucinating. "J-Jimmy?"

"I'm here." Oh thank god. "I'm here." Why did Jimmy's voice crack? "I can't administer Cure Drink until you come back to the Underground, understand?"

The Harrier blinked in confusion as the red and copper started to look dull. "Un-Understand, bro?" asked Jimmy again in a note of panic? Why was it becoming hard to tell the difference between those colours? "Come on, don't be sleepin'-"

Sleeping? The Harrier wasn't asleep, so did he close his eyes again? It was really hard to tell.

"Wh-Why are you… h-here?" He felt his head drift, but he couldn't make sense of it. It was like he was viewing this from a detached point of view…

"Wh-What are you yarkin' about, bro!?"

"I-I'm an as-ass-asslehooole…" He tried pursing his lips before continuing the best he could, "Th-This i-is- i-is k-karmaa-" Why was his fingers so tingly, so numb- It was so weird. "I-I'm… I-I'm d-dy-dying-"

It was too blurry. Where were the colours again?

"...We're friends, right?" The Harrier could have sworn he heard that wrong, just as if he were imaging the words Jimmy could be telling him now. Or was it Jimmy again? He couldn't quite hear Jimmy's vocals, it only seemed like words now. "Wh-Why would I want my friend to p-push up daisies!?"

The Harrier made a sound. It felt almost like a chuckle, he thought. Was that how chuckles worked? "M-My head feels cloudy… I-I must be imaging it…" he told himself.

It was silent before it wasn't, quicker than the Harrier could crunch the time between. Was that a weird jingly sound?

"This is the only set I have on me, bro- D-Don't lose them." When the Harrier let the fog hold his head, finding it easier than trying to make it move, he then heard words again, "I-I haven't done this before, but you'll be back in a jiffy- Go to the-"

"J-Jimmy?" he tried calling out, but he knew he couldn't have possibly made much noise. "J-Jimmy… wh-what-"

For some reason, the drifting vanished. He could have sworn he heard his chest- no, his heart beating thickly in his ears. So, so thickly…

Like it was wading through some kind of tar pit.

"Come on… it can't be hard, Jim-"

Jimmy?

"Th-This should hold him tight, l-like they told us it would-"

"J-Jimmy?" The Harrier felt like he was a voice, just like maybe Jimmy was? "J-Jimmy!?"

"He won't be pushin' up daisies- he won't be pushin' up daisies- not on my watch!"

Was he actually talking, or was Jimmy not hearing him because-

"J-Jimmy…" the Harrier croaked out again after a few seconds. "J-Jimmy… you're still there, r-right?"

No response came, yet the thought of being left alone to bleed out made him all the more panicky as he tried moving his hand forward… or whatever direction the New Zealander must have been in. It was quiet, too quiet after he was set down and told to go somewhere when the Harrier was basically on death's door already...

"Ji-Jimmy…" The Harrier heard his voice come out so softly in a rasp. He could hardly recognize if he had the same desperation in it as he was feeling inside right now while fumbling his words. "I-I don't understand… P-Please ex-explain to me what's going on…" Tears welled up near his eyes, and he blinked while noting he was still sightless. However, he knew his senses were pretty much going to taper off to nothing soon. "I-I c-can't… I-I don't have much time left- Wh-Where are you, Jimmy!?"

Suddenly, he could have sworn he felt something touch his forehead, going still from how it lingered for a long minute before he was eventually sighing softly as he let it remain there. He closed his eyes, focusing on whatever it was as he recognized it felt warm. He loved how warm it was, it was something he could focus on that wasn't the cold from all of the blood he lost still. He slowly felt himself relax after a few more seconds as he quickly got used to the applied slight weight to his head.

It just… felt nice.

The Harrier sluggishly attempted to open his eyes when he felt the weight transfer to his cheeks, soon registering how the warm object was boney. Something boney was pressed into his face the longer they rested on his cheeks. Then it soon left again, making the Harrier try harder until he managed a blink before groaned in frustration, "Wh-Why aren't I dead yet, Jimmy!?"

Just as the Harrier pushed himself backwards, feeling resistance behind himself and stopped upon contacting it, his vision finally cleared up for him to blanch.

Right there, right in front of him… Sadist Saiyama gazed back in utter shock.

For a few seconds, the Harrier felt frozen in place as his eyes took in his surroundings finally. It was all too familiar, all too baffling for him to know why he was there… And all he could think of, as the Sadist stared back at him, came out of his mouth faster than he could process it.

"...Fuck-" he shouted out in one short expulsion of air.

His limbs immediately sprang into action as he threw himself forward, startling the Sadist enough that he stood up abruptly and pushed his chair over to avoid being slammed into by the Harrier. The Harrier all but skidded to avoid crashing into the Sadist as well and thrust himself sideways before bolting for the door. He yanked it open in a frenzy and didn't have the time to think before he got out of the room faster than the Sadist's delayed exclamation of 'Wait!' reached his ears.

As the Harrier sped down the corridor he knew he should have memorized by now- from how he had just been going down the same route as two Weeks prior- while on the other hand was fuzzy and featureless in his frazzled mind's opinion, he couldn't help but feel as if a primal instinct had erupted inside him. It was the instinct of flight, the very response that verified his need to escape and leave before he was forced to stay inside that fucking, damn room again! And another thing was that he couldn't bear to understand why he was back in the one place he sworn to forsaken because that very same need told him he wasn't safe, that there was nothing to be calm about- It was as if every single fucking brain cell he contained in his fucking head died and clumped together to form one sole thought to not dwell here because it was the last place he should- had to be in!

The Harrier had to evade several Reapers that milled about or sauntered through these halls, pushing some over in his desperation to get away knowing that he had no way of knowing how long it would be until the Sadist caught up to him. Even though he knew there was no way the Sadist would be able to be faster than the Harrier was when the Harrier was faster than the Sadist himself, the thought of lingering was pretty much the death sentence now as more and more Reapers fell prey to falling haphazardly to the floor while he zoomed by. After more and more long strides, he eventually took to using Alla Breve to accelerate his speed to hurl forward in intervals, his vision rumbling too much for him to process what was in front of him until he had to move them aside or leap or bound away from until for a brief moment, as he was sure he was near the end of the longitudinal corridor, he felt a sick sensation in the pit of his stomach when his gaze momentarily caught the Posh Bastard's as the Harrier was whizzing right past the dumbstruck man.

Skidding in a precarious pivot the moment he entered familiar territory, of which was the area that would lead either to the Lounge or the Barracks, he pushed down harder on his feet in a split second while switching direction to sprint for the 'Elevator'. Crowds of Reapers he couldn't identify parted ways just to gawk at him to avoid being zoomed into by him, which he paid little mind for as his chest was pounding so hard he could have sworn it had leaped to his throat as he gasped for air dizzily. He then registered the fact that furious, pounding footsteps seemed to be coming from behind him-

Screwing his eyes shut as he reached frantically for the Elevator, his stress levels practically rocketed to dangerous heights as he tried to muster energy in himself to make the teleportation activate. 'No, no, no, no, no-' he thought fearfully as his chest heaved and rose up and down harshly at every deep gulp of breath he tried to take in while feeling the need to puke from the sudden nausea and dizzy spell he was receiving over the fact he was being pursued when he had no fucking intention to magically appear here out of the blue like this and was being tormented now for something he hadn't chosen to do. It was clear that the moment they caught up to him, they would catch him- And if they caught him, it was fucking over!

While fighting for his breath and trying to fight down the phantom sensation of gastrointestinal acid threatening to spew from his throat at any moment, he felt as if holding onto the 'Elevator' was the only scaffold for his ability to stay standing. He was aware of stares burning him, all focusing on him to burn him right where he was pathetically grappling with his balance, as well as the fact he couldn't concentrate with so much going on at the same time in him and around him that, in the moment he spotted the Posh Bastard hurrying in hobble right for him in the distance, he felt his stomach flip as his vision was washed with watercolours before his sight swirled into a messy blur.

Even as he managed to not fall over as soon as he reached his destination in the river waterway, he proceeded with his flight as his footing became unsteady each step he took, each stretch of his legs as he took longer and longer, unequal strides down the Trails until it took him a bit to realize he was already surrounded by sunshine pouring down on him- on the outside!

He was outside!

But then a thought breached him, filling with much needed clarity… Although it only caused his stomach to plummet and his brain to nearly short-circuit again when the thought of where he should be going came to mind. It nearly caused him to grind to a halt altogether, and yet, the moment he heard the jingle of metal striking each other in one of his cargo pants pockets…

He didn't dare to think on it further after looking at them and kept running.

---

Months Ago...

---

"You know why I have to take the bus, Amaiya-chan."

From where the Harrier stood right behind the seated woman, keeping his hard scowl on the bastard in place as the bastard squirmed awkwardly on his shabby cushion, the Harrier could picture the Woman was fixing the moron with an annoyed look, even when her tone was terse yet lightly chiding. "Kage, dear… you should not waste your time going home with strangers around you if you can do it yourself. I honestly do not understand why you never seem to take my offer to stay over anymore… We will be having a wedding in the future!" Her tone was bright and cheerful when she said that last part.

As the man's face looked thoroughly torn as he grimaced uncomfortably, the Harrier narrowed his eyes icily as he listened to the scumbag's pathetic excuse, "We've been over this- I-I can't!"

"Why not?" asked the Woman shallowly, dipping her head promptly. "You know how to drive…"

"Amaiya-chan, n-not after what happened!" protested the scumbag with terror enveloping his pallid features, his dark eyes wide as precipitation began to leak down and sheen his taut cheeks. When his hands landed flatly on the surface of the chubudai, probably ready to stand up to hound her, the Harrier's eyes were smouldering slits. He began to tug himself into the Realground as the bastard exclaimed angrily, "Stop pressuring me into it- I don't want to drive anymore! While you may not realize it, I know I can't handle being behind the wheel after Jiji-"

The moment the Harrier managed to successfully make himself appear, confirmed by the way the scumbag froze completely in horror, the Harrier watched as his eyes bulged tremendously while the Woman inclined her head to the side with a bitter huff, "Do not speak of it if you will never tell me what happened to my son." After a few more seconds, as the bastard's hanging mouth and his rising index finger shook, the Harrier grabbed the cord within himself again and started to gradually tug at it, feeling the fibres of his being shifting again as the Woman spoke once more shrewdly, "Not going to say anything?"

"B-Behind y-you…" stuttered the bastard as his eyes started to look wet. "L-Look-!"

Just as the Woman raised her head to do so, the Harrier was smirking as a cruel satisfaction waved off of him and cold warmth filled his silently shaking chest. Her gaze lingered on a spot past the Reaper, yet it was narrowing in thought while dwelling longer on the invisible subject of her attention before she was pursing her lips. She promptly turned back to the stunned man. "I am in no mood for games, Kage."

The scumbag abruptly sprang to his feet; his hand was practically quaking as it still pointed in the Harrier's direction. "I-I saw him! H-He was here-!"

As soon as he said that, the Harrier went back to frowning hostilely as the Woman shook her head. "There is nothing there." She sighed dourly, "Perhaps you should return home… you sound unwell."

While the bastard kept whipping his head between the wall and the Woman, the Harrier continued to leer coldly at the man as he gritted his baring teeth. But then the dark haired man had an almost sad look cross his face, a defeated looking one, as his shoulders fell and his gaze half-closed in resignation.

"I-I'm sorry our night wasn't great, Amaiya-chan," was all he said as a dull flash went through his darkening eyes, his chin lowering as he grumbled out, "But I'm not sorry about what I said. There are some things you can't manage if you feel you are unable to do them."

"I would be happy the sooner you confess to what happened," the Woman shallowly said back as she measured a look back at him. Her hands were rigidly trying to clasp themselves on the table as she huffed, "It may even help you go back to normal…"

That only caused her fiancé to tense as a furiousness took over his expression. His lip tightly curled before he stiffly turned around, straightaway grabbing his cushion to take it with him as he stomped out.

The moment he exited the room, the front door slamming harder than necessary as silence took over the tense atmosphere, the Harrier kept his gaze on it for a long time until he heard her sigh again, "I suppose you think it is funny… scaring Kage like that."

Blinking as he immediately started tugging on the cord of his being, hating how slow it was taking him to transition back to her Plane, as soon as he felt himself materialize, he rounded the table to take over the area the scumbag had been in. He gave her a dull stare. "To be frank, I can't really laugh about something that's not funny."

She turned her nose up and it wrinkled. "Would you take that off and actually look at me."

The Harrier's gaze darkened as he pursed his lips. "I only remove my hood when I feel like it. And for your information, I don't want to do that as of the moment."

Her gaze narrowed, keeping her eyes on him until she eventually closed them with a sigh. "You only are making your mother angry, sweetie."

He shook his head. "I don't answer to you anymore." He put his hand over his heart as he stared her down while scowling. "My boss has that authority, for your information."

"You are dead." He bristled when she said that. "You have no need for a boss if you are a spirit."

Throwing a miffed, cool look at her as raw ugliness took over her expression, he gritted his teeth hard before he growled loftily, "Thank you for the donation, but my domain has no room for the likes of you."

"You only had two bosses, the Gotorutsus," she stiffly breathed back tartly. She was frowning grimly as she continued, airily cold, "Do not claim you have any more when you only worked for them, and them alone."

The Harrier lowered his head as he angrily glowered at the table, curling his fingers as he coldly hissed back, "I'm happier there than hearing you bitch about me… It's all you've ever done even when I don't live with you anymore-"

"I told you to leave if you do not appreciate my decision."

"You told me to take a hike because you wanted to cuddle up with that bastard!" he yelled in a harsh sneer, throwing his head up to fiercely leer at her. He growled out deeply in ire, "The wedding bells have not rung yet, but I bet you're very happy with your bastard of a husband! Aren't you!?"

"Why continue to haunt me?" He didn't buy her feigned upset misery, turning his head away shrewdly as he venomously seethed and his blood began to boil. "If all you are going to do is torture me- get out!" she then shrieked shrilly when she seemed to notice her act had no effect on him.

"You're suffering?" he scorned disdainfully. He started to laugh humourlessly as he smirked wryly. "That's rich coming from one who did nothing but that to the son who would have died just to make you never sad again… You don't deserve happiness, not after how many times you failed at being a mother- and you weren't even a mother to begin with!" He pivoted away and didn't cave to see how she reacted, letting himself give in to the vehement fury rolling in as a churning, roiling, almost exploding ball in his chest while he hollowly let his eyes dwell on the bathroom door.

When he sensed she appeared ready to weep, he didn't allow for her to have that luxury as he scoffed slowly and viciously, "Where I'm at… you wouldn't be able to dream about knowing how well I'm doing. It's beyond your comprehension, your intelligence that I'm doing so well that my trainer thinks by the end of tomorrow, I should be able to take on my duties less than a Week in when it usually takes them two Weeks to finish training new recruits! I'm being groomed for greatness, my boss even promoted me to the second rank the moment I became part of his 'employees'- I'm better than the lot of them! And I don't even care if you have a sliver of pride left inside your frozen heart… because you will never be part of who I am again!"

"...You know better than to use that tone with me."

Without a second thought, he wildly spun on his heels to stalk over to the chubudai. He immediately reached his hands underneath it to flip it over furiously to glare at her properly then snarled venomously in her terrorfied, shocked face, "The scumbag has every right to withhold the information you seek- you can die for all I care before you know what happened to your son!"

Fiercely fishing for the cord, he ruthlessly tugged and tugged as she stared at him now with an unreadable expression, her gaze glossy as a single trail of tears ran down her cheek… He kept tugging as his fury died down into uncomfortableness, as he awkwardly waited for himself to leave her presence, soon screwing up his face. He clenched his eyes close as he thought in stressful frustration, 'Why can't I get this right!? I'm only making myself out to be a fool in front of her-!'

While panic continued to envelope his thoughts, as he clenched his eyes shut tighter as he yanked as hard as he could to take himself away, the moment he achieved the quickly becoming useless feat, he huffed and puffed before panting in sheer exhaustion as he couldn't bring his body to move after all that hassle. A wheeze escaped his lips as he eventually was able to force himself to stagger to the door, away from her motionless, bleak form, easing the shoji open wearily as he let himself out. He wanted to slam it as the scumbag had, but he could only bring it closed with a measly weak tug of his boneless arm as he now stood on the genken.

As he tiredly knelt down to put his Ligres on, sloppily missing his fingers, messing up countless times as he had to retie it again and again, the moment he finally had done it properly, he rose to his full height. He turned his head forward and could only flinch when he had.

In the distance, watching him silently, was a Support Reaper near the gates.

He couldn't help how his breath had stifled as his body seized in horror, how his diamond-patterned accented wings splayed out involuntarily, or how he was paralyzed in place as he stared back from under his own hood. The only thing he could do was watch fearfully as they began to tread up to him.

When they were standing before the genken, he awkwardly bowed in greeting as they did then remained tense as he then realized in alarm that they hadn't even done that. They had instead squared their shoulders, thumped their chest at the heart region before puffing out their chest as they soon placed their hand horizontally sideways over their forehead-

The Harrier forgot he should have done the Reaper's Allegiance!

As his mind whirled, he frantically attempted to fix his mistake by hastily doing the same sloppily, soon standing ramrod straight as he held his hand over his forehead and felt as if he was only going to fall flat on his face from how dizzy he was becoming. If the Support Reaper minded, they didn't show it, instead waiting as the Harrier continued holding it uneasily before they lowered their hand and relaxed.

The Harrier eventually let himself do that reluctantly. He soon stared back as he fiddled with his hands nervously, asking sheepishly, "D-Do you n-need s-something?"

In response, and lack of body movement, the perfectly poised Support Reaper answered, "The Conductor wants to see you."

All that did was empty the Harrier's mind, causing him to blankly gaze back as sounds deafened around him. Then, when he choked on his gulp, the Harrier blurted out fretfully in timidness, "Th-The C-Conductor!?" As his exclamation went unanswered, he was woozy, almost swaying on the spot as he brought his chin into his chest. He then stammered anxiously, feeling a thickness stuck in his suddenly closed up throat, "B-But wh-why- Wh-What- Wh-Why-"

"He only told me to retrieve you if I saw you enter that home," dully said the Support as he pointed at the Woman's house. It only sent the Harrier into a deeper panic as the Support added with a jerk of his head in the general direction he came from, "And you're only making it take longer to complete the task."

"...I-I'm s-sorry!" the Harrier gushed out fearfully, gasping in and out short, shaky, unsteady breaths as he bowed apologetically. "I-I didn't mean to-" He stopped, telling himself he was only making it worse and proving their point. He hastily started hustling past them in a daze as he mumbled out nervously while waving his arm in the air awkwardly, "L-Let's n-not- Let's not keep him waiting then!"

Once he walked off the premises out on to the sidewalk, the Harrier dumbly stared down the road as he halfheartedly allowed for the Support Reaper take the lead. He hung his head as he dutifully followed after them, hearing his heart thud hard against his strained chest.

The Conductor knew the Harrier was visiting her home… Oh god, what was the Conductor going to say- no, do to him!? If he knew where the Harrier was going this whole time... This wasn't good. It was not good, not good at all!

While lamenting silently in his head about his impending conversation, until he arrived at the River, the Harrier felt trepidation roll through him again and again in horrible, worsening waves the further away he got from that woman's house...

---

To be continued... Hope you enjoyed the chapter! =3

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EeveeGen9988: So far I'm keeping my stride strong with the postings, I can't believe nothing has gone wrong yet! =D

It actually took me eight days to successfully get this chapter edited, which was surprising to me due to its length. So I'm glad I actually managed this feat this quickly.

The next chapter will probably be out in two weeks from now! It's time for me to take more me time. ;D

Fun Fact - When I was researching into chloroform for this chapter, I find it funny how apparently the gag of putting a cloth against someone's face and knocking them out instantly is not actually accurate in the real world. Apparently it takes five minutes to knock someone out, and in order to keep them out, you would have to keep their exposure to chloroform constant. Hence that's kind of why MR Protag wasn't knocked out cold immediately from the two times he was subjected to it. Or perhaps the formula MR Protag's attacker was using wasn't a perfected form of chloroform? Who knows. I also discovered that it used to be an anesthesia used for operations and that you can die from too much exposure to chloroform, especially after it evaporates in the air because of the toxins it gives out. I found learning about it interesting to learn after having a preconceived notion of it all this time.

Fun Fact - Originally I toyed with the idea of having MR Protag get kidnapped instead of being attacked. I quickly realized it wasn't a smart narrative choice because of the fact that MR Protag would be isolated in a location and there was less of a chance for him to be saved or him to save himself, but the other fact was that MR Protag kind of would negate his kidnapping because it would make sense once his attacker was asleep our protagonist could very easily just go back to the UG and walk out the door. So that's why I went with the 'being attacked' option. *sweatdrops*

But I doubt MR Protag would be incapable of stopping himself from getting kidnapped to begin with. *laughs*

Fun Fact - Did you know that Jiji usually means grandpa, gramps, or old man in Japanese?

You've also unlocked something for your valiant chapter reading efforts!

---

NEW LETTER THREAD HAS BEEN [SUCCESSFULLY] CREATED

THREAD_TYPE = [PRIVATE]=[HM to KF]

DATE_OF_CREATION = 7/30/04/PM/SAT/15/JUN/1975

ENTRY_NO = 349723

LOG_NAME = SD

DOCUMENT_ALIAS = Secret Documents - Entry 349723

ENTRY_GAME_SEQ = DAY/05/JUN/15/1975

---

Hiraku's Third Report of his Fifth Term in the Lower Grounds
- 1975 -
Processing and Composition (and Stasis)

Because Ms. Fukuhashi wants me to go over the things I forgot to mention last time, I thought I would start with Processing.

Processing, to make it simple, is when Reapers help to bring over new Players into the Underground by retexturizing their Frequency through their Composition. I'll explain what a Frequency and Composition is before I go into more detail.

A Frequency is, I guess, the state of being that allows for someone to be present on a Plane by whether or not their Frequency can match the Plane's threshold. By that I mean for you to be on a Plane, you must be able to set foot on a Plane. It's like your weight, for example (I know that's a bad analogy, but I'm having a hard time explaining it). If you walk across a bridge that's poorly built, and only certain weight can be on that bridge, then the heavier person will have the bridge collaspe below them while the lighter person walks safely across. Imagine it like the Realground people are the heavy ones and we're the lighter ones; you can't walk on air as well as you can walk on land because the land can support you unlike the air that's pretty much not there for you. I guess you could say that we can walk on air because we are light enough to be able to contact the air while the heavier people can only have the air go past them? Anyway, you basically need to be able to have your Frequency match the sameness as the Underground, which is higher than the Realground, so basically we can exist above the people without them even knowing we're there because its physical to those who can access it while the people in the Realground only can dream of being able to understand they can be on the air…

Gah, it's not making as much sense as it did in my mind, but hopefully it makes sense now. Maybe I should have related it to music!

Anyway, in the second-last report I sent, I already talked about how Reapers and Players can have their Frequency Down-Tuned to the Realgrounds with Reaper decals they call Reaper Sigils, but I hadn't talked about how it related to your Composition. For your Composition, it is the fabric of your being, or what makes up you to be you. Every part of you contains a network of Notes, or parts, of who you are. Think of it like the systerms of your body, you need every bit of it to function properly in your day to day life.

Notes, as I had just mentioned and need to explain, is the fragments of your Composition. Like the score of music, the score or Composition is made of indiviual notes that determine what you are. In fact, it's rare but some Angels have mentioned that hearing your own 'Music' isn't a good thing. (I wonder why.)

Now that we're caught up, or at least, maybe me more than you, I'll be able to explain how Processing works.

Processing happens when a person dies, plain and simple. Not just the death of a person, but it can be also done before Erasure sets in, but that's probably not as important as when you're first offically Processed into a Player. When you're Processed after death or when you're in the middle of dying, the person places you in Stasis where your Compositon is preserved in order to not lose any part of you that may decay over time like your body. Any Reaper has the ability to do so, which is considered an Art as well.

As I was saying, once the to-be Player is placed in Stasis, the Reaper undergoes the Process of reversing the damage done to the body that had caused the death or any additional injuries or leftover symptoms that are present at the current moment from said death cause. I'm not sure if they get rid of chronic diseases as well, but Processing mainly deals with fixing the person then transcribing their Compositon, or Processing their Compositon into a form where it can be accepted into the Underground. To some, it's a tedious process, but it's a vital, dangerous one if done not right. (I haven't heard what happens if it goes awry, but it's not that great to imagine what could happen to someone if a Reaper rushes or makes a mistake on their Composition. There's no way they may survive such a thing... no sorree!)

On the other hand… I would have to wonder what it may be like if someone made a mistake on your Compositon enough to cause lasting damages… (Ooh, it gives me goosebumps to think what could happen-) I heard Iwao mention it's not good, so I doubt I would have wanted something to go wrong with my Processing when I died! (To be honest, I still don't like how clumsy I was to have bumped into someone only to die by concussion on the ground, yeesh…)

Once again, for Processing, sorry for getting sidetracked, once the Processing is complete, you're still in Stasis until your first Game day to ensure you don't wander off (maybe?). And that's it!

Hoping that you're happy with me getting this report done faster than the others,
- Hiraku Maeda

I forgot to mention some other stuff, so I'm just adding a bit on to make sure that Fukuhashi isn't unhappy about this being short.

To access your Composition, here's a fun fact: It's mainly condensed where your heart would be! Condensed as in if it was exactly where your heart region is, but in other vital areas of your body like your brain, nape and spine… but mostly it's stuck in your heart area. Not really stuck, but it's easiest to access it in your heart area. Since you no longer need your heart to beat, but it in a sense, people in the Underground are able to percieve thier heart as if it's still working, but it's pretty much the same deal I guess? It's still the core of your being.

I've been told that even though you're dead, you shouldn't be having issues like heart disease or a range of human comobilities… but you're still able to get runny noses and coughs, which is really weird if I'm honest. I wonder if chest pain should count as one of them? Hmm… I'll just leave it up to Fukuhashi for now.

Oh- before I forget, maybe I'll also add stuff about Stasis because I don't think I talked about it before too! Hopefully that'll spruce up the report a little more!

Okay, so… Stasis is what the people from the Underground do, which is another Art, where they can make Reapers, Players, or soon-to-be Players go into a sort of hibernation state, if I got it correct. There's multiple ways of how they would apply Stasis depending on certain circumstances and stuff, though!

YOu can freeze the decay of Composition in Stasis, as i mentioned above, and you can make it so that the people hibernate in the state. It's also loosely used when you need to make the Player's perception of the Day end so the next they 'wake up' is before their next Mission, or for Processing tweaks in general. I've heard they've also used it for stopping Yellow NOise attacks, which is a new strain of NOise from what I heard that feasts on people's emotions. NOt sure which type of emotions, but definitely emotions!

Oh, almost forgot to say that Stasis on Reapers isn't a thing that they can do on each other unless they're Officer Reapers, the Conductor, or the Composer. It's important because if any Support or Harrier Reaper could do it they may abuse it by putting their Point compietion into Stasis to entirely stop them from preventing them from getting their Points for their Surivial Capacity, which sounds like quite a doozy if thousands and thousands of them started openly doing that on their friends or foes. Realistically, the Composer was right to only enable more responsible people to be able to access this Art. (Although, I have to wonder if Reapers are able to be put through Stasis if they are put through Processing again if they somehow get hurt enough to die in the Realground again? I mean, is that allowed? I might have to check on that and that could be a thing I should update on.)

Also, before I forget another, another time… When anyone is put into Stasis, they're put into some kind of pocket dimension. Players that are still in the Game are left in the wide open to be able to put them wherever they're needed to do Missions or other stuff, which can be said for Reapers as well. Oh, and after you're Processed into the Underground, I think one branch of Officer Reapers, or Sector of the Officer REapers, deals with setting up an arrival point where Reapers who were once Players could wake up at once they're done being in Stasis for whaever reason. Or, maybe it was that the person who put them in Stasis can decide where to put them? I can't remember the fine details but whatever it is, they're set up at certain places so they don't pop up in the Scramble Crossing road each time. After all, they don't want to get mixed up with the Players.

Okay, now that I think about it, maybe they should have thought about using different terms for the types of Stasis they have, because calling it the same thing for every situaion is just baffling when you try to think about the logic of it all. Not to complain, but it's true. (Although, I think the name was used before the current Composer took charge of the Underground, so that's why it's not named after the music theme the Composer wants to go for for some reason. Like calling it a Rest or Long Rest, since that's when there's a pause in music! I wish those were the names of the types of Stasis!)

Sorry for rushing the report but hopefully you'll be happy with it,
- Hiraku Maeda