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].

12. Mr Kid

Mr Reaper

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

Mr Reaper Part 11 was written for Shibuya Operation - Story Storm (SOSS) 2021/22. Previous chapters (Parts 0 and 1) were posted during Twelve Shots of Summer (TSoS) 2019 and Parts 2 to 10 were posted during Shibuya Operation - Story Storm (SOSS) 2019 - 2021.

...

Part 11 - Mr Kid

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Months Ago...

---

Groaning, feeling as if he'd taken a swing from a hammer to the forehead, the young man with effort opened his eyes.

He was facedown, sprawled across the pavement, feeling so leaden he may have been glued to the cement itself. The young man couldn't help but grimace as he lifted his head a little, idly taking in the area in front of him as he bemusedly wondered how he may have ended up in the Scramble Crossing. It wasn't even pouring rain anymore... and he knew being in the Scramble Crossing meant no shelter from it, yet he found the ground was oddly dry.

The moment he lowered his head on its side, he scrunched his face up and tried to recall why he wasn't in the back alley. But then again, he couldn't help but dwell on why it was so important that he was in the back alley to begin with, or why Kage wasn't...

No, Kage should have been here. They both should have been in the alleyway, with the Cherry, where the teenager was struggling to-

When his eyes widened in remembrance, it was only a matter of seconds before he suddenly had the energy to launch himself to his feet. However, he stumbled right as he had, falling on to his back gracelessly as his hood crumpled around his head, his rising anxiety only expediting as he stared straight up at the friendly blue sky.

'What's going on!?' he thought incredulously instead of enjoying the view, helping himself back up before he soon sat on the ground in bewilderment. As he tried to control his harsh breathing, he eventually chanced another look at the sky, blinking up it in a daze as his mind grew dizzy. 'Th-The Cherry- the smoke- the Scumbag- the- the- the...'

In the end, instead of finishing his thought, he grimaced when he couldn't make sense of it. '...Why am I here…?'

Knowing that he was beside himself on the point, as he had just woken up in the Scramble Crossing, it wasn't right that he was sitting in the middle of the huge intersection. He knew he should have been drowning in the insufferable smoke of the Cherry in the alleyway, trapped in it as Kage refused to-

Ugh, stop. Don't think about that right now; think about finding some answers.

Nodding to himself, he grunted in response to the ache in his body and fixed his black hood as soon as he was standing perfectly fine without losing balance again. However, the fact that he had made him even more confused. The next thing he did was lower his head, examining himself from his upper-torso to his feet as he noted in awe, as well as in unsettlement, that his body held no telltale signs of being fried under a car hood. His clothing should have been burned by now, yet they weren't frayed or melted, giving nothing to denote that his hoodie and undershirt were damaged by the heat of the engine.

The teenager frowned in disquiet as he checked over his body once more. 'No way...' He took a moment to slide both of his sleeves up, probing his arms with his fingers before proceeding to check on his stomach. At the flawless paleness, he shook his head as he released his hoodie and undershirt's fabrics then fixed his sleeves. 'This isn't right... why isn't there anything!?' He unsteadily breathed out as his vision trembled. 'I couldn't have gotten out of that without something...'

It was as if he was never trapped to begin with. He wasn't certain if he should be relieved or haunted from that revelation.

Telling himself to try to not focus on that now, the young man simply scanned his vicinity, looking at his surroundings until he realized in bemusement that he had been chilling with other limp forms until he stirred. He wasn't sure if he should be creeped out or feel even more puzzled because of that, deciding to awkwardly step around and try to avoid the body parts of the unconscious persons. From what he could tell, as he headed west towards the perimeter of them, they ranged from teenagers to young adults if he read their appearances right.

When he got out of the organized mess of bodies, he frowned as he blinked in response to a fuzziness coming over his vision. He didn't think much about patting the side of his head at that moment, as it made him feel slightly better after watching the visual disturbance disappear.

'I absolutely know that I should be dying right now, so why do I feel more like a train struck me?' he thought to himself in annoyance. '...Not that I would choose one over the other, of course… Just... no. Neither.' His thoughts grew sluggish the more he thought on it, so he shook his head to hopefully dispel them. He wasn't sure if something was fighting him or not over his current state and situation, but he kind of wished this was actually a dream or daydream. One where he thought he was being burned away, or one that he simply imagined his flesh was-

Trying to force back down the bile that wanted to be out, he gulped deeply before realizing he was the only one awake from the pile. As in, he was the only one standing in the road while other people were beginning to cross the scramble intersection with ease. Just seeing the sight calmed him, despite his distressed ponder on why no one else had noticed there were about nineteen or twenty-three unconscious persons napping in the centre of the main intersection of Shibuya of all places!

Feeling slightly unnerved that nobody was doing anything and simply kept walking, he rushed over to the nearest stream of pedestrians and called out anxiously, "P-People are in the middle of the road!" When they didn't appear to hear him, he stopped in front of the middle portion of the stripy crosswalk as he whipped his head between the walkers. "H-Hey! People are in the middle of the road-" he repeated frantically before frowning in dismay when he was ignored again. This spurred him on to shout at them as his nerves shot up, "This is an emergency- we can't let the cars go until we get those people out of the way!"

His eyes went wide and he frowned deeper in fret when no one paid attention to the safety of the endangered nappers. He couldn't believe he was the only one freaking out about this when this was a pressing matter! People could die if nothing was done about them!

The young man finally shook his head and reached out in his desperation for a nearby businessman. "H-How can you be ignoring this-"

He felt his breath hitch when his hand phased through the person.

As people kept casually going through his hand, he observed each instance with a growing horror until the traffic lights stopped the flow of pedestrians. Without a second thought, he recoiled and drew his hand back sharply. '...What the fuck!?'

The moment he whipped his head back to the centre of the street, he widened his eyes in panic as cars started to move in his peripherals. He didn't hesitate to throw himself forward, waving his hands wildly as he screamed shrilly, "Stop! There's still people out there!" He eventually slowed to a wavering stop when the cars zoomed through the unconscious persons, gradually lowering his arms as a kind of numbness overtook his senses. His face slackened as the cars continued to do so; not catapulting poor citizens all over the road, not painting it red from the bloodbath that was supposed to be...

His gaze merely took in everything again.

People looked greyer, or less saturated than they were supposed to be... No one was paying attention to him, even when he screamed in their faces... People and cars were phasing through him and the unconscious pile of people like they were... like they were...

'H-How is this possible…!?' he thought in appall, feeling sweat roll down his face as he drew his hands over his mouth. He unsteadily breathed against them in disbelief as he continued to watch the ignorant people and feel the unnatural placidity of the district. 'Those people should be d-dead- k-killed-' He drifted a little on the spot anxiously for a brief spell of pacing before halting as he thought on, 'Th-The only possible reason they're not should only be because-'

Stilling at the thought, he widened his eyes and gaped in shock. 'Oh my god- am I dead!?'

"Hey, wait a minute." The young man closed his mouth and lowered his arms in confusion at the sound of a male's tenor. "I thought you said they weren't supposed to be up yet."

'Up… yet?' Uh oh... that didn't sound good.

"What are you talking about, the players are still-" Turning gradually with apprehension, the teenager soon faced two people with, ugh, mustard-stained-all-over-the-place hoodies and dark green cargo pants quite a ways away from him. However, he couldn't help but quail in fright when he saw they also had wings.

People didn't have wings. He could believe he was dead, but people didn't have wings.

While one of them was already looking at him, judging by their hood direction, the other who had spoken previously just turned around fully. They jumped on the spot after they had. "Would you look at that- you're right!" she said incredulously.

"Um…" He felt the need to clasp his hands as he stared back meekly, mumbling as he tensed more, "H-Hello?"

"Hi?" said the male mustard-hoodie-lover quizzically as he cocked his head sideways.

The young man would have liked to just stick around on the road and avoid these two who seemed to know what was going on here, but the fact that he knew they knew more than him right now overruled that urge. He started to walk over, observing how they stiffened. Not only that, the female took on a defensive stance even before the young man took three steps.

He stopped to bow then straightened himself. "H-Hi," he started again but awkwardly. He tried to make his voice less bashful as he furrowed his eyebrows. "D-Do you know what's going on?" He wondered if bowing to them this late was a mistake, yet waited to see how they'd take his reintroduction.

"I don't know, do you know what's going on?" asked the male pointedly. He soon crossed his arms as he groaned unhappily, "Because we know that you are supposed to be having your nighty-night with the others right now."

Throughout the time the other male was speaking, the black-hooded male's jaw had fallen from shock. He felt slightly miffed about how arrogant that man just sounded, even the fact that the other hooded person was having attitude with the young man when the young man just asked an honest-to-good, noteworthy, coherent question. The only other time he could think of that he was treated like this was from comments from Kage, and he wasn't certain what to think if he was immediately drawing comparisons to-

"Well?" Snapping back to the present, the young man returned to listening to the stranger's snippiness. "What are you even doing up?"

Grimacing at that moment, he wondered if that question was for him or not. He wasn't even sure how to answer that without being the garbage his interlocutor clearly saw him as.

The young man merely gritted his teeth in the end as he lowered his head. "S-Sorry." He reached into his hoodie and squeezed his nape as he mumbled, "I-I didn't know I was supposed to be asleep, since I just woke up."

"...This is definitely a good time to alert the officers about this," insisted the female sternly, who turned her hood to her comrade-of-mustardy-arms. She gestured the young man's way. "The mission isn't supposed to be out until an hour from now-"

"I know, I know…" returned the male grumpily in failed hush. "But I don't know why Blackie is up and about."

Blackie? Was that supposed to be a nickname? He knew it was a better one than Kage could come up with, but having them talk about him like this only meant that something was wrong. And whatever was wrong, was it his fault? He didn't know any better when he woke up... what else do you do when you wake up? Stay on the ground without a clue about why you're not suffocating in a Cherry still?

But instead of voicing his concerns aloud, the nineteen-year-old simply held his tongue. Maybe he should have just laid back down and not initiated contact with these other hoodie fanatics... even if the road sucked to be on. He didn't want to possibly be considered a threat if these two hoodie people were inclined to harass those who wake up before their 'peers'. But at the same time too, why were they supposed to be sleeping to begin with?

This was starting to feel unrealistic, yet he couldn't deny the possibility whatever was happening involved him. He was to blame... so the best thing he could do was try to make things less bad and hope for the best.

"Look," he said quietly, keeping his head bowed as he grabbed one of his arms uneasily. "I-I don't understand what's going on, but if you only need me to not be walking around…"

"The reaper processing you should have given you the lowdown," warily said the male. He puffed out his chest after he strode forward a little. "And even if you weren't a newbie, you should know this isn't part of the schedule."

Frowning at that, he tried to rack his brain for anything that could relate to what the guy was talking about. But then he recalled something about doing stuff these persons may have wanted him to do. Or… was it a different type of people? Hmm…

Slowly raising his hands and head up, stretching his palms out to the mustard-wearers, he breathed out nervously, "I-I don't want to cause either of you trouble…" When the male snorted at that, the female starting to inch towards the teenager, the young man went on, starting to feel dizzy from dread, "So h-how about we pretend this never happened? Y-Yeah?"

"This already is happening, Bean Sprout, so what do you take us for?" asked the female with disgruntlement. He couldn't help but feel disheartened as her arms crossed when she grumbled, "Don't get any bright ideas now…"

"No, no-" he pleaded desperately as he stepped back as they drew closer. His heart started to race; his mind was whirling at the thought he may very well 'die' to these strangers if he slipped up. He couldn't explain it, but he couldn't be more intimidated by the auras they gave off, feeling as if his fears weren't unfounded as he knew the wings they had weren't ordinary. In fact, everything about these people and the situation was abnormal, so he shouldn't push his luck and just pretend that second death was a logical occurrence. It was better than finding out what might actually happen to him.

Once they were closer, he unsteadily inhaled before gasping out, "I-I suggest that instead of us doing anything rash… h-how about I go back and rest?" He grimaced when they stopped, trying to gauge what they might do next as he eyeballed them. When nothing happened, he suppressed the need to relax, as he knew he was on eggshells now while he continued to explain in a more careful manner, "I-I don't get up until it's whatever time you need me to get up for… a-and no one gets hurt?"

He shakily breathed as he smiled uneasily, willing for them to not hurt him. He wasn't even sure if he wasn't making a mistake by suggesting this.

"Hah, and how do you plan on doing that?" finally jeered the male with a derisive shake of his head.

The young man could only feel his nerves start up again when he was asked that. "I-I'll…" The nineteen-year-old stopped to think, gulping quietly and hoping his company didn't notice before he soon mumbled out, "I'm great at math?"

When the winged mustard people didn't respond, he bit his lip and clenched his eyes closed. That wasn't enough to persuade them... it wasn't a good explanation at all! He immediately pushed himself to say the rest, telling himself to not accidentally stutter himself into incoherence as he spoke, "You said… an hour right? S-So if I lay back down and 'sleep' until then, counting until it's 'showtime'... will all be forgiven?" He raised his palms upwards bemusedly as his gaze flickered between them.

"Counting?" parroted the male doubtfully. "You plan on... counting?"

"Y-Yes, uh… that!" he chirped uneasily, clasping his hands and partly hugging himself as he shyly drew his gaze down. "Sixty seconds per minute… and if I crunch that to an hour…" He wiggled his jaw in ponder before he breathed out again, "Th-Then I'll be counting up sixty minutes per sixty seconds for a total of 3600 seconds! But, uh-" He grimaced before mumbling out sheepishly, "Since it's been about three minutes since you mentioned that… I guess I-I'll only be doing it up to 3420 seconds. But once I finish talking, it may only be 3390…" He put his hand over his chin. "But if we account for the time it might take until I actually do that…"

"Okay, fine. We get it," curtly said the female mustard-wearer in annoyance, to his embarrassment. She scoffed as she jabbed a finger in his direction, "As long as you don't relay or indicate you spoke with us before you were supposed to be conscious... then by all means, do that."

"But what if he's lying?" asked the male coldly, turning his hood to his companion. "We could seriously get in trouble!"

"For trusting a measly player to cooperate with us? Doubt it," snorted the snippy female with a shake of her head. When she pointed at the young man, he started on the spot as he gave her his full-attention. "Get on with it, Bean Sprout… No more peeps, and no more wandering around until you're supposed to. Understand?"

Despite the surprise running through him as he gawked back in relief, he promptly bowed to her in gratitude. "Y-Yes, M-Mam." Without another word or look, he swung around and scrambled to dash back over to his unresponsive peers.

He tried to ignore what those two were talking about when the sense of being able to know what they were doing still almost made him skid to a halt. He widened his eyes at the awareness he had of her prodding a finger hard into her fellow person's chest, as if it were happening in front of him, while the male bristled and shook his fist at her on retaliation… The young man tried to go back to focusing on what he was doing despite how unsettled he was by this.

The nineteen-year-old skimmed his gaze around upon stopping at the first body he came across, wanting to figure out where he roused from quicker instead of mulling that over. And after he awkwardly stepped around arms and legs just as he did the first time for a while, he eventually came upon a space he felt may have been just the size for him. He didn't hesitate to slip into it.

Even as he felt a burning on him as he was trying to recall how he was lying earlier, he remembered he had been lying on his stomach so he knelt down and slowly laid his body to best replicate his initial position. He didn't want to make it suspicious to anyone else, so trying to remaster the original image he supposed these mustard people put them all in would be for the best.

Closing his eyes, he sighed as small as he could and tried to crunch how much longer it had been since the mustard man mentioned the projected time the nineteen-year-old was supposed to be waking up at. But as he did so, he finally had the chance to start freaking out again about his apparent status for death, eventually feeling the searing on his body disappear as he kept his concentration on the numbers he needed to be keeping track of...

And yet, as the minutes went by, he couldn't help but wonder why he woke up at the wrong time. Or rather, what that time actually meant for all of them.

---

- 1975 -
Present Day

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Groaning, feeling as if he'd taken a swing from a hammer to the forehead, the Harrier with effort opened his eyes.

As his gaze took in the ceiling, the faint beepings of the alarm clock (he bought last month) on the dresser, he drew in a deep breath as he pulled his body up. He didn't hesitate to smile as he started to tug his hood back on, that had been dislodged during his sleep apparently, and moved the soft blankets pooled around him to the side so he could get off the bed.

Another Day, another opportunity to making the world a better place...

After he ended the incessant beeps from the alarm clock, he was already well on his way to slinging his knapsack over his shoulder once his Pin set was clipped to his undershirt. He turned the lights off and sauntered into the short hallway, promptly exiting it to take in the calmness of the home until he caught sight of his friend.

"Good morning!" the Harrier exclaimed merrily as he soon trotted up to the centre counter of the kitchen. He turned to grin at Jimmy, who was already there on the other side of it, as he clasped his hands contentedly. "Ready for your shift today?"

The New Zealander chuckled before he pivoted away to take a glass from the cupboard. "Nah, yeah." No sooner than he had filled it up with tap water did he place it in front of the Harrier, gazing curiously at him as Jimmy murmured, "You have heaps of spirit today. What's the occasion?"

"To answer your question, Jimmy," the Harrier said as he picked up the cup. He began to sip it briefly, pulling it away afterward when he swallowed. "We've had so much progress lately that I think we're starting to scare off the Wrongdoers." He nearly took another drink yet chose to put in before doing so, "Not that I'm worried about WEB finding the rest, but isn't that enough to feel like celebrating?"

"Hard out," chirped Jimmy as he nodded heartily. As the Harrier continued to down the water, the New Zealander added mildly, "Do you think today or tomorrow would be all good to round everyone up? We haven't had a meetin' for two Weeks."

"To check in? Certainly." The Harrier smiled as he put his glass down, keeping his hands clasped around it. "Let's do both, though. I have a feeling the Posh Bastard won't look twice with how witless I hear he's been lately."

"Isn't that ow risky?" The Support frowned at him.

"Yes, but I have a feeling we can slip around any whistleblowers," intoned the Harrier mindfully. "They already gave up again last month, why would they point at us now?" He then proceeded to finish his glass of tap water as Jimmy agreed with him.

When the Harrier put his glass in the sink, he quietly walked over to the door to put on his Lygres as Jimmy was unlatching the lock. The Harrier followed after the lankier Reaper until he descended the stairwell, waving a small goodbye once him and Jimmy were at the bottom of the stairs before the Harrier turned away into the streets.

After a few minutes of being by himself, he inhaled deeply as he took in the partly-clouded sky.

It had been a little over two months since the Harrier started directing WEB. Not actively hunting for the Wrongdoers took a while in getting used to, but the young Harrier Reaper felt it was kind of nice to relax and watch his Reapers do the work for him. So although he missed the thrill of the hunt, taking a backseat to orchestrate and manage the scenes himself was fun in it's own right.

He wondered if setting up a play was similar to this: Finding the right Reapers for the right roles, giving them the script they had to act out, setting them up for success, then stepping in to recentre them when they started to fumble their lines… Perhaps it was, he supposed with a mental chuckle, perhaps it was.

Since they were first organized, the Harrier was aware of their numbers growing from thirteen to nineteen. Despite not knowing the newer members as well, he was pleased with the growing interest of the Underground population to assist them in their cause. At first, he may have suspected they were mutts from the Posh Bastard seeking to destroy what little they had… But from the abrupt increase in Wrongdoers joining the Game, it made him set aside his doubts neatly as he quietly observed from a distance.

Speaking of which, it seemed that no one was none the wiser as he hadn't seen the Posh Bastard in so long. Having the freedom from that hoity asshole felt almost like a far-off dream, had he hadn't been forgetting what the man sounded like. Not that he wanted to commit it to memory… but it helped to lessen the stress the Harrier used to have every Day.

As for the Harrier, it was fine time to get a bite to eat. Despite knowing he had plenty of Points to delay when his expiration date arrived, he knew the more he stocked up for the future, the better it would be to meld into the shadows to avoid suspicion…

Drifting past the remaining Pacts as he entered the Scramble Crossing, he made sure to pointedly ignore them as he felt heads turn his way. Even after two months, Reapers were still persistent in keeping an eye on him. He wouldn't say he was frustrated or disappointed, he knew the old notion they had of him had a stranglehold over them. And as the Mission would be starting soon, he had to make certain he wasn't near the Pacts for too long.

Apparently just glancing at a Pact garnered suspicion.

But on the other hand, that's where the Sadist's uses came into play.

Sadist Saiyama gave the slip yesterday in his departure that the Mission today would span from the usual starting location to Cat Street, but there would be several pit stops the Players would have to be at to do the sequences of the Mission. He wasn't certain why, but their dearest Gamemaster had chosen to be nitpicky and appeared to be concrete-sequential this time around… The Players would be halted enough during the three hours to give the Harrier plenty of opportunities to keep his distance from them as they searched for the Gamemaster.

The Harrier wouldn't say he was glad of the Sadist's involvement still, but he had to admit it gave him plenty of smokescreens to duck into.

...Excellent smokescreens, he loathed to admit.

The Harrier turned to the Support Reaper manning Circle Route's gate, bowing in greeting when they diverted their attention to him while they gave the Reaper's Allegiance. He straightened himself afterward once they dropped their hand from their forehead before speaking matter-of-factly to them, "Hey, is there a chance you know which Route Walls will be open today?" It was always good to check if the Old Man was lying, after all.

"Routes Eleven, Fourteen, and Sixteen's Walls will be closed once the Mission starts," the red-hood Reaper supplied stiffly. They then shifted to look in the direction of a district gate that lacked a Support Reaper. "Routes Five-to-Eight will be open, but Route Nine will be optional if the Players haven't gotten the materials before today."

It was Day 7… and apparently the Gamemaster wanted arts-and-crafts for the Players to gain their audience for battle then. The Harrier couldn't really complain about their methods; he heard crazier schemes when he hunted Wrongdoers.

But instead of focusing on that, the Harrier simply let his eyes slide to the gate the Support Reaper's gaze swept past. Without the Players present, Center Street definitely was a sure-fire way to get to the north corner of Udagawa without Reapers harping on him. Just as he liked it.

"Ah, of course." After giving a nod, he smiled politely as he bowed again. "Thank you for the information. I very much appreciate it, my friend." The Harrier didn't wait for the other to do the Posh Bastard's stupid salute and simply walked to Route Eleven, quietly taking in the sights as he continued on while Realground morning-goers passed through him.

He put his hands in his pockets as he drank in the air. Wasn't it a beautiful Day today?

---

Ever since he got attacked by the Player Killer, the fear of being trapped in an alleyway was prevalent. It mixed with his uneasiness from his death, the reminder of seeing that black haired teenager he couldn't name… but nowadays, the Harrier was more glad than ever he got over it.

Instead of constantly looking over his shoulder like he had for the first month of WEB's conception, he felt rather safe in his element. It appeared that once he came here enough without incident, the dread was quickly smothered by a tranquility he couldn't explain as he worked on innocent souls. He had to check their bodies to make certain he wasn't going to be caught above a Wrongdoer's first, but that worry was swept away by the silence accompanying him.

White noise of the streets was lost each time he put them into Stasis to work, then the satisfaction of accepting the energy for undertaking the task nearly made him drunk unless he spaced out the times he worked on corpses. It wasn't quite as strong as the Points he received from taking down his targets, but it still made it hard to focus at times. In fact, he nearly felt tempted to lose himself in the feeling as he knew he needed more than he had gotten, but he thankfully resisted it enough to mostly keep his head straight.

It wouldn't do to go insane from keeping himself 'Point Starved', so he had to be careful and watch over his thoughts. After all, he didn't want to think about what the Posh Bastard told him once. That would be proving the man was correct.

Just as the mild sensation left him, he tried to not dwell on chasing the feeling too much as he started to tread again. He found this alleyway wasn't helping him out much so far, so he knew he should check into another one. After he came to the end of it, he spotted one on the other side of the road, neighbouring the door to a kobini, and decided to check that alleyway next.

He had just crossed the street and walked into it when he stopped, twisting around and pressing himself backwards into the wall to barely avoid a blur of red as his knapsack groaned. The moment he turned to face forward again, he watched a Support run further away and frowned somewhat grumpily. 'Asshole.' He drew in a breath to calm himself then shook his head. 'Can't be bothered to choose another alleyway.'

Since there was no reason to leave, the Harrier continued to walk forward as he huffed out a little. Although, he couldn't deny that it was odd that a Support ran into here. He could only hope that he wasn't going to stumble upon a WEB Reaper in the act of killing. But in the worst case scenario that it was, the best thing to do would be to run the other way, alert nearby Reapers, then hope that his Reaper got away in time so he wouldn't be accused too harshly again for being Mr Reaper.

However, even if he did that, he could still come across as the guilty party. That caused him to halt and put a hand on his face in stress as he wondered how he would diffuse the situation then. Walking away now would only make it 'obvious'…

After taking in a deep breath, he decided to figure it out then if that actually happened.

As he started moving again, he silently regarded that there weren't any corpses yet. It made him relax a little from his growing wariness, but he still kept up his guard the further he went. However, when he did stop, he could only blink and frown at the sight he saw in the deep shade of the alleyway.

A short, large-winged Support Reaper was shoving food into their hood, obviously eating it from the subtle gulps and wrappers falling to the ground. They were constantly scooping up more from a bag with a label of the konbini the Harrier seen earlier, unwrapping the melonpan as the Harrier was treated to seeing crumbs spray out and catch onto the Reaper's uniform. If it wasn't for the fact that this was a Support playing hooky, or the fact they were stuffing themself needlessly, the Harrier would have just gone by them.

Instead, the Harrier felt his puzzlement grow as they were grabbing another, zeroing in on the konbini bag again, which still looked like it carried weight, then the Support. He knitted his eyebrows and wondered if he should say something when he heard them whimper. That made him blink as he watched them hold their half-eaten snack as their head lowered; he didn't even know if they knew he was there from how they were holding themself.

The Harrier couldn't help but feel like something was wrong, but was it really his business to ask?

As they were bringing the melonpan back to their face, the Harrier found his feet were already moving forward.

"You should really… stop." Their arm froze when he said that, which was a relief to see. He gathered his thoughts as he continued towards the other, coming to a halt nearby them before he added with awkwardness, "It's good and all to enjoy snacks, but even we have our limits here."

"O-Oh." A younger person's voice greeted him finally, making the Harrier realize in surprise that this wasn't a short Reaper. It was a kid. Not exactly a kid, but perhaps more along the lines of being a teenager because the other's head came up to the older's chest. "Gee, I'm sorry. I didn't think anyone would come here." Upon moving their hood to regard the Harrier again, the smaller Reaper hung their head and lowered their hands. "And I didn't mean to eat so much... I'm just so hungry..."

...Hungry? No one in the Underground got hungry after they were Processed into the Plane. They could still catch a bite to eat and get full… but hungry? The Harrier forgot how hunger felt like and was certain he couldn't remember what it was like for the life of him.

Unless Point Starvation counted, that is.

"Huh, so you're hungry then," mused the Harrier as he kept watching the younger Reaper thoughtfully. "Haven't heard someone say that in Weeks." When the Support's hood tilted, the Harrier drank in how they were gaping at him as it slipped slightly away from their face. He merely kept his eyes on them as he spoke candidly, "Remember? We don't get hungry, we only get full."

The Support was silent for a bit, only speaking when they were looking downward again. "We do?"

He resisted the urge to eyeroll, simply choosing to mind his manners and not push it so it wouldn't appear as if he was mocking the kid. It sounded like a kid, at least. The vocals still wavered on whether or not it wanted to change just yet, so he couldn't tell if it was a short, teenage girl or a younger boy yet. Although, the Harrier reminded himself he couldn't just label an age on to this Support through voice alone, nor did he think he was facing a ten-year-old.

The Game wouldn't be so cruel to allow entry of someone that young.

"Yeah." Nodding, the Harrier pointed towards the plastic bag. He hoped it would be enough to reinforce his statement through the act. "Kind of makes you forget you still have your limits, and can't feel the pain when you're over-bloating yourself."

"Then how do you know if you're stuffed?" worriedly asked the person with an oomph of wonder thrown into the mix. They whipped their head up and disturbed their hood again in doing so. "I-I feel hungry, but I feel stuffed for some reason! Does that count?"

As he ruminated over the input given to him, the Harrier eventually shrugged. "I suppose that's it. I don't really do eating now, but…" He shook his head as he went on, "That doesn't explain why you could be hungry and full." Didn't he already establish that there was no such thing as hunger anymore? Or did the Support not hear him over their apparent 'hunger'?

The Support finally chose to gobble up their remaining food, despite sounding like they were choking on it, and soon rubbed their hands to shake the crumbs off as they swallowed. "...I think I'm still hungry though," they simply said.

After a few seconds, they started to gingerly brush and pick off the other crumbs stuck to their hoodie. That made the Harrier furrow his eyebrows in confusion. "How so?" In the Underground, it didn't cease to remind you that you couldn't do anything you wanted anymore, even if it was eating your heart out. But it didn't make any sense the kid was hungry. So was the kid lying, or were they trying to punish themself for something through the act of gluttony?

The Support tilted their head down again for a bit before their shoes shuffled on the pavement. "Well, my stomach's been all achy and stuff. I-It won't stop, and I've just been trying to stop it all Day."

Usually the Harrier would have accepted that as enough to appease his curiosity, but something felt off about that answer. He tilted his head, trying to pay closer attention to this Reaper when he realized they may have been subtly hinting at that earlier. It didn't deter him that he missed that detail, only making him wonder what may be the problem if the person actually was feeling hungry.

Although, wouldn't it be terrible if there was a chance that something went wrong with their Processing? That someone messed up and now the kid was on constant hunger mode? Not in the funny sense, more for the 'wouldn't it be peachy if that was a thing' sort of thing. But that would be messed up in its own category if it was screwing with the kid.

"Well, did you hurt yourself by any chance?" asked the Harrier with a cock of his head. He wanted to be careful with what was being presented to him instead of accusing the kid for downright lying.

"N-No." The Reaper shook their head. "I've just been walking around and trying to find stuff to eat so the pain would go away. Other Reapers were getting grossed out, so that's why I'm here."

It shouldn't matter if Reapers were getting grossed out, this definitely wasn't normal. There was no reason for the kid to think that the best thing to do was to isolate themself instead of getting help because of the Vultures. That wasn't going to solve the problem in any way.

"How long has this been happening exactly?" he questioned in bewilderment, frowning as his eyebrows furrowed. "Did it only happen today?" He slowly was getting the feeling he was becoming invested in this as he tried to push down his anger.

"Yesterday something felt weird, but it woke me up today when the pain started," they explained dolefully. They hung their head when they sighed, "I didn't think it was stomach cramps. I had lots and lots of them when I was alive, and this just feels unbearable sometimes. So I thought maybe I forgot to eat these last few Day, so I just-" They stopped to sigh heavily this time, "Oh gee… I just don't know why it's been happening to me. I was fine earlier in the Week, but now I just don't know."

The Harrier crossed his arms, feeling concerned the moment the person said that. He pursed his lips at the thought of what it would be like to not know what's going on with yourself, especially if something strange popped out of nowhere...

But then a thought hit him as he looked at their wings. They needed more sunlight if his suspicions were to be proven true; this alleyway wasn't providing it well from the angle the sun was at.

"Let's get out of here, I need to check on something," he said as he turned back the way they came. When he didn't hear the Reaper follow, he paused to look back at them. "Come on." That seemed enough to get them to, so he started walking again.

He didn't want to accidentally stumble across a WEB target when this was a more pressing issue.

Once they got out onto the sidewalk, the Harrier turned around immediately and took in their wings. He pinched his lips together the longer he studied them before a pulse of alarm went through him.

The wing tips were slightly see-through as the sun's rays contacted them.

He couldn't help but gaze back at the Support in horror once he noticed this; not wanting to reach over to confirm it through touch, not wanting to startle or freak out the Support. He only had a feeling that maybe because of this Reaper's stature, they were unable to tell their wings were starting to fade away.

Thus, from that inference alone, it was no wonder they felt hungry… They clearly weren't getting their Points.

"H-How long have you been here...?" he asked slowly, watching as the person's hood shot up to face him again from where they were staring at their bag of purchase. The Harrier gritted his teeth as he added with more unease, "I-I couldn't help but notice your wings are starting to… bleaken."

The person was silent, turning and tilting their head until they were looking at one of their crudely-patterned, webbed-wings. "I-Isn't that normal?"

"No," he said curtly, wondering why the person wasn't even scared or perturbed that he made a note of it. In fact, he had to wonder why they were acting like nothing was wrong when their wings were telling them they weren't doing a great job at banking their Points. He gestured to their wings as he tried to watch out for any small changes in the person's body language, hoping they would soon realize how bad this was. "They're not supposed to do that, so how long have you been here?" After a brief thought, he grimaced as he dared to ask it. "…How long have you been a Reaper?"

"J-Just a Week," came their bemused murmur. They soon chose to tack on sheepishly, "Um... just for this Week?"

"Are you kidding me…" The Harrier immediately put a hand on his face, rubbing his temples as he felt a headache start to come on. He couldn't help but be anxious about the information that was given. "Just this Week!?" he repeated in disbelief.

Once he drew his hand away from his face did he see the Support lower their head. He almost felt like cursing from how absurd this was. Usually the good amount of your first Week was spent with your trainer, even longer until you understood your duties… But this kid was alone, so wouldn't that mean their trainer deemed them fit for fieldwork? Regardless of this, the Harrier felt he was jumping through hoops too quickly and decided to approach this again but slower. He couldn't afford to let himself go off on a rant before getting all of the information he needed to make an informed opinion.

Reaper wings never did this. Not on their own, not from fights, not from… anything! Only one thing would start this process up, and the Harrier recalled experiencing it himself when it started to drag him down the moment he had to force himself to Erase Players…

He should start with that before anything else.

"You didn't Erase a single one this Week then," he breathed out quietly with worry, earning the person's attention. The Harrier felt himself start to pace automatically as he felt their eyes stay on him, feeling his dismay grow as he soon muttered, "No wonder this is happening…"

"W-Was I supposed to?" asked the Support guiltily, yet that did nothing to sate the Harrier's panic as he continued to pace. "Gee, I'm sorry. I didn't know I was supposed to…" they went on, catching the Harrier's focus from the tone alone.

It crashed down on him that this person was going to fade away and they weren't even worried about it. In fact, they still sounded clueless instead of having existential dread. And if that wasn't a sign for worry, the Harrier didn't know what else was.

"H-How could you not know?" He shook his head as he grimaced. "You're a Reaper- Reapers are supposed to gather up Points during their first Week, or-" He stopped his movements at the thought, feeling dizzy as he turned himself to gaze down at the Reaper while his stomach churned. "D-Didn't someone tell you?" he chose to ask, yet was disturbed at how the person simply remained silent. "D-Don't tell me... no one told you anything…"

The person's head lowered, suddenly pushing off their hood to squeeze, wring and fidget with it awkwardly. "It's alright… I didn't want to get in anyone's way when they seemed so busy."

Blackie's breath was stolen away as he was now staring down at a boy with black hair, fluffed out from the hood resting on it for who knows how long. His face a little more rounded and suggesting puberty indeed wasn't that far along, yet the only significant detail he could take away was the fact that the Support's beady-like eyes were staring at his feet as brown pools of glumness.

Something broke inside the Harrier when he observed this. He wasn't sure what he should be feeling right now over the fact that not only was a Reaper starting to fade away because they hadn't gotten Points this Week, but a kid who didn't know any better wasn't even aware of the fact he should have been trying to get Points. No one even bothered to check on whether or not the kid knew what he should be doing…

The black-hooded Reaper couldn't stop himself from feeling angry all of a sudden. Angry at what? He didn't know. However, he still seethed at the thought that if he hadn't spoken with this kid, the kid would have just gone on suffering until he collapsed, disappearing without even knowing why. And that was a shitty way to go.

"How old are you?" Blackie found himself asking a few moments later, quivering as the boy's head rose when he gave a small, sad smile. Not a bitter smile, only a plain smile that told the Harrier that the kid didn't really feel as if he should be worried about the issue that had just been brought up. How could a child- no, how could a young person have such a desolate yet not hopeless expression on his face? Like everything was fine when everything wasn't fine and was aware things weren't fine but for some reason chose to accept it was what it was.

For a brief second, the kid's brown eyes changed to dark brown.

"Thirteen," returned the kid quietly, ducking his head as he continued to play with his hood. He shuffled his feet as he mumbled, "I know, people who come here are not usually this young… but-" He smiled softly. "I guess I'll get everything one Day."

The Harrier leaned down partly to see the kid's face better as to not strain his neck, feeling his lips flatten and his eyes narrow as he spoke, "Kid, it's not about that." When the smile slid off the boy's lips, looking puzzled now, the Harrier went on in frustration, "Someone should have told you about what being a Reaper entailed because if you don't collect Points by the end of the Week-" He hesitated as the kid's eyebrows knitted, wondering momentarily on how to word this the best without freaking out the kid too much, before he finished delicately, "You will experience Erasure later."

Finally the boy's face went pale with horror, gaping for a short bit before he was opening and closing his mouth periodically. The Harrier felt glad for a second that the kid understood the term that was commonly used when he was a Player; it wouldn't be good if the kid asked him what Erasure was.

So he didn't speak, simply waiting for the kid to finish taking this all in.

The boy shifted uncomfortably. "O-Oh."

All the kid could say was 'oh'!? The Harrier couldn't believe his ears as he sighed sadly, shaking his head before he spoke again with seriousness, "As long as you get Points before the end of this next Week, that should save your skin for a while." When the kid simply gazed up at him in uneasiness, Blackie chose to explain further, "It won't stop the process forever, as we all have our own 'expiration dates', you see. So in order to survive as a Reaper, you need to keep culminating your Points or you'll slowly start to experience Erasure again." He paused briefly before putting in with slight optimism, "But as long as you keep at it, you shouldn't have to worry about disappearing unless something Erases you first."

"Gee," said the kid in concern. He shifted more before he breathed, "Thanks for telling me or I would have never known!"

The Harrier straightened and now gazed down at the boy again, crossing his arms as he sighed, "You should have known about this, so don't act like it's your fault." He mumbled as he felt himself frown, "...I can't believe this even happened to you."

"Ah, it's alright…" said the boy with a small one-shoulder shrug. "Not like a Reaper like you would have known, being more experienced and all…"

"Kid," he interjected in shortness. "Stop trying to rationalize what the other Vultures did. You're no exception to being in the know." As he watched the kid flinch, the older Reaper shook his head and scowled before grumbling, "I know I'm a Harrier, and you're a Support… but at least I would have told you."

"But you just did…"

"Yeah, but if I met you sooner, I would have told you something was stuck in translation if you were wandering the streets without a clue," retorted the Harrier with a huff, frowning hard as the kid tucked in his head slightly. The Harrier unfolded his arms to point at the Support and hardened his gaze as he went on, "I know I didn't meet you earlier, which isn't something I could have controlled to help you avoid this... but you still have a chance to get in the loop."

The black haired boy gazed up at him with surprise previously when the Harrier pointed, but now there was some kind of awe glittering in his gaze as he gaped. "Gee… you really think so?"

"I know so!" replied the Harrier confidently. He withdrew his hand to give a thumbs up. "You just need to work hard at getting some Points before the next Day 7, then everything should run smoothly from there."

"W-Wow-" After gasping out, the kid stilled briefly, his gaze bulging as it burned harder into the Harrier. Before the black-hooded Reaper could analyze what may have been going through the kid's head, the Support frowned with worry. "...B-But I still don't know what to do."

The Harrier placed a hand over his chin to think about that. "Someone needs to teach you then." He tried to come up with a Reaper in mind, yet eventually blinked when his options came up dry. He knew he was good at a few things, but giving a referral of someone wasn't one of them, apparently. He nursed that realization with unhappiness before refocusing on the kid.

"Well, I may be a Harrier-" started the Harrier as he heard his voice lift with some kind of ardor, patting his chest before leaving his hand there. "But I do know Supports on their Days off can still get Points. And Players can net you Points, so I do believe you can get something in you if you can Erase a Player." He nodded contently after finishing his sentence, feeling proud of himself to have figured that out at least.

"How do I Erase a Player then?" asked the kid uneasily. He frowned as he added, "I-I know they sent Noise at me and..." His frown deepened as his eyes half-closed. "And my Partner when we were Players, but I don't know how they did it." He clenched his hands afterward as his face contorted.

This kid was a blank canvas... It wasn't going to be easy for him.

Blackie drearily entertained the thought that everything would be marvelous if this kid could magically get Points at the snap of a finger, instead of going in blind without enlisting the aid of another Reaper. That would solve everything. But since reality was an asshole… someone had to point for the kid to shoot.

The easiest way for the thirteen-year-old would be for him to go out tomorrow, wait for a Player to run out of their first seven minute grace period, then jump them for the Points. However, since the kid had no clue how to summon Noise- apparently- that plan would go up in flames.

…But why did the Harrier care about this?

Suddenly, the Harrier felt conflicted, moreso blindsided by the fact he was looking deeply into this. This was just another Reaper, not some person the Harrier knew. The Harrier had no obligation to help them whatsoever, but he couldn't ignore the facts that this kid was a goner without help. Heck, he just met them for crying out loud, what was he supposed to do?

As he deliberated on coming up with options, he merely spoke to the kid, "It certainly sounds like your trainer didn't know what they were doing, so don't beat yourself up about not knowing too much." The kid Reaper smiled despite grimacing, but the Harrier paid little mind to it as he crossed his arms. "But then again, it shouldn't be too hard to get you up to speed. Supports like you aren't limelight Reapers."

The longer he talked, the more uneasy he felt about leaving the kid here. He was a Harrier; it wasn't in his job description to train a Support. And even if it was, he wasn't responsible for the kid. He should really get going before he regretted it.

But as he opened his mouth to express that, he felt his heart twist as he noticed the bright eyes the kid was giving him. It wasn't quite a hopeful look or a bleak one, yet the short Reaper was looking at him like he was relieved. It couldn't have been the fact the Harrier gave him kind words, right? Or was he reading too deeply into this? Either way, the Harrier couldn't find it in himself to just abandon the kid at the side of the street without a means to help himself.

Despite everything in his head telling him to walk off, he stayed put as he levelled the kid with a sympathetic look. "If you meet up with me tomorrow morning, I suppose I can…" He averted his gaze. "Show you how it's done."

"You don't have to, Mister," mumbled the Support nervously, yet his gaze flickered with keenness.

His face tightened as he breathed out, "I know I don't, but it sounds as if you're having it rough. It's the least I could do for you, Junior." He turned around then to leave, taking a few steps before asking, "You do know how to get to Circle Route, right?" Even if it was a stupid question, the Harrier had to be sure they had a meetup point.

"Yup, I've been there before."

"In that case, I'll see you then," he murmured before walking again, feeling his stomach start to squirm the further he got away.

Part of him felt he should have left instead of offering, so he didn't have an exact idea as for why he didn't. But he supposed bagging one Player for the kid's sake wasn't the end of the world.

---

When the Harrier had returned to Jimmy's after the Mission was done, he couldn't help but be confused when he was let in by Sadorune. It was only after she mentioned why she was there that he remembered what he said this morning.

Suffice to say, when the rest of WEB arrived hours later, he wasn't in the mood to celebrate.

He hung away from most of his Reapers unless he was spoken to, constantly feeling like a wallflower (from what Andy commented when she noticed him) as he watched everyone have a good time. Of course, if the Sadist ever felt that he had to come, his absence spoke volumes as the Harrier was glad he didn't have something else to think about. But it wasn't that he didn't want to join in, his mind was heavy in thought from what the Support he met said earlier.

The Harrier could only be bothered by the fact that for someone who slipped through the cracks, they had to be told they had. He didn't want to say that the kid Reaper wasn't smart enough to realize it, but seeing how the kid acted made the Harrier feel as if he shouldn't be at this party right now. Yet he knew that the kid would be fine after he got his first Player; it was up to the Support to make up for what he lost out on. However, the Harrier couldn't help how his mind couldn't stop thinking about whether or not the Support was still trying to eat those melonpan after he left…

A hand on his shoulder snapped him out of his thoughts.

With a jolt, he whipped his head up. He quickly took note of how Andy set herself up to standing beside him as she whistled, "Forl one that wanted a paltee, ya don't act rike yer're at one."

Despite the uncomfortable weight on his shoulder, he merely gave her a smile by pulling back his hood a little. "You said I'm a wallflower." He then released the black fabric. "So I'm a wallflower."

Andy shoved at his shoulder with the same hand in response then withdrew it finally. She stuck her tongue out at him afterward. "Pahlease, yer're bein' a zombie again!" Her expression then grew serious as she spoke a little quieter, "What's wlon'?"

One thing that he appreciated within the last two months was the fact that him and Andy got a chance to work on her Japanese again. It certainly was something the rest of WEB appreciated, as they could understand her to a better degree, but the Harrier on the other hand simply felt proud of her progress. Although Andy wasn't happy at first about having to sit down for hours at a time to refine it, the Harrier remembered fondly how much he missed it. After all the drama they went through, it was a sigh of relief for him that he could hang out with her without having to worry about their different beliefs on the Composer's existence.

So while it was a plus for everyone that Andy was getting better, he and Andy made a plan for her to hold back on her progress and butcher her words in public to make it look like she was being taught by Jimmy. If word got around that the Harrier was getting along with her after their friendship was 'ruined', it would break apart the Mr Reaper Operation. They had to be tactful, after all.

However, there were still Days where the Harrier had to piece together what she was saying. Some of the words that used to make sense to him were blurring in his head at times; they were now jumbled from her experimentation of phrasing. He had a feeling that she since had a slightly better handle on speaking her original language, she was growing confidence in over throwing in phrases she wanted to use from her previous country, even if they sounded off to him...

Once he realized her hand was starting to creep over to his shoulder again, the Harrier simply turned his head away. He felt his face go neutral as he stared forward. "Met a person who got screwed over." When he felt her tilt her head, scrutinizing him after pulling her hand back, he added with a shrug, "Isn't it stupid this keeps happening?"

"Ya don't have tuh worlee about them," Andy said, which made him look at her. Her expression was tense as she frowned. "Don't we need tuh worlee about ourserves firlst?"

"I know we do," he told her firmly before huffing, "Even if we're helping one aspect of Shibuya, it's worrisome that another is being trampled with." He frowned pensively afterward. "It's just hard to ignore."

"Don't terl meh yer're gonna do sumthin'…" she groaned with a slouch of her shoulders.

"It's got nothing to do with Processing or shopkeeping being boring, I have enough time on my hands for a small favour," he grumbled back as he crossed his arms and dipped his head. His teeth touched each other in his mouth as he ignored the urge to clench them, soon tacking on coolly, "Do you know where the notebook went? I need to pore over it before tomorrow."

He didn't like the fact that Andy wasn't trying to understand his viewpoint, but he wasn't her. However, he knew that he already promised the kid Reaper help before he promised Andy anything, so it wasn't her business what he did in his 'free time'.

Andy's eyes were hardened for a second before they closed. She shook her head as she huffed, "Eit shourd be with Daitan orr Itoh." She then jabbed a finger his way as she groused, "But lemember WEB comes filrst."

"Like I said, it's a small favour." He rolled his eyes as he ignored her pointing. "One hour for tomorrow then I'm back to business."

The dark dirty blonde narrowed her eyes, looking as if she was going to bring something up when she said nothing. Instead, she lowered her hand before looking forward with him as she mused idly, "Evereebody's been wolrkin' halrd ratelee."

He nodded in response and lifted his head slightly. "They have. Everything's been smooth and steady sailing because of them."

Andy smiled in the corner of his eye, looking less tense than a minute ago. Her stance was lax as she cocked her head nonchalantly. "Ya know, sum of them go nonstop. Aah've seen them go forl hours."

The Harrier slowly turned his head to her and furrowed his eyebrows. He didn't understand what she was getting at, but as he looked at the Reapers milling about, her words gave him a better perspective. They did look tired; the majority of them were either on sofas or lazily standing in place with one another.

Was… was one party not enough? If working hard for the cause resulted in lowering their productivity output, did they deserve a break?

Upon closer observation, he found that things were starting to quiet down at WEB's party. Everyone who was available were still chatting, but their energy from the beginning was now muffled, probably due to the fact that it was starting to get late. So now was the time to break any news before anyone had the mind to leave.

He felt his lips flatten as he hummed, "If that's the case, I suppose…" Andy immediately turned her head to him with her alert molten gaze. "I got something to help with that."

Andy blinked at him briefly then smiled. "Oh?"

"Time for the fireworks," he simply said. He pulled himself away from the wall to walk over to the side of the counter that was facing the living room.

As soon as he pivoted once he got there to face the WEB Reapers, he started to summon every ounce of confidence he had in store. It wasn't like giving a toast, so he had no excuse to pull out a glass and tap on it… So how does one gain attention when everyone was dead on their feet? Well, he supposed he had to improvise a little and hope for the best as much as he hated it.

He had his limits on how well he could juggle public speaking, after all.

"If I can have your ears, I would like to say something before anyone misses it." Not the smoothest opening, but it would have to do.

When various heads turned his way, Andy frowning questioningly from where he left her while Jimmy calmly smiled after pausing in his conversation, the Harrier was glad the staring wasn't getting to him like it used to as he soon had the majority of his Reapers heeding his call. He flipped his palms upwards while raising his arms in front of his chest, grinning under his hood to bear through it as he spoke, "I don't mean to interrupt our lovely evening, but something has been brought to my attention."

"Hopefully it's not serious to the Days," said Jimmy worriedly as his smile fell. He lowered his glass of water as other Reapers murmured a little.

The Harrier tried to recollect himself before he breathed, "Not quite. You don't have a reason to worry." He clasped his hands together, trying to take on a matter-of-fact demeanor as he finally went on, "It's just that no one told me about the fact you've been working harder than usual!"

Nakai placed a hand on the back of his neck. "S-Sorry, it must have slipped our minds."

The black-hooded Reaper unlocked his hands and raised his right one, shaking his head. "No need for apologizing." He lowered his hand as he went on coolly, "It's just that I was thinking of the fact that tomorrow's Day 1 again, so…" The Harrier paused as he tried to think of a better way of not acting nervous about this, soon swallowing his stage fright the best he could for the moment as he knew he couldn't dawdle for too long. Therefore, he threw his arms up in the air as he cheerfully shouted, "I would like for all of you to take a break tomorrow!"

Save for the sound of Andy giving off a loud whoop, everyone was silent. He took heed of it as he put his left hand on his side, gesturing with the other lightly in the air as he continued, "I know it may be sudden, but tomorrow or during the Week I think you should take it easier. You've taken a lot of Wrongdoers down, so I don't think there's much of a loss if we take time for ourselves."

Some Reapers started to glance at each other, leaving the Harrier on the spot as he forced himself not to shift uneasily in response. He couldn't help but wonder if it was a bad idea if this was the reception he was receiving.

He clasped his hands together instead to curb his anxiety, inhaling as he tried to muster as much ease as he could into his tone. "Think of it like…" He bounced his intertwined hands briefly. "Time off? Vacation Days? Or maybe a little gift from yours truly after all the hard work we've accomplished over the last few months?" He released his right hand and gestured it towards his group as he murmured with a warm smile, "Because all of you make WEB the dream. And without you guys, I wouldn't know what I'd do."

Hopefully that made the incentive more enticing...

A smile appeared on Andy's face as she instantly started in his direction, soon sidling up to him. She rested an arm over his shoulder when she grinned towards the rest of WEB. "Hey, now- what's a Daay with nothin' tuh do? Aah say eit's a gleat aahdea!"

"Not to mention-" Jimmy's voice rose as he nodded happily, pointing at Blackie and Andy. "We could all use a break, so I am hard out for a little rest and relaxation." Of course, the Harrier knew that wasn't the case since Jimmy was probably going to do Wall Duty and his shifts regardless of this. He would have to have a word with Jimmy afterward to hammer in the fact that the New Zealander needed it too.

"And not tuh menthun, we deserrve eit!" piped Andy again as she pulled the Harrier in closer. It briefly caused him to smile contentedly as she turned her grin towards him. "Brackie shourd know- considelin' he has wolrked his ass off tuh git us this faarl!"

He blushed a little in embarrassment and laughed modestly, "You can't pin our success on me, Andy…" He felt uncomfortable at the idea that he was being forced into the spotlight when it was about WEB's achievements, not his. Why was Andy turning the situation on its head to him?

"Don't be shy, eit's arl thanks tuh ya tuuh," she piped gleefully before others echoed her sentiment. That made the Harrier feel a little less awkward with accepting it than he had been initially, so he merely smiled softly as she added, "Then ret's have a blreak! Put up ourr feet! We deselve eit!"

Despite how tired they seemed earlier, the WEB Reapers appeared completely revitalized as they offered their support with a collective cheer.

"Then it's settled," the Harrier quietly reaffirmed, giving a nod before he went on mildly as warmth filled his chest, "Until next Week, everyone takes it easy." Andy's arm left him so she could stand beside him easier, looking proudly out towards the other WEB members as Blackie cleared his throat before closing his eyes. "I want all of you to put your last finishing touches on the targets you've collected in the book and for someone to give me that book once all has been dealt with. I still want to keep track of them regardless of whether or not you hunt them." He paused before asking calmly, "Sound good?"

Upon receiving a chorus of agreement that rippled through the crowd again, he opened his eyes to watch them settle themselves into doing so. He could almost admire that they could easily listen to him on the flick of a Yen, smiling as he placed his left hand on his side and soon shared a content look with Andy.

He was pleased she brought it up with him. This was a great idea.

"Werl prayed," she whispered to him with a wolfish smirk, which he regarded with a tender smile. "Sharl Aah stick alound forl the kicks? 'Cause Aah got one target Aah learlee wanna bag before next Daay 7…"

He nearly lost his smile at that but made a move to stretch to mask his surprise, holding it in place as he groaned, "I was kind of hoping you can take it easy as well, Andy…" Her face flipped into confusion- lost if he looked into it further- and wondered what could be the matter. He released his arms to let them rest laxly at his sides, raising an eyebrow at her as he then let himself frown this time. "What?"

She gave a noncommittal shrug for some reason. "Why shourd Aah have one?" Upon cocking his head at that, she huffed a sigh then crossed her arms as she explained, "Arl Aah'm sayin' eis that they need eit, so Aah don't need a blleak-" She furrowed her eyebrows before blurting out in frustration, "Break!" She nodded while looking pleased with herself. "Aah'm mightee good eif ya ask meh."

"Then why did you agree to it?" he asked in bewilderment before he sighed, "You literally were hyping everyone up about it…" He wished he knew what was going through her head right now. Andy was practically giving him the hint about it, so why was she refusing a break for herself?

Andy chuckled and shook her head, smiling as she shrugged again. "Aah aglee with the fact that we ahrl need a brleaak, but Aah think Aah courd take more gos before Aah hit the hay." She closed her amber-brown eyes, nodding as she raised a finger up. "Aah jus' feer rike Aah hadn'tt done enouf, so Aah jus' wanna at reast git sumthin' done tumorlow." She shook her finger and gave him a gritted-teeth grin and pleading amber-brown eyes. "Eif jus' forl tumorlow…"

The Harrier shook his head despite his amusement, exhaling quietly before he replied mildly, "You deserve a break too, Andy. I mean it." When her eyes widened, gawking at him in shock, he went on kindly, "Of all that I know, you put so much effort into hunting Wrongdoers down and putting up a strong front for us that I sometimes have to wonder if I'm slacking in my department. I know you work hard, so don't sweat it because it's just one Week, not a century."

"Ya shore?" she breathed, furrowing her eyebrows as she gazed uneasily towards the shadow of his hood.

"That I do, friend," he murmured warmly. He inhaled for a few seconds before he went on, "If you want, I'll let you have the notebook for the rest of the night if you're that set on getting more kills in tomorrow. After that, read a book or raid an izakaya or something. I know you like that shit." He flashed her a crisp smirk after pulling his hood away from his chin slightly to show her it.

"Swatenin' the deal, huh...?" she hummed after giving a long whistle, shaking her head before she grinned at him playfully. "Ya know meh betterr than mai birth celtificate tlansrated thlee times over before eit was sclaped and set aside, mai swate pumpkin!"

"Well then," he started with laughter in his throat as he let go of his hood, dipping his head as he raised a finger and pointed it in her direction lazily. "Who to better know you than your best friend?"

She chuckled warmly at that; it was music to his ears, "Hearr, hearr."

Andy bumped shoulders with him afterwards and he couldn't help but happily smile back again as he followed her lead to bump hers in return. Despite how awkward it was for him to enact the action, he knew of all people, Andy would have his back. It was worth discarding his discomfort for that action because of that.

"Bro, could I yack to you for a moment?" said Jimmy suddenly as he wandered his way over to join them. It broke the Harrier's concentration on his friend to regard the curly haired New Zealander, watching Jimmy's grey eyes half-close as he sighed, "It's sweet as you're tellin' us this, but you know I can't take time off. Bills come up before the end of the month."

The Harrier dropped his smile when he spoke, "Surely a Week won't screw you over?"

Jimmy rotated his hand in response as he grimaced. "Ow tight on the payment... but doable." He inhaled while adding tersely, "And I can't forget 'bout Wall Duty either."

"Then…" The Harrier scrambled to find something to ease Jimmy's worries before sighing when he had nothing. He grimaced as well when he mumbled the first thing he could think of to persuade Jimmy, "Would shorter hours work for you?"

The lanky Support shrugged and closed his eyes. "Oh bugger, I don't reckon that would be enough. But as long as you can chip in, Bro, it may be possible."

With that said, the Harrier nodded big and chirped, "Consider it done if you get your time to relax too!"

Jimmy looked relieved at that before Nakai was calling him over, not hesitating to leave as he gave an abrupt wave. The Harrier soon faintly heard them starting to talk about whether or not they needed to stock up on more WEB Momentos as he watched them.

He felt it was a small victory that he got Jimmy to agree, but he shelved his worry away for the meantime as he noticed Andy was no longer beside him.

When he spotted that his friend had sprinted to Sadorume to collect the notebook, she harried it over with a huge grin as she whisked it around with a flourish without her eyes leaving the black-hooded Reaper. Catching her cue, he fell in step with her to reconvene in the bedroom, sitting together for the rest of the party to study the list of targets until she had to leave with the other Reapers.

As he laid down to sleep after setting his alarm clock to ring before the usual Day 1 start time that night, he reminded himself to not forget about his meetup place with the kid Reaper. It wasn't long until he drifted off after he had.

---

The Harrier easily awoke the next morning and slipped out quickly before Jimmy was awake. He didn't want to be questioned about his whereabouts today, nor did he want to be the one to be waited on, so he cautiously locked the door and headed to Circle Route.

As he adjusted his knapsack as he briskly trekked on, he still couldn't really say that he was that pleased the Sadist got it back for him as he heard his Yen Pins chink from within. It frustrated him that he hadn't taken heed of the fact he lost it after his fight with the Sadist three months ago, but it certainly helped with funding Jimmy's ware materials and pitching in for the New Zealander's rent.

However, he knew it wouldn't hurt to pass along some Pins to the kid, as he had a feeling the Support may have been draining his resources for needless food consumption. It was the least he could do, he told himself, as he soon arrived in the small Route. He slung his bag off to start counting up what he had, crunching the numbers until he determined a decent amount to give to the Support before he slipped the metals into one of his pockets. He finally lifted his head when he put the ochre bag back on, silently taking a moment to survey his surroundings for his guest Reaper.

It was just as he expected; he should have indicated a time to meet. The Harrier took that mistake as well as koi took to water and simply resigned himself to his inevitable wait.

Although he expected it to be long until he saw the younger Reaper, he couldn't mask his surprise that within two minutes a red-hooded Reaper ran over to join him and was out of breath when they stopped. Huh, maybe the kid had more dedication than he realized.

"I didn't know when you wanted me so I went to bed earlier," panted the Support as he bent over briefly before looking up with worry. "Did I make it?"

All the Harrier did was let his face relax as he replied with a tiny nod, "The Mission hasn't started yet." The kid Reaper looked relieved as he puffed out a breath and brought himself to stand up. "But I should have been more specific when I left."

"Nah, I used to get up early!" said the kid Reaper with a small grin. His expression fell a little before he frowned slightly as he added, "But gee, it was awfully nice of you to help me today."

The Harrier sighed with a good-natured shrug, "It's no big deal. We just got to get some 'food' in you before you get worse."

"Oh!" The scrawny teenager jolted before he pondered aloud, "If I knew we had to get breakfast, I would have brought the leftovers I had." The Harrier blinked as the kid put in quickly after a short pause, "My mom told me to eat more, and after what you said yesterday... I didn't think about the fact it would translate to here too."

What was the kid's name again? Ooh… he forgot to ask. The older Reaper shook his head. "Look, Junior… I mean to get you to Erase some Players. That's what we're doing today." The Harrier stared intently at the kid, who was looking at his stomach dumbly before his face reddened after the Harrier said that. "You know you need to do that or everyone will leave you with nothing, right?"

The kid slowly looked up and nervously gazed back. "I guess so."

In response, the Harrier frowned as he mused in bewilderment, "What's so confusing about that? We're not the only Reapers vying for keeping our existence."

The Support blinked briefly before he laughed in a weird manner, "...The Reaper teaching me told me to buzz off and figure it out myself. I just didn't know how important it was that I had to."

Right away, the Harrier's jaw dropped. "What the-" For a while the Harrier stared at the shorter Reaper until he recovered from his daze, narrowing his eyes. "Seriously!? They told you that!?" Was that why the kid was so unconcerned about himself until now? The fact that the kid gave up on himself because he didn't have the guidance he needed because some Reaper couldn't give a damn about him?

"Yup." The kid smiled tightly. "Guess I'm too annoying, huh, Mister?"

As soon as the Support said that, the Harrier felt anger swell inside him as he clenched his teeth.

"No you're not- you're just a kid!" retorted the older Reaper with a scoff as he shook his head curtly. "No one should have left you to your own devices without a single explanation, I don't see how that makes you annoying… so stop thinking like that because I'm going to help solve your dilemma they created." The Support blinked rapidly with shock as the Harrier added tiredly with a sigh, "And even if you weren't a kid, Junior, your tutor in doing Reaper duties shouldn't have ditched you. That's the stupidest thing to do with a fresh-faced Reaper."

"Ah, it's alright…" The kid merely kicked at the ground with a sigh. "I'm not that strong… or that cool enough. I didn't even expect them to stick around, Mister."

"Look, you're not strong because you don't know how to be a Reaper, but you were a Player once. You had to have had the guts to get through a Game Week," he told the kid sternly. He whipped to face the Scramble Crossing when he went on, "So however you see it, being stunted because of your lack of training gives you no reason to make excuses about their actions."

His companion simply didn't look convinced as the Harrier fumed about what he heard. Being ditched and having low self-esteem were two things that shouldn't go together. If the kid thought he should give up because he was given no opportunity to earn his worth, the Harrier had to lift the Support's chin up by snagging a meal before the end of the Mission. He had to make certain that the Support wouldn't turn around and think he didn't have a shot to continue.

The Harrier knew what nonexistent confidence in yourself was like… and from what he could see, the Support was basically groomed to embrace it. But it couldn't have been just from being abandoned.

Shaking his head to clear his mind, the Harrier refocused on the neighbouring district. He concentrated on the prone, uniformly-placed bodies as he stepped ahead. "Come on, the Players are bound to wake up soon. We have to get into the Route before we're shut out."

"Right!" piped the boy as he scurried to follow the Harrier past the gate's boundary line. "Because of the Walls!"

Momentarily, the Harrier was glad the Support was mindful of that at least. It showed there was some potential in the kid to pay attention. …Not that he was saying the Support was dumb, it just seemed like his companion wasn't the most observant.

"And because the only Routes to access for today are Hachiko, Circle Route, and the Scramble Crossing," the Harrier explained after halting, with a nod given to each of the areas. "It's to promote swift Pacting, and it wouldn't do to split up Players from their potential Partners." He turned back to the black haired Reaper as he continued nonchalantly, "As you have experienced, every Day 1 Mission is to get a foot into Circle Route. It never changes and some Reapers don't always want to gun for their meals on the first Day."

"But aren't we supposed to Erase them?" the boy asked in confusion.

"Yes," he said dryly. "But not everyone likes the restrictions placed on them today."

The Support looked even more lost on the topic. "Restrictions?"

"To make sure Players have a chance to think they have a hope to survive, attacking Pacted Players on Day 1 is forbidden. Players all got seven minutes to play match up, and if any are without their Partners after that, we get to Erase them as we usually do. Clear and simple as Day," the Harrier replied coolly as he adjusted his knapsack's position. He soon let go of it to raise a finger. "Word of advice, start counting down from that same lucky number of minutes when you see the first Player rise on Day 1. And if you see a Player lose a Partner, do that too. It's their grace period until we're allowed to attack them with our Noise."

"I see… no attacking until that." The kid nodded in awe then grimaced. "But why can't we just use our own attacks? Erasing Noise got easy over time when I was a Player."

"No direct confrontation with your attacks, you use Noise until Day 7. You can get punished for even letting out a little zap if Reapers spot it," he replied strictly as he took a moment to check on the countless bodies lying motionlessly across the pavement. As a cloud passed over the forms, eyeballing them closely for any limb out of place, the Harrier hardened his eyes and flattened his lips. "Okay, the Players usually exit Stasis around this time, so look alive, Junior."

"But we're dead!" protested the younger in bafflement.

The Reaper faltered in his regard as he turned his head back to the other while raising his arms. "Figurative expression, Junior, figurative expression." He dropped his arms, twisting his head back after the kid nodded sheepishly.

As he walked to not stand in front of the Wall that was forming, knowing the Players would have their attention drawn to it too quickly if an unknown pair to them were of interest, he scuttled to a corner in-between Hachiko and Circle Route to glance between the bodies. The kid jogged to follow as the Harrier mumbled thoughtfully, "Any second…"

"How do you know that?" asked the kid in surprise as he looked up at the black-hooded Reaper curiously.

The older Reaper blinked as he side-glanced the boy. "As I was told, Missions usually start at this time each Day unless specified. Thus we, the Reapers, will lie in wait. The ones actually needing their Points are the ones who drag themselves out of bed before the crack of dawn." He inhaled slowly as he looked back at the Players. "Be familiar with the phrase 'the early bird gets the worm'. If no Reaper gets up early, Players don't have to shuffle around the Vultures waiting for them to slip up so they don't become meals."

"Oh- like me and you?" affirmed the boy. The older Reaper nodded, which prompted the Support to look over at the prone bodies too. He soon tilted his head as he scrambled to speak, "Okay- okay- I think I see some movement on them, Mister!"

"Then the show's about to start," mused the Reaper, bracing himself as he keenly waited for any movements.

"What show?"

Jerking in surprise, the Reaper turned to the thirteen-year-old. "Oh- um… It's how I see it." He whisked his palm up. "A show-" Then he gestured towards himself and the kid Reaper. "- and we're the actors!"

"But… it's not a show." The black haired Reaper frowned up in confusion. "And we're not acting, we're actual Reapers."

Using as much restraint as he could, the Reaper simply exhaled shakily instead of facepalming. Of course… it's easy to forget kids had a filter of naivety on their eyes. Anything- anyone- was innocent until proven guilty. The Reaper once had that same filter. However, that was until-

"Mister, someone is waking up!"

...He'll ponder later.

"Excellent observation." The black-hooded Reaper immediately shot a look at the boy. "Now we'll just sit back and you keep count," he murmured, only to receive a blank stare. He sighed quietly at that, "...You forgot, didn't you?"

The kid became saddened. "Yeah…"

"Subtract…" The Reaper put a hand over his chin, smacking his lips before speaking again, "Twenty or so seconds from seven minutes, and you should be good!" Hopefully the kid was good at math.

"I'll do that then!" The kid perked up; his eyes were bright and he was now wearing an infectious grin. For a fleeting moment, the older Reaper found himself mimicking it before he forced himself to flatten his lips, coughing dryly afterward as he tried to concentrate on other things.

The Harrier soon scanned the area with his eyes, taking note of the confused masses meandering about and decided to mind himself as some of the Players began to wander between the Scramble Crossing and Hachiko. And to do that, he mentally ran over the targets he saw from the notebook while trusting that his companion would be occupying himself in the meantime.

They had ten Wrongdoers hiding from within these new Players… There weren't any faces to put the names to until the Wrongdoers revealed themselves, or until the daily Day End Report was sent out and transcribed by the Old Man for WEB, which was fine by him. Even if WEB didn't Erase the Wrongdoers they Recruited, it was still pretty fun to watch other Reapers finish the job for them. It justified how much Reapers shouldn't be picky with their food… but all the same, the Harrier's Reapers couldn't let their targets get snatched up by the Vultures every time and go hungry, even on their Wrongdoer vacation.

Sighing, the Harrier suddenly felt glad that the Posh Bastard wasn't making it challenging to stop them so far in that regard. It was invigorating… how they were still not uncovered at this point in time. If the Harrier were in the Posh Bastard's shoes… he would be actively seeking out whoever they were still. However, he digressed. There was always a chance that the Posh Bastard either gave up, or was much too reliant on his mutts to actually sort out WEB properly.

The leader of WEB shook his head. The Posh Bastard wasn't dumb, as hard as it was to admit, so the Harrier couldn't chalk down a motive for the man for now. The man wouldn't dream to submit fairly… so that meant something had to be holding his attention to slip on his once daily visitations of lectures. Andy mentioned the lack of them recently on her end, which begged the question... Were WEB's efforts being ignored because it held no more significance to the Posh Bastard anymore?

He started to scowl in frustration. They couldn't be ignored; not when-

"Uh… Mister?"

He didn't look at the other as his face softened. "Hmm?"

"What do we do if a Player is Pacted again?" asked the boy slowly, as if he was unsure of what he wanted to ask. The Harrier regarded the boy now, sensing something was bothering the kid, and noticed the black-haired boy was gazing afar. Now wasn't the time to lose focus; the Harrier couldn't help but think the Reaper assigned as this kid Reaper's mentor may have been rubbed wrong from this behaviour. However, the Harrier couldn't help but feel as if the boy's question was pretty peculiar from being out of the blue.

"We notify other Reapers about the Pact," supplied the Harrier simply, yet the boy's face bore no ease or understanding… There was a frown, like one couldn't help but have when you were confused about something. It was a rather hard rule to wrap your head around, how on the first Day you could hardly play with your meal before it fled for safety in numbers. So, the older Reaper supposed, the boy must be fumbling in some area of the logic they used particularly for the first Day.

"Don't worry, though. Someone will not manage to find themselves a friend eventually, then you can have a go to stuff yourself," he added, hoping the additional information would fill in whatever blank there was for the boy.

The boy quietly gazed back and was nervously nipping his lower lip at that. "...Do we attack them?"

Blackie let out a snort of disbelief and amusement, "Of course not." As he slowly crossed his arms, he explained smoothly, "I told you they're safe for today, then tomorrow we can try them again. Plus-" He raised a finger in the air as he properly faced the kid this time. "If we let them go for a bit, they can ripen themselves and we can get a better meal out of it the next time we see them. From Days 2-to-6, our job is to split them apart through Erasure, with no Vultures to steal what we reaped and sowed. Like a…"

The Reaper smacked his lips upon pausing promptly, searching for a good way to summarize it when he nodded nearly seven seconds later. "Catch and release." He tilted his head to one side after nodding again. "That way, they can grow stronger, thrive longer…" He patted his chest. "Then we will thrive and grow when we follow up on them. That way, we can collect the Points that culminated from their efforts and our patience."

He pointedly stared at the shorter Reaper. "Make sense?"

The kid Reaper's shoulders drooped in response, which was hardly the reaction he was looking for. The kid replied defeatedly, "Gee… if that's it, why isn't that Reaper doing that?"

Instantly, the Harrier froze. '...Wait, what?' He immediately frowned at the kid Reaper, slowly breathing out as steadily and controlled as he could, "What Reaper…?"

As the kid pointed past the older, he supplied simply with confusion, "That one over-"

Cold washed over him when screams were carried over to them, instantly feeling his eyes bulge. He whipped a hand up, to silence the boy, as he swiftly spun in the direction the kid was helpfully showing him. Not that it mattered if the younger had or not, the Harrier already felt rampant movement happening somewhere close by, knowing he wouldn't have trouble guiding himself to it because of that.

Screams met his ears again when he growled out, "They aren't supposed to!"

For a few seconds, the kid's owl-like gaze stared at him, flashing timidly as he asked, "Th-They aren't?"

"No, they aren't!" retorted the Reaper as he scowled, shaking his head stiffly in frustration. 'If I didn't know any better, it appears I'll be giving Junior here an example on what not to do because of that Vulture…' He took a moment to mentally groan again. 'Fantastic.'

He balled his hands, inhaling to brace himself momentarily before he marched briskly in the direction of Hachiko's Statue.

"Where are you going!?" half-shouted the kid baffledly as he scurried after the Harrier.

"Damage control," sternly returned the Reaper as he turned his head to regard the younger Reaper, rolling an arm over his shoulder. "Come on-" Not waiting on the kid, he pounded harder into the ground to shoot forward, feeling his reflexes tingle at the feeling of people fumbling over their own steps…

The Vultures had to be stupid and make it hard to deliver best examples… so it was a blessing the kid wasn't going to listen to those morons. Younger minds were more susceptible to suggestions and ideas if they were led by hand from the wrong-willed, after all, so the Harrier knew it wouldn't do to stand aside and keep it to a mere succinct verbal lesson about this one who didn't know better. He could lump the unknown terrorizer into the same category if he wanted to, but until he had a better read of the current situation, he would have to set his assumptions to the side until further evidence came to light.

When he reached the threshold of the two Routes, he was rewarded with a scene that made him start. Soon bristling as his jaw tightened and rigidly remained in place, he saw a pair of people were squirming and crying out as a storm of nettles surged towards them, nearly puncturing their own flesh as they skirted and stumbled about in terror.

Here he thought he could have smoothed over the situation easily… when it appeared it may not become an option judging by the chaos that was strewn forth.

Blackie was seething long before he spotted their tormentor. He yelled out in frustration at them as he dashed forward, "What do you think you're doing!?"

The Reaper in question threw more nettles and even needles the Players' way, blatantly ignoring the Harrier as energy ignited in the palms of their hands abruptly. The way the Reaper held themselves in their twitchy, stiff form was desperate and full of aggression as they threw fire haphazardly around, cursing as the flames happened to miss the Players each time. "Stop dodging, dammit!"

Blackie noticed how the Players' were trying to slip behind Hachiko's statue, as if thinking the dead canine would ward off their attacker. However, it wouldn't do for any protection, even if the Harrier liked to believe Hachiko could come to life in the Underground at this very moment. And with that being said, he instantly thrust himself forward to intercept the Reaper, who shot forward in his pursuit of the Pact.

"Back it off!" demanded WEB's leader as soon as he got into their path. He threw his whole weight forward to shove the crazed Reaper back, only to find he was immediately finding himself winded from being kicked in the gut, half-grunting and half-crying out from the blow.

The strike's initial mute pain sharply burst through his abdomen now in full-force while he was dazedly stepping back, gasping for air as his vision doubled. 'D-Damnit! I-I didn't have time to react!' Trying to pull himself together, he managed to duck a clout before attempting to kick the Reaper's legs out from below him yet was forced into evading a hook instead. The Harrier started backing away warily to put distance between them for momentary safety, and to plan out a way to deploy a better strategy without becoming further injured, before focusing on his breathing again when he found it was painful to inhale.

He was aware of how he was leaning forward from the earlier jab in his stomach, which was still resonating and distracting him partially, yet he tried to keep his concentration on the other Reaper when they let out a yell of raw anger his way, "DAMN YOU! THOSE ARE MY PLAYERS!"

Scoffing at the barbaric behaviour, the Harrier coldly scowled to regard how they were approaching him twitchily in their apparent stalk. However, the one thing that had his attention the most now was the tatteredness and faded top portions of the Reaper's wings.

The Harrier immediately blinked in realization before he drew his guard up again. 'Oh... so that's what I'm dealing with.'

"Players are supposed to be left alone once they've Pacted on Day 1…" warned the Harrier in a low voice, trying to heed any motion in front of him to hopefully anticipate and foretell what the Reaper's next maneuver was going to be. His eyes sharpened when he heard their harsh, laborious breathing, soon making note he was taking on a male Reaper who apparently wasn't opposed to attacking his own allies… If the Harrier could really call them that, mind you.

As this was another victim of Point Starvation but from the extreme side of the spectrum, he'd have to rely more on his words to dissuade the male from his toxic motivation. And if that worked, the Harrier could put an end to this before anyone got hurt. Yet he knew with his limited experience over handling this kind of situation, it most certainly would be challenging.

But he had to try. There was no sense in attacking a Starved Reaper first when their Points were at an all time low.

"Nor are we supposed to attack them directly like this!" he went on in irritation after he filed away his quick analysis of the other. He tightened his hands as he scowled harder. "So I'll ask you again... Why are you doing this!?" Hopefully that bumped the Reaper's sanity back to normal somewhat.

As the Reaper finally appeared to be broken out of his trance, the Harrier didn't drop his stance as he intently kept his gaze on the Reaper. The other male growled in response; oh, wasn't that poetic?, "It's you…" Blackie would have usually commented on how ambiguous the other Reaper was being if it weren't for the fact that the Reaper snarled out almost immediately, "You're the fucker stealing all our kills-" He stomped forward, immediately lashing a hand towards the Harrier. "My kills I work so damn hard to get only for you to humiliate me by telling me to bust my ass and suck it!"

Oh… now that rang familiar.

Straightaway, despite wanting to remain unfazed right now, the black-hooded Reaper stiffened and backed away warily. "Oh…" said the Harrier sheepishly before he tried to not grimace over who he was dealing with now. "What a small world then…" He took another step back and halted rigidly, as he went on in an annoyed tone, "But that's just how it is. You need to work hard to get what-"

"Shut up!" roared the male as he swung forward a fist. He gave the Harrier little time to react before the WEB leader was ducking and snaking around the other Reaper precariously, awkwardly putting distance between himself and the Reaper again. After stopping, he vigilantly kept his guard up when the male snarled on angrily, "Buttercup needs you to fuck off and let him get his Points for once!"

"Oh I'm sorry." Blackie promptly rested a hand over his heart 'empathetically' when he retorted, "But what you're doing this time around is illegal." He bristled, glowering hard for a bit until he went on snippily, "Now, with that said, I would advise you to enter the Player-pool in the Route on over and go for someone that isn't Pacted-"

"This isn't another of your petty rounds to steal our kills for Andy!" bellowed the Reaper. His partly tattered-and-faded wings fanned out aggressively as he snarled, "If you know what's good for you, stand down, fucker, and fuck off!"

Immediately, the Harrier coolly regarded the fact that this Vulture wasn't going to be easy to defuse. He braced himself, slowly assuming a poised stance as he remained cautious.

"For your information," he started in annoyance, crossing his arms as he cocked his head slightly. "You don't get to decide what's good for me." He paced around on the spot lazily, yet kept his concentration on the other Reaper as he went on tersely, "I usually wouldn't give a damn, but it's pretty stupid to think I wouldn't care about innocents being tormented by loose canons. The ones who are being fueled by their rumbling bellies, not having their heads on straight..." He frowned as he continued taking his steps, watching the other in the corner of his eye. "Heck, even your misinformed self proved it because me and Shizarou have no longer been friends for over two months now."

The Reaper immediately bristled. "Don't fuck with me-"

"Fuck with you?" echoed the Reaper with an eyeroll as he promptly stopped, shaking his head as he turned to face the mustard-hooded Reaper. The Harrier gestured towards the other as he sighed, "I'm only laying down your chance to walk away with no more harm done, Buttercup. I'd like to think I'm a nice guy who is only thinking about saving yourself from your harebrained actions, not letting you-"

"Mister!" The Harrier's words died at Junior's shout, yet couldn't bring himself to hate the fact that he was distracted by it. It sounded urgent for some reason.

"What's the matter, Junior?" asked the Harrier immediately, momentarily noticing that the Players had crept out of their ill-thought out hiding spot. They were standing by the little Reaper now, who gazed at the aggressive male with wide, fearful eyes.

"I remember him!" The kid pointed abruptly; his hand quivering as he blurted out loudly, "H-He's the one!"

"He's the wh…" The Harrier's words tapered when it dawned on him what the Support was alluding to. He instantly faced the other Harrier and clenched his fists. "You're the one who told him to buzz off!?"

"So what!?" retorted the male through spitted words. As the male started laughing humourlessly, the mustard-hooded Reaper was already growling disdainfully, "I couldn't let that fucking leech get in the way of my Points last Week!"

Wincing upon those words, Blackie felt his hackles rise as his anger boiled over. He harshly breathed as he now leered furiously at the Reaper, "You left him when you were supposed to show him the ropes last Week- just so you could go hungry and needlessly try to Erase this pact this Week!?"

"Why do you care- you're just the bottom-bucket reject who does nothing but ruin our lives! Because of you, we're constantly being distrusted because you're so full of your cowardice to not make the fact you're still collecting our Points of kills public!" roared the Reaper in one big breath, moving closer to add in a huff of derisive laughter, "I bet you're supplying them to worthless shits who wouldn't even last a Day without you protecting them like a mindless herd of sheep you can choose to slaughter anytime! That's why you're here now, aren't you!?"

The Harrier gawked, staring at the opposing Reaper before his voice grew raw and livid. "I gave up on Erasing months ago… I'm not acting as a supply chain to anyone!"

"Why wouldn't you!? That's all that you're good for!" spat the other disdainfully.

"You should check your sources, I haven't done anything to hurt anyone anymore!" the Harrier threw back as he clenched his hands. "If you weren't so drunk on Starvation you would know that!"

"Why should I when it's the truth?" suddenly asked the Reaper coolly. He started to wheeze as he growled, "I bet you have them on you now- Points that are already packaged up and ready for handout when you feel like it! That's why shits like that Australian stick around- they don't care for you! Why else would this stupid child be hanging off of your arms right now!? The leech wants to ride on through the Week without any worries because you're going to supply him his Points! I wasn't willing to let that leech do that!"

He then laughed darkly as he smirked hard, "I bet if you wanted to, with your fingertips, you would keep the Points to yourself- to twiddle them in his gaze and watch him fade in front if you like it's your damn entertainment! Another way to tell someone to suck it!"

"I would never do that..." growled out the Reaper whilst shaking his head in fraught ire. He breathed shallowly, soon rigidly approaching the male as he spat, "Only a greedy swine would purposefully dangle food in front of a starved animal and chortle at their suffering!"

Like the Posh Bastard had for him…

"Then go the fuck away and let me take what's mine!" snapped Buttercup, instantly shouldering Blackie away with his greater strength. "I deserve every Soul you have harvested and cached for yourself! Before and now!"

"No." The Harrier's lips flattened, twisting his body around rapidly to grab the Reaper's wings instantly. "Not when you're antagonizing a formed Pact!"

Within seconds, the black-hooded Reaper collided with the ground with a cut-off intake of breath, stunned from the strike as his breath was stolen again by a kick knocking him away. He was sprawled out on his back before he knew it, moaning in agony as his vision swam. 'Wh- H-How could he… hit me when he's literally…'

"Stop it!"

The Harrier blinked, raising his head at the voice and his bleary vision refocused.

It was a girl with what he could tell was half-permed, brown hair, that curled towards her chin at the ends partly, almost appearing messy if you didn't appreciate how it was actually framing her face… Yet from where he could see her from his position on the asphalt, he couldn't actually see her face well but he could see her choice of clothes. They were a light blue-purple-and-white plaid collared and short, plaid puffy-sleeved, white smock blouse and a loose, smoky-black skirt that went down to her knees, allowing for her calf-high, white socks and black-and-white rounded-tipped flats to be seen.

As the Harrier blinked again, trying to see better, his lips eventually parted as he watched her in silence. That was one of the Players... wasn't it? Why was she getting herself involved?

"Why are you attacking him!?" she gasped out as she worriedly cast a glance his way, making him frown as he squinted back. Yet when her Partner called out, it took a bit to realize she was approaching the aggressive Reaper… That sobered the Harrier enough for him to instantly start pushing himself up as she went on incredulously, "I don't understand what's going on as much as I want, but this feels just as wrong as you attacking us!"

"You don't know anything inside your empty skulls!" roared the Reaper as he pulled his fist back. "As long as you're here, you're going to be of use to me!" It caused the girl immediately to step back in alarm, widening her previously concerned and determined brown eyes as the Reaper shot towards her.

"Don't you dare!" hissed the Harrier as he slipped between them, his arm drifting behind himself to protectively brush her away. The moment she was behind him, he stiffly stood in front of the other Reaper to block the punch. "Why can't you just accept a 'no'?" he asked tartly in frustration as he shoved the arm back with some resistance. The moment he was able to throw back the other's arm, the Harrier narrowed his eyes as he backed away. "N, O, spells, NO…"

The Player stepped away as well to avoid being bumped into, leaving him little choice but to keep his focus on her until they created enough distance from her attacker. Yet as the Harrier glared, not wanting to move away from the Player he was guarding, Buttercup scoffed, not appearing happier than when he readied his punch.

"I've had enough shit from you!" snapped the Reaper while shoving his hand into a pocket. The next moment there was a rectangle paper in his hand as he scathingly continued, "If you're going to continue this, I might as well take you down once and for all!"

As movement wiggled across the page, the Harrier pointedly sighed at the other Reaper's decision, "Okay, now you're using the Taot Paper after throwing punches and kicks at me?" He shook his head and tutted blasély, "You do realize we're both Reapers, or have you forgotten your ABCs?" By all accounts, Noise couldn't sense Reapers. The Harrier was considered safe even if he purposefully entered the Noise Encounter... unless Buttercup intended to hurt the Players instead of the Harrier.

At that thought, Blackie widened his eyes as all of his assurance fled for dread. Even without the reminder that he still had a Player hiding behind him, he knew he couldn't allow for the Noise summon to happen.

Once his focus sharpened on the Taot Paper, wondering if it was possible for him to swiftly to rip it from the other, the mad Reaper spitted, "All I want is to shut you down for good- your words are meaningless babble to me!" The Harrier could only make an inference that was enough proof to say reasoning with the other was out of the question. Even without the fact that the other Harrier lost too many marbles from being close to Self-Erasure, or that the male was still a sore loser over not being able to do his job right, sticking around was going to be dangerous no matter what way the Harrier viewed it.

As much as Blackie felt that he could handle this on his own, one could only conclude what may happen when you decide to enter the cage of a starved animal. But he couldn't just walk away when he was the only one out of everyone here who could hold Buttercup off. And it wasn't as if he could call upon his WEB members as backup when they were strictly trying to make it known no one from WEB was associated with him, so he knew he couldn't go back on his own orders right now out of convenience.

Even if it was becoming serious.

Therefore, the best course of action was to have Junior escort the Pact away while the Harrier dealt with Buttercup.

Nodding internally at that, he tried to control his breathing as he called out, "Junior- get these two out of here!"

"Mister-"

"Don't worry, Junior-" he shouted back, sharpening his gaze as he went on instantly, "Things are going to be messy for the next bit, but I can handle it here."

"A-Alright, Mister!" chirped Junior uneasily.

The black-hooded Reaper felt the boy's feet pivot on the spot, as if he was ready to talk to the Player closest to him, when the Harrier realized the brown haired Player was still hovering behind him. He glanced over his shoulder, narrowing his gaze from under his hood to look into her eyes as he sternly spoke, "Follow them." He soon faced her fully and moved to back up, to give himself some personal room, before pointing past her. "You're not safe here, you need to get away right now."

Her gaze suddenly took on a soft, defiant sort of quality as she pursed her lips. "If it's not safe here, shouldn't you be running too?"

"What?" he breathed out in disbelief. He promptly frowned hard as he growled, "Don't question me right now- you're only putting yourself in danger!"

"But you're also in danger!" she cried out in appall, shaking her head before staring back at him. The Harrier could faintly hear her Partner calling out for her again, but she remained rooted to the spot. "It wouldn't be right to let you stay here-"

"Why are you being so stubborn!?" snapped the Harrier in dismay as he bristled. He spat shortly, "You don't know me, and you don't have any reason to stick around for crying out loud!"

Suddenly her expression twisted into surprise, not that it mattered because she was wasting time while giving the mad Reaper more opportunity to collect Noise. If the Harrier could intercept the man now, it would cause the mad Harrier to clumsily send out whatever he had currently at his disposal. Howevever, whatever they were would only drag the closest Players into the battle Plane at the merest tap of contact.

So in this case, this girl was the first thing the Noise would see, meaning this girl had to fucking move it or she'll just get herself Erased!

Not wanting to let her defend her foolish actions, he irritably went to grab her by her wrist and ignored her yelp as he passed her to pull her along. "I can't do anything unless you're gone-" he went on scathingly as he felt her squirm in his grasp, exhaling harshly as he grumbled on, "I need room to work here, Player, and all you're doing is jeopardizing my ability to do so!"

"Mister!" Junior cried out fearfully, causing the Harrier to snap to the fact that Junior and the other Player weren't even gone yet. "He's-"

"Junior, I'm busy trying to lay down what she should be doing right now!" he hissed in frustration, not for the kid, but because she was making it bothersome. "Get going already- I'll regroup with you later!"

The Harrier clenched harder on the girl's wrist, knowing with all the fuss she was creating, he probably had to shove her into Junior's arms to make her cooperate. He was midway to the younger Reaper, ready to enact that plan when light suddenly filled his vision. He froze in his tracks the moment his stomach felt as if it was being stretched and fluffed roughly like a flattened pillow, widening his eyes and stumbling in his footing as he broke his hand away to shield his eyes from the blinding nature it had.

Then the sensations in his body disappeared, just as the leftover light penetrating his hand had when it subsided. Upon chancing a look after lowering his hand, his heart stopped right then and there when he found himself standing in the same streets- no, a partially similar version of the district he was just standing in. He couldn't stop himself from shuddering, feeling as if a vat of cold water was dumped on him when he realized this wasn't just his imagination.

The Harrier was in the Inter-Plane, the realm between the Noise Realm and the Underground, where Noise fought the Players in.

'Wh-What the fuck-' he thought in horror; his heart pounding hard as he watched an orange crocodile Noise warp into being in front of him. 'This isn't supposed to happen, dammit!' He backed away, unsteadily drawing in a breath and pressing his hands to his hood as taller than normal, snow-white peacocks he'd never seen before soon joined the ensemble of Noise. 'What the fuck is going on here!?'

How the hell did he get yanked into the Noise Plane with the Players!? Noise weren't capable of dragging Reapers into the fray- it was a known fact that they wouldn't prey upon Reapers. Someone better have an- oh, right… he was the only one who should have an explanation of what fucked up to land him here. Not to mention, the Players wouldn't know either, especially ones that were currently being tormented by-

As he promptly became aware of the presence of it just being a crocodile and two peacocks, watching how their eyes were looking in his direction, closing in towards him, he grimaced as he felt sweat roll down the side of his face. 'Th-They see me. Th-There's no doubt about it.' He told himself there was no sense in arguing about wondering the same question for what was going on anymore after noticing that. At least, that's what the logical part of his mind told him helpfully at this moment.

'...Panic later.' The Harrier hardened his gaze warily as he swallowed deeply. 'I'm a moving target now it seems.'

He tried to recompose himself, shifting into a crouch as he sent energy through his body, trying to get a feel for his surroundings of where he was positioned. He could spring away to safety if the Noise ventured too close, but he had to make sure he knew where the Players were first. He had to keep them safe on top of himself.

While Blackie couldn't believe his sharp reflexes were able to bleed over to the parallel Plane initially when he first became a Player, the natural sense he was gifted for some reason allowed for him to locate where his Partners were situated when he was playing the Game. The concept still offered its usefulness here, as faint movement tickled his sleeves. And since he knew where the female Player was beforehand, all he had to do was look where the other Player had-

No wait… where was her Partner!?

"For crying out loud..." he hissed, warily glancing around before he felt faint movement again. 'Okay, maybe her Partner is on the other portion of the Plane-' He jumped and something didn't feel quite right to him. He couldn't explain what it was exactly. Upon taking another glance around, it was apparent that he was the only human being on this side of the Plane. There was no other movements he could sense around him if he didn't include the Noise. '...There's no way he got Erased this quickly- we should be back in front of the statue then! Argh- what's fucking going on!?'

In the corner of his vision, he could see something barely visible shift and soon found himself meeting the girl's terrorfied eyes for a trice. She was anxiously glancing around, probably unable to tell she was standing- no, phasing through his shoes as she inadvertently stood on them, immediately making it notable that she wasn't experiencing the same thing as he was, which was fair enough. His Partners never were able to tell where he was directly, but he knew because of his boon from whatever remained of his Reaper powers after losing his wings, he could bend the laws of this Inter-Plane more than he once had as a Player.

"This is just fantastic!" he roared in frustration as he whipped around to glare at the girl, not caring that she wasn't aware of how he was dealing with this situation he was thrust into. He stepped away to crossly regard her as he snarled in a low breath, "All you had to do was listen to me, and I would have smoothed things over for your Pact!"

"How is it fantastic when those creatures are going to hurt us!?" cried the girl in fright, her voice reverberating as it quietly reached his ears.

The thing about the dual-Plane they were in… it only gave Players the luxury of conversation, but it also made it hard to hear if you weren't focusing on it. Players, as he was told, couldn't see each other, yet they could only work together if they maintained communication throughout the fight. The Harrier, in this case, was lucky he could see the girl, but it wasn't going to help her fight if her Partner was MIA.

Hissing to himself, he sharply looked away to observe the peacocks that had raised their violet-tattooed plumaged wings in the air, squawking in a distorted, uneven caw as their navy-to-pale-blue legs carried them in their charge towards him and the Player. He narrowed his eyes to slits, growling as he concentrated on the incoming threat, "That's why you fight them, Player! I don't know where your Partner is, so until he puts his back into fighting instead of hiding, you're going to have to stop whining and defend yourself for the time being."

"F-Fight them...?" she murmured, as if she didn't understand anything he just told her. He felt irked that she was playing clueless with him, moreso as she cried out, "I-I have to fight them!?"

He coldly chose to disregard her for now, shifting to better his posture for what he was going to do. His body thrummed as energy surged into him from Virtuoso, watching bright scarlet swirls dance across and outline his form as he curled his hands then threw himself forward. Before the peacocks could do anything, he darted to kick up straight into the chest of one of them, knocking it backwards into a tumble and heard its shrill squawk before it finally sunk to the ground. He didn't allow for the other one to hit him by cleanly pivoting to it after planting his foot down, driving up his left leg's knee to its chest to stagger it before using his landing foot to spring himself back.

The Harrier whipped his head to keep an eye on both of them once he was on his feet again, just in case they recovered quickly, before watching as the one he knocked further away was already on its feet while the staggered peacock was stumbling away from its destination. He'd have to make sure it wasn't going to do anything funny, but the downed peacock was already bringing itself to its pale-blue talons so he knew he had to choose between the two of them.

Yet before he could, he heard a shout from his right, "Wh-What happened to them!?" He frowned in annoyance as he turned back to the Player, making note of how her flickering face was pale with fright as she quivered for a moment. Her breath suddenly hitched in the form of a gasp as the form of her body backed away. "...D-Did you do that!?"

"Oh please," he scoffed as he turned his attention away again, not wanting to make the mistake of losing his guard because this Player was acting like an idiot. He hardened his gaze as he grumbled on, "I don't appreciate the fact that you're gawking at them when you should be fighting. Players are supposed to fight on their sides of the Inter-Planes, unless you want to be the Noise. And if you don't want to go bye-bye, get cracking, stop gawking."

"Ah!" She jumped, putting a hand on her chest as she murmured, "Is that how it works?"

At those words, he felt his face slacken to blanch. "What are you talking about?" he asked hesitantly. When dread started to worm through him from a sudden thought he had, he breathed out quietly, "D-Don't tell me this is your first fight?"

A slight shift from her head bob confirmed it.

He widened his eyes, almost forgetting to breathe as he shook his head in disbelief. "Y-You got to be fucking kidding me!?" he managed to exhale out as he felt stronger movement advancing towards each side of him, instantly forgoing his shock briefly. The Harrier awkwardly jerked his body around on the spot to evade the barrage of peckings until he had the opportunity to spring out of range again, stumbling over to where he thought she was still standing to gawk at her in appall.

"How could this be your first fight!?" he exclaimed in fury as he fanned his arms out and shook them stiffly. He held them above his head as he screamed out louder, "Players would have fought alongside their Partner by now!"

Blackie could picture her puffing her cheeks slightly, pursing her lips when she protested in her gentle tone, "We were attacked when we agreed to stick together!"

"Don't fool around with me! You couldn't have not fought Noise before your grace period was up!" he growled in annoyance, narrowing his eyes to slits as he scoffed, "What? Did you wake up in the shadow of dear Hachiko and happen to stumble upon your Partner!? Hmm!?"

"As a matter of fact, I did!" He frowned coolly after she said that, hearing the raw haughtiness in her voice as she piped almost victoriously, "I was so lucky that my Partner was there too, and I thought it was best to stay with each other-" She abruptly stopped, soon going on hurriedly, "We hadn't even introduced ourselves when that man started attacking us."

"Great!" he chirped cynically as he laughed dryly. He pointed her way, or at least, where he thought she was as he continued, "Now you're going to fade away because you have no idea what you should be doing!"

"That's uncalled for!" she cried out in shock. "I-It's not my fault he did that!"

"Actually-" he began with a lilt as he concentrated on pumping Virtuoso through his body, whipping around to swing a punch into one of the avian Noise's face when it tried to hit him again. "You chose to ignore my warnings-" He heard the Player cry out in pain on her end as he drew his arm and body back to avoid a counter-peck. "- and now you're stuck here with boring, old, me!"

"Why is it so angry!?" she cried out in a crescendo of dismay, soon making noises of panic as she sobbed out, "I don't want to hurt it!"

"Player, I hate to pop your lovely balloons because you don't have a choice," he sneered with a growl and roll of his eyes, yet kept his concentration away from her for now as the Noise he was facing squawked angrily in disharmony.

As the peacock attempted another peck, he didn't hesitate to swing a punch into the side of its face after sidestepping its attack then drew himself back to where he was standing to drive a foot up into its head. When it recovered quickly again after he planted his foot down, he simply edged back a little as he tried to reanalyze his options. He knew based on how it favoured its pecking barrage it had to be a Positive-reliant Noise, so he knew his own physical strikes wouldn't harm it much. But that didn't mean he couldn't daze it if he kept his attacks up.

Once it appeared he succeeded in stunning it after throwing more kicks and clouts, he switched gears as he fluently leapt backwards, not wanting to lose his vantage so soon after gaining it. He then raised his hand, pressing his index finger to his thumb as he went on in annoyance, "Since it's your first time, we're stuck here until you can figure out how to escape this Plane-" He let loose Ignis Swarm without delay as he narrowed his eyes. "So help me already!"

He saw no resistance when he watched the white-feathered peacock get caught in the explosion, soon watching a flurry of static fizzle out in different directions from the dissipating smoke as he told himself that left him two other Noise to finish with. He quickly glanced around to find that the crocodile was closer to him than he deemed it to be as it was nearly within a couple feet of him, instantly springing his body forward while using Alla Breve to propel himself further, feeling the air whirl harshly past him as he mentally prepared himself for his next move.

When he materialized right in front of the reptilian, he didn't hesitate to slam his right foot down on the top of the Noise's snout that retained its normality. That immediately made the crocodile Noise snarl out in agony as its mismatched jaws snapped wide open, launching him towards the base of its tail he simply stomped on with a smile when landing before springing off with the new momentum. He felt there was an opportunity for where he currently was when he landed again and pivoted to the Noise, waiting for it to spin its body around until its ugly face was shoved in front of him.

"It's rude to have your mouth open in the company of people!" he jeered, instantly pulling out the energy he needed to shoot a swarm of his fireflies into its mouth. Watching the embers shuck off of them as they zoomed into its throat, he leapt backwards to avoid the Noise snapping its jaws on him. He watched after his feet met the ground as the jaws were now closed shut in anger after failing to bite him, only for the Noise to groan out a growl in pain as its body convulsed. He smirked at this as he laughed at its misfortune, "See? Look at where that got you."

The Noise's short, magenta-tattooed legs suddenly buckled beneath it and it collapsed on the spot in response, black clouds of smoke escaping its slack, lower sunset-coloured tattooed jaw. He could have sworn it was seemingly coughing as he coolly regarded the fact it wouldn't be getting up right away. That meant he had another chance to dish out more attacks before it recovered.

However, as he was preparing another round of fireflies, he heard a scream, remembering then he wasn't the only one facing these Soul-hungry beings.

He whipped his head to where he felt her presence, careful not to let himself be behind the lumbering crocodile as he faintly remembered its tail would slap him continuously if he tried to ambush it when its back was turned. "Sorry about that," he called over then bolted back towards the last peacock, who was waving its violet-tattooed wings above its head while sending a shower of ice shards from its purple-and-blue tail feathers at the Player. Since she didn't cry out in pain, that was enough to relieve him that she hadn't gotten caught in the chilly blast. "I'm not the only one who could be Erased if I don't have my wits about me."

"That was certainly rude," her voice huffed from her end of the Inter-Plane. "You should have warned me more, or at least say things more so I'm not alone in this!"

"I'm sorry for upsetting you, but it's not like I can stand around and carry you around right now!" he called back in annoyance. He sighed to recapture his composure before he went on, "Nearly forgot the fact you can't actually fight with all these things flying at us." He briefly took the time to catch his breath, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he frowned. "You need your Partner if you're going to land a hit on them."

"And why's that?"

"Because your Pact tethers your capabilities to dish out blows on them, and develops your Pact bond to become stronger together," he supplied coolly, pressing a palm forward as he directed it the peacock's way to shoot more ember-sizzling fireflies. He watched them detonate when they reached it, hearing a true keen of suffering and anguish as he sighed, "Quite unfortunate for you, if you ask me."

She didn't sound happy about that. "Then where is he?"

"How should I know?" he hissed before he ran forward, to hopefully land a punch that could finish the cool-coloured-plumaged Noise off. "I'm not supposed to be here! You were supposed to have your Partner instead of me!"

"Then what would I do if I did have my Partner?"

"Look, enough with the questions, I'm going to finish this up so we can forget it even happened!" He pressed his weight down on his left leg as he swept it low to knock it over, only to recoil backwards and cry out as it chose to lunge forward to try and stab him with its peak. Upon crashing on his side, groaning out in pain, he suddenly wondered how that could have possibly winded him as he immediately grimaced. 'That shouldn't have happened...'

His attack felt off for a second there.

"Are you alright!?"

"Nothing I can't handle!" he shouted out as he rolled away to avoid it raking his face with its talons, quickly pushing himself up in the middle of the motion to unsteadily careen one way before catching himself. He sent another cloud of fireflies its way, watching static fizzle over it after Ignis Swarm did its fine deed. And as he swaggered on the spot when he saw the particles burst into the air, he gritted his teeth as dizziness wove through his head. "Ugh... "

"You don't sound good…"

"I'm alright!" he snapped, only to let out a strangled yell as something latched onto his leg. Bright mustard-and-orange-tattooed teeth were closing around his shin when he whipped his head down, seeing that the orange-scaled Noise had snagged him. "Shit!"

"What's going on- o-oh dear, what is it doing!?" she shrieked in horror as the Reaper heaved his body to try an escape, only to curse as the ground rapidly entered his vision before his mind was scrambled as a rush of vertigo entered him. Faintly he felt his body was being dragged across the cement, friction scraping his face as he tried to kick the Noise's normal snout with his other leg. However, he groaned out when all that did was pat it on the nostrils.

"Wait a minute!" the Player cried out loudly, gasping out the next second as he tried another flimsy kick, "That's you!"

His head felt like fuzz was stuffed into it, yet he was surprised that her voice was the clearest thing of all that was spitting and damning him at the moment. He grumbled out in a slur as he felt it move its head, feeling like a ragdoll as it swung him to the right, "...G-Glad you caught on." His heart then seized when it dawned on him what this particular Noise was capable of doing, soon sobering up as he cried out in frustration, "Oh no, no, no- don't you dare think about-"

The orange Noise whipped its head back to bash him into the corner of the statue, stunning him as he let out a groan before he was dragged under the cement with it. In spite of the implausibility of the supernaturalness of the Underground that he shouldn't be in the cement like one was to water, it certainly did nothing to stop him from opening his mouth to gasp for breath involuntarily as he struggled and lost his oxygen within the darkness. Once he was ripped back out from the ground, almost seeing stars as his lungs screamed, he soon was being swung around wildly by the fervent Noise.

He forgot this one likes to play with its food, he dazedly mused. His body felt useless as he attempted to twist his arms around to use Ignis Swarm on his attacker, only to flail a hand helplessly before his body was slammed into the edge of the statue again. "URK!"

Just as he lightheadedly watched a flood of red particles spurt into the sky, he could barely make out any other sound than the ringing in his ears. All except for the Player, that is, despite how faint she was.

"A-Are you sure I can't help you…?" came the Player's concern. "O-Or is it going to stop anytime soon..?"

"I-Its not going to stop!" he gasped out dizzily. The Harrier gritted his teeth, cursing his luck that he had to have gotten distracted enough to be caught by this Noise. Now he was a sitting duck! "It'll only stop when I'm gone!"

This Noise here had a damn wicked sense of humour… If a Player wasn't careful, and got their leg caught in its mismatched jaws, it wouldn't release them no matter how hard you kicked, punched, screamed, or used whichever Psyches you had on you however much you liked for the battle. It would drag you around the field and test the boundaries of the Inter-Planes, loving to find something hard like a wall to keep bashing you into until you faded away or until you didn't have enough of yourself to provide itself the entertainment of how long your resilience could last. Unless your Partner targeted it to let it release you, you were fated for Erasure the moment it latched on to you. A book he read once told him he pretty much was getting what was called the 'Croc' Death Roll' treatment, something sinister that even crocodiles in the Realground knew to do already.

From enough bouts with it when he was a Player, he recalled that this wasn't the first time he had the humiliation of being treated like an ill-treated toy because his Partners hated his guts. His Partners would only fight off the other Noise, leaving him to suffer until they got the hint that without him they would be dead meat. So while it was well-advised to free your Partner and hope neither of you made the same mistake again… his Partners seemed to forget that fact intentionally. It wasn't hard to see where their trust lied.

But luckily, seeing as he was no longer bound by Player status, he had a solution to save himself.

The Harrier didn't think there were any other options to escape this Noise unless he summoned his shadow on to the Player's Plane to free himself. It served as his own 'Partner' when he needed to attack Players directly and it pretty much had the same rules. ...But seeing as this Player had no idea what to do, there was hardly anything to fear once he got his shadow out.

As soon as the orange crocodile reared him back for another swing, he tried to focus on the ground, training his eyes for his shadow. However, he choked on his breath.

"...WHAT THE FUCK!" he yelled out before his body made impact with the statue again. Even after his breath was lost, his vision dizzied by the pain, he made out how no shade was following the movement of his figure when he was pulled down into the cement again.

Usually he wouldn't panic in the middle of the fight, but this was a fucking reason to panic right now! His shadow was absent! It wasn't there! Even after he was dragged back to the surface to be slammed into the statue again, desperately pressing his fingers against the cement when he had a chance to after recovering sluggishly from the blow, the light seemingly shone through his hand. The usual blur of black was nowhere to be found!

His shadow was gone!

'Where did it go!?' he thought frantically as he shook his head. His gaze was dazzled with salt-and-pepper speckles as he gritted his teeth and stared at the ground in horror. 'Where did it go!? Where did it go!? Where did it go-'

There was no way to escape now! He was screwed!

"Tell me what to do! I want to help you!" He heard the Player's voice buzzing in his ears suddenly, shaking his head again as he tried to refocus by listening to it. "If you're going to be killed by it because I don't know how to fight, I want to know how to fight to not have that happen to you!"

"I'd love to share that secret, but it wouldn't do you a load of anything because your Partner is MIA!" he yelled out in frustration, thrashing despite himself knowing he wouldn't be freed. Now wasn't the time to snark, but he couldn't help it when he pretty much had moments before his Erasure. "But sure- sure, sure- why not give you the key to helping you do something rather than making your social commentary while I had bust my ass for you!? I'm going to fade anyway!"

He braced himself for the next swing even though his body already numb, not even feeling the next hit when it came as he saw more of his body tear off into particles. He mumbled out with a grunt after a bit, "Y-You should have gotten… P-Pins when you woke up." He felt his head loll as he lay slackly on the ground after he got struck, feeling almost like his mind was starting to detach itself from him as he groaned out in pain, "Y-You put them on and y-you can use Psyches in b-battle. Whatever you got on you… th-throw them on-" As he mentally sighed as the orange crocodile readied another strike, he finished with little enthusiasm before it pulled him sharply into the asphalt again, "S-See what wonderworks your Soul provided for you…"

As the dull ache settled in his side after the submersion ended, leaving him hanging limply as he aimlessly wondered how long it would take for him to finally explode into the rest of his particles, the girl chirped but it was faint, "Oh really!?" He mentally applauded her excitement as he saw his body contact the statue again, hating how he had to suffer a slow Erasure like this as more particles left him. She soon piped as his thoughts slowed down, "I think I understand now! Thank you so much for explaining it to me!"

"Y-You're welcome…" he replied weakly as his eyes drooped suddenly. His body wasn't even going to give him the luxury to puke. "K-Knock yourself out, but it won't work, P-Player…"

"I got them on," she told him as he dimly felt her presence approach. "Their designs are pretty neat!"

"N-Not like you're going to make use of 'em," he mumbled moodily as he wished he could have been more careful… WEB's cause would die off because he was going to fade, but he hoped Andy and Jimmy wouldn't take the news poorly. Maybe they had a chance to salvage their organization's existence… maybe they wouldn't let his doom devastate their resolve to continue… He didn't know what would happen, but all he knew was that he wouldn't be around to find out. His sight began to flicker and turn grainy as the Harrier chuckled in misery, "A-At least you're the only one who is seeing my humiliation and torment, hahaha…"

He then widened his eyes as his vision stabilized, jolted out of his daze the moment warmth sank into him.

'Wh-What the-' He blinked while gasping as he felt energy feeding into him. It was like it was a string sewing him back together, one he mentally pulled himself along as he soon found the end. He felt his eyes widen more as his vision was sharpening. 'Wh-Where'd it-'

"Oh!" she cheerfully cried out; clearer than she had been lately. "I think something happened!"

'H-H-How…' He shook his head, feeling as if his eyes would somehow pop out from how much more they widened. 'Wh-What…' Promptly he was aware of his body being swung, only to yell out in agony as fresh, harsher pain entered his side. When did it start throbbing again? 'D-Did she just… h-heal me!?'

The crocodile Noise crooned in suffering and distorted sounds expelled from it, leaving the Harrier momentarily shocked away from his other shock as he twisted his head and gawked as he made out how vines were twisted around its tail and legs. They were ensnaring and pressing the Noise against the ground as it tried to thrash with him again feebly, pushing out snarls of anger from the heat on his captive leg.

Before he knew it, the Player's outline arrived, contours of hands grabbing its top, normal snout before he heard her grunt with effort. He cast away his stunned stupor when he felt its tattooed teeth lift, immediately hauling himself forward with his arms to escape onto his hands and knees dazedly.

He thought he was being helped up, staggering with a limp as he almost collapsed from his injured leg, and shook his head in dismay. Once he was far enough away to say he had safety, he grimaced while pivoting back to gaze at the trapped Noise. "Y-You appear to be a natural, it seems…" he breathed out numbly with outstandment, staring absently at the flailing Noise while it glared past him furiously with its neon red eyes. 'E-Even though you shouldn't be able to do damn anything!'

"Maybe you should have had more faith in me!" she suggested with a chirp.… Was she being cheeky with him!? He narrowed his eyes to slits, frowning hard as the warmth returned and it felt like his leg and side were knitting themselves back together again. "See- I did it again I think!" She paused for some reason, her voice soon returning in a slur, "Wouldn't you agree, um...?"

"Uh, you're not supposed to do that without your Partner," he pointedly reminded her after clutching his composure back, crossing his arms as he warily kept an eye on the remaining Noise. It would be terrible to ignore the thing that nearly whacked and rolled around with him to Erasure… Making the mistake again would steal his dignity away for good. "This totally has to be breaking some kind of rule…" he mumbled to himself as he turned his head to look at where she seemed to be, adding on but a little louder, "However you're doing this… I hate to admit that I'm at a loss for figuring that out."

It didn't make sense.

"I like to think you were only saying those mean things about me to build my confidence up," she returned warmly. Ew, that totally wasn't what he was doing… Whatever fantasy she had in her head had to stop now before he threw up for real. "Don't worry- I think I got a handle on this now!"

"All you can do is heal yourself, and me for some reason, as well as trap the Noise," mentioned Blackie dryly, rolling his eyes as he scowled at the Noise again. "That's nothing." He sighed afterward as he closed his eyes and raised a finger in the air. "Also- you only have so much time for each Psych use before they run out of juice, so to speak."

Her voice shuddered straightaway. "H-Huh!? What do you mean-!?"

Snapping his eyes open in the exact moment before the first vine split apart, he spat as he pointed at the Noise that was thrashing harder as another vine broke, "That!"

"Oh no-" she wailed out as he crouched, preparing Ignis Swarm when the crocodile's freed leg attempted to drag itself forward. The remaining vines whined when it had. "Why isn't it working now!?"

"That's because you need to let it recharge," he said as he warily watched his fiery swarm soar towards the Noise, coldly regarding the fact whoever Processed her wasn't too thorough on the details they should have given her. First Junior, now her… it was like the Harrier was going to be everyone's tutor today. "You should have gotten at least one that hurts the Noise…"

…Unless her Soul wasn't capable for a third Pin yet.

"Okay, I'll check again just in case I missed one!" He watched as she phased into his sight once and awhile while fiddling with her socks of all things, glancing at the Noise occasionally as he slowly increased Ignis Swarm's charge. It's not like they had all Day to wait for her… so maybe he should finish it off before-

The Noise snarled harshly and suddenly thrashed as the surge of swirling stars struck it smartly on its normal snout, causing the Harrier to blink in acknowledgement that she seemed to have found her missing Pin as he still kept his own Psych at the ready. Hers seemed to be a starry form of the Force Rounds Psychomancy… but he doubted it would be enough if she had been doing this on her own. It usually would take a lot of blows for this Noise to be Erased; eight minutes at least if you knew what you were doing.

But he had worn down the Noise earlier, so he might as well let her have the icing on the cake. It wouldn't be fair to prevent her from getting her share of absorbing its strength, now that she had her head in the game.

He was certain the fight was over the moment they got this far into the fray. And, as such, it did.

As soon as the returning brilliance died down again, he immediately felt a wave of exhaustion overtake him before something had toppled him over. Almost instinctively he grabbed ahold of it as he was falling, twisting them around roughly only to stare at the Player startled as he kept the girl's back pushed against the ground.

Despite knowing he should let go of her, he watched as she grimaced quietly, gazing up at him with confusion before her lips parted. She softly breathed out, "Y-Your eyes…" Ignoring the fact he was pinning her, she tried to lift her head to lean closer before, soon blinking wide. "I-I've never-"

'Shit!' His eyes blew open in horror and immediately released her to spring off of her. He yanked his hood over his face the best he could once he was standing and glowered at the downed Player. 'She saw my face!'

She quickly pushed herself to sit upright as she gasped out, "N-No wait-"

The Harrier frowned hard, feeling his face strain as he clenched his hands into fists before glancing around angrily, only to blink when it seemed the two of them were alone. He should consider himself lucky that they were the only ones remaining in the district, although that didn't relieve him one bit that she knew what he looked like now. No one was supposed to see his face if he could help it...

However, as he tried to rake through his mind on whether or not she was familiar or not, or whether or not she could have potentially been a customer at the bodega, he could only conclude in the end that he didn't know her. Perhaps it wouldn't be an issue for now, he supposed. She'd forget what he'd look like over a quick glance by the end of the Mission.

With that in mind, he disregarded her attempts to speak to him as he reminded himself they had bigger fish to fry with Buttercup. He could only ponder in concern about whether or not Junior and this girl's Partner got away immediately as he briskly started for the Scramble Crossing.

Junior had to have gone to the closest district to hide in. It wouldn't make sense for the kid to barrel past the one person threatening them…

"H-Hey!" He didn't falter in his steps as the female Player took to following him, which was fine, by all means. What he didn't want was to have her distract him with her incessant chatter. "This isn't one-sided- so I would appreciate it if you stopped ignoring me, Person!"

"We don't have time to talk," he brusquely told her as he halted to see if he could catch sight of the kid Reaper. He didn't focus too much on the other Player's appearance; it was the Harrier's loss for locating them faster. "I need to find Junior so we can be well out of your two's way," he hissed as he hardened his gaze. "So do me a favour and help me."

She didn't respond right away, so he assumed she decided to pipe down for the first time he'd been with her. However, when he felt her arms sling around one of his own, he immediately ripped his appendage away to coldly scowl at her. "Don't touch me."

"Sorry, sorry-" she murmured with an apologetic dip of her head. The brown haired Player soon regained her bright expression as she pointed with glee. "I just wanted to let you know they're standing over there." She suddenly blinked before she was beaming, clasping her hands happily. "I think they noticed us!"

"Thank you for the observation, Player," he sternly intoned with an eye roll, instantly trudging the way towards them. Junior met him halfway with the other Player in toll, so it didn't take long to regroup in the end.

Blackie leaned slightly once they had, putting his weight on his knees to regard the boy at eye level. "You did it, Junior." He felt his expression soften.

The short Support Reaper's face shone with pride as he grinned. "I did just what you told me, Mister." His expression screwed up with uneasiness as he went on, "That Reaper kept chasing us until he just went for another Player being chased by Noise."

"So he gave up on you for an easy out…" mused the Harrier in annoyance. He straightened his back as he grumbled, "Oh good grief, we wouldn't be in this mess if Buttercup actually chose to play by the rules."

The kid bit his lip, appearing timid before he spoke up hesitantly, "G-Gee, do you think he'll be back?"

"Possibly." The Harrier narrowed his gaze, pursing his lips as chose to throw a look around to survey his surroundings. He knew a Day 1 Player wouldn't sate an obsessed, near fading Reaper… unless said Player was a veteran of the previous Weeks.

Unlike Junior's case, Buttercup knew what was coming for him, but Junior didn't see the actual reason to panic like that. For a kid his age, the Harrier would have thought he would be more excitable, reckless and prone to getting upset easier… However, that didn't excuse the fact the boy held his own and was standing here without a visible scratch... which was impressive.

Crossing his arms, the Harrier mulled over how much time was lost because of this hiccup in today's agenda. He wouldn't be surprised if the boy lost count from being chased around by the one who catalyzed the event in the first place because of the latter's selfishness, nor did he think it took long to take down the Noise, even when he was the one fighting the majority of the time… Therefore, the Harrier estimated it had been about fifteen-to-twenty minutes since the Mission went out.

...But the girl didn't mention meeting the Gamemaster. Did the Players even get the Mission?

That thought made him blink in alarm, turning to look at Junior. The Support was happily babbling something to the two Players; the female Player being the only one to crouch slightly to heed him. But upon receiving an amused look from the brown haired girl when she finally straightened her standing posture, the Harrier twitched then spoke up sternly, "Did you happen to talk to someone who told you what to do?"

The male Player finally gazed at him. "We woke up with a note that had instructions," the Player told him calmly… No, maybe more matter-of-factly fit the male's tone better. "Then we had to put our palms on a weird symbol that burned a Timer on to us."

"It really hurt," put in the female Player uneasily, as she started to rub her red-numbered hand absentmindedly.

Oh, so it seemed their dear Gamemaster was a shy one this time around. If the lack of trying to make an appearance was evident, then that held true. Some people just didn't want to mix themselves up in the crowds if they could avoid approaching them in the first place. An antisocial Vulture was unlikely, though, as the Posh Bastard seemingly hand chose each one, because it would make sense for him to choose the Reapers who best represented the Reapers as a whole.

It was just a stupid front to make things appealing in case a select number of Players, who were qualified, wanted to join them. That is, if they felt the need to dip their toes in for the Reaper lifestyle.

The male Player, now that the Harrier had a chance to drink in his appearance as he gazed at the Pact, had smoky-black hair that was neatly curtained and smooth, as well as a set of rectangular glasses on his face to make it appear sharper. His choice in attire was a navy button-up under a black blazer, dark grey slacks and black dress-shoes. The very appearance conjured up an image of perfection... or neon signs pointing at the wealthy. A blazer like that looked prim and proper… something only money could buy to one of high status. And it was unlikely that this was tailored to be a school uniform if the lack of a school emblem told him so.

Hopefully the Game would suit the male's acquired taste… the Reaper would hate for this male to be an uppity shit with the eye for the finest rice wine to sip on.

"Well then, it appears you're all set." The Harrier clapped his hands together, smiling as he glanced between the two Players. He soon raised his arms in the air for a good stretch. "Just about time we left you two to get down to business and get on with our own work," he groaned contentedly when he gazed at his fellow, younger Reaper, soon dropping his arms to his sides. "Right, Junior?"

The boy merely nodded with a happy 'uh-huh'.

As Blackie started to pad off with the Support scrambling to follow, the two of them didn't make it far before the half-permed haired girl cried out, "W-Wait!"

The Harrier only halted to regard her with a head turn. "What is it now?" he asked tartly.

"S-So you're not…" she started, soon biting her lip when she continued, "a 'Player' then?" The Harrier couldn't understand why there was a note of disappointment in her otherwise simple tone.

"Wasn't that obvious?" asked her Partner in mild coolness, shifting his head as he closed his dark brown eyes. "Him and that other 'Reaper' sounded an awful lot like they were quarrelling over food... The little one did just say he was learning from the former." His eyelids lifted halfway back up to create a neutral sort of expression. "Wouldn't you agree that's enough to understand where our loyalties lie?"

The Harrier crossed his arms, merely nodding before he added, "It's true." He paused for a while to let it sink in further so any doubts were debunked, then he quietly went on, "I'm one of those Vultures, so did you really expect for me to hold your hand the whole Week?"

She placed a hand on her chest, her gaze perplexed and hurt for some reason. "Your clothing…" The Player shook her head afterward as she breathed, "I-I just assumed it was something the three of you liked to wear…" She lowered her head to look at the ground, her shoulders drooping as she murmured, "B-But then again, I guess I should have realized you weren't one of us. I-I don't know how I could have missed that."

"Two of them had wings," supplied her Partner again. Throughout the short delivery, his tone stayed steady and levelled, denoting anything but annoyance. The Harrier couldn't help but appreciate the fact this girl would be working with him, as the Harrier knew every loose cannon could be adjusted straight with a rock to hold it in place. The male Player raised a hand to fiddle with his glasses; his fingers gingerly lingering on the top right edge of the frame soon as he added plainly, "The last time I checked, humans don't grow wings. So correct me if I'm wrong to assume 'Reapers' grow wings."

Inhaling as he slowly kept his gaze on the male Player, aware of how the girl had turned to regard her Partner now, the Harrier proceeded to nod again. "By all means, remember that fact," the Harrier said coolly, cocking his head a little. "Keep your head straight like that and you won't have trouble with the rest of the Week, Player."

"I will keep that in mind then," replied the male politely as he finally lowered his arm, dipping his head as he gave a curt nod. "Thank you." Despite the gesture, the Harrier could tell the Player still held strongly to his prudence towards him. The Player's earlier words were not for show about who's who and the true-blue lines they were separated by. The reaffirmation was a relief.

The female Player straightaway twisted her head back to the Harrier, her gaze wide as she gasped out softly, "You don't even have wings-"

"Nonetheless, you shouldn't trust any Reaper here even if they don't have wings," churlishly cut in Blackie. He simply drew his head in her direction again as he tried to calm himself down, waiting for her to realize she should stop speaking and lend an ear to him. Once she met those requirements, the Harrier tugged at his left sleeve after he unfolded his arms, sighing as he explained with better composure, "Reapers usually don these literal body incubators because they're our uniforms. Harriers like me usually have mustard-coloured ones-" He swept his gaze to Junior, who chose to pick at his sleeves as well, almost as if he was trying to mirror the Harrier. "- and Junior here is a Support." As the Harrier drew his attention back to the girl after letting his sleeve go, he felt himself frown unconsciously as he breathed, "Just know that you got off easy due to the circumstances, because I'll only say this once."

He straightened his posture, jabbing a finger towards her as he hardened his gaze. "We're not your friends." When she flinched with a pitiful look in her gaze, he didn't let himself waver as he continued sternly, "Our job is to monitor your performance, but we are not impervious to setting our sights on making sure you're Erased. You better rethink your policy on trusting everyone you meet, Player, because not everyone here is a nice guy or gal around the Underground." He pursed his lips, pivoting to turn his back towards the Pact then grumbled, "Including me."

With that, he began to walk away and Junior took a few seconds before he scampered after him. The Harrier didn't care how the girl had reacted to that; it was fine time for her to wake up and smell the roses before she made the wrong conclusions for what this place had in store for her...

"Reaper-san!"

He went still at those words, widening his eyes in horror as he gaped in a silent scream. 'What the hell!?'

The Harrier sharply whipped his head back to gawk as the girl padded towards them, who stopped halfway to gaze at him with a faint glow in her innocent gaze. "Th-Thank you so much!" she cried out as she bowed, clasping her hands as she held the pose quietly.

He wasn't sure what to say as his mind still whirled at the dread-filled thought of who may have heard her shout out WEB's John Doe. But despite the urge to warily check the vicinity for anyone who may have done so, it was hard to act upon when he couldn't figure out why she was doing this all of a sudden. How could she be so grateful about him warning her she could be Erased and still maintain her optimistic mindset!?

Very soon, she slowly relaxed her body as she drew out of the bow, gazing at him anxiously as she breathed out, "Y-You're a really nice guy!" It was worth enough to blink at that as she looked away, her cheeks dusting rosily while she murmured, "I-If you weren't a nice person…" She closed her eyes. "You wouldn't have helped me." She turned her head back to him, smiling as she added gently, "I just wanted to let you know that."

The Harrier tilted his head as her gaze held him in place, bewildered by why she was making such a fuss over ignoring the latter half of his warning. However, he knew it would be dangerous to dwell here when the Vultures may connect the dots soon on who the Mr Reaper was that the Player was speaking with.

Slowly he took a step back, moments before he swiftly spun around to walk away as quickly as he could without it looking too obvious he was trying to escape the position she put him in. He was already freaking out internally about the implications of not covering up what she said, but he couldn't just stand there with her staring at him like that! He tried to control his uneven breathing as he felt almost lightheaded as the instance that had just happened kept looping in his head, trying to reason with himself it had to be a fluke for her to say the exact name WEB was hiding under.

This was bad- real bad!

"M-Mister-" He barely heard Junior shouting out as his anxiety-swimming mind filtered it wrong. "W-Wait for me!"

At that, the Harrier gradually came to a stop, letting his weight fall upon Hachiko's statue as he unsteadily let out a shaky exhale. When Junior joined him, Blackie merely regarded the shorter Reaper with a hard frown as the boy gazed up at him puzzled. "They use that name a lot in debriefings… but why would she call you that?" the Support questioned while frowning.

The Harrier inhaled before he pulled himself off of Hachiko and turned to face the boy properly. "That's because it was a fluke."

"A fluke?" echoed the kid Reaper quietly, biting his lip before tilting his head. "Er… what's the fluke?"

The Harrier shook his head unhappily. "Her calling me that."

"Oh. Then how was it a fluke?"

"She had no reason to even know that exact name," he hurriedly explained. After he checked around for any Reapers who could hear him, he lowered his voice to a hush. "Of all the probabilities of her calling me by that name, there's no way she would use it for me. Mr Reaper is a deviant at large in our society." He carefully tried to keep his delivery smooth near the end; Junior didn't know what Mr Reaper was about yet.

He had to keep it that way.

Junior grimaced, not supplying another word as he seemed to understand the gravity of the situation now. The Harrier added with a defeated sigh and a shake of his head, "Just know that she made it considerably harder for us to do our work after announcing it to the whole Route." He pressed his lips together as he wondered if a Vulture would show up at any moment to confront him now. He warily eyed the way they came straightaway just in case to prepare himself.

"Oh…" Junior nodded uneasily. He shifted on the spot, lowering his gaze as he spoke again, "Gee, what are we going to do now?"

Blackie inhaled again, soon sighing heavily as he replied, "Well… originally we were going to go and get you your Points... but that Player over there just made it awkward for you and me to do so."

The Support's eyes widened; his mouth gaping in alarm as he blurted out, "Then what do we do!?"

"We, uh…" Wow, even the Harrier felt he was at a loss for what to do. He placed a hand on his chin and narrowed his eyes in thought as he mused, "I'm still trying to show you the ropes to feed yourself, so… I suppose we shouldn't do nothing."

His eyebrows knitted as he tried to figure out the best way to go about their predicament. However, before he could, Junior frowned deeper. "And what about the guy that attacked you and that lady? W-Won't we just see him again?"

Was that fear? After surviving a rampaging Reaper like that, of course the kid wouldn't feel safe even in the presence of the creator of Mr Reaper himself. ...Not that the Harrier saw himself as a beacon of protection or reassurance, but if the kid wasn't feeling safe… then it would make it harder for him to focus on today's tasks. The Harrier was certain he wouldn't be the best candidate for inspiring the boy to not worry about getting ambushed by the mentor who abandoned the boy to fend for himself.

...Okay, getting riled and ruffled about this himself wouldn't do them any favours. If the kid saw him freaking out, the natural order of things would decree that the boy would copy the Harrier then everything would just go to shit. Right now, he had to be strong for this kid. The best way would be to act unperturbed by the circumstances…

Yes, that would be the best.

The Harrier folded his arms at that, frowning as he responded irritably, "Well, what he was doing was a big violation of Player interaction, you see." He closed his eyes as he tipped his head up. "Like I said earlier, you only attack Players on Day 1 when they haven't Pacted yet after their seven minute grace period is finished. Buttercup did none of the above, so that pretty much warrants someone reporting him." He shook his head as he grumbled, "But I'd hate to go through the process of whining about how that guy nearly Erased me and a Player, so we-"

"I-Is it mandatory?" asked Junior in a troubled tone.

Popping an eye open at that, the Harrier suddenly felt as if someone yanked his hood off to pour glacial water down his back.

He stared at the kid, who gazed up at him with curious yet bright eyes while waiting for him. It almost appeared that the kid would hang on to whatever the Harrier told him next as if his life depended on hearing the Harrier's input. Although, that didn't seem far off as, what he thought about earlier, the kid was practically a sponge ready to soak up whatever liquid was in his path. So even though the Harrier didn't want to go through the hassle of going to an Officer- or the Posh Bastard himself- to recount the event, Junior happened to be right.

The thought irked the Harrier yet he couldn't help but remind himself in disgruntlement that if he was trying to set an example for this boy, as well as to smokescreen himself after what the female Player called the Harrier, that included reporting incidents like this.

Resisting the urge to let his body hang over in misery at the dreaded course of action he was going to do, he stretched to buy himself time- or maybe he wanted to pretend he wasn't delaying the inevitable- and held his arms in place before groaning out contently. It was a second or two later that he soon chirped sheepishly, with as much constraint as possible to not wail out his words, "I-I suppose you have a point! Good call, Junior."

Junior lit up when he said that. His eyes were almost starry as he chirped in awe, "Th-Thanks, Mister!"

Trying to gather himself instead of sobbing at the hand forced upon him, Blackie forced himself to grin to bear it for a few seconds. He simply turned and pointed, beginning to tread forward. "Then we shall go to the River!"

'And get this over with so I can maintain every ounce of my leftover dignity,' he thought afterward, instead of voicing it aloud. It wouldn't make himself look good if he had, so he decided to squash down his frustration as he led the way.

"You know what, Mister..." said Junior as he fell into step with the Harrier. "That lady was really nice." He momentarily gained the older male's regard as the boy went on, "I know she's a Player and all, but she told me I got a great teacher!"

"Oh really?" asked the older Reaper in mild interest. He didn't want to think about that Player too much after what she did.

They kept walking, yet the words echoed through his head and the Harrier found his attention was becoming absorbed with them. An unwelcome warmth swelled in his chest, akin to when he was speaking with the kid yesterday as they were turning into the Underpass. And before he knew it, he found himself murmuring just as he was getting used to the silence of the journey, "…I'm honoured she thought so highly of me then."

"What do you think of her, Mister?" asked the boy with an eager smile, making the Harrier halt abruptly in his tracks as he grimaced. He instantly tried to come up with something to lay the subject to rest before he thought too much about it, yet found himself stuck in thought about it.

How could he decide on what he thought of a dim-witted Player he was dragged into a Noise battle with for no apparent reason!? He should have kept his thoughts to himself instead of tacking them on just now, and now, as all kids are- even younger teenagers, he guessed- they just couldn't get enough of juicy gossip! No- scratch that! They just wanted to focus on things that weren't significant to bat an eye at in their Day and age! That's it!

And yet… he couldn't help but do what other teenagers do… brood about it. Wasn't that lovely? That an Age Frozen Reaper was still stuck in the age group that rampaged and raged and broke down crying because of their tipsy-turvy years of sucky hormones! Here he was trying to prove he wasn't a child to Sadist Sayama and yet he couldn't bowdlerize the fact that he was trapped in a near adult's body while doing so…

Immediately, it bothered him, yet he tried to keep that under wraps by schooling his expression to reveal nothing of that.

Blackie tried to cast that terrible ponder out of his head as he did so, deciding right then and there the best he could do to escape this was to throw out something plausible to get on with their existence. He pulled his thoughts back to the subject matter, mulling it over as he carefully watched the kid Reaper so he would know exactly when he should answer before a strain sank down on him and the Support Reaper.

Thinking back to the events preceding now, even though their interaction was short, he could somehow still picture her smiling at him as her brown eyes glowed with warmth... It settled in his mind, almost framed like a painting he had just put up in a room with the best angle to view it from. But what could he draw from that picture? He could grab the first thing that came to him, yet he only found himself pondering harder about what to decide on. He couldn't just call her dim-witted in front of the kid; going that path begged repercussion and a review on who the Harrier was as a person once the kid reacted poorly to that.

No, no... he had to be careful and choose wisely… It had to be something nice about her…

...Hmm, maybe that would do?

"...Sh-She's nice," he breathed after hesitating about wording it like that. His face warmed up partially as he nodded as nonchalantly as he could. "Eh, yeah… She's a nice person."

Unoriginal. But a pass, right?

When Junior nodded happily with a larger beam, the Harrier internally sighed in relief that the subject was finally dropped when Junior didn't insist on speaking about it more. However, a mountain of relief came down on him afterwards that the face of the Harrier- the shorter Reaper's thoughts of how he viewed the Harrier- were safe for now.

...But for now, he'd have to worry about covering the tracks of 'Mr. Reaper' later. Hopefully he could stop thinking about face-related sayings and concentrate on what they were truly after.

Reporting Buttercup.

As they ventured further through the underpass until they phased into the underground river passage, the Harrier kept an eye out for any Officery-looking Reaper in the hopes that this won't take long. If Sadist Saiyama was anything to go by, and the fact that the only ones he saw wearing hoodies were Supports and Harriers, such as himself and the kid Reaper, Blackie figured that the Nobles didn't have a dress code shoved down their throats and wore pretty much whatever they wanted. But from how many he saw when passing by them in the past- except Sadist Saiyama- they often donned business or business casual attire as if there was an unsaid convention to please the Posh Bastard's favouritism of wearing a fancy-schmancy suit himself.

All the Harrier supposed he had to do now was find the most stuck-up looking Reaper in order to move them along nicely for reporting Buttercup.

He soon spotted a lady in a navy kimono standing next to a wall near the stream of water they had to be careful of crossing… He couldn't remember it being like that the last time he was here, though, so he supposed something had happened to break the cement pathway into separate segments. Anyway, that lanky woman, who had her blue-black hair done up in a traditional bun with an ornamental hairpin, was currently absorbed in her… book? Well, it had symbols sprawled along it that reminded him of tattoos from Noise and sigils akin to the Reaper Sigil, so the Harrier decided to call it a novel because he didn't want to dabble with thinking about whatever contents lay in its pages.

But no matter, that lady fit the bill of being Officery-material enough. The Harrier decided to try his luck with her.

Veering off to the side to approach her, him and Junior didn't even get in front of her before her cobalt gaze flickered up to regard him lukewarmly. "What do you need?" she asked in what the Harrier pretty much could deem to be the 'most bored person in the world' voice. She gazed back at her 'novel' promptly without giving him a chance to respond. "You do not have to explain yourself."

Wow, succinct and concise to a point. Just what he needed!

"I need to see the P…" He only began to trail his words when the thought hit him that Junior could be paying close attention. The kid could parrot the name later and that wasn't something the Harrier was willing to let slide, as he could only imagine the trouble the Support would get in for 'disrespecting the Conductor'. He soon recollected himself before he went on with more certainty, "Conductor." He raised a hand up to gesture towards her as he narrowed his eyes. "This is very important and needs to be settled as soon as possible. So I would appreciate it if you could fetch him for us."

He hoped that was enough. Although, the Harrier figured if it wasn't, he would have to throw his weight around again to speak on an Officer's level, if the responses he got when he handled his pitch of getting the Legalization letter to the Composer was evidence of any. However, if all he got was Officers to badger him and Junior in the end, he supposed he shouldn't be too surprised about not netting in the man to talk about the Harrier's problems.

Nobles were terrible to deal with, after all.

The woman closed her book. "Very well." As she tucked it under her arm, she closed her eyes. "He may be occupied, but I will see what I can do."

"Oh lovely," the Harrier smoothly murmured out, nodding his head as he blinked in bafflement. "I didn't think the wait time on the Pos- Conductor of all people would be that short."

When the 'Officer' opened her eyes, her lips flattened as she breathed, "By no curiosity do I have any reason to ask, but is the context's nature of the subject you wish to speak of with him a private matter? I may be able to procure you a conference room if need be."

Aside from her odd way of asking that, the Harrier felt frustrated she was wasting their time with asking this. But he had a gist of what it entailed.

He side-glanced Junior, who stared up at the woman baffled, and soon caught the boy's gaze when the kid Reaper faced him. "Are you comfortable with talking about it out here?" asked the Harrier when he lowered his voice to a whisper.

The kid bit his lip and remained quiet as he shifted on the spot, yet the Harrier didn't dare to look away or let his mind dawdle elsewhere. Technically, this wasn't his decision, as Junior was the victim in this situation. Something made the Harrier feel as if he shouldn't be making choices for the boy…

Momentarily, the sensation of having his feet slide off the ground hit him. That made him widen his eyes as he swore he wasn't floating, yet that hadn't startled him as much as when another boy replaced the kid Reaper before him entirely at that very moment.

The new kid was frowning small; his charcoal locks were smoothly brushed and flawlessly neat. It wasn't apparent why the kid appeared so pitiful and nothing could clue him in on why the boy was acting like that, as the Harrier's heart promptly ached. Once and awhile, the form distorted back to Junior, yet he felt as if he couldn't breathe as dark chocolate eyes gazed up at him quietly with a forlorn kind of subfusc light in them. The boy's orbs safeguarded something important, he believed for some reason. And whatever it was, the eyes were not the window to an explanation.

However, the need to help this kid tumefied inside him…

Upon blinking his eyes, the kid disappeared and Junior returned. The Support seemed concerned. "...Mister?"

...The Harrier could have sworn he knew that other child.

He didn't have friends as a kid, now that the Harrier thought about it. Maybe it was an old classmate? But why did the boy just phase in like that? Did he die and end up in the Underground at one point? Whatever it the case was, the young teenager wasn't here.

Only the kid Reaper was there.

The Harrier cleared his throat, trying to yank as much composure as he could back into himself while he swallowed then nodded. "Yes?"

"I-If going to a room is usually how it works, then maybe that's good?" said the kid with as much uncertainty as one would have when looking for guidance. Oh wait- that meant the Harrier. He should get a grasp on the here and now then to do so.

The Officer, who had been patiently waiting, suddenly intoned in her flat voice, "If it pertains to him, I would suggest you should conduct your business with the Conductor there."

Blackie immediately regarded her, watching as she dipped her head once he had. He couldn't deny that it certainly did pertain to the kid...

But now that he thought about it more, if Buttercup for whatever reason came stomping down the corridor and happened to bump into them again… it would only make things worse. Junior already became scared of Buttercup today, as he recalled how Junior was after the exchange and chase, and it would only cement a deep-rooted apprehension forever more if the kid struggled to get past this experience. The kid wasn't going to be safe either if someone overheard them reporting Buttercup in the Trails; they could spread the information ignorantly only for Buttercup to find out.

Okay then, the Harrier supposed this wasn't going to be an option anymore. The Harrier grimaced and quietly inhaled to calm himself before he raised a palm up and spoke, "Yeah, yeah… that would be great." He gave a nod after some hesitation.

He snuck a look at the kid Reaper, somehow finding comfort in the fact that the kid seemed to be more at ease now.

---

Months Ago...

---

"I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I"m not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not…"

"Keep it steady… that's it..."

"I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I"m not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not…"

"I almost got you back… just focus on it…"

"I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I"m not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not…"

"Come on… come on… trust me…"

"I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… "I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm not… I'm n… Trush… m-e-m-me-me-mee… Trush… m-e-m-me-me-mee… Trush… m-e-m-me-me-mee…"

"...Fuck."

" Trush… m-e-m-me-me-mee… Trush… m-e-m-me... Trush m-me... "

"..."

"Trush m-me… Trush me… Trus-Trush me…"

"..."

"Trus… Trust mee…"

"...Huh?"

"Trust me… I'm not… trust me…"

"Ha…hahahah! Would you look at that- you're copying me!"

"Trust me… I'm not..."

"Haha… well then, I guess even if you're starting to mimic me, things are starting to look up for you. I guess you're now… twenty percent… going on forty!? That's better than fluctuating as you once had, right? ...Even if you're still not perfect…"

"Trust me… I'm not… w-we…"

"...Not so perfect, but still progress."

"Trust me… I'm not… w-well…"

---

To be continued… hope you enjoyed the chapter! =3

---

EeveeGen9988: Hello! It's great to finally get back into the swing of semi-scheduled updates again! ;D

To be quite honest, this chapter you're seeing right now is the second draft, as goes the next chapter because the amount of changes I had to make was much too great to just edit the original doc. I had to make a second draft and go from there for this and the next chapter (which was originally part of Part 11 but was split in two). Basically everything has been raked over thoroughly and reworked and rewritten in the spirit of the initial version, so I'm pleased with what came out in the end. :O

I was originally going to yell out all the changes that were made, but a lot of the changes coincide with the next chapter and by mentioning them it may spoil what's next in store for the Arc. However, I will mention that most of the scene changes were fixes to the logic of sections and changes such as putting things in different circumstances that worked out better, heh. ;D

Although, what I will say though is that I've been waiting forever to unveil this Arc. I think all the things I have in store will be fun plus it's finally great to see the new characters come to life and breathe in the fresh air they deserve. In a Discord I'm a part of, we do a fun thing where we like to post our writing updates with two words per character of what we've gotten up to in our stories. I basically had to keep the names under wraps with a lot of creative codenames for them but now I will finally be able to use their actual names now and in the coming updates, haha. XD

And would you look at that! It's already the start of Arc 2 and you've found something! Great work! =D

---

NEW LETTER THREAD CONTENT HAS BEEN [SUCCESSFULLY] CREATED

DATE_OF_CREATION = 9/34/59/AM/WED/17/SEP/1975

GAME_DAY_SEQUENCE = DAY/01

THREAD_TYPE = [PRIVATE [HM to ?]]

ENTRY_NO = 19

LOG_NAME = RI

DOCUMENT_ALIAS = Rulemaster Inquiry - Entry 19

INCOMING RESPONSE [SUCCESSFULLY] RETRIEVED

DATE_OF_RETRIEVAL = 9/35/44/AM/SEP/17/SEP/1975

GAME_DAY_SEQUENCE = DAY/01

---

Rulemaster Inquiry - Entry #19
DOCUMENT CONTENT IS AS FOLLOWS

Dear mystery friend,

I just wanted to write up a thank you letter to express how much yuur advice has helped me these last two months! I know that you're not supposed to be talking to me and you being transferred as tbe person I send Documents to wasn't supposed to happen, but I got great news to share with you today!

You remember how you said I should try to be more flexible with how to handle my time in the Lower Grounds? Just today I finally finished my renovations for the leased space we occupy in the Lower Geonds!

I know we already talked about me wanting to change things up, but I feel less stresed about switching up what I do while keeping track of the Reapers' Game! Although, I feel bad about Saiyama since he keeps crying about what I made the place into… It almost made me go back to what it was but I grit myself to what I want to do!

I know iit's childish, but for three Weeks now, I am the proud owner of an ice cream parlour! Hopefully Players who are minors won't be deterred and will come by more often! Even if they don't, it's been a hit with the Realground inhabitants, so producing Yen for rent won't be a single issue!

Are you proud of me?
Hiraku Maeda

---

Response #1? to Rulemaster Inquiry - Entry #19
RESPONSE CONTENT IS AS FOLLOWS

Dear Mr. Maeda,

Congratulations on fulfilling your aspirations! I am pleased to hear you are thrilled about your change and give you the best of wishes.

Ever since we met, you have grown exponentially from how things had started between us. I believe I am proud of you.

But do keep up your Rulemaster work and update your reports. I am interested in seeing what has fared in the Lower Grounds since you took time off to work on your parlour.

Awaiting your reports soon,
[Unidentified User]