As The Fox
By: Aviantei
[Twelve Shots of Summer: Eleventh Hour 4/12]
[Parameters: "Last Supper" & "Final Act"]
Game Five
The terms of Nepuro's bargain to replay the Reaper's Game go something like this:
First, he will not participate in every Game. It's one thing for a Player who has not earned a right back to life to replay, as their Soul (or whatever) still needs refinement. For a Player who has earned the right back to life, dropping them in the middle of the Game is like dropping an endgame ally into a starting area of an RPG. Sure, everything is a breeze, but then you don't need anyone else, and they get tossed to the side. Instead, Nepuro will be allowed back into Games where there is either a high Soul calculation of the other Players or other repeat Players who have gone through enough growth to be stronger without reaching the end goal.
In any other situation, Nepuro might protest, but it's not the worst possible deal. After all, at the end of a successful Mission, everyone passes out and doesn't get up again until it's game time the following day. That's called Storage, which has something to do with compacting Soul or whatnot, but Nepuro's way more concerned with the fact that it can keep him unaware of the time passing.
Second, his Entry Fee has become set.
"Your wish to play because the Game has become what has most value to you," Kitaniji says while explaining the terms. "However, this does create a contradiction. If the Game is what you value most, you then should not be permitted to play. However, the Composer has been most kind to you. Instead, you will play with a different wager.
"If you start a Reaper's Game and Processing determines your Entry Fee to be anything but a wish to replay the Game, you will need to choose from your other options." Life, Reaperhood, or Erasure. "Albeit with some restrictions."
"What kind of restrictions are we talking?"
"First, you will need to earn the right to life again. We will be restarting the calculations on your Soul from scratch, and they will also reset at regular intervals. Growth is the goal of the Game, after all." Nepuro's not too concerned about that. Even if he does reach this hypothetical situation, he sure as hell isn't returning to the RG. That's why they're discussing this deal in the first place. "Second, you will never be permitted to play the Reaper's Game again—be it in Shibuya or otherwise." The idea of there being other Games out there is interesting, but Kitaniji's still talking. "This does not just apply to your current stay in the UG. Let us say you earn the right to go back to life and take it. If you were to die in the future, even if you were considered an appropriate candidate for the Game, you would not be offered it, nor would you be given any other opportunity. You would cease to be in the waves of Erasure."
"In other words, you're holding my entry to the Game hostage?"
"If it should come to that." Nepuro snorts. It's not gonna "come to that." I have every intention of riding this train until it crashes. "But it is a good deal for you, is it not? Besides, if you reach a point where the Game is no longer what is most important to you, then you will be free to make the same choices as any other Player."
Nepuro tucks his hands into his pockets. "I'm not saying it's not a good deal." It gets him back into the Game again, which is just what he wants. "I'm saying I don't know what's in it for you. I'm not complaining, but even I have to wonder what the point of letting me bend the rules is."
"There is always benefit to allowing Imagination to blossom. But more than anything, the Composer has heard your request and decided to grant it." It's gotta be someone important. Kitaniji's boss? (Are there even bosses in the afterlife?) "His will is absolute, and so I shall follow His orders. Now, Hasekitsu Nepuro, do you accept the terms of your new Game?"
There's just one answer for that:
"Bring it."
Nepuro has participated in two Games since then, each drawing close to but not quite a month apart. His new stuttering existence fits him well: all the rush without the humdrum in between. If Kitaniji or the Composer or whoever expected him to cave quick, he's not even close. The Game fits him like a glove, pulls him into its rhythm like a siren song, and he's not even close to drowning.
And so it's Day Seven, and he, his Partner, and the one other Pact left are all at Ramen Don, filling up their bellies.
"Do we even have time for this?" Kano—a brunette late twenties office worker from the other Pact—asks with a surprising amount of derision for someone with a bowl of shoyu stacked up with extra toppings in front of him. "It's the last Mission today. If we don't make it through, that's it."
"I think if anyone knows that, it's Hasekitsu-san," says Katsumi. Nepuro's Partner this round ended up being a third year high schooler who got caught up in accident right after receiving their acceptance into the set design program they applied for. They play with the backwards bill of their ballcap. "He's been through this before, so if he says we have time for ramen, then I'm gonna enjoy this ramen!" And they proceed to prove their point by slurping up their noodles with aplomb.
Kano grimaces, but Nepuro just grins, halfway leaning back in his own seat. "Trust me, you don't wanna go into a fight on an empty stomach. There's plenty of benefits. Sharing food makes synching up with your Partner easier, too." Nepuro's sure there's a reason why it works that way, but he's less concerned with the process than the result. "Besides, Ramen Don is good. If by chance the GM wrecks us, don't you wanna have a good last meal in you?"
Nepuro's encouragement doesn't seem to convince Kano. "Just because you've played before doesn't mean you should get cocky, you kn—"
"I like…ramen…" says Minoru—a skinny teen with two-toned hair that's been so quiet the whole week that no one knows what his deal is. "This place…is good…"
Having been outnumbered, Kano relents. "Fine. But after this, were going straight to where the Mission says, you year me."
"Yeah, yeah, Kano-kun. Live a little."
The ramen ends up being an excellent prelude to the conclusion of yet another Reaper's Game.
[Author's Notes]
Take some lore dumping! While not explicitly said in this chapter, the main reason that Nepuro's allowed to keep replaying the Game is because Yoshiya thinks it's funny. More on that later.
And now we have the prompts that accidentally became the Week Four prompts, so I'm lined up again! Barring any mishaps, my prompt plans should all be good to go with the pieces I want to do.
For the sharp-eyed Muse reader, this week's cameo is none other than Kano Eikichi! Which, if you know your Muse timeline, means we're just one Game off from a certain set of twins' first Reaper's Game! It's been a while since I've done anything running parallel to my own canon like this, but we're gonna have some fun next week (assuming I get it all together on time)!
This week's T-Sauce recommendation is EeveeGen9988's "Five Unopened Pokeballs"! Want some Scarlet and Violet Nuzlocke fic in your life? Eevee's got you covered!
Next week's prompts are "Last Stretch" and "Final Form," which will go up on Sunday the 6th. Please look forward to it!
-Avi
[29 June 2024]